A Happy to Be Gluten Free Recipe: Chicken Taco Soup

This week we discovered that my four year old niece has Celiac Disease and Type I Diabetes. I really can only half way imagine what her parents are feeling right now. I remember when my little four year old was diagnosed with Celiac. It was devastating.

While not immediately life threatening, Celiac can lead to a plethora of problems in the future, including infertility, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, depression, etc. It was terrifying to hear these things could be in my little daughter's future. Plus, it was just so overwhelming to learn I could no longer feed her gluten. Gluten...which is in...everything.

There definitely was a steep learning curve and mountains to climb as we have learned how to live with Celiac. And that was only one major health issue. My poor little niece has diabetes to contend with on top of all that. We really have had her in her hearts and prayers this week.

I have posted a few gluten free recipes on my blog. I want to help however I can, so I plan to post more in the future...starting now...

Here's what we had for dinner tonight...Chicken Taco Soup!

Delicious, healthy, easy to throw together, and gluten- and dairy-free. There are lots of beans in this soup which makes it a great source of non-animal protein. I'm running a half marathon (plus three miles) tomorrow morning so I'm hoping this will power me through. Even if it's "gas-power". ;)

Love my little helper!

Chicken Taco Soup (adapted from a friend's vegetarian taco soup)

Olive oil
1 or 2 cans chopped green chilies
1 medium onion, chopped
3 TBSPs homemade GF taco seasoning (or 1 pkg taco seasoning)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Great Northern white beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14 ounce) cans of peeled, cut tomatoes (or 1 qt canned stewed tomatoes)
1 can yellow hominy (or corn)
1 can white hominy (or corn)
1 pound chicken, shredded (My canned chicken breast works perfectly for this!)
2 TBSP salsa (optional)
2 to 3 cups of water
1 to 2 tsps chicken bouillon, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, sauté onion and chilies in oil for about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream.

A few notes...This can very easily be a vegetarian meal; just leave out the chicken and bouillon!

If you are using chicken, a rotisserie chicken, such as the ones they sell at Costco, works very well for this recipe. Or you can just prepare some chicken breasts and shred them.

The beans are flexible, in that, you could put in whatever beans you have on hand. Black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, etc.

This recipe was my first encounter with hominy. If you've never had it, you've got to give it a try! Hominy is a form of corn, but it's just not the same. It has a fantastic, almost chewy texture which I love. It can be found near the canned beans in your grocery store or in the ethnic food aisle.

I love this recipe because it is a "dump it all in and simmer for a bit" kind of recipe. Whether you eat gluten free or not...this is a yummy meal. Hope you like it as much as we do.

No Bake Cookies (Dairy and Gluten Free!)

No Bake Cookies. Cow Pie Cookies. Gorilla Poop.

Call them what you will, these little treats are too yummy and too easy to whip up. And yes, I do say "too easy" as in "too easy to completely destroy my healthy eating plans". They're packed full of sugar and peanut butter and that's probably why they taste so darn good.

I hear there is a healthier--yet still delicious--recipe out there disguised under the name "Energy Bites". I intend to give them a try on a day when I have a little more willpower. But today we're making No Bakes and I'm wandering down Memory Lane as this was one of the first recipes I remember making on my own as a kid.

Now that I have kids of my own, things are a tad more complicated. With one that can't have milk and another that can't have gluten, I look for ways to make my old favorite recipes work. With a little butter-flavored shortening, some almond milk, and a lot of gluten-free oats this one WORKS!

Gluten Free/Dairy Free No Bake Cookies:
(Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff No Bake Cookies recipe)

In a medium saucepan, mix and bring to a boil for one minute:
2 Cups sugar
2 TBSP shortening (or butter)
2 TBSP cocoa
1/2 cup almond milk (or soy milk or cow's milk)

Remove from stove top and add:
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

Mix ingredients until most of peanut butter is combined.

Add 2 cups of Quick Rolled Oats (Gluten Free) and mix until all is evenly incorporated. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper on counter top. Cookies will "set up" as they cool.  

