Berry Waffles

Sunday mornings are meant for just a few things in my book: church, relaxing, a luscious brunch and relishing company of family and friends.  Going gluten free sadly means most brunches out can be off limits - at least the ones with pancakes and waffles involved.  But these waffles are, well, awesome!  They took me right back down memory lane to eating breakfast at Big Boy on vacations and ordering their strawberry belgian waffles <3

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal/flour
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 Tbsp golden flax seed meal (optional)
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar or raw sugar
• 1 Tbsp applesauce (or 1 Tbsp oil)
• 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or real milk)
• 1 cup liquid eggs or 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberries pureed (optional)
• 1/2 cup blueberries (optional)

Note: to make regular waffles (not gluten free), replace the gluten free flour and almond flour with 1.5 cups regular all purpose flour and skip the xanthan gum.

Instructions:

1) In a bowl, mix the following: flour, almond flour, xanthan gum, flax, chia, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar (basically all dry ingredients until the applesauce)

2) Then add in the liquid/wet ingredients and continue to mix: applesauce, milk, eggs, and extract

3) After the wet and dry ingredients are mixed through with no lumps in the batter, add the berries which are optional of course.  The batter will then look like the batter below.

4) Heat up your waffle iron and once it's ready, pour small amounts of your batter in depending on the size of your waffle iron.  Ours is about 1 cup per 4 waffle squares.

5) Cook the waffles per your waffle iron's instructions

6) Serve the waffles with a fruit compote and powdered sugar or syrup or honey or jam - whichever way you love your waffles!

Brandy Flambéd Fruit

Some nights after a good run, a protein shake is the go-to recovery.  Other times, a piece of chocolate.  This time, strawberries and banana flambéd in brandy served atop mango sorbet.  It also helps that this evening's menu was a "girl's dinner for one". 

Tonight's run was actually pretty good for the both of us, timewise that is.  Both the dog and I are terrified of darkness - no joke.  You've never seen a dog "go tinkle" quicker than our dog when it's pitch black outside.  Add fireworks to that mix and it's over.  Anywho...  the fright in both of us resulted in knocking 2 minutes off our overall usual time.  Wonder what my time would be if I did one of the Halloween night time zombie runs?  I think I'd have an anxiety attack before I finished or who knows, new PR perhaps.

Ingredients for ONE serving:

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 7 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1/4 c. brandy
• Matches or lighter
• 1/2 c. mango sorbet

Directions:

1) In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat

2) Once butter is melted, add in the brown sugar

3) Once the sugar has melted into the butter and created a brown, bubbly syrup, add in the strawberries & bananas.  Stir the sugar syrup so it covers all of the fruit.

5) Continue cooking fruit until the strawberries start to become translucent and starting to form a compote (thick fruit syrup sauce and fruit is is beginning to fall apart)

6) Now for the fun part!!!  Add the brandy to the sauce pan.  Grab your lighter or match and light the brandy.  (Disclaimer - don't be the fool to put your face near the pan).  Wow your dinner guests by turning the lights off and enjoying the fire show.  It will take about 2 minutes for the alcohol to completely burn through.

7) In a dessert dish or glass, place in 2 scoops of a fruit sorbet (or a GF cake slice, cupcake, shortcake, etc).

8) Over the sorbet (or base delicacy of your choice), pour the fruit and sauce.  Grab a small spoon.

9) Find a comfortable chair, lean back, & enjoy :-)

Chicken Chili Verde

Most households have a standard go-to chili recipe they stick to and maybe two recipes - one for a white chicken chili and and one for regular chili.  We mix ours up a little bit and this particular chili has more of a Tex-Mex flare.  Instead of kidney beans, there's pinto beans.  The chicken thighs used in this recipe soak in the chile verde savoriness and they shred apart into tender pieces before serving. And the starch from the beans nicely thickens the broth.  Let me say though, the Herdez Cooking sauces that we just found are just absolutely scrumptious!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1-2 cans pinto beans, drained & rinsed (amount of beans will depend on your tastes)
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 jar of Herdez Tomatillo Verde Cooking Sauce (love these sauces!)
• 1 Tbsp of chicken bouillon
• 2-3 c. water 

Directions:

