Shredded Chicken Nachos

This recipe is one of my husband's and my favorites and it is so easy! It tastes like it belongs on the menu of Cafe Rio.

The original recipe for this came from here: http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2009/03/day-49-shredded-chicken-nachos.html

I pretty much follow her recipe except I use chicken breasts and serve it up as a salad.

SHREDDED CHICKEN NACHO SALAD

4 chicken breasts	1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 package (1.25 oz) or 2 Tbsp taco seasoning	1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chilies
1 can (15 oz) beans, drained (I use black)	2 tbsp fresh lime juice

Serve with your choice of tortilla chips, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, ranch dressing, guacamole, cheese, green onions, cilantro, etc.

1. In slow cooker, place chicken. Top with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with taco seasoning mix and mix ingredients.

2. Cover; cook on low heat setting 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.

3. 1/2-1 hour before serving, shred chicken with 2 forks; return to slow cooker and mix well.

4. To serve, spoon chicken mixture onto a bed of romaine lettuce. Layer guacamole, chips, and ranch salad dressing on top. 

Here is the recipe for guacamole that we use. It is the same recipe that we use for the guacamole layer on the Tex Mex Dip except that I use lime juice instead of lemon juice.

GUACAMOLE RECIPE

3 avocados; peeled

2 tablespoon lime juice 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a small bowl, mash the avocados with lime juice, salt and pepper.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

This pie crust has worked really well for me and my family. We get lots of compliments on the crust.


 DREAM PIE/PASTRY CRUST

The 1^st number is to make multiple batches at once (makes 4 batches), the 2^nd is for just 1 batch (2 pie crusts)

To make dry mix:	4, 1 cup sweet rice flour
2, ½ cup tapioca starch	4, 1 t xanthan gum (rounded)
2, ½ cup corn starch	2, ½ t salt
1, ¼ cup potato starch	2, ½ t sugar

To make dry mix, combine these ingredients and store until you need it.

For 2 pie crusts:

½ cup margarine or butter	1 T vinegar
½ cup shortening	¼ cup water (very cold)
1 egg, cold

1. Use 2 ¼ cup of the mix (1 batch).  Cut in butter and shortening until the size of lima beans.

2. Beat egg with fork. Add vinegar and water.

3. Stir egg mixture into flour until it forms a ball. Knead as much as you’d like.

4. Divide dough into two pieces and refrigerate for at least two hours.

This mix rolls out really well for a gluten-free mix. I have worked with others that are amazingly sticky and wet. The dough will need to be warmed up a little coming straight from the fridge, so I like to knead it in my hands for a minute until it starts getting a little more flexible. It's better to work with it while still cold because it is less sticky. One trick that I got from my grandmother (for wheat pie crusts) is to wet down the countertop/flat surface you are working on.  Then place a piece of wax paper over it (parchment paper works, though not as well)  and smooth it down. The wax paper will stay in place while you are rolling. It takes a little practice to get the amount of water right--not enough and it won't stick, too much and the wax paper starts breaking down. Make sure to place some gluten-free flour on the wax paper before placing the dough on the paper and place some on your rolling pin. Occasionally you may need to add a little bit more. You can also roll it out between two sheets of wax paper if you'd like. Just make sure to use some flour because the wax paper can rip and be hard to pull off if you don't. The nice thing about this is that when you are done, the pie crust is more transportable on the wax paper. I am able to flip it upside down in the pie pan (so the wax paper is on top) and then slowly and carefully peel it off. 

Summertime Chicken

This is a really delicious chicken and can be done ahead since it involves a marinade.

Summertime Chicken

1/3 cup   olive oil                        
1/4 cup   lime juice (fresh)              
4 cloves   garlic; minced OR
1/2 teaspoon   garlic powder                    
1 tablespoon   fresh parsley; or
1 teaspoon   dried parsley                    
1 teaspoon   ground cumin                    
1 teaspoon   oregano                          
1/2 teaspoon   Salt; optional
1/4 teaspoon   pepper                          
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1. In a large resealable plastic bag or shallow glass container, combine the first 8 ingredients.
2. Add chicken and turn to coat. Seal or cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
3. Drain and discard marinade.
4. Grill chicken, uncovered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. (I use Foreman grill -- preheat for 4 minutes -- grill chicken, lid close, for 6 minutes or unti no longer pink).

Crustless Zucchini Pie

My kids like this recipe a lot. We eat it almost once a week because it is one of the few foods they all like. Since it is loaded with zucchini I am happy to feed it to them.

