My Favorite Gluten Free Cupcake

I got this for my last birthday from Oh Snap! Cupcakes and it is sooo good!  Wanted to share a picture. It is gluten free, cream cheese icing with chocolate chips.  Delish!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Menu Plan Monday-Limited Cooking!

 

 

Good day to you!! Joining Organizing Junkie in some delish Menu Plan Monday fun!

 

I love cooking.  But working full time the last year and a half I have gotten so weary in it.  That makes me sad.  I decided I was going to try and cook 3-4 meals on Sunday afternoon/evening so that the family could have meals to heat up throughout the week and two things would happen.

 

1-They don't have to wait for me to get home at 6pm to eat.  They can just heat up dinner when they get hungry.

 

and...

 

2-I don't have to make dinner when I get home at 6pm.  I can heat up something if I am hungry.  And if I am not, I can just relax and enjoy family time and our fun evenings.

 

So this is what I did for this week...

 

• Apple Bourbon pork tenderloin-Hormel brand (I get these at Wal-Mart-they are gluten free and already seasoned)
• Sweet Italian sausage sauteed with onions-then eat over rice.  We have a rice cooker that always has Jasmine rice in it.
• Taco meat.  Cook this up and then they can heat the meat up and get out shredded cheese and lettuce and use the soft shell burrito shells I get to make their own soft tacos.
• Frozen pizza-this is an easy fix and some of the kids like this for dinner.  If not, they can have cereal or they can make a sandwich or a bowl of rice and soy sauce.
• Breakfast for dinner.  Usually can fix up some eggs, waffles, cereal and fruit and this is a quick dinner.  Though for this I do have to fix up something.
• Then there is the fend for yourselves night where we just eat what we want when we want it and nobody really cooks a meal.
  

Gluten Free Allergen Friendly Menu Plan Monday

I have been enjoying linking up with Orgjunkie.com and sharing recipes and menu plans with others.  It is nice to have a fresh set of ideas for my family and it is especially nice when I find recipes that are allergy friendly for my family.  Most of my meals I try to cook gluten free, milk and egg free and of course there are no nuts in our home due to peanut/tree nut allergies.  So sharing ideas when you have these things as a challenge is really refreshing.  

1. Fried Rice with ham, broccoli  onions (or anything you want to throw into it)-La Choy Soy Sauce is gluten free, score!
2. Sausage & Peppers over rice.
3. Zatarans Jambalaya with turkey sausage.  (gluten free and probably won't use the other meats)
4. Tacos with ground turkey.
5. Crunchy Pork chops, creamy mashed potatoes and corn.
6. Baked pork chops, fried zucchini, rice.
7. Breakfast for dinner-Pancakes or waffles, bacon, eggs (maybe), smoothies (strawberry or strawberry & banana)

Have you used Cozi?  I am loving that the last month or two for family planning, meal planning as well as grocery lists and all sorts of lists-and more.  I get nothing for saying that, just sharing because it has been an awesome tool for me to use and I never, EVER, thought I would switch to using technology versus paper and pen planning.

Have a great day!

Menu Plan Monday

Joining Organizing Junkie in Menu Plan Monday and sharing my meals for the week.  I did all of my grocery shopping at Target this week--can I just say it is a much more peaceful shopping experience there than at Wal-Mart.  Now if I can just find all the food and deals from Wal-Mart over at Target, I will be a forever convert to Target.  I just don't use coupons and never have liked them--so that is why I tend to shop mostly at Wal-Mart.

Anyways, onto the meal plan for the week, think simple.  I have not been in much of a cooking mood lately.

1. Italian Sausage & Bell Peppers over rice.
2. Chex Mix Crunchy Pork Chops (will take pic and share recipe when I make) with steamed sweet corn & mashed potatoes. 
3. Spaghetti (with brown rice noodles) with steamed brocolli.
4. Breakfast for dinner-Bacon, eggs, pancakes & smoothies! 
5. Salmon Nuggets & rice with soy sauce.
6. Baked salmon with rice and salad or fend for yourself.
7. Tacos in crockpot.

Crockpot Taco Meat

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (or pork or ground turkey)
1 medium onion chopped shopping list
1/8 cup jar jalapenos chopped (I use a few tablespoons of salsa instead)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup water

Preparation

add all ingredients to crock pot and cook for 6 hours
then drain and serve (I don't always have to drain this)

Menu Plan Monday-Gluten & Milk-Free Style

I do a weekly menu plan on a regular basis so I know what we have for dinners for the following week, taking out a lot of the guess work.  I do not assign a meal to a certain day all of the time, but it is nice knowing I have enough ingredients in the house to have meals for a week.  These next 2 weeks will be a little more fun because we are trying gluten free and milk free for most of us.  So here goes sharing our meals for the week.

