GFCF Cream of Chicken Soup!

 

 

Tips: * Add Noodles if you want a thick chicken noodle soup!  

* Leave the skin on the chicken while you boil it.  The skin is easily removed after cooking.

Three Bean Chili

 The weather is changing and what better to warm our bellies than chili!  This is a simple, but yummy fast and easy dish.  We serve the chili with corn chips and a sprinkle of cheese (dairy free).

 

Tips:

* Adjust the heat for your taste buds.  The cayenne is going to give the most bite.

* I often add celery and carrots to my chili as well.  Shredding them makes them less noticeable!!

Gluten-Free Chicken & Waffles

Our family has a semi annual tradition of eating waffles and ice cream for breakfast.  I had to figure out a way to still enjoy this special meal with my little ones twice a year.  Because of travel we switched our waffles and ice cream to dinner so I added chicken nuggets to the menu to make it healthy!!! 

Many kids have picky eating habits when it come to special needs kids.  Chicken nuggets is a very common favorite, and they know when they are being given something that they aren't used to.  Tonight my kids gave me the reviews of "Awesome", "Good on the inside and out." and they were gone in time for their waffles with ice cream :)

 Tips:

* You can use regular flour and still create great chicken nuggets!!

* Remember not to use to much oil...when oil gets hot it expands.

* Temperature is very important in frying.  Make sure your temperature stays at 350 degrees.

 Tips:

* The biggest tip that I can give you is not to over mix your batter.  

Fold your egg whites into the batter don't mix them.  When folding take the batter from the bottom of the bowl and gently fold the batter into the egg whites.

* You can use regular milk and flour for these waffles as well!

Coconut milk ice cream is pretty yummy!  They even make coconut whipped cream :)

Playing Catch-up

Life has been pretty busy as of late, but dinners have still been made.  Getting them up on the blog though is quite a different story!  Today I am trying to catch-up a bit though.  Enjoy!

 My husband enjoys a lot of flavor so I thought of him as I was mentally cooking this up.  The recipe is quite simple but the flavors are good.

 Tips:

* If you are a flavor seeker make two separate batches of the honey mustard sauce.  Use one for cooking and one for dipping the cooked pork chop into while eating.

 

 Tips:

* A tsp of cinnamon might be an added plus for your family.

* Use a hand mixer to combine all of the ingredients once they squash is cooked for a smoother puree. 

 Tips:

* If you don't have a loaf pan you can just form the meat loaf onto a sheet pan and skip the flipping step!  

* If you don't need your meat loaf to be GFCF I like to add 1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce or 2-3 TBS BBQ Sauce to our meat loaf.

* Corn Flakes also work if you don't have oats that are Gluten-Free.  

Can Dinner Be This Easy & Kid Friendly

We are BIG sports fans!  I was trying to create an easy dinner yesterday that could be eaten while watching Thursday night football.  I wanted it to be healthy and appealing to my little ones.  Usually they love anything they can dip chips into so I created a dip based on the chicken and salsa dinner that I have posted before.  Using a crock pot is always a plus too! 

Tips:

* You can always use store bought salsa that you enjoy.

* Heat can always be added but it is hard to take away.  If your family isn't keen on spices maybe back off on the green chili or serve it on the side.

* Dips are usually thick, but if you want it to be looser add more sour cream or salsa.

Easy GFCF BBQ

*Tips

* Our family enjoys Udi's gluten-free buns.  They are dairy free as well!

*You can use any type of chicken your family enjoys.  If you use bone-in chicken add on a little more time to ensure the cooking process is complete.  The chicken should fall right off the bones for you!!

* Add or take away spice depending on your families preference.  The Cayenne is probably a good place to start :)
* You can make this sauce and use it to marinate and grill chicken, pork and beef as well :)

"This is Yummy Sauce Mom!"

Tips:

*Purchase your chops at least an inch thick.

* You can stuff your chops with other greens besides spinach, bok choy etc.

