Slow Cooker Chicken Provence with Red Potatoes

 I still love my slow cooker! Especially this time of year, when life is busy and you don't want to be inside all afternoon. The days are getting warmer, the sunlight lasts longer and you want to enjoy every minute of it.

This is a recipe I threw together the other day with ingredients I had on hand. Defrosted bone-in chicken thighs, and a big five pound bag of large red potatoes.

One way I love to fix potatoes with any protein in the slow cooker, is to simply place the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker whole. The potatoes will then sort of act like a rack to hold the protein up. it's great because the protein will actually roast and turn golden brown, especially if you have a little fat on the protein that will get crispy over the long cooking period.  The potatoes will then cook in the savory juices from the meat along with any additional ingredients you add.

This one's super easy and super versatile. Don't have Herbs de Provence? Try it with your favorite seasoning blend instead! It would be delicious with Victoria's Gourmet Tuscan Blend, Chili Cinnamon Rub, or even the Ginger Citrus blend! Victoria's Gourmet sent me a huge package of seasoning blends several years ago and I still use them nearly every day! Check out my favorite way to store the small seasoning tins!

Slow Cooker Chicken Provence with Red Potatoes
free of gluten, dairy, soy, and grains
created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly version

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 5 medium size red potatoes (enough to fit the bottom of a 4 quart oval slow cooker)
• 1/3 cup white wine or cider vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon herbs de provence seasoning blend (McCormick's Gourmet is a great brand too, look for it in the spice aisle of your grocery store)
• freshly ground salt & pepper, to taste
• Optional: 2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice for serving

Directions: 

1. Place (washed & patted dry) whole red potatoes in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. (You can easily double this recipe if you have a larger 6-quart slow cooker!) 
2. Place the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes. Drizzle the white wine over the potatoes followed by the olive oil. 
3. Sprinkle the herbs de provence and the ground salt & pepper evenly over the chicken. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours. 
4. Serve 1 chicken thigh per person with a quartered red potato. Make sure to ladle some of the juices from the bottom of the slow cooker over the chicken and potatoes, it's delicious! To brighten the dish just before serving squeeze some fresh lemon juice or lime juice over each plate. Serve with a fresh salad on the side. 

Carrie's Kitchen Notes: 

•  If you have any leftover chicken and potatoes, remove the chicken from the bone and cut into small pieces, dice up the potatoes and mix with the juices in the bottom of the slow cooker for a chicken & potato stew. You can add cooked green beans and carrots to make a more complete meal. 
• I prefer bone-in chicken because it has more flavor and it will withstand long cooking times in the slow cooker without falling apart or losing texture. 
• You can use any type of potatoes you'd like in this dish. Red potatoes worked great, but it would be delicious with yellow, white, or purple potatoes too! 
• You can also add a few heirloom tomatoes chopped up to the slow cooker before cooking for extra flavor. 

2 Hour Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Meals: Jambalaya

One thing I learned when I wrote my slow cooker cookbook was that people have very strong opinions about their slow cookers. They can love them or they can hate them. There aren't many 'tweeners.

Well one thing I love about them (especially newer "Crock Pot" slow cooker models) is that they actually cook pretty fast, especially on high heat. And yes, I know that's a contradiction. Why in the WORLD would you want a "slow cooker" to cook FAST?

Because I'm never home. That's why!  I'm out of the house over 10 hours a day during the work week, which unfortunately is not conducive to MOST slow cooker recipes (unless you like really burned, or really over cooked food!). So some evenings when I get home... I throw something in the slow cooker as SOON as I get in the house. Toss it in... I can do a ton of other things (like write other cookbooks) while that's cooking and by the time Michael gets home a few hours later... dinner is done. And it took me all of five minutes to throw together.

And that was tonight's dinner. Zatarain's Jambalaya with gluten-free sausages cooked in the slow cooker. We served it with leftover broccoli from the night before and some canned green beans. We're super gourmet like that.

I don't make boxed mixes every week... but it's so cool you can make them like this in your slow cooker. Nothing burns, it's not overcooked (it actually cooked the rice through in about an hour and forty minutes), and there's very little to clean up. And since there's only two of us... this mix (and we added extra brown rice and water, so it wouldn't be as spicy) will make at least 3 meals for us.

Thanks Zatarain's! I love seeing those two happy words on your box! Now if only you could make it with less sodium and fewer preservatives you'd make a lot of other people happy too! :-)

So try it out! A slow cooker meal in two hours. And there's quite a few recipes you could use in one of my favorite cookbooks!

