Engine Starting Oatcakes June 22, 2009

These griddle cakes really stick to your ribs for an energizing breakfast.  They freeze well, so I make a batch to have on hand for quick get-aways.

2  1/4 cups buttermilk* (or soy, coconut or hemp milk)

1  1/2 cups GF rolled oats

2 eggs (or 2 Tbsp flax seed meal soaked in 1/2 cup warm water)

1 Tbsp sugar, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup flax seed 1/2 cup vanilla yoghurt 

1  1/4 cup GF all-purpose flour from Nearly Normal Kitchen

1  1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, more or less to taste

Soak 1 1/2 cups of gluten free rolled oats in 2 1/4 cups of buttermilk (or soy, coconut or hemp milk) for 15 minutes.  (*Make your own buttermilk by measuring 2 Tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup, then add your milk choice to the 2 1/4 cup mark.  Let it sit for 5 minutes to curdle.)

Mash a banana in a large bowl and add coconut, flax seed, yoghurt, eggs, and sweetener of choice, mixing well.  Add oatmeal after it has soaked for 15 minutes.

Measure flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, whisking together.  Add to wet ingredients, stirring until well blended.  If batter is too thick, add milk in small amounts.  Cook on a hot lightly oiled griddle or fry pan, just as you would pancakes.

Makes 25 large cakes.

Chicken Bake February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley (leaves only)

1 6-inch branch of fresh rosemary, needles removed from stem

8 large fresh sage leaves

8 large fresh basil leaves

1 leaf of fresh chard or kale, stem removed

8 large cloves garlic

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

few grinds of black pepper

3 bone-in chicken breasts, skin and fat removed

2 medium sweet red peppers

2 medium ripe tomatoes (or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)

1 cup safe chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Mince together the parsley, rosemary, sage, basil, garlic, and onion. Mix in the salt and olive oil.  Rub mixture over the chicken breasts and place in a 9 x 13 or similar sized baking dish.  Set aside. 

Core and roughly chop the red peppers and tomatoes.  Tuck them into the pan around the chicken pieces.

Roast for 30 minutes, then pour 1/2 cup broth into pan.  Turn the chicken and stir the vegetables.  Return to oven and roast for another 30 minutes.  Turn chicken again, and spoon some of the vegetables onto them.  Moisten vegetables with broth, adding only enough to prevent burning (about 1/4 inch in bottom of pan is enough).   Roast for another 10 – 15 minutes, until chicken reads 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. 

Serve hot over brown rice pasta — preferably a type that has enough crannies to catch the rich sauce.

Potato Pancakes February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman

6 cups of packed shredded potatoes

1 large onion, shredded or minced finely

1 cup chickpea flour

2 tablespoons rice milk or water (optional)

Enough canola oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan to 1/2 inch depth

Shred enough potatoes (by hand or in the blender) to make six packed cups.   Place a large handful of potatoes a double thickness of paper towels.  Gather the paper towels up around the potatoes and squeeze out the excess moisture from the potatoes.  Don’t go overboard on squeezing, since you will need the potatoes to retain some moisture for this recipe. 

Mix dried potatoes with onion and chickpea flour until all the chickpea flour is moistened.  Scoop up a golf-ball sized clump of potatoes and squeeze it together.  If the mixture retains its shape, there is enough moisture.  If it it too dry to stick together, add a little rice milk or water at a time until it sticks.

Heat oil on medium high.   

Shape small patties of potato mixture and gently drop them into the oil.  Cook 3-5 minutes on one side, until reddish brown, then flip and cook 3-5 minutes on the other side.  Loosen with a spatula, then remove pancakes from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. 

You can hold the pancakes for up to 1/2 hour in a 200 degree oven.  Simply line a baking sheet with paper towels, and as each pancake is done, slip it into the oven to stay warm.

Beef & Sweet Potato Stew February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman 

 

From GFCF Mommy

¼ cup GFCF all-purpose flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
1 ¼ lb. extra lean beef, cut into cubes
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion cut into wedges
10 baby bella mushrooms, sliced in half
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 cups organic beef or vegetable broth
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
10 pitted dried plums, quartered
½ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 cups green beans, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste

Place the flour in a bowl. Add the beef and toss to coat. Heat 1 TB of oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the beef cubes until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining oil, onion, and mushrooms. Add a few TB of broth to scrape any tasty bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir frequently until the onions and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.

Return the beef and accumulated juices to the pot. Add the sweet potatoes, broth, tomato sauce, plums, salt, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered about 45 minutes. Stir in the green beans and simmer uncovered about 30 additional minutes until potatoes and beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Chicken and Autumn Vegetables February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman 

From GFCF Mommy

1 acorn squash, halved, seeded and sliced into ½ in. pieces
1 lb. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced into ½ in. wedges
8 garlic cloves, crushed
4 bone-in chicken breast halves
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 TB olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Combine squash, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Toss in oil. Season with salt and pepper, roast until veggies are heated through, about 15 min. Meanwhile, lift skin of chicken, place 1 rosemary sprig under skin of each breast. Season with salt and pepper. Place chicken on top of vegetables and continue roasting another 35 minutes.

Variation:
Replace the acorn squash with yellow squash, sliced in half. Substitute the mushrooms with cherry tomatoes sliced in half.

