Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Here is another classic comfort food recipe gone gluten free that I experimented with! This is one of mine and my families favorites, hope you enjoy!

Easy Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (It's easiest and personally I think its yummier to get a rotisserie chicken and use that!)
• 1 bag of Organic Foursome frozen Vegetables from Trader Joe's (includes organic peas, cut green beans, carrots and corn)
• 1 (10, 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Bisquick mix
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 stick melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Step 1: Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Layer or mix up the chicken and frozen vegetables in the dish.

Step 2: In a separate bowl mix together cream of chicken soup and chicken broth. Pour mixture over chicken and frozen vegetables in your casserole dish. 

Step 3: In another bowl mix together the gluten free Bisquick mix and milk. Pour this mixture over the chicken, vegetables, chicken broth and cream mixture that is in your dish.  

Step 4: Once your casserole dish is covered with the Bisquick + Milk mixture, drizzle the melted butter over the top. Place dish in your heated oven and bake for 60 minutes, or until top is golden brown. 

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Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

As the weather is progressively getting cooler, I always crave something warm and delicious for dinner. So after experimenting in the kitchen a bit I decided to post some gluten free comfort food recipes. All of them are delicious, easy and perfect for those chilly nights. I hope you enjoy this tasty gluten free for an all american dish....macaroni & cheese!

The Yummiest gluten free Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients: (serves 4 as a side dish)

• 2 cups dry gluten free elbow macaroni or penne pasta (I have made both kinds of pasta and they are equally as delicious, I purchased both pastas from my local Safeway) 
• 8 ounces Original Velveeta cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Step 1: In a large pot, boil water and cook your pasta according to packages instructions. 

Step 2: Cut/cube Velveeta cheese into small pieces, place the cubed  Velveeta cheese in a small saucepan. Add heavy cream and salt to the saucepan, stir ingredients together. 

Step 3: Turn saucepans heat on low, stir cheese and cream together until cheese cubes are melted. Reduce heat once the cheese is melted. 

Step 4: When your gluten free pasta is done, drain pasta and place it back into the pot you cooked it in. Add your cheese sauce to the pot of pasta and stir. Coat all noodles with sauce, serve and enjoy! 

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Recipes from my Pumpkin Carving Party

This weekend myself & my roommates had our second pumpkin carving party. We set up tables covered with plastic table cloths (makes clean up super easy), tea light candles for our guests to put in their pumpkins, plastic gloves so our guests don't have to get dirty when cleaning out the pumpkin guts and we placed many decorated paper bags that contained carving supplies in them. All we asked of our guests is that they bring their own pumpkin and we provide everything else including yummy gluten-free treats and cocktails! Once everyone was done carving their pumpkins we had a bonfire in the back yard with s'mores. It's perfect since the nights have been getting cooler. Thought I would share with you some of the gluten-free favorites from our party,  hope you enjoy!

Something Salty...

Warm Chili Cheese Dip Recipe

  Ingredients:

• One big block of Kraft Velveeta Cheese (32 oz)
• One Can of Hormel Chili with Beans
• 3/4 pound of drained, cooked turkey meat
• Tortilla Chips

Directions:

Step 1: Cut your Velveeta cheese into small squares and place in a crock pot.

Step 2: Open can of Hormel chili With beans and drain just a little bit so the juices on top drain out. Pour the can into the crock pot on top of velveeta cheese. 

Step 3: After you have drained and cooked your turkey meat place it in the crock pot with cheese and chili. Place the crock pot lid on top of the ingredients and turn crock pot on low; be sure to stir the dip often(about every 40 minutes) and check that it's not burning on the sides! 

Step 4: Once the ingredients have cooked together and the cheese has melted to become a smooth, dip-like consistency it's ready to eat!  Keep crock pot on low or turn it off for your guests to enjoy warm and yummy dip. Serve with tortilla chips & enjoy! 

Something Sweet...

Mini Caramel Apples

  Ingredients:

• Miniature Organic Granny Smith Apples from Trader Joe's, they come in a bag containing 10 for only $2.49
• 1-2 bags of square caramel candies
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 wooden skewer
• 12-15 lollipop sticks (4.5'')
• Parchment paper
• Cookie sheet or large serving platter

Directions:

Step 1: Unwrap all of your caramel candies and place them in a double boiler pot on top of the oven on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of milk to the caramel. Carefully continue to stir the caramels. 

