Almond Spread

This is a gluten and dairy free spread you can use for veggie dip or in place of mayo in "sandwiches"

1/2 cup almonds
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used 1/2 lemon)
2 tablespoons olive oil (you can also use avocado or walnut oil)
1 teaspoon of honey
1 1/2 teaspoons of mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
ground red pepper (I didn't have this so I shook some flakes in it and it worked too)
2 tablespoons of Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour

Place nuts in a blender and blend until it's a fine powder
Add 1/4 cup water and process for a minute
Scrape the blender
Add the rest of the ingredients (except the flour)
This will be liquid
Add the flour and blend

Transfer the liquid to saucepan and heat for 5 minutes or until thick - constantly stirring to avoid burning.

Let cool about 10 minutes and you have a spreadable substance.

Enjoy!!!

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Cut Outs

These are just delicious!!! Christmas will never be the same for you...

1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour

Cream butter with blender, 30 seconds
Add sugar while blending, 1 minute
Add egg, while blending, 1 minute
Add vanilla while blending, 30 seconds
Add flour while blending until you can't use blender anymore
Then continue adding flour mixing by hand

Roll out 1/4" thick and cut out shapes

Bake 8 - 10 minutes on 375 degrees...

Delightful!

Green Chile Sauce

This is both delightful and easy. The hardest part is husking the tomatillos.

I used about 20 tomatillos of various sizes. Husk them and put them in a pot of water to boil.
Add 1 jalapeno, 1 onion, 1 clove garlic, 2 sprigs of cilantro. Boil until the tomatillos are soft.

Strain, transfer mixture to blender, add juice from 1/2 of lime and a teaspoon of salt. Blend.

Wahlah green chile sauce.

Now you can make it hotter by adding a Serrano pepper or another jalapeno. I have this super hot habenaro pepper that I add which I think is quite tasty. Others think it's too hot.

Happy Mexican dinner!

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

Last night we had the best organic and gluten free meal. Of course I'm a little biased since I made it and now think it was delicious (grin). Anyway the hardest part was chopping veggies but after that it was so easy.

So I put in two potatoes to bake (350 degrees for about an hour) poke them with a fork after washing and stick them in the oven. Simple. They are done when the fork goes into them easily.

Then I set about chopping. Now this can be any veggie you would like to have but here is what I used.

1/2 onion (not a big onion person)
1/4 red pepper (expensive so I use sparingly)
1/4 yellow pepper (only have one until Tuesday so I'm stretching it)
1/4 green pepper (had to be even with the other peppers)
7 - 10 baby carrots (adding even more color)
1 zucchini
Optional tiny peppers (we got these at the farmers market and I don't know the name but the are potent)
1 clove garlic
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

All veggies (not garlic or oil) are washed then chopped into bite sized pieces. Put these on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and crush the garlic on top. Stir so that all pieces are coated with garlic and olive oil. Note: if you find the tiny peppers, cook them whole in the batch and only use like 6 - 10 peppers, they are spicy enough for the entire dish. My mouth was on fire for an hour after dinner but it was so good!

When the potatoes are done, pull them out and turn up the heat to 400 degrees. I like my veggies a little crisper so we only put them in for 15 minutes. You can do longer and I've also heard of others broiling them for the last 2 minutes (be careful not to burn here).

That's it, serve with the potato and you have a delicious, vegetarian, gluten free meal.

Bon Appetit

Banana Bread

Oh my gosh...I just cut a piece of this bread and it was delicious!!! Still a little warm from the oven! This is so easy to mix up and bake. I did it before I had my coffee today...to beat the desert heat!

3 or 4 well ripened bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar (this can be reduced to 3/4 cup no problem)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Peel and mash the bananas in large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon

3. Add the melted butter and stir

4. Add the vanilla and stir

5. Add the sugar and stir

6. Add baking soda and stir

7. A couple shakes of salt

8. Add the cup of all purpose flour and stir

9. Add the 1/2 cup of white rice flour and stir

10. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

11. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into it

This is delicious and a great way to use bananas when they start to get soft. Here in the desert everything gets soft pretty darn quickly!

