Creamy Chicken Casserole

I've been trying to find new recipes that my picky food allergy family will eat. This has not been an easy task! But lately I've decided to just keep it simple.  I found a super easy chicken casserole recipe at allrecipes.com and changed it up just a bit.  It turned out wonderfully! And even better the kids and Hubby LOVED it!

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless chicken breast cooked and diced.

1 carton Pacific Foods Gluten Free Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 8 oz sour cream

I small onion diced

frozen green peas

shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

instant gluten free rice

Directions:
Combine chicken, soup, sour cream and onion. Stir till well mixed.

Fold in a small amount of frozen green peas, as many as you like.

Pour mixture into greased baking dish and top with shredded cheddar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve over cooked gluten free rice.

**I usually double this recipe so I'll have plenty for leftovers :)

Dr. Pepper Pie

My kids LOVE this simple pie! The original recipe was for Root Beer Pie, but my son begged me to make one using Dr Pepper, and it turned out yummy! 

1 carton Cool Whip (8 oz) thawed

3/4 cup cold Dr Pepper

1/2 cup milk

1 package (1 ounce) Jello instant vanilla pudding mix

1 gluten free graham cracker crust

Directions

1. Set aside and refrigerate 1/2 cup Cool Whip for garnish. In a large bowl, whisk the Dr Pepper, milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Fold in half of the remaining Cool Whip. Spread into GF graham cracker crust.
2. Spread remaining Cool Whip over pie. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
3. Dollop reserved whipped topping over each serving; 

Peppermint Bark

This is the easiest dessert recipe ever, but it's soooo amazing!! Here's how you make Peppermint Bark....

Ingredients (There are only 2!!)

1 box Bakers White Chocolate
Candy Canes

Directions

Unwrap the candy canes (about 3) and place in a zip bag. Close it up and with the back of a heavy spoon ( I use my ice cream scoop) smash the candy canes to bits! This is kind of fun :)  Set aside.

In a microwaveable bowl, break apart white chocolate and microwave according to package directions till melted.

Stir the candy cane bits into the chocolate while its hot.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the wax paper and spread out in an even layer with a spatula.

Place in refrigerator for a few hours to harden.

Once hard, take bark off of wax paper and break into medium size pieces.

You can make a small batch or large batch...I usually have to make more than one recipe, it doesn't last very long at our house!

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Here is an incredibly simple recipe I found on Facebook for Crockpot Lasagna! With just a few changes it can be done gluten free...and it doesn't take long at all to cook, so it's great for a quick weeknight meal!

1 pound ground beef

Mueller's Gluten Free Lasagna Noodles

2 jars gluten free pasta sauce (I use Classico Tomato Basil)

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp (or more) grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Brown ground beef and drain. 
Spoon 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce in bottom of 4 quart crock pot. 
Mix remaining sauce with beef.
Add just a little salt and pepper. 
Place 2 uncooked lasagna noodles on sauce in crock pot.  
Spread 1/3 meat mixture on top of noodles. Spread 3/4 cup cottage cheese over meat. 
Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese over cottage cheese. 
Add another layer of uncooked noodles (I break the noodles apart and place evenly over cheese layer)  1/3 meat mixture, the remaining cottage cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. 
Place another layer of uncooked noodles, meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese. 
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top. 
Cook on low for 3 hours and check for doneness (I stick a fork in lasagna to see if noodles are soft) If needed cook an additional 30 minutes.

Gluten Free Mexican Chicken Casserole

I found this wonderful recipe for Mexican Chicken Casserole on Facebook. Here's the original recipe http://www.southernplate.com/2011/09/mexican-chicken-casserole.html With just a few changes, it was easy to make this dish gluten free! It turned out yummy!

 Here's what I used...

• 4 cups of cooked, chopped chicken 
• 2 cups of instant GF brown rice (I use Uncle Ben's)
• 1 can GF cream of chicken soup (I use Pacific Naturals GF condensed)
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup diced onion
• 1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1½ cups GF chicken broth
• 8 oz cheddar cheese grated and divided in half
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Put all ingredients and half of cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Pour into a greased casserole dish and top with remaining cheese.
3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then bake an additional 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Linked to Gluten Free Fridays @ http://vegetarianmamma.com

Granny Smith Cinnamon Muffins

Gluten free baking can sometimes feel like a guessing game!  Sometimes I try substituting gluten free ingredients into a regular recipe and it just doesn't work. But sometimes it does!   

David Venable from QVC shared a great muffin recipe, and it was so easy to make it gluten free just by substituting in gluten free flour! And the muffins turned out so yummy!! 

