Chicken Parm Taste without the Breading

Recently in my attempt to lose weight I've decided to go low carb, at least low on the empty carbs. I still eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and beans. So don't worry, I'm eating plenty of carbs, just in naturally occuring foods and items with lots of natural fiber. So, in an attempt to create something I came up with this yummy chicken bake. This probably isn't new, but I liked it. 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 Boneless, skinless Chicken Pieces 
• 1.5 - 2 cups tomato pasta sauce
• 4 Tbsps of Freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Cut the butter in half and place in the bottom of an oven safe pan.
3. Place the four chicken pieces in the pan, spread evenly and flat.   
4. Evenly spread the pasta sauce over the chicken.    
5. Sprinkle the Parmesan Cheese over chicken evenly.
6. Baked for approximately 1 hour, or until done. 
7. Once cooked through sprinkle the Mozzarella over the dot chicken and let the cheese melt.
8.  Serve with salad, steamed vegetables or a small portion of pasta noodles to continue with the low carb meal.    

 So, super easy and super yummy. Not hard at all. Enjoy!   

Salsa con Queso

We love a good Salsa con Queso at our house. Nothing like some corn chips and a nice warm cheese sauce. Being allergic to soy and sensitive to gluten has meant no more buying that when we go out and can't find one in a jar that works for us. So, by inspiration from an old friend I came up with a new recipe. Basically it was her idea and I just have measurements. Here is how I did it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 ounces of plain cream cheese
• 3 Tbps butter
• 4 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 or more table spoons of medium salsa

DIRECTIONS

1.  Put butter and cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl with lid (to prevent microwave splatter). 
2. Melt down in the microwave at 30 second intervals stirring it up between each 30 seconds.
3. Shouldn't take more than 1:30 to melt down.
4. Now that it's melted mix in the shredded cheese. You can microwave for another 30 seconds if the cheese doesn't melt completely.
5. Stir in your salsa. 
6. Serve with corn chips. 
7. Store any unused portion in the fridge and reheat for later use.

Homemade Pizza

Not everyone likes homemade pizza. I would say that's due to a lack of delicious recipes. We found this recipe in the extra features of the movie, The Santa Clause. Of all places to find an amazing recipe.

Pizza Dough by Wolfgang Puck   

Ingredients

• 1 package* active dry yeast or fresh yeast
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 cup warm water (105° - 115°)**
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

* 1 package equals 2 ¼ tsp

** We don’t actually measure the temperature, just guess

Directions

• Dissolve yeast and honey with ¼ cup of warm water.
• Add oil, flour, salt, and remaining water, stir 5 minutes.
• Knead on slightly floured work surface for 2-3 minutes, until smooth and firm.
• Add to slightly oiled mixing bowl and leave at room temperature to rise for 30 minutes.*
• Divide dough (makes 4, 8” pizzas**) into equally portioned balls.
• Pre-heat oven to 500° F
• Dip ball into flour and shake off excess.
• Place on flat surface and stretch, making outer edge thicker than the middle.
• Do a two minute pre-bake before you put the toppings on. Keeps the middle from getting soggy. 
• Bake until crust is slightly browned (10-12 minutes). ***

* You can let it rise longer. It actually gets a little firmer and thicker the longer it rises, but that also makes it harder to work with, but you can do it.

** You can just make 2, 16” pizzas which works out just nice for us.

Gluten Free Pizza Dough inspired by Wolfgang Puck   

Ingredients

• 1 package* active dry yeast or fresh yeast (I actually did 2 1/2 tsp this time)
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 1/4 cup warm water (105° - 115°)**
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose, but you can use what you like I'm sure)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Psyllium Husk Powder (This can be found in the dietary section with constipation remedies) (You could probably also use just 6 tsp. of xantham gum if you prefer it)
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

* 1 package equals 2 ¼ tsp

** We don’t actually measure the temperature, just guess

Directions

• Dissolve yeast and honey with ¼ cup of warm water.
• Stir the psyllium husk powder into the remaining water. Be sure to mix thoroughly so you don't end up with lumps of the psyllium powder. It bulks up quickly so stir in slowly.)
• Add oil, flour, salt, and remaining water, stir 5 minutes.
• Knead on slightly floured work surface for 2-3 minutes, until smooth and firm. Best to use a stand mixer if you have one
• Add to slightly oiled mixing bowl and leave at room temperature to rise for 30 minutes.*
• Divide dough (makes 4, 8” pizzas**) into equally portioned balls.
• Pre-heat oven to 500° F
• Dip ball into flour and shake off excess.
• Place on flat surface and stretch, making outer edge thicker than the middle.
• Bake for two minutes and then put toppings on them. 
• Bake until crust is slightly browned and cheese is melted. About ten minutes.***

* You can let it rise longer. It actually gets a little firmer and thicker the longer it rises, but that also makes it harder to work with, but you can do it.

** You can just make 2, 16” pizzas which works out just nice for us. 

It's not even round, but this is what it looked like after the pre-bake. Doesn't look weird right? Just like regular pizza dough.

***For both recipes, we sprinkle a good portion of corn meal under the dough to help it bake more evenly. I swear it works and it's great!!

Fruit Juice

Last week Eric and I received a juicer. It's a nice Breville and sounds like a space ship when you turn it on and off. Pretty cool. We've had fun juicing new and different things. I surely need to try more vegetables and see which fruits are the best compliment. For now though, I have a really tasty sweet recipe that you should try.

Ingredients
1-2 Apples (Red Delicious produce a lot of fruit)
1 Orange
1 Large Carrot peeled
3-4 Large Aromatic strawberries (you want ones that smell really delish for the most impact)

I peeled the carrot just because and the orange too. Through everything else in whole. Then I mixed up up the juice in my cup. The only way it could taste better is if I had poured it over crushed ice. It's so yummy and so good for me. Lots and lots of vitamins in there. I'm so excited for summer and all the fresh produce we'll be able to find locally. I'll let you know what other recipes I come up with. I know we've got spinach in the fridge, so that will be happening soon too.

Enjoy!

King Arthur - Gluten Free

Before going gluten free I fell in love with King Arthur flours. Now I love their gluten free products. Seriously, the gluten free chocolate cake is really pretty amazing. And I like to make a basic vanilla frosting to go over it. You can hardly tell the difference. Sure, I can learn to make my own mixes, but sometimes a boxed mix is just easier and faster.

Another great thing about King Arthur Gluten Free products is that they are free of the 8 most common allergies, so it's totally safe for me and so many others. I don't have to worry about soy flour or soybean oil solids. It's great to have a safe product to go to when I'm craving a snack.

Hot Chocolate Recipe

It's been quite chilly and rainy this weekend in L.A. So, I wanted some hot chocolate. I didn't want to have to worry about gluten or soybean solids in a packet. So I looked it up and Martha Stewart hooked me up. I used this recipe. I would recommend making some fresh whipped cream to go with it. I would have, but I had run out of heavy cream. It tasted so rich and full. I'm sure if you want you could use a different type of milk, but we used whole milk as it said.

When boiling it, I added a dash of natural vanilla extract to it to balance flavors. Depending on your preference you could add more or less. Stay warm out there!

Gluten Free Creamy Chicken Soup with Vegetables

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1/2 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Button of Garlic, minced
• 1 chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces or smaller.
• 2 boxes of Pacific condensed Cream of Chicken soup (this is gluten free)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cans of veggies, or bag of frozen veggies
• Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour olive oil into a deep frying pan. On low you can add the garlic and oil and let them cook up until aromatic.
2. Now add the raw chicken and cook until done. Make sure it all blends with the garlic and onions.
3. Once cooked through add the condensed soup and milk. You can adjust the amount of milk depending on how thin or creamy you want your soup to be. Play with it.
4. Season with some salt and pepper. A good sprinkling is a good place to start.
5. Add the drained or frozen veggies and stir together to heat through.
6. Once it's all warmed through you're done and ready to eat.

If you don't care about being gluten free you could probably just use regular condensed soups.  So it's not a fancy soup, but it worked great when I was craving a creamy soup. You could add rice or even some noodles to this to make more out of it.

Gluten Free

For health reasons I decided I needed to try to give up allergens for real this year. On January 1, 2013 I gave up soy. Including regular chocolates with soy lecithin. I haven't had a candy bar since then, at least not the standard ones. I did find some chocolate chips that are soy free, so that's been exciting. On January 6th I decided I needed to try going gluten free too just to see what would happen. So, I've been soy free and gluten free since then. Holy cow! Talk about a life change. Actually that's not true. It has been a reasonably easy transition. It makes going out to eat very tricky, but it's okay and less expensive to just eat at home. In n Out and Poquito Mas has been a life saver though. It's fun learning to cook differently. I'm learning new things and trying new recipes. It's really awesome. I still crave things that are normal, but I have to find a new way to make it or find recipes. It's not too hard, but I have fun. So, I think a lot of my posts from now on will be recipes and products I've found and tested myself. Just because you can't eat the standard American diet doesn't mean you have to miss out on favorites. That's for sure!!

So, challenge me. Ask me for ideas and recipes. I'd like to share as much as I can.