Turkey Burgers and Toasted Baked Potato Bites

We've been without a stove this week, so I've been making good use of my George Foreman, toaster oven, crockpot and microwave.  It was Josh's birthday today and he really likes hamburgers.  We do generally make turkey burgers instead of using ground beef.  However, today I realized that I was making burgers and then cutting them up for the kids - and that it might make more sense just to make them smaller to begin with.  As it turns out, burger bites are super quick to form and grill, and the kids were able to handle them more easily.

Turkey Burgers
2.5 lb ground turkey (I use 93/7 lean.)
1 egg
2-3 Tb Worcestershire sauce

Blend all ingredients together with a fork or your hands.  Form patties to desired size, and grill on medium-high heat until cooked through.

I have a pretty large George Foreman, so I can do quite a few at once.

Since we've been eliminating gluten out of the rest of the family's diet we ate our burgers on lettuce topped with freshly shredded cheddar cheese and slices of tomatoes from our garden.  For our starch item we had Toasted Baked Potato Bites - also easy.

Toasted Baked Potato Bites
potatoes
cooking spray or oil
salt and pepper
parsley

Scrub the potatoes, then poke with a fork several places around each potato.  Place on a microwave safe dish and microwave until tender.  Cut up potatoes into bite sized pieces and place in a single layer on a baking sheet - one that fits in your toaster oven or full sized oven.  Spray with cooking spray or drizzle with a little oil.  Add desired amount of seasonings (could also use seasoning salt) and cook at 375 until the outside of the potatoes are crispy.

Pizza Dough

Buying pizza out is really expensive, and the frozen kind is gross - especially when it's gluten free.  I made some pizza tonight for my girls, and we all loved it.  They gobbled it up and didn't even notice there was anything different about it.

 Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water
1 Tb yeast
1 tsp raw sugar
1.5 cups oat flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup arrowroot powder
3/4 cup quinoa flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gun
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the yeast and sugar into the warm water and let set for about 5 minutes while you mix the dry ingredients.  Combine the oat flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot powder, quinoa flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.  Stir in the one egg and then the yeast mixture.  Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for 15-20 minutes.  On a sprayed pan, press out the dough.  To keep it from sticking to your hands, spray the dough with cooking spray or get your hand wet.  After the dough is pressed to the shape you want, add your toppings and bake for about 15 minutes.

Yes, we ate the whole thing ...

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

At the Farmer's Market, Faith and I found zucchini 3 for a dollar!  We decided some zucchini bread would be great; I just needed to figure out how to make it gluten free.  I destroyed the kitchen in the process, but it was worth it.  We also ground oat groats, quinoa and amaranth into flour, so that's part of the mess.  Here's what I came up with:

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

2-2.5 cups pureed zucchini
2 cups pumpkin (or 1 15 oz can)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup raw sugar
1.5 cups oat flour
1 cup quinoa flour
1 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1.5 Tb paking powder
1 Tb cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 envelope or 2.5 tsp unflavored gelatin


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine zucchini, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, honey, brown sugar, and raw sugar.  In a separate bowl, mix together oat flour, quinoa flour, arrowroot powder, brown rice flour, amaranth flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, xantham gum, baking soda and unflavored gelatin.  Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Pour batter into 2 ungreased bread pans.  Bake at 350 for 70-75 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan and placing on a cooling rack.  Let the loaves cool completely.

It was delicious!  The kids loved it too!
Quinoa and amaranth flours can have stronger flavors, so you could probably use additional oat or brown rice flours instead if you prefer.

Fried Fish

Fried Fish

I haven't had fried fish in a LONG time and have really missed it.  So yesterday I made some, and it was delicious!  My kids gobbled it up, and my gluten eating husband LOVED it .

3/4 cup oat flour
3/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (Can omit if allergic to dairy.)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg  (Can omit if allergic to eggs.)
1 lb fish (I used flounder.)
oil.

Mix together first four ingredients in a bowl.  Beat egg in another bowl.  Heat 1-2 inches of oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Dip fish in egg and then into the flour mixture, gently patting to make sure it's all covered.  Fry in oil until fish is a golden brown, flip and fry the other side until it's golden brown.

I made some tartar sauce to go with it by mixing a little mayonnaise, pickle relish, lemon juice and chives.

Pie Crust

 Faith and I have been doing a unit on apples, so we've done all sorts of things with apples including making applesauce and apple pie.  (And for the last couple of weeks organic red delicious apples were on sale!  .49/lb one week and .88/lb the next.)  I made apple pie with a gluten free crust and it was very yummy, so I thought I would share.

Pie Crust

1 cup coconut oil
1 cup oat flour
1 cup arrowroot powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup ice cold water

Use a fork to mix coconut oil, salt, oat flour and arrowroot powder until it is crumbly.  Mix in just enough water to form a ball.  Use extra oat flour and arrowroot powder to roll out 2 pie crusts.  It helps to roll out the dough on a baking mat and use it to help transfer the crust to the pie plate.

 It passed the taste test for one my little gluten eaters!

For the applesauce, we peeled and sliced apples.  Then threw them in the crockpot w/ a splash of lemon juice, some cinnamon and some stevia if needed.  Let it cook on high until you can mash them with a spoon.

Long time no post.

I haven't posted in a really, really, really long time!  I started this blog mainly to come up with gluten free and dairy free recipes because I have Celiac Disease and my oldest daughter was allergic to milk.  However, once my daughter turned 2 (last April) she outgrew her dairy and apple allergy!  It made GF/DF recipes not applicable anymore. She is still allergic to apricots and lactose intolerant, but it doesn't much affect my cooking. 

My second daughter, Grace, turned 1 on November 26, and she is also now allergic to milk.  We hope that she will magically outgrow it at the age of 2 like Faith did, but until then I should be creating more recipes.  She is teeny tiny, and needs all the good cooking she can get.  :)

Life has been really busy with three kids under the age of 3.  Faith is 2, Grace is 13 months, and Ladybug (our foster daughter) is 7 months.  I'm hoping to still be able to create and post despite the business.  I'm working on a Pear and Apple Crisp recipe which should be posted soon.

French Toast

While we love French toast, it's a splurge for us because it requires special ingredients.  We do however indulge on occasion.  Here's a recipe that's simple (like pretty much all of my recipes), but is oh so delicious!  Use whatever bread or milk you're not allergic to.  However, if the milk isn't vanilla flavored add in a little vanilla flavoring.

French Toast

6 slices of bread (gluten free, dairy free, etc.)

1 egg

½ cup vanilla soymilk

1 tsp cinnamon

Heat non-stick griddle over medium heat.  Beat egg until it is a creamy yellow and then add in vanilla soymilk and cinnamon.  Put bread in mixture, making sure each side gets wet.  Place on griddle and cook each side until golden brown.