{Recipe Review} The Gluten Free Homemaker's Zucchini & Sausage

When Linda of The Gluten Free Homemaker posted her recipe for "Zucchini & Sausage" on Monday, I knew I had to make it! (So much for my menu plan this week! lol!) This is the kind of recipe I love. Super simple, one dish, and really it could be a meal all in itself!

I actually didn't change a thing to Linda's recipe (really, I didn't! I promise! lol). I even had fresh basil in the yard that I threw in at the last minute. This recipe makes me wonder why in the world we don't eat sausage for dinner more often. My husband and I both love fresh summer zucchini and the sausage (we buy locally made fresh sausage since we live in a major pork producing area) is just an incredibly flavorful addition.

Honestly, this might be my favorite way to eat zucchini now. We actually had three perfectly sized zucchinis from our backyard garden this year (not surprisingly about the only thing that survived the summer heat and crazy weeds -- I think zucchini plants would survive a nuclear blast... lol)

We served the zucchini & sausage with fresh corn and slices of a beautiful home-grown, vine-ripened tomato from a good friend who has a much greener thumb than I do! lol

Linda, thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe for summer! We loved it!

This Week's Menu - And we'll try that again...

So my main goal for last week was to make it to the gym at least 3 times. And what do they say about the best laid plans? Yeah. It didn't happen. All for good reasons though! We had an extremely busy week and the meals we made ahead of time were SO incredibly helpful! We had several events with our local gluten free support group, we had volunteer activities that were scheduled, and I worked with a local journalist (Janelle Clevinger, a freelance writer for the Wilson Daily Times) who's writing a story about my blog and our Wilson Gluten Free Support Group! It was an exciting week!

Janelle's daughter Emily helping me make gluten free chocolate chip cookies.

I had such a great time working with Janelle. I'm excited that this story will bring more awareness to celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and the gluten free diet in our local area of Eastern NC. I hope meet more people locally who need to follow a gluten free diet -- to let them know there are people here who are just like them, and also people who can help them if they need it! Janelle came to my home on Wednesday and I showed her a little about baking gluten free sandwich bread and making gluten free cookies. Her sweet daughter Emily helped me. I love teaching kids how to cook!

So the focus this week is to get back to the gym with some regularity. And to be honest, I've actually missed it. There's a huge sense of accomplishment after a good workout. I like that feeling.

For our meals this week I'm still having a love affair with the slow cooker. It's just so easy to make at least two meals on Sunday that can cook in the crock and I can completely ignore them. It's easier for me to use my slow cooker on the weekends, because I'm actually away from home too long during the week -- because trust me you CAN burn stuff in the slow cooker... and it's wicked hard to get rid of that scent in the kitchen for a week! So I'm a weekend slow cooker girl... even in the summer because it means I don't have to turn on the oven!

Breakfasts & Snacks This Week:

• Boiled eggs, berry hemp shakes, apples with almond butter, fresh blueberries with mixed nuts or almonds, leftover blueberry almond scones, orange slices, rice cakes with dark chocolate peanut butter

Lunches This Week:

• Planned leftovers packed in my favorite Easy Lunch Boxes.

Dinners This Week:

• Sunday = Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken with a simple romaine salad
• Monday = Sauteed Kale with mushrooms served with a "fried" egg on top and turkey bacon
• Tuesday = Crockpot White Chili with added chicken
• Wednesday =  Tuna Loaf (you're jealous aren't you!) with steamed broccoli & carrots
• Thursday = Leftovers, Cereal, or Breakfast for Dinner
• Friday = GF Spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce
• Saturday = Pork Chops with baked sweet potatoes and green beans

*************

For more awesome gluten free menus please visit Angela's Kitchen for this week's roundup.

And for hundreds of menus of ALL kinds, please visit Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Clara's White Bean Florentine Pasta Recipe

Photo courtesy of Sisters Running the Kitchen

It's time for another one pot meal! For my husband and I, one pot meals often save the day! Crockpot meals, casseroles, skillet dinners -- one pot meals can be not only a time-saver, but a money-saver as well!

My friend Clara (of Six Food Intolerance Living fame) is ALWAYS coming up with amazing one pot meals she creates for dinner. I love how she can take simple pantry staples and create a classic and beautiful Italian inspired meal.

A few weeks ago Clara shared this recipe with me. She needed to come up with a last minute meal one night so she decided to throw together some of her favorite white beans/cannellini beans with spinach and pasta. She told me that even her incredibly picky husband loved the flavors & textures of this meal and had seconds!

