I’m on the hook for planning Christmas dinner.
There will be not one grain planned for the table.
I will however splurge on some dairy, and by splurge I mean this grain free mac and cheese that is made with not one grain.
Last week, I put the call out on twitter for some grain free macaroni pastas and although I was directed to some promising gluten-free pasta producers none were totally grain free.
Some even had soy! I don’t do soy, and I’ll eventually write-up a thorough post on why you might not want to do soy either.
I even found some pretty promising grain free pasta recipes online, but all had eggs. I don’t do eggs much. I try to steer clear besides an occasional scramble here and there, followed by a few Benadryl. Yeah I have an egg allergy too.
Then I got to thinking. What whole food could I use in replace of the macaroni noodles that will give me a comparable texture and a subtle flavor?
And it came to me…Parsnips!
They are the perfect color, they can be cut into a macaroni similar shape, the texture is doable and the flavor is subtle yet tasty.
Parsnips are a root vegetable, which adds valuable nutrition and wholeness to this dish.
I tried it. I loved it.
My husband tried it he loved it.
I made it again.
I ate way more than I should have. Sike! As long as it’s grain free, real food I can eat however the hell much I want without an ounce of guilt!
Que in the Happy Dance.
Seriously tho, I don’t workout as much as I did a year ago and my abs are truly popping. Popping in a good way, just by cutting the grains, and anything I can’t pronounce from my diet.
Hopefully I’m convincing someone out there to give this grain free life a try. It’s worth it.
This recipe is a great start. Whole healthy foods that will not only full your belly, and dance on your taste buds, but will most importantly nourish your body.
So let’s get to these directions.
First things first chop your parsnips. I don’t have any real instruction for this my knife skills are still in the beginning stages of functioning.
But, how I did it was sliced them into long strips and went back to slice into small rectangles.
Now bring a pot of water to boil. Season with salt.
Let parsnips boil in water for ten minute remove parsnips from water, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
I pot add 3 Tbs of butter. Melt butter. Saute chopped leeks. Whisk in 2 Tbs of Tapioca flour.
When tapioca flour in dissolved in butter and it reaches a smooth consistency slowly pour in milk.
Add 1 cup cheddar cheese, and 1 cup of Colby Jack cheese.
Pour in heavy whipping cream.
Mix everything together until cheese is melted.
Season with salt and smoked paprika. Add parsnips to cheese sauce.
Pour entire pot onto baking dish.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of Shredded Gouda cheese on top.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until top is bubbly brown and smelling delicious.
Kind of like this…
…and this…
What’s special on your menu for the holidays!
It’s almost Thanksgiving and people are still collecting recipes and getting menus together, for the big day.
Currently my most visited recipes on the blog are my Easy “No Bake” Sautéed Candied Yams and Traditional Baked Candied Yams.
I want to help out and give everyone another option with this simple set it and forget it baked candied yams recipe.
It’s simple and easy with a few steps. Which is perfect when you have a long list of items to cook on the busy Thanksgiving day.
With this recipe, there’s no peeling, boiling, or watching the potatoes. You simply put everything in the baking dish wrap it with foil set your timer and bake for 1.5 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Slice potatoes the short way to end up with circles.
Pour all ingredients into baking dish.Wrap baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
This entire post is a sort of fluke, no planning on my part at all. I was making dinner as always and thought, ” Why haven’t I posted this go-to potato recipe yet?” Probably because it’s so simple or maybe because it’s just yet another potato recipe.
I’m posting it anyways in hopes that it will help someone out there on those uninspiring days you need a quick side to serve with a Hamburger, or a delicious chicken recipe.
This recipe is more a tutorial. If you follow the steps exactly you can use any flavoring or seasons you desire. If you’re having a classic meatloaf like our 7 ingredient Ritz cracker meatloaf you can mix together a quality Herbs DE Provence and salt for a complimentary side.
The pictures show a simple sea salt, dried parsley, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika mix which produced a subtle spice beside our Honey and ginger glazed chicken, this night in particular.
Preheat oven to 450°F
Cut potatoes into wedges.
Run potatoes under cold water.
In a large bowl cover potatoes with cold water.
Let potatoes sit in water for 10 minutes.
*crucial* Add Bacon Fat/ Leaf Lard to pan and heat for 5 minutes.
Remove potatoes from water and pat dry.
Add seasonings and with hands make sure all potatoes are fully coated in flavors. Place potatoes evenly onto PREHEATED roasting pan.
Be careful hot pan will sizzle.Place potatoes into oven.
After 15 minutes Shake pan and flip potatoes around. Bake potatoes for another 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
All done!
What’s a go-to side dish you love?
Our family usually sticks to the classics on Thanksgiving, but this is my first year eating grain free and it certainly requires more imagination.
I’ve been creating and testing different recipes in effort to create tastiest and healthiest Thanksgiving possible.
Of course I’lll splurge in some places but grains will stay off my plate. Dairy tho? Yep, I’m not cutting that out on the biggest food holiday of the year.
This one is good, and I like Acorn squash, I mean, I really like it.
Acorn squash is appropriately sweet. I think I could use it for a dessert, maybe even a pie.
