Strawberry Crisp-Gluten Free

I have bee meaning to write his post since July, but my summer has been so busy I just never got around to it! I feel like things are finally just starting to slow and call down. Thank god for autumn!

Anyway, way back in July, we went strawberry picking with my in laws for the second year in a row. We tried out a new place this year, last year we went to Greenbluff and this year we did Carver Farms. Both places were nice, but we got way more for our money at Carvers. We got three boxes full for under 30 dollars and then spent several hours freezing them all when we got home. 

We have used them for lots of things, but mostly I've been making a crisp based off a recipe my mother in law sent me after our picking adventure. I never follow a recipe true to form, and I make it different every time, but man is it good! 

The original recipe was for strawberry rhubarb crisp, but we don't have rhubarb and I've never been incredibly fond of it anyway. I have added a chopped up pear to my recipe instead a few times, but mostly just used strawberries. It calls for orange zest and juice, but on accident I used a grapefruit once(I hate grapefruit) and I'm not gonna lie, it was really good. My family even preferred the grapefruit version because the flavor wasn't as potent as the orange is. Anyway, my point is, be creative:) 

Strawberry Crisp

FILLING:

Strawberries-enough to fill the bottom of a square glass baking dish, around 3 cups

Orange-use zest to taste and all the juice

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup tapioca flour

TOPPING:

1 cup oats(we buy gluten free oats, don't use instant or quick cooking)

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cube of butter in slices 

Mix strawberries, orange juice, zest, honey and flour in the bottom of a baking dish. 

Combine all topping ingredients EXCEPT butter. Add on top of strawberry mixture and then put the slivers of butter on top of that. 

Bake in oven at 350 for about an hour. Filling should be bubbling and topping should be golden brown. 

Butternut Squash Risotto(Gluten Free)

So here is another recipe that I have been making for years but have yet to post on here! It's one of my daughters favorites, and almost every time I ask her what she wants for dinner she says, "risotto." I found it after randomly searching Google for a recipe to use butternut squash for, and now risotto is also one of my favorite things to eat. If I go to a restaurant and risotto is on the menu, it's a near guarantee I will order it.

For those of you who haven't had risotto before, it's a rice dish made from arborio rice, but is made a little bit different so that it is very creamy and saucy. Don't try to rush it when cooking this recipe, it's a slow process in which you will be at the stove for an hour without much leaving. Trust me when I say it's worth it. And, hey, it uses wine, so pour a glass for yourself before starting and it will make the cooking process that much more enjoyable!
Note: Using drinking wine rather than cooking wine WILL make your food taste better. If you wouldn't drink it, why would you eat it? Trust me, spend the extra money and get a bottle of normal wine.



Butternut Squash Risotto

 2 cups arborio rice
1 1/2-2 boxes chicken broth(about 6 cups)
1/2 cup white wine
2 shallots, chopped
2 ounces pancetta, chopped
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 butternut squash
Oil
Salt

Peel and cube the butternut squash and put it into a baking dish and cover with oil. Put in the oven at 350. It will stay in the oven until the risotto is done, but will need to be stirred occasionally. You can sprinkle a bit of salt on it halfway through.

In a large pot, melt butter and add the shallots. Cook for a few minutes and then add the pancetta. Continue to cook for another few minutes and then add the rice. Coat the rice in the butter and then pour the wine over it and stir. When the wine has absorbed, add about 1/2-1 cup of broth. Stir and when the liquid is absorbed, add another 1/2-1 cup of broth. You will continue this process of add small amounts of broth, stirring, and waiting for the liquid to absorb before adding more until the mixture begins to look creamy and it seems like the liquid is not absorbing as much. At this point, add the cheese and mix it in until well combined.

You can either mix the butternut squash into the risotto, or serve on top.

This is the link to the original recipe, and I have stayed mostly true to it. However, it calls for saffron, which is a pretty pricy spice, and I think that it tastes fine without it, so I have never used it. Also, in her recipe, she heats the broth in another pan so that as she is adding it, it is already hot. This may make the risotto better, but I have never felt like dirtying extra pans that I don't need to(I hate doing dishes) and I feel like the risotto is just fine using room temperature broth.

Chickpea Patties

I can't believe I have never posted this recipe before, it's one of my favorites. And on top of that, a friend of mine specifically asked me for the recipe a couple months ago and I made them soon thereafter, but forgot to take a picture. So this one is for you, Shannon!
I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but I definitely try to eat vegetarian meals regularly because they can be so healthy for you. I seem to do it more often in the summer, too. Something about that hot weather just begs for salads and non-meat food. Unless you are craving a steak... But that wasn't today;)
I usually serve this meal with rice or lettuce. Today I did both. The original recipe called for it to be served on an arugula salad, but I'm not particularly fond of arugula.
The original recipe calls for cashew cream, but I have no idea what that is and cannot find it anywhere, so I use cashew butter instead, or almond butter or peanut butter depending on what I have on hand.The nutritional yeast flakes can be found in the bulk bins in the organic section of the grocery store, or a whole foods store if your normal grocery store doesn't carry it. The same goes for the garbanzo bean flour. I buy Bob's Red Mill flour in a bag, but it can also be found bulk. Depending on what part of the country you are from, they will either be called chick peas or garbanzo beans, but the original recipe referred to them as chickpea patties, and the name is catchy, so that's how I refer to it, even though you can't find a "chickpea" anywhere here;)
I found this recipe off another site, and I'm almost positive it was somewhere from Treehugger, but for the life of me, I can't find it anymore. So here is how I make it now, roughly, because it changes a little bit each time;)

