A little bit country, a little bit rock & roll

Ok, not everyone has time for homemade. Most of my more detailed recipes are from my days off work, when I have time to plan and shop.

I am all about easy & this meal was fairly easy & made everyone's tummies happy. 

Looks pretty dang gourmet to me. Let me break it down. 

You can use any rice. I used a Trader Joe's rice mix. Of course make sure it is gluten free. 

Next I cut up chicken. I am sure you could use other meat, however this is "Butter Chicken"

Next, the secret ingredient: Safeway brand Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce. Safeway has started making these simmer sauces. You can find them in with pasta sauce. Not all of them are GF & honestly the ingredients are printed small, so bring someone under 30 to read the label! It was pretty funny watching my husband & I (early 40's) stand in Safeway and try to read the ingredients. We hoped for the best and brought it home for our 21 year old to read. Yay! This one was gluten free!

Now to the zucchini.  It was one of those FB recipes that float around.  I can't seem to find it anymore. but this is as close to it as I can find.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-oven-chips-10000001087041/

 

 

• 1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese $
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fat-free milk $
• 2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small) $
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Gluten free berry crisp

So nobody is perfect, especially not me. I know it may look like I am a seasoned chef (ok maybe not) but really, I have just started cooking more & experimenting with food since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

Case in point: cherry crisp epic fail

We had fresh cherries so I thought I would make a cherry crisp. I've never made one before, but it don't look too difficult. 

First I set about pitting cherries. I've never done this & did not have a cherry pitter. I looked up online about using a chopstick to push the pit through. I decided to recruit my 14 year old for this task. He thought the chopstick took too long, so he just ripped the cherries open & removed the pit. It did look like a scene out of Dexter in the kitchen 

Anyway, my first mistake was that I did not look up a gluten free recipe. I found a recipe & just substituted GF ingredients. I have not done much baking at all since going gluten free. The problem is GF ingredients do not cook the same as regular flour ingredients. Basically the topping stayed doughy. My husband suggested I put it under the broiler for a few minutes to make it crispier. I left the oven for a minute & this was the result. Burned up cherry crisp. 

We were having company that night & I had bragged I was providing dessert and it may be have been the time of the month when I am a little sensitive, but I am not going to lie--I cried. I was so frustrated. My sweet husband told me it didn't look that bad & would be fine with ice cream. It looked burned, smelled burned and tasted burned. I was not about to force everyone to eat my burned dessert to make me feel better. 

So I put my big girl panties on, looked up a gluten free recipe and went to the store for frozen berries. I was determined to have a crisp! 

This is the recipe I used & this was the perfect end result. Much, much better!

Chef Tracey Bloom's 5 Ingredient Gluten-Free Berry Crisp

15 minutes

45 minutes

1 hour

Serving Size: 8

Ingredients

• 2 12-ounce bags frozen mixed berries, such as blueberries, rasberries, and blackberries, unthawed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (King Arthur's works great and is also corn-free)
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (without caramel coloring, a corn derivative)
• 1 stick butter, slightly softened at room temp

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine berries, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 T flour in large bowl; gently toss to blend well.
3. Transfer berry mixture to 9x9 baking dish.
4. Combine remaining flour, oats, and brown sugar in medium bowl.
5. Cut in butter to oat mixture; rub in with your fingers until topping forms small clumps.
6. Evenly sprinkle topping over berry mixture.
7. Bake until berries bubble and topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes.
8. Let stand 10 minutes.
9. Serve warm or at room temp.

Notes

gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, peanuts-free, tree nuts-free, egg-free

It was easy & very good. It didn't last long with my family & friends! 

So remember, nobody is perfect & if you fail, try, try again....and it's ok to cry if you need to. 

Getting real

All of my kids are adults or older teenagers and my husband is a career firefighter. Often I am on my own for dinner & usually I don't want to cook for myself. I end up rooting through the fridge. 

Very often, I am content with hummus and Mary's crackers. However, tonight I had neither on hand. This was my dinner tonight. 

Ok for 1 it is vegetarian, so obviously healthy. It has protein & dairy (my Tillamook cheddar cheese), orchard fresh cherries), vegetables (sliced pickles) and healthy fat (avocados). 

Would my followers be interested in "meals for 1"? I am talking some easy peasy stuff. 

Copper Pot Caramels with sea salt

My thoughtful Mother-in-Law, who lives in Yakima, Washington, brought me these local caramels to try. I haven't had a caramel in years!

These salted caramels by Copper Pot Caramels are amazing!! First off, they don't stick to your teeth (which is a bonus because I am a bit OCD about my teeth). I also love supporting small local business. 

You can buy their caramels online or locally in Yakima. I will definitely be eating these again!

http://copperpotcaramels.com

Here are the ingredients listed on the box

Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters

I wasn't sure when I threw these together, but the family liked them. Especially my (almost) 14 year old, who had 3!

I randomly made these together using ingredients I had on hand. This made 12 4" fritters. 

2 lbs zucchini grated 

4 eggs

1 cup GF general purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

3 tablespoons diced garlic

1 tablespoon dehydrated onion

1 tbsp lemon pepper (with salt)

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 jalapeño seeded & diced

Olive oil

Grate zucchini with the bigger side of the grater. 