For an incredible roundup of super easy, all gluten free, mostly one-pot meals, please check out this series, "30 Days: Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals" that I featured on GingerLemonGirl last summer!


Clara’s White Bean Florentine Pasta
Free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and corn (if using corn-free pasta)
Created by Clara Ogren-Rubalcaba, shared with permission
Printer friendly recipe.

2 cups (16 oz.) dry gluten free pasta (penne, linguini, spiral, etc..)
2 tbsp. olive oil, halved
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 cups baby bella (or button) mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon - 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz.) can of cannellini/northern beans (drained & rinsed)
1 (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
1 (7 oz.) bag of fresh baby spinach
Toasted pine nuts, for garnish

Directions:
Cook gluten free pasta according to package directions until “al dente.” Drain pasta, rinse with cold water & stir 1 tbsp. of olive oil over pasta. Set pasta aside.
Add remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed or cast iron skillet. Saute chopped onion in hot oil until translucent & soft. Add minced garlic, sliced mushrooms, and seasonings and continue to saute for an additional 2-3 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Add diced tomatoes and fresh baby spinach. Continue to stir & saute for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are heated through. Lastly, add in cannellini beans & cooked gluten free pasta and cook an additional 3-5 minutes until pasta is heated through. Serve immediately. Makes 4-5 servings.

This Week's Menu - Quickly using up Fresh Veggies

It's kind of funny how this week worked out! We have lots of fresh produce, but a SUPER busy week & upcoming weekend... so it's gonna be kind of a crazy week to try and use up all the produce that could spoil before we leave! Our meal proteins this week are ground beef & ground chicken... both from a local farm! I'll be using them basically for one-pot-meals.. that hopefully I can throw together in about 20 minutes when I get home from the gym!

Also my prep work is going to be split up this week because I didn't have enough time to get everything done on Sunday. Last week was a rough week for my meal plan. We didn't follow it well and accordingly the week  was harried and rather stressful! I'm determined not to let that happen again this week!

What are you having this week?

*******************

Breakfasts: Eco-Planet Hot Cereal + 1 oz. almonds, berry hemp shakes, greek yogurt + 1/4 c. Udi's Original Granola

Snacks: Babybell cheese and/or cheese sticks + fruit (this week strawberries & bananas), 1/4 c. Udi's Granola with almond milk, 1 oz. almonds + fruit, Mary's Sticks & Twigs + 2 tbsp. hummus

Lunches: Leftovers -or- Gluten Freeda Burritos + romaine salad

Dinners: 

• Monday: Baked sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, fresh romaine salad
• Tuesday: Fresh green beans cooked with red potatoes, served with sauteed ground chicken & spinach
• Wednesday: One Pot Meal made using ground beef/ fresh zucchini/ sweet onion/ grape tomatoes
• Thursday: My favorite tuna melts + fresh fruit
• Friday: TRAVELING: so I'm going to make sandwiches to take with us since it will be a late trip along with cheese sticks/ packages of raw almonds/ fresh strawberries/ apple slices
• Saturday: Going to the Charlotte Gluten Free/ Allergen Free Expo!! SO Excited!

Meal Prep Work This Week:

• Sunday: Wash sweet potatoes & place them on foil lined baking sheet, so that hubs can just stick them in the oven when he gets home. Pull out ground chicken & ground beef to defrost in fridge. 
• Monday: Make One Pot Meal for Tuesday - Tuesday we'll be running errands & have a gf support group meeting! 
• Wednesday: Ask hubs to make double batch of tuna salad for tuna melts on Thursday & sandwiches for our trip on Friday. 
• Thursday: Prep all snacks/foods to take on trip Friday evening. 

****************

For more gluten free weekly menus, please visit Cheryl Harris at Gluten Free Goodness, this week's theme is "Borrowing Inspiration." 

And as always, for literally HUNDREDS of meal plans of ALL sorts, please visit "I'm an Organizing Junkie." 

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Hobo Dinners Recipe Template

Photo courtesy of Christy Jordon, cookbook author and founder of the popular food blog:  Southern Plate. 

I had completely forgotten about Hobo Dinners until this week. My wonderful friend Clara mentioned them during one of our chats last year and I filed it in the back of my endless "to try" cooking files somewhere in a dusty corner of my brain.

I remember making them as a child once or twice on camping trips with my youth group... a quick dinner you could toss into the campfire and it would HOPEFULLY be cooked through in an hour if you cut the potatoes small enough (I think mine were never fully cooked! lol)...