1. Sweet Italian Sausage with bell peppers and rice.
2. Crunchy Tacos with my homemade taco seasoning (minus cheese).
3. Poncit (will have to share this recipe as it is delicious-though I am still learning to perfect it).
4. Salmon nuggets (my own created recipe that is a family favorite), rice & sweet peas.
5. Baked Teryaki Salmon (homemade marinade), steamed broccoli, hush-puppies & rice.
6. Breakfast for dinner-gluten free pancakes, bacon, strawberry smoothies & scrambled eggs.
7. Leftovers/fend for yourself.

Check out the recipes and let me know if you have any questions about them.  

I am joining with Organizing Junkie in the Menu Plan Monday.  Check out her website for lots of recipe and meal plan ideas.  You can find her here--

Also found this site and will be sharing there as well.
 

More later...

Salmon Nuggets

This recipe stems from when I was playing around trying to make fish croquet's without egg.  It is super simple, and really good, a family favorite here.

Salmon Nuggets

Ingredients:

• 1 can salmon NOT drained
• 1 cup gluten free corn meal
• salt & pepper to taste  
• Canola oil

Directions:

1. Mix first three ingredients in bowl.
2. Add oil 1-2 inches deep in pan and heat.
3. Form the ingredients into little balls and drop in heated oil-cook until golden brown.  Do not crowd them so they can fry evenly and not get mushy.

Enjoy!  We like to eat these with jasmine rice and a veggie.  Add some soy sauce is pretty good too.

Taco Time

I created my own taco seasoning from searching online a few years ago and leaving out things I didn't like.  I am sure there are some just like this all over the web, but it is a family favorite and I use it in anything that calls for taco seasoning packets.

Taco Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon course salt

There you have it.  Mix it all together and add to anything you are making that calls for taco seasoning packet.  

Enjoy!

Breakfast Smoothie

I make some delish simple smoothies and I am NOT a health maniac person and don't know lots of these recipes, but I love this smoothie and its really refreshing and really nourishes me and I feel a difference in my body and energy when I drink it.



It is simple. 

Ingredients:
1 cup ice
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup rice milk (or milk of your choice)
1 tablespoon or 2 of sugar (or whatever sweetener you like)
big ole handful of spinach
(apple juice added to blender as needed if it needed more liquid)

Put all in the blender until desired consistency.
Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

Trying something new in menu planning this week.  I signed up for emeals after hearing about it 10,000 times on Dave Ramsey's shows.  I honestly was hesitant at first.  Then when I was doing my shopping I had a lot of complaints about it...I was a grouch.  I was mad that I had to try new things.  I was mad that I was spending so much on food and it was only for dinners--it didn't include lunches or breakfasts, and when you are budgeting for a family of 5 spending close to $100 per week for dinners made me cringe.  But I tried it...except one meal I didn't like I got everything for the rest of the week.  I got the Wal-Mart plan, gluten free meals.

I really am going to create a personable meal plan soon--where people can tell  you their favorite foods and least favorite and I will help them to create their own meals for their specific family.  Because the problem with all of these meal plans is that they may be great and to the liking of one person, but not everyone likes the same meals.  Ok I'm done...but God take this plan and bring it to fruition in my heart and life in Jesus Name Amen <3

1. Layered Chicken Salad, grapes topped with honey vanilla greek yogurt. (made this tonight and it was delicious so I had no complaints here).
2. Grilled pork chops with zucchini & peppers.
3. Crispy Salmon with Spinach, sweet potato fries.
4. Steak strips with pasta, Italian lettuce wedge.
5. Taco Pie, drizzled salad.
6. Pasta Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp.

Joining in with http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday!

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Menu Plan Monday

Joining in with www.orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday!

• Salmon patties in crock-pot with rice and veggies-these didn't get made last week.
• Tacos with ground turkey and my own taco seasoning that I make, will share this soon
• Breakfast for dinner-Bacon, eggs, shredded hashbrowns and strawberry smoothies
• Pizza (this week I will make myself a Udi's gluten free 4 cheese pizza, these are really good)
• Loaded baked potato bar-using crockin girls idea for cooking them this time-toppings added to the persons liking-shredded cheese, sour cream, salt & pepper, butter, green onions and bacon.
• Leftovers or something easy and quick.

