Zucchini casserole

all recipes.com

Ingredients

• 8 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 6 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced pepperoni
• 1 (16 ounce) package small curd cottage cheese
• 1/4 pound shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Cover bottom of baking dish with half of the zucchini slices. Layer with half of the onion rings, tomato slices and pepperoni slices. Sprinkle with half of each of the cottage cheese, Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until zucchini is tender, and cheese is melted.

Chicken in Balsamic Vinegar

allrecipes.com - with my edits

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts - pound thin
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced - portabella probably taste better
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour -g-free, or skip and add thickener to reduction.
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic -less
  
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar --ok to use 1/8 cup
  
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rinse the mushrooms and pat dry. Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken until it is nicely browned on one side (about 3 minutes).
2. Add the garlic. Turn the chicken breasts and scatter the mushrooms over them. Continue frying, shaking the skillet and stirring the mushrooms. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the vinegar, broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover tightly and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
3. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and cover with foil. Set aside. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium high heat for about 7 minutes. Swirl in the butter or margarine and discard the bay leaf. Pour this mushroom sauce mixture over the chicken and serve.

Slow cooker sausage

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (19 ounce) package Bob Evans® Italian Sausage (sausage/ground beef)
  
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 (26 ounce) jar tomato pasta sauce
• 5 sub buns
• 5 slices provolone cheese

Directions

1. In nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook sausage+beef until brown. Place in slow cooker. Add peppers and onion. Top with pasta sauce. Cover and cook on low 4 to 6 hours until sausage is fully cooked. Place sausage in buns; top with peppers, onions, pasta sauce and cheese.

Ham in Foil packet

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 ham steaks
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can sweet potatoes, drained
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Tear off two large sheets of aluminum foil. Place one ham slice onto each piece of foil, and sprinkle brown sugar on both sides. Spread a little bit of the crushed pineapple over the ham, then top with sweet potatoes. Sprinkle a little bit more brown sugar and pineapple over the sweet potatoes. Close the aluminum foil tightly around the ham, and place on a baking sheet.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven, and carefully open the packets. Sprinkle miniature marshmallows over the top, and return to the oven with the foil open. Bake for another 10 minutes. If you want the marshmallows really toasty, you could brown them under the broiler for a couple of minutes. You will end up with a sweet, juicy ham dish and very few dishes to wash.

New recipe cinn rolls vanilla pudding

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

½ cup warm water
2 Tb yeast
2 Tb sugar
3 ½ oz package instant vanilla pudding, make as directed
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp salt

6-7 cups flour

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, combine pudding, butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not add too much flour. It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Roll out on floured surface to about 34 X 21 inches in size. I don't think I've ever measured my rectangles. Make it however big you want.

Here's where I don't have exact directions. A little vague, I know, but it's all according to preference.

Take softened butter and spread over surface (Don't be too skimpy on the butter). Sprinkle cinnamon over butter (I like cinnamon so I use a lot.) Take handfuls of brown sugar and spread over butter/cinnamon (don't be skimpy here either). Roll it up into one big cinnamon roll log. Cut in 1 1/2 section with a super sharp knife or use floss or thread (way easier than I knife, I think).

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Frost with cream cheese frosting or regular icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tb milk

mahi mahi x3

Marinate in lemon + pineapple juice with thyme + basil.
salt + pepper, garlic, onion
top with pineapple
bake 25 min at 350

ginger-lime sauce
1/3 c sour cream - sub yogurt
1 T lime juice
1 tsp fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
cayenne pepper

Mango salsa
mango
avocado
pineapple
jalapeno ---or add mango to salsa

Ginger Glaze

3 tablespoons honey, 3T soy sauce, 3T balsamic vinegar
1tsp fresh ginger, 1 clove garlic, 2 tsp olive oil
marinate 20 min
bake
reduce sauce

Rice with cilantro & carrot
Veges Steamed

Potato Bean Enchilada

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped, divided
• 2 (12 ounce) packages corn tortilla
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
• 1 (12 ounce) package queso fresco
• oil for frying

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). In a bowl, toss diced potatoes together with cumin, chili powder, salt, and ketchup, and place in an oiled baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, boil tomatillos and chopped onion in water to cover for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, puree with half of the cilantro until smooth.
3. Fry tortillas individually in a small amount of hot oil until soft.
4. Mix potatoes together with pinto beans, 1/2 cheese, and 1/2 cilantro. Fill tortillas with potato mixture, and roll up. Place seam side down in an oiled 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon tomatillo sauce over enchiladas, and spread remaining cheese over sauce. Bake for 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Chicken Scampi

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves, sliced lengthwise into thirds

Directions

1. In a skillet heat the butter or margarine and oil over medium high until the butter/margarine melts. Add the parsley, basil, oregano and garlic and salt and mix together in the skillet. Stir in lemon juice.
2. Then add the chicken and saute for about 3 minutes or until white. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. More butter/margarine can be added if needed.

Modification - less oil/butter. Add 1/2 c broth. marinate chicken. add veges.

