Holiday Feast Left Overs! Yum!

Okay. How do I say this lightly? I HATE cooking. I really do. You can probably tell cause I never put anything on here now that my mom cooks for me again (major benefit of moving back home). Don't get me wrong I do cook sometimes. Eggs. Cereal. Sandwhich. Cereal. Noodles. Cereal. Etc. But this is something new. This is one of my best. And it tastes good too!

Get a casserole dish
Put a can of carrots in it OR be healthy and cut cooked carrots and cover the bottom of the dish
Next in a can of beans
Next left over turkey
Then Gravy
And Mashed potatoes
And shredded cheese!

It's shepards hamburger casserole Thanksgiving style! And the whole family will love it!

OH and don't forget to cook it! I don't know the exact temp and time but I'm guessing 350 and until it's hot and the cheese is melted. Yum!

Fuzz Speech, and Helpful Tips

Okay so as I've mentioned in a earlier post...sorta this blog is changing...sorta

I'm still trying to stay away from gluten, sugar and dairy

BUT once again my "way of eating" has changed

Now I focus a lot on things easy to digest

Dr. T said that I need to take things slow. I was working out every day until things got worse and then I was lucky if I got off the couch. Now that I'm feeling better than I have in a really long time I want to be active again! However Doc said to take things slow. As in a walk, a deep breathing walk, not a heavy or hard breathing walk. What does that even mean? Well once again I pushed myself too far. I was doing a lot more than walking. And I paid for it. Big time.

Now that I'm feeling okay again though I'm scared to work out at all. And then I came across this:

I came across this video from http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/blog/fuzz-food-inflammation-and-movement. After watching it and reading what Melissa from Gluten Free For Good said I pulled out my yoga mat...okay it's actually a towl...and decided to get rid of my fuzz! It's weird how the little things in life like stretching make such a big difference eh?

I also really liked what Melissa had to say because it talked about inflammation and how to help yourself get on the right track, and heaven knows I need all the help I can get with that! Here is a little bit of what she said:

"Here are 10 tips to get you started.

1. Eliminate or minimize processed foods, fast food and junk food. Avoid products containing trans-fats, partially hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup, chemicals, additives and other “non-food” ingredients. Sugar is also pro-inflammatory.
2. Choose healthy fats such as extra-virgin olive oil, coconut, avocados, nuts and seeds.
3. Avoid soda pop and opt for old-fashioned water or green tea. If you choose to drink alcohol, an occasional glass of red wine has been shown to be beneficial.
4. Choose a wide variety of fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables. Organic is best. Strive for 9 to 10 servings per day. Eat more veggies than fruit (5-6 servings of veggies, 3-4 servings of fruit). This is just a guideline.
5. Eat healthy non-gluten grains like teff, montina, quinoa, amaranth and brown rice. Legumes (beans, peas, lentils) are also a rich source of high-quality plant protein.
6. Choose nuts, seeds, raisins and dates for snacks or an occasional small serving of dark chocolate when you need a “sweet fix.”
7. Season foods with health-enhancing herbs and spices like garlic, capsicum, turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, parsley and cilantro. This list is endless.
8. The right balance of EFAs (essential fatty acids) is important. In general, omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and omega-6s are pro-inflammatory. I’ll do an entire post on this one of these days.
9. If you choose to eat animal products, 100% grass-fed, organic choices are best. Meat and dairy products from 100% grass-fed animals contain higher levels of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which studies show may fight inflammation and have anti-cancer properties.
10. Reduce stress, think positive thoughts, get adequate sleep and exercise.

Bottom line?

Your body is a temple, not a trailer park."

Did you know?

Did you know that if you go into most Chinese Restuarants and ask for your chicken not to be breaded they'll make a special order for you?

Did you know that if you can't eat gluten you can get a slip from your doctor and when you go out to eat just put it on your table (make sure you waiter sees it) and they'll make a special order for you?

Did you know that P.F. Chang has a GF menu? And that even the head hauncho chef can't tell the difference between the "normal" meals and the GF ones?

