Blueberry Breakfast Muffins - Milk & Gluten Free

I simply love picking, eating and baking with blueberries.  I have found that my Blueberry Breakfast Cake recipe works extremely well for my muffins.  It is often requested by family and friends.

Since the wild blueberries are ready to be picked, it only means the cultured berries will soon follow.  Nothing better on a summer morning, than to enjoy one of my blueberry muffins!!  Enjoy!!

1/2 c unsalted butter (I used dairy free spread)

2 tsp lemon zest (zest from lg lemon) - optional

1 c sugar, plus 2 tbls for sprinkling on the top after it's in the pan

1 egg

1 tsp Vanilla

2 c gluten free all purpose flour (reg. flour can be used if you don't have gluten issues)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp xanthan gum (not needed if you use reg. flour)

1 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blueberries (I'm sure one could use frozen ones...I plan to this winter)

1/2 c almond coconut milk (or soy).  If you do not have milk allergies, buttermilk is the alternative

1.  preheat oven to 350

2.  cream spread w/lemon zest & sugar until light and fluffy

3.  add egg & vanilla and beat until combined

4.  Mix all dry ingredients then fold into the wet ingredients, alternating w/the almond milk

5.  Fold in 1/2 the blueberries

6.  prepare 9" x 9" glass pan w/either cooking spray or milk free spread

7.  pour batter into pan

8.  Top the batter w/remaining sugar, or up to 2 Tbls

9.  Bake for 35 min.  Ck w/toothpick.  I had to cook another 6 min.  Depending on your stove, you might need to cook up to another 10 min.

10...let cool for 15 min before serving.  

Simply Delicious!!

Gluten & Milk Free Oven-Baked Haddock

Trying something new, something different from how my husband bakes fish, I decided to see how a gluten free coating would work on some Haddock we had on hand.

First we tend to purchase our fish individually wrapped, so that our menu can be flexible with who is at home for supper. Sure, we do purchase fresh fish as well, but since I don't travel out daily for our protein source, we have staple items available ready to bake.

                                                                                                       INGREDIENTS

2 serving size pieces of Haddock
1/4 c Brown Rice Flour
1 tbs Olive Oil
1 egg
salt & pepper
1/4 c Gluten/Milk Free bread crumbs.  You can also create your own bread crumbs by using your homemade bread, and putting through the food processor on ground.

Place flour in bowl/on plate and coat your fish completely with the flour.  It provides a base for the liquid egg mixture to adhere to.

Combine the Olive oil with the egg, and mix together.

Take the flour coated fish, and dip in the egg mixture and cover the coated fish completely.

In the breadcrumb mix, add salt & pepper and Italian seasonings.  Take the egg & flour covered haddock and coat completely with the bread crumb mixture.

Place your fish on a coated baking pan (use cooking spray or coat with milk free butter or olive oil.

Place in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.

While baking, prepare your side dishes to enjoy your fish dinner.

This dish doesn't come out like the fish sticks one would find pre-made in the freezer section of your grocery store, but you will enjoy a delightful dish that has great flavor and texture, knowing that you are eating a healthier version of fish.

Tonight we enjoyed Gluten/Milk free coated haddock, with a side of broccoli and grapes.   A very simple, yet delicious meal.  ENJOY!!

Leftover Spaghetti Squash With Tortilla Stuffer

Well, today am to make a decision, do I make another delightful green salad with vegetable yumminess, or do I avoid allowing the leftover spaghetti squash from two nights ago to sit idle in the refrigerator.  Since I'm not one who enjoys throwing things out, wasting food that God provided, I decided that have it for lunch.  But, there wasn't much sauce left so I decided to use the "emergency" staple of the Old El Paso Garlic Chili Chicken Tortilla Stuffer.  Yes, this product is both gluten and milk free, so I can't go wrong!  Plus, even alone I find it delightful.

So today, I served out a warmed up serving size of spaghetti squash and a couple scoops of heated Tortilla stuffer, placed on top of the squash.  I wasn't sure what my response was going to be, but hey, both are foods I enjoy so if needed I could separate the two in order to enjoy this healthy, balanced meal.

