sometimes things are worth eating twice... or six times.

I am pretty excited to share this next recipe. Sometimes I get a little too enthusiastic when I come up with a good recipe. I made this and seriously ate it a million different ways. And every time it was just as delicious. If you couldn't tell, I am a huge fan of Mexican food. For me it is the easiest to cook at home and get tons of flavor but still keep it low calorie. I feel like such a dork for it, but I can live with that.

So here is what the recipe consisted of.

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup of white onions, chopped
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup of corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped.
1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped. (I use a half of one because I don't seed mine.. cause I like the heat)
1 whole chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup of GF salsa
corn tortillas (I use Extra Thin Corn Tortillas)
shredded cheese
1 lime


In a large saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onions and let them cook until transparent. Then add in the black beans, corn, bell peppers, and jalapeno. Cook for about 5-8 minutes.  You'll know when it is ready. Once that is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and in the same pan and add the chicken. You can add in a little bit of olive oil if you'd like. Once the chicken is cooked about halfway through, add the salsa. Let the chicken cook through. Once it is, transfer the chicken to a cutting board and chop it up. Once it is chopped up, add it to the vegetables and beans, squeeze the lime over it and mix it up.

Avocado Dip:

1 avocado

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (I also use about 3/4 of the jalapeno and i don't seed it... i like for mine to be extra spicy!)

1 lime

dash of salt

Add the avocado, jalapeno, lime juice and salt in a bowl and puree it until smooth with an immersion blender. Mine actually just broke, so i use my magic bullet :)

I've literally eaten it a bunch of different ways. You can try any of the following:

As a taco. 

As a Quesadilla

As a baked taquito

For the taco:  
Wrap the tortillas in a wet paper towel and heat for about 20 seconds. This helps the tortillas from falling apart. Spread the avocado dip on the bottom and then add the mixture on top and sprinkle with cheese.


For the quesadilla:
In a small skillet, add a little olive oil and let it heat up. Once it has, place one of the tortillas as the bottom and add a small layer of cheese. Add the mixture on top and then sprinkle a little more cheese on top of that. Then place the other tortilla on top. Once it starts to brown on the bottom, flip over and allow for the other side to brown.  Cut up and serve with salsa and avocado dip.


For the taquito:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small skillet, add a couple drops of olive oil and heat up the tortillas a little on each side. This helps when rolling them. Once they are warm, add a few tablespoons of the mixture and sprinkle cheese on top. Then roll them and place them on a greased baking sheet. Cook for about 12 minutes until crispy. Serve with salsa and avocado dip.

One night I sprinkled some cheese on top and ate it by itself... it was really good that way too! As you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I hope you guys like it as much as I did :)

xoxo
katy

chocolate chip cookies.

I've actually tried out a few different ready made GF cookies. It wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. I thought i'd try making them from scratch. I'm SO glad I did. They were so good! No grainy aftertaste or crumble. They didn't even taste gluten free. All of my roommates taste tested one and approved... and they would be honest. Especially my favorite little brunette who is a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur :)

Ingredients: 
(makes about 2 dozen cookies)
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 sticks of GF butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp GF vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of GF chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixer add butter, sugar and brown sugar. Mix together until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and continue to mix. Slowly add the flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Mix until well combined... then add the chocolate chips. Drop the cookie dough (about the size of 2 tablespoons) on a greased cookie sheet and cook for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. I like mine to be really soft in the middle, so if you prefer yours with more crunch let them cook a little longer. Just make sure you are watching so they don't burn.

They turned out WAY better than I expected. I can't wait for my non gluten free taste tester to try them out... unfortunately for him, he has tasted all of those ready made cookies. So I'm hoping to get his stamp of approval and hopefully earn a few points for a fantastic gluten free chocolate chip cookie :)

egg scramble: 1

I love a good egg scramble. Maybe mostly because I haven't yet conquered an omelette. Also, you can add way more to a scramble than an omelette without it all falling apart. Although, it falling apart could be because of my lack of skill, which is probably more likely. I'm sure I will post a ton of different types of scrambles I make... it's my go to breakfast. I know you are excited:)

Ingredients:

3 eggs

white onion, chopped

tomatoes, chopped

broccoli, chopped

shredded cheese

(optional) a slice of toast with light butter.

