Thai Curry

Curry can be anything you want it to be!  Use your imagination, use whatever vegetables or meat you have in your fridge.  Here is a basic, classic recipe for a red curry but really, you can make it into whatever you want!  This is a QUICK recipe that can be prepared in a little over 10 minutes!

(Picture coming later 😋)

    Jasmine (or long-grain rice) prepared separately
    
    2 cups beef or chicken broth (I use GF chicken stock from Costco)
    1 can coconut milk (unsweetened)
    2 tablespoons sugar
    2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (Taste of Thai)
    1 teaspoon red curry paste (or more to taste) (Taste of Thai)*
    1 pound small red potatoes (cut into 1-inch chunks)
           ~~~~Bring to a boil~~~~
    1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs or beef (cut into 1/2 inch slices)** 
    1 large red pepper (thinly sliced)
    2 cups snow peas (strings removed)
          ~~~~Cook 5 minutes~~~~
    1 teaspoon cornstarch
    1 tablespoon COLD water
    1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

1. Prepare rice as label directs.  I prefer to use a rice make or a pressure cooker.

2.  Meanwhile, in a 4-quart saucepan, heat broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste, and potatoes to boiling over high heat.

3.  Once boiling, stir in the chicken or beef, rep pepper, and snow peas.  Cook for 5 minutes.

4.  In a small cup, mix the cornstarch with the tablespoon of  COLD water.  Once dissolved, stir the cornstarch mixture into the broth mixture, stirring constantly while combining.  Boil 1 minute or until mixture thickens slightly and chicken just looses its pink color throughout.  Remove saucepan from heat.

5.  Stir in basil and serve.

Have fun and experiment!  You can use green or yellow curry paste.  I always add carrots, spinach, and bamboo shoots and usually omit the snow peas because my kids don't like them.  You can add eggplant too!

* I make a quadruple recipe for my growing kids so I just use the whole (little) jar of the curry paste.

**You can put frozen chicken into the pot with the broth and coconut milk (step 2) then pull it out as it starts to thaw, slice it up and throw it back in the pot!

Habanero Chili

Yum!  The best!  Thank you Maresa for sharing this recipe with me!  Serves 6, however I usually double or triple to feed my family!  It makes wonderful leftovers and freezes well too.

1 lb ground beef (lean round steak, cut into bite sized pieces browned with 3 Tbsp oil)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 red or yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 cup beef or chicken broth (Costco chicken stock)
16 oz can of tomato sauce
16 oz can of black eyed peas, drained
16 oz can corn, drained
16 oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1-2 habanero chilies, diced
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup (3 large) tomatoes, chopped

1.  In a large pot brown beef, then add and saute onion, pepper & garlic.
2.  Add everything else, bring to a boil and simmer 35-45 minutes.
3.  Remove bay leaf.  Serve with the following optional toppings:

• shredded cheese
• sour cream
• green onions
• sliced avocados

Classic (Gluten Free) Lasagna

1 lb ground sausage (check the label, there are some GF options out there)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
26 oz pasta sauce (Classico has multiple varieties that are clearly labeled GF)
1/2 cup water
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15 oz (1 3/4 cups) cottage cheese 
16 oz mozzarella, shredded (divided)
6 Tbsp Romano or Parmesan, grated (divided)
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 egg, slightly beaten
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9 noodles

1.  Heat oven to 350*
2.  In a large pot brown sausage.  Then add onion and garlic and saute.  Add sauce and water.
3.  In a large bowl combine cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 4 Tbsp Parmesan/Romano, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, basil and egg.
4.  In a 9x13 casserole dish layer in the following order then repeat:

• 1 cup meat sauce
• 3 noodles
• 1/2 the cheese mix
• 1 cup meat sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella

5.  The final layer is a little different:

• The last 3 noodles
• 1 cup meat sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella
• remaining 2 Tbsp of Romano/Parmesan.

6.  Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.  Then remove the foil and cook for another 10.  Cool for 10 minutes then serve.  

Sometimes the gluten free noodles take a little longer to cook properly.  You can cook it longer or just make this ahead of time and serve it the next day.  If you want to add a little twist to the classic lasagna and shorten the baking time you can use fusilli noodles, pre-cooked and use them instead.

Tortellini Soup

This is a favorite in both the summer and winter!  In the summer it's the best way to use up all those garden veggies and get your kids to eat them!  Or it's a yummy soup to warm you during those long, cold winter nights!

1 1/2 lbs Italian sausage (Costco has lots of GF options, my kids like the Chicken Apple)
1 cup chopped onion 
6 cups GF chicken stock (Costco)
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 16oz can diced tomato with liquid (or 3 large garden tomatoes)
2 cups thinly chopped carrot
1 cup thinly chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup ketchup
1 tsp Italian seasoning
          ~~~~Simmer 30 minutes~~~~
2 small zucchini thinly sliced
1/2 lb frozen GF tortellini* (or GF noodles & Feta)
1 bell pepper finely chopped (red, yellow or orange)
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley (or 4 tsp dried)

1.  In a large pot brown sausage and drain.
2.  Add onion and sautee.
3.  Add broth, wine, tomato, carrot, celery, garlic, ketchup & seasoning.  Simmer 30 minutes.
4.  Stir in zuchinni, tortellini, pepper & parsley.  Simmer 30 minutes or until zuchinni is tender.
5.  Season with parmensan cheese and enjoy!

