Saturday "Supper"... Chicken Pot Pie

My dinner started with a plan. As you can see on my calendar the 25th says Chicken Pot Pie. I planned it on Sunday because that is the day I usually have the most time. But I still did it in steps...

Step one -Since I knew what I was going to make the day before, on Saturday I put together some homemade chicken broth in the crock pot to cook overnight, plus there will be extra to freeze or make something else with it the following week. ( This step can be skipped by purchasing a store brand broth.

Step Two - I put the raw chicken in a pot and while it cooked I peeled the potatoes. The potatoes are for making mashed potatoes that I put on top. A traditional Chicken Pot Pie usually has a crust on the top and bottom. But some years ago one of my children came up with the idea of the mash potatoes and all I can say is YUM! After the chicken was done,  it was time to cook the potatoes.

Step Three - The next step is making a crust. You can skip this step by purchasing a ready made one. But because we are gluten free, soy free and mostly dairy free in my household that is hard to come by. And I'm still trying to perfect my gluten/soy/dairy free pie crust skills. After the crust was made I put it in the baking dish and placed in the refrigerator until the filling was ready.

Step Four - I made a roux with earth balance ( can use butter), garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, and some gluten free flour ( you could use all-purpose flour). Then I added my homemade chicken broth some coconut milk ( use whole milk if your not dairy free) and let it thicken up. Next I added the cooked chicken in with some frozen mixed vegetables. While the chicken mixture simmered, I mashed up the potatoes with a little earth balance and coconut milk. Now it was time to put it in the baking dish and bake!

It was as delicious as I remember...

I hope this helps you see how having a plan and break it down into steps can provide you with a pleasant cooking experience. The chicken stock cooked while I slept, and after each step I was busy doing other things I needed to do that day. When it was dinner time, everything was ready to be put it in the oven and then just wait with anticipation. 

Don't let cooking a delicious meal intimidate you. Make a plan, take it in steps and enjoy the process!

Chicken Pot Pie

1/4 cup Earth Balance

1 tsp onion and garlic powder ( adjust to your taste)

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper ( adjust to your taste)

4 Tb. flour ( gluten free or all purpose)

4-6 chicken thighs or 3 chicken breasts - cooked

10 oz bag frozen vegetables

 1 cup of chicken broth

1 cup coconut milk ( or whole milk)

Crust - homemade or from store

4-6 potatoes ( depending on size)- peel, cube, cook, mash

 

Make a roux with the first fourth ingredients. 

Slowly add the chicken broth and coconut milk. Let that cook until bubbly.

Add cooked chicken and frozen vegetables. Allow that to cook 5-10 min. then turn off the heat. 

Have your pie crust ready and put in the chicken pot pie filling. 

Next add the mash potatoes on top

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-45 min depending how large of a baking pan you used.

 

NOTE - Here is a link that will walk you through making a roux

http://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/help-around-the-kitchen/photos/how-to-make-a-roux.html

Tuesday "Try"... Non-Meat Product

 

 http://eatneat.com/

     "Neat" is a product I've tried before and I wanted to share it with you. On the website there is a location page to find where it is sold in your area,  a story how this product came to be as well as recipes, and a contest http://eatneat.com/blog/the-neat-challenge-ii/ . They have an Original, Italian, Mexican, Breakfast mix and a neategg replacer. I am not a vegan or vegetarian, I only strive to eat healthier and love to explore options that are new and different. 

      We made a taco ring this past week, and this is the original recipe where the idea came from http://www.food.com/recipe/taco-ring-from-pampered-chef-81160, but I have altered it over the years and experimented with different crusts to make it dairy/gluten free. I have found a pie crust is the best alternative and it's still not the greatest but it works. So this time I altered it again and used the "Mexican Neat" mix and could not tell the difference. We enjoyed it and will definitely do that again. We have made meatballs with the "Italian Neat" and with the sauce and cheese it was yummy. The only thing I would do different having cooked with this before is add more water then they suggest. I find it drys out a little more when cooking with it.

      The general ingredients in all are, pecans, garbanzo beans, gluten free oats, organic gluten free grains, corn meal, garlic and onion and spices. Cornmeal is not in the Italian or the Breakfast mix ( there is maple syrup in this). I have not gotten a chance to try the breakfast mix but I'm hoping to be able to locate a place to purchase it. I hope if you're feel adventurous you might give this a try.

