Gluten Free Waffles

I just wanted to share my favorite pancake/waffle mix with you guys.  I LLOOOVVVEEE pancakes, waffles, french toast...basically anything that tastes good smothered in syrup.  I have made my own breakfast treats from scratch the crepes actually turned out really good, but the pancakes I made the other morning weren't the best.  I really LOVE this mix:  Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix

The pancakes are awesome!  I made the waffles this weekend and they were a hit as well!  It is a little pricey, but a lot cheaper than eating out a restaurant.  So whether you are hosting a guest, or have a family member in your house who eats gluten-free this breakfast will be sure to please.  It has different variations, I just used the waffle recipe on the package.  Just wanted to pass along a recommendation for ya!  You can find it at Kroger (in the health food area) and Whole Foods.

Quick Stir Fry

I came up with this stir fry this week.  I thought it was a nice change from the normal lunch I throw together for a friend coming over.  It is really quick and versatile, just use whatever veggies you have on hand. I have been cooking my chicken first thing in the week, shredding it, freezing some, and keeping a few zip lock bags of cooked chicken in the fridge.  I will add it to salads, sandwiches & dinners through out the week and I don't have to wait for it to cook, just re-heat.  Recently I have been buying cabbage, mainly for slaw, stir fries & soup (more in the winter).  It adds a great flavor to Asian dishes.

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1/8-1/4 cup soy sauce (make sure it is gluten-free(if you are doing that diet), they sneak wheat in!)
1 chicken breast, cooked, sliced
1/3 small red cabbage, shredded
1 broccoli crown, steamed chopped large

Sautee the onions and garlic in oil, until the onions are translucent.  Pour in the broth and soy sauce, add the chicken and cook for a few minutes till heated through.  Last throw in the cabbage & broccoli.  Sautee the mixture for about 3 minutes, until the cabbage is just starting to soften.  Taste & see if you want to add more soy sauce.  Serve warm.  This is also something you can make a little while before your guest (or family) is ready to eat.  Just heat for a few minutes on high to warm up.  Enjoy!!  Serves 2.

Delicious Tomato Pie

This recipe could arguably be my most favorite side dish.  I LOVE tomatoes, and I saw Paula Deen put this scrumptious dish together about 6 years ago.  Tomatoes, fresh basil, green onions, how could you go wrong?  I made it for the first time for Mother's Day 2005, it was also my first time buying a live basil plant (I know grow it in my garden every year).  We got married in 2005, so this was one of the first of many dishes from scratch I began making a part of our family meals.  I cook/ bake most of my stuff from scratch, so I know exactly what is going in it.  Normally I make my own crust, but I haven't found a good gluten-free recipe, so I did buy a pre-made gluten-free crust from Whole Foods.  The crust was great!  In the past I used regular mayonnaise, but this time I used "Vegenaise" (find more info in my post:http://seasontheday.blogspot.com/2011/03/quick-slaw-from-scratch.html)  and everyone thought it was amazing, so we couldn't tell the difference.  I encourage you to try this, you won't be disappointed!!  

Ingredients: 

• 4 large tomatoes sliced
• 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 (9-inch) prebaked deep dish pie shell
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• 1 cup grated cheddar
• ( I actually used 2 cups shredded cheese mix Mozzarella, Cheddar & Monterey jack)
• 1 cup mayonnaise, "vegenaise" brand is what I used
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain for 10 minutes.

Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise together. Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

To serve, cut into slices and serve warm.  Enjoy!  It is AWESOME!!!!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my FAVORITE chocolate cookie recipe.  I am actually not a huge fan of chocolate cookies, but my SIL made these in the past and they tasted like gooey brownies, now I make them any time I get a craving.  Tonight I got such a craving and made them...... yummy, chewy, cocoa wonderfulness!  If you aren't doing gluten-free just substitute gluten-free all purpose flour, for regular all purpose flour.  They are awesome, hope you will try!

Ingredients:
1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (it really intensifies the chocolate flavor)
5 Tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Cream butter with sugars.  Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing the melted semi-sweet chocolate chips in last, then stir in the "milk" chocolate chips.  The batter will look dry compared to normal cookie batter, but bakes up perfect.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Spring Brunch

Recently I hosted a small spring brunch.  I have a girl friend whose mom lives out of town, so when her mother is here I try to see her.  I LOVE doing play dates with my friends regularly, but I don't often think of the moms of my friends.  This was the perfect opportunity to host a play date with younger moms & a few seasoned ones.  It was a relaxed morning of chatting and watching the kids play together.

