Glutenfreeda Burritos

Oh my goodness, a gluten-free burrito?!?! I seriously flipped out when I just found these ">Glutenfreeda Burritos at Mother's Market. I haven't had a burrito since before I was gluten-free so about 8 years. So I happened to see this in the freezer section of my local Mother's Market and had to try one. I tried the Vegetarian Bean & Cheese flavor. I had it for dinner tonight once I got home and it was really good. I highly recommend it and will soon be purchasing any other flavors I can get my hands on.

The tortilla was very good, it's made with corn, rice and potato flours as well as a few other ingredients. The bummer for me was that there were actual corn kernels in it and I can't eat whole corn kernals. I can occasionally eat it ground up in tortillas but I was able to easily pull out the corn kernels! Again, this is only if you have problems with corn - it's not at all related to gluten!

It has rice and all sorts of great flavors. It was a little tiny bit spicy, but I can't eat anything spicy so it wasn't overly spicy if I could eat it and enjoy it!

The price at my store was $3.19. For the size of the burrito, it's higher than I would like as it would take more than one burrito to make a full meal. However, considering it's gluten-free, fast and can be filling...it was worth it to me!

I don't know about you, but I missed the ease and convenience of a quick and filling microwave burrito that tastes good. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely eat more in the future! I'm also looking forward to trying other Glutenfreeda products when I see them (see the site here). Thanks Glutenfreeda!!

P.S.~Sorry if the pictures of the burrito wasn't super flattering...it's still a microwave burrito but it tasted good and that's all that matters to me!

Gluten-Free in New York-Shake Shack!

Hi Everyone! I'm so sorry for my long absence. I was on a vacation to New York, then very unexpectedly had to move (and quickly!) and then, of course, the holidays! It's been a very hectic but great December!

I wanted to give you a quick little review from one of my absolute favorite places to eat when I'm in New York...the Shake Shack! Yum! I'm sure you're expecting some sort of fancy steak restaurant, but nope, this place is my favorite and I pray that they bring one to Southern California as soon as possible!

So, the Shake Shack started with one location in Madison Square Park and I'm proud to say I went there before it started to spread! Here's a picture of my lunch:

So their burgers are GREAT bunless, the meat actually tastes terrific. The fries are great, not too soggy, not too crisp. The best part is the frozen custard. When I first heard of this, I was seriously nauseated! I thought it sounded so gross. But it is SOOOOO good, I promise! If you like ice cream, you'll love the frozen custard. In the picture above you'll see a "concrete" where they mix the custard with a topping, I had chocolate toffee. Yum yum yum!

The other AWESOME thing about the Shake Shack is that they are so wonderfully awesome about Gluten Allergies! When I ordered my food without a bun, they asked if it was a gluten allergy and I said yes. All over my receipt that goes to the cooking crew were big red letters saying "****GLUTEN ALLERGY****!!! I couldn't have been more pleased!

Of course, it's still eating out and there is always the possibility of cross contamination but it sure makes you feel safer when you see that written all over everything and that they are aware of and understand the allergy is a tremendous advantage to eating out!

For their gluten-free menu, click here. To find all locations (including Miami and various New York areas) and see their main site, click here.

As for price, it's New York City, for all the food shown in my picture above it was about $15.50. Trust me, it was worth every penny both trips I made to the Shake Shack on this visit!

Just to leave you with something festive, this was from our visit to Rockefeller Plaza while it was snowing! Such a beautiful sight and I'm so glad my mom and I got to be together in New York during the Holiday Season!

I swear it was freezing cold and we're from Southern California, so yes, we may be a little over-bundled compared to East Coasters!!!

Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

This is a great turkey recipe! It is the moistest (I don't think that's a word, but I'm sticking with it!) and tastiest turkey I've ever had.

If you feel overwhelmed with the thought of making a whole turkey, you're not alone! I know that I've mentioned before that I don't like raw meat very much...let's just say...a raw entire turkey is so gross to me! I decided to share a couple of pictures with you from the first time I made my own turkey a few years ago...

Ummm...super grossed out...

Seriously, ready to lose it! I'd like to tell you that I'm better now, but I'm not much better! I was still gagging during most of the raw turkey prep this time around as well! This is meant to comfort you, I swear! Despite my disgust, I can still turn out a super tasty turkey, just push through the discomfort!

Here's what you will need!

We are going to do a salt brine, so start the turkey the day before you need to cook and eat it! First step is to combine the coarse kosher salt, thyme, majoram, rosemary, celery seeds, sage, orange peel and lemon peel.

First step, wash the turkey and remove all the innards of the turkey (this is where I run into problems!). You'll notice here, I have washed under his arms very well!

Pat the turkey dry and place in a turkey oven bag on a baking sheet to brine the turkey in.

Rub the salt brine all over the outside and inside the cavity of the turkey. Cake it on there, the more the merrier! The great thing about a salt brine is that it makes the turkey so moist after you cook it.

Cut up the orange and lemon that you grated and save them to stuff the turkey with before you cook it.

Wrap up the turkey in the oven bag and place it in the refrigerator. You want to leave the salt brine on the turkey for 12-24 hours.

