This is one of those easy, healthy, gluten free meals you make when you really are hungry and don’t want to spend very long cooking.  The meal took me 10 minutes to make and much longer to eat.  The trick to this meal, is to have the ingredients on hand!  I tend to always have these items around and what I don’t have I pick up after I make my menu for the week.

This meal also does not have to stay vegetarian.  You can add in whatever cooked meats you have handy.  Maybe you cooked a chicken the day before and have leftovers you can use. If you eat dairy feel free to add in just a touch of cheese.   I will say we both loved this dish and it was very filling.

So just thinking out loud here but if you have a bunch of people headed over to watch the Final Four this weekend and you want to fill them up, not spend a ton of time in the kitchen and not spend a fortune, serve this.  Make it even easier and grab some gluten free tortilla chips so they can just scoop and eat.  Or heat up the tortillas and let them create their own with an assortment of toppings.  You could slice up some jalapeno peppers, maybe a little sour cream or cheese (dairy or non), different types of salsa (there’s a ton out there), some cooked chicken, beef or pork for your non-vegetarian friends joining you (keep it separate and everyone is happy), shredded lettuce, black olives, and really the list could just go on and on.

But you get my point, this dish is great for a busy night alone or party time with friends.  Home cooked meal that takes less time than running out for a burrito.

Enjoy the Super Bowl, eat well and let’s hope it’s a good game.  Although I can already tell you who wins, Coach Harbaugh!

My favorite day of the year is almost upon us, the Super Bowl.   I love putting together a spread of fun foods to eat that are gluten free and dairy free and watching the game with friends.  This year I’ll be making some of the recipes in my 2013 Cookbook Desk Calendar.  There are some great options that you can make too no matter if you’re hosting or taking a dish to someone else’s party.  If you don’t have a copy of the calendar order it now so you’ll have it in time to cook up the recipes for the big game.  It will help you on the path to living an easy, healthy, gluten free life.

This year there will be a first for the game.  Two brothers are coaching against each other.  Jim Harbaugh for the San Francisco 49ers and John Harbaugh for the Baltimore Ravens.  Can you just imagine their parents and what that would be like?  I’m guessing they’re rooting for both.  Who are you hoping wins the game, Ravens or 49ers?

No matter who wins you’ll want to have some good eats while watching the game and the commercials.  Scroll down and you’ll see each month and some ideas on how to serve them for the big game.  This calendar is a party in a box!

Oh and don’t forget for those who own this cookbook calendar, to go to the last page and grab the Secret Code for the webpage full of photos giving more detailed directions, links to more recipes using the ingredients in these 12, plus a ton more recipes and cooking tips.

January is a must to have at the party, Jicama Tacos or Tostados.  I love guacamole and anytime I can find more creative ways to use it I will.  Here I’ve combined it with purple potatoes and mushrooms or shrimp and bay scallops.

February Little Lasagna Flowers are good since there are in single serve size.  What you use for the flower itself and the filling is totally up to you.  I give you a few suggestions for both.

March would be good if you cut up this Tunisian Frittata and served it on a pizza peel.  You know the wooden paddle you see them pull pizzas from the oven with.  I love that as a serving dish.  Easy to carry over to the coffee table or even to carry around and serve people from.

April is something you may want to keep for the celebration meal the next day when your team wins.  This Garlic Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Prosciutto is a classic but with my twist of Polenta Croutons.

May is something that can be made in a large casserole and your guests can serve themselves this Easy Layered Mexican Casserole.    You could even pair it up with the Jicama Tacos.

June is also a dish you can make in a nice large casserole or lasagna pan.  It also takes just a few minutes to put together and then you pop it into the oven.  With it being winter however I would use canned fire roasted tomatoes instead of fresh for this Oven Roasted Pesto Vegetables Deluxe.

July is the month to use fresh tomatoes for this Can’t Beet California Cobb Salad and since it’s January you’ll want to swap that out for another favorite ingredient if serving it now.  I really like having some type of salad when watching the big game.

August is one of those dishes that looks really hard to make but trust me anyone can do this.  The Summer Vegetable Rosettes you see pictured here was cooked by my husband who is not a cook.  He can make scrambled eggs but doesn’t venture too far from that.  Zucchini is in season during the summer but you can buy it any time of the year.  This recipe uses cashew cream cheese as an option so if you make a batch save some for the many other recipes I’ve shared using that ingredient.

September is one of my favorite fast meals to make, Hash in a Flash.  It uses ingredients you have on hand and is cooked in one pan so clean up is fast.  If you make this serve it in a big bowl and let your guests spoon out as much as they like.

October is a very satisfying and flavorful Smoky Simmering Soup.  It’s one of those great chop and drop recipes right into your slow cooker.  Put it in there in the morning and it will be ready for you at game time.  How easy can it get!

November is another recipe that uses cashew cream cheese.  It’s a wonderful dish for those who want their big game food to be a little fancier.  Cashew Cream Yam Cannelloni served with a bechamel sauce is sure to delight.

December Mushroom Party recipes are perfect for the big game food.  Keep the mushrooms smaller so they are finger foods and not something you’ll need a fork and knife to eat.  I give you three options and the recipes for each.  You can keep them vegetarian and make the Yam Packed Mushrooms or not and make the Crabby Mushrooms or Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.

Enjoy the game, your friends and family and the good food you’ll make.  I hope your team wins!

So, what are you going to make and who do you hope wins the game?

This is a fast gluten free recipe that can be made to taste any way you like.  There really is no end to the possibilities of seasonings you can use.  If you’re looking for something orange to serve for Halloween try the Buffalo Wing Sauce.  Have fun with your food and have a Happy Halloween!

It’s not too soon to start prepping for Thanksgiving if you want to have control over the ingredients in the foods you and your family will be eating and save money. Yes, as you can see I am a bit of a control freak.  I like to save money, pick which ingredients we don’t eat and most of my foods to be organic.  I especially buy organic when it comes to ingredients that fall on the dirty dozen list.  We’ll be eating celery in my stuffing, potatoes will be mashed, spinach, lettuce, sweet bell peppers and cucumbers in a salad, kale in my vegetarian Cashew Cream Yam Cannelloni and green beans as a side dish.

Also as soon as I can place my order for an organic turkey I do so.  I remember the first year I made the switch to organic turkey.  It was by far the best tasting turkey I have ever eaten.  It was juicy and tasted like turkey, instead of just bland.

But for now I’ll just work on the foundations of my turkey and stuffing portion of the meal.  I’ll work on some of the other menu items closer to the date.  For instance I’ll make cashew cream cheese on Tuesday of that week so it will be ready for my Cashew Cream Yam Cannelloni.  That will be the centerpiece for my vegetarian Thanksgiving for my oldest son, Andy.

So this week I got to play more with my new Ninja Cooking System, (sent to me for free).  The more I cook with this the more I really love it.  I steam roasted two organic turkey breasts.  They were on sale for a great price so I had to snag them.  I also wanted them to slice up for lunch and dinners for the coming couple of weeks.  It’s so much better than buying lunchmeat.  Again, control over ingredients.  I get organic, gluten free and sugar free lunch meat plus save money at the same time.  These breasts came out so tender and juicy and it didn’t take long to cook them either.  I put vegetable and chicken stock in the bottom of the Ninja and put the breasts on the roasting rack.

What I was not expecting with this was a beautiful delicious turkey gravy base when I was done cooking the turkey.  You could of course buy things like this at the stores like Williams Sonoma for $10.95.  Here is what is their turkey gravy base:  Water, turkey flavor (chicken stock, salt, autolyzed yeast extract, flavors, hydrolyzed soy protein, maltodextrin, chicken fat, caramel color, soy lecithin), modified food starch, turkey broth, rendered turkey fat, natural flavoring, gdl (an acidifier).  

Can I just say yuck!  So first of all there are many ingredients in here that could contain gluten such as maltodextrin, caramel color, and natural flavoring.  The modified food starch if made from wheat should note this.  Just in case you have never used a turkey gravy base, all you have to do is add in water or milk and you have gravy.

So I made an amazing tasting turkey gravy base for free since it was what was left after steam roasting my turkey.  I also can tell you every ingredient in it and you can even pronounce them.

I then sliced the turkey off the bones and tossed those bones back into the Ninja to make turkey stock.  I ended up with 15 cups of stock.  This will be perfect for making my Gluten Free Stuffing with Pancetta Sage Sausage and the gravy.  This is a huge money saver since I’m using the turkey bones again, some vegetables and water.  The cost for those ingredients was far less than the $20 it would cost to buy that much turkey stock that usually contains sugar, which is off limits for my youngest son.  Besides if I’m eating something with sugar or sweet, I want it to be a dessert.  Again I get to control the ingredients,  save money and keep that easy, healthy, gluten free life!

Did you hear the latest news? Subscribers to The Gluten Free Insider Newsletter had a sneak peek.  Don’t miss out on the news.  

Announcing:

I am very excited to share with you that I have created the ultimate cookbook. Wait until you hear how it works. This is a 2013 Cookbook Desk Calendar. That means it is a calendar and a cookbook that sits on your desk in the size of a CD case!

Each month features a color photo and calendar on the front and an easy recipe on the back. Every recipe is gluten and dairy free plus instructions on how to easily make it Vegetarian, Vegan and Paleo. How cool is that?

I don’t know about your family and friends, but mine all have their own dietary needs. My oldest son is a vegetarian but can’t eat soy, my husband eats Paleo, my youngest son thinks the word vegetable is a swear word and for me it’s strictly gluten and dairy free. Having to juggle these needs and not cook 3 or 4 different main dishes for one meal has taught me how to take one recipe and make it work for everyone at the table.

This is what I’ve shared with you in the 2013 Cookbook Desk Calendar. Each recipe is coded and noted to make cooking a breeze.  I even had my non-cook husband give some a try and he looked like a master chef! Check out the August photograph, that’s his work. 

Each cookbook calendar comes in a clear case that flips open to sit on your desk or your countertop as you are cooking from the recipe. I know, brilliant right? So much goodness in a CD case the size of your hand.

BONUS: Every calendar comes with a special code to a hidden page on The WHOLE Gang website that will include additional recipes, tips, tricks, tools and how to make each recipe suit multiple dietary needs at the same time.  That means cook once and everyone eats!

This 2013 Cookbook Desk Calendar is not only great for you, but it makes a great gift for family, friends, teachers, hostesses, co-workers, employees, clients and that person who has everything. Each calendar comes in it’s own gift/shipping box so you’ll be ready to send them out as gifts. If you are giving them as client gifts there is a space in the back for you to place your business card so they’ll know who to thank!

Pre-Order Special:  I am offering you a special pre-order deal for ordering now. If you order this month you will receive $2 off the list price of $14.95 each. This discount will expire October 31st, 2012.  Even bigger savings the more you order.

Pre-Order Now!

Here’s what some folks are saying:

Hash in a Flash is a great one pot dish the whole family loved, including my 12 year old daughter. – Sara Nicole in Bellflower, California

This Vegan Tunisian Frittata has become a staple in my gluten free kitchen. Prior to making it, I wasn’t convinced that I could make a decent tasting frittata without eggs, but this recipe completely changed my mind. It is beyond delicious and on the first and second day, the leftovers were just as delicious as when it came out of the oven. Try it, you’ll be glad you did! - Ellen Allard, Worchester Massachusetts

We very much enjoyed the Vegan Tunisian Frittata. The recipe is very straight-forward and easy to follow for a quick prep meal. While it would make great leftovers, we’re yet to have any left after a meal–it’s a big hit! I would not hesitate to share this with egg eaters, the tofu is a slick substitute! We now keep a container of the easy harissa on hand so we can make this often.  - Johnna Perry Kansas City, Missouri

12 months of great meals!

• January: Jicama Tacos & Tostados
• February: Little Lasagna Flowers
• March: Tunisian Frittata
• April: Garlic Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Prosciutto
• May: Easy Layered Mexican Casserole
• June:  Oven Roasted Pesto Vegetables Deluxe
• July: Can’t Beet California Cobb Salad
• August: Summer Vegetable Rosettes
• September: Hash in a Flash
• October: Smoky Simmering Soup
• November: Cashew Cream Yam Cannelloni
• December: Mushroom Party

Don’t miss out on this old time favorite.  Salad Niçoise definitley has a list of ingredients needed in order to call it such, but you know me.  I do like to play with my food and I’m not very good with rules.  As a matter of fact I’m not sure I’ve made this salad the same way twice nor have I seen two recipes the same.  I totally change up the way an ingredient is prepared or add in some new ones.  The great thing about this salad is everything is a whole food making it a gluten free recipe and keeping with our easy, healthy, gluten free life.

