turkey...

Cook your turkey upside down. It's way yummier. WAY!!!!

My sis-in-law (who does not cook!!!, go figure!!!) taught me this little trick this past Thanskgiving...... and I made one the other night. It is so juicy and tender and yuuuuummmmy!!

Rub the bird with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, or what ever spices you want......and stick it breast side down in your pan or roaster oven. Cook........and eat.....YUM!

Jen's version of a Ceasar Salad

Another mish mash of various recipes with a touch of pure Jen thrown in......

a bag of romaine lettuce
fresh shredded parmesan cheese

Dressing:
2-3 tsp chopped garlic
1 (ish) tbsp Dijon mustard
2 (ish) tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp Mediterranean Pesto (made with back olives, anchovy, and a bunch of other stuff) could probably just throw in some black olives and anchovies, but I didn't have anchovies.....
1-2 tsp capers
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pc GF bread toasted, almost burnt, really really dry!!! crumbled up

dump all the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor and give it a whirl until everything is good and mixed up and chopped real fine. I had to add a smidge of water as it was a bit thick, maybe a tsp or so of water......

Toss that with the romaine and fresh parmesan and enjoy. The kids came back for seconds, and there wasn't enough for Sean and I.........

Sauteed mushrooms

This was like eating the yummiest mushroom ever. Even Charles agreed they were good!!! Although next time, I will just use all portabello and forget the white mushrooms, the white were good, but the portabello was just divine!!!

Saute about 2-3 cups cubed or quartered (depending on how big of mushrooms you use) in a tbsp (or so) butter with about 1-2 cloves garlic on high heat. Salt and pepper to taste while cooking.....

When mushrooms start to look tender add about a cup or so of white wine. I happened to have a bottle of Pinot Grigio open, and so that is what I used tonight. Usually I use a Chardonnay when cooking, but now I don't think it matters.

Anyway.........simmer on med. low heat until all the wine is evaporated. Took about 20 minutes maybe. I left a bit of sauce in the pan, and put the lid on to keep warm until the rest of the meal was done, then jsut reheat it right before serving and cooked off the last bit of liqud.

so ok....here is the list of ingredients.

2-3 cups mushrooms cut into bite sized pcs.
1-2 tbsp butter
1-2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 cup white wine

YUM Apple Pie

OH this was seriously SERIOUSLY YUMMMY!!!!

I had a frozen GF (Grandma Ferndon's) premade pie crust in the freezer that needed some filling and so I did this:

4-5 large apples peeled and sliced, I used a mix of Macintosh and Granny Smith
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Chebe cinnamon roll up dry mix
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all that up and stick it in your pie crust. It should be pretty high, over the top of the pan, as the apples will smoosh together as they bake.

Then mix this for the crumb topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Chebe cinnamon rollup dry mi
1/2 to 1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup rolled oats (if you can't find Bob's Red Mill oats, you can probably leave this out)

With fork mash all that to form a soft crumbly mixture and spoon that onto the apple's. With your hands kind of press it into the top of the apples. It didn't completely cover all the apples, some were poking out, but it didn't end up mattering at all.

Place that in a preheated oven at 350 for however long it takes to be brown and bubbly. I think it was about an hour, but I didn't really keep track of the time. Sorry.........at least I am being honest!!! Anyway, let sit till cool enough to eat and enjoy with some vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.

This was WAY yummy.....I think the brown sugar gave it a more caramel-ly taste, which we loved!!!!

Prime Rib

4 -5 lb prime rib roast (with bones)
salt
pepper
Dijon mustard


Let roast set out to room temp. Preheat oven to 500. Liberally apply salt and pepper, coat with mustard. Place in baking dish, fat side up, bone side down....cover with foil tent. Bake for 5 minutes per pound of meat (20 minutes for my 4 lb). Turn oven off, leave door closed and let set for 1 hour. Check with meat thermometer to make sure it is the right internal temp.

Serve with horseradish sauce.......fresh horseradish mixed with sour cream and a little lemon.

Creamed potatoes

1/4 to 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1/4-1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2-3 tbsp fresh snipped chives
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 bag sliced potatoes (about 3 1/2 cups sliced potato)


Preheat oven to 350. Place half of the potatoes in a buttered casserole dish.

Wisk the cream cheese and milk until smooth, add rest of ingredients, pour half this sauce over half the potatoes in casserole. Layer rest of potato over that and pour remainder of sauce on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 20-30 minutes in preheated 350 oven until hot and bubbly.

The boys loved this, no leftovers at all!!!

Tropical Amaretto

Can we all say YUM!!!!

3-4 oz pineapple orange juice
1-2 oz strawberry kiwi juice
a shot or so of Disaronno

Mix over ice and enjoy!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

JD Fred's Lettuce Wraps

Sean and Charles are out and about, so it's just me and the younger dudes, which means I am not making a big meal for them. BUT I do have some chicken breasts thawed that need cooked.....soooooooo, I made chicken nachos for them and lettuce wraps for me. YUM!!!

I Googled for the recipe, got several and ended up with this mish-mash as my recipe. They weren't bad for a first time, even with some of the substitutions I had to make. I will make them again. Although I will try to find garlic and red chili paste next time.

"Special Sauce"
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder and chili powder

Dissolve the sugar in the water, then add the other ingredients and set aside. I used spicy brown mustard, since that is all I had. I am sure PF Changs does NOT use what I did, but I am not going out in this weather!

Stir Fry

2 chicken breasts, cooked and either chopped fine or run through the food processor.

1/2 cup carrot, chopped fine

1 cup water chestnuts, chopped fine

1 cup mushrooms, chopped fine

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce (GF tamari)

1/2 tsp rice vinegar

throw all the above (except the special sauce that is still set aside) in a large pan and saute on high heat with about 1 tsp oil for jsut a few minutes, until all heated through. Serve in lettuce cups with special sauce.

Now I jsut need to figure out how the make that chocolate dessert that PF Changs serves. That is a little blob of heaven in raspberry sauce.....

Amaretto Cheesecake

Made this for a Christmas thing I went to this morning. I decided to try a different cheesecake base and am still not sure if I like this better or not. It is really creamy, almost custardish, so depends on your texture preference. There wasn't much left to bring home, so I guess that is a good thing.

For the crust I used Healthy Valley Rice Bran crackers. Now these say "gluten free ingredients" on the box, so I use them, but have talked to other GF people who don't quite trust that labeling.......so whatever.......you can use a box of Kinnikinik K-Kritter cookies, or whatever animal cracker you have found as a substitute....jsut run them through the food processor to make fine crumbs.

so, on to the recipe....

1 1/2 cups (or one box) cookie crumbs, finely crushed in food processor
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup powdered sugar

16 oz Ricotta cheese
16 oz cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1/3 cup Amaretto liquer
1/2 cup white sugar
3 more egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
fresh berries (I had raspberries on hand)

Mix crumbs, powdered sugar and butter in greased (or buttered) 10" springform pan. Press partially up sides and covering bottom of pan. Chill.

Preheat oven to 325. Place a pan of water in oven during preheating and leave in during bake time. Beat Ricotta and cream cheese together until smooth. Add eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla, beating well after each addition until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared springform pan. Place a sheet of foil under pan and onto a cookie sheet, put in oven. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes (depending on the oven). Turn off oven and let sit until cool. Place in refridgerator and chill. Before serving, remove springform pan and pile on the berries. Enjoy!!!

Bacon wrapped tenderloin

OH HEAVENS!!!

This was GOOD!!! Not low fat, and probably not real good for our arteries, but every so often you just need to do this!!!

At Sam's again (I know, big shocker) anyway, for some reason the extra large gigantuan sized bacon package was calling to me, and those of you that know me, know that I do not buy raw bacon, I do NOT like the grease. But anyway so I decided to try something.....

about 2 lbs beef tenderloin steaks
6-8 slices bacon, cut in half
1 stick of butter
garlic, salt, pepper

toothpicks

melt butter in large baking dish. Preheat broiler. Cut beef into large chunks, season with garlic, salt and pepper. Wrap beef chunks with bacon slice, push toothpick through to hold bacon in place, place in baking dish.

Place dish on 2nd to top rack under broiler. Broil 4ish minutes, remove, turn beef over to brown other side, broil another 4 minutes or until red to your liking.......and eat!!!! No leftovers, none, and I probably should have made more......YUM!!!

Wassail (aka hot cider punch)

1/2 gallon apple cider (you can use juice, it's just sweeter)
2-3 cups cranberry juice
2-3 cups orange juice
4 cinnamon sticks
20ish whole cloves
several dashes of the following spices:
allspice (about 1 tsp)
nutmeg (about 1 tsp)
about 1/2 the amount of dashes of ginger (about 1/2 tsp)
a couple dallops of honey

2 small oranges sliced thin
a big handful of whole cranberries
(I keep a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer so when I want to use them, I have them)

stick the cloves in the orange slices, dump everything in a crock pot, heat for 6-8 hours on low, serve in mugs to warm bellies.......Grant LOVES it when I make this!!

