Chorizo Sausages

Ok so here is an amazing vegetarian sausage recipe that I made gluten free!!!! It is amazing, I am not a vegetarian but they are great!!!

1/2 cup cooked pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp coconut secret (you can use soy sauce)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp. lemon zest (I use juice sometimes)
2 cloved garlic finely minced
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. dried oregano

Basically mash the beans until no whole ones are left ( I use my vitamix). Add the rest of the ingredients together with the beans. It is a goopy mixture so I just take tin foil and plop a generous amount in the middle then wrap it up so none can come out. Then place in a steamer and steam approx. 40 min or so. Slice them up and sautee them with onions or alone however you like them. I usually make this recipe X4 so it makes quite a few sausages.

Jill

A whirlwind trip!

Well for those of you who don't know, I took Jim to Vancouver and LA for his birthday/our anniversary/valentines trip ha ha. I booked it literally 2 days before we left, so spontaneous I know. We were looking at the schedule and realized that last weekend would be the only weekend we had to go see Aaron (Jim's good friend and a training client of his) play hockey. Aaron plays for the Canucks and in 2 years we still haven't gone to see him. So I found a flight that overnighted in BC and left the next am for LA. We left at 4:53pm and arrived in BC at 6:02pm having to rush to get to the game for 7pm. It was so exciting to watch someone you know play and at the highest level of hockey. We watched them play and WIN then had a great time going out for dinner with Aaron and Adrianne. I enjoyed adult conversation ha ha. The next morning we left at 6am for the airport and got into LA at 11:15am. Our first stop was definitely LA Ink, or high voltage tattoo, no I am not into getting tattoos but I have watched the show and wanted to see it in person. I was so excited and Jim just let me go in by myself. By the time we were done there we went to get something to eat just over from Rodeo drive and it was time to get going to our hotel. We checked in and went straight to the supercross race. After that we went to the hotel and slept as we were soooo tired. The next morning we left to go to the airport and came home the next night. I have always wanted to be on the amazing race so when we arrived in Calgary with a 4 hour layover I instinctively ran to the counter trying to get home faster, we ended up on a play 15 minutes later. It was a crazy busy fun trip that left us exhausted but it was soooo worth it. I would love to one day go and spend some time in LA but that will be for another year.

Well I better run as the kids are going to be home soon and will want a snack! I will post an amazing gluten free vegetarian sausage recipe within the next couple days!!!!

jill

My Favorite Chicken!!!!

Yesterday was a chicken day for us and I made my favorite chicken dish and thought I should share it!!!! It's super easy and tastes amazing so I hope you enjoy!

Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup onion chopped
1/4 tsp oregano dried
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 to 2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
2 cups mushrooms sliced
4 chicken breasts (or I just tried chicken thighs last night and they were great!)

Brown the chicken in olive oil over med heat in a cast iron pan. Add onion and cook until soft. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add oregano, garlic, wine and mushrooms, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the cooked bits of onion and to make sure the chicken isn't sticking. Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 30 to 35min. Now it's ready to eat!!!!! If you desire you can garnish it with parsley. Serve with a nice salad and some brown rice!!!

I absolutely LOVE to cook and am going to hopefully start trying to create new dishes. Sometimes it's hard to think of new things and you get stuck in a rut so I hope that maybe some of these will be helpful to others.

Jill

Yummy Soup!!!!!

We had the best soup ever a couple days ago so I thought I would share the recipe!!!!

Hamburger Soup
1lb cooked ground beef (or you can use stewing beef)
1 28oz can tomatoes (ground up in your food processor)
1 16oz can tomato sauce
2 litres beef broth
1 tsp paprika
4 tbsp coconut sugar
1 onion chopped
2 potatoes chopped and cubed
celery (how much you want)
carrots (how much you want)

Basically put it all in a pot and cook!!!!

Honestly it is sooooo yummy and so easy to make!!!!!

Bread MMMMMmmmmmm......

So I have officially found my favorite gluten free bread recipe, it is from Elanas Pantry and made with blanched almond flour. I have tried a lot of them but this one is our family favorite! I always make a double batch!!!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¾ cup arrowroot powder
¼ cup flax seed meal
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot, flax meal, salt and baking soda
2. In a larger bowl, blend eggs 3-5 minutes until frothy
3. Stir agave and vinegar into eggs
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet
5. Pour batter into a well greased 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pan
6. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
7. Cool and serve

Makes 1 medium sized loaf of gluten-free bread

http://www.elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-bread-20/

Salmon the easy way!!!

Ok so I know the health benefits of salmon and all that but I HATE seafood. I recently made salmon patties and actually could eat them!!!!! Not that I absolutely love them but for me being able to eat fish of any kind is huge. So here is the recipe!

1LB Salmon (I cook it in the oven at 350 till it's cooked through)
1 egg
1 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup chopped celery or onion
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until combined. Form into patties and fry them in a cast iron (that's what I use) pan using coconut oil.

They really are that easy to make!!!!

Amazing Gluten Free Website!!!

One of the websites I have found to be extremely helpful with gluten free baking and cooking is www.elanaspantry.com. This has amazing resources and amazing recipes that I have tried and we all LOVE. I also purchased her book the almond flour cookbook and there are way more recipes in there that are great. Here is a link to one of my favorite snack http://www.elanaspantry.com/breakfast-bars/. The only thing I do differently is we use coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil.

Gluten Free Breakfast Bars
1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
¼ cup raisins

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
3. Stir dry ingredients into wet
4. Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins
5. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil
6. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly
7. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes
8. Serve

Makes 12-16 bars

Another recipe that I have made quite a bit lately is lazy cabbage roll casserole, it freezes well and you can make a whole bunch so there is lots of leftovers for lunch!!!!

4lbs ground beef (cooked and browned)

1 28oz can crushed or diced tomatoes

1 14oz can tomato sauce

1 large head of cabbage chopped finely

1 cup brown rice

2 tsp salt

1 - 2 tsp pepper

28oz of water

Garlic to taste (if you like garlic)

Basically all I do is get my roasting pan, blend the diced tomatoes in my magic bullet then put them in the roaster. Fill the empty can with water and add to the tomatoes, pour in the rice, the tomato sauce, the salt, pepper, cabbage and ground beef. Stir it all up and cook it at 350 for about 1.5 hours. That is it, so easy and it makes a ton!!!!