Mexican Chicken Soup - Gluten-free

This soup was so tasty!  It was warm and cozy on a cold chilly day.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Yield about 10-14 servings

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts, cubed (or 5-6 small ones)
splash of olive oil for frying
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup GF Taco seasoning
1 (64 oz) V8 Juice
4 cups salsa
3 cups dry black beans (soak over night in about 10-12 cups water, then stove top cook if needed, until beans are tender)
1 (32 oz) package frozen corn

4-6 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

Toppings - shredded cheddar cheese, or pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese and/or sour cream.

Instructions:

In a large skillet (I like to use cast iron) over medium heat, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink.  Add water and taco seasoning; simmer, uncovered, until chicken is well coated and some of the water has evaporated.  Pour into slow cooker.

Add the V8 juice, salsa, black beans, and frozen corn into the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 4 hours.  Add in cilantro about 30 minutes before ready to serve.  Top with items of your choice and Enjoy!  :)

Broccoli Cheese Chicken soup - Gluten-free

I know it's been awhile since I've posted recipes... well....  I've planned out about two weeks of soups for our family.  All slow cooker, and hopefully I'll get them all posted for you to try as well!

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Soup

First I started with a home made gluten-free cream of chicken soup.  To make this you will need:

1 large chicken breast (or 2 smaller ones)
4 chicken bullion cubes (make sure they are GF)
2 cups almond milk
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons Featherlight flour mix
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (or a little less)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (or omit if you do not use pepper)

Cube chicken breast and cook over medium heat until done (no longer pink and fully cooked).   Set aside.

Warm milk in microwave, do not scorch.  I usually put it in for one minute then take out and stir, then another minute, then take out and stir, then add in the chicken bullion cubes, back into the microwave for another minute and then stir.  Probably a total of five minutes stirring after each minute.  You want to make sure the bullion is dissolved.

In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat.   While butter is melting, in a small bowl combine featherlight flour mix, garlic, salt and pepper.   After butter is completely melted, whisk in the flour mixture.  Whisk continually over medium heat until slightly browned.  Slowly add in milk mixture while continuing to whisk. Keep whisking to eliminate any lumps until sauce is thickened and boiling.  Add in the chicken and remove from heat.

Pour the cream of chicken soup into the slow cooker.

Next saute 1 chopped green bell pepper and 1 medium onion, chopped in about 3 tablespoons of butter until tender.  Add into slow cooker.

Next add in:

3 cups almond milk
1 1/2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 (32 oz) package of frozen chopped broccoli

Stir all ingredients, set slow cooker to low and cook for about 3-4 hours.

Enjoy!

Featherlight flour mix:

6 cups white rice flour
6 cups corn starch
6 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato flour (NOT potato starch)

Bread that's Gluten-free, Sugar-free, Oil-free and Dairy-free

I was being creative in the kitchen today and came up with this super tasty bread recipe.  If you consider eggs as a dairy, then it's not dairy free.  But in our house eggs are okay, so I've considered it dairy free also. :)  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

Jen’s gluten-free, oil-free, sugar-free, dairy-free bread

3 cups GF flour mix

1 cup flaxseedmill (ground flax seed)

4 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup peach applesauce

1 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

3 large eggs

In a stand mixer with dough hooks mix first 4 ingredients well, place yeast in center of flour mixture.  In a separate bowl mix water, applesauce and rice vinegar together - pour over yeast but do not mix.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Turn mixer on low speed, start mixing ingredients together.  When about 1/2 way mixed, start adding eggs 1 at a time.  Continue to mix on high for about 5 minutes making sure to get everything mixed in well. 

Remove bowl from stand mixer, let bread dough rise for 20 minutes in a warm, draft-free place.

Pour dough into large loaf pan, pat down and smooth top (using wet hands helps the dough not stick to you).  Let rise 20 minutes more.

Heat oven to 350.  Bake bread for 60 minutes or until browned on top and thoroughly cooked.  This will be a more dense bread, but it’s super tasty! 

My gluten-free flour mix consists of the following:

12 cups white or brown rice flour

5 cups potato starch (NOT potato flour)

3 cup tapioca starch (tapioca flour is the same as tapioca starch)

Mix all ingredients together well and store in an air tight container. 

Super Easy Breakfast Cups

Mornings for our family usually consist of cold cereal, yogurt w/fruit and nuts, or waffles from the freezer (when we have them, I make them homemade gluten-free in triple batches and freeze whatever they do not eat the day I make them).   But today, today is different!  I wanted to try something new, something that would be more in the area of a hot breakfast.  :)

You know those silicone baking cups for cupcakes?  Well, we have butterfly shaped ones, flower shaped ones and the regular round cupcake cups.  Today I made scrambled eggs w/ham and cheese inside those single serve cups!

My recipe uses 9 silicone cupcake cups (you can adjust ingredients to make more or less).

6 large eggs
2/3 cup almond milk
about 1 cup diced ham chunks (small pieces)
about 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crack eggs into a large measuring cup (I used a 6 cup measuring cup with spout for easy pouring), add the almond milk and mix well.  Continue to beat eggs and milk mixture until it resembles a scrambled egg mixture look to it.  If you've never made scrambled eggs, then all you are aiming for is that all the yokes are broken and thoroughly mixed together.

Next I sprayed the 9 baking cups with non-stick cooking spray (all the instructions I've ever read say that you do not need to spray silicone baking cups, but I do.  You don't have to if you normally don't.  It's just something I've always done) and place them onto a cookie sheet.  Place about 1/8 of a cup diced ham and an 1/8 of a cup (or less) shredded cheese into the bottom of each baking cup, you are aiming for about 1/4 cup total ham and cheese.  You may want a little more or a little less of the ham and cheese,  depends on how meaty or cheesy you like your eggs. :)  After you have the amount of ham and cheese in the baking cups, pour the egg mixture over the top, just enough to almost fill the cup.  You don't want it to over flow while baking and make a mess to have to clean up later. ;-)  

After you have filled each of the 9 baking cups, place the cookie sheet w/baking cups into the oven.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes (until there is no more liquid in the baking cups).  Remove from oven when fully cooked and let sit for about 2 minutes before serving.

ENJOY! =D

Gluten-Free Zucchini noodless Lasagna

One of my familys favorite summer time dishes is our noodless zucchini lasagna!  We pick large zucchinis (or several smaller ones) from our backyard garden, and go from there.

First thing you will want to do is peel your zucchini, then slice into generous sized flat slices the long way (the zucchini will act as your noodles).  Make sure you cut all the seeds out of the slices that have seeds in them, no one wants to bite into your yummy lasagna and find a zucchini seed. ;-)   Next I brown 2 pounds of turkey burger, hamburger or sausage (your choice, we like them all), I add about 3 tablespoons of granulated garlic, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, and about 3 tablespoons of dried diced onions (you can use fresh if you like).  Once the meat is cooked through and spices are well blended, I add 1 large jar gluten-free spaghetti sauce (you can add more or less, depending on how much your family likes tomato products).  While the meat, spices and sauce are blending together over low heat, I grate some cheese (I like to use colby-jack or a cheddar/mozzarella mixture).   Now, pull out your lasagna pan (I use the 13ish by 10ish tinfoil pans, makes for EASY clean up) and ladle some of the meat sauce mixture into the bottom of the pan, just enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.  Then add a layer of zucchini noodles, a layer of meat sauce, and a layer of cheese.  Repeat layering until pan is almost full.  If using a tinfoil pan, you may want to play it on a cookie sheet for added support.  Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 60 minutes (until everything is heated completely, cheese is melted and zucchini is softened).   Take out of oven and let stand for about 15 minutes, then serve and ENJOY!

Okay - so this one isn't so quick and easy, but it surely isn't difficult either!  =D

You will need:

2 pounds ground meat (hamburger, turkey burger, sausage, or other)
2 large zucchini or several smaller zucchini
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons dried diced onions
1 large jar gluten-free spaghetti sauce of your choice
about 1 pound cheese (more or less depending on your family's tastes)

Quick & Easy Homemade Hummus

My family really enjoys snacking on hummus.  Sometimes my girls have even eaten hummus and tortilla chips for lunch! Since garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) are like tiny little SUPER beans, I can say that I don't mind them munching on hummus all day long if they wanted to.  :)  Here's a great link if you are interested in learning more about garbanzo beans: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58  (I am in NO way affiliated with this website, make no claim to it at all, I just have enjoyed using it as a research point and thought I'd share it with you.)

So here is our super easy, super yummy hummus recipe:

about 1 1/2 cups dry garbanzo beans (soak and prepare as recommended)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper (we just toss a red bell pepper onto the grill for a bit, rotating, and then chop it up)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I like natural peanut butters, but you can use whatever you like best)
1/4 - 1/3 cup real lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 drops doTerra cilantro essential oil (or if you prefer you can use about 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro)

I toss everything except the olive oil into a food processor (you could use a heavy duty blender if you have that instead) and mix on high until it looks fairly creamy.  Then I drizzly the olive oil in as it mixes and then keep mixing until it looks like hummus to you!  :)  We like our hummus super creamy, so I usually mix until everything is smooth and creamy.  If you like more of a chunky hummus, don't mix as long.

