Macaroni Vegetable Salad

When I was sick and in the middle of a move a dear friend brought us over a meal. It was so good! Much better then the Chex I had been eating for every meal while life was so crazy. I attempted to recreate it here.

Ingredients:

8- 16 oz Rice Noodles of your choice cooked and drained according to package directions (More or less depending on if you want more veggies versus pasta)
1 cup Tomatoes Diced (pictured above I used yellow and red tomatoes, but I've also used grape tomatoes and those are very good)
Handful of Spinach washed and cut into ribbons or chopped
1/2 Red Bell Pepper chopped into small pieces
2 Cellery stocks chopped into small pieces
1 Small head of broccoli chopped into bite sized pieces (Optional. I happened to be out of broccoli the last time I made this)
Italian Dressing of your choice
Chicken (optional)

Directions:
Mix all of the vegetables and pasta. Add dressing and mix well. In the above picture I added some chicken that I had previously canned. We have also added grilled chicken which is wonderful in the summer.

Strawberry Cake

 Our little girl loves strawberries so for her first birthday I searched for a gluten free strawberry cake recipe. I found this recipe over at gluten free mommy. I topped it with a cream cheese frosting. I didn't have almond mill so I substituted millet. It was pretty tasty and the birthday girl loved it. 

Taco Bake

A new favorite in our family is Taco Bake. It is adapted from this recipe I spotted on Pinterest:

3 cups cooked taco seasoned meat.
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
1 green or red pepper chopped (sometimes I add two because we really like peppers in our house)
1 package of gluten free spiral pasta cooked and drained (I have used rice noodles or corn noodles. Both turn out well.) 
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

In a large sauce pan combine: taco meat, tomato sauce and peppers. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile combine pasta and sour cream in 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Top with meat mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 325 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

I recommend doubling the recipe. It's great for leftovers. 

Hot Chocolate!

I recently had a request for my "liquid chocolate" hot chocolate recipe that I made for some friends in New Hampshire more than 5 years ago. The problem is, I made up that hot chocolate on the fly without a recipe. This weekend I spent some time in the kitchen concocting a recipe that I could give them that would taste very similar to the hot chocolate I made for them in New Hampshire. Here's the result.

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
3 cinnamon sticks (4 inch sticks)
3 cups of 2% milk/1 cup of heavy whipping cream (or you can use 1 quart (4 cups) of Half and half in place of the milk and whipping cream)
1 bag of milk chocolate chips (11.5 oz bag)

Directions:
Boil the cinnamon sticks in the water for at least 3 minutes (water is a better solvent than milk and will extract more cinnamon flavor from the sticks than the milk will). Reduce heat to low. Add the milk/cream OR the half and half to the water/cinnamon mixture. Add chocolate chips and mix until thoroughly melted and blended in with the rest of the liquid.

You can also add 1/4 cup Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder in addition to the chocolate chips if you like your hot chocolate tasting more dark. I recommend tasting the hot chocolate as is, though, before adding the cocoa to make sure your taste buds need the extra cocoa.

ENJOY!

Stir fry

The sauce:
4 cubes of chicken or beef bouillon
1 and 3/4 cups of water
1.25 tsp of ginger powder
1 T of garlic powder or 7 cloves of garlic minced
4 tsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tsp of brown sugar
pinch of black pepper
1/3 cup of white sugar
1 T of sesame oil
1/4 cup of canola oil
4 and 1/2 tsp of white vinegar
1/2 cup of pear juice
1/2 tsp of guar or xanthan gum
1 tsp salt

vegetables
sliced carrots
sliced green peppers
chopped broccoli

meat
4 pounds of beef roast trimmed of fat and thinly sliced

dissolve and mix sauce ingredients together until an emulsion is obtained between water and oil ingredients. lay meat in a glass pan and pour the sauce over it to marinate the meat from 1 to 24 hours. When desired marinating time has been reached, simmer the sauce and meat mixture on low for at least one hour. Steam vegetables and then add into the meat mixture before serving. Good over garlic infused basmati brown rice.

Bread

Dry ingredients
3.5 cups of ground brown rice flour*
0.5 cups of amaranth flour*
2 cups of tapioca starch or potato starch
1 cup of instant dry milk
0.5 cups of potato pearls
2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 T of yeast
2 T of xanthan or guar gum
2 tsp of baking soda

Wet ingredients
6 eggs
2 tsp of white vinegar
1/3 cup of oil

3 cups of warm water

Directions:
mix together thoroughly the dry ingredients. mix the egg, vinegar and oil in a stand mixer until homogenous mixture is obtained. Heat the water until about 120 degrees F and then mix into wet ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients into the stand mixer while mixing on low to prevent a mushroom cloud of flour. once all flour is added, mix on high for 3 and 1/2 minutes. Grease bread pans and neatly fill them with the dough, wiping the sides to prevent burning of dough in unwanted areas. Let the dough rise in a warm oven set to 170 degrees F until the dough has doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy.

