Monthly Archives: April 2014

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Menu Plan #11 – 2014

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We are finishing up with BSF for the kids this week.  Last Home Group for this semester.  We have swim lessons (thanks to a generous benefactor).  School is winding down for the little kids.  My high schooler still has a few things to finish up and may work through the summer. I am SO ready for a break.  Not looking forward to the heat….it went straight from winter to summer.  We’ve had high 80’s most of last week.  But definitely the break from school.

Planning a Mother’s Day Brunch with my family, my mom, grandma, brother and sister in law.  Lots of stuff to accomplish with a yummy menu to plan and prepare.

Menu for the week:

Monday: 
Teriyaki Beef
Rice
Carrots

Tuesday:
Pasta Carbonara

Wednesday:
Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
Sides

Thursday:
Sloppy Joes
I hope to make buns too!
Chips
Fruit

Friday:
Coconut curry Chicken
Rice
Veg

Saturday:
Mother’s Day Brunch

leftovers in the evening

Sunday:
Smoky Paprika Chicken Soup

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Gluten Free Sausage McGriddler

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I have not had anything from McDonald’s in over 4 years.  But, if I were going to have something, which I’m not.  This is one of the things I would get.  I loved these, back in the day – the days before gluten free and  before making healthier food choices.  But, I digress…..I was thinking about breakfast, faster easier, yet still super yummy breakfasts and I thought I can totally recreate this.  These are super delicious, while not an actual recreation, I didn’t make maple syrup bits to put in the pancakes, I just used the syrup.

                                                      McGriddler Shown has the optional egg.

I made a batch of protein pancakes in my cookbook.  I’m sure you could use your favorite recipe.  I made them a bit on the thick side.

I made homemade cooked sausage patties to match the size of the rings.

English Muffin Rings

Optional fried egg.  I prefer mine with no egg.

Maple syrup for drizzling pancake muffins while cooking.

Make the pancake batter.  Heat griddle.  Place rings on there, as many as fit, spray the rings with cooking spray.  Ladle batter into rings, about 2/3 full, drizzle each with a bit of maple syrup.  Cook like you would pancakes, once they are set up and ready to turn pull the rings off.  If they start to stick a bit run a knife carefully around the ring to release them.  These are going to be thicker than pancakes. 

If you want yours with egg you can fry eggs for them.

Put them together:  pancake, sausage, optional egg, pancake. 

Now we ate these right away, but I bet you could make them ahead and freeze them. 

More great menu ideas here and here!
Get my cookbook here!
Thanksgiving eBook – great for any holiday really

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Menu Plan #10 – 2014

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Happy Resurrection Day!  Today is Easter.  Celebrating the true meaning of Easter can sometimes get lost in the hustle and bustle of egg dyeing, hunting and hiding. I did endeavor this past week to focus on Christ.  We learned much, I think.  We also invited many neighbors to church and one of them came with us!  We were excited about that! 

 You know how you do things every year, the same things and you kind of think that you’re the only one who even cares?  Well that was me this year.  Things were a little off for me and I decided not to do Easter Dinner and not make big plans.  Well, to my dismay, it wasn’t just me who likes the traditions.  So at the last minute I made a super easy meal Turkey Tenderloin, Sweet potatoes in the crockpot and deviled eggs.  Usually I make soup on Sundays.   We had a nice lunch, hid eggs, hunted eggs, dyed eggs, had a visit from my mom.  We had a nice day.  Now off to a super busy week. 

Menu for the week:

Monday:
Hash with leftover turkey tenderloin

Tuesday:
Something quick – leftovers probably.  Having a jewelry party this night

Wednesday:
Crockpot one dish chicken

Thursday:
Hot Dogs
Chips
Fruit

Friday:
Bacon wrapped Chicken
Potatoes
Veg

Saturday:
Pizza

Sunday:
Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

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So this recipe originated in a cooking “contest” between two of my kids.  This time I changed it by adding three kinds of chocolate chips, not by plan but necessity.    It’s actually quadruple chocolate chocolate chip cookies this time, but that just sounds weird. 



Chocolate
Chocolate Chip Cookies

1
¼ cup GF White Flour

½
teaspoon xanthan gum
½
teaspoon salt
½
teaspoon baking soda
¼
cup unsweetened cocoa

1
stick butter, softened
¾
cup brown sugar, lightly packed

¼
cup sugar
1
egg
1
teaspoon vanilla
¾
cup chocolate chips (all one kind or a mixture- semi-sweet, dark, milk)

Preheat
oven to 350°

Cream
together butter and sugars.

Add
egg and vanilla. Mix until very light and creamy on med-high about 3
minutes.

Combine
dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture.

Stir
in chocolate chips

Bake
8-10 minutes. Check after 8 minutes.





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Gluten Free Resurrection Rolls

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I had been looking for ideas on how to share Jesus and the Resurrection Story with the kids in a way that will give them a visual as well, and more importantly, the Scripture.  I saw this idea on Pinterest but since we are GF we can’t buy biscuits in a can.  So, I decided to see if it would work with homemade GF biscuits.  Since I have never made them before I have no comparison with how the turn out with canned biscuits but the first batch turned out great, the second batch I think needed a bit more cooking time, because the marshmallow oozed out but was still kind of inside when I broke it open.  But, all in all I was super pleased with results. 

