Gluten Free Biscuits - Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

1 pack gf Biquick mix

1 1/2cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oregano (you can omit or use less)
3/4 tsp garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray cooking sheet with non-stick spray.

2. Put biscuit mix, cheese and milk in a bowl and mix well to form a sticky dough.

3. Using spoon, drop lumps of dough onto cookie sheets 1.5in apart. Bake for 10min.

4. In a bowl, melt butter and mix with oregano and garlic salt.

5. When the timer goes off, take them out and brush with butter mixture and bake 5min at 400F and another 5-6min at 350F.

6. Transfer into a plate and serve immediately.

Prime Rib

A local restaurant had a prime rib lunch special.  It was amazing.  Perfectly done to medium and melt-in-your-mouth buttery texture.  They served it with cooked carrots and mashed potatoes with a side of au jus and horseradish.  It is the kind of meal you dream about.  

The smartest begger in the world was waiting outside on a bench and asked if we had left overs.  My lunch companion hesitated before giving him the to-go box because she was saving the meat for her dog.  She took out a piece for the puppy and fed the human instead. 

Beautiful lunch.

Tuna Casserole

Not everyone likes tuna, so using canned chicken is one option to dress up a casserole dish.

Although I don't eat cheese, any casserole can be baked with a favorite cheese mixed in or on top.

My son loves tuna and I like to make tuna casserole for lunch or dinner.  It makes a great meal to take to work as well.

Cook gluten free noodles per instructions on the package.  Mix soup of any creamy variety with canned tuna or chicken and any spices you like.  I use pepper and garlic powder.

When the noodles are done. Drain off the water and add the soup mixture.  We eat it at this point, sometimes with lays potato chips crushed on top for some crunch.

I love the Pacific brand cream soups.  They are perfect for dishes like this yummy tuna casserole.

Zucchini Galore

I love me some zucchini.  For lunch today I boiled GF spaghetti noodles ( Tinkinyada brand) and fried My zucchini spears in equal parts butter and olive oil.   I love the taste of the oils mixed together and I get my good fats with everything I eat when I cook that way.

As the zucchini cooked. I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and five spice mix.  It is delicious and left a nice olive oil gloss on my lips.  It is a do over for sure.  Fast, cheap and easy.

Fresh From the Garden

The last few days I have had excellent meals due to friend's gardens.  L made the suggestion of making a GF quiche with all the veggies and I am going to make it happen.

Summer squash with Mujadra made without lentils.  Fried zucchini and steamed zucchini with eggs and sausage.

Gluten-Free Pizza

I was super excited to see that The Pie offered GF pizza.  They have a designated GF kitchen area to avoid cross contamination.  GF pizza crust is hard to get right and they aren't getting right.  It is not made in house and I guess my expectations were too high.  I asked for vegan cheese and was told it wasn't an option with the GF pizza.  The boy taking the order didnt know why.  I would guess cost plays a factor.  It would be too much to ask for a GF and dairy- free pizza.

 It tasted all right but I wasn't impressed enough to get it again.  At $20.00 for a 14" ( the only available size) it isn't worth just a " so so" pizza.  The edges were badly burnt and the middle was soggy (a plight know to everyone who ever tried to make a GF pizza).  The cheese separated from the crust and slid right off.

Im always glad to have more options and am happy that they are trying.  My suggestions for improvement would be to do a home made dough and cook it more evenly on a lower heat.  Less greasy cheese and vegan options ( they have them) and a lower price.

Coconut Ice cream-Sugar Free

So delicious is now making an ice cream with no sugar added.  It is a dairy- free, sugar- free treat.    I added strawberries to make it event more

delicious.

Popsicles

Summer heats bring summer treats!

I bought Popsicle makers to keep at work and home.  I fill them with sugar free izze drinks or odwala smoothie drinks and freeze them up for a cool treat. 

Spring Smoothies

With the weather finally getting warm, a nice smoothie is delicious in the morning.  The cold of the drink helps wake me up and it is fast and easy.  Costco has frozen fruit with resealable bags so it is easy to take a half cup of fruit, throw in a banana and some unsweetened coconut milk and mix it in the blender.  If I want it extra slushy, like at night when I pretend it is ice cream, I will add some ice.  

I still drink a lot of green tea throughout my day, but it is a nice change to wake up to a cold drink to get my day started-even if it is starting at 11:30a.m.  An added bonus is that my son likes smoothies and is getting a good portion of fruit.

My mother makes green smoothie drinks with whatever green vegetables she has in the house and I haven't yet, and may never, acquire a taste for that.  I am sticking to fruit smoothies for now.

Hot Sausage Curry with Mai Fun noodles

Hot Italian sausage from Costco boiled in hot water for twenty minutes and then baked in the oven to brown. While the sausage is cooking, mix yellow curry paste with two Tablespoons oil and a can of coconut milk. Add vegetables and Mai fun noodles and simmer until soft to taste. Cut sausage and cover with noodles, vegetables and sauce.

Rice Noodles

Rice noodles make great casseroles
Flat Noodles make great pasta dishes with spaghetti sauce and alfredo sauce
Mai fun noodles make good ramen soup and stir fry dishes

Tuna Casserole
Cook rice/gf noodles per instructions and drain
1 can progresso cream of mushroom soup or GF cream of chicken
1 can tuna or canned chicken
Garlic salt/salt/pepper
Stir together and serve or bake it in a casserole dish with cheese on top and crumble Lays brand potato chips on top

Baked Spaghetti/Alfredo
Cook rice/gf noodles per instructions and drain
Add a jar of sauce (Costco has GF, sugar free marinara)
Add hamburger or italian sausage or chicken
Bake in casserole dish 350 for 20-30 minutes with cheese on top or stirred in

Ramen soup
Mai Fun noodles work best
Boil mai fun noodles in broth.  Add salt or flavor as needed.  You can use home made stock or use the better than bouillion chicken broth paste or canned/boxed broth
I like to add frozen stir fry vegetables as well

Stir fry
Cook meat of choice in a big frying pan, drain grease
Add broth (chicken or beef or just water with garlic salt and spices)
Add vegetables (I use a frozen bag of stir fry blend)
Add mai fun noodles or other rice noodles
Cover on low heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced

Curry Noodles
Same as stir fry above using coconut milk and curry paste (check label for GF)
Cook meat of choice and drain.  Add oil of choice and curry paste and then coconut milk (canned or boxed)
Add vegetables and simmer
You can serve over white rice or add the mai fun noodles and reduce liquid


You can use rice noodles or GF noodles for any macaroni salad recipe and it sets up well in the fridge.  Just take your family recipe and replace the noodles with GF noodles or rice noodles.  The rice noodles soak up the flavor over night, so I think it always tastes better the next day with rice noodles after they sit overnight.

Almond Flour Muffins

Almond Flour Muffins (not my own, can't remember where I found it on the internet)
Yields 6-8 depending on how full you fill the tins

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix dry ingredients:
  1 cup almond flour
  1/4 tsp baking soda

Mix wet ingredients:
  2 large eggs
  1 tbsp agave nectar (or honey or sugar to taste)
  1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Add whatever you want to the wet mix to make variations according to your taste.
   My favorite: Walnuts, any kind of nuts chopped or whole. Bananas (I use two or three mashed up and mixed in to the wet), frozen fruit like blueberries, fresh apples with cinnamon, home made chocolate chips or savory with bacon or ham with garlic salt and a little cheese mixed in or on top.

Spoon into muffin tins with papers (greasing the tins doesn't seem to work too well).

Bake 350 degree for 15 minutes.
Cool for 1/2 hour

I have used a small bread pan to bake the basic muffin mix as a bread.  Bake for 35-40.

They freeze well and make a good, easy snack for work days.

Graham Crackers made with almond flour and honey

We found a good recipe for graham crackers. We made regular ones and some with cinnamon. I bet adding cocoa would be great also for some chocolatey goodness.

Easy Flour less Chocolate Cake in the Microwave

My coworkers found this recipe and we made it at work. Honey or agave can be used as a sweetener instead of sugar.

Zucchini Slice Lasagna

We made lasagna with zucchini slices instead of noodles and it was delicious. We layered spaghetti sauce with hamburger and zucchini slices and baked it. We did half with cheese for dairy eaters.

Chocolate-Sugar Free

My sister finds the most amazing recipes. We made our own chocolate to use as snacks and as chocolate chunks in almond flour muffins.

http://eatinfat.blogspot.com/2012/01/choclate-candy-bar.html?m=1

We added nuts and coconut to some and it tasted just like an almond joy candy bar. I can't wait to try all sorts of things with this incredible find.

Cupcakes!

A friend at work made gluten free cupcakes for a cute boy in her son's school class. She brought me some and they are gorgeous and delicious. Her homemade frosting is so good. She used the King Arthur brand of cake mix .

So Much More Than Food

There are some dishes that evoke emotions with smell and taste and memory. My grandma's chocolate chip cookies, tapioca pudding, my moms stew bubbling on the stove and hot, fresh bread out of the oven. So many of the things I loved to eat have more depth than just taste. Now that my diet has changed, I have new comfort foods and have to carefully choose the foods that serve as medicine instead of poison.
One food item that speaks to me of love and caring is Mujadra. This lentil and rice dish smells divine and tastes even better. My friends, Judith and Leon, had made this dish for me many times and it is one of my favorite things.
When they asked what they could bring me to help me recover from surgery, I had to have Mujadra. Even though onions and lentils give me stomach issues. I was really craving the taste and smell and attention of the Mujadra.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of the Mujadra and go to sleep to the sound of my stomach rumbling and heart burn lighting a fire in my throat. It is worth it.

Recovering from a Hysterectomy

The first few days in the hospital after surgery were deliciously quiet and mellow due to the morphine drip. There were a few times when more would have been better. The nurses woke me up every few hours to take vital signs and make walk around.
The next two weeks were spent in bed on my back with an ice pack attached to my incision. I got up every few hours to walk and take more pain meds because it hurt pretty bad in my entire abdominal cavity. I drank a ton of water and hot Jasmine Green tea and ate many good meals brought by friends and family.
The third week everything started feeling better and the pain moved from a general overall ache to a specific pain in the incision. It burned and itched and had shooting knife-like pains. i kept it iced and alternated rubbing it with coconut oil and antibiotic ointment. My stomach around the incision is still a little numb and I may have iced too much. I avoided infection though and that was my goal.
The third week was the best because I could finally sleep on my side instead of my back. It was so nice to get good, natural rest instead of drug- induced coma rest. I feel like I did the most healing in the third and fourth week.
I had to go back to work after four weeks and it has been okay. A few more weeks recovering would have been nice but I have coped okay. Sitting for long periods is brutal, so I stand when I can and walk around and take full lunch break to lie down on the couch in the lobby. Tylenol and Ibuprofen are always by my side.
Overall, it hasn't been terrible. Uncomfortable? Yes. But oh so necessary and once the recovering is done, so much better than the alternative.

Blue Swirl with Glitter

I wouldn't normally pick a nail polish of blue swirl and add glitter, but Tina B. had it and it looked pretty.