*We now add a cup and a half of bean four instead of a cup and a half of the rice flour. It adds a great wheat like flavor and also adds nutrition and keeps costs low

*If you don't have amaranth you can substitute rice flour. Amaranth is very healthy for you though so you might try it and see if you like it.

Life with Allergies: Where to Begin?

My nephew was just diagnosed with a long list of allergies. I'm overwhelmed for their family and it has made me think a lot about what advice I would give them. I didn't grow up as a kid with known allergies. I was sick most of my life and finally figured out my medical problems were due to Celiac Disease and allergies when I was 21. It was a very overwhelming day. It's of course nice to know the reason for your illness and it's even nicer to have a cure, but it was still difficult. My life would never be the same. It was very difficult in the beginning to adjust to a new life of eating differently than I had ever before done, but now it isn't difficult at all. I rarely think about it. So where do you begin? How do you adjust? I think the first place to begin is by making a list of things you can eat. Focusing on what you can eat and not on what you can't makes the transition much easier. Make a list. Ask others for input. Start by food group or walk through a grocery store with pen and paper in hand. I think you will find there is still quite a bit out there that you can eat. Don't overwhelm yourself in the beginning by trying to perfect an allergy free version of whatever is your favorite food. Focus on what is naturally allergy free for you. Learning to cook allergy free takes time and it takes patience. Things don't always taste the same. Your taste buds will adjust though and so will you.

Mac and Cheese

8 oz of rice or corn elbow macaroni
1 medium red onion chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter
1 T corn starch
3 cups of 1% milk
2 cups of shredded mild or medium cheddar cheese

1. In a medium saucepan, saute chopped onions in 1/2 stick butter.
2. Stir in 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tablespoon corn starch.
3. Mix in milk slowly to attain a smooth consistency with no lumps, add in macaroni and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until desired texture is achieved.
4. Mix in cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and evenly blended into the mixture.

Mexican Rice

2 cups rice (we use basmati)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 chopped purple onion
2 tsp Taco Seasoning (see previous post for homemade recipe)
One 6 oz can of tomato paste
1.5 tsp salt
4 cups chicken broth

1. In a large Saucepan or stock pot saute onions in 1/4 cup oil and then add the rice stirring often to make sure the rice doesn't burn.
2. Once rice has browned slightly, add 2 tsp Taco Seasoning, 1.5 tsp salt, 4 cups of chicken broth and the 6 oz can of tomato paste.
3. Bring to a boil and then stir well to make sure the tomato paste has dissolved in the chicken broth. Once the tomato paste has dissolved, reduce heat, cover and and simmer until most of the broth has evaporated (I've never timed it, I usually monitor the steam coming out the top and use my nose to detect doneness).

tip: it may be easier to dilute the tomato paste first in a cup or so of chicken broth before adding it to the pot.

Taco Seasoning

1/4 cup chili powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 T ground cumin
4 tsp salt
4 tsp pepper

Mix together and store in a moisture tight container (or else it will clump).

Caramel Corn

I love caramel corn and what's great is that it is naturally gluten and soy free.
Here is my favorite recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract
5 quarts popped corn (1 cup of popcorn is about right)

Directions:

1. Melt butter and sugar
2. Stir in corn syrup and salt
3. Boil stirring constantly for 4 minutes
4. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla
5. Mix caramel with popcorn evenly and then bake in oven at 250F stirring every 15 minutes for an hour.

Tips:

You can bake the popcorn in the oven on a cookie sheet like most people do, but it is a bit difficult to mix every 15 minutes without all the popcorn falling off and making a big gooey mess. If you do use a cookie sheet I recommend covering it with foil to avoid a really difficult to clean cookie sheet. I use our turkey pan to bake our caramel corn. It's deep and big and this makes it very easy to stir and make sure all of the caramel corn is covered and baked evenly. Good Luck!

Best Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been playing around with cookie recipes as of late and this one is my all time favorite. I hope you enjoy them!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups gluten free mix (1 & 1/4 cups rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup tapioca starch)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 and 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Combine gluten free mix, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking soda and salt in separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to butter sugar mixture and blend well. Add chocolate chips.

Bake cookies on sheet for 10 minutes.

Dinner Idea: White Sauce with Rice and Chicken

Coming up with new gluten free meal ideas is difficult for me so I thought I'd post a few ideas we've come up with. Lately we've really enjoyed white sauce mixed with rice and chicken. It is very quick and easy, which is nice and it tastes pretty good as well.

