Taco Salad

Taco salad. So simple, yet full of pitfalls if you don't pay attention. Did you know that most pre-made taco

seasoning packets have gluten and soy in them? So do some salsas. Chips, it's almost unavoidable unless you make them yourself. Who has time for that? So, here is my rule of thumb. Gluten I avoid 100% where I know it is in something. (I'm still learning what has it and what doesn't.) Sugar I limit as much as humanly possible, but allow small tastes here and there to avoid binges. Soy, I use my discretion. I will eat something with soy twice a week. Which means I have to really be picky about what I'm willing to let slide. If something has all three offenders it is on the "absolutely not, ever" list. Since I seasoned my taco meat with single ingredients, and used soy and gluten free salsa, I'm willing to take the hit on soy for this meal. Herdez salsa is great. We like to drain a little of the juice to make it less runny and more chunky.

EDIT: Target sells tortilla chips that are soy free. Time to stock up. No more limiting how often I have Mexican tortilla chip-based meals. WOOT!


I used ground turkey for my meat and seasoned it with dried chives, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes. And since it is green chile season down here in southern New Mexico, get ready for a lot of Mexican recipes. Coincidentally, I have found that Mexican cuisine is gluten free-friendly as long as you use corn tortillas. Flour tortillas (*sniff*) we have to stay away from.

Anyways, this salad was amazing. Here are my layers:
White corn chips
Chopped lettuce
Ground Turkey
Green chile
Mexican cheese blend
Sour cream
Salsa
White onion
Diced avocado

Next time I think I'll add rice and black olives. Mmm!

Creamy Green Chile Enchiladas

I don't have a picture for this post, but the recipe is so good, I don't think it needs one. I've been trying to find a good recipe for enchiladas since canned cream of chicken and enchilada sauce both have gluten in them. I couldn't find a recipe that didn't call for something or other that I didn't have so I went with what I did.

Ingredients:
24 corn tortillas
2 lbs chicken breast
1 cup free range chicken broth
3 cups cheddar cheese
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped green chiles. (Fresh are best.)
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
1 cup sour cream
3 tbsp olive or coconut oil
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt and pepper

Directions:

In crockpot: cook your chicken breasts and onions in the broth for 4 hours on high. When it's easily shredded with a spoon, season to taste and reduce to low for 2 hours. Toss and continue to lightly shred chicken every 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*

Heat oil in a frying pan on medium. Quickly coat tortillas with oil, then stack between napkins/paper towels.   Spread one spoonful of chicken mix on a tortilla, leaving about 1 inch from an edge. Sprinkle with a little cheese and roll. Lay rolled enchilada seam down in your casserole dish. Continue with rest of tortillas.

In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, whipping cream, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well, until smooth. Add in cheese and green chiles. Pour over the top of your enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Buena suerte!

Quinoa Tabouli

I guess tabouli is a traditional mid-eastern wheat based meal. It's a cold salad, so it works best if you cook your quinoa the day before and use the refrigerated leftovers. (Hint: quinoa has really good flavor if you cook it in gluten free vegetable broth instead of just water.) I found a recipe at allrecipes.com and then used what I had.

Ingredients:

2 cups chilled quinoa

1 can black olives

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 sliced cucumber

2 chopped tomatoes

1 cup chopped spinach

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/8 tsp cumin

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. It is on the sour side. So use less juice if you don't like sour flavors as much. This was a great dinner for a hot day!

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

Bread and pasta are hands down the hardest thing about going gluten free. Chocolate is easier to walk away  from as it carries a 3 point punch, gluten, soy, and sugar. I tried white rice angel hair pasta a few weeks ago and it was a gooey mess. So I thought I'd give brown rice pasta a try. It was a hit! Capital H. I. T. Perfect texture, and tasty! I even made my own homemade alfredo sauce. I found this recipe from www.allrecipes.com. I didn't have cream, so I was looking for something without it and found this cream cheese based recipe. 

Oh. 

My. 

Tastebuds. 