Mkae sure you stir it up real good once it is warmed to get the honey mixed in good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassail FYI

Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

YUM!!!!

Ok, so Sean is on call, haven't seen him all day.....been snowing all day, took littlest dude to see Santa, spent $300 at the grocery, fought with a digital picture frame all afternoon and am now listening to a very cranky, overly tired3 year old wine.......well, ok he's whining, I want to be wine-ing...anywhooooo, baking the title of this here post and here would be the Jen recipe.....

3 medium portabello mushrooms
about half a log of breakfast sausage
handful of Italian shredded cheeses (1/2 cup or so)
3 tbsp cream cheese

breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs, about 1/2 cup (I used some smashed Glutino crackers)
Parmesan cheese

clean the portobello's, take the stems out, chop and saute stems with sausage. Stir in cream cheese and shredded Italian cheeses. Spray tops of mushrooms with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Place spoonfuls of the sausage mixture into the mushrooms and sprinkle with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Broil under low broiler, 10 minutes or so, until mushrooms are softened slightly and cheese is melted and browned nicely.

Eat.

later, dudes and dudettes!

Turtle Cheesecake

We were at Sam's (like we are every week) and David tasted a sample of turtle cheesecake. He wanted me to buy one, but being that I wouldn't be able to eat a bite of it, I said no, I will make one.



Fast forward to this weekend......David asks me when exactly I am going to make his turtle cheesecake????? Now, I guess......


CRUST:
1 pkg chocolate K-Toos, crushed
2 tbsp melted butter


FILLING:
3 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened to room temp
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips


TOPPING:
1/2 bag Kraft caramels
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 cupish chopped pecans

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350.



Mix cookie crumbs and butter in bottom of springform pan, press onto bottom and partially up sides of pan. Place in oven and bake 15 minutes. Cool.



Place a pan of water on bottom rack of oven. This will make the oven more humid and keep the cheesecake from cracking (learned this trick a long long time ago).



anyhooooo. Blend the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition. Melt the chips in micro and pour into the cream cheese mixture, blend thoroughly.



Wrap some foil around base of springform pan and pour cheese mixture into prepared pan (on top of cooled cookie crust). Place pan on middle rack in oven and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or until center is set.



Chill in refridgerator 4 hours, or overnight. Before serving, melt caramels and whipping cream in microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute, until caramel is smooth. Drizzle over top of cake. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of caramel. Place chocolate chips in glass dish and melt in microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute until smooth. Spoon the melted chocolate into a baggie, snip the bottom corner and squeeze chocolate on top of pecans and caramel. Sprinkle with more pecans. Let chocolate set and serve with a large glass of milk!!!



Happy boy!!!!

Chocolate Turtle stuff

I used this to fill those chocolate shells, but could also put it in indiviual servings with a crushed cookie crust (K-Toos, etc)

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1 pkg (4 serving size) chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
1/2 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips

Blend cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add milk, pudding mix, blend until mixed in good, add the melted chocolate, continue blending until smooth, will get pretty thick.

Spoon into prepared pan, shells, whatever.

Drizzle caramel sauce (either the apple dipping stuff, or an ice cream topping), chocolate magic shell ice cream topping, and pecans on top. Chill and serve.

Licking the spoon and beaters was good, I'll let you know if it is a hit tonight!!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

24 fresh uncooked large shrimp (about 1 lb.)

1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove

hat oven to 350. make sure shrimp has all veins removed, clean and rinse shrimp. Place shrimp on ungreased baking sheet with sides, to prevent drips in oven.

Mix remainging ingredients and brush over shrimp. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

Double Layer no bake pumpkin pie

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp sugar
8oz whipped topping

1 cup milk
15 oz can pumpkin
2 pkg vanilla flavored pudding
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves

pie crust........use crushed, Healthy valley Rice bran crackers, or whatever you like to substiute for graham crackers......mix about 1 1/2 cups crushed crackers with 1/2 stick melted butter, and press into the bottom and up the sides of your pie plate.

mix cream cheese, 1 tbsp milk and sugar in large bowl with wire wisk until blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spread onto bottom of crust.

Pour 1 cup milk in large bowl, add pumpkin, dry pudding mixes, and spices. beat with wire wisk or hand mixer until well blended, spread over cream cheese layer.

refrigerare 4 hours or until set, top with remaining whipped topping and serve.

Hash brown dinner

1 pkg hash browns, about 2 cups
2 cups diced ham
1 pkg frozen broccoli florets
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

place all that in a large baking dish.

4-6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
pinch or 2 of basil
black pepper and salt
1 tbsp cornstarch

mix that all thoroughly, pour over ham mixture. Sprinkle more cheese on top, bake in 350 degree oven for 40ish minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand a few minutes....serve with a salad and you are done!

Can also be put into the crock pot in the morning and left all day to cook.

Strawberry fluff

I found some chocolate shells that need a filling, and this is one of the options I have to fill it with. You could make this without a crust, or you could bake a crust using whichever is your favorite GF pie crust mix. I like GF pantry's crust personally.

1 small pkg (4 serv.) strawberry flavor jello
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 8 oz container whipped topping
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

more fresh strawberry halves

combine jello, sugar and water, stir until dissolved. Refrigerate until mixture begins to thicken and get syrupy about 10 minutes.

Add whipped topping to mixture, stirring to blend. Fold in strawberries, spoon into cool baked pie shell, individual chocolate cups, or whatever you have...... arrange strawberry halves on top, chill in fridge 2 hours and serve.

Bacon, tomato pasta stir fry

2 cups cooked, drained pasta, fusilli, penne, elbow, etc.... try to keep warm..

6-8 slices bacon, cut into pcs....I use the Hormel fully cooked bacon, less fat to drain
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into pcs.
1 cup baby carrots
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar snap peas, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes

dash or 2 garlic pepper blend, salt

lots and lots fresh shredded or grated parmesan cheese.

cook bacon until crispy, remove, set aside and cook chicken in same large family size skillet, cook until browned, add carrots and water, cover. Cook a few minutes, until carrots are starting to soften. Add sugar snap peas, tomatoes, seasonings, mix well, cover and cook a few more minutes, until veggies are tender and chicken is done. stir in cooked pasta, bacon and toss, to heat...add cheese and serve!

Pesto Pasta with Chicken

This is an old favorite, from waaaaayyyyyy back when....and the original recipe calls for refrigerated ravioli, but I can't use that anymore, so we make do with Tinkyada...

drizzle olive oil
15ish oz chicken tenders
3/4 cup water and 1 tsp Better Than Boullion Chicken flavor
9 oz noodles, penne, elbow, corkscrew, etc, cooked and drained.

3 small zucchini, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup pesto

lots and lots of fresh grated parmesan cheese

cook chicken in oil until brown, add zucchini, and pepper, cook until veggies are tender crisp, add broth, noodles, cook just till heated, and chicken is done. Toss with pesto and cheese.....gobble up.

can easily substitute broccoli or whatever veggie your hoodlums like....

fruit smoothie

1/2 cup o.j.
1 1/2 cups flavored or plain yogurt (close enough)
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit
1 banana
2 t. honey (if desired, I usually don't)
4-6 ice cubes (less if using frozen fruit)

blend all in blender until smooth.....slurp up!! The boys LOVE this, with any number of combinations.....

more sangria.....

as you may notice, I am cleaning today and finding all those bits of paper that I have scribbled recipes on and putting them on here real quick so I can toss the paper.......

4 oz. red wine
2 oz ginger ale
2 oz 7up
pour over ice, garnish with lemon and lime twist


cabernet sauvignon
Shakka apple liquer
pineapple juice
cranberry juice
grenadine
over ice, garnish with cherry, orange, lime, fresh apple

peanut butter balls

1 1/4 cups Healthy Valley, Rice Bran crackers crushed

2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 cup powdered sugar.

mix crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add peanut butter and corn syrup, stir well.

roll heaping teaspoons of mixture into balls.

place on large plate covered in wax paper, put in fridge for one hour.

roll each ball in powdered sugar until it is covered.

****this is a recipe David brought hom from summer school (well slightly adapted to make GF), the other thing you can do is reduce the amount of crumbs, and replace it with powdered milk, then dip in melted chocolate..........this is my favorite way of making it!!!!******

White Wine Sangria II

1 small orange
1 red apple
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 750 ml bottle dry white wine, chilled
2 cups chilled lemon lime soda

cut in half and thinly slice orange

core, cut in half and thinly slice the apple

combine fruit in large pitcher, fill half full of ice, add wine and soda, serve immediatelywith more fresh apple slices and strawberries....yum!

