One of the easiest meals I can come up with.

Most days I just need a no brainer when it comes to feeding myself. The Thinglet’s “go to” power meal is rice cakes and peanut butter. How is it that kids can eat PB&J until it comes out their ears and not get sick of it?

When you need something decent and have only about 10 minutes to prepare you can cook this easy, naturally gluten, milk, nut, egg and soy free meal in a snap. Even I can do it!

Steam some brown rice. Costco has a package of precooked organic brown rice that has a sweet (not earthy and dry) flavor. It is a little spendy for rice but a great quick lunch especially if you need something gluten free to take to work.

Cut up one large chicken breast, toss in balsalmic vinagrette (always double check ingredients with dressings) and cook in a skillet over medium high heat until done. Serve with the rice and a bit of cilantro. Wa-la!

For an on the go meal, refrigerate or freeze the bite size chicken in meal portions and grab the Costco rice bowls to go.

The trouble with rocks

Despite my desire to be organized and make life easier for myself I really don’t like menu planning.  No matter how much “flexibility” you can build into a week or month long plan it still feels restrictive to me.  I am a surprise kind of person.  When it comes to food I like to decided what to eat based on the weather, the pull of the moon, my mood or whatever suits my fancy.  Your laughing!? I know you are wondering, how does THAT work with four little ones, especially since I’m a picky eater myself?  I don’t exactly know yet but I’m working on it.

The Problem of Menu Planning Illustrated:

Saturday 3:00 pm - I have lots of help because my hubby is home.  We are FINALLY able to get outside to enjoy the first sunny and relatively warm day of spring.  This should be an excellent day for accomplishing one of my menu tasks.  Happily I dig in the dirt and the boys throw rocks into a huge hole filled with rain water just off the driveway.  I have visions of taquitos and even some green beans (veggies that I will  eat!) , that should fry up quick and give us plenty of time outside in the sun.  At the moment I’m thrilled that I’ve planned ahead. 

4:00 pm – It’s time to think about getting the boys inside and washed up so we can start dinner.  But Oh, this sun is glorious!  The big boys have moved on to riding bikes and Bubba is running up and down the driveway exclaiming with glee, “Wide Bite’s! Wide Bite’s!”  That’s “Ride Bikes” to the rest of us.

4:45 pm – Just about finished staking off the new garden. Three boys are back on a dirt mound tossing rocks. In a split second there is Thing 2 covered in mud climbing up the “bank” of the large puddle sputtering and crying, “Blood, Mom, BLOOOOD! I’m gonna DIE!”

Thing 2's Red Racecar Band-aid

5:00 pm – Time to start dinner but instead I’m carrying my 5 year old whose head is dripping with blood up to the house.  My dear husband has run to get towels, hoping not to have to look at whatever is causing all the ruckus.  He does not do blood unless it’s his own.  That Goof could cut a leg off and shrug “ah, but a flesh wound”.  Make him talk about or look at blood and he goes white in the face!  I’m on my own with this one.

5;15 pm – The head is no longer dripping and I’ve got Thing 2 properly bandaged.  The two of us are off to the ER for stitches.  The story is Thing 1 thought about jumping the ditch but wanted to see if Thing 2 could clear it first. Being the dare devil that he is, 2 was happy to try and yet being short legged and attempting the long jump uphill, landed square in the middle of the puddle which then propelled him forward into the upper bank where a large and jutted rock sat firmly planted in the dirt waiting for a tender little head to split. 

Whack! In three seconds flat (the time it takes to convince a 5 year old to jump) my dinner menu plan resolution was ruined and off I flew to the ER, leaving Hubby with Thing 1 (still howling in remorse since it was his idea  that had gotten his brother hurt), the Bubba (howling even though he had no idea why) and Pee Wee (squealing just as loudly, not to be outdone). 

While at the ER I had some time to think on the subject of menu planning and I believe I’ve got an idea.  Even if I do  menu plan I still have to find the time to cook what I’ve planned and more often than not, there in lies the problem.  My new plan:  always cook enough for 3-4 meals at once and freeze the extra!  Maybe I’ll even get one whole Sat. to cook ahead and then I’ll really be set!

Instead of taquitos around 5:30 we ate Wendy’s take out and then when I got home Hubby and I stayed up late making loads of taquitos that I hope will last a couple weeks.  But, you know what they say… “If you cook build it they will eat come.”

Rock Day Taquitos:

Do I really have to go there? (Shopping List):

Costco Baby, Costco!

1. Frozen chicken (approx. 4lb) beef works too
2. 50 corn tortillas or if you are really ambitious make your own
3. vegetable oil (for frying)
4. seasonings for the chicken if desired

If I can do it you can do it! (Recipe):

IN THE MORNING:

1. Fill your crock-pot to the brim with frozen chicken breast or thighs. Thighs are cheaper but harder to shred. Of course, in typical Goof fashion I learned the hard way.  Cook on high 4hrs.  You may want to re-arrange the pieces then turn to low and finish cooking any that need it.