Working 5 days a week I am wanting to start a good list of crock-pot meals that my family loves.  Getting home and still having to make dinner puts us eating dinner later than I'd like.  I want to try and have 5 a week so that we can have dinner ready already when it is dinner time and we can enjoy!  If anyone can share with me their favorite crock-pot meals/recipes or share with me their favorite site to get them, I would love it!

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Menu Plan Monday

Joining in with menu plan Monday this week for the first time!  I am joining in with I'm an Organizing Junkie!  All of these meals are gluten free.  If they are not, I will say so in a note *next to it.  Some of these are also dairy and egg free.  I also don't assign my meals a certain day, but have enough foods in kitchen for all of the meals I am going to cook for the week.  If it's a work day or busy day, I try and plan it to be a crockpot or quick and easy meal.

1. Breakfast for dinner-Hashbrowns shredded and cooked with onion and add cheese after done, scrambled eggs, bacon and strawberry smoothies.  I got a yummy smoothie recipe from www.allrecipes.com.  It is 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of ice and 1 cup of milk and a few tablespoons of sugar/splenda to your liking--(I use Rice Milk), delish!
2. Caribbean chicken with rice in Crockpot.  For this recipe, the marinade did have gluten, so I am using brown sugar and honey Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce which is gluten free and delicious!
3. Ham-steak, bake beans, corn on cob and scalloped potatoes (Idahoan brand is gluten free)
4. Pizza (Frozen Red Baron pizzas--I will not eat this nor will my son with multiple allergies--we will eat leftovers or cereal or something fun)
5. Tacos
6. Potato soup (crockin girls) trying for the first time.
7. Salmon patties (crockin girls) trying for the first time.  For this though I am making a few adjustments--using ener-g egg replacer and using can salmon instead of Tuna.  I am also going to use gluten free cornmeal and some spices instead of breadcrumbs.
8. Baby back ribs, Lloyds brand-gluten and soy free.  Eating with rice and a salad or green beans.

Looking forward to sharing my recipes/meal plan and to be inspired by others as well!

More later...Love to you!
Kim :)

Yummy Dinner

For fathers day I read about a friend on Facebook, Charlotte Seims, cooking country fried steak strips. I knew it was a family fav of ours, but never made it this way and only attempted the whole steak one time. It was a big mess. So I immediately jumped on this recipe and got things together to make it myself. I used some all purpose gluten free flour with smoked paprika, salt and pepper sprinkled on it. Dipped the cut round steak in egg/milk mixture then dipped in flour mixture and cooked in a few tablespoons of canola oil. Then stirred up some package where gravy for some boys in the house. Served with a big salad and it was a HIT! I'll be making this again! Thanks Charlotte :)

More later...love to you,
Kim

I was glutened!

Glutened is a term I've heard people mention when they are eating gluten free and they have accidentally eaten gluten.  I am now going to use it because 3 times it has happened to me since going gluten free first week of March.

It is a horrible stomach pain, undescribable and not like anything I've felt before, and it lasts 24 hours at the worst and then takes days to feel all the way better.  It also leads to trips to the bathroom and I have vomitted, along with major bloating and gas.  It is the worse feeling and I do not wish it on anyone.

I think the worst thing is that sometimes it is hard to determine what it is that caused it.  I believe the first time it was eating taco seasoning and taco shells, Old El Paso brand, which I read after the fact on their website that it is not in the "gluten free" list of their food items, ouch!  Then the second time I feel it was a Wal-Mart rotisserie chicken--which I have had a few times I believe, but this time I feel was the problem.  The third time was more minor and happened this past weekend.  I ate a gluten free meal from Cedarline-which I purchased at Publix, and it happened starting about an hour after eating that and continued all weekend.

Have any of you been "glutened" and if so what do you think was the cause of it? 

Udi's

I have found some products from Udi's that are so so so good that I have to share them.  I went free first of March as a lifestyle change, as I have really seen that it is not beneficial for my body, at least from the knowledge that I have so far and how I feel when I introduce it back to my body, it's not for me anymore.  Since going gluten free a few things I missed out on were Pizza and bread-bread mostly to make a sandwich with.  Well no longer do I miss those things!

