Rachel’s Recipe Box

My family has been loving the Impossible Quiche Pie variations, and while I was Googling for more ideas, I found an apple pie variation. My oldest and youngest daughters love almost any dessert, but my middle daughter loves apple pie and chocolate only. It was lovely to find an easy workaround for the hassle of making gluten-free apple pie! As a bonus, it tasted delicious!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 large apples, peeled and sliced

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• several grates fresh, or 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup gf biscuit mix – we like Bob’s Red Mill Biscuit mix or Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
  • 1/2 cup all purpose gf flour mix (or 1/4 cup rice or sorghum flour & 1/4 cup tapioca or corn starch)

  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk or milk substitute (cow, coconut, or soy work the best, rice is a bit too thin)
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted, or oil (Fleishmann’s unsalted is dairy & gluten free, Earth Balance has a dairy, soy, & gluten-free tub)
• 2 eggs (these are necessary, don’t try to substitute)

Topping Ingredients

• 1/2 cup gf flour or baking mix

• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3-4 TBS cold margarine, butter, or shortening (for shortening, we like Spectrum)
• 1/2 tsp allspice

Method:
Oil a 9″ pie pan with deep sides, and preheat oven to 350.

Peel and slice apples, and set in a medium-sized bowl. Add cinnamon and nutmeg, stir, and let sit.

In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together the biscuit mix, sugar, eggs, milk/milk substitute, and melted margarine/butter.

In a third bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients. Cut the fat into small pieces, and cut into the flour mixture into it using a pastry blender or two knives. Mix together until it becomes crumbly, as you would with a fruit crisp topping.

Pour the apples into the pie pan, and cover with the egg mixture. Sprinkle topping on top.

Slide into the oven, and bake for 30-45 minutes, until it becomes browned. Touch the top of the pie to make sure it’s firm and set.

Let cool and serve, with or without whipped topping or ice cream. Don’t expect there to be many leftovers!

This is the first recipe to include dairy on this blog. My daughters passed a dairy challenge at the end of August, and our diet has started to include dairy. While most of the recipes on this site will still be dairy-free, an occasional recipe that includes dairy will appear, like this one.

One day when I was trying to come up with something new to make for dinner, I had an idea to make a stuffing for the chicken. This turned out to be beautiful as well as delicious, and easy.

This is a delicious gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and low-carb recipe. This meal can be on the table in 45 minutes, making this a faux fast food recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

• 1 8oz block cream cheese (you could sub soy cream cheese to make this dairy-free)
• 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (home-made or premade – Amazon has several types of GF breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 or 1 tsp Italian-style seasoning – I like Trader Joe’s “21 Seasoning Salute” myself (if the breadcrumbs are pre-seasoned, use the smaller amount)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup, packed, raw baby spinach or kale
• olive oil
• kosher salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 and oil a 9×13 pan.

Separate the chicken breasts, then pound them flat one at a time. I have found it is best to place the chicken breast on a cutting board, place a layer of wax paper of plastic wrap on top, then use a mallet to pound the chicken flat. When pounding, you just want to get them flatter and thinner so they will roll well, don’t worry about making them perfectly thin.

In a food processor combine cream cheese, gluten-free breadcrumbs, seasoning, garlic, and spinach. Pulse until the mixture is well combined and evenly green.

Optionally, sprinkle a few spinach leaves on the bottom of the oiled pan, place the chicken rolls on top of that.

Spoon about 1/6th of the cream cheese mixture onto the middle of the chicken breast, then roll the chicken around it. Place the stuffed chicken breast in the pan, seam-side down. Repeat until all the chicken breasts are stuffed.

Drizzle olive oil over the top of the chicken, then sprinkle a bit of kosher salt. A couple shakes of Italian seasoning on top looks nice, too.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with a roasted vegetable, some roasted potatoes, and then quickly sauté spinach in garlic & olive oil.

Plate with the chicken sliced into rounds on top of the spinach – a perfect, yet easy, meal for a dinner party!

This year was our first year making a gluten-free gingerbread house. It’s one of those things I had always intended to do, but never quite gotten around to doing.

This year we had a collaborative effort – I made the gluten-free gingerbread cookie batter, my mother cut out pieces according to a template and made the frosting “glue”, then my three daughters decorated.

