Mini Dutch Babies with Strawberry Sauce...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for our family, so meals have been easy, and let's face it...BORING...around here.  To make up for that, I decided to make the kids a surprise breakfast treat.  Mini dutch babies drizzled with strawberry sauce and dusted with powdered sugar.  They were a HIT!  (I tried a bite, just to see how they came out and they were DELISH!  I hope to experiment with a gluten-free, dairy-free version, so check back soon if you're interested.)

My family is not big on the eggy-ness of the typical dutch baby, but this recipe uses the least amount of eggs possible.  Also, they're not sweet.  If you prefer them to be...add a tablespoon or so of sugar, honey or agave.  Once they're sprinkled with powdered sugar and dipped in strawberry sauce or maple syrup, I think they're the perfect blend of savory sweetness...but, on the other hand, adding a sweetener to the batter does make it taste more like a pancake and less eggy.  Just experiment and find out what you're family likes best. :)

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons butter, melted
powdered sugar

Berry Sauce:
6 large frozen or fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons berry jam
optional: sugar if needed, to taste

Instructions
Place mini muffin pan in oven and heat to 400 degrees.  While oven is heating, place flour, milk, eggs, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.  Carefully remove the pan from the oven (don’t forget it’s hot!) and quickly spray the wells with non-stick spray, or brush with melted butter.  But we’re going for quick and easy here so I just grab the spray.  Fill muffin wells 3/4 full with batter.  Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and slightly golden on top.  Remove puffs and place on plate or platter.  Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Drizzle with berry sauce and top with cool whip or whipped cream, or serve with sauce and/or maple syrup for dipping.

Quick and Easy Berry Sauce

If using frozen berries, place berries and jam in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for about 1 minute.  Use a fork to stir and mash everything together (cut strawberries if necessary), or place everything in a blender and pulse a few times until desired consistency is reached.  Add sugar to taste for sweetness and a few teaspoons of water or juice only if needed for consistency.

Yields about 24 mini muffin pancake puffs

Recipe Source: OurBestBites.com

Italian Dressing Mix

I've always kept dry Italian dressing seasoning on hand for marinades, dips, quick homemade dressings and fajitas. <--- Yes, you read that right. Fajitas. In a moment of desperation, I discovered that a package of Italian dressing mix is the perfect substitute marinade for steak fajitas. It sounds odd - I was skeptical at first, too - but it tastes just like fajita seasoning when mixed with sauteed steak, onions and peppers - and it's way less expensive.

I triple or quadruple this recipe and store it in an airtight container so I always have it on hand.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
2 tablespoons salt

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, mix together the garlic salt, onion powder, sugar, oregano, pepper, thyme, basil, parsley, celery salt and regular salt. Store in a tightly sealed container.

To prepare dressing, whisk together 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2/3 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons of the dry mix. You can substitute red wine or white wine vinegar, as well as balsamic vinegar, for the white vinegar, to change things up. They're all excellent!

Recipe Source: Italian Dressing Mix at Allrecipes.com.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

I love BBQ sauce...so I was seriously bummed when I discovered that ALL my favorite brands had corn syrup in them. (which is also on my no-no list) I found a couple brands without it, but they were just *meh* AND they cost more. (deal breaker!) So...I did some recipe searching and a little experimenting, and came up with this recipe...a sweet, tangy, smoky, Kansas City style BBQ sauce with a kick. It's so good, I don't think I could ever go back to the bottled stuff. Winner-Winner BBQ Chicken Dinner! :)

2 cups ketchup (corn syrup free)
2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups raw sugar
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons mesquite powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, molasses and butter. Season with mesquite powder, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes. For thicker sauce, simmer longer, and for thinner, less time is needed. Sauce can also be thinned using a bit of water if necessary.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

When the doctor (and others) told me: "Be careful. Read every label. Dairy is in just about everything.", I thought they were exaggerating.  They were not.  Masquerading as whey, caseinates, whey protein isolates, lactose, recaldent, lactates, etc...dairy is hidden in everything from cereals to breads to deli meats to seasoning packets and so on.  And while it is less convenient to make many of these items from scratch, the benefits are worth the extra time and I've found, on many occasions, the homemade version is so much better than the store-bought, I can't imagine going back...even for the convenience.  Nothing beats fresh baked bread.  Homemade spicy Italian chicken sausage made with my food grinder attachment on my KitchenAid is super yummy and affordable.   Homemade taco seasoning, made in advance and stored with my spices, is just as convenient  as (and more authentic than!) Old El Paso, any day of the week.

The best homemade taco seasoning recipe I've found is this one, from allrecipes.com, one of THE best recipe sites out there.  I make it in bulk and store it in a small mason jar in my spice cabinet.  It's also great in chili or sprinkled on chicken breast before baking.  

(Photo source: PreventionRD)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 
  
• DIRECTIONS:
• 
  
• In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!!

Recipe Source:  All Recipes - Taco Seasoning I 

Cottage Pie with Roasted Garlic Mashers

I grew up calling this dish "Shepherd's Pie"...but, since I use beef (not lamb) it is technically called "Cottage Pie".  It's nothing fancy or special, but it tastes like my childhood and my family and I love it.  It is THE ultimate comfort food on a cold winter night. :)

INGREDIENTS:

Meat/Veggies Mixture:

2 lbs lean hamburger

2 tbsp olive oil

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 carrots, peeled and grated

1 red pepper, chopped

1 bag of frozen sweet corn, thawed

seasoned salt, to taste (click here recipe for homemade msg-free seasoned salt)

pepper, to taste

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2.5 lbs Yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup butter (DF: butter is the only dairy I am permitted to have, so that's what I use.  If you can't have butter, you can substitute dairy-free margarine, such as Nucoa)

1 cup milk (DF: plain coconut milk, I use So-Delicious plain coconut milk)

salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Turn oven to 350 degrees.  

Peel, chop, cover potatoes with water.  Add 2 tsp of salt and bring to a boil.

In a small glass dish, put a piece of foil down and top with 4 garlic cloves drizzled with olive oil.  Fold the foil so it creates a "pouch" in the center of the dish.  Roast garlic for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

While waiting on the potatoes and garlic, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add onions, carrots, red pepper and corn and cook until soft and most of the moisture is rendered.  (Undercooking the veggies will result in a watery meat mixture after the cottage pie is baked, so be sure to render as much of the moisture as possible.)  Remove veggies from pan and set aside.  In the same pan, crumble fry the ground beef, add seasoned salt and pepper to taste.  Drain beef.  Add the cooked veggies back into with the beef, stir to combine and set aside.

Remove the roasted garlic and mash with fork.  

When the potatoes are fork tender, strain and return them to the pot.  Add butter (or dairy-free margarine), roasted garlic mash and milk (or coconut milk) and mash with potato masher or handheld mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Scoop garlic mashed potatoes over meat/veggie mixture and smooth with spatula.  If desired, sprinkle with seasoned salt to add a splash of color and create a delicious potato crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

A simple, yet heartwarming dish that fills the belly and comforts the soul. :)  ENJOY!

Spicy Thai Noodle Salad

I have a love affair with Thai food.  Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Coconut Curry Chicken over Jasmine Rice...OH MY!  This Thai Salad recipe is no exception.  It's light, but flavorful, and is a meal in itself...as well as the perfect accompaniment to teriyaki marinated chicken, shrimp or steak.  Easily adapted to be gluten-free, it's become one my favorite go-to meals when I "need" my Thai food fix. :)

My plating/lighting skills are slowly improving. I appreciate your patience. :)

INGREDIENTS:

16 ounces semolina or whole-wheat spaghetti (GF: I used Tinkyada brown rice spaghetti noodles)

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sesame oil

6 tablespoons honey

6 tablespoons soy sauce (GF: I used San-J gluten-free tamari soy sauce)

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and shredded

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Cook spaghetti al dente, per package directions.  Rinse, drain and set aside.

Chop green onions, cilantro, and peel/shred carrots.  

Heat both oils with crushed red pepper over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain pepper flakes and reserve oil. Whisk honey and soy sauce into oil.  

Pour mixture over noodles, add onions, carrots, cilantro, sesame seeds and mix well.  Refrigerate until cold.  Stir well before serving. 

Recipe Source: An adaptation of A Small Snippet's Spicy Thai Noodles.   

Italian Sub Salad

My family (my teenage boys, specifically) aren't big fans of salad for dinner (with the exception of taco salad, maybe). They love having a side salad with a meal, but it's simply not "sufficient AS a meal"...or so I've been told. ;) 

When I came across this recipe in the latest addition of Food Network magazine, I thought for sure I'd found a salad that could pass as a meal. Of course, I was mistaken...they were both asking for a 2nd dinner within hours...but, they agreed it was quite tasty and would suffice for a "light lunch".  Teenage boys.  Geesh!

I, on the other hand, thought it was fabulous AS a meal. It tastes just like an Italian sub (minus the bread) and will be the perfect quick dinner to throw together for myself when the family is having something that I shouldn't have . Yay me! :)

Because I'm trying to stay away from gluten, dairy or deli meats with lactic acid starter (from milk), casein or nitrites...I had to shop around for prosciutto and ham that didn't contain these items.  They're a bit more expensive, but they totally make the salad.  I made a big bowl with all the ingredients I could have, scooped out a sizable portion for myself, and then added the salami, provolone and fresh croutons.

Here's my bowl...

And the final product...

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups bread cubes (I used a crusty sourdough bread)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/3 cups giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables), drained and chopped, plus 2 tablespoons brine from the jar
• 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1/2 cup sliced pitted Sicilian marinated green olives (black olives would be good, as well)
• 1/2 cup chopped jarred mild pepper rings
• 1 large head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 ounces sliced smoked ham, cut into thin strips
• 2 ounces sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips
• 1 ounce sliced salami, cut into thin strips
• 2 slices of provolone, torn into small pieces

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the bread cubes and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, tossing occasionally, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, toss the giardiniera in a large bowl with the basil, olives, peppers, romaine, tomatoes, ham, prosciutto, salami, provolone and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Drizzle with the giardiniera brine and toss. Let sit about 20 minutes to let the flavors combine.

Add the croutons to the salad and toss. Divide among bowls.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Food Network Magazine - Jan/Feb 2012