Here are two examples of recent versions.

Now it’s your turn to share what’s in your gluten free Salad Niçoise.

Do you love those quick and easy recipes where you can get dinner on the table in less then 20 minutes?  Me too.  Anything to keep that easy, healthy, gluten free life accessible.   Here is an old standby that was inspired by Tacos el Pastor.  It includes quick fry pork chops, pineapples and beans.  It’s great served with a side salad or just toss it on top of the plate!  If you have any guacamole hanging around by all means add it to the plate.  Enjoy this gluten free recipe and let me know what you add on your plate.

This was shared on gluten free easily.

Say goodbye to summer with a quick gluten free quesadilla .  Grab that basil growing in the garden and those delicious tomatoes before they are gone for the season.  Make a pesto and add it to a tortilla with avocado and chicken and you have a meal!   Oh and did I mention how great these are for game day when you want to watch the game and not be stuck in the kitchen!

This was so delicious I had a hard time not making it every day.  Well I did for a couple days in a row but who could blame me.  I love pesto and the health benefits of basil makes it even sweeter.  This is a great way to use up any cooked protein you have around and can be made start to finish in about 15 minutes.  Now that helps with that easy healthy gluten free life.  You can also keep this vegetarian and vegan by not adding in the chicken. Beans make a nice sub here.

This is another fast and easy summer gluten free recipe to help you use what’s fresh and in season and spend more time enjoying the summer.  This uses that fun new kitchen tool I’ve been playing in the kitchen with.  It can help you make really fast, delicious and nutritious meals.

I served these with the Chick and Pork Balls.  Again another recipe working to help you live an easy healthy gluten free life.

You can keep this totally vegetarian and vegan by serving it with beans, tofu or your favorite protein.  Or just serve it alone.  It doesn’t need any help on the plate to make it a meal.

Both of these recipes use what I found fresh at the farmer’s market.  If you find something different, change up this recipe and please let me know what you created.  This was shared on Wellness Weekend.

I’m talking of course of the latest meatball craze.  Meatballs are so hot there are meatball only restaurants and cookbooks.  They have recipes for Goat Balls and Bunny Balls.  Don’t think I’m trying either of those.

We’ve been eating a variety of meatballs around here for some time.  I love to make them because there are fast, easy and you can put just about anything into them.  They make great every day food, party food, special occasion food, can be served alone, with a side dish, in a soup or in a sandwich and are easy to make as a gluten free recipe.

I’ve made Meatballs with a Heart, Chicken Meatballs, Simply Dressed Meatballs, North African Meatballs, and the traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs.  With the price of meats increasing I’m sure I will be making more balls from assorted foods.  What’s the most interesting ones you’ve made or eaten?

I am loving only cooking for 5 or 10 minutes and having a meal that fits my easy healthy gluten free life.  Once you get the process of these gluten free recipes down you can start to change up the ingredients and create your own set of 5 minute meals.

This one is great for any meal of the day.  This one I created for lunch and served it with a gluten free wrap of green leafy vegetables and sliced meats.

If you get my newsletter you’ve already seen this cool gadget and gotten these two recipes.  What you’re not receiving the newsletter!  Sign up now so you get the scoop first, plus any offers and discounts will be in that newsletter.  Click Here for more info.

Love this new kitchen gadget! I don’t know why I waited so long to get one. I’ve seen others use it and thought wow that looks cool but really, can’t I just do that with a knife?

I could if I had all day to prepare my meals. If you have endless hours to prepare your meals no need to read on any further.

However if you want to have an easy healthy gluten free life, lots of fun, make great meals and have people who don’t typically eat vegetables start asking for second helpings, well check this out.

For lunch I made a Cucumber and Tomato Salad.

For dinner I made a Zucchini and Squash Pesto Pasta which had no grains in it whatsoever.

Oh the fun I’m going to have with this tool.

So I’ll share the recipes for these two dishes along with the great boulettes de poulet et de porc au pesto.

I just love heading to the farmer’s market without a shopping list.  It leaves me open to finding great foods and often new things I’ve never tried before.  Then I bring them home and start tossing a bunch in a pan for a hash, into a bowl for a salad or into a baking dish to roast up.  It’s all good and will keep you living that easy healthy gluten free life.

This hash was created from my latest trip to the market.  Feel free to change up the ingredients according to what you like and what you find at your farmer’s market.  I served this with my 5 Minute Dover Sole.

If you are looking for a really fast meal then make a hash with what you pick up from the farmer’s market and grab an easy, less expensive fish like Dover Sole.  This is truly an easy healthy gluten free recipe.

This fish takes 2 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to cook.  It’s a great dish for any day or night of the week, for a family meal or when you are having company over and you’d rather spend it with them and not cooking the whole time.

Are you heading out to watch fireworks for the 4th of July and taking a picnic with you?  Maybe you’re heading out to a party or potluck and you want to take something with you so you know you will get to eat a safe meal.  Here are a few of my favorite easy healthy gluten free recipes to make and take.  Have a great week and enjoy the holiday.

Pesto Chicken Salad

Three Onion Wild Tuna Fish Salad

Seven Minute Egg Salad

Organic Chicken Salad

Buffalo Chicken Idaho Potato Salad

Chili Shrimp and Chicken

Fruit Kebobs

Cucumber and Onion Salad

Blueberry and Blackberry Crumble Pie

Crustless Chocolate Pecan Pie

Quinoa Salad

Vinaigrette Potato Salad

Garlic Hummus

Guaco Tacos

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Recently I had the pleasure to hang out with fellow gluten free food bloggers and what a time we had.  We spent a lot of the time eating of course and then taking pictures of the food.  We were in an amazing setting in the woods that was so peaceful except for our giggling fits.

One of the meals we shared was a Dairy Free Cheese Fondue.  We dipped gluten free bagette, broccoli and cauliflower florets into the creamy fondue.  We also had a side of Sweet Italian Sausage that we could dip into the cheese on our plate so we could keep the fondue pot vegetarian for our vegetarian guests.

photo credit Gluten-Free Cat

This is not the first time I’ve made this fondue recipe.  My youngest son requested it for his birthday and after I made it the first time I was totally hooked.  I know if you give this a try you will be too.  This recipe is not mine but one from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook: Delicious Dairy-Free Cheeses and Classic “Uncheese” Dishes.  I choose the Chedda Fondue from the selection of fondue recipes.  Yes there are quite a few in there like Pizza, Swiss, Smoky, Classic, Pub, and South-of-the-Border Fondue.

Not only are there fondue recipes but all of your favorite cheese recipes that are all non-dairy.  Each recipe is noted if it is vegan, gluten free, soy free, and more.  If you are living dairy free and miss that cheesy gooeyness, check out this book.

We made a single batch and I don’t think we had any leftovers.  When I made it for my son and two friends we did have some leftovers because he also had a broth fondue and a chocolate fondue to fill them up.  I took the chedda leftovers and mixed it into cooked pasta to make Mac & Cheese. Yum!

If you’re like me and there are certain cookbooks you really like to travel with but you don’t want to carry all your cookbooks, put them on your Kindle or iPad.  You can get The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook for your Kindle and be reading it right now.

For a more visual representation of this amazing fondue check out this short video.

Dairy Free Chedda Fondue Gluten Free Recipe

photo credit Gluten-Free Cat

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups water or plain nondairy milk  (I used unsweetened Almond Milk)

1 cup roasted red peppers (skin and seeds removed), or pimento pieces (I used a jar of organic roasted peppers)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 cup  raw cashews, or 1/3 cup cashew butter  (I used the raw cashews)

1/3 cup  quick-cooking rolled oats, or 1/4 cup flour (any kind, your choice)  (I used sorghum flour)

1/4 cup kuzu, arrowroot, or cornstarch  ( I used arrowroot)

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoon sesame tahini

1 Tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

1/4 teaspoon each paprika and grated nutmeg

Instructions:

Place all the ingredient in a blender and process several minutes until the mixture is completely smooth.  Pour into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to low, and continue to stir and cook a few minutes longer until thick and smooth.  Transfer to a fondue pot and keep warm over a very low flame.

Makes 4 cups (about 7-8 servings)

This opulent fondue is fabulous with button mushrooms, cauliflower chunks, bell pepper squares and cutes of sesame or her-seasoned whole-grain bread (gluten free for me!)

From The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, copyright Jo Stepaniak, reprinted by permission of the author.

Now I want to hear from you!  Let me know if you’ve tried this and what you think.  Also, what would you do with the leftovers, if you have any?

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

The other day I made a quick and easy lunch that I offered to share with my husband.  He refused stating he didn’t like cauliflower.  I reminded him he’s eaten it on many occasions and really liked it.  He then added “that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.”  Well he shared this story along with some great leadership points on his Next Level Blog.   He had many requests for my recipe so thank you to all who asked.

So today I’m sharing this fast and easy recipe you can make for any meal.  Yes you can make this for breakfast too.  If you are wedded to eggs scramble a few and serve alongside.  I like to munch on some sunflower seeds or a few almonds with this dish too.

Here is one of my secrets on making this meal fast.  I have an amazing Spice Tiffin that was created by Anupy Singla Gupta.  I love this and I’m seriously considering converting all of my other spices to these containers.   All I need to do is scoop out my spices using one of the two measuring spoons that comes with the tiffin and the cool half moon catch to level off that measurement and I’m set.  You know if I put my baking supplies in one of these I might actually bake.  It makes measuring and getting to these ingredients so fast and easy.  I’m in love.  When I purchased my tiffin I also made sure to get the spices.  I’ve been using them ever since and you know I’m one of those sensitive gluten free gals so they are good to go.

Anupy also wrote a great cookbook that I originally bought for my son when he was in college, The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes (affiliate link).  Authentic, easy and healthy recipes to cook up in your crockpot.  How great is that!

Here is my recipe for today.  I’d love to hear from you what you love to cook up that makes an easy healthy gluten free meal.  This recipe was shared for Allergy Free Wednesdays on Tessa The Domestic Diva.

OK I know this is going to sound totally crazy to some and I can’t believe it myself, but this “go insane every spring from seasonal allergies gal” has left this body.  Yep it is now April and where I live all of the trees have bloomed, shed and now have leaves on them.  People are out cutting their grass and flowers are popping up everywhere.  Even the cherry blossoms came early.  What am I doing?  I’m out walking in the beautiful spring sunshine taking deep clear breaths and super excited.

Every year I have spent miserable in the Spring.  I don’t bother to wear eye makeup because I’ll rub it off as I just about rub my eyes out of their sockets.  My ears will itch.  My throat will itch.  My tongue will itch.  My skin will itch.  My nose would run in both directions.  I couldn’t walk around the block without making sure I had something to drink for when I start gagging on the pollen.  Once they changed the laws around my OTC allergy medicines like Claritin, I would be frantic that when I could go get my next box, only one per week,  they would be out.  Sometimes they were and I’d have to drive around to 5 different places looking for them.

So what is this magic cure?

I gave up sugar and started drinking different green smoothies.  Yeah I know that sounds too easy or too impossible.  So by now some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, yeah like that is going to work.  Well I say what do you have to lose except maybe saving your eyeballs from being rubbed out of your head and your poor nose from too many tissues.

This all started with my detox that I actually started 2 weeks before the one on my blog, and kept refining it as I went.  Actually I feel so much better I’m really not ready to let in too many of the other foods again.  You know that saying, nothing tastes as feeling good feels.

Remove this!

Here is what I removed:

The only sugars I ate were from fruit for the first 3 weeks.  The last week I added a tsp of Raw Manuka Honey to my hot tea.

Taking the sugar out of my body helped keep the inflammation down and not trigger that antihistamine reaction.  Not eating the simple carbs and wine kept the body from converting that to the sugars that cause inflammation and weight gain.

Add this!

Then I did the second part of this equation, I added in antioxidant and anti-imflammatory foods.  This helped the body fight off those horrible allergic reactions to the pollen.  Adding in green vegetables and whole foods makes this even more appealing.  I like adding more than removing but both are key.

Here is what I added to my days:

Now obviously these were not all tossed into a smoothie.  So I’ll share with you the recipe for two of my favorite smoothies.

Like how I snuck in exercise to the list.

Oh and before you get all mesmerized by the green smoothies, let me address your doubts.  First feel free to google avoiding sugar to allevate seasonal allergies.  I did this post experiment and found tons of articles.  Wish I would have read some first.

Next there is one thing you need to know about me, I hate whining.  If something is bothering me or you, then I say let’s do something about it.  If your allergies are any way as close to annoying as mine where they interfere with your life, than what do you have to lose.  Give this a try.   Add in the good food and by all means get rid of that sugar.  Try it just for 30 days.  Give your body time to process all of the gunk out.  I’ll warn you however, once your body realizes you are going to give it amazing foods it will start doing amazing things for you.   Oh and it will ask you keep these on the menu.