*  You could also change up the cream cheese for ricotta or mascarpone.

 * Obviously you can make your own polenta!  By adding to the polenta though the taste becomes homade. 

* You can change this recipe and make it very creamy.  You can use real butter instead of substitute.  The Almond milk can be changed to heavy cream & last but not least add a 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan or Cheddar cheese at the very end before turning off the heat!

Fish for Dinner...Dad Must Be Out of Town!

I enjoy fish, but Salmon isn't my my favorite.  I tend to lean towards white fish.  However this simple recipe makes the fish quite good.  I made three fillets and sprinkled each with one of the spices above.  My kids ate the fillet with Mrs. Dash and I enjoyed the Montreal Steak Seasoning fillet.  

Blackened Grilled fish is my favorite, but if you are in a hurry and aren't used to making fish a lot this is a great choice!

Our Back to School Menu

 Smiley Face Pancakes are easy to make and the kids love them!  I think that they only tips for this breakfast are these...

*Use a circle cookie cutter to make the perfect eyes.  I knife with a small cup works just as well.

*If you can't have normal whipped cream they do make coconut cream in the can as well :)

 Lunches for little ones with special diets can often times be hard.  The kids feel weird about not eating what others get to and that is never fun.  This year  I tried to make the kids lunch containers fun and exciting with vinyl stickers.  They are water proof and come in many different shapes, colors and fonts.  These water bottles and plastic containers will last the whole year and so will the stickers. 

 After school snacks can become monotonous.  On the first day of school I try to have something special for the kids. 

 Today we had cupcakes and yes they are good.  The Cherrybrook Kitchen makes wonderful mixes that are dairy, egg, nut and gluten free.

 Dinner this evening needed to be fast and easy. You might think that homemade spaghetti sauce isn't either of those things, but truly you can start and finish within a half hour. 

Tips:

* When you want veggies, but you don't like them crunchy or big shred them.  You save time not chopping them and they get soft very quickly.

* Season the meat.  Often times people just brown the meat and save the seasoning until the tomato products are in the pan.  Put the salt and herbs in with the meat and veggies for extra flavor.  Save the garlic for the end of the sweating of the veggies though so it doesn't burn and become bitter.

* If you like more sauce and less thickness add another can of tomato sauce. 

We really enjoyed dinner tonight! 

YUM!

Making Recipies Our Own

 Tips:

* I used medium green chili...if your family isn't used to spice I would recommend using mild or cutting down on the amount by half!  Also, if you purchase the chili in the store instead of using fresh chili they often season it for you.  Make sure you read the bottle and exclude the garlic powder from the recipe.

* I used fresh spinach, but I cooked it before adding it to the pot so that I could have it drained well.  If you or your children don't like spinach this is a great recipe to use.  You get the nutrients but no taste of spinach!

*Kids often times look at food and snub their noses before they even give things a chance.  I have found that toppings and allowing them to build their meals helps with this.  These toppings are favorites for a lot of our dishes and they say that cheese makes everything better :)

* If the heat is to much for your little ones place a little honey over the dish and it will cut the heat for them!

 Don't you just love one pot or pan dishes!!

 Years ago my Aunt Shonda made this meal while I was living with her sweet family.  She shared the recipe with me and over the years I have played with it a lot.  I think that as we become more acquainted with spices and our palates we are able to take a core recipe and make it our own.  My Aunt's recipe is great and I encourage you all to not only enjoy it, but create something from it that is your very own :)

Kid Friendly Red Lentils & Brown Rice

Tips:

* Kids love cheese!  We topped this with cheese and chicken tonight.
* Kids love to dip!!  Tortilla Chips are perfect for this dish.
* Be willing to change things for your pallet, make it your own!!
* Wash the rice and lentils before you cook them :)
* We use Organic Rice, Broth, Olive Oil, Peppers and Onions all from Costco!  Makes it cheaper :)