Cream of Rice

No recipe here...just a gluten-free breakfast idea for winter. I LOVED this growing up!
Follow directions on Cream of Rice box to prepare.
Then add LOTS of brown sugar, some butter and milk.
It's like our version of oatmeal :-).

Chili-Beef Soft Tacos

This is another mystery recipe...I ripped it out of a magazine long ago, but all identifying information was cut off. You can't go wrong with shredded beef tacos in my opinion and these definitely didn't disappoint! And they are so easy; just throw it in the crock pot in the morning and by evening you're ready to dig in.

Ingredients:
-2 16-oz. jars mild or med tomato-based salsa (4 c.)
-2 T. cider vinegar
-5 t. chili powder
-1 1/2 lb. beef chuck pot roast
-12 corn tortillas
-sour cream, shredded lettuce, avocado (and cheese if you're like me)

Directions:
-Spoon 1 c. salsa into small bowl; reserve. In slow cooker, combine remaining sals with vinegar and chili powder. Add beef, cover and turn heat to low. Cook until beef shreds easily with a fork, 10-12 hours. Shred meat, meat using 2 forks and spoon into serving bowl.
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil and bake until warm, about 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream, lettuce, avocado and remaining salsa.

2 Pot Roast Recipes

Mike's Favorite Pot Roast(from a church cookbook)
Ingredients:
-1 can cream of mushroom soup (we use 98%FF)
-1 envelope onion soup mix
-1/2 c. milk
-beef chuck roast (about 2 lbs.)

Directions:
-Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper and place in crock pot on low setting.
-Mix together soup, soup mix and milk. Pour over roast.
-Cook on low 8-10 hours until meat is done, stirring occasionally.
Serve with mashed potatoes and use sauce in crock pot as gravy.

Marci's Favorite Pot Roast (from Better Homes and Garden cookbook)
Ingredients:
-beef chuck roast
-2 T. cooking oil
-3/4 c. water or dry wine
-1 t. beef bouillon granules
-1 T. Worcestershire
-1 t. dried basil, crushed
-2 medium potatoes, sliced
-handful baby carrots or 2 carrots, sliced
-1 onion, sliced

Directions:
-Place veggies at the bottom of crockpot. Place roast on top.
-Combine water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, and basil.
-Pour over meat and vegetables. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours.
(For gravy: Measure pot juices and add water if need to equal 1 1/2 cups. Combine 1/4 c. flour/cornstarch with 1/2 c. cold water. Stir into juices until thickend and bubbly.)

Mom's Taco Soup

My mom makes this every Halloween and we all love it. Scott even requested it for his birthday dinner one year :-). It's like a chili with a Mexican twist...perfect for fall!

Ingredients:
-1 can chili beans (15 oz)
-1 lb. hamburger
-1 chopped onion
-1 can tomato soup (8 oz)
-1 can water (8 oz)
-1 can whole stewed tomatoes (28 oz)
-1 can kidney beans (15 oz)
-1 can green chilies (4 oz)
-1 can whole kernel corn
-1 package taco seasoning
*brown sugar
-Toppings: crushed tortilla chips, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, green onions, avocado.

Directions:
-Brown hamburger and onion and drain fat.
-Combine all ingredeitns and simmer at least 2 hours or cook in crockpot.
*Add brown sugar to taste...this really makes the difference!
-Top as desired!

Classic Hashbrown Casserole

I just made these on a whim yesterday...I saw the words "potato casserole" somewhere, this came to mind and I had to have it :-). When Mike and I first got married we had this for dinner probably once a week (no wonder I gained weight!) and I hadn't made it in forever. It tastes just as good use FF creamed soup and FF sour cream and it would have saved me a few pounds I'm sure.

