Peanut Butter Balls

A great snack and easy to make. The kids can even help make the balls.

Peanut Butter Balls

Mix together in a medium bowl:
1 C. Peanut butter
3/4 C. honey

Add:
3 C. quick oats

Mix in, along with any extras you want to add. We usually do:
1/2 C. ground flax seed
1/2 or 3/4 C chocolate chips
1/2 or 3/4 C craisins

We've done sunflower seeds, too.

After it all is mixed together, make 1-inch balls and refrigerate. If the mixture is especially sticky refrigerate for 15 minutes, then make the balls.

This is one of my kids' favorite snacks (along with granola bars). We go through a batch every week. Or sometimes in two days. :)

Homemade Fruit Snacks

I recently saw some recipes for homemade fruit snacks that I thought I'd try. I tried this one first, but the lemon juice made it too tart/sour for my kids' taste. So I looked at a few other recipes, and did my own version using proportions that looked like they worked in the other recipes. And we had success!
Since gelatin is actually good for you (a good amount of protein and good for your hair, skin, nails, etc.), and the only other ingredients are fruit and some honey, I let my kids have a lot more of these fruit snacks than I ever let them have of the store bought ones.

Fruit Snacks
1 1/2 C. strawberries or other fruit
1/2 C. fruit juice (I used V8 Fusion)
2 T. (or a little more) honey
1/4 C. gelatin

Heat fruit and juice on stove top for about 5 minutes until fruit is soft. Puree in a blender or food processor, add the honey, and whisk in a little at a time the gelatin, whisking continuously to avoid clumping of the gelatin. Pour into silicone molds and let set in fridge for an hour or two.

Delicious Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

A friend of mine brought me a plate of these delicious cookies with the recipe as a thank you last year for letting her borrow something. Turns out these are a perfect cookie for people who don't often cook gluten-free to make because they don't require xanthan gum. Who wants to spend $10 for xanthan gum you will rarely use and only need a teaspoon of to cook some cookies? 

They're also perfect for those who cook gluten-free a lot because they taste so good and are easy.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. almond flour/meal

1/4 t. baking soda

1/8 t. salt

2 T. canola oil

2 T. agave nectar

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/4 C. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, agave and vanilla. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by level teaspoonfuls (literally-a measured teaspoon!) onto baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 7-8 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Beware, they're bite size and delicious, so before you know it the whole batch will be gone. You might want to double the recipe if you want it to last more than 10 minutes.

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is super easy to make, especially if you have potato flakes (make sure they're GF). This time I made them with some Worcestershire Sauce and something else (tomato sauce, maybe, I don't remember) that I've learned that my kids don't like so much. Their favorite is super easy:

Shepherd's Pie

ground beef, cooked (with dried onions if you like it)

frozen mixed veggies of your choice (we especially like peas and corn)

Hormel mini pepperoni (the key ingredient to make it extra tasty)

After you cook the ground beef, add in the veggies and pepperoni (and a shake or two of Worcestershire Sauce if you like) and warm through.

Make mashed potatoes, either from real potatoes or potato flakes.

Put the beef mixture in the bottom, then cover with potatoes and cook at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

If you like cheese (and can eat it), add it for the last 10 minutes to melt on top. I've frozen this before successfully as well. Just make double and save one for later in the freezer.

 

Super easy Chewy-style Granola Bars

I have been on a quest to find the perfect homemade granola bars. My kids and I really like the Chewy granola bars, but, of course they are not gluten-free. I liked this one pretty well, but then I found this no-bake recipe that is super fast and easy and tastes just like the Chewy granola bars we used to buy.

The original was shared by a friend on facebook and credit was given to Carole Jones of My Kitchen Escapades. I've changed it just a little, and probably will tweak it a little more--if I fill the 9x13 pan they are too thin to stick together well, but I just leave 3 inches at the end clear and they're thick enough to stick really well.

No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
(recipe makes a 9x13 pan)

2 cups quick cooking gluten-free oats (or pulse whole oats in a food processor a bit)
1 C GF Rice Krispies cereal

1/4 C butter
1/4 C honey
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

I've subbed in coconut oil for the butter and it works just fine and makes it dairy-free as well. I think it doesn't stick together as well as with the butter, though. I've read that clarified butter is actually casein-free, so I've made some clarified butter to use and like that taste a little better, but it adds a lot more time--rather than making it in less than 5 minutes it's more like 15.