Chickpea Patties

2 cans chickpeas(garbanzo beans)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup cashew butter(or almond, or peanut)
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute the onions with some butter or oil for a few minutes, then add the bell pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes until the onion is starting to begin to caramelize. The longer you cook, the better it will taste. Stir often so it doesn't burn.
While this is cooking, use a fork/potato masher/food processor to mash up the garbanzo beans. Ideally you still want it a little chunky, not pasty. Add the nutritional yeast flakes, cashew butter, and salt and pepper.
When the onion mixture is ready, add it to the garbanzo bean mixture and combine well. Using your hands, form the mixture into patties and coat them in the flour along with salt and pepper.
The patties can be pan fried in butter/oil, or baked in a casserole dish in the oven/bbq at about 350. Flip after a few minutes of frying, or 5-10 minutes in the oven. Let the other side cook and then serve!

Quinoa and Summer Squash Salad!

I love Poor Girl Eats Well recipes, and she has tons of great recipes for fresh, summer salads with ingredients I would have never thought to use. This one in particular I made for the first time last summer. I happened to have some squash sitting around in my fridge waiting to be used and this was the recipe that came to mind.
When I pulled the recipe up, I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it because it called for black beans, and I never keep cans of beans on hand, only dry. Thankfully, I had some cooked black eyed peas in my freezer that I was able to thaw out instead. And instead of red onions, I used green onions, because that is what I had on hand.

My kids wanted to join in on the cooking today, and the past couple times they have helped me they have really enjoyed it. I even let them use the knife to help me cut the squash. It's important to me that my kids learn the joy of cooking and want to cook with real, healthy ingredients when they are adults. This is a hard task with our tiny kitchen, but the more we do it, the easier it becomes.

Here is the link to the recipe: Poor Girl Eats Well Quinoa, Black Bean & Summer Squash Salad. I seriously recommend liking her page on Facebook or subscribing to her blog for lots of great recipes!

Dairy Free/Vegan Ice Cream

I have had an ice cream maker sitting in the trunk of my car for about 2 years now, maybe more. However, a few weeks ago I had to clean out my trunk so that I had room in it for tires, so the machine finally made it inside. I decided it would be fun to make ice cream for the 4th of July, but today was hot, we had already bought all the supplies, and there was nothing on the schedule, so it happened early.
I looked up a ton of recipes online, and I was missing one ingredient from every recipe, so I decided to just mix a little bit of this recipe with a little bit of that recipe, and follow the outline of a normal dairy ice cream that came with the ice cream maker so I had the right amount. What turned out was delicious!
Tip: Don't skimp on the fruit, it looks like you have a lot, but when it mixes in with everything, you realize there wasn't as much as you thought! Also, this recipe was made for a 2 quart ice cream machine. Adjust recipe accordingly if yours is different.

Dairy Free/Vegan Ice Cream

4 cups plain soy milk
2 cans coconut milk(about 4 cups)
3 cups chopped strawberries(or any berry!)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1 T vanilla

1 bag of ice and Rock Salt

Heat the soy milk on the stove until hot and add sugar. Stir often and keep on the heat until just before boiling. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix together and pour into ice cream maker container. Refrigerate until cold, then put in ice cream machine and follow the directions of your machine!

A Puppy Pen Day for the Whole Family!

So last weekend, Rachel and I, along with our families, spent the whole Saturday together. It's the first time we've had a "Puppy Pen Date" since we started the blog. We cooked a bit, but mostly we snacked the whole day on lots of healthy, yummy, fresh food.

We started the day by going to the Kootenai County Farmers Market, which was a lot of fun, even for the kids. I had to convince my son that it would be fun, and I promised him that Rachel takes her kids there almost every weekend and that they loved it, too. As soon as we got there, we lined up for face painting, which, after waiting for OUR turn and going through 4 kids faces, took up probably a good hour. But it was well worth it, because for only 5 dollars our kids got their entire faces transformed into vampires, dragons, batman, and flowers. And for a kid, getting your face painted is the coolest thing ever. After that we wandered the market, got some kettle corn, fresh salsa, radishes, and a BEAUTIFUL new cutting board(for those who don't know me, I have an obsession with wooden spoons, and have been dying to get these beautiful wooden cutting boards, and we found one for only twenty dollars)!

After that, we headed back to Rachel's house, packed up a backpack with snacks (Mary's Gone Crackers gluten free crackers, Farmers Market Salsa, fresh fruit,  veggies and hummus, and smoothies), and hopped on our bikes for a bike ride from Rachel's house along the Prairie Trail down to the Centenial Trail, down to the college, and back. I never knew how bike friendly Couer d'Alene is, and it was amazing. We stopped at 2 different parks to let the kids play along the way.
 And then it was home for dinner. We made more salsa, margaritas, and barbequed potatoes and vegis along with steaks. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday, and the weather cooperated perfectly! I'm hoping for many more days like this throughout the summer.