Ingredients:
-1 package frozen hash browns
-1 can cream chicken soup (can use FF)
-1 chopped onion
-1 container (16 oz) sour cream (can use FF or light)
-1 stick butter (I think just 2 T. is good enough)
-shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Place butter, sliced, in bottom of 9x13 baking dish with onion while you mix the other ingredients (for the cheese, I put one handful in the mix and use the rest to top the casserole at the end) until onions are clear.
-Mix onions in with other ingredients and spread the mixture in dish.
-Bake for 30-45 minutes. Add cheese to top during last 10 min. of baking.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Thanks to Annemarie (Taste Buds) for this festive cookie idea :-). The girls and I made up some little plates for the librarians at our library last night and they turned out so cute. I'm not a baker, so the fact that they turned out presentable was definitely a success :-)!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter; room temp
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg; room temp
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Hershey Kisses

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and peanut butter. Mix in both sugars, vanilla and egg. Combine dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add to peanut butter mixture & mix just until combined. Roll dough into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 min. Remove from oven and immediately press Hershey Kiss into center of cookie (I put mine in the fridge while the cookies are baking).

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I took the beginnings of this recipe from one I found on All Recipes and went from there. My pumpkin seeds always tend to get overdone. I only had them in about 40 minutes and some of them were still a little burned. I put them on a baking sheet though I just realized so maybe that was the problem. The flavors in this are great - just watch them closely while they bake!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned sale
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
(optional: 1/4 t. chili powder)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
-Combine the butter, salts, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly and place in shallow baking dish.
-Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Cheesy Baked Mexi Rigatoni

This is the first recipe I have tried from Picky Palate and it was pretty good. The more I ate, the more I liked it. Ella and Addie both LOVED it and wanted more (although while Ella didn't eat the tomatoes, Addie picked them out to eat first). We used ground turkey instead of beef and I didn't have any chilies, but we'll definitely make it again! (oh, and I made a half recipe of it and it was plenty for the 4 of us)

Ingredients:
1 lb dry Rigatoni pasta or any other pasta of choice (we used our Gluten Free Penne)
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 Anaheim green chili’s finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt
1 can cheddar cheese soup
½ Cup milk or half and half
1 Cup sour cream
2 15 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
Heaping ½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves (add more if you love cilantro)
2 Cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions, making sure it’s not overcooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Place olive oil into a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Saute onions and chilies until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in beef, salt, pepper and garlic salt; cook and crumble until browned. Stir in soup, milk, sour cream and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cilantro and cooked pasta.
3. Pour mixture into a large 9 x 13 inch baking dish or individual size baking dishes of choice, see my link above. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. (I broiled mine a minute or two at the end)

Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

Sorry for the lack of posts this week - I haven't felt like cooking much. But today Mckell made this for us for lunch and it was DELICIOUS!!!!

Ingredients:
2 cans Trappey's black-eyed peas with Jalapenos (undrained)
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 med. onion, chopped
1 can beef broth
1/2 c. butter (we put in 1/4 c.)
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut in pieces
Chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Fry sausage pieces. When almost done, saute onion & garlic.
Combine the black eye peas, rice, onions, beef broth, butter, and sausage in electric rice cooker. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Cook according to the instructions on the rice cooker.
Gently stir once when cooker reaches the warm mode.

Gluten Free Pad Thai

This was one of the first recipes I tried when I found the Kill the Gluten blog. It gets better each time we make it I think. I added my alterations in italics.

Ingredients:
1 box Original Pad Thai
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
we use 1 can chicken and season with 1/2 t. each pepper, garlic salt, onion salt and 1 t. curry
3 Tbsp oil, divided
I use 1/2 sesame oil, 1/2 canola or veggie oil
1 egg, scrambled (we like 2)
2 green onions, sliced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 lime...optional (I forgot tonight and it still tasted great)
2 Tbsp peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. shredded carrots
Directions:
- Boil 4 cups water. Add the noodles and remove from heat. Let the noodles soak for about 5-8 minutes, then drain and run under cold water.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add egg(s) and cook until done. Remove the egg and set aside.
- Add the other 2 Tbsp oil and heat. Add the chicken (and carrots) to the skillet, cooking until just done, about 3-5 minutes. Add the noodles and the sauce packet. Stir fry for a few minutes, or until the noodles are done, adding water if necessary to keep them from sticking to the skillet.
- Add the egg, green onions, cilantro, and squeeze the juice from the lime over the top. Stir for 1 minute and remove from heat.
- Garnish with peanuts. (and some soy sauce if desired)

Kelley's Banana Bread

This is my mom's recipe...it is delicious :-)!!!

Ingredients:
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
1 tsp. allspice
3 bananas, mashed (I double the bananas)
4 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Combine all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 t0 50 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Liz's Red Beans and Rice

This recipe is passed on from one of my old college roommates, Liz. It was delicious!!!

Ingredients:
1 – 16 oz. package of Kielbasa cut into ¼ inch slices (any sausage would do)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 – 15 oz. cans red beans, drained (we used light red Kidney beans)
1 – 16 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained (per her suggestion we used Rotel for some spice)
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. pepper and salt
cooked rice

Directions:
While rice is cooking, in large skillet cook sausage over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes.
Stir in onion, green pepper, and garlic. Sauté until tender.
Pour in beans and tomatoes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper.
Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes serve over rice.

Optional garnish from Liz: "We always have limes in our fridge, so once when we made this we squeezed a lime wedge on it and it was really good. Now we do it all the time!"

Mom's Green Beans

My mom has always been a green bean lover...I, on the other hand, have grown to appreciate them :-). Recently though I have really been loving them, so I finally asked her how she does it! Whenever my mom makes them when we are over for dinner, the girls can't get enough of them, so I figured I may as well start making myself every once in awhile. Tonight was our first attempt and they were DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
- canned green beans
- butter
- Goya All Purpose Seasoning (with the RED cap)
Directions:
- Dump beans into sauce pan with a generous amount of butter (I put 1 1/2 T. for 1 can of beans tonight).
- Season with Goya salt and pepper...lots of both, to taste.
- Let the flavors mix together and enjoy!

Favorite Potato Soup

When I graduated high school my church Young Women leader gave us each a little cookbook she had compiled. Some of our favorite family recipes are from her (ie.Creamy Lemon Chicken), including the base recipe for this soup. I change this one up depending on my mood and who is going to eat it. When I make it for just us girls, I put in lots of frozen broccoli and no meat, but for Mike we add some meat to make it a little more hearty :-). Tonight I had bacon and half and half in the fridge for other recipes this week so we threw those in. It was delicious as always!

Ingredients:
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1/2 c. onion, diced
- 2-4 T. butter
- 1 t. garlic, minced
- 3-4 potatoes, diced
- 2 c. water (or enough to cover potatoes)
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1/2 t. pepper
- 1/2 t. seasoned salt
- 4 T. flour/cornstarch
- 2 c. milk
Optional: diced ham/bacon, corn, broccoli, shredded cheese

Directions:
- Melt butter in large pot; Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic, saute until tender.
- Add potatoes, water and spices (and any frozen veggies). Cook until potatoes are tender.
- Combine flour/cornstarch and a small amount of water to make a paste; add to pot.
- Add milk; cook on low heat until thickened.
- Add ham and/or cheese; stir through till heated.

Thai Chicken Curry

This recipe comes from Jamie's Cookbook and it is DELICIOUS! I seriously had to come upstairs to get away from it and stop eating :-)! Thai inspired dishes are definitely her speciality, so check it out (most are gluten free too). Yum, Yum, YUM!!!


Ingredients:
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (I used 1/3 and was pleasantly surprised, we are not raisin lovers over here!)
- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into wide slices
- 1 medium tomato, cut into thick 1 inch pieces
- 1 bunch asparagus or green beans, ends cut off and then cut into thirds (I used green beans)
- 1 1/2 T. Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 t. curry powder
- 1 t. salt
- 1/2 t.pepper
Optional Ingredients:
- pineapple
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup water (I added the water and a little more curry powder to provide some extra sauce and was glad I did!)
INSTEAD OF CURRY PASTE: 1 tbsp fresh ginger, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne

Ingredients:
- Cut chicken into thin strips. Season with curry and broil on low, DO NOT overcook as it will simmer later.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan. Saute onions first, add asparagus/beans, then add tomatoes.
- Add the following ingredients one at a time and taste it as you go: raisins, curry paste, coconut milk, curry powder, salt, pepper, chicken.
- Simmer and taste and re-season until you can't wait anymore. (I thought it was great as is)
- Serve with steamed rice.