Asian Quinoa Salad

My tastebuds are dancing right now, as I think about this dish. It is my new favorite and I think I cook it once a week. (I'm not kidding) It has everything I need in a full meal. You do not have to cook it as a full meal, you can always do the chicken on the side, but I had to take a dish to a meeting and I needed to provide myself with a full meal since I knew there would be nothing else there for me to eat. I wish I had the words to describe this dish, oh my goodness it's amazing! It's sweet and spicy and savory with a crunch from the toasted almonds and then you get hit with the chewy quinoa and the broccoli. Ok, really, I need to stop because it is not doing this one any justice. It's amazing. Make it and you will see! Have I ever let you down? Ok, don't answer that...

I really hope you take the time to make this one! I promise you will not regret it! If you do not like this one, then you don't enjoy Asian flavors because they are ALL HERE!

Asian Quinoa Salad

Quinoa:
1c. Quinoa
1c. Water

Sauce:
1/3c. GF Soy Sauce
1/3c. Sweet Chili Sauce
1t. Sesame Oil
1 TINY dash of Rice Wine Vinegar, Maybe 1/8t. (it is very strong!)
1/2T. Sriracha
1/2T. Garlic (grated)
1/2T. Ginger (grated)

Mix together with whisk.

1 1/2c. Steamed Broccoli
2-3 Cooked & Chopped Chicken Breasts
1/4c. Toasted Slivered Almonds
3/4c. Finely Chopped Red Cabbage

Make your sauce and cook any ingredients that need to be cooked. Before you add any broccoli, chicken, almonds, or cabbage to the quinoa, add your sauce. DO NOT ADD ALL THE SAUCE. Take about 5T of your sauce and mix it with your cooked quinoa and taste it. You may want to add more, I usually do. After you've added your sauce to your quinoa, add your chicken and combine. Then add your broccoli and combine. The picture above has the cabbage and almonds layered on the top, because I was taking the dish somewhere and added the cabbage and almonds when I got there so they would still be crunchy. Feel free to do whatever you would like! After all the ingredients are combined, dish that puppy up and enjoy!!! I usually use some of my extra sauce and drizzle it over the top, I really could almost drink it. Really.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Gluten Free Cream of Celery Soup

One of my all time favorite casseroles is called, Vegetable Casserole. It is one that I feel like I MUST have at Thanksgiving. I can not tell you how amazingly delicious it is. The ingredients seem a little strange, but do not let that hinder you from creating one of the tastiest casseroles you have ever had!!! I am hoping to get that recipe posted soon, but for now, the "cream of" soup that you need in Vegetable Casserole is Cream of Celery. 

Cream of Celery Soup

6 Stalks of Celery, Diced (Aprox 2 1/2c.)

1/2c. Yellow Onion, Diced

1/2T Salt

1/2T Garlic

1t. Pepper

1T Olive Oil

-Combine above ingredients into a large stock pot. Sweat out celery and onions until they are soft. 

-Add in:

3T Butter or Olive Oil

1/4c. Gluten Free Flour

-Combine all with a spatula and let cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally so that it does not burn. 

-1c. At a time, with a spatula, add in:

6c. Milk (Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, Cows Milk all work)

Before you add anything beyond the first cup of milk, make sure all the lumps of roux are smoothed out and all is combined well. 

Let cook for approximately 30 minutes on medium heat. If you are unhappy with the thickness, add in a mixture of cornstarch and water. Allow soup to set for at least 24 hours so flavors can "marry" and the soup can thicken more. 

Side Note:

The Vegetable Casserole is a combination of green beans, corn, cream of celery soup, diced green bell pepper, and cheddar cheese. I top mine with a crumbled biscuit and slivered almond mixture, drizzled with olive oil or melted butter. Exact measurements coming soon!!! 

Holiday Turkey Compound Butter

If you are looking for an easy way to get flavor and crispiness onto your Holiday Turkey, look no further. This recipe is absolutely delicious! I really have nothing else to say about it. It is SO GOOD!