Mix -In variations listed below

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats and cereal. Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter. Add the honey, brown sugar and salt. Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil. Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing. Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. During this time, you may need to turn the heat down a bit so it doesn't overflow, but be sure it keeps boiling.
2. Pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan. Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated. Add in your desired mix-in then press very firmly into a lightly greased 9x13" pan. If you like your bars thicker, you can use a smaller pan. If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart when you eat them. Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes then cut to size. Like I said, I do it about 9x 10 or 9x11 to get the thickness I like. I use a pizza cutter to cut them, except the very edges, which require an actual knife.

Chocolate Chip
Add 1/2 C of mini chocolate chips to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it cool just a bit or you will end up with melted chips. Sprinkle on a few extra chips over the top after they are pressed into the pan.

White Chocolate Cranberry
Add 1/3 C of white chocolate chips and 1/3 C of Craisins to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it to cool just a bit first or you will end up with melted chips.

Candy Bar
Add 1/3 C of Heath bar pieces, 1/3 C of mini M&M's and 1/3 C of chopped pretzels to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan.

Peanut Butter
Add 2 Tb of peanut butter to the finished sugar mixture before pouring it over the oats. Once mixed with the oats, add 1/2 C peanut butter chips before pressing into the pan. This is my preferred mix in, along with chocolate chips.

Raisin Nut
Add 1/3 C of chopped raisins and 1/3 C of chopped pecans to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan. 

I haven't gotten the timing right to not get the chocolate chips to melt, so they're pretty darn messy. But they are oh, so tasty.

Tortilla soup

I uploaded this picture months ago and forgot to finish the post. And I can't believe I forgot it because it's one of my favorite meals! Borrowed from a friend, this recipe is great because it is really easy to leave out the dairy until the end, and let my hubby enjoy it as is, then add some cheese for the little ones who really enjoy the stringy yumminess of melted cheese. We sometimes leave out the chicken for a meatless meal.















Chicken Tortilla Soup
½ c chopped onion

2 C. cooked chicken, torn or cut into small pieces (I use canned chicken)

1 pressed garlic clove

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, undrained

1 c frozen corn

1 c zucchini, thinly sliced

4 tsp snipped fresh cilantro

½ c (2 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

¼ tsp each: chili powder, ground cumin

2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth

1 (5.5oz) can of Spicy Hot V8 juice

4 thick slices each: fresh lime, avocado

Cook chicken, onion, garlic, chili powder, and cumin for 2 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, chilies, corn, zucchini and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

In individual soup bowls, add cilantro, tortilla strips, ladle full of soup,  top with cheese and garnish with lime & avocado. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Pancakes

For a while, every time I wanted to make pancakes I would do a google search for gluten-free pancakes and pick a new pancake to try. Until last summer when my Grandpa's wife made us some pancakes using her regular recipe, just substituting rice flour in and they turned out just right. No xanthan gum or anything. So now I use my former whole-wheat pancake recipe as my new gluten-free pancake recipe.

Pancakes

1 ½ C. GF flour mix

2 T. sugar

2 T. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 C. soy milk

1 egg (optional)

Mix it all together. I really don't measure the milk, or if I do, I usually end up adding more water after until it reaches the consistency I like.

These behave just like any other pancake: pour them out thin-ish, then wait until the bubbles on top have popped, flip and cook the other side, and enjoy.

I can't tell any difference between these and "real" pancakes.

Happy breakfasting!

Skillet enchiladas

Tonight was one of those "the kids are starving now and I don't know what we're having for dinner" kind of nights. And I was supposed to go grocery shopping this morning, but didn't, so our choices were rather limited, so I improvised, and it turned out surprisingly tasty. It only took about 5 minutes which was a bonus. We are totally having this meal again.

I didn't measure anything, just scooped/poured until it looked good. 

Skillet Enchiladas

Canned chicken (large can)

mayonnaise-probably a cup-ish--several large spoonfuls

salsa

green chilies (small can)

cumin-a couple shakes sprinkled on

I just put everything in the skillet and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Serve on tortilla chips and enjoy!

Or add some cheese if you're not my husband (who is doing the dairy-free thing now), and enjoy!

Santa Fe Chicken

Santa Fe Chicken is one of my all time favorite meals because 1. it's so easy, and 2. it's SO delicious.

In a crockpot combine:
2ish pounds of chicken (cut into bite-size pieces or not)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
a 16 oz can of salsa (Herdez is our favorite)
1 or 2 cups of frozen corn

Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. The longer you cook, the less you need bite-size pieces to begin with. I like to just let it cook until the chicken is so tender you can shred it real easy with a fork.

Add 1 cup shredded cheese and half up to a whole package of cream cheese depending on taste. Cook for another 1/2 hour up to an hour, then serve over rice, or in a tortilla.

 

Frito Pie

This is so ridiculously easy it doesn't deserve to be on a recipe blog, since I actually didn't make anything, but hey, if someone's looking for a quick and easy dinner, here you go!

Frito Pie:

Fritos 

Canned chili (regular Hormel chili is GF--I know Hormel turkey chili is NOT. I'm sure there're others to choose from)

Sour cream

Cheese

Pile it up, and enjoy!

Cowboy pasta

This one is always pretty quick and easy and is a nice spin on the traditional pasta dish. 

Cowboy Pasta

GF Pasta

chopped onion

green pepper

chili powder

black beans

corn

salsa

tomato sauce

Saute onion, pepper and chili powder. Add equal parts salsa and tomato sauce, beans, and corn. Simmer.

Toss with pasta and top with shredded cheese.

Sometimes I'll throw in a little cooked chicken, too, but most of the time we leave it as a meatless meal, since it's pretty hearty as is.

It's always a hit here! Enjoy!

Super nachos

Super nachos are, well, super! I guess some people call them loaded nachos, but we like the Super term. This is one of our go-to meals when I don't feel like cooking, or when we're hungry right now.

It's so flexible, you just use whatever you have on hand. Usually we use:
green onions

green or red (or both) bell peppers

black beans

canned chicken

Spread tortilla chips on a cookie sheet, sprinkle a little bit of shredded cheese over them, then layer whatever toppings you want to include. If you add tomatoes, probably wait until the last minute or so of cooking time. After all your toppings are on, sprinkle more cheese over top generously. Stick it in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes, then enjoy! Great for a regular dinner, or whip some up to snack on during a football game.

Rosemary roasted potatoes

This is one of the easiest sides to make. All you need is a few potatoes (red potatoes are great because you don't have to peel them), rosemary, garlic salt, and olive oil.

Dice the potatoes, then pour some olive oil over them, sprinkle some garlic salt and the rosemary (fresh is best, but dried works, too) over top and mix it up.

Put the potatoes on a cookie sheet (I like to line it with foil and spray with cooking spray for ease of cleanup), and either bake at 350 or 400, or broil, about 20-40 minutes, depending on how many potatoes you use and how crispy you like them. Stir at least once during cooking.

If I bake them, I like to broil for at least the last 5 minutes or so to add a little crispiness. I forgot to take a picture of the finished, tasty product because once they start cooking the smell permeates the house and everyone sits at the oven door salivating, so once they're out of the oven the thought of pausing to take a picture didn't even enter my mind. :)

Corn chowder

Now that Labor Day is done, fall has unofficially started, right? Tell that to our weatherman--he keeps giving us 100-degree days! But in theory it'll be cooling off soon, and soups will be more fitting for the weather. Here's a real quick and easy corn chowder.

I found a bag of frozen stew veggies that had BIG chunks of carrots, potatoes, pearl onions, and maybe something else. I added some celery, corn, and more potatoes, 2 tablespoons of butter, and some GF chicken broth and stuck it all in the crock pot for about 4 hours on high (or 8-9 hours if you do it on low). About a half hour before dinner I added a cup of milk. It turned out real tasty. Enjoy!

Leftover pork BBQ

Usually a day or two after we have our pork tenderloin we take the leftovers (though usually isn't very much left) and make some barbecue pork. It is so easy and quick. But we like to have it with tortillas, which makes up for the quickness and easiness of the pork. :)

All you do is stick the remaining pork in the crockpot and add a little GF BBQ sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's Original, or most Kraft BBQ sauce and let it cook for a few hours. The longer it cooks on low, the more tender, but an hour on high is sufficient if you don't have much time (as long as it is leftovers and already has been cooked). I threw in a cup or two of cooked rice to help it go a little farther, since we didn't have much pork left, then served it on tortillas.

GF on a Shoestring (and Fried Rice)

I recently purchased a great cookbook: Gluten-free on a Shoestring. She also has a blog. I've only tried a few recipes, but so far I LOVE them all.

Last week I was on a baking kick and actually baked 2 things. In one day. I know. Crazy. My 10-month-old was only holding on to my legs crying for 20 minutes or so, since I mostly planned around her nap. :) 

The first tasty treat was this homemade apple pie-type pastry. Soooo good. And there was extra filling left over, which we all really enjoyed alone, too.

 

The other was pretzels. They were pretty good warm out of the oven, but I messed up on the directions for letting it rise, and going back and trying to do it later didn't quite work out, so I'll try these again soon. They ended up a bit dense and hard once they cooled off, but I am pretty sure following the directions next time will fix that.

 

One last TASTY recipe I really enjoyed was the Lemon Chicken. Since these recipes aren't mine and are copyrighted, I probably shouldn't share them, but I can share how I made some tasty fried rice to go with the lemon chicken. I may try this in the future with orange juice and orange zest, and see if I can somewhat replicate good ol' Panda Express' Orange Chicken.

 

The fried rice is very easy. First, cook some scrambled eggs (1-3 depending on your taste and how much rice you're using), and when the eggs are just starting to solidify, add about a cup of already cooked rice. Once the eggs are fully cooked add another cup or two of cooked rice and some mixed veggies. I just had frozen corn and peas, so that's all I threw in, and it worked great. Stir occasionally until the veggies are cooked/warm, add a splash or two of soy sauce (La Choy is gluten-free), and enjoy! This is so quick and easy. You can leave out the eggs if you want, but they're a nice extra splash of protein.

Quick and easy black bean dip

I've been on vacation, then recovering from vacation, and now I'm back. At least for one post. I have lots of pictures of food waiting to be posted, so we'll see when I get around to that.

I thought I'd share this quick and easy and DELICIOUS dip.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

salsa

pepper jack cheese

Blend black beans and salsa in a food processor or blender, adding salsa a little at a time until you get the consistency you want. Pour into a microwave safe bowl, grate some pepper jack cheese into the bowl (or monterrey jack if pepper jack is too spicy for you, or leave the cheese out completely if you prefer), then microwave for 30 seconds-1 minute. Stir, and enjoy with some tortilla chips. It takes all of 3 minutes to whip this deliciousness up. Yum!

If you want to check out other quick and easy meals/snacks, check them out here!

Pesto chicken

This delicious meal is a holdover from a few years ago when my husband was put on the Southbeach Diet to fix his blood chemistry. Not surprisingly, since the Southbeach Diet is based on less carbs, completely eliminating carbs for the first two weeks, a lot of those meals work just fine for gluten-free folks.

One of the best parts is that there are only 3 ingredients. You can't get much easier than that! Without further ado, here's the tasty Pesto Chicken:

Chicken
Pesto
Mozzarella cheese

Spread a few tablespoons of pesto on the bottom of the pan, then add chicken and spread more pesto on top of the chicken. For about a pound or a pound and a half of chicken I usually use about half a jar of pesto. It doesn't take much. Cover with tin foil and cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add mozzarella cheese and cook uncovered until cheese melts, another 5-10 minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Linking up with Gluten-free Wednesdays.

Italian Crockpot Chicken

 

potatoes, cubed or in wedges
baby carrots
chicken
1/2 C. Italian dressing
2 T. Italian seasoning
1/2 C. Parmesan or romano cheese

Throw everything into the crock pot (potatoes and carrots on the bottom), and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. And enjoy. I love how fast and easy this is to prepare.

Broccoli cheese soup

Here's a yummy, easy soup that's nice and quick. We had it on one of those "We need to eat in 15 minutes, what do I fix?!" days. Of course, that only works if you have potato flakes, or leftover mashed potatoes, otherwise it might be a little longer.

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli
2 C. chicken broth
1 1/2 C. mashed potatoes (or more if you feel like it)
2 C. milk
1 1/2 C. shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, saute onion in oil until translucent, then add broccoli and broth. Cook until broccoli is tender, then add mashed potatoes, mixing well. Heat for 5 minutes, then add milk and heat a little longer. Add cheese, stir, add salt and pepper, and enjoy!