Crustless Zucchini Pie

1 large   onion; finely chopped OR
1 tablespoon   dried minced onion              
1/2 cup   vegetable oil                    
1/2 cup   parmesan cheese; grated
4 eggs; beaten
1 tablespoon   fresh parsley; minced
3 cups   zucchini; grated
1 cup   biscuit mix                      
1 cup   cheddar cheese; shredded

1. In a bowl, combine the onion, vegetable oil, parmesan cheese, eggs, and parsley.
2. Now add the cheddar cheese, biscuit mix, and zucchini; mix well.
3. Split between two greased pie pans.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees until nicely browned. Or, if you have a convection oven, cook it 15 minutes at 350 and then switch to convection for the remaining 20 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

We are getting ready to have a family party and one of my sister-in-laws wanted to try my snickerdoodle recipe so she could bring it. I originally got this recipe from www.gfutah.org, the Utah Celiac organization. I have not tried all of their recipes but the couple of recipes I have tried are great. They are also the source for my sugar cookie recipe that I love so much.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla                       
1 1/2 cup GF flour                          
1 tsp cream of tartar                   
1/2 tsp baking soda                       
1/2 tsp xanthan gum                       
1/4 tsp salt               
          
Rolling mixture:                  
2 tablespoon sugar                             
1 tsp ground cinnamon                   

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Gradually work dry ingredients into creamed mixture.
4. Roll dough into 1' balls. Roll balls in cinnamon and sugar mixture.
5. Place on a greased cookie sheet 2 to 3" apart. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I felt in the mood for some cookies the other day. My youngest daughter said she wanted chocolate cookies. I thought she meant chocolate chip cookies, but NO! She was very clear that she wanted CHOCOLATE cookies. I didn't have a recipe for chocolate cookies so I went looking all over the internet. I found one that I liked the ingredients and that had decent reviews. I wasn't as enthusiastic as my daughter because, as much as I like chocolate, I tend to think chocolate cookies are a little too much. Also, I am not a huge fan of brownies--I think they are a little too much as well. However, I loved these cookies and so did everyone who tried them. They do taste a little like brownies but somehow it isn't too much. I did change a few things to try to help them be moist and not totally flat. I am adding a link to the original recipe so you can see what the original looks like if you want to change it differently. Also, I have been wanting to put pictures of food on this blog, but have been worried the pics would look awful. Here's my first attempt at photographing food and it's not too bad. I will try to add pictures to past posts as I make the foods again.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter, softened 

2 cups sugar 

2 large eggs 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 cups gluten free flour

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon egg replacer

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cups peanut butter chips (12 oz. pkg.) or 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz. pkg.)

1. Heat oven to 350°

2. In large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

3. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream; beat well. 

4. Combine flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, egg replacer, baking soda and salt; gradually blend into creamed mixture. 

5. Stir in peanut butter or chocolate chips. 

6. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  (I like to chill cookie dough in the fridge for a while before baking, but our first batch wasn't and it didn't seem to affect the baking. They are easier to dish up when cold and I still prefer doing it.)

7. Bake 8-9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.). 

8. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely.

Note: I only had milk chocolate chips so I put in 1 cup so as to not be too sweet. I think it would have been fine with two cups. I think you could put all sorts of combinations of different chips/nuts in these cookies and they would be good. In fact, I think the cookies are good enough you could put no chips in at all, especially if you like brownies.

Original Recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/chewy-chocolate-cookies-5049

Cowboy Salsa

Last Sunday we had a family dinner and I had no idea what to bring. I was going through my recipe collection and stumbled upon this recipe from a neighbor. It seemed like a good complement to our meal. I'd forgotten how good it is! It got lots of compliments and recipe requests.

Cowboy Salsa

3-5 Tomatoes, chopped
1/2-1 bunch Cilantro, chopped
1 bunch Green onions, chopped
1 can (14 oz) Beans OR Black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 cups Frozen corn, thawed or 1 can corn, drained
1 envelope Good Seasons italian dressing mix
1/4 cup Olive oil
1/3 cups Cider Vinegar
 to taste Avocado

1. Combine cider vinegar, olive oil, and italian dressing mix in a bowl.
2. Chop tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions and combine in a separate bowl.
3. Add beans and corn to chopped vegetables.
4. Pour dressing mixture over the top and stir.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours
6. Chop and mix in avocado before serving.

Notes on what I did: I used 4 Roma tomatoes, most of a bunch of cilantro, black beans, Bragg's organic cider vinegar, and frozen corn from Costco (their organic frozen corn is yummy!). The italian dressing mix can be found at grocery stores like Walmart. Here's a link to what it looks like on the Kraft website. Kraft's policy is to label all gluten-containing ingredients. They will not say gluten, but will say something like "natural flavoring (from wheat)." Right now this dressing mix has natural flavorings from corn. Also, you may have more dressing than you need depending on how many tomatoes, etc. you chop. You might want to drain it a little if there is too much.