Gluten Free Snicker Doodles

Is there anything better than a chewy,moist, soft cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar? One day I just had a craving for snicker doodles, so away I went in the kitchen and I was SOO pleased with the results! I gave some cookies to the 16 and 17 year old I teach at church and they didn't even know the cookies were gluten free! That seriously is my biggest compliment when someone doesn't know that my food is gluten free! *Happy day!*

Ingredients:
2 sticks of gluten free butter (room temp)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
2 cups of brown rice flour
1/4 cup of sorghum flour
1/2 cup of potato starch
2 teaspoons of xanthum gum
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tablespoons sugar
2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare cookie sheet with silicone liner
2. Cream together sugar and butter for 3-5 minutes. You want your mixture to be light and fluffy not just mixed up
3. Add eggs one at a time
4. Add gluten free vanilla
5. In a separate bowl add your flours, starch, xanthum gum, tarter, salt and soda. Whisk together to ensure that you don't get clumps of one type of flour. You want your mixture to be blended well!
6. Slowly add to the butter and egg mixture until combined. Take care to not over-mix or you will have tough cookies
7. In small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Add more or less cinnamon to your liking. (I like MORE)
7. Scoop out dough -about 1 to 2 teaspoons- (I use a small ice cream scoop that I use to scoop out cookie dough so that all my cookies come out the same size.) Roll into ball and drop into sugar bowl. Coat ball of dough well and place on a prepared cookie sheets, about an 1-2 inches apart.
8. Take a drinking glass and lightly press the bottom of the glass onto each ball of cookie dough, slightly flattening ball.
9. Bake 8-10 minutes
10. Cool on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes and transfer to cooling rack
11. ENJOY and SHARE with friends! :)

Gluten Free Beef Stroganoff

Jolie refers to this meal as "Beef Noodles" and asks for it often!

So simple and easy to make, this is dinner ready in 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons oil
4 teaspoons gluten free beef bullion
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups milk
4 cups gluten free noodles

Directions:
1. Season ground beef with salt and pepper, then brown and drain.
2. Cook and drain 4 cups of gluten free noodles (penne or any kind you want)
3. Over medium heat mix oil and gluten free beef bullion in a sauce pan.
4. Stir in cornstarch until mixed well.
5. Slowly add milk 1/2-3/4 cup at a time, until milk mixture is thick. Stirring the whole time to prevent scorching or burning and lumps.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Mix the cooked and drained beef into the milk mixture. Serve hot over noodles and Enjoy!

*Great with steamed broccoli or fresh steamed green beans. Serves 4

Gluten Free BBQ Sauce

Shortly after going gluten free, my dad, who loves to BBQ, and my sister, Briana, came up with a gluten free BBQ sauce for me and Jolie! It is the perfect combination of sweet, tangy and spicy. Seriously one bite won't be enough your mouth will want more!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of gluten free worchestshire sauce (we used Lee & Perrins)
24 ounces of gluten free ketchup (we used Heinz)
6 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Mix all ingredients together and store in refrigerator and use often!

Gluten Free Funeral Potatoes

I love any cheesy gooey potato dish and this one is no different. These potatoes got their nick-name, because they are commonly served at luncheons after Mormon funerals! I love these potatoes as a side dish almost any day of the week.

How many times have you looked a recipe and you are thinking good.. I can do this, I can alter this to be gluten free... then you stumble upon the condensed soup that is required and your dreams of making the dish into a gluten free dish are shattered? 

Well my mom found this cream soup substitute recipe and it is pretty tasty. I think it is a little strong, but works well in recipe's. I want to keep searching for other alternative, but for now this is great!  To make these "funeral potatoes" first start off by making the substitute.

Gluten free cream of soup substitute:

2 cups powdered milk

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup gluten free chicken bullion

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together. Store in a plastic airtight container. 

To use:

1. Mix - 1 & 1/4 cup cold water with 1/3 cup of mix

2. Put in saucepan and add 1 teaspoon of butter.

3. Cook until thick. 

*This equals 1 can of soup

Now that you have your soup substitute made, you can save the left over dry part and use it next time you need some more cream of soup! 

Gluten free funeral potatoes:

Large bag (32 ounces) Ore-Ida hash browns, thawed*

1 "can" cream of chicken soup substitute

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 pint sour cream

1 & 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of crushed gluten free corn flakes

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2. In large bowl combine: soup, melted butter, onion powder, sour cream and cheese

3. Fold in the thawed hash browns

4. Pour into large 13x9 baking pan 

5. Top with crushed gluten free corn flakes 

Bake for 60-75 minutes. If the corn flakes start to burn lightly tent with foil. 