4HRS LATER:

Take your son to the ER and when you return the chicken will be cool enough to shred without burning your fingers!  See there is a silver lining. 

4 MORE HOURS LATER (or whenever)

2. Shred the chicken using two forks and put in a large bowl. 

3. The easiest way we found to make large amounts of taquitos was in an electric skillet.  Preheat skillet to 300 degrees.

4. Season chicken to taste.  We poured the juice out of a can of jalapenos (put the jalapenos in Tupperware are covered again with water for use later) then added a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic as well as generous amounts of salt and cracked peppercorn (I like the colorful stuff).

5. Use just enough cooking oil to coat the bottom of the skillet or pan you are using.  This will vary depending on the size of your skillet and you will have to add a small amount with each new batch.

6. Heat tortillas until they just begin to bubble then remove and place cooked side up on paper towels. We did four at a time until we had 16 then went on to the next step and repeated steps 5-7  until we had used up all the tortillas.

7. Spoon chicken into the tortilla’s (on the cooked side) and roll, then place them, seam side down, on the skillet to fry the other side.  Take a little nap on the breakfast bar until you begin to smell the tortilla toasting, it’s time to turn (approx 5 min).  Actually we were able to get 16 tortilla’s in my large skillet so by the time the last one was rolled the first only needed 1 min. more cooking time before we could begin to turn them and then only 1 more minute by the time they were all rolled to begin removing them and eating cooling them on a plate to freeze for an anytime meal.  It worked well to pack them tight because they didn’t have room to unroll.

If you are making a small batch you will cook 5 min, turn then 5 min more or until the tortilla is lightly browned and no longer soft.

8. Freeze and when you need a quick meal heat on a grill 5 min each side or microwave wrapped in paper towels for 1-3min depending on how many you are re-heating at once.

Variation: Use shredded pork and a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies

NOTE: We got a little overly excited about our hearty home made taquitos and were only able to get 47 taquitos because they were stuffed.  I would recommend going a little lighter on the chicken.  They need to wrap one and a half times around so they don’t fall apart when you try to eat them.  You will still have a far superior taquito to the store bought (often gluten filled) expensive and skimpy on the meat, taquitos.  Not to mention at about half the cost. 

My Hubby can’t resist doing the math and he figured out that our taquitos cost less than $20 for 50 which have probably 3 times the meat than the $6 box of 20 skimpy taquitos we usually buy.

This has been another recipe for the “What’s for Dinner Wednesday Blog Carnival” Hosted by the Gluten Free Homemaker. Thanks for stopping and check out more great ideas here.

Soup Base & Casserole Un-Recipe

You don’t really want to know what was on the menu for dinner this evening. It was the dreaded “housewife casserole”.

Bee kind to bees!

I made this little bee at www.helpthehoneybee.com in order to help spread the news that the bee population is in danger. 

Bee’s are natural pollinators. It is estimated that 1/3 of our diet is from insect pollinated plants, 80% of that pollinating is done by the friendly honeybee but sadly something is causing it’s demise.  Scientists still do not know why but pesticide use and genetically modified crops are suspected to be part, or all of the problem.

So, why am I sharing this news? I’m hoping 9 out of 10 readers will go out tomorrow and start bee colonies-NO I’m kidding- I am hoping that we will be able to help by supporting local farmer’s markets, grow gardens of our own (if you can) even a potted cucumber (the bush variety) can grow on an apartment balcony or make your own little bee character and spread the word!  Another idea is to make the honey spiced chicken in my blog, Gluten Free Valentine.  God made these little creatures and they are absolutely remarkable.  Without them we would be eating fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Nothing against fish, I like fish so don’t get crazy on me!

Did you know that each colony has it’s own unique flavor of honey and that storebought honey is blended from several different sources? Buy local honey and you will notice a difference, who knows maybe it will even help with hay fever!  If the bees pollinate all sorts of local plants and you eat the honey masterfully created from those local sources, it’s not a stretch to believe maybe this honey was “made” for you, why not!  Support your local growers, farmers, small store owners….

A Gluten Free Valentine

Dinner's On!

Mary Jane’s Farm is fast becoming my favorite magazine. I made this decadent dinner from a recipe in her magazine (Vol. 8 #2 – simply bee issue) called Caribbean Honey-Spiced Chicken with Mango. This would be a nice Valentine’s Day dinner guys - Hint hint! You can subscribe to the magazine at www.maryjanesfarm.com for this and other delicious recipes.

