Crockpot Turkey Tenderloin with a sweet red plum sauce

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Crockpot Turkey Tenderloin with an sweet red plum sauce | Small Town Living in Nevada

This sauce is sweet and pairs well with the turkey! And of course I love capers so it is a win win kind of dinner for my family!

Crockpot Turkey Tenderloin with an sweet red plum sauce

Serves 5

1/2 cup Red Plum Jam
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Marin Wine
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup capers with juice
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 pound Turkey Tenderloin


Cooked Rice
Cooked diced zucchini


Place first eight ingredients in a crockpot and cook 2.5 hours on high. Anything longer and it will dry out the turkey.

Once cooked cut turkey into cubes. Place a nice helping of rice topped with Turkey and Zucchini then ladle Plum sauce over top.

Gluten Free Zepploe (Italian Donuts)

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I wanted to do something fun today when the kids got home from school. And how fun would it be making Zeppole (zə pō′lā) which are a deep-fried pastry somewhat like doughnut holes. And taste just as divine.

Gluten Free Zepploe (Italian Doughnuts) | Small Town Living in Nevada

The Zepploe came out nicely crisp and light and fluffier than expected. So win, win!

Gluten Free Zepploe (Italian Doughnuts) 

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 stick (½ cup) butter
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1¾ cup gluten free flour
  • ½ tablespoon xanthan gum
  • 4 eggs
  • oil, for frying
  • powdered sugar or a cinnamon-sugar, to dust the zeppole
DIRECTIONS:
  1. IMG_0527In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Cook until the butter is completely melted.
  2. Place the melted butter mix into the bowl of a standing mixer with flour and xanthan gum. Mix with a paddle attachment, until you don’t see any more steaming rising up from the bowl.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, until they are fully incorporated.
  4. Heat up your oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  5. Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil, frying in batches. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 3-5 minutes.
  6. Take them out of the oil using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
  7. Toss with cinnamon-sugar or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

Adapted from: Giada De Laurentiis

Gluten Free Baked Fish Fillets

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Gluten Free Baked Fish | Small Town Living in Nevada

My kids love fish. And even though my youngest isn’t feeling all that well he still asked me to make fish for dinner last night. If you are looking for a simple fish dinner, try this easy recipe for baked fish fillets. You can use any firm white fish for this dish and it will still come out really tasty.

I had Gluten Free Honey Nut Chex in the cupboard and not regular Rice or Corn Chex so my topping was a tad sweeter than normal but my husband and kids loved the flavor and said it was really good. And I measure everyones tastes by what is left on their plates. And lets just say plates were practically licked clean.

Gluten Free Baked Fish Fillets

Ingredients

  • 5 white fish fillets
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • cracked black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup crushed gluten free Chex™ Cereal
  • Dried parsley to sprinkle
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 425°.
  2. Spray a large baking dish coated with cooking spray.
  3. Combine lime juice, mayonnaise, onion powder, softened butter and pepper in a large bowl.
  4. Dredge fillets through mayonnaise mixture and coat evenly.
  5. Place all fillets in baking dish.
  6. Then sprinkle each fillet with crushed cereal.
  7. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
  8. Sprinkle with dried parsley and serve immediately.

Gluten Free Corned Beef Reuben Sandwich

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As long as I can remember my family has always celebrated St Patrick’s Day. How can you not when you have a  paternal grandmother who was a Red Headed Irish lady (1/2 Irish actually) with the last name of Duffy.

My mother being full blooded Italian had never had corned beef and cabbage until after my parents were married. My father said it was a must have for the holiday. And since then according to my mother she has been making Corned Beef every year for the last 43 St Patrick’s Days! True dedication if you ask me.

Nevertheless, the tradition has gone on with me as well for my family. However, instead of the traditional corned beef and cabbage, I make Corned Beef Reuben Sandwiches every year. Gasp, but oh so much more tantalizing on the tongue!

It definitely is a deli favorite, the best Reuben sandwiches always contain a good helping of corned beef or even pastrami, a bit of swiss cheese, heaps of sauerkraut, and gobs of Thousand Island Dressing.

We aren’t a huge sauerkraut kinda family so I am omitting that from my recipe, but you can definitely add it to yours!

You can serve a Reuben cold, but I love it toasted on the panini grill and served warm so that the cheese is nice and melted and the thousand island dressing oozes out as you take a bite!

Gluten Free Corned Beef Reuben Sandwich | Small Town Living in Nevada

Gluten Free Corned Beef Reuben Sandwich

  • ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons Butter, softened
  • 10 Slices gluten free Bread
  • 1½ cups Thousand Island Dressing or more if needs
  • 2 lbs corned beef, sliced
  • 10 slices swiss cheese
  1. Butter one side of each slice of bread and place one slice of the bread buttered side down on a flat surface.
  2. Add ingredients in the following order: 2 tbsp of Thousand Island Dressing, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and an additional 2 tbsp of Thousand Island Dressing. Top the sandwich with the remaining slice of bread, buttered side up.
  3. Preheat a panini grill to 400º F. Place sandwich on the grill, and heat sandwich approximately 3 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

IMG_0520

NOTE: You can add Sauerkraut to make it a Traditional Reuben.

Waffle it!! Waffle Maker Omelets…

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Omelet made with a waffle maker | Small Town Living in Nevada

Did you know you can make an omelet on a waffle maker?

Of course this isn’t my original idea, but I thought I would give it a whirl and see how the eggs come out.

I will tell you, the eggs were really good. You know how I know? My husband and three kids said so, LOL. And of course I ate it too and from first hand will verify they came out yummy!

I will be creating many, many more renditions of these wonderful egg waffles.

I didn’t want plain eggs, so I pulled some leftover cooked carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli out of the fridge. I proceeded to throw them in the food processor with some fresh spinach leaves as well. Then I took 10 fresh eggs from the coop and whisked the eggs and veggies together.

When the waffle maker was nice and hot I sprayed the top and bottom griddle with cooking spray and then ladled the egg mixture on to the greased iron making sure not o overfill.

It literally took about 2 minutes to cook the eggs!! I loved how fast making these were.

Since I like my omelets with cheese — I placed the omelet into the warm oven sprinkled with american and mozzarella cheese. Once the cheese was melted they were ready to eat!

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Gluten Free Graham Crackers

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Gluten Free Graham Crackers1

Graham crackers are something that all adults and kids alike love. Yet, they are not that easy to find in a gluten free version at your grocery stores. And yet there are many recipes that call for Graham Crackers such as S’mores and Cheesecakes!

Nevertheless, I decided it was about time to give homemade gluten free graham crackers a whirl.  And I will tell you, I’m so glad I did!  They came out really great! I made mine a little on the thicker side and they were still great.

Now I am kicking myself for waiting so long to make these easy crackers.

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Crockpot Split Pea Soup with pork

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I have always loved split pea soup but rarely ever make it. And since my husband is allergic to msg and sodium nitrates we can’t eat ham. Regardless, for this recipe I used boneless pork chops instead and it came out wonderful!

Split Pea soup is a wonderfully hearty soup and very easy to make when using a crockpot.

Split Pea Soup | Small Town Living in Nevada

Crockpot Split Pea Soup with pork 

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups split peas
  • 4 cups Turkey or Chicken Bone Broth
  • 6 cups water
  • 1/2 cup carrots, diced
  • 4 celery stocks, diced
  • 1/4 cup dried onions or one small onion, diced
  • Cracked Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 lb thin cut boneless pork chops
  • Sour Cream (Optional)

Place the pork chops on bottom of the crockpot. Next arrange the split peas in the crockpot in an even layer. Add the carrots, celery, and onion over the split peas.

Pour the broth and water into the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours or until peas are soft. Place in a bowl with a dollop of sour cream and ENJOY!

Gluten Free Fried Shrimp with a Garlicky Sweet Chili Sauce

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I have a love affair with shrimp. It is my favorite seafood, yet I don’t get to eat it as much as I would love. Take me to a buffet and I am hoarding the peel and eat shrimp, LOL.

I wanted to do something different and decided to make fried shrimp with a Sweet Chili Sauce, but added garlic powder to the sauce originally by accident. Needless to say, the sauce came out really tasty even though I didn’t plan adding the garlic in the first place.

Breaded Shrimp with Sauce

Gluten Free Fried Shrimp with a Garlicky Sweet Chili Sauce

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup vegetable oil, or more, as needed
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3/4 cup gluten free flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 large egg
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup gluten free bread crumbs
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Garlicky Sweet Chili SauceTo make the sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, honey, garlic powder and rice vinegar in a small bowl; set aside.
  2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, gluten free flour, cornstarch, egg. In another large bowl, combine gluten free breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
  4. Working one shrimp at a time, dip shrimp into buttermilk/flour mixture, then dredge shrimp through the breadcrumb mixture, pressing to coat.
  5. Working in batches, add shrimp to the skillet and cook until evenly golden and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
  6. Serve immediately, drizzle with the Garlicky Sweet Chili Sauce.

Adapted from Damn Delicious

Easter Craft: Easter String Egg Garland

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Easter Egg Garland | Small Town Living in Nevada

Here is a fun yet messy Easter craft.

What you need

  • Embroidery Floss
  • Liquid Starch
  • Flour
  • Ribbon / Yarn
  • water balloons
  • needle

First, you need a lot of embroidery floss different pastel colors.

Next, you need to make your glue.  You will need 1/2 a cup of flour and 1 cup Sta-Flo liquid starch.

Now, take a water balloon and blow it up to make it look like an egg.

Now, dip your floss in the starch glue and then wrap the embroidery floss around the balloon, using your fingers to pull off the excess liquid. It shouldn’t be a goopy mess when you are done.

Once the string hardens and is completely dry, take a needle and pop the balloons.

Next string up your eggs with ribbon or yarn and you have an Easter String Egg Garland.

DIY Homemade Decorative Candle Holders

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Many years ago I use to attend the local MOPS with my children. One of the crafts I learned was how to make homemade candle holders.  It is by far the easiest craft I have made – and it is rather affordable to gather your items at the Dollar Tree at that.

And since St Patrick’s is around the corner you can use green spilt peas for decoration inside the candle holders.

DIY Candle Holders | Small Town Living in Nevada

What you need:

  • Different sized glass vases
  • Glass candle stick holders
  • Different sized candles
  • 2-3 bags of split peas
  • E6000 Glue

Place glue around the top edge of the candle stick holder.  Center the base of the vase on the candle stick.  Allow to dry completely before handling. Approximately 24 hours is best.

Once dry, fill the vases with split peas. And place a candle inside. Wallah, you now have a decorative candle holder.