Green Bean Casserole - Gluten Free

Back in my Thanksgiving post, I promised I would put up my gluten free green bean casserole recipe. Too many weeks later, here it is.This recipe feeds roughly 12-14 people so if you're not feeding a crowd, half the recipe and you're good to go.

Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole

You will need...

3 cans green beans
2 (I used more like 1 2/3 cans) gluten free cream of mushroom or chicken soup
1 bag Funyuns
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the green beans and creamed soup together in a large casserole dish while the oven is preheating to 350 degrees. I had to use cream of mushroom because they were out of the chicken soup. I much prefer the chicken flavor though!

Did you know that Funyuns were gluten free? Neither did I until Gabe was not able to have any. We found the perfect substitute for French's French Fried Onions; Funyuns!

Next, stir in roughly 1/3 of the Funyuns after you've crumbled them a bit. I added some salt and pepper at this point also.

Ready to cook.

Cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Top with more (finely) crumbled Funyuns as shown in the picture. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until Funyuns become browned.

 Serve and enjoy!

Most Awesome Pumpkin Cookies

So I know that summer is just beginning but the kids and I were in a baking mood the other day and these pumpkin cookies were calling my name! One hours and a few messes later, we had the most AWESOMELY DELICIOUS pumpkin cookies. Not only were they delicious, but I made them Gluten Free too!

PS - They are neighborhood kid tested and approved! The kids loved them so much that they were begging for more!

mmm!

Here we go...

Pumpkin Cookies

1C shortening (I didn't have any so I used butter)
1C sugar
1 egg
1C pumpkin
1tsp vanilla
2C flour (I used a gluten free flour)
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking soda
pinch of salt (pretty sure I skipped the salt)

I added a small amount of nutmeg and cloves even though the ingredients don't call for them.

Directions:
Cream shortening and add sugar and eggs; beat well. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool then add frosting. Makes 25-30 cookies. (side note: I thought they would flatten/smooth out while baking but they didn't. How you plop them on the baking sheet is how they'll bake. Hence, my lopsided looking cookies.)

Frosting

1Tbs butter
2Tbs milk
1/4C brown sugar
powdered sugar
vanilla to taste (I probably added 2Tbs)

Directions:
Melt together butter, milk, and brown sugar. (I microwaved for 15seconds at a time until brown sugar was dissolved.) Add in vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. (I felt like I was adding a TON of powdered sugar).

SOOO delicious! The cookies had just the right hint of pumpkin and the super sweet frosting balanced it out perfectly.

Why yes, that is a half eaten cookie sitting there. I just couldn't wait to take a taste! These cookies were great with or without the frosting. I'm not a huge fan of sweet sweet stuff so I left some unfrosted and ate those too.




And like I said, the family loved them and it even had the neighborhood kids coming back asking for more. These pumpkin cookies didn't last more than two days in this house. Gone, just like that.

Bourbon Chicken - AMAZING!

Let me introduce you to my favorite chicken recipe! Chicken is my favorite meat so I like to cook with it often. This is probably one of the only recipes I have found that taste delicious fresh and still tastes as good the next day!

 You're going to need...

• About two pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed into small pieces
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I used pre minced garlic from a jar (see pic below) and just threw in a bunch.)
• 1-2 Tablespoons Olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (again, I just threw in the amount I wanted)
• 1/4 cup apple juice (you could substitute with white grape juice if you don't have apple)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (use if you want thicker sauce)

As you can tell, I don't do a lot of measuring when it comes to seasonings. Liquids I do, but I like to add the amount I think would be good. Doing that, will give you a different flavor every time you make it. :)

• First, you cube the chicken into small chunks. 
• Heat oil in pan and cook chicken until lightly browned.
• Take out the chicken and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring until dissolved.

mmm, such a good sauce!

• Next, add the chicken to the sauce and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes. (I discovered that simmering it for an hour increases the flavor and intensity. Also, it made it slightly spicier. Much better simmering for longer!)
• Serve with white rice.

 OMGosh ya'll, this stuff is AMAZING! If it were up to me, I would make this at least once a week. It has the perfect amount of sweet and spicy.

I'd love to hear if any of you make it, and what you thought.

A Couple More Tasty Meals

So I posted here quite some time ago about some meals I was planning on doing. Well, I made most of them and told you what I thought of them.

We did make the Egg Brunch Casserole and the Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork Loin and they were both SO good!

The casserole was made in the crockpot and took a little more prep than just throwing everything in together. I LOVED the taste! Gabe said it was good but wasn't as enthused about it as I was (maybe because he said it needed more bacon?). Christian wasn't feeling good this day so he didn't eat it. Alena did but didn't have much to say about it. I would grade it an A-.

Now the Pork loin. HOLY COW this was AMAZING! I finally found some tenderloin on sale so I could make it. yay! I didn't tweak the recipe at all and I don't think it needed it. This was also made in the crockpot and it came out so juicy and tender that it literally was falling apart as I was taking it out of the crockpot. Everyone ate some and we all loved it! Even Gabe who said he wasn't a fan of pork tenderloin (well now he is!). He did comment that maybe next time I make it, add a little more brown sugar for extra sweetness. This one definitely gets an A+ and will be made again.

Home Cooked Meals

So as of this Saturday, we are "celebrating" two weeks of eating nothing but home cooked meals! Heck yeah! It's a pretty big deal to us considering we used to eat out at least twice a week. As we finish this second week, I'm realizing that it's getting easier and easier to resist the temptation to eat out. YAY!

I'm not sure what made us change what we were doing. Money, health... Who knows but I'm not questioning it. :) It wasn't until the end of the first week that I realized how long it had been and I mentioned it to Gabe. I didn't have a meal plan at all, (I know I should have because I would've had a lot easier time coming up with dinner ideas!) so each afternoon I had to scour the fridge and freezer to see what we had that I could come up with.

Well, I have just about run out of ideas without having to start repeating meals from the past two weeks. Then it hit me last night as I was sitting at the computer wasting spending time on Pinterest. (Oh Pinterest... the best way to make yourself feel unaccomplished. ) I was pinning recipes and DUH! How did it never occur to me to actually put all those food pins to good use?!

So at some point today I'm hoping to get the recipes and my shopping list together. I'm excited to try the recipes because they all look so delicious!

Here's what's on the menu this coming week. I have linked them all in case you're interested in trying them out too. :) Oh, and they are or will all be Gluten Free since Gabe can't have any gluten.

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork loin

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti


Hawaiian BBQ Chicken


Egg Brunch Casserole
We love breakfast for dinner!


Beef Taquitos

YUM, right?! Just doing the links for all that made me hungry and my mouth water. *drool* If I remember and motivated enough, I will review them and let everyone know how they all tasted. If you try any of them too, be sure to let me know how they all turned out!