Thursday, December 31, 2009

Modifications for Freezer Dinners from Big Cook

I know, I've been hugely slacking on the recipe posts but I haven't been cooking lately. My husband and I were pleased to announce the birth of our daughter in December and since then life has been really crazy!

Luckily before hand we managed to prepare some frozen meals thanks to this cookbook, The Big Cook. They're pretty healthy and we motified them to be gluten free. The recipes are for crock pot, stir fry or in the oven. We are mostly living on crock pot ones at the moment to keep our sanity.

Here's what we made to freeze and how we modified it to make it gluten free!

Almond Chicken (page 57)
We used El Peto Gluten Free Chicken Bouillion to make broth.
Use real bacon instead of bacon bits
We replaced the soy sauce with Koyo brand Wheat free Tamari that we found at Zehrs.

Cantonese Chicken (page 62)
Again we replaced the soy sauce with Koyo Wheat Free Tamari

Lazy Man's Lasagna (p.46)
Not all Onion Soup mix is gluten free. We presently use Lipton Onion Soup mix as it is currently gluten free. **no longer gluten free!!
The Pasta in this will have to be replaced with gluten free pasta. We recommend Tinkyada or Rizopia rice pastas.

Beef Fajitas (page 37)
Check to make sure the Salsa is gluten free. We used Tostitos Medium Salsa.
For Italian dressing we used Our Compliments brand.
Worcestershire sauce is currently NOT available gluten free in Canada. Below you'll find a recipe to make it from scratch.
We used Enjoy Life Tortillas to wrap these.

Recipe for Homemade Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar - Heinz should be safe according to their website.
2 tablespoons Koyo Wheat Free Tamari or Gluten Free Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer 1 minute. Cool.
Store in the refrigerator.
Makes about 3/4 cup.
Shake well before using.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Product Review: Smart & Delicious Gluten Free Wraps

So I was actually given these by someone else so I don't know exactly how expensive they are or where to buy them around here at the moment.

I did, however, feel that I had to do a product review because I was pretty impressed by the taste and texture of these.

I haven't really had much luck previously with gluten free wraps since most of the time they're made with rice flour and although they don't taste bad or anything the texture of them is always very unlike that of a "real" gluten filled wrap. This was not the case with these!

I was pleasantly surprised with Smart & Delicious Ivory Teff wraps. I defrosted the package and would heat each of the wraps from this state in the microwave for about 30 seconds. (as per package directions) Reheating is common with almost any gluten free wrap product or you're looking at something that won't roll. However, these rolled up much better than the rice ones I'm used to and they weren't as rugged in texture. I also ate the whole wrap rather than throwing out bits. The wrap on it's own had a nice taste. I ate mine with tuna salad and egg salad.

The product is produced by La Tortilla Factory and their website is http://latortillafactory.elsstore.com/view/category/590-gluten-free/ They appear to be about $5.00 a bag according to this site but again I don't know where you're purchasing them. :)

Anyway, enjoy! Let me know what you think! :)


Friday, November 27, 2009

Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

Unfortunately there's no picture for this post. Hubby and I were far too hungry by the time dinner was ready and before we knew it it was eaten! However, I couldn't not post it with the reviews. It was so very good and nicely filling. Hubby said he loved it and we'll "definitely be having it again!" so hopefully we'll get a photo up another time.
The intention was to make a soup/ stew that would serve a lot of people and freeze half for use when the baby arrives. I'm still trying to get meals ready but I'm not getting very far with it at the moment.

So anyway, in the meantime, here's the recipe!

Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen Green beans
1 540ml can Kidney beans
1 14oz can Diced tomatoes
1 cup V8 Original Vegetable Juice
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper (I used green), seeded and chopped fine
1 cup water
1 lb beef stew meat

Directions:
1) Combine all ingredients into a crock pot and stir well.
2) Set Crock pot to cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours until everything is cooked through.
3) This serves 2 people basically with 2 bowls of soup each.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Chili

So I was looking for something particularly easy to throw together for dinner and possibly end up with some left overs since I'm not really getting too far with the freezer dinners for after the baby is born.

So I decided to use my normal recipe for Chili and double it to freeze some. Anyway it's super easy and very good!

Obviously everyone prefers their chili at a different degree of spicyness so I'll include what I use but feel free to modify the spices when you make it for yourself! :) Bear in mind I'm very anti-spicyness right now with being pregnant. :) So, here is my chili recipe. . .

