Classic Broccoli Salad

Broccoli. Lovely fiber packed, vitamin C infused, cancer fighting veggie. It's one of my favorites. I'll scarf down the green stuff steamed, raw, roasted, diced, chopped, buttered, you name it. Now....if you have in your house a few picky tikes or hubby's  that turn up their nose at this delightful little green veggies try this delightful tasty salad :)

This is your potluck pleasin, recipe passed down from grandma, classic broccoli salad recipe. So now if you already have this recipe or a version of it I apologize. Otherwise, give it a try and you MIGHT just fall in love with this wonderful nutritional miniature tree.

Classic Broccoli Salad

3 medium heads of broccoli

4 pieces of cooked bacon cut into bits

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup minced red onion

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Blend dressing ingredients together and place in refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients (chopping the broccoli, cooking the bacon, mincing the onion...you get the picture). Toss everything in a large salad bowl then drizzle the dressing on top tossing lightly to blend it in. Serve after about an hour.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Steak with Gluten Free Onion Gravy

Ok....to start off. I am cheap. Thrifty, penny pincher, frugal, coupon clipper....all of the above. So yes, this post is named STEAK....but for the record, I bought a nice sized sirloin roast and sliced it into 1inch pieces. Y'all are all welcome to buy whatever steak you want (if I was spending the extra moolla on dinner, I would choose beef tenderloin). But like I said....use any steak or piece of beef your little heart desires.

Now...start out with 2 tablespoons butter. Melt it in a large skillet on medium/high heat then add your pieces of meat. Season with salt and pepper. 

Ok....can I tell you that my mouth is already watering??? So let your beef cook about 6-7 minutes on each side or until meat is cooked to your preference. (if you feel the need, use a meat thermometer and it should read 140 degrees for rare, 160 for medium, and 170 for well-done). Once your meat is cooked, remove onto a plate.

While the meat is sizzling on the skillet, take 1/2 of an onion and cut it into sections.

Separate the secions and place onto the skillet.

Keep skillet on medium heat and grab a smaller lid then cover the onions. It will steam and tenderize the onions in about 5 minutes.

Don't those look awesome! Now at this point don't pick one up and sneak into your mouth. It might cause your poor tongue to get a little singed....of course, I wouldn't know anything about that hehehehe ;)

Now, add about 1 - 2 tablespoons butter then sprinkle 1 tablespoon sweet rice flour into the pan. Whisk it around to incorporate flour completely.

Next whisk in 2/3 cup gluten free beef broth (pacific brand is awesome btw). Let simmer on medium heat until gravy reaches the desired consistency. Season with salt to desired taste, remove from heat, then ladle onto the awaiting steaks.

PERFECTO!

Beef with Onion Gravy

2 beef steaks (tenderloins, filets, ribeye's, sirloin, you get the picture)
4ish tablespoons butter divided
1/2 onion cut into sections and separated
1 tablespoon sweet rice flour
2/3 cup beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet melt half of the butter on medium/high heat. Add steaks seasoned with salt and pepper then cook approximately 6-7 minutes on each side or until desired. Remove steaks from skillet and add onions covering with a small lid to steam. Once tender (about 5 minutes) add additional butter then whisk in sweet rice flour. Gradually add in beef broth whisking continuously until smooth. Keep on medium heat until gravy reaches desired thickness. Spoon over beef and enjoy.

Winter Carrots

Happy Tuesday everyone!

As I am now recovering from the bruise inducing dirt bike riding adventure in Hurricane Utah I figured it would be fun to whip up one of my favorite carrot dishes as a side for tonight's good eats. This is a recipe adapted to be gluten free from a local historical building The Lion House. I was first introduced to the dish by Kyle's sweet Grandma Geneva. It's very flavorful and a wonderful winter side dish. 

To start get yourself 1 1/2 pounds of carrots. 

Now either half them (if using baby carrots) or quarter them if using larger ones.

Now throw the carrots with 2 cups water and a dash or two of salt into a saucepan and bring water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat slightly and cook on a moderate boil for about 7 minutes. (or until carrots are slightly tender). 

While your carrots are boiling, find yourself a lovely little bunch of parsley.

Now mince it up.

Next, measure 1/4 cup mayonnaise and add 1/2 Tablespoon of the freshly minced parsley in a bowl.

Add 1/2 tablespoon horseradish to the mix.

I talked to the manufacturer of Beaver brand and verified that it IS gluten free :)

Ok, now once your carrots are slightly tender remove the saucepan off the heat. Then remove the carrots with a slotted spoon and place in a 1 quart casserole dish reserving 1/4 cup of the carrot liquid. 

Now stir in the 1/4 cup of carroty liquid in with the mayo, horseradish, and parsley mixture. Then spoon the creamy mixture all over the carrots.

It is now time to prepare the buttery crumb topping :)

Once again I am relying on my good friend Rice Chex cereal. 

You will want to mash up about 1/2 cups worth. Now don't obliterate the cereal into dust. Just give the bag a few good crunches with your hands for a nice crumbly topping.

Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine (like you really needed a picture of melted margarine in a pot....but here one is anyways)

Then stir in your Rice Chex Crumbs and top the carrots with the lovely buttery crumbly blend.

 

Place the uncovered casserole dish in a preheated oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. 

Winter Carrots

 

1 1/2 lb carrots halved or quartered

2 cups water

dashes of salt

1/2 tablespoon freshly minced parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon horseradish sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup carrot liquid

1/4 cup melted margarine or butter

1/2 cup Rice Chex cereal crumbs

Place carrots, water, and dashes of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a moderate boil and cook for approximately 7 minutes. Remove from heat then transfer the carrots into a 1 quart casserole dish with a slotted spoon. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water the carrots cooked in and set aside. Blend together parsley, horseradish sauce, mayonnaise, and carrot liquid then spoon over the carrots. Mix the melted margarine or butter with the Rice Chex crumbs then sprinkle on top of the carrot mixture. Bake uncovered on 350 for 30 minutes.

Ok...one more last request for votes....

Hi everybody!


While my husband and I are vacationing in Southern Utah with the dirtbikes (and I am just trying to SURVIVE in one piece might I add) I am popping in to ask for one last round of votes for the Best Gluten Free Recipe contest. Its very easy to do and I will be MOST grateful for anyone who will take a minute to vote.


All you need to do is register Here close that window then go Here to leave a comment for the Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Sheet Cake. Thats all :)


The voting ends on the last day of January. Much thanks to everyone who has voted so far. Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!


I'll leave you a shot of the beautiful terraine of Hurricane Utah.

Amazingly Gluten Free Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Really....and truly it is. Don't take my word for it, make this up for yourself and SEE how amazing this baked macaroni and cheese is. In fact...I bet if you fed it to any gluten lover they would not realize that there isn't one spec of gluten in each hearty comfort food laden bite. Now don't let the instructions sway you from making this. There are a few steps, but first, they are easy steps and second...it is so very worth it.

Now lets begin shall we?

 You will want 2 cups each of shredded cheddar cheese and monterrey jack cheese (or mozzarella). Either will work fine in this recipe. Now...most of you will have a nice up to date food processor that will shred up your cheese in a jiffy. Me? I have the most totally awesome vintage rotary food shredder thingy from my great grandma. For the record, I DID actually use it to shred all my cheese and didn't just use it for the picture lol! I just LOVE this little gadget and have no desire to upgrade it. I think of all the wonderful food it helped prepare in my grandma's kitchen and I'm glad to help it continue it's legacy :)

  Place your shredded cheese in a bowl then set aside.

 Now get yourself 1/4 of butter and melt it over medium  heat in a very LARGE skillet. In fact...get the biggest skillet you can find in your kitchen and use that.

When your butters all nice and melty, add 1 cup diced onion. Cook on moderate low heat for about 5-7 minutes or until the onion starts to become tender. Keep the burner temperature low as you want to retain as much of the butter as possible.

Once your onions are tender, lower the heat and stir in 1/4 cup sweet rice flour.  It will be a bit clumpy. Keep stirring and cook the roux for about 1 minute on low heat.

 Now whisk in 3 cups milk. What type of milk you use is completely up to you. I used 1% but really....it doesn't make much of a difference in the final product.

  Once the roux is thoroughly incorporated in the milk, add 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon paprika, and1 teaspoon salt. Whisk together then raise the burner temperature to a moderate high to bring liquid to a boil.

 Once the liquid comes to a boil, lower the heat but keep it simmering, then stir in half of the shredded cheese mixture. Stir well to ensure all the cheese is melted.

Now, find yourself some cute cottage cheese. Preferably with a fun little cow printed on the pull tab.

 Ok....I was kidding about the cute cow thing...but do get yourself 1 cup of cottage cheese and stir in the cheesey saucey mixture.

 

 Now, THIS is some of the best gluten free pasta I have found. It holds up well like regular pasta noodles and it has a NICE al dente texture when cooked. I have found a few stores that carry it but the most cost "friendly" place has been Harman's Grocery.

 Stir in 3 cups of your uncooked gluten free pasta elbows in the cheesey ewey gooey sauce. 

Now the next couple steps I didn't take many pictures mostly because it's pretty self explanatory and I just was NOT that coordinated hehe. 

In a LARGE casserole dish (about 2 quarts) pour about half of the cheesey sauce noodle mix then sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese blend, spreading it all around making a nice happy cheesey layer. Then pour the rest of the saucy noodley blend. Set aside. 

Now it's time to make the crumb topping :) Now....I'm not going to ask you to blend up a couple pieces of your precious gluten free bread. I KNOW if you are anything like me...if I HAVE gluten free bread, I hang onto it as long as I can. It would just kill me to blend up a couple pieces JUST to make a crumb topping. I would rather just pass and not even DO a crumb topping then waste my GF bread. 

Well...I have a little secret for you. Its..........

 RICE Chex! Yes! Rice Chex :) It works AMAZING as a crumb topping. Just double the amount of crushed Chex cereal that the recipe calls for. So for this crumb topping, take 1/2 cup of crushed cereal and mix it in a saucepan with 1/4 cup melted butter. That's it :) It's delish and adds a nice little crunch.

 Just sprinkle the crumb topping all over the top. Then toss the mac & cheese bake in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes uncovered.

Now I know this picture has nothing to do with mac & cheese, but when I was washing my dishes, the vintage bowls I snagged at the thrift store looked too cute with the dishtowel....so ya...I'm a nerd. I took a picture of wet dishes drying on my counter LOL!

After about 45 minutes, remove your most awesome baked macaroni and cheese and enjoy. You will never know it's gluten free :)

YUM!

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Why did the chicken cross the road? To be basted in the most delicious lemon rosemary butter and roasted to a golden perfection. In all honesty though, I dream of a world where chickens can cross the road without their motives being questioned.

So, all chicken jokes aside, this is one tasty and easy way to prepare a whole chicken. The leftovers are GREAT in a salad, pasta, or just picking off bits and pieces early in the morning before you even get out of your pajamas. Of course...I wouldn't know anything about that ;)

So start off with an unassuming lemon. 

Now zest it.

Don't be shy now....zest the entire thing. Then chop it in half for juicing later.

Now, melt up 1 stick of regular salted butter.

 Now rustle up a bunch of fresh rosemary

 Mince it up :) Or if you don't have fresh Rosemary, just use the bottled dried kind. It will work fine.

 Now...stir the lemon zest, minced rosemary (roughly 3 tablespoons worth), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice squeezed from the zested lemon, and 1 teaspoon honey into the melted butter. Simmer on low heat while you prepare the chicken.

Now, lets just look past the fact that I am using a turkey roasting bag. Penny pinching, or better yet, CHEAP Jill kept around the box of oven bags left over from Thanksgiving. No need to toss a perfectly good cooking bag ya know ;)

Now, get yourself an onion, quarter it, then split it up like so:

Now half a few carrots.

In a casserole dish or large baking dish, assemble the onions then the carrots in the oven bag.

Now, salt the inside cavity of the chicken then nestle the bird on top of the bed of veggies. Get him all comfortable and ready for his rubdown.

Now, pour the butter mixture all over the chicken. Rub it in everywhere, top, bottom, sides, wings, drumsticks, get the picture?

Place the chicken in the middle rack of the oven (preheated to 350). Now, the rule of thumb is roast the chicken 20 minutes for every pound the bird is. After the chicken has transformed into a crispy, golden, herbalicioush perfection let it sit for at LEAST 10 minutes before cutting into it. That allows the juices to infuse and will guarantee juicy perfection.

Recipe

1 whole young chicken

zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 stick of butter melted

3 tablespoons minced rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon honey

1 onion quartered and separated

roughly 5 carrots halved

Melt butter on medium heat in a medium saucepan. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, salt, and honey. Lower heat and simmer while preparing the chicken. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place onions inside of an oven cooking bag then place the carrots on top of the onions. Salt the inside cavity of the bird well then place it on top of the vegetables. Pour butter mixture over the chicken and rub everywhere to ensure bird is well buttered. Tie up oven bag and place in a preheated oven to 350. Roast the chicken 20 minutes for each pound. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before opening bag or serving.