A Few Gluten Free Updates...complete with Finger Jello Fun!

If you attended my BLOGWARMING PARTY, you may remember a subtle reference to finger jello.

 
Ah, finger jello.  I was born in the 70's (HOLLA to any of my 70's Peeps who are reading!!)  I remember alot of rainbows during that time.  I had a tin lunchbox with a matching thermos for school, watched Mork and Mindy when I was allowed some TV time on our black and white tube (complete with rabbit ears), and my mom gave us finger jello ALL THE TIME!

Oh, I've made my girls jello.  I learned early on that raising a child with diabetes and sugar free jello go hand in hand over here.  I've made a TON of jello in the Candy Hearts kitchen.  But, no matter how I've tried....I could NOT replicate the jello my mom used to give me growing up.  Try as I might, I'd end up offering my girls a jiggly pile and they'd try to pick it up, only to have it squish through their fingers.

Then I spent the summer with my mom....and, don't moms ALWAYS know how to do EVERYTHING????  So, without further ado...

(drumroll, please)  

I present to you the answer to one my life's mysteries:  FINGER JELLO!!!!!

4 env. Knox unflavored gelatin
3 (3 oz.) pkg. flavored gelatin
4 c. boiling water

In large bowl combine Knox unflavored gelatin and flavored gelatin; add boiling water and stir until dissolved. Pour into shallow baking pan (9x13 inch) and chill until firm. Cut into squares to eat Makes about 100 (1 inch) squares. Never get mushy or melt at room temperature. Great for kids.

Moving on, I also wanted to tell you that I found a box of gluten free Bisquick on my local grocer's shelf a couple weeks ago.

I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed when I spent about $5 for a box less than half the size of the regular box.  I was kind of looking forward to having a big multi-purpose box sitting in my pantry....I ended up having to making this entire box at once (2 cups total) because I didn't want to screw up the recipes.

That being said, I decided to use it for the first time in a pot of chicken and dumplings...

They cooked through nicely, and had a decent texture...no gumming or other related textures reminiscent of glue.  The family liked them, which is always nice.  I didn't feel, however, that this expensive little box provided something I haven't already been able to replicate on my own using Jules Gluten Free Flour or Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix.  I kind of feel like Bisquick is a little late in the game....maybe they should have responded to the needs of gluten free consumers before we figured out how to make our own dumplings using a more cost effective approach???

At any rate, as I mentioned I did make the entire box, but didn't have enough room in my pot for all the dumplings.  Not wanting to waste a drop, I wrapped the leftovers up and stuck them in the freezer.  I pulled them out the other night to make biscuits with dinner....

You can see that they didn't brown much on the top, but the bottoms browned nicely.  Once again, the family ate them without complaint, and that's a plus!  I appreciated the convenience of being able to pull the dough out of the freezer to use them like a pack of refrigerated biscuits from the supermarket.  Sometimes, I do miss simple conveniences like those.

But it's all good :)