BJ's Brewhouse

Tonight we went out as a family and had dinner at BJ's Brewhouse.
We've wanted to take our boy there for some time to try the Gluten Free Pizza!
He loved it. Gobbled down about 4 pieces. Then we got a Gluten Free Pizookie, too.

I loved both the things our son got. I always try it myself, because if I wouldn't eat it, I wouldn't expect HIM to eat it. (Believe me, there have been things that have NOT passed the mommy test.)

Just to entice you to go and try it--- I've got some pictures from BJ's of the things we ate... (of course my son's pizza was pepperoni, and light on cheese.)

Corn Breaded Tilapia

Quick and Easy. I was out of time and patience tonight!

Ingredients:
5 filets of Tilapia
oil
dried dill
cajun seasoning
lemon pepper
corn flake crumbs
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

For the sides seen here:
Rice
1/2 a lemon (I just squeeze the lemon into my rice before I cook it.)

Salad:
Spinach
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse and pat dry your filets of Tilapia. (Use paper towels, and just throw them away!)

Pour about a 1/2 cup of corn flake crumbs into your blender and blend till fine grit. (Thank you husband for use of your hands to show the difference...)

Put your dill, lemon pepper and cajun seasoning in with the crumbs, mix well.

Sprinkle on top of your fish. Bake in a greased casserole dish till fish flakes (it depends on your thickness of the filet, ours took about 12 minutes). I also poured a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on top of my filets for a brown crisp on top.

Just before the fish is done, for the portions you want with cheese, sprinkle on top.
Serve over rice, with soy sauce substitute. (Tamari, Bragg's or your brand of choice.)

For the salad, I chopped my peppers, put them on top of my spinach. In a cup (with lid) I put equal parts oil and vinegar with some salt and pepper. Shake well, and pour on salad.

Mandarin Salad by Kaydence

I developed this recipe because I was craving Asian food!

Restaurants are not an option since all the food cooked there has soy sauce with wheat in it. If you happen to find a wheat free dressing anywhere most likely the salad has meat in it. So I created a salad and dressing to satiate my craving.

   

{It seems a little cliche to be using tofu, because I'm one of the vegetarians who is always ragging on people who take out meat and animals products from their diet and just replace them all with GMO soy products. Soy in large amounts isn't good for you, and GMO soy in any amount isn't good for you. But, organic tofu in moderation can be a good source of protein.}

You will need:

1 14 oz package of EXTRA FIRM Organic Tofu

1 14 oz package uncooked rice noodles

5-10 oz of slivered almonds (depending on your preference)

2 10 oz jars of Mandarin Oranges (yes, you can use cans, but I try to avoid them because of the BPA)

1 pound of greens (whatever you like, but I use dark greens for more nutrition)

Olive or Canola oil for sautéing

For the dressing:

1/2 cup toasted sesame oil (you can use olive oil, but this will give it a deeper Asian taste)

2 Tbs. Tamari (wheat free soy sauce, check your labels, always! Soy sauce always has wheat in it unless it's labeled as gluten free)

1/4 cup agave syrup (honey would work too)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 cloves of garlic slightly chopped

1-2 tbls FRESH ginger slightly chopped (just eyeball two pieces that are about the size of your thumb)

Firstly, get out your tofu and cut it into half inch cubes. You have to use extra firm or it won't stay in cubes. Set it on some paper towel to let the moisture out a little. Put a shallow skillet on the pan. Add a little oil to the bottom (olive or organic canola will work) and then add in the tofu cubes in one level. Turn the heat on to medium and let the cubes start browning (you don't want to heat the pan first or the moisture from the wet tofu will cause the oil to splatter if you drop it in the hot oil). When they get brown (about five minutes) turn them over gently and them them brown on the other side for another five. Once they are brown on both sides they won't crumble and you can gently stir them and flip them to make sure they get covered. Turn the heat to medium low and let sit for a couple more minutes. When you are done, drain on a plate with paper towel. 

Get out your rice noodles, you will only need about 1/4-1/3 of the package. Break into little 2 inch-ish pieces. Add a little more oil to the same pan - until the bottom is covered but the oil isn't deep- maybe a scant 1/4 cup. On medium heat, add enough rice noodles to cover the bottom of the pan, don't over-layer. They will puff up beautifully. Put them on paper towel to drain. Do the next batch and so on until you have puffed all of your noodles. While those things are draining and cooling down, make your dressing.