G-free pie crust

Before I forget the made up recipe:
3 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon+
1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c rice flour
1/2 c sorghum flour
1/2 c potato /tapioca flour blend
mix.
1/4 c shortening, in pieces
1/4 c butter, in pieces
mix.
2 T apple cider vinegar, cold
1 large egg
mix
1/4 c ice cold water to form dough.

The beauty - you can't over work it because there's no gluten!
The downside - browns easily because the sorghum and cinnamon already give it the darker color to start with.

Thank You

We did find the patients we needed for Michael's exam. Thank you to everyone who referred or came in for the screening. If you came in and still need your Charlie card, please let us know so we can mail it to you. We finished the exam and now have to wait a month for the results, but we are very grateful for all your help. THANKS!

Hummus

Favorite recipe. Courtesy of Joe, the roommate who took my husband's place in the apartment. We figured this out by taste test on the day of our wedding open house here in Boston. Yes, last minute planners are we! Joe took notes and happily brought them to us at Institute tonight.

3 c. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) -drained
2/3 c. Garbanzo bean juice
2 T Garlic
5 T Lemon Juice
1/2 c. Tahini Sauce
1/4 tsp Salt
3 T Olive Oil

and add flavor.

Fruit with Jello

The picture is from Flickr, not from me. I wanted it as an illustration of how much JELLO you can see in this jello fruit salad. If we did this, it would be an example of not trying hard enough to squish more fruit in.

My husband likes the idea that you wouldn't be able to see the jello at all, only the fruit with some blobs lightly holding it together.

I grew up with Auntie Margarets Orange Jello with strategically placed pineapples and bananas, with a whip-cream/cheam cheese topping. YUM. Other than that, I remember fruit salads at home, and of course I always liked lots of whip cream. Auntie Margaret was the only one who could make me think cream cheese was a good idea.

So when I'm cooking now, we use a little box (only some are g-free, I have to check carefully) and then a LOT of fruit: fresh and canned and frozen...I just keep dumping it in.

Unanswered questions -

Why are grapes so slimy when canned? And why do cherries feel out of place?

Lessons learned:
Don't keep stirring to melt the ice. It's ok to take the big chunks out earlier.
Canned fruit always adds more juice, no matter how much I drain it.
Drained juice could be the cold liquid in the jello , or
Drained juice can be added to Frozen OJ concentrate as a water-substitute for more tasty flavor.
Plan to use use the big pan with the small box. Plan to use 2 big pans for a large box.
Chill in the fridge. Resist the temptation to use the freezer.

Korean Potato

I can't remember when in law school I was introduced to these, but they are yummy. YUMMY.

Potato - I pre-baked in the microwave, then put in the fridge because I ran out of time. A couple days later I got it out, peeled it, and cut it up.

Warmed in non-stick pan with a dash of garlic powder, a little butter & a little sesame oil. Let it get nice and brown.

Added water + wheat-free soy sauce (tamari, from whole foods). Recipe proportions: 1/2 c water and 2 T soy sauce. My proportions: little less water, little more soy sauce.

Recipe also calls for 1 T sugar. I split it: some honey, some brown sugar.

Let boil until reduced and potato is soft.

And today's lessons:
*tamari is stronger than soy sauce because the wheat hasn't thinned it out. Use less, not more!
*onion flakes with the garlic and potato probably would have been good.
*recipe called for sesame oil to be added after. If I want this flavor, that's a better idea because after boiling in sauce, I couldn't taste the butter or the sesame oil I started with.
*probably use honey OR brown sugar. Or white sugar alone. I don't need the split-combo.
*wow, does this make the house smell. Good thing to do it when husband is gone (he's not a fan of soy sauce taste or smell), but better to open all the windows and use the fan even so.

Peach Banana Coconut loaf

I can't really call it bread. Not because it's gluten-free, just because it didn't really turn out.

Here's the story: I had an old banana. But just 1. I wanted to use it. I decided to make banana bread. Since I needed more fruit, I added canned peaches (drained). However, even chopped up, peaches have extra juice.

I was trying to cut back on butter. I had leftover coconut milk that my husband isn't fond of. I decided to substitute coconut milk for butter.

I followed the recipe. But after pouring into the loaf pan, decided that it still was too runny.

So I added flour. Just dumped some on top and stirred. That doesn't work very well.

Especially since g-free flour has a lot of leavening built into it.

So the loaf turned out interestingly. It baked up, which is a plus. It is edible. I can't really taste the difference in coconut vs butter, which is surprising. I can taste the peach. The banana turned purple - has this happened to anyone else?

The worst part was the loaf where the extra flour didn't reach. That came out gummy-gluey. On the top 1/2 of the loaf, it rose a lot because of the built in baking-powder/baking-soda whammy combo. And the middle bread-like texture was ok. Overall, the flavor was good. But the top texture was too light, and the bottom was too heavy.

All in all, a good learning experiment. Lessons:
*trust my instinct - when the dough looked too runny, it really was.
*coconut milk CAN substitute for butter in some baking.
*peach bread is not a bad idea, but I should try it pureed instead of just mashed.

Gluten-Free

Ok, this will now be the space where I collect and report on recipes and other culinary experiments in my quest to live gluten-free.

And, fair warning, I may throw in some other stuff too.