Pineapple Cranberry Salad

1 8oz can crushed pineapple
2 (4 serv.) pkgs OR 1 (8serv) Raspberry Jello
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 medium apple, cored and chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Drain pineapple, saving juice. Add enough cold water to juice to make 2 cups.

Heat to a boil and add dry Jello mix, stir until dissolved. Add cranberry sauce, stir till blended. Refridgerate 1.5 to 2 hours until just starting to thicken.

stir in pineapple, apple and nuts. Spoon into a 6 cup mold sprayed with cooking spray. Refridgerate 4 hours or until firm, inmold onto serving plate. Store in fridge till serving time.

Obviously, you can also just toss this all in a pretty bowl if you dont have a mold, or just don't want to fool with it.

Actually this recipe came from my mother in law!!!! A couple years ago...it's purty tasty, I think I shall be making it for Christmas Bunco!!!

Chicken Corn Bread

I made two versions of this tonight....I will give details of what I found at the end.





1 roasted chicken, skinned, and meat shredded into bite sized pcs.


1 can corn


1 zucchini


1/2 red bell pepper (I used orange, cuz that's what I had, but whatever)


1 can diced green chili's


1/2 cup or two cilantro green olive salsa (or whatever salsa you have on hand will work)


2-3 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 pkg Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free corn bread mix

versus

1 pkg Grandma Ferndon's corn bread mix

I mixed the corn bread according to the package.....followed the directions, go figure!!!......anyway, for the kids I used 1/2 the shredded chicken, 1/2 the cheese and the can of corn, layered into the bottom of a casserole. Spooned Bob's mix over top...



mixed the chopped zucchini, pepper, chili, rest of chicken and cheese and the salsa together in another casserole dish. Poured Grandma's mix over this and put both in the oven at 375.



watched and waited......and waited......and waited.



Finally, and I am totally guessing here, about 45 minutes later both emerged. Bob's was much more dense and not as nicely browned. Grandma's looked much better to me, of course Grandma's had all the good stuff added to it.....anyway, after tasting, I definitely prefer Grandma's.



In fact, I LOVED the corn bread part of it. Sean even ate the one with veggies, and said the veggies weren't overpowering, so he could stand it! MEN!!!! I'm going to get more of Grandma's mix and make muffins with it....very good!!!!



I think I could work on Bob's recipe to make it better, another egg and maybe a bit more liquid, I dunno, you'll have to play with that. Although Grant ate his without much whining, and David thought mine was too sweet. But what do they know???? They're kids!!!!

Pumpkin cake

1 can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 pkg Namaste Spice Cake Mix

1/2 brick cream cheese softened
powdered sugar
dash of vanilla

chopped pecans

mix pumpkin, eggs and cake mix. Pour into a greased cake pan, bake as directed on the package.

Mix cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar to your desired consistency and sweetness (i'm guessing I used about 2 cups, but you never know).......spread on cake, sprinkle with chopped pecans and thouroughly enjoy with a tall glass of ice cold milk!!!!

VERY yummY!!!! I made this for Thanksgiving and it was gobbled up!!!!

Cinnamon bread pudding with apples

Cleaned out the freezer yesterday and found a loaf of cinnamon bread from the Silly Yak bakery in Madison. Left it out to thaw over night and dry out a bit so I could do something with it. Came home from church and searched for some recipes that I could mangle and came up with this......


loaf of GF cinnamon bread, cubed
3 apples peeled and chopped
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1 cup white sugar
couple dashes ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Mix bread cubes and apples together in 9x13 pan, sprinkle with cinnamon.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

**It's in the oven now, I will let you know if it flops.....but it is looking very promising!!!!**

oatmeal

Bob's Red Mill has GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL!!!! They grow it in a dedicated field so there is no cross contamination with wheat.

HOOOORAY!!!

I can not wait to make my chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies this weekend!!!!! Will post that recipe later........

I am just so excited about the oatmeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sausage, mushroom chowder

cold weather, means soup experiments will begin again..... so last night I started making some sausage, ran out of time, ended up eating.....something else, all a blur......anywhoooo, so the sausage went in the crockpot along with some other goodies and here is the recipe....

1 lb sausage, cooked and drained
6 oz sliced or quartered white mushrooms
6 oz sliced or quartered baby bella mushrooms
1 bag frozen corn
a handful or two of baby carrots
8 cups water
3 tbsp Better than boullion chicken flavor

1/2 cup or so of Idahoan Real Potato Flakes

Cook and drain sausage, and saute mushrooms........throw all that plus the rest of the stuff in the crockpot, except the potato flakes. Let it cook over night in the crockpot, add flakes before serving and about a cup of milk....serve and eat yummy.......

Buffalo Chicken Dip

haven't actually tried this yet, but sounds yummy and it comes highly recommended from my invisible friends (online mom's group)........

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 pks cream cheese

2 cans chicken breast

1 12 oz bottle wing sauce

1 bag shred mozzerella

ranch dressing

1. spread the softened cream cheese in bottom of a 9x13
2. drain meat, shred and mix with hot sauce
3. spread over cheese
4. drizzle ranch over(you decide how much)
5 cover with mozzerella
6. bake at 350 for 35 min
7. serve warm with chips or crackers

STEAK N SHAKE!!!!!

So I was headed to Sam's this morning and missed my usual exit.......so I got off at the next exit and guess what I found??????

Go ahead, take a WILD guess.........

STEAK N SHAKE!!!!

Going up next to the Target.

They are now hiring.

Opening soon!!!

SO I had to run home and see about GF stuff for me to eat there. We are SO going to the grand opening!!!! This is one of the most exciting things to happen to me in a while.

Anywhoooooo, they have a website with their GF menu items......and it looks as though I will be able to have a decent meal there!!! The fries may be off limits, unless I can convince them to heat me up some fresh oil. I just LOVE those skinny fries!!! with cheese on top.

Oh, my does that bring back memories.........

Anywhooooo, here's the link to the menu if anyone is interested. http://www.steaknshake.com/nutritional_info/GlutenFreeFoodList.pdf

Oh, and while at Sam's I called Unilever about something I was buying. I was told that Unilever will clearly label anything that has the top 8 allergens. And the lady even rattled off wheat, rye, barley and malt as the gluten allergens (or whatever!). Anywhoooo, so now Kraft, Unilever and ConAgra brands are a-ok for me to eat, as long as I've read the label.

Cookies and Pad Thai

Discovered Glutino cream sandwich cookies, the Vanilla Dreams kind.....now you have to know that I am a chocoholic, but these vanilla cookies are just YUMMY! They come prewrapped 2 cookies together, and they are just delightful with a cold glass of milk!!!

I apparently got into some gluten this past weekend, soccer tournaments equals a lot of meals on the go and one of my restaurant meals was not so good.....I'm finally better, took all week.

I made Pad Thai last night, and I know Paula keeps asking me to post that recipe, but I cheated and used a box mix last night again. The brand that I use is Thai Kitchen....there are several flavors to choose from. The boys like the peanut one best.....Sean likes the original Pad Thai, it's a bit spicy (and when I DO make it from scratch mine is more like this)...and I also like the chili version of Thai Kitchen's.

I always add shrimp, and then some mix of these veggies julienned carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, snow peas, etc., and of course roots (as David calls the bean sprouts). You can pretty much do whatever with this. Add some more lime and chopped peanuts. I forgot limes yesterday and you'd have thought I made it with grape jelly or something bizarre.......so don't forget the limes or the kids will give you one of those looks if we are visiting.

I PROMISE to make real Pad Thai from scratch sometime this year...HA!...and post the recipe. It's just been insane around here this month!

White Wine Sangria

I found it!!!! I have been looking for this recipe for MONTHS!!!! I was cleaning up a few more things in the kitchen, waiting on Paula and Mike to get here and I thought, hhmmmm, what about that file I started????? And so I looked and there it was!!!

750ml white wine
6 oz frozen raspberry lemonade, thawed
6 oz pineapple juice
1/2 cup rum
1/2 cup triple sec
2 cups 7up

mix it all together, throw in some diced fruits, green apples, strawberries, fresh pineapple, etc....etc....

Cheers!!!

Baked Stuffed Chicken

Now, I have not tried this myself, But it sounds so good, and EASY!!! When I made stuffing at Thanksgiving I just used some bread I had in the freezer for a while, had to cube it and toast it in the oven with a little seasonings, but it turned out fine, so I assume you could substitute 1 cup of homemade croutons with seasonings for the stuffing. (seasonings, could be sage, thyme, oregano, basil, whatever you like, the best part about gluten free cooking is the creativity and experimenting) Let me know if you try this, I might this weekend while everyone is here......

BAKED STUFFED CHICKEN

6-7 lb. Chicken
1 cup melted butter
1 cup stuffing
1 cup uncooked popcorn (ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S LOW FAT)
Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush chicken well with melted butter, salt, and pepper.

Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn.

Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of the oven.

Listen for the popping sounds.

When the chicken's butt blows the oven door open and the chicken flies across the room, it's done.

And, you thought you couldn't cook.........

Apple Spice cake

SO I've got a bunch of boys (Grant, Sam, Franny, etc.....) upstairs, not sleeping.....and I know they will wake up starving and I am not getting up early to cook for them.....so I am trying something.......

1 pkg Namaste spice cake mix
2 large granny smith apples, peeled and diced
1 single serving of applesauce, no sugar added (Motts Natural)
enough oil to make 2/3 cup when added to applesauce
3/4 cup water
3 eggs

So I mixed all that together and put it in a greased 9x13 pan. I sprinkled a bit of sugar on top, so it is nice and crunchy. I placed that in my oven, which I set for 30minutes at 325, and then I programmed the oven to shut off after. And now I am going to bed, and praying that we wake up to some yummy apple spice cake for breakfast with strawberries....if it flops, I'll let you know....wish me luck!!!

it's now morning and here's what I found......ok, the weirdest thing happened!!! all the chopped up apples ended up in the center of the pan, which didn't bake. The outside (perimeter) of the cake was good but didn't have any apple chunks and the inside I had to scoop out with a spoon and throw away. So, not sure if I used too much applesauce, should have chopped the apples smaller (never had that happen with the carrot and/or zucchini shreds, when I've used this mix), so I will try this again with a couple changes and see what happens next time........

BTW....the boys ate ALL the cake. LOVED it....weirdo's.....it was good, just weird!!!

What CAN you eat?????

It always cracks me up for some reason when people ask me "well what CAN you eat?" um, how's about the food that grows from the earth that God put there for me????

Gluten free eating is probably the healthiest you can get. The main things you are eliminating are the processed, prepackaged foods that we rely on way to much and that make us a "fat" country. Sliced cucumbers dipped in hummus, fresh ham, salmon, any fresh fruit and veggie. I have for years been cooking fresh and am amazed when people prefer overly processed foods to fresh foods.

God did not make all these glorious plants for us to just look at, He made them for us to nourish our bodies. Some family members who I shall NOT name, are still giving me the eye when I am eating with them. They heavily salt everything and eat a lot of prepackaged processed foods and I can't eat that, most of it has gluten, so I usually bring something I can eat, or I ask them to leave the sauce off or etc. They like to make comments about my dry chicken or whatever...it's nice...

But honestly, I trully think food is usually better eaten just the way God made it. I do use a lot of pre chopped or canned things, but I try to buy canned things that have the fewest number of ingredients on the list. And I try to make sure I can actually pronounce all the ingredients.

I've been eating fresh sliced tomatoes from the 'garden' all weekend, and just thinking how wonderful they are. It's the only time I can just eat a tomato plain, fresh from the garden. So yummy. I've got one zucchini and one red pepper ready to grill and several little cucumbers that are doing their thing.

Anyway, I guess this post is just to tell people that gluten free is not that scary, and I don't feel it is that limiting. I can still eat chocolate. Eating out is a bit of a challenge, but I've not starved yet! I can almost always get a baked potato.

Pot Roast

So, as I mentioned earlier, it is Grant's birthday today. And I always let the birthday person pick what they want to do about dinner. So Grant chooses Pot Roast. In the summer, whatever, he's goofy and we love him anyway.

So I'm pretty sure everyone knows how to make pot roast, but thought I'd just post it anyway, just in case.

So you get a huge hunk of meat, the cheap stuff, like a rump roast or something similar. Do NOT buy a good piece of tenderloin or something like that......Mike can fill you in on why that is a bad idea.

Anywhoooo, so brown the hunk of meat in a skillet, while sprinkling liberal amounts of Lawry's season salt on top. Meanwhile, rinse and cut whole carrots into large chunks..do the same with potatoes, I use the Yukon Gold in this recipe, toss those in the bottom of a large crock pot, sprinkle more Lawry's, place the browned meat on top of the veggies, put about 2 cups of water in there with a 12 oz bottle of low sodium v-8 (there's enough sodium already). I add fresh or frozen green beans about half way through cooking, so they aren't too mushy.

so turn that on high and let it set for the day. Meat should fall apart and you can make a yummmy gravy with the juice before serving.

Monkey Bread

So today is Grant's birthday, and I made Monkey Bread for them, out of canned biscuits, which I can not eat. SO, I thought I'd experiment to see what yummy breakfast treat I could come up with for me!

I had some of Grandma Ferndon's frozen donut holes, they were dry and not so yummy when I had them last, so i decided they were perfect to play with.

I drizzled butter over them first, then I sprinkled a mizture of white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon on top. I threw it in the microwave for about 2 minutes, drizzled some of my cream cheese glaze (same as cream cheese frosting, only thinner) and oh, boy, YUM!!! and easy too!!!

So that is how to make dry donut holes better than palatable. Not exactly health food, but hey! it's a birthday!

Request.....

we got back from vacation and my tomatoes have gone crazy. I have more grape tomato's than I know what to do with and the big ones are starting to ripen at an alarming rate. I plan on sharing with a couple of the neighbors, but I need some yummy recipes.......I will be making corn and black bean salsa with some of it, but there is only so much of that I want to eat...and don't EVEN suggest canning these babies......first off, I am NOT a canner, too much work...and second I want to eat them fresh......so any good ideas????? throw them at me.....you all have my email, if not, it is in my profile!!!

FRANKS.....!!!!,

homemade salsa

YUM!!!!

so you know how I planted that garden...welllllll, I have jalapeno's and tomatoes coming out of my ears!!! YEAH!!!

The tomatoes aren't quite ripe yet, some of the grape ones are, but we have been eating those as fast as they ripen as we pick them...anywhoooooo, so I bought some home grown tomatoes and used my jalapeno's and a red onion and bit of lime juice and made some fabulous salsa. It's all gone, already.....too bad for yoU!!!!!

Anywhoooo, Paula, add some of this to the corn and black bean salsa and you are going to pass out, it is soooooo good.!!!!

of course the sangria could have affected my taste buds, but everyone else ate it too, and not everyone else is drinking sangria....so anywhooooo...off to eat ribs......later....

p.s. I have a jalapeno story, but I will post it tomorrow........Charles ate one...that's all I'm sayin' for now!!!

More Ice Cream.....part 2

2 cans evaporated condensed milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small pkg butterscotch pudding mix'
6 tbsp DebEl whole egg powder
3 cans (sweetended condensed milk) of 1% milk
1 cup powdered sugar


I'll let you know how this turns out.

I'm experimenting...bwwaaaahahahahahaaaa

I meant to add salt, but forgot......oh well......

"Anyone who walks with wise people grows wise. But a companion of foolish people suffers harm." Proverbs 13:20

More Ice Cream.....

2 (12 fluid ounce) cans evaporated milk
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant pudding mix
3 cups milk

I used Butterscotch pudding, YUM!! I drizzled a peanut butter sauce over top, orgasmic!

Anywhooooo......I've been using powdered sugar instead of granular sugar, so as to not get any grittiness. Not sure if there would be a huge difference, as I've never made homemade ice cream before this most recent purchase....but the powdered sugar seems to be working quite well for me.

Oh and I used the low fat version of sweetened condensed milk and 1% milk.

roasted marshmallows

they are gluten free. That new outdoor sofa and table set that I ordered a while back finally came this week. I got it all put together but couldn't figure out how to hook up the gas connection.....so a lovely friend helped with that tonight and now we have fire!!! Roasting marshmallows is a beautiful thing, especially when you have a cozy couch and etc to relax into outdoors. I love summer in Wisconsin....so yummmy!!!

just wanted you to know.......hehehehehehehe

homemade ice cream

2 quarts half-and-half cream
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Combine half-and-half, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in freezer container of ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

I bought an oldfashioned ice cream maker this week (Grant's been asking for one, so he'll be pleasantly surprised when he gets home tomorrow!!!).....we made it tonight as the grill was going...oh my YUMMY!!!!! covered in caramel sauce, crunchy chocolate sauce and pecans.

HEAVEN......I'm in heaven.....

slush

1 can frozen pomegranate juice
1 can frozen limeade
6-7 cans water
big bucket

mix it all together, freeze and serve as a slush....for the kiddos serve with fresca, for the adults serve with a shot of rum or vodka and fresca....enjoy!!!

cheese hashbrowns

So the whole guest thing, and we only have a few eggs this morning.....so we were at Outback the other night and David ordered cheese fries....they looked soooooo good. I ate one. Had a bit of GI issues later, but 'tis life.....so anywhoooooo, been craving them since that night.

So this morning I browned hashbrowns in the pan, with a little bacon crumbled up. Sprinkled that with pepper and Lawry's season salt and when it was all nice and browned I sprinkled some shredded cheddar on top.