Green Ginger Goodness Smoothie

Ingredients:

4 kale leaves ripped into pieces, I love the dino kale

1 organic green apple, cored and cut into chunks

1 organic rib of celery cut into chunks

3-4 inch piece of organic cucumber cut into chunks

1-2 inch piece of ginger peeled and cut into chunks

1 organic lemon, cut the rind off and if you can find the seeds grab them but not necessary

1-2 TB organic chia seeds

4 ice cubes

1/2-1 cup filtered water

Instructions:

toss all of the ingredients into you Vita Mix.  If you don’t have a strong blender you can still make the smoothie you will just need to blend it longer to get that smooth texture.  You may want to add the water slowly until you get the consistency you like.

Pour into a tall glass and grab a straw!

Green Good Morning Smoothie

Ingredients:

4 kale leaves ripped into pieces, I love the dino kale

1 organic kiwi, peeled and cut into chunks

3-4 inch piece of organic cucumber cut into chunks

1 organic green apple, cored and cut into chunks

1 organic lemon, cut the rind off and if you can find the seeds grab them but not necessary

1 grab of organic parsley

1/4- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, just shake it 4-6 times

1-2 TB organic chia seeds

4 ice cubes

1/2-1 cup filtered water

Instructions:

toss all of the ingredients into you Vita Mix.  If you don’t have a strong blender you can still make the smoothie you will just need to blend it longer to get that smooth texture.  You may want to add the water slowly until you get the consistency you like.

Pour into a tall glass and grab a straw!

Now I want to hear from you!

Has anyone else had the same experience?  Do you think I’m totally off my rocker?  Are you willing to give it a try?  What’s your favorite green smoothie?

Hummus is the one thing that 3 out of 4 of people in my home will eat.  It’s vegetarian, a protein, as flavorful as you want and can be changed up in many ways and used with so many meals.  The two favorites at our house is this Garlic Hummus and my Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  I’m experimenting to see what else I can toss in there to change up the flavor.  I just got a jar of peppadews and I’m thinking of giving that a go.  What about you?  What flavor hummus do you like?  Kalamata Olive, Sun Dried Tomato, Artichoke or Extra Spicy?

Now I’m sure you want to know my secret ingredient.  It’s the one thing that is the difference between a passable hummus and a really good  lick the bowl hummus.  It’s all in the tahini sauce.  I’ve tried 5 or 6 different brands, some organic and some not.  No one will even eat my hummus unless I use the Joyva Sesame Tahini.  It really does make all the difference in the world.  You can find this in most grocery stores but just in case you can’t I’ve shared my affiliate link.

If you want to make this dish for pennies instead of dollars, start with dried chick peas.  You can soak them all day and then toss them into the crockpot on low to cook overnight.  Drain the next morning and put in the refrigerator to cool.  They will be ready to mix up into the most amazing hummus and you will have saved a bundle.  Oh and you won’t have to worry about spending extra for a BPA free can to get BPA free chickpeas.

What you can serve with your hummus is also a long list of possibilities and all of these are gluten free of course.  Red, yellow or orange bell pepper strips, carrots, cucumbers, celery, radish, tomatoes, rice crackers, falafel, gluten free pita, chicken or lamb skewers.

What a great spread you could make with this for your Super Bowl party.  Mix us different flavors and have a large assortment of great things to dip into the hummus.  Keep in mind dipping your finger adds no additional calories, just keep that to your own plate.

Here is a tip from an ex-caterer.  You can make a big splash at your party with your serving containers.  For parties I like to put the hummus into scooped out red cabbage, green cabbage, peppers, and tomatoes.  People will think you had an expensive caterer create your spread but you can just smile and said you did it all!

Ingredients:

15 oz garbanzo beans BPA free can or cardboard container

2-3 TB Joyva Sesame Tahini

1 lemon juiced

1 tsp cumin

3 cloves of garlic or 3 tsp majestic garlic original or 1 whole bulb or roasted garlic

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 – 1 tsp sea salt

1/3- 1/2 cup organic olive oil

Zaatar

Organic Olive Oil for the top

Directions:

Add to your food processor the chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, salt and peppers.

Turn on the processor and pour the oil in from the top.  You’ll want a creamy consistency.

Stop and taste and then adjust your seasonings and add more oil if you want it a little more creamy.

When serving drizzle the top with olive oil or create a crater in the center and add the garlic there.

I like to sprinkle on the Zaatar on top.

If you want to make this into the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus add in 2 whole large roasted red peppers, no seeds.

I love a quick meal, especially one that yields leftovers to keep me stocked in chicken legs for the month.  This is my version of that old classic shake and bake.  All you do is toss the ingredients into a plastic bag, shake it up and then bake.

You can of course use this recipe with any cut of chicken but the drumsticks are a really good value and they are very flavorful.  They also make great party foods because it comes with it’s own handle!  You can serve them for the big game.

You can also change up the spices to change the taste.  You can make it a little more spicy by adding in some smoked paprika instead of the sweet paprika and bump up the cayenne pepper a little.  For another option you can serve it with different dipping sauces.

Ingredients:

1-2 cups of garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup sweet paprika

1/2 tsp red and black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp toasted onion powder

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

large package of organic chicken legs

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into the bag, shake and then place onto a foil or parchment paper lined large cookie sheet.  Place into a 375 degree preheated oven.  Cook for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Serve with your favorite vegetables like Roasted Pee Wee Potatoes with Mushrooms and Green Beans.

This is one of those foods that once you make it, it will become a highly requested regular on your menu.  If you take it or make it for your Super Bowl party it will be all they talk about.   It’s hard to describe but the garlic is not overpowering and it totally lures you in and then makes you keep eating.

The secret ingredient for this pizza is the Majestic Garlic.  I found this at the farmers market in California in October when hanging out with some amazing gals.  I was cooking that night so I made a version of this pizza but instead of chicken we had fresh shrimp.  I cooked them up in a little of the leftover bacon grease.  Just a little adds so much flavor to the shrimp.

This pizza was destined for chicken since that is what I had on hand.  It was already cooked so I just warmed it up with some cooked bacon.  If you are cooking the chicken or shrimp for the pizza and you have a little bacon, pancetta, pepperoni or salami around toss it in together.  Oh and just a dab of the bacon grease if you have that.

As for the Majestic Garlic paste you will want to get your hands on some of this.  As you know garlic has been found to have many healthful properties.  It is said to have antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal activity and to help prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer.  Oh and rumor has it that it keeps away vampires.

The garlic pastes they sell come in many different flavors.  For this pizza I used the Sun-dried Tomato - Jalapeño.  For the Sausage and Bean Bake I shared in my newsletter, The WHOLE-istic Life, I used the Basil.  There is also Cilantro, Cayenne, Curry, Cucumber – Mint, Dill, Jalapeño and Original.  I’ve had almost every one and I’ve loved them all.  You can view their presentation to learn more about their products.  Once you taste it you’ll know why they are a 6 time winner of America’s Best Food Award.

I must admit when I first tried these and brought them home with me from California I tried for days to recreate the taste.  Well after tons of garlic and no success I called them and begged them to ship me some.  That was when I learned they were just about to start doing just that.  It took a couple of months to set up their system and my first order just arrived.

If you are a fan of hummus they make that also and it is amazing.  I’m thinking they must use some of their original paste in the hummus.  For those interested the products are raw and vegan so if you wanted to build a raw pizza this would be an ideal ingredient.

I hope you will give this recipe a try and please remember if you are not using this garlic paste it will in no way whatsoever taste anything like this recipe.  If you go online and order please tell them I sent you.  I do not receive any money from them and they have not given me any product for free or asked me to endorse them.  I just am in total love with this product.

Majestic Garlic Chicken and Vegetable Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

Pizza crust (I use Udi’s)

2 TB Majestic Garlic Sun Dried Tomato & Jalapeño flavor

1 small organic onion chopped

1 organic bell pepper chopped

1 organic zucchini rough chopped

2 portobello mushrooms sliced (can use your favorite mushroom)

1 organic chicken breast cooked (if uncooked cook it up in a little coconut oil and a dab of bacon grease)

2 slices organic uncured bacon cooked

Directions:

First you’ll want to prep all of your toppings.  I like to cook up the vegetables so they start to soften and caramelize.  I only cook one ingredient at a time so there is room in the pan to brown.  Also I keep my vegetables separate so my vegetarian son can eat too.  Once that is done you can create your pizza.

Spread the garlic paste onto the pizza shell.  Then I topped it with all of the vegetables.

Lastly the  meats if you are having any.  I like to warm up the bacon with the chicken prior to putting it onto the pizza.

Bake at a preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes and serve.

If you want to keep it totally vegetarian leave off any meats or seafood.  If you want to keep it vegan you’ll need to find a base that has no eggs or honey in it either which can be done.

What could be better on a cold winter morning but hanging out with your family eating a nice warm breakfast that was fast and easy to make?  Maybe if you’re getting presents that day too!  Here is something that can help with the warm fast and easy breakfast.  The rest is up to you.

This is one of those recipes I have a hard time calling a recipe.  To me it’s more like a method.  It is easily made gluten free, dairy free, soy free and even vegetarian all in one muffin tin.  Having said that my math minded son figured out with all of the possibilities I’ve shared here, you could make 392 different versions and I didn’t even give you all the possible choices!

Easy Egg Cups with 392 Possibilities

First decide what you want as the base layer.  You can use thin slices of ham, turkey, prosciutto,cooked slices of bacon,  cooked sausage, cooked chorizo, smoked salmon, small corn tortilla, hash browns, flattened slice of gluten-free bread, spinach, kale, tomatoes, empty baked potato skin or anything else you can come up with to include.

Next you need an egg for each cup.

Then you can add in some cheese if you like even if it’s Daiya dairy, gluten and soy free.  If you eat dairy try parmesan, marscarpone, manchego, cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, or even cream cheese.

If your base layer is more on the neutral side like a tortilla, bread, potato and the like, you probably want to add in some spices.  Think about the flavors you enjoy.  Do you want Italian spices, Mexican, French or maybe even Spanish.  Just keep in mind these are small cups and dried herbs are more intense in flavor than fresh.

Now that you have layered your favorites into the greased muffin tins or ramekins, place into a 375 degree pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the whites are cooked.  Mine took 22 minutes.

When they are done use a straight spatula to losen around the edges and place onto a plate to serve immediately.  Garnish your plate with a little fruit and you have a great meal that looks amazing and really all you did was layer a few items into a muffin tin.

Below will be Ham and Cheese or Tortilla Chili Egg Cups but please do not be limited by this.  Use some of the possibilities mentioned above and have fun!

One idea to engage the troops is to place the items out on the counter and let people put what they want into their pre-greased cup or muffin tin.  Put it into the oven while you open presents on Christmas morning and when you’re done breakfast will be served.  Keep in mind this is not just an idea for Christmas morning but for any morning, afternoon or evening.

I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season no mater what you’re celebrating and a Happy New Year!  I’m taking a little time off to spend with my family and I hope you get to do the same.  If you’ve missed any of my newsletters, including the last one with a big announcement, visit my WHOLE-istic Life newsletter page.    If you are looking for some gift giving ideas check out my Favorites page.

 Have a wonderful holiday season, stay safe and please cook good food for the people you love.

Do you have guests with different food allergies or intolerances in your family?  Maybe they just don’t like the same ingredients in their salad?  It’s Thanksgiving and they’re all coming to your house for dinner, so what’s a host to do?

Individual Stacked Salads, of course!

The beauty of these salads is you can make them the day before, cover and store them in the refrigerator and bring the salads out as you sit down to your meal.  How great is that?!?  Salads are always the last thing you’re thinking about and they can sometimes get left off until dinner is almost over and then you jump up and run to get them.  Oh wait, that’s me.  You can also make these salads the same day and let those who want to help in the kitchen keep busy.  You can even have everyone make their own if they are feeling creative.  Simply set out the ingredients, including your dressings, and let them build their own.

Let your creativity out and build your favorite salads in a glass.  Add in what you like, remove what you don’t like or can’t eat.  Mix and match ingredients and you could have a different salad almost everyday, not just holidays.

My salads here are made using the Simply Dressed Salad Dressings from Marzetti.  I had a lot of fun creating these salads and having the dressings all ready to go was great.  These are sweet and tasty dressings that are gluten free and some are dairy free too.  You can read my recent review of their products.

Serve your salads on a plate.  When ready to eat, place the plate on top of the salad, hold tight, and then flip it over.  Slowly and gently pull the glass up and your salad will be completely dressed on your plate.  This is not something I would let your younger  or older guests attempt on their own.  You can even do this yourself and serve them on the plate ready to eat.

Here is the formula to follow for your Individual Stacked Salads.

First you want to prepare all of the ingredients you’ll layer in the glasses.  When you assemble them you’ll want everything at your fingertips.  I LOVE my Spiral Vegetable Slicer  (affiliate link).  It makes any vegetable look appealing even to those who say they don’t like vegetables.    (affiliate link).  It makes any vegetable look appealing even to those who say they don’t like vegetables.  

Grab a short tumbler glass with straight sides. I bought my glasses at Pier One Imports.  Add your dressing first, about 1 – 2 TB.  I used 2 TB, the serving size on the Simply Dressed Salad Dressing labels.

The next layer is something that can sit in the dressing without absorbing it all or making it wilt if you are making these the day before.  Tomatoes, onions, olives, peppers, carrots and such.

Then layer away.  Think about how the layers will look next to each other.  Color and textures are key.

Make sure you lightly press these layers into place so you can keep it compact.  This will also help if you want to have the salad hold this shape when you flip it.  I don’t care either way, stacked on the plate or scattered to fill the plate, it all tastes great.

Oh and here is the best part, there is no wrong way to layer these salads.

You can also use this method with just about any salad recipe you have.  Take the list of ingredients and layer them instead of adding them to a bowl and mixing.  Here are a few salad ideas to choose from to get you started:

Chopped Salad

Pineapple, Bacon and Arugula

Vegan Slow Roasted Tomato and White Bean Salad

Grilled Jicama Bean Salad

Deadly Serious Beet and Spinach Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad

Vegan Jicama Salad

A Little Crunch of Cabbage 

Golden Beet, Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad

Arugula, Pear and Pomegranate Salad

Here are some of the stacked salads that I’ll be serving to my family:

Pictured here:

Simply Dressed Balsamic Salad Dressing with tomatoes, red onions, fennel, red peppers, spinach and beets.

Simply Dressed Ranch Salad Dressing with tomatoes, zucchini, red onions, cucumbers, mushrooms, hard boiled egg, romaine lettuce and carrots.

Simply Dressed Pomegranate Salad Dressing with tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, carrots, romaine lettuce and golden beets.

Other ideas:

Simply Dressed Champagne Salad Dressing with tomatoes, red onion, fennel, bacon, and romaine.

Simply Dressed Strawberry Poppyseed Salad Dressing with tomatoes, onions, spinach, almonds, dried cranberries and mushrooms.

Simply Dressed Caesar Salad Dressing with romaine, onions, cheese, kale, and jicama.

Simply Dressed Greek Feta Salad Dressing with tomatoes, olives, red onions, cucumber, green peppers, parsley and feta cheese.

Disclaimer:  “I was one of six bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company to be a Simply Dressed Ambassador. They compensated me for my time, however, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.”

And now it’s your turn.  Here is your virtual salad bar.  Let me know what combinations you choose for your Individual Stacked Salads.

Leafy Greens

Vegetables

Protein

Fruit

Crunchy

Herbs and Starch

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When life gets too crazy or just too overwhelming, I cook.  I love to cook and spending a day in the kitchen really relaxes me.  Of course we then end up with tons of cooked food.  Funny these need to cook days are not scheduled and don’t happen to coincide with lots of people being at my house to eat all of this food.

Yesterday was one of those days.  I worked on creating some new recipes with new products.  I made some of my favorite comfort foods and I also worked on key ingredients needed for our Thanksgiving meal.

When I was at the grocery I picked up some turkey legs and wings, a beautiful chuck roast that was on sale, Sockeye Salmon and Lemon Sole both on sale, a long package of chicken drumsticks also on sale and two large pork butts which I asked the butcher to run through the grinder once.  As you can see I do love the sales.

Our refrigerators are now full of the following dishes and if there are any you would like me to share the recipe for,  I am more than happy to.

So yesterday I woke up early and decided I was going to cook.  I started with roasting the turkey parts at 450 degrees for 25 minutes along with onions and garlic.  When that was done I put the roasting pan on my stove, added in cold filtered water, fresh parsley and thyme sprigs, course Celtic Sea Salt, fresh cracked peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves.  Oh and the secret ingredient is apple cider vinegar with the mother.  I brought it to a boil, turned it down to simmer and covered it with foil.  This cooked from 7 am until 10pm.  It needs to cook for many hours and you can do this in a crockpot too.  I strained the stock, put it into all of those jars I save from salsas, sauces, sauerkraut and pickles.  I labeled it turkey stock and let it cool in the refrigerator.  This morning it went into the freezer and it will come back out for my Thanksgiving stuffing and gravy.  Making stock with bones is extremely good for you.  Read more here on all the benefits.

While the oven was still hot from the turkey, I made my version of shake and bake chicken legs.  These are super easy and very tasty.  They freeze up great and are perfect for the lunch box or meal at home.

I then got busy with the ground pork.  I had tons of it so I made my Pancetta Sage Sausage and froze it in portions for Thanksgiving stuffing.  I may use some of it around Christmas for Chipolatas too.  Then I made my Chorizo and froze that in useable portions.

I also made amazing little meatballs with some of the ground pork and ground turkey and a special ingredient that was given to me.  I’ll be posting this recipe soon.  You’ll want to make these for company.

With the last of the ground pork I made a sauce in the crockpot that I’ll use over pasta.  I sautéed shallots and shiitake mushrooms and then browned the pork.  Tossed in some fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  I added in  some pork stock that I had saved when cooking off a previous pork butt.  Always save the stock these meats make.

I had also purchased fish so I really needed to cook that.  The salmon I broiled with olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper.  I served it with green beans with a little butter (Earth Balance soy free) and lemon squeezed on top.  Simple and yum!

It was requested that the lemon sole filets be breaded and fried.  This is what a cast iron skillet was made to do!  So I tossed the fish in a gluten free flour, dipped it into an egg and almond milk wash, and then rolled it in the good almond flour from Honeyville.  Fried it in a mix of coconut oil and olive oil and sprinkled it with a little salt.  So much better than those fish sticks in a box.  Oh and my secret is to sprinkle some garlic powder into the flour and onion powder and sea salt into the almond flour.  Shhh, don’t tell anyone.  Seasoning the first layer onto the protein and then the last layer or I should say the first layer you taste, is key to that saying, it has depth of flavor.

I happen to have more than one crockpot which comes in really handy.  I have different sizes and use them at least once a week.  I made a dish in the crockpot that I had made in the oven at the beach.  It was cannellini beans with sausage and a special garlic paste.  I have to say I liked the oven method the best but for pure comfort foods this dish is wonderful.  I’ll work on sharing this recipe too as it can feed a ton of people with not a lot of money or effort.

Last but not least is my Oven Roasted Beef Stew – one of my favorite comfort foods.  I made a huge pot full in my wonderful Le Creuset round French oven.  I’ll portion this out in my soup mugs and freeze it for those cold days when I really want a bowl of beef stew.  This is another one of those dishes that I think tastes the best cooked in the oven although the crockpot is a good second option.  Again one of the keys is that bone broth that not only tastes great but is really good for you.

When it was all said and done, I had created 8 dishes yesterday.   I then settled down with a nice glass of wine to see who was kicked off The Next Iron Chef.

So, what do you do to relax?

What recipes would you like me to share?

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This is one of my favorite fall recipes for a gluten and dairy free comfort food meal.  It’s easy to make since I use the crockpot.  It’s also a meal that is not expensive since leg quarters are usually a better deal.  You can always use a whole chicken cut into pieces if you prefer.

Ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia I’ve been reading through Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. There are so many wonderful classic master recipes that are delicious but, many contain gluten and dairy. Julia loves butter. There are also many recipes that are time and labor intensive and they taste amazing. So many of us are driving all around to sports games for our kids and mettings here and there and we’re just always on the go.  I however still want to eat a delicious meal that tastes like I spent hours making it, but it has to fit into my schedule and I’m guessing you do to.

In cooking these dishes I had time earlier in the day to prepare. I knew we would want to eat almost as soon as we got home from my hectic day.   I also knew that it would be late and I’d be tired. With this schedule I prepared the chicken and cooked it in my crockpot during the day. I also cooked the Noodles with Mushrooms right then, covered it and placed it into the refrigerator. All I would need to do when it was time to eat was reheat in the microwave.

Let me tell you the depth of flavor in this dish was amazing. I never missed all of the butter the original recipe called for or the gluten filled flour. I did change a few other things around for this dish too. The original recipe had onions and mushrooms with the chicken and a suggestion of rice or buttered noodles as the side. I just moved the mushrooms to hang out with the noodles. Julia also suggests for an additional vegetable try buttered peas or asparagus tips. Both sound good to me.

This recipe made 5-6 servings so you know what I did. I put the leftovers immediately into the freezer. This time however I placed it into containers as a meal with both the Chicken Fricassee and Noodles with Mushrooms together, topped with the sauce. Now all I have to do is pull it out, reheat and I’ll have an amazing dinner in 6 minutes. How cool is that!

Oh and by the way, this meal was super cheap to make. Chicken leg quarters are usually below $1 per pound and go on sale a lot. Next time they do, grab a large package and put it into the freezer until you’re ready to use them. Or better yet try this recipe right away and freezer the leftovers. You can also make this dish with a roasting chicken but Julia suggests never using a younger chicken such as a broiler. The flesh is so soft and tender that it will dry out and get stringy. I love her tips!

Chicken Fricassee with Noodles and Mushrooms Recipe

Ingredients:

5-6 organic Chicken Leg Quarters

2 organic onions, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

4 cups gluten free chicken stock, heated

1 cup white wine

1-2 tsp thyme

1-2 tsp parsley

1-2 bay leaves

Sea Salt & Pepper

Sorghum Flour

Corn Starch

Arrowroot Slurry – large tsp of arrowroot mixed with cold water, 2-1 ratio

Gluten-Free Noodles with Mushrooms

8.8 ounce bag of Tagliatelle Noodles by Glutano or your favorite

12 Cremini Mushrooms

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread- Soy Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free

Chicken Fricassee awaiting stock

Directions:

Start off by prepping your vegetables. Slice your onions, peel and slice the carrots and wipe off the mushrooms with a damp cloth and slice them. Before you can put everything into the crockpot you need to brown the meat and saute the vegetables. My crockpot insert is a non-stick pan but if yours is enamel you need to use another pan. You also should make your flour mixture on a plate to have ready for your chicken. I used a ratio of 4 to 1 of sorghum flour to corn starch. Mix in your salt and pepper too.

Heat your pan and oil on medium high, add in the onions. When they start to brown take 1/3 out and reserve for the chicken dish. Add in the mushrooms to the pan and let them brown. These mushrooms and onions will be paired with the noodles. After the mushrooms brown salt and pepper to taste and add 1/2 tsp each of parsley and thyme. If you salt your mushrooms when you first put them into the pan they will release their liquid and not brown.

Remove the onions and mushrooms to the reheating/serving dish for your noodles. Next saute your carrots, then remove and add to the onions that will go into the crockpot with your chicken.

Now it’s time to brown the skin of the chicken. Make sure you have oil in your pan and that your chicken is dry. If it’s wet you will steam it instead of browning it. Brown the chicken on all sides. I did mine in batches. As each piece was done, and this took approximately 3-5 minutes per side, I pulled them out and placed them on a plate of the flour mixture. You will want to dust each side of the chicken with this mixture.

After you have done that with each piece of chicken you need to put the chicken back into that pan and cook the flour on the chicken for just a few minutes. At this point you can place your chicken into the crockpot. Add in the reserved onion, carrots and the wine.

Pour some of your heated chicken stock into the pan where you were browning the chicken and cooking the vegetables. You will want to get all of that flavor off of the pan to go into the crockpot with your chicken. Now pour that chicken stock into the crockpot along with the remaining stock. You want the liquid to cover 3/4 of the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with 1 tsp each thyme and parsley and add a bay leaf to the stock.

Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

After that was set I quickly boiled the noodles in filtered water, drained them, tossed them with a little Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread and the mushroom and onions. Since I was not eating this until dinner it went right into the refrigerator.

When your chicken is done, the hardest part I found was getting it out of the crockpot with the leg still attached to the thigh. It was so tender and juicy that some separated. I put the chicken onto a platter and covered it with foil until I was done with the sauce.

Left behind in your crockpot is the most amazing sauce. All you need to do is strain it over a sauce pot, bring it up to a boil and add in your arrowroot slurry. You can thicken it as much or as little as you like. With coating the chicken with flour and cornstarch to begin with, the stock that you strain out with not be thin, but have a little body to it. It can also have clumps of flour that probably won’t taste as good, so straining it does make a difference.

