Ranch Mac-n-Cheese

A big bowl of comfort food on a cold day is the best.  My family has enjoyed this meal a few times in the past few weeks and the leftovers are pretty tasty too!  I found this recipe here.

Ranch Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 package (16 oz.) GF elbow macaroni

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix  (or 3 TBS of dry ranch powder)

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon garlic pepper blend

1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Colby cheese

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream (I used heavy cream)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, however, do NOT use salt in the pasta water.

2. Meanwhile on stove top, combine the milk, butter, dressing mix and seasonings; heat through. Stir in Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses until melted. Stir in sour cream or heavy cream.

3. Drain macaroni, stir into cheese sauce, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Taco Soup

I have never been a fan of taco soup, until now!  I had a friend share this recipe with me and the whole family LOVES it!  I think it something to do with Hormel Chili in it, our favorite canned chili.  I usually have to double it for my family of six, giving me a little bit of leftovers for lunches the following day. The recipe comes from here.  It calls for chicken, but I have left that out and just added an extra can of black beans when I make this.  Doing it this way also makes for a quick prep time if you want to do it on the stove top.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans (I use Hormel Chili with beans)

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 C Beef Broth

1 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I make it without the chicken and add one more can of black beans.)

shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

crushed tortilla chips (optional)

cilantro (optional)

fresh lime juice (optional)

Instructions:

1.         Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

2.         Remove chicken breasts from the soup and shred. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips cilantro, and lime juice, if desired.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

One of the things I love about this recipe is that it is one I can stock up in the freezer with. I will buy about 5 1/2 pounds of ground beef and make it all into meatballs (Adjust the recipe accordingly). I make mine about the size of a golf ball and fill a cookie sheet or two and freeze them for about an hour. At that point I bag them up in freezer bags and voila , I now have at least five or six meals that I can pull out and all I have to do is make up the sauce and rice!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup GF rolled oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of pepper
1 teaspoon GF Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Form into balls. Place in sprayed casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Bake at 350 degree for about 30 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings, Serve over rice and with a veggie or salad on the side.

Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 cup GF BBQ  sauce
1 teaspoon GF Worcestershire sauce

**I have started adding chopped green and red peppers and pineapple to our meatballs to give it some color.  Add to your liking...

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat and pour over meatballs.

** I also double the sauce because I like mine saucy.

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Fall is in the air and at the moment it feels great!  I wish we could bottle this temperature for several months!  I saw this recipe posted on Facebook  which lead me to Picky Palate and had to try it.  I do love her blog and have tried many of her recipes.  For the first time ever, I did not have any ice cream in my house, but still wanted to try these.  I just used heavy cream instead.  They turned out really well, which only means that doing it with melted ice cream must be amazing! I also do not have a doughnut pan, so I just made mine in my mini bundt pan.  This recipe made 10 mini pumpkin cakes.  Would definitely double it next time.

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup GF featherlite flour 

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 cup vanilla ice cream (measured before melting) (I used heavy whipping cream)

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream (you may need a couple tablespoons more if too thick)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray mini bundt pan or doughnut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl.

3. Place ice cream into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds or until just barely melted. Pour into mixing bowl and combine with other ingredients until well combined. Scoop batter into prepared doughnut or mini bundt pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until baked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

4. To prepare the glaze, place powdered sugar and cream into a bowl, whisking to combine. Add more cream if needs thinning out. Dip tops of donuts or mini cakes in glaze and serve!

Makes 9-11 donuts or mini bundt cakes

Green Chili Chicken

Looking to add a little kick to your chicken?  This has good flavor but not too spicy and hot.

I changed the directions up a bit, but the original recipe came from here.

Green Chili Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

 1 1/2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese

 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained

 1/2 packet dry GF fajita seasoning

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9 inch square baking dish (or similar size) with cooking spray. Place fajita seasoning in a plastic bag.  Add chicken and shake to coat.

Place chicken into the baking dish and top with green chilies. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove baking dish from oven. Drain juices, and top with pepperjack cheese.  Return to oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes or until cheese is melted and browned slightly. Remove and serve.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

I have tried a lot of things to make GF oats taste good and have failed miserably! I came across this recipe per pinterest and was surprised at how much my whole family loved it! I only made a small amount the first time around to make sure it was a keeper, and it definitely is! This is what we have had for breakfast everyday for a week now, which says a lot!  I love that is doesn't have all the added 'stuff' they put in our food these days....