Holiday Turkey Compound Butter

2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter (Make sure it is unsalted)

1T Salt

1/2t. White Pepper

2t. Garlic Powder

1 1/2t. Thyme

2t. Sage

1T. Parsley

1T. Dried, Minced Onion

Combine all together and put in a covered/sealed container for at least 24 hours. Rinse your turkey and dry it off. Separate the skin from the turkey and apply some of the compound butter up under the skin, between the skin and the meat. Apply liberally. Use the remaining butter to cover the outside of your turkey. Follow the instructions from your turkey's manufacturer to make sure you cook it on the proper temperature and for the correct amount of time, per pound. Make sure to cook your turkey to 165 degrees. Use a meat thermometer and stick it into the thickest part of the turkey breast. Let your turkey "rest" under a tent of aluminum foil, for thirty minutes before "trimming". 

Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving wasn't "Thanksgiving", without my Mom's Green Bean Casserole. I'm sure it is just like your Mom's recipe, cream of mushroom soup, green beans, a boiled egg, and French's fried onions on top. When I was diagnosed with Celiac, I really thought my days of a delicious Thanksgiving meal was over. I discovered the canned cream of mushroom soup at Whole Foods, but honestly, who can really afford that stuff? That is when I was inspired to write my own recipe for cream of mushroom soup. Not only is it dairy free, gluten free, and nut free, but it's healthier than the canned stuff. 

This recipe makes nine cups, yes, NINE! You can always cut it in half, if you need less, or you can make the full recipe, use half of it at Thanksgiving, then freeze and save the other half for Christmas. If you have a gluten free flour, salt, garlic powder, butter or olive oil, and an onion already on hand, then this recipe will cost you less than $10. I've found that an 8-10oz container of Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom soup is approximately $3.00, depending on where you live and where you are shopping. In order to get nine cups of GF cream of mushroom soup, you would have to buy 7-8 containers. That is a total cost of $21-$25 and with the cost of the Thanksgiving meal, I like to save wherever I can! 

Even if you aren't gluten intolerant, this recipe is easily made with normal flours and milk. Just substitute it all out! This recipe is healthier and contains less sodium than the leading can or container of cream of mushroom soup. The sodium and calories alone is a good enough reason to make your own. My cream of mushroom soup, contains 960mg of sodium per cup. A leading brand can of cream of mushroom soup contains 1740mg of sodium per cup. My homemade cream of mushroom soup is also 45 calories per cup, compared to 200 calories per cup of the leading brand. We consume so many empty calories at Thanksgiving, this is a good place to fix that! 

Cream of Mushroom Soup

2, 8oz Containers of Mushrooms, diced

1/2c. Yellow Onion, diced

1/2T. Salt

1/2T. Garlic

1T Olive Oil

-Combine ingredients above in a large stock pot and cook down the mushrooms and onions until soft. 

-Add in:

3T. Butter or Olive Oil (Let butter melt before adding in the flour)

1/4c. Gluten Free Flour

-Combine with a spatula and let cook for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn.

-Begin to add in Milk, using a whisk, one cup at a time. 

Half Gallon of Milk (I used coconut. You can also use Almond or Cow's Milk)

Let the soup cook and thicken on medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not burn. If you have not reached your desired thickness, use cornstarch and water mixture to thicken. 

I like to make this a couple of days ahead of time, that way, the soup has enough time for the flavors to "marry", and it will also thicken as it stands in the refrigerator. 

Use this soup in any of your favorite casseroles that call for "Cream of Mushroom Soup" and you will forget that you were ever diagnosed with Celiac Disease!!!

Gooey Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Am I the only one who feels like I can make a great chocolate chip cookie and then on day two or three, they are hard as a rock? I've been wanting a good gooey cookie that will stay gooey until they are gone. I'm hoping I've finally figured it out.

I have taken Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix's Cookie Recipe and I've added extra flour, extra baking powder, and the more noticeable one, rainbow sprinkles (just for fun).

Pamela's Recipe

7T Room Temperature Butter (I always use 1 stick)
1/4c. Light Brown Sugar
1/4c. White Sugar
1 Egg
1t. Vanilla
1 1/2c. Pamela's Baking Mix
1c. Chocolate Chips

My additions:
2T. Baking Mix
1t. Baking Powder
1/4c. Sprinkles

Cream together butter and both sugars, add in egg and vanilla. Slowly add in baking mix. When all is combined, fold in the sprinkles and chocolate chips.

This time, instead of baking the cookies right away, I let the dough refrigerate for about 15 hours (overnight, plus some) before I baked my cookies. 350 degrees for 9 minutes and then I let them sit on the baking sheet for about 3-4 minutes before I moved them to a cooling rack.

