Turkey Sandwich-style Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded turkey meat
1 loaf of gluten free bread (crust removed) approx 12 slices for 3 layers
2 cups gravy
1 cup cranberry sauce
1/4 cup melted butter
1-1/2 cup mashed potatoes

Grease a 9x9 Pyrex with butter and 4 slices of bread. Brush the top of the bread with butter. Spread 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce over top the bread. Place 1 cup of turkey meat evenly over the bread. Place 1 cup of gravy over the turkey. Repeat with bread, butter, cranberry sauce, turkey then gravy. Ending with a layer of bread brushed with butter. Top with mashed potatoes spread evenly over top.

Bake in 350F-375F oven until the mashed potatoes are slightly golden on top. Approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes to set. Cut into 3" squares and serve.

Bon appetit!

Christmas Garlic Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 loaf gluten free bread - cubed

1 cup cooked brown wild rice
 
1 celery stalk - diced

1 carrot - peeled and diced

1/4 cup dried cranberries

3 sprigs of parsley - minced
 
1 clove of garlic - minced

1/2 white onion - diced

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 cup turkey drippings or chicken stock (you my substitute with vegetable stock for vegetarians and vegans)

1 tbsp butter or margarine

Turn on the stove to medium heat. In a large pot melt the butter and sautee the onions, carrots and celery till soft. Add the cranberries and rice, mixing well. Add the stock, italian seasoning and parsley. Bring to a simmer while stirring. Add cubed bread and continue to stir until the stuffing has formed. Shut heat off and cover the pot with a lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in minced garlic and Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve with turkey, tofurky or whatever floats your boat. I can guarantee this stuffing to be super yummy.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Have you ever wondered if you could make a sugar cookie to be a shortbread cross breed? Well here you have it. So maybe I should call it my Sugarbread Cookies?

1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter
1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of soy, almond or reg milk

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg
2 tbsp of vanilla extract
4 cups finely milled corn flour

Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk into a thick batter inconsistency.

Sift flour and mix with salt. If you like a sweet and savoury flavour. Use coarse sea salt without grinding it up. But if you like a refined sweet buttery taste then you should use finely ground sea salt. Add wet mixture with flour mixture. You should end up with a yellow crumbly dough.

On a clean kitchen counter line an area with saran wrap. Dust with brown sugar. Roll dough out to 1/4" thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment.  Place cookies 1/4" apart from one another. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes and decorate with icing and sprinkles.

Makes 3 dozen. After cooling you could also dip them in chocolate or drizzle with chocolate.

These cookies have been given thumbs up by co-workers and friends. And no one knew they were gluten free at first bite. :)

Roasted Mushroom & Lentil Soup

1/2 cup lentils
16-20 large button mushrooms
2 bay leaves
3L water
2 tbsps olive oil
Salt
Pepper
For extra thickening of soup
1 heaping tbsp tapioca starch
2 tbsps water
In a large pot bring water to a boil. Add lentils. Remove stems of mushrooms and roughly chopping them. Add these stems to the lentil mixture and simmer at medium high heat. Lentils require 20-30 minutes to soften. Add water if required.
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a sheet pan with olive oil. Place mushroom caps face down. Roast for 20-30 minutes till golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool and slice.
When lentils have softened add bay leaves and sliced roasted mushrooms. Simmer for 15 minutes or till the soup slightly thickens. If you like your soup more thick, mix your tapioca starch with water creating a paste. Add paste to the soup after shutting off the heat. Keep stirring to prevent clumps.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

If you like creamy soup, add a splash of heavy coconut cream after thickening.

This soup recipe is entirely vegan friendly. Dairy free.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Leave me comments below to let me know how you liked it.

Happy Soup Day :)

2012/10 October: Products I've Used Up

Happy Planet essential energy fruit smoothie with Yerba Mate. This was delicious. It's an easy breakfast too. Mix one scoop of brown rice or soy protein. Give it a good whisk and voila protein shake.

GoBio Organic Berry Pudding a fruity lactose free dessert. I add mashed berries to this to make a raspberry curd. Good for toast, French toast, waffles and pancakes. Odd enough I don't eat it as a pudding.

Tazo Well~Being Tazo Rest herbal infusion. A pulling blend of rose petals, valerian root & citrusy herbs. Caffeine free. This has always been my bedtime tea and I love it.

O'Doughs Flax Buns gluten free burger buns. They don't come pre-sliced and they are frozen. Best microwaved, sliced and toasted. Delicious just the way they are. I enjoy making eggwiches with this bun.