1) Add all ingredients into slow cooker

2) Cook on low for 8-10 hours until chicken thighs are tender and easily shred apart.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Chinese take-out, oh how I miss Chinese take out!  But it is certainly not gluten free... usually.  There's some chic take-out restaurants that certainly are, but I'm talking about the one in the neighborhood that you call after a long day of work and class to indulge in egg rolls, orange chicken, and pepper steak stir fry!  This is one of those recipes that certainly makes an adequate substitute, satiates the craving, AND is just as quick and convenient!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ribeye steak 
• 1.5 green peppers, sliced
• 1.5 small onions or 1 medium onion, slices
• 2 spring onions/scallions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp beef bouillon & 1 c. water OR 1 c. beef broth
• 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1) Set up your slow cooker in a trusty spot on the kitchen counter

2) Prep your rib-eye steak by trimming off the fat and slicing into thin 1" strips.

3) Add the steak, onion, scallion, and peppers into the slow cooker

4) In a cup, mix the broth/water, salt, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic, and corn starch.  make sure it's cool/cold water and not warm!  Otherwise the corn starch will not dissolve.

5) Pour the sauce over the pepper steak and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

6) Enjoy over noodles or rice or all by itself when it's ready :-)

Turkey Provencal Stew

 

Friday night we intended to go to the Cheesecake Factory that opened up about a year ago near us, thinking the wait time would at least finally be less than one hour.  Wrong...  1 hour plus.  That is an improvement over when it opened though, three hour wait times back then.  So, maybe we'll try again but for that next time, going for a run beforehand and not having a pre-dinner snack will not be an option.  We were famished.  Olive Garden was pretty close and they have a GF menu there!  I ended up having their newer chicken abruzzi (which I will have to replicate in the future).  But this is a quick twist on that dinner dish, inspired by the ground turkey package hanging out in our fridge that had to be consumed stat!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic & onion
• 1 can white cannellini beans
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 3 c. chopped baby spinach

Instructions:

1) In a saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the turkey and garlic until the turkey is cooked through.

2) Add in the tomatoes, beans, seasoning, & broth and turn the heat down to low-medium.  Let the broth simmer for 5-10 minutes.

3) Add in the spinach into the broth and let simmer for about 5 more minutes until the spinach is tender.  

4) Serve up the stew and enjoy with a salad.

Marinara Eggs

Marinara sauce and eggs, twisted combination right?  I talked about this in class and some classmates thought it sounded like one of those concoctions someone would make when their fridge is completely void of everything but eggs & pasta sauce.  Honestly, wish this was a combination I would have conjured up a few more years ago.  Started out with with a Pinterest combination of marinara and egg and it's evolved into a little bit more.   A quick version of this (sans veggies) is also a go-to breakfast for me on the mornings I work out before work.  Breakfast bakes and I get attempt to stay fit.

Ingredients for One Serving:

• 1/4 c. marinara sauce
• 1/2 c. chopped baby spinach
• 1/4 c. chopped bell peppers
• 1/8 c. dairy free cheese of choice
• 2 eggs or 1/2 c. liquid eggs

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375F

2) In small casserole dish, pour in marinara sauce

3) Over marina, add in spinach, peppers

4) Add shredded cheese on top of veggies

5) Pour eggs on top

6) Place dish in oven & bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool (the marina sauce will be bubbling) for a few minutes and indulge!

Italian Quiche

Breakfast is one of those meals you can eat for, well, breakfast but also for lunch, dinner, brunch, midnight snack, 3 am, preworkout munchies, late night munchies, pretty much anytime.  That reminds me.... oh yes, bagel bites, pizza on a bagel you can have a bagel anytime....  

Anywho, we've made this tasty pie for almost any meal and the wonderful thing about it is between the 2 of us, there are usually a few slices leftover for the next day.  This is also a dish you can bake on Sunday night, pre-slice, and heat up throughout the week to have an actual breakfast before you head out the door for work or school.

Ingredients:

• 1 gluten free crust, either a pre-shaped one or the dough (Whole Foods is a good store and most also carry the Pillsbury GF pastry/pie dough by the cinna-rolls in the fridge section)
• 1 roll of Jenni-O breakfast turkey sausage (or any other sausage, breakfast meat of you're liking)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 4-6 basil leaves, finely chopped
• 1-3 basil leaves (for garnish)
• 1/2 c. to 1 c. dairy free cheddar cheese
• 6 eggs or 1.5 c. liquid eggs
• 1 tomato, sliced

Directions:

1) Prepare the GF crust, either rolling it out onto a pie dish or just removing it from the freezer and defrosting.  You can also mix your own pie dough from any GF pie crust recipe.