When you're ready to get the turkey ready to cook, rinse all of the salt brine off of the outside and inside of the turkey. Place the turkey on the rack of a roasting pan.

Chop one onion into large pieces, a celery stalk into large pieces and add dried herbs and previously chopped orange and lemon. Mix. Stuff the main cavity and the neck cavity with this mixture. It will make the turkey very flavorful!

Tie the legs loosely using cooking twine to try to keep the stuffing in the turkey.

Rub butter all over the turkey. It will depend on the size of your turkey on how much you need to use. Use a lot, you want to butter that sucker up! It will make it so lovely and golden brown. Yum!

Pour 2 cups of chicken stock in the roasting pan. Make sure the bottom of the pan never gets dry.

Place in the oven on the lowest rack at 325 degrees.

Instead of basting with the pan juices, I like to make a mixture of chicken stock and butter. It's really good! Leave it on the stove on low during the whole time the turkey is baking.

Every 45 minutes, baste very generously with the chicken stock/butter mixture.

Bake until the turkey temperature at the thickest part of the thigh is 165-170 degrees. Isn't it lovely! Tent loosely with foil and let it sit for a good 30 minutes.

Skim the fat off of the pan drippings. Place the roasting pan on medium-high heat on 2 burners of the stove.

Mix 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch and 6 tablespoons of water. Slowly stir into the gravy.

Bring the gravy to a boil and cook to thicken. Taste the gravy and use salt and pepper to taste.

Serve gravy super hot!

Enjoy your turkey, gravy and whatever other wonderful Thanksgiving treats you've made!!

Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

Prep Time: 1 Hour

Total Time: 5 Hours

Yield: 8-12 Servings

Salt Brine:

1/2 cup Coarse Kosher Salt

1 tsp. Dried Majoram

1 tsp. Dried Rosemary

1 tsp. Dried Sage

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

1 tsp. Dried Celery Seed

1 tsp. Grated Orange Peel

1 tsp. Grated Lemon Peel

Turkey:

1, 13-15 lb. Fresh Turkey

1 Onion, Chopped in Large Pieces

1 Celery Stalk, Chopped in Large Pieces

1 Whole Orange, Chopped with Peel

1 Whole Lemon, Chopped with Peel

1 tsp. Dried Majoram

1 tsp. Dried Rosemary

1 tsp. Dried Sage

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

1 tsp. Dried Celery Seed

4 cups Chicken Stock, Divided

3/4 cup Butter, Divided

Gravy:

Pan Drippings

3 Tbsp. Tapioca Starch

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Mix all ingredients in salt brine. Rinse the turkey inside and out. Remove the innards. Pat dry. Place the turkey in an oven bag on a baking sheet. Rub the salt brine all over the outside and inside of the turkey. Seal the oven bag and place the turkey in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours before cooking.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Chop onion, celery, lemon and orange. Mix with the majoram, sage, rosemary, thyme and celery seeds. Rinse the salt brine off of the turkey, inside and out. Pat dry. Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Stuff the neck cavity and main cavity with the onion mixture. Tie the legs loosely with cooking twine. Use about 1/4 cup of butter and rub all over the outside of the turkey, use more as needed. Place 2 cups of chicken stock in the roasting pan (make sure there is always liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan throughout cooking). Place turkey in oven on lowest rack at 325 degrees.

Make liquid to baste the turkey with by placing 2 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup of butter in a small saucepan. Place saucepan on low heat and make sure the butter has melted by the time you need to baste the turkey. Leave on low heat throughout the turkey's baking time.

Baste the turkey generously with the chicken stock mixture every 45 minutes. Bake the turkey for a total of about 3.5-4.5 hours. This will depend on the size of your turkey. It will be done when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers between 165-170 degrees. Remove from oven and tent loosely with foil. Let the turkey sit for about 30 minutes.

To prepare gravy, skim the fat from the top of the pan drippings. Place the roasting pan with pan drippings on medium-high heat on 2 burners of the stove. Thanks to the basting, there should be plenty of pan drippings. If there are not, add more chicken stock to your desired level. Mix 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch with 6 tablespoons of cold water. Slowly stir the tapioca starch liquid into the pan drippings. Bring the gravy to a boil and allow it to cook to thicken. Taste the gravy, use salt and pepper to taste. If it is not thick enough, continue to thicken with tapioca starch in a 2:1 ratio of water to tapioca starch. Lower the temperature and just let it gently boil until it is time to serve. Serve very hot.

Carve the turkey, serve with gravy and enjoy!

*Dairy Free Version: Use Butter Substitute.

Printable Recipe:

Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

Rolled Turkey Breast

Do you need an alternative for you to have GF turkey while the rest of your family has a turkey stuffed with wheat? Do you have less people coming to dinner for Thanksgiving this year or do you all only like white meat? If so, try this, it's a great alternative to doing an entire turkey!

I am so naughty, I never took a picture of the "ingredients." Oops, please forgive me! The exact ingredients are shown below in the recipe!

