Gluten Free/Tomato Free Pizza

Once again experimenting with some things so my WHOLE family can go back to

eating things we can enjoy. Yes, sometimes we have to be creative but when it turns out good.

Here is a pizza recipe that I think is GOOD! Got kudos from hubby and I and I don't have to eat GF or Tomato free!

Dough -

1 C yogurt (goat yogurt works too) plain

1 C melted Butter

3 1/2 C Flour (I used Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix but you can use any GF baking mix you want or substitute your own mix here, if you are NOT GF then substitute any good whole wheat flour you'd like)

2 tsp salt.

mix this up and let it sit - it says to let it sit overnight but I've made it when it's only sat for 2 or 3 hours. It is fine. spread it out in a cookie sheet as evenly as possible and then bake on 350* for about 1/2 hour or so.

Topping - now, of course you can top this with whatever you want (I promise) but here's what I do since hubby also cannot really eat cooked tomatoes!

saute garlic in EVOO (2 cloves should do it) and spread this over the already cooked crust, then top with: crumbled Feta (goat milk feta works too!), calamata olives, red onions, capers and artichoke hearts and marinated roasted bell peppers. bake again for about 10 minutes. IF you like meat on your pizza try: chicken marinated in EVOO, lemon juice and oregano and maybe a pinch of pepper flakes. OR

not too spicy breakfast sausage. It's all good.

New Year's Eve Dinner

New Year's dinner was a cooperative effort. We decided to for go traditional fare (Posole, Tamales etc) due to the food allergies and go for something really healthy. So we did a Lentil salad (from Sandy Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions - if you don't have it, I highly recommend it!!!!) It is cooked lentils with cilantro, shredded carrots and green onions topped with a basic dressing of EVOO, Dijon Mustard and white wine vinegar. It was good.
Secondly, There was a Kale salad. We were introduced to this by my cousin on Thanksgiving and with a little recipe tweeking - made it our own. It is a bunch of Kale (can't wait to grow this in the garden this spring) de-ribbed and finely chopped, Toasted seeds (pepitas, sunflowers and sesame) and chopped red bell pepper with a dressing of 2TBSP each: lemon juice, Wheat Free Tamari, and Olive oil. You massage this dressing into the Kale really well and toss with the other ingredients and it's yummy ! The original recipe for the dressing calls for Bragg's liquid aminos but hubby doesn't like them (I DO!) so I just use the wheat free Tamari. We also had the soup I posted a while back that is sweet potatoe with the cranberry sauce stirred in - I'm not going to repeat the recipe.
And lastly my kids (well, really my 16 yo) made this cheesy fries!
She peeled and cut up about 8 potatoes, tossed them in EVOO, salt and pepper and then baked them on 400* for about 40 min. Then added the cheese and stuck them back into the oven. They were yummy but I think they taste a bit better with some Herdez brand Salsa Verde - Hubby doesn't eat cooked tomatoes so some salsa's are OUT but this one is GREAT! I'd really like to say that the kids loved all this healthy food but the truth is, they ate the fries and some good old fashioned salad and left the soup, and two salads to dad and I. OH WELL, you can't win them all.

What's For Breakfast (Gluten, Corn, Dairy Free)

When you are gluten free (corn, dairy) it's not easy finding a good hot breakfast to have. Oh sure - eggs! yep, and that's a good one to be sure. But after a while, it gets old. So do smoothies, which are also delish but day after day? And really, in the winter, sometimes a good hot breakfast is what you want. so here is one of my favorites. It Rice Farina with dried cranberries (or blueberries, or raisins) and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) with a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten the deal. I follow the recipe on Bob's Red Mill Rice Farina package for 1 serving and then add the pepitas, dried fruit and a swirl of pure maple syrup (or local honey if I'm out) and that's it. Hot breakfast free of most allergens! The best part of this breakfast - NOW I can get the Farina at WALMART! I hate WM but that is where I usually have to do most of my shopping and it's nice to not have to go to town for it.....

Vegetarian Delight! Wheat Free/Corn Free

Sometimes, the creative juices are flowing and a meal comes together that just makes your tastebuds sing! I'd love to take the credit for all these, but alas, I cannot. But here is a yummy, meat free, wheat free, corn free dinner that is filling and tastes delish! First off - if you haven't yet tried Lundberg Farm Rice couscous - you really should. One of the things I miss most about going gluten free is couscous cucumber salad (my kids miss it too) so when Lundberg came out with this couscous made of brown rice - I had to try it! KUDOS!

