Category Archives: Gluten Free

Easy Peasy Orange chicken (that doesn’t taste of orange!)

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Im bad at writing recipes, but good at cooking, so here we go, Im continuing with easy simple stuff that anyone can make 🙂 Real food baby, its the way to go. And real food doesn’t have to be hard at all!

Ideally to make a gourmet meal of chicken you should marinade, but hey, Im a busy mum of 2, running a gluten free house and I hardly have time to shower some days let alone think ahead to marinade stuff in advance! So, keeping it simple here. My kids love and adore this chicken, and so does anyone else that eats it, and its so super simple!

I used:

  • 4 good size chicken thighs (you can use drumsticks or whatever you like)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • half an orange

Pop your Chicken in an oven pan, salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Then squeeze the juice of half an orange on top. Bung it in the oven 175º degrees for 45 minutes.

Thats it. Like really. I mean it 😉

This particular batch Im keeping in the fridge (juices from pan included) to make a quick dinner with after sons football game tomorrow. you could serve it as is with rice and veggies and a sauce or use it for salads or lunch boxes, anything goes.

Enjoy 🙂

Linda

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Autumn soup

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1622014_726987724021811_5018130055690459151_nThe leaves are turning orange here in Poland and its gorgeous. Everywhere you turn there are gorgeous fall veggies to be seen. My kids always eat well when I give them soup so what a great opportunity to make some!

Im not one for following a recipe, and when I cook I never measure or remember how I made something, if you are needing precise recipes then all I can do is apologise! Dollops and drops and a bit of is the way to go (unless you are baking). So here we go.

I used :

  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 small pumpkin
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 gluten free organic stock cube
  • water
  • red lentils (you don’t need lentils, I like to add them for some extra dimension and nutrition)

Clean up your pumpkin discarding the inner bits and seeds and the peel (obviously). Peel the carrots and onions. Chop everything roughly (the pieces can be pretty big, it doesn’t matter). Make sure the onions kindof stay together or they will burn. Pop everything in a roasting tray and drizzle with a  generous amount of olive oil, add salt & pepper.

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Now, pop it all in the oven, 175º degrees for 45 minutes.

Once its ready take it out and discard any black onion bits. Add everything to a large pot. Add your water and stock cube, you want to just cover the veggies. You can always add more water later if you want. IMG_9577

Bring your soup to a boil. Once its boiling you can add your red lentils, I just use around a handful two. lower the temp and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Now its time for that trusty hand mixer to do its job again, get it in there and whizz until everything is nice and smooth with no bits. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. I leave my soup nice and thick and freeze in portion sizes, then I just add a bit more water when I reheat.

This soup is a fab way to use up leftover veggies from a roast dinner, just don’t add the potatoes 😉

-Linda

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Cauliflower Mash (LCHF staple)

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My kids absolutely love cauliflower mash, at first I would have it as a main for me as Im on LCHF (Low carb high fat), and give the kids only a small bit as a veggie along with their starch (rice, potato etc), but then I realised how much they love it, so now we all eat it in a full portion. The kids even like to eat it on its own with cheese on top! RESULT for mummy!

So, although this is so simple and basic, I have had several people ask me how to make it, so here goes 🙂

You need, one cauliflower, butter, cream, salt and pepper (yeah, thats really it!)

Clean the cauliflower up and cut it in to 4 (or less) pieces. Boil in a large pot of water with some salt added. When the cauliflower is ready, drain it in a colander and pop the cauliflower back in the pot. Add a big dollop of butter, if you are an LCHF’er like me, then you know what big means, lol, if you are your average person, then just whatever is big to you, don’t be shy 😉 Add some salt & pepper.

Get your hand mixer/blender in the pot and work it baby!

When everything is mashed and smooth add a teeny dollop of cream, and whizz a bit more. I cant say how much cream as I don’t know how big your cauliflower is, but a few table spoons is more then enough, if you add to much you will have soup.

Thats it, khalas! You are done 🙂

(this dish reheats well, so make a big batch and keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days)

-Linda

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Tomato Sauce from scratch

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When I say I make everything from scratch, I almost never lie. (<- note the almost ;))

I always preferred making food from scratch, even before the gluten issue. As time goes on I realise more and more how many people cant cook to save their lives. Many were brought up with processed foods themselves, so even a simple thing to them can seem totally overwhelming.