Did you know that dogs can get Celiac Disease?

Did you?

Green Gloop! I said Green Gloop!

My insides are a mess as we all know so Dr. T has me drinking a cup of steamed pureed vegetables twice a day, every day. Ha ha I thought some people might be interested in learning how to not only get their daily veggies in but also how to strengthen their stomach lining.

A handful of spinach
A handful of green beans
Some celery
Some parsley
Some zucchini
(All of it in equal amounts, and preferably all organic)

Dr. T suggested I put in other things to give it more flavor. I tried garlic and then decided it's easier for this picky eater to choke down the less flavor it has.

Steam it. Then put it all (including the water) into the blender. Blend, blend, blend! I don't like mine chunky at all so I blend it until the zucchini peel (dark green dots) are really small. I usually make enough for 2 days worth and then I just keep it in the fridge. When I'm ready to drink it I put some sea salt in it and then warm it up. So hot that I can barely get it down without burning myself, for some reason that really helps. Lean over the sink just in case, and chug it. Make sure you have something to eat after like...fruity flavored rice cakes. I promise after a week of it you'll stop gagging afterwards and a cup will go by really fast :) Just think the whole time how beautiful your insides are getting!!

Things to Remember

People ask me all the time how I survive not eating gluten. What I don't think they realize is how easy it can become! My family hasn't had to change how we eat because of my "special needs" we still eat the exact same things. We might have to switch out a few ingredients but that's easy. I'm a real simple girl so if you haven't noticed I'm keeping this blog pretty simple. I want people to realize that it's not hard to be Gluten Free. That we can eat the same things! And that we can eat a lot!

Bean Bake

My family loves to eat this dinner with tortilla chips, but even without it's just great on it's own!

1 Lg. can Pork and Beans
1 Lb. hamburger, browned with grease drained
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1 small onion chopped
1 cup celery
salt and pepper
1 tsp. vinegar
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 can GF tomato soup, undiluted

Bake at 360 degrees for 40 minutes

Christmas or Funeral Potatoes

My family and I LOVE these potatoes! But we've been taught that they're called both funeral and Christmas Potatoes. We have found that people respond better if we say they're Christmas Potatoes, even if we are at a funeral... I highly suggest them with ribs. :)

6 potatoes boiled & grated

1 pint of sour cream

1 can GF cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup scallion onions

1 cup cheddar cheese grated

Fold all that goodness into potatoes. Sprinkle crushed cornflakes with butter on top. Warm and 350 degrees.

Veggie Smoothie

This is for you healthy lovin' people

- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 carrot
- 1 roma tomato
- 2 inches of cucumber
-handful of spinach leaves
- cilantro
-basil (optional)
-cayenne pepper
-boiling water to thing

add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Orange Juice and Spinach?

- 1/2 apple
-1/2 banana
- 1 small carrot
- handful of spinach leaves
- orange juice

Berry Smoothie

My mom made this for me every day when I got my wisdom teeth taken out. It's good :)

-1/2 apple
-1/2 pear
-1/2 banana
- 3-4 frozen strawberries
-1/4 c. frozen blue berries
- 1 keylime peeled or squeezed
- 1 large tablespoon of cranberry juice concentrate
-water or milk to thin out

Soy Chicken Rice

Along with finding out I can have gluten I found I can't a bunch of other things and I was feeling kinda blue about it so my mom suggest I make a simple comforting meal, just to remind myself the world, no matter how dramatic I am, isn't ending.

1 cup of rice- brown or quinoa
some precooked chicken
soy sauce

I cooked my rice in my rice cooker, cut up my chicken in little pieces. Mix that together then put some soy sauce on it. Ta-Dah!

What they say is true, the simplest stuff makes the biggest difference! It made me full too :)

NEWS!!!

I found out that I can have gluten!


...I know what you're thinking but don't worrry I'm not leaving you high and dry I promise.


I can only have it every other day and want to avoid as much as possible...

