Gluten Free Oliebollens

As with all of us Americans, my family line originated somewhere else. Shocker. I'm a mutt just like the rest of the country.

Although I have some some Native American royalty, a lot of German, and whatever else mixed in there, half of my DNA comes directly (as directly as directly can go) from the Netherlands.

My dad immigrated here to California with his parents and siblings when he was five or six years old, and they have been here ever since.

I'm a Dutch girl, guys. Thats why I'm so freakishly tall. Possibly why my skin is so incredibly white, or is that some Irish mixed in there?

Bacon Wrapped Dates

'Ello!! 

Today is apparently a national holiday, I bet you didn't even know it. 

National Bacon Day they say. I saw this statement a couple of times on twitter today, but was unable to verify this information.

I'm feeling very detective-y today, as I finally updated my phone for the first time in like a year, therefore was finally able to start listening to Serial. I love myself a good mystery, and am already obsessed with it. So guys, update your phones. Get the Podcast app, download all of the Serial episodes. Listen. 

You're welcome.

Christmas 2014

As usual, I stunk at pulling out the camera. But here are a few iPhone pics that captured some of the holiday festivities.

Merry Christmas!

...To all the single ladies. And everyone else too. ;)

xoxox

3 DAY COUNTDOWN

Remember that one time I thought it was a good idea to do a twelve treats of Christmas? In being true to my procrastinator self, I waited to the last minute to do them and it ended up being a way more stressful experience then I anticipated. 

But it means you have a whole twelve gluten and dairy free Christmas recipes to choose from each year! Yay for you!

Gluten Free Ginger Bread Men

In the last week, the house has been covered in sparkly little lights, filled with Christmas crafts, and swallowed up in what was supposed to be the storm of the century. So what does one need to do when the weather is finally cold and wet and the inside is full of holiday spirit.

Bake.

Thanksgiving 2014

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Recipes

In honor of Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, I have here a little list of possible additions to your turkey day menu. From breakfast, to side dishes, to dessert and what to do with the leftovers after the day is done. 

Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Happy Halloween!

Lets start this Holiday with a few flashbacks of Halloweens past.

I think I had three other costumes this year...the benefit of having five older siblings and their costume castoffs.

I dunno if this was my witchy look, or the pre-teen angst. either way....

 Lets talk about how awesome my parents are sometimes. My moms mad costume skills, and my dad playing along. In public, might I add.

This might have even been the same  year as the bumblebee, I dunno. I wore that leopard costume at least three years in a row.

and you're welcome for this. 

Let's never talk about it again.

Have a Happy Halloween you beautiful people!

p.s. I will be eating my traditional dinner in a pumpkin tomorrow, how about you?

Merry Christmas to all...

and to all a good night.

Does anyone even still care about Thanksgiving?

Well too bad if you don't. 'Cause here it is anyway.

 Now that that is settled, we can get on with the Christmas holiday.

1 week!!

Gluten Free Apple Crumble

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!! Yippe-i-o!

I am so ready to eat some yummy food, watch the parade, and eat more food.

You with me on that one? 

After stuffing your pie hole with savory, heavy foods, it eventually becomes to stuff that hole with actual pie.

And by pie, I mean a crustless crumble, because who needs more carbs after all that?

Not that I wouldn't love more carbs in my system, but mostly likely my gut won't appreciate it very much.

Like the rest of this weeks post, there is not much of an actual recipe involved with this apple crumble.

Slice and peel up some apples, add a little sugar (maple or brown!) and top off with a flour/butter mixture.

Ta da! Apple crumble.

For four ramekins of apple crumble, here is what I measured out:

3 red apple, peeled and sliced

2 tblsp maple sugar

toss together lightly, and lay in ramekin.

For crumble:

3/4 cup GF flour

4 tblsp DF butter, melted
1 1/2 tblsp maple sugar

Fork in melted butter to flour until lumps formed.

Enjoy!

and a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a post about homemade chicken noodle soup. 

I file this post under Thanksgiving leftovers, because you can make this same soup with a leftover turkey carcass, as you would with a chicken carcass.

Also, the word carcass is gross and creepy.

This is another one of those meals that we always had after turkey day. It went Thanksgiving thursday, casserole Friday, and soup Saturday. Always and forever.

To make this soup, you need just a few things-and you can add or subtract whatever you want, no problemo. 

To make a stock, you simply put the carcass in a large stock pot with water up and bring to a boil. I just know at which point in my pan to fill to, but its probably about 6-8 cups of water to my one chicken. You probably would need a bit more for a turkey.

I like to let the water stew for a few hours, to fully flavor the stock-but thats up to you and your time constraints. 

Once you water is hot and boiled, pull the carcass out, and pull apart as much meat off of it as you can. This part is gross. I could become a vegan like *that.*

Once the meat is off, throw it in the stock. 

Next comes the veggies.

Cut a half an onion and about 4 stalks of celery into small pieces. Saute in a small amount of oil, until slightly translucent. Then toss it in the pot.

Chop up about 4 whole carrot sticks, a cup of green beans, and 2 diced zucchini's and toss them into the pot.

 Let the veggies cook a bit, then add about 2 cups of gluten free noodles.

Serve warm with a sprinkle of sea salt!

 Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftover Croquettes

Sooooo, I'm Dutch. I have a whole bunch of leftovers from Thanksgiving left.

What am I to do?!

Make a croquette of course!

What might making a leftover croquette involve, you may ask.

Not much.

A croquette is simply a fried ball of mashed potatoes and meat. Since we have have mashed potatoes, turkey, and stuffing left over, why not use them all right?

So heres what you do:

Mix a tablespoon GF flour with 2 cups cold mashed potatoes, then take a little bit and flatten it like a pancake. Add a dollop of stuffing in the middle, and a few shreds of turkey. Fold the potatoes back over the filling, and roll into an oval.

See >>

You can make them however large or small you want, I made them exceptionally large for no other reason then that I was too lazy to make a bunch of little ones. But, I would prefer little bite size, appetizer sized ones.

After you've put the balls together, roll them in bread crumbs, then in a raw scrambled egg, then in bread crumbs again. (p.s. I used crumbled Rudi's stuffing mix for the bread crumbs.)

Next, drop them on hot oil for about 3-5 minutes, or until outsides are golden.

Try not to let your oil get too hot, to where you scorch your first item into the frying pan, thus turning the oil black for all future use.

Frying things is not one of my special talents.

The outsides of these little snacks should get nice and crisp, while the insides stay warm and velvety.

Yum.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving recipes!

Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole

I know, I know, Thanksgiving hasn't even come yet-but it's time to dive into the leftovers.

For me on this special Thursday, I tend to spend all day cooking up a storm, only to barely eat anything once meal time comes around. Seriously, I'm not ever actually hungry on Thanksgiving. 

What that tends to mean, is that we have a mountain of food left over. 

Growing up, my mother always made a leftover casserole the day after Thanksgiving. Its almost as tradition, as the traditional meal itself. All thats needed for this casserole, is your main leftover ingredients. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. 

When I was little, as I have stated before; I was not a stuffing fan. So with this meal, there was a lot of groaning and whining served up as well. I usually was left eating around the stuffing, to get the mashed potatoes and meat that were untouched by the stuffing. I'm not sure how I ever made it through childhood...but obviously I've changed my tune on stuffing ;)

 To make this casserole, Layer accordingly:

Top with gravy, and bake in 350degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

Thats it! All the hard work has already been done the day before!

 Enjoy! 

And keep tuning in for more leftover recipes!

Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes

One week until Turkey day! Woohoo!

I am sooooo excited to get into the holiday spirit, eat until my stomach explodes, and decorate my Christmas tree. Next weekends going to be awesome for me.

Also, I'm gonna go see Catching Fire. So theres that.

But back to Thanksgiving day, besides stuffing and turkey, mashed potatoes are a big part of the meal.

I like to take a little bit of potatoes, with some stuffing all together in one bite. I like to blend my Thanksgiving foods, probably the only time I like my foods blended, actually.

Mashed Potatoes, are a simple thing to make. Just peel some potatoes, and mix with butter and milk, and a dash of salt and pepper.

In the old days, I would pour some heavy whipping cream into the potatoes to make them extra thick and creamy.

Nowadays, its dairy free butter and almond milk. But guess what, it almost tastes the same.

Heres how you do it:

Peel and cut Yukon gold potatoes into medium sized pieces. Place in large pot, and fill with cool water until it covers potatoes.

Bring water to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.

Mash potatoes with a potato masher (I know, right) then drop in dairy free butter.

I do not like the concept of using an electric mixer to mash them. I find it too gummy and smooth. I like a little texture in my mush.

Add a little bit of milk to help smooth it out, and shake in a little salt and pepper.

The end.

Pretty simple.

So simple, you might wonder why I made a whole post on this topic. You will see tomorrow.

Enjoy!

*there are no exact measurements on this post, because I don't really pay much attention to things like that when I'm cooking mashed potatoes. I think I peeled like 8 potatoes, and added 2 cubes of butter, with like 3tblsp milk. Thats a guess though, the taste test works best while making this dish :)