Put all the ingredients listed above for dressing into the blender and give it a whirl until everything is thoroughly mixed and there are no chunks of garlic or ginger.

When I make this salad I dump all my greens into a bowl, add the almonds, mandarin oranges, tofu and rice noodles and then pour all the dressing on and toss because my family will eat the whole bowl. But if you want to save some leftovers, have everyone top their salads with the dressing separately so that the crispy noodles don't get soggy. 

An easy refreshing salad! 

From Kaydence's Kitchen

click on any picture to enlarge

Summer Sausage Pasta

Ok, so I know this is a strange recipe... you see, I bought a HUGE Summer Sausage, then my husband bought another... so I had to do something with them! I'd also had a very long day, so I needed an easy recipe.

Here we go...
1/2 Summer Sausage, cut into slices, then strips.
2 zucchini cut into halves and sliced.
1 bag Gluten Free pasta (I used Penne)
3 Tbsp Italian Dressing

I put the noodles in to start cooking... in the meanwhile I diced and sliced. I threw my sausage and zucchini in a skillet. I let them cook till the sausage was sweating and starting to get a tiny bit brown.
After the noodles were cooked I drained them and threw them in the skillet and doused the entire thing with Italian dressing. I did top mine and hubby's with some Parmesan cheese. It was super easy. It was good. The kids ate it well, they'd had cookies an hour before dinner so no second servings. It was tasty, and I really like the summer sausage heated. It seems to have a bit more oil in it, but I've even had it in hash browns with eggs, that's good, too!

Bisquick Pancakes

I'll never forget the day that my friend Paige facebooked that Bisquick was now making GLUTEN FREE mix!!! Wow! 

I rushed out to try it. I must tell you, we use soy milk and it's still great! Pancakes and waffles are really good with this mix! (I didn't like the biscuits at all, the strawberry shortcake was passable, but not wonderful.) Just follow the directions on the box. 1 egg, 1 cup mix, 1 cup milk, and oil. Easy Peesy!

 {not that you asked, but we use Bestlife Buttery Spread as our butter. It's got no icky stuff in it.}

Sesame Chicken Pasta & Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable broth

3 TBS Sesame Oil (2 for pasta, 1 for peas)

Red Pepper Flakes

Gluten Free Pasta (any kind, tonight I used the amaranth, rice, quinoa blend)

Bragg's Liquid Amino 

Sam Choy's Hawaiian Dressing

1 can Chicken

Sugar Snap Peas

1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper

Pasta Recipe
I threw the noodle water on to start boiling while I started the sugar snap peas.
Cook the noodles till al dente, while the noodles cook, start 2 TBS sesame oil in a skillet, with 1 can chicken, carrots and celery. Add 2 tsp Bragg's, 2 TBS Sam Choy, and the red pepper flakes (use discretion with the red pepper flakes, if you have children, go easy!). Last add 1/2 cup Vegatable broth. Let cook for a short amount of time. Your noodles should be completely done, and you throw them in to your sauce mix. Toss together and serve.


Sugar Snap Peas & Peppers
For the peas I did 1 TBS sesame oil, 1/2 red bell pepper, and 1 cup peas in a skillet. I cooked them till tender and hot.

How they ate it: 

My oldest, and best eater, ate all her pasta- and tried the peas, but didn't like them.

My Son, ate the noodles. Meticulasly sat there, picking each noodle out. 

My baby, ate bites, but really didn't eat much and didn't try the peas. (This is common for her at this stage, she prefers fries, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs. All my kids go through this picky phase.)

Why Blog?!

I've been asked a MILLION or more times "how do you do it?!" or "what do you eat?!"
THAT'S why I've decided to blog. Mostly, I have a standard email that I send out to people who are considering trying going gluten free. Or if I'm asked in person, I say things like "oh, we eat tacos..."
I want to have a place where I can SEND people to SEE what we eat. I want them to know that it's not easy, but it can be yummy and you can do it! I also wanted to blog because I want to keep track of what I cook. When starting out, I couldn't cook at all by "creation mode" where I just throw something together... now I do that ALL the time- and I forget HOW I cooked that yummy meal!! So here we go...

Green Smoothies!

I've been crazy into Green Smoothies lately.

I love them, they give me nutrient that I couldn't possibly eat in a day and they taste great. I am feeling lighter, both weight and in that dragging feeling. I have so much more energy when I drink them, and I feel SO GOOD. I really really really love them.

