Friday Night Family Dinner Ideas (Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free)

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Coconut Curry Shrimp with Veggie Noodles
Taco Bowls with Almond Flour Tortillas
Steak Fajitas with Gluten-Free Wraps and Guacamole
Baked Salmon with Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa
Chicken Stir-Fry with Brown Rice
Turkey Burgers on Gluten-Free Buns with Sweet Potato Fries
Black Bean Burgers with Fresh Cut Veggies
Gluten-Free Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Grilled Chicken
Tuna Salad with Lettuce Wraps
Soup and Salad Night (Using gluten-free and dairy-free options)

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My favorite kitchen items can be found HERE.

A Slightly Better Hot Cocoa {Gluten & Dairy Free}

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If you’re looking for a Gluten Free & Dairy Free Hot Cocoa recipe that’s slightly better for you than a prepackaged mix, but just as easy, I’ve got you covered!

A Slightly Better Hot Cocoa
1/2 Cup Cocoa powder
1 Cup Collagen Powder
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk Powder
1-3 tsp Cinnamon (depending on your preference)
1/2 Cup Maple Sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
1/2 tsp Quality Salt

I added all of these to a mason jar and gave it a good shake for a minute.

To enjoy: Add 1 Tablespoon of the dry mix into a cup of hot water and stir. You can add another Tablespoon if you like it richer. I like to use a milk frother (I don’t froth milk, ever, but I love this little tool for mixing powders into water it gives it a smooth finish).

You may substitute the ingredients above as you need to with what you have available. I think the important thing here is to be intentional with the ingredients and think of what each one might do within your own body. Will a warm cup of hot cocoa support and nourish your body, or leave you with low energy levels and a sugar crash? Pay attention to how you feel after you consume any food or beverage and make adjustments as needed.

I ordered the coconut milk powder and maple sugar from Thrive Market to experiment with because those are things I haven’t normally kept on hand, and there was a great coupon available the day I ordered. If you are new to Thrive Market you can get 40% off your first order by clicking this link to place an order and start a membership ($60/year). With the discounts offered throughout the year, it pays off for us to have it for things like toothpaste and specialty grocery items.

After trying the base recipe above I added a little turmeric powder and beet powder to my jar because we always have those in the house and I add them to my morning smoothies for added nutrition. I’m used to the flavors. That may be weird for you, and that’s fine. Ha!

My oldest daughter loves sweets and thinks it’s important to mention that this isn’t as sweet as the blue box hot chocolate you may be used to. She said it is good and creamy though and it’s worth trying!

There are two ways to remedy this: You can either train your brain that this is better for you and decide to get used to it, or you can add more maple sugar or a spoonful of maple syrup in your cup as you wish.

If you give this a try I’d love to hear your feedback!

A Slightly Better Hot Cocoa

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 Cup Cocoa powder
  • 1 Cup Collagen Powder
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk Powder
  • 1-3 tsp Cinnamon depending on your preference
  • 1/2 Cup Maple Sugar add more if you like it sweeter
  • 1/2 tsp Quality Salt

Method
 

  1. I added all of these to a mason jar and gave it a good shake for a minute.
  2. To enjoy: Add 1 Tablespoon of the dry mix into a cup of hot water and stir. You can add another Tablespoon if you like it richer. I like to use a milk frother (I don’t froth milk, ever, but I love this little tool for mixing powders into water it gives it a smooth finish).

Tomato Free Salsa

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Let’s keep this simple! I love salsa, but consuming tomatoes make my feet so sore I can barely walk, and they put our little girl into tears for the same thing, sore feet. It hasn’t always been this way, yet it has intensified over time. Although, sometimes we can tolerate marinara sauce like in the form of pizza sauce.

It’s weird, I know. I’m done trying to figure it out, and I’m done feeling sorry for myself over food allergies and intolerances. I feel empowered and inspired by creating dishes that our whole family can eat. I love how we’ve unlocked what makes our bodies feel GOOD!

When it comes to quick dishes like this, that aren’t needing a certain sort of science and careful measurements to bake properly, I imagine my great-great-grandmothers just tossed foods together and didn’t think twice about measuring them. So that’s what I like to do too, a little of this, a little of that. Taste, adjust, repeat until it’s how you want it.

God created this one today, as my hands grabbed things and combined them that I never would’ve thought could go together.

Note that I diced each ingredient into tiny pieces, like super tiny. I first cut them into smaller chunks with a knife, then tossed them into my food chopper. If you don’t have a food chopper, no biggie, just keep chopping with your knife.

Homemakers, this is satisfying stuff. Grabbing different foods that came from the Earth and combining them into something edible can be such a beautiful art if you let it.

Alright, let’s get to it:

I started with carrots. I wasn’t sure if I would cook them first since they’re so firm, but I decided that if I cut them small enough they didn’t need the extra step of being cooked.

Then I added the handful of pineapple tidbits the kids had leftover from lunch, an onion, and diced green peppers from the freezer.

That’s it. No measurements, just work with it and taste it until you love it. I’m enjoying this right now with tortilla chips, but this could also be sprinkled over a salad, a bowl of rice, or scrambled/fried eggs.

For Real Red Devils Food Cake

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I whipped up this ‘tried and true’ recipe last week for a friend’s birthday.  It was in a binder I filled with my grandma Edna’s recipes.
After the cake cooled I used a glass to cut the cake into circles and stuffed it in the bottom of a plastic cup.  My hubby stepped in to help out while I made supper.  He covered it in ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauces & put a straw down the center, and the kids put homemade flowers in the straws.

For Real Red Devils Food Cake
1 2/3 C. Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour, sifted
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 1/4 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 C. Cocoa
1/2. C. Soft Butter
1 C. Milk (2/3 C. + 1/3C.)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

Pre-heat your oven to 350.
Grease a 9*13 pan
Sift the dry stuff together.
Add butter and 2/3C. Milk
Beat for 2 minutes
Add the rest of the milk, eggs & vanilla
Beat until well combined.
Pour into the pan.
Bake 45 minutes
MAJOR Deliciousness!!

In The Kitchen: Living Salad Bowl

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Having a living salad bowl on my deck is just about my favorite thing right now.  It makes lunch time so easy!  It’s also a great way to add simple veggies to dinner.  My biggest high comes from seeing my picky eater snacking on it while he plays outside.
In each pot I planted:
Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Baby spinach
Green onions
I have another pot with basil (yummmmm) it has a plant in the center and seeds scattered around the rest that will hopefully grow soon.
After years of wanting to grow my own lettuce, I’m so glad I finally did it!

DIY Table Top S’mores

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Last night we made Table Top Driveway Smores.  I had everything on hand already except the charcoal and the pot.

Driveway S’mores
Being impatient we roasted some while there was still a little flame, this makes deliciously burnt mallows. 😉
The Basics.  I think this bag of charcoal will last us all summer, and then some!
Update: 6 years later, we’re still using the same bag!

What you’ll need:

First I made a ball of tinfoil to put into the pot (about softball sized).  This way the pot wasn’t so deep.  Then I lined the pot with another piece or two of tinfoil.

Next, I added about 5-6 pieces of charcoal along with a little dryer lint to start the fire.  This wasn’t successful, so I resorted to lighter fluid (back up when you squirt this on-  It really works fast! Be so safe with this, please)

The coals will get hot while the flame goes down, then you will have flameless table top s’mores!
Much safer for little people, although it is still crazy hot up close, you won’t have to be quite as paranoid about the flame catching their clothes on fire (maybe that’s just me that worries about that), or burning little hands if the wind comes along.

The heat of the coals is enough to roast your marshmallows, and I’ve read the pot gets hot enough to melt whatever it’s on- that’s why we chose the driveway for this.  You could also put it into a stoneware bowl or something if you wanted it on a table outdoors.

The original pot of 5-6 coals stayed hot enough to roast on for at least 3 hours.  After that we just called it a night, we maybe could have gotten more time out of it, but we were exhausted from being out all day!

Best of all-  Our clothes didn’t stink like smoke when we were done!  Yeah!

Go on, try this out and make some memories with your precious family!

Recipes: Organizing

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I mostly just pull my recipes from the internet these days. Somtimes it’s something great I see on pinterest other times it’s something I’m craving (or saw on TV & had to have) so I Google how to make it and use which ever recipe seems easiest.

There are times that I taste what I’ve made and I JUST TOTALLY LOVE it, occasionally even the little people here love it too (praise the man of the house, he never complains about what I make)! So I have decided that some recipes are so worthy & that I must make them at least one more time while I’m on earth. Those recipes get added to my little index card recipe collection.

I also have a 3 ring binder filled with my grandma’s recipes, I love that binder & all the wonderful recipes inside. I am so honored to be able to make the things she made and hopefully someday my children will be using thoes same recipes in their kitchens.

What do you do with your favorite recipes?

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