Oven Roasted Potatoes

Oven Roasted Potatoes

2 large potatoes, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning (oregano, parsley and basil)
1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place all items except the cheese into a large bag. Shake until coated and place in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Top with cheese, heat until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Cheese Steaks (Gluten-Free)

Cheese Steaks (Gluten-Free)

2 lbs of steak, thinly sliced
6 baked potatoes
1 onion
Cooking oil (we use bacon grease or coconut oil)
Salt and pepper

Other Toppings:
Cheese (Cheddar or Provolone)
Mushrooms
Red or yellow bell peppers

Bake the potatoes in the oven for about 1 hour or until they are soft.

Cook the onions, mushrooms and peppers in oil until they are soft. Remove from pan.
Cook the steak in the same pan until it is brown, using oil if needed.

Mix your steak and veggies together and place them on top of a split baked potato. Cover with the cheese of your choice.

We used the leftover steak and veggie mixture for a stir fry. Just place the mixture in a pan with white rice and some butter. 

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

1½ cups almond flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (oregano, parsley and basil)

2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

Mix all ingredients together.  Press into the bottom of a baking sheet. If the dough sticks to your hands, moisten your fingertips with water.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes. Then add you favorite toppings and bake for another 10 or 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. We like our pizza with spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, onions, and sausage, covered in Cheddar or Provolone cheese. 

Hint: To reheat left over pizza put it in a frying pan and cover with a lid, heat on low until the cheese it melted. The crust will come out crunchy and delicious   

Gluten-Free Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Biscuits and gravy were a special treat in my home growing up. We only had it when my Aunt Doris came to visit about once or twice a year. When I was older, before I discovered the joy of cooking real food, I use to make them with refrigerator biscuits, powdered gravy and precooked sausage. Yuck! That just won't do anymore. This recipe is proof that you can still enjoy your favorite foods even if you do go gluten-free.

1. Start by baking your biscuits. You can make the gravy while they are baking. Click here for a great biscuit recipe form Elana's Pantry or try the one below. I am still working on making my own recipe.

Drop Biscuit Recipe

2 ½ cups almond flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon honey

Combine the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Combine both together and mix well. Use a spoon to scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. Adjust the size according to how big or small you want your biscuits. Bake them (at 450 degrees F) for about 15 minutes or until brown.

2. Cook your sausage.

Homemade Sausage

We usually buy our ground pork in bulk at Costco and then make a large batch of the below recipe and freeze them in individual packages. 

1 lb ground pork

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sage

2/3 teaspoon marjoram

1/3 teaspoon savory

1/3 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, grounded

Place pork into a large bowl. Add all the spices. Combine together well. I usually use my hands to make sure that it is combined well.

Place sausage into frying pan. Cook until it is brown and crumbly.

3. Create Gluten-Free Gravy

Gluten-Free Gravy

1 lb cooked sausage

2 tablespoons white rice flour

2 cups of milk

When your sausage is cooked check how much oil you have in the pan. If you have less than 2 tablespoons add enough butter to make up for it. Add white rice flour and cook until the flour absorbs the oil. Add the milk 1/4 a cup at a time until it is the consistency that you want it.

4. Combining all items into biscuits and gravy

Place a crumbled biscuit in each bowl, top with sausage and then the gravy mixture.

Strawberry Short Cake Gluten-Free Almond Flour

Sweet Drop Biscuit Recipe

2 ½ cups almond flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup butter

2 eggs

4 tablespoons honey

1 lb strawberries

1 cup heavy cream

Combine the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Combine both together and mix well. Use a spoon to scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. Adjust the size according to how big or small you want your biscuits. Bake them for about 15 minutes or until brown. 

While the biscuits are baking. Prep the strawberries. Wash, core and slice them into fourths. If your strawberries are not sweet you can add 1 tablespoon of honey and let them soak in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. 

When the biscuits are done let them cool slightly. Top with strawberries an then a dollop of whipped cream. 

Rosemary Onion Crackers Gluten-Free

Gluten-Free Rosemary Onion Crackers

Chris sometimes eats these before he goes to the gym in the morning. 

1 cup ground flax seed

½ teaspoon sea salt

1½ teaspoons rosemary

½ teaspoon onion powder

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon whole flax seeds

¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor, mix ground flaxseed, salt, rosemary, onion powder, and whole flax seeds.  When mixed add maple syrup and mix again. Place onto a cookie sheet and press to flatten to about ½cm thickness.  Score the crackers. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 20 minutes. These crackers are awesome with a slice of cheese.

This recipe was adapted from here.

Garlic-Coconut Crispy Fried Chicken Gluten-Free

Garlic-Coconut Crispy Chicken

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons coconut oil

4 garlic cloves, minced, plus 6 cloves peeled and smashed

6 thin-cut, boneless chicken thighs

2 cups coconut flakes

1 cup white rice flour

3 eggs

2 tablespoon garlic powder

½ cup cornstarch

Salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 3 tablespoons oil, minced garlic, and chicken in a zip-lock bag and refrigerate while preparing remaining ingredients.

