Lasagna...oooey gooey yummyness

     I had never made lasagna until I became gluten free. It wasn't a dish that my family ever made when I was growing up. I always assumed it was super hard to make. However, that is so very not true. Lasagna isn't any harder to make than any other casserole. I think we just didn't have it when I was growing up because my Dad isn't a big fan of cheesy stuff. I'm not sure how we are related because I LOVE all things cheese. I guess that must come from my Mom's genes!
     There are two schools of thought out there on lasagna. One group of people ALWAYS cooks the noodles before and the other group throws the uncooked noodles into the pan. I'm of the school of easier is better. I do not pre-cook my lasagna noodles. I put them in the pan while they are hard as rocks. As long as you line the bottom of the pan with some sauce you should be just fine. I also make sure that my meat sauce has plenty of moisture so that the noodles will have liquids to soak up while they cook. I've never had an issue of undercooked noodles. That just saves me one less step and one less pan to wash. LOVE IT!
    
Lasagna-gluten free

1lb. Hamburger or Turkey burger
1 small onion,diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar of your favorite gf spaghetti sauce
1 carton ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
2 eggs
2 tsp. Parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
2-3 c. Mozzarella or Italian shredded cheese
1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles

Generously spray a 9x13 in. pan with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a skillet brown the meat. When the meat is almost finished cooking add in the diced onion and garlic. Finish browning. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the meat and simmer for 5-10min.

While the meat is cooking, mix the filling. In a small bowl combine the container of ricotta or cottage cheese (I sometimes do a mixture of 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese), eggs, black pepper, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. Mix until combined. Set aside.

Now it is time to put it all together. In your 9x13 pan with the sauce in the bottom. Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Top with 1/2 of the meat mixture, 1/2 of the cheese mixture, a handful of shredded cheese. Top with 3 more noodles, the other 1/2 of the meat mixture, other half of the cheese mixture, another handful of shredded cheese. Top with 3 more noodles and the remainder of the shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 deg. for about 1 hour. Uncover and turn the oven up to 400 deg. Bake for another 20 min to brown the cheese on top. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 10-15min. before cutting. That gives it time to set up.

Let's make lasagna!

Brown your meat ( I used ground turkey)

In a small bowl mix the cheesy filling mixture.

Generously spray a 9x13in. pan with cooking spray. Dump 1/3 of the jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the pan.

Spread out the sauce and lay down 3 lasagna noodles.

On top of the noodles layer 1/2 the meat mixture and 1/2 the cheese mixture. Repeat

Into the oven.........

Don't forget to let it rest for 10-15 min. once it comes out of the oven.

    Enjoy!! This also freezes very well. I put it in containers and pop it into the freezer. It makes a great lunch or supper for another day!

-Jessica

Healthy Licorice???

    I had stopped at Target today to pick up a couple of things. While waiting in a gargantuan checkout line I spotted an endcap that had fruit rollups and these things called Simply Fruit Twists (Made by General Mills). They look just like licorice in the picture on the box. I picked up the box to read while I waited in the looooong line. Right on the front of the box it says "Gluten Free". Ummmm throw these bad boys in my cart!! I don't care if it puts me over the limit for the express lane!! I'll risk it.
     I got home and decided I needed to try out the fruit twists. They are amazingly good!! They are larger around than traditional licorice. I bought strawberry flavor, not sure if any other flavors exist. I would for sure buy these again.
     Oh and I almost forgot to say, they contain a serving of fruit. If you can't get your kiddo to eat fruit, I bet they would happily eat these. You can trick them into thinking they are candy!! ha I love sneaky foods like that.
    I just thought I would share my cool find with you. I hope you can find them and give them a try. Enjoy.

