GLUTEN FREE MAC AND CHEESE BITES

I love me some good old mac & cheese!!!! Nothing says comfort food to me like a bowl of mac & cheese does. For me it always brings back childhood memories. Nowadays I find myself not eating so much of it because I am more calorie and health conscious but I'll admit these gluten free mac& cheese bites are great for any party that you may be throwing. They aren't difficult to make at all and kids love them for birthday parties. I'm totally going to add these to my Super Bowl menu this year! Enjoy

INGREDIENTS:

Rice Pasta (I substituted this for regular elbow pasta)
2 TBSP of Butter
2 TBSP of Quinoa Flour (I substituted this for flour)
1.5 Cups of Milk
2 OZ Cream Cheese
3/4 Cup of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3/4 Cup of shredded Mozzarella (optional)
1 Packet of Kraft Dinner Powdered Cheese Sauce (optional)
Salt and Pepper (as desired)
1 Egg (whisked)

**You will also need a muffin tray that is sprayed with non stick cooking spray or buttered.


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Boil water to make your pasta. Salt the water and throw in your pasta.

In a sauce pan add in your butter. Allow to melt on medium low heat then throw in your quinoa flour. Whisk together until fully incorporated. .

Next add in your milk slowly stirring with your whisk the whole time.  Allow milk to come to a simmer before removing from heat and adding in all your cheeses! Whisk together until smooth.

By now your pasta should be ready to be drained. Drain and allow access water to drip off before returning to pot. Add your egg to the pot with the pasta followed by the cheese sauce. Mix together so pasta is evenly covered. You can add pepper and salt now if you wish (remember that the cheese and butter does add salt to the dish already so you dont need much)

Scoop out pasta into your muffin tray (remember it has to be buttered or sprayed with non stick for easy removal later).

Place in oven and allow to bake for 16-17 minutes or until golden on the top!

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

They are now ready to serve! Enjoy!!!

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!

 

CHORIZO AND POTATO TACOS

My sister was the first person to introduce me to chorizo and potato tacos. She made them for a big family gathering and they were an instant hit. Every time I have made these since there hasn't been a single spec of left overs. They are so yummy they are the epitome of "I bet you can't just have one." and will have you saying, "Are you going to finish that? cause I will!" I also find tacos are great for entertaining large groups of people because they have this make you own/style it to your liking that gets other people involved in the meal process. Plus they're super easy to make! BONUS! ...but your guest don't need to know that ;)

Makes 12-14 Tacos

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 Yukon Potato (cubed)
1 TBSP of Lemon Juice
1 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 Sweet or Yellow Onion (chopped)
1-2 LBS of Uncooked Chorizo Sausage (remove chorizo from casing by cutting open the casing)
1-2 Jalapeno Chile (remove seed and chop finely)
Salt and Pepper (as desired)
Tortillas
Suggested Taco Fixings - Salsa, Guacamole, Hot Sauce (I love Valentina's), Bean paste. There is also sour cream, cheese and lettuce but these are not typical Mexican toppings.

*Place your cubed potatoes in a large bowl and cover in water. Add in your lemon juice - this will stop your potatoes from browning while you are prepping everything else.

DIRECTIONS:

Okay so the first thing we are going to do is boil the potatoes (first we boil them then we fry them). So when you're ready get a pot, drain the potatoes existing water and fill it with fresh water. Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil on high heat.

Once boiling lower heat and let it continue to cook for 4-6 minutes, drain and set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a large skillet add in the olive oil over medium. Once the oil is warm throw in your onions and lower heat to medium and let your onions start to sweat and release their juices.

When the onions start to soften and become clear throw in your chorizo stirring well to help break up the meat. Cook the chorizo on medium to high for 6-8 minutes.

Next add in the cooked potatoes and jalapenos. You will notice that the potatoes will start to absorb the flavors and oils of the chorizo and turn orange - this is good!!! Continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid burning, but it is also great to let the meat and potatoes to get crisp too! You can add salt and pepper to your liking.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN CEVICHE

I love me some ceviche and I found that discarded avocado skins make a great serving device for dinner parties because they are easy to carry, they wont leak and they are of course biodegradable! Ceviche originally came from Peru but has since evolved and been expanded on with other South American cuisines. One of my favorite styles is typically seen in Mexican cuisines where they use whole white fish and habanero peppers to give it a refreshing and spicy flavor. Enjoy.

