No-Bake Chocolate Granola Bars

I recently went away and experienced my usual 'what will I eat' panic.   In search of a snack, I checked out Pinterest and found my new favorite treat.  

It turned out that I didn't need to panic because Camp Kawkawa did an amazing job providing substitutions for those of us who had dietary concerns.

On the other hand I am thankful for the panic because these were amazing!  They are also vegan and gluten free! Hooray!




No-Bake Chocolate Granola Bars- serves 12 

Gluten free & Vegan

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction. Check out her website for some pictures and other combinations!

 Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 and 1/4 cups gluten free* oats
• 3/4 cup gluten free* Rice Krispies
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• Extra peanuts and chocolate chips to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray** and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Over low heat, melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips in a medium pot.  Stir in peanut butter and honey.  Remove pot from heat. 
3. Mix in the oats, Rice Krispies, peanuts and chocolate chips. Press mixture into prepared baking pan. 
4. Top with mini chocolate chips and peanuts.
5. Put in fridge until set, 2+ hours.  Cut into squares and store in an airtight container.  

Notes:
* Of course, if you do eat gluten just use regular oats and Rice Krispies
** I use cooking spray because it helps the parchment paper stick to the pan.

Wise Words

Hot and Sweet Pepper Curry

I love curry!  It is so easy to make gluten and dairy free without anyone being the wiser.  It is also flavorful and delicious. 

And thanks to Racheal Ray, I have another great Curry recipe to share.

It was so very good and we ate it so fast that I forgot to take a picture.  So instead, you get the leftovers picture.

Hot and Sweet Pepper Curry Sauce- Serves 4
adapted from The Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin or cumin seed
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 cardamom pods, split, or 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or chopped
• 2 sweet red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/3-1/2 red hot chile pepper (more if you like it spicy- 1/3 added flavor but no spice)
• One 1-inch piece ginger root, grated
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup mango chutney- I made my own
• 1 large bay lea, dried
• 1 tsp of cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick)
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 chicken breasts, cubed into bite-size pieces
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika

Directions

1. Marinate the meat sprinkled with salt, pepper and paprika in the lime juice for 1 hour.
2. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot, then add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and cardamom and stir until very fragrant, 1 minute. Next add the garlic, sweet and hot peppers, ginger, onions and some salt and pepper. Soften for 5 minutes partially covered, and then add the tomato sauce, stock, chutney, bay leaf, cinnamon (stick) and diced tomatoes. Simmer over low heat, about 1 hour. Remove the bay and cinnamon.
3. Add the marinated meat to the sauce and simmer to tender. Serve, or cool and store in the refrigerator or freezer for a make-ahead meal.
4. Serve the curry with naan bread and/or over jasmine rice with a dollop of yogurt for mixing in. Garnish with cilantro and scallion slices.

What will go in your Megalunch? Part 2

So I must confess, I expected to do a lot more blogging during my spring break.  I cooked lots even took a number of pictures, but time just flew!  It's time to get disciplined again.

Last week, I introduced you to the megalunch.  This thing makes a weekly appearance in our house, in fact I made another one last night.  If I didn't pre-make food, I am certain Dan would either live on peanut butter sandwiches and chips or he would be eating out every day.  Neither are good options for us, so instead, I schedule in soup making sprees when I can.

The Megalunch.

Another confession, I don't have that many soup recipes.  Dan has been happy to eat the same few over and over.  And while I have tried new ones, they don't always work out , so I don't experiment with soups very often.

If you have a favorite soup recipe, please pass it on, even it if has wheat and dairy in it (Dan can still eat it).
You can comment or email me  I'd love hear from you!

Because I had some free time I tried something new. Actually two new things and a usual.
1. I put Kale in our Quinoa Minestrone.  Not bad, but neither Dan or I enjoy greens in our soup, so while we will finish the batch I don't think Kale will ever make it in a soup again.

2. I tried a new vegetable soup with Quinoa Pasta.  The Quinoa pasta was good immediately after cooking it.  However, after having one from the freezer I have decided to not put quinoa pasta in soup again.  I find that it gets too gritty.  I LOVE quinoa pasta, but I love it in pasta form, not in soups.  

