Easy Gluten Free Living

Archive for the ‘Gluten Free Food’ Category

I really can not believe that this weekend is Mother’s Day.  Where is the year flying to?

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been so busy lately.  Any way I have a gluten free Mother’s Day menu for you.  Because the weather is supposed to be sooo nice this weekend, our Mother’s Day meal will consist of Flat Iron Steaks on the grill, Roasted Garlic Potatoes and fresh Asparagus, from a local farm, roasted in the oven.  YUM!  I can hardly wait.

Here are the recipes.   Hope you enjoy them.  Let me know if you try them:

Grilled Flat-Iron Steak In Sweet Balsamic Marinade

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound flat iron steak, cut into 4 pieces
salt and pepper

In a large glass bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and garlic.  I heat up the balsamic vinegar and worcestershire sauce in the microwave for about 1 minute before adding the brown sugar and garlic.  It helps the sugar to dissolve.  Let cool about 5 minutes.
Add the flat-iron steak to the mixture, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 25 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.   Turn the meat in the bowl several times during the marinading process.
Prepare grill to medium-high heat and oil the grate or prepare a grilling pan for the steak.

Remove steak from the bowl and discard marinade.

Sprinkle both sides of steak with salt and pepper, then place steak on grill, close lid, and cook for just 3 minutes, flip and cook another 3 minutes or until done to your liking.
Remove steak from grill and let the steak rest at room temperature for 5 minutes; covered loosely with a foil tent, but do not close tight.
Cut steaks into very thin slices on the diagonal and serve immediately.

Oven Roasted Garlic Potatoes

4 pounds (about 8 medium) potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
1 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)
2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Place quartered potatoes into a large bowl.  Pour olive oil over top.  Add garlic onion powder, salt, and pepper. 
Stir to combine thoroughly.  Dump out onto a large jelly roll pan. (Those are the ones that look like a cookie sheet
but have 4 sides on them to keep things from falling off.)*

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, flip potatoes and turn oven up to 425 degrees for another 15 minutes.  Potatoes should be golden brown and slightly crispy.

*I only add this because I grew up calling these pans cookie sheets, because my mother called them that.  I didn’t learn they were jelly roll pans until I called them cookie sheets in Home Ec class and got reprimanded by the teacher.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

1 pound fresh Asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash asparagus and break or cut off the woody base end.  Lay the asparagus on a baking sheet (I use my Pampered Chef stoneware) and brush with olive
oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place into the oven uncovered.  Roast for 1/2 hour.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you hard working Moms.  Whether you work outside the home at a J.O.B. or work inside the home being everything to everyone!!

 Am I the only one who has great plans that always seem to get interupted by life?  I live in the country where the nearest supermarket is about 30 minutes away.  Not far but a pain if I only need 1 or 2 things.  We have 2 little markets in the 2 small, (I mean tiny) towns, nearby, but they by no means carry everything.

So I promised you all I was going to make some more gluten-free Girl Scout cookies, but when I went shopping I forgot the Kraft Carmels for the cookies.  No problem, I thought, I’ll just get them at the bigger of the 2 markets. 

When I got there however, they didn’t have any carmels at all, let alone Kraft.  So I went to the other market, no luck there either.  So I made this Chocolate Cake instead.  Hope you enjoy it!

  Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Glaze

• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 Tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
• 1 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 1 Cup unsweetened Cocoa  Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1/4 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9-inch springform pan with gluten free nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.  Spray the paper with cooking spray also, then set the pan aside.

Place 2/3 ( 8 ounces) of the chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.  Stirring often, melt chocolate with the butter until completely blended.  Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.  (You could also use the microwave to melt the butter and the chocolate, if desired.)  Add sugar and mix well.  Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Sift cocoa into bowl and stir until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen and the top has formed a thin crust.  The cake should be just firm in the center when done.  Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, removing the sides of the springform pan.  Remove and discard the parchment paper and set cake aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze.  Melt remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and the 3 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat, then stir in milk, honey and vanilla.  Set aside to cool slightly. 

When cake has cooled, pour glaze onto the center.  Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, very gently smooth glaze along the top and sides of the cake.  Chill cake, uncovered for 30 to 60 minutes before serving to set the glaze and make the cake easier to slice.

So it is time once again for Girl Scout cookies.  One of the things we Celiacs really miss, are Girl Scout cookies,  (or is it just me ).  Today I’m going to share with you a recipe for a Gluten Free Thin Mint cookie that is in my cookbook, Gluten-Free Get-Togethers.

I first made this recipe back in December 2009.  You can see the original blog post here.

I will be making some other Girl Scout cookie recipes (Tagalongs, and Samoas), this weekend and will be posting about them next week.

If you try these cookies let me know what you think of them.

Gluten Free Mock Thin Mints

1 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder + some extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon Rumsford Baking Powder
6 Tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg  brought to room temp.
1/2 teaspoon gluten free Vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter & sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer.  While still mixing add in the egg and vanilla.  Set mixer on low speed and slowly add flour mixture,  so as not to have it pouf out at you.  Mix on medium high speed until all ingredients are incorporated.