Monday " Mention "... Whole Food Living Website...

 

Feeling overwhelmed, need some new ideas for meals, don't know how to adjust your favorite recipes to make them healthier, does going to the grocery store cause you stress, could you use some helpful strategies for making your time in the kitchen easier or are you feeling lost about how to choose gluten and or dairy free products and recipes? If you answers yes to any of these questions... I can help - http://www.wholefood-living.com/

Saturday " Supper "... Soup

 

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/persian-yogurt-soup-recipe.html

 Persian Yogurt Soup

If you are dairy free you can substitute the regular dairy yogurt with plain coconut or almond yogurt and Earth Balance for the butter. Don't let your different dietary needs stop you from making a recipe.

 Here are a few links to play with the idea of soup and see which ones will soon be on your families favorite list of meals.

 http://www.simplysoups.com/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/soup.html

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Soups-Stews-and-Chili/

Friday Food Facts...Calcium

 

 Calcium

... is a mineral found in many foods. The body needs calcium to maintain strong bones and teeth. The body also needs calcium for the muscles to move and for nerves to carry messages between the brain and other parts of the body. Calcium is used to help blood vessels move blood throughout the body and to help release hormones and enzymes that affect almost every function in the human body.

I like finding ways I can get more of my vitamins and minerals from natural sources when possible. Today I wanted share some sources for Calcium.

The most common are - milk, yogurt and cheese
~But if your like me - dairy free then you need to look elsewhere...
Kale, broccoli, Chinese Cabbage, spinach, okra, collard greens, almonds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, quinoa, oats, beans, canned salmon, dried figs,

Tuesday "Try"... Gluten/Dairy Free Cornbreads

A few years ago I found (on Google) a really good homemade gluten/dairy free cornbread recipe. It has become a family and friends favorite. I have altered the recipe as I often do to accommodate my families dietary restrictions and/or to make it healthier. I made a big batch to bring to my sisters house for Thanksgiving last year for the many family members that had not tried it yet and "again" - it was a big hit!!! I wasn't able to leave until I handed over the recipe.

One day while at the grocery store, I came across this gluten/dairy free box mix of cornbread and wanted to see how it compared to mine and the kids wanted to give it a try. It was delicious and would probable use it again if I wanted the convenience, but for me personally it still had too much sugar. (The very first ingredient is sugar). But when something is homemade I have control over how much of an ingredient is used or not.

My Homemade Gluten/Dairy Free Cornbread Recipe

1/2 cup (non-GMO- if possible) cornmeal

1/4 cup ( or slightly less) sugar

6 TB rice flour

1 1/2 TB Tapioca flour

1TB cornstarch

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dairy free milk

4 TB Earth Balance - natural buttery spread - softened

1/2 tsp vanilla (generous tsp full)

1 egg ( warmed)

Add dry ingredients ( first 7) in a medium size bowl

Add all wet ingredients ( last 4 ) to dry ingredients

Mix until all combined

Pour in 8x8 pan or make muffins

Bake 350 degrees for about 20 - 30 min.

( time will vary depending on what you cook it in and your oven)

* The recipe is easily doubled and can be frozen.

* I once made corn bread croutons with the leftovers

http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-croutons/

( This recipe used gluten free bread I just substituted corn bread cut in cubes )

ENJOY

You won't be disappointed!!!

Smoothie... with a warning!

Almond Joy Smoothie...

WARNING!

This too could happen to you... After you make one you can't stop thinking about the next one!

My daughter is working at a place that makes smoothies and juices and so I get try a lot of different ones. But I have to say the one I am slightly obsessed with is called, Almond Joy. Here is a link from one that is similar http://www.edibleperspective.com/home/2013/3/28/almond-joy-smoothie-milkshake.html. One of my favorite combinations of sweet favors is peanut butter and chocolate. Oh how I've missed my Resses since going dairy free. There are times when I just grab a spoon of peanut butter and put a pile of chocolate chips ( dairy free ) on top and eat! So this smoothie works wonders for me. It has become my go to breakfast smoothie. I use sugar free almond butter in so it's full of protein and it keeps me full still lunch. Smoothies are great, because you can add in all kinds of stuff. Sometime I add in flaxseed and/or avocado for extra filling. Here is my version of Almond Joy smoothie ...

1 cup unsweetened almond milk or 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup coconut milk

1 Tb of cocoa powder

1 frozen banana pieces - really ripe ( keep cut up in freezer )

2 Tb of unsweetened almond butter

2 Tb cacao nibs

1 Tb chocolate chips

( makes one serving)

* you can add: 

toasted coconut

avocado 

more chocolate chips

Peanut Butter chips ( if not dairy free)

flaxseed/chia seed

Peanut butter

any other kind of non dairy milk

Chocolate non dairy milk

dairy milk ( if not dairy free)

The ingredients in my Almond Joy, keeps the sugar very low - The only sugar I have is one tablespoon of chocolate chips and natural sweetness from the banana. My measurements are not exact, so use your best judgement and taste before you pour incase you think it needs more of something.

Tuesday "Try" Remake Baked Cinnamon Breakfast bites...

 Cinnamon Baked Breakfast Bites

http://ohmysugarhigh.com/scrumptious-baked-cinnamon-breakfast-bites-recipe/

Here is all the ingredients I used for my version of the Scrumptious Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites I posted on facebook for "Syrupy" Sunday. I wanted to try these but I needed them to be Gluten and Dairy Free.

I used:

potato starch

tapioca starch

 brown rice flour

 organic sugar

organic shortening

earth balance

almond milk

brown rice cakes

The recipe called for 1 1/3 cup of all purpose flour so I used a combination of potato, tapioca and brown rice flour to equal 1 1/3 flour. I added in the baking powder and some xanthan gum ( about 1/4 tsp) because when your baking with gluten free flour it helps hold it together. 

I used part shortening and part earth balance because I didn't have buttered flavored shortening as the recipe suggested. I worked it in until it resembled crumbs.

Then the recipe called for crisp rice cereal which I did not have on hand so I used some rice cakes, put them in the food processor and ground it up.

Here is what they looked like. Just like crispy rice cereal!

Next I put the flour mix, rice cakes ground up, 2 Tb. sugar and incorporated them all...

Added in 1/2 cup of almond milk, and stirred until a fairly stiff dough formed.

I took the dough and shaped them into about 1 inch balls. I melted 1/4 cup of earth balance instead of butter and mixed the 1/2 cup of sugar with cinnamon. I dipped each ball into the earth balance and then the cinnamon sugar mix. 

Put them into a glass pie pan and baked on 325 degrees for about 12-15 min.

The finally results - GOOD!

What I would do different next time would be use a little less cereal and use all earth balance instead of half shortening half earth balance. And probable no rice flour because the cereal is rice based. It's fun playing with recipes. 

......If you need help with your recipes

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoodLiving

and visit http://wholefood-living.com/index.html to see how I can help you on your way to a healthier you!

Pick and Choose

        A good start to the new year is learning to "pick and choose" what products and foods will benefit you the most and lead you to a successful year of better health.

       I picked up this certified Gluten Free/ Dairy Free crust ( two pack) from Earthfare for $5.99 ( making each crust roughly $3.00 each). For me, I don't make a lot of desserts for the obvious reason - I would eat them ( as well as trying to cut down on consuming too much sugar). So rather then make a homemade crust I "picked and chose" to pay for the convenience and save my energy for meals that I cook on a daily basis.

        This crust worked great for the pumpkin pie I made  http://www.whole-food-living.blogspot.com/index.html.  It was a bit tough when eaten right out of the oven ( couldn't wait to try it ) but the next day the moisture from the filling gave the crust a nice softness. Crusts made without gluten are not going to be as tender or as flaky but I felt overall the product delivered just what I was looking for, which was convenience and a good taste and texture to compliment the pie filling. And I love that I have another crust waiting for me in the freezer ~ time well saved!

The Ingredients in the Pie Crust:

Brown Rice Flour

Water

Non-Hydrogenated Palm Fruit shortening

Organic Evaporated Cane Juice

Tapioca Starch

Potato Starch

Sea Salt

Aluminum Free Baking Soda

Xanthan Gum

If you want to learn more about Gluten free/ Dairy Free pie crusts, the different ingredients, as well as the many food ideas that pie crust can be used for - Visit me this January 2014 on facebook https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoodLiving?ref=hl . And as always, you can find help with your nutritional needs by visiting me at :http://www.wholefood-living.com.