Chili
1 lb Extra Lean Ground Beef
1/2 of 1 - 500ml Knorr Red Pepper & Tomato Soup (this is currently gf but always check labels)
1 - 19oz (540ml) Can Lentils
1 - 19 oz (540ml) Can Kidney Beans
1/2 796ml Can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder (or as desired)
1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder (or as desired)

1) Brown lean ground beef and drain.
2) Stir in Soup, Lentils, Kidney beans, and Diced Tomatoes to ground beef.
3) Heat until cooked through.
4) Season with garlic and chili powder, stir.
5) Enjoy!

BLT Pasta Salad and Basic Fried Rice

So it's been another lazy Saturday. Didn't accomplish much today as hubby is still on nights so we don't get up really all that early. However, we did make a couple yummy recipes from left overs we had in the fridge. :)

I figured to save my sanity I would include both of these recipes in this one post since they were lunch and dinner in the same day.

As you can probably see, the common element in both of these is Bacon. We don't usually buy bacon except if it's on sale but the baby was asking for it and I really really don't want to waste it when we do buy it so we went on a bacon blitz for the last 2 days! Can't say I've really complained. It's been sooo good! So I'm not going to promise super nutritious recipes this time lol but you only live once and I really don't think that bacon is that bad for you on occasion! The top picture is of our dinner a really yummy creation entitled BLT Pasta Salad and for lunch (bottom picture) is some basic fried rice. Here are your recipes! Enjoy!

BLT Pasta Salad
2 Cups Cooked Pasta (I used GF Rizopia noodles)
1 Tbsp Mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip)
4 Slices of Bacon
1/2 of a Tomato, Chopped
1/8 Cup Onion, Diced
Iceberg Lettuce to taste (2 to 4 leaves), Chopped

1) Cook Bacon. When bacon is cooked slice it into small pieces.
2) Chop onion.
3) Place cooked pasta into a mixing bowl.
4) Add lettuce, tomato, bacon, mayo, and onion to pasta and stir together.
5) Enjoy! (Serves 2 but you may want to add a side or make more. Very good, highly addictive)

Basic Fried Rice

Ingredients:
2 Cups cooked rice
4 Slices Bacon, diced
1/2 Cup Onion, diced
4 eggs
3 Tbsp Koyo Wheat Free Tamari

1) Heat pan with a little oil.
2) Beat eggs & scramble, set aside.
3) Fry bacon.
4) Add rice, stir frying for about 5 minutes or until reheated.
5) Add Tamari.
6) Add Onion and egg, heat until egg is reheated.
7) Enjoy! (Serves 2)


Friday, November 6, 2009

Product Review: Glutino Chocolate Wafers

So I have never done a product review on this blog before and it wasn't my intention to use this site for this reason but sometimes some things are just that good.

A couple days after Halloween I sent hubby to the drug store to dig through the left over candy that was supposed to be 50% off. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some deals. Specifically I was looking for potato chips but hubby found some chocolate bars and called me asking if he could purchase those as well. Of course they turned out to be old favourites of mine and I wasn't crazy about the idea of having something sooo tempting in the house and not being able to eat it myself. I promise it's even that much worse when you're pregnant lol.

So as he lists off the various chocolate bars available I said "I heard that Glutino makes a wafer that tastes like Kit Kat. Could you get me some of those?"

So hubby came home with these Glutino Chocolate Wafers (about $4.00 a box). I really didn't have a lot of hope for them because I often find that people tell you that something tastes like something else but they've been gluten free for so long that they really don't remember.

I'm not sure if I'd say they taste exactly like Kit Kat but they are definitely worth the mention and oh sooo good. I had the whole package gone in a couple of days. :)

So here's a link to Glutino's website http://www.glutino.com/content/view/80/114/ in case you want to see where you can get yourself some wafers. I haven't tried any of the other flavours yet but you're welcome to comment if you have! :)

Friday, October 30, 2009

Autumn - Potato Bacon Soup to Warm You

Well it's Halloween weekend! The cute goblins and witches will be at the door trick or treating on Saturday night and it's getting to the time of the year where the air is fresh and it's starting to get cold outside!

Some people refer to it as Indian Summer. At any rate the fall weather is a very good excuse to make some nice warm and hardy soup!