Domino Cookie Copy Cat Recipe

Before I was diagnosed with Celiac, I absolutely loved these super chocolaty cookies from The Great American Cookie Company. They are such a rich chocolate and chewy cookie with white chocolate chips. The past few weeks I've been looking for a recipe for these cookies, but everything I've seen didn't look like it would work with gluten free ingredients. I finally pulled few ideas together and decided I would just "wing it".

I wish I could explain how AMAZING these cookies are! I mean, holy cow, I can't get enough of them. I seriously think they taste almost exactly like what I remember The Cookie Company's tasting like. To be completely honest, they don't taste gluten free, at all. If someone else would have made these cookies for me, I would have been very nervous about thirty minutes after my first bite. They are THAT GOOD! Make them and let me know if you agree!

Domino Copy Cat Cookies

-2 Sticks of Softened Butter (1c)
-1 1/2c. Sugar
-2 Eggs
-2t. Vanilla
-2c. Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
-3/4c. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
-1 1/2c. White Chocolate Chips

Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl with a whisk, set to the side.

Cream together the butter and sugar. When it's well combined, add the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla. Get all of these ingredients well incorporated and then start to add the flour and cocoa powder mixture. After all ingredients are well mixed the dough will be very thick. At this time fold in the white chocolate chips.

Place 2T. size dollops of cookie dough on to parchment paper lined cookie sheets (I used my silk mats) and place in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes and then move them to a cooling rack. Enjoy them warm or cooled. Either way, they are incredible!!!

All Natural Popsicles

My sweet Hadley absolutely LOVES popsicles. I haven't really found a good all natural popsicle on the island that is low in sugar (besides natural sugars) and isn't packed full of artificial flavors and colors. A few months ago, we decided to try making our own and I can not tell you how much she loves them! The last batch I made, I used all the strawberries and bananas I had on hand, and it didn't make enough "popsicle batter" to fill up our six molds, so I added some of her apple juice to be a filler. This go round, I had plenty of everything so that I didn't have to put anything else in this batch except for fresh fruit.

These popsicles are 100% gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and all natural. Including, no extra sugar added. You really can't beat these popsicles, they will cost a little more to make (versus buying at the grocery store) but they are a guaranteed crowd pleaser and you know that they are 100% safe for your kids!

All Natural Popsicles

3 Bananas
2c. (Aprox. 20) Dieced Strawberries
1 1/2c. Blueberries

Place in a food processor and combine fruit until desired consistency is reached.

Makes 3 1/2c. of  "Popsicle Batter". For the size molds we have, it made six popsicles with about 1/3c. left over for us to eat.

Gluten Free Meatballs

I wish I could tell you that this is a meatball recipe that has been in my family for "years", but it has not. Growing up, we didn't eat a lot of spaghetti. My Mom was (and still is) a wonderful cook, she was very creative and we always had something delicious on the dinner table, but we didn't eat a lot of tomato based sauces because my Dad had a bout with stomach ulcers when I was in the first grade. I remember when my Dad would be out of town at a conference or mission trip, we would ALWAYS have spaghetti one night. Funny how little things like that, stick in your memory, even 20 years later. Being the lucky one that I am, I inherited my Dad's stomach and bouts of painful acid reflux, so I usually have to stay away from heavy tomato based sauces. There are times though, where I keep the acid reflux meds in my pocket and eat it up!

Clint loves spaghetti and meatballs, so every now and then, I pull out all the stops and throw together these meatballs. I use all dried ingredients when I make these because I let them sit overnight after I have rolled them together. In my opinion, letting all those dried herbs sink into the meat overnight, makes a huge difference.

Gluten Free/Bread Free/Flour Free Meatballs

1.25lb Ground Turkey
1/2-1t. Sea Salt
1/2-1t. Freshly Ground Pepper
2t. Dried Minced Onion
2t. Dried Oregano
1/2t. Dried Sage
1/2t. Dried Thyme
1T. Dried Parsley
1/2t. Dried Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)
1/2t. Dried Garlic Powder
2T Batch 501 Original Sauce
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 Egg Yolk

LIGHTLY Combine together all ingredients, do not "over mix". Once all ingredients are combined, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of meat. It is basically 2T of meat mixture. Lightly roll into a ball and place in a 9X13 baking dish that you have drizzled with olive oil. Continue until all the mixture is gone.

