Hashbrown creation

1 bag of Simply Potatoes, the shredded ones
1 cup fat-free half-n-half
1 ounce light cream cheese, slightly melted
2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP salsa
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
Pre-heat oven to 350.  Melt the cream cheese for about 20-20 seconds in the microwave.  Add the half-n-half and whisk together.  Add the sour cream, salsa and the garlic powder, whisk again.  Open the potatoes and empty them into a 9x9 pan.  Slowly add in the cream cheese mixture, mixing with a spoon as you combine the mixture evenly with the potatoes.  Add the 1/2 cup of cheese, mixing again until the cheese is mixed in.  Top with a little more shredded cheese.  Bake for 30-45 minutes.

Note:  for a variety of mixtures, add ground beef or even shredded chicken.  I'm thinking I may add baby spinach next time for a little color!    

Smore bars

I want to give a disclaimer that these are yummy and messy!  Just like smores!

What you will need: 
Brown sugar dough cookie recipe
Jar of marshmallow creme
Chocolate chips

Brown Sugar Dough:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups rice flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar packed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup corn, tapioca, or arrowroot starch
1/4 tsp salt
3 TBSP milk (or use an alternative milk beverage)

1.  In a food processor, combine all ingredients.  Pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
2.  Remove dough from processor and divide in half.  Wrap each half in waxed paper and chill until ready to use. 
This recipe comes from the book Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger.

For our recipe today.  Whether you have chilled the cookie dough or not, doesn't matter much.  In my case, I had chilled it for a few weeks, so I found it to be a bit crumbly.  Which is why I made a bar cookie out of it instead of individual ones.  I also used a small bar pan from Pampered chef, which is 1/2 of the batter.  I also used some spray butter in order to get it to soften up in order for me to flatten it, but again, if you do not wait as long as I did, I doubt you will have the same problem I did.  I set the oven temp to 350 and while it was preheating I covered the bar pan with the dough.  I baked the cookie for approximately 8-10 minutes.  As soon as I took it from the oven, I began to spread the marshmallow creme on top of it.  It only required about 1/2-3/4 of a small jar, but you can used your own personal discretion here.  Once the creme was spread, I sprinkled about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on top of the creme.  I didn't want the chocolate to be overwhelming, so I spread them out over the creme.  About 5-10 minutes later, they will be cool enough to cut and let me tell ya, they are yummy!!!  It's like a smores party in your mouth! For those of you who haven't had smores in forever, try this recipe and let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy it!   

Oh so yummy pasta!

Ok, so I was completely experimenting tonight when I came up with this dish.  I am trying to be heart healthy and low-fat, but I was craving creamy cheesy stuff with pasta.  What to do? What to do?  Well, here's what I came up with. 

4 cups of gluten free pasta, cooked.
1 yellow squash, sliced about 1/2 inch thick
4 small bell peppers, sliced
2 TBSP fat free sour cream
1/4 cup cooking wine, I used Marsala
1 laughing cow wedge, I used the sun-dried tomato flavor
1/4 cup fat free half-n-half
2 TBSP Mrs. Dash salt garlic seasoning

While the noodles were cooking, I warmed up, on medium, in the iron skillet for the veggies.  I sprayed the pan with non-stick spray and added the veggies and sprinkled the seasoning on the veggies.  As the veggies were cooking, I added the cooking wine.  I would give the veggies a little stir about every minute or so.  After about 5 minutes, I added the sour cream, the laughing cow, and the 1/2-n-1/2.  Now, here's where I'm going to let you know that I think I should've added the laughing cow when I added the cooking wine.  This is because it took it a little bit longer than I would've liked to melt down.  Make sure you turn the temp down to low at this point as to not burn the milky products.  About 5 more minutes of cooking and occasional stirring and you've got a yummy topping for your pasta! 
Drain the pasta, add the veggie mix right from the pan and get ready for your cravings for a creamy pasta dish to be satisfied!  You can top it with Parmesan, I just happened to be out of it!
I hope you enjoy this dish!  I know I did!  To quote Winnie the Pooh (well sort of), "It all comes from liking pasta so much!"

Eliminating a lot!

One of my nephew's is on an elimination diet.  He cannot have gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, tree nuts and other stuff that I can't remember.  I thought eating gluten-free was hard, but this is really challenging.  But I am up for this challenge!  Today, in honor of Brent, here's a recipe that I hope he gets to try and I do hope he enjoys! 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

About 4 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers.  I personally do not like the green one's and I believe these are much sweeter in taste.
1 pound of some kind of meat.  Whether it is chopped chicken or ham or beef. Cooked of course. 
1 cup of rice, cooked.
1/2 cup of salsa

Basically you will cut the tops off of the bell peppers and scoop out the insides.  Combine the cooked meat, the cooked rice and the salsa in a bowl until it is well mixed.  Fill each bell pepper with the meat mixture.  It may only fill about 2/3 of the way in order to get it into each of them.  Place them in a deep baking dish so they stand up and bake for 10 minutes at 350. 

Betty Crocker

One thing with eating gluten-free that we have found to be a challenge is eating something that is considered "normal" food.  Now, I know that brownies aren't good for you, but they are pretty "normal".  I do love that the gluten-free world has really come a long way in 6 years and that there is so much more available (not to mention cheaper!) than when we started this journey with David.  So, whether you are new to the gluten-free diet or just need a new recipe, check out http://www.bettycrocker.com/ and search for gluten-free recipes!

Yummy gluten-free oatmeal!

I made gluten-free oatmeal for David this morning.  I'm out of brown sugar and butter, so I improvised.  Here's what I did.  I added some Earth Balance vegan butter and then added some gingerbread flavored non-dairy creamer.  He loves the flavor of the creamer, so I thought, why not?  He loved it!  I did add a little sugar, but not much. 
So next time you're looking to get some kind of flavor in your oatmeal, why not try one of the powered non-dairy creamers?  I hope you like it as much as we did!

Love eating gluten-free!

Last night we made cheesy bread for David on Whole Foods gluten-free bread.  I add sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with basil then topped with a little cheese to a couple of pieces of toast for myself.  We also had Tinkyada's brown rice pasta.  Mine was topped with baby spinach leaves, a little bit of olive oil, (about 1 TBSP), a small amount of goat cheese, with some cilantro and basil.  David had the pasta with alfredo sauce.  He had a side salad with baby spinich leaves and gluten-free ranch dressing. 
I think we are going to start using Jessica Seinfield's book and start incorporating more veggies into stuff for him.  Her first book is interesting and I've never actually used it.  Thinking I better try it before I buy the new one.   Better go get a food processor!