Tuscan potato with sausage and bacon soup, gluten and dairy free

This soup is reminiscent of an Italian soup I've had at popular restaurants, but better! I love all the ingredients in this soup, so of course it would be tasty, but I was even surprised at how tasty it ended up.
It is also a 30-45 minute meal and most of the ingredients are likely in your pantry. You can add in other vegetables if you wanted, my husband wanted the bacon to be doubled instead, haha. I am sorry I don't have more pictures, it was eaten way to fast to snap some. We have made it twice and my 2 year old LOVES it, so that is a bonus. This soup serves 6-8, but is a great one to double. It is so delish!!!

Ingredients:
1 lb of nitrate free chicken breakfast sausage, I used Isernio's chicken breakfast sausage, you could even use a pork sausage if you wanted
1 white onion chopped
5 cloves of garlic crushed
1 quart chicken broth, I love pacific organic brand
1 tsp white ground pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
3-4 slices of cooked, chopped and drained bacon, I prefer nitrate free
12 small baby Yukon potatoes sliced to cube sized bites or 3 med Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 bushel of kale chopped
1 cup almond milk, or milk/cream of your choice

Here's how to make:
Sauté the onions in olive oil and breakfast sausage, I used Isernio's chicken breakfast sausage. It comes in a 1 lb tube. Add 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp white pepper and 1 tsp poultry seasoning. Cook on med until the onions are translucent and the sausage is cooked through. Add the 5 cloves of crushed garlic. Saute another minute or 2.
Add in the chopped potatoes, chopped cooked bacon, quart of chicken broth and 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper. Bring to a boil, turn down to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Uncover and  add in 1 cup of almond milk and chopped kale. Simmer another 10-20 minutes. Enjoy!!!

gluten and dairy free cupcakes

I have tried SO many cupcakes that are gluten free and I have only found 2 that I liked and could enjoy eating. And my how I do love cupcakes... It was tough to go gluten free and especially tough as I have said before to have no tasty desert options...
This recipe is an adaptation of the Barefoot Contessa birthday sheet cake recipe. It is not fat free, but I guess once in a while a tasty treat is just what you need. This recipe is moist and rich and you might only need to eat just one!


For the cupcakes:

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) earth balance buttery sticks, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

8 ounces (about 1 cup) almond milk 

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

3 cups of gluten free flour, my favorite recipe is found here... http://5loavesofbread.blogspot.com/2011/09/almond-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies.html in this recipe. You can make a big batch like I do and have it ready. Or use King Arthur gluten free flour which is also good. 

1/3 cup of cornstarch 

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the almond milk, vanilla, and the lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into lined cupcake pans, bake 24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Yields 24 cupcakes.

For the icing, I use the Dr. Oetker Organics brand icing in chocolate for these cupcakes, though they do sell a vanilla icing if you prefer. Follow directions on the box, using earth balance butter and a dash of sea salt. This icing is the best! I've tried a lot of recipes, but this one is the perfect texture and taste.

Enjoy! 

gluten and dairy free scabble

This recipe is ancient and some people call it chex mix, in the south my grandmother makes it as Christmas presents every year for numerous people and she calls it scrabble. Not sure how that name came to be, but it has always been a favorite treat. It is by FAR my two boys favorite snack, and we make it a bit more often than Christmas. Halloween sounded like as good a time as any right??!! And plus it isn't the sugar filled candy they will be eating on Monday so we made it for a treat at our pumpkin carving get together, yummy!!!

It's super easy. Here's the ingredients:
5 cups of rice chex
5 cups of corn chex
4 cups of gluten free pretzels
your choice of nuts and your choice of how many to add. My kids don't really eat them, except they like pumpkin seeds (about 1 cup) so we added those and almonds (1-2 cups) since I love those...
1/2 cup of earth balance butter, or your choice of butter
2 tab Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tab garlic powder
2 tsp sea salt

In a small sauce pan melt the butter, add the garlic powder, sea salt, and Worcestershire sauce and mix well while butter melts. Once the butter is melted, pour over the rice and corn chex, pretzels, and nuts and stir well. Use a large roasting pan if you have one, something wide and deep so that all the ingredients can spread out. Make sure to coat all the ingredients well. Put in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered, and then stir well so that you are turning the bottom of your pan and coating the ingredients well. Repeat 3 more times so that you have baked this a total of 2 hours and stirred it 4 times. And you will have the best smelling house ever! Mmmm reminds me of my grandmother's house every time.

Enjoy! Your whole family will LOVE this. And your friends and neighbors will too:)

the little things

Today I am posting 3 random things, though they aren't the most important by any stretch of the imagination, they are three things I am enjoying today... And I guess that means they are bringing me a little extra JOY.

Poppy King lipstick by Jcrew

I love how I can have on no other make up and put this sheer red lip color on and it gives me an instant lift, the color is the perfect red for everyone! It is available when in stock, in the Jcrew stores. It has been sold out every time I would pop in to the store. When my friend Gretchen and I were in this Sunday it was there! I didn't even want to try it on since I had seen it on every model in their catalogue, I was already sold. My friend got one too, and she has gotten numerous compliments already... Yay for the little things..

Afternoon iced coffee, with your left over morning pot you never finished

Super simple to make and a delightful pick me up. A cup of ice, then half your cup filled with your left over pot from the morning, top it with almond milk, or whatever milk you choose, and a tablespoon or more of agave syrup. Stir. It's amazing and such a great use of your wasted coffee that never got used. There is 25% of your daily calcium and vitamin D in almond milk plus it is low fat. Not a bad little treat!

Pumpkin farms

They are such a great fun little outing for the kids and adults in the fall. There are more than I can count out here in the Pacific Northwest, and seem to be plenty in every area. Helps keep the kids entertained while waiting for Halloween.

Reagan's cute friends from the trip we took with his preschool.

Love the brother love!

My favorite picture of the day, Ethan with a band aide on his forehead just because he likes it. But he was so proud of his score for the day!

Choose to love like a Dragon Mom in a Tiger Mom world...

Today's post isn't about my own child exactly or at all about food. It's about love though. And I wanted to share something I read off of a blog I read from a mother who lost her precious first born son Ben to Neuroblastoma, a form of pediatric cancer, in December 2008. Her blog is amazing, her stories touch the heart and I encourage any person to read it. Her family started Ben Towne Foundation http://bentownefoundation.org/home/, a charity which just in the last year raised 1 million dollars for childhood cancer research. As it stands our government gives less than 5 percent of it's cancer research money to pediatric cancer research, but childhood cancer seems to have some of the most challenging survival rates and it is just heart wrenching, as all cancer is. So this determined family decided to create a new cancer research foundation that would (hopefully) change the way pediatric cancer is treated. And, they have already done that.  Read their website to see the amazing advancements their research is pioneering.

This article she posted today from the NY Times found here, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/notes-from-a-dragon-mom.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=OP-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-NFA-101611-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click, was written by mother Emily Rapp who is raising a terminally ill son.

My favorite part in the article, which was so thoughtfully written by a beautiful mother's heart, was this... "Parenting, I've come to understand, is about loving your child today. Now. In fact, for any parent, anywhere, that's all there is."

We all only have today, and our love today. No one is promised tomorrow, that is for sure. Such a true and valuable lesson. Not just in parenting, but in life. But as a mother, I know that is the truth in my heart. I hope you read it, and I hope it inspires you as it has me to choose to love like a Dragon Mom in a Tiger Mom world.

Coconut curry chicken and rice

Oh. My. Goodness. I have found a new love, and it isn't totally home made, I found the sauce already made a Costco this week and tried it on one of those nights where I only had about 30 minutes to make a meal. It was delish! And super easy! Tasted better than many I've had out at restaurants and didn't take me hours in the kitchen, score!

Here is a pic of the sauce I purchased at Costco called Maya Kaimal Coconut Curry Indian Simmer Sauce (gluten and dairy free and all natural)...

Ingredients
6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 container of sauce
sea salt
red pepper flakes
white or brown rice (6-8 servings), I used white basmati for this dish
chopped cilantro

Bake the chicken and 2 cups of the sauce on 400 covered for 20-30 minutes or until tender and cooked through. Take out of the oven and add the remainder of the half of container of sauce, probably about 1 1/2 cups and let it warm in the chicken dish. Add about 1 teaspoon seas salt and for medium heat I would use 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or allow each person to add to their dish as desired. Prepare the rice, I use the Trader Joe's microwavable basmati white rice when I am in a hurry and it is great (takes 3 minutes in microwave)! Put some rice on the plate, spoon chicken thighs and sauce mixture over and sprinkle with red pepper flakes if needed and chopped cilantro. Yummy!!!

Turkey meatloaf with roasted root vegetables

I have a deep love for Ina Gartner's food. She cooks with such a simple yet flavorful appreciation of the ingredients, which are never processed and really allows the taste of the ingredients to shine. So "turkey meatloaf " may not sound so special as ground turkey meat on it's own would not be the best meat ever, but cooked with the right additional flavors this meat is so perfect for meatloaf, you'll see... Ina uses a recipe that is similar, but not gluten free and she uses chicken stock which honestly is not necessary so I use water. I've made it both ways, you wouldn't notice a difference. And I use ketchup instead of tomato paste, I don't think tomato paste tastes real great so I tried using ketchup instead and it is really yummy, plus then you need 2 less ingredients.

It is one of those foods that could have remained out of my gluten free taste buds, except for my absolute favorite bread... Udi's either the white or wheat will be great. Found at most grocery stores in the frozen section, which is what keeps it so fresh. If you are gluten free you MUST buy this bread, lots of people also enjoy another bread called Rudi's. confusing and such similar names, I still prefer Udi's.. Soon I will update my favorite foods to buy.
Now for the recipe.

1 package of ground turkey meat, the 85/15 fat content is best but I make it with the super lean as well. I just add a few tablespoons more of olive oil and a few extra tablespoons more water as well.
1 med onion chopped
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
ketchup
1 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1/3 cup water
2-3 pieces of Udi's bread toasted till light brown and chopped fine
1 egg
olive oil

In a saute pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil saute the onion until translucent not all the way cooked and add the Worcestershire sauce, water, 3 tablespoons ketchup, 1 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, and ground pepper. Simmer on med low for a few minutes until this mixture is thickened.

In a large mixing bowl mix the ground turkey, ground pepper, sea salt, egg, toasted bread crumbs, and the above onion mixture with a potato masher until well combined. On a baking sheet lay foil over the top and spray with non stick spray. Pour the meat mixture onto baking sheet and form a large egg shaped mound. Squeeze ketchup in a zigzag motion back and forth until most of the top is covered in ketchup. Sprinkle a small amount of Italian seasoning on top as well as fresh ground pepper. Cook 40 min in 350 degree preheated oven or until meat is cooked through.

Serve with your favorite oven roasted root vegetable. Parsnips and carrots with finely chopped onion is a nice option. Chop the vegetables to desired bite size, drizzle olive oil on top, season with sea salt, ground pepper and Italian seasoning or fresh herbs if you have a favorite or some in your garden, rosemary and thyme make great combinations. With clean hands massage them all and make sure they are all equally coated with the oil and seasonings. Bake on 425 for 20 or more minutes until they are tender.