Stir fry type of thing

I have decided that I love cooking in my cast iron pan. It heats quickly and evenly, and puts a little of much-needed iron into my food.

Today I made a stir fry of sorts. It was delicious.

I marinated the chicken for 2 days in soy sauce and fresh grated ginger, mostly because I had planned to make it sooner but ended up eating at friends' houses.

It's got all sorts of healthy stuff and tons of flavor.

I highly recommend the fresh ginger. It's actually pretty cheap and a small hunk lasts a while. It makes such a huge difference.

Here's the recipe:

1 chicken breast, marinated in (gluten free) soy sauce and fresh grated ginger, cut up into strips or chunks
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 c. chopped red onion
1 c. shredded carrots
1 handful of fresh green beans (from my garden!!), chopped
1 handful of spinach, shredded
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 c. brown rice, cooked

Boil the carrots and green beans in some water for 1-2 minutes while the skillet heats up on high. Add the sesame oil and some extra fresh grated ginger, and cook the chicken. Set it aside on a plate.

Bring the heat down to medium. Add the rice and onions. Add the carrots and green beans, as well as some of the water used to cook them. I used about 1 c. to soften the rice back up. It also acts to deglaze all the good stuff stuck to the pan.

Stir in the garlic and all the seasonings, and add the spinach right before you serve it.
Season with salt as needed.

Makes 2-3 servings.

If you're feeling creative, roll the cold leftovers in spring roll wrappers.

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix

Let me just start off by saying that the box tells you to mix an egg, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a stick of butter. A whole stick. For a realistic 16 cookies. That's about 1/2 tablespoon of butter in every cookie. With that amount, you can bet that those cookies are going to taste good.

And of course, they do. Really good.

One thing to note: You really have to get in with your hands and shape them into balls to bake them.

A winner in my book.

Crockpot Baked Beans

I love beans. I could happily eat them every day. As a child, one of our favorite videos (on VHS!) to watch was Mickey and the Beanstalk.

In the story Mickey, Donald and Goofy have been living off of beans for a long time, and finally they run out and Mickey goes into town to sell their cow and get some food. When Mickey brings home the magic beans (At 8:45 into the clip linked above), Goofy exclaims, "BEANS?!" "What do you mean, BEANS?!" and Donald freaks out true Donald-style.

And I think of it every time I make beans.

I don't even need BBQ as an excuse to make baked beans. I can make a meal out of beans and cornbread. ... Or really, just beans.

I used this recipe, tweaked a bit.

Baked Beans

2 cups dried navy beans
1/2 pound bacon (omitted because I forgot to buy it, oops!)
1 onion, finely diced (used much less)
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Soak the beans overnight in water. If you have a removable crockpot um, pot, then soak the beans right in the pot. Drain the water into a bowl and keep it.

Add the other ingredients, stir well, and add enough of the water to cover the beans. Cover the crockpot, set it on high, and cook for 8-10 hours, until the beans are tender. If desired, cook for an hour with the lid off to thicken it up a bit.

Makes 6 servings, or a whole lot of beans for one person, even if that person happens to love beans. I wonder if they freeze well?

Free Stuff! Nescafe Tasters Choice

I got an email today from Be Free For Me about Nescafe Taster's Choice instant coffee and a free sample. Click on the "try it on us" link and enter your email & address, and there you go!

I just love free stuff.


Oh, and of course it's gluten free. According to the Be Free For Me blog, all of Taster's Choice instant coffees are gluten free. (FAQ for Nescafe)

Plain Granola Bars

I have been on the quest for the perfect granola bar for a long time. Not too sweet, crunchy but not hard, the list goes on. I think this simple recipe is as close as it's going to get. For now.

1 1/2 c. gluten free oats
1 T. flaxseed meal
3 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
2 T. syrup
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

Heat everything but the flaxseed meal and oatmeal in a saucepan. Once it's all incorporated, stir in the oats & flax. Spread the mixture onto a foil-lined (and greased) cookie sheet. Press it down firm and flat. It won't cover the entire sheet- only about half.
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Let them cool for just a few minutes once they're out of the oven, then cut them into bars with a pizza cutter. If you wait too long, they'll be hard to cut.

Delicious & easy.

French Toast

Hey guess what? THIS bread makes really great french toast. Like really good. Like the french toast that you remember.

I've tried french toast on many loaves of bread. I thought by making french toast I could salvage dry, crumbly loaves of bread. I was wrong. I just ended up with dry, crumbly french toast or a sandy mouth feel surrounded by great french toast taste. I've finally found the texture that I've been missing.

French Toast

1 egg, beaten
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk

4-5 slices of gluten free bread (like I said, I've had success with this bread)

Preaheat a pan or griddle to medium heat.

Mix the ingredients with a whisk.
If the bread is a little stale it will soak up more of the egg mixture, but if it's fresh just toast it.
I also like to cut it up into strips before I start, but whatever tickles your fancy is fine.

Soak the bread in the egg mixture on both sides, then place it in the greased pan. Let it cook until the egg is set and lightly golden, and flip it and repeat on the other side.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with syrup, fruit, whatever.

This recipe also freezes well. Just thaw, then pop in the toaster to warm them up. (I'm not sure what the texture's like if they are reheated in the microwave.)

KROGER 3 cheese potatoes

So I'm feeling kinda cruddy with allergies or a cold or whatever, looking for comfort food.

The ever-awesome mom of mine found some GLUTEN FREE Kroger brand potatoes au gratin. It said it right on the box- go Kroger!

She originally bought them for Easter dinner but we agreed that we should try it out first, in case they suck.

They SO don't.

This is serious comfort food. I ate about half the pan.


I don't know what happens- every once in a while blogger uploads photos sideways and I can't figure out how to fix it. Just tilt your head.

These potatoes taste just like the potatoes that my mom has made for for years. I can never seem to recreate the taste and texture using ingredients from scratch; the only thing that tastes like "mom's" potatoes is the boxed stuff- and now, it's gluten free and I can eat it!! I'm so excited and satisfied that I want to make it every day.

Sigh, happiness.