Sun dried tomato stuffed portabello's and pasta!

Oh this was Gooooooooooooooood! Not something I could make for my crew, but my sister's family and friends LOVE it!

3 large portabello mushrooms, stems removed and cleaned
1 lb sausage cooked and crumbled
1 block feta cheese
1 cup monterrey jack cheese shredded
1 jar chopped sun dried tomatoes

1 pkg cooked spaghetti, I used Schar
1 can petite diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil

mix the sausage, feta and sun dried tomato. Stuff the mushrooms with about half of that mixture, sprinkle monterrey jack on top. Place in preheated 350 oven for 20-30 minutes until mushrooms are softened and cheese is melted.

In a large pan mix the spaghetti, can of tomatoes and the rest of the sausage mixture. Heat through, serve with mushrooms and broccoli or a salad. Enjoy!

It was FABULOUS!!!!

blackened pork tenderloin with chow chow sauce

3 TBSP chili powder

1 tsp each, salt, garlic pepper, garlic powder (I like garlic!)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3 TBSP olive oil



Mix all that together to form a paste-like rub. Smear it on 2 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin. (I had 2 small ones).



Preheat grill and cook over med-high heat, rotate often (every 3-5 minutes) until done. Tent with foil and let meat rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice into 1/2" and serve.



Chow-Chow Sauce



1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard

1/4 cup diced onion

3 TBSP honey

3 TBSP sweet pickle relish

2 TBSP cider vinegar

1 TBSP French's worcestershire sauce



Mix all that in small saucepan and simmer 3-4 minutes. Serve with pork slices.

Corned Beef

So, this was super easy... a recipe from my mom.....

I found a corned beef slab that was labeled as gluten free so that is what I started with. Put it in the crockpot covered with water and all the juices that came with the beef all day.

When the time came I took it out of the crock pot, put it in a shallow baking dish.

Mixed 3ish tbsp Dijon mustard, 1ish tbsp paprika and 2-3 tbsp brown sugar, then spread it on the beef. Placed the dish in the oven, preheated to 375. Cooked until the glaze crystallized and then sliced it against the grain and served with horseradish sauce.

The kids LOVED it!!!

I just want to apologize for being such a slacker the last few months with posting! We had a burst water pipe back in January that flooded our kitchen, so we had to rip up all the flooring, replace drywall, etc....etc..... and since we were remodeling.......yeah, so anyway, my kitchen has been a mess for months. It is finally, mostly put back together....so cooking should resume full force soon.

I've got a thousand recipes I want to try out......so hopefully in a few weeks we will be back in business!!!

Creamed Chicken

This is a throw together at the last minute thing. Turned out great tho. The boys even ate the leftovers the next day!

about 2 lbs frozen chicken breast tenders, or whole breasts cut up
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
2 cans cream soup (whatever you can find that is GF) (I used Progesso Mushroom)
1/2 cup or so Parmesan cheese
1 box GFPantry olive oil and garlic croutons crushed

preheat oven to 350.

spray a 9x13 baking dish. Dump the chicken in, sprinkle the cheese over top, dump the soup on that, sprinkle with the Parmesan and then spread the croutons on top of that. Put it in the oven until the chicken is cooked. I think it took about an hour, since my chicken was frozen, but of course I didn't actually check the timer........

Served it with some brown and wild rice mix and steamed broccoli and it was a HIT!

YAY!

Spahsgetti Sauce

No jarred sauce in the pantry and it is too icky to go get some, so what do I do? Make my own of course!

I had
1 med. onionm chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup or so olive oil

Saute that in large pot until onions are soft, then add the following

3 cans of tomato sauce
1 can petite diced tomato
1 small can tomato paste
1 capful of Mrs Dash Italian seasonings (I'd guess a heaping TBSP)
1-2 tsp sugar

stir all that together, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about an hour.

I threw in about 2 lbs of meatballs before I covered it. We shall see what happens, it smells yummy, but I am not picky like some testosterone carriers I know.......