So, here it is, a simple (like totally simple, you can get your no cooking experience tween to do it simple) tomato sauce. My kids cant get enough of this one. You can use it as is, or use it as a base for whatever you need to make 🙂

You need;

  • Tomatoes, roughly diced, sliced, chopped or mashed in any way you so wish.
  • Onion, roughly chopped, sliced, diced or whatever you wish.
  • Spices
  • Olive Oil (extra virgin, always extra virgin)

So, today I used 4-5 large tomatoes, slightly overripe. Any tomatoes will do. Pop a deep saucepan on the stove on medium – high heat, add olive oil and onions. Once the onions have sizzled for a bit add your tomatoes and spices. I used a large basil leaf from my garden and salt and pepper in this batch. If you have homemade stock you can add some of that, or an organic gf stock cube, if you don’t have any, then go without. Add some water, just a little so that the tomatoes have something to boil in (about half a cup-ish). Lower heat and walk away.

Return at some point to stir and check, once your tomatoes are dissolved more or less you are ready. I use a rice colander and pour the whole thing through in to another pot, this gets rid of the onion bits and tomato skins. You will need to push with your spoon a bit to get all the good bits through. Whats left is a thick tomato sauce that tastes like heaven, if you want it a deeper red, add some tomato puree!

I never do this in advance, its so fast and fresh and easy I really don’t mind doing it when I need it.

Kids will have theirs over some gf pasta and veg and I will eat mine with broccoli later (yes, still on the low carb diet!)

Try it with some added cream as a soup, or with garlic and chilli!

Enjoy!

Linda

Lunch box staples

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You all know I write most of the content for GlutenFree UAE right? I was looking at some of the stuff I have written for there and thinking some should be moved over, but not only is it time consuming, but it already exists 🙂

Having said all that, I know that GF lunches are always a hot topic when gf mums get together. Its not easy doing a gf lunch thats interesting and nourishing day in and day out. Some lucky mums, like those in Sweden get lunch provided for their kids in school (yes, even gluten free!), but even those kids sometimes require a packed lunch.

So, about a year ago I did a small series of my favourites over on GF UAE. Do go have a look, each one opens in a new window.

Enjoy! All of these contain egg obviously, I need to rework them and come up with new staples!

For more ideas for lunch boxes, don’t miss out on My top 10 tips for a gluten free lunchbox! 

-Linda

Goji Berry and Blue Cheese Salad

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Originally Posted on Gluten Free UAE in January 2012

Just my kind of meal, no cooking required!

You will need:
Baby Spinach
Blue Cheese (I used Cambozola, its rich and creamy and perfect for this salad, any blue cheese will do, just be careful as although most are gluten free some are not)
Tomatoes
Goji Berries

Rinse your spinach well and get rid of any big stems by pinching them off.
Roughly chop your tomatoes and cut the cheese in to cubes.
Line your plate with the spinach, top with the tomatoes and cheese and finally, throw on a handful of Goji berries.

I drizzle mine with some extra virgin olive oil, then add some salt & black pepper.

Thats it 🙂 Enjoy!

-Linda

Swedish Style Birthday Cake (Cream Cake)

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Originally Posted on Gluten Free UAE in January 2012

It was my sons birthday over Eid and I wanted to make him a traditional Swedish cake, this is what we always make for all our birthdays, but this was my first gluten free version. I cheated a little but it was very yummy so I thought I would share 🙂

You will need:
2 Mrs Crimbles Muffin & sponge mix (Lulu’s & Spinneys sell these)
Whipping cream
Strawberries or other fruit for decorating
Chocolate cream or strawberry jam
For chocolate cream, mix 3 table spoons coco powder with 3 table spoons sugar and stir with cream until its a buttery consistency (keep adding cream as needed), if you like it sweeter just add some extra sugar.

Follow the instructions on the Mrs Crimbles mix and add the mix to two breaded tins. (1 mix per tim)
I only have one round tin, so I did my cakes one at a time. Thats fine too 🙂 (For the breading I always use gluten free cornflakes that I wizz in my mini chopper for 30 seconds or so. Much cheaper then any shop bought bread mix and tastes nice too, make sure you use butter and not low fat oil, this is birthday cake after all)
Let your two cakes cool.
Assemble your cake just before serving, so if you have baked the cake parts the night before, just cover in plastic and leave them.
To assemble, pop one cake on a tray and put your chosen filling on, you can use gf custard, chocolate cream or any jam you like. Its usually strawberry jam, but my son wanted chocolate so thats what we did.  Once its somewhat even, add your second layer of cake on top.
Whip your cream with half a spoon of sugar or some vanilla essence if you like it better.
Cover the entire cake in whipped cream. You can make it all pretty if you know how, or you can just add it all in any way you like and smooth it with a spatula. Add your strawberries to decorate your cake. Serve!