Step 2: While the caramels are cooking, take your mini apples out of the bag and remove the stems. Once all the stems have been removed, insert the wooden skewer into the top of the apple where the stem was, pushing it deep into the apple;  remove the skewer and place a lollipop stick where the skewer was. Place your apple with the lollipop stick to the side. Repeat this process with remaining apples. 

Step 3: Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place your apples with lollipop sticks on to the parchment covered pan. Once your caramels are completely melted into a liquid consistency, pour the caramel into a tall bowl. Take your apples and dip them into the caramel shaking them to remove the excess caramel layer thats at the bottom of the apple. Place the caramel covered apple onto the parchment paper covered pan. Repeat this process with remaining apples until all apples are covered in caramel. If the caramel becomes thick near the end place it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds so it becomes thinner and easier to dip the apples in. 

Step 4: Once you have dipped all your apples in the caramel, carefully cover the apples on the pan with plastic saran wrap and place the apples in your refrigerator so the caramel hardens onto the apples. When you are ready to serve them, remove the apples from the parchment paper and place on whichever plate you desire to serve them on and enjoy! 

& Something Bubbly..

Champagne + Spiced Cider

Ingredients:

• Brut Champagne
• Spiced Cider from Trader Joe's
• Empty clear wine bottle 
• Funnel

Directions:

Step 1: Right before your guests arrive pour champagne through the funnel into the clear glass bottle. Be patient as the champagne bubbles out, fill the clear glass bottle 3/4 full. 

Step 2: Shake up the spiced cider, using the funnel pour the spiced cider into the clear glass bottle entirely filling up the bottle to the top. Do not shake the mixture! Pour into glasses and enjoy! 

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Nut Bread

I love the fall season & everything about it! My favorite thing about fall is being able to bake in the kitchen without over heating the house and filling the house with delicious smells! Growing up I always remember my Mom would make pumpkin bread. It smelled delicious while it was baking in the oven and was perfect for breakfast or dessert! She would heat it up in the microwave for 10 seconds with a little butter on top and it tasted fresh out of the oven! So today I pulled out the family cook book and decided to make it, but substitute a few things so it was gluten free! Hope you enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Trader Joes brand)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1 Cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 Cup butter or margarine softened
• 1/2 Cup chopped pecans 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

Step 1: On a sheet of waxed paper or in a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside. 

Step 2: In a large bowl combine pumpkin, granulated sugar, milk, eggs and butter, beat until well blended.

Step 3: Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating just until smooth. Stir in chopped pecans. 

Step 4: Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if desired. Slice and enjoy!

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Gluten Free Skinny Pancake Recipe

I stumbled across this recipe and had to share it with you! I love breakfast but most gluten free pancake mixes I've had are heavy and very filling. These pancakes are super easy to make, delicious, gluten free, dairy free and healthy!

Gluten Free Skinny Pancakes

Ingredients: 

(For one serving of 3 small pancakes)

• 2 egg whites

• 1/2 cup uncooked oats

• 1/2 banana

• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Directions:

Step 1: Place ingredients in a blender, and blend for 30-60 seconds until all ingredients are well mixed into a batter consistency

Step 2: Pour 1/3 of batter onto greased griddle or large pan on medium heat, flipping over the pancake until both sides are slightly brown. Repeat until all batter is gone. 

Step 3: Serve with desired toppings and enjoy! 

Note: I placed my batter in a plastic baking squeeze bottle to make my pancakes pretty and have a fun design! 

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Gluten Free Baker's German Chocolate Cake Recipe

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and no birthday is complete without the cake! Growing up as a kid, my Grandmother used to make my Dad his favorite German Chocolate cake for his birthday every year. My Grandma lives across the country, so I unfortunately don't see her too often but I remember when I was in high school she visited us and she made him his favorite German chocolate cake. At that age I was always interested to see what was going on in the kitchen, but I had no desire to bake or cook; I remember always wondering why my Grandma didn't make him a boxed cake mix because a boxed cake mix would be so much easier to prepare than this homemade cake. I watched her in the kitchen spend lots of time making this cake and remember thinking "goodness, preparing this cake takes a lot of time!" Now that I have grown to love cooking and baking in the kitchen, I decided to make my Dad his favorite birthday cake that he grew up having every year. I wanted to enjoy this cake as well, so I had to make it gluten free. I changed the recipe a bit but made it gluten free. I was nervous the cake wouldn't turn out as amazing and delicious as my Grandma's was but much to my surprise it was delicious! In the past I've felt that when I bake with gluten free flour my baked goods turn out to be very dense and their not as moist as normal baked goods with gluten are, but this cake was perfect!