Well, enjoy!

Potato Salad

Okay, this recipe was tried out last night and fed 8 people and they all loved it....

5 lb bag of little red potatoes
1/2 cup of olive oil (I used the full flavor kind)
4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (you can use more or less depending on taste)
1 Tablespoon of fresh Horseradish (if you use the kind in the grocery store you may want to use 2 Tablespoons because it's not as potent)
1 Sm onion finely chopped (I used yellow, but I would say you could use any onion)
Dill
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

1) Quarter potatoes and Boil until they are fork tender (about 20 - 25 minutes)

2) While the potatoes are still warm mix in the olive oil and vinegar, the edges of the potatoes will wilt which is perfect.

3) Stir in the horseradish and onion

4) Season with Dill, Salt and Pepper to taste (approx 1/4 teaspoon of each)

5) Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top (I think I used just a few strands and the leaves only)

6) You can serve warm but I like to refrigerate and serve chilled.

It was delicious, gluten free, relatively good for you. I would say you could add more onion or horseradish if you want (the original recipe called for 2 Tablespoons of Horseradish but I knew my crowd wasn't going to go for that) I also am not a huge fan of onion so I really used a small onion. The original recipe called for a red onion but I used yellow and it was just fine.

Hope you enjoy this recipe too....

Bon Appetit

Now on the diet...ugh!

So we are starting to watch our calorie intake here at the Garrett household. It's been quite trying as some days we don't eat enough calories, some too many calories and some empty calories. But at least our caloric intake is now on the radar screen.

Our goal is to eat everything in the correct portion size. You would be amazed at how many times we eat two or three servings of something and don't even know it. So we have started this week with measuring out portion sizes for us to eat and it has been quite eye opening.

1/2 cup of strawberries is a serving (4 med to large strawberries)
15 grapes is a serving
1 cup of soy milk is a serving
15 pretzels is a serving
12 Triscuits is a serving (not gluten free)
13 potato chips is a serving

We have found if you eat serving sizes you are more apt to want to eat 6 times a day as the portions don't keep you filled for the entire day. However, our goal is to get it to the point of servings size is the norm.

So this morning we had loaded scrambled eggs

2 egg whites
2 large eggs
1/2 small onion
1 small potato
1 jalapeno pepper
2 tbls butter
1 tbls olive oil

cut the potato, pepper and onion into small pieces and saute in 1 tbls of butter
I added the 1 tbls olive oil because everything started sticking to the pan

scramble the whites and eggs together

add 1 tbls of butter to the saute mixture then pour the eggs over it

mix it up and serve up!!!

250 calories per serving (mainly from the butter and oil)

when I add in my coffee and creamer (decadent creamer, but i love it) my morning is 500 calories and gluten free!!!

Gotta love Amy

This isn't a recipe from scratch but my husband says it's the best...A few weeks ago roasts were on sale, buy one get one, so I did. Into the crockpot it went and he had roast. Now mind you the roast was over 3 lbs for one person so most of it was frozen. I pulled some apart and thought it would make great bbq. I froze it and went on the search for gluten free BBQ sauce. Lo and behold Amy has come through with a BBQ sauce that my husband couldn't believe was gluten and dairy free. I had to go check the bottle again to ensure I read it correctly because he raved about it so.

All I did was empty the bottle onto the pulled roast, put the burner on 1 for 90 minutes and the flavor seeped into the roast meat. You want the BBQ sauce to cover all portions of the meat with a little extra so it doesn't dry out.

Add the homemade fries and you are good to go with a great recipe for lunch.

I had the Boca Veggie Burger and we had a wonderful spring picnic lunch today!!!

Bon Appetit...

