Homemade Cream of___Soup Mix:

I don't know about you, but I think almost everything we used to make, had a can of cream of ___ soup in it!! It's definitely been an adjustment having to leave behind all the recipes we used to have on a regular basis and turn down amazing looking recipes we find now, just because of one simple ingredient.

Well, thankfully, that's about to change! I just found an easy, delicious, homemade substitute for a can of cream of ___ soup!!! I definitely hope you will take 5 minutes and try this out, because I can think for 5 hours about all the recipe options this will open up for us!! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

2 cups dry milk powder
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules (make sure to check the label!)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk altogether until well combined and free of lumps. Store in an airtight container.

To make the equivalent to a (10-3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of ___ soup:
Whisk together 1/3 cup soup mix with 1-1/4 cups water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil (stirring constantly) and boil 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool.

Note:
-This alone is a perfect substitute when a recipe calls for a can of cream of chicken, cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup. If you like, add some very finely chopped mushrooms to make it more like cream of mushroom soup, and some finely chopped, cooked celery to make it more like cream of celery soup!

Cheesy Garlic Bread sticks:

Who doesn't LOVE bread sticks? I know that they are definitely a personal favorite of mine, and I've never met anyone who didn't like them. It's one thing I have missed since going gluten-free...not being able to go to a pizza place and eat the pizza, of course, but more the bread sticks! Well, that is, until today when I tried this recipe. WOW! They were SO good and incredibly easy!!! If you're a bread stick, pizza or cheese lover, you going to LOVE these things!! I hope you give them a try!!!

1 pre-baked pizza crust (click here for my recipe)
2 tblsp. melted butter
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese (amounts vary)

In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter and minced garlic. Using a pastry brush, spread the butter and garlic all over the pizza crust (make sure to spread it really well, because you don't want globs of garlic to bite into!). Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese evenly over the entire thing. Top with mozzarella cheese. This is were you will have to use your own judgement. Use as much or as little cheese as you like! Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to get slightly golden brown on top (you can tell from the picture above, that I didn't leave mine in the oven quite long enough. It's not quite as golden as I would have liked it). Let stand 1-2 minutes before cutting. Cut into 1 or 1-1/2 inch slices all the way across the pizza, then cut in half lengthwise. Serve!!!

Chip Casserole:

Hello! Sorry it's been a while since I lasted posted a recipe! It's been ridiculously crazy around here. Between a week of church camp, a funeral, a big family picnic and two family reunions (all of this happening in the same week, I might add!), I just haven't had time. Plus, to be perfectly honest, I haven't even been cooking!!! We made so much food for all we had going on, that we've been eating leftovers all week!

My mom used to make a version of this casserole when I was younger. It was SO good and we all loved it. But it had SO many ingredients and so much stuff to cut up and everything, that it seriously took all day to make. Therefore, we had it very rarely. I came across this recipe one time and decided to give it a try. It was SO fast and easy and we actually liked it better than the one we used to make! So, I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as we do!

4 cups cooked chicken or turkey, cubed
Dash of salt and pepper
2 celery ribs, chopped finely
1/4 cup onion, chopped finely
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed
2/3 cup mayonnaise (I use miracle whip)
BBQ Potato Chips (check the label!)

Oven Method:

Combine chicken, salt, pepper, celery, onion and cheese in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add mayo and stir until everything is evenly coated. Spread evenly in a greased casserole dish. Cover with foil, and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until hot through and cheese is melted. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Lightly crush potato chips and sprinkle over the casserole (we like a lot of chips on ours). Serve!

Crock-pot Method:

Combine chicken, salt, pepper, celery, onion and cheese in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add mayo and stir until everything is evenly coated. Pour into a crock-pot. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until hot through and cheese is melted, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with lightly crushed potato chips and serve!

Note:

-For the crock-pot, I highly recommend using a crock-pot liner. It helps it not to burn to the sides of the crock-pot and makes clean-up so much easier! 

Pineapple Zucchini Muffins:

Another zucchini recipe!! I told you we had a ton of that stuff! And that's AFTER we gave away as much as we could to our neighbors and friends!! I love muffins and my grandma used to make these a lot in the summer. They turn out so moist and delicious! I hope you give them a try!

2-1/4 cups flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini, unpeeled
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins, optional
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

In a large bowl, whisk together first 7 ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, zucchini, pineapple and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until everything is moist. Add raisins and nuts if desired. Fill paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degress for 30-35 minutes or until dark brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve or place on wire rack to cool. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Zucchini Ranch Meatloaf:

We have an TON of zucchini in our garden right now, so I'm looking everywhere for ANY zucchini recipe I can find!! I made this for dinner the other night and it turned out really well!! Me and my mom are still the only ones that even know there was zucchini in it! You couldn't tell at all...it just just gave it this really nice flavor and kept it really moist. So, if you have a picky veggie eater in your household, this would be a great way to get a fabulous vegetable into their diet! I hope you give it a try! It's super easy!

1 lb. ground beef (you could also use half ground turkey/half ground beef)
1/3 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup onions, diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 egg
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes
1-1/2 tblsp. dry ranch powder
2 tblsp. ketchup
2 tblsp. steak sauce (check the label!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the beef, zucchini, onions, peppers, egg, Worcestershire sauce, cheese, cornflakes and ranch powder until well combined. Press evenly into a greased casserole dish or pie plate. Combine ketchup and steak sauce. Spread evenly over meatloaf. Bake 1 hour or until center is no longer pink. Serve!