Calzones

For my birthday I wanted something new, but something I knew I'd love. So my wonderful Mommy made me calzones. Her first time cooking gluten free and she did marvelous!

We used the same dough that we made the doughnuts with but just so you don't have to go searching all over (I hate that!) I'll give it to you again.

Note: This recipe is halved from the original
Yields: About 2 lbs of dough

Ingredients:
3 cups Gluten Free Flour mix
¼ cup Sorghum flour
8 Tbs oil (we used olive, recipe calls for anything from coconut to a neutral flavored one)
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
1 Tbs Yeast
½ Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Xanthan Gum
2 large eggs, whisked together
1 Tbs Honey

Directions:

There are more detailed directions on the website but here is the easy version.
1. Mix all the dry ingredients
2. Mix all the wet ingredients BUT the eggs

3. Mix the whisked eggs into the dry ingredients

4. In Thirds start to slowly mix in the wet ingredients stirring constantly while pouring it in. (We ended up mixing with our hands after the spoon was no longer working)

5. Stir until smooth

6. Cover the bowl loosely with a lid or aluminum foil

7. Let rise for about two hours. At this point you can put the dough in the refrigerator for up to seven days and either make bread or doughnuts.

8. We let our dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 mins

The nice thing about this dough is that you can just put it in the freeze and use it whenever! There isn't the hassle of "only having a first rise! No second!"

Cheese filling:
2 pounds Mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese, shredded
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powdered
1/2 tablespoon onion flakes
Beat eggs, then add spices and beat well. Combine with cheese

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 with pizza stone and pan. Take your dough out of the frigde. With floured hands and a pre-floured surface (gluten free flour, cake it on!) take a golf ball sized ball size of dough and roll it out into a circle*. Once the circle is rolled out place a scoop of cheese filling (or whatever you want, my parents added swisschard) just off the center. Fold over to make a half circle. Take a fork and slightly push the edges together. Place on pizza stone** in oven. Pour 1 cup hot water in pan*** and bake for 20-25 minutes. You will need to add a little water each time. Serve with gluten free spaghetti sauce**** for dipping.
*We did our's this size and wished we had done a little less dough so that we could taste the filling more
** A pan works just fine ha ha
*** Any pan works, we used a cake pan for half of the time and then a bread pan. We just filled in up half way and called it good. My mom said you do this so that they cook evenly.
****You can find this at any grocery store. I get Classico.
Side Note: We made regular calzones and Gluten Free ones. The family said you could tell the difference but both were very good. I personally LOVED mine :)

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

This is my favorite thing ever! My birthday is here and I was determined to have my favorite cake!

3 Cups Milk
2 Small Pkgs of French Vanilla Sugar Free Instant Pudding
8 oz. Sugar Free Cool Whip
!!2!! boxes of Gluten Free Graham crackers*
Mix 3 c. milk and the 2 pkgs of pudding. Fold in cool whip. In 9*13 pan layer whole graham crackers. Pour half of mixture over crackers, then add another layer of crackers. Add rest of mixture. Add another layer of graham crackers.

Glaze:
3 tablespoons melted margarine
3 tablespoons unsweetened powdered cocoa
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar**
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons hot water

Pour on top of cake. Refrigerate 24 hours before serving. ENJOY!

*I heard S'moreables were the best and that's what I used. But they're really small so get at least 2 boxes for sure!
** I just used the powdered sugar, ha ha I wasn't going to give up my cake because of a little powdered sugar!

Cowboy Casserole

This is a family favorite. So no super healthy but who really cares? Besides this is one that even the pickiest eaters in our family will eat.

6 big potatoes
sausage*
2 cans of tomato soup**
bacon
grated cheese
Top with cheese and bacon. Cook for 1 hour at 400 degrees.

*My family just uses hotdogs
**I used Pacific Natural Foods'Organic Creamy Tomato Soup

Balsamic Vinaigrette

I got this recipe from Suzanne Somers, desperate times call for desperate measures, no offense Suzanne.

