Sloppy Joes (GAPS and Paleo friendly)

Sloppy Joe's are a kid favorite at my house.  I have to admit that I grew up eating Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce and served it to my own kids.  What's wrong with Manwich, right? Unfortunately, it is not GAPS legal for a couple of reasons.  First, it contains high fructose corn syrup.  Second, it is sold in a BPA lined can. 

So what's a mom to do?  Find a recipe and make it herself.

Here's the basic recipe that I use:
GAPS Legal Sloppy Joes

My kids love this!  Although the first time that I made it, they picked around the peppers.  The next time I made it I made the sauce separate from the ground beef so that I could puree it before adding it to the beef.  Worked like a charm!  I saute the onions, peppers, and garlic with ghee in a skillet.  Then I mix this mixture along with the other ingredients for the sauce into a food processor to puree it.  Then I just brown my ground beef in the same pan and stir in the add the sauce once the meat is cooked thoroughly.  No more chunks and kid approved!  I typically serve this with these Coconut Flour Biscuits or Paleo Sandwich Rounds and a green vegetable.  In order to avoid BPA, I made this recipe with Bionature Strained Tomatoes which is sold in a glass jar.

Simple Beef Stew (GAPS)

One of the main components of the GAPS diet is nourishing bone broths, so soups and stews are a large part of our diet.  These are simple and delicious!  Our weekly Green Bean Delivery organic produce bin had multicolored carrots this week which made this stew not only tasty but also colorful.  Becoming a member of an online produce delivery service is a convenient way to get your organic produce.  My kids love opening up the bins and discovering what surprises we have to try.  This simple stew was made with homemade beef stock.  Here's a great video tutorial on How To Make Meat Stock if you need a little bit of guidance to get started.  I added some leftover roast, chopped carrots, fresh green beans, and chopped onion to the stock and cooked them for about 20 minutes until the vegetables were tender.  Then I just seasoned with some salt and pepper before serving.

Sneaky Meatballs (Grain Free, Paleo and GAPS friendly)

The GAPS diet focuses heavily on soups and stews made with homemade stock.  Since my little ones' diets consisted primarily of finger foods before beginning the diet, getting them to eat soup was a bit tricky.  I also needed to hide the veggies in order to get them to eat cooked vegetables.  I started making them Sneaky Meatballs packed with veggies that I could serve in homemade stock to get them to eat.  These meatballs could also be eaten alone or served with your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Simply combine 2 lbs of ground meat (beef or turkey), 1 large carrot shredded, 1 zucchini shredded, 1 yellow squash shredded, and 1/2 a large onion shredded.

Just form them into balls and bake on cookie sheets for about 30 minutes.

They are great right out of the oven.  I typically make extra and freeze some for later use.  In order to freeze them, you'll need to first transfer the cooked meatballs onto a clean cookie sheet to freeze.  Once frozen, then transfer them to a large freezer bag to store.  Then you can pull out as many as you want at a time for a snack or meal for the kids.

Easy, Kid Friendly Dinner

We had guests over yesterday afternoon, and I didn't have time for any preparations for dinner.  I needed a quick, fix for dinner.  Voila! In a just a few minutes, dinner was served.

 Just a few simple ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa cooked with 2 cups of water in a rice cooker
1 lb cooked ground beef
Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil seasoning to taste (or only other preferred seasoning)
2 cups of frozen peas (Or any other vegetable that you have available that the kids like)

First, start the quinoa in the rice cooker so that it can cook while you prepare the ground beef and peas.  Brown the ground meat and add seasoning (It would also be great with some onions as well).  Then just combine all the ingredients in bowls to serve.

Any suggestions on what to call this dish?  It's similar to the hamburger hash that I had as a kid just with quinoa instead of potatoes.  Not sure, but the kids love it!

Fun GF Pasta for Kids

I found this pasta for the kids last night at the store.  Quick, easy lunch today with some prepared pasta sauce.  They loved it!  They had lots of fun finding letters, spelling some words, and eating all of their food.

No Cooking Today!

Overall, I'm not a fan of processed food.  I guess that's a good thing because it usually contains gluten anyway, but there are days when I'm just not up to cooking or grocery shopping.  Generally, my kids are pretty happy with some fresh fruit, cheese, and maybe some popcorn.  With a stomach bug making it's way through the entire family this week along with some strep throat and an ear infection, this mamma is spent.  The fridge is pretty much empty other than stuff that needs thrown out anyway.  So what is a gluten free mom to do?  I guess just pull out a few of the canned goods in the cupboards.  Today's lunch was Dinty Moore Beef Stew and fruit cups.  If you need a few shelf-stable items to keep on had for rough days or something easy to send with your kids for an alternative meal when they are away from home, then check out Hormel's List of Gluten Free items.