One hectic night this week I was frantically trying to come up with something quick for dinner. I had ground beef defrosted in the fridge and I knew I needed to use it. This cookbook was lying on my kitchen table. I flipped through to the ground beef recipes and the Hallelulah/lightbulb moment happened when I saw the recipe for Hobos.

So here you go... there is absolutely NOTHING fancy about this recipe. Throw together the ingredients you have on hand, fold it up in a cute foil package, stick it in the oven for an hour and eat... simple, but so delicious and my husband LOVED them!

Hobo Dinner Recipe Template
Naturally free of gluten, casein/dairy, soy, grains
Credit: Probably your grandmamma or scout leader has a very similar recipe... make it yours!
Printer-Friendly Recipe

1 pound ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork
Baby Carrots
4 potatoes (1 per person) or a bag of fingerling potatoes
4 slices of onion, (1 per person)
salt & pepper
Optional: A1 sauce or your favorite gluten free barbecue or steak sauce

Directions: 
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Divide 1 lb. ground beef (or turkey, chicken, pork, etc..) into 4 patties. Get 4 large sheets of foil. Place an onion slice in the middle of each sheet of foil. Place ground beef patty on top of each onion slice. On top of each meat patty add 1 diced potato (or 4-5 fingerling potatoes) and a handful of baby carrots. Add salt, pepper, and your favorite seasonings (we added garlic powder too!). Wrap up foil packages so they are tightly sealed. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes - an hour until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through.

Variations:

• Add more veggies! Fresh green beans or zucchini would be awesome!
• Cook this on your grill, in a firepit, or in your campfire! Great camping meal!!
• Use fun vegetables like purple potatoes for really cool color! Your kids will love it!
• For a seriously fast dinner prepare the meal in the foil packets a day before you need them, so all you have to do once you get home is stick them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven! Easy peasy!

This Week's Menu with "Red & Ready" Spaghetti Sauce

I'm starting to get the hang of this "weekly menu" thing again! And It's been a huge help during the week. With going to the gym 3-4 afternoons a week + our Tuesday & Thursday night activities it can make for a very busy 5 days, and a frustrating 5 days if I don't have our meals planned out.

This week I'm making one of my favorite easy recipes for a quick homemade spaghetti sauce. As a newlywed seven years ago, I found this recipe from Hunts for "Red & Ready" Spaghetti Sauce on the back of a label. It was super easy to make, very cheap, and my husband loved it. A slightly sweet and very simple spaghetti sauce served over your favorite gluten free pasta with a salad on side. This meal can be made in about 15 minutes if you prepare a large salad at the beginning of the week and have it ready to serve! The sauce only takes a few minutes to put together, but if you make it ahead of time, the flavors will really come together and taste fantastic over your pasta when served!

Breakfasts this Week:

• Boiled Eggs, Teff Muffins, Chocolate Hemp Protein Shakes

Snacks This Week:

• Green Smoothies, Chobani yogurt, apple slices + raw almonds, cheese sticks, larabars

Lunches This Week:

• Planned leftovers from dinner -OR- servings of the large romaine salad w/ sliced almonds + apple slices.

photo courtesy of Hunts.com

Dinners This Week:

• Sunday = Angel Food GF Chicken Tenders with steamed broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes
• Monday = "Red & Ready" Spaghetti Sauce served over quinoa pasta with a romaine & carrot salad
• Tuesday = GF Support Group night so quick dinner =  PB & J sandwiches w/ apple slices
• Wednesday = Ground Chicken Taco Salads served with "refried" beans (Michael really liked this meal last week and wanted it again!)
• Thursday = Petsmart Volunteer Night = make ahead meal:  Pakistani Kima (a simple ground beef curry from a favorite cookbook "More with Less")
• Friday = Thai Chicken Stirfry served over red quinoa

Sunday Night Pre-Week Meal Preparations:

• Boil eggs, chill in ice water, peel & place in baggies to take to take to work
• Make half batch of teff muffins for breakfasts
• Make half batch of "Red & Ready" spaghetti sauce for Monday night's dinner.
• Make large salad for to eat with dinner & lunches
• Make ground chicken taco filling for taco salads on Wednesday along with chopping up tomatoes for topping.
• Make Pakistani Kima for Thursday night
• Slice four apples for snacks throughout the week.

Find more amazing menus this week at OrgJunkie.com AND for a great little round up of gluten free menus, please visit Angela's Kitchen!

This Week's Menu with A Pantry Casserole Recipe Template

A few reasons I previously "stopped" posting our gluten free menus: 1) they can be boring & repetitive... do you really want to know how often we eat tuna salad? and 2) I often forgot to plan...

