Jalapeno Poppers

My friend brought these delicious cheese stuffed Jalapeno Poppers to our Neighborhood BBQ and they disappeared instantly!  I craved them for a week before I finally called and got her recipe to make them for my family!  I was also thrilled to use the gazillions of jalapeno peppers in my garden!  I learned something too.  Red jalapeno peppers are hotter than green ones.  I have some red jalapeno peppers because I left them on the plant too long.  We did a taste test. . . actually I made my husband do the taste test.  Yep - the red ones are really hot!  I let him eat those :)

25 jalapeno peppers
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup cheddar cheese
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Put on gloves!!  If you don't you will burn your hands!  Wash the jalapeno peppers and cut off the stem.  Slice peppers in half, take the seeds out, and place on a cookie sheet.  In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, garlic powder, cheese and bacon pieces.  Spoon into the peppers so it's a heaping amount in each pepper.  (I put in as much as I can, mounding it on the pepper.)

Bake at 450º for 10 - 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Orange Chicken

When we get take-out my husband occasionally picks up Panda Express for the kiddos.  The orange chicken smells divine!  I've been wanting to make a GF version of it, but kind of dreading the deep fried aspect of it.  I found this recipe of orange chicken that is tons healthier and delicious.  I changed it up a little and increased it to fit my family.  It was a hit at the table tonight!

2 oranges

1/2 cup orange juice

14-15 chicken tenders

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

7-8 green onions, sliced

Rice

Grate 2 tablespoons zest from the oranges, set aside.  Squeeze juice.  Set aside.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and cook in olive oil.  Stir chicken occasionally.  While chicken is cooking, pour 1 cup orange juice into a medium bowl.  (Pour the fresh squeezed juice into a 1 cup measuring cup and then fill to the top with orange juice.  2 oranges is about 1/2 cup fresh squeezed juice.)  To the bowl, add soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, chicken broth and cornstarch.  Whisk ingredients together.

When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the garlic.  Pour the juice mixture into the chicken.  Stir in the orange zest, ginger and chili garlic sauce.  Cook until bubbly and thick.

Stir in the green onion.  Serve over rice.

Guacamole

This is our favorite guacamole!  It's also listed with the Cafe Rio meal, but I wanted to give it it's own post because it deserves it!  It's great with anything, or just as an appetizer!

3 avocados
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
1 large ripe garden tomato or 2 smaller tomatoes, diced
juice of 1 lime
salt

Pit avocados and mash in a bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients until mixed.  Add salt to taste.

•  If you like it spicy you can add 1 jalapeno finely chopped and 4-5 shakes green Tabasco sauce
•  If your avocados are small, you may want to use 1/2 the lime for lime juice.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

This is my all time favorite frosting!  In fact when my mom would make me German Chocolate Cake for my birthday, she would double or even triple the recipe, so there would be more frosting than cake.  I can eat this by the spoonful!

There was one day she made this and I remember it sitting on the counter all day.  Every time I'd walk by I'd swipe my finger across the top and lick the frosting off!  I remember thinking I was only taking a little here and a little there.  Unfortunately, by the end of the day the frosting was nearly gone.  Oops!

Last night was my son's half birthday!  Yes - 17 1/2!  Where did the time go?  Anyway, I made him 1/2 a cake!  We used King Arthur's Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix, and topped it with this recipe!

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 12 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add coconut and chopped pecans.  Stir well until thick enough to spread.  Let it cool then top your cake!

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Okay so can I just say, I have the most awesome husband on the planet?  He called me from work today and asked if we had vanilla pudding and whipping cream.  I wondered what he was up to and he just said it was a surprise!  I love surprises!

He came home from work and started whipping up these cupcakes!  Wow was I impressed!!  His mad cooking skills skills are admirable!  He adapted a regular recipe, to make it gluten free and it turned out amazing!  The cupcakes were delicious!  The cake was light and spongy, with the yummy pudding inside and the rich chocolaty ganache on top!

3/4 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups gluten free featherlight flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
5.1 ounce box of instant vanilla pudding
1 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350º.  In a mixing bowl cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  In a small bowl combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.  Pour dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well.  Add the milk and the sour cream and mix well.