1 batch of homemade biscuits
large marshmallows (to match number of biscuits)
melted butter (I used 2 Tablespoons and made 12 biscuits and had a little butter left over)
Cinnamon and sugar mixture – I made too much – but I would do equal parts because I wanted the cinnamon to be thick inside when the marshmallow melts.

I made the biscuit dough and cut out the biscuit and flattened it down so I could wrap it around the marshmallow dipped first in the butter and then the spice.  Make sure that you flour the rolling area well so it doesn’t stick when you flatten it.  I’ve included a picture collage so you can kind of see the process.

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Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup

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This is one of those no recipe-recipes.   
Use what you have on hand, as much or as little as you want.

Onion
Carrots
Celery
Salt & Pepper
Morton’s Season Salt or your favorite
Olive oil
Garlic
Cooked Chicken
Chicken Stock
GF Noodles (I used Fettuccine and broke them up into smaller sized pieces)
Peas or other veggies

Chop all the veggies except garlic, sprinkle with seasoning and salt.  Saute, over medium heat in olive oil until soft.  Stir in garlic and saute 1 minute.  Add the stock, scrape up the bottom to get all the tasty bits off the bottom.  Add the noodles and peas, let them cook until almost done, a couple minutes shy of desired tenderness.  Add chicken.  Stir and heat till heated through.  Serve with crackers if desired.

More great menu ideas here and here!
Get my cookbook here!
Thanksgiving eBook – great for any holiday really

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Menu Plan #9 – 2014

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We had Spring Break last week…such as it was, all of us fighting of colds initiated, I believe, by all of the pollen we have.  It is seriously unbelievable this year.  I think we are on the upswing of the colds and praying that the pollen is almost over too.  It makes it hard to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather and the great patio table my mom passed on to us.  I still haven’t started any real planting.  The Carolina Wren who made a nest and laid five eggs in is kind of hampering my garden area.  I don’t want to disturb her.  It shouldn’t be too much longer before they are born, I hope.

This week we will be learning about Jesus‘ last days before His Crucifixion and Resurrection and celebrating the true meaning of Easter.  I hope you’re doing the same.

My menu planning has fallen through the cracks and I am behind.  I have started the April menu but haven’t finished it and I haven’t really held to my menus that well, it’s been kind of haphazard. But, I’ll get it done this week.

Tentative menu for the week:

Monday:
Sloppy Joes w/buns
Sides
Make Double the buns

Tuesday:
Coconut Curry Chicken
Rice
Carrots

Wednesday:
Turkey Burgers
baked sweet potatoes
veg

Thursday:
One (Crock)Pot Chicken Dinner

Friday:
Sweet and Savory Beef
Rice
Veg

Saturday:
Fish Tacos….maybe

Sunday:
Easter Dinner
 I will do many of the dishes from Thanksgiving, not all of them

More great menu ideas here and here!
Get my cookbook here!
Thanksgiving eBook – great for any holiday really

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Gluten Free Cows in Ponchos (Hot Dogs & Beans)

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Cows in Ponchos

If you have been gluten free for any length of time, I think you’ll agree that a good hot dog bun is impossible to find, am I right?  Not to mention the cost of trying GF hot dog buns – about $1.50 or more EACH the last time I saw them and SO NOT worth it. When I saw this recipe and thought it was a great take on hot dogs without the worry of buns.  Rachael Ray called her recipe “Pigs in Ponchos”, well we eat beef hot dogs so I am calling ours Cows in Ponchos.  I changed up the recipe a bit to suit our GF needs and this last time I grilled them out.  This is kind of a no recipe recipe.

Corn Tortillas, heated (I brushed mine with some oil and grilled them, but you could heat them in the microwave, if you have one)
Refried Beans (your favorite GF brand)
Hot Dogs, grilled and kept warm
Shredded Cheese (I used cheddar)

I spread a thin layer of the beans on the tortilla – my eight year old helped me with this so enlist an able bodied kid to help if you want.  Then I sprinkled some cheese on top of the beans and placed a grilled hot dog on there and rolled them up.  Brush lightly with oil (I used olive) and grill several minutes on each side.  Start with the seam side down so they don’t unroll.  Cook to desired crispness.  I have also done this in the oven.  The main key is making sure that your corn tortillas are warm enough that they don’t break when you roll them.  I only photographed the “pretty” ones. They weren’t all pretty because some of my tortillas weren’t warm enough when I rolled them.

Round out your meal with rice and more beans or salad.

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Gluten Free Cheesy Leftover Potato Pancakes

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Cheesy Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes from justataste.com #recipe
Photo credit to Kelly@ JustATaste.com
I was inspired by this recipe and the photos!  Wow what great photography.  I used her photo because, I forgot to take a picture and this one looks so amazing.  I’ll be honest, mine didn’t look as good, but they tasted as good as these look.

3 cups mashed potatoes
2/3 cup shredded cheddar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon Morton’s Nature seasoning 
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup GF flour for dredging (I used this flour)
Oil for frying (I used coconut oil)
Heat a skillet over medium- medium high heat.
Mix potatoes, cheese, egg, seasoning and cornstarch until blended together.
Form into patties, whatever size you choose.
Dredge in the flour.
Add oil to pan and then fry each patty until golden brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes each. 
Serve warm.