Instant Homemade Oatmeal

6 cups GF quick rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill)

1 cup dry milk powder

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I did not have / use this)

1 teaspoon salt

1) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

2) Mix well.

3) Store in a large container. Label and date. Keep in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months (it never lasts that long at our house, but good to know anyways).

Directions for use: Shake the container to mix ingredients. In a small pot, heat 2/3 cup water to boiling. Add 1/3 cup oatmeal mix. Note: There is approx. 1/3 cup of oatmeal in a packet of instant oatmeal. You may prefer to increase this amount based on the size of servings needed. Reduce heat and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached, stir frequently. Can also heat in microwave for one minute.

This is just a base (which tastes amazing by itself!), but you could easily add in any additional dried fruit, fresh fruit or maple syrup.

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

I seriously doubted this recipe when I first came upon it.  I have struggled getting anyone in our household to eat quinoa, let alone in a cake.  It got rave reviews, so I thought what the heck!  It definitely is a process to make, not one you just whip up in an hour.  Having said that, it was a huge hit.  I even took it to a friend to be a taste tester for me.  They had no idea the ingredients, but it was loved by all who ate it.  It is a very rich cake.  One slice hits the spot!  This was a pinterest find that led me here.  I have tried a few of her other recipes and have always been happy with the results!

Chocolate Qunioa Cake

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (see note below)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips ( I actually cut this down to about a 1/4 C and I use milk chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Process just until combined. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter. Blend well until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the contents from the blender and mix with a wooden spoon or whisk until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake on a rack in the middle position for 28-30 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto cooling racks (remove the parchment paper stuck to the bottom of the cakes).
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan until it gently simmers. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let the mixture sit for five minutes. Whisk to combine until it is glossy and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled and cold (2-3 hours). You can speed up this process by placing the bottom of the bowl in an ice water bath and stirring until cool. When fully chilled, use an electric mixer (stand mixer or handheld) to whip the mixture to soft peaks. (This takes at least 10-15 minutes to get thick and stiff)
Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter or plate. Top with a generous portion (about half) of the whipped frosting, spreading to within 1/2-inch of the edge of the cake (it will press to the edge when the top cake layer is put on).
Gently put the other cake layer upside down on top of the frosted layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake. You could definitely frost the sides, too, but I like the more rustic look for this cake - frosting just the middle and top.
Chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving to let the frosting set up a bit.

You'll need about 3/4 cup  dry quinoa for 2 cups cooked. Make sure to measure the quinoa for the cake recipe after it is cooked and cooled. Also, make sure to THOROUGHLY rinse the quinoa and cook the quinoa in water not broth.

Sugar Cookie Squares

Who doesn't love a soft sugar cookie?  I have not found pleasure in trying to 'roll' out sugar cookie dough since going GF, so this is something I put on the back burner.  Then one day, I saw a pin on pinterest called 'Sugar Cookie Bars'.  You just spread the dough out onto a cookie sheet and bake the whole thing at once and then frost, cut and serve!  Well, duh, why didn't I think of that?!  I pulled out my old favorite recipe from back in the day and viola, we have yummy sugar cookies....all shaped like squares!  It was a good day.  The first time I made it using the full recipe and the cookies were like cake thickness.  A bit much for me, so the second time, I halved the recipe and they were much thinner (as pictured below).  So pick what suits your fancy and enjoy!

 Sugar Cookie Squares

½ cup shortening or butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp xanthan gum

3 cups GF flour

Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs.  Add remaining ingredients.  Spread dough out onto greased cookie sheet. (One with sides)  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes; until light golden brown on top.

Frost with your favorite frosting.  I use Betty Crocker Cream Cheese flavored frosting.

S'mores Pizza Dessert

 I was asked to take dinner into a family tonight.  With all that was going on, it was just easier for me to stop at Papa Murphey's Take-n-Bake and grab them dinner.  I saw that they had a s'mores dessert pizza and I thought to myself, "Wow, that looks amazingly delicious!"  I think I could totally make that GF!  When I got home, I googled s'mores pizza and found several recipes.  I chose one that looked good and ran with it!  It was seriously a hit with my family and the guests we were feeding at our home tonight!  The only thing I would have changed is maybe drizzling a little bit of chocolate syrup over the pizza.  All in all, we will be making this again!  The recipe I went with came from here.