-Jessica

Pepper Steak: I Heart Stir-Fry

     This is one of my favorite recipes. I'm a huge stir fry fan. Stir fry is healthy, easy, and quick. LOVE IT! Oh and not to mention it tastes amazing.
     This recipe is great because you can either make it super spicy by adding more pepper flakes or tame it down by adding less. So if you have kiddoes you may want to use less spice. I personally like spice in my pepper steak. Mmm Mmm mmm
     I use a wok to do all of my stir fry cooking, but don't go out and buy a wok if you don't own one. This recipe could also be made in a heavy skillet. You may not get the exact same results, but flavors should be the same.
   Oh and also, I occasionally cheat and use frozen peppers and onions. That makes the prep time basically ZERO!! I love that. However, if you do have the time fresh veggies are the best. Even better if they are peppers and onions out of your own garden or from the farmers market when they are in season.
    Ok, I will shut up now and just get to the recipe :) Enjoy!!

Pepper Steak

2 T. Corn Starch
4 T. Beef Broth
4 T. Soy Sauce (gf of course)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2- 1 tsp. Red Pepper flakes (this is where you can adjust the spiciness)
1 lb top sirloin sliced thin
1/2 C. Water
3 tsp. Vegetable Oil (divided)
1 Green Pepper (cut into strips)
1 Red Pepper (cut into strips)
1 Onion (diced)

In a bowl combine: 1T. corn starch, 2 T. Broth, 2 T. GF Soy Sauce, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Add beef, toss to coat and set aside to marinate.

In another small bowl combine water, remaining cornstarch, broth, and soy sauce. Set aside.

In wok heat 1 T. Oil. Add peppers and onions. Stir Fry for 1-2 min. Remove from the wok and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the wok. Stir fry the beef. Return the peppers and onions to the wok with the beef. Stir in the corn starch mixture and bring to a boil. When the sauce is thick, serve over hot rice.

Use a fork and mix the ingredients together for the meat marinade

Add the meat and toss to coat. Set it aside so that it can soak up all the garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper flavors.

Stir fry the peppers. Here I have used a stop light mixture (red, yellow,green)

Remove the peppers from the wok, and stir fry the meat.

Add everybody back into the wok and pour in the sauce mixture. Bring to a boil to thicken the sauce.

Serve over some white or brown rice. (brown is healthier remember!)

     Just remember that not ALL soy sauces are gluten free. The majority of them in the regular grocery store contain wheat. Please read labels so that you don't end up with a non gluten free sauce. My favorite brand is San-J . I get their Organic Low Sodium Gluten Free Tamari. I don't cook with a lot of salt, so I like the low sodium.
    Enjoy your stir fry!

-Jessica

Texas Sheet Cake....rich chocolatey goodness

    Texas Sheet Cake is a fairly common pot luck/ family dinner type of dish here. If you aren't familiar with it, it is a super moist cake topped with a rich chocolate icing and sometimes nuts. The recipe makes a LARGE cake, so I believe that is where the Texas part of the name comes in (everything is big in Texas ha).
    The recipe that I use is one that I converted from being full of gluten to gluten free. It came from one of the cooks that worked at my elementary school when I was growing up. This is of course back when school cooks actually COOKED the lunches, not just opened packages and microwaved junk for the kids. (that is a whole different rant that I will save for another time). So this recipe is good because this lady was a cooking pro!!
    I have been really wanting some Texas Sheet Cake, so I decided today I would make a 1/2 recipe. That way I would not have a GIANT chocolate cake sitting in my house taunting me. I got the cake mixed up and in the oven and started on the frosting. UHHO.....I am almost out of powdered sugar. I didn't have enough powdered sugar to make the icing so I just used what I had. So in the pictures my icing isn't very thick, but I guess I can just think of all of the calories I am saving. ha It still tastes amazing...and cured my craving for Texas Sheet Cake. I'm going to give you the recipe for the whole cake, but you could always cut it in half if you didn't want a giant cake sitting around. I baked mine in a pan that was a little too large, I think next time I would use a 9x13 if I was doing a half recipe. On to the recipe............

Texas Sheet Cake

Mix in bowl:
2 C GF Flour Mix.
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
2 Eggs
1/2 C. Buttermilk
2 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1tsp. Soda

Bring to a Boil:
2 Sticks margarine
4 T. Cocoa Powder
1 C. Water

Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with high sides. Bake at 350 deg. for 30 min.

