The Gluten-Free Homemaker

It’s been a while since I posted a dinner recipe, and most of us benefit from a few new dinner ideas.  If you’re like me, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut of making the same recipes.  That’s why I love sharing what we’re having for dinner on my Facebook page.  On weeknights, I post what we’re having (usually between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. eastern time) and other people leave comments telling us what they are having.  It’s a great place to get new ideas, especially if you are new to the gluten-free diet.

This dinner is nothing fancy.  It was quick and easy and also quite good.  In fact, I was simply using up leftovers in my refrigerator.  I want to share it with you to remind you that we don’t always have to follow recipes exactly as they are used traditionally.  Fried rice is a well known dish, and the idea of it can be used in many ways.  For this meal I fried leftover rice, red quinoa, and pasta.  I didn’t have enough of any one of those, but combined, it was just the right amount. 

I added in cubed leftover pork chops, zucchini, and of course egg which is a common ingredient in fried rice. The great thing about fried rice is that you can use so many different ingredients.  By varying the meat, vegetables, and grain, you can create numerous meals that are basically the same recipe but taste very different. Here is a version I made using brown rice, onions, red pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, and ham.


In addition to being quick and easy, fried rice is also a frugal meal for several reasons.  1) If you use leftovers as I did, then it's a great way to keep food from going to waste.  2) You can use only a little meat and add eggs for additional protein. 3) Rice is generally inexpensive.  Quick.  Easy.  Frugal.  Tasty.  What more could you ask for?

I don’t have a real recipe for you, but I’ll give you some guidelines for those who aren’t used to making fried rice. 

Basic Fried Rice

(amounts are all approximate)

• 4 cups cooked rice, pasta, other grain, or a combination
• 2 Tb. high heat oil of choice
• 1-2 c. leftover cubed meat (beef, pork, ham, or chicken)
• 2 c. chopped vegetables (peas, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc.)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 Tb. soy sauce (I used a soy-free coconut version)
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat 1 Tb. of the oil in a wok, electric skillet, or large skillet on your stove.  Add the vegetables and stir fry them until tender.  Remove and keep warm.  Add a little more oil and the cubed meat.  Heat and stir until the meat is hot and browned.  Remove and keep warm.  Heat the rest of the oil and add the rice (or whatever you choose).  Stir and heat until hot through.  Push the rice to one side and add the egg.  Quickly scramble the egg, breaking it up into pieces.  Mix the rice in with the egg.  Add some soy sauce and stir.  Add the reserved vegetables and meat, stir together, then add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

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You can find other frugal ideas at the Frugal Fridays blog carnival at Life As Mom.  For more real food recipes, check out Real Food Weekly at the W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

Labels: main dish recipes, pork

The holidays are approaching, and while we often look for new recipes to serve on the actual holiday, it’s also nice to have new ways to use the leftovers.  This is a great way to use leftover cooked ham.  I know Thanksgiving is turkey day, but some people might also serve ham.  I actually used turkey ham for this recipe.

Ham loaf might not be new to you, but was new for me.  I was looking for a way to use up some ham and came across a ham loaf recipe.  I then looked up other similar recipes and came up with a combination of things I liked best about each.  We really enjoyed this ham loaf and I know I’ll be making it again.

I have seen recipes for larger loaves, but they take longer to cook (up to 2 hours).  An hour cooking time is pushing it for me.  I put the loaf together in the morning, placed it in the loaf pan, covered it with foil, and refrigerated it until evening.  Then while the oven was preheating I made the glaze to go on top.

Most glaze recipes use some vinegar with the water, or even all vinegar.  My family does not like vinegar and I was afraid it would ruin the ham loaf for them.  Feel free to substitute apple cider vinegar for part of the water in the glaze.

Gluten-Free Ham Loaf

• 1 lb. cooked ham, ground
• 1/2 lb. ground turkey (uncooked)
• 1/2 c. milk or substitute (I used almond milk)
• 1/2 c. instant potato flakes (most are gluten free, check the label)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder 1/4 – 1/3 c. chopped onion

Glaze

• 6 Tb. water
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tb. mustard

Grind the cooked ham by finely chopping it in a food processor.  (If you have a meat grinder that should work too.)

Place all the loaf ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low for about a minute of just until all the ingredients are well combined (no lumps of potato flakes).  Or put the ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand.

Press the mixture together and place it in a greased/sprayed 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.  Press it into a loaf shape. 

Combine the glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat until boiling.  Boil a couple of minutes, then pour over the loaf.

Bake the loaf at 375° for about 45 – 55 minutes, basting once or twice. 

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This post is part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays,  Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  All are food carnivals which are not gluten-free, but you may find some naturally gluten-free recipes there as well as inspiration for converting recipes to be gluten free.

Labels: main dish recipes, pork

Recently I bought a whole frozen chicken and put it in my refrigerator when I got home from the store.  Two days later I expected it to be thawed and had planned on roasting it for dinner.  About 4 p.m. I realized it was still very frozen because I had it in the back of the bottom shelf where it was very cold.  That meant I had to get creative and come up with something.  It was a perfect night to create a casserole!

First, I took stock of what I had that could be used for different parts of a casserole.  Then I decided to get one of my kids involved.  I told him what I was doing and let him help pick the ingredients.  Hence, the hot dogs.

