We are always searching for ways to save eating GF, right? I just stumbled across a few things that will decrease costs. :)
Newly diagnosed Celiacs are an amazing resource. Sometimes we get in a rut of what is known and reliable, whereas newbies are on the lookout everywhere. Thanks to one of these experiences I was able to get gluten free (GMO free too!) pasta for $2.00/pound. Seriously! Oh, and rice free too. Big Lots, of all places! Apparently, Big Lots carries all kinds if GF products. It is hit or miss, but I have seen Bob's Red Mills products and GF pasta. Worth swinging by there to see what they have. But, don't look for the pasta this week....I cleaned them out. (as I shirk behind my GF pasta stockpile. Hey, I have boys to feed.) :)
Another sah-weeeeet deal I found was on Amazon. Now, they may change this, but it is worth a shot. If you search for a Bob's Red Mill product, millet flour for example, look to the right of one of the pages to see a list of other sellers. There I saw that Millet Flour was less than $2 per bag from Vitacost. Plus, free shipping if you order $49 in products. Easy to meet the shipping minimum if you buy GF flour components in bulk like I do. Tapioca flour, potato starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, xanthan gum...they were all at least $1 cheaper than going directly to the Vitacost site. Makes no sense, but it works for me!
The final deal idea is going through LivingSocial.com and buying a $50 gift card to GlutenFreely.com which costs $25. Most of their stuff is more expensive than you can buy locally with coupons and sales (ie. Chex cereal), but if you are looking for Better Batter flour blend, it is a deal! $35 total for 12 1/2 lbs of flour. That is 5 of their 2.5 pound boxes. If you can eat rice flour based flour blends then give that deal a try. (if you can't eat rice flour, try my flour blend recipe and buy the ingredients from Amazon!)
More deals as I find them! :)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, August 6, 2011
GF Bagels!!!!
Anyone that knows me knows how much I LOVE bagels. In grad school, Sunday mornings before church consisted of stopping by the bagel shop for my chocolate chip bagel. Then, after I graduated, I would stop by the bagel shop on my way to work for breakfast...a fresh, warm bagel. Needless to say, a good bagel has been sadly missed. But no more! These bagels meet my criteria for "a real bagel" unlike any other GF bagel I have had. I'm still tweaking, so I'll update this as I improve. Since I said I'd post it, here it is... Btw, that's an actual picture below!!!
GF Bagels
1 1/4 cup warm water
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups Jules Inspired Rice Free Gluten Free flour mix
Boiling solution:
4 cups warm water
2 T sugar
1 tsp molasses (not necessary, but might add some color)
1 egg white, beaten with a bit of water added
Easy Directions: Mix wets(water/yeast/sugar), mix drys(flour/salt), combine wets and drys together, beat until smooth, divide into 6 on floured surface, form bagels with floured hands, refrigerate overnight, boil in sugar water, brush with egg, bake and enjoy.
Detailed Directions:
- Measure warm water in a measuring cup, add yeast and brown sugar then whisk to combine and dissolve yeast and sugar. Let rest to be sure yeast is active.
-Measure out flour and add salt.
-Pour water mixture into mixer bowl, add flour mixture and beat for 3 minutes (or until it is smooth).
-Lay out a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, and heavily sprinkle with flour. Put dough onto flour sprinkled sheet and fold over a few times to work it in. It will be pretty sticky at this point.
-Get a knife and cut (or mark) the dough into 6 even parts.
-With floured hands, flop one part of the dough between your hands forming a ball. Poke your finger through to make the bagel shape. Make the hole larger than you want it to be in the end. Remember, the dough will rise and the hole will shrink by more than half.
-Place bagels onto parchment lined cookie sheet. You could even sprinkle with cornmeal.
-When all 6 bagels are on cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and place sheet into refrigerator overnight. Putting it into the refrigerator overnight helps it to rise slowly, but it also allows the next step to happen easily.
-In the morning, turn oven to 425 degrees, and boil 4 cups of water (or a small pan full) and sugar. Adjust to low boil and slide bagels one or two at a time into the boiling water, allowing to boil for about 30 seconds on each side then return to parchment lined cookie sheet. When all the bagels are returned to the cookie sheet, brush tops with egg whites and place bagels into preheated oven.
-Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
That's it!!! :) Enjoy!!