My daughters are now able to have dairy, which meant we had more variety available for our decorations, but there are a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free candies that make great decorations – gumdrops, sour watermelons, and mints were some of the favorites here. Candy canes would’ve been a good addition, too.

The best part, though, is that the gluten-free gingerbread cookie recipe makes delicious cookies, so after we smashed the house for the New Year, we all dove in and started munching on the pieces of house. Yum!

I recently made my Kale and Black Bean soup, and my step-father got very excited – apparently it tasted almost the way his father’s Linguiça and Kale soup had tasted. So, I listened to his suggestions, and ended up with this soup. I recently served this to several relatives at a family party, and they all loved it!

Enjoy this hearty soup on a cold day, it will warm you up. It warms my heart along with my body – I see my family awash in memories, and my girls gobble it up. This is definitely approved by adults and kids!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, low-carb, and top 8 allergen free. While the soup can simmer for a while, this can also be ready within 45 minutes, a faux fast food!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, sliced into circles (note: 4 baby carrots equals 1 carrot)
• 1 lb linguiça (double check this – most brands include milk, but there are a few which are milk-free)
• 1 large bunch kale, rinsed, stemmed, and ripped into bite size chunks
• 1 1/2 cups dry fava beans, rinsed, soaked, and cooked OR 2 14 oz cans kidney or black beans, drained (fava beans are the most authentic, but not as easily available)
• 3 quarts liquid – 1 quart broth, 2 quarts water works well
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp Tony Chacheres Cajun seasoning to taste, or 2 tsp Italian seasoning mix + 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 white potatoes, cubed [optional]
• 1/2 lb elbow rice pasta (we like Tinkyada Brown Rice Elbows or the Trader Joe’s rice pasta [also optional]

Method
Chop the onions, carrots, and garlic, and set aside. Slice the linguica in half length-wise, then slice in half again length-wise. Slice into quarter-moons about 1/2 inch thick.

Bring olive oil up to medium heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, carrots and garlic until tender. When the veggies start to get tender, add the linguiça. Let cook for a few minutes, until the linguiça starts to brown.

While the linguiça is cooking, prepare the kale. Rinse, peel from the hard stems, and rip into bite-sized chunks. Add to the soup pot and stir with tongs, it will cook down pretty quickly. Once the kale has cooked down a bit, add the beans, seasonings, and broth/water.

Turn heat up to high, and bring soup to a boil. Turn the heat down and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. If you want to add the optional potatoes or rice pasta, add them when the soup begins to simmer. Cook potatoes for 15 minutes, or pasta for amount of time suggested on the packaging.

Serve alone or with a salad and rolls. Smile as you watch your family enjoy every last drop!

For those who avoid pork, or who would prefer to eat chicken, this is an adaptation of my Sausage stuffed pork with apples recipe.

This is incredibly easy, delicious, and can be on the table in 45 minutes. Serve with some quinoa, rice, or roasted potatoes and pair with roasted vegetables and/or a salad.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and top 8 allergen free recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken thighs

• 1 lb chicken and apple sausage (uncooked is preferred)
• 2 pinches kosher or sea salt
• 1 apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp Tony Chacheres Cajun seasoning or another seasoning that has a touch of cayenne pepper
• 1-2 tsp olive oil, for the bottom of the pan

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Oil a 9×13 or 9×11 baking pan (I line mine with Reynolds Release, which makes it much easier to clean up).

Lay a chicken thigh in the pan, skinned side down. Squeeze part of the apple sausage from the casing onto the middle of the chicken thigh. Roll chicken around sausage, and set in pan. Repeat until you have used up all the chicken and sausage.

Sprinkle the top of chicken rolls with a smidge of Tony Chacheres.

Core the apple and slice it into thin slices. Lay the apples on top of the rolled chicken. Sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt on top, then slide into the oven.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until chicken and sausage are cooked thoroughly.

