And the Duh Award Goes To Me...Missing out on White Bean Chicken Chili

Oh good heavenly days. Do you ever have those moments about two days after you do something dumb where you go, "Oh, duh. I totally spaced it." I had one of those yesterday. Not that it's anything new, mind you. With five kids and an employed husband, I'm always forgetting stuff. Sometimes it's small stuff like brushing my teeth or putting gas in my car. Other times it's getting kids registered on time for sports or forgetting to take pictures of food with my limping camera. What?!? Did I just type that I forgot to take a picture of my food with my camera? Yes. Yes I did.

It's true. I spent the better part of an afternoon making this delicious recipe for Chicken and White Bean Chili from Giada deLaurentiis, which if you haven't noticed, is my favorite chef ever, and it was sooooo good and yummy. My family and I ate up about half of it and I sent the other half over to my neighbor's house because she just had a baby and seemed like she needed some chicken chili that night. That night while I was doing my dishes and washing out my favorite LeCreuset pan, I realized that I hadn't even taken ONE photo to show you all. Not one! Sigh. I really have issues with not having an original photo of the food that I am touting to y'all out there. So I truly do apologize. But I can't wait any longer for you to be in the know about this dish. It's so good for late winter dinners, and everyone but my two little people ate it, which is a miracle around here. Anyway, I'll send you the link to the recipe and you can all give it a try because it's easy and delicious and the only subsitution I made was to add cornstarch instead of flour. Not bad for a Food Network recipe, eh? Seriously, try this recipe. You will love it and, apparently, your family will, too!

Happy eating!

Gluten Free Granola Fix

Most of you will remember my current obsession with Trader Joe's Loaded Fruit and Nut Granola that I have to beg my out of state friends to send to me, because I'm crazy like that. Well, the granola gods have taken pity upon me and sent me a tasty stand in for my favorite gluten free easy breakfast/snack/dinner/boredom buster. While trolling through Harmon's Natural Foods section the other day, I spied this granola from Bakery on Main. They actually have other gluten free flavors, too, which I can't wait to try. Of course I grabbed the bag hoping that it would be close to the real thing, and thanks to the Gluten Free Granola gods, is almost the exact same cereal. It couldn't have shown up at a better time, since I just ran out of my rationed stash of Trader Joe's. So if you're like me and aren't lucky enough to live by a Trader Joe's, check your local health food store and see if you can find it, or go to the Bakery on Main store locator. It's as good as the real thing!

Happy eating!

Quick and Easy Gluten Free Guacamole

When I was a little girl we used to live in South Texas. And when I say south, I mean south. We lived in Brownsville, which is, like, 5 miles from the Mexican border. My mom and I would go out to eat and I would order a large order of guacamole and chips and eat that for dinner. Truly. It's one of my favorite foods of all time. I'm pretty sure the exposure to authentic Mexican food was the breeding ground for my grown-up tastes leaning towards Mexican all the time. Whenever we go out to dinner or go somewhere with friends, I immediately wonder if I can get a good Mexican meal out of it. And I always sample the guacamole at every Mexican restaurant I eat at. I'm like a guacamole savant. One thing I love about Mexican food, despite the wonderful concoctions of flavors that come in every meal, is that it's so easily made gluten free. Swap the flour tortillas for corn, or tortilla chips, and you're out the door.

The most important ingredient when you're making guacamole is, of course, the avocados. Make sure to choose ones that are soft and give a little bit when you touch them, but not shriveled and gushy or hard as a rock. If you do happen to buy a hard avocado, patience is your only weapon. Sit the avocado on your counter and let it ripen for a day or two. Better to wait than to try to mash avocado the consistency of cold butter. If you cut an avocado and only use half and want to save half for later, save the half with the pit in it. The pit will help keep it from going brown in the refrigerator. Avocados don't have a long half life in the refrigerator, however. Try to use the other half by the next day, if you can.

There are about a million ways to vary guacamole, and this is just one way I have made guacamole and really liked it. This is a great guacamole to eat with chips, because it's a little creamy and it dips well.

Quick and Easy Guacamole

1 avocado, pitted, scooped from skin, and mashed

1/2 roma tomato, diced

1/2 tsp onion salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 T sour cream

Mash all ingredients together with a fork and mix well. (I prefer NOT to use a food processor. Guacamole should have chunks of avocado in it.) Serve with plain corn tortilla chips.

Happy eating, or feliz comiendo!

Gluten Free Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of those posts where I am shocked that I haven't yet shared this recipe with you. Gluten Free Chicken Enchiladas are one of my staple casseroles that I make when I have a lot of people coming for dinner or if I need to take a dinner in to someone who's sick or just had a baby. The reason for that is twofold: I can easily adjust the recipe to make more or less if I need it, and it actually makes great leftovers. The other bonus, which I just found out from my Biggest-Loser website readings (since the show has been off during the Olympics) is that corn tortillas are a whole grain option that also happen to be gluten free, which is great since maybe it will cancel out some of the sinning from the sour cream. Incidentally, you can make this a low-fat dish as well by using low-fat sour cream and low-fat cheese.

