Steamed Carrots with Dill and Brown Sugar

Steamed Carrots

Enough melted butter and brown sugar to lightly coat your carrots and a sprinkle of dill seasoning.

Pumpkin Pie

I found this recipe here and thought it looked pretty good. It has a very simple crust and has the great flavor of pumpkin pie. I needed something quick and easy to take the kids for their Thanksgiving lunch and this did the job! The only changes I made was that I used Cool Whip instead of the sour cream and honey topping and I did not have any evaporated milk, so I used 2/3 C dry milk powder and 3/4 C water as a substitute.


Pumpkin Pie bars

For the crust:
1 1/4 c rice flour mix
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 c brown sugar
a pinch of salt
a stick of butter
1 T milk, water, or eggnog (!)

For the filling:
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
3/4 c brown sugar
a pinch of salt
1 t cinnamon
a big pinch of ginger and clove and nutmeg
2 eggs
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

For the topping:
1 c sour cream
1/4 c honey

Preheat the oven to 450. Blend together the first four crust ingredients, then cut in the butter. You can do this in a food processor or by hand. Stir in whatever liquid you're using, and press into a greased 8x8 pan and set aside.
Stir together pumpkin, sugar, spices and eggs, then stir in the milk. Carefully pour over the crust and bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 45-50 minutes until set.
Let cool. Combine the sour cream and honey, and pour carefully over the top. Cool to room temperature.

Spooky Spider Treats

I used this recipe here, and added about 1/4 C Dark Cocoa powder to make them chocolate. When the cupcakes cooled, I drew three rings on the top and then ran a toothpick through the rings to make them appear as a spider web. Then place a spider ring in the center.

Crock Pot Ribs

Crock Pot Ribs

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs. baby back ribs (We use boneless pork ribs)
¾ tsp. black pepper
¾ tsp. white pepper ( did not use)
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/3 cup dark brown sugar ( I used light brown)
¾ tsp. ground oregano
1 T paprika
1½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
¼ cup barbecue sauce

Directions:

Cut ribs into sections small enough to fit inside your crock pot. Mix all remaining ingredients except barbecue sauce to create a dry rub. Rub all over the ribs and place them in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove ribs from crock pot and brush with barbecue sauce.
Serve with extra napkins and try to wait until you get to the table before digging in.

Cheesy Potato Soup

Cheesy Potato Soup

3 C chicken broth
1 C diced celery
½ C chopped onion
5 C diced potato
3/4 C sliced carrots
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 TBS minced garlic
¾ C butter
¾ C GF flour
1 quart half-n-half
2-3 C grated cheese

Cook veggies with chicken broth, salt, pepper and garlic on the stovetop until veggies are tender. In another saucepan, melt butter and then add flour. Mix well. Slowly stir in half-n-half. When well blended, add to veggies and chicken broth. Add cheese and serve.

Dutch Oven or Crock-Pot Potatoes

This has to be one of our favorite summertime meals. We have always made these in the dutch oven, but I wanted to try them in the crock pot and see how it turned out. Both ways are a huge success.

This is one of those meals that I don't really measure. I just make according to how many people I will be feeding. For our family of five this is what I used.

Ingredients

1 lb sliced smoked sausage, smokies, or cooked, cut up bacon
5-6 potatoes, diced
1 C sliced carrots
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 stalk celery sliced
Mushrooms (optional)
Garlic (fresh minced or powdered, season to taste)
Italian seasoning (season to taste)
Pepper (season to taste)
Grated cheddar cheese

1 stick butter sliced-for dutch oven
1/4 stick butter sliced and nonstick spray-for crock-pot

For dutch oven-
Place sliced butter, carrots and onions in dutch oven. Cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes. Add potatoes, celery, sausage/bacon, and seasonings. Cover and cook over hot briquettes until veggies are tender. Takes about one hour to one hour thirty minutes. Generously cover with shredded cheddar cheese.

For crock-pot-
Spray sides of crock pot with non stick spray and place sliced butter in the bottom. In a medium size bowl, place everything except cheese and mix well. Place in crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours.
Cover with grated cheddar cheese and serve as a main dish with a side salad or serve it as a side dish with barbecued chicken.

Oatmeal and Raisin Snack Bars

This has been a hit with the kids. The first time I tried it, I used just the Quinoa and it was way to nutty flavored. So the second time I tried it with the GF oats and I added chocolate chips. They tasted really good. I also halved the recipe and received the thickness of bars shown here below. We will definitely be making this one again. This recipe comes from Living Without.