I cooked it according to package directions, let it cool and then added chunks of cucumber, feta cheese a little olive oil and lemon - YUM!
Next up - the soup - again I cannot take credit for this but who cares, it's still probably the best part of the meal. It is Sweet Potato soup with cranberry garnish. MMMMMMM Good. You take about 5 good sized swee potatoes, 2 carrots and roast them in the oven with some olive oil. In the meantime saute some onions in some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil.) Add the roasted veggies when they are soft cooked and add some vegetable broth (if you aren't vegetarian, add some chicken broth - it works too! ) We used Pacific Naturals Organic Broth. Puree the whole lot into a smooth creamy blend, add (to taste) cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pepper and salt and then blend up some cranberry sauce and add to the soup when served. Delightful!
Lastly - stuff acorn squash. This was my own creation and really not bad at all (hubby LOVED it!) I took 3 scrubbed acorn squash, cut them in half and scooped out the goop. I roasted them in the oven for a little while - until soft (add some water to the pan and butter in the cavity to keep them moist. Then I made Quinoa (KEEN Wa), roasted some pecans and sauteed some carrots, celery, and onion. Mixed it all together and stuffed the roasted squash and then topped with some feather grated parmesan. IF you are lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy then leave off the cheese - it's all good!

Runzas, Bierrocks, Cabbage Buns. (NOT Gluten Free )

YES this is not a Gluten Free recipe - I apologize but for those of you who make GF bread - I am sure you can adapt it. I do not make GF bread because most of the bread dough mixes/recipes call for Xanthan Gum which hubby swears is derived from CORN. Another no-no. But since kids and I are not Gluten Free, I am making these and freezing them because if you are going to the trouble you may just want to make a huge batch, freeze a bunch and pull them out to bake on one of those crazy days (y'know where you are running your kids hither and yon to activities or where you get caught up in something and go - OH, boy am I hungry!)

You will need to make your recipe of homemade bread dough.

Then you will take 2 lbs of ground meat (turkey or beef) 1 onion, cabbage shredded. Brown the ground meat and add the onion and cabbage (shredded) and cook this together. When it is cooked, you need to roll out balls of dough (like you see here) and fill them with the meat on half.

Then you will fold over the other half and pop these in the oven on 350* for about 20 minutes, when the dough is golden brown.

Here they are ready to bake. The smell of cooking Runzas is awesome and my kids love these. I slather mine with good mustard and ENJOY!

Like I said this makes a HUGE batch - and they freeze great.

Baked Potato Soup (GF/CF)

Another Gluten Free/Corn Free yummy dinner to make for our family (one that makes you just feel all warm and fuzzy on a cool autumn day!) is Baked Potato Soup. It is not too hard to prepare

as the base is just a good potato soup. I peel and chop about 10 big potatoes (less if you have a small family) and boil them. Then strain and mash about 3/4 of the potatoes leaving some chunks for a heartier soup. I add chicken stock (read labels - not all are created alike and yes, some do have wheat and corn in them) I use Pacific Naturals Chicken stock or my own homemade, and my own goat milk (yes, you can use regular cow's milk or even rice or soy if you prefer.)

Then I prepare all the toppings: bacon, shredded cheese (a variety is nice too - cheddar, Pepper Jack and/or Bleu cheeses work) green onions, sauteed mushrooms, and more - let your tastebuds be your guide!Go ethnic!

Okay, I ladle up the soup and then let everyone top their own soups.

EAT HEARTY MATES!!!

Red or Green?????????

In NM the all important question is RED or GREEN? Here, they don't mean lights or just merely a color....it's all about the chile! So I was out harvesting from the garden the other day and found all these lovely green chile's and one gorgeous red.

Each type of chile is grown on the same plant - green is picked earlier and red later or allowed to ripen completely and dried. NOW, being from a family that is gluten AND corn allergic....mexican, or rather New Mexican food is a challenge - Chile Rellenos - yeah if you can make your own batter with GF flour. enchiladas? Not so much. Burritos - yep with a GF pancake instead of tortilla - it's just not the same. Oh, Tacos? NOPE. So some of us do not want to loose the flavor of the Southwest and we just need to be creative....So here is my self created layered GF/CF "chile relleno. Trust me - this is tasty and looses no southwest flavor - just the batter and corn.

First you start early in the morning and put on a fresh pot of beans. cook them until soft and salt them good.

Take your fresh picked green chiles and roast them until the skin blisters and pulls away from the meat of the chile.

Let them cool slightly and peel them, deseed them unless you want the heat and de -stem.

Cook up a good batch of ground beef with all your favorite SW flavors: I use salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic and onions. Then, carmelize a good sized batch of Zucchini and onions (if you are not allergic to corn, add corn kernals!) and garlic.

Shred some pepper jack, Monterey jack or a mix of cheddar and these cheeses. (just plain cheddar is fine though)

Now layer! chiles, meat/beans/zucchini mix (calabacitas here) cheese, chile, meat/beans/zucchini and cheese. Then top with a fried egg and/or some sour cream. IF you really need your chile fix - some good salsa and some quacamole works too!

Then: