Noodles & Co. Restaurant

Many of us gluten-free people travel through the holidays, here is a little article that I found regarding one of my favorite restaurants, Noodles and Co. I literally dream about the Pesto Cavatappti, and like the author of the article, I have never had a problem eating there.

Like she mentions, always order rice noodles!

To get a list of the GF options at Noodles & Co. click here.

Enjoy your noodles and your holidays!

Cake Doughnuts

The secret to making these delicious doughnuts is using a heavy duty mixer and a deep-fat fryer, it keeps the oil temperature just right.

I usually made these for a Halloween party, but they are good anytime.

Cake Doughnuts

3/4 cup garbonzo bean flour

1/4 cup sorghum bean flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

(non gluten-free'ers I bet you can use 2 cups flour and omit the xanthan gum)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thick and lemon-colored. Combine the sour cream, orange juice concentrate, and melted butter. Add these alternately to the egg mixture with the dry ingredients, beating until just blended after each addition. Chill the dough for 3o minutes.

Roll the dough out on a board dusted with cornstarch, working in enough cornstarch for the dough to be easily handled. Roll to 3/8 inch thickness and cut with a doughnut cutter. ( I just use the top of a glass). Fry in deep hot fat (I use canola oil) until golden brown brown, about 1 minute per side, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 2 dozen doughnuts.

Italian Chicken

I had to make this chicken for dinner last night.

I had to.

I was craving pasta and something non-low caloric.

This recipe covers both.

It's ultimate comfort food.

It's so good, you can rationalize by using low fat cream cheese.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Italian Chicken

2 chicken breasts

1 T. butter

1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix

Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Place chicken in the crockpot and cut dabs of butter over the chicken. Sprinkle the salad dressing mix.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is cooked. (If chicken is browning too quickly, pour a little water into the bottom.)

When chicken is cooked, remove from crockpot and shred. Put aside.

Make the sauce by mixing together and bring to a boil:

1 brick cream cheese

1/2 cup liquid from the crockpot or 1/2 cup milk (I prefer the drippings)

1 recipe GF soup mix (or for you non-GF eaters, 1 can cream of chicken soup)

When thick and boiling, add in frozen green peas to your liking and the chicken. Heat throughly and serve over your favorite type of GF noodles.

Yum!

I'm Back!

First to apologize about not posting anything for the last 2 months.

(Even though I did just try to butter you up by posting the most fantastic pumpkin cheesecake I've ever had. Look at the post right below!)

Now my excuses.

Our family is expanding from 3 to 4 this coming May.

Yes, it's true, I'm having a baby and had a terrible bout of morning sickness. No scratch that, I had a terrible bout of all-day sickness.

I've actually lost weight.

But I thought, even though we are eating scrambled eggs for dinner (again, for the 3rd night in a row) what a great time to catch up on all the great GF recipes I have.

So I would sit down and start to type and what do you know, this strong, hot, nauseous feeling would come over me and I would either have to run to the bathroom, or lie down and watch a Disney movie with my toddler. Hence the lack of new and exciting recipes.

We moved.

Yes we left our home of 3.5 years so my husband can finish his clinical rotations and everyone knows when you move you eat out. A lot. Or you just eat scrambled eggs every night, like us.

But the good news is, we are settled. I am feeling better. And food is cheap here in Arizona so get ready for some delicious recipes coming your way!

I'm back, baby!

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Let's be honest here...

Pumpkin pie- delish

White Chocolate- so good

Cheesecake- is there anything better?

So let's combine them all and get one delectable holiday White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake!

I made mine for Thanksgiving dinner. It was amazing. I didn't hear one moan or groan about being GF, it was gone too fast. In fact there wasn't even time to take a picture. And the next day after an early morning and all day Black Friday shopping, I come home to find the lazys who didn't wake up at the crack-of-dawn for the amazing deals finished up what was left. Next year, I'm hiding a piece.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 box Pamela's butter shortbread cookies, made into crumbs (I just run them through my food processor)

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened (that is the secret to good cheesecake making. The cream cheese must be at room temperature.)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 t. vanilla extract

5 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate, melted

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom of a greased 9 in springform pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. (This is a very vital step, the cream cheese must have NO lumps.) Add eggs and vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted white chocolate. (Also, if you can't find baking white chocolate, I just used 5oz of white chocolate chips.)

Combine pumpkin and spices; gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Place pan on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 mins or until the center is just set.

Carefully run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, remove sides of the pan. Refrigerate any leftovers- if you have any!