Jello Yogurt Fruit Salad:

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

We are so far. The only bad thing is, it's been WAY busier and WAY hotter than we expected! 

But at least that gave me two very good reasons for trying out this super yummy salad! It was very quick to make and was so cool and refreshing! The perfect summer salad or dessert. Plus, it's not all that sweet or bad for you. I hope you try this recipe out and enjoy it as much as we did!!!

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 package strawberry gelatin

2 (6 oz.) containers Strawberry yogurt

1 cup strawberries, diced (fresh or frozen, but if they're frozen, they need to be thawed and well drained)

2 small bananas, diced

In a bowl, whisk together boiling water and gelatin until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in yogurt. Fold in fruit. Pour into 6 (8 oz) custard cups. Chill for at least 2 hours or until set (the longer they sit, the better). Serve!

Note:

-Obviously from the picture, you can tell that the original recipe called for raspberries, but I didn't have any, so I used strawberries instead! But, that's the great thing about this kind of recipe. You can change it up however you want! For instance, I think the next I make it, I will try it with blue gelatin, blueberry yogurt and blueberries! There are several other options out there too, and I'm sure they would all be good! Let me know what you try! 

-You could probably make this in just one large serving dish, if you wanted. 

-This recipe could easily be halved, doubled or tripled, depending on the amount of people you are feeding.  

Chex Cereal:

Probably most everyone knows this already, but I thought I would just put it up here in case someone doesn't! Chex Cereal has some of the BEST gluten-free cereal out there! It tastes so good, and one of the best parts to me, is that you can buy it at Walmart and most any other grocery store! No trying to get to your health food store and paying an arm and a leg for it! Plus, you can eat what everyone else is eating! Or better yet, you can eat better than everyone else is eating!!
We have really enjoyed all of these! We haven't yet tried the Chocolate or the Apple Cinnamon, but I'm sure we will soon!

I hope if you haven't, you will give these awesome cereals a try!

And it doesn't have to be for Breakfast either!

Try out a chex mix like these (click on the recipe name):

Cranberry Orange,

 Muddy Buddies, 

Crispy Caramel Chex Mix

4th of July Menu:

Here is what we're serving for our 4th of July celebration:

-Grilled BBQ Chicken Legs
-Baked Beans
-Deviled Eggs
-Fresh veggies with Ranch dip
-Watermelon
-Knox Blox
-Green Stuff
-Chips/Cheese curls
-Strawberry Pretzel Salad (Click here for the recipe)

 I hope everyone has a wonderful day! I'm SO blessed to be living in America today!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad:

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

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July 4th is my absolute, favorite holiday after Christmas!

I just love everything about it, and the food is no exception!!!!!!

I know it's not yet the 4th, but I thought I should go ahead and post this recipe,

 in case anyone wanted to make it for their 4th of July celebration!  

This is one of my dad's favorite desserts! It's a staple at our 4th of July picnic every year!!

It's a little time consuming, but not at all hard.

I hope you give it a try! It makes a great summer time dessert!

1st Layer:
2 cups Gluten-Free Pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter

Place pretzels in a resealable plastic bag. Squish out all the air and seal. Using a rolling pin, pound the pretzels into small pieces. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish and spread out evenly. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool - DO NOT TOUCH THE PRETZELS! They will not stay together if you touch them. Cool completely before moving onto the second layer.

2nd Layer:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 (12 oz) carton Cool Whip, thawed

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Add cool whip and mix until well combined. Spoon into a large resealable plastic bag. Squish out all the air. Snip off one of the corners and pipe onto the pretzels after they are completely cool. Use a spatula to spread it out more evenly, if needed, but be very gentle; you don't want to brake the pretzels up.

3rd Layer:
1 package Strawberry Jello
1-1/4 cup boiling water
1 (14 oz) package frozen strawberry slices (see note)

Dissolve jello in boiling water. Add strawberries and stir. Chill for about 15 minutes or until just starting to thicken. Spread evenly over cream cheese layer. Chill until jello is completely set.

Note:
-The strawberries can be frozen or thawed when you use them...it really doesn't matter. If they are thawed, don't drain the juices off, just go ahead and stir them in with the strawberries.
-We generally make this the day before we want it. That way, everything is really nice and cold.
-Here is the pretzels that I use. They are very good to eat just plain and work great for this recipe. They are "Glutino" brand. You can find them in some health food stores, or you can purchase them here:  http://www.glutenfree.com/index.cfm/category/gluten-free-pretzels You can also use regular pretzels if you aren't gluten-intolerant.

Easy Frosting:

Last Friday was my sister, Katrina's, 13th birthday!!!

She chose just a regular cake and frosting for her dessert. I actually bought a can of frosting, but didn't have enough, so I searched for a good recipe and whipped some up real quick!!!
So, I thought I would share the recipe with you! I know lots of people make their own frostings, but I had never tasted any homemade frosting that I really liked. This was very good and so quick and easy!

Now, this makes a TON of frosting!! I only needed a small amount, so I cut the recipe down quite a bit. It's very easy to double, triple, or cut in half.......or fourths!!!!

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tblsp. milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, beat together shortening and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add more milk, if needed, unitl desired consistancy is reached. Spread on cake or cupcakes, or scoop into a pastry bag and pipe onto cake or cupcakes. I also like to put it in a zip-lock bag, snip off a tiny piece of the corner and pipe! This makes clean-up a lot easier, as you can just through the bag away!!!

I hope you give this frosting a try!!!