Apple pie with granola topping

Ymmmmm. Apple pie.

I'll be honest, this wasn't my best pie. Well, this wasn't my favorite pie. It was very good, I'm just not a big fan of granola, so....maybe that's why I didn't favor this pie. This was my own creation....I guess I should have known better. If you like granola - you will love this pie!  How's that?!

Ingredients:
Store bought pie crust (mine was from BitterSweet Bakery again).
5-8 apples of your choice (depending on size), peeled (if preferred) and cut in small cubes or slices
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice
1-2 cups of granola (I used Udi's Natural Granola)
4 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss diced apples with cinnamon, cloves and allspice, pour into pie plate. Top with 4 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces. Mix granola with brown sugar and cover apples with mixture. Bake at 300 for about 45 minutes - until granola is golden brown and apples are soft.

Apple-cranberry Crisp

Fall is the best time of year for baking. Fall means I haven't over-done it yet with the holiday baking...and it's finally cool enough to have the oven on. And there are apples! And cranberries! And lots of delicious sweets.

The recipe is easy enough, and doesn't require any precise measuring.

I slice up a few apples(4 or 5), toss them in a splash or two of lemon juice and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Throw in a few fresh (or frozen) cranberries (1/2 cup). In a separate bowl, combine equal parts flour and brown sugar (1/4 cup each). Cut in a few pats of butter (3 Tbsp.) until crumbly. Sprinkle over the apples in a baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (or until topping is golden brown).

Roasted buttercup squash

Fall is the best! I never ate squash until I was a "grown-up".....I don't recall if I ever even tried it growing up....certain I would hate it, I just didn't even try it. Boy was I an idiot. I love squash, especially buttercup squash. I simply cut it up (which is actually quite a chore), put a sprinkling of brown sugar, a pat of butter and some salt and pepper on it. Cover it with foil and bake at 425 degrees until soft (about an hour).  Yummmm!

Cincinnati Chili, revisited

This is still one of my all-time favorite meals. My grandma used to always make it on New Year's Day. The aroma is to die for. Someone should make a candle or room spray of this scent....Luke would buy it by the crate.

I recently made it with Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta - it was fantastic. This pasta is SO much better than the stuff made with brown rice. The texture and consistency were great and the flavor was awesome. I love it!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 white onion, chopped, divided
1 green pepper, chopped
1 large can (29oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) can diced tomato
2 tsp. cinnamon
s/p to taste
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cloves

Directions:

Brown beef, season with salt and pepper, drain. Add peppers and onion, saute a few minutes until soft. Add tomatoes and sauce and remaining ingredients. Simmer at least 30 minutes.

Serve over regular or gluten-free spaghetti noodles. Serve with warm kidney beans, chopped raw onion, shredded cheese and sour cream as optional toppings.

 

Crunchy pan-fried chicken with roasted potatoes and gravy.

Immediately after taking this picture, I poured gravy over the entire plate. I love gravy, as a true Minnesotan should. This meal was excellent. Luke wanted to make chicken and biscuits, with taters and gravy. I've had trouble finding gluten-free gravy, so I made this from scratch.

Ingredients for chicken and taters:

1 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup breadcrumbs, I use these
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. season salt, divided (or any combination of seasonings)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. EVOO (divided)
1 pound new potatoes, sliced (I leave skin on, but you could peel as well)

Directions:
Lightly beat egg in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, mix breadcrumbs and 1 tsp. of seasoning. Heat 1 Tbsp. EVOO in a large skillet. Dredge chicken through egg, and then through breadcrumb mixture. Fry in oil until cooked through and crispy.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the sliced potatoes with 1 Tbsp. EVOO and 1 Tbsp. seasoning. Lay out on cookie sheet (I used stoneware baking pans) and roast in oven until cooked through. Time will depend on size and thickness of potato slices.

Luke loves all kinds of bread. I have really been missing any kind of bread-like food since becoming gluten-free. We finally found some GF Bisquick  and were anxious to try biscuits. We just used the recipe on the box (although we just made 1/3 the batch), the texture was good (far better than some of the frozen GF biscuits I've purchased) but the flavor was a little blah. I recommend adding a little flavor.....like extra butter, salt, some chives and/or cheese. Overall, not bad.

 

For the chicken gravy, I used cornstarch as a thickener and used the recipe on the box, I used Argo.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter

2 cups of chicken broth (Swanson's is GF)

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add chicken broth. Remove from heat. In a separate cup mix cornstarch and cold water until smooth, add to the chicken broth and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and boil for one minute (or longer, until desired consistency).

Yummmmmmm. Here is the full meal, plus a shot of my plate smothered in gravy.

