Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Easy, delicious and tummy warming in a way that only chicken soup can.

Serves 5-6 adults

Ingredients:
3 or 4 medium Zucchini / Squash
5 stalks of celery
4 whole carrots
1/4 cup frozen corn
5 or 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup chicken broth
garlic powder
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

I boil the chicken in water and chicken broth for 1 hour and 30 minutes, I then add my diced celery. I let the celery cook for about 20 minutes and then add my diced carrots and crescent shaped zucchini and squash. You really can add whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. I season the liquid with garlic powder, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes depending on how spicy I want it.
Taste! So important to make sure the broth has enough flavor, since it will be giving all your veggies flavor. I might put 4 or 5 tablespoons of garlic, don't be shy. The more flavor, the better! Let it simmer until the carrots and zucchini are tender and add the corn in the last minutes.

I serve mine with warm gluten-free corn tortillas or quesadillas with pepperjack cheese over rice.

garnish with lime wedges or avocado chunks.

There's nothing like home-made soup.

Recipe for Mexican Rice:

1 cup of rice

1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
Vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups of water
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, 1 teaspoon 
Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon
Chicken bouillon, 1 tablespoon


Heat oil in a shallow sauce pan that has a lid, add rice and brown the rice on high or medium heat. Once the rice starts to brown, turn off the stove. Add tomato sauce, water and spices, turn stove back on and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cover for fifteen minutes. DO NOT OPEN the lid until the time is up. 

gluten-free living

        I have been gluten-free for a year and one month now, and I am STILL learning. Changing to a gluten-free lifestyle was a little bit of a transition but the reward for how I feel is more than I could have imagined. When you feel bad for so long you forget what it's like to feel healthy. I now understand the phrase, 'you get back what you put in'. In regards to the food I am eating now and how I feel after.

       But I still make mistakes. I am lucky enough to have a gluten-free home, not in any danger of getting cross-contaminated with crumbs from my brother eating pop tarts or hamburger buns when we have a party. Our house is a no-gluten zone, even though I am the only one with allergies. And I have still gotten 'glutened' simply by being careless, or assuming that something is safe, even just checking the ingredients and thinking it's safe because it does not say "contains:wheat".
        Yesterday I changed my face wash, toothpaste and mouthwash. I was using St. Ives and the website says contains wheat protein. I always wash my face when I wake up and it's scary to think I could have had traces of that on my hands while making my breakfast. I had previously checked my toothpaste and the website said gluten-free but I had a closer look and it says cannot guarantee that there are no traces of gluten.
      My biggest piece of advice to people with gluten allergies, is to eat out as little as possible. I've worked in restaurants, and if the staff is ignorant of the severity of food allergies (I was), they may make small mistakes and you can EASILY get cross-contaminated. Nothing gross or anything, but if it's a busy night and they send the wrong food to the wrong table, it happens all the time. You might think you're eating gluten-free pasta but how would you know for sure?

      If you plan to eat at a restaurant, choose one with a gluten-free menu (the staff is a little more knowledgeable), don't pick a very busy night, and call ahead. You don't have to be specific about who you are, just talk to a manager and say you were planning on coming in soon and you want to make sure that they take food safety seriously, and are careful about cross contamination. The manager will probably have a talk with the staff that day and pay extra attention to make sure everything is handled properly.
        Then, there is the dreaded bread basket. The poison placed directly in front of you, and hopefully it's not warm and buttered because the smell makes it worse that you can't indulge. *Something to think about, even if you aren't eating it. Everyone else is, and probably all the people who have sat at the table before you. Of course, they clean the tables, but they don't clean the seats as often so be careful where you touch while you eat.

ribs, home-made fries, corn on the cob and spanish rice

     Sorry to share my paranoia about gluten germs being everywhere. But they really are, so be careful. Gluten-free living can be scary, but it can also be really great. So let's choose to make it a good thing. Enjoy our home-made bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, and our family dinners. It really is more of a lifestyle choice than a diet.

dinner tonight: taco salad

One of my staples and it's also great for entertaining; Taco Salad. People can add their own toppings and if kids are eating as well, they don't have to add the spicy salsa. My 9 year old cousin Isabel is disappointed if she and her sisters come over and we aren't having this for dinner.

