I asked my oldest son what he wrote at school and he said, “I like volcanos”
Thank God, I thought my 5 yr old had a drinking problem!
Month: November 2014
Beef Vegetable Stir fry with Rice
I was hungry and thought an easy meal would be to throw together a beef stir fry. I headed to the freezer pulled out a steak and quickly started throwing a marinade/sauce together for the stir fry.
Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry over Rice
Flavored Simple Syrup for snow cones
So my daughter’s birthday party is coming up and we’ll be making snow cones, lots of snow cones for her Frozen themed party. Today I made some simple syrups flavored with Kool Aid for our snow cone flavors. My husband originally bought the packets for me….. and forgot a blue packet… so now I must now remember to go out tomorrow and pick up a blue Kool-Aid packet! So I have one simple syrup bottle just waiting to be flavored!
Simple Syrup Flavored with Kool Aid packets
Yeah, we went camping, again!
Camping in the Wilderness
So my family and I went camping.. yes I thought the last trip was our last trip for the season, but I guess it wasn’t. The weather has been nice in town and well… we couldn’t resist going camping one more time.
Gluten Free Taco Salad
I love Taco Salad… it is one of my go to meals for my family — because it is quite quick to whip up and very simple as well.
Gluten Free Taco Salad
Gluten Free Taco Salad
I made my own tortilla strips for this salad because I didn’t have any Tortilla Chips on hand. So I sliced up about 5 corn tortillas and then fried them up to a crisp.
Ingredients
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 pound sharp Cheddar, shredded
1 large onion, diced
1 head green leaf lettuce, washed, drained and shredded
1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, browned, crumbled and drained
Can Black Beans, drained
2 TBSP Trader Joe’s Taco Seasoning
Optional toppings
Sour Cream
Sriracha sauce
Gluten Free Tortilla Strips
Brown meat, beans and onions together with the Taco Seasoning until thoroughly cooked. Then combine everything together in a large salad bowl. Just before serving, add the taco chips, tossing to combine with other ingredients. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream drizzled with Sriracha sauce to taste and some tortilla strips.
Gluten Free Grilled Fish Tacos….
Fish tacos are a great choice for dinner that will please your taste buds, whether it is for your family or entertaining a crowd! And this was the 1st time that I was able to use seasoning from Tahoe Spiceworks. It was a mild, yet a very tasty seasoning.
Gluten Free Grilled Fish Tacos
Fish Tacos w/ a side of Organic Spanish Brown Rice
Makes 10 Tacos
5 frozen flaky white fish fillets
Seafood Seasoning from Tahoe Spiceworks Inc.
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
Shredded Cabbage
2 stalks of Green Onions, chopped
1 TBSP Fresh Cilantro, minced
10 corn tortillas, fried
1 Tomato, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/2 head of Romaine Lettuce
Coconut Oil
Sour Cream
Sriracha Sauce (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Take the frozen fish fillets and place them on a baking sheet. Season with Seafood Seasoning from Tahoe Spiceworks Inc. mixed with a 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin.
While the fish is in the oven, take a medium size bowl and mix Lettuce, Cabbage, Green Onions and Cilantro together. In a small size bowl mix Tomato and Red Onion together.
Take a frying pan and heat Coconut Oil to fry the Corn Tortillas to desired crispiness.
Remove the fish from the oven. Take a tortilla, put a dollop of sour cream in the middle of the tortilla. Place fish in the center of a tortilla, top with a cabbage/lettuce slaw then with the Tomato/Red Onion. Top with Sriracha Sauce.
Serve with Spanish Rice from Lundberg Family Farms.
If interested in purchasing Seafood Seasoning from Tahoe Spiceworks go to: http://tahoespiceworks.com/products/seafood-seasoning . The seasoning Ingredients: Sea salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, black pepper, color*. *Note: Referring to the color of spice such as paprika, cayenne, ect.
Frozen Pudding Pops….
I was craving Pudding Pops and hadn’t had them in eons… especially since they don’t make them any longer. I bought an
Jello Pudding Pop with a generic Popsicle holder
Jello Pudding Pop with a Jello Pudding Pop holder
actual Jello Pudding Pop kit and was sorely upset. There wasn’t anything fancy or needed. The kit supplied 2 small boxes of chocolate pudding and 2 small boxes of vanilla pudding and a small 8 compartment popsicle tray….
There was nothing in there that was special — and the recipe was exactly the same as if you were making pudding. The difference is that you fill the tray and then freeze rather than refrigerating.
Of course I have a bazillion popsicle trays… and could had easily purchased the pudding packets off the shelf. But I thought it was going to be different, boy was I wrong.
Nevertheless, the kids and I had fun making the pudding pops together. And the end result was really tasty. Live and learn people… Live and learn.
Decorative cups..
My daughter’s birthday is coming up and I have invited a lot of people. Unfortunately my house is small, but luckily my property is very large – 1/2 acre to be exact. The weather around this time is rather iffy to say the least. And surprisingly the last 2 years the weather has been beautiful. However, I checked the weather forecast this morning and it states it will be sunny the day before and the day after the party, but should be raining all day long the day of!!! AGH!!! I really don’t want to squeeze that many people into my tiny house.
Nevertheless, my daughter wants a Frozen Party like every other girl this year. But have you seen how expensive everything decoration is out there? It is ridiculous. I went to Walmart and bought 100 clear plastic cups for under $5 and several sheets of Frozen Stickers for about $4 and made my own decorative cups for the occasion.
Frozen Cups made by placing stickers on to Plastic Cups.
Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
My family – myself included loves Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. It is tasty, yet expensive to buy, so I only buy it when it is on sale. Well today I decided I was going to try and make my own version. And it came out really great!
INGREDIENTS
For the sauce:
- 1 whole Butternut Squash – Roasted (4-lbs)
- 1 roasted red pepper
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 4 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 TBSP garlic, minced
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 6 oz water
- 1 TBSP olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Melt butter and olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until onion is translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Add tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Sauté another minute. Remove from heat and add all ingredients with water. Process until smooth texture.
- Serve over pasta.
Gluten Free Rice Crispies Squares with Cranberries and Dark Chocolate Chips
I can never do something the simple way – I always have to add some flare to my food, like chocolate.
Gluten Free Rice Crispies Squares with Cranberries and Dark Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
10 oz. Marshmallows
6 cups Gluten Free Brown Rice Crisps Cereal
3/4 cup cranberries
1 bag dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.
Add cereal, cranberries and chocolate chips to marshmallow mixture. Stir until well coated.
Using a buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.
Small Town Living in Maryland 