Dough will be very soft so cover bowl with plastic wrap and refriderate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  With a teaspoon,  scoop up a teaspoon size piece of dough and roll in your hands to form a ball.  Place on the cookie sheets 2 inches apart.   

Dip the bottom of a glass into the extra cocoa powder and flatten dough balls into 1 1/2? rounds (about 1/4? thick).

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly firm to the touch, rotating cookie sheets half way through baking time.

Transfer cookies immediately to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Replace parchment paper on cookie sheets.

                                  Chocolate Coating for Cookies

One – 12 ounce bag semi sweet morsels
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 Tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a double boiler or a heat proof  bowl,  set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, combine the chocolate morsels, peppermint extract, salt, and the sweetened condensed milk .  Heat,  stirring occasionally until smooth.

When cookies are completely cool, hold each cookie with a finger and thumb and frost with chocolate mixture.  I use the tines of a fork instead of a knife, so as not to get too much chocolate on each cookie.  Coat both top and bottom.  Place frosted cookie on parchment covered cookie sheet and repeat until all cookies are coated.

Place in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened, at least 1 hour.

Cookies can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an air tight container between layers of parchment paper.

Mary

It’s been a little quiet on this blog for the past 2 months, I know.  Right after Halloween I picked up what ever germs my 2 granddaughters had and I’ve been fighting something ever since.

The week before Christmas, I came down with the flu.  I would not wish this on my worst enemy.  Fever, headache, body aches, and just plain miserable.  My poor husband!  I’m hardly ever sick, so I don’t make a very good patient, especially when I have so much to do.

Then New Years weekend, New Years Day to be exact, I started getting a sore throat.  By Monday morning, my throat was so sore I could hardly swallow.  My tonsils were swollen and were a lovely shade of bright red with white spots.

My doctor took a culture for strep and gave me a script for Amoxicillan.  After 2 days on the Amoxicillan, my throat was starting to feel better. 

Needless to say I have been eating a lot of chicken soup lately.    I thought I’d share one of my recipes with you for a twist on good old chicken and noodle or chicken and rice soup.  I hope you like it.

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Soup

(I call it Thanksgiving Soup because the sage in there really makes the soup smell like Thanksgiving stuffing when it’s cooking.)

1/2 cup gluten-free wild rice, (not the kind with pasta included) cooked according to package directions
2 tsp olive oil
3 celery stalks, chopped small
1 onion, diced small
1 tsp dried sage
6 cups homemade or gluten-free store bought turkey or chicken stock
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cut small
1/4 chopped parsley
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

In a large soup pot over medium heat, put olive oil, celery, onions, and sage, cooking until celery and onions are softened, about 4 or 5 minutes.
Pour in the stock, add the cabbage, stir and turn heat down to low, cover pot loosely, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cabbage is soft.
Add the turkey, cooked wild rice, and parsley, and simmer very slowly (without bubbles), uncovered, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar, taste and adjust seasonings, adding more balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper as desired.

The nice thing about this soup is that it is also low carb for all you people on a low carb diet.

                                                               Today brings us to Friday, and our fifth Halloween recipe.  This recipe is for your adult Halloween party, although if you have kids that like deviled eggs, these eyes may just disappear before yours.  

 These devilled eggs are gruesome looking but really taste great and they will be the hit of the party.  For the best bloodshot effect serve them within 2 hours of preparation.

Bloodshot Ghoul Eyes

 What You Need:

• 3 Cup of hot water
• 2 Tablespoon red food coloring
• 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar
• 6 hard boiled eggs, cracked but not peeled
• 1/3 Cup of Kraft mayonnaise (it’s gluten-free)
• 1/4 Cup of green onions, chopped fine
• 2 Tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 2 teaspoon gluten-free Dijon style mustard
• 12 ripe olives, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ketchup Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I have a main dish entree for your Halloween party. 

These witches fingers will really “grab” your guest’s attention.  The Cajun seasoning gives these strips a bold taste while the cornflake covering helps to keep the chicken moist during baking. 

These chicken fingers are really good, but if you are making them for children leave out the cajun seasoning, as it may be too much bite. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is another recipe for you to use at your Halloween Get-Together.  If you’re looking for a recipe for a scary punch you can find the recipe for Icy Spiders in my Punch here. 

There are other Halloween recipes on this site, just go to the recipes page above and look for Halloween.

Halloween Mini Rounds Read the rest of this entry »

I’m back today with another Halloween recipe for you.  Today’s recipe is Ghoulishly Good Banana Chunks and these treats are easy enough to have your little goblins help make them.

Ghoulishly Good Gluten-free  

Banana Chunks Read the rest of this entry »

I really can’t believe that we are almost to the end of October and Halloween is just next week. 

Are you planning any Halloween parties or going to any parties?  My hubby and I will be hosting our two, 4 year old granddaughters next Saturday night for a sleepover at Granny and Granddad’s house. Read the rest of this entry »

It can be tough being Gluten Intolerant, but it can be really tough being the parent of a gluten intolerant child.  Especially a school age child.  Suddenly not only do you have the regular worries about your child at school, but you have to worry about whether you can keep your child gluten-free while they are away from your watchful eye.

Although my days of being the parent of school age children are long past, Read the rest of this entry »