The Crazy things of life

Hello, is anyone still out there? Things have been crazy here lately and I don't know where the time is going. We have been doing some major house cleaning and reorganizing which has left me no time to do much. Look for big changes coming in the form of several giveaways and new recipes! I am so excited to get back to sharing with all of you about some of the yummy dishes I have made. Here is some of the recipes I have made while I was away.

Paleo "goldfish"
Paleo "ranch" crackers
Low sugar Fruit and Nut cookies
Vegan tacos
No-Cheese, Cheese Sauce
Chicken Freezer Cooking
More canning
Forgotten cookies
Dog treats
Cherry Walnut Cookies

And I have a bulk buying trip to an Amish store coming up too!

What have you been up to?

Beef Freezer Cooking

A few people want to know what my 2 freezer cooking groups do and what we cook.When we cook we pick a common ingredient this time it was beef but we have also done chicken, pork, breakfast, sides and sweet treats. We pick 3 to 4 meals and double them so we each have 6 to 8 meals per family.

This month we cooked

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Meatballs/Meatloaf (I use gluten free crackers and each person picks how they want their meal)

Slow Cooker French Dip

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef (Use gluten free soy sauce)

Remember that we double each recipe per person.

The night before I browned the ground beef for the stroganoff and prepped all the onions in the food processor. The next day one person finished making the stroganoff using olive oil instead of the fat. While she was doing that I started on the Mongolian beef and the third person started the French dips. We did our french dips in our slow cookers and had the dip cook all day to eat that night. Then we froze the leftovers for another meal later. Then as I finished the Mongolia beef the other two started on the meatballs/meatloaf. (Use gluten free crackers) We love this recipe because it works well as both meatballs and meatloaf. We bake them at 375* until done, this depends on the thickness of your meatloaf and how big your meatballs are. We then did dishes, cleaned up the kitchen and we home to fill our freezers. It is a small way to start filling your freezer for nights that you don't know what to cook.

Souper Sunday - Gluten and Dairy Free Northwoods Chicken Soup

During the month of September I am going to post easy but yummy soups. Today's soup was a favorite of my cooking group and was often in our cooking rotation. This was before my family went gluten and dairy free. As fall is approaching I'm in the mood for soup again and this soup was one I wanted to try again. I am pleased with the results and while it doesn't have the original 1 1/2 cups of half and half, it is still creamy. With using tapioca starch the soup almost gels when cool but if you heat it back up again it will be creamy again. I have not tried freezing the soup like the original one because it did not last long enough. Cameron loved the soup and if I get him to eat and like new foods it is worth sharing. There are some people who do not like the texture of the wild rice and if they are in your family you can use brown rice instead.

Northwoods Wild Rice Soup
adapted from Food.com

What you need:
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup butter substitute
6 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
10 oz chicken broth
1 1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups dairy free milk (I used coconut)
2 cups cooked wild rice

Directions:
In one bowl combine tapioca starch, salt, thyme and paprika. Also have milk, chicken broth and worcestershire sauce together and ready to add to the roux you make. Melt the butter in a large pot and add onion and celery. Saute until the onion and celery is tender. Stir in the bowl of tapioca starch and spices and cook for about a minute, until it starts to thicken. Add in milk and chicken broth and stir, stir, stir! It will thicken into a gel for a second but keep stirring and it will smooth out. Add in chicken, bacon and wild rice and cook till thickened. Enjoy!
If you freeze it let me know how it is please.

Cameron asked for another bowl before bed.

Freezer Friendly - White Chicken Chili

This is another classic that is out of our cooking rotation that is an easy meal for during the week. To make it extra special you can add the cornmeal dumplings that follow.

Chicken Chili with dumplings and cheese.

White Chicken Chili
What you need:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 4oz can of diced green chilies 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups chicken broth
2 (15.5 ounce) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

Directions:

In a large pot combine the oil, garlic, green chilies and onion and saute until the onion is soft. Next add the broth, beans, cilantro, lime juice, cumin and cooked chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. If freezing let cool and freeze in zip top bags or jars.

To Serve:
Thaw the white chicken chili and warm over medium low heat in a large pot. You can stir in sour cream, radishes, salsa or raw onion if desired. It is also wonderful with the cornmeal dumplings.

Cornmeal dumplings
What you need:

1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread mix
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water

Very stiff dough!

Add them in.

Directions:
Mix together the cornbread mix and the salt in a large glass bowl. Carefully add in the boiling water and stir until a firm dough starts to come together. You will need to kneed the dough with your hands to work in the last of the cornbread mix. It will all absorb in to make a very stiff dough. Next take the dough and roll into quarter size balls. When you have all the dough rolled into balls carefully add them one at a time into the simmering chicken chili. Cover with a tight fighting lid and let cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Do not open the lid while they are cooking except to check how they are cooking after 15 minutes have passed. They make the chili nice and thick and round out the meal nicely.

All done simmering.

Freezer Friendly - Ground beef stroganoff

I am going to share some of my recipes that my freezer meal group uses. We use this one because it is allergy friendly and you can add to it based on your needs. The base recipe is for one meal and can easily be multiplied to what you need.

What you need:
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning

This is what it looks like thawed.

3 T gluten free flour blend
1 1/2 c beef stock
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

When you serve:
1 cup sour cream (or dairy free alternative)
Noodles, Rice, or Potatoes

Directions:

Brown the ground beef and onion in a large pot. When the ground beef is cooked through, remove the cooked ground beef and onion. Add the gluten free flour blend of choice and wisk to combine with the rendered fat left in the pan. Once the flour is mixed in smooth and is starting to bubble, slowly add the beef stock constantly stirring. It is important to stir well so you do not get lumps. With the beef stock added, add the garlic, Italian seasoning, red wine vinegar, the cooked ground beef and onion mixture to the pot. Here is where I cool the stroganoff base and freeze it.
To Serve:
Thaw the stroganoff and warm over medium low heat. While the stroganoff is warming cook desired noodles, rice or potatoes according to package directions. When warm stir in the sour cream (or dairy free alternative) and top with parsley when fully heated.

See how yummy it looks.