I heated the Noodles with Mushrooms in the microwave and served both that, and the Chicken Fricassee, with sauce on top. It was a wonderful meal.

This recipe was originally posted in 2009 but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this one so I’m sharing it again.

Chicken Fricasse with Noodles and Mushrooms

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

I love food magazines.  I get way too many of them but I love the photos and they inspire me to try new things.  Just like reading the many blogs that I do.  I hope you get inspired to cook something new after your visit here.   This week I received the new Saveur.  They bring dishes from all over the world to my fingertips.  This issue has an article, The Art of Soup.  I love soup.  I could eat it every day in a cup, or a bowl or one of my favorites, a soup mug.  I find it an easy way to use up bits and pieces of food I have around and also a great way to eat more vegetables.  You can also get in some great bone broth which is full of key nutrients.

My husband however has told me over and over, he does not like soup.  I should have included that in the I won’t marry you unless line.  All I said was I wouldn’t marry him unless he liked football, more specifically the NFL.    Oh well, I got lucky on everything else and he usually eats whatever I cook so I thought I would slip in some soup.

The first soup that caught my eye was this Paprika-Spiced Cauliflower Soup.  I quickly scanned the recipe which called for butter and flour for the dumplings.  I could change that up rather easily.  The hard part would be getting the cauliflower in a soup past the hubby.  The next would be to make some type of meat that could be added as a topping so I could keep it vegetarian for my oldest son but serve it in an appealing way for hubby.  I didn’t want to cook more than the soup for dinner so it had to make an impact and be filling.

Success!  I crisped up a package of pancetta because everyone in my family, with exception to said son, loves pig.  So now to work on the soup and the dumplings.  I’ve started using Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour mix.  I rarely make anything that needs any type of flour but I thought dumplings would work with this mix.  I also always have Earth Balance dairy and soy free spread here.  It makes a good substitute for butter.

When dinner time came around and a quick glance to the stove top from hubby, I received that look.  You know the one.  You know their thinking … Oh no, what is she feeding me tonight that is probably good for me but I know I won’t like…  Well I served it anyway and to everyone’s surprise it got rave reviews and eaten so fast I barely could snap a photo. So here is the recipe from Saveur with my changes which are marked with an *.  The original recipe comes from chef Andrea Németh  at the restaurant Bagolyvár in Budapest.

I’m always looking for ways to get good food into my family, especially my teenager who is the pickiest eater I have ever met.  He’s even more picky than I was at his age and that’s saying something.  For some reason I can usually get him to eat meatballs.  I have learned to get really creative in what I incorporate into meatballs.  Earlier this year I shared my Meatballs with a Heart.

The secret to these Chicken Meatballs, they have chia seeds in them.  Chia seeds are good for many things including controlling your blood sugar.  It slows down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrates into simple sugars.  They are also rich in Omega 3′s and have more than salmon.

I served these Chicken Meatballs with Roasted Red Pepper  and Garlic Aioli Sauce (Kalyn’s Kitchen) and my Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Recipe which I shared in my newsletter.  The combination of the chicken meatballs with the sauce was really a party in your mouth.  For Kalyn’s recipe I made my own roasted red peppers because I couldn’t find any organic ones in a jar and sweet bell peppers are one of the dirty dozen. You know the foods that absorb the highest levels of pesticides and if you can pick organic for anything, pick it for those listed on the Dirty Dozen.  Jar peppers work great but I would still recommend organic.

Can you name all of the Dirty Dozen?  I use my iPhone app to help me remember.

This naturally gluten free traditional Mexican meal is one of my favorite go to meals that is quick, easy and inexpensive.  The best part of this meal however is it’s one of those great tasting great mouth feel meals.  I keep mine dairy free too but you can always add in cheese.  It’s great for breakfast, lunch or dinner and works well with leftovers.

The key to this dish is having the ingredients on hand so you can make it at the drop of a hat.  I’ll make big batches of enchilada sauce and freeze it in portions needed for this recipe.  If I run out I always have Rick Bayless’ sauce on hand too.

Have fun with this recipe.  If you’re thinking you’ve seen this before, well you must be a newsletter subscriber.  I shared this recipe some time back through the newsletter.  Make sure you’re signed up so you can get these recipes and lots of great tips first hand.

School is back in session and family meals can get pushed off for busy schedules.  I know how busy it can get but instead of grabbing a boxed meal like a Hamburger Helper with ingredients that can’t even be pronounced, how about making your own.

I promise this recipe takes the same amount of time as listed on those boxes, COSTS LESS and it tastes a heck of a lot better hands down.   Oh, and you can pronounce every ingredient.  For families that live gluten and dairy free you can also control those ingredients and many others like the amount of salt you add or if you want to keep it vegetarian or vegan.

Keep this recipe in mind when you want to cook up a quick meal with pasta and you don’t want to cook the pasta separately in a big pot of water.  You could easily use spaghetti and break it up into pieces. I recommend doing that in a plastic bag to avoid pasta flying throughout your kitchen.  You could also use broken pieces of lasagna noodles and add in some cheese and you have a quick lasagna.  This is what we’re having for dinner tonight.

I shared this recipe in the past in my newsletter and here but wanted to update it.  The next newsletter is coming out on Thursday so make sure you sign up for The WHOLE-istic Life.

Before we jump into this recipe don’t forget that the auction for A Fund For Jennie ends at 11pm EST this Friday.  Bid Now!

Happy Fourth of July.  For those of us in the United States it’s a day to celebrate.  What a great day for a picnic and Organic Chicken Salad that is gluten and dairy free.  It’s also a great night for fireworks.  I hope you have sunshine all day and wonderful sparkles in the sky at night.

I love heading to the farmer’s market to see what I’m going to be eating each week.  This was what I brought home in June.  Fresh peas, purple peppers, cippolini onions, many different types of lettuce and organic chicken.  Put that all together and it spells fast and easy dinner!

A treat for you today.  This recipe plus two more for broiled asparagus and a gremolata.  I love fresh meals that can come together fast when I’m hungry and don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking.  The secret to this meal and with most is a little planning.

For those of you who read this blog you’ll know my love of pork.  I could eat it every day.  There are so many ways to use pork.  From my fresh made sausage, to amazing organic pork chops and then there are those special products like pancetta and prosciutto.  What can I say, I’m a pig girl!

I served this Prosciutto Wrapped Salmon with fresh asparagus, beans, shrimp and tomatoes.  I will usually go with what is at the farmers markets and what I have on hand.  I had found these creamy little french Flageolet beans in the grocery one day and wanted to play with them.  I soaked them overnight and cooked them during the day in the crockpot.  This way when I was ready to cook dinner they would be ready to jump on the plate next to my fish.

For the asparagus my favorite thing to do is broil them with a little olive oil, garlic and course Celtic Sea Salt.  450 degrees F for about 15 minutes.  For this dinner I also tossed a few shrimp into the pan and let them cook to serve with the salmon.

If you time everything you can be sitting down to eat in 20 minutes.

I like this recipe because it’s a healthy twist on typical buffalo chicken wings, which I obsess over, and it’s so much easier and less messy to eat.  It’s of course gluten and dairy free and delicious.  So as you settle in to watch the Final Four, which only 2 people in 6 million predicted on ESPN brackets, try this recipe so when the games are over you can still get off the couch.

This is fast easy meal that can have your tongue tingling.  It uses cooked chicken, home fries and kale.  It only took a little longer to make this than it took for the potatoes to cook.  You can even shorten that time too.

Now the most important part of this recipe is the wing sauce.  Find one you like the best.  I used Wing Time and loved how it was thicker and clings to the meat.  Amazon has The Ultimate Wing Sauce Collection – Wing-Time Buffalo Wing Sauce – Three Pack or you can get them separately, Wing Time Medium Buffalo Wing Sauce, Wing Time Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce, Wing-Time, Super Hot Wing Sauce.  I’ll warn you the super hot will have smoke coming out your ears but the medium passed the “I hate hot foods test” by someone in our house.

January is Detox month over at G-Free Mom.  Every day this month a different blogger is sharing a recipe with you to help you eat fresh fruits and vegetables.  All the recipes will be gluten free juices, smoothies or soups.  I’m happy to be contributing to this event.  January is a great month to get ourselves back onto this path and using a detox is a great way to to jump start that.

You know there have been two words that have put fear into me, detox and green smoothie.  Detox sounded hard to do, restrictive and painful and green smoothies well those are just two words that didn’t go with each other in my mind.  Well that is until I’ve started on both.

I started making green smoothies after Ali at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen shared one that didn’t seem too far out there so I gave it a try.  I actually liked it because it tasted more like the fruit than the vegetables.  I didn’t have a very good blender so I had to let it run a long time to get a smooth drink.  Now that I have my VitaMix I can make amazing smoothies in no time at all.  A fast and easy way to get really good nutrients into my body.

I’ve realized you can just about put any fruit or vegetable combination and come up with something that tastes good.  If you have an over powering taste, adding some cinnamon is a great trick to tame that taste and move it to something you’ll enjoy.  Oh and cinnamon is really good for you too!  I have gotten my husband hooked on these smoothies and now I’m working on my youngest son.

This kid does not like vegetables.  I have to get very creative to make something he’ll eat with vegetables and I have lots of secrets on that topic (promise to share soon).  We have over the past year increased his list of vegetables he’ll eat, but it’s not going to include a green smoothie in a glass right now.  So this smoothie has more fruit than vegetables but it’s a start.  I have gradually added in more darker green vegetables to this recipe and it has still maintained the good taste he’ll eat.  I add kale and spinach and serve it in a tall thermal cup from Starbucks and a dark colored straw.  He knows not to open the lid.  My hope is that he never reads this post or the gig is up on how many vegetables he’s really eating.

When you make a smoothie I think it’s more of an art than a science.  What I mean by that is you don’t have to put in exactly what you read in a recipe.  You add what you like or what you have on hand.  Just make sure you give it a taste before serving, especially if you are trying to hide something.

So this smoothie I’m sharing was first created by Melissa on Gluten Free For Good as Cherry Cabbage Chia Recovery Smoothie.  I’ve made it so much it felt like mine but it’s really her creation.  She adds yogurt and uses napa cabbage in hers.  I changed those items up according to our needs.  If you are looking for more smoothie ideas, food that’s not only good but good for your body and want to know why, go to her blog.   Everything she creates has been great.  Our family particularly loves her Healthy Power Bars.  Melissa is amazing and creates recipes that are packed with ingredients that are good for you on so many levels.

I love making frittatas but I’ve been trying to make them with more vegetables than fat filled ingredients.  I’m using less eggs which creates more of a pizza like dish instead of something more like a quiche.  I even serve it on a pizza paddle.   This is a great dish to make for your holiday breakfast or brunch and one I’ll be sharing for A Gluten-Free Holiday.  Today Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl is hosting the event spotlighting Holiday Breakfast and Brunch.  You can head there to share your recipes and leave comments for your chance to win

• 4 copies of The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam
• 4 Elana’s Pantry totes
• 2 copies of Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals by Silvana Nardone
• 3 copies of The Gluten-Free Diner e-book by Diane Eblin -yep that would be me
• 3 copies of Gluten Free Breakfast and Brunch by Lori Karavolis

I just need to say how honored I am to have my cookbook as part of a giveaway with two amazing women and their cookbooks.  I’m so lucky to know both Elana and Silvana and you couldn’t meet two more wonderful gals.  They are so smart, talented, have written amazing cookbooks and to boot they’re really nice and what I call good people.  Please make sure you head over and enter to win their cookbook.

Each week there are opportunities to win wonderful cookbooks.  Last week you had that same chance here.  The winners were chosen last night via random numbers.  Carrie has the complete list of winners!

I love 3, 2, 1 Chili because you change up what you add as your 3, 2, 1! This recipe is 3 types of beans, 2 types of onions, 1 type of meat.  You can change this up according to what you have on hand and what you like to eat.  You can even make it vegetarian and vegan.  I love to serve the Dairy Free Cheese Crisps with my chili too!

This decadent lunch of Pesto Shrimp and Tomatoes is was just what I needed yesterday that just happens to be gluten free and dairy free.  Still a little jet lagged from my awesome trip to San Francisco and the BlogHer Food Conference (more on that this week), I needed a pick me up.  I went out to the garden to see if I had anything still hanging around.  I found a few cherry tomatoes and a handful of basil.

