Crock pot Italian Swiss Steak

Crock pot Italian Swiss Steak

Ingredients

1. 2 pound top round Black Angus steak (trimmed and cut in half)
2. 1 small onion, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
3. 1 large stalk of celery, chopped
4. 8 baby bella mushrooms, chopped
5. 1 can of tomato sauce
6. 1 can of water (using tomato sauce can)
7. 1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes
8. 1 tsp. course ground garlic sea salt
9. 1.5 tsp. course ground black pepper
10. 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
11. .25 cup brown rice flour
Steamed brown rice

Directions

1. In a large baggie combine the garlic sea salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, brown rice flour and steak. Shake until the steak is well coated.
2. Combine all other ingredients in the crock pot and add the steak. Submerge the steak into the tomato/water mixture as much as possible.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours
4. Serve over steamed brown rice.

Hunters Stew and Creamy Polenta

I made this last night and it was wonderful. The original recipe came from http://www.eatingwell.com/ and I had to tweak it a little to make it allergy friendly. This could easily become our new favorite dish.

(http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/hunters_chicken_stew.html )
Hunter’s Chicken is found across Northern Italy, with many variations. This version uses meaty bone-in chicken things and is full of onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. It’s also delicious served over egg noodles.
Makes 8 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 1 hour

TOTAL TIME: 2 1/2 hours

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Redmill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix)
12 bone-in chicken thighs (about 4 pounds), skin removed, trimmed
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
1 cup dry white wine or vermouth (I was out of Vegan wine so I subbed Gluten free/Dairy Free chicken broth here)
1 1/2 pounds button mushrooms, halved or quartered, depending on size
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth (We like Pacific brand but any Gluten Free/Dairy free brand will work
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 3/4 teaspoon dried
1 1/3 cups cornmeal (make sure it's gluten free)
6 cups cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft and translucent, 2 to 4 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a bowl; set aside. Remove the pot from the heat.
2. Place gluten free flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour. Gently shake off any excess.
3. Cook the chicken in 2 batches in the Dutch oven, using 1 tablespoon oil for each batch. Cook over medium-high heat, turning once, until browned on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
4. Pour wine (or vermouth or chicken broth) into the pot and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms, tomatoes, broth, bay leaves and rosemary. Return the reserved onions to the pan. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices, making sure each piece is partially submerged. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover the pan and cook, gently stirring once or twice, until the chicken is very tender, about 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, combine cornmeal, water and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Partially cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and very creamy, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, while you finish the stew.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Bring the liquid in the pan to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Skim or blot any visible fat from the surface. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken to the pan.
7. Gently stir in basil. Serve the stew over the polenta.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 431 calories; 17 g fat (4 g sat, 8 g mono); 101 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrate; 33 g protein; 3 g fiber; 706 mg sodium; 794 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Potassium (23% daily value), Iron (20% dv), Magnesium & Vitamin C (15% dv).
2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 4 lean meat, 1 fat

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Make polenta (Step 5) about 1 hour before serving. Prepare stew through Step 6. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Reheat stew and stir in basil (Step 7).

Blueberry Muffins

We went to our local farm today and purchased some gorgeous fruits and vegetables. One thing I bought was plump blueberries. I was going to make a blueberry cobbler, but the boys insisted on muffins. The muffins turned out totally delicious. Of course Older Boy won't eat them now because he didn't realize that they'd have REAL blueberries. He's used to the fake little blueberry specks you get in processed food. He's seriously anti fruit and that really bothers me. Good thing I figured out that the muffins are only 4 points each at http://www.weightwatchers.com/. Guess they'll make a good breakfast or snack item. The Little Man can only eat so many and the recipe made 17. If I freeze them, they fall out of favor and then no one eats them.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup dairy free margarine
2. 1 cup white sugar
3. 1/4 cup brown sugar
4. 1 teaspoon of salt
5. 4 oz. organic applesauce
6. 1 eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer, prepared
7. 1.5 cups Bette Hagman Feather Light Rice Flour
8. .5 cup Sorghum Flour
9. 2 tsp. gluten free baking powder
10. .5 cup milk alternative (I used vanilla Silk)
11. 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
12. 2 cups of blueberries


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together margarine, white sugar, brown sugar, salt and lemon juice until fairly smooth. Beat in applesauce and egg replacer.
3. In another bowl, mix together Feather Light Rice Flour, Sorghum Flour and baking powder. Use a small amount of this mixture to cover blueberries (this helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin). Mix in the flour and milk alternative, alternating each. Gently fold in blueberries.
4. Spoon batter into the lined muffin cups filling cups almost to the top.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in oven until muffin tops are slightly browned and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan or eating.