Homemade Gluten Free Sloppy Joes

I love sloppy joes, it is an all american staple!

I will admit that sometimes I get this woe is me attitude when it comes to eating/cooking gluten free. I get frustrated that things are not as simple for us as the rest of the world. We can't just open a can add some ground beef and dinner is ready, BUT after cooking really good homemade meals, I feel better! I feel better because
1. A good homemade meal tastes WAY better than anything from a can
2. I know what is it, and Jolie and I don't get sick!
3. It is almost always healthier when homemade than loaded with salt and preservatives

I made these sloppy joes and they were so yummy!! My husband came home from work while the meat sauce was simmering on the stove and the first words out of his mouth was "it smells so good in here, what are we having?"

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 1/2 tsp onion powder
(feel free use a real onion here... I just don't like onions! I would use about
1/2 cup-1 cup of a finely chopped onion)
1 can stewed tomatoes roughly chopped (I puree mine.. can you see a trend.. I don't like chunky)
1 large can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tsp mustard
1 heaping tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili chipotle pepper
1 tsp lawrys season salt
pinch of salt
dash of pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
4-5 thick slices of cheddar cheese
gluten free hamburger buns ( I love www.glutenfreecreations.com)

1. Brown ground beef until 1/2 done. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 20 minutes. Serve on gluten free hamburger buns with a thick slice of cheddar cheese. SO yummy! My daughter ate a WHOLE one all by herself!

I served our sloppy joes with Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries:

click here to check out ALL of Ore-Ida's gluten free products. I ♥ them!

See my complaining now makes me feel bad because the wonderful people at Ore-Ida gave me a simple,fast yet delicious option to serve with dinner. Since discovering that Ore-Ida was gluten free... well you should see my freezer!

ENJOY!
Publish Post
(I would say this makes about 4-5 sandwiches)

*Original recipe by GLUTENminusU! :)

Un-expected happiness

We had a family pot luck over our house the other day. I made Jolie and I our own meal because I knew that anything that anyone brought would be gluten filled and I don't trust anyone that isn't gluten free to make gluten free (and keep it from getting cross-contaminated). I was completely surprised and happy when a bag of Kirkland (Costco brand) tortilla chips and a bottle of pace salsa made it's way into my house! Both chips and salsa say gluten free on them! It is amazing since going gluten free how those 2 little words can make your day! :)

I was so excited, I poured a bowl for Jolie and I, and kept it safe from everyone's gluten filled hands and spoons!

YUM!

Flax Seed Oatmeal Gluten Free

Jolie and I love to have oatmeal in the mornings! I am always trying to find ways to make her food healthier for her, and this is a super easy way to make oatmeal a little more healthy!

If you are gluten-free you need to make sure you use gluten free oats. I thought I didn't need to in the beginning, but after getting sick a few times, I realized I needed to get the gluten free oats. They are super yummy and taste the same as regular oatmeal.

I found this quote online: "...A study of three popular commercial oat products...found that none could be relied on to be gluten-free. In that assessment, oat samples were considered gluten-free if they contained 20 ppm or less. Nine of the twelve samples from these three brands of oats had gluten levels that ranged from 1807 to 23 ppm.
Over the past decade research has shown that most people who are gluten intolerant can consume oats if other grains have not contaminated them." (http://www.glutenfreeoats.com)

There are quite a few brands of gluten free oats out there. I personally use Bob's Red Mill, because that is what my store stocks.

This is also Bob's flax seed too. (I put all my grains/flours etc in containers when I open the bags to keep them fresher longer. They last a lot longer in the fridge, but seeing as I have a small fridge and can barely fit the what I need to in there, I make an effort to keep them as air-tight as possible at room temp!)

"Flaxseed is extremely nutritious when added to baked goods-biscuits, pancakes, waffles, muffins, your favorite yeast bread recipe, or just about anywhere. It is also tasty when added to cooked cereals. Flaxseed is a rich source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. When you add Bob’s Red Mill® Flaxseed Meal and its nutty goodness to your favorite recipes, you may decrease the risk of heart attacks, lower cholesterol and improve your circulation all thanks to flaxseed’s Omega-3 essential fatty acids. That’s the kind of news that should really get your heart pumping."

Oatmeal is alway 2 to 1 ratio

I put 4 cups of water into a pot, add 2 cups of my gluten free oats, and 2 tablespoons of flaxseed (I add 1 tablespoon of flaxseed for every cup of Oatmeal).

Bring to a rapid boil, stirring frequently. Lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Jolie and I love our oatmeal with brown sugar on it! YUM!

Enjoy!!!