Hmm, I have to admit after spending time with Susan Russo from Food Blogga, I was craving a little Italian flavor.  I just happened to have some toasted pine nuts on my counter top and I always have garlic and olive oil in my house.  With these ingredients already being gluten free I also wanted to keep it dairy free.  I decided to give the Daiya cheese (vegan) a try to complete my pesto.

So now what was going to bathe in my pesto?  I opened the freezer and there just happened to be some wonderful wild caught U-15 shrimp.  I had paid around $12 a pound on sale.

Every time you go to the market check for sales on those pricey favorites.  Shrimp is one of mine.  If I find a great deal like this I will often get two pounds wrapped separately so I can use them as needed.  Today they were needed.  I did feel a little guilty making this just for myself, but then I thought, it’s worth it.  If I don’t get back into gear no one is having dinner tonight and forget about clean clothes.

The best part about this meal was from the moment I walked outside until I was eating (add in photographing time) it was a total of 20 minutes.  That is what I call a top of mind recipe.  I think it and then I get to eat it almost as fast.

Prep time- approximately 10 minutes

Cooking time- 5-7 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Handful of organic fresh basil leaves washed and dried

1/2 – 3/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1-2 cloves of garlic peeled

1/4 cup plus of  organic extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper corns (approximately 4 good cranks)

1/4 cup Daiya mozzarella cheese

1 tsp bacon grease or olive oil

handful of cherry tomatoes sliced in half

1 pound U-15 wild caught shrimp, peeled, deveined, and dried

Directions:

Toss the basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper into a food processor or your VitaMix and blend well.  You may need to add in little more oil so you don’t end up with a dry paste.  This is something you just have to eye.  When this is the the consistency you like, add in the Daiya cheese and finish blending.  Give it a taste and see if you like it or if it might need a little more of one ingredient.

Heat a large skillet on medium high and melt the bacon grease.  Add in the tomatoes until they start to pop.  Move them off to the back or side of the pan so there is room for the shrimp.

Add in your shrimp and cook on both sides until they start turning pink and curling.

Add 2 plus tablespoons of the pesto and coat the shrimp.  I like to use tongs to mix this together but you can use a large spoon, spatula or scraper.

Slide the shrimp into a bowl and then top with the tomatoes.

Notes:  Now the hardest part is not to eat all of this yourself.  You can make lots of substitutions on this recipe.  You could use chicken or even a firm fish cut into large cubes.  To keep it vegetarian and vegan use eggplant or whole cremini mushrooms and swap out the bacon grease for olive oil.

With this recipe I also have pesto left over which I’ll be using to spread on some La Cecina!

If you don’t have basil or pine nuts you can make a pesto out of so many great greens and different nuts.  I used a different combo for my Pesto Shrimp on Polenta Portobellos. Play with your food and see what combos you come up with that make your tongue dance.

Who doesn’t love a creamy dairy free potatoes au gratin with a little ham that is gluten free and peas to top it off!  I’m a little late in sharing this but it’s never too late to add this to your menu.

This is another quick and easy meal if you have a few kitchen tools.  You know what they say, having the right tools is half the battle.   You’ll need a way to slice the potatoes so they are thin and the same thickness.  You have some options.  You could use a knife but I find it really hard to get them all the same thickness.  I use my food processor.  You could also use a Mandolin or V slicer.

For this recipe I had bought these peas fresh from the farmers market but you can use frozen peas too.  Please do not use peas from a can.  They are too mushy.  If  you don’t like Ham you can substitute chicken, pork, turkey and even a nice piece of fried fish would work.

Ingredients:

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

2 TB Butter – I use Earth Balance Buttery Spread, gf, df, soy free

1 cup Cheese- I use cheddar and mozzarella Daiya gf, df, sf

Celtic Sea Salt

Fresh ground cracked pepper

1/2 cup milk- I use almond milk

parsley for garnish

I Ham Steak cubed

1 cup fresh peas

Directions:

Fix your potatoes first and get them into the oven.  They take approximately 40 minutes to cook. The ham and peas are fast.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prep the ingredients.

Rub the bottom of your casserole dish with the butter so the potatoes don’t stick.  Add a layer of potatoes with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  I like to overlap the potatoes just slightly and follow the edges of the pan no matter what the shape.  If using a round dish make rings until the bottom is covered.  Sprinkle with 1/4 of the cheese and 1/3 of the butter in little pats.

Repeat this until you end up with a top layer of potatoes.  Pour the milk on top, cover with foil and put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.  At that point uncover the dish and add the remaining cheese on top and bake another 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

While the potatoes are cooking you have your pick.  Sort through the day mail, email, talk with the kids, walk the dog, sit and enjoy a glass of wine, chat with your spouse or anything else you fill your time with.  I like catching up with everyone but often it’s paired with walking the dog.

When the potatoes are cooling for that 5 minutes, add the ham to a pre-heated pan and warm through while it caramelizes on the edges. Toss in your peas and cook a little longer.  If you are using frozen peas allow a little longer cooking time.

This was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday’s on the Simply Sugar and Gluten Free Blog written by the talented Amy Green.

This was also shared on Penywise Platter Thursday on the delicious blog The Nourishing Gourmet.

A quick note about a quick meal.  This is really fast to prepare if you purchased your shrimp cleaned and deveined.  I had not so it added 10 minutes to my prep time.  I also chose to butterfly these shrimp since they were not very large and I wanted them to appear bigger than they were.  I started with Elana’s Pantry Cauliflower Rice recipe and added a little garlic and onion and kept this a grain free, gluten free and dairy free meal.

Shrimp, Chorizo and Cauliflower Rice

Servings: 4

Prep time:  approximately 15-30 minutes depending on that shrimp

Active Cooking time: approximately 7 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tsp Organic Coconut Oil

1 tsp Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 onion diced

1 stalk of celery diced

1 head of cauliflower run through food processor until fine

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1/2 tsp granulated toasted onion

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

1 tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

1 pound Fresh Pork Chorizo

1 pound of large shrimp, cleaned and deveined, butterfly if small (dry before adding to pan)

1 organic green onion sliced on the diagonal

Directions:

Heat a really large non-stick pan on medium high heat and add in your oils.  Saute the onions until soft and add in celery until soft.  Sprinkle with salt.  Add in the cauliflower and I like to cook it until it toasts or gets a little brown.  Mix in the seasonings.  When it is browned in many areas I removed it to a bowl.

Toss in the chorizo after you remove the casings and brown.  Once that is starting to brown move to one side of that same large pan and add in your shrimp.  Cook on both sides until pink.

To serve place a couple of tablespoons of the cauliflower rice mixture on the bottom of the plate.  Next add the chorizo and then the shrimp.  Sprinkle with the green onion and serve.

It’s that easy.  The chorizo seasons the shrimp so you don’t even need to worry about adding anything else.

Shared this on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Wow, I don’t know about other families that have kids in school, but these first few weeks are a huge adjustment.  New schedules, lots of driving, soccer practices and soccer games, school meetings, school paperwork, and the list goes on and on.  I always try to plan and get ready for the onslaught but it seems it’s never enough.  I am glad however I did take the time to plan out my menu for the month.  It’s been really helpful and has kept me from eating tons of meals on the run with not as good choices as what I’m going to make.

I was happy to have lots of Danny’s meatloaf to take me through the week either for lunches or dinners.  If you didn’t read about that recipe and get that cookbook, that recipe alone is worth the price of the cookbook.   This week we’ll have 3 soccer practices and 3 soccer games, all far away.  That means fast meals, crockpot meals  and only 1 meal out instead of 6.  With my menu I’ve included approximate prep times, active cooking and inactive cooking times.  Of course these vary from person to person.

What about you and your schedule?  What type of week will this be for you?  Have you made plans for your meals?  What ingredients do you have on hand that you can use?  I would love to hear what your week is like and what you do to make sure you are getting good meals.

Menu

Monday- Shrimp and Chorizo with Cauliflower Couscous and greens (Takes 10 min prep time, 15 min active cooking)

Tuesday- Roasted Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Onions (Takes 10 minutes to prepare, let the crockpot do the rest, 4-6 hours)

Wednesday- Crab stuffed Trout with garlic asparagus (takes 15 min to prep, 20 min inactive cooking)

Thursday- Eating out

Friday- Homemade Pizza with Udi crusts and I’m going to try it with La Cecina- Mushrooms, carmelized onions, roasted garlic, peppers, tomatoes from my garden (bread will have to be made ahead of time but if using Udi crust 15 min prep, 10 min active cooking, 15 min inactive cook time)

Saturday- leftovers

Sunday- Veal Goulash from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef’s new cookbook (not sure since this is a new recipe to me)

This menu was also shared on OrgJunkie.

I first saw this wonderful bread on Dolce Vita, David Rocco’s cooking show.  It is naturally gluten and dairy free and so easy to make.  I really like this bread with a salad, a meal, or as a meal on it’s own when I’m traveling.

If you are looking for something that is also budget friendly, well this is the deal.  A bag of chickpea flour is a little over a pound and costs around $3-4.  It’s a great deal and can be the centerpiece of your meal.  My oldest who is a vegetarian, likes to toast this bread and top it with Buffalo Wing sauce.  He’s very creative that way.

David says that La Cecina is very common in Italy.  I hope to go there sometime just to see if that is really true.  I followed David’s recipe the first few times I made this bread, but you know me.  I like to experiment and change up seasonings so this recipe is a little different, but not much.  I asked David on Facebook if he ever made this with rosemary or garlic.  He said no but it sounded good.  So I gave it a try.  I hope you will too.

La Cecina

Servings: 16

Prep Time: 5 minute active, 60 minutes inactive

Cooking Time:  35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound chickpea flour

6 cups of cold filtered water

5 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 TB Celtic Sea Salt

2 tsp minced toasted onion

1 tsp minced toasted garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix together everything in a large bowl except only mix in 2 TB of the oil.  Make sure you get rid of all lumps in the mixture.

Let this rest for 1 hour.

Put the remaining olive oil into your 14 inch pizza pan.  Pour the batter into the pan slowly so it floats in the oil.

Put into a 450 degree oven and bake until golden brown, 30-40 minutes.  I slice it up like a pizza but you can cut it any way you like.

I usually will eat this warm right out of the oven but it does taste good cold.

This was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

How I love chickpeas or as some call them, garbanzo beans. I was not always a fan but over the past 5 years we have become very close. I make La Cecina which uses garbanzo bean flour (recipe coming later this week), hummus and these little gems.    All three of them traveled with me to the IFBC (International Food Bloggers Conference).    They were practically all I lived on during the conference.   More on that later.

Now many people have shared recipes for roasting chickpeas.   The most recent was Jaden Hair on Steamy Kitchen.   So I’m going to refer you to her post where she shows you with great photos step by step how to make this recipe.   I have only changed a few things but this is a basic recipe most people use. (I am not sure if the spices she used are gluten free so check your spices before jumping in).

First, I didn’t use a convection oven like she did and it takes my chickpeas more like 45 minutes to cook and get crispy.  I would suggest you start checking after 30 minutes to see how they cook in your oven.  I will say I have pulled them out and let them cool a little only to find out they were not as crunchy as I had wanted.  I just put the pan back into the oven for 5-10 minutes and that did the trick.

Next I like to vary my seasonings.  Most recently my favorite is a Turkish Blend from Penzeys.  It contains salt, cumin, garlic, half-sharp paprika, black pepper, Turkish oregano, sumac and cilantro.  I also love to sprinkle it onto my hummus with a little olive oil.

Also, I like to use Eden Organic cans of chickpeas because the cans are BPA free.  I’ve never had a problem with their products as far as cross contamination but you should be ever vigilant with anything you eat.

Now I’ve also made a variation on this with nuts called my Amazing Toasted Nuts.  So if you are looking to expand this beyond beans, give that one a try.

Roasted Chickpeas

Servings: 1 if it’s me, 2 if I share, 3 if I’m having an off day

Prep time: approximately 3-5 minutes

Cooking time: approximately 30-50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried (while you’re at it use two cans)

Organic Olive oil to coat

Celtic Sea Salt

Turkish Seasonings or your favorite

Directions:

After you rinse the beans you need to dry them or the oil will just roll right off.  Toss them in oil and put them on your cookie sheet.  I like to line the sheet with foil so there is less clean up for me in the end.

Bake 30-50 minutes in a 400 degree oven or until crispy but not burnt.

As soon as you take them out sprinkle with salt and seasonings.  Now I’m not good at letting them cool before I start popping them into my mouth so I sometimes get burnt.  I like to see if they are as crunchy as i like but use caution and your own better judgement than mine.  Also, let them cool completely before putting them into a container.  If they are still hot and you seal them in, you will steam them and they will no longer be crunchy.