      My Grandma used the recipe inside the Baker's Sweet German Chocolate bar box, but the recipe inside the box is now tailored to bake cupcakes. After researching, I found the recipe on Kraft and it makes a 3 layer German chocolate cake. My Grandma makes her German Chocolate Cake in a 13 x 9 dish with frosting on top. I decided to make my dads as a 2 layer and this was the perfect amount. I used two 8 inch pans. You don't want to frost the sides because the cake is super rich as it is already with the frosting between the layers! This gluten free cake hits the spot, it's nice and light but delicious and sweet! Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Gluten Free Baker's German Chocolate Cake Recipe:

 Ingredients:

• 1 package (4 oz.) Baker's sweet german chocolate
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups Red Mill's All Purpose gluten free baking flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Step 1: Cover bottoms of your 8/9 inch pans with wax paper and grease sides of pans. Microwave chocolate with 1/2 cup water in bowl 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is completely melted, stir after they have microwaved for 1 minute and stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Step 2: Beat 4 egg whites in bowl with mixer on high until stiff peaks form, set aside. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/4 tsp. salt. In another separate large bowl beat your 1 cup softened butter with 2 cups sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Add your 4 egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Slowly add your flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.

Step 3: Add egg whites, stirring gently until well blended. Pour into prepared pans. You may have some batter left over.

Step 4: Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately run small spatula around cakes in pans. Let cakes cool in their pans for 20 minutes, remove and let them cool on wire rack or wax paper on flat surface

Coconut Pecan Frosting Recipe:

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)
• 1&1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1&1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup margarine
• 3 cups coconut flakes
• 1&1/2 cups chopped pecans

Step 1: Beat 4 egg yolks, evaporated milk and vanilla in large sauce pan with fork or whisk until well blended. Add 1&1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup margarine; stirring constantly, cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes until mixture is thickened and golden brown color. Remove from heat

Step 2: Add 3 cups coconut and 1&1/2 cups pecans, mix well. Let your frosting sit and cool until it reaches desired thickness/consistency.

Frost top of one of your cakes with frosting, spreading the frosting with a thick layer. Place other cake on top and frost the top of it. Serve and Enjoy!

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DIY Smoothie In a Bag!

Have you ever been in a rush out the door one morning and don't have time to grab breakfast or whip up a delicious fresh smoothie? I know when I have been in a time crunch, I'm focused on making sure my outfits perfect and my hair and makeup are finished rather than worrying about eating. But Breakfast is the most important meal of the day & gives you the nutrients you need to be alert for the rest of the day! So instead of wasting your time in the morning cutting your fruits & vegetables and picking out what ingredients you want to put in your smoothie, I made these smoothie bags! Haven't you ever seen the smoothie bags in the frozen section of your grocery store by yoplait yogurt or Jamba Juice?...These smoothie bags are kind of like those but you get to choose what ingredients you want in your smoothie!  I put these smoothie bags in the freezer which helps keep my ingredients fresh and makes my shakes nice & cold! They're super easy to make and save so much time when you're on the go, just throw one of your bags in a blender, blend it up, pour into a glass and enjoy! 

Here's what you need: 

•Fresh fruit

•Fresh Vegetables

•Large ziplock bags

•Permanent marker

After you take a trip to the market and load up on vegetables and fruits, chop up your fruits and vegetables that you want to make smoothies with. Come up with a few different smoothies you want to make & put the ingredients for one serving in each of the ziplock bags. For example in one bag I put 1 cup spinach in a bag, 2 skinned and sliced kiwi & a 1/2 cup mandarin oranges in one. With the permanent marker I wrote what ingredients were in my bag and also wrote "ADD:" listing what liquid I wanted to add to my smoothie bag when I'm ready to blend it (my liquid was coconut water) Be sure to write the date on your bag too so you don't blend up old fruits! [Yucky!] I hope these smoothie bags help give you a yummy & quick breakfast when you're in a rush! 