Rich and oh, so creamy. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 package brown rice fettuccine noodles

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (8 ounce) whipped cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 cups milk
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2- 1 lb fresh shrimp
• 
  
• Directions:
• 1. Boil fettuccine noodles with 2 tbsp olive oil for 5 minutes, then cover and let sit for 25 minutes. Rinse with cool water.
• 
  
• 2. Melt butter and cream cheese in sauce pan. Whisk until smooth. Add in garlic powder and pepper. Slowly add in milk and keep whisking to prevent lumps. Add in Parmesan cheese. 
• 
  
• 3. Shell and devein shrimp. Boil with 2 tbsp of your favorite seafood herb mix. Drain and add to alfredo sauce. Top noodles with alfredo sauce.
• 
  
• To add a little zip, my husband loves to add red pepper flakes. And a tiny bit of red chile powder. 

Crab Cakes

I thought I'd try something I'd never cooked before with my new parameters. I found this Paula Deen crab cake recipe after googling several other crab-related recipes. Here are my modifications.

• Ingredients:
• 1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
• 1/3 cup brown rice bread crumbs
• 3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon gluten free soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Dash red chile pepper
• Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour, for dusting
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Favorite dipping sauce, for serving

Paula's Directions: 

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm with preferred sauce.

My Additions:

Layer spinach, brown rice and crab cakes. So yummy!

Bacon Quinoa Salad

Instead of making just one serving per person per meal of quinoa, (or brown rice or couscous) I have started making twice the amount so that the leftovers can be used for another meal to save time. This is a time-saver meal and oh, so yummy! I only had half a pack of bacon and it wasn't nearly enough. So in my ingredients, I'm listing a whole pack of bacon to feed a family of 4.

Ingredients

2 cups leftover cooked quinoa (or 1 cup uncooked)

1 sweet red pepper

1 package of bacon

1/2 cup chopped mushroom

1 handful garlic chives

1/4 cup butter

Fresh spinach

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add in quinoa, pepper, mushroom, and chives. Stir occasionally. 

2. In another skillet, cut up bacon in 1-1.5" pieces and fry up. When bacon is done how you like it, add it into the quinoa mix.

3. Layer your plate with spinach leaves. Top with bacon quinoa mix. 

This might be a hit or miss with little ones. Princess #1 (5) doesn't like mushrooms, but she liked everything else. And Princess #2 kept stealing Princess #1's spinach and bacon. 

Asparagus Casserole

I know this picture doesn't look the best. But I'm finding casseroles rarely look appetizing in photographs. Let me assure you, this was delicious! I made enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Yeah.

We didn't have any leftovers. 

My girls gave me and my husband a run for our money. 

Initially, I planned on making brown rice to pair with this. 

However, even the best laid plans fall through when you ruin pot after pot of rice. 

I have a personal vendetta against brown rice now. 

One day, I swear I will come out victorious. 

But for now, I admit defeat so the casserole stood alone.

No one cared though. 

In fact, I think rice might have ruined it.

This was our dinner, but I think it could be an excellent breakfast as well.

Ingredients:
2 bundles fresh asparagus (1.5-2 lbs. asparagus. Chopped in 1" pieces)
1 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup chives
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 eggs
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Layer prepared asparagus on the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer mushrooms, chives, onion and cheese. If you use sharp cheddar, you can get away with using less cheese for the same amount of flavor. Cover with spinach.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, cream, and lemon juice in a bowl for 5 minutes. Pour on top of spinach layer. Smooth  the top so that egg mix and spinach is distributed evenly. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until casserole is not jiggly like uncooked eggs. Then add just a sprinkling of cheese and broil for 3-5 minutes.

3. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Meatloaf and Homemade Ketchup

One of my favorite foods, ever since I was a kid, is meatloaf. You just can't beat a great mix of bread crumbs, meat and ketchup. So I modified my favorite recipe, and it was so worth it. Who says gluten free and refined sugar free has to be hard?

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

1 lb. ground turkey

1 cup chopped spinach (I've been sneaking it into as many meals as possible. Women are especially prone to anemia and spinach is an iron rich food that takes on the flavors of the other foods it is cooked with. Win!)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 finely chopped white onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 cup brown rice bread crumbs

Ketchup:

2/3 cup water

6 Tbsp tomato powder

4 Tbsp unrefined coconut palm sugar

2 Tbsp vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all the ingredients for the meatloaf except the meat and bread crumbs in your blender. I have a Ninja and it chopped them up to perfection.

2. Add veggie mix in with the meat and bread crumbs. Knead until well combined.

3. Mix ketchup ingredients well, (The coconut palm sugar is what I had. You can use your sweetener of choice.) and then add in 1 tsp of water until it has a ketchup-y consistency. Salt to taste. Pour half of the ketchup mix in with the meat mix and set the rest aside for the garnish.

4. Spray your loaf pans, or cupcake pans like I like to use, with olive oil and bake at 350 for one hour. Voila! You will love it.

Tip: Visit Shelf Reliance Website - Tomato Powder to get the tomato powder. I find it is very versatile (sauce, paste, ketchup,) and you don't have to worry about high fructose corn syrup in most store-bought brands. (Princeton University HFCS Findings)

Bread-less Coconut Shrimpkebabs

The bbq grill has quickly become one of my new best friends. 

Everything tastes better grilled.

Especially shrimp.

I was in a hurry tonight. 4:30 rolled around way too quickly. 

I bought shrimp yesterday so I knew I had to use it today.

Dear Husband reminded me we had veggies that needed to be used soon as well.

I figured at this point my choices were stir-fry or some kind of grilling option.

I think the picture gave it away.

And maybe the post title.

This meal surprised me. I used ONLY coconut oil (no butter) for the first time and *loved* it. Loved it! My favorite kind of shrimp is coconut shrimp. Since the usual batter has gluten, I modified it a little bit. Meaning, I got rid of the batter altogether. It's not the same, of course, but it is just as good!

Ingredients:

Shrimp (or any other kebabable meat)

Shish-kebab veggies

Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil

Coconut Flakes

Paprika

Sea salt

Basil

Directions:

Once all your veggies and meat are prepared for the skewer, toss them (separately- veggies vs. meat) in a big bowl and drizzle with coconut oil. Toss veggies til all have some oil on them. Season with paprika, basil, and salt. Sprinkle coconut flakes all over. Skewer and grill on low to medium heat until fully cooked. 

Gluten Free Pizza Rolls

Every family has a favorite food. One of those foods that speaks to both your heart and your stomach. I think my Dad's pizza crust is one of those foods. Unfortunately, it's got gluten in it. So, I took the recipe and reworked it for me. I miiiiiiiiiiiiiight like this dough better. 

Wow.

I feel like I just committed mutiny by admitting that. 

Like I'm a traitor. 

But it's only because this one didn't tear me up afterwards. 

Anyways, you could use whatever toppings you like. I just used what I had on hand.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional. Before this experiment, my go-to method was pull something out of a freezer, box or can. This post will show my inexperience with cooking terminology.  

Ingredients:

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All- Purpose Flour
6 tsp xanthan gum
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp coconut sugar
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm water
Pizza sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) -Thank you Rachel Ray!
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water with salt and sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes. When it's foamy, mix in eggs and vinegar.

2. Add in flour and xanthan gum. Mix well. Add in extra flour if needed to keep from being too sticky. Knead well. Cover and let it rise for one hour. Split dough in half and roll into two balls. Cover and let rise another hour.

3. Tear dough balls in half and roll out individually. I found 1/4" thick was perfect. Spread heaping spoonfuls of sauce in the middle of the dough. Top with favorite pizza toppings. Roll from one edge to the other like a burrito. Seal edges by pinching the dough together.

4. Drizzle EVOO on your pizza pan. Coat the dough with oil and then cut diagonal (all one way- ///) vents in the dough only on the top. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and garlic powder over the tops once you have rolled out and stuffed all your pizza rolls.

5. Bake at 425* for 25-30 minutes. I went for the full 30 minutes because I have a tendency to undercook my dough-based meals. The crispy outer layer was fantastic!

This recipe was most definitely a hit! But because of the glycemic index of the bread, I have found safety in only doing a bread substitute once or twice a week. 

Grilled Chicken with Brown Rice Couscous

Have you ever grilled chicken to perfection?

It's hard to do, finding that point just before it starts to burn, but seals the flavor just right.

I accomplished what had eluded me the previous million times of trying. Ok, so I'm exaggerating, but you get the point.

I balanced the brown sugar in this gluten-free BBQ sauce with the low glycemic brown rice couscous.  

This is a Grab-n-Go meal, meaning it didn't require a ton of preparation or a step-by-step recipe. Just a general know-how of cooking. I used a box of Olive Oil and Roasted Garlic GF Couscous, canned peas, and fresh baby carrots. I had the chicken in my freezer. You know, the enormous Sam's Club bags of 10 pounds of wings and thighs. It comes in handy when I didn't plan ahead. The little drumsticks are the perfect size for my girls to not feel overwhelmed when they see their plates. It was a hit!

Quinoa with Eggplant Saute

This dish was a great hit with my husband and may be a new personal favorite.

DH said he didn't even notice it was a vegetarian dish.

My daughters, however, got interrupted by some unexpected guests. So they ran off to play and their dinners sat on the table for an hour. After being reheated, the veggies and quinoa didn't quite live up to the first serving. But they didn't have any protests of not liking it. So, that's a plus!

Ingredients:

1 eggplant (peeled and chopped)

1 Mexican squash (halved and sliced)

1/2 Red onion (chopped)

1 small zucchini (halved and sliced)

2 minced cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus a little extra to top.

1/2 cup quinoa

Directions:

Eggplant Saute:

1. Saute veggies in oil and butter over medium high heat. Add in water. Reduce heat to medium heat. Cover and let steam help soften eggplant.

2. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over veggies.

Quinoa

3. Prepare quinoa. Boil 1 cup water. As water is heating, rinse quinoa thoroughly. It is covered with naturally bitter tasting saponins that block nutrient absorption. I use the hottest water out of my tap to rinse. When water is boiling, add in quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to low for about 10-15 minutes. 

4. Serve the eggplant saute over the quinoa. Sprinkle with any remaining parmesan cheese. 

Squash Medley Spaghetti Sauce

This dish was an unexpected hit. The best part was getting my girls to eat squash and zucchini without complaining! There's another dish I make, called calabacitas, that they complain about the texture of "the yellow and green stuff". I don't think we'll ever have plain ol' meat sauce again. 

Here's the mix pre-tomato sauce. Have you ever tried Cavender's All-Purpose Greek Seasoning?

It's fabulous. 

And the meat is light because it is turkey. I stopped cooking beef a long time ago because I thought it was healthier, but for a different reason than I do now. Cows are fed soybeans. Soy is known to slow metabolism, allowing the cow to get fatter and offer more meat. Eaten regularly, you get a dose of soy yourself. And soy attacks weak thyroid glands. Of course, this is not a problem in organically grass-fed cows. The price of that meat is worth the price, but I'll be buying steaks when I do. I think ground turkey is a good substitute in the meantime.

Ingredients:

1 yellow squash  (chopped)

1 small zucchini (chopped)

1/2 white onion (chopped)

1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1 lb. ground turkey

tomato sauce as desired

1 tbsp unrefined virgin coconut oil

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp water

Directions:

1. Saute squash, zucchini, and onion in coconut oil and butter over medium heat. Add in water. Cover til soft. You can use just butter or just coconut oil. I'm trying to use coconut oil more, but still haven't developed a taste for the oil all by itself just yet. So I temper it with butter.

2. Add in spinach. Once it has darkened and shriveled, push up around the edges of the pan. 

3. Brown meat in the middle. I don't drain the fat because I think it gives the sauce a good flavor. I try to get the 92% lean meat.

4. Season meat with spices of choice. I love Cavender's Greek Seasoning! Maybe because I grew up with it and it just tastes like home to me. Mix meat and veggies together. Add in spaghetti sauce to taste. I like my sauce more chunky than runny, so I just use one small can.

Side note: I used the rice spaghetti noodles for the first time to avoid gluten in regular pasta. They came out a little stickier than I like. And there were not nearly enough noodles for my liking. But maybe that's a good thing. My daughters, however, declared they loved the noodles and ate every bite on their plate. They were disappointed to learn I didn't have anymore noodles for seconds. Two boxes may be necessary next time!