Yummy! So, the family has decided to go gluten free and in our new quest, we are trying out tons of new recipes. One of my favorite sites is Stephanie O’Dea’s A Year of Slowcooking Blog. Dinner tonight was soooo good! I made a few tweaks to it so I’ll post my version, but do check out Stephanie’s Creamy Corn & Spinach Enchiladas. This fed my wonderful little family of 6 with leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch for at least one of us. My crockpot is a 6qt oval.

What You Need:
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
1-1/2 cans of creamed corn (we used Green Giant since it’s Gluten Free)
1 bag of spinach leaves
1 pkg of 10 corn tortillas
Lots of shredded colby cheese or other shredded cheese
1 jar of Salsa Verde from Trader Joe’s
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Freshly made Salsa

What You Do:
My chicken breast came straight from the freezer so I quickly cooked it on the stove and shredded it. In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken, creamed corn, about 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheese, the entire bag of spinach and as much cilantro as you wish. Mix well. Stephanie wrapped her enchiladas seperately, I went the layering route. Layer about 5 corn tortillas in your crockpot, next time, I think I’m going to spray the crockpot with olive oil. Spoon the mixture into the crockpot. Top with the remaining corn tortillas. In your mixing bowl (I didn’t rinse mine out before doing this) pour in the Salsa Verde and a few spoonfuls of sour cream, I didn’t measure. I just made it look creamy Pour this on top of the tortillas, top with some shredded cheese. My crockpot has a nice “automatic” setting where it heats to high and then cooks on low. I left it for about 5 hours and it was perfect! Spoon a glob on the plate, top with fresh salsa and sour cream.

Three of the crew turned up their noses at first, but as soon as those littles got a bite in, they asked for more. No, it doesn’t look too appetizing, but it was delicious. This is definately on our “make again” list!

Tags: General, Recipe by Stephanie
No Comments »

Last weekend we picked up some berries from the Amish Farmer’s Market. I had the intention of making berry cobbler with them and then on a whim, decided to go gluten free. I frantically searched the internet for a quick and easy recipe last night as these berries needed to be used ASAP. Found one and off to the grocery store I went. It was YUMMY! If I hadn’t made it, I wouldn’t have guessed it was GF!

Quick and Easy Gluten Free Berry Cobbler
Adapted from About.com

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8×8 pan and put the berries in, set aside.

Filling
4 Cups of Berries (I didn’t measure, just used what we had)
3/4 Cup of Sugar
3 tbsp Tapioca
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 Cup Water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Whisk the sugar, tapioca and cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Add the water and lemon juice and bring to a boil over med-high heat. When bubbly and thick, pour over the berries. We added a little more tapioca than called for.

Topping
1 Cup of gluten free flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
2 tbsp of sugar
1-1/2 tsp of baking powder (gluten free)
1/4 tsp salt (we use sea salt around here)
2 tbsp of butter
1/2 Cup of milk (regular 1%)

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter. Pour in the milk and mix with a hand mixer. My batter never got really thick and clingy like the original recipe stated. Pour over the berry filling mixture and pop into the oven.  In about 35-40 minutes, remove and let cool before enjoying.

Tags: General, Gluten Free, Recipe by Stephanie
No Comments »

We’re on a school break and while the kids are getting along, I wanted them outside. No amount of telling them to go out was doing it! They kept finding things to do inside, which goes quite against my efforts to clean. Somehow, the idea of paint came across my mind and off to google I went. Finger paint shouldn’t be too hard to make.

The first recipe called for corn syrup. Nope, don’t have that. The next recipe looked good and I had everything so off to the kitchen I went. Non-toxic, easy to make finger paint:

Gather jars or plastic cups, a plastic spoon, plastic knives or popsicle sticks (one for each color!), a small pot, a spoon, a stove.

In your pot mix the following on low heat:
1 cup of cold water
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cornstarch

The recipe I followed said low heat for 10 minutes. It should be runny, then firm up. Fifteen minutes later nothing was happening. I upped the heat. Soon I noticed some globs beginning to form and kept on stirring. Finally it was getting thicker. Remove from heat and let cool. Mine turned out pretty thick, it did not thin or thicken as it cooled so when it reaches your preferred consistency, remove from heat!

On to your jars. Once cooled, use a plastic spoon (or whatever) to spoon the mixture into your jars. I used 6 jars, I wouldn’t recommend more than that. Here’s where the 6 knives come in handy! Add food coloring to your jars and stir with a knife. I put about 5 drops in each jar, except purple which was 3 red and 3 blue and teal which was about 4 green and 5 blue. Leave the knives in the jars and turn the kids loose! By using seperate knives, I wasn’t mixing colors and they can easily glob some onto their paper again, without mixing colors.

The kids were in charge of gathering paper and utensils- paintbrushes, sponges, popsicle sticks, etc. I think this is a small amount of paint for 4 kids, but then again, that means they’ll use it all up and I won’t have to worry about storing it. The clothes drying rack is outside to hang wet pictures on and for once, they’ve been outside for 15 minutes without coming back in!

I’ll update on how easily (or not) clean up goes!

Tags: General, Recipe, Safe Things by Stephanie
No Comments »

And it is soooo good! I got the original recipe from  A Year of Crockpotting and I’ve tweaked it to make it work for me. This is so much better than store bought and unbelievably cheaper!

