Simple Sauce

Last night was spaghetti night. It is the most easy gluten free meal anyone can prepare. It was thrown together in 5 minutes and simmered on the stove for 15 minutes to create a fantastic meal for two. Here is the recipe:

1/2 jar of gluten free spaghetti sauce (we use the store brand because upon reading labels, it was totally clean, don't get pulled into the marketing schemes of some companies stating you have to by this gluten free product. There are plenty of cheap gluten free regular shelf items)
1/2 of a zucchini, peeled and sliced
1/4 of a green pepper, diced
1 chicken breast (pan fried in butter, because butter makes everything taste better)
1 clove of garlic, crushed (I like to use real garlic for the additional flavor)
Italian Seasoning to taste (this is basically basil, thyme and rosemary mixed together)

We let this simmer for 15 minutes but truly the longer it simmers the better. The veggies were a little crisp but I like them on the crisper side instead of mushy. This is a taste preference.

For the noodles we boil up a bunch of water with salt and olive oil in it. We used spiral brown rice noodles last night but check out your local grocer, they probably have a wide variety of rice noodles to choose from. If your grocer doesn't carry it, I would request it at the customer service desk. Usually grocers are pretty accommodating to try a new product to see if it sells in their area. One tip on the rice noodles, the package says 12 minutes for cooking time but I've found that they are usually done in 8 -10 minutes. On the rare occasion that I left the noodles on for the full 12 minutes they were mushy and stuck together.

I hope this helps with your cooking tonight!

Bon Appetit

Pizza Dough

Okay, this was one of the hardest things I was giving up so I thought I should share it right away. When my husband told me of his wheat allergy I thought garlic bread, pasta and then it hit me, no more pizza. Well that was truly unacceptable...really how unAmerican is that. So my quest was to find a pizza dough that would work for both he and I. The packaged doughs just were not good. They would come out hard, like I'm going to break my teeth off on this crust hard. But this past weekednd I found it, the holy grail of pizza dough for those suffering from celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Here is the recipe:


2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Baking Flour
1 (1/4 ounce) envelope yeast
1/4 cup of Potato Starch (Bob's Red Mill is what I used)
1/4 cup of White Rice Flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 cups hot water

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together (Flours, Yeast, Starch, Sugar, Salt) in a large mixing bowl. I actually stirred them up with a wooden spoon.

Add Oil and Water

With a mixer, scraping the sides of the bowl, mix the ingredients until they have thickened up. I did have to add a few more tablespoons of starch and flour but if you do this, add it slowly because it thickens up quickly.

This won't get like pizza dough you can throw in the air but it does thicken

Grease a cookie sheet and pour in the dough

Cook for 15 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven or until slightly browned on top

Add your toppings and cook an additional 15 minutes

Whala, you have pizza that has a chewy dough center, wonderful toppings and easy to make.

Now I haven't tried making the dough and freezing it. I will try that soon and let you know because that would make for an easy mid week dinner with a salad and a glass of wine!!!

Bon Appetit and God Bless!