The kiddo's gobbled it up. I wish I'd made some sauce to pour over it too, but it was yumymy anyway.....

a quick easy snack, breakfast, etc....

Doctored Muffins

So we have some company this morning, what better time to experiment with food than when we have guests????

So anywhoooo, I took a Namaste Muffin mix, added
2 eggs,
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce,
1/2 cup water,
1/4 cup flaxseed,
then about 3/4 cup shredded carrot and one chopped apple,
some more cinnamon, I'd guess at least another teaspoon.

Threw all that in muffin liners and baked it in the convection oven at 375 for about 10 minutes.

Turned out pretty darn good. Next time I will sprinkle brown sugar on top before baking though. I love those crunchy tops!!!

p.S. I got 21 muffins from that mix...

Apple Crumble

I had a brunch this morning and wanted something yummy, so I went experimenting again...... Turned out YUMMMY!!!

6-8 large apples, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup or so white sugar
1/2 cup or so brown sugar
juice from one large lemon
some cinnamon
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup Chebe cinnamon roll mix, rest used below

Mix all that together and place in baking dish.

1 stick butter, not melted, but almost, just really soft
1 pkg Chebe cinnamon roll mix, rest of pkg from above
1 cup or so McCann steel cut oats
1 cup or so chopped pecans

mix all that together with a fork and knife, sort of cutting the butter into the mix. Sprinkle on top of apples, slightly pressing with hands. Bake for 1 hour at 350, or until apples are bubbly.

You can add more sugar if you want this sweeter, but I like a little tartness to mine. This is basically the same thing as the Apple Dump thing that I made in January, but this turned out even better!!!! I would recommend using the Chebe mix for this!!!

I've not had good luck with the Chebe cinnamon roll mix for other things, but this one is GOOD!!!

um, yeah......

so. we've been grilling. Everything and anything that won't fall throught the grill.

Just a memo tho....I made those pancake noodle thingy's again and stuffed them with a mixture of breakfast sausage and ricotta cheese, rolled them up and baked them in the oven. Then served them with tomato sauce over top....and they were devoured. Gone. All eaten.

EVERYONE male type humanoid in this house said they were yummy. E V E R Y O N E....do you get this?????? ALL of the BOYS LOVED this meal. ALL OF THEM. All. Of. Them.

yippeeeee, yippppppeeeeeeee, yiiiiiiiipppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......I found something gluten free, pretty easy and everyone likes it. with no alterations. this does not happen in my world. It just doesn't.

SOMEONE always asks 'ewww, mmmooooooomm, what's this thing" or says "it was oooookay" or "I don;t like the sauce but I the cheese was good" or something like that. this meal.....got no complaints. None. Was I dreaming????? maybe.....but I'm pretty sure it actually happened.

Homemade Manicotti...noodles and all!!!!

So we were at Carraba's last weekend and Sean gets manicotti, and I have not had manicotti in a least a year and a half, and SO........I start looking for recipes for the noodles. I found several that seemed way tooo easy, so I thought I'd give it a shot and change things to make the GF.

It wasn't that hard or time consuming at all. I was pleasantly surprised.

1 cup Authentic Foods GF Mulit Blend Flour
(I choose this one b/c it already has xantham gum in it)
4 eggs
a dash of olive oil
1 3/4 to 2 cups water

Mix well to form a smooth thin batter. Pour by ladel full onto a hot griddle, and cook until film covers top....no need to flip. Set aside to cool. I made about 9 "pancakes" with my batter.....only used 6 though for the casserole. (ate one and will save the other 2 for later!!)

**If you use regular wheat flour then decrease the amount of water....start with 1 cup and add by 1/4 cups until you get the right consistency****



Spray 9X13 casserole dish with olive oil. Spread about a 1/2 cup or so tomato based pasta sauce on bottom.

Filling:

15-16 oz container of Ricotta cheese
1 1/2 ish cups Provolone, mozzerella, asiago shredded cheese mix
1/2 cupish grated Romano and/or Parmesan blend
1 egg

mix above 4 ingredients well, scoop large spoonfuls onto center of manicotti pancake, roll up and place seam side down in prepared casserole dish. Pour rest of pasta sauce over noodles, sprinkle another 1/2 cup or so of the Mozzerella, Provolone cheese blend and Parmesan cheese blend over top. Cover with foil, bake in preheated 350 oven for 20 minutes, uncover, bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let set 10 minutes or so before serving.

YUMMMmmmmm!!!!! The boys LOVED this, Grant even had seconds.......

And I have some ideas to make a Mexican dish using these "pancakes".....will post on that when I get around to experimenting........

Pasta Carbonara ala Easy...

So this is one of the boys favorite meals....and mine since it is so easy....and I just have to LOVE David for asking for it for his birthday dinner, since I was exhausted being up so late with all those giggly boys and then spending the day at the pool with them!!!!!

1 pkg noodles (Tinkyada rice noodles for GF), cooked al dente

16 strips of Hormel ready to serve bacon, cut into bite size pieces

minced garlic

2 eggs whites

1 cup milk

generous 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

so, put the bacon pcs in a large pan and saute with the garlic until bacon is crisp. Whisk the egg whites in with the milk. Add the noodles to the bacon, pour the milk/egg over it and stir until egg starts to set. Sprinkle cheese, stir well and serve with extra cheese and veggies.

That's it.

BTW...the peas are on my plate, they wouldn't eat one for $100.....they got broccoli.

Helllloooooo......

If you read this blog, would you please just say HI and tell me why???? Are you celiac??? just GF cuz it sounds like fun????? Or just a bored random blog reader????

And do YOU have any helpful tips to share????? Thanks and HAPPY SPRING!!!!

cinnamon rolls and cheese bread

So this is my variation of the link I posted the other day.....I didn't change much, just the mixture of flours.

2 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 c. lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast (2 pkg)

¼ c. butter or margarine (not low fat substitute) (I used Smart Balance)
1 ¼ c. water (yes, an other l ¼c of water)
1 tsp. GF vinegar

1/3 c. sugar,
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
4 cups Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend flour
3 ½ teaspoon xanthan gum

3 large eggs


Dissolve the 2 teaspoon sugar in the 1 ¾c. lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast on the top and let sit 10 min. until bubbly.

Melt butter. Add 1 ¼c. cool water and vinegar.

Sift together dry ingredients. Stir the yeast mixture and the water/butter/vinegar mixture into the dry ingredients, then add eggs and beat 2 min. with mixer on high speed.

SANDWICH BUNS The recipe says 12-14) Place English muffin rings, 4" aluminum tins, tuna cans, etc. on a baking sheet and coat inside well with a nonstick spray. Fill half of them.

PIZZA SHELLS (cheese bread)(makes 2 14" shells) Place mound of dough on greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Sprinkle with tapioca flour, cover fingertips with flour, and gently pat the dough out to desired size using the flat of your hand.

CINNAMON ROLLS: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white and a dash or two of cinnamon. (I'd add chopped nuts too, but have picky butts that won't eat) Grease muffin tins (I used 2 pans for 24 rolls) (with enough leftover dough to make the cheese bread), put a spoonful of dough in each cup, sprinkle with sugar mixture, repeat layers.

Allow dough to rise till double in a warm place. Can take as long as 1 ½ hr. I did not pick a warm enough spot for my cinnamon rolls, they turned out fine, but the cheese bread was better, it sat next to the computer for about an hour longer........so next time I will let the rolls rise even more.

Bake buns or rolls at 350F for 30 min. or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Swirl cinnamon rolls with icing if desired.

icing.....3 parts cream cheese to one part butter, mix well, add a dash of vanilla, and powdered sugar until it is the consistency you want.....about 1-2 cups per 3 oz cream cheese.....or whatever.

For the Cheese Bread, I used a greased 2 qt oval Pyrex dish and patted the rest of the dough in it. Let rise, baked at 400 for about 10 minutes, let cool slightly, flipped over and baked another 1o minutes. Probably didn't need to flip it over, but I was going to do something else and blah blah blah...so that is that. Then when it came out of oven I sprinkled about 2 cups shredded provolone and mozz cheese with some garlic on it and just let it set until melted. Yummy!!

Egg potato casserole

ok, so this incredibly easy breakfast that I forgot to put together the night before had to made in a skillet....and heavens sake, E A S Y......will do it this way from now on. The boys ate it ALL. no leftovers....they asked that I make it everyday......um, NO

1 pkg refrigerated shredded potatoes
1 pkg Tennesse Pride Mild sausage
9 eggs
a handful of so of cheese
a dash of milk and salt and pepper

so, throw the sausage in a skillet, when it is almost done add the potatoes and cover with lid, stir occasionally. Contimue cooking until everything is browned nicely.