Totally Easy Breakfast

On this rainy Minnesota day, all we wanted was comfort food. When you wake up to the big gloppy (is that a word) rain/snow mixture, it's just depressing. So the hubby and I decided that we needed a real breakfast, none of this cereal junk. Here's the easiest fritatta ever:

Shred potatoes (I used 4 of those small potatoes from the bottom of the big bag)

Saute these up in 2 Tbs of butter, 2 Tbs of Mrs Dash, 2 Tbs of Onion Flakes (this is the longest process, it takes about 15 - 20 minute but don't turn up the heat, you don't want these too browned)

While these are sauteing, crack and scramble up 5 eggs. You need the extra egg to ensure the fritatta like finished product.

When the potatoes are done, turn the heat down (I put it on 3), add another Tbs of butter and add the eggs over the potatoes, cover.

In two minutes, add some Veggie Shreds (I used Monterrey Jack flavor) or regular cheese to taste.

Things I will do differently next time - I will add a little jalapeno pepper and instead of onion flakes, I will take the time to cut up a real onion. The hubby said some bacon would be good on his side.

Total time was 30 minutes, 10 min prep and 20 minute of cooking.

Bon Appetit

In three more minutes it's done, slice and serve...delicious!!!!

Shrimp Stir Fry

Now this is an easy recipe however it is NOT calorie free. But I bet it is more healthy than going to a restaurant....

15 shrimp, peeled, detailed and deveined
7 baby carrots
1 yellow onion
1 clove of garlic
4 Tbls of butter (dairy free)
2 cups of rice (I use long grain brown rice)
2 eggs, stirred
Soy Sauce (make certain GF) to taste

Dice up the onion and carrots
Cook the rice according to directions
Melt one Tbls of butter, saute onion for 5 minutes, add carrots for 3 minutes
Press one clove of garlic and add to saute pan
Stirring constantly, add another Tbls of butter and the shrimp until it turns pink
Put all on a plate

In the saute pan, add one Tbls of butter and the rice to start browning.
In 5 minutes add the eggs until cooked with the rice
Add the shrimp mixture and keep stirring
Add the soy sauce to taste, about 4 tsps. (be careful here; adding too much, it ruins the entire stir fry)

Dish it up and enjoy!

This was absolutely delicious tonight!!!!

Fabulous Chicken

We made this fabulous chicken tonight. Come on, it was on sale for .88 cents/pound so we had to find something phenomenal to do with it. Here it is:

1 Whole Chicken 3 1/2 pounds
2 Tbls of Oil
2 White Onions (medium size)
1 Lemon
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 jalapeno peppers
1 can of GF chicken stock/broth

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Wash chicken, let drain
Quarter the onions and place on the bottom of a casserole pan
Rub the chicken with the oil, place on top of the onions
Quarter 1 lemon and place around the chicken
Press the garlic cloves on top of the chicken
Mince jalapenos, add to the mixture
Pour the chicken stock over the bird

Bake for 90 minutes basting every 30 minutes.

All I can tell you is that Robb came back for seconds on this chicken so it must be pretty good.

Asparagus

This is truly a simple, easy, dairy free and gluten free way to prepare asparagus. I love it and it only takes 12 minutes in the oven.

Wash and trim asparagus (cutting off the whiter portions at the bottom of the stalks)
Place in plastic bag with a couple teaspoons of oil and Kosher salt for 5 -10 minutes while the oven is heating up to 400 degrees.
Place marinated stalks on a cookie sheet, then in the oven for 12 minutes

They come out absolutely perfect and delicious!!! This coming from someone who truly doesn't like asparagus. Easy, nutritious and delicious!!!

Enjoy!

Loaded Baked Potato

The end of the week was finishing off the potatoes from the sale. Well, it was supposed to be finishing them off. I did bake them and they looked delicious but we couldn't eat them....

So we baked the potatoes until they were done. 1 hour at 420 degrees. I baked 6 potatoes because they were the little ones from the bag.

