Can't Eat A Thing

Sauteed Sweet Potatoes

In one word, these are delicious.  That pretty much sums it up.

What it takes:

2 sweet potatoes

1 tsp. Olive oil or use olive oil spray

1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder

Pinch Salt 

Pinch Pepper

How to make it happen:

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.  You want this to get HOT before you think about adding the potatoes.

Slice the potatoes lengthwise in about 1/4 inch thickness.  Then cube.

Once you’re sure your oil is hot (you can get your fingertips wet, then flick your fingers to splash a few drops of water into the pan.  if they pop, it’s ready) add the potatoes to the skillet.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  

Cover the skillet.  Be sure to give the skillet a good shake, or stir up the potatoes every other minute or so.  Cook until potatoes are crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.  About 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

IC friendly, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan 

Chicken Pot Pie!

With the invention of my favorite GF item EVER, GF Bisquick, this recipe takes about 10 minutes to whip up!

What’s in it?

1 1/2 cups GF Bisquick

1 cup milk

1 package GF cream of chicken soup - I use these, LOVE them, and can pick them up at Kroger. http://www.pacificfoods.com/our-foods/condensed-soups

1 cup chicken broth - Swanson Natural Goodness is GF

1 package frozen peas

1 package frozen carrots - I used crinkle cut but you can use whatever

2-3 chicken breasts

1/2 stick of butter

Pepper

Salt (optional)

How to make it happen:

Preheat oven to 375.

Put chicken breasts in the microwave for 8-10 minutes.  I always put them on a plate and cover the plate with a bowl, so they don’t dry out.

In a casserole dish, dump in the peas and carrots.

In a small bowl, mix together the chicken stock and the cream of chicken soup.  Add about a teaspoon of pepper.  I don’t add salt because the stock and soup are already salty.

In another bowl, mix the bisquick and milk.  You may need to add a splash more milk, I did.  You want the consistency to be a little thinner than biscuit dough but nowhere near pancake batter.

When the chicken is done, either cube or shred the chicken.  I chose to shred — If you’ve read my blog any, you know I love this step.  It’s so quick in the mixer.  Add the shredded/cubed chicken to the casserole dish.  Mix peas, carrots and chicken together.

Pour in the broth/soup mix.  It will sink in everywhere it needs to, you just need to pour it on top.

With a spoon, add large dollops of bisquick batter on top of the dish.  Leaving not much room in between each dollop, but be sure to cover most of the dish.  They will grow together when they bake.

Melt butter in the microwave then pour on top of the bisquick mix.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

GF, IC Friendly

3 ingredient pie crust

This crust is delicious, flaky, and of course gluten free and IC friendly.  Oh and easy to make.

What’s in it?

1 1/4 cups GF Bisquick

1 stick of butter

2 tbsp milk

How to make it happen:

Cube butter into small pieces.  Combine bisquick and butter in a bowl.  Using your hand, mix the two ingredients together.

Then it should look like this:

Add milk and mix, then form into a ball.  You can attempt to roll this out and do things the traditional way…OR you can do it my way.  It works, takes less time and is not near as frustrating.

Place the ball of dough in your pie pan and use your hand to flatten it out.  Don’t forget to bring it up the sides of the pan too.  This way only take a couple of minutes and still does the trick!

GF, IC Freindly, Vegetarian

Chicken Chili

With IC, chili is pretty much out of the question.  I had been craving it though.  So I came up with the next best thing and it was DELICIOUS.  My husband would say after almost every bite, “mmmmm, this is goooooood”.

I had all these great pictures, but when I try to add them here, they’re sideways…so no pics this time.

What’s in it?

2 tbsp butter

1 shallot finely diced (onion if IC isn’t a problem for you)

3 chicken breasts

4 cans of navy beans

1 box chicken broth (Swanson Natural Goodness is IC friendly and GF)

1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon cumin ( I use cumin seeds and crush them in my fingers.  If you use ground cumin, use a little less)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

How to make it happen:

Fill a large pot with water and place chicken breasts in the water.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 8 minutes.

In another large pot, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add shallots and saute.

When they are transparent, reduce heat to medium.  Add a little bit of the stock, and scrape the good stuff from the bottom of the pot(if you’re using a cast iron pot like I did).  This blends that yummy flavor into your broth.  Add remaining broth.