They are wonderful with eggs for a breakfast sandwich, toasted with butter or jam, or just eaten plain. They will stay fresh about as long as a "real" wheat-filled bagel. (I didn't like stale wheat bagels so I always froze whatever I didn't eat...so I'll do the same with these).
Seriously, these are amazing!!! Gluten free, dairy free, rice free....but every bit as tasty as the "real" thing. :)
*again, sorry for the poor picture. :)
1 1/4 cup warm water
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups Jules Inspired Rice Free Gluten Free flour mix
Boiling solution:
4 cups warm water
2 T sugar
1 tsp molasses (not necessary, but might add some color)
1 egg white, beaten with a bit of water added
Easy Directions: Mix wets(water/yeast/sugar), mix drys(flour/salt), combine wets and drys together, beat until smooth, divide into 6 on floured surface, form bagels with floured hands, refrigerate overnight, boil in sugar water, brush with egg, bake and enjoy.
Detailed Directions:
- Measure warm water in a measuring cup, add yeast and brown sugar then whisk to combine and dissolve yeast and sugar. Let rest to be sure yeast is active.
-Measure out flour and add salt.
-Pour water mixture into mixer bowl, add flour mixture and beat for 3 minutes (or until it is smooth).
-Lay out a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, and heavily sprinkle with flour. Put dough onto flour sprinkled sheet and fold over a few times to work it in. It will be pretty sticky at this point.
-Get a knife and cut (or mark) the dough into 6 even parts.
-With floured hands, flop one part of the dough between your hands forming a ball. Poke your finger through to make the bagel shape. Make the hole larger than you want it to be in the end. Remember, the dough will rise and the hole will shrink by more than half.
-Place bagels onto parchment lined cookie sheet. You could even sprinkle with cornmeal.
-When all 6 bagels are on cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and place sheet into refrigerator overnight. Putting it into the refrigerator overnight helps it to rise slowly, but it also allows the next step to happen easily.
-In the morning, turn oven to 425 degrees, and boil 4 cups of water (or a small pan full) and sugar. Adjust to low boil and slide bagels one or two at a time into the boiling water, allowing to boil for about 30 seconds on each side then return to parchment lined cookie sheet. When all the bagels are returned to the cookie sheet, brush tops with egg whites and place bagels into preheated oven.
-Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
That's it!!! :) Enjoy!!
They are wonderful with eggs for a breakfast sandwich, toasted with butter or jam, or just eaten plain. They will stay fresh about as long as a "real" wheat-filled bagel. (I didn't like stale wheat bagels so I always froze whatever I didn't eat...so I'll do the same with these).
Seriously, these are amazing!!! Gluten free, dairy free, rice free....but every bit as tasty as the "real" thing. :)
*again, sorry for the poor picture. :)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Gluten Free Pretzel Bites!
Yet another food you've probably been craving; a good gluten free, chewy, soft pretzel. Here you go! Necessity is the mother of invention yet again.
Thanks to Better Batter for their inspiration for this Auntie Anne's clone. I halved the recipe because I didn't want to use too much flour in case it didn't turn out. But they were wonderful! This quantity will make one cookie sheet full of pretzel bites...maybe about 25? Just a guess, I didn't count them before we ate them all.
I mixed up this dough and formed the pretzel bites before heading to bed. I put the cookie sheet of pretzel bites into the refrigerator to rise overnight. In the morning I ran the bites through the baking soda solution, and baked them. It was way easier to do it this way, than wait for them to rise.
One final note, I used the Jules flour recipe, but made my modifications to substitute Sorghum and Millet for the rice flour. You'll see these changes reflected in the link to the flour blend recipe. I have not tried my recipes with a rice based mix, so if you are using rice, you may have slightly different results. :)
-Put warm water and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer; stirring to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir again. Let this sit for a few minutes to make sure the yeast is active (you'll see it 'grow' and 'move').
-Add salt and half the flour and beat on high for three minutes. Dough will be very sticky (that is good). Add remaining flour (about 1 1/2 cups) and stir in. Drop it onto a generously floured surface and very gently fold over on itself a few times. You're looking for a dough that you can form with effort, but not one that you add tons of flour to because sticky dough will lend itself to a lighter end product.
-Get a piece of dough the size of a lemon and roll it out into a long roll about 1/2" diameter. Use kitchen scissors to cut into pieces about 1" long. You could also form this into a traditional pretzel shape too; make a U, cross the ends over twice and lay ends back down on top of the U.