ENJOY!

Quinoa Veggie Soup

You may or may not have noticed, I changed the name of the blog to Easy Gluten Free Meals & Slow Cooker Dinners.  I have been wanting to post some of the quick and easy ways I feed my family, but some of them are not slow cooker recipes.  So now I am going to be posting more recipes, all of them are quick and easy, but not all of them are for your slow cooker.

Tonight we are having Quinoa and veggie soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 carrots, peeled and thin sliced
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped (the food processor makes quick work of this)
4 cloves garlic, minced (food processor makes quick work of this one too)
5 cups gluten-free free-range chicken stock
3 1/2 cups hot water
2 large tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
salt/pepper to taste



In a large pot (stock pot), heat the olive oil on medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.  Stir in carrots, zucchini, celery, onion, and garlic.  Saute for one minute, then reduce heat to low - cover and cook about 20 minutes.

Add the quinoa, chicken stock, water, and tomatoes.  Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the quinoa is tender.

Serve in bowls w/spoons.  ;-)   Salt and pepper to taste.

Pink Chicken Dip

We had a major pipe brake in our kitchen awhile back...  so I have not had much of a kitchen the last two months.  I am planning to try and get some more recipes up here, and by the time September gets here, I am hopeful to have a weekly shopping list with the price of the weekly menu posted up here as well.  Prices will vary by area, for sure, but it should give you a rough estimate of what you will need to purchase and how much you might be spending.  :)

One of my family's favorites is today's post.  We call it Pink Chicken Dip, you might call it chicken nachos, or maybe a chicken and bean dip - but no matter what you call it, it is QUICK, EASY, and YUMMY!

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 large breasts)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 4 thighs)
about 32 oz of salsa (4 cups), we use mild salsa
2 cups dried black beans (use over night soak method, or you can use 4 cans of black beans)
1 small onion diced
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 package cream cheese
6 cups cooked white rice
Tortilla chips

Place the chicken in a 6 qt slow cooker.  In a medium bowl combine the salsa, pre-soaked black beans, garlic and onion, pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours (or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and tender).

Remove chicken, cool slightly (just so you don't burn yourself).  Shred with two forks and return to slow cooker, mixing it into the sauces.  Add hot cooked rice to slow cooker and stir in well.  Stir in cream cheese and heat through.  Serve with tortilla chips.  If you like you can add some mexican blend shredded cheese (make sure to read the package and make sure they have not coated your cheese w/any gluten containing products).

ENJOY!!

Garlic & Oregano Chicken

This dish is probably one of my family's favorites!  And don't tell them, but this is so quick and super easy that I don't mind making it. ;)  It tastes FANTASTIC, so don't let the simplicity of it fool you.

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
4 chicken legs, frozen (if they are not skinless, you will have to remove the skin before serving)
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, frozen
about 6 medium russet potatoes, quartered
2 whole garlic bulbs, separated and peeled
1 medium yellow onion, sliced (I like to slice mine like orange slices, not circles)
3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon iodized sea salt
1 teaspoon table pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Wash and cut potatoes and place in bottom of slow cooker.  Add the sliced onions and peeled garlic, then place chicken on top of veggies.  In a small bowl, mix together the chicken broth, oregano, salt and pepper.  Pour over chicken (make sure to use a scraper to get all the spices into the slow cooker), cover and cook on high for 5 hours, or cook on low for 7-8 hours.

DELISH!

Lemon Chicken

Tonight we are dining on a yummy flavorful dish that is refreshing and super easy!  Lemon Chicken over rice.

7 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, defrosted
1/4 cup ketchup
5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar


Put frozen chicken breasts into slow cooker.  In a medium bowl, combine the other ingredients, mixing well.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked through.

If you like, you can thicken the sauce by heating 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan, add the sauce and heat, stirring constantly until thickened.

Serve over hot white or brown rice - Enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Roast

I do enjoy a cook-all-day slow cooker meal when we are out of the house the whole day.  So here's a nice long cooking dish that you can start in the morning and then not have to worry about until dinner time!