* Gluten free tortellini is hard to find!!  I've found very small bags in the frozen section at New Seasons and Chucks.  If you can't find them (or don't want to pay $10 for 5 small tortellini) you can substitute with any gluten free noodles and then add feta!  My kids like Bionaturae fusilli.

Dutch Oven Hashbrown Bake

We love to prepare this when we are camping on a beach along the Columbia River!!  Thanks to the Ashworths for this yummy recipe!  Simply bring a pack of classic bacon, a bag of frozen Ore-Ida shredded Hash-browns, a dozen eggs (lightly beaten with a little milk) and a 4 Cup package of shredded cheese.  This serves our family of five but my boys eat a LOT!  It would probably be sufficient for at least 6-8 people as long as they are not swimmers! I'll try to take pictures next time we make it and update this post with pics!  Here's a summary of ingredients:

1 Package Bacon
1 Package Frozen Ore-Ida Shredded Hash-browns
1 Dozen Lightly Beaten Eggs with a little milk
4 Cups Shredded Cheese

Cook the bacon first then discard most of the grease.  Reserve some of the grease for the hash-browns.  Set the bacon aside then brown the Hash-browns, about 10 - 20 minutes depending on the heat of the Dutch Oven.  Then add the egg mixture and cook for a few minutes, stirring almost constantly.  When the eggs are about cooked then add the cheese.  Remove from heat and serve.  It looks ugly but is Oh So Yummy!

Dutch Oven Pizza

This is our family favorite to take camping! I pre-make the dough and then freeze it a couple days before we pack up. I also pre-chop all the veggies and toppings. When we are camping everyone just selects their favorite toppings to build their very own personal pizza.

Preparation:

I use Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza dough mix. It says it's for 2 pizzas but I divide it into 4 to make a nice thin crust that cooks great in the dutch oven. I place each ball, after it has risen, on parchment paper sprinkled with a thin layer of gluten free flour to keep it from sticking. Then I sprinkle more gf flour on top, place another piece of parchment paper on top and then slowly roll out with a wooden rolling pin.  I add more gf flour periodically as I'm rolling to ensure it won't stick to the parchment paper.  I stack them with 1 piece of parchment paper between each one and one piece on top, then wrap with saran wrap and stick in the freezer. My dutch oven is 12" so I try to keep them around that size.

Meanwhile heat up your briquettes...

Toppings I usually include (and add in this order):

  Pizza Squeeze (specifically says it's gluten free)
  Mozzarella Cheese
  Pepperoni
  Salami
  Canadian Bacon
  Basil (chopped)
  Garlic (diced with a little olive oil)
  Spinach
  Bell Pepper (thinly sliced)
  Olives (sliced - 1 small can is good for about 6 pizzas)
  Pineapple (chunk or crushed)
  Tomato (thinly sliced)
  Mozzarella
  Cheddar
  Feta

Cooking:

Place the prepared pizza (have everyone build their own pizza) with the parchment paper into the dutch oven.  Have briquettes evenly spread under your dutch oven and some on top.  Your dutch oven should come with instructions on how many to place under and over.  Typically for a 12" it would be about 9 on the bottom and 15 on the lid.  When we cook in the sand we usually add more on the bottom.  Cook for about 12 minutes or until evenly browned, you can tell when your pizza is fully cooked, the cheese should be bubbly and the crust will be browned on the edges..  For larger groups I like to use two dutch ovens at a time to speed up the "personal pizza" process.  I also have people split pizzas when they like the same toppings and then make them several pizzas to share so no one starves to death! 

Salad! It's what's for dinner!

We have a crazy schedule!  It's usually after 9pm before we are all home from various sports and activities!  Therefore we eat LATE!  My husband and I started eating salads for dinner about 5 years ago (2013-ish) I'd say about 98% of the time this is the salad we eat.   Sometimes we add smoked salmon, grilled chicken or whatever lunch meat we have on hand.  Most of the time though, it's too close to bed so we don't add meat.  We've found that we both sleep so much better if we stick to this!  It's a big salad, if you follow the portions below its enough for a whole meal!

Makes 4 Salads:

  4 handfuls Spinach - one handful per person
  1 Apple - 1/4 per person
  1 Bell Pepper - 1/4 per person
  20 Baby Carrots - about 5 per person (or 4 regular carrots - 1 per person)
  1 Avocado - 1/4 per person
  1 Roma Tomato - 1/4 per person
  4 Jalapeno and Garlic Stuffed Green Olives* (from Costco) -  diced, 1 per person
  4 Pickled Green Beans* (or other pickled item you like) - diced, 1 per person
  4 Tbsp Nuts - 1 Tbsp per person (pine nuts, pistachios, etc - whatever you like)

Slice everything into bite-size pieces and enjoy!

*by including pickled items as well as the tomato, apple and avo the salad is so moist you don't even need salad dressing.  I used to love salad dressing and thought people were weird if they didn't use it...just try it, you'll be surprised!  If you add the right ingredients and slice them small enough you don't need dressing, you'll save on the calories.  If it's still too dry, try adding a little Feta.  You can do it!