-Lay the pretzel pieces onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and put in refrigerator overnight to rise.
-In the morning pull the pan out of the refrigerator, turn on oven to 450 degrees and prepart the baking soda mixture.
-Combine 2c water and 2T baking soda mixture in small pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat on baking soda mixture down to medium, and dip pretzels into baking soda solution for about 30 seconds. After dipping in solution, lay pretzels back onto parchment lined cookie sheet. At this point you can brush with egg to get a more shiny pretzel, and/or sprinkle with coarse salt (pretzel salt or kosher salt works).
-Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden.
Enjoy warm with a dip of mustard, or just eat plain. :)
**My appologies for the poor quality picture. I took it very quickly this morning on a mobile device since the camera wasn't handy. :)
Thanks to Better Batter for their inspiration for this Auntie Anne's clone. I halved the recipe because I didn't want to use too much flour in case it didn't turn out. But they were wonderful! This quantity will make one cookie sheet full of pretzel bites...maybe about 25? Just a guess, I didn't count them before we ate them all.
I mixed up this dough and formed the pretzel bites before heading to bed. I put the cookie sheet of pretzel bites into the refrigerator to rise overnight. In the morning I ran the bites through the baking soda solution, and baked them. It was way easier to do it this way, than wait for them to rise.
One final note, I used the Jules flour recipe, but made my modifications to substitute Sorghum and Millet for the rice flour. You'll see these changes reflected in the link to the flour blend recipe. I have not tried my recipes with a rice based mix, so if you are using rice, you may have slightly different results. :)
Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups Jules Gluten Free Flour mix Flour, plus some for dusting surface
2 cups Warm Water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Instructions-Put warm water and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer; stirring to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir again. Let this sit for a few minutes to make sure the yeast is active (you'll see it 'grow' and 'move').
-Add salt and half the flour and beat on high for three minutes. Dough will be very sticky (that is good). Add remaining flour (about 1 1/2 cups) and stir in. Drop it onto a generously floured surface and very gently fold over on itself a few times. You're looking for a dough that you can form with effort, but not one that you add tons of flour to because sticky dough will lend itself to a lighter end product.
-Get a piece of dough the size of a lemon and roll it out into a long roll about 1/2" diameter. Use kitchen scissors to cut into pieces about 1" long. You could also form this into a traditional pretzel shape too; make a U, cross the ends over twice and lay ends back down on top of the U.
-Lay the pretzel pieces onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and put in refrigerator overnight to rise.
-In the morning pull the pan out of the refrigerator, turn on oven to 450 degrees and prepart the baking soda mixture.
-Combine 2c water and 2T baking soda mixture in small pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat on baking soda mixture down to medium, and dip pretzels into baking soda solution for about 30 seconds. After dipping in solution, lay pretzels back onto parchment lined cookie sheet. At this point you can brush with egg to get a more shiny pretzel, and/or sprinkle with coarse salt (pretzel salt or kosher salt works).
-Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden.
Enjoy warm with a dip of mustard, or just eat plain. :)
**My appologies for the poor quality picture. I took it very quickly this morning on a mobile device since the camera wasn't handy. :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Gluten Free, Allergen Free blogs
Here's another post listing blogs. I'll add more as I gather them.
General Gluten Free recipe sites (paid), some free stuff though
http://www.glutenfreebaking.com/ (I subscribed to this one as the recipes turn out normal tasting! I love Elizabeth Barbone.)
http://allergyfreemenuplanners.com/ (menu planning help)
http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/
Gluten Free
http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
Gluten and sugar free
http://networkedblogs.com/gPJ4a
This blog has an excellent list of other GF blogs on the right hand side of the page. :)
http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/
other GF blogs
http://lifetastesgoodagain.blogspot.com/
On Facebook, friend
The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
Jules Gluten Free Flour
Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess
Gluten-Free Girl
General Gluten Free recipe sites (paid), some free stuff though
http://www.glutenfreebaking.com/ (I subscribed to this one as the recipes turn out normal tasting! I love Elizabeth Barbone.)
http://allergyfreemenuplanners.com/ (menu planning help)
http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/
Gluten Free
http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
Gluten and sugar free
http://networkedblogs.com/gPJ4a
This blog has an excellent list of other GF blogs on the right hand side of the page. :)
http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/
other GF blogs
http://lifetastesgoodagain.blogspot.com/
On Facebook, friend
The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
Jules Gluten Free Flour
Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess
Gluten-Free Girl
Friday, April 8, 2011
Making meal prep easier and cheaper
Looking for ways to save money and time?
