Tag Archives: nut free

GFDF Chicken and Wild Rice “Chowder”

03 Thursday Feb 2022

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Soups, Soy Free

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This has been a favorite for my family since 2008. It’s a great mild meal to serve on a cold day, especially if you have freshly baked warm bread to go with it.

My children HATE peas and rebel if I add them to the recipe, but I enjoy them. Either way, it’s a great meal.

a close up of the chicken, carrots, celery, onions, wild rice, and thickened broth in the cooked dish

Chicken and Wild Rice Chowder

2 tablespoon organic canola or olive oil
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
1-32 oz. box low sodium organic chicken broth
1 lb cooked cubed organic chicken breasts (or thighs if you prefer)
1/2 cup dry wild rice (about 1 cup cooked)
1/4 teaspoon organic black pepper
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup frozen peas (optional)

Start wild rice cooking according to directions on package in a small pot. This often takes longer than the rest of the prep, so starting it 15-30 minutes in advance isn’t a bad idea.

If you need to cook the chicken, also do that now. I bake my chicken breasts at 400 degrees for 25 minutes in a glass pan.

Prep the carrots, onion, and celery. I slice the carrots in the food processor with a 4 mm blade. The celery can also go through the food processor, but the onion must be diced by hand. Saute the veggies on medium heat in a large soup pot on the stove using the oil to prevent sticking. Stir periodically to prevent over-browning. While veggies are cooking, cube the chicken. Once the onions are clear and the celery and carrots are almost completely cooked, add the chicken, the cooked wild rice, salt, pepper, and all but 1/2 cup of the broth to the pot. Simmer until everything is warmed through and vegetables are all soft.

In a small bowl or cup, mix the 1/2 cup of broth and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Slowly stir into the chicken mixture. Stir frequently while cooking for a few minutes until the mixture has thickened sufficiently. Remove from heat. If you are using frozen peas, stir in now. Serve.

©2022 NaturallyElizabeth.com

Grandma’s Green Beans

22 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Side Dishes, Soy Free

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Growing up, my paternal grandmother often made a particular green bean recipe for dinners at her house, usually served with meatloaf or roast beef. I always loved them and couldn’t get enough of them. When I was old enough to be out on my own, I asked her for the recipe. She told me it was just hot German potato salad made with green beans instead of potatoes. She often would use artificial sweetener for the sugar which doesn’t happen at my house, and she always used canned green beans whereas I use fresh or frozen. Still, they are called Grandma’s Green Beans at my house and are a favorite. Anything with bacon and onions has to be good! I will often make a double batch using a whole package of bacon just so that I can have leftovers.

Grandma's Green Beans by Naturally Elizabeth

Grandma’s Green Beans

Grandma’s Green Beans

5 slices nitrate-free bacon
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced (1/2-3/4 cup)
1 pound fresh or frozen organic green beans (or 2 cans of drained green beans)
1 tablespoon organic cornstarch
1 tablespoon organic sugar or 2-3 drops of stevia extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon organic celery seed
1/8 teaspoon organic black pepper
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup organic white vinegar

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the cornstarch, sugar/stevia, salt, celery seed, black pepper, water and vinegar. Set aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon and set aside. (Keeping household members from eating the cooked bacon is always a challenge for me at this point.)

Remove half of the bacon grease from the pan and dispose of in a responsible manner.

In the remaining bacon grease, saute the diced onions until almost cooked over medium heat. Add in the green beans. Cook until green beans are done. Add in the liquid mixture and cook for a minute or two longer, allowing it to form a thicker sauce that coats everything in the pan.

Remove from heat. Crumble the bacon on top. Serve warm, but leftovers taste great cold or warm.

©2020 NaturallyElizabeth.com

Roasted Squash Seeds

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Other, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

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raw organic butternut squash seeds

raw organic butternut squash seeds

Credit for this recipe goes to Kim Lane of Austinmamas fame. I’ve adapted it a bit to meet allergy needs, but the heart of it is the same. The most important thing she taught me was that you don’t wash the seeds. You leave the goop on them. It makes them much more flavorful and is a lot less of a pain!