Here we see a boned, butterflied turkey breast that has been rinsed and patted dry with paper towels. I then pounded it as flat as I was able to get it. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the turkey and pounded the daylights out of it with a frying pan (you can also use a meat mallet or a rolling pin). I didn't pound until it was completely flat...I pounded until I was sick of pounding! I have issues with raw meat and sometimes don't enjoy working with it...okay, pretty much always don't like working with it!

Sprinkle your flattened breast (hmmm...) with coarse kosher salt and black pepper.

Cover your turkey breast with already prepared stuffing. This is shown with my Gluten-Free Herb Bread Stuffing.

Roll it up! This is, of course, easier said than done! All sorts of stuffing falls out of the sides, etc. Just do the best you can and cover anything up with some cranberry sauce once it's on the plate!

Tie with cooking twine in 3 or 4 spots, whatever it takes to secure it!

Transfer to a rack on a roasting pan. Rub it all over with butter...yum! Pour about 2 cups of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. This will help keep it moist while cooking and will be used to baste it.

Bake at 350 degrees. Baste with pan juices every 30 minutes.

After 1 hour rotate the turkey breast.

Bake for a total of 2 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers at least 165 degrees.

Slice and serve!

Totally gluten-free...but trust me...it doesn't taste like it!

Serve with your favorite cranberry sauce (shown with my Cranapple Sauce).

Rolled Turkey Breast

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 40 Minutes

Yield: 8-12 Servings

1, 5 lb. Boned, Butterflied Turkey Breast

1 Recipe of Ready to Bake Stuffing

1/4 cup Butter

2 cups Chicken Stock

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse the turkey breast and pat dry with paper towels. Place skin side down on a work surface. Place plastic wrap over the turkey breast and pound until flat with a mallet, rolling pin or frying pan. Remove plastic wrap.

Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Place stuffing on top of turkey breast. Roll the turkey breast as tightly as possible. Tie in 3-4 places with cooking twine. Rub butter all over the outside of the turkey breast.

Place rolled turkey breast onto the rack of a roasting pan. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees. Baste with pan juices every 30 minutes. After 1 hour, rotate the turkey breast halfway. Bake for a total of 2 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes, until meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers at least 165 degrees.

Gently cut into slices, carefully keeping the stuffing intact in the turkey. Serve with your favorite cranberry sauce and enjoy!

Printable Recipe:

Rolled Turkey Breast

Chicken Enchiladas

I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD! It's seriously what I live on. Not that I claim to be able to cook "authentic" food. I'm sure mine is the American version, but this is still super good, I promise!

The ingredients.

Begin by boiling 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts until cooked through.

While the chicken is boiling, chop up one onion.

Spread enchilada sauce on the bottom of two 9 x 13 pans. The sauce shown has soy in it. I provide a soy-free recipe here if you need to make your own sauce. I now make my own sauce and freeze it in bulk so I can make enchiladas whenever I want and have sauce on hand!

When the chicken is done, shred it using two forks and pulling in opposite directions.

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large frying pan. Fry the onion with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the onion is caramelized, add the chicken. Cook until the chicken starts to brown. Remove from heat.

Set up a little enchilada assembly station (yes, I'm pretty sure that's the technical name!).

So I do 3 at a time. I microwave the tortillas for 30 seconds (this makes them easy to roll and the tortillas don't crack!), add the chicken mixture...

Add the cheese and roll.

Place each enchilada seam side down into the prepared pans. Continue until you have used all of your chicken mixture! If you still have some extra space and extra tortillas, make some cheese enchiladas to fill the space by simply filling tortillas with cheese and rolling them up! You'll be glad you did!

Spread enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.

Cover with lots and lots of cheese. Ummm, love it. Want some right now!

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is all melted and starting to brown.

Until it looks like this!

I'm just saying, yum! Serve with some cilantro lime rice and maybe some refried beans or a salad and you are all set! Plus, these enchiladas freeze very well and make terrific leftovers!

Chicken Enchiladas

Prep Time: 35 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour

Yield: 28 Enchiladas

1 Package of 30 Corn Tortillas

1 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (approx. 4)

1 Large Onion

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 large cans Enchilada Sauce (or one recipe of Homemade Enchilada Sauce)

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 lbs. Mexican Shredded Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2, 9 x 13 baking pans by spreading enchilada sauce on the bottom of each pan.

Boil the chicken until cooked through. Shred the cooked chicken by pulling opposite directions with two forks. Chop the onion and fry in olive oil in large frying pan. Once the onion is caramelized and browned, add the chicken. Cook until chicken begins to brown. Remove from heat.

Begin to assemble the enchiladas. Heat 3 corn tortillas at a time for 30 seconds in the microwave. This will make them much easier to assemble and prevent the tortillas from cracking. Place approximately 1/4 cup of chicken filling on each tortilla and sprinkle cheese over the top. Roll the enchiladas and place in the prepared pans, seam side down. Continue making enchiladas until there is no more chicken mixture left.

Spread enchilada sauce over the tops of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese until covered. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until all cheese is melted and the cheese is browning.

Remove from heat. Serve with cilantro lime rice, beans and/or salad. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe:

Chicken Enchiladas