Bacon Meatball Carbonara

Ingredients:
4 slices Freybe bacon, diced
2 eggs
12 mini meatballs (see my meatball recipe)
1 package brown rice pasta
1 tbsp butter
Salt & Pepper

Cook pasta as per directions on the back of the package. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside in colander.

In the same pot on medium high heat melt butter add bacon. Brown the bacon. Add the meatballs. Add a 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pot.

Add cooked pasta and crack eggs over pasta. Turn heat to medium low. Stir constantly to create the creamy egg sauce.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Jack O Lantern: 2 Ways

Have you ever thought that throwing away or composting a perfectly fine pumpkin wasteful?

Have you ever wondered what you could do with the pumpkin?

Pumpkin Bisque

Peel and cube the pumpkin, lightly toss with olive oil. Roast at 400F on a lightly greased baking sheet until slightly golden.

Blend with 2-3 cups (start with 2 cups and add more as needed, this depends on how much pumpkin you have) low sodium chicken stock. Add a dollop of butter and 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt for a delicious Autumn soup. Sea Salt and Pepper to taste. Serve with some toasted pumpkin seeds on top.

Pumpkin Chickpea Lentil Stew

Peel and cube pumpkin. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Soak 1/2 cup lentils for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse lentils.

In a slow cooker turned to High. Add pumpkin cubes, chickpeas, lentils, 1L low sodium chicken stock, 1 bay leaf and 1 can of cubed stew tomatoes.

Let cook for 4-5 hours on High. Sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garlic toast or dinner rolls.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

30 large white button mushrooms
1 shallot
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 tbsp Buckwheat flour
Trim the hard ends off of the stems. Remove stems from the mushrooms. Chop the stems up along with the shallot. Sautee with olive oil until slightly browned. Add 1 tbsp buckwheat flour to thicken mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Stuff each mushroom cap with a tsp of the filling mixture. Press the mixture in lightly.
Place stuffed mushroom caps on baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the tops are golden.
Serve when hot.

This original recipe is entirely vegetarian and vegan friendly. Add some crab meat or bacon or even ground beef for a meat lover crowd. Great. Simple. Easy Appetizer.

Thai Style Beef & Potato Stew

Ingredients:

1.5kg of cubed lean beef
1 large potato diced (in this recipe I used a yam because I was out of russets)
1 tbsp whole tricolor peppercorns
6 lime leaves sliced to thin fine strips
1" piece of galangal sliced
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 sprigs of Thai basil
2 cups beef stock
2 tbsps of EVOO

Turn the stove to Medium high heat.
In a pot place EVOO and garlic. Stir and cook till slightly golden. Add beef and brown all sides of the meat.
Deglaze the pot with stock scrapping the browned bits off the bottom for added flavour. Stir in the potato and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes and turn down the heat to Medium.

Add peppercorns, lime leaves, galangal, whole basil stalks only, reserve the leaves for later. Stir and combine with stew mixture.

Cook covered at medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour occasionally stirring. Garnish with reserved basil leaves. Serve with rice, noodles or bread.

Enjoy :)

Thanksgiving Rice Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 loaf gluten free bread - cubed

1 cup cooked brown wild rice

2 celery stalks - diced

1 carrot - peeled and diced

6 mushrooms - diced

3 sprigs of parsley - minced

1/2 white onion - diced

1 tbsp Poultry seasoning

1 cup turkey drippings or chicken stock (you my substitute with vegetable stock for vegetarians and vegans)

1 tbsp butter or margarine

Turn on the stove to medium heat. In a large pot melt the butter and sautee the onions, carrots and celery till soft. Add the mushroom and rice, mixing well. Add the stock, poultry seasoning and parsley. Bring to a simmer while stirring. Add cubed bread and continue to stir until the stuffing has formed. Shut heat off and cover the pot with a lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve with turkey, tofurky or whatever floats your boat. I can guarantee this stuffing to be super yummy.

Thai Red Carrot Curry

I was on a whim of trying something new today. I had about a half cup of baby carrots and some thai red curry paste that I have purchased from my local thai restaurant. I thought maybe I could make it a carrot curry sauce. And so I did. For the curry paste recipe, incorporate 1/2 cup carrots with 2 tbsps of your favourite red curry paste. Blend with 1/2 cup of coconut milk. You should end up with a chunky paste.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, sliced
1 tbsp fish sauce or tamari sauce
1 tbsp golden cane sugar or palm sugar
2 tbsps corn starch
2 tbsps garlic granules
1/2 cup carrot, roughly chopped
2 cups coconut milk, seperated into 1-1/2 cups & 1/2 cup
2 tbsps red Thai curry paste
1 handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup asparagus, 1" lengths
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 ginger slice, minced

In a glass bowl marinate chicken with fish sauce, sugar, corn starch and garlic granules for 30 minutes to an hour.

