I think there is not a dish more perfect than a simple dish of roasted red potatoes. To call it a recipe seems wrong but this is how I do it. I take red potatoes and cut them up. Place them in a baking dish. Season them generously with Pappy’s seasoning (or any seasoning blend you like). Douse with oil and toss them all together. Place in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Cheap and easy.

This is a great gluten free throw together dish on a weeknight It is a little spicy and satisfying!! Nom nom.

Ingredients:

2 packages of rice noodles
3 8 oz packages of Farmer John sausage links (we are a meat heavy family)
1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tsp salt
1 tbls dehydrated onion
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic

Process:

Prepare the noodles (soak them in boiling water, then rinse them in cold water and drain). Crumble and fry spinach. Do not drain!!! Throw in onion and garlic. Then toss in noodles and stir. Coat the noodles in the sausage and oil from the sausage. Then add the salt and paprika. Stir again. Then add the spinach. Toss and continue to cook until it is all heated through. Then serve.

So easy! So good!

And I am home from CES! So my first home cooked dinner was a steak bowl! It was made with leftover steak, rice, broccoli, a little shredded cheese and taco sauce. The magic with the steak is to originally cook it only to rare. Then when you reheat the steak it is perfect! So the last time we had made steak we cooked a little extra.

Yummy and so very easy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour
2/3 cup grated mozzarella
2 beaten eggs

Process:

First, combine the butter, water. milk and salt in a pot. Bring to just boiling and turn it off. Then mix it with the tapioca flour until just combined. If you mix it until it is completely smooth you will make flat rounds. Then leave the mixture to sit for 10-20 minutes until the flour rehydrates and the mixture cools. Then stir in the beaten eggs and cheese. The texture might be like cottage cheese. Then I use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Cook at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

They are best the day of but will last a day or two. I am currently experimenting with freezing scenarios;).

Tonight we Zuppa Toscana knock off soup with tapioca cheese biscuits (I will put that recipe up this week). I did switch out the kale with fresh spinach!

Ok, I said I would try to do a picture a day but I didn’t promise they would be great food;). Today was a Starbucks kind of day!

So tonight we stopped at Red Robin in Turlock on the way home from the family Christmas celebration.
Did you know that they have a gluten free menu? I got a mushroom burger on a gluten free Udi’s bun. It was pretty good! I should have gotten mayo on it though;). I got the fries without the seasoning (the seasoning has gluten;). The strawberry daiquiri helped with the slightly dry bun;).

Light and fluffy!

Ok, donuts are a huge holiday tradition with us! We do donuts for Hanukkah and Christmas morning every year since NerdDad and I got married. I was afraid that going gluten free was going to be the death of such a beloved tradition. So I went in search of a gluten free recipe. The first one I tried was not good at all. These on the other hand were a big hit!!! I based it off of recipe I found over at Food.com but then made a few changes.

Ingredients:

2 eggs , beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups home made gluten-free rice flour mix
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
Powdered sugar for tossing (I think I used 1/2 cup)

Process:

Mix all the wet ingredients together and in a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. Then fold them together (don’t use a mixer. Then let it sit for at least 15 minutes. I mixed them before dinner for Hanukkah and let them sit the whole time. Then heat up a pot of canola oil to medium heat.

I do a small test and when it immediately sizzles the oil should be ready. Then I use a small scoop (I think it is about a tablespoon of dough) and put a few scoops in the oil. Don’t over crowd the pot! It is about 3 minutes for each ball to cook. You may have to flip them to get them cooked evenly. I take the finished balls and place them on paper towels to drain while I put the next bunch in. Then put the drained donuts into your bowl of powdered sugar and roll (ok, really I do more of a bounce;).

And that is it! Fab donuts!!!!

Ok, originally this was posted on some Utah based Gluten Free site but I can’t find it anywhere. I have just seen different versions of this blend. This is the one I have used and liked so far.

3 cups white rice flour
3 cups brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch (not flour)
1 cup tapioca starch

I get the white rice flour for 99 cents a pound, potato starch, and tapioca starch for $1.49 a pound (I think) all at the R&N Market at Cedar and Herndon but any local Asian market where you are at should the best prices. Then I got the Bob’s Red Mill Rice Flour Brown, 48-Ounce (Pack of 4) for $21.68 (which is a lot of brown rice flour).

I mixed it together and leave it in a bin!

I have a small Starbucks problem but I want to be a little healthier and a little frugaler. So I decided to start making my own blended drinks. I love the Rocket/single serving blender that I invested in. Considering that 1 blended drink ranges from $4-$5, it hasn’t taken long to make my money back.

I put in crushed ice, coffee (that was cold & leftover in the frig), left over creamer, a shot of chocolate sauce and blended. Then I topped it with low fat chocolate whipped cream. Delish! A cheap and easy way to replace my Starbucks frap!