Frosting:

4 C. Powdered Sugar
1 Stick margarine
1/4 C. Cocoa Powder
6 T. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Chopped Nuts (optional)

Bring Cocoa powder, margarine, and milk to a boil in a sauce pan. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add the nuts. Ice the cake while it is hot (right from the oven). The mixture will be runny and should spread very easily over the hot cake. Let the cake cool and the frosting set up before serving.

mmmm that was good

Enjoy this yummy chocolaty treat!!

-Jessica

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

     I go through these phases where I can't get enough veggies. This is a favorite recipe of mine to make when I'm in the veggie zone. Plus it has bacon in it.....bacon makes anything better.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

1 bunch of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1 head of fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 C. Sunflower Seeds
1/2 C. Bacon pieces or Real Bacon Bits

Dressing:
1 C. Miracle Whip
1/2 C. Sugar
2 T. Vinegar

In a large bowl: Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite size pieces. Add sunflower seeds and bacon bits.

In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients. Mix well. Pour the dressing over the veggies. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving. Best if made a few hours ahead of time so that the veggies can pick up lots of flavoring from the dressing. Serve cold.

Chop your veggies into bite size pieces. There is nothing worse than getting that piece of broccoli that is too large for your mouth!!

Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over your veggies.

Enjoy!!! Maybe more people would eat their veggies if they tasted THIS good!!

-Jessica

Peanut Butter Popcorn with Chocolate Drizzle

 
   It could be said that I am a peanut butteraholic. I come by it naturally though, my father is also a peanut butteraholic. We can both eat peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. I don't need it to be ON something. I love it just plain or mixed in ice cream, or in a cookie, or on a cookie....you get the picture. I LOVE peanut butter!
    It was more than obvious to me that I would be making this recipe when I ran across it on Pinterest. Peanut butter + popcorn = AMAZING!
     A few years ago there was a company that mailed out samples of their gourmet popcorn. They had a variety that was Chocolate and Peanut Butter. It was SO yummy. It was also SO expensive. Their popcorn had a kettle corn base, then covered in PB and Chocolate. I just can't justify taking out a bank loan for popcorn though....so no order from me. However their free sample ROCKED! ha
    So when I ran across the peanut butter popcorn recipe on Pinterest my mind immediately went to the chocolate peanut butter expensive popcorn. I decided I could just make my own!! So that folks is what I did.............enjoy!

Peanut Butter Popcorn with Chocolate Drizzle

3 Quarts Popped Popcorn (no kernels allowed, they break teeth so check carefully for them)
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Honey
1/2 C. Corn Syrup
1C. Peanut Butter
1tsp Vanilla
1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

In a large heavy saucepan combine sugar, honey, and corn syrup. Bring to a hard boil for 2 min. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until melted and smooth. Working quickly dump the popped popcorn into the mixture. Using a spoon toss to coat all of the popcorn.

Spread the coated popcorn out on waxed paper to cool. Melt the chocolate chips. Drizzle melted chocolate over the coated popcorn. When popcorn is cooled and chocolate is dry store in an air tight container.

Umm ya so I cheated....I used microwave popcorn. It was MUCH cheaper than buying the kind that you pop yourself. The cheaper bag of popcorn said may contain traces of wheat so that was out, the other brand was almost $6. OUCH! So Microwave was the obvious choice.

2 bags of popped popcorn was equal to 3 quarts for me. Don't forget to remove any unpopped kernels. Those are painful to get when you are inhaling this yummy stuff.

Combine honey, sugar, and corn syrup in a large heavy pan.

Bring the mixture to a rolling boil (boil 2 min). Keep stirring though, you don't want it to burn.

Remove from heat, add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until creamy, but work quickly.

Spread the popcorn out on wax paper to cool.

Once you have the chocolate melted it is easiest to drizzle by putting into a plastic baggie and snipping off the corner of the bag.

To make life easier while filling the baggie sit it down in a coffee cup.

Once the bag is full of chocolate, snip the corner and start drizzling!

When the chocolate is set and popcorn is dry store in an airtight container.