Mexican Casserole February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman 

 

From GFCF Mommy

1 lb. lean ground beef or boneless chicken breast strips, your choice
½ large onion chopped
1 large clove garlic
1 ½ c. Tofutti “better than sour cream”
1 c plain soy yogurt
1 jar jalapeno peppers (4 oz) (if desired)
½ c. chopped cilantro (if desired)
2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ½ c your favorite GFCF salsa
1 bag corn chips
1 ¼ c. Galaxy Vegan Mozzarella “Cheese,” shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Coat baking dish w/ cooking spray. Coat non-stick skillet w/ cooking spray. Brown ground beef or chicken, add onion and garlic. Set aside.

Combine in bowl Tofutti sour cream, soy yogurt, peppers, cilantro, cumin and salt. Spread 1 c. salsa across bottom of dish. Arrange half chips over salsa. Spread half cheese mix over chips. Top with half ground beef or chicken. Top with 1c salsa and ½ c faux cheese. Repeat. End with salsa and cheese. Bake 30 min. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Toned-down, Parallel Meal: Sometimes I make a smaller version of this for the Prince without the spices, onion, peppers, and cilantro. For him, instead of salsa I substitute tomato pasta sauce (the Prince likes Muir Glen Cabernet Marinara, or Newman’s Own Cabernet Marinara.) You could also substitute refried beans for the meat, if your child likes a smoother texture. Another idea is to make “nachos” for your child using the ingredients from this recipe that you think they would like

Chicken Cacciatore February 29, 2008

Submitted by Andrea Dahlman
This is adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Mom’s Guide to Meal Makeovers. These two nutritionist moms have a pretty cool website too. I wish they’d do another cookbook. I find their recipes very kid-friendly and easy to adapt to the GFCF diet

¼ c. all purpose GFCF flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 ½ lb. boneless chicken cut into strips
1 TB. olive oil
One 16 oz bag frozen pepper strips (I like Cascadian Farms)
One 26 oz. jar GFCF pasta sauce (I like Muir Glen)

Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano in shallow bowl or plastic bag. Coat chicken in flour mix. Heat oil. Brown chicken. Add peppers. Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 20 min. Serve with a GFCF spaghetti or fettuccini, such at Tinkyada Rice Pasta or Quinoa Pasta.

Maple-Apricot Glazed Meatloaf February 29, 2008

Submitted by Meredith Stinson

1 3/4 lbs ground beef or turkey
1 small sweet or red onion, peeled
1 medium to large carrot, washed and trimmed
4-5 cloves fresh peeled garlic
1/3 cup good tasting tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon gluten-free steak sauce- or Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 servings egg substitute

1 scant cup (gluten-free) rolled oats, or your favorite gluten-free bread crumbs
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of allspice
A pinch of mild curry
A pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon sage
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the ground beef into a large bowl and using a fork or spoon, break it apart it a bit.

Roughly chop the onion and carrot into same sized chunks and place them into a food processor; add the garlic cloves; pulse until the veggies are uniformly diced- fine- not too chunky; add them to the meat. Toss lightly with a spoon or fork to quickly distribute the veggies. Add the catchup, maple syrup, eggs (if using), oatmeal or crumbs, spices and sage. Mix it all up- but try not to over-mix it into mush (over-mixing makes for a dense loaf).

If the mixture is too dry at this point, add a little more ketchup. If it’s feels too wet, add more crumbs. Spoon the meatloaf mixture into a standard size loaf pan and firmly press into place, smoothing and rounding the top of the loaf so that the sides are lower than the edge of the loaf pan (you don’t want the glaze spilling over the sides later on). ake in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your maple glaze- so easy!

Maple-Apricot Glaze

Stir to combine:

1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/3 cup pure apricot preserves
1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, to taste
1 teaspoon honey mustard
A small pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon

At the 45 minute mark, remove the loaf from the oven and carefully pour off the fat. Spoon the maple-apricot sauce on top of the loaf. Cover the loaf loosely with a piece of foil, if you like. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Allow the cooked loaf to cool for ten minutes or so before slicing and serving. Serve with sweet potatoe fries!

Roasted Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Tomato Soup with Fusilli February 29, 2008

Submitted by Meredith Stinson

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice noodle fusilli
1 bacon slice, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups (1/4-inch) sliced zucchini
2 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
2  chicken breasts diced thinly
1 (7-ounce) bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained and chopped 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
Cook pasta per package directions, omitting salt and fat.
Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini; cook for 5 minutes. Add broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add two chicken breasts sliced thin. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in black pepper, tomatoes, and bell peppers; cook 7 minutes. Stir in pasta and parsley. Ladle into bowls

We make this with Kristina’s focacia bread recipe which we cook with rosemary from our yard. Yummy! When I feed this to the girls I drain the broth and they can pick up the veggies and chicken with their fingers. Also, if you omit the noodles it’s great to freeze. Just defrost and cook with the noodles when you are ready to eat.

Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken February 29, 2008

Submitted by Meredith Stinson

1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp frozen OJ concentrate
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, more or less to taste (it ends up not tasting too spicy)
1 tbsp earths balance butter

1/2 tsp olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro, chopped or green onions, chopped (optional we like the green onions)

In a small bowl, combine honey, orange juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.  In a skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and brown, about 4 minutes per side. Add honey mixture to the skillet and cook, turning to throughly coat the chicken. Cook 2 more minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.  To serve, place chicken on plate, spoon sauce over the top and sprinkle with cilantro or green onions. We serve this with brown rice and broccoli and the girls love it too!