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!

My Favorite Cabbage Recipe

I had never eaten cabbage in my life, until we went over to a friend's house for dinner one night many years back.  She had cooked cabbage as a side dish.  Not wanting to be rude I tried it...fully expecting to HATE it...but oh my goodness, it was amazing!  So ever since then I have loved it.

A while back I thought I'd give it a try.  So I took to the internet to find the perfect cabbage recipe....and I found it!  This comes from Divas Can Cook and it's just awesome! And they even provide video instructions! I couldn't mess this up!

Now I do add more seasoned salt and pepper than the recipe says, I find it gives it even more yummy flavor!

Here's the fabulous recipe from the Divas!

http://divascancook.com/southern-cabbage-recipe/

Conquering Cross Contamination in my Shared Kitchen

I am the only one in my family with Celiac Disease, so I have to share my kitchen with gluten everyday! I'm always careful to wipe down counters and never share utensils between gluten free and non gluten free dishes...For the most part all the family meals I cook are completely gluten free, even though hubby and kiddos don't have to be.  I've tried lately to be even more aware of gluten cross contamination.  Here are a few more tips to conquer it...

Straighten and reorganize pantry...  I keep gluten free items separate from gluten items.  We have one large pantry, so I put the gluten free items at the top and the gluten items down near the bottom. I also wipe the shelves down with a damp cloth every so often, to catch any crumbs that might be floating around. With 3 kids, it's a little tricky keeping it straight, but it can be done :)

Keep some gluten free utensils separate...Even though the utensils in the drawer are clean, with little hands reaching in to grab forks and spoons, gluten crumbs seem to find their way into the utensil drawer.  So I keep some utensils separate just for me :) I also keep some utensils for GF cooking separate too.

Use dedicated gluten free pans and spatulas...  Have a separate baking sheet for gluten free foods. If your pans are like mine they get darker and worn, and even though you wash them, they can harbor gluten.  Plastic spatulas are also something I've noticed that tend to wear down and become great places for gluten to hide! I also like to have some dedicated cookware that's just for gluten free foods.

What steps do you take to conquer gluten cross contamination in your shared kitchen?

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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