Makes approximately 15 meatballs, depending on size.

Let meatballs sit in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the meatballs have reached an internal temperature of 165, place them in your spaghetti sauce and let them sit there until dinner time.

ENJOY!

Banana & Blueberry Muffins

It has been almost six years since I've had a blueberry muffin and before Celiac, they used to be one of my favorites!!! I was at Sam's a few days ago, and decided to grab their 2lb. container of fresh blueberries. It's probably the cheapest place on the island to buy ANY fruit, and it still isn't that cheap. Clint and Hadley both love fresh blueberries, and my parents are coming to visit this week, and they do too, so I figured, "why not?".

Clint had to work Saturday, and when I asked Hadley what she wanted for breakfast, she said, "muffins, but not the apple ones". That's when I remembered I had all those blueberries! She got excited when I told her we would make blueberry muffins and that's when I started to think about my Dad. He's recently found out that he is just borderline diabetic (it's a family thing). I wanted to see if I could make these without any refined sugar so that I could make them again this week. I almost did, but then added some brown sugar. When my Dad is here, I will probably use honey instead, and I think they will still be delicious! ENJOY!!!!

Banana & Blueberry Muffins

For this recipe, I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I kept the motor running and added everything in the order as listed below. I think the order is very key in these muffins, so try to make them in this order!!!

1 Banana
1 Egg

**Combine until smooth**

1/4c Brown Sugar or Honey

**Combine until smooth**
1/3c. Coconut Milk or Regular Milk
1t. Vanilla
1t. Cinnamon (optional)

**Combine until smooth**

1 1/2c. Pamela's GF Baking & Pancake Mix
(1/2c. At a time)

**Combine until smooth**

Turn off mixer and remove from base.
Fold in 1c. Fresh Blueberries.

Grease muffin tin and fill 3/4 full with batter. Bake on 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

OPTIONAL (But delicious!!!!)
Brush with melted butter IMMEDIATELY after removing from the oven. Let muffins stand for a few minutes and then remove from muffin pan and ENJOY!!!!!!! These are even delicious the next day! I could taste the cinnamon more on the second day, so if you aren't a cinnamon fan, don't add the cinnamon!



Sausage and Cheddar Muffins



Clint had a night flight today so that means, he is home for breakfast! I decided I would make something yum that would hang with him for a while, since days like today are very busy! I've made these muffins a few times but I've never written down the recipe until today!!! I hope y'all love them as much as we do!!!

Sorry there's no picture! My computer has a virus and I can't add a picture right this minute from my phone! ENJOY!!! 

Sausage and Cheddar Muffins

1 1/2c. Pamela's Baking Mix

1/2c. Water

1 Egg

1c. Sausage, cooked and chopped (I use Turkey)

1c. Shredded Sharp Cheddar

Combine all ingredients (in the order above) and place into greased muffin tins. Bake on 350 for 14-16 minutes. Brush with butter immediately after coming out of the oven. Yield: 6-9 depending on size. 

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Oh what a week it has been at our house. I really am thankful that Friday is finally here. The beginning of this week brought a lot of heartache and devastation to the South and heartache to our house. Clint was born and raised in Arkansas and I spent 16 years of my life in Arkansas, we have deep roots there. I sat and watched as the bad weather moved through Mississippi, where my parents live. My parents "hunkered down" in their storm shelter and randomly came out to check weather updates from me. A couple hours after my parents were free and clear, my cousins, Aunt, Uncle, and younger sister were all in the path of two separate tornadoes, in two separate parts of Birmingham, Alabama. A couple of days later, we watched the news as Pensacola, Florida, flooded and streets vanished. We spent over a year at Naval Air Station Pensacola and still have many friends there. Pensacola is also a very special place in our hearts because that is where Hadley was born, a little over three years ago. I'm thankful all that is behind them, even though it seems the difficult part of the storm has just now started for victims and their families.

Here at our Hawaiian Hideaway, we have had a couple of small battles of our own, to win. Actually, they seem tiny in the scheme of the things now that this week is coming to a close. Clint had a HUGE day at work today, that's the whole reason for the Strawberry Shortcakes. He had his "300 Board" today. It's basically a verbal exam of everything he has been studying for the past year. He is one very large step closer to getting his Aircrew Wings (for those of you who are not 'in the know' military wise, wings are a big deal!!!!!)