Makes 24 Bars

1⅓ cups gluten-free rolled oats or 1 cup
quinoa flakes
1 cup sorghum flour
¾ cup white or brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch/flour
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1⅔ cups light brown sugar, not packed
⅔ cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅔ cup raisins, soaked in warm water

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2.In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3.In medium bowl, combine vegetable oil, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla.
4.Add wet ingredients to dry mixture and mix with a fork or wooden spoon until blended.
5.Drain raisins, reserving ¼ cup liquid. Fold raisins into batter. Add reserved liquid, a little at a time until batter is smooth. Batter will be thick.
6.Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes until golden.
7.Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or squares. To store, wrap and freeze.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork or Chicken

This meal requires a few hours in the kitchen, but well worth the effort! I came across this recipe on another blog I was reading, Family Favorite Recipes. It is not a GF blog, but a lot of the recipes could and can be converted to GF. My husband likes pork and the kids and myself like chicken, so the first time I made this, we used pork and then tried it again another night with chicken. Both were a success. My mom has tried it using a roast and said it tasted great. We made it tostada style as well as taco style. With the tostada style, I lightly browned the tortilla on a griddle until crispy, and then topped with rice, beans, meat, cheese, tomatoes and sour cream.

This one is with the pork, served with the Cilantro Ranch and tortilla chips.

SWEET PORK
2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can RED enchilada sauce (I used Rosarita, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar

Corn Tortillas for serving finished pork on

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 C of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

CILANTRO RANCH
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)

Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!

For the taco style, I warmed the tortilla up on a griddle, filled it with rice, beans, meat and cheese. I then folded the tortilla in half and placed in the oven on a baking sheet and broiled it on high until it was golden brown. I removed it and topped it with tomatoes.

Snicker doodles

Today is one of those days when I want to shout from the rooftop...HOORAY!! I have tried a couple different versions of snicker doodle recipes and failed. Today I was craving a cookie really bad. So I whipped out the cookbook to make a batch of Oreo Cookies when the thought occurred to me to make vanilla Oreo's instead of chocolate. Well, when I finished the batter, I thought to myself, this would make a good snicker doodle cookie. It sure did! The best part for me is that the cookies are not flat and greasy. They are fluffy and chewy.

The original Oreo recipe comes from Eating Gluten Free

The recipe below has the changes to make the Snicker doodles.

1 ¾ c. margarine
1 large pkg. instant Vanilla pudding mix
1 ½ c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

4 c. featherlight mix
1 ¾ tsp. xanthan gum
¾ tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt

Cream margarine, pudding mix, and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture.

Chill about 1 hour. Roll cookies into 1 inch balls and cover with cinnamon and sugar blend. Place on greased baking sheet (I use parchment paper). Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool. Store in air tight container.

Fruit and Jell-O Jam

This has to be one of the easiest recipes ever. In years past I have always done the same flavor...fresh peaches and strawberry Jell-O. We have been on a serious blueberry kick the past few weeks, so I decided to try making it with a few berries mixed. SO YUMMY! That's right, we had pancakes tonight just to taste test the end results. So for this batch, I used fresh blueberries, raspberries and a few blackberries to make the 5 cups and strawberry Jell-O.

1 Small (3 oz.) package Strawberry Jello
5 cups peeled, pitted & chopped peaches (into 1/4 -1/2 ” thick chunks)
4 cups Sugar

Yield: 5-7 Half pint jars

To peel peaches, blanch them by placing in boiling water for 30-60 sec. or until skin is loosened. Remove from water & peel. Pit peach, and chop. Combine chopped peaches and sugar in a 6 qt. pot, put on medium heat & stir constantly until sugar is dissolved… gradually raise heat. Bring to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling even when stirred), and boil hard for 7 min. Add Jello in last min or so and mix until completely dissolved! Ladle into hot sterilized jars, and put on hot sterilized lid, and then place on band ring. Process in hot water bath for 10 min. Jam will set up gradually as it cools, but it is generally a softer set than jam recipes from the Sure Jell box! Yummers!
Note: This recipe can also be changed to suit the fruit you have, so if you have only strawberries, or raspberries, or whatever, use 5 cups of them, any flavor jello you desire & the amount of sugar listed.

Betty Crocker Cookies

Nothing is more exciting in the Gluten Free world than when you hear that a company has come out with a new product. Well, Little Ms. Betty Corcker has done just that. The first time I sent Jon to the store to pick one up, I learned that it is just shy of $5 a box! "No way!" I said. Curiousity got to me and I broke down and bought one. I would have to say that I am really disappointed. They are flat, greasy and very grainy. I have made others from scratch that have tasted better. It was absolutely nice to just open a box, add an egg and butter and be done, but for the price, I dont' think I will be buying the cookie mix again. Betty Crocker does have two cake mixes out that I might give a try, I just need a few days to forget how disappointed I am right now...

Down Home Berry Cobbler

I found this recipe in an old box of recipe cards I have stored in the cupboard. It looked good, sounded good and guess what? It tastes really good too! I did make a few changes to use what I had on hand...2 C strawberries, 1 1/2 C blueberries and 1 C blackberries. I also used frozen orange juice instead of apple juice.

Down Home Berry Cobbler

2 ½ C Fresh raspberries
2 ½ C fresh strawberries or blueberries
2 TBS cornstarch
½ - ¾ C sugar
1 C GF flour mix
½ tsp xanthan gum
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1/3 C butter
1/3 C milk
2 TBS frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix berries and cornstarch in medium bowl. Add sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of the berries). Spoon into sprayed 8 inch square baking dish.
Combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Melt butter and combine with milk and apple juice. Mix well.

Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until dry ingredients are moistened. Evenly drop 6 heaping tablespoons of dough over berries in baking dish and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbly. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Zucchini Bars

One of the things I have missed the most during summer is the taste and smell of zucchini bread. I have tried several recipes and still have not found one. Then the thought occurred to me to try it using the Sour Cream Banana Bar recipe and just subbing out the banana's for the zucchini and adding a little cinnamon. Very happy with the outcome!!

1 ½ c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
½ c. butter, softened (or substitute ¼ c. butter and ¼ c. applesauce)
2 eggs
2 ½ c. Shredded zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. GF flour (featherlight or sorghum/cornstarch mix)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Add zucchini, sugar, butter, sour cream, and eggs. Cream together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Grease and flour 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1” pan (deep cookie sheet). Spread batter in pan. Bake at 375 degrees until light brown (20-25 minutes). Mine takes closer to 30-35 minutes. Cool slightly. Frost with Browned Butter Frosting.

Browned Butter Frosting
¼ c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. milk

Heat butter over medium heat until delicate brown. Mix in sugar, vanilla, and milk. Beat until smooth.

**UPDATE:  I now use this really cool pan to make my Zucchini and Banana Bars and I just melt some cream cheese frosting over the top.

Stuffed and Wrapped Green Chilies

This is a recipe I got from my mother-in-law several years ago. I was very nervous to try it because I am not a huge green chili fan, but you know what? They are so yummy. The combination of the hot chili and cool cream cheese go very well together.  When baking them, I use toothpicks to hold them together. You can serve them with or without the toothpicks still in them.

Green chilies (I use mild.  If you like a fiery burn, go with something hotter!)
Cream cheese
Bacon (we use turkey bacon)
Toothpicks
Cut the ends of the chilies and clean out the seeds. If the chilies are long enough, I cut them into two to three sections. Fill each section with cream cheese and wrap a slice of bacon around it. Secure it with a toothpick. Place on baking sheet lined with  tinfoil. (I spray my tinfoil with non-stick spray)  Bake in oven at 350 degrees until bacon is browned and crispy. During the summer, I actually cooked mine out on the grill on a sheet of tinfoil so I don't heat up the house. Turned out great!

Tomato Basil Chicken Bake

This was a fabulous summertime BBQ meal.

(The second time around, I put the tomatoes on first

then the cheese.  It helped keep all the tomatoes in place)

8 Chicken breasts
Zesty Italian Dressing
8 Provolone Cheese slices
4-5 Roma Tomatoes
1 tsp Garlic
1 1/2 tsp Basil
1/8 C vinegar
1/8 C Olive oil
1 tsp mustard
Dash of salt and pepper

I cut the tomatoes into chunks and added the garlic, basil, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil and the mustard. Blend thoroughly and refrigerate. I marinated my chicken in the dressing all day. Heat grill and cook chicken until cooked all the way through. Turn heat off and place a slice of cheese per chicken and top with tomato mixture. Close the grill lid and let the cheese melt.