I first found Udi's pizza crust in the frozen food department at a local heatlh food store.  I made myself a hawaiin pizza with it, adding bbq sauce, cheese, pineapple and ham.  It was so good and it did not taste like most gluten free bread type things (i.e. cardboard), it tasted very good and also had a good crisp to it!  Then I went looking for that at our Publix grocery store I found a 3-cheese Udi's certified organic pizza in the frozen food, but no pizza crust.  So I got it.  I LIKE.  So glad I found it!  

Then this past week I was walking in Publix by the frozen food and happened to see Udi's white sandwich bread!  I said ok, I will try it.  I also had gotten some Lloyd's BBQ chicken.  That week I ate a lot of open-faced bbq chicken sandwiches on that Udi's bread.  YUM!  That was actually better than the pizza crust or pizza.  

Anyways, maybe that will help someone looking for some Udi's products.  You can search on their site where they sell products in your area.  

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Gluten Free Meal Planning

I want to help you create meal plans for your family.  It is difficult when you have food allergies and you have to search many places, books, blogs and people for recipes that will fit your family and also not contain the foods that our family members are allergic to.  I want to help.  I want to help people create those plans.  I want to create a service where you can send me all of your family members favorite foods, and I can help you create a meal plan for each week, or perhaps a monthly meal plan rotating weekly recipes around.

I believe our families should eat well and not feel deprived.  I also believe it is very possible to do this even with one or multiple food allergies or sensitivities.  I will mostly work with the top 8 allergens which are:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Peanuts
4. Tree nuts (such as walnuts, almonds, etc)
5. Fish
6. Shellfish
7. Soy
8. Wheat

My family personally has to work with 5 of these allergens.  Those would be:  Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat.  Gluten free as well.  I do not deal with soy a whole lot, but I can help as much as I know how.

Look forward to sharing with you and helping you as God leads.  He has a plan for us and He will help meet our needs.  Send me a message on my facebook page!  In the near future I will have more organization on my blog to where you can see what I can offer you and how you can take advantage of it. 

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Taco Salad!

Tonight was something I make often and it is easy to feed everyone in the family pretty easily.

I ground turkey and then add El Paso taco seasoning. That is the taco meat we use.
I heat up refried beans.
Jar of salsa (Pace)
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Taco sauce
Romaine lettuce
Taco shells or tortilla chips or Fritos

Make your own taco or taco salad. Could also add tomatoes, olives, avocado

Tasty!

Iphone pictures so excuse the quality :)  One day they may look better

Tonight's Dinner~BBQ Ribs!

Sadly forgot to take pictures of my pretty plate before eating, ha!  Sorry.  I will next time, but I still want to share what we had.  Again it was simple, as I am not in the mood for extravagant cooking this week, it's SPRING BREAK!

So I purchased Hormel brand, Lloyd's spare ribs, at Wal-Mart last trip to the store.  This is a new find we only recently found and have had only a few times.  I happened to see them and read the ingredients.  Pretty simple list, and they said "gluten free & soy free!"  So it was a winner.  We like them, they fall off the bone, and a friend has told me about them before and had good things to say.

 

Ribs was our main dish.  Our side dishes were this awesome quinua pasta, veggie curls.  I boiled them with some salt and a drizzle of olive oil until done.  Then melted some butter into them.  Smart Balance Light butter with flax is what we use...it is gluten and dairy free.  Boiled some frozen corn on the cob.  The end.  

Delish meal was served.  It was super filling and satifsying.  Nutritious.  Sorry I didn't take a picture, the plate was so pretty :)

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Gluten Free Journey Continues...

I will try now and continue with my story of gluten free that I started here.  All these questions that I was having about what foods are best for my body, I was told by a sweet sweet person, why not try eating how my son eats and take wheat out of my diet?  I thought okay I can do that.  I will try doing that for a month or so and see how it goes.  That was last April or May if I recall correctly.  I tried it for 4 days and things in my body started changing for the better.

I then had lies and questioning start creeping in and I started dabbling and having a little here and a little there.  I wasn't sure I should do it and seemed to think I needed more of a reason to do it before I gave it my all.  I had a friend who at that time was my accountability partner and prayer partner in eating and health, and she mentioned to me that I possibly had a gluten sensitivity and should consider it.  She was going through similar things.  I read about it in different places on the internet, blogs and books.  Over the past 11 months I have heard about gluten free here and there and everywhere it seems.  Crazy!  But hey you know what I am learning, "when God wants to get your attention He will be clear about it and follow you around with confirmations (until you get it)."  He is amazing like that.