Makes 15 Avocado Cups (small servings)

INGREDIENTS:

2lbs of White Fish (Sea Bass works)
8-10 Garlic Cloves (chopped finely)
2 TSP of Salt
1 TSP of Black Pepper
1 Habanero (remove seed and chop finely)
4 TSP of Cilantro (chopped)
20 Limes (juiced)
1 Medium Red Onion (chopped finely)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients except the onion in a bowl. Make sure all ingredients are covered in lime juice. Cover and place in fridge and allow to marinate for 2-3 hours.

After the two or three hours add the onion into the mix, place in avocado cups and serve.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!


 

SPICY LOBSTER QUINOA PASTA - GLUTEN FREE

INGREDIENTS:

1 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion (chopped)
5 Cloves of Garlic (minced) - you will need to split 3/5 cloves for the sauce
1 TSP of Chili Flakes
1 TSP of Dried Basil
1 TSP of Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Bottle of Tomato Pomodoro (strained tomato sauce)
1 TSP of Butter
6 Lobster Tails (thawed 4 chopped up 2 left whole)
1 Pack of Quinoa Pasta

DIRECTIONS:

Add oil to a sauce pan and heat up on medium heat. Add in your onion and 3 cloves of garlic and let them sweat.

Add in chili flakes, basil, oregano and salt and pepper. Stir around and let evenly mix

Once onions are garlic are nicely cooked add in your bottle of pomodoro tomato sauce, reduce heat to low and set aside to simmer.

Start to boil your water for the pasta.

Salt and pepper your chopped lobster bits lightly

In another skillet add in your butter and let melt on medium -low heat. Add in the remaining garlic and allow to season the butter for a second until you add in the chopped lobster bits.

Once the lobster bits are cooked through (apx 4-5minutes) then add cook lobster bits to the tomato sauce. Stir lobster into the tomato sauce and leave to continue to simmer

When the water is boiling add 1 TSP of salt to the water before adding in your quinoa pasta. You need to stir quinoa pasta for the first two minutes so that it doesn't stick together then let it continue to cook for an addition 10 minutes before it is al dente.

In another pan we are going to add in 1 cup of water and steam the remaining two lobster tails for 3-4 minutes. One ready remove lobster tails from water and set aside.

One ready dump pasta water and add pasta to sauce. Mix in and plate hot. Top with full steamed lobster tail and serve. ENJOY

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!
 

SPAGHETTI SQUASH PESTO

 

Spaghetti squash is actually super easy to make it just takes more time then wheat based pasta. If time is not a factor it is a great way to have a gluten free meal that taste great. This recipe is for a spaghetti squash pesto pasta but you can technically make the sauce whatever you want using the same principles. If you want to simplify the recipe even more you can buy a pre-made pesto sauce. If you are cooking for a group of more then two people this can be a very economical healthy meal to make as the ingredients wont cost you very much. 

INGREDIENTS

1 Spaghetti Squash around 3lbs
1 Small Jar of Pre-made Pesto
1 Block of Parmesan Cheese

If you want fresh pesto here are ingredients you will need

1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
3 Cups of Basil
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup of Pine Nuts
3/4 Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Throw in the spaghetti squash whole for about 60 minutes.

Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven and cut in half and take out the seeds.

If the spaghetti squash is not cooked/stringy enough place back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

While the squash is in the oven you can either start to make your pesto or use a pre-made pesto. Warm up the pre-made pesto in a skillet or place the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped before adding in the olive oil continuing until fully incorporated. Next move to a bowl and add in the Parmesan and salt and pepper - Mix them in.

Finally once the squash is ready remove from the oven and start to shred the inside of the squash with a fork and place it in the skillet or bowl with the pesto. Mix the two together to the pesto and squash is evenly distributed.  Serve.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!