4 pound beef chuck roast
16 oz jar tomato sauce
3 cups carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 cup molasses
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Agave nectar
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt


Cut beef chuck roast into 1 inch cubes, place in slow cooker.  In a medium bowl combine; molasses, vinegar, agave, and spices.  Chop veggies.  Pour liquid mixture over beef then add the chopped veggies.  Allowing the mixture to sit while you chop the veggies helps all the flavors to blend well together.  Cover and cook on high 7-8 hours.   Serve over hot cooked rice.  YUM!

Pot Roast with Potatoes & Carrots in the slow cooker

I have had my fill of chicken for the moment...  so we are having Beef tonight!  In our house beef is a special meal as #1 it isn't cheap and #2 we try VERY hard never to buy it in the grocery store.  We purchase our beef from an uncle who raises them on grass with out any hormones and other harmful to human things.  So we try to stretch our beef out over a full year, otherwise when it's gone... (shudder) it's gone!  ;)  But that is just us, and to each his own (right?!).  I'll try to get more of a variety up on here so that you can eat more than just chicken too!

So, dinner tonight...  Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots.  YUM!!  This is one of my favorite dishes.  Plus it's soooo easy, yet the end result is so good that I will usually eat myself into a stomach ache - lol!

4-6 pound bottom round rump roast, chuck roast, or other TOUGH cut of beef.  (tough meats do best for all day slow cookers, tender meats tend to get more tough the longer they cook)
10 medium size potatoes, cut into approximate 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes (russet, Yukon gold, red, yellow, it doesn't matter, what ever you like best!)
12 (or so) carrots, cut into larger chunks (I usually buy the larger ones, just add as many as you think you will enjoy)
3 tablespoons Italian seasoning (GF)
2 tablespoons dried diced onion
4 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons Oregano
1 tablespoon celery salt
2 cups hot water

Put the frozen beef into slow cooker.  In a medium bowl combing water, seasonings and spices; pour over beef.  Cover and cook on High for 3-4 hours.  Wash and cut up the potatoes (I leave the skins on) and add them into the slow cooker.  Peel carrots and cut up, add into slow cooker.  Cover and continue to cook on high for another 2-4 hours, until meet is cooked through and tender (falling apart when you try to pick it up) and veggies are tender.   You can opt to put the veggies in at the very beginning if you are not going to be home.  I have done that before, but the veggies tend to get mushy (they are still tasty, but my kiddos really don't like them mushy, so I try to put the veggies in later so they are soft and tender).

M & M Chicken with Rice

Another new dish!  Playing with the slow cooker has become something I am really enjoying, and I hope you are too.  So for dinner tonight we are having something new and fun, I'm calling it M & M Chicken. ;-)

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, frozen
1 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup GF prepared yellow mustard (like what you might put on a sandwich)
1/3 cup quick-cook tapioca
Hot cooked white rice

Place frozen chicken into slow cooker.  In a medium bowl mix together the maple syrup, mustard and tapioca; pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.  Serve over hot rice - YUM!

Orange BBQ Chicken

Last night was Date Night!  My hubby and I enjoy a wonderful dinner out and a movie with some really close friends of ours.  Tonight we enjoy a yummy Orange BBQ Chicken dish in the slow cooker.  We had a side of mash potatoes and green peas, which complemented this dish well. ;)

3 skinless chicken legs
3 skinless chicken thighs
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup ketchup
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley
3 teaspoons GF Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.

Serves about 8 people

ENJOY!

Italian Chicken

Tonight we enjoy a yummy dish we are calling Italian Chicken. :)  It was quick and easy and went well over rice!

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves (frozen!)
1 - 14.5 oz can (jar is better, but whatever you can find) Italian crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup hot water
3 tablespoons dried diced onions
3 chicken bouillon cubes (crushed)
3 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning (GF)
1 tablespoon granulated garlic


Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, water, onion, bouillon and seasonings; pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours (if breasts are thawed reduce cooking time to 3-4 hours).

Serve over hot cooked rice - YUM!!

Herb Chicken

Last night we tried a new recipe, herb chicken in the slow cooker.  Now I must admit that my allergies are in full force and I have lost my sense of taste, but my family said it had good flavor! :)

Do not over cook the chicken, or it will become dry.

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon GF season salt
1 1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon dried sweet basil
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/4 cups GF chicken broth

In a small bowl combine the olive oil and spices/seasonings (making a rub).  Rub over chicken breasts.  Place 1/4 cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the slow cooker, then place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker after they have been rubbed w/the spice mixture.  Pour remaining broth around slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.

ENJOY!

Serve w/a garden salad or a GF pasta dish.

Trying something new...