This recipe works with seeds of any kind from the squash family which includes melons. You can use butternut, acorn, pumpkin, honeydew or cantaloupe. I generally stick to the more vegetable seeds.

Roasted Squash Seeds

Ingredients

Seeds from one or more squash (do not clean!)
A few teaspoons of oil that is safe for you or melted butter
A few shakes of salt of your choice (flavored salts work, too)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250F.

Take the seeds out of the squash. Remove any huge chunks of squash strings from the seeds, but do not wash or remove little bits. They add flavor! Place the seeds in a pan that will hold them all in a single layer, and lightly coat the seeds with the oil or butter of your choice. Shake a bit of salt over them. Stir until all are relatively coated.

Bake the seeds for one hour, pulling them out every 15 minutes and stirring, pushing them back into a flat layer every time.

Allow to cool and then eat. They can be stored in a sealed bag or container on the counter for a short amount of time, but I rarely have any left since we tend to eat them all while they are warm!

©2020 NaturallyElizabeth.com

roasted and salted organic butternut squash seeds

roasted and salted organic butternut squash seeds

Apple Raspberry Crisp

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Egg Free, Nut Free, Other, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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organic apple raspberry crisp

organic apple raspberry crisp

A lot of people are very picky about which apples they bake with. I am not. I use whatever is on the counter which is a variety of what my kids like and what is on sale. I will vary what I put into apple recipes based on what’s in the house.

Adapted from here.

Apple Raspberry Crisp

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1/2 cup packed organic light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
  • 5 medium organic apples (about 6 cups), peeled, cored and thinly sliced ( I used 2 Granny Smith, 2 Honeycrisp, and 1 Gala for the pictured crisp)
  • 6 oz fresh organic raspberries

Topping

  • 1/2 cup packed organic light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup organic old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup organic all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons organic ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons organic unsalted butter, softened

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9×9 inch or 8×8 inch square baking dish with the oil of your choice. (I use organic canola or organic sunflower oil.)
  2. In a large bowl, mix sliced apples and raspberries with 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and cornstarch. It will not be completely evenly coated, and that’s ok. Spoon into the prepared baking dish. In the bowl, now mix together the other 1/2 cup of brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon and salt. Stir in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture.
  3. Put the baking dish on a cookie sheet in case it bubbles over. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and apples are soft. Serve warm.

©2020 NaturallyElizabeth.com

 

Carne Guisada (Mexican Beef Stew)

10 Friday Apr 2020

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Carne Guisada

Carne Guisada with white rice

Ingredients

1 pound organic or grass-fed beef stew meat in bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
2 tablespoons organic olive oil or oil of your choice
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves organic garlic, minced
2 organic jalapeno peppers, minced (or only 1 if you are a Yankee who doesn’t like it hot!)
1.5 cups organic beef broth (I use Pacific or Imagine brand)
1/2 cup organic enchilada sauce or salsa
1 teaspoon organic chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Coat meat pieces with cornstarch, then brown in olive oil in an ovenproof Dutch oven. You’re not fully cooking the meat but are just putting a little color on it.
  3. Add onion, garlic, jalapeño, beef stock, enchilada sauce, salt and chili powder; warm on the stove just until you can see steam coming off of the top of it.
  4. Cover the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven, baking for about 2 hours, until meat is extremely tender. The sauce will thicken quite a bit as it cooks, too.
  5. Serve with rice, veggies, or with gluten-free tortillas.

©2020 NaturallyElizabeth.com

Crockpot Italian Meatloaf

17 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Crockpot, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Nut Free, Soy Free

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photo of crockpot Italian meatloaf

crockpot Italian meatloaf

This recipe is very forgiving in terms of allergens. You can omit or substitute several things and still have it come out incredibly well. Possible adaptions are listed below in the ingredients list.

Please note that my crockpot is from 1994, so it doesn’t cook as fast as more modern ones. You may need to shorten the cooking times to work with your crockpot.