Here's the recipe:

• 3 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (I use Betty Crocker GF Rice Flour Blend)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cups vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cups milk
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin pan. 
• 
  
• Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir with spoon till combined.
• 
  
•  Add the oil, eggs, and milk. With a hand mixer beat till combined, but don't over mix. 
• 
  
• Pour in the apples and stir them in gently with a spoon.  
• 
  
• Spoon the batter into muffin pan.
• 
  

     Sprinkle just a little more cinnamon on each muffin before cooking.

     Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cupcakes are set.

    This recipe makes a LOT of muffins :) I made 12 and had batter left over!

    Remove from oven and allow to cool a little.

   Enjoy!

Here is David's original recipe : http://www.qvc.com/AppleCinnamonMuffinsWithCaramelCenters.content.html


Linked to Gluten Free Recipe Fix @ Gluten Free Homemaker http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/gluten-free-recipe-fix-back-to-school-fall/?utm_content=bufferee3c0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Chili Nacho Dip

Here's a simple nacho dip with only 3 ingredients!...Perfect with tortilla chips! So simple and always a hit!

Ingredients:
1 8 oz block of cream cheese softened
1 can Hormel Chili with Beans (The Hormel chili without beans isn't gluten free)
1-2 cups of shredded Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the softened cream cheese evenly in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish.

Spread the Hormel Chili with Beans evenly over the cream cheese layer.

Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly on top the chili layer.
(I have also used the thin sliced cheese squares for this layer and they work great too!)

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm with  gluten free tortilla chips.

Gluten Free Cheesy Tomato Pasta

Here is a great recipe from Southern Living that I've made for years.  Just substitute gluten free pasta and you've got an awesome meal!  It's so creamy and delicious...and so simple,  it's perfect for a quick weeknight meal!




1 8 oz box GF pasta
1/4 cup butter
1 cup whipping cream (I used Organic Valley Heavy Whipping  Cream)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cans diced tomatoes Hunt's Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano

Melt butter in skillet over low heat. Add cream and stir till warm. Add cheese and stir constantly until cheese is melted and mixture blended.
Meanwhile, cook GF pasta according to package directions.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
Increase heat to med-low and add tomatoes, stir well to blend.
Add GF pasta and stir to combine.
Simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced and heated through.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Top with grated parmesan if desired.

Serve and enjoy!

Crustless Sausage Spinach Cheddar Quiche

This crustless sausage spinach cheddar quiche is just so incredibly yummy! Simple ingredients, simple steps, but amazing flavor! 

• 
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 lb gluten free Italian bulk sausage (I use Ingles Markets brand)
• 1 container fresh organic baby spinach
• 1-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated 
• 1/2 or 3/4 tbsp onion powder (I use McCormick brand)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Brown and break up the sausage until it is cooked and no longer pink.

Drain and set aside

Cook spinach. This doesn't take long at all...just melt some butter in pot or deep pan, add spinach. Cover and cook over medium heat for just a few minutes till done.

Drain liquid from spinach and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In large bowl combine sausage, spinach, eggs, milk, cheddar cheese, onion powder and salt and pepper.

Stir till combined.

Pour the quiche mixture into a greased pie plate. Place in oven and cook for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and center is set.

Enjoy...and try not to eat the whole thing at once :)

Lasagna Soup

A while back I went to a friend's house for dinner.  She made lasagna soup. Now I had never heard of this dish, but by the end of the meal....make that the end of our first bite, everyone at the table was asking for the recipe! It's one she actually found on Pinterest, so she was more than happy to share :)

 You actually assemble the soup as you serve it, and she was SO sweet to make GF pasta for me so that I could eat it!  I know from the picture it looks like just your average bowl of pasta with meat sauce...but it is soooo much more!  SO fabulous!

You'll see in the recipe there is this unbelievable cheese goodness that goes in, but I didn't add this last night, as Im trying to cut back on dairy.  Even without it though...so great! Hubby, who hardly ever asks for seconds ate three bowls. :)

Here's the link to this oh so yummy recipe! Just make sure all brands are GF and to use GF Italian sausage (I use Ingles Market GF bulk sausage) and GF pasta :)

I do as she suggests, and cook the pasta separately from the sauce then assemble before serving.  I also cheated a bit and use onion powder instead of chopped onion and dried minced garlic instead of fresh...still delicious!

Here's the link to this yummy soup....
http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2011/03/24/lasagna-soup/




Linked to Full Plate Thursday at http://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/2015/01/full-plate-thursday-1-29-15.html

Easy Gluten Free Bistro Chicken

Before going gluten free, I made Easy Bistro Chicken from kraftfoods.com a lot. Chicken, tomatoes and Italian dressing all together in one big skillet...very tasty! It's very simple to make this dish gluten free! You can find the original recipe here http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-bistro-chicken-91432.aspx

Here's my GF version...Delicious! I left out the cheese and bacon from the original recipe, and we thought it tasted even better without it...and it's healthier too!