While they were cooking I cleaned broccoli, asparagus and fried up some bacon (for Robb of course) and crumbled it up.

I cut the potatoes in half, three per plate, added butter.

Then covered them with the fixings, leaving off the bacon from my dish. Some Jack and Cheddar cheese (we use Veggie Shreds) completed the ensemble.

The cheese needed to melt so I just put the plates into the oven and turned it on broil. They were only supposed to be in there a few minutes but I came out and sat on the couch for a minute. The plate cracking in the oven was what reminded me that I had dinner still cooking....yep a clean break through the plate so no loaded potatoes for us but they did look phenomenal.

We headed out to the Mexican place around to corner to get rid of our sadness. Anyway, it was a gluten and dairy free dinner if you want to try it.

Potatoes are on Sale

This week potatoes were on sale, 5 lb bag for $1.99 so we are eating potatoes. Here is a simple and easy recipe for home made french fries.

When you purchase bags of potatoes you get some big and small spuds. Pick out 6 small spuds about the same size. This is a good way to use the smaller potatoes in a bag.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Clean and slice potatoes. You will slice the potatoes 3 times lengthwise to get 4 sections of potatoes then 3 to 4 slices lengthwise to create the fries.

Place these on a cookie sheet. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of olive oil on the potatoes and mix to coat all fries. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Bake for 15 minutes, then flip fries. They will be a little hard to flip at this point in time and may stick a little, this is okay.

Bake for 20 minutes and they should be golden brown and a little crunchy. The second bake time is for your taste so play with it a little to get the best and healthiest french fries in town!

Enjoy!

Weekend Eats

This weekend was a hard weekend. We had two couples invite us over for dinner. When you have allergies or diseases, it's very difficult to go to other's homes for dinner. You have to explain what you can and can't eat and try to help them understand. So to invite Robb and I over, you have to understand that you can't have dairy, wheat or meat (since I'm a vegetarian). This weekend was definitely trying as I had to call my friends to help them understand what we can and can't eat.

The conversation goes like this...

"I don't mean to be rude but I need to understand what you are thinking of making for dinner because we have many food restrictions."

"Scallops and Terryaki Chicken"

"Okay, how are you preparing these?"

"Terryaki Sauce and in butter"

"Great, can't have Terryaki but are you using real butter or margarine?"

"Butter"

"Great then we will be good to go."

While this may not seem like a lot when you go through it twice and people start to realize everything that has wheat, dairy or meat in it, the task of preparing dinner for us is a little daunting.

I have now come up with a solution. I just tell everyone that the best mode for us is to have simple, real food with minimal spices. That usually will work and do the trick.

I hope this helps you.

Indian Food

Last night we had Indian food, which is the easiest meal now that the sauce in the jar is good. Now I know some of you turn up your noses at this but I'll tell you I think it's the best tasting food around. My twist last night was that I cooked the rice in turmeric and butter water. It gave just enough spice to add something to the dish. Here's what we had:

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1 jar Tikki Masala sauce (I buy at my regular grocery store, brand Patak's and use only 1/2 the jar for two people)
1 cup frozen cauliflower (use the little cauliflowers from the bottom of the bag and break the others up into smaller pieces)
2 cups of water
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp butter
1 cup long grain brown rice (really can use any rice here but adjust the water for the rice needs)

1) Boil water with turmeric and butter

2) Add rice and put on simmer for 40 minutes

3) Open Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) and drain, put in pan with 1/2 jar of Tikki Masala sauce, simmer these together for 20 minutes

4) Add cauliflower to Masala and simmer for additional 20 minutes

You are ready to serve. The turmeric in the rice just gives this dish a little added spice and the cauliflower adds the veggie.

This is also good with Nan but that has gluten so then it's not a gluten free dinner.