2. Spread rice flour in shallow dish. In another shallow dish, whisk egg whites until foamy. Combine coconut flakes, garlic powder, and cornstarch in third shallow dish.

3. Start mashed potatoes while the chicken is marinating.

4. Remove chicken from bag and season with salt and pepper. One at a time, coat chicken lightly with rice flour, dip in egg whites, and dredge in coconut mixture, pressing to adhere. Place chicken on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and let dry 5 minutes.

5. Heat ½ cup oil and 3 smashed garlic cloves in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until garlic is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Discard garlic and fry a pan full of chicken until crisp and deep golden, about 2 minutes per side. Be careful the coconut will burn easily. The chicken will finish cooking in the oven.  Transfer to a baking pan. Set aside oil, wipe out skillet, and repeat with remaining oil, garlic cloves, and chicken.

6. When all of the chicken is fried, bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the chicken is completely cooked.

Save the garlic oil for chicken gravy to go with the mashed potatoes. You can also throw the discarded garlic into the potato water for added flavor. 

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter

¼ cup oil (I used more butter J)

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons tapioca flour

2 eggs

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine milk, butter, and oil (if using) in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring to melt butter and keep milk from scalding.  Once mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir in tapioca flour. 

Stir in eggs one at a time and then add cheese.  Mixture will be very stiff.  Cool in pan until easy to handle. 

Take heaping tablespoons of dough with tapioca-floured hands and roll into balls.  Place on a baking sheet about an inch apart.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden. Makes about 20 rolls.

I halved this recipe when I made it.  The first time I forgot to half the milk which meant I had to use more flour, but they still tasted great.  The second time I did it right, except that I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.  Coconut oil has too strong a flavor for these rolls, so in the future I will use only butter.  I also do not bother to roll them out, I merely blob them onto the baking sheet.  They turned out great.  Enjoy!!

This recipe was adapted from The Gluten Free Bible page 130

Beef Pie with Creamed Mushrooms

Don't forget to defrost the beef and start cooking the rice!!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 egg white
1 cup rice, cooked
1 onion, minced
2 carrots shredded
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/2 cup milk
garlic

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients together. Press into a 9in pie pan. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.

While the crust is baking make the creamed mushrooms for the filling.


3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups milk
1 lb mushrooms, sliced

Brown the mushrooms in butter. Add the cornstarch and stir. Add milk slowly and stir until thickened. Poor mushroom mixture into beef crust.

Stuffed Mushrooms

These were so delicious that they felt sinful. We wanted to make them again right away but it is hard to find the larger portobello mushrooms here in Korea. We often find them in the supermarket already sliced.

5-6 large portobello mushroom caps

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon garlic, minced 1/2 lb Italian sausage, ground

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash mushrooms. Remove stems.

Cook sausage and garlic in oil until the sausage is cooked. Stir in cream cheese, Parmesan, pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Fill each mushroom with the stuffing. Bake for 20 minutes.

You can make these ahead of time and freeze them. They don't last long enough in my house to make it to the freezer. Just pull them out of the freezer and bake for 20 minutes.

These recipe was inspired and modified from this website.

Hearty Beef Stew

Stew is comfort food for me. I remember my grandmother making it when I was young and it brings back great memories.

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 lb stew meat

3 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 medium carrots, cut into 1in pieces

1 large potato, cut into 1 1/2 in pieces

1/4 cup celery, cut into 1 in pieces

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 dried bay leaf

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Brown stew meat in coconut oil. Place all items in a baking dish. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.

Gluten-Free Cranberry Lemon Muffins

I found this recipe at Elanas Pantry.

2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup grape seed oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest.

Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then combine together. Place in a lined muffin pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Gluten-Free Breakfast Bars

I found this recipe at Elanas Pantry. My husband does not care for raisins so he made these with cranberries. They were really good. He eats a bar just before going to the gym. It holds him over until breakfast. We took them to work one day for a snack but they were a little too greasy. I would rather eat them at home.

1 ¼ cup almond flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup grapeseed oil

¼ cup agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup shredded coconut

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup almond slivers

¼ cup raisins or cranberries

Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Then add grape seed oil, agave, and vanilla. Then add the remaining ingredients. Press into a 8x8 pan with wet hands to push down the dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Gluten-Free Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

Before going gluten-free I loved taking a piece of toast and putting an egg and some bacon on top of it open faced and eating it all together. Now that I now longer eat toast this is the perfect solution. We make six of these at a time and refrigerate them for up to a week. Chris grabs one on the way to the gym. They are great hot or cold. If you can eat gluten then just put a piece of white bread in the muffin tin and add the bacon and egg.

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

1 cup blanched almond flour

¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoon honey

¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

6 slices bacon

6 large eggs

Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the almond flour, salt, baking soda, egg, honey and vinegar in a bowl.
Divide the dough into 6 round balls. Press the balls into the sides of the six muffin cups.  Salt the cups.

