Apple chicken Stir Fry 7/10

This recipe totally intrigued me! I LOVE apples, and we eat stir fry (in so many of its glorious variations) once a week. The only true criticism I have of this dish in the apple factor, there were just not enough!! so next time I will be doubling the apples, maybe My apple was just small, I am not sure.... BUT...... My little big man loved this recipe, so we will for sure make it again

1 pound cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup onion, vertically sliced
1 3/4 cups carrots, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 cup fresh or frozen Chinese pea pods
1 tablespoon water
1 medium baking apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions
Stir-fry cubed chicken breast in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in nonstick skillet until lightly browned and cooked. Remove from skillet.
Stir-fry onion, carrots and basil in oil in same skillet until carrots are tender. Stir in pea pods and water. Stir-fry 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in apple. Add to chicken.
Serve hot over cooked rice.

Lemony artichoke heart chicken

This recipe is for My little big man in the house. He LOVES artichokes. So since we have not made this yet I can't give you a rating- but I will let you know how it goes! =)


Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted DF "butter"
1/3 cup GF flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 lemons, juiced
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Directions

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Combine the GF flour and salt on a plate, then gently press the chicken breasts into the flour mixture to coat. Shake off the excess flour. Arrange the chicken in the skillet and cook until browned on each side, about 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, vermouth, garlic, bay leaf, and basil. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Stir in the artichoke hearts, and continue simmering until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 15 minutes more.
Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir the mixture into the chicken, and continue cooking until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Our version of Cafe Reo Pork 9/9

This dinner is my very favorite!! I gave it a 9/9 my kids would probably give it less, but only because we eat it SO often! with this dinner, its all about the crock pot baby! In my mind you need three important components to make this dinner shine, the pork, the rice and MANGO SALSA! here are the three recipes:

Sweet Pulled Pork:

4-5 lbs pork roast
19 oz of your favorite salsa
1 can of sprite or mountain dew
1 1/2 cup brown sugar

I dump all the ingredients into my crock pot and put it on low or high depending on how much time I have it needs a minimum of five hours I think to really get tender and full of flavorful. Its easy to mess with more or less salsa, more or less soda and sugar. you decide but these key ingredients always come out fantastic!

RICE:

1 cup Uncooked Rice
1 teaspoon Butter
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice Plus 1 Teaspoon, Divided
1 can (15 Oz. Can) Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
3 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Cilantro
2 teaspoons Sugar

Combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon lime juice, chicken broth and water in a saucepan or rice cooker. Cook for 15-20 minutes until rice is tender.
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over the hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

** I actually just cook in the cilantro, lime and sugar with my rice, PURE laziness...

MANGO SALSA:

one bag of frozen mango salsa thawed, diced
one can of corn
one tomato diced
one orange bell pepper diced
1 can black beans drained
1/4 diced red onion
1/8 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons orange/apricot/strawberry ( whatever you have around...except grape) jelly
1 bunch of cilantro chopped

I love to do this in my food processor, I put in the cilantro, red onion slices, bell pepper quartered and pulse it a few times until I like the consistency, then I throw in my mango and hit pulse a few more times until I like it all, dump the mixture into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

***I thought I found this recipe on a web site, but after an extensive search I realized I had taken about five different recipes and made up my own....so there you have it. OH and if you are having black beans on the side ( which we usually do with this dinner) then I leave the black beans out of the salsa.

NOW that you have read though this dinner ( which surprisingly sounds much more complicated then it actually is!) don't forget so many of the amazing sides! Some GF chips or tortillas to make burritos, DF cheese and DF sour cream, guacamole and maybe some regular salsa for those not feeling as sweet. =) I hope you enjoy this one, it my FAVORITE!!

