#Gluten Free Double Crunch Apple French Toast

#Gluten Free Double Crunch Apple French Toast

The Other day we went out for breakfast and one of my friends had this French toast that she said was coated in a sweet cereal that had a peanut butter flavoring. It sounded awesome, It was served with fresh berries chocolate chips and bananas. I knew that I what I had to do is to recreate this great  french toast. I  knew that I had to recreate this fabulous breakfast so my family and I could enjoy this special breakfast.

Serving Size 6 pieces

#Gluten Free Double Crunch Apple French Toast Ingredients:

4 eggs
(1) 4 ounce container or apple sauce

1/4 cup of cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup of home made gluten free flour

6 pieces of your favorite gluten free bread

 butter or cooking spray

Equipment 

Whisk

Large Bowl

Small Bowl

Grill or frying pan

Spatula

Directions:

Preheat grill and either spray or butter grill.

In a large bowl whisk together first, four ingredients until well blended.

In a separate bowl  pour about a cup of home made gluten free flour . Next dip bread in egg mixture then into home made gluten free flour. Then back in the egg mixture again.

Next place on preheated grill then in about 2 minutes flip over when golden and crunchy. Repeat for the other side.

Cut in half on the diagonal dust with powder sugar and serve with fresh fruit and eggs and maple glazed bacon. 

Enjoy and I will be sharing my maple glazed recipe soon.

Sheila~

Beet Greens #gluten free and tasty

Do you like eating collard greens? Well I do and I hate to waste food. When I buy beets I never throw out the stems. I simply do this....

Cut the Greens away from the beets leaving a small amount of stem.

Place in sink or tub with Water and salt to kill any bugs.

Place in a pan with steamer and steam until wilted mine took about 5 to 7 minutes. Then coat with olive oil salt and pepper.

Last garnish with a little butter and toss until full coated serve with my fried chicken recipe which I will post later on next week.


Enjoy and Bon Appetit

Sheila Fretz

#GlutenFree Butternut Squash and Apple Cabbage Rolls

I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving. As you know I shared a recipe with you from my sweet neighbor Miss Kitty. After a long week of traveling for my job. I decided that I would make a new creation inspired by my sweet neighbors cabbage rolls.  Plus since its Monday its a Meat less dish for my vegetarian following. I hope you enjoy and have had a great and fabulous holiday season.

Butternut Squash and Apple Cabbage Rolls Ingredients

½ of a large butternut Squash ( Should Yield 4 cups after shredding)
2 Apple Peeled and Shredded
½ of a chopped onion
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
½ Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup uncooked cleaned rice
1 Head of Cabbage
Cabbage Roll Sweet and Savory Sauce Ingredients

2 cans crushed Tomatoes
1 cup brown sugar
1 lemon (the juice of)
Equipment:

9"x13" Cake Pan COLLECTION: Anolon Bronze Bakeware
Large Bowl
Food Processor with shredding blade
Sauce pan
Wooden Spoon or silicone spoonula
The day before or morning you want to make these make sure you do not clean and freeze the cabbage for 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Defrost and core and clean cabbage leaves in cold water.

Peel and Slice to fit Food Processor

Shred Butternut squash in food processor.

Next peel and Chop apples to fit in Food Processor

Then Chop a half of a onion.

Clean Rice in colander

Place all of butternut Squash apples in a large bowl then add Sugar, salt pepper and cleaned rice and toss.

In a sauce pan add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, the juice of a lemon and brown sugar so you have a sweet and savory tasting sauce.

Take a 9"x13" Cake Pan COLLECTION: Anolon Bronze Bakeware spray with Cooking spray then add enough sauce to pan to cover
 bottom.

Take cleaned and cored leaves and place butternut Squash  in center

Next fold like this

Then Roll like this

Next place in 9"x13" Cake Pan COLLECTION: Anolon Bronze Bakeware side by side in rows.

Place in rows until full

Then pour sauce on top

Cover in Aluminum foil bake for 2 hours.