Everyone's been asking me how I make them... well, here's how.

I use my VitaMix. It's a great blender, really. I honestly LOVE IT. We've even made ice cream in it. It's awesome.

I fill my blender with greens. I cram as much Spinach, Kale, and Collard Greens as I can. I've used Brussel sprouts also, but beware, those can be bitter.

Then I put just a bit of water in it. (like 2 inches in the bottom) Then I blend the greens till it's smooth and there's no more chunks. 

 I add my fruits. Handful of Grapes, handful of Blueberries, 1 Orange, 4-6 Strawberries (depending on size) --green tops and all!, and some Ginger root- about 1/2 inch. 

When the berries are NOT in season I always opt for FROZEN. 

 Add fresh fruit to greens and blend. I increase the speed to 10 pretty quickly, then I run it on HIGH speed for about 1-2 minutes. (or till I think it's all broken down)

Then I add a big cup of ice, and a frozen banana. When I use a fresh banana I add it with the fruit above. When I use Frozen Fruit (in the winter) I omit the ice.

 Blend till smooth completely smooth. 

And there's my day's worth of Green Smoothie. 

Macaroons!!

MACAROONS

1 1/3 cups flaked sweetended coconut

2/3 cups sugar

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp canilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

pinch of salt

4 ounces sliced almonds, crushed.

Chocolate

Parchment Paper

Wax Paper or Tin Foil

In a bowl combine coconut, sugar, egg whites, vanilla, almond extract and salt. Mix well.

Fold in crushed almonds. Cover and refridgerate for 1 hour or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350*. Line baking sheet with Parchment Paper {uh, parchment paper is a must. I did a batch with and one without-- bigger mess without and nicer cookie with!}. Spoon balls of about a Tablespoon onto the sheet about 1 inch apart. 

Bake 15 minutes, or till the tops start to get light brown. Cool cookies. 

{hint: I just slipped the Parchment paper off on to the counter, and did a new batch with new paper, so much faster than waiting!}

Warm your chocolate in a dish, microwave, like 30 seconds, stir, then micro in 15 second intervals till stirs smooth. Pick the cookie up and dip the bottom into the chocolate {or, you can scoop it onto the bottom with a fork, that was faster I thought!} lay chocolate coated cookie onto wax paper or tin foil. I did a little drizzle on the top of the cookie too, for fun. 

Stick 'em in the fridge! Let the chocolate set up, EAT. 

No Milk, No flour, and delicious! The first cookie that's GFCF that my boy is addicted to! 

Hooray! And they are SO EASY TO MAKE! 

Peanut Butter Cookies

My boy and his friend helped me make cookies.....

The boys helped add the 3 ingredients to the mixer:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

Then the boys rolled our dough into balls...

When we finally got a FULL pan of cookie balls, we criss-crossed them with a fork.

Then baked them for 10-12 minutes at 350*

After we let them cool fully, we added chocolate drizzle. 

YUM. 

Chocolate Goodness.

WE LOVE THIS.

It's so easy. It's what I make when the kids are begging for a treat, but I don't have much time...


Yuummm.....
1 cup peanut butter, 1 bag chocolate chips. Melt on stovetop. Add in 2 cups rice krispys. Stir till combined. Then put it on wax paper and throw it in the fridge. Cut or break off your piece.


Totally Gluten Free.
Totally delish.

Garlic Fries... Oh, MY!

Delicious!! Seriously. You have to try these! It's easy! 
{note: I never ever measure, so just add a little more or little less as you see fit!}
2-3 tsp salt 
2-3 tsp garlic salt 
4 tsp of oil
1 stick of margarine
5 minced garlic cloves

Put the salt, garlic salt & oil in a ziplock with defrosted freezer fries. (just leave them on the counter to defrost!) Shake till well coated! Bake at 400* for about 25-35 minutes (watch them so they don't burn, your time will depend on the type of cookie sheet you use.) When they get out of the oven, set them aside. 


In a large skillet put 1 stick of margarine and 5-7 minced garlic cloves, let sautee till tender. (watch them closely so they don't burn!) Then toss the fries in the garlic mixture. Sprinkle with a little more additional Garlic salt (and Parmesan Cheese if you can have milk). ENJOY. Dip in Ranch, or Fry Sauce. 
{ketchup just doesn't do it here for me, but that's what my kids eat it with!}