In bowl, crack eggs, add a dash of milk and season if desired. Pour over potato/sausage mixture in skillet. Cover, let cook a few minutes until eggs start to set. Stir it a little to keep bottom from becoming too brown.

When eggs are cooked through, add shredded cheese and serve with salsa (or ketchup...blech)

Easter Menu

I am putting this here so I can contemplate my Easter menu's and decide what I want to add/change,

Breakfast

• cinnamon monkey bread I am going to play with this recipe and see what I come up with http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=492&p_catid=42&sid=91hH9H1k0A6-ChL-40107187684.6d
• egg/potato casserole with sausage
• fresh fruit

Dinner

• pork tenderloin or ham, gotta look for a recipe I want to try
• cheesy potatoes
• fresh asparagus and mushrooms
• spinach salad
• deviled eggs
• fresh corn bread.....have a recipe I want to experiment with

Dessert

• orange cheesecake with fresh berries.....Bake this Saturday.....already posted this recipe around New Years

So I've got some baking to do.....

Warm weather...

Oh my heavens!!! That gas grill I bought Sean for Christmas last year is my most favorite warm weather thing. I LOVE it!!! We had burgers last night, and oh boy, were they yummmy! One of the neighbor boys was over and had a burger with us and told his mom that I make the best burgers... So there!! HA!

Anyway...today was almost 80. ALMOST 80.....got the Christmas lights down, the gas grill cleaned (that took for freakin EVER!) and then I got out the salmon.

I could just shiver from the thought.

Salmon

Lawry's season salt

fresh veggies

gas grill

(well, and some chicken for the hooligans)

that's it.

The best dinner EVER!!!!

Oh yummmmmy

And Paula, I do believe this qualifies as low cal, low fat and goooooood for you.

Oh and YUMMY!

Favorite Gluten Free stuff

So, I really have been cooking lately, just more of the same old, or grilling burgers or ribs, etc and so I don't need to post those recipes. Anyway, I thought I should post some of my favorite brands of things. I've got a friend who was asking about some of this and so I thought I'd try to make a list......here goes.

BBQ sauce. Saz's, says gluten free right on the label. I've sauced it up by adding a little salsa in the past, it's pretty good.

Ranch Dressing. Kraft. Kraft says that they will label anything that has gluten in it, so I am a pretty loyal Kraft buyer, after reading the labels.

Namaste cake & brownie mixes. I LOVE these,the kids love them, yum!! I do, of course, alter the instructions. I DO NOT add all the oil called for, I substitute unsweetened apple sauce for about 1/2 the oil. I always add lots of chocolate chips to the brownies, lots of shredded carrots or zucchini to the spice cake.

OH!! And icing for cakes.....this is soooooo easy.

take a brick of cream cheese softened to room temp., a half stick of butter, a tsp of vanilla and as much powdered sugar as it takes to get to the desired stiffness. Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter in large bowl, add sugar a cup at a time, beating with mixer each time. You can add cocoa powder if you want it chocolate, or melted choc chips, or any other flavoring you can come up with. this is also way yummy with fruit, just don't adda s much syrup, so it is more like a glaze and drizzle it over some fresh berries, or sliced apples, oh heaven!!!

Ok, back to list making....

Pamela's brownie mix I LOVE for chocolate cakes, instead of brownies, the instructions are on the bag.

Authentic Foods extra fine rice flours. These are the best I have found for baking from scratch. I've been able to bake banana bread, muffins, cookies, etc all using my old recipes with this flour mix and it has turned out fabulous. Just like I used to.

Chebe mixes. For crackers, pizza crusts and ravioli. LOVE this mix!!!

Glutino Crackers if I don't have time to bake my own.

For bread crumbs, I use a variety of things. Leftover crumbs from my crackers, experimental fresh bread flops, and those Southern Homestyle cornflake crumbs I posted abouta while back (says gluten free on the label!!) or crushed Lays potato chips, the baked kind, or Fritos.

I use instant potato flakes to thicken my cream soups.

Pancake mix and pasta I've already posted about.....Tinkyada for pasta and Pamela's mix for pancakes and waffles.

Those are all the premade things I can think of that I use. If I am forgetting something, let me know, or what until I think of it!!

Off to start the day now!!

OH, just thought of one more. Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles cereal. I make rice crispy treats with these, as well as breakfast cereal. I prefer the cocoa.....but that's just me!

Roasted Potato Salad

red potatoes
hard boiled eggs, sliced
crumbled, fried bacon pcs.
sliced green onion
mayo

Cleaned, and cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, toss with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in oven until tender. (the time and temp I didn't put down because I usually have something else in the oven, like today I was pre baking ribs at 250 all day, so I put the potatoes in for about 2 hours)

Anyway.... toss everything together in a large bowl and enjoy, I'm sorry I don't have measurements, but it is just one of those things I throw together with however much I have or however much I need.

Sean prefers this warm, but it is good cold also, so whatever you prefer. If you do want it cold, I would suggest cooling the potatoes before mxing it with everything else, or the mayo will soak in as it cools and you will need to add more before serving.

Leftover Salmon Patties

1 1/2 salmon filets, leftover, about 2 cups flaked
1/2 cup crushed Glutino Sesame Breadsticks
2 eggs
1/2 cup or so finely crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 cupish mozzerella with sundried tomato and basil
1 tbsp mayo

Mix all that together, form into patties. Roll in another 1/2 cup crushed Glutino Breadsticks, melt 1/2 stick butter in large pan, saute patties until browned, then flip and saute other side. Yuuuuuummmmmy!!!

Spinach, mushroom, artichoke thing...

2-3 cups sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
1 cup croutons (I use failed GF bread, and turn that into croutons)
1-2 tsp chopped fresh garlic (I use the refrigerated jr stuff that is pre-chopped)
1-2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup fresh grated romano
1 cup shredded mozzerella

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter, add croutons, spinach, artichokes and cheeses. Spoon into a buttered casserole dish. Beat eggs and milk, pour over vegetable mixture.

The oven was in use, so I threw this in the microwave for about 6 minutes (I think). Anyway, just cook it until the eggs are set. It was really yummy!!! To make this a main dish, you could easily add chicken.

Mexican Lasagna

1 box Tinkyada Rice Pasta Lasagna Noodles
2 cans Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup
+ 2 cans water
1 can petite diced tomato, drained
1 lb cooked chicken (shredded, chopped, etc)
1 lg can black olives sliced
1 can diced green chilies
1 brick cream cheese, softened
3 ish cups shredded sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend

Mix the chicken, chilies, black olives, tomato and cream cheese. Stir the mushroom soup with 2 cans water. Pour about a cup of soup in bottom of greased 9 x 11 baking dish. , lay 3-4 strips of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of soup Layer chicken mixture, shredded cheese and more soup, then repeat starting with noodles.

I ended up with chicken and cheese on top, so I added some more black olives and then covered with foil. Leave in fridge overnight or all day, then place in cold oven set to 325 for an hour. Cool 15ish minutes and serve. ( don't preheat the oven is what that means!)

I wanted to add some fresh sauteed zucchini, mushrooms, red pepper and corn and etc., BUT children would not go near this if I did. SO, please add it to yours if you make this. I am going to saute some veggies on the side and serve it with mine and Sean's. Hooligans will get canned green beans, yum!

*****Ok, I made this over the weekend, I loved it , Olivia loved it, and a few others tolerated it, of course David thought it was gross, but he's at that point in life....OY! Anyway...I would not use as much water, maybe just a half can less. Otherwise I really liked it, I, of course, sprinkled MORE cheese on top of mine and served it with lettuce, tomato and all that jazz. It was great the next day, but lasagna is always better the next day in my opinion.......I think Sean would have liked it better if I had used less water and more cheese overall, so will try that again...let me know if you do anything different***

Spinach Salad

1 shallot, peeled & quartered
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Throw it all in a small food processor and blend.

I added the red wine vinegar at the end because it was a bit too sweet for my taste. But you can adjust any of the ingredients according to your tastes. Onion would work in place of the shallot, more or less sugar, any flavor vinegar really.......have fun.

Toss it with fresh spinach, sliced egg, bacon and tomato. yummy!!

Chicken Taco Soup

1 large can of chicken
1 can Mexicorn
1 can diced new potatoes
1 small can diced green chilies
1 cup shredded carrots
1 pkt Ranch dressing mix (McCormick makes some that is gluten free)
1 pkt chicken taco seasoning (McCormick again)
2-3 cans water
1 can Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup ( I run mine through the food processor so that there are no chunks of mushrooms for the hoodlums to pick out!!)

Pour it all in a big pot on the stove and bring to a simmer, let simmer for 20ish minutes till flavors are all yummy. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some crushed Frito's on top.....YUM!!!!

This was fabulous. We ate it ALL. No leftovers for me for lunch today. This was one of those, ok, it's time for dinner, what can I throw together meals, an experiment gone yummy!