University of Chicago: Celiac Disease Center

The University of Chicago has a Celiac Disease Center, I had found their website when researching the disease after my diagnosis. They provide a ton of great information, and services in the midwest. What I didn't know about was their gift basket program. My dietitian informed me about it a few weeks ago. If you contact the center they'll send you an electronic form asking a few questions about your diagnosis - if you contact them within three months - they'll send you a gift basket, free of charge. They do ask for donations, to continue the program for future patients in need. After receiving my gift basket, I will definitely send them monetary support. This was an incredible gift! The basket included informative literature, coupons, recipes and many samples of GF products. This is an amazing program and service that they provide.

If you'd like to know more about it, or help support their efforts, here is their website: http://www.celiacdisease.net/

Here are some photos of what was included:

 

Quiche Lorraine

Mmmmm, I love quiche, especially in the fall.....warm flaky crust and creamy filling.

This is a recipe I've been using for years. I usually just use a frozen and/or pre-packaged pie crust, this was no exception - I purchased a pie crust from BitterSweet Bakery in Eagan - yum! The crust was excellent. Super buttery and flaky, here is their website: http://www.bittersweetgf.com/

Ingredients:
1 pie crust in pie pan (deep dish works best)
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/4 cup diced white onion
4 to 6 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
4 eggs
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread shredded cheese, diced onion and crumbled bacon in bottom of pie pan. 

In a large bowl, lightly beat four eggs, add 2 cups of heavy whippiing cream, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Pour into pie pan.

 

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes. Let sit for at least 2 minutes before cutting into - it will firm up a little more once outside the oven.

Breaded Pork Cutlets and Oven Roasted Root Veggies

The last few weeks have been a major adjustment for me. When I found out I had Celiac Disease I was so relieved to know what was causing me to feel sick, but overwhelmed by the huge lifestyle change I needed to undergo. I admit I haven't been cooking much, or baking at all. Things I love to do. At first it was much easier just to buy pre-packaged foods that were labelled gluten-free than to try to make entire meals myself. I miss cooking and baking, and I miss healthy foods that taste good! I needed to get back into the kitchen. I have been cleaning out my pantry of all gluten containing foods, and replacing everything with items I can eat! I now have all the main staples for cooking and baking and have started to get back in the kitchen. I've missed it!

Ingredients:
Thinly sliced pork cutlets, 1 to 2 pounds
1 cup Glutino GF bread crumbs (or any other breading)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. season salt (I use Tastefully Simple)
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. garlic seasoning (I use TS Garlic Garlic)
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 cup assortment of root veggies (potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc)
2 Tbsp. EVOO, divided

Directions:
In a shallow dish, lightly beat one egg. In another shallow dish mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and 1 tsp. season salt and 1 tsp. garlic seasoning.

Drag the pork cutlets through the egg wash and through the breadcrumb mix. Lay into a heated skillet with 1 Tbsp. EVOO. Repeat with remaining cutlets. Let them get brown and crispy before turning.

Wash, peel and cut the root veggies to desired size. Toss with 1 Tbsp. EVOO and 1 Tbsp. of garlic seasoning and 1 Tbsp. of season salt. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast in a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes (may be longer or shorter time depending on the size of the veggies). Potatoes should be soft and cooked through, carrots and parsnips will appear dry and withered.

Grilled Asparagus

 

This was a really fresh and delicious side dish to some grilled steaks. Yummmmy! I tossed the cleaned and trimmed asparagus in a garlic-infused olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Luke grilled them to perfection and then I squeezed fresh lime juice over them. SOOO good. 

Namaste GF Pizza

I wasn't super impressed with this crust, there were herbs mixed in and the flavor just didn't do it for me. The texture wasn't great, but not awful either. Pizza is mostly about the cheese and toppings (for me)anyway, but I'd like the crust to be a little better tasting. I am anxious to try another brand soon.  This dough might make great foccacia, though, with the herbs already mixed in...just bake and baste with butter and dip in marinara.....there's a thought!

This mix is really easy, you just add water, eggs and then spread on the pan and bake.

Lemon chicken pasta toss

Jennie gave me this recipe a long time ago, but I had never tried it. There are several prep-steps that take a little time, but this dish is well worth it. Really great flavor, good mix of textures and filling.

Ingredients:
8 oz. uncooked gluten-free radiatore pasta
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced (or small diced) carrots
2 cloves garlic
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 cup small broccoli florets
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups diced, cooked chicken breast
1 cup prepared gluten-free Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup hot water
1 lemon, cut in half
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than package directions. Drain and set aside.

Chop onion and slice carrot. Spray a skillet with non-stick spray oil. Cook and stir onion, carrot and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes. Steam broccoli, red pepper and salt until slightly tender (I used Pampered Chef micro-cooker in the microwave for 2 minutes).

 Add pasta, steamed veggies, chicken, Alfredo sauce and water to the skillet. Squeeze lemon over and cook until heated through. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Serve with gluten-free french bread and garlic butter: