5 Cup Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

1 C Mandarin Oranges
1 C Pineapple Tidbits
1 C Miniature Marshmallows
1 C Shredded Coconut
1 C Sour Cream

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate overnight.

* From my grandma's recipe box

Gluten-Free Dutch Apple Pie with Crisp Topping

Ingredients:

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

Filling:

5-6 C Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

2 T Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix

2/3 C Sugar

1/2 t Ground Cinnamon

1/4 t Ground Nutmeg

1/4 t Ground Allspice

Crisp Topping:

3/4 C Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix

1/2 t Ground Cinnamon

1/2 C Brown sugar, packed

3/4 C Gluten Free Rolled Oats

1/2 t Dried Lemon Peel

1/2 C + 2 T Cold Butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place apples in a large bowl. 

In a medium bowl, combine 2 T bread mix, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix well. Add to apples and toss until well-coated. 

Pour Apple mixture into uncooked pie crust. 

In the medium bowl, combine 3/4 C bread mix, cinnamon, brown sugar, oats, and lemon peel. Mix thoroughly then cut in butter. 

Sprinkle topping over apples. 

Cover edges of crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning and bake for 70-80 minutes until filling is bubbly and topping is done. 

Remove from oven. Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt!

Yield: 8 Servings

* Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dutch-apple-pie-with-oatmeal-streusel

Slow-Cooker Ranch Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:

6 Small chicken breasts or thighs, raw (frozen is ok)

2 T Ranch mix (or 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning)
1 C Nut-Free Basil Pesto or 8 oz jar Basil Pesto
1/2 C Chicken broth

3 T Corn starch

Directions:

Place chicken in bottom of slow-cooker. Sprinkle ranch mix and pour pesto over chicken.

In a small bowl, whisk together chicken brother and corn starch. Pour into slow-cooker. 

Cook on high 4 hours or low 6 hours. 

Serve over noodles or rice. 

Tip: Mix leftover sauce with extra rice for a yummy side dish for your next meal!

Note: Using store-bought ranch seasoning or basil pesto may introduce gluten or nightshades!

* Adapted from http://picky-palate.com/2012/09/20/pesto-ranch-crock-pot-chicken-thighs/

Gluten-Free Kefir Pumpkin Raisin Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C Milk Kefir (or buttermilk)
4 Large Eggs
1 1/2 C Maple syrup
2 C Pumpkin puree
1 t Vanilla extract
2 C Gluten-Free All-purpose flour

1 1/2 C Coconut flour
1 T Pumpkin pie spice
2 t Baking soda
2 t Salt

1 C Raisins

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Grease 2 large loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together the kefir (or buttermilk), eggs, syrup, pumpkin and vanilla until well blended.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just fully moistened. Fold in raisins.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pans.

Bake for 55-65 minutes, or just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Slow-Cooker Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 lb Dried Small red beans (or pinto beans)

13-16 oz Smoked sausage

5 C Water

8 oz Tomato sauce

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 t Salt

1/2 t Black pepper

1 1/2 T Cajun Spice Mix

2 1/2 T Dried minced onion

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. 

Serve over rice. 

* Adapted from http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/02/slow-cooker-red-beans-rice.html

Ginger Beef with Kale and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1/3 C Soy sauce

1/2 C Beef broth 

3 T Rice vinegar 

2 T Corn starch

2 T Shredded ginger (or 2 t ground ginger)

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1/4 t Black pepper

1 lb Sirloin tip steak, thinly sliced into strips

1 lb Mushrooms, quartered

3 C Kale, chopped

2 green onions, thinly sliced 

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, beef broth, rice vinegar, corn starch, ginger, garlic and pepper. 

Toss in steak, cover and allow to marinate overnight. 

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add steak to pan, reserving liquid. 

Once steak is cooked, remove steak and set aside. 

Add mushrooms, kale and reserved marinade to pan. Cook and stir occassionally until mushrooms are done and sauce has thickened. 

Add in the steak, and toss to combine. Serve immediately over rice or rice noodles, garnished with chopped green onions. 

 Yield: 3 Servings

* Adapted from http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/ginger-beef-mushroom-kale-stir-fry-recipe/

Bean and Bacon Soup

Ingredients:

12 oz Bacon, cooked and diced (reserve bacon grease)

1 C Diced Yellow onion

1 C Diced Celery

1 C Diced Carrots

2 Garlic cloves, minced

4 C Chicken broth

6 C Great Northern beans, cooked

Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: 8 oz Tomato sauce (this will not be nightshade-free)

Directions:

In a large pot, cook onions, celery and carrots in bacon grease until they begin to soften. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. 

Stir in broth and beans. Season with salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer one hour. 

Using an immersion blender, purée about half of the soup. (You can also transfer soup to a blender)

If desired, add tomato sauce. 

Add 2/3 of the bacon and stir to combine. 

Simmer until heated though. 

Serve topped with remaining bacon. 

* Adapted from http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/homemade-bean-bacon-soup/