Turn Meatloaf into a Super Food

One easy way to make gluten free meatloaf is to substitute cooked quinoa for the crackers or bread crumbs. Not only have you eliminated the gluten, but you've also boosted the nutritional value of your meatloaf by adding this super food to your recipe. Check out some of the benefits of quinoa.  For my picky eaters, I keep my meatloaf pretty simple.  I make it with 1lb ground beef, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 cup cooked quinoa, and a dash of salt and pepper.  Then I top it with ketchup before baking.  Sometimes I also sneak in some shredded carrots.
  
As I mentioned my teenage son is newly diagnosed with celiac disease, so this has been my first week packing a gluten free lunch for him.  He was excited to have leftover meatloaf for his lunch today.  Hopefully, the added quinoa will help keep him full for longer.

Sausage, Potatoes, and Green Beans

A gluten free diet can seem overwhelming at first, but don't forget that many of your favorite meals are already gluten free or may only need some minor adjustments to be so.  A staple in my family growing up was a big pot of sausage, potatoes, and green beans.  It's simple, nutritious, and gluten free.  The only needed adjustment may be the type of smoked sausage that you use since some processed meats have hidden gluten.

Check out this list of Gluten Free Sausage Products.

I typically use the  Kiolbassa Polish Style Smoked Sausage from Costco which is clearly labeled gluten free.

If by chance you've never made sausage, potatoes, and green beans, it's very easy.  I just peel and chop up about 5 medium sized potatoes.  You'll want the potatoes pieces to be bite-sized.  I then get the potatoes started boiling in just enough water to cover them for a few minutes while I chop up the sausage into bite-size pieces too.  I use three of the Kiolbassa Polish sausages for my family or a typical 1 lb. package of sausage.  Next add the sausage pieces and two cans of drained green beans to the pot and cook until potatoes are tender.

Cheeseburger Pie

Gluten Free Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie


I made this for an easy dinner tonight.  Kids ate it, so I consider it a success.  My goal was to get little ones to eat, so I kept to the basic recipe.  There are many great add-in ideas in the reviews though that you might want to try.  I plan to try substituting sausage sometime to make a breakfast version.  I had 2 adults and 2 little ones for dinner tonight and this made more than enough for all of us.  My kids picked corn as their vegetable side to go with it.
 

If you haven't tried the Gluten Free Bisquick yet,  you should definitely give it a try.  I have used it to make both quick gluten free biscuits and pancakes.  Both turned out well.  The Betty Crocker website also has a lot of easy gluten free recipes you can try with the Bisquick.  

Chili and Corn Bread

Growing up I always had chili with lots of crackers.  While there are gluten free substitutes for most items, I haven't found anything close to my old favorite Keebler Townhouse crackers.  Sometimes I guess that you just have to move on and create a new tradition.  Now we have chili and corn bread.

My "nothing fancy" chili recipe is just 1lb of browned ground beef with a chopped onion (I brown the beef and onions together first because I have stomach issues if the onions are not cooked completely), 2 cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of drained kidney beans (avoid the seasoned chili beans because they typically have gluten), and a couple of tablespoons of chili powder.

For the cornbread, I used the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Corn bread recipe.  It's delicious!  Any leftover cornbread is great with jam for breakfast the next morning too.

Quinoa and Black Beans

If you haven't tried quinoa yet, you might want to give it a try.  It is not only high in fiber, but also a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids.  Plus, it's easy for little ones to chew and a great way to boost the nutritional value of their meals.

I am still exploring ways to incorporate quinoa into our diet, but here's one successful meal that I've discovered.

Quinoa and Black Beans

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper



Cook 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water in rice cooker.  (You can also do this on the stove, but the rice cooker works great and is super easy.)

Mix in black beans, diced tomatoes, and frozen corn with the cooked quinoa right in the rice cooker bowl.  Season with cumin, paprika, and pepper.  Return bowl to rice cooker and leave on "keep warm" setting for a few minutes to heat through.

Tips:
I keep this mild for my little ones, but you can spice it up more by adding more cumin and paprika. I have also made this with just black beans and salsa for a very quick meal. I typically serve this with prepared Wholly Guacamole and corn tortilla chips because my kids love to eat anything that allows dipping.

Gluten Free Enchiladas

Making enchiladas gluten free is pretty easy.  You just need to check the labels of the ingredients that you use.  Some packaged corn tortillas contain gluten usually listed as modified food starch, so read the labels carefully.  I typically use Mission brand yellow corn tortillas.  The other item to be careful with is the taco seasoning.  I try to avoid the high salt content of prepared seasoning mixes, so I typically season my meat with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning.  You'll also need to check the enchilada sauce since many canned enchilada sauces contain gluten.  I used Rosarita brand enchilada sauce. Of course, you can make the tortillas and enchilada sauce from scratch, but really who has time when you have small children.