Ingredients: 
Ground beef
Mexican rice
Pinto beans
Guacamole
Salsa
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes 
Tortilla chips*


Recipe for Guacamole:
5 ripe avocados
Juice of half a lemon
2 roasted jalapenos diced
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, 1 teaspoon
Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon

Peel & mash avocados, add spices, lemon juice & jalapenos. Stir to combine, leave one pit of an avocado to keep it green. You can take out the seeds of the jalapenos if you don't like it too spicy.

Recipe for ground beef:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium russet potato shredded
Diced green bell pepper
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder 
Red pepper flakes
Taco Sauce**

Brown ground beef, season well with garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes & about three tablespoons of gluten-free hot sauce of your choice. La Victoria sauces say gluten-free on the bottles and they have all kinds of red and green sauces in mild or hot. I also add diced green bell peppers once the meat is almost done, and even add a shredded russet potato, gives the meat great texture & stretches it out for a crowd.

Recipe for Mexican Rice:
1 cup of rice
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
Vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups of water
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, 1 teaspoon 
Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon
Caldo de pollo chicken bouillon***, 1 tablespoon


Heat oil in a shallow sauce pan that has a lid, add rice and brown the rice on high or medium heat. Once the rice starts to brown, turn off the stove. Add tomato sauce, water and spices, turn stove back on and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cover for fifteen minutes. DO NOT OPEN the lid until the time is up. 
Voila! 
Perfect Mexican rice, my mom's recipe and probably my all-time favorite side-dish.

*Most tortilla chips are gluten-free, but always double check. I love Santitas White corn tortilla chips.

**Taco seasoning packets are usually full of sodium & may contain wheat, so using gluten-free taco sauce is a great way to get that flavor. 

***Bouillons are dangerous and can contain gluten. Always check ingredients. You can use gluten-free chicken broth instead of water.

pups in a blanket

         There is a common misconception that gluten-free automatically means healthy. That is not necessarily true. There are plenty of things that are gluten-free that are not good for you. Candy, for example. Eating only baby ruth, snickers and peanut butter cups is technically a gluten-free diet, but will definitely not help you lose weight or be healthy.
        Eating gluten-free means cutting out a lot of the preservatives and eating out less, which is a good thing and has had a positive impact on me and my family. Entertaining isn't easy when you are gluten-free. You can't stop and grab a few pizzas on the way home, or grab a few packages of hot dog buns and hot dogs. (We are a strict no gluten house, after a few cross contamination issues.)

        I was so happy to recreate pups in a blanket that are so dear to my heart, in a gluten-free version. This makes a great appetizer or little snack. The old way was a pack of hot dogs and pop open refrigerated biscuits. The gluten-free way is almost as easy and twice as good. 


Ingredients
Pack of hot dogs (Bar S are my favorite & gluten-free!)
Gluten-free dough (made from GF bread mix)


& then any sauce to dip!
I love spicy Brown mustard.


I've added a little drizzle of honey to the bread mix to give that little sweetness we are used to from corn dogs.


Make sure to let the dough rest for at least a half hour before you attempt to make them.

Usually I will put little spots of dough about the size of the hot dogs all over baking sheet, then place the pieces of hot dog on top and then one more bit of dough to form them into the pigs in a blanket.
In a preheated 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until a little golden brown on top.

quesadilla burgers

        Giving up bread was the hardest thing about going gluten-free. There are gluten-free breads, and hamburger buns available, but they may not be as affordable or as accessible.

Regular buns vs. gluten free buns

Regular buns cost about $1 for an 8 pack, while gluten-free buns are around $7 for a pack of four. 

        Quesadilla burgers are an awesome way to still enjoy hamburgers at a barbecue, and even to entertain with. We really like white corn tortillas in my house, they have a milder flavor than regular yellow corn tortillas. I love the crunch of a pickle with my burger, so I added sliced pickles to mine. But corn salsa is really good in this, with pepperjack cheese, I use this dairy-free cheese. 


Even if you aren't gluten-free I recommend trying this out.


You can leave a hamburger patty whole and use two corn tortillas with cheese on top and bottom, (YUM) or you can slice it like I did.

Fixings for my quesadilla burger, and my home-made onion rings!

Ingredients

Hamburger patty

White corn tortillas

Cheese of your choice

Toppings: Salsa, pickles, jalapenos, bacon

Onion Rings:

two medium white onions

1/2 cup corn starch

1 cup all purpose gf flour

Garlic powder

Chile powder

Sea salt 
Pepper
1 cup tonic water
Grapeseed oil for frying


Happy barbecue season! I am definitely taking advantage of my grill this summer & encourage everyone to do the same.