Rachel:

Yes, last Saturday was a blast! I have vowed to get outside and move more, and Saturday Bike rides are one of my favorite ways to exercise.

My amazing husband did the grilling, and we had potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms on the grill, (done in his grill basket with a little oil and spices).


After dinner we made Strawberry margaritas with fresh strawberries and raspberries (and my new blender!), and they turned out really well! They also made for some fun and colorful photographs for our Puppy Pen Cafe Facebook site.We almost had to get out the puppy pen to contain the kids.

Just kidding...

But they did let us use their tiny little kid-sized chair for this photo op.=)

We had bought salsa from the farmers market (Banditos Salsa, very tasty) and went through it pretty quickly and then we moved onto the the Kirkland salsa (also amazing) from Costco. When we had exhausted our salsa resources, we turned to making our own chunky garlic salsa to have with our g-free tostitos.

8 roma tomatoes
1 white onion, small
1 clump of fresh cillantro
1 tsp of seasalt
2 TBSP Lime Juice
4 (or 10, if you're us) cloves of garlic
12 Anaheim chile, cored

Quarter the tomatoes and scoop out the insides, and then dice everything by hand or put it into a little electric chopper. Add the juice.


We got our cilantro fresh from our garden - the only thing that survived after my kids drowned everything with love (and too much water). My four year old was so proud to be able to go out and snip all of the little cilantro sprigs himself, and he did an amazing job! Now we have no more cilantro and no more garden. I see a post about what we planted to remedy this in the very near future...

Today, Zach and I have discovered veggie burgers. Though we are not typically fans of Soy, these particular burgers were being sampled at Costco, and they were pretty tasty! So he may be grilling again.

Kabobs(Gluten Free)

Yes, I know this is a little bit late, but I had Kabobs for Mother's Day! It's one of my favorite things to eat/BBQ in the summer, and the week of Mother's Day was super hot around here so I was feeling in the BBQing mood:) I feel territorial over my kabobs, so I actually made them myself, although I did not to the grilling;)
I've been making my own marinade for my kabobs for a long time, and it has slowly changed as my families needs have. It's super quick and easy, and when we had to make the switch to gluten free, all I had to do was switch soy sauce brands;)
I prefer to serve mine with rice, and this time had a glass of wine with berries to go along with it! Enjoy!

Kabobs

Sauce
1 can of pineapple-the cubed kind(use only the juice and save the pineapple for the kabobs)
1/2 cup soy sauce(make sure it's gluten free if you have gluten issues!)
4ish cloves garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh ginger
1 T sesame oil
Mix in a pan on med-low heat for about 15 minutes

Kabobs
Meat of Choice(I normal use chicken, but have also used steak)
Mushrooms(Whole)
1/2 onion
2 red bell peppers
2 zucchini
1 can of cubed pineapple(juice used for sauce)
Chop vegi's/meat into large enough pieces to skewer, leave mushrooms whole. The meat chunks should be about 1 1/2 inches, if they are cut too big, the chicken won't cook through fast enough and the vegis will burn. Alternate pieces of each on a skewer until it is full. Usually I can use 2 of each ingrediant on the Kabob. I try to put the pineapple and onion around the meat to give it extra flavor.
Place kabobs in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over them and let sit an hour in the refrigerator. Cook on the grill on a med/med-low heat, turning as needed, until done. 

Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice Bake(Gluten Free)

I'm still on my Mexican kick, I've been at it all week. The weather has been fabulous this past week, and there is just something about Mexican food that is refreshing. I made refried beans, guacamole, and more tortillas, and have been sipping margaritas like crazy. Today I knew I would be making something with chicken, and I was originally thinking about a tex-mex type chicken salad, but didn't really want to go to the store to get mayonnaise or lettuce to go along with it. So I decided to go with a rice bake; you just can't go wrong with rice in our house, and I had already used our leftover enchilada sauce to make Enchilada Rice earlier in the week and it was pretty good.
Once I decided that I would make a chicken/rice bake, I had been thinking about what flavors I wanted. Lime and cilantro for sure, and I had a red bell pepper and green onions leftover that would work well, too. After that it was just a little of this and a little of that and hope it turns out!
*I would just like to note that when I write measurements for spices, I'm just giving a guesstimate. I never measure things, I just shake it on until it looks good;) AND whenever I do a rice bake, I check on it periodically because I almost always have to add more water.

Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice Bake

1 package chicken tenders
1 T fresh cilantro
1 lime, juice and zest
1 t red pepper flakes
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1 t pepper
 Mix together and marinate for about 1 hour

1 bunch green onions, cut up
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups jasmine rice(or whatever type of rice you prefer)
1 box chicken broth + 2 cups water
Place green onions, bell peppers, and rice in a casserole dish. Put chicken and marinade on top and pour over the broth and water. Bake in the oven at 400 for about 45 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Add more water if needed.
Garnish with more fresh cilantro and grated cheese if desired.

From Scratch Enchilada Stacks!