Making the Meat Filling

Brown 1 lb of ground beef along with a small chopped onion and peppers.  I used some frozen red and yellow peppers from last summer.  Once the ground beef is cooked thoroughly, then mix in a can of drained black beans and season with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime to taste.

Prepare Enchiladas

Warm the corn tortillas in a small skillet.  Place filling on warm tortilla and roll it up.  I typically make about 12 enchiladas in a large rectangle baking dish.  Cover enchiladas with a can of enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.

Bake

Bake enchiladas for approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Baked Potato Night

Baked potatoes are one of the easiest gluten free dinners.  Throw them in the oven, add your favorite toppings, and dinner is served.  They are also an easy way to make everyone happy because each family member can make their own potato creation.  My kids' favorite is a baked potato with salsa, black beans, and cheese.

At a loss for how to top your potato or just want to try something new.  Check out this page with 101 Best Baked Potato Toppings.

Gluten Free Tuna Mac

Last night I needed to make a quick dinner, and I didn't have much available.  I was also exhausted, so the thought of dragging three kids to the store or even trying to go out to eat with both a toddler and a preschooler was unbearable.  Therefore, I had to get creative and use what I had.  As far as protein, a can of tuna was the only thing not frozen.  Not the most exciting item for sure, but I managed to make it work.  I cooked a box of DeBoles Gluten Free Corn Elbow Style Pasta , drained it, and then added in a large can of tuna drained, some frozen peas (about 1 cup), some shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 cup), and a can of Progressive Cream of Mushroom Soup.  I just cooked the mixture a couple of minutes to melt the cheese and warm up the soup.  Voila, Gluten Free Tuna Mac!  Everyone liked it, and two of the kids even had seconds.

If you haven't already, check out the Progressive Soup at your local grocery store.  Several of their soups including the mushroom soup are labeled gluten free.  Make sure to check the back of the can.  While some of them are clearly labeled gluten free on the front, others only have the gluten free label on the back of the can near the ingredient list.  We also like the Traditional Chicken and Rice with Vegetables which is a nice chicken and noodle soup substitute to have on hand for days when little ones are feeling sick.

 

Gluten Free Salmon Potato Patties

We don't typically eat much fish, but I'm trying to broaden our diet a bit so I tried something new tonight.  I looked through a few recipes for inspiration and came up with this combination based mostly on what I had available.  I will count this as a hit since all three kids ate some.  It took a little bribing with my daughter, but eventually she tried the salmon patties and decided they were pretty good.  The bribing involved getting her watermelon for dessert, so I count it as a big win.  This recipe makes eight patties which was the perfect amount for my family of five. The little kids each ate one patty, and my teenager, husband, and I each had two.

Salmon Potato Patties
1 small onion
handful of baby carrots
olive oil
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes (I used some ready-made, but leftovers would also work well)
1 egg
2 - 6 oz. cans of pink salmon
2 tbs corn starch

Finely chop the onion and carrots.  I used a food chopper to get the onions very small so that my kids couldn't see the onions; otherwise, they would protest and refuse to eat it.

Next saute the onions and carrots with a little bit of olive oil until the onions start to caramelize and the carrots soften. 

Then drain the salmon and empty it into a medium sized bowl. Mix in the onion/carrots, mashed potatoes, egg and corn starch.

Form the mixture into 8 patties and cook in a skillet with some olive oil for approximately 5 minutes on each side. I just used the same skillet that I used to saute the onions and carrots.

I served the patties with some peas.

Favorite Gluten Free Pastas

Whenever I ask my kids what they want for dinner, they respond in unison "Pasta!"  For a while, I always made separate gluten free pasta for my daughter and regular pasta for the rest of the family because nobody else liked the gluten free pasta.  However, over time we found a few gluten free pastas that everyone likes which has greatly simplified things for me.

Dave's Butternut Squash Sauce

My family's absolute favorite pasta is from a local business that specializes in handcrafted gourmet pasta, Your Family's Pasta - Gourmet Pastas.  If you happen to live in the Indianapolis area, they sell their pasta at the Noblesville, Fishers, and Westfield farmer's market.  You can also order from them online and have it shipped directly to you.  We love both the gluten free Veggie Curls and Pagoda.  I serve this with Prego traditional sauce,  Dave's Butternut Squash Sauce, or even just some Parmesan cheese and butter.  Believe it or not, my kids actually prefer the "squash sauce" and request it specifically.