Pour batter into paper-lined muffin cups until they are about 2/3 full, filling all 24 cupcakes.  Bake at 350º for 15 - 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the instant vanilla pudding according to the instructions on the package.  Pour pudding into a pastry bag with a size 3 or 4 plain tip (or whatever you have).  Push the tip through the top of each cupcake until you can't see the tip anymore and fill each cupcake with 1 - 2 tablespoons pudding.

Place chocolate chips in a small bowl.  In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil.  Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth.  Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature or until ganache thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.  Spoon over cupcakes.   Let stand until set.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yield:  2 dozen

Peach Cobbler Bars

These bars remind me of fall and peach cobbler.  Doesn't fall sound good on a day like today?  I think the reason I love them so much is because of crunchy cobbler bar part.  Don't get me wrong, I love the peaches too, but when I eat cobbler I find myself wanting more of the crunchy part.  These bars are great because that's exactly what you get.  In fact you can eat them with your hands!  Then you add delicious fresh peaches to the bar and you just can't get any better than that!  Yum!  I adapted this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction website to make it gluten free.   Enjoy!

Crust & Topping
2 cups featherlight flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup gluten free oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 cups butter, cold and cubed (2 1/2 sticks)
1 cup pecans, chopped

Peach Filling
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons featherlight flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 -5 medium peaches, peeled and chopped (about 3 cups)

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons heavy cream (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º.  Spray 9 x 13 inch baking pan with nonstick spray.

Make the crust and topping.  In a large bowl, mix the flour, xanthan gum, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans until combined. Cut in the cold butter, using a pastry blender or two forks, until it reaches coarse, pea-sized crumbs.  Remove 1 1/2 cups of the mixture, and set aside for the topping.

Evenly press the remaining oat mixture into the prepared baking pan.  Bake for 15 minutes as you prepare the filling.

Make the filling by whisking the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and creamy.  Add the flour and salt.  Stir until combined.  Fold in the peaches.  Remove crust from the oven after 15 minutes and pour the filling over the hot crust.  Sprinkle with the reserved oat/pecan mixture.  Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Allow to cool in a pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 2 hours before cutting into squares.

Make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla extract together until smooth in a bowl.  Drizzle over the bars.

San Fransisco BBQ Chicken Pizza

My husband and I went to San Fransisco to get away for a week!  We had such a great time!  It was so much fun to try new gluten free foods there!  One of my favorites was the BBQ Chicken Pizza at Patxi's Pizza!  It was so delicious!  I loved the sweet BBQ chicken combined with the smokey bacon and spicy jalapenos!  Unfortunately we don't have those restaurants in Utah so I had to try to recreate the pizza.  I was pretty excited when I took the first bite!  Yum!

BBQ Chicken pizza for me is either really good, or not good at all.  I realized while eating at Patxi's why the pizza seemed so much better than any I had before.  Bottom line - it was pizza, not just BBQ sauce and chicken on the crust.  Let me explain.  They put regular pizza sauce on the pizza!  Yup, that's the secret!  The chicken has BBQ sauce on it, but not the whole pizza.  You'll have to try it and let me know what you think!

Here is the order:
Crust
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
BBQ Chicken
Bacon
Jalapeno peppers

Let me break it down:

Crust
Use my Yummy Gluten Free Pizza Crust.  You can also buy a Udi's frozen crust, or use your favorite gluten free recipe.

Pizza Sauce
This pizza sauce recipe is hands down the best I've ever tasted!  Remember, use regular pizza sauce, not BBQ sauce!

Mozzarella Cheese
Shredded

BBQ Chicken
Use whatever kind of chicken you like; breasts, chicken tenders, or thighs.  Cut about 1 lb into bite-sized pieces and cook in a saucepan over medium high heat with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Add your favorite BBQ Sauce.  My personal recommendation is Sweet Baby Ray's Original.  Mix in enough sauce to nicely coat the chicken, and heat through.

Bacon
Cook 1 lb of bacon.  Cool then break into pieces.

Jalapeno Peppers
My family likes things a little spicy, but not too hot.  I chose to cut the jalapeno down one side and take out the seeds.  This was perfect because you still had a little kick from the pepper, but it wasn't really hot.  Slice the pepper.