2) With a fork, poke the bottom of the crust about 10 times

3) Bake the crust per the crust instructions for about 10 minutes

4)  While the crust is baking...in a non-stick saucepan, over medium heat, saute the onion and sausage until the sausage is cooked through.

5) Pull the crust out of the oven.  Heat oven to 350F if not already at this temperature.

6) Add the sausage and onion into the crust.

7) Add the baby spinach, dairy free cheese, and 1/2 of the chopped basil to the crust

8) Pour the eggs over the mixture into the crust.

9) Arrange the sliced tomato over the crust (like pepperoni on a pizza) and sprinkle the remainder of the basil over the eggs and tomato.

10) Place the egg pie into the oven at 350F and bake for 45 minutes.

11) Once the quiche is done, garnish with a few basil leaves in the center for presentation ;-)  OR grab fork and eat directly out of pie tin....  

Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta

This is a dish that I made over the summer, as zucchini squash was starting to come into season and our basil plant was flourishing.  It was zesty dish that satisfied my love of seafood and just lemony enough that my husband didn't have his "sour patch" face on.  (yes, you all know the bitter/sour pucker face I'm speaking off). The is a dish that is light and filling at the same time, with a good blend of nutrients fresh in season.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box of gluten free spaghetti or other pasta (brown rice pasta we've found tastes best)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium sweet/yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 c. white mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 lb shrimp (peeled & tail off)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp dried basil or 6 fresh basil leaves finely chopped

Directions:

1) Cook the pasta per the box's directions w/ the salt in the water - the rest of the work will be done while the pasta is cooking.  (Caution: some GF pastas are quick to cook and some are rather slow, just plan accordingly.  The rest of the recipe from here takes about 15 minutes if everything is already rinsed and cut).

2) Over medium heat, warm the EVOO and add the onion, garlic, mushroom, & zucchini.  Saute until the onion in translucent and the zucchini is tender.

3) Season the shrimp with the lemon pepper seasoning and add into pan with the veggies, turn heat down to medium.

4)  Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and continue to cook until shrimp are opaque.

5) Add in the basil and saute until wilted.

6) Drain the pasta (assuming it's al dente) and plate.  Place shrimp & veggie mixture over the pasta and enjoy to your heart's content.

Company Roast in Red Wine

If there's one slow cooker meal everyone should know how to cook, it's a classic pot roast.  Whether you are married, single, engaged, or live in a house with friends this is one dinner that can wow your future mother in law, boss, neighborhood house warming party, or spouse to be.  Let me tell you, there is nothing more comforting than coming home to the aroma of a roast (or a ham) that's been cooking away throughout the day.  It's a scent that brings back memories of grandmothers, holidays, hot cocoa, blankets, and fireplaces... in other words, it's a smell that surrounds you in a blanket of comfort.

My spin on the pot roast is that I roast mine in red wine, beef broth, and add rosemary to the mix. Instead of red wine, a good dark stout is also a great base for a tasty broth.

Ingredients:

• 1 chuck roast or other beef roast cut - about 4-6 oz per individual
• 1 small bag baby carrots or 5-6 large carrots chopped.  Usually about 10 baby carrots per individual or 2 carrots.
• 6-8 small chopped red potatoes (or about 2-3 per individual)
• 2 small sweet onions, chopped
• 2 c. beef broth (or 2 tsp beef bouillon and 2 c. water)
• 1/2 c. red table wine (cabernet, merlot, etc -  as long as it's not a sweet blend) OR 1/2 bottle of a dark stout such as Guinness.  The wine is a gluten free option, the stout is not.
• 1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions:

1) Typically, in a skillet over medium high heat, you should start by browning each side of the roast.  This takes about 5 minutes.  If you're in a pinch, you can skip this step.  Browning the sides of the roast seals in the juices into the meat.  Honestly, I skip this step about 1/2 of the time.

2) Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook for 5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.

3) Serve veggies & slices of roast on a plate with broth.  

4) Dijon mustard on the side for dipping and mixing with broth is a wicked tasty combination. 