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Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

The Fall season is less than a week away and I cannot wait! I love everything about the season but most of all I love the amazing food and warm scents that comes with it. I concocted a delicious and healthy Pumpkin Pie smoothie that is perfect for you to drink up for breakfast during those crisp autumn mornings. Let me know what you think :)

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

 Ingredients:

•2/3 cup of pumpkin purée 

•Half frozen banana

•1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

•1/4 cup almond milk

•Sprinkle of cinnamon

•Sprinkle of nutmeg 

•1-2 drops of honey

(Serving size 1) 

Place the frozen banana into your blender first & then add remaining ingredients. Blend for a few minutes until a frothy consistency is made. Pour into a glass and enjoy! 

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Coconut Water Smoothies

I have normally made my smoothies with almond milk, but I recently started substituting the almond milk for coconut water. I think the coconut water really enhances the taste of the smoothies and makes the smoothies taste so much more refreshing. Along with the great taste, coconut water has great health benefits including being low in carbohydrates and sodium and rich in potassium, it's also a great way to hydrate by adding it to your smoothies. So I have been concocting a few different smoothies and thought I would share my coconut water based smoothie recipes with you!

Mango, Banana Apple Smoothie Recipe:

Ingredients (1 serving):

• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1 frozen banana (sliced)
• 1 mango (cut up and skin removed)
• 1 green apple (sliced & core removed)

Instructions:

• Add the coconut water to your blender first, then add your frozen bananas, add the mango and banana. Blend until it is a liquid consistency, pour into a glass and enjoy! 

This smoothie is fruity but a little tart from the green apple, it is filled with nutrients and these fruits have lots of health benefits! 

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe: 

Ingredients (2 servings):

• 1 cup coconut water
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (Trader Joe's sells bags of frozen strawberries for cheap that I love to use!)

Instructions:

• Add the coconut water to your blender first, then add your frozen strawberries, add your two bananas and blend until it is a liquid consistency. Pour into a glass and enjoy! 

This smoothie is nice and fruity, full of energy & the coconut water helps with hydrating. I like to make it after a night of drinking or if I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. 

Mango Spinach Smoothie Recipe: 

Ingredients (1 serving):

• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 cup frozen mango (Trader Joe's sells bags of sliced frozen mango for cheap that I love to use! They also sell organic frozen mango too!)
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
• A few drops of honey

Instructions:

• Add the coconut water to your blender first, then add your frozen mango, add the spinach leaves and drops of honey. Blend until it is a liquid consistency and your spinach leaves are all minced up. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

This smoothie is great tasting and a beautiful color, it is extremely refreshing! It seems really thick when pouring it but it is easy to drink. The mango helps conceal the bitter taste of the spinach and the honey helps sweeten the smoothie a little bit. Perfect for a hot day :) 

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Easy Gluten Free Pasta Skilet

My roommate and I were craving pasta for dinner one night but wanted something that didn't involve to much work, after skimming through some recipes we found this one from McCormick but changed a few ingredients to make it a little healthier & gluten free! It ended up being super delicious and super easy! We even had a large amount left over to heat up & enjoy the next day :) Let me know what you think!

Warning: this does contain cheese, so for those of you who have lactose problems like me, you better have your lactaid pills handy!


Easy Gluten Free Pasta Skillet Recipe:
Ingredients: (Makes 8, one cup servings) 

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 jar of Roasted Garlic spaghetti sauce from Trader Joe's
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning (or plain italian seasoning)
• 3 cups uncooked gluten free Rotelle pasta (I used Ancient Harvest Organic Quinoa pasta)
• 1 package (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups), divided
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Brown the ground turkey in large skillet on medium-high heat. Drain water.
• Add spaghetti sauce, water and italian seasoning to the skillet, stirring ingredients altogether. Bring to boil. Add pasta; mix well. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. 
• Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and cover. Let stand for 5 minutes; serve & enjoy! 