Cook the pizza as indicated on the crust recipe.
Enjoy!

Pad Thai

I found some gluten free Pad Thai noodles at my local health food store and decided to give them a try!  They were delicious!  I used a Jasmine Red Rice noodle, but you could use any gluten free Pad Thai noodle.    I think I'm going to be trying several variations of this recipe!  That's what is so cool about this recipe; you can change it up.  You can add chicken or shrimp and make it more of a main dish, or you can also try adding other vegetables or sauces!  This dish was quick to put together.  I recommend having everything ready to go before you begin.  If you're serving this as a main dish it probably serves about 4.

8 oz Jasmine Red Rice Pad Thai Noodles
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1 medium onion, shredded
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
3 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce or Tamari Sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Bring 8 cups water to a boil and add noodles.  Boil for 4 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water until cool.  In a large sauce pan heat canola oil.  Add cabbage, carrots, onion and ginger.  Cook on medium high heat until vegetables are tender.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil and chili garlic sauce.  Stir until heated through.  Add noodles and cilantro.  Cook for a few minutes until noodles are heated through. 

Rocky Road Cookies

These cookies are so yummy I can't even explain how much I love them!  They are rich and chewy chocolate goodness!  Then you add the marshmallows, roasted nuts, and chocolate icing!  Wow!  I love the chocolate cookie so much that I can't wait to try different versions of it too!  I adapted this recipe from glorioustreats.com.  Plan a little ahead when you make these, because they do need to refrigerate for an hour, and cool for 30 minutes.

Note:  These cookies are great with just marshmallows and chocolate icing if there are nut allergies in your family.

1/2 cup butter
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups featherlight flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups mini marshmallows

Chocolate Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the cookies, begin by melting the butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, using 50% power.  Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.  

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients:  flour, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla on low speed until combined.  Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend until combined.  While mixing, add the flour mixture slowly and blend until just combined.  Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour.  If making the dough a day ahead, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.

While dough is in the refrigerator, toast the walnuts.  Place chopped walnuts in a skillet and heat on medium heat until warm and fragrant.

To bake cookies, preheat oven to 325º.  On a greased cookie sheet place tablespoon size balls of dough about 2 inches apart.  Bake for about 10 minutes.

When cookies are done, remove from oven and press 3 or 4 marshmallows into each cookie.  Put the cookies back in the oven and bake another minute or two until marshmallows puff up.  Cool for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Prepare chocolate icing by combining all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until smooth.

Assemble the cookies by placing the cooling rack with the cookies over a baking sheet.  Drizzle a bit of icing over the marshmallows, then place a few chopped walnuts on top.  Do it quickly before the icing sets up, so the nuts stick to the icing/cookie.  Once each cookie has marshmallows, icing and nuts, drizzle a second layer of icing over the nuts.  Allow icing to set up about 30 minutes before serving.

Sweet Pulled Pork

Who doesn't love Cafe Rio, right?  Well this is a great gluten free sweet pulled pork recipe that those of us with Celiac Disease can safely eat!  Yea!  I love doing the homemade Cafe Rio buffet for my family!  Here's the link where you can find the rest of the recipes.  I have learned that if you're going to shred pork you need to use a pork butt roast because it shreds easily.   

6 - 7 lb pork butt roast
3 cans caffeine free Coke (NOT diet)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup water
1 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, separated
1 10 oz can Old El Paso red enchilada sauce (mild or medium)
1 can diced green chili's


Put the roast in a large bowl.  Pour in 2 cans Coke.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup brown sugar on top.  Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight or for several hours.

Drain marinade and place pork in a crock pot.  Pour in a 1/2 can of Coke and 1/4 cup water.  Sprinkle with garlic salt.  Cook on high for 8 hours.  Remove pork from crock pot, drain liquid and shred the pork.  Put the shredded pork back into the crock pot.

In a blender, combine the following ingredients:  the other 1/2 can of Coke, green chili's, enchilada sauce and 1 cup brown sugar.  Blend well and pour over the shredded pork.  Stir together and cook on low for about 1 hour, or until it's heated through and the flavor of the sauce is infused into the pork.