Best Yet Brownies

Seriously. I went looking for a new brownie recipe last week and stumbled across one from Gluten Free Goddess. These days it seems that following a recipe exactly is not something I am capable of, so I changed it up and made it my own. My chef friend tells me that once you've changed a couple of things (ingredient, amounts, etc) that it is now your own recipe. So here you go, my Best Yet Brownies. I can't call them Best Ever...because who knows what I'll come up with next time!

2 Eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 TBSP cocoa
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line with parchment paper a 8x8 baking dish.

Beat eggs on medium high until frothy (about 3 minutes). Add brown sugar, butter, and cocoa. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute.

Mix dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. Pour batter into baking dish and shake to spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and press them down a little into the batter with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup.

Bake 30-35 minutes. These are yummy warm, but even better cold (in my opinion). They are certainly easier to slice cold.

**For a much lower fat version with added nutrients, try substituting pumpkin puree for the butter. This will produce a more cake-like texture instead of a fudge-like texture. The above picture was taken of a brownie made using the pumpkin.

**If you are a seasoned gluten-free baker, you are probably used to very thick brownie batter. This will not be that way! This will be a nice thin batter (like regular old cake batter).

Shrimp Tacos

These are a big favorite at our house. My 8-year-old son asks for shrimp tacos for dinner at least once a week. There would be a picture, but it disappears too quickly for any picture snapping.

2 lbs shrimp (peeled, deveined, no tails...all that jazz)
6 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil
Juice of one lime

Combine all ingredients except oil and lime in a bowl and let sit in the fridge for 15-30 minute (or if you're like me and don't think about dinner until last minute, you can skip this step).

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and squeeze lime juice over the shrimp and toss.

Serve shrimp in a warm corn tortilla with whatever toppings you like: Shredded cabbage, Salsa, Guacamole, Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, etc. My sister likes hers with a fresh mango salsa.

Or if you don't care for Shrimp, like my 6-year-old....ask for a Shrimp Taco with "Guacamole and Cheese....no Shrimp." Hmmm....