If you only want to make the dessert pizza, then 1/2 a pizza dough recipe would make just that.  Lately we have been doubling the dough recipe  and making two large dinner pizza's with enough dough left over to make a dessert pizza.

S’mores Pizza Dessert

Ingredients:

½ GF Pizza dough recipe (this will make a medium/large size dessert pizza)

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup GF Rolled Oats

2 tablespoons Softened Butter

1/4 cup GF Flour

Mini Marshmallows

Semi-sweet chocolate chips (we like and use milk chocolate!)

Directions:

Prepare crust as you normally would. Spread the dough out on a pizza stone.  In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and butter with a fork until you have corn meal consistency.  Mix in the rolled oats.  Sprinkle this mixture across your pizza crust liberally. Add chocolate chips onto crust.  Bake pizza crust as directed.

Bake Pizza at 420 degrees for about 12-15 minutes, then add marshmallows and finish cooking for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven, slice and serve. 

***Next time I would totally drizzle chocolate syrup over mine before serving.

Bacon Ranch Potatoes

This is a new twist on funeral potatoes or potato casserole.  I wasn't sure the hubs was going to like it because he is not much of a ranch fan, but to my surprise he quite liked them as did I.  They were super easy to throw together. This made enough to feed our family of six with one serving of leftovers. I found the recipe on pinterest, but when I went back to link to it, the site wouldn't work.  I modified it quite a bit from the original and it worked out well for our family.  Just a side note, our family's new favorite vegetable...edamame beans!

Bacon Ranch Potatoes

2 C sour cream

2 C cheddar cheese, shredded

7-9 strips bacon cut and cooked (I use turkey bacon)

3 TBS dry Ranch powder

4-5 C frozen shredded hash browns

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns. Spread into a sprayed 9x13 pan. Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. 

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicle

My sister brought me some Popsicle molds from Ikea when she came to visit, so we did a search for something yummy to make in them.  I am a huge fan of the hand dipped bars at Costco and this was a close second, only difference is the hint of banana flavor.  When dipping the Popsicle in the magic shell, you have to be very quick and you can't double dip it or all the chocolate comes off. 

The recipe came from pinterest.

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicles

Ingredients

2 medium sized bananas

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Popsicle Mold

Magic Shell

1/2 cup unsalted chopped peanuts

Instructions

Put bananas, heavy cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in the blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into your popsicle mold and place in freezer.

Once frozen, remove from mold and dip into the chocolate Magic Shell, then quickly sprinkle with chopped nuts. Enjoy right away, or place in plastic bags and store in freezer until ready to enjoy.

Magic Shell

The kids and I REALLY enjoyed this on our banana Popsicle we made this summer!  Super easy.

I found the recipe here.

Magic Shell Chocolate

Ingredients

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

12 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

In a sauce pan on the stovetop, combine the coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Melt together on low until well blended

Drizzle over ice cream and let sit for 30-45 seconds to harden.  Enjoy!!

Store in an air tight container at ROOM TEMPERATURE. (The Magic Shell may harden slightly, but just microwave for a few seconds till it is liquid again.)

Tator Tot Enchilada Bake

I love just about any meal with a tator tot involved!  The recipe comes from here.  To be honest, leftovers were even better than the first night I served this up!

Tator Tot Enchilada Bake

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 can black olives sliced

1 oz. taco seasoning

16 oz. corn

4 oz. green chilies; drained and diced

12 oz. black beans; drained and rinsed

16 oz. mexican cheese  shredded

16 oz. tator tots

10.5 oz. GF enchilada sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add ground beef, garlic, and onion and cook while breaking the meat apart with a spoon or spatula until the ground beef is completely browned. Drain off any excess fat. Add taco seasoning mix, green chilies, frozen corn, and black beans to the ground beef. Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl combine ground beef mixture, ¾ of the Mexican cheese blend, and all of the tater tots. Stir well to combine.

Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish and lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tots.