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 t. freshly grated lemon peel
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced (I left it out, they are hard to come by in these parts!)
• 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded (again, mine were, well, relatively fresh-ok maybe not they were canned!)
• 2 t. paprika
• 2 t vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 t garlic salt  (mmm, I love garlic I used 2 t. minced garlic)
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1/2 t ground allspice
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 T. vegetable oil

In a small bowl, combine honey, lemon juice and lemon peel: whisk until well blended. Remove 1/4 cup of mixture to food processor container (magic bullet); set aside.  Add mango to honey-lemon mixture in (original small)bowl; toss to coat.  Store in refrigerator.  Add onion, jalapenos, paprika, oil, garlic salt, cinnamon, pepper, and allspice to honey-lemon mixture in the food processor container (my magic bullet waiting on the counter). Process until very finely chopped, scrape down sides when necessary.  Spread mixture evenly over both sides of chicken breasts.  Spread oil in a 9×13 inch baking pan.  Arrange chicken breasts in pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove chicken to serving platter; top with reserved mango mixture.

Ha ha, I made a funny mistake that turned out beautifully.  I left out the mango’s and forgot the honey lemon mixture in the frig until the last minute. I was doing the no milk thing – to see if it helped the baby – so I didn’t have a dressing for the salad and instead of topping the chicken with the lemon mixture I drizzled it on the salad (you can see some lemon zest on one of the cucumbers) I think I will use that dressing all the time, it was incredible and no great idea of mine just a plain ol’ mistake. What a Goof!  I also tossed on a few gf croutons I made from one of my failed bread attempts (cube gf bread and toss in a ziploc-olive oil/garlic/Italian seasoning-bake @ 200 degrees for a long long time!) and a batch of my favorite gf bread sticks – I used a recipe from http://piginthekitchen.blogspot.com

Enjoy and happy baking

Dinner’s on in T minus 1hr- Go To Gluten Free Enchilada Recipe

   My favorite food category since going gluten free is Mexican food.  If I have cilantro, garlic and corn tortilla’s I can almost always whip up something gluten free and I don’t have to make a separate meal if company is coming. The easiest and consequently least difficult (since I’m a goof and often have less than 1 hr before the kids start climbing the cupboards)  is a good ol’ quesadilla with white corn tortillas. If you want to add something healthy, toss a green salad and sprinkle with cilantro. Wa-la

   If in fact you do have the time I recommend enchiladas- these are no frills but can be embellished in various ways.

Gluten Free Goof’s Tried and True, Go To Enchiladas:

Do I really have to go there? (Shopping List):  gf= gluten free

1. meat (I usually use chicken) 
2. large can of gf enchilada sauce (or make your own-I haven’t yet, too lazy)
3. cheese (I use vintage white sharp cheddar)
4. green chili’s (if you like)
5. gf white corn tortilla’s
6. cilantro
7. rice (compliments nicely but isn’t necessary)
8. sour cream, onions, tomatoes etc…your favorite toppings-take them or leave them depending how close the grocery store is.

If I can do it you can do it. (The Recipe):

• 1lb chicken
• 1/2 lb of shredded cheese (more or less to satisfy the latest craze)
• lg can of green ench sauce (I have not yet found a gf red ench sauce, but use what you can find or make it. In a pinch a can of tomato sauce or paste and seasoning with some green chili’s will work-goofy & gringo but true)
• sm can of green chili’s (ooo I would love them fresh but this is North Idaho for crying out loud!)
• about 20 gf corn tortilla’s

Boil the chicken until fully cooked then cool (give the kids a bath, feed “The Bubba” his pre-dinner so he doesn’t come apart at the seams then…continue.)

Wait for the chicken to cool. Or not if you don’t mind burning your fingers. Well ok two forks will work  if your fingers are tender. I usually make my husband do this part if we’ve skipped the baths and are in a big hurry (yes my kids are dirty tonight). The point is… shred it!

Next, combine the shredded chicken, shredded cheese or cheeses if you want to get fancy, ench sauce, & green chili’s in a bowl.

Put the stack of corn tortilla’s on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel and microwave (but don’t look at the thing-my mom taught me that) for 60 seconds. I like 90 seconds but my husband likes 60 so he gets the victory this time. Go Honey! He is probably right, he makes these more that I do, bless him.

Spoon in the filling, carefully roll the tortilla’s and place in a 9×13 pan (we often double stack them) top with a bit of grated cheese and a drizzle some left over sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40min. Take the foil off and bake another 5 min or until the cheese looks yummy and slightly browned. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle cilantro then serve with rice and various toppings of your choosing.

Let me know what you top yours with!

Has anyone made enchilada sauce from scratch, please share I should try it next time. I should make the tortilla’s too but that’s going a bit too far, I’ll wait till the kids are out of the house for that kind of extravagance.