I've been thinking about Cinco de Mayo for a couple weeks now, I LOVE Mexican food, but I have never really made any of it from scratch. I decided that needed to change this year. I looked up a few different recipes online and set off!
All of the tortilla recipes were essentially the same, but there were a lot of enchilada sauce varieties. I settled for one that did not include tomatoes. It was interesting to me that when you read the ingredients on a can of enchilada sauce, you do not see any wheat ingredients anywhere, but EVERY recipe I found included flour for thickening. This kind of made me wonder what might have been in all those cans I bought, but might not have been labeled.
The sauce was easy enough to make, I altered the recipe to fit our gluten free diet and my crazy tendency to do everything from scratch rather than cheating(why use garlic powder when I have 6 heads of garlic in the spice cupboard!?). But I'm not going to lie, the tortillas scared me at first.
The recipe said to use a tortilla flattening thing, but when do I ever follow directions all the way? I was sure I could handle it with my own two hands. I kneaded the dough and started shaping, and... stuck to my hand. I put flour on my hands and squished the dough flat, and... stuck to my hands. I added more flour to the dough, put flour on my hands, and flour on the plate, and... almost success;) My tortillas were thicker than your typical tortilla, but when all was said and done, the enchiladas tasted good, the tortillas tasted like tortillas, and everyone was happy. SO, my advice, make sure you don't add too much water to the dough, and use flour on your hands and the surface you are flattening them on. Actually, my advice is to use wax paper and a tortilla maker, but, if you don't have those things, follow my first advice;)
After writing all the recipes down, I realize this seems like a daunting task. The whole endeavor took me about an hour and was well worth the task. I could have split it up easily by making the sauce and tortillas ahead of time. Just try it!

Corn Tortillas:
2 cups Masa(not corn meal! I found it in the Mexican section of the grocery store)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Add water to flour, mix, and let sit for 5 minutes. Knead for a few minutes, add more masa if still sticky. Put Masa on the surface you will use to flatten them on AND your hands AND after each tortilla OR use a tortilla maker and 2 sheets of wax paper. Grab a small ball of dough and roll it into a ball. Smoosh it flat to create your tortilla, then put in a frying pan on med heat with a little bit of oil. Cook each side for 30 seconds-1 minute on each side.

Enchilada Sauce
2 T butter
2 T garbanzo bean flour
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t oregeno
Dash of salt
Red pepper flakes to taste depending on how hot you want it
2 cups chicken stock

Melt butter in pan on med low heat. Add flour and cook for a minute, then add garlic and the rest of the spices. Add broth slowly and whisk to get rid of lumps. Cook until it starts to thicken.

Enchilada Stacks
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce
Cheese of choice, I use Colby Jack
1 Package chicken tenders
1/4 onion
Lettuce, Sour Cream, cilantro and whatever else you would like to garnish with

Cook onions in a pan with butter on med low heat for several minutes. Add chicken and cook through. As the chicken is cooking, cut it into pieces with your spatula.

Put a tortilla on the bottom of a glass casserole dish or other baking sheet. You may be able to make 2 stacks depending on the size of the pan. Add a spoonful of the chicken/onion mixture onto the tortilla. Add desired amount of cheese and 1/4 cup-ish of sauce. Repeat for several layers. Top with a tortilla and sauce.

Bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted. A BBQ works just as well:)

Serve with lettuce, cilantro, sour cream and whatever else you enjoy on an enchilada. Don't forget your margarita;)

Salted Caramel Espresso Smoothie with Peaches

1 banana
2 tsp caramel sauce
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup peaches
1 cup frozen coffee ice cubes

Combine all ingredients except the ice in a blender. Blend in the ice, and pour into glasses. Heidi says my smoothies make 2 servings, but I argue that, since I want them both, it makes one at a time. ;-) about 18 fl ounces.

Salted caramel popcorn

This is actually a double recipe. but trust me on this one, it goes fast!

1 cup packed brown sugar (I know, but bare with me, here)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup karo syrup (or light colored corn syrup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 tbsp unpopped air pop popcorn.
1 tsp sea salt

Pop the popcorn in an air popper.
Preheat oven to 250.
Melt butter, syrup and sugar in a pot on medium. Bring to a boil and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popcorn, and mix well. Add salt, mix again. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir, eat. :-)

Salted Caramel Cocoa Oatmeal

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup water
1/4 tsp butter
1 Tbsp caramel syrup
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp sea salt

Cook oats with water only, according to package directions. Mix in butter, syrup, cocoa powder, honey, and too with sea salt.

Enjoy :-)

p.s.

Not a decent photo, I know. But it was gone so fast I was lucky to get the one I took. ;-)

Pineapple Chicken Curry(Gluten Free)

My cupboards and fridge are getting bare, but I'm too lazy and too busy to go shopping, so I spent all day thinking of what I could make. I decided it was time to get rid of the can of coconut milk, and what better way to do it than make curry!? Yum. My brother spent some time in Thailand, and he loves to cook just as much as I do so he was always learning new recipes. One of my favorite is a coconut ginger chicken recipe, and the other is a pineapple curry recipe. I have no idea how he makes the pineapple curry, but I have made other versions of curry, and I have made the chicken recipe, so I decided I would just combine the two. The result was delicious, but missing the pineapple;) So, when you make this, don't forget pineapple!

