Super easy taco salad! Family pleaser!

This is SOOOO easy and a family favorite.  I used to throw everything together in a giant bowl, but now I just let everyone build their own....even easier for me!

Today I used seasoned lean ground meat (we actually use elk, which is super lean), bag of iceberg salad, low fat shredded cheese, sliced olives, a can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed) and of course my secret dressing.  Are you ready for it? Light sour cream mixed with salsa.  I do about 50/50, but you can use less salsa for a milder dressing.  We also crumble baked cheddar flavored chips over the top (check label for GF!)

On other occasions we have used onions, jalapenos, guac, tomatoes...whatever.  This is also a good, easy way to do a taco night!

As a time saver, once a month or so, I cook up about 4 lbs of ground meat that I season with taco seasoning.  I divide by the pound into zip bags and freeze.  So this time, I stuck it in the fridge to thaw overnight.  No need to heat it, as it is a salad.

The chips we used tonight are the Baked Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles.  Frito Lay's website has these listed as gluten free.

I can not stress the importance of checking your ingredients for gluten.  The taco seasoning we safely use is McCormick.

This took me about 5 minutes to throw together (mostly just open packages) and mix the dressing.  Doing the build your own feeds more people also.  I've easily fed 7-9 people with this amount of food.

Super easy (Gluten Free) meatballs

My version uses gluten free ingredients, but you could easily use regular ingredients also.

1 1/4 pounds ground meat (I used ground elk)
2 teaspoons Gluten Free Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Italian Gluten Free bread crumbs (see recipe here)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic finely chopped (I use jarred)

1/4 cup finely diced onion (I find it easiest to use a small food processor)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  I just used my hands to mix.  Roll meat into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place on greased cookie sheet (I used GF olive oil spray) Bake at 350° 10 to 12 minutes, until no longer pink

They freeze really well.  I am craving some meatballs in homemade GF Teriyaki sauce!  Yum! You could also spice them up with crushed red pepper.  Maybe add GF BBQ sauce.  Lots of options here!

By the way, I did freeze a batch of 20 meatballs.  I just reheated in the microwave at 50% power till thawed, then added them to the sauce to heat through.  This time, I added them to a corn/rice pasta and garlic Alfredo.  YUMMY!

Review Pamela's gluten free chocolate cake mix

I've had this cake mix for a while, so I decided to give it a try. I may have out-chocolated myself. I bought this mix at New Seasons. 

It is a rich dark chocolate, which is my favorite. I followed the directions on the package and added about a cup of mini chocolate chips. Yum. I had a can of milk chocolate whipped frosting. All of my ingredients are gluten free of course. 

I used my brownie pan to make square cupcakes, just for fun :-)  I didn't really try to make the frosting pretty. Sorry! 

They are very moist and delicious! Super duper rich & chocolatey...not for the faint of heart. I recommend this cake mix. I didn't frost all of them, because I am going to freeze them. I will post an update about how well they freeze. 

I would love to make these again with some homemade peanutbutter frosting. 

Homemade no-sew dog bed

I have two pretty adorable and incredibly spoiled chihuahuas. Their last bed was destroyed by a very upset puppy tummy, so they just had a small blanket in their sleeping area.

Here are the princesses. The black one is Pixie Stick & the white one is Xena Warrior Princess. 

I wanted to get them a couple of new beds that were machine washable, but I am cheap, so I decided to explore my options. I have tons & tons of fabric, but my sewing machine isn't working, so I decided to do a no-sew dog bed. Pretty simple & I just made it while I was watching TV. 

Not every fabric would work for this project because of fraying. I used cotton  jersey knit or you could use fleece. 

I guesstimated on size for the first one. They are both about 3 lbs, so they don't need a very big bed. 

Princesses need leopard print, right? Lay it out & cut two pieces, back to back, to the same size. 

Go all around the edges & cut fringes. I made them about an inch wide. You could probably cut the fringes 2" long. I did mine a little bit longer because I have long acrylic nails that made it trickier to tie the knots. 

In the corners, cut out about a 3" square of fabric. Then you simply tie the fringes together. Make sure you leave part open to stuff the bed. 

I didn't have any filling or batting, so I took two of my husband's old t-shirts, folded them & placed them inside. Then you simply tie it shut. 

This was my first attempt. It turned out pretty well. 

Pixie immediately claimed it as her own!

Once you tie it together, it bunches up, so this ended up smaller than I wanted. Even if they have 2 beds, Xena insists on sleeping as close as possible to Pixie. 

They are tiny enough that they both fit on this one, but I thought Pixie would appreciate more space, so I made another one. For the stuffing for the next one, I cut up pieces of fleece that I didn't care for.

When I quilt, I don't use batting. I go to the thrift store and buy old blankets & use those for batting. I prefer blankets for inside of quits because its cheaper, I like to recycle, they won't come apart and they make the quilt warmer than batting. 

Of course, you could just go buy batting or filling too :-)

I also made a bigger leopard one & I may make a couple more, so can have alternates for their sleeping area, living room, etc.

Plus when you have these two cuties "helping" you, why not spend your time hanging out with them? 

Xena thinks the fabric on my lap looks comfy. Makes it kind of hard to tie it though. 

Pixie looking at me adoringly while I work.

Xena making herself comfy in my fabric. 

Homemade gluten free breadcrumbs

Gluten free bread is expensive, but gluten free breadcrumbs are ridiculously priced. I bought a standard sized container for $9.00 & they worked, but DANG, they were expensive!

As I was getting a new loaf of GF bread out of the freezer, I started to do what I always did, which was throw the heels (ends) of the bread away. Then I realized how simple it was. I put the heels in a ziplock bag & put them in the freezer. I just kept adding to that bag with every new loaf of bread. 

When I needed breadcrumbs for a recipe, I took a few pieces out & defrosted them in the microwave. Then you have 2 options, you can toast the pieces in the toaster, or, since I was doing several, you can put them in the oven under the broiler. I suggest broiling on high, several inches away from the burner. I keep a very close eye, toast them till brown, then flip over & toast the other side. You want the bread dry all the way through. Moist breadcrumbs don't work. 

I don't have a food processor (**hint hint hubby) so I used a blender & it worked fine. I only did 2 pieces of bread at a time. I broke them into chunks. I added granulated garlic & Italian seasoning, but that is optional. 

I used pulse until they were my desired consistency.

Easy breasy & practically free since I was going to throw the heels away anyway. 

By the way hubby, these would look marvelous in our kitchen :-)

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.