I've realized in the past few weeks that even though our menu can be a bit boring, and even if I don't follow it completely... it's SO much easier to eat healthily when I take a few hours to plan out our meals. 

After my weekly coaching session with Cheryl of Harris Whole Health today, I'm going to focus more this week on eating less refined/baked carbs and being more mindful of eating healthy complex carbohydrates at meals. I think the hardest part of letting go of more baked goods is simply that I love to bake. It's an outlet for me, and even though I may only do it once or twice a week at the most it's a stress reliever that's important to me. And while I'm not completely restricted from eating gluten free baked goods... I know it's tempting when they are around the house, even if they are in the freezer. So if I'm able to bake this week, I may attempt something with almond flour, so it would be much lower on the glycemic index.

Breakfasts This Week:

• Boiled Eggs, Amy Green's 7 Grain Breakfast Cereal, Chocolate Hemp Shakes, Berry Hemp Shakes, Eco-Planet gluten free instant hot cereal

Lunch This Week: 

• Most days: planned leftovers from dinner and/or cucumber tomato salad . If dinner leftovers don't work out: peanut butter & jelly sandwich on Udi's bread with a sliced apple and carrot sticks. Make sure not to eat gluten free baked goods on days that you have a sandwich for lunch!

 Dinners this Week: 

• Sunday -  Simple Roast Chicken + green beans with almonds + cheddar mashed potatoes
• Monday - Homemade Ground Turkey Tacos served with quick "Spanish" rice + steamed broccoli
• Tuesday - Baked Potatoes topped with homemade ground turkey chili + simple romaine salad
• Wednesday - Chicken Stirfry using a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables served over brown rice
• Thursday - Pantry Chicken Casserole -- see recipe below
• Friday - Pizza Night! Trying a pizza from "Against the Grain"

Sunday Night Pre- Meal Preparations:

• Make homemade ground turkey chili and pre-bake baked potatoes for a quick dinner on Tuesday. 
• Boil eggs & shell them. Make the 7 grain cereal in the rice cooker for the upcoming week. 
• Shred lettuce & dice tomatoes for ground turkey tacos. 
• Make ground turkey taco filling, so it only needs to be reheated on Monday night. 
• Make simple cucumber, tomato, radish & olive salad for last minute lunches and/or to serve with dinners that need an additional quick veggie. 
• Remove chicken from freezer and place in fridge to defrost for Wednesday night's stir fry. 

My canned goods "pantry." We use a lot of canned goods, especially in the fall and winter and on "lean" grocery weeks. Having a well-stocked pantry is essential when you need quick meals. I often use the canned fruit for last minute green smoothies. I use canned vegetables & beans with several meals during the week -- I'd buy more frozen vegetables but we have a tiny freezer! I love having soy free, dolphin safe tuna (most brands have broth made from soy protein) in the pantry for tuna salad and tuna melts. Peanut butter & almond butter for sandwiches and to spread on apple slices, etc... Knowing I have a pantry full of vegetables, beans, fruits, gluten free pasta, and gluten free grains means I can whip together a casserole pretty quickly during the week. I'm not sure I've ever made the same casserole twice though, much to the disappointment of my husband! This is generally how I create weeknight pantry casseroles:

Quick Gluten Free Pantry Casserole Recipe Template

Here's an easy way to construct a pantry casserole or hot pot depending on which region of the country you are from. We make a meal like this at least once a week. Have fun and use what you have on hand. It may not always be the prettiest meal, but it will always be healthy & filling. 

Printer-friendly Recipe

1. 1-2 cups cooked, chopped protein (chicken, beans, ground beef or turkey, tofu, pork, etc..)
2. 1-2 cups cooked starch (gluten free pasta, rice, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, wild rice, millet, quinoa, aramanth, etc..)
3. 3 cups your favorite vegetables, either pre-cooked, frozen, canned (and drained), or raw (chopped into bite size pieces) = (zucchini/yellow squash, mushrooms, green or red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, green beans, kale, spinach, carrots, garden peas, asparagus, etc...)
4. 2-3 cups liquid (chicken broth, plain tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, beef broth, vegetable broth, homemade gluten free "cream soup", etc..)
5. Seasonings & Spices: use what you like with the flavor you like... here's are two great guides for different international flavors:  Cooking Light World Cuisine Spice Guide & Cooking With Us - Cultural Spice Guide
6. Toppings (optional - I usually don't add a topping -- but for company and presentation it's nice!) -- blanched almond flour is awesome and looks & tastes like parmesan cheese when sprinkled evenly over casserole, bread crumbs or crushed corn tortillas, sliced almonds, shredded cheese if you're a dairy person, etc...