The only trick when making these gluten free chicken enchiladas is that you have to make your cream of chicken soup with Lipton Cup-A-Soup Creamy Chicken packets. That takes a grand total of two minutes and thirty seconds extra, so I think you'll survive.Take four packets of soup mix, add 1 1/2 cups water, whisk together, and microwave for two minutes and 15 seconds. Voila! Two cans of cream of chicken soup, at your service. So here's the recipe complete with pictures that are totally dark since I made this at 10:00 at night when my husband came home ravenous one night from a trade show:

Gluten Free Chicken Enchiladas

1 large can Swanson's or Kirkland chicken, white meat only, drained and shredded

1 pint sour cream

1 box (4 pkgs) Lipton Creamy Chicken Cup-A-Soup, made to directions above

1 1/2 cups shredded mexican blend cheese or colby jack

2 T minced onion

20 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray any casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Tear the tortillas into strips and layer along the bottom of a casserole dish. That way you can cut them any way when they are done and you don't risk slicing someone's enchilada in half.Mix all other ingredients except 1/2 cup cheese and stir together well. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the layer of tortillas. Add a layer of tortillas over the sauce, and top with another 1/3 of the mixture. One last layer of tortillas and spread the last of the sauce over the top, top with the extra cheese. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with red rice and guacamole.

My sister in law also will sometimes make this and spread a can of refried beans on the bottom of the casserole dish before adding the first layer of tortillas, just to give it a little more protein and saltiness. Also, if you are doubling the recipe for more eaters, I suggest simply using a bigger casserole dish and keeping it to about three layers. Otherwise, you'll need to up your cooking time to make sure the thicker layers are heated through.

Happy eating!

Wendy's Does It Again

If you are a celiac person like me, you try your best to make your own food and cook at home as much as possible. But inevitably, there are days when you have to grab some takeout and call it good. And you have to love Wendy's for all their many gluten free options, which I think they don't even make gluten free on purpose. It's like a happy accident when you find something gluten free at a fast food restaurant...it SOOO feels like cheating.

Anyway, the other day I went through the drive through at Wendy's and noticed that they had changed their salad menu again. I'm guessing they do this seasonally or at least yearly, because so many people are on the salad bandwagon these days and they probably get sick of eating the same salads over and over again. Me, I'm all about the bunless burger, but on occasion, I feel the need for a salad come up and I'll go for it. I usually just order my salads the way a normal person would and then read the ingredients on the dressings when I'm home to see if it's okay, then if it's not okay I'll just use one of my own salad dressings. No biggie. I decided to try the Baja salad, which comes with chili, spicy pico de gallo, guacamole, tortilla strips, and this creamy red jalapeno dressing. (Did I say it was diet food? I did not say that.) I put it all together, and lunch was born. Personally, this salad was a little on the spicy side for me, but that's because I have a tenderfoot mouth. My husband would think it needed hot sauce, but that's a moot point because he won't eat salads anyway. I checked both the salad dressing and the tortilla strips, and both are gluten free. I love their already gluten free chili, which I could pour over everything I eat every day, and it was a nice warm contrast to the lettuce blend. The guacamole was okay. I think it was a little bland, but it was all mixed together with the spicy pico and the dressing, so it didn't really matter that it wasn't spicy. Yet another great gluten free lunch option from Wendy's! Check out their gluten free menu listing here, and I dare you not to be craving a Frosty by the time you're done browsing. Chow down, y'all!

Happy eating!

Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread

My good friend Teresa stopped by my house the other day bearing gifts. Lovely gifts. See, Teresa recently had her 2 year old son diagnosed with celiac sprue and has been learning the ropes of gluten free eating. The other thing about Teresa is that she's unfailingly generous. She's new enough at this kind of eating not to be hoarding her products, yet. Yet. She happened upon these loaves of Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread at a discount warehouse and graciously shared some of her bounty with me. For those of you who don't know, Udi's is a Denver-based company that makes both gluten free and regular artisan bakery items. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical to try this bread at first. Traditionally gluten free pre-made breads are terrible. (Sorry, gf bread makers.) I much prefer to take my chances and make it fresh at home. But I have to say, I was completely taken off guard by this bread. It's more than four inches high (a feat for gf breads), is soft but hearty, and takes to a toasting like a champ. Udi's where have I been? There are probably fifty of you out there shaking your heads going, duh, Udi's rocks! So, sorry I haven't been in the loop lately, but now I have a new best friend.No crumbly bread falling apart in the toaster, here. So of course I had to get some of that bread out and smear it with my favorites, which I only do for breakfast occasionally:aah, the lovely and talented Adams Natural No Stir Creamy Peanut Butter and Red Plum Jam. Heavenly. Eating a piece of toast with peanut butter and jam used to be my go-to breakfast for crazy days, and it looks like those days may be on the horizon again. Another bonus to this bread is that I don't have to keep it in the freezer. I can just keep the thawed loaf out on my counter and grab it whenever I see the need for a whole-grain textured gluten free bread. I also made these with three pieces of bread last night: Bread crumbs to top a batch of homemade macaroni and cheese. I love it! Just when you've spent seven years thinking you will never taste anything like what you used to eat ever again, something comes up that shines the light on your appetite. Bread. You've gotta love it. You can pick up a loaf of Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread at places like Whole Foods, Sunflower Market, and Good Earth, but you can also pop on over to Udi's website where they have a helpful zip code store finder to help you find their products near you.

Happy eating!

Happy Valentines Day from the Fix-It Guy

Husbands really come in handy sometimes. When my husband came home from work the other day I showed him my crippled camera, and he waved his magic wand and said, "Presto, change-O" and fixed it. It's not perfectly fixed, because I have to tap the lens a little to get it to close when I turn the camera off, but hey, it's better than spending a few hundred we don't have right now to have a working camera. So to reward myself for surviving a possibly traumatic event, I made a Valentine's day cake with Blue Chip Bakers' Double Fudge Brownie mix, and frosted it with Aimee's German Chocolate Frosting. I totally hogged the triangle piece and had to eat some before I even took a picture. How's that for self-love?As a side note, Utah's Own Blue Chip Group has also changed their look and brand to something called Augason Farms, so don't be surprised when you click the link to see their new logo.

Happy eating!