Hubby and I both enjoyed this warm creation served with some toasted, buttered gluten free bread. This recipe can be adapted for crock pot I'm sure as well but in this case we were too hungry to wait! :)

Potato Bacon Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion (medium sized)
4 pieces of bacon, chopped
3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups gluten free chicken broth (I used El Peto gf bouillon)
1 tbsp corn starch
2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
1) Spray a large pan with oil and heat.
2) Add onion and bacon and cook for 1 minute.
3) Add potatoes and cook for 3 minutes over low heat.
4) Add stock to the potato mixture.
5) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
6) Blend Corn Starch in half a cup of milk, then once blended add remaining milk and mix. Slowly pour mixture into the soup. Increase heat and stir constantly until soup boils and thickens.
7) Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
8) Season to taste with black pepper.
9) Enjoy! Serve with gluten free bread or crackers! :)



Sunday, October 11, 2009

Mexican Goulash

I promise I'm not really a terrible blogger. I just get frustrated when I start typing something and it all disappears! When this happened twice in a row I decided to take a break and come back later. Who would have known that later would mean October?!

Anyway, it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. My husband and I aren't celebrating traditionally this year because of my aversion to Turkey thanks to the pregnancy. On top of that it's a 3 1/2 hour drive to my parents' place where Thanksgiving is being held and we're going there next weekend anyway. So we'll probably be having ham for "Thanksgiving" with them next weekend which suits me just fine.

I have been cooking actually quite a lot since September so I do have more recipes to post just haven't had a lot of time to post them. Head seems to be in babyland at this point. I'm sure this will get worse before it gets better. lol.

Anyway, I figured I'd post my "Mexican Goulash" today and since this is a long weekend, perhaps I'll have enough time to get caught up on the other recipe postings as well. :)

Mexican Goulash

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth (I make mine from El Peto chicken bouillion powder)
1 large zucchini cut into cubes.
1 (15 ounce) can Kidney beans
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup medium salsa (read labels to check for gluten)

1) Brown meat with garlic powder in a frying pan. (You can also brown onions if desired)
2) While meat is browning add remaining ingredients to a crock pot.
3) Add meat to crock pot when browned.
4) Cook 4 to 6 hours on high.
5) Enjoy!

This recipe should serve approximately 4 people but it always depends on appetite around here. :)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

French Fries and Grilled Peaches - Snack Time

So it's been a few days since I updated this blog. Things around here have been pretty busy and I haven't had a chance to catch up. :)

Unfortunately I had the flu last week so I didn't get much cooking done but the pregnancy hormonal cooking has continued this week.

In this post I've included a couple of recipes for what I'd consider to be snacks but of course you could serve the peaches as dessert and the french fries a side. :)

These are fairly simple recipes this time around but the post to follow this will include some more cooking again.
So to begin,

French fries, since they're a bit more "dinner" than dessert.

Oven Fried French Fries

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized potatoes
1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper

Directions:
1) Slice each potato in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 5 or 6 wedges. Place in a large bowl. Cover with hot tap water. Let stand 10 minutes. This will give the fries a crunchy outside and soft creamy inside.

2) While potatoes are soaking, move oven rack to lowest level. Preheat oven to 475F. Drain potatoes. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix to evenly coat. Spread out on a baking sheet. Roast, uncovered, on bottom rack of preheated oven for 10 minutes. Check fries. If they're browning at edges, use a spatula to turn. Continue roasting until golden, 5 to 10 more minutes.

3) Enjoy!

For "dessert" - Grilled Peaches with Brown Sugar
Ingredients:
4 Peaches (cut in half and pitted)
Olive Oil
Brown Sugar

1) Turn on George Foreman Grill to medium heat. Using a pastry brush, coat each peach with olive oil on both sides.
2) Place peaches on the grill with pit whole side down.
3) Cook each peach 5 to 10 minutes on each side, checking occasionally. Cook until browned.
4) Drizzle with brown sugar and serve!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Pasta Beef Salad

So we had some food left over in the fridge as usual and lettuce is one of those things that you can't really leave sitting for more than a few days or it goes brown way too fast!

So I looked up some recipes for lettuce and then one inspired me to come up with this! :)

So for your enjoyment, a still unofficially named recipe that I thought was really really good. I couldn't wait to put it up. However, I am pregnant so sometimes my taste buds may lie. :) My husband gave it 9.5 out of 10 though so that's a good sign!