Pineapple Chicken Curry

2 chicken breast, cut into slices
1/2 an onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of pineapple/1 cup fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh ginger
1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 T cumin
1 t tumeric
1 t red pepper flakes, or more for more heat
1 t ground mustard
dash of salt

Cook onion in a pan with some butter and add garlic. After a few minutes, push to the side of the pan and add the chicken. Sprinkle with seasonings and brown. Add ginger, peppers, pineapple, and coconut milk and cover. Cook for about a 1/2 hour. Serve with rice.

Healthy Chocoate Berry Smoothie

This original recipe came from SparkPeople, and I altered it a bit. I have these for breakfast often, and they are amazing!

2 TBSP pure, unsweetened Cocoa powder (used for baking)
1 Banana
1 C Almond Milk
1 Cup (or two!) Spinach
1 Cup frozen berries

1.5 cups ice

blend up all the ingredients in a blender, except the ice. Then blend the ice. Serve. The green spinach and the red color of the berries held to make this amazing shake look even chocolatier (and therefore even more kid-fooling). You can't taste or see the spinach. ;-)

Garlic Hummus!

Or should I say, Yummus?!

1 can chickpeas, undrained
3 large garlic cloves (or 10, of you're us.)
1 heaping TBSP cumin
1 TBSP lime juice

Blend it all together in a food processor. Enjoy with Marry's Gone Crackers  (or pita bread, perhaps?) from Costco.

.:*Rachel and Heidi*:.

Quinoa Chicken Gumbo - With Shrimp! (or not!)

Here's the recipe for Quinoa Chicken Gumbo - With Shrimp! (or not!)

Things I learned with this recipe: Make sure chicken is fresh, or you'll be starting over. Also, do not catapult vegetables from cutting board across the kitchen onto the floor, unless your husband is out of the room and won't know that you used them anyway (after rinsing them off, of course. 5 second rule). Also, this recipe, once it's prepared, will need to simmer for almost an hour. You'll need to stir it occasionally, keeping the ingredients from burning to the bottom. It's really good though. And it makes a ton!

Ingredients

4 cups cooked quinoa
2 diced onions
4 cloves garlic
1 LB shrimp
1 Lb chicken breast, diced
2 cups marinara
4 cups chicken broth
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Bunch Collard Greens
Bell Peppers cut into strips (I used orange)
1/2 C flour

paprika
Salt
thyme

Heat Oil in a large cooking pot on medium. Add chicken, and cook until it turns translucent white, but isn't quite done. Add onions, garlic, salt, thyme, paprika, marinara. Mix. Then add chicken broth, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add quinoa (cooked), shrimp, collard greens, and peppers, thyme. Mix in flour to thicken, simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve!

.:*Rachel*:.

Chocolate covered Strawberry Yogurt - Clean!

I have been on a plain yogurt + honey kick lately. Usually I add cherries, but I have been sparing with my sacred little bags of frozen cherries that I horded from the plain old grocery store, at $4 a bag. This is because my favorite source for them (ahem, Costco) has stopped selling them where I live. They thought they would be hilarious and introduce this mysteriously delicious treat into my life and then take them away and leave me to die. But I digress. Today, with my plain yogurt, I added strawberries. And then I added chocolate. And then I sat down wept like a little girl about the amazingness I had created. It's like a great big bowl of chocolate covered strawberries, and the best part? It's got no added sugar. NO SUGAR. It's a whole foods kind of recipe.

1 Cup plain, fat free yogurt
1 TBSP unsweetened Cocoa powder
1 Cup quartered strawberries
2 tsp honey

Mix. Eat. Weep with joy.


.:*Rachel*:.

Gluten-Free Beer Bread

I prefer to make just about all my food from scratch, and the same goes for my bread. I used to make "normal" wheat bread all the time before the days of having to deal with celiac, both by hand and in my bread machine, but there was something scary about making gluten free bread and it took me over half a year to try it. To be honest, using several different types of flour and knowing it was probably gonna be dry no matter what didn't make the thought appealing. It wasn't until I had a bread date with two of my best friends that I was willing to tackle it. I even got a whole new bread machine to be on the super safe side, and I must say it's pretty awesome.
This recipe I'm posting today is NOT one of the recipes I made on that date, but it is my new favorite bread to make for sandwiches and general use. I had gone out to eat with my boyfriend at a local soup place, and they were serving beer bread and it was AMAZING! I had to try it at home, so I googled some recipes and got lucky on the first shot. It definitely is nowhere near as good as what I had at the restaurant, but it is a super moist, keep it's shape, cuts easily kind of bread. I have been making a loaf a week for almost a month now.
Here is the link to the recipe!
I pretty much follow this recipe completely, but as with anything I make, I have to make a few adjustments, and it also allows for different options on things, so I am letting you know what I do, since it works so perfect.
~The recipe calls for a 10 ounce bottle of gluten free beer, I don't know if this is a type or is you can really get 10 ounce bottles, but the beer I buy comes in a 12 ounce, and I use the whole bottle. I use the redbridge kind.
~The recipe doesn't specify a flour blend, so I have used the blend I use on the OTHER bread I make. It is equal parts garbanzo bean flour, tapioca flour, and cornstarch.
~It says to either use milk powder or a substitute, and I use the brown rice flour option.
~Instead of olive oil, I use coconut oil
~It says to use liquid ingredients at room temperature when using a bread machine, but I add all the liquid ingredients and a package of knox gelatin and mix together until warm/the coconut oil just starts to melt.
~There is a bread machine note at the bottom of the recipe. Basically, just add the liquid ingredients first, then add the dry on top. Don't mix it up, the bread machine will do the work for you:)