I've also been baking today. I've used Gluten Free Pantry Sandwich bread mix and a mix from Anna's line of products. I'll let you know how those turn out too! The Gluten Free Pantry Italian bread is yummy, so I have high hopes for the Sandwich bread mix!

Meatballs

I made about 1000 meatballs before Thanksgiving and froze them. I forgot to record it here, so I am now going back and putting in what I can remember

1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb pork sausage
1 lb ground turkey breast

1 box crushed Glutino crackers
3/4 - 1 cup chopped sweet onion
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (GF, San-J)
3-4 tbsp prepared Dijon mustard
3 eggs
8 0z V-8 vegetable juice

Mash all of that together and using an ice cream scoop, form into 2" balls. I baked mine in the oven for 15 minutes or so, until lightly browned, then cooled and put into bags in the freezer.

If anyone has a bad outcome, adds anything, let me know. They were really good and I am using the last of them tonight for meatball subs. So I will need to make more.

Sloppy Joe's

So a friend of mine was making sloppy joes a while back for her kids and I've been craving them ever since. I wanted to try making my own sauce and leave it in the crockpot so the boys can eat when they have a chance.....soccer season.....Anyway, here is the recipe I used.

1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb ground turkey breast

Saute that in a pan until cooked through and crumbly.

Meanwhile in a crockpot mix together the following:

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup bbq sauce
3-4 tablespoons water
3 tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt

stir all that together and add cooked meat, leave on lowest setting with lid on crockpot to let the sauce get all yummy and enjoy!

BTW.....I called French's to inquire about their Worcestershire sauce and was told that the sauce and all their mustards are gluten free. Just so ya know!

Personally I would have liked to add onion and peppers to the meat while saute-ing BUT then certain boys wouldn't eat it if there were chunks in it....so plain it is. I think I will cook up some veggies on the side and stir it into mine and whichever boys decide they want some too.

Chicken thingy's

I used to make a version of this recipe all the time with leftover chicken and a can of crescent rolls. BUT for obvious reason's I haven't made it in a loooooong time. Anywhoo...I had some leftover rotisseried chicken and so I used a Chebe mix for the crust and apparently it was pretty good. My 9 year old nephew told me I HAD to give the recipe to his mom.

2-3 cups cut up cooked chicken
a cup or so of cream cheese, plain or chive and onion ( I used both)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
garlic

mash that all together in a big bowl, set aside.

Prepare Chebe mix according to the instructions on the package and preheat oven to 375.

***I have a shallow muffin tin that I used but they are a little hard to find, so I'm sure a regular muffin tin will work fine.***

Separate dough into balls, I made 16 out of mine, but that could vary depending on the size of muffin tin you use. Flatten each ball into the muffin tin and up the sides, place a scoop of the chicken mixture inside and sprinkle with fresh parmesan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until browned.

Serve with a salad and veggies and you've got yourself a winner!

Salmon Patties, II

I made this for my family and a friends mom and sister (the mom is sick and the sister is staying with her right now).....anywhoooo, so this recipe made a lot of patties. Just so ya know....

4 cups flaked cooked salmon (mine was seasoned with Lawry's)
1 stick butter, melted
1 box of Glutino(5.3 oz) crackers, crushed (Ritz for you "normal" people)
4 eggs
2 tbsp minced garlic

And I **think** that was it.....

Mix that all up real good, form into patties, place on a baking sheet (with a lipso the butter doesn't drip all over your oven) and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes until nicely browned....enjoy with the lemon caper sauce I posted yesterday!!! yum!!!

Jalepeno Corn Dip

...but I didn't use jalapenos, so should I change the title????

1 can corn, drained
1 cup mayo
2 cups mexi cheese, with the spices, finely shredded
2 cups co-jack cheese blend, finely shredded
1 can diced green chilis

mix it all up and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly....eat with corn tortilla chips.

Now.....for the Jen version.......add a rotisserie chicken, skinned and shredded, and another can of green chilies...bake and then wrap in tortillas and eat with a salad.......is yummy.....all good reviews!! And with my family....well......that doesn't happen too often!!!!

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!

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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!!!!

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!

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.

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........

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!