Beef Minestrone Soup

This recipe is from the Wegmans Menu Magazine, but we've adjusted it slightly to create a gluten-free version for our family.

About 1.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup rice flour
2 Tbsp pure olive oil
1-2 potatoes, cubed
2-3 carrots, cut
1-2 celery stalks, cut
1-2 leeks, cut
cabbage, coarsely cut
1 zucchini, cubed
1/2 onion, coarsely cut
salt and pepper
32 oz. gluten-free beef stock (or Herb-Ox beef bouillon)
1 can (14.5 oz) gluten-free diced tomatoes
24 oz. gluten-free smooth marinara sauce
3/4 cup Schar brand Anellini Soup Pasta
1 can (15.5 oz) gluten-free garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg (6 oz) fresh baby spinach

You'll Need: 6-8 qt slow cooker, large braising pan

Directions:

1. Create a pan-searing flour with rice flour, pinch of salt, and dash of pepper.

2. Dust beef with pan-searing flour; pat off excess.

3. Heat oil in large braising pan (or large skillet) on MEDIUM-HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add beef; sear 10 min until all sides are paper-bag brown.

4. Transfer beef to slow cooker; don't discard pan drippings. Add 4 cups of vegetables (potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, onion, cabbage, and zucchini) to pan with beef drippings; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, 3 min; add to slow cooker. (Any left-over veggies beyond the 4 cups can be frozen for future use or used for something else.)

5. Add stock, tomatoes, and sauce to slow cooker. Cover, cook 4 1/2 -6 hours on HIGH or 8-10 hours on LOW.

6. Add dry pasta and beans 30 minutes before end of cooking on HIGH (45 minutes before end of cooking on LOW).

7. Add spinach to slow cooker; stir to blend well. Allow spinach to lightly wilt, about 2 min.

Chicken Spaghetti

This meal was a hit tonight with my family. It kind of has an alfredo taste to it, but it's neat that it's a baked/casserole-like dish. It's definitely a recipe that takes some time to put together and then bake, but it's well worth the effort. Probably something you'd want to start preparing about 2 hours ahead of when you want to eat.

Chicken Spaghetti

3-4 chicken breasts or equivalent (I used boneless skinless, but, you can use bone-in or thigh meat)

2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces

1/2 large vidalia onion, cut into small pieces

black pepper (to taste)

1/2 tsp. fresh minced garlic (or garlic powder, to taste)

1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Double Recipe of Condensed Cream Soup

16 oz. spaghetti (I use Tinkyada's Spaghetti)

1 cup broth reserved

1. Bring chicken along with onion, carrots, pepper, and garlic to a boil in large pot of water. Simmer until chicken is cooked. Temp chicken to 165-F.

2. Save broth to boil spaghetti, but reserve one cup.

3. Hand-shred chicken once it's cool enough to handle.

4. Cook spaghetti in remaining pot of broth and drain. Set aside along with chicken.

5. Mix carrots, onion, condensed cream soup, 1 cup broth, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper in a large bowl.

6. Add drained spaghetti and chicken. Pour into a 13X9 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 4oo degrees. Top with mozzarella and bake about 10 minutes - until mozzarella is melted.

Blondies

While on our vacation to the Boston area last week, we visited a Whole Foods. It was my first time going into a Whole Foods store and my first impression was that it looked like a typical supermarket. How awesome! The only difference was that it was a whole grocery store that carried products that the Nature's Marketplace within our Wegmans grocery store carry...and a whole lot more. We easily spent $60+ grabbing this item and that item off the shelves that I hadn't ever seen out our way.

One of the items we bought and just tried last night were the Namaste Foods brand Blondie Mix. I opted to make the whole package (9x13 pan) all at once rather than breaking it up into two 8x8 pans. I'm glad I did, because I think an 8x8 pan of Blondies would have been completely devoured a day later, so at least I have some for a couple of extra days.

They are super moist and really easy to make. I literally had them mixed up and in the oven in about 5 minutes. I think the only thing that I wasn't expecting was the flavor. They aren't bad tasting, just not what I remember a "Blond Brownie" tasting like. I think it might be the Arrowroot flour used in the ingredients. Again, it's not a BAD flavor, just different than I was expecting. We all love them here and we highly recommend them if you can find them. Namaste Foods has a store locator function on their website and I was able to locate stores in our area that carry some of their products. I just don't know which of their products those stores carry.

More from Betty Crocker!

After tasting the yellow cake and finding it delicious and my daughter and husband giving two thumbs up to the brownies, I went online to see about gluten-free frosting. Betty Crocker is going to begin labeling their pre-made frostings as gluten-free. They have their gluten-free FAQ's HERE. What a real blessing this company has been to those of us who are living gluten-free! I can make my daughter a birthday cake that tastes good and use frosting that most kids are familiar with! How wonderful!

Betty Crocker is baking GLUTEN FREE!

Well, Betty herself may not be baking gluten-free and certainly not all of their products, but apparently they have a new line of baking mix products out there that are gluten-free. Now, I have not gone looking for them in my local grocery store yet, but I certainly will be! I'm not sure how many grocery stores have come to realize that Betty is making and selling gluten-free products yet, but hopefully we'll see them around the stores soon!

If anyone finds the products and gives them a try, please let me know how they taste. I personally can't try the devil's food cake, chocolate chip cookies, or the brownies, since I am also sensitive to chocolate, so you won't find a review of those products from me, even if I can find them in the store. I really would like to give the yellow cake mix a try though, and if I find it and try it, I'll let you all know how it tastes!

General Mills is AWESOME!

I posted quite a while back that Rice Chex were gluten-free, but now I have just learned that we all have a wide range of "Chex Cereal" available to us! We can also choose between: Corn Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Strawberry Chex, Chocolate Chex, and Cinnamon Chex! Just be sure to check the box at the store, as the stores may be trying to get rid of their old stock (without the "Gluten-free" banner on the front of the box). How wonderful that we now have a choice of some "mainstream cereals" available!

Boring Burger Blues?

Are you getting bored with plain burgers? You can always dress it up with some cheese on top, but even that can get rather boring after a while. How about getting creative?

First off, you're going to need a bun, right? Check out The Grainless Baker. They make some really yummy hamburger buns! You can also check this site out. I haven't tried the buns, but you can order them and give them a try.

You can then get some ground beef (choose your desired fat percentage) and 1-2 TBSP of water to each pound of ground beef, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Use a 1/3 cup measure and measure out a portion for a ground beef patty. Split that portion in half, flatten half and then put some shredded cheddar cheese on top. Flatten and place the other half of the ground beef mixture onto the cheese, pinch the edges so that the cheese is INSIDE your burger. Put that burger on your grill until the internal temperature is 165F.

Some great toppings for your burger are: pickles*, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced avocado, more cheese, and don't forget that Heinz Ketchup is gluten free, as well as French's mustard!

*Vlasic Pickles are gluten free. You can go to their website, click on "About Us" and then on "Q&A" to find their statement concerning their pickles being gluten-free.