Trinidadian Chicken Stew(Gluten Free)

My family spent the day in Moses Lake today with my brother and his wife. His wife is due to have her baby in 2 weeks and we needed to drop off their gift before the baby arrives. He made us ribs for lunch and they were delicious! My brother loves to cook just as much as I do, and I happen to think he is a better cook than I am in many ways, so I am always willing to let him feed us. I may have came up with the idea of bringing the gift to him just so he would make us lunch;) After eating and talking for a bit, he took us to a park by the lake to play before we needed to head home.
It was a great time had by all, and the kids didn't annoy us with their chatter at all on the way back due to the fact that they were both passed out. Needless to say, when we got home no one was in the mood for a time consuming meal or anything too energetic. So while the kids were bathing and getting into jammies, I started cooking a hearty, delicious soup. This recipe is one of my boyfriends favorites due to the fact that it has ginger in it, and I learned about it having a cooking date with a different Rachel on a cooking date:)
So the soup is cooking and the kids are all ready for bed and we are just lounging watching Hannah Montana episodes. I'm hoping the whole night goes this way and we do nothing more than be lazy, maybe read a chapter in Harry Potter, have a glass of green tea, and go to bed.

Here is the link to the recipe:
Trinidadian Chicken Stew
The first few times I made this, I followed the recipe pretty true to form. The only change I made was to add onions, a must in any recipe I make, and chicken broth instead of water. However, my family has been trying to avoid tomatoes recently, so the last few times I have withheld those along with the addition of the onions and broth.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Gruyere(Gluten Free)

I have always been a rice and potatoes kind of girl, so making the switch to gluten free was never a big deal for me. The first time my aunt saw me eat mashed potatoes she was shocked, half my plate was filled with it, and I had to be the last to serve because I would take whatever was there. This particular recipe I found by watching 30 Minute Meals by Rachael Ray with my mom in high school. It's something I make at least weekly because it is sooo good, and it is the reason I LOVE gruyere cheese sooo sooo much!
Rachel and I used to cook this all the time when we cooked together out of high school. Whether we lived together or not, more than likely you would find us eating together at least a few days a week. When she first moved out, she didn't have a cheese grater, so we would chop up the cheese as small as we could. Needless to say, she got a cheese grater not long after that;)
The recipe calls for lunch meat ham, but if you are motivated and have the time, cooked bacon tastes delicious, too. Gruyere is pricey, and sometimes hard to find, but SO WORTH IT! Don't buy something else, trust me. I find mine at Rosauers in the specialty cheese section by their deli. And there is always too much mix to fit into all the potato skins, so while I wait for the potatoes to broil, I always munch on the left overs;)

Rachael Ray's Twice Baked Potatoes:
7ish potatoes, baked at 400 for about an hour
8oz of gruyere cheese, grated
3/4 package honey ham lunch meat(bacon can be substituted, cook and crumble)
2 bunches of green onions, chopped and cooked with butter or oil until soft
Thyme

Cook the potatoes on a baking dish for about an hour at 400 degrees. Once they are cooked all the way through, let them cool and slice in half. Spoon out the insides leaving a small section of potato by the skin so as not to accidentally puncture the skin. Mix the potato innards with the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle as much thyme as you like, probably around a teaspoon. Then scoop this mixture back into the potato skins. Turn the oven to broil and cook these for about 5-10 minutes, or until browned. Be careful, they can burn fast!

Salisbury Steak!

I found the original recipe from a Taste of Home cookbook, and altered it a little. 

1 Egg

1/3 C Bread Crumbs

1 Can mushroom Soup

1/4 C diced onion

1 LB Ground Beef

1/2 C milk

1 TBSP butter

one packet of powdered brown gravy mix

1 C fresh or canned mushrooms

Combine egg, bread crumbs, 1/4 C of the mushroom soup, and the onion.

Mix well, then add the beef, and mix it altogether thoroughly. For adults, this recipe will make 6-8 patties. For our purposes, we made 11.

In a large frying pan with a lid, brown the patties on both sides. Remove and set aside. Melt the butter in the pan on medium and add the mushrooms when it gets bubbly. Saute for a minute or so, but not longer than that. top the slightly cooked mushrooms with the patties.

In a bowl, combine milk, gravy packet, and the rest of the can of mushroom soup. Pour it over the patties and mushrooms, and cook on low for eight minutes, using a spatula to keep the mushrooms from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serve over Rice or Potatoes.





.:*Rachel*:.

Shepherd's Pie

So today I had Parent Teacher Conference's for both of my children. I WANTED the conferences to be tomorrow since I have the day off for Good Friday, but I also had to have a meeting with the Speech Therapist for my daughter, and she doesn't work on Friday's. So I left work early today, which is always okay, to go do 1 1/2 of conferences. My son had early release, but my daughter's Kindergarten class still had a normal schedule, so after conferences were done, Levi and I got to sit around for another 45 minutes before we took Adelei home.

