German Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Soy Free)

Our Journey Starts Here: German Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Su...: Being sugar free doesn't mean you can't occasionally indulge on baked goods like this German chocolate cake. The chocolate cake ba...

Honey Mustard Glaze (Chicken or Lamb) (Gluten free and Dairy free)

       Ever get bored of eating the same flavors? We were! Karl came home with a lamb steak and I had no clue what to use lamb for other than Stew. I did a quick skim through my "Betty Crocker" cook book and decided mustard and rosemary would be my focus. Since we only had 2 lamb steaks and 4 bodies to feed I also used the glaze on some chicken breasts both were delicious!

Glaze/marinade

1/2 cup white wine (I used honeywood early muscat)

4 Tbs yellow mustard

1 Tbs honey

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp coarse fresh ground pepper

1p tsp sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

(blend together in a magic bullet or blender/food processor) 

In a freezer ziplock bag place your choice of meat inside and dump the marinade in, squeeze out the excess air, seal and place in the fridge for at least an hour. 

Preheat your BBQ or Oven (medium/high heat)

Wash your potatoes (I prefer red potatoes) and in the center of the foil square spray a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle sea salt, pepper and garlic powder. Wrap up the potato in the foil and repeat for however many baked potatoes you need. 

Pull out two large rectangle pieces of foil and lay them on top of each other (should form a cross) lay your fresh or frozen mixed veggies in the middle (salt, pepper, and dairy free margarine/butter to taste) fold up the first layer and then the second to lock in the moisture.

Take your meat out of the marinade and grill, dump the remaining marinade into a sauce pan and bring to a boil (while stirring) for at least 3 minutes. Now take your glaze out to the grill area with a silicone basting brush or spoon (a silicone basting brush will save you a lot of cleaning from the grill later). Each time you flip the meat baste it with the glaze.

Place your foil wrapper potatoes and veggies under the meat on the bottom wrack if you have a double wrack grill, if any glaze falls off it will land on your foil instead of the flame area (the less clean up the better!)

When your meat is done, your potatoes and veggies should be too! If you're using russet potatoes instead of red potatoes you may want to put those on the grill before anything else to give extra time to bake.

Finish your potato with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

Verde Chicken and potato burritos

Breakfast, lunch or dinner I love potatoes and I love burritos so why not combine? I have 4 left over baked potatoes, a half a jar of verde salsa and a half an onion from dinner the previous night so I got crafty and all of us agreed it was a keeper!

Things to grab:

4 *baked potatoes (I used red)

2 chicken breast

half a sweet onion

one cup of verde (green) salsa

salt

pepper

cumin

olive oil

tortillas

Consider toppings:

tomatoes

cheese

sour cream

olives

scrambled eggs

Ready set go!

Heat your olive oil in a skillet pan and toss in your diced half of an onion to soften. Season with salt and pepper. While your onions are cooking down slice your raw chicken breast into bite size pieces (think fajitas), season the chicken with seasalt, pepper and cumin and add to the skillet. As the chicken browns add your half cup of verde salsa. While your chicken simmers cube your baked potatoes and toss in to the skillet for the last 2-4 minutes. 

I like to heat up my tortillas on a cast iron pan or in the microwave.

Serve up on to a tortilla with your choice of toppings or eat as it, it's simple and delicious! 

Home Made Chicken Strips/ Goat Cheese Chicken (Cow Dairy Free)

 My Kiddos love chicken strips and I love chicken parmesan! Because we eat cow dairy free it is nearly impossible to find pre-made chicken strips that haven't been dipped in buttermilk let alone a comparable chicken dish made with goat cheese so I've taken care of both cravings with one recipe. Enjoy (and be safe!) If you are also in the Salem, Oregon area I recommend Fairview Farm Goat Dairy for fresh and local goat cheese, their cheese is the only one I've found that isn't gamy and melts beautifully.

Things you need:
Thawed chicken breast tenders
Panko bread crumbs (either or plain or Italian)
3 eggs
1 cups olive oil
1 cups canola oil
White Cheese of your choice (Parmesan, Mozzerella, or goat cheese)
2 jars of Marinara sauce

Seasonings for panko:
onion powder
garlic powder
rosemary
thyme

lay out your chicken tenders on top of plastic wrap then double back over. Pound those babies out (I use a tenderizer)

You can use Italian Panko bread crumbs or add seasoning to  plain  ones. I prefer to season my own =)  Put your oil in the dutch oven on the stove top on medium (4-5) heat to be ready to fry the chicken.

Have your 3 beaten eggs in a bowl then the bread crumbs. Your going to dunk each strip in the egg wash first then coat in crumbs and repeat until they are all done.Have an empty plate ready to lay out your dredged chicken on for  easy transition to the frying station. 

Uncooked and breaded, read to fry up!

