Chicken stir fry

The last couple of weeks have been busy. Last week I started working on Mondays as a paid volenteer.  Basically it pays for my gas to get there. This week Drew had a conference in Springfield for work for 3 days so I went with him and enjoyed the free room, hgtv, and the pool. Today is errons, baking for my aunt, and a job interview.  Tonight's dinner is super fast and easy so here we go:

In a skillet put a little olive oil then start tossing in veggies.  Tonight will be carrots, onion, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, peas, and peppers. Once the carrots start to soften I throw in uncooked cubed chicken breast. You can cook the chicken first then throw in the veggies or stager when you put the veggies in depending on how cooked you want them. Once everthing is cooked put a little sweet and sour sauce in long enough to coat everything. Serve it with your favorite rice.

You will need to be careful when buying sweet and sour sauce, many of them have wheat (lots of soy sauce has wheat and soy sauce is in most Asian dishes). I buy mine at Aldi but they don't always have it so stock up.

This is also really easy to adjust for lots of people or just one. If I am makimg it for my self I use a small chicken breast so I mainly get veggies. Don't like a particular vegtable? No problem, don't put it in.

I told you it was easy!

No bake Cookies and a wreath

We have a church dinner tomorrow and I haven't felt like cooking lately so I decided to fall back on my favorite no bake cookie recipe so here we go:

In a pan on medium heat melt/stir together 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 4 Tsp cocoa powder. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 4-5 cups oats. Using a cookie scoop or spoon put mounds on wax paper until cool.

Note: these are NOT gluten free. I can eat them because they have no wheat but oats do have gluten.

Now onto the wreath. I have been slightly obsessed with wreaths lately. I bought a grapevine wreath at a garage sale and decided to try to make an Easter wreath. I am pretty excited with how it turned out. Here is hoping it sells at the flea market.

Need an easy crochet project?

Here lately I have become obsessed with making dishcloths. Most people think these are to pretty to be used to wash dirty dishes but everyone who does likes them. They take an hour or two to make and you can make 3 with a 3 oz skein of Sugar'n Cream yarn.

Here is what you do:

Using an I hook Chain an even number (I like either 30 or 32)

Row one: Single crochet in second chain from hook. Chain one. Skip a chain then single crochet in next chain. (So you are putting a single crochet in every other chain with a chain in between)

Row Two through the end: single crochet in each chain one space, chain one, and repeat until the end. (It is easy to miss the last stitch so look for the "V" made from the stitch on the previous row and make you sc after that. You will be making a sitch in your last chain of each row.)

Keep going until it is a square. Tie it off, weave in the ends, and go do some dishes!

Note: using a yarn that changes color is easier to see where you need to make your stitches. This pattern also makes a really cute baby blanket, just chain more at the beginning.

Mexican Chicken

Last year Drew did a weight loss competition. In the end he won loosing 40 pounds but doing it was only half his battle. I had to find new ways to cook chicken that would be healthy, g free, and easy. This one takes the cake for easy. 

Mexican Chicken

Boneless Skinless Chicken breast

Salsa

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Put the number of chicken breast you need to feed you family  in a baking dish. Dump some salsa on top. Put a handful of cheese on top of the salsa. Cover with foil and bake for 45min to an hour.

I love this dish served with rice and my hubby likes to mix in corn as well. One time I forgot to make rice umtil we were sitting down to eat.  We decided to put some instant rice in the liquid left in the baking dish and cover it back up. About 5 minutes later we had salsa flavored rice! 

See I told you it was easy. The best part is you can cook as much or as little as you want and it doesn't take any extra time.

Peanutbutter Cookies

Let's face it. Gluten Free mixes are expensive and sometimes hard to find one you like. Once you find on, or use gfree flour they don't always taste the best or stay soft. An awesome cook from our church found this recipe and started making it for church dinners. I passed it along to a friend and she won "best new cookie" at a cookie exchange. It is so simple, tastes every bit as good as a regular cookie, and is cheap to make. So here we go:

Peanutbutter Cookies

1 c peanutbutter

1 egg

1 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all up and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. 

Yep it is just that easy. You can add in chocolate chips if you would like or anything else.

Scrubbies

Today you get a crochet project. I've been making lots of dish scrubbies lately. They are a quick easy project for watching tv.

Here is what you need:
-3 yards of nylon tulle
-Size I crochet hook

 What to do:
-cut tulle in strips about 2 inches wide and tie them end to end.
-chain 4 and slip stich to first ch
-chain 3 then dc in ring 16 times and slipstich to first stich.
-chain 3 then dc in each space. Slip stich to first stich
-Do everything again to make two circles.
-Single crochet both circles together.
-tuck in the ends

 Note: leave the ends around two inches long. They serve as stuffing to make your scrubbie a little thicker.

Eating Out

When I first starting eating g free I found eating out challenging to say the least. I didn't cook anything today so I thought I would pass on what I've learned. First things first, don't be afraid to ask questions. They look at you like you're crazy but more often than not, they've delt with it before. My favorite thing to eat out is Mexican. They key is to order things with corn tortillas and ask them to switch the wheat ones out. The secon place I eat at a lot is McDonalds. Order a burger without a bun. If you eat someplace that has onion rings make sure they aren't fried with the french fries. My last hint is most chains like Applebee's and Chilis have allergy information online and can also give you a printout while your there.

Just a helpful hint

Today I don't have a recipe, just a helpful hint. When I first went g free it was really hard for me to find quick meals and on Wednesdays it always has to be quick or leftovers. I forgot to put away dinner last night so our leftovers for tonight went in the garbage. Tonight is now soup night. It is really hard to find soup to eat. Almost everything contains wheat starch as a thickener. However, Progresso has become my go to soup. They have several varieties but my favorite is the Chicken and Wild Rice one. They also oh a creamy mushroom that works with casseroles (it is kinda runny so I don't use as much).

Back At It

It's been a while but nothing much has really happened. Most days I feel good and I've learned to control a lot with diet. In August Drew and I went to see a maternal fetal care specialist to see what challenges we would face if we were to have kids. Our biggest risk would be delivery. We would have to have a planned c section with a colon rectal surgan on hand because there is a good chance of cutting into bowel. We have also joined the YMCA so we can both get into better shape. In my mind I can do a lot more than I can actually do so it should be interesting. The gluten/wheat free diet is going well. I have found I can get away with trace amounts and a small amout of wheat starch. Which brings me to what I am going to start using this blog for. I've had people ask me what I eat because they are going g free or know someone who is. So from now on I am going to start posting recipes and good products I have found. I will alao probably start posting craft projects too. Recipe #1 Tonight for dinner I made croc pot chicken. I just threw a couple chicken breast in with half a bottle of bbq sauce. Make sure you check your sauce if you need it g free, I like to use the hickory sauce from Aldi or Sweet Baby Rays. Cook it for about five hours on low. About 30 before your ready to eat pull the chicken out and shred it using two forks then throw it back in the pot until your ready to serve. I like to eat mine with potato chips but it is also really good made into bbq nachos. My hubby likes it with pepperjack cheese on bread with some onion and green pepper.