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 :)

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

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.

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!

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!



Linked to Gluten Free Wednesdays at glutenfreehomemaker.com

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

Slow Cooker Gluten Free BBQ Meatballs

I have always wanted to try a slow cooker meatball recipe.  When I found this one on Pinterest,  I just had to try it!

The original recipe comes from iheartnaptime.net  With only 3 ingredients that can easily be found gluten free, it's a winner!! Perfect for an appetizer or anytime!

1 18 oz GF BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray BBQ Sauce)
1 18 oz GF grape jelly (I used our local Ingles Market Brand, it had GF on the label)
2 packages Cooked Perfect GF Frozen Meatballs (about 50)

Directions:
Combine BBQ sauce and grape jelly in slow cooker. Stir till well mixed.

Pour in frozen meatballs

Stir to coat meatballs in sauce

Cover and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hrs.

Enjoy!


Linked to Gluten Free Wednesday at http://glutenfreehomemaker.com

Gluten Free Country Style Steak with Gravy

Here's one of my family's favorite recipes! Super simple and yummy! Great with mashed potatoes or rice! 

GF Country Steak with Gravy

2 pounds. beef cubed steak
GF Flour, enough to dredge steak (I use Betty Crocker all purpose GF rice flour)
Olive oil, enough to use for browning steak
Salt and pepper
1 carton Pacific Naturals Organic GF condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pkg GF brown gravy mix (I use Simply Organic Brown Gravy Mix)
Water (1 soup carton full)
Salt and pepper to taste

Dredge the cubed steak in flour and brown in vegetable oil just until brown on both sides.
Salt and pepper the steak just a little while browning. 
Place browned steak in a greased 9x13 dish.
In separate bowl, mix together the GF cream of chicken soup, gravy mix and water. Whisk thoroughly until blended.
Pour over steak. 
Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Gluten Free Pizza...Yum!

When I went gluten free,  I  just gave up pizza.  There are lots of from scratch GF crust recipes out there, but I had not given any of them a try. So  I was thrilled to pieces when I found Udi's GF pizza crust.  I've made pizza with this crust a number of times, always with turkey pepperoni.  But last night I made it with GF Italian bulk sausage, and it was sooooo delicious! Here are the simple ingredients I used, but you can add whatever GF toppings you like!

1 Udi's GF pizza crust
Classico Traditional Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce in the jar (or whatever GF sauce you like)
1 lb GF Italian Bulk Sausage, cooked and drained(I used Ingles Market brand...says GF right on the label :))
Mozzarella Cheese Block grated (as much as you like)

Sit out crust to thaw.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place crust on baking sheet
Cover crust with some of the pasta sauce
Sprinkle cooked sausage evenly over pizza
Grate cheese over top

Place in oven and bake according to Udi's crust directions, about 7 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted on top.  I bake mine on a Pampered Chef stone pan, and cook it about 10 minutes, just watch it closely.

Let cool, slice, and enjoy!!

Linked to Allergy Free Wednesdays http://laurasglutenfreepantry.com/

Jalapeno Cheddar Grilled Cheese....my new favorite GF sandwich!

A while back I ran across this recipe for a Jalapeno Cheddar Grilled Cheese Sandwich at As Good As Gluten, and since then it's become my favorite GF sandwich!  WOW is it yummy!  Here's the oh so delicious link to this fabulous sandwich...

http://asgoodasgluten.blogspot.com/2012/04/jalapeno-cheddar-grilled-cheese.html

Here's what I use...
2 slices of Udi's gluten free sandwich bread 
·2 tsp butter
·3-4 slices of cheddar cheese cut from block
·as much Philadelphia Neufchatel cream cheese as you like :)
·6-10 slices of pickled jalapenos (I use Mt Olive Brand)

I will say that trying to cook the sandwich in a skillet can get a bit messy, with the flipping and all, and I've found that the cheese doesn't quite melt all the way....so I cheat a little.  I melt some butter in the pan and brown just the two slices of bread on one side.  Then I move the bread to a plate, add the ingredients (as much of each as you like) and assemble...

Spread an even layer of cream cheese on one piece of bread.  top with jalapenos, then cheese slices.  Top with other piece of bread. Then stick that baby in the microwave for about a minute ....the result....ooey, gooey cheesy goodness.  I love to dip my sandwich in a little GF Ranch dressing  sometimes too! Enjoy!


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

GF "Smothered" Nachos

One of my favorite Southern Living recipes before going GF was the Smothered Enchiladas. Here's the original recipe from Southern Living http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smothered-enchiladas-10000001033063/

I found this recipe again when I was going through some things recently and saw how easy it would be to make it gluten free with just a little tweaking! To make it even easier, I just threw all the ingredients together the other night and served it with nachos...turned out tasty!

Here's the recipe...

1 pounds ground beef

1-2 tbsp taco seasoning recipe I use this one http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreemixes/r/gftacoseasoning.htm

Mt Olive diced jalapenos

1 container Pacific Natural Foods GF cream of chicken soup

1 8 oz. sour cream

1-2 cups Cheddar cheese grated

GF nachos

GF Salsa

Brown ground beef in a large skillet until is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in taco seasoning and cook on low till combined; set aside.

Stir together soup, sour cream, and some diced jalapenos...careful, adding too many will make it spicy!

Pour half of soup mixture into a small baking dish.

Spoon beef mixture evenly over soup mixture.

Top evenly with remaining soup mixture and cheese.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Once cheese is melted, cover with foil for a bit so cheese won't burn. Then remove foil the last few minutes of baking.

Spoon some onto plate, pour salsa on top if desired, and serve with GF nachos.

Oh so simple... Black Bean Soup

For lunch today, I just tried this incredibly easy black bean soup recipe from Carol at Simply Gluten Free....Unbelievably simple and sooooo delicious! I did not have any fresh limes so I left the lime juice out, but it was delicious even without it! After pouring it into the bowl, I crumbled some GF tortilla chips in the soup too...

Here's a link to the recipe

http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2009/11/blender-black-bean-soup.html

Stuffed Peppers....oh my goodness!

I found this little gem on one of the recipe swaps last week and couldn't wait to try it out....

Of course, for me to try a recipe, it has to...

1. look delicious

2. have ingredients that I've actually heard of

3. have simple steps!

This recipe is all three! The steps really are simple, there are just quite a few of them. But don't let that scare you away... I promise you, the end result is TOTALLY worth it! ...And Hubby loved it too!

I stuck to the original recipe with a few minor changes. Instead of the cayenne pepper, I used a couple of dashes of red pepper flakes that I had on hand. I used dried minced garlic and added some salt and pepper. I grated part of a block of Monterrey Jack cheese and just diced up some jalapenos on top of the cheese.

I also got a little carried away and put the cheese and diced jalapenos on before baking the peppers instead of waiting till the last 5 minutes, but they still turned out great. Just make sure you cover the peppers while they bake. Then I just removed the foil and baked a few minutes longer.

I cut this recipe in half and still had enough filling for 6 pepper halves. I just added a little more crushed tomatoes to the meat mixture when cooking.

As always, just make sure all the brands you use are GF! 

Here's the fabulous recipe with beautiful step by step pics too!

http://mamaldiane.com/?p=1210

Enjoy!

This recipe is linked to...

http://glutenfreehomemaker.com