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Gluten Free + Dairy free Chocolate chip, Toffee Cookies

 I wanted to make some super yummy cookies for my co-workers but was tired of the basic chocolate chip cookie. So I pulled out my recipe binder and I found this recipe in my binder that my Dad put together for me full of a compilation of old recipes. The recipe I have is not gluten free or dairy free but I substituted a few items and changed up a few measurements and produced some amazing chewy+salty+sweet cookies! Hope you enjoy! PS- I bought the chevron paper treat sacks at Typo!

Gluten free chocolate chip, toffee cookie recipe:

Original recipe from martha stewart (Although, I did change a few things about this recipe to make it gluten free) 

Ingredients: 

• 1 & 1/3 cup Earth Balance Vegan buttery sticks at Room temperature 
• 1 & 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose gluten free flour- Trader Joe's brand 
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces or 1 bag of Trader Joe's dairy free semi sweet chocolate chips 
• 3/4 bag of Heath toffee bits 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit 

Step 1: In a large bowl, combine your room temperature butter with brown sugar and regular sugar and beat until mixture is fluffy.

Step 2: Add vanilla and egg to the butter and sugar mixture, beating until well combined.
In a separate bowl mix together GF flour, baking soda and salt.

Step 3: Slowly add your flour mixture to your butter mixture, mixing well until both mixtures are completely combined.

Step 4: Stir in chocolate chips and heath toffee bits.

Step 5: Scoop out large table spoons of dough onto parchment paper or foil lined baking sheets. Be sure to place heaps of cookie dough at least 2 &1/2 inches apart. Bake until they just begin to brown. (16-20 minutes) They may not look or feel finished but I promise once you take them out and let them cool, they will slightly harden into a gooey & chewy, delicious cookie!

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Chicken, avocado & lactose free cheese dish

This dish only uses 3 main ingredients! It is super easy and very tasty, a perfect dish to serve to the whole family or you can make it a single serving too!

Chicken, avocado & lactose free cheese dish recipe:
Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 thawed out boneless chicken breasts
• Mrs.Dash Chicken Salt-Free Grilling Blend 
• Little bit of Salt (optional)
• 1 large avocado
• 3/4-1 cup of lactose free cheddar flavored shreds (I used Go Veggie! brand)

Instructions:

1. Season both sides of your raw chicken breasts with the Mrs.Dash Grilling blend, a pinch of salt & place on hot grill. Leave chicken breasts on grill, keeping your eye on them and turning occasionally until they are fully cooked (about 15-20 minutes) Set your chicken aside to cool for a little bit. 
2. While your chicken is cooling, cut your avocado in half, remove its pit and then cut the 2 halves in half, you will now have 4 pieces of avocado. Remove the skin from these 4 pieces and slice each of the sections up into even pieces. 
3. Slice one of your chicken breast into 3/4 inch sections, now place your avocado slices between each slice of chicken. Keep the avocado slices and chicken slices close together so it still resembles its chicken breast shape. Repeat with the remaining chicken breast. 
4. Top each layered chicken and avocado plate with about a 1/4 cup of cheddar flavor shreds and place in microwave for 20 seconds just to melt the cheddar shreds a little bit.
5. Serve & Enjoy!

This dish can be made into a single serving by grilling only one chicken breast and using 1/4 of the avocado and 1/4 cup of cheddar shreds. I sometimes grill 4 chicken breasts at one time and place them in my fridge after I grill them to eat later on in the week; doing this and heating up my previously grilled chicken works out perfect for this dish! 

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Green Kale Smoothie Recipe

I'm fairly new to eating gluten free and have realized eating gluten free isn't cheap! Therefore I choose to eat more natural foods instead of finding foods with gluten substitutes, it seems to be less expensive and healthier! I have recently been making kale smoothies for breakfast and have finally came up with a recipe I love, there are so many advantages to eating kale, and drinking it for breakfast is a great way to start the day!

Green Kale Smoothie Recipe: 

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 3/4 cup Almond Milk
• 1 or 1 & 1/2 cup fresh kale leaves (remove from stem)
• 1 frozen sliced banana (I peel the banana and wrap it in saran wrap, when I'm ready to make my smoothie I remove it from saran wrap, chop & place in blender)
• One spoon full of natural peanut butter
• A few drops of natural honey

Blend all of these ingredients together, pour into a glass and enjoy! 

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