This is one of my favorite ways to cook fish! I usually find fish somewhat intimidating, but this recipe is easy, delicious, and almost fool-proof. This was inspired by an early episode of Good Eats and Alton Brown’s recipe. I highly recommend picking up his newest book – Good Eats: The Early Years, even if you haven’t watched the show. It’s filled with a lot of great information, plus, he’s covered substituting for allergies on the show and he quite nice and friendly at booksignings.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, shellfish free, and corn free recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large or two small salmon fillets – with the skin on. We figure on about 1/3lb of fish per person, and I have made this with 8 oz of fish and also 2 lbs. The bigger issue is to make sure you have only 1 or 2 fillets to flip.

• 1 tsp Sea Salt or Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup gluten-free flour for dredging – amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum all work well
• 2 TBS cooking oil – olive or canola oil
• 2 TBS margarine (I like Earth Balance for this, but if you are dairy and soy free, using a little extra oil works well)
• 1 TBS capers
• 1/2 – 1 lemon, juiced

Method:
Warm oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

In a cake pan or large, shallow bowl combine salt, pepper, and flour. Lightly dredge fish in flour and shake off excess.

When pan is good and hot, add 1 tablespoon margarine (or a bit more olive oil) to the oil. As soon as it is melted, place fish in the pan, skin side down. For the first 10-15 seconds, shake the pan back and forth so the fish doesn’t stick to the pan. Cook until golden crust forms on the skin – about 2-3 minutes.

Carefully flip the fish away from you and wiggle the pan again for the first few seconds. Cook until the meat turns golden brown and delicious. Remove from the heat and slide the fish onto a warm plate.

Pour out the oil, add the 1 TBS reserved margarine (or oil). When the margarine has melted, add the capers and fry them quickly. After about one minute, take the pan off the heat, add the lemon juice to pan and mix together. Pour the caper and lemon sauce over the fish and serve.

This is great and quick meal served with some quinoa or rice and then a roasted vegetable or salad. Yum!

The girls love French Toast, but it’s my mother who usually makes it. This past weekend my parents were gone for the day, so they sent me on a hunt for a good recipe. After much Googling, I ended up with this recipe which was inspired by Alton Brown’s recipe – because if Alton made it, you can’t go wrong! I tweaked it for our taste buds, allergies, and for my own cooking preferences.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegetarian recipe.  Be sure to check the allergy notes at the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk or milk substitute (soy, rice, almond, hemp…)
• 3 large eggs (eggs are integral to this recipe, so I don’t recommend using an egg substitute)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9-12 slices gluten-free bread¹
• 4 TBS oil or margarine²

Method:

Preheat oven to 250. Set a lasagna pan or similar 9×13 pan near the stove.

In a deep pie dish, combine the milk substitute, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk gently, so the milk/egg mixture doesn’t spill.

Heat your griddle or skillet to medium heat. Add about 1 TBS oil or margarine to pan and swirl around so it coats the pan.

Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for about 1 minute on each side. Pick up a piece of bread and gently shake the excess egg mixture into the pie pan.

Lay 2-3 slices of bread in the griddle/skillet, depending on the size of the bread and your pan. Cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes for each side. When browned, remove from griddle and gently put in the lasagna pan, then slide the pan into the oven.

Continue with the next set of bread slices, until all of the french toast has been made.

Serve to many cheers and soon-to-be-empty plates! This tastes great with maple syrup, or perhaps a bit of confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top.

Allergy Notes:
¹ Our favorite bread recipe is perfect for this, as is our sweet bread recipe, but any gluten-free bread will work. The Kinnikinnik loaf pictured was perfect, because it tasted a bit dry when eaten plain. Our favoite purchased bread is Ener-G Brown Rice Bread, which tastes especially wonderful when toasted.
² We usually use Earth Balance Organic margarine tubs, which are Kosher and dairy-free. However, that margarine includes soy protein. Fleishmann’s Unsalted is also Kosher and dairy-free, but only uses soy oil – no soy protein. Alternatively, to make the recipe safe for the corn or soy-free,  you can use canola or another cooking oil to coat the griddle.

This is a recipe that popped into my head as I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to serve for dinner. Finding new ways of making chicken is a pretty regular event around here, and I’m sure around many homes! This recipe is likely inspired by a meal I ate in a restaurant once, or one I saw on a menu. It’s delicious and easy, and definitely faux fast food – on your plate in under 45 minutes.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, and top 8 allergen free recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS olive oil

• 1 small onion, diced
• approximately 1.3 lbs boneless/skinless chicken – thighs work great
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• a couple grinds fresh pepper
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• 1 6 1/2 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 1 roasted red pepper, fresh or from a jar packed in water
• 3-4 slices good quality genoa salami (our favorite is Applegate Farms)

Method:
Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté until tender. Chop chicken into 1-2 inch pieces as the onion is cooking.

