Been awhile!

So its been WAY too long!! I can honestly say this pregnancy has taken the love of cooking out of my days especially lately! Don't get me wrong I still love to cook but I'm so over it at this point with knowing our baby can arrive anytime now!  Last night we threw together something fast and easy - okay the past few weeks/months we've been doing that hence why I haven't been blogging plus I keep forgetting to take pictures so I apologize that this recipe doesn't have a picture to go with it.  It is SO simple!!! Its a bolognese style sauce made with ground turkey.

Take one package of ground turkey and brown on stove top with pepper and garlic (if there is a lot excess fat then go ahead and drain it if not add one can diced tomatoes and one small can of tomato sauce let simmer add a splash of balsamic vinegar, a few dashes of crushed red pepper all while the spaghetti noodles (choose your favorite kind of gluten free long spaghetti - although this would be tasty  with a gluten free penne pasta) are boiling. Once the spaghetti noodles are done drain and mix with the sauce and serve.  It took no time and was delicious!!!

Enjoy!!

Next time I make this I will post a picture :)

Been too long

Hello there!!

It has been too long since I last blogged. I've been growing more and more exhausted during this pregnancy and turning to quick simple already blogged dishes with a few new ones here and there that may not have turned out as I had thought.  Maybe its my tastes buds not agreeing with me but everything we have had my husband has really enjoyed but I always seem to think something is missing LOL.  Anyways, I do have a few that I would like to blog about so stay tuned for new dishes and new blogs.

*cheers*

My twist on Chicken Cacciatore

There are many versions of this amazing dish so here is my take on it.

Ingredients:

1-2 breasts of chicken
small onion of choice (I used red b/c its what I had on hand) diced
gf pasta of choice
2 cans diced tomatoes or 1 large
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 bell pepper (I used orange because again its what I had in the house)
white button mushrooms (baby bella are also delicious too!)
salt and pepper and crushed red pepper to taste (you can also add some Italian seasoning too!)
splash of favorite wine or in my case I used balsamic vinegar (you can add both too if you're feeling frisky)

While preparing ingredients get your water ready for your pasta. I was always told a watched pot never boils! :) Once the water is going in a large skillet cut up breasts of chicken and saute in olive oil until cooked through. Once just about done take out of pan and let sit.  In the same skillet  saute onion until just tender then add bell pepper then mushrooms until slightly tender. Once the veggies get to this stage add tomatoes and the chicken back in and add the splash of wine/balsamic and let simmer until pasta is cooked according to package directions. Once the pasta is done, drain and add to the skillet of chicken and veggies and toss. I always top with whatever Italian cheese I have on hand which this time was mozzarella and ENJOY! :) Salute!

Perfect Portion Steak and Spinach Salad

I love salad and adding steak to it makes it even better especially when it involves spinach! This is simple and extremely light! I found these perfect portion sirloin steaks at Wegmans and had to try them! They're super easy to grill on your stove top with a grill pan. What I did was let the steak(s) come to room temperature and put McCormick's Perfect Pinch Steak seasoning on both sides. Heat up grill pan with a little canola oil and cook each side about 2 minutes each side (depending on how done you like it). These steaks are super thin with great flavor!! 

You can prepare the salad portion prior too if you wish or prepare while steaks are 'resting' after cooking. You just need fresh baby spinach (I used organic baby spinach from Wegmans) cut up some white button mushrooms, bell pepper (we had green on hand), white sweet onion, cherry tomatoes and seasoned salad with fresh cracked pepper.  

For the dressing take two parts oil to one part vinegar. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil with great flavor and add balsamic vinegar in a bowl.  Add fresh minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste and whisk.  Slice steak place on salad and pour on dressing and enjoy! Great for any time of the year! 

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Pamela's products)

First time I made Pamela's recipe for chocolate chip cookies and they are SO good!! I think I will make more this week since the recipe says it makes about 20 cookies and my batch came out to about 13 or 14. They are SO simple!!


Ingredients: 
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup white sugar 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1 egg  (I always bake with eggs at room temperature unless recipe says otherwise)
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1-1/2 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
1 cups semi sweet chocolate chips  (I used allergy free mini chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) - I didn't put any in this batch since I didn't have any on hand.


Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl add butter, sugar, egg and vanilla, then beat together. Add Pamela's Baking mix,  chocolate chips (and nuts) mix thoroughly. Place tablespoon sized scoops of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper, I was out so I used foil and greased it with canola oil). Flatten. I found using the baggy that I greased the cookie sheet with worked great at flattening the cookies without them sticking to either my hand or the back of the spoon. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. enjoy warmed or even with some ice cream YUM!  You may also want to try other types of chips such as white chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch etc....

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Something my husband used to make all the time and here is my gluten free twist of his recipe.

