FABULOUS Lettuce Wraps

This recipe came from my neighbor and I must say it is a regular at our house. It's kind of a lot of chopping, but if you have a Pampered Chef chopper, it's quite quick to do.

1/2 c finely chopped carrots
1/2 c water

cook carrots in water until tender, then drain. In the same large skillet (or wok) add:

1 T sesame oil
1 20oz pkg ground turkey
1 c shitake mushrooms chopped (I have used all kinds if you can't find shitake)
1 8 oz can water chestnuts chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
2 T grated fresh ginger
1/3 c your favorite teriyaki sauce
2 T peanut butter (optional: I like it better without)
1 T rice vinegar
1/4 c hoisin sauce
1/2 c green onion chopped

Add ground turkey, garlic, ginger, and chopped mushrooms to cooked carrots. Cook meat until no longer pink. Add water chestnuts and everything else (except green onion) and cook on med-hi until cooked warmed through 10-20 min. Add green onion at the end. Serve over rice or in iceberg or butter lettuce cups. ALMOST as good as PF Changs. We love this recipe, so give it a try.

Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c peanut butter
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c quick oats


Mix butter, sugars, PB, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Add soda, salt, flour, and oatmeal. Mix together and spread into a 15x10 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. Heat about 1/4 c PB in microwave and pour over bars right when they come out the oven. Spread an even, thin layer over all.

Chocolate Frosting:
1 c sugar
1/3 c evaporated milk
5 T butter
1 c chocolate chips

Combine sugar, milk, and butter, in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil for 45 seconds stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and stir them in until they are melted. Quickly spread over bars. Let chocolate set before serving.

Alpine Pasta

This is my own version of a yummy pasta dish served at a local café.
Everyone always loves it.

1 cup cream
4 tbsp. butter
½ cup milk
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
pinch of cayenne
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. each of dried basil, mint, dill, and parsley
1 cup cooked, chopped chicken meat (I use 2-3 breasts)
½ cup crisp bits of real bacon
1 T. capers
½ can of artichoke hearts, drained & chopped (I’ve even used marinated)
1 can of mushrooms, drained
½ package angel hair pasta, cooked

1. Combine cream, butter, salt, nutmeg and cayenne in a heavy saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened.

2. Whisk in Parmesan cheese and herbs and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in chicken, bacon, capers, artichoke hearts and mushrooms and heat through. Serve immediately, over pasta. [Sauce will not be especially thick.]

3. Serves approximately 6.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I found this recipe from the Gluten Free Goddess. Many of her recipes are complex and I don't have all of the ingredients. However, I did like this one, and I made it into mini-muffins. They were easy to freeze that way and fast to re-heat. Plus, he can't eat them all at once, so, it is a great way to store them!

I changed it just a smidge.

Combine in a large bowl:

4 smaller-medium bananas, peeled, mashed (if bananas are large, use one less)
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup organic light brown sugar
2 teaspoons GF vanilla extract

Whisk together in a separate bowl:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used a combo of buckwheat/rice/tapioca/potato starch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons GF baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon

Add the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir until smooth. If the batter looks too thin and wet, add more gluten-free flour, a tablespoon at a time, to thicken the batter.Add in:1/2 cup vegan soy-free chocolate chips (we used Enjoy Life)Pour the batter into the prepared mini-muffin tins. Bake for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees depending on your oven!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies GF/CF

Many of you have seen this recipe. It is a quick step to make it Gluten Free!

1 Gluten Free Namaste Cake Mix (Found at Whole Foods or Organic Markets)
1 Small can of Pumpkin Puree
1 Cup of Chocolate Chips. Girradeli Choc. Chips are GF/CF or you can buy Enjoy Life Gluten Free Choclate Chips.

Mix, and Bake at 350 Degrees for 12-15 minutes.

GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE RECIPES!

As some of you know, I have started Jaxon on a Gluten Free Casein Free Diet (Wheat Free/Dairy Free) I love to cook, and this nearly KILLED ME. I don't cook that way for my whole family, but I do my best to keep him going. If I am making a family meal, I will slightly alter one of my old recipes (luckily, I already cooked with a LOT of rice). He is doing great, and it is not as bad or scary as I thought. Needless to say, I wanted to help the masses and post recipes that I love when I find them. Like I mentioned before, MANY of my recipes are easily converted.. just take a look. But here are the ones that I have used lately.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Leige Sugared Waffles

I had one of these for the first time at my local Farmers Market. These waffles are from Leige Belgium and they are TASTY! They would be great as a treat with chocolate drizzle and whipped cream, or for breakfast with berries and cream. If you don't want to hunt down the Pearl Sugar (I found mine at a local European store) you can use sugar cubes and crush them to the size of large BB's. These may seem like more work than the typical waffle but you will be richly rewarded.

For a Liege Waffle recipe we will need:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup pearl sugar
1 cup very soft/melted butter
2 eggs
1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons sugar (add some vanilla sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt


1. Take the lukewarm milk and mix in yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt. Let the yeast develop for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile you can soften the butter.

2. Now take a large bowl and put in the flour, make a hole in the middle, pour in the yeast that you made in step one. Also add eggs and melted butter and knead until you get nice and even dough. I had to add a little extra flour until it was moist but not sticky. Then let it rest so the yeast does it's magic and the dough doubles. About 30 minutes.

3. Now take pearl sugar and gently mix it in.

4. Again, let it rest for 10 minutes, in the meanwhile you can turn on the waffle maker so its nice and hot.

5. All there is left is to pull the waffle dough into 4 oz patties and place in the waffle maker and bake for 3-5 minutes. Because we mixed in the sugar late in the process it will melt and caramelize and give that special Liege waffle taste. Just be careful when you take them out of the waffle maker, caramelized sugar can make them sticky.

6. Serve with fresh whipped cream, cut berries, and or melted chocolate or caramel.