Re-awakening my blog with a delicious low-cal strawberry lemonade recipe.

Wow, I haven't posted to this blog in literally years! So it's time to get back to writing and posting, and what better way to start off than with the perfect homemade low-cal lemonade recipe!

Truvia Strawberry Lemonade

What you'll need:

2 Quart Pitcher

Long Stirring Spoon

Fine Strainer

1 Cup of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

24 Packets of Truvia Sweetener (More or less to your taste)

5 Cups of Water

6-8 Sliced Strawberries

Ice

Let me start out by telling you that anyone can make this lemonade. It's so simple, my kids love helping me make it. No cooking, no waiting, just squeeze, mix, stir and drink!

So I started out by juicing my lemons into a large measuring cup. I think I have the world's first juicer. If you thought your juicer was old, well...

There she is, my stainless steel beauty. I got this years ago out of a pile of kitchen ware a neighbor had set out with a big, "Free" sign on it. Honestly at the time, I wasn't sure what it really was, but now I'm so glad I nabbed it, because it's a great juicer.

Ok, so while you're juicing away, using whatever newfangled device you might own, now is a good time to get the kids involved. Have them count out 24 packets of Truvia brand sweetener. Once they have them counted out, you could even have them open and dump them into a little bowl for you.

Once you get your cup of lemon juice, strain it and add that and the Truvia to the Pitcher. Then add 5 cups of water, and stir, stir, stir. You'll want to stir until the Truvia is completely dissolved. It can take a few minutes. This is a great task for a helper. Kids love to stir!

To add the strawberries, I washed and cut up about 6-8 strawberries. Then I put a couple of strawberries pieces into my juicer and crushed them with it right into the pitcher so the strawberry juice could go into the mix, as well as the mashed up strawberries. But if you don't have the same type of juicer that I do, then just mash up the strawberries in a bowl/food processor/mortar & pestle, or whatever you have on hand, and pour them into the pitcher.

After that, add ice to fill the rest of the pitcher. Then give the strawberry lemonade one last stir, and you are ready to enjoy!

This recipe is simple, but oh, so good, and not horrible for you either! Alternatively, you could leave the strawberries out and have traditional lemonade, or add your own fruit blend. The possibilities are endless!!

Gluten Free Banana Coconut Wonderloaf

OK, so I wasn't quite sure what to call this besides absolutely delicious! This is something everyone will love. No one would ever know it was gluten free, especially with the yummy texture of corn meal and coconut. Mm, I can hardly wait to have another piece.

As they would say on Yo Gabba Gabba... Try it! You'll like it!

Haha, I've lost my mind. But this stuff really is good.

GF Banana Coconut Wonderloaf


Note: This recipe yields 2 loaves.

1 cup Corn Meal
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/5 tsp Baking Soda
1/5 cup white sugar
1/5 cup brown sugar
2 cups shredded dried unsweetened coconut
3 mashed bananas
1 cup milk
1/5 cup water
1 egg
1 egg white
2 tbsp butter

Mix all the dry ingredients first. Then mix in the wet ingredients. When everything is mixed thoroughly pour into two greased or sprayed loaf pans and bake @ 350 until the top looks dried, and the knife test comes out clean.

Let this cool well before serving. It's very moist and if you don't let it cool it will fall apart.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did. We love it for breakfast, a snack or dessert. It would be wonderful with vanilla ice cream and some caramel drizzled over it.

Easy, inexpensive, and I didn't have to go to the store to get any of the ingredients to make this tasty treat. Who could ask for more?

Gluten Free Chicken Soup

This was what I needed. It is true that chicken soup heals the spirit. Make this recipe next time you're feeling a little down, a little sick, or a little chilly. I guarantee it will perk you right up.





Gluten Free Chicken Soup


1 box gluten free chicken stock
1 box (from the chicken stock box) of water
4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 bag frozen cross-cut carrots
1 celery stalk cut into chunks
1 large potato cut into chunks
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Salt & White Pepper to taste

Pour everything into the crock pot and turn on high. Let it cook for about 2 hours if you like your veggies crunchy, or longer if you like them mushy. I prefer them crunchy. The chicken cooks fairly quickly, after about 1.5 hours.