Add beans, cumin and oregano to the pot.  Cover and simmer.

Remove the chicken from the boiling water and shred.  If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, this is the fun part.  Use the batter paddle.  Place all 3, WHOLE breasts in the bowl and turn the mixer on low.  Once the chicken is torn into a few smaller pieces, you can turn the speed up.  Voila!  Perfectly shredded chicken in less than 30 seconds.

Add chicken to the pot with the rest of your simmering ingredients.  At this point, it’s all cooked, but chili tastes better the longer you simmer.  I would let it simmer for at least an hour.  Stirring occasionally and adding salt and pepper until it’s just right.

GF, IC Friendly

The Eggplant Dish.

First of all, you have to like eggplant to like this dish.  Eggplant, is eggplant is eggplant, no matter how you cook it.  

What’s in it:

Eggplant 

Cornstarch

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

How to make it happen:

Cube eggplant and put into a colander.  Place colander in sink and generously sprinkle the eggplant with kosher salt.  Let sit, “sifting” a few times, for about 30 minutes.  This draws all of the excess moisture out of the eggplant that tends to make it mushy.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  You want the oil HOT.  Sprinkle cornstarch about 1-2 tablespoons over the eggplant and stir around until each piece is lightly coated.  

Add eggplant to the skillet and pepper to taste.  You won’t need to salt, since we already did this to draw out moisture.  

Stir eggplant frequently.  Cook until the cubes are golden brown.  Only takes about 3 minutes if your skillet was hot enough.  You don’t want to over cook, or it gets a weird texture.

Enjoy =)

GF, IC Friendly, Vegetarian, Vegan

Fried “rice”

Okay, so maybe referring to this dish as fried rice is a stretch.  But when you can’t have half of the ingredients that typically go into fried rice, this tastes pretty spot on.  

What’s in it?

1 cup quinoa

Half bag frozen peas

3 eggs

1 shallot

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

How to make it happen:

Cook quinoa according to package directions I like to substitute the water with chicken broth for added flavor.  

In large skillet, heat olive oil.  Saute shallot, then add eggs and peas and scramble in skillet.  Add cooked quinoa to skillet then season to taste using garlic powder, salt and pepper.

You can add all kinds of veggies/meat to this.  I just used what I had on me.

Pretty stinking delicious!  Has all the flavors of fried rice just no soy sauce.  I heart this dish.

GF, IC FRIENDLY, VEGETARIAN

BEEEAAAANS.

Long time, no blog.  I gave up on the camera cord.  I even somewhat gave up on documenting the cooking process I suppose, because these next few posts will be pictures of food, at my desk in tuperware containers!

Beans…where do I start.  How about the good stuff, to real you in.  1 serving of these bad boys = 8 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, only 120 calories and .5 grams of fat, holler.

They’re really tasty and super easy to make, if the nutritional info wasn’t enough for you.

What’s in it?

1 bag dry pinto beans

2 cups chicken broth(I use Swanson natural goodness low sodium, it’s GF)

water

How to make it happen:

Combine beans, broth and enough water to cover beans in a crock pot.  Cook on high until done(you know what beans feel like when they’re done).  Takes about 6ish hours.  So you can start these when you leave for work in the AM.  

I make a batch of these on Sunday then put them in containers to take to work for a snack/lunch throughout the week.

GF, IC FRIENDLY, VEGETARIAN(no broth)

Quinoa at it’s finest…

In case you haven’t already caught on, I HEART QUINOA.  What’s not to heart?  It’s a super food, y’all.  It’s delicious and nutritious, and quinoa.  Quinoa should be the new word for awesome.

What’s in it?

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken broth - Or, 1c. chicken broth, 1 c. water  Progresso is GF and ICF.

1 shallot diced

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil 

salt and pepper

How to make it happen?

In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil.  Add rinsed quinoa to pan, cover and reduce heat to low.  Leave it alone, let it simmer until all the broth is gone.

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. 

Dice shallot, peppers. Add to skillet and saute.  When they’re almost cooked to desired done-ness, add garlic then salt and pepper to taste.  

Add cooked quinoa to skillet and mix well.  This is great as a side dish.  I usually eat it as a meal instead of a side though.

GF, IC Friendly