Ingredients
1 half gallon of milk
1/2 cup of yogurt

I’ve decided to go as organic as I can so I shelled out the $6 for a gallon of organic milk. Also went ahead and bought plain, organic yogurt (Safeway’s O brand) which was somewhere around $3.50 or so if I remember correctly for 27oz.

Action
Pour half the gallon of milk in the crockpot, turn on low for about 2 and a half hours. (Last night I forgot about it and it was on for probably 3 and a half hours, oops!) This should bring the temperature of the milk up to about 180 give or take. This kills off the current bacteria in the milk, sterilizing it and the crockpot (or so those Google searches say). I’m thinking this part could be done on the stove top to save time, but you’ll have to watch the milk and not over do. I’m not a fan of heating milk and anything I can turn on and not stand over totally wins for me!

Now turn the crockpot off and allow the milk to cool down for about 3 hours or until the temperature reaches between 115 and 110 degrees, though I’ve also read as low as 105 via  Google. Just don’t let it get too low. It needs to be right around this range to allow the good cultures to mulitply and take over.

Spoon approximately 2 cups of warm milk into a bowl and stir in about half a cup of yogurt. Mix thoroughly and add it to the crockpot.

Now the fun part. Your crockpot needs to sit, undisturbed, in a warm place for several hours. If your house is warm, just wrap your crockpot in a heavy towel and leave it. It’s winter, my house is cold. I preheat my oven to about 150 while I bundle the crockpot in a heavy towel. The monstrosity is then shoved into the warm oven (that has now been turned OFF) and left to sit for 10-12 hours.

In the morning, or when you remember it, pull it out. Smells like yogurt! It is thinner than the regular grocery store stuff you buy. Transfer the yogurt to whatever container you wish to store it in and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. It’ll thicken slightly.

Serve
My kiddos will not eat plain yogurt and this stuff is not sweet like they’re used to. Spoon yogurt into a bowl, add a dallop of jam (your choice of flavor), sprinkle on some flax seed and granola and you’ve got one tasty, healthy treat! It’s dessert-able! Makes for a yummy breakfast!

Notes
My first attempts I did not use organic milk and the entire thing was quite runny. I switched to organic and while it is thicker, it seems a bit clumpy. I think I’m going to try less heating in the beginning next time.

There are things you can do to thicken if you desire- add powdered milk, add pectin, but I found these unnecessary, we just adjusted to thinner yogurt.

You might find a thin, yellowy liquid on top, that’s whey. I mix it in to the yogurt, you could drain it and use in other recipes if you desire.

Set aside about half of a cup of your yogurt for your next batch! You can continue this for a few times before you’ll need to purchase yogurt again to restart your cultures. I did 3-4 batches  before replenishing. It slowly got thinner and thinner.

If you like tart yogurt, let it sit longer. It will also be slightly thicker the longer it sits.

You could strain it through coffee filters or cheese cloth to get it even thicker if desired.

Rough math: For about $3.58 I’m making 64 ounces of yogurt (rounding out the purchased starter yogurt to .66/half cup).  That comes to $0.055 per ounce. Currently at Safeway, Lucerne is on sale (as it often is) 10 for $5. That’s only 60 ounces of yogurt for $5 ($0.083 per ounce) and it isn’t even organic and I’m sure, loaded with unnecessary ingredients.

Tags: General, Health, Recipe by Stephanie
2 Comments »

Compliments of Whole Foods Market

Chili lime butter adds a delicious finishing touch to grilled corn on the cob. Perfect to accompany any barbecue gathering, large or small. The butter can be flavored one day ahead and then brought to room temperature before serving.

Serves 6

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon jalapeño, minced (or to taste)
• pinch of salt
• 6 ears corn on the cob in the husks

Place the butter in a small bowl, add the chili powder, lime peel, lime juice, jalapeño and salt. Mix well. Shape the butter into any form you like, cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Heat grill to medium-high.

Place corn (in husk) on the grill, rotating the corn so you cook on all sides, for approximately 15 minutes total. Remove from grill and cool slightly (so you are able to peel the husk). Place corn back on grill over the same flame for about 4 minutes, once again rotating the corn for even grill marks.

Serve the corn immediately with the chili lime butter.

Cooking options: Place the corn (in the husk) on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes (2 1/2 minutes per side). When ready to grill, remove the husks and grill over a medium-high flame for about 2 minutes per side.

Nutrition Info

Per serving (125g-wt.): 200 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 4g protein, 25g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 30mg cholesterol, 35mg sodium

Tags: General, Recipe by Stephanie
No Comments »

Complements of Seabreeze Organic Farm

• 4 potatoes, scrubbed (peeling optional)
• 6 to 8 small carrots, scrubbed
• 2 med. onions
• baby celery, 2 stems-chop leaves and stems
• 2 t Brittany sea salt
• 3 c boiling water
• 1-3/4 cups of saved water from the cooked vegetables
• 1 2/3 cups of cream or evaporated milk
• 1 dash cayenne
• 1 dash celery salt

Boil 3 cups of water. Add carrots, potatos, onions and salt. Cover and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Mash without draining. Add cream or evaporated milk and heat to just before boiling. Add cayenne pepper and celery salt and serve warm. Sprinkle the top of each serving with paprika.

You can add turnips or rutabega when cooking the carrots, but for best flavor, saute in coconut oil first.

Yields 4 to 5 servings.

Tags: General, Recipe by Stephanie
No Comments »