Use the lid of the pot as a shield from splattering oil. Brown up each side evenly, it's ok if the chicken is not cooked all the way through because it's going to go in the oven after this! (preheat your oven to 375 degrees)

Line the cookie sheet with a couple paper towels and lay out the strips as you fry each one so the excess oil is absorbed.

layer about 1/2 inch of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish  place the chicken strips in a single layer and top with your choice of cheese. Place in the oven on covered  at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted. If you're doing just chicken strips then place on a cookie sheet for 10-13 minutes and check the center to verify cooked all the way through. While the chicken is in the oven baking start your starch/pasta. I love angel hair pasta and also the pre-made gnocchi (Italian potato dumpling pasta)

Assemble and voila! Enjoy!

Not your Grandma's pot pie! (super easy)

I get bored of eating the same thing over and over again don't you? I am not a fan of frozen dinners but have always been intrigued by chicken pot pie. When I was little my grandma made chicken pot pie one summer when we were visiting in Missouri. In true southern fashion it had tons of butter, and a crust made of half a box of bisquick lol. I have never tasted anything so delicious (although I suffered from the butter). I was determined to make a lighter, easier version in my semi-homemade way.

Things you need:
Left over whole chicken (I pick it clean for dinner and lunch then the next day use it in this recipe!)
1 roll of crescent rolls (the safeway brand is dairy free)
3 left over baked red potatoes from the previous night's chicken dinner
2 cups of mixed frozen veggies

Let's get started! Throw your chicken carcass in a medium sized soup pot with just enough water or low sodium chicken broth to barely cover the carcass. Put a lid on it and simmer on medium heat until the remaining chicken meat falls off the bone. (This can take between 30 minutes to an hour or longer depending on how big your chicken was and how much meat was left on the carcass).
*Note* If you don't have left over  baked potatoes then use this time to wrap your washed/salted&peppered red potatoes in the oven now so we can assemble the potpie quickly.

*Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Ok remove the carcass from the liquid (let the stock continue to simmer and reduce) and remove the chicken meat from the bones, if you've simmered long enough it should practically fall off or already be in the stock pot. Throw away the bones and inedible stuff like fatty clumps, gristle or chewy skin.

Add the chicken back to the stock, cube your potatoes and add the potatoes and veggies to the mix. Dump the mixture into a pie dish (if the stock has been reduced properly it will be thick like a hash)
Unroll your crescent rolls and layer over the filling.

I layer the crescent rolls from tip to tail

Keep an eye on your dish, Baking time should be about 13 minutes or until  it is evenly  golden brown across the  top.

Cool for about 3 min and serve! It's delicious and much lighter in calories since there isn't a gravy on the inside or double layer crust!

Easiest Salmon dish that even non-seafood eaters will love

I am going to be honest with you...I'm not much of a seafood person. I should be put to shame for being a self proclaimed foodie that does not like seafood! On the other hand, my husband loves salmon. I had to create a salmon dish that I was willing to eat with Karl and that Nadine would eat too. After a couple tries I'm pretty sure this is the easiest and yummiest salmon dish I've ever had.

2 bonesless salmon steaks (about 4 oz each) preferebly fresh not frozen

4 tbs of orange marmalade

4 tbs of orange juice

1 bag of mixed veggies (either the "steam ready" or frozen)

season to taste: salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder

Take a large sheet of foil and line the inside of a cake pan or cookie sheet,

drizzle foil with a light amount of olive oil

place salmon steaks on foil (scale side down) with room to curl up the foil for making a packet

Season salmon steaks, top each steak with 2 tbs of orange marmalade

Pour the bag of veggies over the salmon and season lightly

add 4 tbs of OJ for moisture

roll up the sides of the packet (adding more foil if needed to cover the whole thing), seal tightly

place in the preheated oven 350 deg for 45 minutes

remove from oven and serve over rice or as is =) for super easy and yummy rice I get the the frozen jasmine rice it only takes 3 minutes to microwave!

Each serving has less then 300 calories!

Easy baking gift (Cookies in a jar)

For Christmas we love to give out goodies to our friends and family but everyone always ends up being overwhelmed with sugar treats so a friend an I got together and made these adorable cookie mix jars where all you need to add is 1 softened stick of butter, one egg and 1 tsp of vanilla.

Here's what you need (per jar):

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/8 cup granulated sugar
• 3/8 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (6-oz.) mini chocolate chips
• 1pt Jar and swatch of cloth 
• To Assemble (it's so easy!)
• Layer the ingredients in the jar contrasting in color to create a layered look. Place the seal down and fabric on top then screw the lid ring on to secure. I included my baking directions in a separate card but have also tucked the corner of the instruction tags under the lid ring. It's super easy and fun.
• Enjoy!
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