Tuesday Night Dinners...

[GwenRN]

Yes, I know it's friday today, but I wanted to talk about tuesday night dinners.
When my bf and I first starting dating, I wanted to impress on him that I truly CAN eat well with celiac disease, so I started a tradition of making something new every tuesday. I plan to post my menus/recipes here, and if you make a special dinner, feel free to add the recipe to the list.

This week's dinner was a simple one:

Tacos
Black Beans
Spicy Rice
Salsa Corn
GF Brownies with Ice cream


Tacos are probably one of the easiest GF foods to make, for those vegans among us, the black beans work well as a taco filling, too

Taco meat:
Brown 1lb ground beef, drain fat. Add 1/2c water, salt, pepper, diced onions, chili powder and garlic to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Taco shells:
You can certainly use prepared corn taco shells (read labels), but I make my own, much cheaper.
Preheat oven to 350, brush corn tortillas with a small amount of olive oil, and fold (carefully) over oven rack so that the ends of the tortilla hang down. As they heat up, they will curve to make a taco shell shape. When desired crispiness is acheived, take em out! (takes less than five minutes)

Black beans:
BF likes these nice and simple: in small frying pan, brown 2tbsp finely diced onions and 1 clove diced garlic. Add 1 can black beans (do not drain). Heat on low until liquid begins to thicken, add salt and pepper.

Spicy rice:
I discovered one day because I was out of tomato sauce, that if you cut up 1 roma tomato and heat it till it turns to mush, the rice comes out much better.

Prepare desired amount of white rice (or brown, what the heck) according to package directions
While this is cooking, again, brown diced onions in frying pan, add tomato (or 1 can tomato sauce) and chili peppers to taste. When rice is done, slowly add in tomato sauce mixture.

Salsa corn:
Exactly what it sounds like, 1 box of frozen corn, a few tablespoons of your favorite salsa, and I added chopped red and green bell peppers, microwave while everything else is being prepared. Looks fancy, takes no effort.

GF Brownies:
I used the Gluten Free Pantry's Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix, according to directions, but added a little bit of peanut butter this time, and they came out more moist than usual. The first time I made these, I was in a rush, and tried to cut them too soon. Do yourself a favor and allow them to cool fully, like the package says, and they come out much better. I serve them warmed, with a scoop of ice cream on top. This mix is unfortunately, NOT vegan, sorry.


Well, that's it for this week.... until next tuesday, EAT WELL

Gwen

[GwenRN]

Hi All,

Sorry so long in between posts on this thread, but our Tuesdays have been one crisis after another lately. Anyhoo, that's all over now, and I'm back!

Last Tuesday I made:

Fresh green salad with cucumbers and carrots,
Herbed red and yukon potatoes
Breaded! Lemon pepper salmon

The salad is pretty self explanatory

The herbed potatoes were fun

2 each medium red and yukon potatoes
Olive oil
Dill
Garlic
Salt and pepper

Slice potatoes into oval shaped slices
Mix garlic to taste with olive oil in large bowl, allow to sit for an hour or two
Toss potatoes in mixture, place on baking sheet
Coat with dill (don't be shy), salt and pepper to taste
Bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes

The salmon was mainly because it was on sale, LOL
I found these new "tortilla crumbs" at my local shaw's, clearly marked GF, two ingredients, corn, and lime
I think the brand was "Southern Homestyle" or something like that, they were in with the regular bread crumbs

Salmon:

2 tsp butter, melted
Juice of one lemon
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup tortilla crumbs
2 salmon steaks

Combine butter, lemon juice and pepper in a medium sized bowl
Spread bread crumbs evenly on a plate
Dip salmon in lemon butter mixture, then coat with tortilla crumbs

Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until fish flakes easily with a fork

[GwenRN]

This week I was told I was "excused" from Tuesday night cooking, as I'd made a full turkey dinner for Easter, and Mike wanted leftovers. So here's a little bit from my turkey dinner:

We had:

Turkey with rosemary and thyme rub
Garlic Mashed Red potatoes
Wild rice stuffing (recipe to follow)
Cranberry Sauce
Butternut Squash with Nutmeg
Fresh steamed green beans with garlic butter
Salad

Baked apples with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


Wild rice stuffing:

This has quickly become more of a favorite than "regular" stuffing used to be, and could easily be adapted to a vegetarian recipe

2 cups wild rice
1 cup brown rice
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
some butter
1/2 package GF sausage (the roll kind)
McCormick's poulty seasoning blend

Melt enough butter to cover the bottom of a large skillet
add mushrooms, celery and onions
throw some poulty seasoning in
When those begin to brown, add sausage
When that looks about done, add the rice, and brown it
Throw about 6 cups of water or so in, and cover
Simmer for, oh, 24 minutes or so
Enjoy



Gwen

[tksmom]

Your recipes sound delicious.  I wish my daughter wasn't so picky so I could try these on her.

She does love the Gluten Free Pantry Brownies though.  I put in a jar of baby food, usually green beans, to help moisten them up.  I never thought of peanut butter, I'll have to try that.

I line the pan with tin foil, then after they have been out of the oven for a few minutes, I just take the whole thing out of the pan and pull down the sides of the tin foil and they cool a bit faster. 

[sheltiemom]

I have found almond meal to be a very good breading "agent". In fact, when I used it on fish recently, the picky teens thought it was better than the old style breading.

When I have made the GFPantry brownies, I have baked them in mini-muffin pans with paper liners. They bake a bit faster than the pan so I set the timer for 30 min and check often if they are not quite done then.

