Gluten-Free Recipe Experiment: Slow Cooker Chicken Verde & Southwest Style Quinoa

While we are not an "anything goes" type of food family, we do avoid most of the overly processed 'junk' in our kitchen but the last time we jumped on a food fad was low-carb about eight years ago.  I know that gluten-free is not a fad, for many people it is a necessity for living with Celiac disease but there are people that will jump on something because it's cool or new and run with it.... anyways, I have not had the occasion to need a recipe free of gluten- or dairy for that matter- until last night.  The hubby volunteered us me to cook dinner for a co-worker recovering from breast cancer surgery.  Once I read the reminder e-mail, I freaked a tiny bit inside seeing her dietary requirements and 'phoned a friend' for advice. While meat, potatoes and a veggie were a great suggestion, I decided to take the challenge head on and create something grand and easy.... and it was, and tasty to boot.  I will most certainly keep this one in my recipe rotation, bonus points for cooking with an ingredient not attempted before too!






6 to 8 frozen chicken breasts
28oz can of mild green enchilada sauce
2 cans mild green chiles (4.5oz I believe)
1 large jar of Southwest-style salsa
2 cloves of garlic, pressed (chopped, diced)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Southwestern Style seasoning (I LOVE the one from The Pampered Chef)
Juice from 1 Lime

Place all ingredients above in your slow cooker and cook on low for six hours or high for four hours.  When chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove to another shallow container and shred.  Remove some of the liquid from slow cooker and mix with shredded chicken.

I served with Southwestern Style Quinoa (new ingredient for me!) which was just quinoa cooked to package directions mixed with a bag of frozen sweet corn, two cans of rinsed black beans, more lime juice, a bit of olive oil, and seasonings (your preferred taste) and heated through.  Other side dish was steamed broccoli and garnished with fresh avocado slices.

Hubby ate his as a burrito with sour cream and cheese, so his was not 'dairy-free' but I ate mine as cooked and it was delish!

Kitchen Adventures: Dried Beans (18 Bean Soup Recipe)

On a recent trip to the dollar store (why do they call it that- I can never get out for under $20 Dollar$!), I purchased a few bags of dried beans and put them in my pantry- just in case. Monday was the case- either fueled by torrential downpour here in sunny CA or I wanted to dust off the crock pot.... the plan was to make chili, but I decided to experiment.  I actually read the instructions on the bag (imagine!) and was instantly transported to when I was little and my mom used to make a huge pot of beans or chili. I remember helping her 'sort' out the beans looking for any non-edible items that might have made its way into the mix (ie: a little pebble) and then washing the beans. So nostalgic. And a challenge: I've never cooked with dried beans before, just the canned variety. It was not an instantaneous process for dinner on the table in 30 minutes, but it was very simple and versatile. And wait until you see the cost! I concocted up a delish recipe that I wanted to pass along to you!

1 Bag (dried) 18 Bean Mix- sort through the beans and place into a colander and wash with hot water
1 Bag navy beans (I used white)
 1 package of ground turkey- browned with onions, garlic, salt and pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 bouillon cubes- your preferred flavor
2 pressed garlic cloves\
1 Can Green Chilies (mild)
Seasonings to taste: (I'm a 'dasher' meaning that I use a dash of this, and that while I cook)
I used: Salt, pepper, dried onion (I'm not a fan of the onion), 2 garlic cloves, Worcester sauce, balsamic vinegar, Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute and parsley

Soak the beans in about 8 cups of water overnight. Drain and rinse and put into the crock pot with 6 cups of water, the turkey and the rest of the ingredients. Turn on desired setting and wait for dinner! Serve with desired toppings such as cheese, sour cream and with a loaf of crusty french bread! Since I was making "noondles" (noodles) for Miss K, I also added some to a serving- yumm!

This recipe feeds an army- we had dinner for two nights, I'm taking for lunch one more day and I froze a large bag of the soup as well. I also added some sauteed beet greens to mine tonight and it was yummy (but that's for another post!) Another benefit- the cost of the entire crock pot including the bread was under $8- budget gourmet! I hope that you enjoy this recipe!

My farm delivery box allows me the liberty to be creative with recipes- it's always fun to think up recipes (outside of soup, pasta or risotto!) with whatever comes in it. This week I received my delivery right before Thanksgiving and even though I was totally inspired, I was also so busy and swamped! But today inspiration and time were finally on my side! Mind you that my hubs doesn't like either ingredient in the title aside from "Apple" and "Pie" but I'm going to make him try it out anyways! I just had my first slice and it was D-lish!