It’s rare but sometimes they do make it into a container.  It’s usually a little baggie that goes into my purse for trips or my “emergency stash”.  The ones pictured above are ready for the NFL season opener game on Thursday night.  Last year’s Super Bowl teams are playing again.  I wonder who will win this one?

Give these tasty treats a try and let me know what seasonings you like on yours.  Don’t forget to check out Jaden’s post for the pictures and she also has a list of where you can find more recipes using different spice combos.

So I hope this recipe has you thinking about chickpeas.  They are the Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix this week.  Feel free to make a variation on this recipe and share it then.

Yes, this week’s edition of 30 Days to a Food Revolution is written by me.  I’ve wanted to join in but wanted to make sure I gave lots of great bloggers a chance to share.  With this being  August with lots of people on vacation there was an open week.

Diane’s Recipe:  Italian Torta

Diane’s Tip:  Use what you have on hand, especially if it came from your garden or local farmers market.

This may sound silly but this is one of those meals I make when I don’t want to cook.  Now I realize I’m cooking but for me this is a no-brainer recipe because it’s a method and I’ve done it so many times I just don’t think about it.  This meal is also Budget Friendly and can be made in no time flat.  I like to serve it on a pizza paddle but it’s grain free!

Ingredients:

Eggs

Fresh Vegetables

Potato- white or sweet

Onion and Garlic

Tomatoes if going with Italian

Salty meat on hand like bacon

Herb from garden- I used basil, thyme, rosemary

Directions:

I’ve gone back to a little trick with bacon that is a great way to always have some ready to use without eating a whole package. (yep) First let me say I only use organic uncured bacon.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back.  When you open a package of bacon, take out what you don’t need at the moment and roll each slice individually.  Then I use that plastic wrap that is sticky but you can use any type.  I space out the bacon and cover it so each piece has plastic all around it.  It makes little packets of individual rolls of bacon.  Then when I need it I can just grab one or two pieces and save time and money.

I start this recipe by putting two of those frozen pieces of bacon in my skillet so they cook up nice and crisp and flavor my oil.  Once they are cooked remove the bacon to use as a topping.

Of course to keep this vegetarian either omit the bacon or use a vegetarian version.

Dice up the onions and potatoes.  Cook them in a little oil in the non-stick skillet.  I like to use Organic Virgin Olive Oil but Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil works great too.  Remove them from the pan.

Next saute whatever other vegetables you have.  I always have mushrooms around and this week I had zucchini from the farmers market.  Once browned remove from pan and combine with onions and potatoes.

Now you want to toss in your tomatoes and herbs.  These cute little round cherry tomatoes came from my garden.  This tomato plant is growing like crazy.  It’s taken over my front garden and I don’t do anything to take care of it.  Love that.

Once the tomatoes have started to burst open and start to char remove the herbs, add in your eggs that you have beaten for a few minutes.  The longer you beat the fluffier it will be.

When a little crust starts to form on the bottom add back the vegetables spread throughout the pan.  I also sprinkled it with fresh spinach leaves.  Add in some Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper and sprinkle with some Daiya cheese.  You can also top with basil.  I used both the green and the purple opal basil.  Oh and don’t forget to toss in the bacon.  Turn down the pan from medium high to medium.  If your pan is small you will need to put a piece of foil over the top to it will cook.  You can always finish it in the oven but I was in a hurry so I just used the foil even on a large pan.  Before serving top with basil.  I used both the green and the purple opal basil.  When the eggs look cooked you’re ready to eat.

I slid it onto the pizza paddle and cut it up like a pizza.  It was a great fast meal that went great with a glass of wine.

Shared this on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

First, thank you to all who took the time to answer the 1 question poll on what you want to see on this blog.  Also, thank you to those who found out what was The Big Deal.

This summer is winding down but not before we celebrate my youngest son’s birthday.  He’ll be 17 on the 17th.  He’s asked me to make him a two tier birthday cake with frosting.  He’s a brave kid.  I’m totally doing what I call cheating and using a box mix from Cherry Brook Farms and the frosting was made by Whole Foods.  All are gluten and dairy free.  Someday I’ll learn the fine art of cake making in the world of gluten and dairy free, but for now I’m focusing on other foods.

This week I’ll continue to play with my green smoothies to see what different combos taste like.  Over the last week I picked up some new hot peppers I’d like to cook with and some different types of plums to snack on.

As part of taking care of myself and trying to get my body to settle back down and release some of the weight, I’m walking everyday for an hour, stretching (helps get rid of the Fuzz) and journaling everything I eat.

I write down what and how much of everything I eat and if I feel not as good as I should after eating anything in particular.  So far I’ve noticed that all grains seem to be bothering me and corn kernels.  I’ll need to stay away from them as the swelling is not something fun.   I’ve also noticed that my body is not that happy with Frank’s Buffalo Wing sauce.

I’m not sure just yet what all of that means, but by keeping track I’m becoming a detective as far as what my body is irritated by and that is a huge help.  I find that sticking with mostly vegetables, fruits and small portions of lean fish and chicken, some pork and very little beef, my body does seem happier.  Funny I think I’ve heard this was good for a person before.  Why do I have such a hard time learning this?

If you are experiencing swelling or irritation, keeping track of everything you eat might be a great way to start to detect what else is bothering you.  If you live gluten free and cheat, well you already know what’s bothering you.  But if you are sure you are not having cross contamination and you are still having issues, time to become that detective and start eliminating other foods.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to be patient with this but I know in the end I will feel so much better.

So for my menu this week it will be vegetable heavy but I’ll be including some seafood and chicken and letting the rest of my family eat the quinoa and rice.

Monday- Italian Torta- Budget Friendly and Minute Meal

Tuesday-Birthday Dinner out at Brad’s favorite place- Chima

Wednesday- Guajillo Chile Shrimp and Chorizo over quinoa – Minute Meal, Budget Friendly if you buy shrimp on sale.

Thursday- Greek Meatloaf (recipe can be found in The Gluten-Free Diner cookbook), boiled potatoes and green beans- Budget Friendly

Friday-POM Chicken with vegetables and quinoa- Budget Friendly

Saturday- Chicken and Vegetable Kebobs- Budget Friendly

Sunday- Ham and peas with pototes au gratin- Budget Friendly and Minute Meal

More menus from lots of bloggers found on OrgJunkie.

I recently read a post by one of my favorite bloggers Stephanie O’Dea- A Year of Slow Cooking on Making Real Money Blogging.  She offered some great tips that I may give a try.  The best part is how up front she is.  Steph is also a very giving person and it comes through on her blog.

As for my blog, I make a little money but nothing even near what Stephanie was making two years ago.  I make a little from the current BlogHer ads and when someone downloads my cookbook.

Right now blogging is not my full time job although I wish it was.  I love coming up with new recipes, cooking them and sharing them.  I still have a lot to learn, but I love it.  One of the best parts is the community of people I get to interact with.

So you may be wondering why I would need to earn money on my blog.  Well my blog is not free to me.  I have to pay annual and monthly costs associated with all that I do here.  I’m not very technical so I have someone help with that, Mary at Provirtual Solutions.  She’s great!  I’m also spending money to go to conferences to learn how to take better pictures of food and write a better recipe among other things.  Yes I do get to travel and that’s fun or else I would not be doing this.

No one is forcing me to do this so I realize if I don’t make enough money to cover my expenses, well I just need to keep that day job to pay for my joy of food.

Well this week I received……To read the rest of this story click here.

In my world of too much and not enough, that is too much to do and not enough time to do it, I need some fast, go to meals that have real ingredients.

I started looking at what the commercials were pushing at us that was unhealthy, but promised fast, easy and inexpensive.  My thought is always, I can make that taste better, without chemicals and preservatives and I know it will be gluten and dairy free.  I know, I have a lot of moxie.

The first to be conquered was Hamburger Helper.  There is a lot of talk of a new gluten free version coming out.  Don’t be fooled.   Just because it’s gluten free doesn’t mean it has good ingredients.  But it gives us that promise of a fast meal for the family, so I took on this “type” of meal.

The results, mine was a hands down winner. (no commercial pun intended)  Well, we didn’t actually taste theirs, but mine is a new family favorite.  And what happens to those favorites, they get tweaked, modified, and adapted to what is on hand.  It’s the process that becomes the important part of these fast meals.

Homemade Hamburger Helper with Daiya cheese-glulten, dairy, soy free

When I first made this dish I thought it would be fun to find out what others put into their homemade version of this fast meal.  So, we’re having a contest. I want you to make your own version, take a picture and send it to me over the next two weeks.  You can give a list of ingredients and even the recipe if you want.  I’ll post them by the end of June for everyone to see and you can vote via a comment for your favorite.  The more they vote for you the better your chances are to win!  I will set a time limit and after that is up I’ll print out the comments and we’ll draw a winner.   I have bought a $25 gift card, that someone who shares their version of Homemade Hamburger Helper, will win to purchase their favorite ingredients.  Are you that someone?

So just to recap so we’re clear.  You create  your own Homemade Hamburger Helper, take a photo and email it to me.  I post the photos, people vote, and someone wins a $25 gift card.  Why? Well if you have not figured it out after the 30 Days to a Food Revolution event, I want you in the kitchen cooking real food and I’m willing to pay you to do it.

If you have a food blog of your own, please give this a shout out.  Maybe one of your lucky readers will win.  And, if you have a blog feel free to submit your entry too.  Email the photos to diane at glutenfreefoodcoach dot com.  If you forget it’s listed on the right side of this blog.

Ingredients:

1 pound grass fed organic ground beef

1 1/2 cup quinoa pasta shells or elbows-gluten free

2 cups hot beef stock- homemade is the best

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce or diced tomatoes or 1-2 dozen fresh chopped roma tomatoes (food processor)

1 TB tomato paste

2 tsp minced toasted onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried oregano or 1 TBS fresh chopped oregano

1 tsp dried basil or 4-5 fresh leaves chopped

1 tsp dried parsley or handful of fresh chopped

Directions:

Brown the beef and drain the fat.  Add in the tomato paste and combine.

Add in everything else except the parsley.  Combine and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down to simmer for 14 minutes.  When the time is up mix in the parsley and serve.

Our Options:

Fresh chopped onion and garlic work great.  Cook them with the ground beef.

A package of mushrooms is wonderful.  I like cremini and sliced cost the same as whole.

If you don’t have broth, water will work.

You can substitute ground chicken or turkey for the beef but still use the beef stock.

To make it vegetarian you can use the soy crumbles or 4 large portobello mushrooms diced works great with vegetarian or mushroom stock.

Toss in whatever vegetables you grab from the garden or farmer’s market.

To see more gluten free meals, check out Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Welcome to Day 1 of our 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  I am excited to be kicking off this adventure with a post from a good friend, Shirley Braden.  Shirley is the author/owner of the blog, gfe–gluten free easily

. She was diagnosed as gluten intolerant in June 2003 after a lifetime of health issues caused by gluten. She’s been gluten free ever since and is now happy and healthy. She leads the King George Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Group, which she formed in 2004. She also serves on the council of a local GIG group and edits its newsletter, and is a founding member of a local health initiative. She’s a relentless advocate for celiac and gluten intolerance education, always speaking at health fairs and other public forums.

Shirley’s recipe:  Garlic Lime Chicken

Shirley’s tip:  make your own instant food

Tucked into my planner is the little gem above. I clipped it out of our local newspaper.  It’s dated April 23, 2008. Yes, it’s been in my planner for 2 years now.  Sometimes the clipping gets pushed to the back, but then I clean out my planner and bring it to the front again. “People spend hours looking for instant food.” Think about that for a moment.  The truth and irony in that statement made me laugh out loud the first time I read it.  And, it still amuses me.  But, admittedly, it also saddens me, too.  People really do spend hours looking for “instant” food. In fact, I’ve “been there, done that.”  It’s been a very long time, but yes, I bought into the instant food thinking at one time.  The concept of  instant food is largely a misnomer.  Well, at least the type of instant food that’s immediately brought to mind in this Graffiti commentary is.  For one thing, how instant is this food really?  And, secondly, does the “instant food” purchased really equate to food?  Last, can we make instant food at home using real food?  How?

Other than the amusement factor, you might be wondering why I have held on to this clipping?  Well, I find that reading this little nugget from time to time (or even thinking about it) keeps me “grounded.”  It reminds me to cook with real food and not to get too hung up on cooking a meal.  In other words, I am reminded to keep it simple and skip the martyr role for the time I spend in the kitchen.  Don’t get me wrong … although most of the time I love cooking, I’m not immune to coming home after a long day and plopping on the sofa and not even wanting to think about preparing a meal.  But, after I run through the “instant food” options, I usually get up and make a really good meal in a relatively short amount of time.  Cooking with real food provides a much more satisfying meal, we know what we are eating, we don’t have to leave home, plus the cost is almost always less … or at least a better value for the quality and nutrition offered.

