Clean Eating Coconut Blueberry Quinoa with Lime Recipe Review

Clean Eating Coconut Blueberry Lime Quinoa

a mouthful, yes, but a fairly yummy one

Click here to view the full recipe at The Gracious Pantry

This recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs: The Gracious Pantry. Tiffany's site was one of the first blogs I started following, and her posts always inspire me to experiment, use fresh ingredients, and never let my kitchen intimidate me. Her writing style is very friendly, her recipes are always straightforward, and because she is always trying something new, you are bound to find something you'll like. While she isn't strictly speaking gluten-free, many of her recipes are or can easily be adapted to become gluten-free. In a nutshell--go check out this site!

Now, on to the recipe. Tiffany originally described this as a "breakfast 'salad'" created out of her desire to mix things up in the AM (like I said, she's always experimenting), but it could probably work as an afternoon snack or possibly even a side dish for a summer barbecue. Quinoa seems to be all the rage now, so that makes this recipe both tasty AND trendy--a combination sure to impress your guests, whether they are gluten-free or not!

The basic recipe is fairly simple, and preparing the quinoa is the only cooking required, so it comes together in a few minutes. If you don't like one of the original ingredients, you can easily swap them out for something you prefer. If you think of this recipe as an inspiration piece, it can open up a whole world of other options, using quinoa and fresh fruit as the base.

The ingredients

• cooked quinoa
• light coconut milk
• fresh lime juice
• fresh blueberries
• honey

A few notes

1. The lime juice was a little strong for me, so consider reducing the amount or substituting a different juice. I think lemon juice would pair nicely with the blueberries.
2. I used a small handful of shredded coconut and sliced almonds more or less as a garnish. It was a nice finishing touch, and added a nice taste boost as well.

How would you customize this dish to suit your taste buds?

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Coconut Ice Cream Recipe Review

Coconut Ice Cream Recipe Review

WARNING: Deliciousness ahead!

I recently tried this recipe for dairy-free, gluten-free coconut ice cream from Sandi's Allergy Free Recipes, and--WOW--am I glad I did. It was easy-to-make, required few ingredients, and tasted oh-so-good. If you have the double-whammy of a gluten-free and dairy-free diet, it is definitely worth checking out.

Click here to view the full recipe at Sandi's Allergy Free Recipes

The ingredients:

• canned coconut milk
• honey (or desired sweetener)
• vanilla extract
• egg yolks
• sea salt

And a few notes:

1. The recipe directs you to refrigerate the canned coconut milk overnight before using it. Make sure the cans are unopened when you do this, or the milk won't set up correctly (FYI: This is also true if you are looking to make the "coconut whipped cream" that is all over Pinterest). Personally, I used one unopened chilled can and one open chilled can, and it turned out just fine.
2. I used regular old sugar rather than honey. I am too cheap (and lazy?) for any fancy sweeteners, and I don't mind refined sugar.
3. I completely forgot to add vanilla extract and sea salt. Oops. It still tasted great.
4. The recipe calls calls for egg yolks, and I immediately wondered why you couldn't just use whole eggs. I did a quick Google search, and the short answers are a) It's tradition b) Egg whites taste "eggy" c) Egg whites contain water, which may lead to ice crystals in your ice cream.

Enjoy!

I know my pint-sized sous chef and I certainly did!

Snickerdoodle Chex Mix

Snickerdoodle Chex Mix

like the cookies I remember

FYI: This is not a sponsored a post. I just really liked this recipe and gluten-free Chex cereals in general.

When I was growing up (and eating whatever I wanted) snickerdoodles were always my favorite cookie. I don't know if it was the taste, helping my mom roll them in cinnamon and sugar, or that adorable name, but I always loved them--especially when they were still warm and soft from the oven. 

Now that I am an adult and following a strict gluten-free diet, I can no longer follow my mother's snickerdoodle recipe or buy them at the local bakery--but I can enjoy this Snickerdoodle Chex Mix recipe. I have been eyeing it on the side of my gluten-free Chocolate Chex and gluten-free Cinnamon Chex cereal boxes for years now, and I am so glad I finally tried it! 

It's quick, it's easy, and it's the perfect to conquer those snickerdoodle cravings. Better yet? Nothing but common, everyday ingredients!

Word to the wise: If you use margarine, 20 seconds in the microwave is plenty to melt it.

Ingredients:

• sugar
• ground cinnamon
• Cinnamon Chex® cereal
• Chocolate Chex® cereal
• popcorn
• butter or margarine

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Start to finish: 15 minutes

Click here to see the full recipe on ChexCereal.com

It's as easy as...

ONE

TWO

THREE!

But don't forget to let it cool off before you dig in...

Looking for more gluten-free Chex mix recipes? Click here to visit their complete list of gluten-free Chex-mix recipes. There are a few in there that might surprise you. Mashed-potato-stuffed meatloaf squares, anyone?

Here are a few I may try in the future:

• Black Forest Chex Mix
• Chex Lemon Buddies (I have a yet-to-be-fulfilled hankering for gluten-free lemon bars)
• Double Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding Pie (Worth it for the gluten-free pie crust alone)
• Honey Peanut-Butter Bars
• Italian Chex Mix (minus the Parmesan cheese)
• Chex Apple-Almond Bars

Enjoy!

What's your favorite Chex mix recipe?

A Tasty Gluten-Free Duo

A Tasty Gluten-Free Duo

Holy Yum Chicken & Garlic Lemon Green Beans

The two recipes I road-tested this week come to you courtesy of Pinterest. Well, that's where I found them anyhow. Technically, I guess, they come courtesy of the lovely ladies at Table For Two (Holy Yum Chicken) and She Wears Many Hats (Garlic Lemon Green Beans). Since Julie and Amy did such a great job writing the recipes, you will want to pop over to their blogs for the full instructions.

Notes on Holy Yum Chicken

Visit Table for Two for the Holy Yum Chicken recipe

When I first read this recipe, I knew my husband would love it. He is a big fan of chicken in all its forms, and loves anything with a good sauce. I, however, am a little pickier--at least when it comes to chicken. In my opinion, chicken is only as good as the sauce it is in. In this case, that means chicken is very, very good.

Ingredients:

• boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
• Dijon mustard*
• 100% pure maple syrup
• rice wine vinegar
• salt
• ground black pepper
• cornstarch
• fresh rosemary for garnish**

*See note below--I couldn't find gluten-free Dijon mustard

**Optional

If you want to try it out, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Read the entire recipe before you get started, including the disclaimers. Julie gives some pretty good advice, and she explains herself well.
2. Try as I might, I could not find any gluten-free dijon mustard. Instead, I substituted a combination of Koop's brand Honey Mustard and Spicy Brown Mustard--both of which are available at Target and at least one Dollar Tree location. I used 1/4 cup of each, but you could play with the ratio based on your preferences. (Personally, I love honey mustard, but I think my husband would have preferred a bit more spice.)
3. The recipe instructs you to use cornstarch to thicken the sauce--make sure you don't use too much. My sauce was thickening much, so I kept adding more and more and wound up with a gritty texture. In the future, I plan to stick to the recommended amount of cornstarch and live with a thinner consistency.
4. Trimming the fat adds considerable time to your prep work--especially if your knife is dull. Plan for at least 10-15 additional minutes unless you trim it in advance.

Notes on Garlic Lemon Green Beans

Visit She Wears Many Hats for the Garlic Lemon Green Beans recipe

My mother is, what I consider, a gourmet cook, which means she has high standards. Specifically, she thinks vegetables should be fresh, or at the very least, frozen--never canned. While I think this is a great attitude to have, it also intimidates the heck out of me. I mean, how does one even prepare, for example, fresh asparagus?

To try to overcome this fear of mine, I pinned this recipe, planning to finally show vegetables whose boss. Apparently, it's them. While the green beans I produced were edible, they were rather crunchy and bland. Now don't get me wrong--I still think the recipe is great. Proof of this is the fact that they were soft and flavorful the next day when I nuked them in the microwave. However, what I am saying, is that I need to take a couple more whacks at this before I can rock this recipe to it's fullest potential. If you have a little more experience in the kitchen, I am sure you will do fine.

Ingredients:

• fresh green beans, cleaned and trimmed
• olive oil
• butter, salted*
• fresh lemon juice**
• garlic powder
• salt
• ground black pepper

*I am lactose-intolerant as well, so I substituted margarine

**I substituted lemon juice in a bottle (cringe if you must--it was already in the fridge)

Here are some things I may change on the next go-round:

1. Use steamed frozen green beans instead of fresh The process of parboiling green beans seems simple, but I evidently didn't do it correctly. They way I figure it, I could probably defrost a bag of frozen green beans, dump it in to my steamer basket, and save myself some time and stress.
2. Thoroughly cook and drain the green beans before adding the butter, lemon juice, etc. As I mentioned, my green beans turned out a little bland. My theory? All of the seasoning and flavor got left behind in the pan (which smelled delightful, by the way). Adding the final ingredients once the green beans have been drained and plated up should help make sure those tasty flavors will stay where they are supposed to be--on the green beans!
3. Test the green beans to make sure they're done Yes, I know how obvious this seems. But this is exactly the kind of stuff a non-chef like me forgets to do. You live, and you learn.

Looking for more great recipe ideas?

Follow my Pinterest gluten-free recipe board, Kitchen (Mis)Adventures To-Be