I took a trip today to Whole Foods to restock my gluten-free items. I have a bad habit of looking in other people’s carts in Whole Foods to see if they are also buying gluten-free. I always feel compelled to start a conversation about going gluten-free. I never do, but maybe I should? Hearing other people’s experiences and tips is always interesting to me. However, today I was the subject of stares in the Whole Foods. My newborn, Dan, was audibly purring in his Native Carrier, which earned us looks from everyone in my path. He loves being squished in this thing- I suppose it reminds him of the womb. I really need to get a picture of him in it before he begins to look less like a newborn. Speaking of growing up, my Jude got his first haircut this week. I hated to cut those blond curls off! It was time though. His Grandma cut it because I knew she wouldn’t cut it too short. The haircut was an all-day affair that included several bribes. With all of this going on it is hard to find time to make anything but fast meals. Tonight I made what I have dubbed “Pantry” Beef Casserole because it is easy to make and a crowd pleaser. It is a good way to get kids and husbands to eat vegetables, so if you have them put them in! I could only come up with mushrooms, onion, and green pepper tonight.

PANTRY BEEF CASSEROLE

1 lb. gr. beef, gr. turkey, or soy crumbles

1 onion

1/2 green pepper

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

28 oz. can Muir Glen crushed tomatoes w/ basil

12 oz bag of Tinkyada rice penne

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

salt to taste

red pepper to taste

pinch of sugar

3 oz. mozzarella

5-6 oz. mild cheddar

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil to cook the penne. Brown the gr. beef. Drain the excess fat. Add the vegetables and cook for about 8 minutes or until tender. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar, red pepper, and oregano. Simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, cook the penne and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the sauce and penne noodles are done, layer them in a 3 qt. casserole dish. Start with 1/2 the sauce, then all of the noodles, then a layer of cheddar cheese, then the rest of the sauce, and top with cheddar cheese and mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes.

My husband is still sore that I did not post his BBQ chicken when he was cooking a lot after the baby was born! Armed with my wordpress password, he snuck this into my post so I am going to leave it! He made an amazing BBQ chicken using Bone Suckin’ sauce (a great gf sauce) and BBQ corn with a number of different butters.

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Beef, Casserole, Celiac, Dinner, Easy, Egg-free, GF Living, Gluten Free, Pasta | 18 Comments »

I finally bought Cooking Light’s Easy Summer Meals that I have been eyeing in the grocery store check out line for weeks now. I needed something to read in bed because my toddler and I got sick this week. And I thought things were going to be so easy! Jude refuses to rest, so things have gotten crankier and crankier (and dare I say, naughtier and naughtier) around here. I suppose I could say the same thing about myself. Anyway, I finally got a chance to thumb through Easy Summer Meals during the second rendition of A Bug’s Life today. It is packed with easy recipes and many of them are naturally gluten-free. Two of the recipes especially held my interest- Polenta Lasagna and Cajun Quiche with Rice Crust. I loved that these recipes were gluten-free adaptations of old classic recipes! I made the Quiche tonight and it was very good. I made the recipe with 5 eggs instead of the egg substitute and egg whites because of my toddler. Of course, he ended up eating everyone’s share of sausage instead but a mother can try. Depending on the quiche recipe, I will make a hash brown crust, a rice crust, or go crustless. I prefer any of the above options to traditional pie crust. The rice or potato crust is especially good at dinner because it is very filling. I first learned to make a rice crust from This Mama Cooks!

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Breakfast, Celiac, Eggs, Gluten Free | 7 Comments »

Things are finally starting to settle down at my house. My littlest one has started sleeping long stretches at night and I have started to feel more like myself again. Everything has been so much easier the second time around. I have had tons of great help too! I mentioned in my last post that my sister made Thai wraps for me on Big Dan’s birthday. They were so good I had to post them!

THAI CHICKEN WRAPS

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce (as with all ingredients make sure you use a gf brand)

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast strips

1 tablespoon cooking oil

4 cups packaged shredded broccoli-slaw mix

1/2 of a medium red onion, cut into thin wedges

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

6-8 brown rice tortillas

DIRECTIONS:

1. For peanut sauce, in a small saucepan combine sugar, peanut butter,
soy sauce, water, the 2 tablespoons cooking oil, and the garlic. Heat
until the sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. Set aside.
NOTE: Depending on the brand of soy sauce and peanut butter you may
need to adjust the sugar!

2. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, add chicken and season evenly with salt and pepper.

3. In a large skillet heat the cooking oil. Cook and stir seasoned chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat until cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. Add broccoli mix, onion, and ginger to skillet. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

4. To assemble, spread each tortilla with about 1 tablespoon of the
peanut sauce. Top with chicken strips and vegetable mixture. Roll up
each tortilla, secure with a toothpick, and serve immediately with
remaining sauce.

The sauce is thin and I absolutely loved it that way. My sister and I discussed thickening it, so the wraps would not be as messy, but I wouldn’t hear of it. You could also dip the wrap in the sauce instead. Note: I tried this again with a different brand of peanut butter and the sauce was thicker.