I'll call it "Pasta Beef Salad" - GF

Ingredients:
1/2 large head iceberg lettuce
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 green bell pepper, seeded & finely diced
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 1/2 cup rotini style noodles (I used Tinkyada Spirals)
1 1/2 Tbsp Tamari (I used Koyo Wheat Free Tamari)

Directions:
1) Cook pasta and set aside.
2) Wash and shred lettuce into salad type pieces. I used a knife and chopped it. :)
3) In a wok or heavy skillet, stir-fry beef, and garlic powder until beef is cooked.
4) Remove beef from heat, set aside.
5) Add peppers, carrot and onion to pan and stir-fry until vegetables are tender.
6) Add beef to vegetable mixture and add Tamari. Stir fry until Tamari is absorbed.
7) Transfer mixture to plates. I decided to add lettuce on the bottom, noodles next and top with ground beef mixture but if you want you could just mix it all together too. :)
8) Enjoy!


Friday, August 28, 2009

Tuna Tostito Salad

So I had some random stuff in the house and decided to create a salad to cover my tuna requirement for the week. :)

It's kind of a cross between a taco salad and a regular veggie salad I guess. Just random. I'm sure you could add different veggies if you wanted but like I said, I used what I had on hand. :)

Tasted good though I'd probably classify it almost more in the nacho category and we were half wondering what would happen if we have heated it all up? Anyone want to try it and let me know?
So for your enjoyment,
The recipe:

I'll call it Tuna Tostito Salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 - 7 ounce can tuna (Skip Jack - low mercury)
3 - radishes (chopped)
1/4 of a cucumber, diced
1/8 tsp powdered garlic
4 tbsp Sour Cream
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
Approximately 1/2 bag of Tostitos rounds
Cheddar Cheese to taste (Shredded)

Directions:
1) In a bowl mix together tuna, radishes, cucumber, garlic powder, sour cream, and lettuce.
2) On a plate place Tostitos and top with tuna mixture.
3) Add Cheddar Cheese on top as you desire.

Very yummy and easy!
:) Enjoy!

You may also want to consider breaking up the chips to make it more salad like but this of course depends how lazy you are. Also a bowl might make this easier to eat since it slid around the plate a bit but it was very tasty despite this problem. :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu & Quinoa

So after a few tries at cooking Tofu I can't say I'd been really impressed well, ever.

However, when your dietitician is saying it would be good for you to eat it and your husband accidentally bought 2 blocks instead of one and you don't want to waste anything you start thinking, what could I do with this?!

So I thought, I wonder if you could cook tofu on a George Foreman grill? Apparently you can!

Thanks to a fellow blogger, at http://shiftvegan.blogspot.com/ 2009/01/ george-forman-tofu.html I figured out just how to do that! :)

So between that blog and a recipe I found at veganyumyum.com for Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa I came up with this modified recipe. :)

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu & Quinoa
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 Block Tofu, extra firm, 14 oz (I used Mori-nu Silken tofu)

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce
3 Tbs Sugar
3 Tbs Reduced Sodium Tamari (Wheat free Koyo)
1 3/4 Tbs Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (dried spice)
1/8 tsp Garlic powder

Quinoa
3/4 Cup Quinoa, rubbed/rinsed in cool water, drained
1 tsp lime juice
1 1/3 Cup Water

1 bunch Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
2-3 Tbs Water
1 tsp Lime Juice

Directions:
1) Mix together ingredients for sweet chili lime sauce.
2) Slice tofu block into 1/2 inch slices and set into sauce. Marinate the tofu in the sauce for 15 minutes.
3) Set tofu on George Foreman grill. Heat grill to Medium high and cook for approximately 40 minutes. Turning occasionally as it cooks. Cook until it is crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside.
4) Meanwhile in a pot mix together the ingredients to cook the Quinoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook covered for 20 minutes. Turn off and let sit with lid on for 10 minutes.
5) In a wok or frying pan put Romaine lettuce, water and lime juice. Steam for 4 minutes.
6) Plate with Quinoa on the bottom, Romaine mix and finally top with Tofu slices.

Anyway, this has a little bit of a bite to it but it was very good! :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Pork Lo Mein

So being gluten free doesn't make it very easy to find chinese take out at all which at times, especially when you're pregnant, can feel kind of depressing so when I found a recipe online for "so easy pork Lo Mein" on foodgeeks.com I thought this could be good!!