3. I made an old fashioned Chicken Soup for Dan.  This is pretty basic and I know there are a million ways to make it...let me tell you what I did:

Chicken Soup Recipe* 

In a large pot, combine:

• 2 cartons of Knorr Chicken Broth
• 3 or so celery sticks, chopped
• 3 or so carrot sticks, chopped
• all purpose spice such as Mrs. Dash or Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning, to taste
• 1 cooked chicken breast, sliced and cooked in all purpose spice
• salt & Pepper to taste 
• 1/3 cup rice or two handfuls of spaghetti noodles, broken into small pieces

Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables and rice/pasta is soft.

Note:
* I don't follow a recipe, I eye my ingredients and taste as I go along.  So do the same, because I can't promise my measurements are the same.
 
 

What will go in your Megalunch? Part 1

I am currently in week 2 of Spring Break.  So far it has been great- I can't say I have done too much other than catch up on life and sleep as well as some homework that I was falling behind on.

One of the 'life things' I had to catch up on was cooking.  I cooked and baked to my heart's content- it was lovely.

I like to fill our freezer with soups, sweets, and dinners so when life gets hectic we have ready made food for lunch and dinner. It also helps us save a load of money from not eating out because we usually have things in the freezer.

This is what I called organized chaos...don't judge me, ok!

Right now, I don't have kids and this is totally doable...we'll see if this is still the case in a few years.

This week's agenda includes: meatballs, pizza, and perogies.  There is also a family birthday coming up, so I am going to give my ice cream cake another try.

Today I share with you about my favorite cookie trick...who doesn't love cookies?

Dan loves cookies!  Who am I kidding...I love them too! But Dan loves the ones made with wheat.  And though we occasionally have a bag of cookies in the house, I try to entice him with homemade cookies because they are healthier and cheaper (I'd like to think so at least!).

I adore fresh baked, out of the oven, warm cookies.  So, I have a little trick when it comes to cookies...I make them and roll them, but instead of putting them in the oven I put them in the freezer.  When frozen, I throw them in a container and pull them out whenever we want to serve fresh baked cookies to our guests or to ourselves.

I will also bake up some cookies, as well as loaves, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and toss them in the freezer.  When it is time to make Dan's megalunch*, he has baked goods to tie him over for a few days.

*Dan is away a couple of days every week for school.  To help our budget, he has agreed to rarely eat out.  In return he brings a megalunch, consisting of 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, snacks galore, and a dinner. It is huge.  Having ready to go freezer soups and snacks makes this doable.



Now what would a blog post be without a recipe, so here are the recipes that I used this week**. 

Double Chocolate Cookies

Gingersnap Cookies

Dutch Apple Loaf

Notes:
**I made these for Dan, so I used white flour and omitted the xanthan gum.  They turned out great!
*** I adapted the dutch apple loaf, but will share about those next week- it was so good that it deserves it's own post.

Free Chicken Nuggets

My favorite meal of all time is chicken nuggets. 

I grew up eating the ones you buy from the grocery store and occasionally enjoyed the fast food version.  Then I got married.  It didn't work for us to go to the drive thru every time I had a craving and I was determined to not buy processed food- so I learned to make my own.   

I have tried a number of recipes, all which disappointed and then I found it.  I found a chicken nugget recipe that inspired me to make my own version.  

I am confident that I will be feeding my version to my grandchildren one day.  

It is fast and easy and in fact, my husband is usually the one to make it!

If you haven't tried this recipe already, give it a try.  I promise you won't be disappointed...unless you use vanilla flavored Rice Krispies.  
 
Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets*, feeds 4

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup olive oil (+ extra on hand if you run out)
• 3-4 cups gluten free Rice Krispies, crushed**
• 3 tbsp of gluten free flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
3. Crush rice krispies (by hand or with food processor) and add flour.  Put in bowl and set aside.
4. Cut defrosted chicken into chunks/strips and put on plate.
5. Pour olive oil in a bowl
6. Begin an assembly line until all of the chicken has been used   

• dip chicken in olive oil
• dip chicken in Rice Krispie mixture
• put on pan  

    7. Sprinkle/drizzle any leftover krispies/oil over top.
    8. Bake in the oven until the meat is white in  the center (about 30 minutes).  Flip half way
      through.

Easy Peasy!

Notes: 
*Don't be fooled by the Gluten Free aspect.  A) they are still delicious...like actually and B) use regular Rice Krispies and white flour and you are able to have gluten.

** I keep a jar of crushed Rice Krispies on hand.  When it is low, I use my blender and make some more
  

Good Enough for the White House

Hello again!  Where did I go you ask?  Well, nowhere.

But you know those times when life is really overwhelming, the house is a constant disaster, and you are thankful for frozen leftovers because you don't have time to cook.  Yeah, that pretty much where I was...

Good news though, I just finished writing a final exam last night and think life might be a little more manageable again. So now that I have rediscovered what it is like to have some spare time, I get to cook and bake again. Yay!!

I have had my eye on this 'Biggest Loser' Salad that was served at the White House for some time now...

So along with a really delicious sandwich (which I will tell you all about in a minute), we had dinner.

Sorry for the half eaten sandwich...I have to remember to take pictures before I eat!

If you were to ask me a year ago if I thought I could ever have a sandwich again, I would have given a very confident NO!

Ask me now and you'll get a YES! paired with a big smile.  What makes this possible?  My gluten-free buns from Udi's and deli meat from May Family Farms which have g-free ingredients- both purchased at Save-On Foods. Tonight I added some bacon, spinach, and avocado and had one of the best sandwiches I have ever made.

Correction: I am taking all of the credit, the sandwich was actually 100% my husband's doing and it was so good!

The salad was simple to make and delicious.  I can get the credit for this part.  I do however regret the fact that I had to use tomatoes from Mexico, instead of a fresh, local ones.  But nonetheless, it was still really great!  My anti-tomato and onion husband even liked it...in fact he said "I am getting skinnier with every bite".  I don't know if that was actually true. 

Here is the recipe * (with my adaptations)- Serves 2

• 3 handfuls of baby spinach, big pieces ripped in half
• 1/2 cucumber cut in quarters
• 1 Roma tomato, cut into chunks
• Red onion (I used a very small amount..it's so strong!)
• A bunch of basil leaves cut up

Dressing**- mix together:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon
• 1 tsp honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Notes:
*I measured my ingredients based on how much I like them...for the actual proportions, check out the recipe here.
**I didn't add the dressing until I was ready to serve.  Instead I made each part individually and refrigerated both until I was ready to serve.

Out of the Office Reply

To my faithful readers, I am needing to take a week off but don't stop checking, I will be back before you know it!

In the meantime, I leave for you two things:

First, an entertaining video featuring me.  I get to wear a mustache!  It is a Snepsts Day Miracle!

Second, some recipes  to try this week!  All are free of gluten, wheat, dairy, and egg.

Sweet Potato Curry Lentil Soup

Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets...# 1 fan favorite for sure

Slow-Cooker Durban Style Chicken

Onion Rings made with Rice Krispies

Microwave Popcorn- the shortcut.

Double-Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

  This week I made Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup. It is a recipe I found on The Food Network Website, so you know it has to be good.  I have eaten it almost every day and am in love with the flavors.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Source

You can find the recipe here.

Tips/Adaptations:
- I didn't want to wait, so I made my batch in a pot instead of the slow-cooker.  It took about an hour and turned out great.
- I really like coconut milk, so I added a can of light coconut milk.  It added a really nice flavor.
- Instead of butter, I used coconut oil, for the flavor and health benefits
- I originally didn't use very much ginger and the taste was dull.  I added ginger and extra curry powder until the soup tasted just right.  This was a good choice.
- For some reason I thought I had to puree the soup, so I did.  Now I realize that I didn't have to, but I don't regret it.  I would puree it again.
- I didn't have cilantro and it was still good.
- I bought cilantro and it made the soup taste even better!!!

Happy Snepsts Day!

This week I made some cupcakes.  These weren't just any cupcakes, they were Snepsts Day Cupcakes!

Don't worry, I am keeping my day job.

It's ok if you don't know what I am talking about.  All you have to know is these cupcakes were because of this hockey player, Harold Snepsts and his mustache.

If only he knew how inspiring his mustache would be!

Today I don't have a recipe to share, but I do some videos. So far these videos have been a hit, being featured on The Canucks Website and now has a regular occurrence on the Pass it to Bulis, the Vancouver Sun Sports Blog.

These videos are inspired by our good friend Andreas.  He has recently moved to British Columbia and pines to be a Canucks fan.  For real. 

Check out his journey so far.... 

You thought that was acting, but most of it were true reflections of the agony he is going through learning to love the Canucks. 

So if you haven't already, I encourage you to subscribe to their YouTube Page, The Freckle Bombers or follow them on Twitter.  There is some more great stuff to come! 

Just like the Fort

I love Dragon Fort.  But now I don't have to go there because I know how to make a sweet and sour sauce that rivals theirs.

Last week I shared my recipe for Meatballs.  There are multiple ways to serve meatballs, but one of my favourite is with sweet & sour sauce.  I have tried a few different recipes but this recipe is amazing...it is seriously the same thing you get in a Chinese Food Restaurant...but you know what's in it. 

Let me brag about my brother again, he is very talented. I wanted a sauce for my meatballs and asked him what he does.  About 15 texts later I had a recipe and a ton of helpful tips to set me up for a delicious meal. 

And with his permission I share his sauce.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (gluten free)
• 1 cup liquid (1/2 water + 1/2 orange juice)*
• 3 tbsp cornstarch**
• Peppers & onions cut in chunks, if desired

Directions:
1. In sauce pan, mix sugars, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce & 3/4 cup liquid.
2. Bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, mix together remaining 1/4 liquid and cornstarch in small bowl.
3. When contents in the pot are boiling, stir in cornstarch liquid and stir until thick. Add peppers & onions.

Note:
*You could use also use pineapple juice, or all juice or all water. 
** If you cannot have corn, you can also use arrowroot flour. 
*** If using with meatballs, arrange meatballs, peppers, and onions in baking dish and heat in oven before you make the sauce.  When sauce is finished, pour over meatballs and cook another 15 minutes.

GF Flour Blend

After some experimenting and searching, I think I have found my go-to Gluten Free Flour Blend. 

As per the video, here is the recipe:

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup brown or white rice 

1 cup starch (tapioca, potato, arrowroot or cornstarch) or a blend of all

*to make high protein, add 1 cup or quinoa flour, chickpea flour or amaranth flour

Notes:

- My preference is to only add the high protein flours when I am making heartier things like muffins.  

- I used the first three ingredients for shortbread cookies and it was great! 

- I like to make large batches and don`t add my xanthan gum to the mix, instead I add to each individual recipe.

- For more information, watch the video.

 

Meatballs!!

If you have been reading my blog, you may have caught on that I love Gluten Free Rice Krispies.  I use them for chicken nuggets, for onion rings, and now for meatballs.  Thanks to this not so secret ingredient, I feel like I can eat like a regular person again.

Gluten free Meatballs served in Sweet & Sour Sauce

I have a great resource in my older brother.  He very creative, experimental, and as a bonus, a certified red seal chef.  He can have the credit for directing me for this meal.


Gluten Free Meatballs- makes about 30 medium sized (1 1/2 T)

Ingredients:

• 1 1b ground pork*
• 1/2 1b ground beef*
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/4 cup ground gluten free Rice Krispies
• 1 egg **
• Parsley, Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Saute onions and garlic in a frying pan
3.  Meanwhile, add additional ingredients to the bowl
4. When sauteed, add onions and garlic to meat mix.  Be careful, they are hot.
5. Mix all ingredients together

6. Roll meat into balls.  Using a small cookie scoop helps them all be the same size

7. Brown the meatballs in a frying pan before cooking in the oven

8. Line meatballs on a cookie sheet and back for 25-30 minutes until brown inside

9. Serve as desired

Tips: 
- Use a rubber gloves when rolling to help keep meat smooth
- Roll 20-30 times for a tight meatball
- Make a small patty and cook before rolling balls.  This way you can judge the taste
- Use meatballs with sweet & sour sauce, mushroom soup, tomato sauce, as is...however you want
- Double recipe and freeze for multiple quick meals on the go.
- Boil meatballs if you do not want to fry them

Notes:
* Meat choices can be chosen to your needs.  Feel free to mix them up, apparently the more meat variety, the better the meatball
** Eggs (and rice krispies) are not mandatory in a meatball.  If you cannot have eggs, omit or use your egg replacer.  I did this and it worked just as well
***Check out this link for my Gluten Free Sweet & Sour Sauce

My Brown Bananas finally have a use!

Banana Bread is a family favorite.  I still make my grandma's recipe for my husband, but for some reason I can't bring myself to adapt it...I think it is too sentimental or something.

Thankfully, after searching and having many 'uhh, this isn't the same as my grandma's' moments I have found one that was good.  

 source

This recipe originally came from the Babycakes Cookbook, then shared by the foodie at the Whipped blog.  Both great resources!

 You can find the recipe HERE

Notes:
- This recipe is vegan, dairy free, and gluten free.
- I made mine into muffins.  The recipe made 12 regular sized and about 8 mini muffins, perfect for breakfasts and snacks

I'll say Yes to this Ring!

I love to eat regular food! My goal is to find and create food that regular people will like too.  So I can't help myself but get very excited when I find a long lost love that has come back in it's delicious gluten free version.

Last week I was making our usually Friday night meal of Chicken Nuggets.  I had a fridge full of onions and some extra Rice Krispie mix.  I grabbed my newly acquired mandolin and attempted to make onion rings...though one could argue that they are not rings at all.  They would be right, I am still learning how to use my mandolin.  I got about 3 rings, the rest were more like...strips or chunks.  See exhibit A below.

Not pretty, but still delicious!

Regardless of their shape they were worthy of being called onion rings. I am convinced that I could put that Rice Krispie mix on anything and magic would happen....

And best of all, it was really easy and turned out great!  My onion-hating husband had one and walked away, which meant more for me!

Crispy Gluten-Free Onion Rings- serves as many as you want

1. Slice onions into rings (using a knife or mandolin)
2. Dip onions into oil then into Rice Krispie Mix
3. Place on greased cookie sheet
4. repeat steps 2 & 3 until you have used up all of your onions
5. Cook at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes (but check frequently & flip, because the thin ones burn)
6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

Ice Cream without the Bloating

A long time ago I realized that I may never be able to enjoy a cold bowl of delicious ice cream again.  Yeah, sure there is coconut ice cream and soy ice cream, which aren't too bad, but let's face it, they just aren't the same.

However I have been pleasantly surprised lately and I have eaten a fair amount of ice cream.  Specifically, ice cream that was really good, and not made of coconut or soy!

One of these surprises came when someone bought me some gluten and lactose free ice cream:

I think they have a couple of flavors in most grocery stores

I am usually pretty hesitant to buy items like this just in case it turns out to be gross.  But let me tell you, the Butter Pecan flavor I had was quite good.  It is full of cream, but whatever Chapman's did to take the lactose out, it worked for me - I didn't even bloat!  So as long as you are only lactose intolerant, and not allergic to (or avoiding) dairy, this may be an option for you.

There is also another way I have enjoyed ice cream.  Have you ever been to Menchie's?

I heard about Menchie's from a co-worker, so I brought my ice cream loving husband there for a date. 

source

I went with some tea to drink, vowing not to 'cheat' and planning to just enjoy watching Dan eat his ice cream.  This all changed when I learned that they have two gluten free and dairy free sorbets, along with a number of gluten free options (for those that can have dairy but not gluten).  I believe they have vegan options too.  So if you can't have eggs, this may be for you too!

I tried my hardest not to fill my whole cup with Strawberry Sorbet swirled with Triple Berry Sorbet. I then chose from the numerous toppings, trying my best to stick to the ones that I could eat (though I think I may have cheated a little). It turned out pretty good!

I don't know where you live, but Menchie's seems to be all over the world, so check out their website for the one closest to you.  And perhaps you can once again share some ice cream with a loved one.