So after we had been home for over an hour and I was SO tired and SO hungry, I realized that due to conferences falling during lunchtime, all I had to eat today was half a box of Samoa's and a cutie. No wonder I wasn't feeling it! I jumped into action immediately, and did what any starving mother would do. I poured myself a glass of wine;) Haha, and then munched a couple crackers and started to work on dinner.

I had a half a block of gruyere left from a comfort meal for myself earlier in the week, and since it's a hard cheese, I have been occasionally feeding it in small proportions to my kids. I have heard that hard cheese's have less lactose, and thus far have not noticed any bad reactions the few times I have given it to them. Anyway, while grading it into the pan, I ate a chunk. There is nothing I love more than cheese with a glass of wine, especially when it's my favorite cheese! Man, just one bite of that cheese put me back into perfect working order.

I decided that I would make a Shepherd's Pie for dinner. It's one of my favorites, and it's something you can practically make with anything as long as you have potatoes and a few vegis. I usually use chicken, onions, garlic, frozen peas and corn for the filling, and will add whatever else I have in the fridge that sounds good. Today, I had broccoli, yellow peppers, and kale in the fridge, so I thought I would add those as well as the gruyere. I also usually use chicken broth to make the gravy, but we were out, so I added extra herbs and the gruyere for more flavor.

Here is tonight's recipe, but like I said, this recipe is supposed to be a garbage collection of whatever is left of your food supply.

Shepherd's Pie(Gluten Free, Egg Free):

8 red potatoes, boiled with a dash of red pepper, rosemary and garlic salt, and mashed with butter

6 chicken tenders
1/4 yellow onion
3 carrots
6 mushrooms
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 head of broccoli
1 bunch of kale
1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
Thyme
Sage
Garlic Salt

Start by cooking the chicken in a pan with butter until both sides are browned. Place on a plate for later. Put the onion and the carrots into the pan along with the herbs. Saute for a bit, then add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are tender, add the yellow pepper and the broccoli. Stir to coat with butter, and more butter if needed, then sprinkle the flour over all of it. Mix the flour into coat into the butter, then add about a cup of water. I added the kale in at this point and just let simmer until the sauce started to thicken. Then I chopped up the chicken and added it to the pan for another minute or two.

In a casserole dish, add about 1/4 cup of frozen peas and 1/4 cup frozen corn. Pour the vegi/chicken mixture on top of this and stir it all around to mix in the frozen stuff. Put the mashed potatoes on top of that and spread around with a spatula so it forms an even crust on top.

Place in the oven at 350 and cook until the mashed potatoes are starting to get a light brown color along the peaks and edges. You can cook longer if you like, too. This will take roughly 30 mins.

Cranberry Orange Bread-Gluten Free

A few months ago I had a gluten free bread making date with Rachel and another good friend, Shannon, and one of the breads we made was cranberry orange bread. It was delicious and I couldn't stop eating it, so I had to make it again, and my mom got the privilege of coming over just after I pulled it out of the oven and she loved it, too.
My mom and I get to plan one of my sister-in-law's Baby Shower's and she asked me to make the bread for it. I always love showing off to people how good gluten free bread can be, so I agreed. Today is the day of the Shower, and it starts in less than 3 hours, so in true Heidi fashion, I just threw the 2 loaves in the oven a few minutes ago.
The recipe we made at our original bread date was based upon this recipe for Ocean Spray Cranberry Nut Bread, which is not gluten free. It's simple enough to switch a recipe to gluten free, just use a gluten free flour mix instead of wheat flour, and add xantham gum if it isn't already in the mix. Shannon, who also has Celiac like my daughter, suggested we also add instant vanilla pudding mix to help keep it moist.
The recipe is not the most healthy recipe, what with all the sugar in it, juice, and pudding mix, so I have changed it a bit myself. I also prefer my bread to be female, so I don't use nuts in mine like the original recipe calls for. One of these days I will mess around with substituting some honey for part of the sugar, but I'm not sure 3 hours before the baby shower is the time to do that. I'm sure my mom would agree. So this is the recipe I used today and the last few times I made it:

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Bread

2 cups gluten free mix(I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, which has xantham gum in it)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cuties, skins and all, mushed up in a food processor with about a 1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons coconut oil, slightly melted
1 egg
1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries(can be found in the freezer section year round!)
1/2 package Vanilla Instant Pudding

Mix all the wet ingredients together along with the sugar, then add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pudding mix. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

Vegan Spicy Quinoa Stir Fry

This is one dish that has become one of my absolute favorites. It's spicy, tangy and full of that sweet-but-salty stir fry taste without being way too greasy. The original recipe came from The Fit Cook. I altered it, using mushrooms instead of sprouts, chili powder and cayenne pepper instead of chili garlic sauce, and grapeseed oil instead of sesame oil.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon grape seed oil
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup mushrooms
2 cups fresh spinach
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Cayenne Pepper

Chili Pepper

Salt

Garlic Powder

Cooking Directions
1. In a large non-stick pan, heat the oil on medium.  Add the quinoa and mushrooms, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach, soy sauce and sprinkle with Cayenne pepper and chili pepper according to taste. Add 1/4 tsp salt. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, until spinach is just beginning to wilt. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve. Find the original recipe (also vegan) here.