Anyway, unfortunately/ fortunately I didn't have most of the vegetables included in the recipe and I'm even a bit lazier than the recipe calls you to be when they call it "so easy" so veggies and cooking times have been modified. I might go so far as to say that it's almost a completely different recipe but I'll leave that up to you to decide. :) Here's the original link:
http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe/19206, so_easy_pork_and_vegetable_lo_mein.phtml

The picture of course is what my creation looked like based on what I had on hand in our kitchen at the time. :)

So without further ado. . .

Pork Lo Mein

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. GF fettuccine, cooked and drained (I used 100% rice Rizopia Fettuccine)
1 lb. pork chops
1 med. onion, sliced in wedges
1/4 tsp powdered garlic
2 cups shredded cabbage - the bagged mix
1 cup sliced carrot (dollar style)
1 sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Tamari (Koyo Wheat Free)

Directions:
1) De-bone & Cook chops on George Foreman grill. (If you don't have a George Foreman fry them in oil until heated through.) Cut pork up into strips when cooked.
2) Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet or wok.
3) Saute onion, garlic, cabbage, carrots and peppers until crisp tender. Add more oil if needed.
4) Add fettucine to cooked veggies in the pan. Stir in Tamari and add
pork pieces to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.
5) Enjoy!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Potato & Tuna Casserole

So as promised I have included yet another recipe made with tuna. For those of you who enjoy tuna I'm guessing you're pretty happy with this idea and for those of you who, like me, think it's grose I promise you this really isn't that bad. In fact, it was actually pretty good.

I decided to make something that didn't involve noodles this time around. Unfortunately the picture didn't come out as clear as it could have but what you're basically looking at is mashed potatoes with tuna and cheese. :) Try it! Here's the recipe!

Potato and Tuna Casserole

Ingredients:
* 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1/2 cup 2% milk
* 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1.5 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, divided
* 1 egg
* 1 (6 ounce) can chunk light tuna in water
* 1/4 cup chopped onion

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. In a large pot over high heat, place the potatoes with water to
cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 20 minutes, or until
potatoes are tender. Drain. Add the milk, Cheddar cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese.
3. Mash potatoes. Beat eggs and add, drain the tuna and stir into the
potato mixture. Then stir in the onion, and season with salt and
pepper to taste.
4. Transfer mixture to a lightly-greased 10-inch diameter glass pie plate and top with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Meatball Sub Casserole

It was food. It was good. The end.
~ Hubby

Luckily hubby does not write this blog otherwise all entries would start similarly to this one. :)

Hubby and I decided to recreate a casserole that looked pretty simple to make but then found out that the directions were really confusing so what you have here is my modified and simplified version of the original recipe.



Meatball Sub Casserole

Ingredients:
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* 1/4 cup GF bread crumbs - I use Kinnikinnick
* 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
* 1 lb ground beef
* Bread - to line pan - about 3 to 4 pieces of depending on bread size - I use Food For Life White Rice Bread
* 1 cup cream cheese
* 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
* 1 (28 ounce) jar GF spaghetti sauce
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 tsp powdered garlic

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. In a bowl, combine onions, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

3. Add beef and mix well.

4. In skillet on medium heat cook beef mixture until no longer pink.

5. Meanwhile, arrange bread in a single layer in an ungreased 13x9x2" baking dish.

6. Combine cream cheese, mayo, Italian seasoning and pepper; spread over the bread.

7. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella.

8. Combine sauce, water and garlic; add meat mixture. Pour over cheese mixture

9. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

10. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.

This recipe tasted really good, and ended up being pretty filling. My husband and I had 2 servings each and there was still a bit left. We didn't toast the bread first but it might be good to try that if you want a crunchier texture. :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tuna Tacos

So I had an appointment with the dietitian last week and apparently pregnant women are supposed to eat low mercury sources of fish twice a week, every week!

Personally I have never been a "fish" person. I just don't care for the taste. Pre-pregnancy I would eat the occasional shrimp on New Years and about once a month I might eat some tuna casserole or some other form of hidden fish. :)

Unfortunately tuna casserole gets repetative really fast if you eat it twice a week so I've had to come up with alternative ways to eat tuna. If anyone has more ideas I'd love to hear them!