Honey-soy grilled pork chops (w/ rice)

This is another recipe from Everyday Food Magazine (Martha Stewart). I didn't need to do a lot of tweaking to make this one friendly. And everyone enjoyed it.

Ingredients

1. Vegetable oil, for grates
2. 1 cup long grain white rice (we eat a lot of rice in our house so I made 4 cups of brown rice)
3. 2 Tbs. rice vinegar
4. 1/4 tsp. red-pepper flakes
5. salt and ground pepper
6. 2 Tbs. honey
7. 1 tsp. wheat free soy sauce (San-J)
8. 1 tsp. finely grated peeled fresh ginger
9. 4 bone-in pork rib chops (8-10 oz each)

Directions

1. Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. Cook rice according to package instructions. With a fork, stir in vinegar and red-pepper flakes; season with salt. Cover and set aside.

2. Make a glaze: Combine honey, wheat free soy sauce, and ginger in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Grill until opaque throughout. 5-7 minutes per side. Brush pork with glaze, and grill 30 seconds more per side. Transfer pork to a plate.

3. Serve pork chops and rice (add in a fresh summer salad for a more rounded out meal).

serves 4

Mini honey-mustard meatloaves

This recipe has been allergenized. The original recipe is from Everyday Food (A Martha Stewart Magazine).
I took Martha's original recipe and switched some ingredients to safe ones and left some out that I couldn't replace.

Ingredients
olive oil for baking sheets
2 Tbs. honey mustard
2 Tbs. ketchup
1-1.5 pounds of ground turkey
just under a 1/2 cup of polenta with brown rice bread crumbs added to make it a complete 1/2 cup (mix together)
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil. In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbs. mustard and ketchup.

2. In a medium bowl, combine turkey, polenta/brown rice mixture, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper. From into four 2-by-4-inch loaves; place on baking sheet. Brush with mustard mixture.

3. Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of oven. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, moving sheet to bottom rack after 10 minutes.

In addition to the meatloaves, Martha also had a recipe for roasted potatoes. If you choose to use those too:

Ingredients
1 pound white new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 Tbs. of olive oil, plus more for baking sheets
salt and pepper

Follow instructions for meatloaves to step 2.

Continuing from step 2 from above:
On another rimmed baking sheet, brush sheet with oil. Toss potatoes with 1 Tbs. of olive oil and lay flat on sheet. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of oven, and place potatoes on lower rack. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, rotating sheets after 10 minutes. Remove loaves from oven; continue to roast potatoes until tender, about 5 minutes.

Worms in dirt

1 cup of chocolate ZenSoy pudding
3 Tbs. of soy whipped topping
3-4 crushed frozen KinniToos chocolate sandwich cookies
Safe gummy worms

Mix the pudding, soy whipped topping, and 1/2 the crushed cookies together and place in a cup. Add the remaining crushed cookies on top and finish with gummy worms.

Pizza pasta

I had ground beef and didn't know what to do with it, so I came up with this:

Pizza pasta

Ingredients

1. 1 1/4 pound of ground beef, chicken, or turkey
2. 1 small onion diced
3. Pizza sauce - approx. 24 oz. (I used 1 15 oz can of Hunts tomato sauce, 1 8oz can of Hunts tomato sauce, and 1 small can of Hunt's tomato paste and mixed in some spices - basil, oregano, garlic powder, etc.)
4. Safe pepperoni - approx. 20 pieces, quatered
5. Gluten free pasta (approx. 12 oz box)
extra spices as needed

Directions
1. Brown the ground meat and onion together. Drain when finished. Meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Add pizza sauce and pepperoni to meat mixture and cook on low until heated through.
3. When pasta is done, drain, and add to meat mixture.
4. Combine all ingredients and continue to heat on low until mixture is heated through.
Enjoy!