Sometimes a get together can seem like a lot of work.  Don't be afraid to ask your guests to bring something to add to the table, a favorite recipe or a simple side (depending on if they like to cook).  This makes prep sooo much easier.  Since I am doing gluten free I offered to do the bread, or in this case the carrot cup-cakes and also the crust-less quiche.

I did the brunch right before Easter, so it was easter themed.  A little decorating with eggs & spring colors of pink and green.

Since there were lots of kids running around I wanted to be sure to include them in the brunch fun.  For me as a mom, sitting around the table with moms swapping stories is my kind of fun, but not the kiddos.  My son and I planned an Easter egg hunt.  We put jelly beans in plastic eggs (He LOVED helping!!) and then hid them all over the yard.  It was so fun, I think he loved setting it up and hiding the eggs even more than actual hunt.  We sent out his friends to find the eggs with paper lunch bags, simple, easy fun!

Here is our simple, gluten-free menu:

Broccoli Spinach Quiche

Cherry Scones with Cherry Butter

Fruit Salad

Carrot Cup-Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Coffee, Hot Tea & Water

I hope this sparks some ideas for you to host your own brunch. 

Great Pizza!!!

I mentioned that I "heard" that Buddy's Pizza ( http://www.buddyspizza.com/)  sells Gluten-free pizza.  Well, we tried it tonight so I could tell you for myself...AMAZING!!!!  I highly suggest it, you wouldn't even know it was any different, even my husband concurs!!  So if you are looking for a good pizza, definitely try it!

Gluten Free Taco Pizza

One of the hardest things about eating gluten-free is not being able to eat pizza!  So I recently found a gluten-free pizza crust mix and tried it out this week.  It was Bob's Red Mill brand, and it was just ok.  I think I may have undercooked it.  It still tasted good, but I will be on the look out for a really good crust mix or recipe. If you feel like a good pizza, I hear Buddy's pizza has a gluten-free option.  I will be trying it out soon and let you know!

Taco pizza is one of my favorite ways to make pizza.  It is really easy, and a fresh way to use ground beef.  We had this last week on Cinco De Mayo.

Ingredients:

Pizza Crust, baked (Bob's Red Mill, Gluten-free is what I used)
1 cup Homemade spaghetti sauce (or your favorite jarred sauce)
1-2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 lb ground beef, cooked & seasoned with taco seasoning (I make up my own, chili pwdr, garlic pwdr, cumin)
Shredded lettuce
chopped tomatoes or fresh salsa
1/2 avocado, sliced

Spread sauce on baked crust.  Top the sauce with cheese & ground beef.  Bake at 425 for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted and starting to brown just slightly.  Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes & avocado.  Enjoy!

Really easy & the toppings can vary depending on what you like on your "tacos".

Creamy Potato Gratin

Well we just returned from a very relaxing vacation to North Carolina.  I loved all the time spent with my family! Having my parents live out of town is hard at times, so I tried to soak up every moment I could with my mom.  Finally I am able to get back on here and post some yummy recipes and tell what we're up to.

A friend gave me this recipe with me a while back,saying how fabulous it was and I have been looking for an occasion to use it.  Thank you Melanie for sharing this yummy dish with me, it turned out AWESOME (as you said it would) and it was super easy.  I loved adding this delicious side dish to our yummy gluten-free Easter dinner spread.  (Well almost gluten-free menu, my sister-in-law Heidi brought a "normal" chocolate cake claiming "This is BYOG -bring your own gluten- house"  LOL she is a riot!)

This makes a 9x13 casserole pan.

Ingredients:
4 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/8 slices
5 cups heavy whipping cream (get at Costco, less than 6$ for a 1/2 gallon organic)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt kosher sea-salt (I love the REAL SALT brand- it has the best flavor, not all salts are the same!)

3/4 teaspoon pepper
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
8 ounce block of Gruyère cheese, shredded (I used Trader Joe's Raw Gruyère- amazing!)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  After peeling & slicing the potatoes, place in a large pan with the cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg & garlic cloves. Bring to a boil, gently stirring occasionally.  Remove garlic (if you can find them, I couldn't find mine LOL- or you can mince the garlic in the first place and leave in the dish.)After bringing it to a boil, pour mixture into a 9x13 pan.  Spread the grated cheese over the entire dish.  Place in the oven for about 40 minutes.  It is finished when it begins to brown on the top and on the edges you will see little puddles of yellow butter fat, remove once you see this.  Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, this will allow the cream to "set".  Serve at room temp.  Enjoy!  (This dish is great re-heated the next day)