Cornbread Muffins

these are okay. I need to play with this recipe some more, so if you do make these and they aren't perfect don't complain to me. I am warning you that they are not hte BEST corn muffins ever, the flavor is good, texture not quite right.

****UPDATE****** the next day (today) they were awesome!!! I guess they needed to sit a while, or maybe I was just realllly hungry, but they were much better today!******

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup Authentic Foods Multi Blend Flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Second batch I added these things to:

**oh, and I replaced the cornmeal with Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs in the 2nd batch**
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup shredded 3 pepper cheese blend (spicy cheese!) (whatever!)

Mix all dry ingredients, if using cheese then add to dry ingredients. Mix all wet ingredients together and then stir into the dry just until moist.

Spoon into prepared muffin pans (either sprayed or lined with paper liners), bake in preheated 400 oven (convection 375) for 15-20 minutes or till toothpick poked in comes out clean!

Pork Tenderloin

I've made something similar to this with pork chops in the past, but I have a tenderloin I want to cook all day, while we run, so that it is ready when we get home tonight, so I've adapted my already adapted recipe. We shall see how this experiment turns out, but I want to post it so I don't forget what I did.

2 1/2 lb pork tenderloin
1 can petite diced tomato
1/4 cup balsmic vinegar
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

6-8 slices bacon (I use the precooked Hormel brand, less fat to deal with, but still the flavor)
liberal amount of fresh grated Romano cheese

I browned the pork loin in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I placed it in a 9 x 13 baking dish, I cut a slit down the length and laid 4 slices of bacon lengthwise and then sprinkled about 1/4 cup cheese into that.

I wrapped the rest of the bacon around the tenderloin and held it in place with large toothpicks.

Mix the tomato, garlic, basil, oregano and vinegar, pour it over the tenderloin, letting the juice run in the slit. (I covered it with foil) Then bake in convection oven at 275 for 3 hours. Meanwhile, pray that it turns out tender and yummy, like the pork chops I usually do this to.


UPDATE: YUMMY!!!! It needed about another hour at 275, so when we got home, I sliced it and put it back in at 400 for about 20-30 minutes, uncovered. FABULOUS!!!! Tender, juicy and yuuuummmmmmmmmy!! Even the kids had seconds!!

Crumbled feta or some more romano would be good sprinkled on top too. YUM!!!

Swiss Chicken

This is an old favorite, that has been adapted to be GF.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
1 can Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup
2/3 ish cup white wine (I jsut use about 1/3 of a can, from the soup can)
4-6 slices swiss cheese, any variety

Place chicken breast in baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, whatever you are in the mood for. Place a slice of cheese on top of each breast. Mix together the soup and wine, pour over chicken. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350. Serve with rice, noodles, etc. The juice is fabulous over potatoes too.

If you prefer a thicker sauce, you can add a cup or so of sour cream to the soup/wine mixture.

Banana Pudding

Been craving this for the longest time, but it has not been easy to find GF vanilla wafers. BUT I did discover K-Toos, which are gluten free and are like an Oreo and they also come in vanilla. SO, I am trying that.

2 pkgs, Vanilla K-Toos, crushed/crumbled, etc
5-6 banana's sliced
2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 pkg cream cheese

1 ctr Cool Whip

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, add pudding mixes and milk, beat until starting to thicken.

Layer cookies, pudding, banana's, cookie, pudding, banana's, then top with Cool Whip and leftover cookies, refridgerate and eat.

I don't like mine terribly sweet, so I did not use condensed sweetened milk like most recipes call for. IF you prefer it sweeter, then just add some to the pudding mix before layering.

I will let you know how it is...... UPDATE: IT was fabulous!!! Yummmmmmyyyyy!!!! Will definetly be making this a lot!!!

More Soups....

It's about -5 outside right now and so I made soups tonight. 2 kinds, cuz that is just how I am, plus now I don't have to make a lot tomorrow!!!
anyway....
I had some leftover shrimp from the other night and needed to use it up, so I found a couple recipes online, butchered them up really good to use what I had on hand and came up with this. It is really good!!!

1 large can tomato sauce

1 can Rotel tomato's

1 ctr (15oz) Healthy Valley Tomato Bisque

1 can corn with peppers

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1 tsp basil ( I like to use the refrigerated stuff that comes in a jar, more like fresh, but doesn't go bad as fast)

1 tsp thyme

about 2 cups cooked shrimp, peeled, tail off, etc (I also cut mine into more bite sized pcs)

1 can crab meat, juice drained and dumped

2 cans diced clams, juice drained and reserved

Pour all the tomato products in large stockpot, add one large can of water, add rice, seasonings, clam juice and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover pot, simmer until rice is cooked. Add corn, heat through, add seafood, stir well and serve immediately.

Mine was a little thick, but I liked it that way, you could thin it with some chicken broth or V-8 juice if you want. I would have used V-8 if I'd had any anyway, but was out and NOT going to the store to get it.

Some fresh cilantro would be good in this too, my leftover shrimp had fresh cilantro on it, so there happened to be some in my soup by default.

Mushroom & Potato Soup

This one turned out totally different than I expected, but it was awesome. Has a smokey flavor from the bacon, that I guess I just didn't think about before I tasted it.

6-7 slices Hormel precooked bacon, cut into bite size pcs.

1-2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

drizzle or 2 of olive oil

1 can diced new potato's, plus 2 cans of water

1 1/2 tsp Better Than Boullion Chicken flavor

2 cups shredded potatoes (those refrigerated bagged kind)

1 can Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup

Fresh shredded Mozzerella cheese for garnish.

Saute the mushrooms in the olive oil, add bacon while sauteing. Add diced potatoes, 2 cans water, chicken boullion and shredded potatoes. Heat well, then add the cream of mushroom soup, stir well and serve with mozzerella on top.

spaghetti squash

SO we all see these things in the grocery store and wonder what in the world to do with it. Well, my mom (image that) got me started on trying to find some great recipes using this crazy thing.

I've done several things that have been good, but the dish I made last night was fabulous, so I am sharing...not sure what to call it though...suggestions are welcome.

Jen's Spaghetti Squash with Sundried Tomato Pesto and Feta Cheese

1 large spaghetti squash

1 lb ground turkey breast

1/2 cup (or so) sundried tomato pesto

1 ctr feta cheese (I happened to have a garlic and basil flavored variety on hand, so that is what I used)

fresh romano or asiago cheese for garnish

1. poke a couple holes in squash with knife, be careful though, these things are HARD.... then put it in the microwave for 6-10 minutes, depending on size, micro power, etc. This is just to soften the squash so you can cut it in half lengthwise. Once it is soft enough to cut, do so in half lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds and pulp in the center.

Place the squash, cut side down, in a large dish with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, cover with wrap and plac eback in microwave for 8-12 minutes, or until squash is very tender and you can use a fork to pull the strand out. They trully look like strands of spaghetti.

2. While you are waiting for the squash to do its thing, saute the ground turkey in a teeny bit of olive oil until well cooked.

Stir in the pesto and then toss with the spaghetti squash and feta cheese.

Serve with freshly grated or shaved cheese. mmmmmm..it was sooo yummy!!!

You could place this in a casserole dish and throw it in the oven for a bit if needed, but please cover it or it will dry out...blech!!

try and try again

I made homemade egg rolls tonight. They were ok. Not great, but they did get eaten and NOT thrown in the trash, so for my first try.......I can live with that. I am not going to post the recipe cuz I need to practice and tweek it some more. Just wanted to remind myself to keep trying.

links for future reference

Pupusa.....some Mexican thing that sounds yummy
http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/2007/01/day-my-house-became-pupuseria.html

Fried Mozzerella sticks
http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/2007/01/mission-possible-gluten-free-fried.html

Quinoa and Peanut butter cookies
http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/2007/01/ancient-harvest-quinoa-i-have-variety.html

tamales
http://glutenguide.blogspot.com/2007/01/gluten-free-tamales-delicioso.html

Rice Flour Mix...similar to what I already use, but has some good tips
http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-01-19T16%3A40%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

I'd love to try some of the "fancy" recipes but seeing as I am cooking for 5 picky boys, it would really just be a huge waste of time. Pud Thai is about as exotic as I can get them to go and even then one doesn't like the shrimp, another picks out the "roots" (ie bean sprouts), etc...etc.... So trying to make something like Avocado and Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Fried Quinoa for this crew would be complete waste of my time, and THAT is a precious commodity.

Apple Pie Dump

Ok, so mom used to make this dump cake when we were kids and I made it as an adult, it was one of Sean's favorites, and mine too, but since not being able to eat gluten anymore I haven't made it.

Well, tonight I did some experimenting. And boy, oh boy was it yummy!!! and EASY... I really like simple and easy and fast..... yeah, you can take that anyway you want. ANYWAY.....

Here's what I did....