Place into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. During the last few minutes of baking, top the casserole with the remaining Mexican cheese blend and the sliced black olives. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Snicker Apple Salad

I remember having this salad years ago and forgetting about it until I saw it on pinterest!  This past weekend we had three gatherings that all required me to bring a side dish.  I decided this would be a good time to bust this out and introduce it to the family.  Let's just say it is so yummy that I tried to convince the kiddos that it was potato salad (because my kids don't like potato salad) so they wouldn't want to eat it all!  The original recipe calls for vanilla pudding, I only had french vanilla, hence the more yellow color.  It has an amazing combination of flavors that are sure to be a hit with your family!

Snicker Apple Salad

Ingredients:

6 regular size Snickers Candy Bar

6 apples (I used Granny Smith)

1 (5 oz.) package Vanilla Instant Pudding ; powder only (I used French Vanilla)

1/2 cup milk

1 (12 oz.) tub cool whip

Caramel ice cream sauce for drizzling on top

Instructions:

Whisk vanilla pudding powder, 1/2 cup milk and cool whip together until well combined.

Chop up apples and Snickers.  Stir chopped apples and Snickers into pudding mixture.  Place in a large bowl and drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.  Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Chocolate Cake Waffles

This recipe turned out way better than when I tried it with cookie dough!  I did a search on pinterest for chocolate waffles and came across this recipe.  They turned out well.  They were a little hard to get out of the waffle iron, but with patience and a smile, it all worked out!  Yes those are freeze dried strawberries on top.  They are like candy to the kids and make for a fun, crunchy, sweet topping.

Chocolate Cake Batter Waffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of boiling water

2 cups GF flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

Whisk together:

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of boiling water

Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

Mix together your dry ingredients and set aside:

2 cups GF flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together in a new bowl:

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Add 2 large eggs to the butter mixture, stirring between each egg to combine thoroughly.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the cocoa water mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just mixed. Batter may be stored in the refrigerator until needed.

Make up your cake mix, and simply spoon into a preheated waffle iron and cook according to your waffle iron’s own instructions. I found that the same waffle times worked for this cake batter recipe.

Top with your favorite toppings:

Ice cream

Cool Whip

Chocolate or caramel syrup

Fruit

Caramel Pretzel Cookies

If you like a sweet and salty combination, this is it! It's not very often that the kids come home from school to baked cookies, so this was a special treat today.  A sad detail to these cookies is I got so excited about the picture and getting it edited, I forgot about the second batch in the oven and burnt them to a crisp...So we thoroughly enjoyed the 16 cookies from the first batch.  So don't do what I did and get distracted and loose half your cookies!  You know want to go make some. The original recipe came from here.

Caramel Pretzel Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups GF flour (I use featherlite)

¾ tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup GF stick pretzels, broken into thirds

1/2 cup caramel bits

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars.  Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until well blended. Scrap the sides of the bowl.

Combine salt, baking soda, xanthan gum and flour.  Gradually add to wet mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Fold in broken pretzels, caramel bits, & chocolate chips with a spatula.

Spoon onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes (or until golden brown). *Makes around 2 dozen cookies.

Cheddar Cornbread Waffles Served Navajo Taco Style

Dinner was awesome with these cornbread waffles.  We ate them Navajo taco style with all the fixings!

I found the recipe here.  The batter made 8 seven inch round waffles.  At first I wished that I had doubled it (because we are a family of 6), but in reality, by the time we doctored it up with fixings, one was very filling.  We drizzled honey on the remaining two and that was most delicious!

Cheddar Cornbread Waffles

1 cup all-purpose GF flour (featherlite)

1 cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

3 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup club soda

1/3 cup canola oil

cooking spray

Sift together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in cheese. Combine eggs and next 3 ingredients; gently stir into dry ingredients just until blended.

Spray waffle iron with cooking spray.  Pour ½ c batter into round waffle iron. Cook 3-5 minutes or until crisp and done. Repeat with remaining batter.

Transfer waffles to a baking sheet, and keep warm, uncovered, in the oven at 200° until ready to serve. Waffles can be frozen in zip-top freezer bags and reheated in oven or toaster oven.

Serve up with our favorite toppings.  We used the following:

Hormel chili

Chopped olives

Tomatoes

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Grated cheese