So far this week is planned. Tonight I made Tuna Tacos. It turned out pretty good. As you can see from the picture I had 3 tacos but unfortunately hunger got the best of me before I had a chance to take a picture so there are 2.5 tacos pictured. :)

Here is the recipe for your enjoyment! Personally I didn't find it very filling so it might be good to serve it with some veggies or something. :)

Tuna Tacos (serves 2) :
14oz (400g) bag of Preshredded Coleslaw mix
1 - 6oz can Tuna (Skip Jack in water for you pregos :))
1/3 Cup Tomato Salsa
1/3 Cup Mayo
6 Taco Shells

1) In a bowl mix together Tuna and Salsa.
2) In another bowl mix together Coleslaw mix and mayo.
3) Fill Taco shells with Tuna mixture and top with coleslaw mix.
4) Enjoy!



Saturday, August 15, 2009

Fried Rice

So we made fried rice for dinner tonight. Reasonably quick, and easy to make and pretty yummy too! I'd like to add that I think it works out to being pretty cheap too! Something I don't think anyone is going to complain about. :)

This recipe probably serves 4 by itself. Maybe more if you serve something with it.

Anyway here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Cup white rice, uncooked
3 Tbsp chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped carrots
2 cups water
8 beaten eggs
1/4 Cup 2% milk
1/2 Cup peas
2 Tbsp Koyo Wheat Free Tamari

Instructions:
1) In a fry pan or wok cook rice, onion, and carrots in oil over medium heat, stirring often until lightly browned.

2) Slowly add water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

3) Beat eggs in bowl. Stir in milk, peas, and Tamari. Pour over hot rice mixture in fry pan.

4) Cook over medium heat. As mixture begins to thicken, gently draw a spatula across bottom and sides of pan. This allows egg mixture to cook. Continue until eggs are firm.




Thursday, August 13, 2009

By Request: GF Lasagna, Bean & Rice Nachos

So a couple of people had requested a couple recipes for pictures of foods I had previously posted to facebook. I had promised them these recipes ages ago, intending to eventually put them on a website but since that website is very far from being done, here are the recipes for those dinners!

The top picture is of Bean & Rice Nachos and the bottom recipe is of Gluten free/Noodle free Lasagna. Both of these recipes were recipes I modified when I first became gluten free so that I wouldn't have to be expensive gluten free ingredients so they are pretty reasonable in price to make. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Lasagna (No noodles)
Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
2 eggs
1 jar GF spaghetti sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (check for gluten)
1/4 cup Parmesean Cheese
1 1/2 cups Mozzerella Cheese

Directions:
1) Brown hamburger in a skillet. Let it cool.
2) Mix the eggs and spaghetti sauce until well blended in a bowl. Add the hamburger.
3) Place this evenly on the bottom of a 9 inch square pan.
4) Mix the cottage cheese and Italian seasoning.
5) Spread evenly over hamburger mixture.
6) Layer hamburger mixture and cottage cheese mixture.
7) Sprinkle the parmesan and mozzarella cheese over the cottage cheese mixture.
8) Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. Cut into squares.

Bean & Rice Nachos (also vegetarian - not vegan)
Ingredients:
2 Cups cooked rice (I use long grain white)
1 small diced onion
2 cups canned kidney beans ( 1 - 15oz can)
Corn Chips (I use Tostitos - for 2 layers - approx 1/2 bag)
1/2 cup Salsa (I use medium Tostitos - Check ingredients for gluten)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 300F
2) Peel the onions, dice
3) Drain the liquid from the kidney beans
4) Mixed the rice, diced onion, and beans in a bowl.
5) Layer corn chips and half of the rice and bean mixture and repeat.
6) Bake for 15 minutes.
7) While Nachos are cooking, grate 1/2 cup of cheese.
8) Pour salsa over baked Nachos (corn chip mixture), add cheese.
9) Melt cheese on Nacho mixture in oven if desired.
10) Serve warm. Enjoy!


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tuna Casserole & Vegetable Tofu Stirfry

So it's been a few days anyway since I last updated this. I'm not great at getting new posts done. This has always been a problem I've had with blogs but I'm still better at getting recipes up than diary style stuff. :)

So, I thought I'd include a couple recipes in this one. This is from Sunday night and Tuesday night. I wasn't crazy about Monday night so I didn't take a picture of it. My husband, on the other hand said it was "amazing". So if he wants to remake it and take a picture I'll leave that up to him!