- Buy boneless chicken breasts in bulk packs, usually about $1.99/lb. Grill the entire package at one time. Then, when cool, slice and put in freezer bags. Use for grilled chicken salads, or dipping in BBQ sauce for an easy lunch (cheaper than lunchmeat and all natural!), or in any recipe calling for chicken. Saves time and mess! :)
- Buy mild Italian Sausage in bulk packs. Cook the entire package at one time. Freeze links when cool. When you need sausage, slice, crumble or use whole. Cuts down on prep time, and fewer dirty dishes when prepping for dinner.
- One thing I'm not sure I recommend.....buy a 5 lb bag of onions, chop entire bag and freeze (double bagged or your entire freezer will smell of onion!). This was quite the experience. I am glad to have the chopped onion, but the crying was horrible (as I used end of the year, very potent onions). :) Does save time...but need to compare this to frozen chopped onions you can buy. Those are amazingly cheap. :)
- Prepare baking mixes ahead of time. Cornbread is an excellent one to have on hand. Mix all dry ingredients into a zipper top bag. Label the bag with what it is, what needs to be added, and possibly the cookbook page number. Preparing your own mixes is waaaaaaaay cheaper than buying gluten free mixes.
Meal ideas: Gluten and Dairy Free style
So, what exactly do we eat if our diets are so restricted? Well, I've been doing weekly meal planning for a while so I have a pretty good list of the foods we eat. I was actually surprised at the foods. Didn't seem all that restrictive to me. Of course I rely on my GFRF(gluten and rice free) flour mix, and milk substitutes so I feel that we can really make any dish. That's the thing...we can MAKE anything, but we can't just go to the store and buy it. But what freedom! :)
I put all the different meals into an Excel spreadsheet and set it up to randomize for those weeks when I just don't want to plan. Sounded good in theory, but really didn't work that well for me. LOL! :) Now I at least have a list of meals so it wasn't lost effort.
We have a little bit of a dillemma in our house. I LOVE carbs, and the rest of the family needs protein. I try to balance that by minimizing grains and maximizing proteins, especially at breakfast. I was able to find all natural breakfast sausage on sale for $2/lb so it was worth using. Smoothies are made with frozen fruit bought in a bulk bag (makes it cheaper than fresh fruit) and coconut milk (get those extra good fatty acids in too).
For pasta we use Quinoa Pasta, or Corn Spaghetti and they work pretty well. The rice free GF pasta options are limited but we are thankful for what we have.
I have listed breakfast and dinner options. Lunches are a whole separate post. Dinners can be grouped into several main groups. There are the meat/starch/veg based, starch based, breakfast based and soup based. I will divide them up accordingly. So, for example, if you wanted a meat/starch/veg dinner, then you could choose one from each category. If you could have rice, this would greatly expand the possibilities in nearly every category. We also vary vegetables seasonally and according to what’s new or different. These lists don't even include the endless dessert possibilities! :)
Again, all of these options can be made gluten and dairy free! The master list.....
Breakfast:
A combination of GF cereal/coconut milk, cereal/coconut yogurt, GF Oatmeal, Quinoa, eggs, fruit, smoothies, sausage, bacon, tater tots, hash browns, muffins, fruit, waffles. Breakfast always includes fruit. Protein (sausage or eggs) is included in at least 4 breakfasts per week.