I don't understand how this works, but these cookies taste even better the day after they are made. My advice? Make a double batch so you have more for tomorrow. ;)

P.S. Make sure to visit my weight loss blog for the healthier Energy Bites recipe.

A Happy to Be Gluten Free Recipe: BBQ Chicken Salad

I suppose it's cheating to post this recipe on the blog, but I have no shame...I'm posting it anyway. This recipe is hardly new or inventive or complex. It's as simple as it gets, but it's healthy, easy, gluten free, and dairy free. It just doesn't get any better than that at our house!

BBQ Chicken Salad
chicken breasts
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
lettuce
canned black beans
canned corn
tomatoes
olives
onions
cheese
tortilla chips
Ranch salad dressing
more BBQ sauce
sour cream
avocado
WHATEVER you like on your salad!

In the morning, throw a few chicken breasts in the crock pot along with some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (gluten free!). Set on low and fuh-get-about-it.

As dinner time approaches, set all your salad toppings in bowls on the table. Rinse the beans and corn after opening and draining the cans. Chop up the tomatoes, grate the cheese, mix up the sour cream. You get the idea.

After sitting in the crock pot all day the chicken is tender and flavorful. Stir it around to shred it up.

Bring it to the table and dinner is served. Everyone can make their salad to their own liking.

Personally, I like to skip the cheese, olives, and sour cream (more calories than I need by dinnertime). Instead I mix together a little BBQ sauce and Ranch in a small bowl and spread it over my salad. It makes a great salad dressing.  (Obviously those who are dairy free need to skip the Ranch and cheese.) I also crush tortilla chips over the top to give it a little extra crunch. Lots of tomatoes and black beans for me and my tummy is happy. As is my daily calorie allowance too.

Jar Love #76: Homemade Taco Seasoning

Hi. My name is Evelyn. And I am addicted to jars. More specifically canning jars. Even more specifically, canning jars of the Kerr, Mason, and Ball persuasion. And if you want to get very specific, antique jars just about send me over the edge.

It's not a sickness.

They're useful. And pretty. And really useful in so many ways. And really pretty. In so many ways.

(Am I the only weirdo out there who's heart starts racing a bit at the sight of glass jars? Come on, fellow jar addicts. Give a girl a little love.)

Don't get the obsession? Allow me to share one of the uses for those empty jars: homemade taco seasoning!

For years I have purchased ready-made taco seasoning in the little packets as well as in bulk to make tacos, nachos, burritos, taco soup, etc. But it finally dawned on me recently (and more recently than I care to share) that the ready-made taco seasoning often has dairy and wheat ingredients, besides a whole bunch of other unmentionable stuff. Big no-nos for dairy allergies, Celiac Disease, and dieting.

I have to admit (for I am full of confessions today) that I initially assumed we would no longer be able to enjoy Mexican food as a family. Welp. Add one more thing to the "can't" list. *grumble*

Did you know you can make your own taco seasoning???

I didn't.

In hindsight, I feel pretty silly admitting that I didn't know you could make your own taco seasoning. Really, I'm not stupid. Way back when I had a 3.7 GPA and I did get a 28 on my ACTs. Both times I took it. But sheesh, I can be pretty slow about things sometimes.

Enough about me and my molasses brain...(By the way, I blame the kids. They sucked the smarts right out of me with each pregnancy and all the subsequent sleep deprivation. I sure hope they enjoy all those brains I utilized once upon a time.)

Homemade taco seasoning! You can find lots of recipes out there in Google Land. From the gourmet to the budget savvy. Here's the link for the one I am using lately. It's not too spicy for the kids. Plus, this blogger comes from the same mold I do. That being the jar obsessed mold.

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix:
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Dump all your taco seasoning mix ingredients in the jar, shake, and store in your cupboard. Use 3 TBSP of mix per pound of ground beef.

No stress! No mess! No waste! And it just looks so cute! At least to this "jar head".

More jar love to come...Mother's Day Sugar Scrub!