Let cool. You might be tempted and can eat them that night.

But I prefer to wait and eat the next day after reheating at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.


Bon Appetit and Enjoy


Sheila _

The Desert Where a lot of Vegetables are grown except Tomatoes and Capresi Salad

So the other day a dear friends and neighbors of mine asked me to stop buy. I had just gotten home from the Coachella Valley , Palm Springs to La Quinta then back to Los Angeles after 3 days in the desert  and on top of all that the High was 122 and the low was 92 and raining. Did you know that they grow a lot of different fruits and vegetables out in the desert like table grapes, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit; onions and leeks; and peppers. The Coachella Valley grows alfalfa, artichokes, avocados, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, corn, cotton, cucumbers, dandelions (salad greens), eggplant, figs, grains (i.e. barley, oats, rye and wheat; plus rice fields kept wet or moist in the Salton Sea area), hops, kohlrabi, lettuce, mangoes, nectarines and peaches, persimmons, plums and prunes, pomegranate, potatoes, radishes, spinach, strawberries, sugar cane, tomatoes, a variety of herbs and spices, and other vegetable crops.

So by the time I got home I was exhausted. So I asked my friends if it could wait and they said NO! So even though they live 5 houses away, I drove to their home. Which I was happy I did because look what I was lucky enough to score! These beautiful Tomatoes that were born not in the Coachella Valley but in Camarillo, California at Houweling's Tomatoes in  the County of Ventura.   Where they also grow a variety of fruits and vegetables including celery, tomatoes,  blueberries, raspberries strawberries and a lot of other fruits and vegetables just to highlight a few. My friend Scott visited there farm and see what they were up to plus bring back a wealth of tomatoe knowledge and shared some of it with me. Like did you know that in a green house you can grow a variety of tomatoes 52 weeks a year. 

So This week with my abundance of Tomatoes I'm going to share a couple recipes that are quick and easy and include these beautiful tomatoes.

Capresi Salad Ingredients:

3 to 4 Tomatoes thinly sliced of your choice

Fresh Mozerella thinly sliced

Fresh Basil chopped 

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Balsamic Glaze (optional)

    

Slice Tomatoes

   

Next place a varied amount of colors on a plate.

Then cover with Freshly sliced Mozerella cheese and fresh basil and drizzle either olive oil of Balsamic glaze 

Enjoy

Sheila Fretz

Red, White and Green Pasta Served Hot or Cold

I hope all is well with you guys this week, I'm still swamped so here is a fabulous recipe from my archives that is well worth making this time of year. I love creating recipes that can be served hot or cold, especially in those warm winter or summer months. I am always looking for a meatless Gluten Free meal. 

Red, White and Green Pasta Served Hot or Cold Ingredients:
1 Bag of Penne Pasta Gluten Free
1 bullion cube
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 cup olive oil
8-10 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Pepper
The juice of One Large Lemon
1 cup of grated Parmesan
25 fresh basil leaves chopped about a ½ cup
1 cup of chopped buffalo mozzarella
6 small tomatoes Chopped about a cup

Cook Pasta according to directions adding in 2 tablespoons Olive Oil this help the pasta from not sticking and 1 bullion cube to flavor the pasta.
After Pasta is cooked strain and set aside.

In the same pan that you boiled the pasta in place 1/4 cup olive oil, 8-10 cloves of garlic minced or grated, 2 teaspoons Salt & 2 teaspoons Pepper cook until golden.

Add the juice of a lemon being careful to not add the seeds.

Simmer on low heat next adding cooked penne pasta tossing until evenly coated with Lemon Garlic sauce.

Add in your Parmesan and coat noodles thoroughly.

After Cheese has pretty much melted into noodles add last three ingredients tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil. Toss and serve either chilled or right out of the Pot! You decide.