Well, I found this lunch to be so good I had to resist going for 2nds.  Yes, the combination was delicious!  And now I know what will be my lunch for tomorrow.



Now those of you who read my post from the other evening, know that my husband was not fond of the spaghetti squash dinner I had prepared, although he ate it completely.  Since he loved the gluten and milk free bread so well for sandwiches, I ended up making another loaf yesterday so that he could bring a sandwich to work today.

...now, what will be for supper??

Enjoy healthy foods, enjoy healthy living!!

Need a Little Sweet Pick-Me-Up?

There's no denying that even though we are eating healthy with less cravings for the sweet and salty snack type foods, there are moments that our taste buds desire something with a slight sweet flavor.  Plus, when there is a product available that fulfills that need, and there is no time to experiment on finding or creating a recipe, it's nice to have some ready made products available.

Last night, was just type of moment, prior to settling back to watch a movie together, that we wanted something simple but "rewarding" for our healthy eating.  So, I brought out the Schar, Gluten and Milk Free Table crackers along with natural jelly.

The Hero brand Cherry Jam was perfect to top off two Schar crackers.  

It was quick, simple and tasted great!

My husband chose to top his off with a honey spread that we picked up at Dakin Farm in VT when we were out that way on our "get-away" from phones and other technology.  I did sneak a small bite, and I will have to agree, that was pretty yummy on these crackers as well.

As much as I like to cook, and bake the items we eat, it's nice to have a few quality products that don't cause us to gag upon indulging due to a sawdust taste, as many gluten free bread products have.  

Schar Table Crackers are great and are highly recommended by my husband and I as well as one of our daughters who purchases all their products!

Enjoy!!

Spaghetti Squash With Homemade Sauce

This evening I took the spaghetti squash and baked it in preparation for this evening's dinner, along with defrosting the spaghetti sauce I had previously made from garden vegetables and store bought mushrooms.

One dilemma in watching one's diet for gluten and milk products is that sometimes the sauces on the market actually have gluten and/or milk products in them, so we find it safer to make sauce from what we have when the garden provides it.  Otherwise it's fresh veggies from the farm stands or produce markets.

A few weeks prior I made sauce from tomatoes, garlic, seasonings, etc., along w/purchased fresh mushrooms.  I don't have that recipe on hand, but the sauce that I froze was the topping for tonight's meal.

I don't make spaghetti squash often, as it is not my husband's favorite vegetable.  But, in light of our trying to focus on nutritional health, as well as omitting gluten from our diets, I tried another approach to the squash, by adding earth balance butter replacement on top of the squash when I was done.  I thought it added a nice touch, but it didn't really make a difference for David.



For those who have never made spaghetti squash before, you want to be sure to select a nice yellow squash that has no soft spots.  I cut off the ends, then cut the vegetable in half lengthwise.  Scrap out the insides and compost.  I did save some of the seeds for planting next year.  Once scrapped out, place in a glass baking dish, cut side up and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.


Once baked, I spread the Earth Balance spread over the cooked squash and covered with tinfoil until the sauce was heated through.

When I was ready to serve, I used a fork to scrap the squash from the shell, which creates the spaghetti look.


One half shell was sufficient for two meals, leaving another shell for two meals for another day.

We topped the spaghetti squash with the homemade sauce.  I personally can tolerate parmesan cheese, which I've been told that some hard cheeses are okay for those who suffer from digestive issues from milk products.  So, on with parmesan cheese for me tonight.  Otherwise I would have topped it with the Daiya that is a cheese substitute and quite yummy!!

My husband decided he would prefer to have sliced muenster cheese with his, along with a slice of the sandwich bread that I baked two days ago...yes, he loves it and is eating it daily with lunch and dinner .  Now, with the spaghetti squash, David is still not fond of it, but that's okay, because he was still able to tolerate the meal.  I think I will be having spaghetti squash for lunch this week or leftover dinner night, but I'm thinking of using something different for a topping.  We'll just have to wait and see what I come up with.