Here's what I used...

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion chopped

salt and pepper

1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup GF Italian dressing

3 tbsp. tomato paste

2 boneless chicken breasts cooked and shredded

HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions; cook 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, dressing and tomato paste.

ADD chicken; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 12 min.

I served this over brown rice.

Simply Scrumptious Gluten Free Baked Beans

This baked bean recipe is one of our favorites! I have made them for years and they are just scrumptious! I mean, with maple syrup, brown sugar, and bacon thrown in, how could they not be delicious? The original recipe comes from Paula Deen.


Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced
2 (16 oz) cans Bush's Best Original Baked Beans
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 pound bacon strips, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a deep baking dish, mix beans, onion, mustard, maple syrup, brown sugar, ketchup and lemon juice. Stir till combined.

Top with bacon pieces.

Bake covered for 45 minutes. Remove foil, stir, and bake another 15 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy!

Zucchini & Rice

For lunch today I made zucchini and rice. YUM! Easy to make, it was a perfect lunch for this hungry girl!

What you need:

2 organic zucchini

Olive oil

salt and pepper

San-J Tamari gluten free soy sauce

GF Brown Rice (I use Uncle Ben's Fast and Natural)

Cut the zucchini into small pieces.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over med heat

Add zucchini

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Saute zucchini, stirring occasionally

When zucchini has softened a little add some of the tamari (I love soy sauce, so I added quite a few dashes)

Continue to cook zucchini until tender

Cook rice according to package directions.

Transfer rice to a plate and pour the zucchini and remaining soy sauce from skillet over rice.

Enjoy!

The Best Gluten Free Spaghetti Sauce

Years ago, someone gave my a Southern Living cookbook called Everyday Menus.  In it, I found a pasta recipe called Beef Lombardi.  It's a layered dish with pasta, meat sauce, cheese, sour cream and green onions...and it was delicious.  But what really stood out was the incredible sauce!  This simple meat sauce was so wonderful, my hubby remarked once that he'd just like it served alone over spaghetti noodles...So that's what I did, and ever since, it's been my go-to sauce for spaghetti! As I was cooking it for dinner last night, I realized I had never shared it here.

So here it is...the oh so simple, oh so fabulous Best Sauce....

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles, undrained
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 bay leaf

Directions:

Cook ground beef over medium heat until crumbled and browned.
Drain and return to pot.

Stir in both cans tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes.

Add tomato paste and bay leaf.  Simmer on medium low heat 30 minutes, stirring occasionally .

Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf.

Serve over gluten free pasta.

That's it!  Short and simple...and delicious!  Enjoy!

Sausage Cheese Dip

I have to admit...I'm a QVC junkie!  LOVE it! I watch it sometimes just for fun, even if I'm not buying anything!  :) Anyway, one of my favorite lines they carry is the Temptations bakeware!  Such beautiful patterns and great to bake in! One set I ordered a while back came with a pack of recipes too. This has been my favorite one in the bunch! A super simple sausage dip!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground GF sausage (I use Ingles Markets Gluten Free Bulk Pork Sausage)

1 can (10 oz) Rotel tomatoes

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

GF tortilla chips for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees,

In a large skillet brown the sausage over med high heat.

Drain sausage and set aside.

Combine tomatoes and cream cheese in skillet. Cook and stir until cream cheese is melted.

Add sausage back in the skillet. Stir and cook another 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into medium baking dish. Sprinkle grated cheddar on top.  Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve with chips.

Balsamic Chicken Over Rice

A while back I tried a Balsamic Glazed Pork recipe from Pam at imaceliac.com. The Balsamic sauce for this recipe was so out of this world good, I decided to try it with chicken!  It made for a wonderful meal! Here's what I did...

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 chicken breasts (I use frozen)
GF Brown Rice (I use Uncle Ben's Instant Brown Rice)

Glaze
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons GF soy sauce (I use San J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
In a small bowl, combine the sage, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture onto both sides of the chicken pieces.
Place chicken breasts in large baking dish. Pour just a little water or gluten free chicken broth in the bottom of baking dish, to help chicken stay moist while baking. Cover with foil.
Bake for 1 hour. (This is the cooking time suggested for the frozen chicken, adjust times and temps as needed and bake till chicken is done.)

