Lemon Rice with Pine Nuts

This is a great recipe I got from my Ward Cookbook. It's one of our favorite rice dishes.  I love to make it with this Tilapia recipe. I was tempted once to make it without the pine nuts...mostly because I'm super cheap.  Thankfully my husband wouldn't stand for it so he picked some up on his way home from work.  They really do make a big difference. Definitely try this one out!

Amy's Lemon Rice with Pine Nuts
2 1/2 C. chicken broth (I used water and boullion cubes)
1 C. jasmine rice
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped (I've used sweet, white, and red. All were good.)
1/4 C. pine nuts
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, bring chicken broth to a boil.  Add rice, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 min.  Remove from heat, set aside.  In a medium skillet melt mutter over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.  Add cooked rice, pine nuts, lemon juice, parsley, salt & pepper.

Honey-Hoisin Chicken

My husband found this recipe in Parents' magazine.  It's a real keeper. It was really quick and easy to throw together, but it also tasted delicious.

Honey-Hoisin Chicken

3 T hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb chicken, cut into thin strips (I used to large breast halves)
3 C. cooked rice (I used Jasmine, my new favorite)

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. In a small bowl whisk together the hoisin sauce, honey, lime juice and 1 tbsp of oil.  Set aside 1/4 cup of the sauce.  Brush remaining mixture onto chicken strips and place them in skillet to cook. Allow to cook for about 3 min each side, or until cooked through.  Serve chicken on top of rice.  Drizzle with reserved Sauce.

Why I never should have taught my 3 year old why I can’t eat “gluten-free”

My little girl is very conscious about gluten-free food.  When she was pretty little she was always trying to cram gold fish or cookies into my mouth so I had to teach her young that mommy just couldn’t eat them since they weren’t gluten-free.  Today it back-fired. =)

We were in the car running errands and she asked for a drink.  I passed her my water bottle and when she was done I asked for it back and she said, “Sorry, Mom.  It’s not gluten-free.”  I believe the translation is: “Sorry, Mom. I have no intention of sharing with you.”  Kids…

Green Beans with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

Last week I purchased my first “Bountiful Basket.”  I was not disappointed at all.  I think I’ll do that about once a month.  It’s fun to get “mystery produce” and come up with ways to use it.  I can’t wait to tell you about the bread I made with the sweet potatoes we got.  Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it was amazing and you’ll love me for giving you the recipe.  I was excited to get fresh green beans.  I love green beans and my baby (okay, so she’s 19 months old now) would eat a whole can at one meal if we let her, but my husband only likes fresh.  I’ve never really known what to do with fresh ones, but when they showed up in my basket I decided I better figure it out. I found this recipe on For the Love of Cooking and decided to give it a whirl.  The girls weren’t that into it, but the adults overwhelmingly approved.

Green Beans with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp cider vinegar
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 lb fresh green beans
Handful of grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp sliced almonds
salt & pepper to taste

Combine oil, syrup, cider vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper in small container with a lid.  Give it a good shake and let it sit while you prepare the beans.  Place beans in a pot of boiling water and boil for about 4 minutes.  Drain and drop into a bowl of ice water for about 1 minute.  Drain again and place in bowl with almonds and tomatoes.  Shake the dressing up again and pour it onto the beans, etc.  Toss gently to cover and serve immediately.  Delicious.

My New Favorite Pesto

I found this recipe on The Sister’s Café and decided to try it.  It’s only slightly different from the one I used before but it was easily the best pesto I’ve ever had.  We have basil growing like weeds in our garden right now so it was fun to put it to use.  Our camera battery is dead so my husband took a picture with his phone.  Not bad, right?

Pesto

¼ c. walnuts
¼ c. pine nuts
3 T. minced garlic
5 c. fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp  black pepper
1 1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
Put the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in blender. Blend for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. While blender is running, slowly pour the olive oil in and blend until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the parmesan and puree for 1 minute. Serve immediately or store in the fridge.  I didn’t even put oil on the top and it has stayed nice.  We’ve eaten it on pizza and then tonight we put it on pasta.  It’s amazing!
(Green Bean recipe to follow)

Birthday Cake

Today is my Birthday!  I love Birthday’s.....and I love cake.  What a combo!  My husband bought me a gluten-free  chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting from The Sweet Tooth Fairy.  It was a splurge, for sure, but worth it.  If you live in the area you should really try that place out.  (Pardon my grainy-ness)


(My husband calls me “Ferger.”  A story for another day…)

The one that put me on the map…

This is just a silly little blog where I like to keep my favorite gluten-free recipes.  Mostly because, though I hate to admit it, I am getting flakier (word?) with age.  This way, I can pull up my site and have access to everything I make on a regular basis.  Someday I want to print them in a little book to keep in my kitchen, but I’ve got a ways to go for that.  Anyway, last month a delightful person who will remain nameless (only because I have no clue who they are) posted about my blog on Facebook.  Or something like that.  I’m not on Facebook so I don’t know exactly how that went down, but my mom called one day to inform me that I was “famous” because she found a posting that referenced my blog and my Baked Pasta with Summer Veggies.  What the crazy?  I thought the two of us (my mom and I) were the only ones who even looked at this thing and the next thing I knew I was getting hits from over 400 places!  Places I’ve never heard of like Willow Grove, PA or Belchertown, MA.  Then places I HAVE heard of like Russia, Chile, and the UK.  It’s been really fun for me to see where people are coming from, so please feel free to leave comments and let me know who/where you are.  Thank you, mystery person, for telling people about my little blog. Last night I made the squash recipe that was referenced and thought I would post a little picture.  I am terrible at food pictures, which is why there are few on this blog.  How do you take a decent picture of a casserole-type dish anyway?  Well, here it is.  The Baked Pasta with Summer Veggies (complete with a plastic lizard in the background). I thought it deserved some recognition for making us new friends in 13 different countries. =)  Thanks for coming by!