Apple Filling



5-6 apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 to 1 cup sugar, I used half brown, half white (about 1/3 cup each, sorry i don't measure)
1/4 cup lemon juice, or one fresh lemon juiced
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice


Crumbled Topping

1 cupish of Pamela's Baking Mix
1 stick of butter, softened (NOT melted....Paula!)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh chopped nuts, pecans, walnuts, etc (can be omitted)

Heat oven to 375. Mix all the ingredients to the apple filling and place in a 2 quart baking dish. In large bowl mix the crumbled topping ingredients until crumbly (hence the name crumbled topping), I used 2 knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. If you need me to explain "cut in the butter" shoot me an email or whatever. Sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until browned on top and apples are bubbly.

Let set a few minutes, serve with vanilla ice cream. mmmmmmm....good!!

I made spaghetti and meatballs, easy easy, so I had a few minutes to throw this together.....I had it all in the pan within 15 minutes or so.

PB & J

SO, Ya know how you're fixing the kid a PB & J (that would be peanut butter and jelly, for those of you not in the know!) and it looks soooooo yummy and you realllly want one, BUT 1...you can't eat thier bread and 2....gluten free bread just doens't taste the same unless toasted and 3.. who wants a toasted PB&J????

SO I am thinking I will jsut suffer through with my GF bread and PB&J... but THEN I think pancakes..... hmmmmmm. ..... I do have some leftover from yesterday ...... pancakes with PB&J rolled up and eaten. Now that could work.

So that is what I do.

It is YUMMMMY, hits the spot just right and now I have a new favorite. I can eat PB&J and not gum my bread to death. (plus pancakes are soft enough I can actually chew them with these stupid braces)

SO .... next time I make pancakes I am going to make a TON of them and store them in the fridge/freezer. I usually make a few extra anyway, and it is sooo easy to whip them up I have no excuse now.

Just wanted to share. I know SOMEONE out there will be excited about this discovery of mine!!

Homemade Ravioli

I have been cooking this week a little despite a nasty headcold.

I finally got around to making chicken ravioli this week also. They are SO yummy!!! And honestly they are not that hard to make. THe first few times took me forever, but now that I have made them several times they are going much faster.

I use one cooked chicken breast ran through the food processor. After that I have tried several different things. My favorite, and least healthy, is adding some Classico Brand sundried tomato Alfredo sauce and some shredded cheese (mozz, provel, etc.)

For the pasta itself, I have found Chebe mixes and they are fabulous for all sorts of things. Homemade pizza and crackers and little biscuits.....and now pasta. I have used several of the flavors. The other day I used the bread mix and added some fresh grated romano cheese to the pasta..

Follow the directions on the package. I roll the dough out pretty thin, but not too thin as you will need to stretch it some over your filling. Use a cookie cutter and cut an even number of shapes, pull of the waste and save it for the next batch.

At this point I have a shallow pot of water boiling and ready to go.

Place 1 tbsp or so of chicken filling on half the shapes, place another of the pasta shapes over that and with it in your hands, press the edges to seal. Place the ravioli in the boiling water and keep an eye on it till it floats, then lift it out with a slotted spoon and make the next batch. I pour an alfredo sauce ontop, or the rest of the Classico. Enjoy with a salad or broccoli or whatever...

Other fillings you could try would be a cup or so of ricotta mixed with some shredded mozzerella or other white cheese.......sundried tomato pesto mixed with the chicken and some cheese....... sauteed diced mushrooms with cheese........ thawed chopped spinach with ricotta and cheddar..... whatever you come up with, you can be creative with this.

Chebe mixes may be hard to find, I have ordered them online from Chebe itself. The whole foods store nearby sells them as do most organic/whole foods, or ask your local grocer, they may be able to get them.

http://www.chebe.com/

Sausages.....yuuuuummy!!!

I found these sausages last week at Sentry and NEEDED to share them with anyone who is even remotely interested. They are AWESOME and GLUTEN FREE!!!! I haven't tried all the flavors and there is one flavor that I will have to avoid, the mango something or other has gluten in it, but the rest are alllll good for me to try.

http://alfrescoallnatural.com/products/index.htm?pg=1&subpg=3

I made the Sweet Italian ones with spaghetti (Tinkyada Pasta) last week.....there was a little spaghetti left over, but all the sausage was picked out and devoured (and it wasn't by me!!).

We had the Apple and Maple sausages with pancakes for Sean's birthday and those were pretty yummy too. I am trying a few more flavors this week and ordering some more from online.

BTW.....for anyone interested I use Pamela's Ultimate baking and Pancake mix for pancakes. They are awesome and reheat better than the Bisquick pancakes I used to make before going gluten free. I just use the recipe on the back of the pkg. Even my sister, who is not gluten free, now makes these for her family.

ok...off to cook now......will be posting my ravioli recipe this week I do believe.....

Pork Chops...

This one isn't too terribly exciting, but it is one sauce that I just LOVE for pork chops and so I am sharing it.

Grill or broil pork chops with salt and pepper and garlic. Arrange on plate and drizzle sauce on top...

Plum Dijon Sauce

1 part dijon mustard
2-3 parts plum jelly

place jelly in micro bowl and soften for 30 seconds or so, stir in mustard until smooth, pour over chops. Also good with chicken.

That's it. I feel like crap today. Dh shared his cold with me, isn't that sweet???? Jerk. Just kidding, I still love him, especially since he took the boys skiing today and left me home with doodlebug to lay around in my jammies all day. ANyway...more about that on the non-recipe blog, maybe.

Crab Cakes.....and Mango Salsa

Crab Cakes...OH MY, is there anything sweeter on this earth than fresh crabcakes with mango salsa????? I think NOT!!!

Anyway, I used to get these incredible crab cakes from this little restaurant in Delafield, but now with this whole gluten thing I can't get them anymore. So I HAD to figure out how to make them for myself. My biggest challenge was bread crumbs. Gluten Free Bread, even toasted, tends to get a bit mushy and expand, so I needed to find something else to use. I found.....THis (sorry the pic is sideways, I forgot to turn it before posting, and don't know how to turn it now...)

says GLUTEN FREE right on the label. I believe I got it from Sentry. ANYHOOOooooooo..... So with that problem solved I was off to cook...

6-8 oz lump crab meat
~~~(I used a bag of crab meat from the tuna aisle and have used canned also)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
a sprinkling of chives
1 tsp chopped roasted red bell pepper
~~~(you can use fresh red bell pepper, but the boys wouldn't eat it then) whaaaaateverrrrr
dash of garlic powder, or a minced clove
1 egg
a dash of black pepper
1/2 cup of the corn flake crumbs
~~~(regular corn flakes are NOT gluten free!!!)
a dash of Italian Seasonings

dash of cayenne pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

so, mix all that up in a bowl and form into patties, they will be sticky. As you form them into patties, roll in another 1/2 cup of corn flake crumbs mixed with another dash of Italian seasonings, to coat the patties. set aside on a layer of foil or waxed paper.

Melt 4-6 tbsp butter in large saute pan and fry the patties in that, turning once during the process to brown the other side. Took maybe 6 minutes or so for the first side. Place in platter and ENJOY!!!!! Makes about 8 patties, depending on how big you make yours.

You can serve with whatever you like, but peronally I love mango salsa on mine......here's that recipe.

P.S. you can broil these in the oven on low instead of frying them in butter, (spray with olive oil, or etc before) but they just are not as good as frying. I don't fry anything really, except this treat. Sometimes you just gotta...

MANGO SALSA

1 mango, diced small small pcs
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 jalepeno seeded and diced
1/2 lime juiced
chives to taste
1-2 tbsp finely chopped fresh red bell pepper

mix it all up and eat it with chips or CRAB CAKES!!!!!!!! or grilled fish, or chicken, or whatever......

Please notice that I do not give exact measurements, that is because most of the recipes that I use can be altered to suit your taste, you can not mess this up....just keep adding things until it tastes how you want it to taste.

And, yes, for those of you who like to use fresh everything, I sometimes do not have time or energy, so I cheat. I use jarred roasted red peppers in place of fresh red peppers a lot, especially when the crunch of fresh isn't necessary. and/or I am out of fresh. I use freeze dried chives a lot, instead of fresh, sometimes I just don't have them. I use the jar of refridgerated fresh diced garlic a lot, or garlic powder, I hate fooling with fresh garlic cloves. I haven't yet but could use canned crushed pineapple in place of fresh ( the boys love fresh pineapple, so I have it around a lot).

Just because I am a busy mom who is on the run constantly does not mean that I can not serve great food to my family. I just have to be a little creative and substitute where I can, most of the time, you'd never know. Most of my recipes I can have served in under 45 minutes. Very seldom does anything take longer than that, and 45 minutes is actually a long time for me.

I hope someone out there enjoys these as much as I do.....