Crockpot Jambalaya

Last night I made the Crockpot Jambalaya recipe that I had on the schedule for last week. Of course with my birthday messing everything up over the last few weeks and my busy business meeting schedule I didn't focus much on cooking last week and still had some recipes left over. So tonight I finally got it together to prepare a real dinner for my family.

The recipe for the Jambalaya was very easy. Of course I did have to pre-cook the sausage, but I just stuck it in the oven for 20-30 minutes and tried to make it as easy as possible on myself. Everyone seemed to like the dinner, I thought it was pretty good myself. In order to make it edible for the boys I only used mild sausage, I didn't want it to be too spicy. I picked up Mulay's Mild Italian Sausage at the Vitamin cottage because it is All Natural and contains no nitrates, preservatives or artificial ingredients. Paul said that it was good and that he liked it. Not an exciting recommendation, but I think he was just happy that I didn't serve frozen pizza, soup or grilled cheese sandwiches. I think he figures he doesn't even care what type of dietary experiment I am on, as long as I am cooking decent meals. I am sure that in and of itself is a welcomed change!

Crockpot Jambalaya

The Ingredients:

--5 fully cooked sausages; 2 spicy and 3 not-so-spicy. I chose 3 garlic-artichoke turkey and 2 turkey Louisiana hotlinks. They were left over from when I made this.
--2 cups chicken broth
--1/2 cup white wine
--1 cup raw brown rice
--1 can (and juice) Itallian stewed tomatoes
--1/2 can drained and rinsed black beans
--1/2 chopped onion
--1/2 head chopped garlic
--3 chopped celery spears
--1 green pepper
--1 red pepper
--1 cup frozen white corn kernals
--2 cups cooked frozen shrimp

The Directions:

--pour the broth, wine and the uncooked brown rice into the bottom of your stoneware. Stir the rice in the liquid.
--cover with chopped vegetables, frozen corn and garlic
--put in the black beans
--add sausage
I promise it's enough liquid.
--cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 6.
--an hour before eating, stir in frozen shrimp and turn to high.

Confessions

So you may be wondering how my gluten free diet is going. I have talked about it enough and made intricate dining plans each week, but guess what? It appears that I am a week day gluten free person. I am trying so hard, but my birthday was my downfall. No it wasn't cake, it was pizza. I thought I would have the will power to go to our favorite Pizza place and just have the Italian salad, but I just couldn't say no. I had to have a bite. Since then I have made healthy food choices and have eaten gluten free throughout the week, until the weekend. The good news however is that I am not binging on gluten based foods, I just don't say no. For instance on Sunday afternoon we went to Denver and had lunch at the Paramount Cafe. I ordered the Mediterranean salad and it was served with Pita bread slices. How could I not eat my hummus on Pita bread?

Well, it is what it is, I don't have the greatest self control. Are you wondering how I am feeling when I eat gluten. Aren't the side effects of eating gluten what inspired me to change my diet in the first place? Yes, of course it is. Well lets just say that I enjoyed several Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies on Saturday evening for dessert and I was asleep by 7:15pm and literally felt comatose throughout the night until I finally dragged myself out of bed around 5:45am. What? 11 hours of sleep in one night? I don't usually get 11 hours of sleep in 2 nights usually!

So, I am back on track with the aspiration of being gluten free, but most of all to have a healthy clean diet that helps me run to my maximum potential and with any luck lose some weight, but basic health is my main goal.

After all, I am only human. Right?

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

On Tuesday I made Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lasagna. Gluten Free you may be wondering. Why yes! I have been buying Tinkyada gluten free rice pasta from the grocery store and no one in my family even seems to notice. I was a little concerned about how lasagna in a crockpot would come out (figuratively and literally), especially seeing as though I could not find a gluten free lasagna noodle. I had to use spaghetti noodles, but surprisingly it come out great! Of course my husband likes anything that is made with Hot Sauce! Unfortunately the boys found it a little too hot, even though I used Mild Wing Sauce. So next time I may turn up the heat and make it with at least a Medium Wing Sauce, I think I will try this on my Brother and Sister in-law when they visit in April because they both love hot sauce!

The only down side to this recipe is that I had to pre-cook the chicken. This would be great if you had left over chicken or maybe even turkey. This is definitely on the top 10 list!

