Gluten Free Tomato Soup

One of the “regular foods” I miss the most in the winter time is canned tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I’ve tried a few recipes for tomato soup and never quite loved it. This is a mix of several recipes I’ve tried and I think it’s awesome. I made this with my 4 year old daughter one afternoon last week and we had so much fun.

Tomato Soup

3 (15 oz) cans tomatoes (you can use whole, diced, whatever…it’s just going in the blender)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp dried basil

1/2-1  cup chopped onion (I only did 1/2 cup but next time I’ll do more)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup skim milk

Put all ingredients except the milk into large pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Pour soup into a blender (I did this in 2 batches) and blend on low for about 30 seconds, until smooth. Return to pot and add milk. Eat with grilled cheese sandwiches. =)

No-Bake Cookies

I was craving chocolate and my daughter wanted to make cookies. To satisfy both of us, we decided on these little babies. I did a ridiculous amount of research to figure out why mine are always either too crumbly or too runny. I guess when I'm pregnant I take cookies pretty seriously. Here's what I learned: it's all in the boiling time. If you boil too long they're crumbly, not long enough they're runny. You have to set the timer for 90 seconds as soon as it starts boiling and then when the timer goes off, immediately remove the pan from the heat. This was my first time trying it this way and they were absolutely perfect. Happy chocolate to you.

No-Bake Cookies
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
1/2 c. butter
4 Tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
3 c. gluten free quick oats
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa in a medium sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 90 seconds. Remove from heat immediately. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Add oats and stir well. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper and allow to cool.

Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

This is my new favorite pizza crust. I have finally stopped buying the packaged stuff because I was able to make something on my own that tasted great AND was really, really, easy. It's even the right kind of texture to roll with a rolling pin, which is a huge bonus, in my opinion. I am looking forward to trying calzones with this because I think it would work perfectly. Original recipe found here.

Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

2/3 c. warm water (or milk)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Mix above ingredients and set aside while you prepare the rest. In a seperate bowl, combine the following ingredients and mix really well (I do this in my Kitchenaid):

2/3 c. plus 3 tbsp potato starch
3 tbsp sorghum flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp salt
Rice flour for dusting pan/rolling pin

Add the water/yeast mixture to the mixing bowl and mix well. When the dough is well combined, dust counter or pan with rice flour and roll dough into 12-16 in. circle. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 min. Remove from the oven and top as desired, bake for another 10 min or until toppings are warm/melted.

Chicken Taco Bowls

This is one of my new favorite recipes, so I thought it was a good one to start off the new year. I’m becoming a bigger fan of my crockpot all the time, mostly because I love being able to just dump a bunch of stuff in there and have dinner ready hours later. Awesome. This is that kind of recipe. It’s super easy, really versatile, and tastes great.

Chicken Taco Bowls

2 large chicken breast halves

1 (16 0z) jar salsa

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and well rinsed

1 c. frozen corn

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp oregano

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 c. chopped cilantro (optional)

1/2 c. uncooked jasmine rice

Shredded lettuce (optional)

 

Put everything except the rice, cheese and cilantro into the crockpot. However you want. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high from 4-5 hours. About 45 min before you want to eat, prepare the rice as directed on the package. I like to add a Tbsp of Lime juice and some garlic salt to mine.  Remove lid from crockpot and shred chicken. Mix all ingredients in the pot together and replace lid until ready to eat.

We make ours like this: Place rice on the bottom of your bowl. Then top with lettuce, chicken mixture, cheese and cilantro. You can eat it just like that, or I like to throw a little Ranch dressing on top. I have also used the leftover chicken mixture to make taco salads, nachos, or tacos for lunches.

This is so easy and you can tweak it however you want.

Fudge

I'm blaming all of this on pregnancy. I woke up yesterday wanting fudge so bad. I decided to make it today because we had lots of family coming to celebrate my little girl's birthday, so I knew I'd have help eating it. I've actually never made fudge before. Mostly because it's something I really love and I didn't want to risk screwing it up. I found a recipe on this blog that I figured I could handle and it turned out amazing. Happy Sugar Rush!

Fudge

4 cups of sugar (shocking, I know)
1 can evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Mix in a big pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Boil for 8 min. Remove from heat and add:

2 2/1 cups chocolate chips (I did half milk and half semi-sweet)
1 cup butter

Stir until mixture is melted and loses some of it's gloss. Add:

1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup more mini marshmallows

Stir until marshmallows are melted. Pour into butter cookie sheet and cool. This made very thin pieces for me, just thinner than I am used to. Next time I might use a 9x13 pan instead.

Shredded Beef Tacos

I’ve been slacking lately at keeping up with this blog, and if I’m honest with myself, most other things in my life.  I haven’t spent much time baking or trying new recipes for the past few months since I believe it’s never in your best interest to try a new recipe in your first trimester of pregnancy. =) Now I’m feeling much better and I have a few good ones I hope to have posted soon. This taco recipe is one I originally found on Crockpot365. I really love her blog. I only made a few preferential changes to it and we really loved it. I hope you like them!

 

Shredded Beef Tacos

3-4 pound beef roast

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

6 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion, diced

1 Tbsp ginger

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 half jalapeno, diced with seeds removed

 

Trim the fat off the roast and plop it in your crockpot. Then just dump the rest of the ingredients in however you want.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the meat and stir to mix everything in well. It really is super easy. Serve in corn tortillas with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and sour cream on top. Delicious.

Pad Thai

We love Thai food. Whenever we go I want to try new things but also can’t resist ordering my favorite, Pad Thai. I think that problem is solved because this recipe tastes as good to me as anything I’ve had at a restaurant. Now I can eat Pad Thai at home and try new things when we go out. Win-win!! The long list of ingredients looked intimidating to me at first (especially the fish sauce…look for that near the soy and thai sauces at your grocery store) but it’s very easy to make. We liked it so much we ate it twice this week, so try it out!

PAD THAI

3/4 pound bean sprouts
6 ounces pad thai rice noodles
4 eggs
salt
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons sesame or extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 cups grated carrots
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter (optional)
2/3 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced

Bring pot of water to boil and prepare rice noodles according to package directions. Add the bean sprouts to the boiling noodles during the last minute of cooking. Drain noodles/beans and rinse with cold water.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Stir together the lime juice, ketchup, brown sugar, and fish sauce in a separate bowl and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet (or wok) over medium heat. Fry the garlic for about a minute. Add red pepper flakes and carrot and stir fry for one minute, move to one side of the skillet.  Add the beaten egg to the opposite side of the skillet and scramble.  Once eggs have set, mix them with the peppers and carrots. Add peanut butter and mix in until melted. Add the noodles, sprouts, green onions, peanuts, and sauce. Toss and serve.
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