Remove cooked chicken and chop into medium sized chunks.
In separate bowl combine brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water and gluten free soy sauce.
Whisk well.
Pour sauce mixture into large skillet and add chicken.  Cook over medium heat till chicken is covered well with sauce and sauce thickens a little and starts to bubble. (About 10 minutes)

Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions.

Serve chicken over rice.

Enjoy!



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Linked to Full Plate Thursday at http://mizhelenscountrycottage.com

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Pam from imaceliac.com shared a delicious recipe for Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins. The recipe is simple and sounded great.  We are trying to cut down on sugar, so I wondered what would happen if substituted honey for the sugar called for in the recipe.  So I studied up on how to do this, gave it a try...and the muffins turned out so great!!  Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I use Betty Crocker GF all purpose rice blend)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp GF baking powder (I use Clabber Girl)

1/3 cup natural applesauce

1 tsp GF vanilla extract

1 egg

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In large bowl, combine all ingredients except blueberries.  Now when you dump all this in the bowl, it will look like a hot mess, but trust me, it will turn out just fine!

Using a hand mixer, mix ingredients till well combined.  See, now it looks like muffin batter :)

Once batter is mixed, pour in the blueberries.  Gently stir them into batter with a spoon, just till combined.

Grease a muffin pan (I use Temptations ceramic ovenware, which works great) and fill muffin cups till almost full.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Stick a knife in one of the muffins to make sure they are done :)

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

If you like, cut open the muffins and add a little butter...makes them even better!

Enjoy!

Linked to Gluten Free Wednesdays at glutenfreehomemaker.com
& Gluten Free Fridays at http://vegetarianmamma.com

Stocking up for Snow & Ice

Here in South Carolina, we don't get very much Winter weather, so when we do, everyone gets pretty excited!  They are calling for ice and possibly snow this week, so I went to the grocery store and stocked up!  Here's what's on the menu for this Wintery week... :)

Blueberry Muffins http://glutenfreesimplygood.blogspot.com/2015/02/gluten-free-blueberry-muffins.html

Spaghetti with this fabulous sauce...   http://glutenfreesimplygood.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-best-sauce.html

Chili Beans http://glutenfreesimplygood.blogspot.com/2012/01/gf-chili-beans.html

Potato Soup http://glutenfreesimplygood.blogspot.com/2011/11/potato-soup.html

Cheese Burgers and Baked Beans http://glutenfreesimplygood.blogspot.com/2015/02/simply-scrumptious-baked-beans.html

Gluten Free Greek Hamburger Steak and Potatoes

There's a great local Greek restaurant here that serves an amazing Greek Hamburger Steak.  This is a hamburger steak topped with tomato sauce and feta and served with greek potatoes.  WOW! I thought this dish would be easy to do at home, and it's so yummy!!

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
salt
pepper
gluten free worchestershire sauce
chili powder

gluten free pasta sauce (I use Classico Tomato Basil)
Feta cheese

2-3 russet potatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper
oregano
GF Greek dressing

Directions for Greek Hamburger Steak
In large bowl, combine ground beef, a few dashes salt and pepper, a few dashes Worcestershire sauce, and a couple dashes chili powder.  Mix with hands till well combined.  Form meat into patties.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Cook patties on one side 6 minutes, then flip and cook for 6-7 minutes more, till done.

Move hamburger patties to individual plates and top each with heated tomato sauce and feta.

Directions for Greek potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash potatoes and cut them into small-medium pieces. Place potatoes in large bowl.  Coat with a little olive oil, a few dashes salt and pepper and oregano. Stir till potatoes are coated well.

Place potatoes in single layer in baking pan, or dish (cooks best in a stoneware baking piece).
If you're not using stone bakeware, be sure to line pan with foil.

Cook potatoes in oven for 8-10 minutes, then turn potatoes and cook for about 8 minutes more, or until softened. Watch carefully, as they can burn quickly.

When done, move potatoes to a bowl, coat with a little Greek dressing and toss.

Serve with hamburger steak.

Gluten Free Broccoli Casserole

I have made Paula Deen's broccoli casserole for years.  It's so delicious!  With a few adjustments it can be made gluten free! Here's the simple recipe...


Ingredients:
2 10 oz packages of frozen broccoli florets cooked and drained
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 carton Pacific Foods GF Organic condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups crushed gluten free crackers (I use Glutino original)
2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Chop cooked broccoli into small pieces
In large bowl, combine broccoli, mayo , cheese, soup and eggs.  Mix well with spoon.
Spray 9 X13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Place the mixture in baking dish.
Top with crushed GF crackers and pour the melted butter over crackers.
Bake for 35 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

Linked to Gluten Free Wednesdays at glutenfreehomemaker.com