In a wok heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil, add garlic and ginger and stir till it is golden brown. Add mushroom slices and pan fry till golden brown. Add chicken and let cook for 5 minutes, occassionally stirring. Add curry paste and 1-1/2 cups of coconut milk. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add asparagus, stir and cover for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with coriander as a garnish.

Keep in mind that the vegetables can be substituted with any vegetable of your choice. But the carrots will remain an ingredient for the sauce. :) You can also make this a vegetarian dish, use tempeh or tofu in place of the chicken. If you want it to be a vegan dish, then use tamari instead of fish sauce.

This curry is best served hot with steamed rice or flat bread. Hope you enjoy my recipe and feel free to leave me a comment below.

Happy Cooking :)

Food & Lifestyle: August Empties

This was an impulse buy and it was love at first crunch! A nice spicy thai basil curry aroma made with different types of spuds and pumpkin. I love the crunch factor of these chips as it reminds me of kettle cooked chips a lot. I have repurchased this 4 times now and will continue to purchase it in the future.

Add a tablespoon to smoothies, use as cooking oil, use as butter spread and make salad dressings with it. I love this product for cooking and beauty reasons. Moisturize from the inside out. If you would like to know what use this product for in the beauty side, check out my other blog: maydaydesigns.blogspot.ca

For the person that likes efficiency and quick breakfasts. This is the PBJ to grab, no need to clean your knife off or using two knives to make a single PBJ sandy. It's all swirled in one. Love this idea!

Chicken Tamale Pie GF

Chicken Tamale Pie

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 8

Ingredients

1/3 cup warm water or rice milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 1/2 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 1/4 cup corn flour
1 handful fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup tomato sauce
4 tbsps Picante Bufalo Salsa Clasica
2 tbsps Picante Bufalo Salsa Chilpotle
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup shredded Jalapeño Almond Cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine the first 7 ingredients (water/rice milk through cilantro), using just 1/2 tablespoon of the Mrs. Dash seasoning, in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour tamale mixture into a round pie plate coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 20-30 minutes. While the tamale pie is baking, toss the chicken in the remaining 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash seasoning.

When the tamale pie is done – it will be just barely set and golden brown – pierce entire surface liberally with a fork (it might stick a little bit to the fork).

Pour tomato & Picante Bufalo sauce over top chicken and mix well, pour this mixture on top of the tamale pie and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.

Vegan Jelly, Jello

Agar-Agar comes from cooked and pressed seaweed, it is available in powder form. This gelling agent doesn't require refrigeration to gel. This powder can be used in equal amounts as gelatin (non vegan gelling agent).Set 2 cups of liquid using 2 tsp agar-agar powder. Found in most health food stores as well as Asian grocery stores. Keep in mind not to add any acidic fruits or liquids to the mixture as it will cause the gelling agent to break down.

Health Benefits

Agar-Agar is flavorless and odorless, it is also a good source of calcium and iron. It has no calories, no carbohydrates, no sugar and no fat, and is 80-percent fiber. It absorbs sugar in the stomach, passes through the digestive system quickly and eliminates the body from retaining and storing excess fat. Its water absorbing properties also aids in waste elimination. It is known for its ability to aid in digestion and weight loss. It carries toxic waste out of the body.

Other benefits associated with agar are its ability to reduce inflammation, calm the liver, and bring relief to the lungs. It is also considered a mild laxative.

Reference Material: www.fitday.com, www.ehow.com

Here are some recipes that I enjoy using Agar Agar as a gelatin substitute in:

April Fools Berry Soda

Self Layering Jello Dessert 

Instead of cool whip use coconut cream as a substitute.

Homemade Citrus Jello 

What to Do with Day Old Sushi

Have you ever wondered what you could do with day old sushi? Obviously the rice is hard and the nori is all soggy. I wouldn't want to eat it anymore. But with a few simple ingredients you can turn this leftover into Sushi Fried Rice. Keep on reading to find out how.

Ingredients:

day old sushi (minimum 12 pieces are required) 

2 sprigs of green onion (sliced thinly)

2 eggs (whisked)

soy sauce

fresh cracked pepper

lemon zest

vegetable oil

In a wok or a deep frying pan heat up 2tbsps of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Place nigiri sushi fish side down. Let the fish sear a bit and then use a wooden spoon and mash the rice till it breaks apart. We're trying to get the lumps out of the rice, as the rice heats up it will be harder to break apart. As sushi rice is sticky when heated. As the fish cooks you will be able to mash the fish into smaller bits too. Add the 2 eggs and keep stirring, eggs will stick to the pan so keep stirring. Once the egg is no longer liquid and you should have little bits of scrambled egg amongst your fried rice. Add soy sauce, lemon zest, fresh cracked pepper and green onions as desired. 