All in all, tonights meal was good.  Not David's favorite, but at least nutritious, which I'm sure was the reason he didn't complain too much.  And the other benefit was that the meal was not dry.  Whether one is on a gluten and milk free diet or not, those who enjoy squash, will probably enjoy this meal.

Enjoy!!

Rice Flour Fried Chicken by Laura D. Field

Well, tonight's dinner was another experiment while making another gluten free dinner my husband would enjoy.  I originally was going to make a dish with spaghetti squash, but I got caught up working on the new kitchen curtains I am making that I lost track of time...oops :-)  But, make no mistake, there is no time for oops when your goal is to share with your husband that eating gluten and milk free isn't all that "tasteless".  Now with just the two of us at home, it makes my life much easier when I only have to plan one meal, versus trying to incorporate his and her likes.  So far, the mission has been successful.

This evening, since I had already defrosted the chicken to go along with the spaghetti squash, I decided to try something new with the chicken.  Again, creating a new recipe from what I thought might taste good, yet also be less boring than coating the chicken with BBQ sauce or Italian dressing and baking, I decided to make a rice flour coating to cover the chicken so that I could fry in the pan.  Don't worry, the frying aspect is still healthy as I used coconut oil, and wanted to try something other than olive oil.  So, here's my experiment:

Rice Flour Fried Chicken
2 serving size pieces of skinless chicken, best if organically raised (tender and tasty)
1/4 c of Rice Flour
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbls Italian seasoning
2 tsp Granulated Garlic (I would also recommend ground garlic, but I was lazy this evening)
2 tsp Chia seeds
2 Tbls coconut oil

1.  Combine rice flour, paprika, black pepper, Italian seasoning and granulated garlic in bowl

2.  Wash chicken, cut small slits into chicken so that it cooks through, then dip in flour mixture.

3.  Melt Coconut oil in pan until completely melted.

4.  Once oil is melted, place the coated chicken into the hot oil and top with 1/2 the chia seeds.

5.  Turn when the first side is brown from cooking in the oil.  Once turned, sprinkle the remaining chia seeds on the second side while cooking.

6.  Once the second side is browned, turn to the other side to cook a little more, yet cutting slightly in the  middle to check to be sure the chicken is being cooked through.

7.  Turn one last time, so that both sides are evening cooked.

8.  Remove from pan and place on dish with a side of rice and a vegetable.

The rice I added Earth Balance butter substitute for flavoring.  Since I had plenty of greens at lunch, I had thinly sliced tomatoes from the garden as my vegetable.  David chose to have peas as his vegetable.  Mind you, I'm not a connoisseur of peas, so it has never been a first option for a vegetable, but it is David's favorite.  So, that is the area in which some of our meals we will have different vegetables on our plates.  But, knowing that green vegetables are a must in everyone's diet, I do fill up on plenty of spinach, lettuce and other green vegetables throughout the week.  I don't think my body missed that little vegetable on my plate this evening.

Enjoy!!

A Delightful Salad with NO Dressing

Nothing was more exciting when I decided to top my summer salads with the crabmeat, seafood salad that can be purchased ready made at the grocery store, and made using your own healthy ingredients.

Today's lunchtime salad starts with the basics of all my salads:
Spinach and Iceburg Lettuce
I fill the bowl with 1/2 spinach the other with lettuce. When I have romaine, I use that, as I like to always mix things up a bit in order to have a little variation.




1/2 bowl of spinach
1/2 bowl of iceburg lettuce (or romaine, or mix all three or any of your favorite salad greens)
1 small cucumber with ends cut off, but sliced with green left on for texture & color
1 stalk celery sliced thin
1/2 c red grapes (for color - use green if that is your favorite flavor)
1/2 - 1c seafood salad
1/4 c of sliced almonds

The ingredients above are from today's salad.  I like to mix things up, and will sometimes add large chunks of apples, or strawberries as they are my favorite in this salad combined with the seafood mix.

What I enjoy about my salads is that they have eye appeal, color, texture, and flavor.  The seafood salad adds enough flavor that I do not use a salad dressing.  But, who needs salad dressing when the crabmeat combined with olive oil mayo provides sufficient added flavoring?

Enjoy!!