I thought I'd try cooking in my rice cooker tonight.  :)  I put some Quinoa rice in w/some green bell pepper, carrots and potatoes.  Everything came out so tender and yummy!!  This is a perfect side (or main for a veggie family) and it was so quick and easy to throw together!  As I sit here eating this deliciousness, I think it really needs MORE veggies.  Feel free to bump up the amount of carrots, bell pepper (even other colors), and add some of your favorite veggies too!  Asparagus is in season and might be quite tasty in this too.  

2 cups rinsed Quinoa
4 1/2 cups GF chicken broth
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 medium potatoes, diced
about 10 fat large baby carrots(or 3 regular carrots), sliced
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
1 tablespoon dried diced onions

salt to taste

I just tossed all that into the rice cooker, set it to cook and served it up when it was done.  YUM!

Grapefruit Cupcakes GF sugar free

Ok, I must admit, this one isn't a slow cooker recipe - but it sure is tasty!  We have been eating leftovers for a couple days because we need to clean out the fridge - lol! :)  I will have more slow cooker recipes up very soon, as I am now in planning mode for the next two weeks of dinners.

But for now, try this yummy gluten-free sugar-free Grapefruit Cupcake recipe:

2/3 cup almond milk
1 tsp cider vinegar
2/3 cup agave nectar (or honey)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons GF vanilla extract
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 flax seed meal
1 tsp Xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp iodized sea salt
4 drops grapefruit essential oil (food grade)

Preheat oven 325 degrees F

1) In a medium bowl combine the milk and vinegar, mix until bubbly.  Add agave nectar, olive oil, vanilla and stir.  Add 4 drops grapefruit essential oil and stir well.

2) In a separate bowl (I like to use a stand mixer), combine the flours, flax seed meal, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.

3) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mixing until no lumps remain.

4) Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 18-22 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.   Cool the cupcakes and then frost.

For the Frosting:

Cream together 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick), 5 tsp tapioca flour and 3 drops grapefruit essential oil.   Put frosting into a pastry bag and pipe on top of cupcakes (or spread over cupcakes w/a butter knife or cheese spreader).

busy day easy dish...

We had a fun and busy day today.  But I still have a great recipe for you to try out.  This is a super easy but VERY tasty dinner that your family is sure to enjoy! :)

Teriyaki Chicken over rice

1 bag (2.5 lbs) boneless skinless chicken breast

1 bag (2.5 lbs) boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup soy sauce (make sure GF!)

3/4 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons granulated garlic

dash of salt & pepper

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup cold water

Hot cooked rice

Place chicken into 6qt slow cooker/crock pot. In a large bowl mix; sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, salt & pepper together. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (or until chicken is tender and cooked thoroughly).

Serve over hot cooked rice and enjoy!

Serves about 8-10 people (or family of 6 w/some left overs)

After much prodding...

My wonderful husband has been after me to start up a blog about all my GF slow cooker recipes.  I put up a Facebook group (you can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/304138686275124/ ) and started posting the recipes I was using for my busy family.  I was hopeful that many others would also post recipes to share and that the list would grow.  While two others did post a recipe, it was mostly myself posting to the docs (which I don't mind at all).  My husband said that I might be able to reach more people if I started up a blog about the slow cooker dinners that our family enjoys.  So I hemmed and hawed about it, and now I am finally doing it!

With our busy family it is so wonderful to be able to sit down to dinner at a reasonable time.  For us that means a slow cooker meal is in order.  With the gluten free challenge, I couldn't find many cookbooks let alone slow cooker cookbooks.  So here's to a NEW adventure!!

Your first recipe to try:

Italian Chicken Sandwiches

6 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced

1/3 cup GF Chili Garlic Sauce

3 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar

3 tablespoons dried oregano (or you can use Italian Seasoning)

5 cubes GF beef bouillon, crushed

GF rolls or hamburger buns (or anything similar in size)

Spray inside of 6qt slow cooker with cooking spray. Place chicken breasts in slow cooker, place chopped onion and diced bell pepper on top of chicken. In a small bowl combine the chili garlic sauce, white vinegar, oregano and beef bouillon - pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until chicken is cooked through and tender.

Remove chicken from slow cooker, leaving juices in the slow cooker, and shred. Place shredded chicken back into slow cooker w/juices. Mix shredded chicken well w/juices, cover and let heat through.

Place about 1/2 cup (more or less depending on how hungry you are or how you like your meat to bread ratio) on open roll. Place top on roll (like a sandwich) and ENJOY!

We added cheese to our sandwiches! :)