Pumpkin Almond Raisin Muffins

These muffins are just an alternate spin on the pumpkin apple muffins made the same night.  The picture above actually show 1 of each muffin (apple on the left, raisin on the right)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. eggs/egg whites/egg beaters or 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 c. honey OR 1/2 c. truvia sweetener
• 4 Tbsp butter OR 1/4 c. applesauce
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
•  1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 1/2 c. almond flour
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
• 2 Tbs flax (optional)
• 1/4 c. raisins, golden or regular
• 1/4 c. dried cranberries, such as craisins
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325F and add liners to 12 muffin cups

2) In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients through the ginger (do not add flour, chia, flax, & apples)

3) After the pumpkin puree is mixed through and smelling of fall spices, add in the flour, raisins, & almonds. Also add in chia and flax if you decided to add that in too.

4) Put about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the mix in each muffin tin (as seen below)

5) Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top.   The ones below are about what they should look like when they're all done.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Fall is still about a week away, but you can smell the crispness of autumn in the air, the leaves are starting to change, all the neighborhood kids are in school, and Starbucks has their pumpkin spice flavor out.  Last week I spent part of the day at Blake's Orchard in Michigan picking apples, berries, peppers and wine tasting with one of my best girlfriends.  These pumpkin muffins are inspired by the orchard and a stop at Yankee Candle earlier today where everything smelled of pumpkin!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. eggs/egg whites/egg beaters or 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 c. honey OR 1/2 c. truvia sweetener
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 Tbsp butter OR 1/4 c. applesauce
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
•  1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 1/2 c. almond flour
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
• 2 Tbs flax (optional)
• 3 small apples chopped, granny smith work best

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325F and add liners to 12 muffin cups

2) In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients through the ginger (do not add flour, chia, flax, & apples)

3) After the pumpkin puree is mixed through and smelling of fall spices, add in the flour and apples. Also add in chia and flax if you decided to add that in too.

4) Put about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the mix in each muffin tin (as seen below)

5) Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top.   The ones below are about what they should look like when they're all done.

6) Enjoy the muffins for either breakfast or dessert. 

Slow Cooker Spinach Meatballs and Spaghetti Squash

And the slow cooker makes a solid comeback for the fall school semester.  We're using our slow cooker 1-2 times per week and usually get 2-3 rounds of meals from it.  We're getting pretty good at substituting noodles with spaghetti squash or some nights I have the spaghetti squash and hubby has regular pasta, which makes us both happy.  The nice thing about the slow cooker is there's really only one extra pot that gets dirty in making some old fashioned pasta.

This turkey meatballs got a solid A at the dinner table with a request to repeat, so that must be a sign of goodness.

Pasta Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small red onion - chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 zucchini squash - chopped (optional, in season, added nutrition)
• 1 ~15 oz can italian style stewed tomatoes
• 1 large can diced tomatoes with garlic
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano

Turkey Meatball Ingredients

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped baby spinach
• 1/2 chopped red onion
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup dairy free mozzarella cheese
• 3 Tbsp liquid egg or 1 egg
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano

Slow Cooker - Additional Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, chopped in have and scooped out

Pasta Sauce Directions

1) Place a medium pot over medium high heat and add extra virgin olive oil

2) Once oil is hot, add in the onion and garlic, stir for about a minute.  Should start to become translucent.  

3) Add in the zucchini squash and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

4) Last step in the sauce, add in the two cans of tomatoes and spices, then lower the heat to low-medium.  Let the sauce simmer while preparing the turkey meatballs.

Turkey Meatball Directions

1) Mix all ingredients in a bowl and roll into small balls, about 1.5" in diameter.. or whatever size you like meatballs.

2) Heat a skillet over medium heat and add cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil.  Place meatballs in skillet and brown around sides.  The browning will keep the meatballs together.  If you use ground beef instead of turkey, you can likely skip this step since the meat has a higher fat content and will bind together.

Slow Cooker Instructions

1) Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds

2) Place the spaghetti squash open face down in the slow cooker.  Pour in the simmering pasta sauce.  Then add in the turkey meatballs.  At this point, should look like it does below.  A few of the meatballs may be "extra browned" (oops)

3) Place the slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours. 

4) 8-10 hours later, take the spaghetti squash out of the slow cooker and scoop out the strands.  Serve the squash as you would spaghetti on a plate.  Then top off with meatballs and sauce.  Serve warm and enjoy a plate or bowl of comfort food without the guilt.