White Sauce:

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons corn starch or rice flour
1 Cup milk

Directions:
In a small sauce pan over medium heat melt butter.
Add flour and stir until well combined.
Pour in milk and stir as mixture thickens. Add more milk if needed to create desired consistency.
Flavor to taste with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Pour white sauce over rice and serve with chicken.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups Gluten Free Mix (2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
pinch of salt
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (I put them in the blender because I'm not a fan of chunks)

Optional, but recommended:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix dry ingredients in medium sized bowl.

Cream butter, add sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add the eggs, followed by bananas.
Add optional spices at this time (cinnamon, vanilla, cloves)
Add dry ingredients and stir until blended.
Spoon batter into 9 x 5 bread pan and optionally sprinkle brown sugar on top if you would like a crusty sweet top.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

This banana bread can also be frozen and saved for a later date. If you wrap it in foil and then put it in a freezer bag is tastes just as good a few months later. It's nice to have on hand during those unexpected busy times.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free mix (2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and Grease muffin cups or use paper muffin liners.

Make gluten free mix and then combine 2 cups gluten free mix with the dry products (cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt)

Mix wet ingredients (milk, egg, canola oil and vanilla).

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and then add chocolate chips. Mix well.

Fill muffin cups to the top and then sprinkle sugar on top if desired.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

These were really yummy. They were gone in one day. Hope you like them.

Easy Cornbread

Cornbread is one of the easiest gluten free breads you can make. This recipe calls for no special flours and thus is really easy to make when you are out of the starches or xantham gum. Pictured I have made the cornbread in muffin pans, however I most often make it in a square baking dish. Either way turns out great.


Ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a bowl.

Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl (butter, eggs, milk)

Swirl 1 tablespoon of butter in baking dish or in muffin pan. I use spray butter in the muffin pan because it's easier.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and bake for 15-20 minutes. Insert wooden toothpick to test if the cornbread is done. When toothpick comes out clean cornbread is done.

Cheese Cake

(sorry there is part missing... my husband snuck some before I got a picture)

I made this cheesecake for our anniversary and it was a hit. It was 90% gone within 24 hours... I guess I need to make yummy things more often so they aren't such a novelty. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cup gluten free cookie crumbs (I used half the recipe of the gf chocolate chip cookie recipe and baked the cookies without chocolate chips and then tossed them into the blender)
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen fruit of choice (I used a berry blend), thawed
* 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 3 eggs

1. combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of a pie pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes

2. In a blender combine fruit and cornstarch; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 2 minutes. Set aside 1/3 cup strawberry sauce to cool. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for serving.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk. Add lemon juice. Mix well. Add eggs, beat on low until just combined.

4. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over crust. Drop half of the reserved fruit mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto cream cheese layer. Carefully spoon remaining cream cheese mixture over fruit. Drop remaining fruit mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls on top. With a knife cut through layers to swirl fruit.

5. Bake at 300 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cook at room temperature for 1 hour (so it doesn't crack). Refrigerate overnight. Serve fruit over cheesecake if desired.

Homemade ranch dressing

There are very few salad dressings that are soy-free. Thus I began a quest to develop a few salad dressings that tasted like the real thing. This recipe is the closest I've achieved to store bought ranch in my experimentations.

Ingredients

3/4 cup soy-free mayonnaise (see below for a homemade version)

1 1/4 cup of sour cream

1 tsp freeze-dried chives

1 tsp dillweed

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

In a sealable container mix well all ingredients together. If using fresh spices/herbs use 3x the amount called for in place of the dried ingredients.

Homemade mayonnaise

The soy-free mayonnaise found in the store can be pretty expensive so I set out to make a homemade equivalent.

Ingredients

1 egg yolk (make sure to check date stamped on cartoon to make sure you are using the most fresh eggs available)

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

0.5 tsp of salt

0.25 tsp of dried mustard powder

3/4 cup oil (preferably canola or safflower)

Directions

Mix the egg yolk, vinegar, salt and mustard powder together in a circular glass container. I've found that containers with steep sides (IE 90 degrees) work much better for the later stages of prep. then do those that have more slanting sides (IE bowls). In order to achieve the mayonnaise emulsion, the oil needs to be added very slowly in the beginning to the egg yolk mixture using a whisk. If the oil is added too quickly than the you will end up with a soupy mess instead of the desired emulsion. To do this you can use a tablespoon to add a couple of drops at a time. Once you have added about half the oil you can start adding oil more quickly. Since you are adding fresh egg yolk the mayonnaise should be used within 3-4 days.

* it should be noted that lemon juice can be added instead of vinegar for those who don't like vinegar. If you are using wet mustard, try using a scant teaspoon instead of the dry measurement.

Quick Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are VERY rich, but the little one loves them and they are really quick and easy to make and requires no flour which is nice if you are running short on gluten free flours.

Ingredients:
* 1 egg
* 1 cup peanut butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Place egg, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla in a mixing blow and blend.

2. Add chocolate chips.

3. Drop teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes