Oven Roasted Veggies

These veggies were quick, easy and crazy delicious!

Here’s what I did:

• 3 small golden potatoes (my favorite because they taste like butter)
• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 3 carrots
• 1 green pepper
• 1/4 of a large onion
• A few splashes of Olive Oil
• some sea salt (about 1 tsp)
• Penzy’s italian spice mix

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Chop your veggies (trying to keep them about the same size).  Toss with oil, salt and spices.  Put on a lined cookie sheet. I am a new convert to parchment paper- not sure how much extra cleaning I could have skipped in my lifetime, but wow!

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.  Stir and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Yummy!!

Confetti Quinoa

I am slowly becoming a huge fan of quinoa.  It still has a kind of bitter-ish taste that I am still getting used to after blandness of brown rice.  Tonight I made red quinoa for the first time and to be honest, it tastes the same as the “regular” to me…  I also food processed my veggies really small (which the older kids loved and the youngest didn’t notice) so that seemed to work out well all around.

I used:

• Red quinoa (the whole box which was 2 cups dry)
• Vegetable broth (instead of water)
• 1 cup of carrots (chopped really small)
• 1 cup of celery (chopped really small)
• 7 stems of green onion (chopped really small)

I followed the recipe on the box and added the veggies before boiling.  It was more like a pilaf than plain quinoa.  I served it with glazed ham steaks (brown sugar, mustard and crushed pineapple) and the extra “ham juice” was terrific on top of the quinoa.

Hawaiian Chicken

I am originally from Hawaii and I grew up eating “soaked” chicken.  This isn’t really a true recipe, since there aren’t any hard or fast rules.  We used to make this with chicken thighs, but my husband is really picky and won’t eat them, so it just isn’t worth it.  Boneless breasts work just as well, but I recommend soaking them longer so the flavor has a chance to really soak in.  My food allergies have caused me to find soy-free “soy sauce” and yeast free vinegar.  I have gotten lucky with both items.  Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos is more delicious than regular soy sauce and the Coconut Secret Vinegar is made with natural fermentation so is yeast free, as well.  Both are wonderful in this recipe!

As I said, you will need to adapt this recipe to your own taste, but I used:

• 3 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 onion sliced large
• 2 cloves sliced large
• Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos
• Coconut Secret Coconut Vinegar
• about 1 cup of sugar
• 3 tbs fresh ginger sliced large

Put the chicken in a ziploc bag and add the above ingredients, using enough liquid to cover the chicken.  You will want to keep the onions, garlic and ginger large, so that you do not cook them with the chicken.  I always double bag the chicken and marinade and place it on a plate in the fridge overnight.  I try and flip the bag over every time I open the fridge door and that gets both sides of the chicken nice and saucy.

I cooked the chicken on the George Foreman grill, but you can use a regular grill or even a frying pan.  I served it with brown rice and fresh green beans.  It was yummy and tasted just like home!

Lemon Bread

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com but adapted it to suit my dietary needs.  The orginal recipe is at:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lemon-Bread-2/

Mine came out good, but stuck to the bottom of the pan.  I will have to be more liberal with my greasing next time…  and there WILL be a next time!

I used:

• 2 organic lemons- the zest of one and the juice of both
• 1/2 cup of Earth Balance Coconut Spread
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of Rice Dream milk
• 2 eggs
• olive oil (to grease the pan)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.  (Be generous with the grease so it doesn’t stick like mine did.)

Combine the coconut spread and sugar until creamy-ish.  (The coconut spread doesn’t “cream” like regular butter, but it still melts and tastes delish!)  Add the zest and juice of one full lemon.  Mix in the eggs.  Add the milk and flour and mix well.  Put in a loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

The original recipe included a glaze, so I made it and added it too, but I think I will skip it next time. (Juice of one lemon combined with 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar.)

The lemon flavor awesome in this bread!  It was more like cake and really tasty.  I think the coconut spread added just the right punch!

Sweet Potato Hot Dish (Casserole)

Tonight’s dinner was one that has become a staple around our house.  It is simple to make and warms up nicely for lunch the next day.

I used:

• 1 lb. ground beef (browned)
• 1 clove fresh garlic (minced)
• About 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 cups of diced sweet potatoes
• 5 tbs flour
• About 1 cup of Rice Dream milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, brown hamburger.  (I use lean meat, so I rarely have to drain it.)  When the meat is cooked, add minced garlic and onions.  Cook until the onions are tender.  Add diced sweet potatoes to the skillet and mix well.  In a separate bowl, add the flour and milk and stir well.  Add the flour mixture to the skillet and mix everything up well.  Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Cover with tin foil and bake until sweet potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes).

Easy Garlic Chicken

Tonight’s dinner was easy and delicious!  The kids even asked for seconds…

I used:

• 2 lbs of sliced boneless chicken breast
• 6 packed tablespoons of brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

I heated the oven to 500 degrees and lightly oiled a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

After mincing the fresh garlic and sauteing it in the olive oil, I added the brown sugar and mixed it well.  I coated the chicken with the brown sugar/garlic/olive oil mixture and baked it for 15 minutes uncovered.

I served this with saffroned jasmine rice on the side.  It was awesome!

Yeast Free Bread Recipe

This has become a staple in our home.  I haven’t found a pre-made yeast free bread that doesn’t taste like cardboard, but this one is quick and easy to make.

•  2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
•  3 tablespoons white sugar
•  1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage (I prefer Blue Sky.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar and carbonated beverage. Mix well and place into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

The little card that changed my life

This is a copy of my food allergies. As you can see, the variety of allergies make prepackaged and prepared food almost impossible. I am cooking more now than I have ever cooked in my life! Without the option of opening a box or a can, I have to make just about everything from scratch now. I find myself thinking about dinner and what I need to pick up on the way home many times throughout the day. I won’t lie. It kind of sucks…

Hello world!

Ok…  I have been threatening to do this for a while now.  I guess it is time to start keeping track of the awesomeness that is my everyday life.  There have been some big changes lately and I have had the pleasure of discovering some great (and not so great) blogs.  Can’t really be too judgemental if I don’t have my own to compare against.  So here goes!

Here’s a little bit about myself.  I am a happily married mother of five.  We each brought 2 kids to the marriage and had one together.  The kids range from 25 to 5 and there is never a dull moment.

I like to keep myself busy with my family, scrapbooking, Steampunk and a full time job.  At any given time we can have up to 4 kids at home (the oldest is in the Navy and comes around about twice a year) and organized chaos is pretty much the norm around here.

I recently found out that I have a boatload of food allergies.  After months of feeling crappy and always sickly, I finally got some testing done and surprise!  Multiple allergies!  I have had to completely change how I shop, cook and eat overnight.  I seem to spend more time obsessing about recipes, ingredients and ways to make food that my whole family will eat.  It is especially challenging with the youngest who is currently going through the “vegetables are yukky” phase of his life.  I am still making him eat them, only we seem to negotiate more and I am learning how to cut things REALLY small so he doesn’t see them as quickly.

Anyway…  Thanks to the internet, library and some awesome creative friends, I am learning how to make meals that make everyone happy.  I know that this is more than a diet or temporary thing.  It has truly been a lifestyle overhaul.  I already feel better and look better.  I do not claim to be an expert in nutrition or anything else.  I just want to help others who might be going through the same thing.

My life is a journey.  Come along for the ride!