Enjoy,

Sheila Fretz

St. Joseph's day on a Meatless Monday Lemon Asparagus tomato Pasta

With St. Joseph’s day today and it being meatless Monday also. I thought I would share with you a recipe for St. Joseph’s day and a meatless one and here are some other St. Joseph's Day recipes if you don't want a meatless one. I love to create recipes that are using what ever you have in the refrigerator. I have had many a meal that I have gotten home from work and both husband and daughter are very hungry and its Monday night and my farmers market is not until Tuesday night. So by then the vegetables are not as fresh as I will by tomorrow. So I looked in my refrigerator and I had a basket of organic cherry tomatoes a half of bunch of asparagus a lemon and some Parmesan cheese. So with two hungry bodies I started to boil my water for the pasta.

Lemon Asparagus Tomato Pasta
2 Cups of Cherry or Grape Tomatoes.
20 stalks of Asparagus
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 lemon for juice
2 cups of Parmesan Cheese shredded
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garlic
Gluten Free Pasta


Boil Pasta in water with a couple cloves of garlic..

Tip of Day: In order to have a great Gluten Free Pasta here’s my secret, I either flavor water with salt or a bullion cube and if I want that extra garlic flavor I will boil a couple of cloves of garlic.
The best way to make gluten free pasta is to boil water first add pasta and flavoring then constantly stir for 7 minutes so it does not stick together. Then let it sit in water with no heat for 3 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly in hot water so pasta gets the starch off of it. Gluten free pasta is a little bit soupy when you cook this way but once you rinse you will see the difference.

Chop Asparagus in 2 to 3 inch strips. On a large Cookie sheet place Asparagus and Tomato

After pasta is cooked add the juice of a lemon.

Next add vegetables

Then Cheese toss and serve.



Enjoy and Bon Appetit-


Sheila Fretz

Artichoke Macaroni and Cheeses in individual carafes

Valentines day is right around the corner. What do you have planned for your special someone in your life? My husband and I have a tradition in our family  that every other year we take care of the meal. So this year is my year so my plan is to broil heart shaped T-Bone steaks and serve them with a fresh green salad and a gluten free banana cream pie de-constructed. Which I will share with you on a later date.

But because today is Meatless Monday I am going to share my new recipe for Artichoke Macaroni and Cheeses in individual carafes. A cross between hot artichoke dip and macaroni and cheese so yummy and tasty.

Artichoke Macaroni and Cheeses in individual carafes Ingredients:
3 cups gluten free cooked penne pasta
2 Cups Marinated Artichokes
2 Cups Parmesan Cheese
2 Cups Cheddar Cheese
½ cup of Corn Starch
1 ½ cups Half and Half
1 ½ cups Milk
½ of one Large Onion chopped
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons Nutmeg
Gluten Free Bread crumbs
Cooking Spray

Equipment:
(12) 6 “ Carafes
1 Baking Sheet
Lined with liner of parchment or silpat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Boil Penne 7 minutes constantly shirring turn of burner and let sit for 3 minutes in water do not move or stir.  Next rinse thoroughly and chill.

In a separate pan heat up Olive Oil and butter in a pan when warm add chopped onion until golden.

Make a bechamel sauce by adding  cornstarch make a rue

Then add Half and Half, Milk, Salt,  Pepper and Nutmeg, bring to a boil until thickens.

Place in refrigerator to cool.

When cooling grate both the Parmesan and Cheddar Cheese.

Chop Artichokes.

In a large bowl place Artichokes, Parmesan Cheese, Cheddar Cheese and Gluten Free Pasta in a bowl.

Toss together next toss in  bechamel in with pasta artichoke cheese mixture.

Spray carafes with cooking spray

Stuff with pasta Mixture

Cover with bread crumbs and bake for 45 minutes


Tip of the day: If you don't have gluten free bread crumbs take 5 or 6 pieces of bread place in Cuisinart with 2 tablespoons butter which will help brown evenly.


Have a great and Happy Valentines Day with who ever you choose to celebrate with, it's all about love in our lives in many different ways.


Enjoy

Sheila Fretz