Booty Prude

Happy Halloween! This can be quite a frightening time of year for food prudes, parents and those with food allergies and/or intolerances.

How do you do Halloween healthy? Here's my two cents:

1. Most obvious, don't eat or allow your children to eat anything before examining it at home under good lighting.

2. Set up a buy back program for your kids. I give $.10/piece and my kids love it. They usually sell more than half their candy to me, which I then donate or trash.

3. Donate, donate, donate. There are several places that offer to buy your candy for $1/lb, like doctors' and dentists' offices. You can also look for places to donate it, like nursing homes, homeless shelters etc.

4. Check these references to find out which candies are gluten free:  Gluten Free Candy List from Celiac Central, Gluten Free Candy list from Alison of Sure Foods Living.

5. Establish a rule for the kids (and you!) defining how much candy consumption per day is acceptable and pick a date that the candy will 'expire', and stick to it. For example, I allow my kids to have 2 pieces of their unsold candy per day for two weeks. Exactly two weeks after Halloween, all the candy goes in the trash.

6. Grab your pillow cases and go get some booty!

Black Bean 'n Pico Quesadilla

I love to make quesadillas with corn tortillas, they are quick, versatile and gluten free, and I've posted a couple of those recipes in the past. At the risk of looking like a one trick pony, I have to share my most recent creation. This ones a bit spicy, not for the sensitive foodie.

Mix following ingredients in bowl to create filler:
1 Can black beans drained and rinsed
1 Can corn drained
1/4 c pico de gallo salsa (or any salsa will work)

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Layer on preheated griddle:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
corn tortilla
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup Black Bean 'n Pico filler
Fresh spinach leaves
1/4 shredded pepper jack cheese
corn tortilla

Cook for 5-7 minutes on med. to high heat then carefully flip. Cook other side for 5 minutes, move to plate, and let cool for a 2 minutes. Cut with pizza cutter and serve with sour cream.

Enjoy!

Beef Asparagus Casserole

You look at your calendar and you see it coming. You dread the thought, but there it is. A busy weeknight. School functions, sporting events, after hours meetings. We've all been there. So what are you going to do for dinner? You know you have to plan in advance. Your committed to steering clear of the local drive through on such occasions. The crock pot comes to mind. You give it a good once over, incapable of remembering one single good slow cooker meal that you haven't overused, or that sounds remotely appealing. You fret. Maybe you should just pack sandwiches, it won't hurt if everyone eats lunch twice in one day. Or.....maybe you will have to hit a fast food joint, they all offer salad bowls and fruit cups and those are healthy......

OK, so maybe that's just me. I feel like I've cooked every good crock pot meal one too many times and I'm just burnt out on it. Too many busy weeknights I guess. So here is my solution for this weeks craziness called life. 

I'll be honest, this is not as quick and easy as some of my recipes. But it is convenient when prepared in advance (say the night before, or in the morning), kept in the fridge, and put in the oven close to supper time. It also makes great leftovers, so you could make it on a slow night, and reheat on the crazy one.

Formerly known as Hamburger pie, and made with tomato soup and canned green beans, I've changed this recipe up a bit to make it healthier.

Here's what you need:

1 lb. Ground Beef (or Turkey)
Portabello Mushroom Spaghetti Sauce
1 Clove Garlic
1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus
4 Potatoes
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Rice milk
1 C Sour Cream
1/2 tsp Dried Dill Weed
2 1/2 Cups Shredded Italian Blend Cheese

Prep:
Pre-heat oven to 350*
Brown beef, drain, rinse, drain, add spaghetti sauce, and garlic, stir, set aside.
Wash, peel, quarter potatoes, boil until tender. Add egg, sour cream, rice milk and Dill, blend with mixer.
Wash and cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces, leaving out the dried ends (about 1/2 inch of bottom of stalk).

Pour Beef sauce into deep casserole dish.
Line Asparagus on top of beef sauce.
Cover with 1/2-1 cup of cheese.
Add Potatoes to casserole and top with rest of cheese.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour.

Tomorrow, warm thermoses and fill with leftover beef asparagus casserole for lunches. Two birds, one stone.

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Food Prude is listed in the Top 50 Blogs in: Gluten Free on Networked Blogs.  I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to all my fellow Food Prudes out there for reading, commenting on, and sharing my posts.  I am inspired by all the great feedback and interest in gluten free and healthy living, and I vow to continue to try to post valuable information and delicious recipes.

Please join me and other Food Prude's on my Facebook Fan Page for open discussions, and share your stories and recipes!



Blessings,
The Food Prude

Asian Glazed Chicken - G Free

Break out your chopsticks. This recipe is better than your local take out and completely gluten free....

Today, I was super excited to log on and discover that one of my friends has started her own recipe and meal planning blog. She too is a busy working mom and has lots of creative quick and easy weeknight meal ideas. Tonight, I dove headfirst into her first recipe, converting it as I went along, and the result was a delicious Asian inspired gluten free meal.

I must clarify that her recipe called for Salmon, which I'm sure tastes even better with this sauce, but  I needed to cook the fresh organic chicken in my fridge, so I am presenting Asian Chicken to you.

For reference, here is Mommy Doesn't Cook On Friday's blog site with the original recipe.

Here is how I made it suitable for my gluten free family:

Prep:
Preheat grill
Steam Basmati or Wild rice

Rinse and pat dry 4 boneless skinless organic chicken breasts

zest & juice two organic oranges - put half aside for rice

Sauce:
To the remaining zest/juice add:
2 TB dark brown sugar
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp grapeseed oil
1 TB Tamari (wheat free soy sauce)

Create aluminum foil 'boat' for chicken breasts and pour sauce over them, turn and make sure chicken is well covered. Grill, turning once, until done.

Steam Basmati or Wild rice. Add saved orange juice and zest and teaspoon of sesame or olive oil, stir and set aside for about 5 min.

Create second aluminum foil 'boat'. Pour 2 TB olive oil on and crush 2 cloves of garlic onto the oil. Add 4 c
ups fresh organic spinach and toss, coating spinach with oil and garlic. Place on grill over burner on low and grill until JUST wilted. (this can also be done in pan on stove, I just used the grill because the weather was nice)

This meal is not only delicous, it's full of vital nutrients and makes great leftovers too! Enjoy it, and make sure you follow Mommy Doesn't Cook On Friday for the full weeks menu!

Precious Pretzels

Eating 'gluten free' foods can be very intimidating. There's always the chance that the food in question isn't safe and illness will insue, or the more likely chance that it is completely gluten free and your taste buds will shrivel in despair.

Despite aforementioned anxiety, I was fortunate to have a great first experience with pre-packaged gluten free food, which fostered high expectations and led to several disappointments over the course of my gluten free years.

The first designated gluten free product I bought was Glutino's pretzels, which surprisingly, are better tasting than 'real' pretzels. Unfortunately, as with most processed gluten free foods, they are expensive and poorly packaged causing quick, and disheartening spoiling if not consumed quickly.

Because we so enjoy Glutino's pretzels, but must maintain a tight grocery budget, my children and I began looking for creative ways to use up stale and/or broken pretzel leftovers.

Recently, we used our pretzel crumbs in a dish my 9 year old was concocting, called Gooey Greatness, where she mixed crushed cashews with almond butter and honey. The pretzels made a nice addition, but we were still looking for more ideas.

Much to my delight, I found this little blip about pretzels in Family Circle magazine and I can't wait to convert these recipes into delectable gluten free dishes.

1. Brush each side of 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with 1 tsp spicy brown mustard. Roll in finely crushed pretzels; bake at 400* for about 15 minutes.
2. For pie crust, mix 2 cups finely crushed pretzels, 6 tbsp melted butter and 3 tbsp sugar. Press into a pie plate and bake at 350* for 10 minutes.
3.  Make a simple sweet dessert by melting 12 ounces semisweet chocolate baking chips, then stir in 1 cup coarsely crushed pretzels and 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Spread out onto a waked paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 1 hour and break into pieces.

Have an idea for pretzel leftovers? Share them on Food Prude's facebook fan page.