Kitchari (quinoa/lentil/vegie stuff)

I know this doesn't look pretty, but it always makes me feel pretty inside.  I'm sure you've had those weeks/days/months with way too many parties and events and you eat just like a pig, and not a healthy pig.  You know when your body is just craving something healthy.  When you have a moment like that, this is the meal for you!  Or just when you need some feel good, immune boosting, detoxifying, quick, food.  A friend sent me a few recipes and I took what I wanted from each one.  I had never heard of kitchari before, but after looking into it, it really is a comfort and healing food.  This has really become one of our staples.  Don't let the long list scare you, it really is a quick meal to throw together.  If you are missing an ingredient, just leave it out.   Hope you like it!


Kitchari
5 c. chicken broth(I always use water and add my favorite Better than Bouillon organic chicken stuff)
3/4 c. quinoa
3/4 c. lentils
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c. onion, chopped
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. frozen spinach
1 t. curry powder
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
2 t. soy sauce, or liquid aminos
2 t. sesame oil
1 T. lime juice
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, minced
salt & pepper to taste
In a large pot, add:  broth, quinoa and lentils.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer.  Add in garlic, onions, and carrots.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add in spinach and cook for another 5 min.  Add remaining ingredients and cook another 5 minutes, adding more liquid if necessary(it is more like stew than soup).  Serve warm and enjoy.  When I serve this with my teff muffins, I am really feeling healthy & ethnic!  Feel free to add the veggies or spices you like.  Like all my recipes this is just a framework to take off from.


I am linking this to Linda's Gluten-free Wednesdays and Tessa's Allergy-free Wednesdays.  Thanks for your recipe round ups!

Gluten Free Snickers Cookies (healthy style)

We love cookies, we love peanut butter, and we love snickers, therefore, we love these cookies!  It seems you can get away with the healthier flours when cooking with peanut butter, so I threw out the starch and added in some healthy grains and seeds.  I usually make the cookie batter dairy free, and make a few plain peanut butter cookies for those who can't have dairy, but for those of us who can handle it, I wrap that yummy stuff around the mini snickers.

Snickers Cookies

1/4 c. butter(Earth Balance works great for those additional allergy needs)

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

2 T. coconut flour

1 T. chia meal(I grind the seeds in a coffee grinder)

1/2 c. sorghum flour

1/2 c. millet flour

2 T. teff flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. xanthan gum

1 bag mini snickers

Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet stuff and mix until combined.  Preheat your oven to 375, unwrap your snickers(snitch one or two), and the fun begins.  Grab a small ball of dough and wrap it around the snickers and place it on a Silpat lined cookie sheet, or whatever works for you.  Bake for 9 min.  They will still look like balls when you pull them out of the oven, so take the back of something flat and give them a slight squish.  Enjoy!

*If you don't have chia or coconut flour, they don't substitute equally.  Replace them with twice as much flour.  Ie. 1 T. chia meal = 2 T. potato starch 

*These are part of Linda's Gluten Free Wednesdays & Tessa's Allergy Free Wednesdays.  Thanks for all the great recipes!

Naturally GF Chicken Taquitos(Baked)

 We moved, and thus the reason for not posting for so long.  I still don't have my computer up and running, and our house is chaos!  I should be back to real life soon so come back soon to visit!

Taquitos were one of the foods I was happy to buy at the grocery store.  A couple years ago we were in California and i picked up some homemade taquitos at Trader Joes.  They were so much better than the frozen ones and I wondered why I had never made them before!  We love taquitos and I think they are one of the better Mexican foods without dairy.  Of course you can add some cheese or some creaminess if you desire, but for the rest of us, they are naturally dairy, soy and gluten free.  In the beginning I fried mine, but then saw a recipe from "Our Best Bites," for a great baked version.  Either way you can't go wrong, but the baked version is healthier and easier.

Any meat will do, I like to cook mine in the crockpot with a bunch of spices, but leftover roast or pork would also work.   The steps are so simple:   put shredded meat in a tortilla, roll it up and bake/fry it.   Here is a recipe I use, but this is just a framework, get creative.  We like them dipped in salsa, cafe rio house dressing, or a mixture of the two.

Chicken

Place 4 chicken breasts in a crock pot, cover with spice mixture, and cook on low until it shreds. Add a small amount of water during cooking if needed.

2 t. cumin

1 t. pepper

2 t. salt

2 t. onion powder

2 t. garlic powder

4 t. chili powder

2 T. lime juice

3 T. olive oil 

24 corn tortillas

cooking spray/oil

sea salt

1.  Wrap 4 tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds so they are soft and pliable.  If they break, spray with cooking spray on both sides before heating.

2.  Place  2-3 T. of shredded meat on the lower third of each tortilla and roll tightly, secure with toothpick.

Repeat process with remaining tortillas.

3.  Place on a cookie sheet with a space between each one.  Spray with cooking spray, or use a mister or pastry brush and oil, and then sprinkle with salt.

