Cheeseburger Chowder (Gluten Free)

It is definitely the season for soups, chowders,and stews. I made a killer beef stew on Saturday evening. We had company over and we knocked out that stew. Completely gone.

By Monday I was craving stew again, but I didn't have any more stew beef.

I DID have some grass-fed beef from a local grower. Hmmm...

I did a quick search on allrecipes.com and found this recipe. I thought it looked promising. My husband loves cheeseburgers, so I thought the recipe might be a winner. I made several distinct changes to make the recipe gluten-free and a bit healthier.

We used sweet potatoes in place of the regular white potatoes in the original recipe. The sweet potatoes are a delicious savory addition and add vivid color to this chowder, along with a tiny bit of sweetness. The combination of flavors in this recipe is truly fantastic!

I hope you'll give this easy cheesy chowder a try this fall!

Just so you know... we knocked this chowder out too. It's completely gone. And that wonderful, but picky husband of mine? Absolutely loved it, hands down!!

Cheeseburger Chowder

1 pound grass-fed, low-fat beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups gluten free chicken broth (I use Herb Ox Chicken Bouillon)
4 cups sweet potatoes, skinned and cubed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups organic milk

Toppings:
- Italian parsley
- crumbled turkey bacon
- shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a large dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add onions, celery, garlic, and ground beef. Cook until beef is browned. Stir in parsley and basil. Add chicken broth and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes. In a glass measuring cup melt remaining butter in the microwave. Add milk to measuring cup with melted butter and whisk in cornstarch. Gradually pour milk mixture into chowder, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese until heated through. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve. Sprinkle bowls of chowder with toppings. Enjoy! Makes 5-6 large servings.

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John's Pumpkin Lasagna (Gluten Free)

(Reprinted from Saturday November 10th, 2007. Another one of my favorite posts and a great vegetarian alternative at Thanksgiving. John is a dear friend of mine from high school and he's a fellow food lover. I hope you'll enjoy his favorite lasagna! We sure did!
Happy Thanksgiving!!)

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Lasagna is an excellent vegetarian fall casserole. It also makes a beautiful presentation and is relatively easy to prepare.

My good friend John emailed this recipe to me. At first I kind of wrinkled my nose... pumpkin? In lasagna? That didn't sound too appetizing, at least not to my "very-slowly-evolving-frugal-foodie" palate.

Then, I thought... Hey, why not? I mean heck, I had pumpkin puree that I had frozen last year, and I really needed to use that stuff... I mean how long are you supposed to freeze pumpkin puree anyway? Probably not from one Thanksgiving to the next, but we'll pretend it wasn't that long!

The recipe also called for spinach... and I'm all about some spinach, especially if I can find a way to get my picky husband to eat it. I'm also trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our weekly menu. I mean seriously, especially in our American diet, we could all use a couple more servings of vegetables a week!

So we made John's Pumpkin Lasagna. Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients: You'll notice some of the same ingredients in the layer sections which I separated to make preparations easier. This lasagna is very good. I think next time I may even add curry powder to the pumpkin to give it more "kick." I'm also tempted to simply cook fresh pumpkin and use "fork-tender" pumpkin cubes in the casserole as opposed to mashed or pureed. If I were vegetarian, I think this would be a great main dish at Thanksgiving. Mary Frances or Sea, I'd love for you to give this a shot with your own personal variations and tell me what you think!


Just one little hint... take your time in making this... as Monk would say, "You'll thank me later!"






John's Thanksgiving Pumpkin Lasagna

• 1 package gluten-free lasagna noodles, precooked according to package directions
  

• 1/4 cup milk

• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

• 1/4 cup cream
  

Spinach layer ingredients:

• 1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1-2 lbs. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 tsp. dried sage

• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Pumpkin layer ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup cream

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 tsp. dried sage

• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Ricotta layer

• 1 (16 oz.) container ricotta cheese

• 1 egg

Directions:

1. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add defrosted, drained spinach to onions. Add salt, pepper, sage, and nutmeg. Simmer until nearly all liquid from spinach has evaporated. Set aside.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
4. In a medium bowl mix all ingredients for pumpkin layer together and set aside.
5. In a small bowl mix ricotta cheese and egg together and set aside.
6. Pour 1/4 cup milk into 9x11 baking dish. Top milk with 1/3 of GF lasagna noodles. Spread 1/2 of the pumpkin mixture on top of lasagna noodles. Top pumpkin mixture with 1/2 of spinach mixture. Top spinach mixture with 1/2 of ricotta mixture. Repeat layers.
7. Mix remaining pumpkin and cream together. Pour over top of lasagna. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes until parmesan cheese topping is golden brown and talking to ya' (bubbling).
8. If you can possibly wait, let cool for 5-10 minutes. Stop salivating, plate up, and eat.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sweet Potato Apple Casserole (Gluten Free)

(Reprinted from November 4th, 2007. Another excellent Thanksgiving recipe!
Part of the fun with this recipe is it shares my experience of an afternoon cooking with Natalie of Gluten Free Mommy fame. We had a lovely time and came up with two gluten free sweet potato casseroles. I will probably serve this at Christmas this year!)

On Saturday, I had the distinct pleasure of doing something I have never done before. Something I never would have imagined doing, even 6 months ago! Something that I will definitely be doing again!

I spent an afternoon cooking with a fellow gluten-free blogger! None other than, Natalie, your Gluten-Free Mommy! Natalie graciously invited me to her home (since we both live relatively close by in the good ol' North State!) where we shared an afternoon creating and baking Thanksgiving Dinner casseroles! It was wonderful to share the time with another gluten-free cook, it's not something you get to do often!