Ingredients:

one package ground turkey
one small onion of choice (diced)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce (or one 14.5 oz can)
1 14.5 oz can of kidney beans (or chili beans) do not drain
1 can of rotel tomatoes
one package of simply organic vegetarian chili seasoning
salt & pepper to taste

I always semi-brown the turkey to break it up and add all the ingredients into your slow cooker stirring once everything has been put in. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. We also like to enjoy ours with some cheddar or colby jack cheese.

Grilled Chicken Avocado Sandwich

Was sick of eating the same thing day in and day out for lunch so I grabbed a piece of thinly sliced chicken out of the freezer (let it thaw) some of my gluten free bread; also had some lettuce in the fridge along with an avocado.  I went ahead and grilled the chicken seasoned with pepper on my grill pan - only took a total of 5 mins because it was so thin. Toasted my bread, put some lettuce and organic horizon cheddar cheese on the bread along with honey Dijon mustard. Sliced the avocado and added the chicken. It was delicious!!!

Baked Mozzarella Herb Tilapia

I have tweaked this recipe over the year or so since I noticed changes in McCormick's Lemon Pepper seasoning ingredients.  I switched to McCormick's Lemon & Herb and also use fresh cracked black pepper.  This meal is SO simple and takes no time!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients:

tilapia fillet(s) (fresh or frozen work fine - if using frozen thaw out completely)
McCormick's lemon and herb seasoning to taste
black pepper to taste
half a cup of mozzarella (or parmesan or even provolone) - I use shredded 

Place tilapia fillet(s) on baking sheet, season with both lemon and herb seasoning along with black pepper (I heavily season coating just about the entire fillet with the lemon and herb).  Bake for roughly 13 minutes or until fish flakes with fork.  Turn oven off and sprinkle cheese over fillet(s) allow cheese to melt in oven then serve immediately.  As you see by the picture below I served with steamed sugar snapped peas as well as rosemary roasted baby potatoes.

Where did January go?

Can you believe January is coming to an end?! This last week has been a bit crazy yet boring in my cooking life.  I ate a lot of my regular things and only experimented a few times.  Its time to get back to it although tonight I'm making one of my usuals; baked tilapia covered in spices and mozzarella goodness along with my famous rosemary potatoes (which the recipe is in a prior post) and a veggie of choice! (Tilapia recipe blog to come this week!) With dessert....gf yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting - mmmmmm!! This week I will head to the store and pick up some of our favorite fresh veggies, fruits and meats among LOTS of other stuff for another great cooking week!  Time to get those recipes in order for this week and make my list.....

*cheers*

Pizza!!

So finding a gluten free pizza crust that you like is VERY tough!! Over Thanksgiving we were at my in-laws and my sister-in-law introduced me to Udi's products (especially their gluten free pizza crust!).  Our nephew's also have celiac and need to follow a gluten free diet. So once I tried the pizza I was won over! These products are just now making their way into grocery stores around our area and they are still hard to find so therefore I order them off of Amazon.  They make it so simple! No baking the crust before building the pizza you want.  Simply place on pizza stone (make sure it is a gluten free dedicated stone) or a baking sheet (I use parchment to place crust on). Build your pizza and bake for 13-15 mins at 350 degrees. You can make white pizzas, traditional pizzas, mexican etc....here is just ONE of the MANY pizza's I make.  I go with what we have on hand and this time I used mushroom, onion, red bell pepper, tomato sauce, garlic, pepper, mozzarella and also some hot banana peppers. SO easy!! And yes Jeremiah LOVES these pizzas! Any time I make one for lunch on the weekends he scratches whatever he was thinking of having and asks me to make him one too :)

basically put sauce on first along with seasonings, add a little cheese then toppings then the rest of cheese on top. DELICIOUS!!

Famous seared and baked Pork Chops

This is one of my favorite meals to mas like.  Not only is it my husband's favorite but its also SO easy to make!! Make sure you use an oven safe frying pan. ( I use a grill/frying pan). I tend to pair this with my sweet potato fries but with being pregnant I cannot eat sweet potatoes like I used to (they have A LOT of vitamin A which isn't healthy for pregnant women to get too much of) so therefore I try to just stay away from them. In this case I paired the pork chops with roasted rosemary potatoes, green beans and broccoli.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Potatoes:

1 cup of baby yukon gold potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

1 TBS rosemary

1 1/2 TBS canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes in to quarters and place in bowl. Add rosemary and oil and the salt and pepper and mix to coat each potato with seasonings.  Place on baking sheet in an even layer and place in oven for 20 mins. While waiting on the potatoes start searing the pork chops when you have about 5-7 mins left on the potatoes this way when the chops are ready to go in the oven you can flip/move around the potatoes for even cooking and cook along with the chops for the remainder of time.  

