Fried Donut Holes (Wheat Free)

Jelly Donut Holes
Makes 16-18 donut holes

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
TB Butter butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups Artisan Gluten-Free Flour Blend*
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
Oil for frying

Those are all the things I used.

The instructions are here.

For the jelly I just used blueberry all fruit jelly. I stirred it until it was liquid enough and piped it into the donut holes.

*In the flour blend I substituted 1/2 cup arrowroot for the 2/3 cup corn starch. You use about half the flour blend recipe.

Enchilada Sauce

Today I totally made this up using things from the last two posts....

1/4 - 1/3 cup oil (olive, vegetable, whatever you want)
1 heaping cup of Taco Seasoning
2 T. glutinous rice flour
2 cups of Spinach Marinara Sauce
2 cups of Water

Heat the oil. Adding the seasoning and rice flour. Stirring constantly to avoid burning the flour. Do this until it darkens in color - it only take a few minutes. Add 2 cups of the sauce and 2 cups of water.

Let heat through. Just a few minutes.

Done.

Oh my word. I dipped tortillas in it and put cheese in them and baked them until hot and bubbly at 350. You could of course do this with ground meat, chicken, beans, cheese - or any combination there of.

YUM.

That would have been a lot of work if I'd started with the goal of making enchilada sauce out of it but since it was leftover marinara and taco seasoning that was already made it was a quick dish!

Note to self - always make extra of these things.

Taco Seasoning. The End.

I've made a lot of taco seasonings over the years.

Different proportions, different this and that.

Sometimes I've still bought it over the years but since discovering Daughter #1 is allergic to wheat - this has not been an option.

I tried this one this week and it got seriously rave reviews from my crew...

http://glutenfreemonkey.blogspot.com/2009/03/gluten-free-taco-seasoning.html

The only thing I changed was the cornstarch. I used arrowroot powder.

Big Batch Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning

1/2 c. chli powder
3 T. garlic powder
3 T. onion powder
2 tsp. oregano
4 tsp. paprika
3 T. cumin
2 tsp. table salt
4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. arrowroot powder
1.5 tsp. ground red pepper

Combine in a pint jar with a lid (or a baggie works) and shake well.

3 T. for 1 lb of meat.

This is what I do - Ground turkey, thawed and crumbled in the pan. Add the seasoning and water (2/3-1 cup). Browning/cooking the turkey with some water in the pan gives it a great texture. 

*If you follow the link above you can get the proportions for just one batch. I never do that though.

Spinach Marinara Sauce

First I have to say - yay for crockpots!
Second I really loved this sauce. It is wonderful but Drew? He said:

"This is the best sauce I have ever put in my mouth."

And then he wanted to know could he just eat it as soup... I think he liked it!

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 finely grated carrot
•  2 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 28 oz peeled tomatoes, pureed, with juice
• OR 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, with juice
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 4 teaspoons oregano
• 4 teaspoons basil
• 1-2 tsp ground red pepper
• 4 teaspoons salt

Heat oil in a skillet, saute onions and carrots until soft, add  garlic, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, salt. Continue to saute until garlic and herbs are fragrant.

Add to the crockpot: spinach and all tomato products and the sauteed mixture.

Cook on high for 4 hours or so. Or cook on low for longer - 6-8 hours. (From this point I really don't think you could mess it up. It just needs to cook a good long time so the flavors mix.)

PS - Crushed tomatoes are fine. I did the pureed ones to use up some whole plum tomatoes I had in the pantry.

Revised Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup oat flour* (I ground 1 minute oatmeal)
1/3 cup plus 2 TBSP Brown Rice flour
1/3 cup plus 2 TBSP Tapioca Flour/Starch
1/3 cup plus 2 TBSP Sweet/Glutinous Rice Flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp arrowroot starch
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar (or white sugar)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1–1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips* (with no peanut warning!)