Place zucchini in bowl, add lemon pepper, garlic, onion, parsley & jalapeño and mix well. 

Beat 4 eggs & add to mixture. Slowly mix in flour. 

Turn on electric skillet to 350 and add enough oil to brown fritters. When hot, drop 4 tablespoons of the mixture to the pan for each fritter. Use a spatula to flatten them. The salt makes the zucchini "sweat" for the lack of a better term.  I left the watery part in the bowl. Brown on both sides approx 7 minutes each side. I did a couple of batches & kept them in a warm oven. 

If I had the ingredients on hand, I would have subbed the lemon pepper for fresh lemon zest, salt & pepper. Feel free to shake these up and make them your own. Maybe top with fresh Parmesan cheese or serve with lemon wedges. You could add cilantro, red pepper...whatever you want to flavor it. 

Normally in the morning I eat a fried egg sandwich.  The day after making these, I used these in place of my eggs.  Very good!

Gluten free 4th of July birthday party!

My youngest son was born on the 4th of July, 14 years ago (1999). Every year we have a big family celebration.

This was the first year that  I was gluten free. I totally could have made desserts that had gluten, but my son is very thoughtful & wanted things GF so I could eat whatever I wanted. 

Red, White & Blue Deviled Eggs

We did some fun stuff this year. I made red, white & blue deviled eggs. Make hard boiled eggs the normal way. For best results peeling, buy your eggs 1 week before you boil them. Also add white vinegar to the water. 

After you peel the eggs, cut them in half lengthwise. Pop out the yolk into a bowl. Put food coloring in 1 cup of water. I used half a bottle of red coloring & a few squirts of blue. Place 1 half of egg whites in the dye. I know it is tempting to put in more than one, but if you do, they won't dye evenly. I only dyed the blue eggs for about 2 minutes & the red for 5. Don't forget to leave some white eggs!! Lay dyed eggs on paper towels, yolk side down to dry. Do not rub or pat dry. 

After they are dried, fill as normal. I took the time to use a pastry bag to make them pretty-ish!!

American Flag Chocolate Chip Cookie

Next we made a yummy flag cookie! I used Bob's Red Mill GF chocolate chip cookie mix. The mix ends up crumbly, which worked out well to form it into a rectangle on a cookie sheet. I didn't want to bake it all the way to the edge of the cookie sheet, because I thought it would be difficult to get out.

Bake it for 20-25 minutes at 350º

After cooled completely, the birthday boy & my older son's girlfriend set to decorating it. 

They frosted it with GF whipped cream cheese frosting. We had found bags of red, white & blue M&Ms. Buy 2 bags, because there weren't as many white ones!! 

It was very very tasty too! I may or may not have had a piece with breakfast the next day. 

GF Firecracker Cake Batter Cookies

Then I set about making "firecracker" cookies. Put GF vanilla cake mix into bowl, add 3 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup oil. (I used safflower) Blend with hand blender. Mixture will be thick. I added red, blue & silver sprinkles. On 1/2 the cookies I placed a few red & blue M&Ms leftover from previous project on top before baking. Use a tablespoon to drop dough on a oiled cookies sheet. They spread out a lot, so space them out. Bake at 350º for 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet right away. I found if I let them cool, they were hard to remove from the cookie sheet. 

Watermelon 4th of July Birthday Cake

My next project was a birthday cake. Isn't it beautiful??

This cake has a bit of a secret. It's a watermelon cake. No, not a watermelon flavored cake, it is actually a watermelon!

I had so much going on, I didn't have time to take photos of my steps. Next time I make this, I will update with photos. 

You will need:

1 seedless watermelon

2 bags flaked coconut

Fresh berries

Whipped cream topping

Food coloring 

1) Place 1 cup (each) flaked coconut into two zip sandwich bags. Fill shot glass (2 ounces) with water & add food coloring. I added about 1/2 a bottle of red & 1/4 of blue. A little bit at a time, pour the red food coloring into 1 of the bags, shaking & mixing as you go. Repeat with the blue. Zip the bags and shake to mix it completely. 

2) Cut the watermelon into cake shape. Cut ends off watermelon. Take a long, sharp knife & carefully cut the red part of the watermelon into a round shape, cutting off the rind. Our round "cake" was very tall, so we cut it in half & made 2 cakes. Take a knife and carefully trim up the melon to look nice and even. 

3) Let melon sit for 30 minutes so it is less juicy. Then pat dry with paper towels. Don't skip this step. It's tough to get wet whip cream to stick to wet melon! 

4) You will need your whipped cream soft. I put it on the counter for about an hour to thaw. Use a rubber spatula to cover the cake with whip cream. You will more pat it on than spread it on. I put it on fairly thick.

5) Mix together red, white & blue coconut. Using small handfuls, press coconut into sides of cake. 

6) Decorate top of cake with berries. We used strawberries & blueberries. Sprinkle with a little coconut on top. Either serve right away, or refrigerate.

We made a lot of BBQ style food. Homemade potato salad, coleslaw, burgers, sausage dogs, fruit platters. I got buns for everyone else, but I lettuce wrapped my burger. The dark lettuce holds my guacamole bacon cheeseburger. Yum!

The birthday boy helped out making a fruit platter and these fruit kabobs!

Happy happy 14th birthday Nolan! I hope you had a great day!!