You can offcourse use any other sponge mix or make your own, I liked the Mrs crimbles one, it was easy to make and tasted good. Apologies for the bad photo, it was taken in hindsight rather then to showcase the cake. Oops 😛

-Linda

Quinoa cooking for beginners.

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Quinoa

I love quinoa, I use it alot in my kitchen, I add it to rice, I use it instead of rice, I eat it in salads and I fry it and add cheese to it…. Think of any usual kitchen task, and I do it, with quinoa. My kids arent as enthralled with quinoa as I am, but thats fine, more for me! I cook up a batch and keep it in the fridge, it keeps amazingly well. So, whenever I rant about quinoa I get the following, all the time; ‘I tried it and I didn’t like it, it was bitter’ , ‘I cant figure out how to cook it’ , ‘it doesn’t taste of anything’.
I should be able to fix most of those in the rest if this post.

1. Quinoa needs to be rinsed. Even if it says it doesnt, still rinse it. Quinoa that hasn’t been rinsed can taste bitter and strange. Always rinse. No need for a funky culinder/siv with extra small holes, just pop it in a bowl and add water and swish with your fingers, quinoa sinks so its easy to pour the water out once you are done.

2. Double the water. 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water, etc. Add your rinsed quinoa to boiling water and stir once.

3. Add Flavour! Quinoa doesn’t taste of much, thats the beauty of it. I boil mine in a stock cube, but you can try different things, a spoon of tomato puree for colour, some juice, herbs or your favourite spices.

4. Once the quinoa is back to a boil, lower the heat, then let it do its thing. It can take anything from 10-20 minutes to cook it depending on brand. You can stir once or twice if you need to. Once it ‘looks right’ and tastes right, take it off the heat, cover with a lid and let it rest for a while (a few minutes is enough, but longer is better – in my opinion).

5. Fluff with a fork (this actually just means stirring) and serve.

For quinoa beginners, try stuffing some quinoa in a roast paprika or just adding a couple of spoon fulls to a salad. If you like, eat it on its own with baby spinach sautéed in butter and garlic (see image). YUM.

-Linda

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Who needs an oven? Cake in 5 minutes!

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There I was stressing about the cake, ran around several shops yesterday morning to try to get a whisk, a mini chopper, essentials you know. But in the end, the cake became a trusted old ice cream cake made with nothing other then a spoon and a hand whisk using 2 ingredients! Sure, it may not have been super stunning (although the kids thought it was) but it sure was super delicious!

So heres a recipe for you. You need;

  • 1 tub of ice cream (I used chocolate chip)
  • whipping cream
  • decorations

You need to;

  • Spoon ice cream on to a plate or tray, you have to work fast so it doesn’t melt to much. Mould it in to some kind of shape. I wanted round so round it was.
  • Carefully spread your whipped cream on top, and cover the whole thing. If you know how to make it pretty, by all means, go ahead 😉
  • Decorate with berries or sweets or even gluten free Oreos!

Pop the ‘cake’ in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to harden a little. Don’t go crazy or the cream gets very hard.

TADAAA!!

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Another birthday taken care of, who needs super pretty when its super yum?

-Linda

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Spices! Who needs them?

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Spices Smiches, bah. May contain, may have traces, produced on a line that handles, produced in a factory that, etc etc etc. Did you know that many spices coming out of Asia are milled in a mill that also produces flour? Did you know some have flour added to them to make them a better consistency? Did you know that many of these countries have no laws whatsoever about telling you they added gluten?

We live in a melting pot of cultures, foods here come from all corners of the world, and unless a spice is certified gluten free, I just dont even go there. At first, it was hard, now it is super easy.

Think about it, what is a spice, really? Its flavour! So add flavours, not spices! Fresh herbs, chilli, onion, garlic, shallots, fresh ginger, tabasco. All you need is salt and pepper, then the rest, you just use your imagination!

Big bunches of herbs are often very cheap (or why not grow your own!), I freeze my leftovers in small pots so I always have fresh herbs available. Ginger root is also always in a small pot in my freezer, I use a grater and grate it straight in to the dish that needs it. Chillies dry beautifully on a plate in the kitchen, no need to buy fresh until you run out.

If any of my food is going to have traces of gluten, it certainly wont be from my spices, or rather… flavours 🙂

Happy Cooking!

-Linda

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