Dinner: (note, on Sunday night we have breakfast for dinner)
1. Meat/Starch/Vegetables
·Meat
- Grilled Chicken
- Roast Chicken
- BBQ Chicken
- BBQ Pork
- Mustard Onion Pork Chops
- Grilled Pork
- Roasted Pork Loin
- Meatloaf (made with GF breadcrumbs)
- GF Corndogs
- Hotdogs
- Hamburgers
- Pork with Pesto
- Ham
- Meatballs (made with GF breadcrumbs)
· Starch
- Quinoa Pasta
- Scalloped Potatoes (thickened with starch or GF flour blend)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Parsley Buttered Potatoes
- Tater Tots
- Smiley Fries
- Corn Spaghetti
- Potato Salad
- Pasta Salad (made with GF Pasta)
- Pierogies (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
- Ravioli (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
· Vegetable
- Peas
- Corn
- Green Beans
- Baked Beans
- Mixed Vegetables
- Tomatoes/Cucumbers
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Applesauce
2. Soups (serve with salad or GF bread of some sort) -made with no Gluten containing thickeners
- Vegetable
- Vegetable Beef
- Beef Stew
- Chili
- Broccoli
- Chicken Stew
- Chicken Tortilla
- Chicken Noodle (corn pasta)
- Lentil Spinach Stew with Pork
3. Pasta/Starch or Casserole-type Based Dishes (add a vegetable/salad or baked bread product to round out the dish) made with Gluten Free ingredients
· GF Pasta with Greens and Beans and Sausage
· Shepherd’s Pie
· Spaghetti Squash/Sausage Bake
· Italian Loaf Rustica (Made with GF flour blend)
· GF Quinoa Pasta with Sausage/Vegetables/Spag. Sauce
· GF DF Pizza
· Cuban Black Beans with Pork or Chicken
4. Breakfast dinners = baked product/protein/fruit(fruit or smoothie)
· Protein
- Egg Bake with Sausage/Onions/Peppers
- Fried Eggs
- Scrambled Eggs
- Sausage
- Bacon
· Baked Product
- GF Pancakes
- GF Waffles
- GF Muffins/Coffee Cake
5. Baked/bread dinner product all made with Gluten Free flour or mix
- Cornbread
- Bread
- Breadsticks
- Tortilla Chips
- GF Crackers (expensive option unless homemade)
This is not an exhaustive list, and is merely here to give some examples of ways to fix GF/DF meals.
I put all the different meals into an Excel spreadsheet and set it up to randomize for those weeks when I just don't want to plan. Sounded good in theory, but really didn't work that well for me. LOL! :) Now I at least have a list of meals so it wasn't lost effort.
We have a little bit of a dillemma in our house. I LOVE carbs, and the rest of the family needs protein. I try to balance that by minimizing grains and maximizing proteins, especially at breakfast. I was able to find all natural breakfast sausage on sale for $2/lb so it was worth using. Smoothies are made with frozen fruit bought in a bulk bag (makes it cheaper than fresh fruit) and coconut milk (get those extra good fatty acids in too).
For pasta we use Quinoa Pasta, or Corn Spaghetti and they work pretty well. The rice free GF pasta options are limited but we are thankful for what we have.
I have listed breakfast and dinner options. Lunches are a whole separate post. Dinners can be grouped into several main groups. There are the meat/starch/veg based, starch based, breakfast based and soup based. I will divide them up accordingly. So, for example, if you wanted a meat/starch/veg dinner, then you could choose one from each category. If you could have rice, this would greatly expand the possibilities in nearly every category. We also vary vegetables seasonally and according to what’s new or different. These lists don't even include the endless dessert possibilities! :)
Again, all of these options can be made gluten and dairy free! The master list.....
Breakfast:
A combination of GF cereal/coconut milk, cereal/coconut yogurt, GF Oatmeal, Quinoa, eggs, fruit, smoothies, sausage, bacon, tater tots, hash browns, muffins, fruit, waffles. Breakfast always includes fruit. Protein (sausage or eggs) is included in at least 4 breakfasts per week.