Folks do spend hours looking for instant food in the canned and frozen aisles of the grocery store, at restaurants, and, even at fast food restaurants. Despite the label of “fast,” one who frequents fast food restaurants can spend hours there over several visits.  While I have always baked from scratch, there was a time when I would load up my grocery cart with boxed “helpers,” pasta “meals,” frozen pizzas, and much more.  We’d even dine out once a week plus stop at fast food restaurants one or two times during that same period. For many, instant food simply equates to dining out and not cooking.  Mr. GFE and I spent an hour and a half dining out the other evening.  (That didn’t include the hour round trip to get to the restaurant.)  We had a lovely time and our meal was actually real food and quite enjoyable.  However, because of the time taken, one really couldn’t call our meal instant food.  Yet many people opt for eating out because they want “instant” food. And, another consideration … maybe the hours referenced in the graffiti statement is not just talking about the hours spent in actual shopping or eating out, maybe it’s also alluding to the hours that one has to work to pay for these instant foods.

Advertising does everything possible to make us think we don’t have the time—that we need the instant food.  There are slogans like “Home cooked food without the hassle.” And, so many individuals have bought into this line of thinking, that they’re spreading the instant food gospel, too.  Whenever I share homemade baked goods with folks, at least one person always says something like, “It’s great that you have the time to bake from scratch.”  The truth is I don’t have any more time than the next person, but baking and cooking with real food is important to me.   And, I can bake a lot with real ingredients in a relatively short amount of time.

What do the people who eat this instant food think of what they are eating?  If you ask them “How’s the pizza?” or “What do you think of those cookies?”  The responses are usually “it’s okay” or “it’s not bad.”  Those statements alone are a sad commentary.  Why should we accept “okay” or “not bad” for the taste of our food?  Fresh, real, and delicious is not what comes to mind for most of this instant food.

The other point that needs to be considered, which I mentioned earlier, is whether the instant food being consumed actually meets the definition of food.  Is the frozen microwave meal that has Healthy, Smart, or Lean in its title really any of those things?  Such product labels often list about 20 ingredients (some have more!) and include items like sodium benzoate, chicken powder, and high fructose corn syrup.  Is that food?  The fact is that food scientists work for these companies and their job is to create products that emulate food in taste and, uh, nutritional content … just without all the real food involved.  Why?  Cost, shelf life, and quality control. Those who are creating “food” want the most economical sources to create a product that is less expensive for them to produce, always consistent in its presentation and taste (their meaning of quality control), and will last for months (even years—check some expiration dates).  That’s why if you look closely at many products, like cheese products, you’ll see that they are labeled differently. Packaged, sliced cheese and other cheese products are shown to be “cheese food.”  Translation: It contains a certain percentage of cheese, may taste similar to cheese, but it is not totally cheese.  Although real cheese will mold in a fairly short time; cheese food products can keep in the refrigerator for months on end. Even if the components of these “foods” are equivalent to food, do they have the same effects/end results our bodies?  That’s something that many have questioned—including Michael Pollan in his acclaimed In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.  Pollan reveals much about food manufacturing, “food science,” and changes in FDA rules in this book. It’s an eye opener and a quick read, so it’s definitely worth picking up.

Many of us will visit other countries and come back raving over the food.  But, when we look back at what we enjoyed the most, it is usually the simple meals made from real food.  One friend visited Italy and came back talking about tomato chunks topped with some mozzarella and olive oil.  She fell in love with that fresh, simple meal.  That dish is real food all the way … and it’s pretty much instant food, too.  Because Mr. GFE is an avid scuba diver, a frequent destination of ours is the Caribbean.  We love the simple meals, which burst with flavor from both their preparation and the use of local herbs, spices, fruits, and vegetables.  Think grilled fish and other seafood.  Jerk chicken.  Curried goat.  Rice and beans.  Roasted garlic chicken.  Papaya.  Pineapple.  Coconut.  Mango.  Curry.  Cinnamon.  Nutmeg.  So many real food dishes like these can easily be made and enjoyed at home.

So often we have preconceived notions and miss the obvious when it comes to meal solutions in our home.  Think fresh (although frozen, and even canned in some cases, can work as well) … think simple … think tapas … think appetizers.  We’ll go to a restaurant and pay for these items—even eating them as our meal sometimes—but we usually don’t optimize using them at home.  Oh, sure, we might make some for parties we are hosting, but for some reason, when we’re cooking a meal at home we think that we have to cook for a long time and have a meat or protein plus veggies, plus a bread, etc.  But many of the appetizers you’ll find on restaurant menus are easily replicated at home (with healthier, quality ingredients) and in combination with a small garden salad, they make great meals.  Think chicken satay, spinach artichoke dip, chicken wings, ahi tuna, crab dip, and the like.  One of the best ways to have a simple, “small bites” kind of meal, without even making new foods is to have a clean-out-the-fridge event on Friday evening.  We call ours a smorgasbord.  It’s a great way to have a variety of little bites, while ensuring that no food goes to waste for the week.  Everyone can choose his/her favorites from the past week. Son especially loved our Smorgasbord Friday.  A little bite approach can also be a good way to get kids to try new foods.  It’s a proven fact that children are more drawn to food if it’s cut into bite-sized pieces or served in smaller portions.  Sweet little Susie who long ago declared war on mushrooms might be more willing to sample that one bite of mushroom quiche than she would be to eat a full portion.

Even when we go out to a fine restaurant for a full meal, it’s the simple meals that often satisfy and impress us the most.  The entrées could include an excellent steak, steamed lobster, grilled salmon, pan-seared trout, and braised short ribs, for example.  Side dishes offered might be garlic mashed potatoes, polenta, roasted red bliss potatoes, grilled asparagus, sautéed Brussel sprouts, and baked sweet potatoes.  They are all real food dishes with most requiring little preparation and cooking time.  A meal of grilled salmon, like my Cayenne Lime Salmon and asparagus Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus can literally be cooked and ready to serve in just a few minutes.  I wager that you can have that meal on your table in less time than it would take you to prepare any “helper” dish or just drive to a restaurant.  So you can have instant food, but this time it will be real food that you have prepared.  And, frankly, you’ll find out there just is no comparison in flavor or nutrition.

The recipe I’m sharing today is Garlic Lime Chicken.  This is a moist and flavorful chicken recipe that is just right with its garlic, lime, and other seasonings. It’s well loved by everyone who tries it and all ages.  It comes from Leanne Ely, a nutritionist who is part of the Flylady “network.” You can read more about Leanne here. She is a great resource for simple, healthy meals made from real food. She shares recipes via Flylady’s emails and at her own site, Saving Dinner, where she shares her menu mailer plan.  Menus are delivered via email with recipes and shopping lists.  Leanne is known for getting people to eat and love foods they’ve never enjoyed before; e.g., kale. But let’s get to her ” must make” recipe, shall we?

Garlic Lime Chicken

1 teaspoon  salt

1 teaspoon  pepper

1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon  paprika

1 teaspoon  garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon  onion powder

1/2  teaspoon  thyme

6  boneless skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons  butter

2 tablespoons  olive oil

1/2 cup  chicken broth

4 tablespoons  lime juice

In a bowl, mix together the seasonings and spices (first 7 ingredients). Sprinkle mixture on both sides of chicken breasts.

In a skillet, heat butter and olive oil together over medium high heat.

Sauté chicken until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes on either side or until no longer pink in the center.

Remove chicken and add lime juice and chicken broth to the pan, whisking up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly.

Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

Shirley here: Leanne’s version is cooked on the stovetop, which works fine, but requires several minutes of attention.  My dear friend, Therese, converted Leanne’s recipe to an oven recipe.  So, I’ve been using that method most of the time.  Here’s how I make the oven version of her recipe.

Place butter and olive oil in 9 x 13 baking dish.  Set in preheated 400-degree Fahrenheit oven just a few minutes until butter is melted. Stir butter and olive oil.  Add chicken breasts.  Sprinkle breasts with seasoning mix.  Flip the breasts.  Mix chicken broth and lime juice together and pour over chicken breasts.  Sprinkle chicken breasts with seasoning mix.  Bake for about 40 minutes; turning chicken pieces over half way through.  Baking may vary depending on the size of the breast portions.  You can pound the chicken pieces flatter for quicker cooking time if you like.

Per Serving: 343 Calories; 11g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 55g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 612mg Sodium.

Serving suggestions: Roasted asparagus (preheat oven to 400 degrees, lay your asparagus in a baking dish or pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and a smidge of thyme, bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness of asparagus), baked potatoes (try Yukon Gold potatoes–delicious!) and steamed baby carrots (add a little butter after steaming and sprinkle some nutmeg on top before serving).

Vegetarians: Skip the chicken and use vegetarian patties or tofu instead.  Dip the patty in the melted butter/olive oil mixture before adding seasoning though (so it will stick).

Serves 6

Reprinted with permission from Leanne Ely at Saving Dinner

Shirley’s Additional Notes: This recipe can be made dairy free simply by substituting non-dairy butter or using all olive oil and skipping the butter.  You’ll want to mix up a triple recipe of the seasoning mix and keep it an empty spice shaker to be ready for baking future batches.  I sometimes use bottled lime juice, but fresh is really wonderful in this recipe.  I like to make the small amount of chicken broth by adding one teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon chicken base to one half cup of boiling water.  As Leanne shares in her notes, vegetarian patties or tofu may be used for a vegetarian/vegan option. Gluten-free readers should ensure safe status of seasonings and vegetarian protein sources used.  I often serve vegetables and potatoes with my garlic lime chicken. My favorite black-eyed peas and one of my Pan-Baked Potatoes complemented the garlic lime chicken meal shown.  Serving this chicken with the sauce over rice is also a great, easy meal.

As a side note, when I went to Leanne’s site to obtain links, I found out she’s about a third of a way through a 28-Day Break Free Plan.  She’s given up gluten, dairy, soy, and eggs. You can follow her progress and see her personal reasons for embarking on this lifestyle change here.

Think about the wisdom in that graffiti clipping and all that’s been shared in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution series, and plan on making some “instant food” dishes using real food at home this week.  Then consider how they compare in taste, nutrition, time expended, and cost to the other instant food options.  Let us know how you fare. Or if you are already on board with the real food movement, tell us about one of your favorite “instant food” dishes made with real food.

Be sure to visit Shirley today at gluten free easily to read her personal Food Revolution post there and she shares another recipe!

Don’t forget:

In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing.  The more you do, the more chances you have to win!

1. Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like.  Each comment is an entry.
2. Sign up for The W.H.O.L.E. Gang newsletter.
3. Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
4. Tweet about this project using both of these in your tweet so I’ll find you  #30days2 #foodrevolution

When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.

I love making dishes that taste great and are super easy to create.  This is one of those dishes.  Not much prep work, you let the oven do all of the work and it makes a great presentation.

Keep in mind that I was using small zucchini because one, that’s whats available now and two, they fit into my really cool purple, sorry Casis Le Creuset dish.  Size doesn’t matter as long as it fits.

Ingredients:

4 small zucchini about 6-8 inched in length

1-2 pounds of ground pork

1/2 onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp oregano

1 egg beaten- can sub ground flax seed

1/2 – 1 cup bread crumbs- I used tortilla crumbs

Red sauce, marinara or pasta sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

Cut the ends off of the zucchini, cut it in half and then scoop out the seeds.  I used some old funny looking garnishing tool I found in my drawer to scoop.  You can use a melon baller, a teaspoon or anything you can find to scrape out the seeds.

Put a nice layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan so it comes up a little on the side but not very much.  I’d say 1/4 – 1/2  inch.

Cut up your onion and garlic and mix it into the pork along with the seasonings and bread crumbs.  Next add in the egg that you have beat and mix well.

Now it’s time to get messy.  Grab a handful of the pork mixture and put it into the zucchini you have cleaned out.  Place it skin side down and filling side up into your casserole pan.  Finish until full.  Don’t over stuff the pan.  The zucchini will give off water as they cook and you don’t want all of that sauce all over your oven.

Cover tightly with foil and place in preheated oven to 425 degrees.  Let it cook for 30 minutes.  Check to see if the pork is cooked.  If it’s looking good, remove the foil and let it cook the last 10-15 minutes open.

When it looks like it will melt in your mouth, and it will, remove from oven to serve.

I served mine with a side of fresh made gluten free pasta.  This was asked to be placed on the have often meal list.  So noted!

You can also find this recipe on Gluten Free Wednesdays.