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil

Makes about 1/2 cup

Doughnuts!

x

So Jacy asked me to Guest Blog this week after we spent the day together cooking and having fun. As we stuffed our face with sweet potato and garlic fries Jacy decided we should make Doughnuts! Being someone who really enjoys cooking anything I was all for this idea. So we went to my house and made a list of everything we needed for these delicious treats. Once we finished the shopping, (I had no gluten free anything) we made the dough. We noticed that we forgot the GF dough enhancer that was added in and the dough was still great. We used half of the recipe and got a good 30 doughnut holes plus enough leftover dough for a medium size loaf of bread another day. Jacy was much better at making the holes than I mine looked a lot more like a splatter than a ball while Jacy’s were perfect!

After being asked for the recipe many times I thought It was time I shared. We got the recipe from Healthy Artisan bread in Five Minutes a Day and we got the modifications here.  

Here is the exact recipe we used:

Note: This recipe is halved from the original

Yields: About 2 lbs of dough

Ingredients:

3 cups Gluten Free Flour mix

¼ cup Sorghum flour

8 Tbs oil (we used olive, recipe calls for anything from coconut to a neutral flavored one)

1 1/3 cups lukewarm water

1 Tbs Yeast

½ Tbs Kosher Salt

1 Tbs Xanthan Gum

2 large eggs, whisked together

1 Tbs Honey

Directions:

There are more detailed directions on the website but here is the easy version.

1.    Mix all the dry ingredients

2. Mix all the wet ingredients BUT the eggs

3.   Mix the whisked eggs into the dry ingredients

4.   In Thirds start to slowly mix in the wet ingredients stirring constantly while pouring it in. (We ended up mixing with our hands after the spoon was no longer working)

5.   Stir until smooth

6.   Cover the bowl loosely with a lid or aluminum foil

7.   Let rise for about two hours. At this point you can put the dough in the refrigerator for up to seven days and either make bread or doughnuts.

8. We let our dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 mins

Making the Doughnuts

    9.   Heat oil (any neutral flavored oil, enough to have doughnuts totally submerged in it) in  a sauce pan until it is 350-400 degrees (deep fry stage on most thermometers)

   10. Shape doughnuts or use a small cookie scoop to make holes and fry until golden    brown 

   11.   Place on a plate covered in paper towels 

   12. ENJOY!!

We had ours with Honey Butter and they were DELICIOUS!!! It was a great day filled with fun and good food!

mChristine

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies OH BABY

I've been having a bad week...and it's only Monday so I decided to try something new. And nothing makes me smile like chocolate. The dough makes me weak in the knees...I feel like singing "so this is love Mmmmm, so this is love, so this is what makes life divine, I'm all aglow mmmm, and now I know the key to heaven is mine"

Ingredients

1 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups of white sugar ...or a cup of agave nectar

2 eggs

2 tea. vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour...or rice flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder...I used Dutch

3/4 tea. baking soda

1/4 tea. salt

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yes I must admit I put a few chocolate chips in but not anywhere close to how much there is suppose to be. And I can't afford walnuts so they weren't added. Another bonus was that I had all of these ingredients laying around! And they're fast and easy.

Chocolate Crinkles

I got this recipe from Aunt Erin and Uncle Shay's shayanderincafe blog. Kate and I were needing some chocolate, I haven't had chocolate in ages and I'm having major withdrawals...

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tea. baking powder
2 tea. vanilla
2 c. flour
powdered sugar

How to:
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla until blended. Beat in as much of the flour with the mixer as possible, then stir in the remaining flour. Cover and chill the cookie dough for 2 hours. (Or put it in the freezer for 10 minutes)
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in powdered sugar, coating well. Place balls of cookie dough about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until crackled appearance. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar if desired. Makes about 48 cookies.

Tips:
We added a few chocolate chips just to make it even sweeter.

These are like little pieces of heaven...