Cook the bacon until it is medium done. Place a slice of bacon into each muffin cup. Break an egg into each cup. Sprinkle the eggs with salt. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg whites are set. 

Updated August 12, 2012: Tip: Dip your fingers into a small bowl of water. It keeps the dough from sticking to your hands when you are placing it in the muffin cups. 

Gluten Free Almond Flour Brownies

I was amazed at how well these brownies tasted. The texture was very similar to the glutenous ones. They are so yummy, gooey, and have a strong chocolate flavor.

Almond Flour Brownies

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (optional)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the almond flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a large bowl.

Melt 4 oz or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with the butter. Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and coffee granules together and then add the melted chocolate. Mix well and add it to the dry ingredients, mix again. Pour the mixture into a greased 8 x8 pan. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

In Korea cocoa powder is cheaper than chocolate chips and Korean chocolate chips are sweeter than what we would buy in the states. So we are going to use cocoa powder in the future instead of the half cup of chocolate chips for melting. We will still add the remaining chocolate chips onto the top.

Gluten-Free No Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten-Free No Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

I found this recipe at Nurturing Naturally. There are so many things I love about this recipe. It only has 5 ingredients. They are mostly equal parts so I only need one measuring cup. It is gluten free but does not use an expensive substitute that I don't have access to in Korea. They only take a few minutes to mix together and bake in the oven. They are very thick and delicious. You will not miss the flour. Chris said he would want me to make these even if we were not on a gluten free diet.

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg beaten
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Measure out the brown sugar first. Rinse the cup slightly. To keep your peanut butter from sticking to the measuring cup you can add a small amount of olive oil to the cup to grease it up and the peanut butter will come right out. Add the egg and baking soda, mix everything together. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Place the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Press down the cookies with a fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They take 14 minutes in my oven. Let cool and serve with a large glass of milk. They will be really soft when the first come out of the oven but they will harden as they cool.

Chocolate Cup Cakes

Chocolate Cup Cakes

1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 3/4 cup of flour
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line cup cake pan with liners
3. Combine dry ingredents, add liquid ingredients minus the boiling water; beat on medium speed. Add in the boiling water. The batter will be very thin. Pour into cupcake pans about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 22 - 25 minutes.


They should look like this.

Not Like This:

This is what happens when you forget to add flour to the batter. I calls these my "Gluten Free" Cupcakes.

Gluten-Free Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I am trying to eat healthier. I would like to cut back on sugar and white flour. I am so excited that Elana from www.elanaspantary.com came up with this recipe. While making it I ran out of agave nectar so I used about 3/4 of what it called for and then added honey to make up for it. You can completely replace the agave with honey.


Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies 2 ½ cups almond flour ¼ teaspoon sea salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda 10 tablespoons butter, melted 1 tablespoon vanilla ½ cup agave nector 1 cup dark chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients, then combine the wet ingredients and then mix the two together. Often I just mix them in the same bowl I haven't noticed a difference. Use a spoon to form them into cook shapes on a cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

French Silk Pie

French Silk Pie

6 Servings Prep: 40 min. Cook: 10 min. + chilling

Ingredients

1 precooked pie shell

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon instant coffee

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

4 teaspoons sugar

Whipped cream and chocolate curls, optional

Directions

Prebake your pie shell (Click here for recipe). It should be room temperature when you add the filling.  In a sauce pan mix the sugar and eggs until blended. Cook over low heat and stir constantly until the mixture is 160 degrees or coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat. Add the cocoa powder, olive oil, coffee, and vanilla. Mix until smooth then let cool to room temperature (About 90 degrees), stirring occasionally.

In another bowl, cream the butter and add the chocolate mixture. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes. In a blender mix the cream and sugar. Beat on high until the cream is firm. You will hear a difference in the blender when it reaches this consistency.  Fold the cream mixture into the chocolate mixture. Pour into pie shell. Chill for at least 6 hours.

Buttermilk Biscuits

There is no need to buy those refrigerator biscuits when you can make them at home just as quickly. Since I am only cooking for two people I make a full batch of biscuits, then I bake the ones I want to serve and freeze the rest. When I  want biscuits I pull the dough out the night before and store it in the refrigerator. In the morning they will bake in 10 minutes and will be nice and fresh.

2 cups of flour
2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of flax seed (Optional)
1/3 cup of butter, softened*
3/4 cup of buttermilk**

Preheat the oven to 450. Mix all of the dry dry ingredients together. Add the softened butter. Mix it together with a fork until it looks like the texture of cornmeal. Then add the buttermilk until moistened. Drop the biscuits onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

*If you forget to remove the butter from the refrigerator, that is okay. Just pull out the amount you need. Cut it in small slices onto a plate and let it sit out while you are making the dry part of your biscuits. By the time you need the butter it should be soft.

**I buy powdered buttermilk. I add 3 tablespoons of the powder to the dry ingredients and add the water after I mix in the butter. It is not as healthy because it is more processed, so use fresh butter milk whenever you can. I am trying to move away from eating processed foods so eventually I will ween myself off of dry buttermilk.