Spanish Rice

This is the side dish I like to make with my Honey Lime Enchiladas, or just about any other Mexcican recipe.  I love this rice and this is a quick, easy recipe.

Red Spanish Rice

2T oil
1/4 medium onion
1 1/2 c rice
3 cloves finely chopped garlic (I use the bottled stuff)
2 1/2 c gf chicken broth (I used 2 1/2 c water and 2 gf boulion cubes)
1 c tomato sauce
1 tsp parsley (dried)

In a sauce pan heat oil on medium heat.  Saute onions onions until clear.  Add rice and stir-fry until it's a light brown color (5-ish minutes), add garlic.  Add tomato sauce and broth (VERY SLOWLY!!). This will sizzle and splatter a bit, so be careful (and wear an apron :))  Stir well and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, reduce heat to low and add parsley.  Cover and simmer for 20 min.

My Favorite Enchiladas

I originally found this recipe on Sister’s Café.  I love that blog.  This is one of my favorite meals.  It’s really simple, it makes 2 pans so I can freeze one for later, and it’s delicious.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

1.5lb chicken (I use 2 large chicken breast halves), cooked and shredded (I do mine in the crockpot)
Sauce:
1/3 c honey
1/4 c lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 (10 oz) cans gluten-free green enchilada sauce
1 1/2 c equal parts shredded mozerella and shredded cheddar mixed together
Corn tortillas

Combine sauce ingredients and pour over chicken. Allow to sit for about 30 min.  Pour small amount of sauce into 2 (9x13) pans to cover bottoms.  I like to wrap 5-6 tortillas at a time in a wet paper towel and microwave for about 45 seconds so they roll easier.  Fill tortillas with about 2T chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese (I usually do at least a tablespoon or so in each tortilla).  Roll and line them up in the pans.  Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 for about 25 min, then turn broiler on and cook until tops looks brown and crispy.

I made bread!

I am really excited that I have just made my first ever, successful, made-from-scratch gluten-free bread.  I didn't get a picture before we ate half of it, but I'm going to post about it anyway so I don't forget how I did it.  First I would like to say, that I have always been against recipes that call for 7 different flours and 19 total ingredients.  It's just not my thing.  However, after years and years of paying way too much for gluten-free bread (and usually just going without) I decided I needed to bite the bullet and do it. I needed to find a good "from scratch" recipe to help save money, and hopefully it would taste good. Now that it's been tried I'm planning to make several batches of the dry ingredients in ziplocks so that all I have to do is grab the bag and add the wet stuff (because I've always been a lover of "mixes").  I found this recipe on glutenfreemommy.com and tweeked it just a little.  Also, I did mine in the bread machine so if you don't have one, read her post on how to bake it in the oven.  Okay, here we go...


Delicious Gluten-Free Bread


Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl:
1 C. brown rice flour
1/2 C. gf oat flour (can sub with quinoa flour)
3/4 c. millet flour
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1/3 c. corn starch
1/3 c. sweet sorghum flour
1/4 c. flax seed meal
1 tbsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. brown sugar


Mix wet ingredients sparately (my machine calls to put wet in first, then dry on top)
3 eggs
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp molasses
4 tbsp. melted butter
1 1/4 c. hot water


Put wet ingredients into machine, pour dry on top.  Make a small well in dry ingredients and add 1 packet dry active yeast.  Use gluten-free setting on bread machine, this takes about 1 hr 20 min.  It raised great and tastes fabulous!

My New Favorite Banana Bread

People.  I tried the most bizarre thing ever, and it was a total success, so I wanted to share.  A few nights ago a friend at work showed me this blog.  This woman reveals an amazing secret (at least it was news to me...).  Oil can be substituted in baked goods with BEANS!! Yes, beans.  Stay with me, now.  Here's what I did:  I made this recipe and instead of 1/2 c. oil, I used 1/2 cup white beans pureed with water.  She shows you how to do it on her blog.  I opened a can of beans, drained them, filled them back up with water and them tossed it in the magic bullet.  You just switch it out, cup for cup.  You would never guess.  It tasted fabulous, and I felt so much less guilt eating half of it in one day. =)  Imagine the decrease in fat, and all that extra protien and fiber!


Yogurt Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (or go crazy and use pureed beans/water)
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 ripe bananas)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan (or use 3 small loaf pans). In a large bowl, beat together sugar and oil. Add eggs, bananas, yogurt and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes (about 40 minutes for smaller loaf pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely.

Rolled Ham & Cheese Omelet

This is what we ate for Sunday dinner last night. =)  It was so easy and we all loved it!  The nice thing about this recipe is that while I am a plain, “ham’n’cheese” type person, you could really add whatever veggies or meat you wanted as a filling. 

Rolled Ham & Cheese Omelet
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour (I use GF all purpose)
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 eggs
2-1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 cups finely chopped fully cooked ham (or sausage, bacon, sautéed veggies, etc)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

Line the bottom and sides of a greased baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Add cream cheese, milk, flour, salt, and eggs to a blender and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. I pull the top oven rack out and set the pan down, then pour it in, to avoid spilling it everywhere. 
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until eggs are puffed and set (the gluten-free version didn’t “puff” nearly as pretty as the regular, but it was set). Remove from the oven. Immediately spread cheese and ham, reserving about 1/4 c. of cheese.
Roll up from a short side, peeling parchment paper away while rolling.  Once I got mine started, I actually just pulled upward on the parchment and the omelet rolled itself. Super easy. Sprinkle top of roll with the remaining cheese; bake 3-4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Slice into 12 rings and serve.

Broiled Tilapia

This is a recipe I found a few weeks ago on Sister's Cafe.  It was pure heaven.  Try it out.

Broiled Tilapia

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 T mayonnaise
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp celery salt
2 lbs tilapia fillets

Preheat broiler. Grease broiling pan or line with foil. Combine parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Add basil, pepper, onion powder, and celery salt. Mix well and set aside. Place fillets on prepared pan. Broil a few inches form the heat for 2-3 minutes. Flip fillets over and broil for a few more minutes. Remove from oven and cover with Parmesan cheese mixture. Broil for 2 more minutes or until topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook. Serve immediately.

The best thing happened to me today...

I went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy and had one of their new gluten-free cupcakes.  Oh my word.  It was so dang good!  They just started making gluten-free cupcakes, brownies, and cookies this month and they all look amazing.  Their French Macarons are also gluten-free and they are just to die for.  I'm a huge Sweet Tooth Fairy fan.  I love a good, "cute," treat every now and then so I love this place!  Go try it!