Anyway the top picture is of the Tuna Casserole and the lower one is the Vegetable-Tofu Stirfry. Hubby really liked the potato chips on top, personally I wasn't crazy for them but I'll leave that up to you all to decide for yourself :).

Tuna Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Cup GF Rotini (I use Tinkyada Spirals)
2 Tbsp Margarine
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
1 (6 oz) can Tuna (170g - I use Clover Leaf Skip Jack - lower mercury)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese (I use Philadelphia)
2 cups 2% Milk
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 cups crushed regular potato chips
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use medium Black Diamond)

Directions:

1) Boil Water for Pasta.

2) Preheat oven to 400F.

3) Grease a shallow casserole dish.

4) Melt margarine in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

5) Drain water from tuna into a small bowl. Whisk cornstarch into tuna water until smooth. Set aside.

6) Stir cream cheese into skillet and cook until melted. Add milk and reserved tuna water. Stirring, bring just to a boil and remove from heat.

7) Mix in peas and tuna, separating tuna into bite size flakes.

8) Stirring frequently, boil pasta for 5 minutes or until al dente. Don't over cook.

9) Drain pasta, and rinse.

10) Toss with sauce and season to taste.

11) Pour into casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes.

12) Top with potato chips & cheddar cheese and bake 10 minutes more, or until bubbly around the edges.

13) Enjoy!


Vegetable-Tofu Stirfry
Ingredients:
1/3 Cup water
4 Tsp Tamari (Koyo Wheat Free Tamari)
2 Tsp cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (Glutino)
1 package (10-1/2 ounces) extra-firm tofu, drained (Mori-nu silken tofu)
3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
2 cups dollar sliced carrots
1 green pepper
1/4 cup snow peas
1 head broccoli, chopped
4 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:
1) Combine Water, soy sauce, cornstarch, and bouillion granules in a small bowl. Press tofu lightly between paper towels; cut into 3/4 inch squares.

2) Grease a wok or large skillet with olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoon oil. Add vegetables. Stir-fry 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add cornstarch mixture; stir fry about 1 minute or until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in tofu. Cover; cook about 1 minute or until heated through. Serve over rice.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Travelling and Laziness (Very easy Pasta sauce)

Welcome to my blog! In the future this blog will hopefully be linked to a much larger recipe website as a side note but since I have no idea when that will happen, in the meantime I'm using this blog to post some recipes and share a bit about myself. :)

So I was previously an Administrative Assistant now turned stay at home cat mom until the birth of our first child, due in December!

It all started when my husband got a new job out of town and we had to move. My husband is a webdesigner, this is why I have no idea when my website will be done. lol he just doesn't have a lot of time. Anyway, we moved to a new city and I realized apparently that I was pregnant only after I became sooo sick that I thought I might die. Hence why I'm home. Feeling MUCH better now and figured I'd start a blog with some of my favourite recipes. I'm Celiac so everything here will be gluten free but this doesn't mean it lacks taste and isn't acceptable or edible for other people! So I hope you will all enjoy!

Anyway, didn't get much cooking done this weekend because we went to visit some friends of ours out of town and had a good visit. :) They have a son who is around 2 and he kept saying "baby" and using all his energy in jumping on me. My stomach wasn't particularly crazy about the idea but he was excited which was cute.

We got home late last night and, being pregnant, I of course was super hungry so we used up some leftover home made pasta sauce and cooked up some Tinkyada pasta spirals. It was really good! Unfortunately I didn't take a picture but it's very yummy and easy which is good for those of us who are feeding 2 people for the price of one since some people are super demanding on how quickly they get fed. :)

Basically the recipe for the pasta sauce looked like this:
1 - Jar of original Ragu or other spaghetti sauce
3 - Diced medium sized tomatoes
1 - Chopped Green Pepper

You can add more vegetables if you like I just added what was on hand. Basically I fried up the veggies in some olive oil just until the green peppers were a bit brown (basically so they're not so crunchy) and then I mixed in the spaghetti sauce and cooked until it was boiling. Started out at low (about a 4) for about 5 to 10 minutes to cook the peppers and such and then cooked the sauce at probably a high. Stirring occasionally. Be aware it does splatter everywhere. :)

Tonight I have to find a way to use up some left over Quinoa. This should be a bit more challenging since I don't have very much experience with it. I decided to try it based on the idea that it provides a huge amount of nutrition! :)

Anyway, wish me luck. . .