Dinner: (note, on Sunday night we have breakfast for dinner)
1. Meat/Starch/Vegetables
·Meat
- Grilled Chicken
- Roast Chicken
- BBQ Chicken
- BBQ Pork
- Mustard Onion Pork Chops
- Grilled Pork
- Roasted Pork Loin
- Meatloaf (made with GF breadcrumbs)
- GF Corndogs
- Hotdogs
- Hamburgers
- Pork with Pesto
- Ham
- Meatballs (made with GF breadcrumbs)
· Starch
- Quinoa Pasta
- Scalloped Potatoes (thickened with starch or GF flour blend)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Parsley Buttered Potatoes
- Tater Tots
- Smiley Fries
- Corn Spaghetti
- Potato Salad
- Pasta Salad (made with GF Pasta)
- Pierogies (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
- Ravioli (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
· Vegetable
- Peas
- Corn
- Green Beans
- Baked Beans
- Mixed Vegetables
- Tomatoes/Cucumbers
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Applesauce
2. Soups (serve with salad or GF bread of some sort) -made with no Gluten containing thickeners
- Vegetable
- Vegetable Beef
- Beef Stew
- Chili
- Broccoli
- Chicken Stew
- Chicken Tortilla
- Chicken Noodle (corn pasta)
- Lentil Spinach Stew with Pork
3. Pasta/Starch or Casserole-type Based Dishes (add a vegetable/salad or baked bread product to round out the dish) made with Gluten Free ingredients
· GF Pasta with Greens and Beans and Sausage
· Shepherd’s Pie
· Spaghetti Squash/Sausage Bake
· Italian Loaf Rustica (Made with GF flour blend)
· GF Quinoa Pasta with Sausage/Vegetables/Spag. Sauce
· GF DF Pizza
· Cuban Black Beans with Pork or Chicken
4. Breakfast dinners = baked product/protein/fruit(fruit or smoothie)
· Protein
- Egg Bake with Sausage/Onions/Peppers
- Fried Eggs
- Scrambled Eggs
- Sausage
- Bacon
· Baked Product
- GF Pancakes
- GF Waffles
- GF Muffins/Coffee Cake
5. Baked/bread dinner product all made with Gluten Free flour or mix
- Cornbread
- Bread
- Breadsticks
- Tortilla Chips
- GF Crackers (expensive option unless homemade)
This is not an exhaustive list, and is merely here to give some examples of ways to fix GF/DF meals.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
This is a recipe I got from my sister in law that pushed me beyond the traditional soups that I was used to making (beef stew, chili, chicken noodle, chicken pot pie). It's a wonderful recipe that has great texture and will make your house smell delicious! The best part is that it is naturally gluten free. I've pared down the recipe to minimize the prep work. it can be as complicated or easy as you want it to be. There are two parts (potentially three if you want to make your own chicken broth) to this recipe. The first part involves the crockpot. The second is adding the prepared 'mix' to the broth and vegetables. I usually double this so I can put one frozen "mix" in the freezer for later.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
6 Chicken Breasts
1-2 Tbs. Cumin
2 cans of Black Beans
1 pound of Corn (give or take)
1 jar Salsa (whatever spice level you desire)
10 cups Chicken Broth (make your own, or be sure it is gluten free...it isn't always)
3 Potatoes
4 stalks Celery
1 chopped Onion
1 Tbs. Piccapeppa Sauce
dash of sugar
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1 Tbs. Piccapeppa Sauce
dash of sugar
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
Tortilla Chips (for garnish)
The first part of this recipe calls for a crockpot. Put 6 chicken breasts into the crockpot. Add cumin and mix (so it doesn't just sit on top). Cook for 3 hrs on high, or until it is cooked and shreds easily(ie. with no effort on your part!). When the chicken is cooked it should shred easily. Add the salsa (the entire jar), bag of frozen corn, and two cans of black beans. Mix this until it is evenly distributed. If it looks like it needs more of something, add more of whatever it needs (like if it needs more corn, or needs more beans...). Divide this in half and put into labeled freezer bags. Each bag will make one regular pot of soup. Use one now, and save the other for dinner another day. Or, make a large pot and invite a family over for dinner. :)
If you want to make soup right away, then either make or buy chicken broth. Two large cans should do it...I really have no idea what quantity this is....8-10 cups? To the broth, add one bag of soup mix (or one half of what was in the crockpot). Piccapeppa sauce, potatoes, celery and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste, but remember that the salsa adds some salt. Let this simmer until potatoes are tender. Serve with tortilla chips crumbled on top (or use the chips as spoons as our boys like to do). :)
There are also many ways to personalize this recipe. Green chili, cilantro, cholula sauce and cheese are all excellent additions or toppings for this soup.
Special notes:
Add the beans after the chicken is cooked...the black beans will cook away and leave their skins if you add them when you start cooking the chicken in the crockpot.
The Piccapeppa Sauce is optional, but adds depth to the flavor. Also, the sugar mellows the acidity of the tomatoes and blends the flavors well. It just works. :)
The Piccapeppa Sauce is optional, but adds depth to the flavor. Also, the sugar mellows the acidity of the tomatoes and blends the flavors well. It just works. :)
You can make this totally from scratch by making your own broth, and cooking your own black beans. If you want directions for that, email me. That's what I do.
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