Add chicken, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and basil to the pan, and sauté until the chicken is browned on all sides. This means using tongs to move the chicken, onion, garlic, and spices around the pan and rotate the chicken.

While the chicken is browning, cut the artichoke hearts into quarters, chop the sprig of rosemary, slice the salami into strips, and roughly chop the roasted red pepper. Don’t forget to stir the chicken in between chopping!

Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir until well combined. Continue cooking over medium heat until the newly-added ingreients are hot, and well-integrated.

There will be some liquid in the pan from the artichokes (even after draining) and roasted red pepper. Some will evaporate while cooking, and the rest can be spooned over rice or pasta along with the chicken.

Serve with rice or pasta (on the side or on top, depending on your tastes and the level of pickiness in your family) with a roasted vegetable or salad.

This is a great crowd-pleaser, for adults and kids. Yum!

This recipe contains peanut butter! (I do think that sunbutter or another peanut butter substitute would work well, but that hasn’t been fully tested as of yet)

A friend of mine linked me to a similar recipe, and I’ve adapted a bit and made it safe for our allergies. This is delicious, and much less work than one would think. I’ve been craving Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for years now, and this hits the spot. It’s also a great recipe to use to wow friends who think that folks with dietary restrictions don’t eat well!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, fish free, shellfish free, and vegetarian recipe. Unfortunately, my brownie recipe doesn’t work well without eggs, so this is not vegan or egg-free.

Ingredients

• 1 batch Super-Easy Brownies, or another brownie recipe that makes a 9×13 pan of brownies

Filling

• 1/2 cup dairy-free margarine or shortening, softened

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (we like Jif Natural), OR sunbutter or another peanut butter substitute should be fine too
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk substitute (soy, rice, almond, hemp)

Topping

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have their own brands of dairy-free chocolate chips, and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are dairy/soy/nut free)

• 1/4 cup margarine or shortening (half a stick)

Method:
Make super-easy brownies according to recipe instructions. Let cool in the pan.

In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Spread the peanut butter mix evenly over the cooled brownies.

In small bowl, microwave the topping ingredients for 60 seconds; stir well with a whisk until smooth. You may need to microwave an additional 30 seconds if your chocolate was cold (we keep chocolate chips in the freezer so they don’t melt)

Spread gently and evenly over peanut butter filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set.

Cut into 1-2 inch cubes, and serve to much applause.

This recipe is fine on a counter unless the weather is hot, in which case I suggest refrigerating. So, they were fine on the counter for most of the 2009 “summer” in New England!

Who doesn’t love a breakfast of waffles? We make a big batch, and then refrigerate or freeze the extras so they can be heated up in the toaster on busy mornings. While this recipe has 4 eggs, it can be substituted with a commercial or homemade egg replacer without sacrificing taste or quality.
This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients and use appropriate substitutes!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups gf flour (I like sorghum, millet, or brown rice)

• 1 cup starch (tapioca, arrowroot, or corn is good here; or use 3 cups gluten free flour mix in place of the flour and starch)
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 TBS xanthan gum
• 1 TBS + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 2/3 cup milk substitute
• 4 eggs or equivalent egg substitute (while usually I wouldn’t suggest replacing eggs in a recipe with 3 or more eggs, egg replacers work quite well in this recipe)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: 1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Method:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour through salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk substitute through vanilla extract.

Slowly mix the liquid into the flour, and stir until smooth.

This batter will act differently based on humidity, temperature, and phase of moon. So you may need to add 1/2 cup more flour or 1/2 cup more water, depending if it is very wet or very thick.

Add optional blueberries when the batter is well mixed, and stir until just incorporated.

Use a ladle to add waffle batter to the waffle iron, and cook according to device instructions. Keep waffles warm on a plate covered by a tea town in the oven set at 200 degrees. Serve with margarine, maple syrup, and Gooseberry Syrup.