[GwenRN]

Sheltie...

I've heard that almond meal is good, but haven't tried it, maybe I will next time!

Thanks,

Gwen

[tksmom]

I've never seen almond meal.  Is it like a flour or more like corn meal?

I like to bread my chicken or fish with GF flour and I tried putting corn meal in it to make it a bit more crunchy but for some reason the corn meal bothers my stomach.

[sheltiemom]

I found the almond meal at Trader Joe's. 

[GwenRN]

Okay folks.....

My apologies for being such a slacker, LOL
Truth is, nursing school keeps me busy and I don't post as often as I'd like to!!!
I have, however, found the time to keep up the Tuesday night dinners. Recent creations include:

Steaks marinated in Kraft Free Zesty Italian dressing (I love this stuff, only 15 calories a serving and packed with flavor!!!), served over a bed of mixed white/brown rice (cooked in chicken broth, read labels CAREFULLY, for flavor) with a little parmesan and 1 inch squares of oven-roasted veggies (tomato, red, yellow, and green peppers, red onion, garlic) and ice cream (mocha chip) for dessert


A whole oven roasted chicken, coated with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (are you humming the song yet?), gravy (cornstarch), white rice (boring, but BF requested it) and steamed broccoli

Homemade (and I mean homemade, no cans, jars, etc here) meat sauce with Tinkayada spirals, salad with red onions, peppers, cucumbers and a balsamic vinagrette, and frozen raspberry/yogurt parfaits

And tonight, we had a shopping spree at Trader Joe's, all of this stuff comes from there

Chicken breasts with roasted red peppers and "roasted red pepper and garlic sauce" (okay, I admit it, I'm using a jar tonight)

Oven baked red, yukon, and purple baby potatoes with garlic and paprika (sounds odd, but try it sometime)

Roasted corn with red onion and black beans.......

and for dessert, FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE BITES!!!


If anyone needs more detailed recipes, lemme know... otherwise, I'm just posting to give you all general ideas


Gwen

[GwenRN]

Nearly a week later....

Last tuesday I decided I was just plain sick of making rice, corn, or potatoes, but determined to make yet another balanced meal, I decided to try quinoa.

For those who haven't yet tried it, it's really quite the interesting change, and in my opinion, easier than rice!

Flavorful Quinoa:

1 cup Trader Joe's Organic Quinoa
2 cups water
GF chicken boullion (read labels carefully)
1/4 tsp Minced garlic

Boil water, add boullion and garlic. Slowly add quinoa, reduce to simmer, cook 10-15 minutes.

According to package: When done, the grain appears soft and translucent and the germ ring will be visible along the outside edge of the grain.

Cranberry chutney glazed pork chops:

I baked pork chops for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, covering them with (gasp) bottled cranberry chutney about 10 minutes before they were done, and I mixed some juices with a couple spoonfuls of the stuff to make a sauce


Mixed vegetables with tarragon butter:

I used a TJ's mix called Brittany Blend, with baby carrots, haricot vert and yellow wax beans.

Salad


I'd post tomorrow's recipe now, but that might ruin the surprise... let's just say it's mexican, and involves corn meal.


Eat well!!

Gwen

[GwenRN]

Well, folks....

Last week's dinner wasn't exactly what I expected, it was an attempt at tamale pie, which turned more into tamale goop casserole, but tasted pretty good. I'll post the recipe, but it didn't quite work out for me.

Tamale pie:

Tamale Pie

1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 cup mixed chopped bell pepper (yellow, orange, red)
1 can drained black beans
AND/or
1 lb ground beef (turkey or something else that's ground)
1-2 tablespoons chili powder
1 box frozen corn
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup corn meal
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup GF cheese of your choice (may be omitted)
salt to taste

Brown the meat (and or beans) and add the onion then the pepper. Fry a bit, then add the chili powder. Dump in the corn and the tomatoes and let cook.

Mean while, bring your chicken broth to boil in a seperate pan and slowly add the corn meal as to not get it lumpy. Cook until thickened.

Then, get out a casserole dish, grease it. Take 1/2 of the corn meal goo and put it on the bottom. Then goes the meat mixture. Then top off with the rest of the corn meal mixture and cheese. Back for about 1/2 an hour in a 350 degree oven.



And last night's recipes:

Stuffed chicken breasts
Cheese and broccoli rice
Salad
Baked apples

Stuffed chicken breasts:

4 large boneless breasts
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1 egg
Tortilla crumbs (or other bread crumb substitute, try corn chips, cereal, whatever you have on hand)

mix cheese and broccoli (may be still frozen)
Cut a slit horizontally in each chicken breast, stuff with about a tbsp of cheese mixture
Dip chicken breast in egg, roll in "bread" crumbs
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes

Serve over rice with freshly ground pepper and a few shreds of cheese on top
While these were in the oven, I made the baked apples:

4 large apples
1 tsp butter per apple
cinnamon

core apples, slice into quarters, top with butter and cinnamon and bake at 350, also for about 40 minutes, or until soft. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream, if desired


Cheddar and broccoli rice:

I used a mixture of half white, half mixed brown rice. you can use any rice you prefer

3/4 cup white rice
3/4 cup brown rice mixture ( I used Lundberg Farms Jubilee)
3 cups water
1 1/2- 2 cups grated cheddar
approx 1 cup chopped broccoli

Mix water and rice, bring to a boil
Reduce to a simmer and add broccoli
Cook for 20 minutes, slowly adding cheddar and stirring
add salt and pepper to taste