Here is my first food video. If you ever wondered whether you could easily de-bone chicken thighs here’s your answer….you can! Short video showing you how.
Categotry Archives: Tips and Techniques
Gluten Free Pizza on the Grill
I mentioned in another post that we did pizza on the grill. I used this box mix. I have several different pizza crusts I’ve tried, in the oven. I have made pizza on the grill too. Only I used a pizza pan. This time I put the pizza directly on the rack. Mostly because I wanted to make individual pizzas. I would do it both ways again.
I think an important factor when putting them directly on the grill is not to make them too thin. You also don’t want them super thick then they won’t cook. And while you might think it’s a fun to do it with your kids, beware that they won’t be able to get consistent thickness and you may wind up with tearing when you put it on or flip it, which in turn will mean burning in the thin, torn areas. 🙁
Learn from my mistake. 
Another key point is to generously flour your wax paper/parchment so the dough will come off easily when you go to put it on the grill.
Keep in mind that you are going to grill twice. Once to cook the crust and then after you put the toppings on. Next time I will cook more on one side and a little less on the other and put the toppings on the more cooked side.
I hope this helps you in your pizza grilling endeavors!
Gluten Free EnerG Style Egg Replacer
So, I found this recipe on Pinterest. I am always on the lookout for great GF bread. This recipe shows pictures of the bread bending without breaking! This I had to try. I would say it is comparable to my Challah Bread, but with a lot less eggs. Anyway, it had a ton of ingredients and one of them was this egg replacer. This stuff is like $7 a box and I had a recipe that calls for it and I was not going to invest that much money into a “give it a try” recipe. I did a search and made my own. Huge savings over the box at the store.
1/3 cup potato starch
3 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
Mix all this together and store in a container until ready to use.
I don’t have directions on how to use this as an egg replacer per se, because this was just used as a kind of rising booster in the recipe I made it for.
How to use Dressing Mix
In my cookbook there are two recipes for dressing mix – Italian Dressing Mix (page 67) and Ranch Dressing Mix (page 70). These are both awesome recipes and super easy way to save money by making your own dressing and also making it healthier than typical store bought dressings. But, these mixes are also very versatile. After sharing some of these with my friend, The Crafty Petite, she said I should do a blog post sharing it, so here it is!
Ways you can use each mix:
Dressing
Dip
Season Chicken before cooking
Put in a little package with directions and give as a gift
Add olive oil to 1 Tablespoon of the mix and pour over a block of cream cheese, serve with crackers, bread, etc.
Make Chicken Dip with it (page 10)
So there you have it. SIX different ways to use one recipe! Get cooking and enjoy.
Cookbook available for purchase!! Click here to purchase! Get your copy today!
Favorite Find Friday – Grain Mill
My favorite find for this week is another “appliance”. A grain mill makes it possible for us to have many baked goods and for this I am thankful. It will make your cost of flour affordable. I make 7 1/2 cups of brown rice flour for $1.38. I think it costs about $4 for roughly 4 1/2 cups of brown rice flour. So, just based on that it’s a huge savings if you and your family enjoy baking and bread.
I got my mill from here. This is the same one a couple of my friends had and so I went with it. As it’s the only one I’ve ever had I don’t really have a comparison. If you have a grain mill, please share.
Cookbook available for purchase!! Click here to purchase! Get your copy today!
Indoor S’mores
Who doesn’t love s’mores? I mean, hello! Chocolate, cookie and hot gooey marshmallows. Yum! I found these great cookies, I mentioned them in an earlier post, when I saw them I was thinking what a good graham cracker type crust they would make and how good they’d be in Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. Not even thinking about s’mores until I got the box in the mail and opened them up and saw how gianormous they are!
Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies
Chocolate – I use chocolate chips or Hershey Bar
Marshmallows – I used mini, but whatever you have should work.
Toaster Oven
- Put a piece of foil on an oven safe pan, small enough to fit in your toaster oven, (I’m sure you could do this in the oven too), this will make for easy clean-up if you have a meltdown.
- Take two cookies and place them side by side on the sheet.
- Top one cookie with chocolate and the other with marshmallows.
- Toast for just a minute and then shut off the toaster and let sit until the chocolate is melty and the marshmallows are soft and gooey.
- Sandwich the cookies together, press lightly, not too much or all the yumminess will ooze out the sides.
