Applesauce Muffins

I saw the recipe for these this morning on The Gluten-Free Homemaker, and tried them out right away. I need some muffins in my life. They are really good! So good that my whole family likes them. I followed the original recipe exactly, with the exception of the nuts (I don't really care for nuts in my baked goods), so I left them out here.

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. applesauce
4 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. canola or coconut oil
1 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. sorghum flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven 325°.
2. Generously grease 18 muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, eggs, sugar, and oil with a spatula or wooden spoon.
4. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flours, potato starch, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until moistened.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. 
7. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched lightly.
8. Cool for several minutes in the muffin pan, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Allison's notes:

I only have one muffin tin, so I filled my mini-muffin tin with the remaining batter. For me, the regular muffins baked for 20 minutes, while the mini muffins baked for 16.

Calabacitas

Our mom acquired this recipe from somewhere - I think from a co-worker of our dad's years ago.  The co-worker actually titled the dish "Calavasitas," but when I checked around on the internet the most common spelling listed was "Calabacitas," meaning "little squash" in Spanish.  I don't know why the different spellings (since I don't know the first thing about any other language except my own).  Either way, it's a yummy way to use that extra zucchini from the garden, or (if you live in Arizona and your zucchini died many months ago) from the grocery store.

Ingredients:

4 medium green zucchini, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 cup corn (canned, frozen, or even better, fresh!)
Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Saute onion and tomato with a little butter.  
2. Add zucchini, corn, salt, and pepper and cook until soft.  
3. Top with cheese and serve.

Potato-Ham Bake

An easy meal to make with leftover ham.

Ingredients:


1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, sliced (you can use any potato, but Yukon or red potatoes are best)
1 8-oz. tub light cream cheese spread with chives and onion
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1 T. snipped fresh tarragon or 1/2 t. dried tarragon
8 oz. cooked boneless ham, cut in bite-sized pieces
1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed, cut in 2 to 3 inch pieces


Directions:

1. In medium saucepan cook potatoes, covered, in small amount of lightly salted boiling water 5 to 7 minutes, just until tender.  Drain; transfer to bowl and set aside.
2. For sauce, in same pan combine cream cheese, milk, 2 T. Parmesan, and 1/4 t. black pepper.  Heat and whisk until smooth and cheese is melted.  Remove form heat; stir in tarragon.
3. Layer potatoes, ham, asparagus, and sauce in 1 1/2 qt. baking dish.  Bake, covered, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. Uncover, sprinkle remaining Parmesan.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.
5. Let stand 5 minutes.  Top with tarragon and freshly ground black pepper.  Serves 4.

Zucchini Bread

I found a recipe for gluten-free zucchini bread last year on Gluten-free Goddess, and finally tried it out. Judging from the fact that I've almost consumed the entire pan today (yikes!), I like it a lot. I followed her instructions almost exactly (except for using sea salt and free-range organic eggs). Next time I'll try to squeeze more moisture out of the zucchini, as the center of the bread seemed a little too moist.

Ingredients:

1 rounded c shredded zucchini (I chopped mine in my mini food processor)
1 c sorghum flour
1/2 c tapioca starch
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 t salt
1 t  cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c light olive oil or coconut oil (I used coconut)
1 t fresh lemon or lime juice
2 egg whites, beaten
1/4 c coconut milk (I used So Delicious in the carton, per instructions from the original recipe)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9 inch loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper. Lightly oil it.
2. Press the grated zucchini with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as you can.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the brown sugar.
4. Add the oil, lemon juice, egg whites, and the coconut milk. Beat to combine and continue to beat on medium high until the batter is smooth- about two minutes.
5. Add the shredded zucchini. Mix well.
6. Scoop and scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and even out the top.
7. Bake in the center of a preheated oven until the top is golden and firm, yet gives a bit when lightly touched. It should feel slightly springy. This may take anywhere from 50 to 60 minutes. (It took mine 60 minutes). Test with a thin sharp knife or a wooden pick- either should emerge with no crumbs or batter.

Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

I have a ton of tomatoes right now from my garden, and figured a good use for them would be to make my own spaghetti sauce. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, and modified it slightly for my needs (it used canned tomatoes, so see the original recipe if you are using canned).

Ingredients:

Meatballs
1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 c fresh bread crumbs (I made mine from Udi's gf bread)
3 T fresh parsley, chopped (or use 1 T dried)
1 T parmesan cheese
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/8 t garlic powder
1 egg, beaten

Sauce
3/4 c chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c olive oil
7 c fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 t salt
1 t white sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 T or more fresh basil, chopped (or 3/4 t dried)
1/2 t ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours. 
3. Stir in tomato paste, basil, pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve.

Key West Chicken

This recipe is from allrecipes.com.  My sister had this for her birthday dinner the other night, and it was yummy.  The best part -  it is a great quick and easy dinner.  The chicken doesn't have to marinate for very long - 30 minutes and it's still very flavorful.  In addition, the ingredients are kitchen staples.

Ingredients:

3 T. GF soy sauce
1 T. honey
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. lime juice
1 t. chopped garlic
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions:

1. In a shallow container, blend all ingredients and then add chicken.  Turn to coat.  Cover, and marinate in fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Grill chicken 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear.

Penne Arrabiata

Always a favorite with my family:

Ingredients:

6-8 oz. Penne pasta
1 can petite diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 T. olive oil
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil, add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Saute until onions are clear.  Add tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook and drain pasta.  Toss tomato mixture with penne.  Top with fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese. 

* I make a small amount of GF pasta for myself and regular pasta for the rest of the family. 
* We like lots of mozzarella cheese!