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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Goodies

I know, I promised you a post about Christmas goodies... and I intend to share some with you, but they will probably be more like New Year's goodies.  This year, more than ever I feel like I'm just not ready for Christmas.  It feels like it should be in two weeks, not two days.  I haven't even made lots of Christmas goodies this year.  What have I made?  Some awesome Mini peppermint patties, some almond chocoroons (I shared that recipe last year), caramel popcorn and a really yummy Cranberry Chex Mix.

So look for a post sometime between now and New Year's.  I promise I will post recipes as soon as I come up for air! 
Happy Eating and Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

What to do with Turkey Leftovers

I love having leftover turkey, there are so many things to make using it.  The ever popular turkey sandwiches (and yes, we can still have them, just use gluten free bread), turkey soup, turkey divan (still working on making that one gluten and dairy free) and my favorite turkey salad.  Growing up, I cringed when I heard the words turkey salad or chicken salad.  In my house, it meant something similar to tuna salad (the meat was ground up) and not nearly as tasty.
The first time I tasted this version of Turkey salad I was in the hospital waiting to be released a week after major surgery.  Sounds promising, right?  Hospital food.  It wasn't only hospital food...it was AWESOME hospital food (although you didn't get very much).  I told my mom to try some and she politely refused saying it was my lunch, but I told her she had to try it so she did and was as impressed as I was.  Simply divine.  I waited years to find a recipe similar and I finally did five years later in a Taste of Home magazine.  I made it and again was so happy with the flavor.  Unfortunately, I don't always keep track of magazines and haven't seen the recipe since, so I had to make this one up with a few changes to the original taste.  The salad I had in the hospital had slivered almonds and maybe cashews?  It's been a long time, obviously.  I tend to put whatever nut I'm in the mood for in this salad.  Almonds are great, cashews, too.  I don't think I'd like it with peanuts, but I see potential for using macadamia nuts.  Right now, I'm using toasted pecans...yum!
Enjoy your leftovers and next time we'll talk about Christmas goodies.
Happy Eating!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving and Beyond...

I hope you had a very lovely Thanksgiving.  Sorry, I left you hanging about mashed potatoes and cranberry relish.  Hopefully, you managed without me.  Mashed potatoes are, of course, quite simple to make dairy and gluten free.  I use Earth Balance soy free instead of butter and rice milk or coconut milk instead of regular milk (or a combination of the two) and salt and pepper to taste.  Simple!
As for cranberry relish, that is a recipe that my grandma made every year and then my mom made it and now I make it.  The original recipe called for 1 bag of cranberries, 2 apples,cored, 2 oranges, juiced and you run all this through a food grinder.  I am food grinder challenged (no good spot to set one up in my kitchen) so I make all this in my food processor on mince and usually, in batches.  Then, I mix it all together with 1/4- 3/4 c. sugar (it depends on the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the apples and oranges...it's all to taste).  This year, I only used one orange and two medium apples...my orange was huge!
Anyway, just wanted to make sure you had those recipes!  My next post will be talking about using leftover turkey (or chicken) so check back soon.  Then, I will be starting a series for Christmas cooking gluten and dairy free.  Until next time...
Happy Eating!