Pretzel Hug Buttons

These make a great holiday treat.  Fill a bag with these, tie a ribbon around them, and give them to your gf friend for the holidays!  They are SURE to love them.

Ingredients:
-1 bag gluten free pretzels - Glutino makes excellent ones (these can be found at health food stores like Whole Foods, etc.) 
-1 bag of Hershey's Hugs (they are the Hershey's Kisses that have white and milk chocolate swirled together -- called Hugs)
-1 bag of M&M's
-wax paper or parchment paper

Directions:
-Set oven to 150 degrees
-On a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or parchment paper, lay out as many pretzels as you would like
-Next, unwrap the Hugs and place a Hug on top of each pretzel
-Put the Hug/pretzel combinations in the oven for 5-7 minutes until SOFT.  You don't want them to be melted or bubbling -- that means they were in too long.
-Pull them out of the oven, and take an M&M and gently press the M&M down the center of the Hug/Pretzel so that the chocolate fills all the empty spots of the pretzel.  Repeat for each one. If the Hug doesn't push down easily with the M&M, then you may need to pop them in the oven again for a minute or two to melt a bit more.

Then transfer them to the fridge to cool and harden (or freezer if you're in a hurry to eat them like me!).  Once they are hardened, they are ready to be packed up as a gift or taken to a party or eaten right there in your living room while you watch tv :)

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

Oh yum.  These make a delicious addition to any meal and you could say they are naturally gluten free because this particular kind of roll that is made in Brazil is made without gluten there.  This recipe comes from the Our Best Bites blog and can be found HERE.  I love their recipes and often I'll find one like this that is quick, easy, and gluten free naturally!

The type of flour you'll need for this is tapioca flour (or tapioca starch).  I've seen it in every grocery store I go to or for SURE in a natural foods store like Whole Foods, etc.  In the regular grocery store I usually see it in the baking section with other flours made by Bob's Red Mill.  It looks like this:

Everything else in the recipe is very common and you probably have in your fridge right now!  And what I love the most about this is that it is so so easy!  Stick ingredients in your blender, and then pour into a mini-muffin tin.  Without further ado:

Ingredients:

-1 large egg

-1/2 cup milk

-1/4 cup canola oil

-1 cup tapioca flour

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

(add more cheese if you want to sprinkle more on top of each roll before baking!!  I did this...maybe OVERdid this and they turned out delectable.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put egg, milk, oil, flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse about 2 times just to get the cheese into smaller grated pieces.  Pour into greased mini muffin tin right away and fill each tin about 3/4 of the way full (I used a mini-cheesecake pan the first time I made these and they were bigger and fluffier, so either one will work). 

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  You don't want them to be TOO brown on the bottom.  See the difference in a picture where the original recipe is.  It's best to serve them warm, but I actually enjoyed them the day after warmed up or even at room temp!

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

This, if you want it to be authentic, should have a slice of gluten free bread on it, but you don't HAVE to have it. You could just gob ooey-gooey cheese on top. You can find gluten free bread at health food stores like Whole Foods and even Trader Joes (Brown Rice Loaf). Tip about gluten free bread -- toast it! It tastes a whole lot better for your guests.

-2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion (2 large)
-2 tablespoons butter or margarine
-4 cups beef broth (SWANSONS regular and organic..NOT SEASONED...PACIFIC NATURAL FOODS are gluten free)
-2 tablespoons dry sherry or dry white wine (optional)
-1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (LEA AND PERRINS is gluten free)
-Dash black pepper
-6 slices GLUTEN FREE bread, toasted
-1 cup shredded Smoked Cheddar, Gruyere, or Jarlsberg cheese (4 ounces)

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan cook onion, covered, in hot butter over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender and golden, stirring occasionally. Stir in broth, dry sherry (if desired), Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, arrange toasted bread slices on a baking sheet. Evenly divide cheese among slices. Broil 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese is light brown and bubbly. Top each serving with a bread slice.

Serves 6 as part of a main course or 4 as THE main course.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This recipe calls for gluten free bread crumbs. I usually make mine with toasted gluten-free bread which is available at health-food stores and sometimes at your local grocery store. After toasting I put the bread in a food processor. Now, if you don't have access to the bread, you can always make this without bread crumbs!

1. -2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen broccoli, cooked (can be chopped)

2. -2 cans cream of chicken soup (HEALTH VALLEY CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP, LIPTON CUP OF SOUP CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP-in packets -- you may have to use a few of them)
-1 c. mayonnaise (BEST FOODS, HELLMANS, MIRACLE WHIP are gluten free)
-1 tsp. lemon juice
-2 lbs. cooked chicken, cut up (I use a rotisserie chicken usually from Costco)

3.-3/4 c. sharp cheddar grated cheese
-3/4 c. gluten free bread crumbs (optional)
-1/4 c. melted butter (optional--use only if you use bread crumbs)

Alternate #1, #2, #3 in layers in 13 x 9 x 2 inch casserole. Top with crumbs and 1/4 cup melted butter poured over top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serves 6

Lasagna

This is the first recipe I've posted where you'll have to go to a health-food store to get a particular gluten-free ingredient. However, SOME grocery stores have gluten-free sections and may carry it so make sure to check when you're doing your regular shopping!

Ingredients:
-1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed or ground beef
-1 pint ricotta cheese
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-1/2 tsp dried basil
-1/2 tsp. dried thyme
-1/2 tsp. dried oregeno
-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
-1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
-12 gluten free lasagna noodles (TINKYADA or DEBOLES makes gluten free rice lasagna noodles; you can find these in the pasta section of your health food store [Whole Foods, etc])
-3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
-1 jar pasta sauce (PREGO, RAGU, BERTOLI, and BARILLA are gluten free)
Directions

Cook lasagna noodles according to package (about 2 minutes less since you'll be baking them too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook meat and drain.

In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, basil, thyme, garlic powder, oregano, and half the shredded mozzarella. Mix well, and set aside.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a little of the spaghetti sauce. Place three noodles in the bottom of the pan. Spread a layer of the ricotta mixture, a layer of meat, and a layer of spaghetti sauce over noodles. Repeat two more times. Top with the reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, remove foil and bake additional 15 minutes until golden and bubbly.