Corn Elbow Style Pasta

My family also likes DeBoles Corn Elbow Style pasta.  I like to use this pasta for chilli mac.  I just make my chilli with kidney beans, tomato sauce, ground beef, and onions and serve it over the corn pasta sprinkled with cheddar cheese.  Sometimes I also make a mexican style goulash with it.  I brown a pound of ground beef with a small, chopped onion, and add taco seasoning, a can of black beans, and crushed tomatoes and serve this over the pasta with some cheese and sour cream.

 Nature's Earthly Choice Quinoa Pasta blend from Costco is a great penne pasta.  It is a corn, rice, and quinoa blend that cooks with a pleasing texture.

Even with these pastas, you have to follow the cooking instructions carefully; otherwise, they will be mushy.  I have found that it is very important to bring the water to a rapid boil before cooking gluten-free pasta.   A couple of times I have tried to add more water to the pan after I had already added the pasta, and I ended up with a gooey mess and had to throw away the pasta.  You also need to follow the cooking time on the package to make sure that you don't over cook the pasta.  Once the cooking water starts to thicken, the pasta is done.

Crockpot Chicken

Crockpot Chicken
One of my family favorites is my crockpot chicken, and it's the easiest thing ever.  In the morning, I put a whole frozen chicken in the crockpot and cook it on the low setting for 8-10 hours.  That's it!  I don't add anything to it or do anything special other than remove the giblets if necessary after about an hour once the chicken has thawed  Typically, I'll start a loaf of bread during nap time to serve with it.  Then just add a vegetable side such as green beans and dinner's done.

After dinner, I remove the leftover chicken from the bone, cut it up in small pieces, put it in a glass storage container, and drain all of the juices from the crockpot over it to save for another dinner.  With these leftovers, I typically make either a Chicken Risotto or Chicken and Rice Noodles.

Chicken Risotto

Leftover chicken and juices (You can substitute prepared chicken broth/stock if you don't have chicken juices on hand.  Just fill the rice cooker with broth and omit water.)
2 cups brown rice
1 Small Chopped Onion
Approximately 1/2 cup carrot shreds (Or chopped baby carrots)
Approximately 1/2 cup frozen peas

Microwave the leftovers for a minute or two to melt the chicken juices/fat.  Add the desired amount of rice, chicken juices/fat, enough water to fill the rice cooker up to the 3 cups of rice cook line, a small chopped onion, and carrots.  Then add the chopped up chicken.  Turn on the rice cooker and let it do it's magic.  Once the rice cooker switches to warm, I stir in some frozen peas.  Leave it in the rice cooker on warm for a few minutes, and then it's ready to serve just salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken and Rice Noodles
Leftover chicken and juices (You can cook noodles in prepared chicken broth/stock if you don't havethe juices on hand.)
Approximately 2 cups of water
1 box Pad Thai rice noodles (I use Annie Chun's)
Frozen Peas

Dump the leftover chicken and juices in a large pan and add a couple of cups of water.  Bring water, chicken mixture to boil.  I typically break the rice noodles in half first to make them a little bit easier for little ones to eat and then add them to the boiling broth.  Add more water to cover the noodles if necessary.  Cook 4-5 minutes until noddles are tender, stirring occasionally.  I add some frozen peas in with the chicken and noodles before serving to my children.  You can also add some salt and pepper to taste if desired.

Mushroom Rice Lentil Pilaf

Let's face it once you are on a gluten-free diet, you no longer have the luxury of feeding your family the occasional ready-made meal or takeout.  Ugh!  Just about everything must be homemade from scratch.  Fret no more, here's the easiest gluten-free dinner ever that you're family will love.

Mushroom Rice Lentil Pilaf
Add 2 coups brown rice, and 1 cup lentils in a rice cooker and fill with water to the 4 cup line.  (This takes about a half hour to cook, but you get it started and go do something else until you're ready for dinner.  Sometimes I start this and go to the gym or just head outside to play with the kids.  The rice cooker will switch to warm when it's finished, so there's no need to watch the clock.)

When you are ready to eat, brown 1lb. of hamburger and then add 1 can of Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup.  Serve this over the rice, lentil mixture.

It's so simple, and my picky kids love it.

Easy Gluten Free Tacos

Last night was a typical frantic dinner night with a toddler, preschooler, and teenager.  Easy gluten free tacos to the rescue!  Here's a quick, go-to-meal for hectic weeknights.

Brown 1lb. hamburger, add a can of black beans (drained) and a can of diced tomatoes (drained), and season with "Mrs. Dash - Fiesta Lime Seasoning Blend".  We served this on "Ortega Yellow Corn Taco Shells" along with prepared "Wholly Guacamole" both gluten free.