A new year

One of my new years resolutions is to ACTUALLY post on this blog. So each week I will post our planned meals and the recipes. Any one who reads it can watch and see what we think since we will rate it after we eat it- OR you can cook along with us and let me know what you think =) either way I would love any participation as my family and I start this journey to make eating Gluten free, Diary free and Egg free a little more care free!

sloppy Joe's- 8

SLLLLOOOOPPPPYYY JOOOEEESSS! Sloppy Joe's was a meal I had A LOT growing up and It was NOT my favorite. BUT as a mom I have found that a good old sloppy Joe's recipe really comes in handy on a night when you may have had a plan to cook something just spectacular -and well rounded- and for sure it was high end cuisine... ( as I am sure you do every other night)...but plan B is making a grand appearance. My family LOVES this recipe in fact they loved it so much a few said they were giving it a TEN and wouldn't mind eating it again tomorrow! For realistic purposes however, I am giving it and solid 8.... it is sloppy joe's after all. SO, I am going to write it down and MAYBE get it right next time. Because if I am being honest, what I love about sloppy joes is the fact that I can open my pantry, mix a bunch of random things, and it usually works! Here is tonight's mixture:

Sloppy Joes:

1 LB ground Beef, Turkey ( what we use, allergic to beef) or chicken

4-6 stripes of bacon, chopped up

1/4 cup green bell peppers. diced

1/4 cup red bell peppers. diced

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced

1 TBSP GF Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp chili powder ( I used about twice that much if not more)

a good sprinkle of Webers gourmet burger seasoning ( LOVE THIS STUFF)

a really good sprinkle of my favorite roasted garlic seasoning

some oregano sprinkled to.

2 cans Diced tomatoes in tomato juice

ALL seasonings should be double checked to make sure they are still GF. I have found companies change their recipes more often then I would like. Brown your meat and bacon and onion and peppers all together. Add all your seasonings as you are browning so the flavors can really get cooked in there. Once your mixture is all cooked up add your tomatoes and let it simmer, stir every so often so the bottom wont burn. Let it cook until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

ONE MORE ADD. I take our GF buns, put Vegenaise on one side a DF cheese on the other and throw then under the broiler until toasted. YUM! make your sandwich, usually this awesome mess we eat with a fork, pair the meal with salad, fruit and veggies!

Megans Chicken 7/10

Megan's chicken is not so much Megan's anymore...I made this about 6 years ago way before we even knew what gluten free or dairy free even meant. SO I have tweaked in completely, it was a family favorite we could no longer eat and NOW WE CAN! and its pretty darn good! =) a LOT like Hawaiian haystacks, in fact next time I want to make Hawaiian haystacks I will probably just use this recipe.

Megan's chicken:

3- chicken breasts
1 package GF/DF Italian seasoning ( I used a garlic and herb salad dressing packet! YUM)
2- TBSP DF "butter" ( but what is it really?)
1/4 cup GF chicken broth

throw it all in the crock pot and cover it the crock pot with foil, let it go for 6 hrs on medium heat.
when its done you will add the other ingredients to make it a sauce.

THEN,
shred your yummy chicken in the crock pot,
whisk 2 cups of chicken broth with about 1/2 TBSP corn or tapioca starch , add to chicken.
add 1-2 chicken bullion cubes, and 8 oz DF cream cheese, mix it and let it get all warm and yummy! serve over rice.

we had green beans and peaches as side dishes, my kids LOVED dinner. =)

Mac & cheese & hotdogs! 3/10

last week while I was doing my weekly " oh man I am overwhelmed by this diet" session, my husband kindly suggested that a few nights a week I should try to do more simple meals for my kids ( even if my taste buds throw a fit) so we settled on what my honey considers an American classic! Mac & Cheese....and HOT DOGS! In our local walmart I found this brand, I was almost skipping down the isle I mean how rare are GF/DF products??


I followed the directions to a tee, and wa-la! dinner in a snap! we used turkey dogs, as my middle man is allergic to Beef along with DF/GF/EF. the kids were not to impressed. They ate the hotdogs out of the pasta. I asked for a review, and none of them LOVED it or even were thrilled about trying it some other time...so it earned a poor 3/10. At least I tried to simplify right??