- Eat and enjoy!
Menu Plan Monday – June 13, 2011
I have realized this week that with weather in the upper 90°’s turning the oven on is definitely outside of my comfort zone. Trying to keep the house cool in the late afternoon and evening is seeming impossible. So I have begun baking early (7am ish) in the morning and trying to grill, use the stove-top only or crockpot. All that to say, that my menu changed a bit last week. I never made the pizza as it is just too hot to have the oven on for 45 minutes to an hour. I also adapted one recipe (Chicken Enchilada Casserole) for the crockpot so I didn’t have to use the oven. I skipped the Potato Leek Soup and opted for Turkey Tenderloins I got at Sam’s Club, cooked in the crockpot with carrots and baked potatoes in another crockpot.
So for my menu this week, I’m trying to cook everything either on the grill or in the crockpot – stovetop for some.
Monday:
Sweet and Savory Beef
Rice
Green Beans
Tuesday:
Grilled Chicken Breast
Potato & Carrot Packets on Grill
Wednesday:
Cornbread and Beef Skillet (in crockpot)
Salad
Thursday:
Coconut Curry Chicken
Coconut Rice
Veggie
Friday:
Pasta Bake
Salad
Saturday:
Apple Cider Glazed Chicken
Sides??
Sunday:
Chili
For more great menu ideas check out:
One way to ensure gluten free food…. grow it yourself!
Being self-sufficient is a wonderful thought, here is a small attempt at making this happen. Also, ensuring that you get fresh, gluten free food. I planted 4 zuchinni plants, 2 yellow squash plants, 2 cucumber pickle plants, 1 patio tomato and 1 square of carrot seeds and 5 “big boy” tomato plants. The patio tomato plant had tomatoes on it when we got it, so at least I am assured of one producing plant. 
Nothing else is producing, yet. But, this morning I see that the yellow squash have blossoms! Super excited about that. The squash plants have some white spots on them, which may be from watering on top of the plants. I treated them with milk spray, yes, cow milk. So I am hoping that that will help and this won’t be a problem that keeps the plants from producing.
Nothing else is producing, yet. But, this morning I see that the yellow squash have blossoms! Super excited about that. The squash plants have some white spots on them, which may be from watering on top of the plants. I treated them with milk spray, yes, cow milk. So I am hoping that that will help and this won’t be a problem that keeps the plants from producing.
I also bought a strawberry plant at Sam’s club and my mom bought some online which were the dormant roots that you plant.
So far we have harvested two (yes 1, 2) strawberries. I have high hopes for these plants and will
probably need to repot some of them individually soon.
I also have a few herbs: pineapple sage, thyme and lemon balm. I really hope to grow quite a few more herbs. My mom has a rosemary bush that we dug up and brought over when we moved and it is doing marvelous.
Maple Nut Granola
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.3 cups gluten free old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2. Combine oats, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl,mix maple syrup, vanilla, and oil.
4. Pour syrup mixture over oat mixture and combine until all ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Spread mixture onto parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake 15 minutes.
6. Stir and return to the oven 10 minutes longer.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
8. Granola may be stored up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. (I’ve stored it much longer than this.)I know oats are controversial, but there are certified gluten free oats available. I get mine (Bob’s Red Mill) from Swanson Vitamins for a great price and they have a gluten free section of products and each person will know or find out if oats are an issue for you.
Dealing with the effects of gluten
My son is practically eczema free at this moment. Yesterday he was free of any new patches at all! It was exciting for me, not sure about him, as he is so little and probably just accepts it as part of his life. At church they have snacks and such to share before and after church and a wonderful friend who is in charge of this always makes sure that we have something GF, I love her for this! However, as I’m sure you know, it is so hard to be around gluten with the little ones and sometimes when you’re older too. A friend told me once, that when her daughter goes into Panera Bread, she has a breakout! Each sensitivity is so different. So I don’t know if he actually ate something or not (I really don’t think so), but he has one nickel sized place on the back of his leg. His sister did come to the car with her mouth and hands covered with powdered sugar doughnut and climbed into the car touching his car seat. He starts yelling, “She touched near me with gluten!!”
You never know when or how you might be exposed. Thankfully this time seems minor….. fingers crossed. We try so hard to keep him from being exposed. It’s an ongoing battle and I hope that we are teaching and training him for later and that he realizes the importance of steering clear.