It is hard to describe Natalie without smiling! In a word, Natalie is quite simply: "Joy!"

If you weren't impressed with Natalie's intelligence, kindness, sweet laughter, or amazing cooking abilities... her beautiful smile would knock your socks off!

The theme of our afternoon was to re-create some of our families traditional Thanksgiving casseroles. The casseroles had to be gluten-free (of course!) and we were aiming for less sugar and fat as well.

I wish all of you had the experience of watching Natalie create a signature dish. While my recipes were all typed out, all nice and neat... and as I changed ingredients, I scribbled them down.... Natalie, on the other hand, flew by the seat of her pants, just tasting and adding things as she felt necessary! Perfecting the recipe in her mind, and adding and subtracting all along the way. I could just see the ingredient wheels spinning under that long, flowing chestnut hair of hers! I was so impressed by Natalie's approach to cooking! I loved her confidence and her creativity! I can't wait for you to see her recipe. It was absolutely amazing!

My recipe is different than Natalie's, as it has a crumbly top and doesn't use oranges. I love sweet potato casseroles because they are so very versatile!




Sweet Potato-Apple Casserole

• 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

• 1-2 small apples, peeled and chopped
  

• 1/2 cup brown sugar -or- agave nectar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp cardamom

• 1 egg, slightly beaten
  

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tsp vanilla

Crumb Topping Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice flour

• 1/4 cup corn flour -or- sorghum flour

• 1/2 pecans, chopped

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 3 Tbsp. butter, softened

Directions:

Mix mashed sweet potatoes, chopped apples, brown sugar, salt, and spices together. Add beaten egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix all together until smooth. Pour into greased casserole dish.
Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until casserole is set.


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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Cranberry Cobbler (Gluten Free)

(This is a reprint from November 8th, 2007. This is probably my FAVORITE Thanksgiving recipe and I truly hope you will enjoy it! It's so good I had to reprint it. I buy extra cranberries and freeze them so I can make this beautiful dish year round!!)

This is one of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving side dishes! I actually make it both at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. Honestly... I could eat the whole pan myself!


I'm not sure where this recipe originated, except that one year my mom just started making it. I think she may have received the recipe from a co-worker. The recipe originally made a very moist cranberry bread and Mom altered it to make a cobbler. One year, probably when I was in college, I took over the responsibility of making it and I've done it ever since! It's incredibly easy to prepare, and it's a gorgeous dish to bring out for company.


This dish is perfectly tart and sweet at the same time! Before I was introduced to this Thanksgiving Cranberry Cobbler (which can be served as a side dish OR dessert) I did NOT like cranberries. Now they are one of my favorite foods! I could eat them all year long!


It was very simple to make this dish gluten-free. If you would like to try this recipe with wheat flour, simply replace the rice flour with all purpose wheat flour. That's it! (See, you can make it too Abby!! Give cranberries a go this year girl!!)





Thanksgiving Cranberry Cobbler

• 2 cups whole cranberries

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I may try substituting with agave nectar next time and reduce to 1/4 cup)

• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple with juice

• 2 Tbsp grated orange rind (usually from 1 med. orange)

Batter Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 3 Tbsp. melted butter

• Juice from half a medium orange, freshly squeezed and strained

• 1 beaten egg, or two beaten egg whites

• 1/4 cup rice flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spritz a large pie pan or 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. Add cranberries, sugar (or agave nectar), chopped pecans, pineapple, and orange rind. Mix together in dish. Mix all batter ingredients together and pour over cranberry mixture. Bake for 45 minutes. Dish will be hot and bubbly. Serve hot or cold. Is excellent either as a side dish or dessert with vanilla bean ice cream!


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Happy Gluten Free Thanksgiving!!

Pecan Pumpkin Pie Bars (Gluten Free)

Easy. Simple. Delicious.

If you need something super easy for your gluten free Thanksgiving dinner, but don't want to add too many extra pounds, these delicious bars are the way to go.

These simple bars will put a smile on your face! No need for a complicated recipe or expensive ingredients. Just plain easy, delicious, and gluten free! I promise these bars will even please your gluten-eating family members!!

The bars have a "cookie/granola" like crust made from a few simple ingredients, then a basic pumpkin pie filling, and topped with pecans and sugar.

This would be delicious with a scoop of ice-cream or whipped cream! The best part is you don't have to worry about a time-consuming gluten free pie crust!! This dessert is low in fat, low in sugar, no added salt, and gluten free!

**Also, to make this casein free, simply use coconut oil instead of butter, and use coconut milk in place of the regular milk called for! Easy peasy!!





Carrie's Pecan Pumpkin Pie Bars

Crust:
1/2 cup almond flour
**1/2 cup Carrie's Master Baking Mix (or other GF baking mix)
1/2 cup gluten free old fashioned oats or flaked quinoa
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter -or- heart healthy margarine -or- coconut oil

Filling:
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or regular sugar)
2 cups pure pumpkin puree
1 cup skim milk -or- evaporated milk -or- coconut milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Topping:
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (or regular sugar)

Whipped Cream or Ice Cream

Directions:

For Crust: Combine all crust ingredients until mixture is crumbly. (This took several minutes using a fork to combine until crumbly.) Press mixture into a greased 13x9" baking pan.

For Filling: Combine all filling ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour pumpkin pie filling over crust.

For Topping: Combine chopped pecans and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle pecan topping over pumpkin pie filling.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the bars comes out clean.

Let cool completely before cutting. Makes 16 pecan pumpkin pie bars! Top with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!!


** If you do not have any of my Gluten Free Master Baking Mix for the crust handy, simply use 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca starch, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.


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Happy Thanksgiving!!