(2) pre-made refrigerated pie crusts- room temp

1 pint of fresh cranberries

1 bunch of rhubarb (approximately 1/4 cup finely chopped)

4 medium apples- preferrable Fuji or other sweet apple- coursely chopped

1 orange- zest and then squeeze the juice and reserve

cinnamon

vanilla

1 c. of splenda or sugar, plus 1/4 cup

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 stick of butter



Heat oven to 425. Coursely chop the cranberries and rhubarb and place in a microwave safe bowl and add enough water to cover. Add 1/4 cup of sugar or splenda to the mixture, along with 2/3 of the fresh juice. Microwave on high 5 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

Place one pie crust in a deep-dish pie plate and form against sides.

Strain cranberry mixture and add apples, mix and then spread into formed pie crust. Sprinkle with your preferred amount of cinnamon and vanilla. Mix together the remaining sugar and flour and add over filling. Dot filling with butter and pour remaining orange juice prior to covering with top crust. Add top crust, pinch edges to seal. Cut slits into crust and brush with a little melted butter. Sprinkle with some sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crusts are brown and mixture is bubbly. Enjoy with some ice cream or fresh whipped cream!

Our First Family Outing!!!!!!!

We had our first BIG family excursion over Columbus Day weekend with a trip to Apple Hill. This is an annual event that Jason and I have enjoyed every October since we first got together over 10 years ago (we just celebrated our ten year anniversary!) and it was exciting to take Baby Kiera up there this year. Last year we had *wished* that 'next year maybe we'll be bringing along a Baby Waggoner!'  Even though she is just an itty bitty, it was so wonderful to share with her a part of Fall that I just totally love! Wonderful weather, picture perfect foliage and yummy apple donuts, apple pie, well, apple EVERYTHING! It was a BEAUTIFUL day- and unfortunately thousands of other people had the same exact idea that we did- to enjoy Apple Hill this particular Saturday.

On our way up the hill, we stopped at my office in Folsom to see Sher and had a nice visit. This got us to Apple Hill around noon and the traffic was already backed up at the first two exits. Neither Jason nor I are fond of large crowds so we were trying to think of an alternate plan (go to Tahoe) but the thought of apple donuts totally had us drooling! We accidentally discovered that the secret to avoiding the long line of cars is to go to the Camino exit- that’s closest to Rainbow Orchards anyways and they have the BEST apple donuts up there! My only regret for my visit here is that Jason, sparing caloric intake, only ordered six donuts….. “because we’ll eat them all…” yes, that was my plan…. to enjoy every single crumb (and if he's lucky, I'll share!) (Donuts and Coke are two lingering cravings from pregnancy!) A proper meal wouldn't be without having dessert before lunch- a yummy barbequed tri-tip sandwich and fresh apple cider…. And of course, we had to ruin the whole thing and actually get some healthy apples. *hee hee* I tried a new one this year- JonaGold- and it was crunchy and sweet-tart- yum! (Wait until you hear my recipe for Caramel Apple Dip to make them even better!) We shared our table with four people from Southern California who in turn shared a piece of apple pie with us- I think we definately got the better end of the deal!

We then went to Bolster’s Hilltop Ranch- took some great photos and stood in a really, really long and slow line for a caramel apple that was to die for…. It was so good. And then we were tired of the crowds (see?) and decided to still drive up to Tahoe to see the foliage and drive around the lake. The Aspen trees over Luther Pass on Hwy 89 hadn’t really begun changing yet but it was still a beautiful drive. We made a short pit stop in South Shore (yes, honey, with tag team baby duty, both of us can still gamble!  HA!) , and drove 89 over to Truckee and I-80 to avoid the Apple Hill traffic on the return. Jason had an ulterior motive too- he wanted to stop in Colfax for Pizza Factory pizza (me donuts, he pizza!).

Kiera was a complete angel the entire trip- she was awake for awhile but mostly enjoyed the views from behind closed eyes from the sling or her comfy car seat! She is a great traveling companion! It was a great day for the Waggoner fam and we are looking forward to sharing it with her again next year!

Oh… I almost forgot my recipe for the apple dip…. I commonly refer to this as apple “crack” as it is highly addictive.

8 oz.- cream cheese, softened (don’t even bother with low fat…..)

¼ c. brown sugar

½ tbsp of vanilla

½ bottle of Smucker’s Caramel topping

½ cup of finely chopped peanuts or toffee chips (Heath)

Add first four ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and cook for 3 minutes. Stir thoroughly and pour in peanuts or toffee, heat again for 1 minute. Serve warm with apple wedges, graham crackers or over ice cream!   Oh, hell, why bother- just use a big ol' wooden spoon....

Daddy & Baby Ki

 
 
 
 

   Family Picture Op!             

 

Aspens at Luther Pass

Tahoe            

An infamous apple DONUT!

"Dad- you ate ALL the donuts? 

What is this "sharing" that you refer to?"