Pork Chops:
2 thick cut pork chops (I use boneless)
McCormick's grill mates Montreal Steak Seasoning (I use the 25% less sodium)
1 TBS canola oil (has a higher burning point)

Make sure the pork chops are at room temperature and patted dry. Preheat pan with oil (medium-high heat) while seasoning chops on both sides with the steak seasoning. Once pan is hot  place the chops and sear on first side for 2 - 2 1/2 mins then flip and sear on 2nd side for 2 mins. Place in oven and bake for 12-13 mins. Remember when taking the chops out of the oven do not grab the hot handle of the pan.  I always slip my oven mitt onto the handle so I do not do so when I place it back on the stove top to let set before serving. Plate up and enjoy!!! (cooking times may vary depending on thickness of your chops). This dish is also very good with sauteed onion and bell peppers (we did not have any on hand so I did not do so).

spicy salsa

So my husband LOVES chips and salsa so he experimented with making his own and of course not all the ingredients were gluten free.  He kept saying "I need to make this gluten free!" So....we went grocery shopping and I picked up the ingredients that we needed yet the gluten free version and wallah.....I told you I was on a kick today with all this baking/cooking! Between this all I also cooked some amazing pasta for lunch but that will have to wait for another day.

Here's the recipe minus the jalapeños (couldn't find the gluten free version while we were at the store, plus with being pregnant at the moment I don't want things to be TOO spicy haha)

Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (15 oz.) - I used organic diced with oregano and basil this time
1 can rotel tomatoes and chilies (original)
5 tsp diced jalapeños (optional)
2 tbsp banana peppers (we use the hot ones or sweet and spicy)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp garlic
1/4 cup diced onion (i always eyeball b/c we LOVE onion!)

Servings: 3-4

mix all up and let marinade for several hours up to 24 hours...mmmmmmmm deliciousness!

Pamela's Amazing Bread

Been busy today!!! I finally tested out my bread maker and used a package of Pamela's bread mix! :)  Let me say.....it smells DELICIOUS!!! I followed the directions on the package for bread makers which is as follows:

1 bag Pamela's Mix
1 yeast packet (enclosed)
water (per directions) - see below
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil (I used organic canola oil)

Settings: Basic White Bread, 2 lb loaf, Medium Crust.  Do not use Gluten-Free setting (although my bread maker uses the Basic setting for Gluten Free)

In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, measure oil, add eggs then fill with warm water up to the 2 cup mark, plus add 2 TBSP additional water.  Pour all the liquids into the bread maker, add bread mix including yeast.  Start machine and scrape down sides and corners of pan while dough is mixing.  After baking, remove from pan and let cool before slicing.  (For High Altitude she says to use 2 cups total Liquid)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Let me tell you, gluten free baking doesn't have to be scary or intimidating! Its SO fun and the outcome is all worth it! Your house will smell amazing and on top of it you will have tasty treats to indulge in!

So I had to try out my new hand mixer and I had some bananas that were too ripe to eat so I tend to use them for baking.  If you have any bananas you have that are super ripe and don't know what to do with them here is one of the many recipes you can test out. (from Pamela's baking and pancake mix package).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups Pamela's Mix
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup honey/agave (or 1/4 cup sugar)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I obviously used allergy free chocolate chips and sprinkled some on top after spooning into muffin tins)
1/2 cup fruit; bananas, peaches, berries, etc. (If using raisins or dried fruit, add 1/4 cup water in addition)
1 egg (I always bake with eggs at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla (make sure its gluten free....100% pure vanilla)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon into greased or lined muffin pan 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 mins.

Hello there...

Just wanted to give you all a gist of what's to come. I have a great passion for helping others and educating them on this new life they are about to tackle.  This may even been a life they have been living for years already! For me, I have been living gluten free for about 3 years and let me tell you, at first it was not easy and even 3 years later I find myself struggling or getting frustrated when going out to eat or going to gatherings with friends and family. I always eat before going to any social gathering for the pure fact that I know there will be nothing for me to eat. (I always assume worse case scenario so this way I'm not disappointed and starving).  I give kudos to those who attempt to make a dish that I would be able to enjoy.  I always try a little bit but I never know how I will react.  It is hard to explain to people how extreme this is for me (and a lot of us out there)!  When I tell them about when I was first diagnosed that I had to buy a new toaster, a separate peanut butter jar, separate butter, new colander, cutting board, pots and pans and so on because of the cross contamination they look at me like I'm crazy! It doesn't take much for me to have a reaction. Heck, I can't even kiss my husband after he eats anything containing gluten!! It doesn't just stop there; gluten is in (it seems at first) EVERYTHING!! So since this is my new life and I loved cooking prior to becoming gluten free why not love cooking gluten free?? And in fact, I have fallen more in love with cooking and educating myself on what I can and cannot have.  It definitely is all about trial and error. Everything you make or try you won't like but thats the fun in it! Trying to find what you do like and what does work makes this journey for me that much more tolerable. Also I wouldn't be here withouth the amazing support my husband gives me! He is, as he calls it, my guinea pig when it comes to new recipes and products. If he likes it and doesn't have to eat gluten free it's gotta be good (and trust me he will tell you if something is terrible)!!

Thats all for now, I can ramble on and on about this but I will save some for the next blog also, recipes to come!!

*Cheers*