I really need to go grocery shopping. I am out of everything. The only thing that was in the cupboard was tuna and I wasn’t even certain the kids would eat that. However, I needed to make something for dinner and the only thing that came to mind was Tuna Noodle Casserole.
There is absolutely nothing fancy about this dinner but everyone said they loved it and my husband and daughter both had seconds! I say that was a win / win for this Mama!
Years ago when I lived in Tahoe I worked across the street from a bagel shop and would frequent there quite often. One of my favorites from the shop was an everything bagel smothered with garlic cream cheese then topped with slices of tomato and avocado covered with melted havarti cheese and sprinkled with Garlic Pepper. This was my go to breakfast in the morning.
However, it was pricy eating out everyday. SOOOOOOO, I decided I could make it myself — and boy how easy it was.
Now fast forward 10+ years and throw in being gluten intolerant… and you have gluten free bread instead of an everything bagel. I tend to use what I have on hand at home to make my broiled breakfast than go out of my way to get every ingredient.
I always seem to have provolone cheese on hand and there was leftover diced tomatoes from tacos the other night in the refrigerator so that is what I used but by all means go ahead and use freshly sliced tomatoes or whatever cheese you prefer.
1 fillet swai
1 fillet of tilapia
1 cup jumbo shrimp, shells removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash of cracked pepper
1 small lemon, juiced
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Dried Parsley
Cut fish into cubes. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic and fish. Then add salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-20 minutes until tender and flaky.
Add lemon juice.
Add shrimp and cook until tender and pink.
Mix yogurt, butter and mustard together.Before serving, add sour cream mixture to shrimp and fish. Heat until hot. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with rice.
My family was invited over to my friend’s home for a birthday party. I asked her what they were serving for dessert and I was told ice cream sandwiches. My response was great, I will try and make a gluten free version and bring those over for my kids.
While it was rather easy to make… the ice cream itself was melting pretty fast once I was assembling the sandwiches. And since it was melting I threw a ice pack in with the sandwiches so the remainder of the ice cream wouldn’t melt while we were driving.
All in all the ice cream sandwiches came out quite tasty… and even though they were a tad melted the kids didn’t even care.
The other night I made Loco Moco for dinner and had leftover hamburger that needed to be used up. What better way than to make meatballs.
Growing up with my Italian grandmother, she taught me a lot about cooking and while I took lots of notes over the years, most recipes don’t taste exactly as hers. I believe she had put so much love into her cooking it shone through and through. Nevertheless, I can make most of her dishes come quite close in taste. And at the moment I can’t wait for dinner!
While we were over in Maui, my husband kept seeing Loco Moco on various restaurant menus. He finally indulged and ordered Loco Moco even through he isn’t a huge fan of gravy and was splendidly surprised at how tasty the meal was.
Loco Moco is a hawaiian meal said to originated back in the the 1940s in Hilo, Hawaii. While there are many variations, the traditional loco moco consists of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and smothered in brown gravy.
My husband asked for Loco Moco for dinner a few nights after coming home from Maui. And since it sounded fairly simple I decided to try and recreate this Hawaiian meal for the family.
While I was at Walmart, I noticed they had a Gluten Free Brown Gravy Packet by Pioneer Brand. I bought a couple of packets to try out with my Loco Moco recipe and was quite happy with the taste. Now normally I would probably make my gravy from scratch, but I really wanted to try the packet out to see how it was and happy that I did. It made the prep work quicker.
My parents watched my children, home and animals while we were in Maui for a week. Since my mom’s birthday is next week and since my parents wouldn’t be in town the kids and I wanted to celebrate my mother’s birthday before they headed back home.
My mom wanted me to make sushi for dinner as did my daughter and husband. They said I make sushi better than any restaurant. So who can say no to that? Also, my mom had stumbled across a recipe for a Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake recipe awhile back in her Facebook news feed and wanted to know if I could convert it to Gluten Free so I could make it for her birthday.
Well of course I can… but it never displays as great as the professional photos that are displayed on most Blogs. However, it came out really tasty!
It has three layers of brownie layered between two layers of peanut butter cookie dough (eggless of course) for a total of five layers then smothered in a dark chocolate ganache — yeah, total sugar overload! After a few bites I had to down a glass of cold milk!
This cake was relatively simple to make and put together.
Once you have the brownies baked and cooling you want to make the eggless cookie dough.
To glue the brownie layer to the cookie dough layer that is where the chocolate ganache comes into play.
And then you just frost the top of the cake with the remainder of the ganache and then add some peanut butter frosting swirls and mini chocolate chips for decoration! That simple.
In preping for my trip I was reading through pages and pages of Maui travel guides searching many hours away looking at where and what to do via other peoples posts on Pinterest. I even went as far as to borrow Maui travel books from my local library because I love being prepared activity-wise when I am on vacation.
What it didn’t say is that if you grew up in California, you will probably feel like you are in San Diego or Santa Cruz while on the West Shore of Maui though. I won’t lie….. I was a little disappointed with the West Shore of Lahaina for that very fact… that was until we actually started getting out and participating in fun activities. And of course all activities that we wanted to partake in were practically all on the North Shore. Which meant a rental car was a must have.
Of all the days/nights we were in Lahaina, I only visited the beach in front of our hotel once. And that was to see the sunset. At that time I called my kids to say I missed and loved them and that I would see them in a week. From there on out I decided I was going to have fun no matter what and make the best of my vacation.
Since this was my first time to Maui I researched the restaurants that were going to be the best at accommodating my gluten free needs as well as where locals dine at. One restaurant that stood out was Star★Noodle.
Gluten Free Pad Thai Noodles
Way off the main drag in the industrial park area you will find this hidden Asian Noodle House. It’s a trendy little place which displays a large communal table in the center of the room, a bar area for those who like to eat at the counter as well as smaller table tops around the restaurant.
This is not a place you want to just walk into… reservations are a must and I learned that the hard way. As we arrived there were a lot of people waiting to be seated. When I was finally able to ask how long the wait would be I was told an hour and a half. Well, at that point we left to eat somewhere else. However, we did make reservations for the next night learning from our mistake.
When we arrived at Star★Noodle the following night there were five of us excited by the abundance of food choices on the menu. AND, Think large plates — the ones made for sharing as in family style. The hostess was friendly and very accommodating for my party. She eagerly pointed out what was gluten free on the menu before I was even in my seat. Unfortunately, I quickly forgot half of what was told to me and needed help with jarring my memory.
When our waitress promptly showed up I asked again what were the Gluten Free items and she was more than helpful to point out what I could eat. This time I paid very close attention to what was being told to me as I was firmly planted in my seat.
Since there were five of us dining we ordered Pad Thai Noodles, Singapore Noodles, and Vietnamese Crepe as our Gluten Free items (the other items — Steamed Pork Buns, Hapa Ramen and Kim Chee Ramen — were not Gluten Free and I wasn’t able to partake, however I was told they were really tasty and of course from my view they looked wonderful).
The Pad Thai consisted of Rice Noodles, Chicken, Shrimp, Egg, Peanuts, and Garlic Chives. It was mild in flavor but had impressively huge shrimp which were perfect and tender and a real treat.
Gluten Free Vietnamese Crepe
The Vietnamese Crepe consisted of ground pork sprinkled with small shrimp and bean sprouts laid with in a fried Crepe accompanied by fresh butter lettuce leaves, sprigs of mint, cilantro, basil and carrots. A very aromatic Nuoc Cham dipping sauce came on the side and was a wonderful addition to drizzle on your lettuce wrap or crepe taco which ever way you decided to build your meal. This dish was extremely flavorful and a little messy but totally worth the effort.
Next I tried the Singapore Noodles which were Vermicelli noodles, Chicken, luscious Shrimp, and Vegetables. It had a mild curry aroma which was quite flavorful and all around scrumptious.
All in all if you would like a great restaurant that is pleasing on the palate than Star★Noodle is the restaurant you need to stop at the next time you are in Maui! Definitely 5-star in my opinion.
Gluten Free Singapore Noodles
Star★Noodle
286 Kupuohi St.
Lahaina, Hawaii, 96761
United States
Phone: 808-667–5400
Website: www.starnoodle.com
This morning we opened a bag of Namaste Foods, Gluten Free Waffle & Pancake Mix and boy were the waffles (yes waffles, again) really tasty!!
We used almond milk instead or regular milk and didn’t use any added sweeteners in the mix when making breakfast. The waffles came out crispy and beautiful on the Belgium waffle maker and everyone one devoured them up – the kids, grandparents and I were in waffle heaven!
The waffles themselves had a mild flavor — but with a little melted butter and some Agave Syrup — were perfect! Next time I may add a tsp of sugar to the mix to see how they taste in comparison with the added sweetener.
This product contains no wheat, gluten, soy, corn, potato, dairy, casein, peanuts or tree nuts. Non-GMO, all natural, no preservatives. So, if you are looking for a great Gluten Free Waffle/Pancake mix, grab for Namaste Foods LLC, Gluten Free Products For People With Food Allergies at your local grocer or at: http://goo.gl/XpoG4h !!
Originally posted on STLNV Facebook July 21, 2014. Namaste Foods provided the mix to be reviewed
*** Disclaimer: I received this product for free from Namaste Foods. I am not required to write a positive review. And all opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
