Therapeutic Kitchen Time

My husband loves me my cooking so much that he let me spend some time in the kitchen this afternoon while he managed the two kids with FASD who are currently having neuropsychiatric reactions to strep... and secondary infections including staph and ear infections... (they have an autoimmune disorder called PANDAS ).


It's been a rough weekend but I turned on the radio and sang while I worked in the kitchen so life is looking up. And we had a great supper, too!

I made our favorite GFCF tomato soup which has all this veggie-goodness blended into a creamy deliciousness. It's Bean's favorite soup. (Before we went gluten and casein free Bean wouldn't even eat soup and now he asks me to make this!)
Then I made a large batch of our favorite pizza crusts and made one into garlic bread to dip in the soup. There is no better meal for a chilly fall evening.

But wait, there's more! I visited Wheatless Foodie's blog and found this recipe for Apple Coffee Cake and just had to try it. Oh. My. Goodness.

What a great way to end a meal! ♥

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart

♪ Beans, beans, they're good for your heart
The more you eat, the more you ____
The more you ____, the better you feel
So let's have beans for every meal! ♪

*When I was growing up, fart was the "f" word so I had to bleep it out. But seriously, beans are so good for you! And they're cheap! We should eat them for every meal...or at least once or twice a week!
A lot of people seem intimidated by the dry bean. Don't be. Buying dry beans is economical and they are easy to store. Using them just involves a little planning. First, sort and rinse the beans in a colander so that any dirt or pebbles are removed. Now comes the soaking...
Cover beans in water to soak overnight, allowing for beans to expand 2-3 times their size while still being covered. Soaking beans helps them cook faster and it dissolve the starches that cause the "f" word issue mentioned above.

The next morning, drain and rinse soaked beans and then put them in your crockpot. Cover with water or chicken broth and throw in the ham bone from your leftover ham. Add spices to your taste- salt, pepper, brown sugar, garlic, onion salt, peppers...be creative! I like to throw in a few bay leaves, too.

Cook on high for about 8 hours. Bake some GFCF cornbread for a real down home comfort meal. Enjoy!

Ice cream sandwiches

What do you get when you make this GFCF ice cream and some flourless cookies made with chocolate peanut butter?

Homemade GFCF ice cream sandwiches! Is there a better after school snack than that?!

And look who wanted to help with dishes.

Scalloped Tators and Ham GFCF

One of my favorite crock pot comfort foods is scalloped potatoes and ham. Adapting this family favorite to gluten and casein free was a piece of cake. (Now you're in the mood for cake, aren't you? Sorry. I'll do a cake recipe soon.)
Each layer in the crockpot had about this much ham and tators. I did two layers.

Smother each layer in this creamy sauce...

Cut up one onion and sautee until soft in 4-5 Tablespoons of olive oil or ghee (clarified butter). Add 1/2 cup of your favorite GF flour blend and blend to make a roux. Slowly add 3 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of almond or flax milk. Cook until thickened.

Sprinkle with pepper and set crock pot on high for 6 hours. That's it! Easy peasy...

...and good! Java had two large helpings last night and heated some up this morning for breakfast!

Packing lunches

Someone asked me recently about GFCF ideas for lunch boxes. This is Java's lunch today...

Chocolate coconut milk, apple slices with natural peanut butter for dippin', a spinach salad with organic GFCF french salad dressing, carrots and sunflower seeds, a GFCF wrap grilled with pizza sauce and pepperoni inside, and a piece of GFCF German chocolate cake for dessert.


It takes some planning and preparation but GFCF lunches don't have to be overwhelming or boring.

GFCF hot chocolate mix

I ordered a case of Dari Free powdered milk alternative (it's made from potatoes!) and made a batch of GFCF hot chocolate mix for those chilly days ahead.
Simply mix one 19.5 oz can of Dari Free, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa,and one and a half cups sugar. (Next time I'm going to use vanilla sugar but I need to make that first.)

Float a few GFCF marshmallows on top (I used Jet-Puffed by Kraft but you can also make your own!) and enjoy. Slurp!

Bean's Spaghetti Bake

Bean has a skills worker for a few hours each week and one of the things they've been working on is food preparation. Last night Bean made supper!

He found this recipe and adapted it to gluten free by using GF spaghetti noodles. He made his own spaghetti sauce with tomato sauce and spices. He was pretty proud of that. He used some cheese (less than what was called for) so the recipe wasn't casein free.

Our osteopath autoimmune specialist doctor told us recently that we could try some cheese once in a while so Bean insisted we use a little mozzarella. Java chose to eat GFCF chicken soup for supper instead because she didn't want the cheese. I was surprised that she is starting to recognize some of her own dietary needs!

Bean had two servings and asked if we could make this again soon. We'll need to try it without cheese next time so Java can have some. It was really good!

And the best part was that I didn't have to cook!