Directions:

Super fast casserole: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make this uber fast, simply toss all ingredients but the topping in a large bowl and mix together. Pour casserole mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole dish -or- 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle on toppings if desired. Bake for 30 minutes until casserole is heated through. 

Layered casserole: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease casserole dish. Add ingredients in layers and sprinkle your seasonings on each layer (layer of protein, layer of starch, layer of vegetables etc). Pour liquid of choice over casserole. Add toppings if desired.  Bake for 30 minutes or until casserole is heated through. 

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving!

***************

Other great gluten free menus this week can be found at Celiac Family who is hosting this week's gluten free menu swap! 

An amazing roundup of menus of ALL kinds can be found at OrgJunkie.com

This Week's Menu - Pantry & Freezer Meals

It's the end of the month so we're trying to be lean with our groceries this week! We're eating from the pantry and freezer!

Breakfasts: boiled eggs, Homemade Whole Grain Teff Muffins, Chocolate Hemp Shakes made w/ almond milk

Lunches: leftovers -or- sandwiches + apple slices and/or carrot sticks with hummus

Snacks: greek yogurt, apple slices w/ peanut butter, carrot sticks w/ hummus, babybell cheese, 1 oz. raw almonds or walnuts, 1 slice homemade gf toast w/ peanut butter & honey

Quick Dinners for the Week:

• Monday: Baked Almond Halibut (Basically I am simply going to cover the fish filets with sliced almonds, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper and bake) will serve with green beans or broccoli (if I have any in the freezer).

• Tuesday: Homemade chili (made using leftover homemade hotdog chili, a can of pork & beans, leftover veggies from the freezer, and leftover brown rice) 

• Wednesday: One pot meal made with leftover beef soup/stock from the weekend to cook brown rice or quinoa, ground beef or ground turkey, and canned veggies

• Thursday: Super quick meal tonight since we have errands: sandwiches w/ apple slices or breakfast for dinner

• Friday: Homemade GF Pizza night -or- Homemade tuna salad for favorite tuna melts

• Saturday: FIELD TRIP to the GF Whole Foods Bakery with our Gluten Free Support Group! Hopefully gluten free pizza out for dinner!

• Sunday: Roast a chicken, serve with baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, spinach salad and/or green beans & almonds, my favorite baked apples

Check out more great menus that are gluten free at Angela's Kitchen and a crazy huge roundup of menus of all kinds over at Org Junkie!

This Week's Menu - A day late

I've learned over the past few weeks that my body seems to handle small amounts of white cheeses & greek yogurt very well. I'm thankful for this as it's an additional source of gluten free lean proteins in my diet. 

Breakfasts this week:

My nutritionist of awesomeness Cheryl Harris' Millet Cereal, soft-boiled eggs, rice and/or hemp protein shakes. The chocolate shakes, I simply mix the protein with almond milk & a few ice cubes. For the berry shake, I like to make Ashley's Morning Smoothie and just add a few tablespoons of this protein powder. It's delicious!

Snacks: 

Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, Babybell Cheese and/or cheesesticks, greek yogurt, apples, bananas, carrots & hummus, rice and/or hemp protein shakes

Lunches: Dinner leftovers or gluten free sandwiches + apple slices

Dinners: I've got the ingredients for all these dinners this week, so we can pick and choose which dinner we want! Somehow we're eating a lot of turkey this week! lol

• Turkey Burgers on homemade GF buns with green beans, and carrot sticks
• Grilled Halibut? (I think that's the fish I bought?? lol) with broccoli & steamed brown rice or millet
• Mock Chicken Parmesan with Angel Food chicken and spaghetti sauce. Served with green beans or salad and brown rice pasta
• Turkey hotdogs (since I made gf hotdog buns this week!) served with baked beans & homemade coleslaw
• Breakfast for Dinner: scrambled eggs, fruit salad, gluten free toast, turkey bacon 
• Friday Homemade Gluten Free Pizza night! 
• Easy Tuna Melts using my husband's tuna salad of awesomeness. Served with an easy spinach & mandarin orange salad. 