Guacamole

I have to credit my good friend Nicole for the inspiration for this recipe. Two years ago we were at the cabin and she made guacamole, I said I don't like guacamole, I'll just eat chips. She encouraged me to eat it and I've been hooked ever since...I have adjusted this recipe to fit my tastes so I'll describe what I put in and how I make it with where you can make adjustments to taste. This is the best recipe. I get hungry just thinking about making it!!!

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados
2 jalepeno peppers
1 tomato
1 onion
1/4 fresh lime
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp cilantro

1) Cut the avocados in half, scoop out the avocado meat.
Throw away the seed, however I'm going to try to grow an avocado tree.. we will see how that goes.
Put these into a medium mixing bowl

2) Slice up the jalepeno's - here's the to taste part, I use the full jalepeno's seeds and all go in. Some think that is too spicy so they only use the seeds from one pepper and others take all the seeds out. This is your discretion.
Toss these into the mixing bowl and give it a stir

3) Dice up the tomato. This is also to taste. I don't love tomato's so I only use 1/2 a tomato, others use the entire tomato. However you do it, make certain to dice it up and throw the meat and juice on the cutting board into the mixing bowl. Give the mix a stir. It should be starting to get to the consistency you are used to seeing in the restaurants

4) Dice up the onion. Again using as much as you like. I use 1/4 of the onion because raw onion to me is gross but the guacamole without it is bad too so don't omit but but dice it up good if you don't love raw onions. Throw that into the bowl and stir again.

5) You have to use fresh lime. The stuff in the bottle just doesn't taste as good and come on a lime is what 50 cents, totally worth it!!! Just cut quarter off and sqeeze and of course stir the mixture up.

6) Peel the three cloves of garlic and put them in the press. Just press them right over the bowl and stir it in the mix.

7) Cilantro for me is hard to keep on hand, so I bought the frozen cilantro at Trader Joe's already frozen in the 1 teaspoon measurement. I pull one out and put it in the mix, stirring vigorously.

That is it...all you need to be able to do is chop and stir to make this guacamole. It's delicious, fresh and nutritous!! Grab some corn chips (making certain they are for sure just corn) and enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

Sweet Corn Chowder

When the temperature was dipping below freezing, I wanted something warm to eat. I must tell you that along with my husband's allergies, I am a vegetarian. So when I say dinners are a challenge, they truly are a challenge. But this recipe is amazing. I have made it twice to ensure I wasn't just fooling myself, it is amazing!

I pulled the original recipe off Allrecipes.com and changed a few things which have been noted below. Also, note that this recipe involves a lot of chopping. If you have the Pampered Chef chopper it will be easier but if you don't the prep time is longer than I would say is easy. It's worth the extra time but wanted you to know before you start this recipe that it will be a little more time than you first imagine.

INGREDIENTS
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon corn oil (I used canola oil)
salt and pepper to taste

1 (12 ounce) package frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup water
1 tablespoon corn oil (again canola oil)
1 1/2 cups finely diced celery
1 cup diced red onion (white or yellow work here too)
1 clove of garlic minced (you can also use a shallot minced)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3 cups vegetable broth (Roundy's Organic broth is gluten free)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
3 potatos, peeled and cubed (if you use a baking potato, 1 will be enough but this is truly to taste)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes into a 9x13 inch baking dish, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of corn oil, and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat the sweet potatoes in oil.

Roast in the preheated oven until the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally as they cook so the sweet potatoes cook evenly.

Meanwhile, measure out 1 cup of corn kernels and set aside. Place the remaining corn into a blender, and puree with the water until smooth; set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of corn oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the celery, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and dried thyme leaves; cook 1 minute more. Pour in the vegetable broth, corn puree, bay leaf, salt, and cubed potato. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the potato is tender, 25 to 35 minutes.

Once the potato is tender, remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the whole corn kernels and sweet potato. Return to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

It is fabulous reheated also. Great for lunches during the next week.