In one bowl sift all the dry things together – flours, xanthan gum, soda, salt, cream of tarter, arrowroot. I sifted them twice to ensure they were as smooth as I could get them.

In the stand mixer (that’s what I used. You can use whatever floats your boat – or is available in your kitchen…) put the brown sugar, raw sugar, and butter. Mix until very thoroughly blended.
Add to that mixture the eggs and vanilla. Mix again until combined and it turns a much lighter color and is fluffier.

Add the dry ingredients a cup or so at a time.. Mix until blended.

Add the chocolate chips. Mix by hand.

CHILL THE DOUGH – for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 325. Center rack.

Make a ball of dough that’s about a rounded tablespoon and leave the cookies about two inches apart.

Baked for 12-14 minutes.

When you remove them from the oven allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack.

*The amount of chocolate chips depends on my mood. These pictures have 1.5 cups. It’s a lot of chocolate and makes them messier to eat until they are totally cool. I really love the cookie part of chocolate chip cookies so sometimes I use less chocolate so that I get more dough bites.

**If you want you can use two tsp of baking powder and omit the arrowroot, baking soda, and cream of tarter. Baking powder has cornstarch so I have to avoid it.

I’m done revising these cookies now. In between my posts there were about 10 slight adjustments. I do want something to more finely grind my oat flour but I won’t change the amount.

The End! Yummy!

Lasagna Soup

I saw this recipe first on pinterest. The picture pinned there was from here. That blog got it from here.

And here is my version – Not too much changed.

Ingredients

• OLIVE OIL
• 1 lb Ground Turkey (seasoned to really be 1lb sweet Italian turkey sausage. *see note at the end)
• 1 large ONION, pureed
• 4 GARLIC CLOVES, minced
• 2 teaspoon dried OREGANO
• 1/2 teaspoon CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES
• 2 Tablespoon TOMATO PASTE
• 1 28-oz. can FIRE ROASTED DICED TOMATOES
• 1 teaspoon crushed bay leaves
• 6 cups CHICKEN STOCK
• 8 oz. BROWN RICE PASTA
• 1 tablespoon dried BASIL
• SALT and PEPPER, to taste
• 8 oz. RICOTTA
• 1/2 cup grated PARMESAN CHEESE
• 1/4 teaspoon SALT
• pinch of freshly ground PEPPER
• 2 cup shredded MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add pureed onion. Sauté for a couple minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, basil, and chicken stock*. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. Right before serving, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy goodness. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and mozzarella.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl and ladle the hot soup over the cheese. ENJOY!

***

The changes I made from the first link: 1 lb of meat instead of 1.5, dried basil instead of fresh, mixing the mozzarella right into the cheesy goo and I pureed the onions so that I wouldn’t have a whining 6 year old.

Just as a side note: If you’re also avoiding dairy – this soup is awesome long before you put the cheesy goo into it.

Food Pictures… (There. must. be. food. pictures.)

I’m just gonna be real honest here… I forgot to take a picture of the bowl all put together. I might have eaten the whole bowl and then thought of it… heh. Yummy.

If you want to see one though – the other two blogs just have a picture of the finished product.

***

“Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage”

I put in my mortar and pestal: fennel seeds, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes. I ground it until it was good and powdery.

As I was browning the ground turkey I added that mixture, salt, pepper, and a little brown sugar.

No. I measured nothing. I just did it until it smelled good. If I could buy seasoned ground turkey in my little town I absolutely would!

And certainly you could use regular pork sausage. If only that wouldn’t make me wicked sick… haha. Well and it would add a ton more calories.

***

This was a HIT in this house. Leah was beside herself and ate a huge bowl. Yay!

Yay for Granola!

This is corn free, no nut warnings, AND wheat free! I was practically dancing in the aisle in the store. I can never find corn free granola! I don’t know about the other flavors/types of cereals with this brand. Only this particular one. Yay!

*Sidenote – Maltodextrin is made from corn. I don’t avoid it because I don’t seem to react to it but I know some people do.