CrockPot Buffalo Chicken Lasagna Recipe

The Ingredients.

--uncooked traditional lasagna noodles (I used Tinkyada brand)
--4 already cooked chicken breast halves
--jar of prepared pasta sauce
--1 cup buffalo wing sauce
--3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers
--tub of ricotta cheese (15 oz)
--2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella and cheddar blend)
--1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbles
--1/4 cup of water (add at very end)

The Directions.

use at least a 5qt crockpot, or cut back on the amount of ingredients.

In a large glass bowl, combine cooked and chopped chicken breast, the pasta sauce, and 1 cup of buffalo wing sauce. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You'll have to break them to get a proper fit. Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles. Add a layer of chopped bell pepper. Sprinkle on a handful of shredded cheese.

Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients.

Add the bleu cheese crumbles, if desired. Put the 1/4 cup of water into your empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take off the lid of the crock. Let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into. Or it will fall apart.

Dijon Chicken Dinner

Last night I made the Dijon Chicken Crockpot recipe and it was delicious! In fact I feel like it was even better today for lunch. As with most crockpot recipes it was super simple, throw the chicken, mustard, and syrup into the pot and mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook. Of course I couldn't get myself together soon enough to slow simmer so I had to cook on high for 4 hours, but it turned out fine. Paul really like it (I think he is liking my little cooking experiments gluten or no gluten). The boys were not as crazy about the sweet potatoes, but then again my oldest son won't eat potatoes in general, I just thought he might like the sweet potatoes. But they liked the rice!

I served the chicken and potatoes over rice because for some reason I seem to have the need to serve recipes like this "over" something.

I also did not have any substitutions in the recipe. I actually made it just as the directions suggested, well if you don't consider the fact that I used Organic Pancake Syrup instead of the true Maple Syrup. I suppose the maple syrup would have added a delicious extra flavor, but the syrup seemed to work well. I would recommend this recipe, it definitely goes on my top ten list and that says a lot because there are only 2 recipes on that list so far.

Gluten Free - Week #3

Starting my third week of Gluten Free cooking, but my fourth week of Gluten Free eating. You may have thought I jumped off the wagon because I didn't write about my cooking at all last week. Well the truth is I felt a little more like I had been run over by the wagon and then dragged by the wagon for about 10 miles. To say the least last week was Gluten Free, actually it was solid food free, but that I will talk about in another post.

Anyway, I just wanted to post my meal plan for the week. I am not sure if I will actually make all 5 meals because Wednesday is my birthday and I am planning to order out or go out! But here is what I am thinking. I will post pictures as recipes are made and as always all crockpot recipes came from the Crockpot 365 website and the others came from Elana's pantry, great resources!

Maple Dijon Chicken CrockPot Recipe

The Ingredients.

--1 lb chicken pieces (I used frozen breast tenderloins)
--1 cup chicken broth
--2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
--1 onion, chopped
--2 T dijon mustard
--3 T maple syrup
--3 cloves garlic, chopped
--2 bay leaves
--1 tsp thyme

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart crockpot---it was a good size. This fed the four of us with a tiny bit left for lunch the next day. If you have a large family or would like leftovers, double the quantity.
Put the chicken into the bottom of your crockpot and toss it with the thyme, maple syrup, and dijon mustard. Peel and slice the sweet potato, and add to the pot. Add the onion and garlic. If you don't want your onion to have a crunch, put it at the bottom of the crockpot; otherwise on top of the chicken is fine. Pour in the chicken broth. Add the bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables reach desired tenderness.

CrockPot Buffalo Chicken Lasagna Recipe

The Ingredients.

--uncooked traditional lasagna noodles (I used Tinkyada brand)
--4 already cooked chicken breast halves
--jar of prepared pasta sauce
--1 cup buffalo wing sauce
--3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers
--tub of ricotta cheese (15 oz)
--2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella and cheddar blend)
--1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbles
--1/4 cup of water (add at very end)

The Directions.

use at least a 5qt crockpot, or cut back on the amount of ingredients.

In a large glass bowl, combine cooked and chopped chicken breast, the pasta sauce, and 1 cup of buffalo wing sauce. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You'll have to break them to get a proper fit. Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles. Add a layer of chopped bell pepper. Sprinkle on a handful of shredded cheese.

Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients.

Add the bleu cheese crumbles, if desired. Put the 1/4 cup of water into your empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take off the lid of the crock. Let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into. Or it will fall apart. Ask me how I know this...

Chipotle Lime Salmon

1 lb salmon, cut into 4 fillets
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 limes, sliced in half
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon chipotle powder

1.Preheat oven to 500°
2.Rinse salmon, pat dry and place on a metal baking sheet
3.Rub each fillet with olive oil
4.Squeeze the juice from one-half lime onto each fillet
5.Sprinkle fillets with salt and chipotle, then place a half lime on top of each fillet
6.Turn down oven temperature to 275°
7.Place salmon in oven and cook for 8-12 minutes, depending on how well done you like your fish

CrockPot Jambalaya Recipe

The Ingredients:

--5 fully cooked sausages; 2 spicy and 3 not-so-spicy. I chose 3 garlic-artichoke turkey and 2 turkey Louisiana hotlinks. They were left over from when I made this.
--2 cups chicken broth
--1/2 cup white wine
--1 cup raw brown rice
--1 can (and juice) Itallian stewed tomatoes
--1/2 can drained and rinsed black beans
--1/2 chopped onion
--1/2 head chopped garlic
--3 chopped celery spears
--1 green pepper
--1 red pepper
--1 cup frozen white corn kernals
--2 cups cooked frozen shrimp

The Directions:

--pour the broth, wine and the uncooked brown rice into the bottom of your stoneware. Stir the rice in the liquid.
--cover with chopped vegetables, frozen corn and garlic
--put in the black beans
--add sausage
I promise it's enough liquid.
--cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 6.
--an hour before eating, stir in frozen shrimp and turn to high.

CrockPot Fried Rice Recipe

The Ingredients.

--2 cups leftover rice/quinoa
--3 T butter
--2 T soy sauce
--2 t worcestershire sauce
--1/2 t black pepper
--1/4 t kosher salt
--1/2 diced yellow onion
--1 cup of whatever frozen or fresh vegetables you have on hand. (I had a bit of asparagus, some carrots and peas)
--leftover meat (I had leftover chicken and 3/4 of a cheeseburger patty from a restaurant--I told you I was Scottish!)
--1 egg
--sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

The Directions.

Plop everything on in there together. Mix it around, and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 3-4. You are only heating everything up and cooking the egg.

Why Gluten Free?

Since my decision to go gluten free I have had several people (including my husband) ask Why Gluten Free? While I do not seem to have any extreme reactions to gluten, I kept having these nagging symptoms and agitations. Together with my amazing homeopathic care provider we narrowed my symptoms down to a possible gluten intolerance. I had symptoms like:

1. Chronic Fatigue - I would wake up in the morning feeling like I had not gotten any rest at all. It was miserable. I also notice I literally crashed about an hour after lunch and dinner (like a coma).
2. Chronic Constipation - Need we discuss the details?
3. In ability to lose weight - despite 6 workouts a week!
4. Acne - I'm 36 years old! Why am I still dealing with breakouts? Seems even worse than when I was a teenager.

Taking these symptoms into consideration I decided to do a little experiment and went off wheat and gluten for 30 days. Susan, my homeopath, says that it takes 30 days for your system to clear the gluten out of your system. So in October I quit cold turkey and for over 30 days I stayed gluten free. I successfully lost 5 pounds, but what was most amazing was my renewed sense of energy. I was actually able to stay awake after 8:00pm and when I woke up in the morning I actually felt rested. Apparently this renewed life wasn't enough of a motivation for me because with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner I quickly fell off the wagon, until now.

I have now renewed my commitment to being gluten free for the last 2 weeks and I am finding it even easier to be gluten free this time around. Hopefully it will stick. The biggest problem I find with this lifestyle commitment is my ability to eat on the run, not to mention not being able to eat pizza (one of my favorite foods)! However, this new meal plan forces me to focus on eating healthy food and to look for fruit as a snack rather than crackers. In addition I have also started thinking about other ways I can eat cleaner and healthier. I have also been inspired to start planning a garden for our house, begin composting, and really make a meal plan for the family rather than simply freaking out every night around 4:30pm thinking I don't have anything for dinner!!! I'll keep you posted and let you know how I feel and how this new eating plan has impacted my life.