Heat a skillet over medium heat... I usually add a little Olive Oil Pam once it is hot enough to help with the sticking. Crack the eggs into a bowl (I use one whole egg and two egg whites. I just separate the yoke from the egg white) and whisk the eggs. You can use however much or little of the veggies as you'd like. Mine is more of a veggie scramble with a little egg added in.. but it is definitely however you'd prefer yours to be. So mix in the chopped veggies to the whisked eggs and pour into the heated skillet. I use a silicone spatula and continue to scramble the egg mixture all together until it is cooked all the way through.

xoxo

katy

gooey butter cake.

This next recipe is inspired from Paula Deen. I just changed a few things to make it gluten free friendly. Here is what I did.

Ingredients: 
1 box of yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker GF Yellow Cake Mix)
3 egg
1 stick of butter
8oz cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package JELL-O vanilla instant pudding (You only use 1/4 cup)


Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Make the pudding according to the directions and let is set. You only need a little bit of the pudding, so unless you wanted to save the rest of it to eat later, you end up wasting most of it.

In a separate bowl mix together the yellow cake mix (you aren't following the directions from the box), softened butter,  vanilla extract, and 1 egg. The GF flour has a different consistency than a regular mix so this is why you add the pudding. I was more eyeing this when I made it... but I'm going to say that 1/4 cup is probably good. But just add it slowly to see what sort of consistency it turns out to be. You want for it to be doughy... not runny. Once it is finished, add that to the bottom of a greased 9 by 13 pan. Then in another bowl mix together the softened cream cheese, 2 eggs. Then slowly mix in the powdered sugar. Once it is all mixed together add that to the top of the cake mix. Put it in the oven for about 45 minutes until the top has browned just a little. But not too much because the center still needs to be soft.

It was VERY sweet... but very good! After tasting it though, I decided that it could use some fresh berries. I think that would make it perfect. I might pick some up tomorrow and test it out :)

xoxo
katy

shredded beef and pepperoncini sandwich.

So I know everyone was sitting by their computers anxiously awaiting my post on tonight's dinner. It's okay, I only judge you a little.

So I love pepperoncinis. Love them. My dad is Italian and I remember as a child watching him eat them whole... one after the other. I was totally grossed out. Until about a year ago when I realized that he might have been onto something. They are delicious! They can go on anything and everything! Or just by themselves. Yum!

My mom bought me a crock-pot a few years ago for christmas. Still one of the best gifts i've ever received. I don't use it as much as I should... probably cause I never quite know what to make in it or because i usually only cook for myself. Either way, I am going to be pulling it out more often... Especially after tonight's dinner.

Ingredients:
2.5 pounds of beef chuck roast
1 16oz can of deli sliced pepperoncinis
reduced fat provolone cheese
GF buns or bread (I used Udi's Whole Grain Bread)


Place the roast in the crock-pot and pour the entire bottle of pepperoncinis over the roast. Cook on Low for about 8 hours. Give or take 20 minutes. Once the roast is done, pull it out onto a cutting board and shred it with a fork, removing any excess fat. Once it is all shredded, put the meat inside a bowl and scoop out any leftover pepperoncinis from the crock-pot and stir them in with the meat. I have never been a big salt and pepper on my food kind of a girl, probably a trait from my mother, but it might need a little salt and pepper on the meat once it is all shredded.

I toasted a piece of GF bread (But also bought some regular buns for my non gluten free taste tester) and  then melted a piece of provolone cheese on top in the microwave.

Okay, I don't want to brag but this was DELICIOUS! I couldn't even believe it. Especially because it was SO easy! The meat was tender and moist and the pepperoncinis added just the right amount of tangy flavor... then top it off with the provolone and it tied it all together perfectly. And honestly, even if you don't like pepperoncinis you would probably still like this.

I didn't really need a side with this. The sandwich was enough for me... but I know that men like to have a little something extra with their meals, so I whipped up a small batch of mashed potatoes for my favorite little taste tester.

I hope you guys try this out sometime.. you won't be sorry!

xoxo
katy