Sunday night preparations for the week:

1. Made 2 batches of dough of my honey oat bread. With the first batch I made an actual loaf of bread. After it cooled, I sliced it, wrapped it in plastic wrap, placed it in a ziplock bag and then froze the entire loaf. With the second batch, I made 4 hamburger buns using english muffin rings (or you could use emptied & washed tuna cans) and I made 4 hotdog buns using heavy duty foil shaped into oblong rings (like this great example). 
2. Placed my frozen fish & frozen turkey burgers in the refrigerator to defrost so they would be ready for cooking any night this week. 
3. Sliced 4-5 apples and placed them in bags so we could just grab them in the mornings as we headed out the door. 
4. Prepared the millet cereal & the boiled eggs in my rice cooker and then placed everything in sealed serving containers so I could just grab these items for breakfast as I headed out the door this week. 

What's on your menu this week? What have you done to make meals easier to prepare for your family this week? 

This Week's Menu - More One Pot Meals & Cooking Ahead

I've been trying to plan more meals lately so that I can be a more prepared "Gym Hamster!" Here's what I''m cooking in our kitchen this week! I'd love to know what you're making too! 

You can also find more wonderful gluten free menus with The Gluten Free Menu Swap... hosted this week by Celiac Family. 

Breakfasts this week: Made ahead in the rice cooker -- cooked rolled oats with stevia, raisins, slivered almonds, ground flaxseeds, applesauce, and cinnamon. Made a big batch in the rice cooker last night and divided into 4 containers for breakfasts. Boiled eggs for my healthy protein. 

Lunches: Either leftovers or sandwiches with sliced apples.

Monday: Made Ahead One Pot Meal -- Chicken baked with "Spanish" Rice -- made this with 5 ingredients: defrosted one bag of precooked brown rice I made last week... mixed it with frozen peas and leftover salsa. Poured half of it into a greased casserole dish. Placed 3 frozen chicken breasts on the rice mixture, and then placed the remaining rice & peas over the top. baked at 350 for about an hour. I prepared this last night to serve today. 

Tuesday: Errands & GF Coffee break night, so we'll have sandwiches on the sourdough bread I made yesterday, along with apple slices and carrot sticks. We're adults.. really, we are... lol

Wednesday: Made Ahead One Pot Meal -- Ground Turkey & Quinoa with veggies casserole. Made this last night: Basically cooked 1 cup of dry red quinoa in the rice cooker. Once cooked, I placed it in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Browned ground turkey and cooked it with onions, garlic, green pepper, and a frozen bag mix of different types of green beans & wax beans and carrots. Then added some drained & rinsed large lima beans. Poured this mixture on top of the cooked quinoa in the casserole dish. Made a quick "sauce" to pour over everything with unsalted chicken broth, thickened with arrowroot starch. Poured it over everything and covered the casserole dish. For dinner on Wednesday night all I have to do is pop the casserole in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Dinner Ready!

Thursday: Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner -- Hubs' favorite GF Pancakes, Turkey Bacon, and Scrambled Eggs

Friday: Pizza night! We love to make simple pizzas on Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas. I like to top mine with homemade pizza sauce, onions, green peppers, turkey pepporoni, mushrooms, pineapple, and daiya cheese!

What's on your menu this week?

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Quick Chicken & Broccoli Skillet Recipe

Cute & super cheap "diner-style" wide flat bowls we found!!

Love this quick, one pot skillet meal Michael & I came up with tonight. It literally took us less than 20 minutes to make dinner, that included all the prep work & cooking!

After my health assessment at the gym yesterday I knew I needed to be more serious about cutting back on added fat and sodium. Even though we've really cut back from portion sizes, salt, and types of fat we use... I know I'm still adding too much to meals inadvertently.

So dinner tonight has no added salt. Feel free to add some if you'd like. It also has very little fat, but TONS of flavor. I've been using Kitchen Basic's gluten free unsalted chicken broth for months! I love using it in soups and stews, but it's also nice as a light sauce in one pot dishes like this!

As with most of the one pot meals I'll be sharing, this recipe is just an outline. Feel free to play. Use flavors or seasonings that suit your family's tastes and health needs. I used Mrs. Dash's salt free Caribbean Citrus for the meal tonight. I thought it added a really zesty & fun flavor to the dish. Next time I might even add a splash of pineapple juice to the broth to compliment the seasoning!

The meal cooked in about 15 minutes. I decided to just make it a one pot meal so there would be less dishes to wash and really... it's just so much easier to store the leftovers!

Quick & Easy Tip: For the cooked brown rice in this recipe I used Bird's Eye Steamfresh brown rice in a microwavable bag.  Another great option is Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, it's already cooked and just takes 90 seconds in the microwave to heat up (and it's completely gluten free whole grain brown rice!) If want to make pre-cooked brown rice for this week, this is a great way to do it: Brown Rice Bowls, from the 30 Days GF Quick & Easy Meals series.