Polenta Hot Dog Casserole

• 1 tube polenta
• 1 pkg. Hebrew Nat’l beef franks
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. ketchup
• cheddar cheese, slice and/or shredded

Drain the tomatoes well, reserving the juice.  Combine the ketchup with the reserved juice.  Slice the polenta into 24 thin slices.  Slice the hot dogs into thin slices.  Grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Add a few spoonfuls of the tomato juice.  Place 12 of the polenta slices on top.


Put half the diced tomatoes and half the hot dogs on top of the polenta.  Sprinkle with about half of the remaining juice.


Put a layer of cheese over everything.  I used cheddar cheese slices for this layer, but shredded cheese for the top.


Repeat the layers: polenta, hot dogs & tomatoes, juice, and cheese.  Place the second layer of polenta pretty much over top of where the first layer was so that the slices are above each other.  This makes serving easier.


Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes until hot through.  Serve by using a spatula to lift out a section of polenta slices.

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday.

Labels: main dish recipes, pork

Last night I got creative and made my own casserole. Now you have to keep in mind that the word creative is relative. I’m not a terribly creative person, and my family’s tastes are limited. Therefore, by creative I mean that I made it up, not that it’s very exciting, interesting, or unique. My family did like it very much, however, so I will share my recipe with you.

If any of you who are more creative than I am have any bright ideas for a better name, let me know.

Bacon, Egg & Rice Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 c. white rice (uncooked)
• 1 c. quinoa (uncooked)
• 3-4 c. chicken broth
• 6 eggs
• 6 slices bacon (I used turkey bacon)
• 6 baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 recipe gluten-free cream of mushroom soup
• shredded cheese (cheddar)

Instructions

Cook the rice and quinoa together in chicken broth. I used 3 cups of broth and cooked it for 5 minutes under low pressure in my pressure cooker. It could also be cooked using the regular stovetop method or in a rice cooker.

Once you get the rice cooking, start frying the bacon until crispy. Slice or chop the mushrooms and sauté them in a little oil or butter. Beat the eggs together and scramble them on the stovetop. Don’t cook them too dry since they will be baked with the casserole.

Make the cream of mushroom soup (cream of chicken would work just as well). I had a lot of pots and pans going for this recipe, but the cleanup wasn’t too bad.

When the rice is done, combine everything except for the cheese, and spread it into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. The ingredients are already hot or at least warm, and everything is cooked so it doesn’t need to bake long.

Note: You could substitute brown rice for the white rice, or either brown or white rice for the quinoa. For that matter, you could use all quinoa. This combination worked well for my family. They are not especially fond of brown rice or quinoa, but they didn’t mind the quinoa in this recipe at all.

Have you done any creative cooking this week?

Labels: egg, main dish recipes, pork

Last evening I made gluten-free stuffed shells for the first time. This is one dish my husband has really missed. Probably about six months ago I saw some Tinkyada brand shells at the health food store and quickly picked up two boxes. I was excited to find them, especially since Tinkyada is the brand I always use and enjoy. However, the shells sat in my cabinet for months. I wanted to save them for something special, but what if they didn’t turn out well? Then I couldn’t find my old recipe which my husband loved so much. Finally, I decided yesterday that I needed to do something with them. I usually make pizza from scratch on Friday nights, but I thought shells would be a nice change and a treat for everyone.

My old recipe used ricotta cheese, which I did not have on hand, and ground beef. I still couldn’t find that recipe so I decided to go with something different. This recipe is very simple, and I was surprised how quickly I put this dish together.

Before giving you the recipe, let me add a note about the shells. I cooked both boxes because some of the shells were broken, and I didn’t know how well the cooked shells would hold up. It turns out I could have gotten by with only one box, but if I were fixing this for company, I would probably want to cook some extra. The shells that were not broken held up well. I cooked them for 18 minutes, a little undercooked, since I was going to bake them. The shells seemed thick, which I guess is necessary to keep them from falling apart, and still slightly undercooked after baking. While they were good, I don’t think they are as good as wheat based shells, but I really can’t remember what those were like.

My recipe was a good basic recipe, but I missed the ricotta cheese. Maybe a better filling would make this dish a great one rather than a good one. My husband was surprised and grateful, and enjoyed his dinner very much.

Stuffed Sausage Shells

Ingredients

• 1 box Tinkyada grand shells
• 1 lb. bulk sausage (I used a lean turkey sausage)
• 1/4 c. instant potato flakes (could use GF bread crumbs)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• Grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 large jar GF spaghetti sauce (I used Classico)

Instructions

Cook the pasta shells according to instructions on the package. Brown and drain the sausage, then add the potato flakes, Parmesan and egg. Spread a little of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Stuff the shells with the sausage mixture. (I used 15 shells.) Place the shells in the dish and top each one with some mozzarella cheese. Spoon the remaining spaghetti sauce over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

If you have a stuffed shell recipe you really enjoy, I’d love to get your recipe!

Labels: main dish recipes, pork

Recently I found a recipe at Gluten-Free Simplicity which I decided to try.  I made some changes, mostly I simplified it, but the original recipe is worth viewing.  I decided to omit the vegetables and cook some separately.  I substituted turkey sausage for the ground sirloin and used Ore Ida frozen hash browns that come in a bag and are not patties.  I used a three cheese blend and simply layered the hash browns, sausage, and cheese  and then repeated the layers in a rectangular casserole dish.  I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes.  (I did not thaw the hash browns.)  We had it for dinner, but my version would make a great breakfast casserole.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Labels: main dish recipes, pork