Lemon Cake Bread and Glaze

Katy and I went to a wedding last night and they were serving lemon cupcakes, they looked and smelled sooo good! So we went home and decided we needed some lemony goodness too. Here's what we came up with: Glazed Lemon Cake Bread...yum

Lemon Cake Bread-makes 2 loaves

11/2 c. sugar (we used fake sugar, which is bad but all we had)

1/4 c. finely graed fresh lemon zest (Erin and Katy say it's really gross so we just ended up using lemon juice)

1 c. cooking oil-preferably canola

6 eggs

1 2/3 c. flour

2 tea. baking powder

1/4 tea. salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans. In large mixing bowl, beating sugar, grated zest, and canola oil. Beat for one minute at medium speed with electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in by hand the remaining ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Do the toothpick test. Let cool for 10 minutes. Cool completely and place on wax paper before glazing (or don't just eat it!)

Side notes from Katy and Jacy: Do NOT add extra lemon juice to any of it! The batter probably won't look normal, don't taste it or try to fix it, just put it in the oven.

Glaze-makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 c.. sifted sugar

1 tea. vanilla extract

2 Tb. softened maragine or butter

3-4 Tb. lemon juice

1 tea. lemon zest

In medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat until mixture is a smooth consistency of a glaze. Drizzle over loaves.

ENJOY!

Hats off to Celiac Teen

This girl is amazing! Reading this made me want to cry of happiness! Someone understands! And thank heavens she's here to help! My newest super hero! Check out her website! www.celiacteen.com

Chewy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. Dutch process cocoa
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1 c. coarsely chopped peacans or walnuts, toasted Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 300 F

2. Mix together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually add egg whites, stirring with a spoon until mixture forms a dough. (Mixture should be thick enough to form into balls; if not add more powdered sugar and cocoa) Add nuts; mix well.

3. Form dough into 15 balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 16-19 minutes, until glossy and crackled. Cool completely. Makes 15 cookies.

NEWS!!!

I found a gluten free store in Layton! It's called Gluten Free Foods.
Address:1596 N. Hill Field Rd. #B Layton UT 84041
Web: www.ieatglutenfree.com
Phone: 801-776-1330

Gluten Free in SLC

Gluten Free in SLC

Sugar ah honey honey

I tried these last night for the first time. They're not the greatest thing in the world but they're pretty good. I halved the recipe too so I definitely had some room for error. But if you're starving and need something to just grab on you're way to work they're great!

Honey Muffins!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and honey. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Snickerdoodles

Thanks Katy for this recipe! If they're doughy, do NOT put more rice flour in them like we did before! They will be really dry. I'd add a little more butter or margarine, like maybe 2 Tbs which will probably make them even more smooshy, but it won't matter after you put the dough in the freezer for a while.

Snickerdoodles:
2 3/4 cups (360 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coating:
1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Snickerdoodles: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder
.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until smooth (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is soft, cover and refrigerate until firm enough to roll into balls (one to two hours).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls.
Coating: In a large shallow bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on the prepared pan, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Then, using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick.
Bake the cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Can store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 - 14 days.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies

Try and try again

This week I've had two failures...it's so depressing. I tell "normal" people that and they just look at me like I have problems ha ha but when you're limited on what you can eat and money throwing away a loaf of bread is hard. Especially if you're like me and HATE cooking of any kind. But I'm getting back up again. I've spent the last hour looking up food I want to try and now am headed to the grocery store. Let's hope something works...I'd really like to be able to eat this week ha ha!

Garilc Focaccia Rolls

I've been dreaming about Spaghetti and you can't have a beautiful plate of spaghetti without some sort of garlic bread. This was one of the simplest recipes I've found. I'm hoping to give it a try this week!

• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon foccacia spices
• 1 pinch oregano
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning
• 2-3 tablespoons egg whites
Directions
1.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, Italian seasoning, Foccacia spices, and oregano.
2.
Add water and garlic, mix well.
3.
Spoon batter into a prepared roll pan.
4.
Sprinkle garlic salt and garlic & herb spice blend over the rolls.
5.
Bake in a preheated 350* F oven for 20 minutes.
6.
Quickly remove the rolls, brush with egg whites, and place back in oven.
7.
Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until golden brown.
8.
Let cool on a wire rack before serving.
9. Enjoy!

