Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Gluten Free Snickers Cookies (healthy style)


We love cookies, we love peanut butter, and we love snickers, therefore, we love these cookies!  It seems you can get away with the healthier flours when cooking with peanut butter, so I threw out the starch and added in some healthy grains and seeds.  I usually make the cookie batter dairy free, and make a few plain peanut butter cookies for those who can't have dairy, but for those of us who can handle it, I wrap that yummy stuff around the mini snickers.

Snickers Cookies
1/4 c. butter(Earth Balance works great for those additional allergy needs)
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 T. coconut flour
1 T. chia meal(I grind the seeds in a coffee grinder)
1/2 c. sorghum flour
1/2 c. millet flour
2 T. teff flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 bag mini snickers
Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet stuff and mix until combined.  Preheat your oven to 375, unwrap your snickers(snitch one or two), and the fun begins.  Grab a small ball of dough and wrap it around the snickers and place it on a Silpat lined cookie sheet, or whatever works for you.  Bake for 9 min.  They will still look like balls when you pull them out of the oven, so take the back of something flat and give them a slight squish.  Enjoy!

*If you don't have chia or coconut flour, they don't substitute equally.  Replace them with twice as much flour.  Ie. 1 T. chia meal = 2 T. potato starch 

*These are part of Linda's Gluten Free Wednesdays & Tessa's Allergy Free Wednesdays.  Thanks for all the great recipes!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Naturally GF Chicken Taquitos(Baked)



 We moved, and thus the reason for not posting for so long.  I still don't have my computer up and running, and our house is chaos!  I should be back to real life soon so come back soon to visit!

Taquitos were one of the foods I was happy to buy at the grocery store.  A couple years ago we were in California and i picked up some homemade taquitos at Trader Joes.  They were so much better than the frozen ones and I wondered why I had never made them before!  We love taquitos and I think they are one of the better Mexican foods without dairy.  Of course you can add some cheese or some creaminess if you desire, but for the rest of us, they are naturally dairy, soy and gluten free.  In the beginning I fried mine, but then saw a recipe from "Our Best Bites," for a great baked version.  Either way you can't go wrong, but the baked version is healthier and easier.
Any meat will do, I like to cook mine in the crockpot with a bunch of spices, but leftover roast or pork would also work.   The steps are so simple:   put shredded meat in a tortilla, roll it up and bake/fry it.   Here is a recipe I use, but this is just a framework, get creative.  We like them dipped in salsa, cafe rio house dressing, or a mixture of the two.
Chicken
Place 4 chicken breasts in a crock pot, cover with spice mixture, and cook on low until it shreds. Add a small amount of water during cooking if needed.
2 t. cumin
1 t. pepper
2 t. salt
2 t. onion powder
2 t. garlic powder
4 t. chili powder
2 T. lime juice
3 T. olive oil 
24 corn tortillas
cooking spray/oil
sea salt
1.  Wrap 4 tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds so they are soft and pliable.  If they break, spray with cooking spray on both sides before heating.
2.  Place  2-3 T. of shredded meat on the lower third of each tortilla and roll tightly, secure with toothpick.
Repeat process with remaining tortillas.
3.  Place on a cookie sheet with a space between each one.  Spray with cooking spray, or use a mister or pastry brush and oil, and then sprinkle with salt.
4.  Bake 15-20 min. in 425 oven, until edges are golden brown.
5.  Serve hot with your favorite salsa, dressing, or sauce of choice.