Rockin' Chili!

Wow, this is a flavorful chili!!

I based this (mostly) off of this recipe on Recipezaar.  The differences between mine & that one are: the onions, no sirloin, no beer, extra beef broth, 1/2 black beans instead of all kidney beans, and shorter cooking time. :)

2 teaspoons oil

1/2 of a large onion, chopped

1/2 of a red onion, chopped

3 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic

1 lb ground beef

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup boiling water + 1.5 tsp instant coffee (or 1 cup strong coffee)

2 6 oz cans of tomato paste

2 cans beef broth

1/2 cup brown sugar

3.5 tablespoons chili sauce (I wondered if this was optional--I hate opening up a big jar for 1 recipe!)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon salt

2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans

2 (15 oz) cans black beans

1 4 oz can chopped chili peppers

Heat the oil, cook the beef, the garlic & the onions all together. Add the tomatoes, coffee, tomato baste & beef broth.  Add the spices & the beans and peppers. 

Simmer for an hour or so.  I suppose a longer cooking time would probably bring out more flavor--but trust me, this chili already has a TON of flavor!!

For my family's preferences, I will be toning this down next time--less cayenne, cumin, and maybe no chili peppers.  We were out of sour cream, but we served each bowl with a little wedge of babybell creamy swiss cheese stirred in, and this helped tone it down quite a bit!

Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix

        

 I made a batch of Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix to go with our chili for lunch today. It was surprisingly good! I was afraid it would be dry, or it would taste obviously like a gluten free food item, or it would be gritty like some of my cornbreads have been lately (I've only been able to find coarse grain gluten free cornmeal).  It was none of the above!  It was moist, it was good, and the cornmeal grain was fine.  I may have put a little too much liquid in it (or something?) because mine took an extra 10 minutes to cook. Right when it came out of the oven, I drizzled agave nectar all over the top of it, which added a nice sweetness!  I meant to serve it with honey butter, but forgot--and it wasn't missed. This cornbread was truly moist enough and tasty enough all on it's own!  

Gluten Free Danishes!

Aren't they beautiful?

My husband made these for breakfast this morning, to go with scrambled eggs & iced chai.  Mmmmm!!!

I found the recipe at Recipezaar, my favorite recipe site.

And here it is for you:

2 TB butter (the recipe says shortening--but I like butter instead)

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

1 tablespoon yeast (gluten free)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup potato starch

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Toppings:

jam to top each danish

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a baking sheet

Combine all ingredients, and mix well to remove the lumps.

Plop about 1/4 of a cup of dough on greased baking sheet.

Flatten a little (this is almost impossible with a sticky dough, but whatever!) :)

Make a small dent in the middle of the danish with your thumb for the filling.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon (or more!) of your favorite jam into the middle of each danish. (note--we used a freezer jam, which was a bit too runny--a jelly or Lemon Curd would make it more like store-bought danishes).

Bake for about 15 min, or until golden.

While they're baking, mix up the icing. Just mix powdered sugar with water (more sugar--just a little water--stir up to make an icing :).

When the danishes come out of the oven, drizzle with icing.

Let them cool a bit, and then enjoy!!

Note: these will not be flaky like store bought danishes, but they're still good!!! :)

Peking Pork Chops

I got my recipe from A Year of Crockpotting. I was looking for something easy, without too many ingredients to mix up or prepare in advance, since I was still feeling sick (but the family would need dinner!).

I pulled 4 pork chops out of the freezer at about 1 pm.  I preheated the crockpot while I ran the pork chops under warm water, only to get the plastic out from in between them. I'd happily throw them in the crockpot frozen. :)  We ate at about 5:30 and they were totally done. So they went from mostly frozen to done in 4.5 hours (on high). And it's a simple recipe....I'd say it's a keeper! :)

The recipe says to use:

6 pork chops (I used 4)

Throw them in the crockpot, and then mix the following in a bowl:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder

1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

4 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced

dump that stuff on top of the pork chops.

I turned it on high, but I was starting at 1 pm. If you're cooking it on low, it will take 6-8 hours.

This recipe handled frozen pork chops well, and was very yummy with white rice and a salad.

*note to self: I got a little canker sore right after eating this. Maybe the Chinese 5 Spice powder? Maybe the ketchup? Hmm! (anybody else have that problem???)

Lots of Recipes to Try!

I have saved lots of recipes to try (on the right) and lots that I have tried and like (on the left). There are also GF Blogs to follow (left) and other GF Sites (left), and a map of Oregon gluten free restaurants & stores (bottom).  Check them out!!!

Amazing Addicting Pasta!

I made up this pasta sauce last night & served it over Brown Rice Rotini Pasta from Trader Joes. MMMM.....I have to share!

In a saucepan, I dumped a can of diced tomatoes,

3 TB Rice Flour,

a drizzle of light olive oil

4 tsp minced onion

a generous amount of each: oregano, sweet basil, pepper (more than you might think of each of these. The sauce was pretty "spicy").

some salt

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

stir constantly & bring to a boil.  Mmmmmm!  Soooo good!!

I put leftover turkey (from the freezer) over the top to get some meat with it.  Any well-seasoned, shredded meat would go great with it. I think shrimp, salmon or halibut would also be super yummy.

I served it with my latest, easy salad:

Tear up some green leaf lettuce & spinach together (after cleaning, of course).

Use a veggie peeler and peel a carrot, discard the peelings, and then keep on using the peeler & put the pieces of carrot you peel off into the bowl of lettuce & spinach.

Toss the whole thing with some salad dressing of choice. I like Paul Newman's Parmesan Garlic, I think it's called.  It just needs a little dressing.

Top with a sprinkling of Parmesan Cheese.

YUM! :)

Yummmmmy Dinner!

Hi Friends, I have not posted here in quite a while! I don't know if I'll be able to catch up on what I've been cooking over the last month, but let me start with last night's dinner!

With the help of my handsome man, we assembled & cooked:

Chicken Apple Sausages (cooked on the stove top)

Spicy Sausages (cooked on the stove top)

Carrots

Celery

French Fries (cooked in the oven)

Fondue

I cook fondue like this: 

A little olive oil & maybe 1/2 T to 1 full T of minced garlic. Saute it, then add in about 1.5 to 2 cups of wine (I get the 2nd to the cheapest wine at Wal Mart).  Let that get hot.  Then add in, 1 at a time, slices of American-Swiss Cheese.  Like the American Cheese, but it's Swiss.  Stir with each new slice.  I get the big pack of the cheese at Costco, and there are 3 big stacks in that, and I use about 1.5 stacks for 2 cups of wine.  Just keep adding cheese until it's not too runny, and keep stirring with each piece. I like the Costco cheese because there are no individual wrappers...That's important to me!!

So I put little bowls full of fondue on everybody's plate (and the big pot in the center with a ladel for refills), and then everybody got to dip sausage, veggies and french fries in their fondue.  The kids LOVED it and so did we!!!!