4.  Bake 15-20 min. in 425 oven, until edges are golden brown.

5.  Serve hot with your favorite salsa, dressing, or sauce of choice.

*I am linking this to Linda's Gluten-Free Wednesdays, and  Tessa's Allergy Free Wednesdays.

Gluten Free Hawaiian Chicken

Sorry it has been a while!  We went on a quick get a way for Spring Break, and now I am in the process of moving in the next couple weeks.  Life is a little chaotic around here.  Nevertheless, we still need to eat!  This is a staple at our house.  I usually cook a bunch of chicken breasts in the crockpot, then bag and freeze them to use in meals like this one.  You could use a rotisserie chicken or whatever works for you!

Hawaiian Chicken

6 T. gf soy sauce

¾ c. brown sugar(feel free to use less, it is pretty sweet)

2 T. honey

2 ¼ c. water

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 in. piece of fresh ginger

1 red pepper, cut into slices(I often use 2)

1 can pineapple tidbits, drained

2-3 cups cooked chicken, in large chunks

1 T. potato/corn starch

1 T. cold water

Combine first 6 ingredients and bring to a boil in a large pan.  Add chicken and reduce to simmer.  Simmer 20 min.  Add red pepper and pineapple and simmer 10 min.  In a small bowl combine remaining starch and water.  Stir and add to mixture.  Boil for 1-2 min. until slightly thickened.  Remove piece of ginger and serve over rice.

This is linked to Linda's Gluten-Free Wednesdays and Tessa's Allergy Free Wednesdays, which both have a ton of great recipes. You definitely need to check them out!

Gluten Free Teff Muffins

We eat a lot of muffins/sweetbreads at our house.  Most of them are on the sweet side, so I thought I needed to come up with a non-sweet muffin to complement soup, salad, or whatever.  I love the grain teff because it is packed with nutrients and tastes great, so I went in search for a teff muffin and this is what I came up with.  I would compare them to a bran muffin.  They are pretty plain, but great with some butter, jam, or whatever you like.  They have a great texture and went perfect with our favorite vegetable beef soup. 

Teff Muffins
adapted from Ginger Lemon Girl

1 1/2 c. teff flour
1/2 c. arrowroot flour/tapioca flour
1/4 c. flax meal
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. nonsweetened applesauce
1 c. milk(I used 3 T. lite coconut milk + water = 1 c.)
Whisk together dry ingredients.  In a blender, or another bowl, mix wet ingredients.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and stir until combined.  Pour into greased/lined muffin tins.  This batter is on the runnier side.  Makes 18.  Bake at 350 for 25 min. or until done.

This is linked to Linda's Gluten-Free Wednesdays & Allergy-free Wednesdays.  They both have a lot of great recipes to check out!

Tagging Who with The Liebster Blog Award?

Mary, at Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease, has tagged me with the Liebster Blog Award!   Thank you Mary!  I am definitely new to this blogging world and need all the help I can get!

Liebster is a German word for “Good Friend,” and I am so grateful that Mary would recognize me.  Each recipient is supposed to pass the award on to five of their favorite blogs.

First, the rules. To accept this award you must:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the word and love to other bloggers.
5. Have fun.

My top five blogs:

Gluten Free Betty

I love Meredith's blog because she eats all the basics that my family enjoys and likes to cook and share with the rest of us!

Tessa, the Domestic Diva 

I love that Tessa tries to make everything as healthy as possible and uses many of the grains I do.

The Gluten Free Pantry 

Laura has simple, healthy, recipes that even my kids would enjoy!

Eat, Live, Run 
I like how Jenna uses a lot of beans, lentils, and other naturally gluten free foods.

Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom 
Heidi has great meal plans and a ton of information.

These are all great sites that you need to check out.  They all have a lot to offer!

Thanks again Mary for thinking of me!

Gluten Free Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies - starch free

I saw this recipe on a blog the other day and knew they would be the perfect gluten free cookie.  Anything with peanut butter always turns out great, plus with chocolate - who can lose?  I also figured with the help of the peanut butter and chocolate,  I could throw in all my healthy flours for a delicious, starch free, "healthy" cookie.  I made these for a lunch at my house and everyone asked for the recipe.  I told them the original link so they could get the gluten filled version.  My neighbor told me a few days later that mine were better, and that always makes a gluten-free cook smile!  Easily dairy/soy free!  These will definitely satisfy your craving!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

adapted from The girl who ate everything

3/4 c. teff flour
1/2 c. millet flour
1 T. coconut flour
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 c. shortening(Spectrum Organic is awesome)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips(use Guitard semi-sweet for dairy free or Enjoy Life for soy free)
In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.  In your large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, shortening, and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla, and  mix some more.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  The dough will be thick.  Place balls of dough on greased or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 min. at 350.  Do not overbake.  Delicious when warm out of the oven.  Makes 3 doz. delicious cookies!
These are linked to Linda's Gluten Free Wednesdays.