However done, I will be using a lot more of the sweet little gourd.
This dish will more than likely replace my mac and cheese this year.
I haven’t had much luck finding delicious grain free pasta yet, if you know any good ones shout em’ out please. As of now no mac and cheese and I’m fine with that as long as this is on the menu.
Smoked Gouda cheese, Parm, and cream cheese makes this dish a star. Then you add the bacon and it’s out of this world.
This snow is really throwing me for a loop, I have no good natural light for taking food pics and I’m not comfortable driving in the messy road conditions which has me caged in like a bird.
I did send the Sr. plus one man-child out on a Trans Siberia mission for candied coated pecans, and Hennessy …please don’t judge me they’re just too addictive…the candied coated pecans I mean
Seriously after I sent them away, I had regrets as I watched the snow pick up and come down twice as fast and twice as large. As I looked out the window I thought to myself “all for some candied pecans and cocktails my babies may not make it home!” Great news they made it home, bad news the ABC store was closed, some more good news I got an early V-DAY gift and my candied coated pecans
Now on to these parsnip fries, I saw them first on Foodgawker and was instantly taken by the idea of beautifully roasted veggies that mimicked an indulgent french fry!
I’ve been cutting back on hidden sugars such as bread, grains, and white potatoes. So when I saw these parsnip fries which looked a whole lot like french fries I was completely in love with the whole idea. A straight up veggie that would act as a french fry, yep-yep!
Then I made them, and I fell in deeper love, they were so good I ate the whole batch to myself.
When I did finally decide to share… even my pickier eater was dipping these “fries” in ketchup like they were straight out of a happy meal.
I got so much joy watching her eat a veggie and enjoy them as if it were a piece of candy, Tehehe, I’m so sneaky!
I even made chili cheese “fries” with a bed of parsnips and they were a HIT!
This side was made specifically for the Red Wine Vinegar Chicken; the two dishes create balanced, complete, and delicious flavors when paired together.
The juices from the red wine sauce make this dish even more delightful, but it can also stand perfectly fine on its own.
I’ve eaten leftover couscous for breakfast on more than one occasion, I love the texture and consistency of the cute miniature pastas.
Plus whenever I eat it, I feel all exotic, I didn’t get the chance to eat couscous growing up, so when I it was introduced as an adult it became a cool addition to the kitchen repertoire.
This dish is super simple with beautiful color and subtle notes of refreshing flavors, that will please you and your family.
This version of Spanish Rice is creamy, with a little spice and provides major side dish comfort!
It’s creamy and soft and has a risotto like consistency and I promise you will feel like you spent hours in the kitchen after tasting this delightful yet so simple side dish.
This recipe goes great paired with Roasted Veggie Quesadillas.
I’ll just get right to this easy recipe!
We normally have BIG meals on Sunday! I usually do all my brine’s marinades etc, before church so as soon as we get home I can get down in the kitchen! This Sunday however I’m making a spread of some handy foods and easy to make snacks, for the Superbowl.
One item that play a major part in this year Superbowl spread are Jerk Pulled Pork Sliders topped with freshly homemade Cole slaw, and using the Jerk Pulled Pork Recipe!
Click here or the Jerk Pulled Pork Recipe.
All you need…..
12 Slider Buns
Cole Slaw (Recipe at the bottom)
Jerk Sauce (optional)
On warm bun, layer, pulled pork, a little jerk sauce and Cole slaw.
Enjoy!
This is a simple and easy recipe for Red Beans and Rice that goes with the Jerk Pulled Pork Tacos.
My babysitter was from Puerto Rico and according to the peeps, we went together like no pun intended, red beans and rice! I have remnants of memories which include Ms. Arlene ( her name) her beautiful smile and her delicious food!After extended stays with Ms. Arlene all I wanted to eat were beans and rice, being that she was from the islands I’m sure hers were both authentic and heavenly, unfortunately with me and my awful memory, Ms. Arlene’s beans and rice are just a figment of my food imagination… …fortunately I make some heavenly beans and rice myself!
These won’t disappoint, and they make a quick and easy side in a snap!
Here’s the Jerk Pulled Pork BBQ recipe to go with the dish!
I already have two different candied yam recipes here on my blog, one is healthy candied yam another is a sautéed stove-top candied yam.
I saw that many of the view which led to those recipes were searches for baked candied yam recipes. So I wanted to help you out with an easy and simple traditional recipe, my families candied yam recipe!
It’s a simple and easy dish that doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients.
All you need is…….
5 Sweet Potatoes/ Yams Peeled and chopped
6 Tablespoons softened salted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2-3 granny red delicious apples peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon vanilla
Pre-heat oven to 350
Peel cut and rinse off sweet potatoes/yams. (optional: peel and chop apples)
Mix butter, cinnamon, potatoes, apples, granulated sugar, nutmeg and vanilla. Sprinkle brown sugar on top.
Cover with lid or wrap tightly in foil, bake for 1 hour, then remove top, and bake for another 10 minutes.
This great southern side never gets old! The sweet side fits right in on almost any plate! Enjoy!
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