In November I had my annual physical and had mentioned to my doctor about gluten and she confirmed that yes, gluten can mess with your body in many ways.  She asked me how I felt eating gluten free and I told her that I did feel better and the symptoms that had changed and she said that I should continue with it.  She also said that it was evident if I felt better I should continue and that a testing wouldn't always be definite.

I then was told by a doctor at the end of 2011 to try gluten free for my son and I said I would try it with him.  We didn't do well with it and didn't try too hard.  Then at our recheck with this doctor she asked if we had tried gluten free, and we said, no....uh not really :(  I was then told again to try it.  She was not giving in and really wanted us to try it.  She explained about children who she saw try this during her schooling and without medical tests, but trying it and seeing changes in symptoms they had, for the better.  So we did.  (*note:  I am only sharing about myself here as it is about "my" heart I talk about on my blog and not my childrens.)  I stuck to it for 3-4 weeks very well.  I felt great results.  I released 12 pounds and lost so many cravings for food.  I was not bloated among other things.

Then, here comes the lies and questioning again.  But you have never been tested and told that you have it.  You have no confirmation for sure saying yes this is the results of your test and now you should eat this way.  I had a God, who may I say I am learning much better now a days, is THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.

God reminded me of this recently, and I can't even tell you how I came to find this scripture, but it came to me!

2 Chronicles 16:12
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease.  Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physician's.

That is in a sense the way I was thinking.  I wanted a doctor and a test to tell me for absolutely positive sure that I had Celiac or that I had gluten intolerance BEFORE I committed to it.  I did not want to just trust what God was already confirming to me.  I had several people ask me lately, weren't my symptoms and the confirmations I kept getting enough to make me stop eating it and just move on and live?  My answer in my heart then was a resounding, no.  I wanted a test, proof.  (isn't that opposite of faith?)

So God allowed me to be tested last week.  I ordered a reputable test online that was a finger prick blood test to test for Celiac.  It was negative.  Now I had been off and on gluten for the past several months, several days to weeks without it and then I would eat it here and there.  So I am unsure if I had enough in my system to cause this test to be positive.

I knew this would happen!  I recognized that as soon as I ordered the test...I had the question, what if it is negative?  I thought well then I would want another test to tell me something.  I need something saying yes I need to eat gluten free.  Without wheat.

So...two nights ago God really spoke to my heart to have faith.  Kim have faith and trust.  I know what is best for your body.  You felt better, released weight and didn't eat as much or want to eat as much when you let it go.  So let it go!  Give it to ME.  I will help you!  So I did.  Two nights ago I let it go.  Starting yesterday I ate gluten free.  I will take it one day at a time, but right now I feel the answer is that I need to have faith in my God, my Great Physician, and believe Him when He makes something so clear to me I cannot miss it.  Gluten is not friendly with my body and I will thrive without it.

I am aiming to eat what is called whole foods.  I do not replace a lot of foods that have gluten with the gluten free version.  I simply want to mostly eliminate it, which in turn eliminates most processed foods.  Eating fruits and veggies, some nuts and seeds, and meats and then rice and potatoes and gluten free grains every once in a while.  

I look forward to sharing more of this journey as I walk it out in FAITH with my God.  I think, well if I listen to Him and obey, what do I have to lose?  But if I did NOT listen to Him, and ate whatever I wanted containing gluten, maybe I would suffer in ways that were not necessary.  I trust Him.  I will trust Him.  I trust You Lord.

Follow me on my journey as I walk it out and share more and more what I learn and what God shows me.

I am working on blogging at my gluten free blog for this area of my life.  Gluten Free Daughter

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Simple Breakfast

So this morning is a simple breakfast. Ore-Ida frozen potatoes are all mostly gluten free except the crispy crowns and maybe a couple others. I first learned this by calling the company. Then reading the labels. The only allergen that they have are soy.

So this morning I popped in some tator tots into the oven and cooked them to golden crispy brown. Served with some ketchup and it's done. Also it is good to find ketchup that is for sure gluten free.  Here I used Hunt's (no high fructose corn syrup) ketchup.  Now this isn't one of those meals that will hold you over very long.

A few things that could be added with it would be say some fruit and cottage cheese. I like pineapple, grapes and strawberries. Also you could make a fruit smoothie with some frozen berries. 1 cup berries, 1 cup milk (I use rice milk), 1 cup ice and a few tablespoons of sugar depending how sweet you want it. You could add a boiled egg or some ham or some type of protein to make it a bit more sustaining.

That was breakfast today! Have a good morning!

Love to you!
Kim :)

Tator Tots!