Goes great with seasonal fruit.
Great the next day.

Oh, and my sister even took a picture for me!

Mrs. G.F. made a Thai chicken wrap last week using lettuce that looked delicious. Check out the rest of the fast and easy recipes on her blog! I am making her Salsa Chicken tomorrow night.

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Celiac, Dinner, Easy, GF Living, Gluten Free, Poultry, Pregnancy | 14 Comments »

He’s here! My baby was finally born. After what seemed like such a long wait, the birth was fantastic and very fast! I had a beautiful 9 lb. 4 oz. baby boy. My family of four is finally all here and I couldn’t be happier. My little Jude doesn’t know what to make of his brother yet, but everyday he shows more interest. So far, he really likes the baby’s feet and will play hide and seek with them under the baby’s blankets. I am not sure he realizes who the feet belong to or that his brother is staying permanently, but we are working on these concepts.

My mom and sister came and stayed with me after the baby was born and cooked up a gluten-free frenzy in my kitchen. It was neat to hear them in the kitchen coming up with gluten-free menus and cooking together. I ate really well! They made homemade rice pudding, beef stir fry, lighter than air chocolate cake (again!), thai peanut wraps, fruit salads, homemade french fries, and more! It was incredible…

I will leave you with a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are a work-in-progress. I think next time I will add some salt and more chocolate. I adapted this recipe to be gluten-free from a recipe from Michelle Guyer in Becoming a Chef.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate

4-6 oz. semi-sweet chips (I added this ingredient because I LOVE chocolate)

8 oz. plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I used 1 cup rice flour, 3/4 cup tapioca flour, and 3/4 cup sorghum flour)

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Chop the chocolate coarsely and chill for 2-3 hours. Beat the butter until white and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the sugar and brown sugar and blend. Whisk the vanilla extract and egg together and add to the mixture.

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add slowly to the butter mixture, scraping the sides until combined. Beat in the walnuts and the chocolate until combined. Wrap in plastic an chill for 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1.5 inch balls and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Lightly press the dough balls with the back of your hand. Bake until the cookies have risen and cracked, 8-10 minutes.

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Baked Goods, Celiac, Cookies, Desserts, GF Living, Gluten Free | 23 Comments »

Well, I am still pregnant. Unbelievable. There are two reasons for this: 1) Longest gestation EVER or 2) My dates are just really, really wrong. I am guessing it is the latter. That is what I get for having children so close together. So, the baby will come when it is ready. At least that is what I keep telling myself and will tell the perinatalogist tomorrow at my ultrasound appointment. Ugh. If only I would go into labor before then. The most annoying thing about being “overdue” is that stalking pregnant women is acceptable in our society. I have stopped answering the phone for even the most well-meaning friends and relatives. Next time (I can’t believe I am even saying that at this point) I am not telling anyone my due date. Obviously, it is irrelevant. I should have told everyone, “Baby #2 Coming This Summer” like some far-off movie attraction. So, here I am in the middle of the summer still pregnant, not cooking anything fabulous, and ignoring my blog. Which begs the question, “how have I been eating gluten-free?” My husband’s grilling powers have saved me from standing over a hot stove. And for a special treat, tonight he made gelato for me in our ice cream maker. He used a recipe for Dark Chocolate Gelato from his Williams-Sonoma Grilling Cookbook. He substituted half of the milk for whipping cream, but left the rest of the recipe the same. It was a great recipe, but we will definitely reduce the sugar next time. Jude stayed up an hour and a half after his bedtime because he was so high on sugar. I will leave you with the recipe and a few links for tips on making ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, it is a must for going gluten-free! Mrs. G. F. and I agree on that- go check out her recipe for Almond Ice Cream.

DARK CHOCOLATE GELATO

2 cups milk

5 egg yolks

3/4 cup of sugar (next time I will use less)

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

Bring the milk to a simmer over med. high heat and remove from the heat. In a med. sized bowl (metal if you have it), whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and corn syrup until blended. Whisking constantly, combine the milk mixture with the egg yolk mixture. After the mixture is combined, return the mixture to the heavy saucepan (or use a double boiler- they work well for custards and it is harder to mess up!) and place over med. low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens. Williams-Sonoma says approximately six minutes, but be patient because it took a lot longer. You don’t want to risk overheating the custard. Do not let the custard boil. Pour the custard through a sieve over a clean bowl. Add the chocolate and the cocoa. Refrigerate until cold- at least an hour-preferably three. Transfer the custard to the ice cream maker and follow the instructions from the manufacturer. This can be kept for up to three days in the freezer.

Makes about 1 Quart

Hints and Tips about Using an Ice-Cream Maker

How To Make Homemade Ice Cream

Tips for Making Ice Cream

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Celiac, Chocolate, Desserts, Gluten Free, Ice Cream, Pregnancy | 15 Comments »