Hope you enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

In The Mood for Dessert

So tonight we both had a little sweet tooth. There isn't much that is in the budget and dessert oriented for those with gluten allergies. However tonight I decided to try a recipe I just made up. It was delicious!!!

8 oz of frozen strawberries
1 tsp of gf vanilla
5 tsp of sugar
2 cups of 8th Generation Soy Milk (Gluten and Dairy free)

Mix all in the blender and wallah, frozen strawberry dessert. You can adjust the milk to the texture you desire.

It's definitely delicious and semi nutritious.

Bon Appetite!

Fresh Food

The key to gluten and dairy free is fresh food. The fresher the better. There are two things that come with this diet; 1) fresh food is cheaper than pre-packaged and processed foods 2) foods taste so much better if they are fresher. I have found in my cooking experiences if I used fresh garlic pressed instead of minced garlic spice the garlic flavor is so much more.

So even if you are making baked fish, mashed potatos and broccoli. If you just add some sea salt, butter and squeeze fresh lemon juice on the fish, it comes out so much better. If you actually peel and dice your potatos to mash they are ten times better than out of a box. Broccoli if you add fresh garlic to the water you are steaming with, you get the full flavor of all the spice and the vegetable.

Fresh is the best for gluten free, dairy free. It makes even the simpliest of foods that much better!!!

Enjoy..

Garlic Hummus

So I didn't have all the regular ingredients for hummus so I made my own....

1 can Garbanzo Beans (drained and rinsed)
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1/2 of fresh lemon
Salt and Pepper
4 Tbls of Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

This is much better the next day after all the ingredients meld together. Eat with rice crackers or vegetables. It's fabulous and super easy to make....

Happy Eating!!!

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!

Getting Over This Is Too Hard

So when I started dating my now husband and realized that he had food allergies I thought what am I getting myself into. He can't eat any dairy and cheese makes everything taste better. He can't eat wheat. Wheat seemed to be a mainstay of my diet. He was all organic. I ate what was on sale organic or not. I thought this was going to be too hard to overcome. Well, I'm here to tell you, it isn't hard. My first attempts at cooking were very rudimentary. I would pan fry a couple pieces of chicken, a baked potato and some steamed green vegetable. I couldn't get past the fact that nothing I normally made would be alright for him to eat. It was the most bland portion of my cooking life ever. I was afraid of most combined spices because most contain wheat. Everything is different so reading ingredients is essential to gluten free cooking. However, I found a taco seasoning brand that works and we were able to add mexican food back into the menu plan. In the past three years of cooking for my husband, I have since become much more versitile in cooking. My ahh-ha moment came when I realized that truly gluten free cooking is making everything from scratch so you know exactly what is in your meal. Yes, there are still times when the chicken, potato and steam veggie are all I can manage to prepare but I have come to realize that they don't have to be the mainstay diet at our home.

Why this blog was created

They say you can't choose who is the one true love for your life. I would never have guessed that my true love would have allergies to the outdoors and to food. He has a wheat allergy and a dairy allergy so my cooking passion must change to accommodate. At first I was at a loss, what can I cook, what will make him sick, what type of diet do we go on, it was very stressful. I was scared that anything I would cook would send him over the edge and into migraine headache world and in fact I learned that there are many things that cause the allergy to flare up. Yes, I learned the hard way and it was hard on both of us, my guilt and his pain. But I think we have it down now, only when he doesn't know about foods will he get a flare up. For instance, meatballs that look perfectly round mean they are probably the frozen kind, thus filled with fillers that have wheat. We basically are eating the diet for Celiac Disease with the added bonus of no dairy. However, thanks to soy, we have soy cheese, milk and yogurt to be able to cook with also. What you will find in this blog are recipes we have tried and liked. We will share what we liked about the recipe and what we changed from the original recipe. We may also share that which didn't work for us and why. You may have some ideas to make it better and help others along the way. We are excited to share our journey with you. We hope you will gain a new lease on life and be able to enjoy eating again.