Quick Chicken & Broccoli One Pot Skillet Meal
-a recipe template by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com -
free of gluten, dairy/casein and soy

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts or skinless chicken thighs (breasts are healthier, but I only had thighs in the freezer)
1 tablespoon olive oil or non-stick cooking spray
3-4 cups fresh (or frozen) broccoli florets
1 cup sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned - just make sure to rinse canned thoroughly, to remove excess salt)
1 small onion, finely chopped (-OR- If you're in a hurry just use 2-3 tablespoons of dried onion flakes)
1-2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
2 cups cooked brown rice
freshly ground pepper
2-3 teaspoons garlic powder (we love garlic!! Also of course you can just use fresh garlic)
2-3 teaspoons Mrs. Dash's salt free Caribbean Citrus seasoning (or your favorite flavor!)
*Optional: 1 tablespoon chopped roasted red peppers -or- pimientos to sprinkle on each serving

Directions:
Cut the chicken into bite size pieces, the smaller the pieces the faster they will cook in the skillet meal! Add olive oil or non-stick cooking spray to your large skillet and heat until it sizzles. Add chicken to hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes on each side until it's browned and cooked through. Add broccoli, mushrooms, and onions to the skillet and stir. Sprinkle sweet rice flour over all ingredients in the pan and slowly pour in 1 1/2 - 2 cups of unsalted chicken broth over the vegetables and chicken. Add remaining seasonings and stir. Cover dish and cook for 5-10 additional minutes until the sauce thickens slightly (and it will continue to thicken when it's cool) and is simmering! Makes 4-6 (about 1 cup) servings.

Enjoy!!

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Ground Turkey & Quinoa Skillet Meal Recipe

Okay, I know this isn't the most appetizing meal you've ever seen. And the lighting in my kitchen at 8:30pm in the winter kinda stinks... but the one pot meal? Very good, very quick, and even husband friendly!

I'm starting a new series this week entitled, "Gluten Free One Pot Meals." I think I deserve a sticker for originality.

So the concept isn't anything new. But whether you work full time, commute an hour to work, stay home with your kids, dinner time can often be tough to figure out.

Last summer we addressed this issue with Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. A number of wonderful gluten free bloggers helped me out by sharing their favorite quick and easy meals.

This time I'm hoping to post a "One Pot Meal" once a week. I don't plan on having a time frame for this series. One pot, easy meals are needed year round.  "One pot" can meal anything from my dutch oven, to the pizza pan, to the frying pan, to a wok, etc...

This week's one pot meal uses my favorite large skillet. It's a 12" non-stick pan I received when Michael & I got married. It's still one of my favorite pans. These recipes will not be meals that are set in stone. Make them with the ingredients you have on hand. If you don't have any quinoa, or if it scares you, or if you have picky eaters... then use brown rice -or- gf pasta -or- gf bread cubes -or- cooked potatoes. Go crazy and try your own variations!

Ground Turkey, Vegetable & Quinoa Skillet Meal
- a gluten free recipe template by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com -
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and eggs

1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef, or ground pork, etc...)
1 med. sweet onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 cups fresh button mushrooms (or baby bella mushrooms) stems removed, and sliced
3 carrots, sliced thinly diagonally
1 cup uncooked quinoa, that's been rinsed with fresh water (or 3 cups cooked quinoa, rice, diced potatoes, etc...)
Olive oil

Directions: In your skillet add 2 cups water and the dry quinoa. Bring the water to a simmer and cook covered for 10-12 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and very little water remains. (A great tutorial on cooking quinoa). Remove the cooked quinoa from the pan, place in a bowl & set aside. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Brown ground turkey. Add onions, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes until they are soft. Stir the cooked quinoa into the mixture. (Alternatively, you could served the cooked vegetables & meat mixture over individual servings of quinoa.) Now, if you're not feeling up to a highly flavored meal you could eat the meal as is. But if you want some flavor variations for your one pot meal, here are some ideas you could use:

For an Asian Inspired Meal: 

• 1-2 tbsp. soy sauce (or soy sauce sub)
• a splash of sesame oil
• a few shakes of roasted sesame seeds
• a splash of rice vinegar
• a splash of fish sauce

For an Italian Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil)
• 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
• splash a bit of extra virgin olive oil on each serving, right before eating!

For a Mexican Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• Add 1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• Serve with diced avocado or avocado slices
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 1-2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. adobo seasoning

What flavorings/seasonings/add in's would you use? 

What types of skillet/one pot meals would you like to see featured?