I went over and above, like I usually do. I know no boundaries when I get to prepare a meal for someone! In the end, I think it was worth it because those Sailors devoured every last crumb.

The full meal consisted of Crockpot BBQ Pork Butt (which I will link in as soon as I get it posted), Baked Potato Salad, and this Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. Below is the EASY EASY EASY recipe! Enjoy!


Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

1 Gluten Free Betty Crocker Cake Mix
   -Change water to milk and increase to 1c.
   -Increase Vanilla to 1T
1 1/2lb. (or 1 1/2 cartons) Fresh Strawberries
1/3-1/2c Sugar
1 Large Tub of Cool Whip (Or freshly made whipped cream)

Combine the instructions on the box with the changes I stated above with the cake mix. Follow instructions on the box for mixing and combining. Place in a greased 9x13 dish and bake for approximately 18-20 minutes.

While cake cooks, slice the strawberries and place them in a bowl with the sugar. If your strawberries aren't very sweet, use 1/2c. If you strawberries are naturally sweet, use 1/3c. If you choose not to do the strawberry and sugar step, that's fine. The main reason I do this is because the sugar draws out the strawberry's natural juices and creates a bit of a syrup that is delicious.

Once the cake is cooked and cooled, cut off the brown edges (because no one likes crunchy cake edges in their strawberry shortcake) and of course, eat them. :) Then cut the rest of the cake in 1/2" by 1/2" squares.

Get everything set out and get ready to layer it all up. In this order... Cake, Cool Whip, Strawberries. OR- Cake, Strawberries, Cool Whip. However you like!

This will make enough for 8-10 servings.

Gluten Free Irish Cream Coffee Cakes

 

 

 

 

 

 I wrote this recipe over a year ago when I volunteered to take a dessert to a dinner party at a friend's house in Jacksonville. They are the kind of people who appreciate a good creative, non traditionally cooked dish. For example, once at their house, we had Raspberry Lavender Sorbet and yes, it was delicious. I knew that when it came to a cake recipe that omitted milk and water, they would be happy to be my guinea pigs! We were always trying out fun and different recipes together. I do have to say, when we left Jacksonville in February of 2013, telling them "good-bye" was one of the hardest things we did.

I call this a coffee cake because like anything with Irish Cream Liqueur baked in, is absolutely perfect with coffee!!! If you don't have an Irish Cream Liqueur and you do not want to go buy one, I would probably suggest substituting with an Irish Cream coffee creamer instead. I'll give you a list of substitutions below the recipe. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

*Disclaimer: Frangelico and Carolans both state on their websites that their product is gluten free. If you chose another Irish Cream besides Carolans or Brendan's, they are not guaranteed.*

Irish Cream Coffee Cakes

1 Box of Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
2t. Cinnamon (if desired, I don't always add)
1 Stick of Butter, melted
3 Eggs
1/2c of Frangelico's Hazelnut Liqueur
1/2c of Carolans Irish Cream

The Hazelnut and Irish Cream Liqueur's replace the 2/3c of Milk/Water, which I personally do not think is enough to begin with. Anytime I make this cake as the box directs, I use 1c Milk instead of 2/3c.

Follow directions on the box for combining and mixing the cake. (I have made this mix into cupcakes, mini bunt cakes, as well as a 9x9 and it turns out delicious in any form.)

Once out of the oven, let cool completely. Drizzle with either melted milk chocolate (as shown in main picture) or create a Lemon Drizzle with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Both options are delicious and I will update soon with my "recipe" for the lemon drizzle.

Substitution Options:

Instead of Hazelnut Liqueur:
-Almond Liqueur
-1/2c. Milk with 2t. Almond extract
-1/2c. Milk with 2t. Vanilla extract
-1/2c. Milk with 2t. Lemon extract
-1/2c. Milk with 2t. Hazelnut extract
-1/2c. Hazelnut Coffee Creamer
-1/2c. Milk**

Instead of Irish Cream Liqueur:
-1/2c. Irish Cream Coffee Creamer
-1/2c. Milk**

**If you substitute both Liqueurs with Milk, add in 1T of an extract of your choice.