Butternut Squash GFCF Pasta

March 11, 2010 By

March 11, 2010
We belong to a CSA and last week they gave us a butternut squash. I was trying to come up with a different idea for how to use it, and I started thinking about Butternut Squash Ravioli. I looked for a few recipes but couldn’t find a GFCF ravioli recipe that I was willing to tackle with a 4 week old in the house. It was just too much work. So I decided to take the ravioli flavors and make a pasta sauce instead. I roasted the butternut squash and then whipped up the sauce in a sauce pan and served it over my favorite GFCF pasta.

Here is the recipe as I used it.

Butternut Squash Pasta
1 butternut squash
1 white onion, chopped
3 Tbs olive oil + drizzle for squash
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of milk (cow – not GFCF, rice or soy)
dash of nutmeg

Cut open the butternut squash, remove the seeds and drizzle with the extra olive oil. Roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Remove squash from skin.

In a large sauce pan heat the 3 Tbs of olive oil on medium heat. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add garlic, sage and basil and cook to release flavors. Add roasted squash. Season with salt and pepper and add milk of choice (I used rice milk). Heat through. Add a dash of nutmeg. Using a submersion blender, puree the sauce to a smooth texture. You can pulse in a blender if you prefer.

Cook up your favorite GFCF pasta – I like brown rice pasta, and serve the sauce over the pasta.

My husband and I loved the dish. Our 2.5 year old liked it too. But Matthew (5) wasn’t a fan, but I don’t think he likes butternut squash at all. He seems to dislike the flavor no matter what I do to it.

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GFCF Smoothie

January 19, 2010 By

Jan 19, 2010
Matthew really likes the Nick show “The Fresh Beat Band” and recently he saw a “commercial” for a recipe for Fresh Beat Smoothies. The characters on the show often partake of smoothies at “The Groovy Smoothie”, a smoothie shop on the show. So he has been begging me to make him one. I was a bit reluctant because the child drinks nothing. I have never seen a child that refuses to drink as much as this child does, but I know he likes the show and I want to encourage him anyway I can. So I broke out the Vita-Mix and blended up a smoothie.

Pineapple Banana GFCF Fresh Beat Smoothie

1 ripe banana
1/4 can of pineapple in its own juice
1/4 – 1/2 cup of pineapple juice
1 cup of ice cubes
1/2 – 3/4 cup coconut milk kefir (I like the So Delicious brand – we used Vanilla)
a little vanilla extract if you don’t use Vanilla kefir.

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

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GFCF Shrimp Taco

October 30, 2009 By

Last night I wanted to try something different and decided to make shrimp tacos instead of our usual picata type shrimp. I decided to fry the shrimp and use corn tortillas and a spicy mayonnaise, hoping for the best. Well, they turned out delicious, at least to Larry and I. The boys weren’t so sure about them, but Matthew did eat all of his even if he was just trying to get strawberry sorbet as a dessert.

The Recipe:
enough shrimp for 3 shrimp per taco
flour blend (recipe below)
cumin
chili powder
salt
egg
lime juice
corn tortillas
mayonnaise
taco sauce
Tabasco sauce
Oil for frying
vegan cheese
GFCF “sour cream” if desired
cilanto (optional)

Clean and shell shrimp, including removing the tails.

In a shallow bowl mix eggs for an egg wash. In a separate bowl mix flour, cumin, chili powder and salt to taste. Dip shrimp in flour mixture, then into egg mixture and then back into flour mixture to get a nice even coating.

Heat oil in frying pan and fry shrimp in small batches until golden brown and cooked though, but not over cooked. Set aside to drain on a plate covered in paper towels or brown bags. Sprinkle with a small amount of lime juice – do not use much or they will get soggy.

Warm tortillas in microwave oven by placing them on a plate and covering with a damp towel and microwaving for 20 – 25 seconds.

Mix mayonnaise, additional cumin, additional chili powder, lime juice, taco sauce and Tabasco sauce to make a zesty mayonnaise. This is all to taste so add sparingly and taste often.

Lay tortillas flat, spread with a little mayonnaise mixture, add about 3 shrimp, vegan cheese, GFCF “sour cream” and cilantro. Fold tortilla and eat!

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GFCF Pumpkin Apple Muffins

October 13, 2009 By

I was feeling really excited about Fall yesterday, and the fact that my cold is finally starting to leave me! So I decided to make pumpkin muffins. I found a great Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffin recipe on The Mama Sphere and decided to see if I could adapt it to be GFCF. I did! And they turned out great, so great that I thought I’d share the recipe. So here it is:

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour – substitute with GFCF flour blend given below
1.5 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (you can use a whole 15 oz can without bad results if you don’t know what to do with the rest of it)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple (my boys didn’t love the apples, and I found out you can omit them)

Streusel topping – I didn’t make this, but instead used a cinnamon and sugar sprinkle on top before baking.
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour – sub GFCF flour blend below
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons butter – use a GFCF butter if you do this

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups GFCF flour blend, 1.5 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. This will be a very thick batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter. Or just use cinnamon sugar mixture and sprinkle on top of muffin batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

You can eliminate apples and use nuts if you want, or leave them out all together. You can also use a whole 15 oz can of pumpkin without issue.

GFCF Flour blend – I found this flour blend on recipe circus which is part of the GFCFrecipes yahoo group.
2 cups white rice flour – I didn’t have enough white rice flour so I used mostly brown and it turned out fine.
2 cups brown rice flour
1 c tapioca flour
1c potato starch
1/4 c potato flour
1/4 c xanthan gum
1/8 cup pectin

Recipe
Mix all ingredients together using a whisk until no lumps appear.
Store in an airtight container in a cool place.
Marcie’s Note: Due to cost I will replace the xanthan gum with guar gum.

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