Enchilada Sauce...yum!!

 0.25 c  Am rice flour
   0.25 c  Am toasted garbanzo flour
   2.00 tb Chili powder
   1.00 ts Cumin powder
   1.00 ts Ground red pepper
   1.00 ts Sea salt
   0.50 ts Garlic powder
   1.00 qt Cold water - in a deep sauce
           -  pan

  Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add to 1 quart of cold water in
  saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until simmering
  and thick.  USe over enchiladas or to season grain dishes.

  SUGGESTIONS: Refrigerate extra sauce.  Double or triple the dry
  ingredients. Store the dry mix in a tightly closed jar.  Use 3/4 cup
  of the dry mix to one quart of cold water to make sauce.

Mac-N-Cheese...it's the cheesiest!

Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

· 2 cups GF macaroni (elbow works best)

· 3 T butter

· 2 T GF flour

· ½ t salt

· Dash of pepper

· 2 cups milk

· ¼ cup finely chopped onion (optional)

· 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese cubed (makes 2 cups cubed)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 1 ½ quart casserole.

Cook GF macaroni in salted water according to package directions.

In a saucepan, melt 3 T butter. On medium heat, blend in 2 T GF flour, salt and pepper.

Stirring constantly, slowly add 2 cups milk (I have noticed that GF flour seems to blend better at a higher temperature, so I add the flour and milk at a temperature that is a little higher than I’d use for traditional wheat flour).

Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.

Add the onions (optional) and cubed cheddar cheese. Stir until melted.

Mix with the cooked macaroni and turn into the casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes (my family likes it extra crunchy).

Chilli

Ingredients

600g ground beef
1/2 cup milk
One medium onion, chopped
1 Teaspoon of Crushed Garlic
1 tablespoon chilli powder (Or fresh chillies for that extra kick)
One can gluten free Mexican tomato sauce
One can kidney beans (Drain brine)

Directions:

Brown the beef and onion in some oil in a Large Pot then drain out the extra oil.

Combine the Tomatoe sauce, milk, chilli powder (or fresh chilli) and the beans.

Simmer on a low heat for 1 hour to allow the flavors to merge... Tastes even better the next day.


Serve it hot... I like to have mine on a baked potatoes with Coleslaw and sour cream... Delicious!

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, 73%
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt (or just a pinch if you're not a salt lover like me!)

Directions

1. Place chocolate and almonds in a food processor.

2. Grind until the consistency of course sand.

3. Pulse in eggs, grapeseed oil and agave.

4. Then pulse in vanilla and salt.

5. Spoon batter into cupcake tins lined with unbleached baking cups.

6. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.

7. Cool and frost with Vegan Chocolate Icing.

8. Serve.

What Does Gluten Free Mean?

Gluten is a natural protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats. Foods and ingredients made from these grains may also contain gluten. For example, flour, rye bread, graham crackers, and bulgur all contain gluten.

Banana Bread!! Yes I just said bread!!

3 or 4 smashed bananas
1/3 c. melted butter
1. c sugar or around 2/3 c. Agave Nectar
1 egg beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. Rice Flour

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter into mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in egg, sugar, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over mixture and mix in. Add flour last. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 in loaf pan. Bake for an hour. Cool on rack.

I can't have sugar so I use Agave Nectar. You can also use half Agave and half honey that's great too! You can get Rice Flour for around a buck at an Asian Food store usually. At Wal-mart it's like $3. Enjoy!

In the beginning...

I hate talking about being Gluten Free on my blog. Just because being Gluten Intolerate is a big part of my life doesn't mean it has to be the only part of my life that my family and friends are hearing about! That and people keep asking me for recipes or ask me how I do it. And instead of repeating myself 5 times a day I decided to just blog it. :)

Just keep in mind I'm new at have no Gluten so somethings might be a little odd...Enjoy!