Enjoy your Sushi Fried Rice! 

5 Fabulous Leftover Meals

Shhhh don't tell them, they won't even know it's leftovers.

L/O BBQ Chicken on the bone:
Skin it and shred it.
Use the meat in a lettuce wrap with hoisin sauce and crisp veggies or a taco shell with greens and honey mustard sauce.

L/O Steak:
Cube it and marinate in 3 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp of dried oregano, some diced onion. Serve with organic mixed greens for a steak salad.

L/O Veggie Kebabs:
De-skewer it and blend it up with 1/2 cup of sour cream for a roasted veggie dip. Great for chips, bread or veggie dip.

L/O Salmon:
Mash it and mix with 1/2 cup of plain yogurt, a pinch of dried dill, couple shavings of lemon zest, 1/4 cup finely chopped celery. Makes a great salmon spread for sandwiches or crackers.

L/O Corn on the Cob:
Shave it off with a knife and mix it into some freshly cooked rice with some butter. Voila you got yourself a new side.

Pico de Gallo Limon

My Salsa calls for the following ingredients:

10-12 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of a lemon
3 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeños
1 garlic clove, minced

Mix all the ingredients together, let sit for 30-45 minutes at room temperature. Stir the salsa once more before covering with Saran wrap and refrigerate.

Serve with quesadillas, tortilla chips, tacos and a lot lot more.

I hope you enjoy my recipe :) let me know how you liked it in the comment box below.

Portugese Style Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:
6 Chicken legs/thighs
Marinate
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
6 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp garlic granules
1/4 tsp cayenne (for a spicy version)

1 lemon (wedged) for garnish and extra lemon flavour

Mix all the dry and wet ingredients together in a deep dish, submerge the chicken legs/thighs into the mixture. Let marinate for 30 minutes to overnight (for optimal flavours).


Barbecue over medium high heat until nicely browned and cooked thoroughly, serve with rice pilaf, veggies and wedged lemons.

Enjoy! Tell me how you like this recipe in the comment box below!

Tzatziki

1 cup sour cream

3" of an english cucumber seeded and julienned

4 fresh mint leaves

A pinch of dried dill

1 clove of crush garlic

zest of 1 lemon

Salt & Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Serve immediately or can be kept in an air tight container for about 3 days. :)

I use this spread/dippy thing on everything from brown rice crackers to bread, it is a great mayo alternative for those who are allergic to eggs. And also for those who love creamy sauces, this is a great summer zesty alternative to mayo mmm mmm goodness. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Happy dipping! :)

Keftedes aka Meatballs w/o Gluten

1 lb lean ground beef
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tbsp dried mint
2 tbsp dried garlic granules
1-1/2 to 2 cups corn meal
1-1/2 tbsp ouzo
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a large glass bowl by hand. I find it incorporates the best when you use your hands. If the mixture becomes to moist add some more corn meal. If the mixture becomes too dry and crumbly add some milk. The perfect consistency should be a firm dough like texture. Let marinate for about an hour before forming meat balls.

Preheat Oven to 375F
Cooking time will vary depending on your oven and what size you make your meatballs. I make mine about 1" in diameter. They take about 10-15 minutes to cook. I also cook them on the middle rack on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mat. I like to brown my meatballs after they've been cooked under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes before serving. This recipe usually makes 36 or more 1" meatballs. Once the meatballs are cooked, you can serve them with dipping sauce of your choice. I usually make a tzatziki sauce to go with it.

Enjoy :)

Tomatoless Greek Salad

This one is for Beau, he doesn't like tomatoes. But for those who are making this salad for a large crowd of people that are tomato lovers like myself. I would make it with whole cherry tomatoes and the non tomatoe lovers can pick them out. This recipe Serves 4

1 green pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

1 yellow pepper diced

1 red onion diced

1 english cucumber diced

1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled

1/2 cup whole kalamata olives pitted

1 garlic crushed garlic clove

3 tbsp dried oregano

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

fresh cracked black pepper

sea salt to taste

(If you want tomatoes in this recipe simply just add 1 pint of cherry tomatoes to the pepper & cucumber mixture)

In a large mixing bowl combine green, red, yellow peppers with cucumber. Set aside. In a smaller bowl combine red onion with oregano, lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper and sea salt. Let the onions marinate for about an hour and add olive oil and mix well. 

Then pour the onion mixture into the peppers and cucumber bowl. Toss well and sprinkle with feta & olives. Add additional salt & pepper to taste.

Voila! Bon Appetit :)