Crockpot Italian Meatloaf

  • 2 pounds extra lean organic or grass-fed beef
  • 1.5 cups bread or cracker crumbs (use gluten free crumbs for a GF recipe)
  • 1 organic egg (omit for egg free option)
  • 3/4 cup organic pasta sauce of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons organic minced dried onion
  • 1 teaspoon organic garlic powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon organic ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon organic Italian seasoning
  • another 3/4 cup organic pasta sauce
  • 3 slices or 3 ounces (give or take) organic mozzarella or 3/4 cup organic parmesan cheese (omit for dairy free option)

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the last two. Using your hands is easiest. Form the mixture into a large ball and then place in the bottom of the crockpot. Gently flatten the ball to the bottom of the crockpot though not all the way to the edges of the pot; do not tightly compact the loaf. Spread the remaining 3/4 cup organic pasta over the top. Put the lid on the crockpot.

Plug in and turn on. Cook for 2.5-3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.

About 15 minutes (high) or 30 minute (low) before being done, sprinkle the cheese (if using) across the top of the meatloaf. Cover again and let finish cooking.

To serve, cut into wedges. Tastes great when served with leafy greens, a salad, or steamed broccoli.

©2019 NaturallyElizabeth.com

Kielbasa, Lentil and Kale Soup

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soups, Soy Free

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kielbasa soup

Apologies for the cell phone picture!

1 yellow or white organic onion, diced
1 pound all-natural smoked sausage (kielbasa), diced (we use jalapeno to add kick)
1 organic bell pepper (I used 1/2 red, 1/2 green), diced
8 cups organic chicken broth (I used Pacific brand)
1.5 cups dried organic red lentils
1 teaspoon dried organic marjoram
1 teaspoon dried organic thyme
1/2 teaspoon organic black pepper
8 ounces (1/2 bag) frozen 365 organic blue curled kale

In a large soup pot, sautee the onion and sausage together over medium. (The sausage is usually greasy enough that you don’t need to add oil, but if you use low-fat sausage, you might need to.). When the onions are partially translucent, add in the bell pepper. Once the onions are cooked all the way, add the broth, lentils, marjoram and thyme. Cook until the lentils are soft, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the frozen kale to help cool the soup to an edible temperature and warm the kale. Makes about 12 cups of soup.

©2018 NaturallyElizabeth.com

 

 

Sloppy Beef

01 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Nut Free, Soy Free

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IMG_0956-ps

sloppy beef served on a slice of GF vegan Rice Millet Bread made by Food for Life

The male given name in my family of origin is Joseph, and most of them have gone by the nickname of Joe.  Any time we have Sloppy Joes for dinner, my dad would pitch a mock fit of resentment about the term.  So around my house, we changed the name to Sloppy Beef to solve this problem.  We also would make this out of ground buffalo on occasion, so that was called Sloppy Buffalo.  To further complicate the naming of this dish, we also have “Daddy Sloppy Beef” and “Mama Sloppy Beef.”  My ex makes Sloppy Joes with beef, sometimes onion, ketchup and chili powder.  My recipe is the more complex one below that includes vegetables.  My ex does not like celery seed, so when he was eating it, I never put it in, but I love the taste it adds.

My kids tend to be horrified by the idea of “hiding” vegetables in food.  They point out that they can see them and taste them so therefore they are not hidden and the grown-ups who think they are pulling one over on the kids are really not.  I have to laugh at their honesty.  This is one of the “hidden” ways that I can easily get vegetables into them, though.  I guess if you add enough ketchup to anything it becomes edible to some of the kid population.  My daughter still won’t eat this, though.

This recipe is also flexible on the veggies.  I didn’t have a yellow squash for the version I made for the pictures, so I just used two zucchini.  I bought a red pepper because they were all the same price and I like the color it adds, but if green peppers are cheaper, then that’s what I use.  I like seeing if I can get red, orange, yellow and green colors in the recipe, or if purple peppers are in season, I can get purple in there, too.  The cup estimates are just that:  Estimates to give you a general idea of how much to add.  If you end up with 1.75 cups of squash and 1.75 cups of carrots, it will be fine.  I never actually measure the veggies when I’m making the recipe for my family.

IMG_0949-psSloppy Beef

2 pounds 95% organic or grass-fed ground beef or buffalo
1 medium organic yellow or white onion, diced (about 1.5 cups)
1 organic red pepper, diced (about 1.5 cups) (or any other bell pepper)
1 small organic zucchini, grated (about 1 cup)
1 small organic yellow squash, grated (about 1 cup)
2 small organic carrots, grated (about 1.5 cups)
1 tablespoon organic dry mustard
2 tablespoons organic chili powder (or less if you don’t like it spicy)
1 teaspoon organic celery seed (optional)
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper (optional)
About ¾ to 1 cup organic ketchup

Brown the beef, onion, and pepper over medium heat.  When it is about half way cooked, add in the zucchini, squash and carrots and continue to brown.  Once the beef is browned and all the vegetables are soft, add in the seasonings and the ketchup.  You should add enough ketchup to make the sloppy beef as sloppy as you prefer.

Serve over bread, tortillas, or rice.

Serves 4-6, depending on how many of them are starving carnivorous male children.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Pakistani Inspired Curry (GFDF)

26 Saturday May 2012

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This portion doesn’t actually have the peas stirred in so that my pea-hating family will eat it. I stir the peas in later for my serving.

When I was in grad school, I lived in a large beautiful Victorian house in the Boston area with nine other graduate students.  One of the other women was a nun from Pakistan named Josepha.  She quickly saw how much I loved to cook (though my cooking then was nothing like it is now) and offered to teach me how to make Pakistani dishes.  It was the first time I learned how to cook from sight and taste rather than from a recipe.  She was also the first person to introduce me to the idea of seasonal cooking, though she didn’t call it that.  Whatever was at the grocery store you used.  Substitutions are part of the fun.  So while the recipe below calls for beef, this could be made with chicken or pork though Josepha said they rarely ate chicken because it was so expensive.  I have put carrots, squashes and eggplants in it before.  Whatever is available, I throw it in with the basic ingredients.

This recipe probably isn’t incredibly authentic any more since I’ve changed it through the 18 years since I lived with Josepha.  It’s still a comfort food to me, though, and it always makes me think of her.

Pakistani Inspired Curry
a few tablespoons of organic oil
1.5 pounds grass fed ground beef
1 large yellow or white organic onion, diced
2 cups organic sweet potato or yam, diced
2 cups organic white/red/yellow potato, diced
1 large organic green pepper, diced
1 organic jalapeño (with seeds if you like it spicy), minced
2-3 tablespoons organic garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons organic ginger, minced
1.5 teaspoons organic turmeric powder
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon organic black pepper
2.5-3 cups water
1 cup packed organic cilantro leaves, chopped
2 cups organic frozen peas, set out to defrost while the rest of the dish cooks

In a 3 or 4 quart pot, brown the beef with oil and the onion over medium heat.  When the beef is lightly browned, add in all of the remaining ingredients except the water, cilantro and peas.  Stir to mix ingredients. Add enough water to cover the contents of the pot.  Cover and continue cooking until the potatoes and sweet potatoes are soft (which takes about 30 minutes on my slow cooking electric stovetop).  Add in the peas and cilantro, and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with rice if desired.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Horseradish Mustard Burgers

28 Saturday Apr 2012

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horseradish mustard burger on a Rudi's Organics wheat burger bun

Yesterday’s bizarre and inexplicable craving was horseradish mustard.  I have no idea why, but it was.  So I went with it.  I had horseradish mustard on a sandwich at lunch, and when the boys wanted burgers for dinner, I decided we were having horseradish mustard burgers.  I took my burger and added even more horseradish mustard to it but spared the rest of the family that overdosing!

Horseradish Mustard Burgers

1.5 pounds 95% lean grass fed beef
2 tablespoons Annie’s Naturals GF organic horseradish mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon organic black pepper
¼ teaspoon organic garlic powder
1 organic green onion, sliced thinly

Mix all ingredients together and form into 6 patties.  Cook as you would normally cook burgers.  I broiled ours in the oven for 6 minutes, flipped, and broiled for an additional 6 minutes.  Serve with your favorite toppings.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com