Recipe: Spanish Rice - Gluten Free and Vegetarian

Right before I added the rice.

Before I mixed it together, isnt it pretty!!

Ingredients:

2 Green Peppers - Optional Red, Yellow or Orange Peppers...

1 Yellow Onion

2 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Can of Corn ( You can use frozen or fresh)

1 Can of Black Beans

1 Can of Diced tomatoes

1 Can of Rotel Diced tomatoes

2 Tsp Cumin

2 Tsp Garlic Salt

1 Tsp Paprika

1 Tsp Mild Chili Powder

4 Cups cooked rice... ( I steamed mine in the steamer while cooking the rest..)

1 package of mexican cheese

Directions:

1. In large saute pan on medium high heat, add Olive Oil... 
2. When oil is hot add peppers and onions. Saute until soft.
3. Add Tomatoes, beans, corn and all spices...
4. Mix together and reduce heat to simmer...
5. Simmer 10 - 15 minutes just to warm through.
6. Fold in rice. Place in serving dish.
7. Layer cheese on top.
8. Serve hot or room temp...

Enjoy!!

Sorry I didn't get a pic of the final product! I got to excited to eat it! ;)

BeefARoni!!

Mediterranean Chicken with couscous salad

Well we have the funk in our house - Dakota got it Monday and Eli and I got it last night. Strep throat. UGH.

And I did NOT feel like cooking. But I didn't marinade that chicken for nothing, ya heard?

So I went thru with it. I cooked it up and I ate the dickens out of it! And it was darn tooting delicious! SO take that Mr. Strep!

By the way this one was NOT gluten free - because my local shop didnt have gluten free couscous - s I splurged and bought the rainbow - cuz it was cute. YES, because it was cute!

So here is our photo:

And as always - the recipes we use are from The Fresh 20

I do NOT get paid to endorse them in any way - just sharing :)

Although I wish I did get paid - Hey - Fresh 20 - You hear that??

Wink Wink!

Minestrone Soup

Todays Menu included Minestrone soup - one of my faves!
Usually I make it with shell noodles, but since this is gluten free - we used rice. ( the recipe called for quinoa).

Everyone loved it, we added in addition to the recipe - zucchini and celery and some extra chicken broth...

Chili and Chicken tacos!! Ole!

And mexican week continues!

Here we have chicken tacos with a rice and veggie salad- ( we discovered we arent really fans of corn tortillas) But ate them anyways...
Chicken was spicy according to the kids, so next time, less spice...
For them at least, LOL

And the chili was astounding and had tons of hidden veggies, if your family doesnt like those sorts of things... My kids prefer veggies over meat so they were pleased to have it mixed in...
This was supposed to be served with home made corn chips - but I burnt them... Dang it!
I am NOT posting the photo of that! LOL!!

Enjoy this feast of the eyes!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Welcome back!

This week seems to have a mexican theme for The Fresh 20's Meal plans...
Super excited because in my house, my kids LOVE this food!

Monday was a Spaghetti Bolognese. What does this have to do with mexican cuisine? Well, not much, but the sauce did have cumin in it...

And I am going to admit something publicly here. Because we are all friends right?
I am not going to be using the gluten free noodles any more. I know, I know. I am doing the gluten free menu right?!? Well truth is, my family just doesnt like them, and I am throwing them out and it seems wasteful! So if and when I can, I will substitute the noodles for rice, if not then I will use real italian noodles.

So in the future when you see photos, I WILL let you know which is which!

That being said, I DID use white rice noodles with this recipe. I thought it was great! But the rest of the fam, not so much. We did have a guest for dinner, my brothers AMAZING girl friend, who had baby sat our kids for us today. And I forced her to try it. She didnt seem to mind - but my amazingly picky brother stopped by... Then the fun began! This man, doesnt eat anything, I mean ANYTHING! He hates veggies! And I thought for SURE he would NOT eat the noodles. HE scarfed the plate down!! And the recipe had a cup of shredded carrots! He ate it!! Yowza! That is saying a lot! haha!!!

Anyways, here is the photo I took of my plate before I scarfed MY plate down!

Greek Chicken & Warm Spinach Salad - Gluten Free

Tonights menu was Greek Chicken with a warm spinach salad.

I marinated the chicken for 4 hours and it was amazing! The recipe called for boneless skinless, but they didnt have that at my local grocery store. So I bought bone in. It was still amazing, and I never eat the skin anyways.
The spinach salad on the other hand - wellllll - my daughter and I didnt really care for it. It was really tomato-ish. Maybe if I cut the tomato amount in half next time. Im not sure, it just felt like it was missing something.

Anywho - it was still good, and still gluten free!

The Fresh 20

Italian Polenta Bake- Gluten Free

 Well here it is, the first gluten free recipe that is not my own...
It was delicious!!
It consisted of polenta, turkey sausage, mushrooms, onion, tomato puree, and mozzarella cheese!!
With a spinach salad on the side.

I highly recommend it!!
www.thefresh20.com

Pork Chop Stew - Recipe

Ingredients:

6 pork loin chops 4 tbsp. flour 2 tbsp. oil 6 med. potatoes, cubed 1 med. onion, chopped 1 sm. cabbage, cut in thin wedges (optional) 4 carrots, diced 1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules 1/4 c. water 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) sliced stewed tomatoes 1/2 c. sour cream 2 tbsp. cornstarch Directions: 1. Trim fat from chops. Coat with 2 tablespoons flour. Brown chops in oil over medium heat. 2. Place potatoes, onion and carrots in slow cooker. Sprinkle remaining flour over and toss to coat. Layer over potato mixture, in order, cabbage, Mushrooms, salt, pepper, chops, bouillon, 1/4 cup water and stewed tomatoes with juice. Do Not Stir. 3. Cover and cook on high 3 1/2-4 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. 4. Optional: In small saucepan, stir sour cream and cornstarch until smooth. Measure cooking liquid and add enough water or milk to equal 1 1/2 cups. Stir into saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and mixture comes to a boil. Serve with chops.

No Beef Chili - Recipe

No Beef Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs of Ground Turkey

1 lb of Ground Chicken

1 Pack of Chili Seasoning

1 Small Can of Tomato Sauce ( I used Zesty Rotel Tomato Sauce)

1 Can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Peppers

1 Large Can of Diced Tomatoes

2 Cans of Pinto Beans

Directions:

Brown both meats with Chili packet.

Add all canned ingredients.

Simmer for an hour or more.

Serve.

Yep, its that easy!

We served ours with Cornbread Muffins...

Vegetarian Spaghetti Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 carrots sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (26 ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) can cannellini beans - Any kind of your favorite bean would work here...
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the onion, celery, carrots and garlic powder in oil until tender. Add the spaghetti sauce, beans, tomatoes, sugar, salt, oregano and bay leaf.
2. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Drain spaghetti; top with sauce and Parmesan cheese.

You can make so many variations of this dish by adding other veggies your family loves! Try some out, I would love to hear about them!! This was a huge hit with our family! Hope you enjoy!