My whole family loved this soup. It is so flavorful, and very healthy. You could change it up too and add whatever favorite veggies and spices you can imagine. You could even cook up some gluten free pasta and add it at the last minute.

All in all this is a wonderful, easy, fool-proof and inexpensive way to feed a family, and heal some spirits. Enjoy!

Ginger Peach Chicken (Gluten Free)

Oooh, if you like spicy/sweet food combinations then you're going to love this meal. Its very simple too.



Ginger Peach Chicken



3lbs of raw thawed or fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of peaches in heavy syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1tsp chili paste
1tsp ground ginger for sauce & 1tsp for chicken
1tsp white pepper
1/2 tbsp of chopped garlic
salt to taste

Rub chicken breasts with 1tsp of ginger, salt & white pepper. Bake @ 350 until juices run clear.


Meanwhile:

Melt a pad of butter @ med/high heat in a sauce pan. Add peaches, brown sugar, chili paste and the other tsp of ginger. Stir thoroughly. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 mins. Add 2tbsp corn startch to a half cup of warm water and stir until corn starch disolves. Add half of cornstarch mixture to peach sauce. Let the mixture thicken. If it's still not thick enough, then add the remaining cornstarch to the sauce and mix. Let the peach sauce continue to simmer.


When the chicken is done cooking, chop coarsely, then mix with peach sauce and let stand (no heat), for five minutes. Serve on it's own with sides, or over rice.

Gluten-Free Food Review #4

If you love tortillas, then I have good news for you.

To my surprise and delight I discovered some wonderful brown rice, gluten free tortillas made by Food For Life, and I think I'm in love. The texture is crispy and amazing, straight out of the package. The flavor is very deep and almost reminiscent of sourdough, but in a new and exciting way.

I used mine to make a quesadilla, something I hadn't had in quite some time. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and I definitely recommend you give these tortillas a try.

Blackberry Pie

Wow, it's been a while! But here I am, and with wonderful news!

A friend of mine who is an excellent chef made me the luckiest girl in the world today! She took her time and love to make me a gluten free blackberry pie from scratch!

The pie was absolutely amazing. The outer crust was flakey, the blackberries weren't too sweet, there was a bit of a lemony flavor that paired perfectly with the berries, and the bottom crust had a perfectly tender consistency.

Here is a picture of this tasty treat. Try not to drool on your keyboard.


Isn't it gorgeous? It tastes even better!

It was so wonderful to have pie, which is something I haven't enjoyed in a very, very long time. The best part though is that I knew I could trust Summer's cooking because she is licensed and serve safe certified. I know we'll be ordering cakes and pies from her in the future! Maybe you should too!

If you're interested in ordering any of Summer's culinary delights, you can contact her at...

Summer Brashear @ Chef_Summer@hotmail.com

She has also made dairy free pies, as well as gluten free.

Gluten-Free Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Mmmmmm. This is a good one! I originally got the recipe from Stephanie's A year of Crockpotting website. I switched it up a bit, and cooked it in the oven rather than the crock. But it turned out FABULOUS, and I'd highly recommend it for a switch-up on your old fashioned lasagna.



Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

1 box of ready to bake lasagna (I used gluten-free rice lasagna)
2 cooked chicken breasts
1 jar of prepared pasta sauce
1 cup of buffalo sauce
15oz of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheese blend)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup of corn
1/2 cup water

Cut the chicken into chunks and mix together in a bowl with the buffalo sauce, corn and pasta sauce. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 3qt casserole dish with your choice of spray or EVOO or whatever you like to grease pans with.

Building the lasagna:
Start with a ladlefull of sauce/chicken mixture. Spread that across the bottom of the dish then cover with a layer of lasagna. Spread a layer of ricotta cheese over the lasagna, then a layer of cheese blend. Reapeat. Then for the top use the rest of the sauce mixture and cover the top of the lasagna with the parmesan cheese. Pour the water around the edge of the lasagna, (it will be absorbed by the noodles as it cooks). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let the lasagna sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

I really, really liked this lasagna. It's even better the next day after all the flavors meld together. It's sort of spicy, perhaps to spicy for kids (depending on their tastes), but it's a great variation from traditional lasagna. Also, it makes a lot and you can eat it all week. So it's really cost concious.

Give it a try! It's easy, cheap, and tasty. Who could ask for more?