.:*Rachel*:.

Baked Polenta-Chili and Cilantro Style!

So, tonight's recipe was an interesting challenge for me! I love trying new recipes and new foods, and a couple weeks ago I found a recipe for Baked Polenta from a Weekday Vegetarian post on facebook that looked tasty and different! A bit later while grocery shopping, I saw the little cookie dough look-a-like wrapper of polenta in the produce section and decided now would be the perfect time to try it! They had all sorts of different flavors to choose from, and the green chili and cilantro one sounded delish!
For those of you who don't know what polenta is, it's kind of a corn meal and water mixture that is gluten free! I always love finding new gluten free things to try:)
As usually happens in my house, the polenta sat unused for over a week before I decided to try the recipe. Surprise! The link NO LONGER WORKS, so I had to google a different recipe to get an idea of how I was supposed to use this stuff. The recipes all called for dry polenta and water, and as it turned out, the cute little cookie dough polenta is precooked. So I figured I would just squeeze it out into the pan and smoosh it around, but NO! It's hard like cookie dough, too! So I had to add water to it in a pan and heat it up to make it all squishy and able to use.
Needless to say, I figured it out and it worked just fine, but I was worried there for a bit. SO! My recipe that I made up on the spot is using a tube of polenta, but it may be easier to try it the other way, but then again, it might not;) I'll have to try that one out another time!

Baked Polenta-Chili and Cilantro Style!
One tube of Chili and Cilantro Polenta (put in a saucepan with water and heat to mush up and make into a oatmeal type consistency)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
Roughly 1/4 cup broccoli, chopped
Heat all the vegetables in a pan with butter. While cooking, pour 1/2 the moist polenta into a square baking dish. Put the cooked vegi's on top and cover with the remaining polenta. Bake in the oven at 350 until browned, about an. Sprinkle with a bit of fresh cilantro.

Gluten Free Muffins

For all you folks eating gluten free out there, this is a fabulous recipe! I love Pamela's because you don't have to mix several flours together so it saves time. A double batch makes 12 muffins for me. in this batch I pureed up a pear to add to it for the fruit, and used coconut oil for the oil/butter. You can use any fruit you have when you make muffins, just puree it or chop it up small!
http://pamelasproducts.com/muffins/

Mango Fish Tacos!

Mango Fish Tacos with Chunky Salsa and Refried Bacon Beans

Ingredients:

4 tilapia loins, thawed

2 tbsp grape seed oil

cayenne Pepper

cumin

salt

8 corn tortillas

1 can refried beans

2 slices uncooked bacon

3 cloves garlic

8 roma tomatoes

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 medium white or red onion

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 mango

1/4 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, in a bowl, ready to serve.

Fish

heat grapes seed oil in small frying pan on medium heat. When oil covers pan, add the fish. for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until you can break it apart with a wooden spatula. Season with cumin and then Cayenne pepper, according to taste. Break apart fish with a fork and mix to combine spices and oil. Keep covered and set aside.

Salsa

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, removing the juicy tomato guts and seeds. Keeping only the outside, chop tomatoes, and add to a serving dish. Remove the skin of the mango, and chop mango pieces to the same size as the tomatoes, leaving the hard pit in the middle.Add to tomatoes. Chop onion, and  cilantro, garlic and mix with tomatoes. Add lime juice and sea salt.

Set aside.

Refried Bacon Beans

Heat a frying pan on low-medium and add bacon, turning every 2 to 3 minutes until crisp. remove bacon and set aside on a paper towel. Add beans to the bacon grease in the pan, mixing and stirring occasionally until heated through. Chop the bacon and add it back into the pan. Top with 1/4 c cheese.

Set aside

Tortilla shells 

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put taco shells on ungreased cookie sheet, lined with tinfoil and heat for 3 minutes, flip them over, and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove taco shells from oven and gently fold them in half, leaving a 1 inch gap. lay them all against each other, letting them set for another 2 minutes.

Set aside.

Layer taco insides: beans, fish, salsa, cheese. Turn head sideways, laugh over 1990's "taco neck syndrome commercial," enjoy.

.:*Rachel*:.

Quinoa and Kale Patties

We've mastered the air popper, and gone on to much bigger things: REAL FOOD. We eat healthy on a regular basis, and are constantly searching for new recipes, or tweaking old ones to make them gluten free, "clean," or just healthier.

Tonight's carte du jour featured these adorable little patties with the unmistakable taste of... something missing. Here is what we made: Quinoa and Kale Patties; alright, so adorable might be a little out of context. But honestly, they were pretty good. We both agreed that you could top these ugly little vegetarian burgers with pretty much anything you would put on a ground beef hamburger, or not. As the recipe included parmesan cheese and lots and lots of garlic, we thought Thyme, Oregano or some italian spice blend might make these grubby little patties even better. This is one of those recipes that combines two things most people have never heard of (Kale and Quinoa) and makes them wonderfully tasty as a good basic burger, from which to add any number of things.


We also made wraps. We altered this recipe with cranberry relish instead of cranberries, and left out the apple juice altogether, to make it thicker. Next time, we may even add some cream cheese.

-Heidi and Rachel :o)