Risotto-Stuffed Zucchini Boats (A GF Kitchen Adventure)

I've never been very good about eating my vegetables.  I know they're important, and I try to be diligent about eating them, but I often end up with a giant bowl of gf macaroni and cheese instead.

Recently, when I started seeing recipes for zucchini boats all over the internet, I tried a sausage stuffed zucchini boat recipe from Skinny Taste.  I thought it was a pretty tasty and inventive way to eat a sizable serving of veggies.

All the recipes I've seen for zucchini boats include some sort of tomato sauce, though, and I'd take a cheese sauce over a tomato sauce any day of the week.  That's why I decided to try filling a zucchini boat with risotto!

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
A dash or two of salt and pepper
3/4 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f.
2.  Slice the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out its insides to make 2 boats with 1/4 inch thick walls.  Place the boats on a cookie sheet and set it aside for later.
3.  Pour the olive oil into a pan over medium heat.
4.  Add the onions to the pan and let them cook for 2 minutes.
5.  Add the garlic and the salt and pepper and cook for 1 more minute.
6.  Add the rice and stir it so it becomes coated in the olive oil.  Cook it for 3 minutes. stirring occasionally.
7.  Add the chicken broth, turn up the heat, and bring it to a boil.
8.  Once the broth begins to boil, pour the contents of the pan into the zucchini boats, making sure to have the same rice to liquid ratio in both boats.
9.  Cover the boats with tin foil and bake them for 20 minutes.
10.  Remove the boats from the oven and carefully stir most of the cheese into the risotto in the boats.  Re-cover them and return them to the oven for 5 more minutes.
11.  Take them out of the oven, top each boat with the remainder of the grated cheese and serve.

I think this recipe was a success and I'll totally make it again.

I will admit, however, that about 2/3 of the way through my boat, when I started to feel full, the non-vegetable-eater in me came out and I ditched the boat and just ate the risotto.  Old habits die hard, I guess..

Happy cooking!
xoxo
Laura

Potato-Crusted Fried Green Beans

There's a TGI Friday's near our apartment so we hang out there sometimes.  My friend, Katie, orders the fried green beans every time we go, and I always feel a little bit jealous.

Yesterday I decided to try making them gluten free at home with boxed mashed potatoes instead of flour and it totally worked!  Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
Green beans
2 egg whites
Boxed mashed potatoes (I used Idahoan Original Mashed Potatoes.  If you use a different brand, make sure they're gluten free.)
Salt and pepper
Oil

Directions:
1.  Pour an inch of oil into a medium-sized pot and heat it to 350 degrees f.
2.  Separate the eggs and pour the whites into a bowl.
3.  Combine 1/2 cup mashed potatoes, 1 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper onto a plate or shallow bowl.
4.  Dip each green bean into the egg whites, then the potato mixture, then drop them into the pot of oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until they're golden brown.
5.  Scoop the beans out of the oil and place them onto a paper towel on a plate.
6.  Sprinkle with salt and serve!

These were so crunchy and delicious!  Justin and I also think it would be fun to try making them with flavored mashed potato mixes like the pouch of bacon & cheddar chipotle potatoes that's currently sitting in our cupboard.  I'll let you know how it goes if we do it.

Happy frying!
xoxo
Laura

A Bit of Silliness

This morning, I set the dial on my crock pot to low and headed out the door, feeling great about the yummy dinner I was going to make.  This evening I came home from work to find that I hadn't actually cooked anything.

It doesn't help to turn on a machine if it isn't plugged in!  Aaah!  That's life, eh?  We went out to dinner instead, and the blog post that I was planning to write about the aforementioned dinner will happen tomorrow instead.

Has this ever happened to you too?

Until tomorrow...
xoxo
Laura

Pepperoni Polenta Pizza Recipe

For today's gluten free kitchen adventure, I decided to make mini pizzas using polenta slices instead of regular crust.

Unfamiliar with polenta?  It's basically just ground and cooked cornmeal that you can buy in tube-form at any major grocery store.  I like it because it has a surprisingly creamy flavor to it, and that's exactly what it adds to these little pizzas.  Don't expect them to taste the same as regular pizza; they are their own (delicious) animal.

This recipe yields 8 mini pizzas and takes 20 minutes to make (only 10 of those minutes are hands-on).

Ingredients:
1 tube polenta
8 tbs spaghetti sauce (I used Classico four cheese)*
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 of an onion
1 clove garlic
16 pepperoni slices (I used Hormel Natural Choice uncured pepperoni)*
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

*The brands I used are gluten free. Other brands of these products may contain gluten, so check their labels before you use them.

Directions:
- Cut 8 thin 1/4 inch slices from the polenta, place them on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake them in a 350 degree (F) preheated oven for 15 minutes.

- While the polenta is in the oven, mince the pepperoni, onion, and garlic.  Place the pepperoni aside for later.

-  Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a small sauce plan.

-  When the polenta is finished baking, remove the pan from the oven and layer the toppings onto each polenta slice in the following order: a spoonful of spaghetti sauce, a pinch of garlic and onions, several pinches of cheese, a sprinkling of pepperoni pieces.

-  Put the pan back into the oven to bake for 5 more minutes.

-  Remove from the oven, serve, and enjoy!

If you make these, let me know what you think of them!  I really hope you like them as much as I did.

Happy cooking!
xoxo
Laura

Gluten Free Kitchen Adventures

Did you know that I have celiac disease?

Yep I have it, and I can't eat gluten because of it.  (No, not even a little bit, and yes I thought I would "die" without pizza too.  I didn't die though, and neither would you.  You'd just go to the health food store and buy gluten free pizza like I do.)  Life on the gluten free diet is super hard if you live on a cruise ship where your only meal options are in a cafeteria, but if you live on land and have a kitchen it can be just fine.  If you have a good attitude about it, it can actually open up a whole new world of food-related creativity.

I have a kitchen this summer (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I'm going to start a recurring segment on Creating Laura that's all about my kitchen adventures.  Each week I'll be taking a traditional dinner staple, turning it gluten free, and posting the recipe in case you want to make it too.

Not gluten free?  Don't worry, these won't be boring gluten free recipes where I just substitute gluten free flour for wheat flour.  These will be fun, quirky, and unexpected combinations of ingredients that will be yummy to eat, gluten or no gluten.

I'll be back tomorrow with the first recipe!
xoxo
Laura

DIY Washi Tape Recipe Notebook (with free Printable)

There's only one week left until I head off to my next ice show contract.  (Eek.)  I've been doing a bit of packing and a lot of crafting to gear up for this next adventure.

I'll have a full kitchen on this next contract and I couldn't be more excited about it!  I've been pinning recipes on pinterest, checking out cookbooks from the library, and leafing through cooking magazines in checkout lines like a woman who is totally obsessed.

The obsession has been paying off, though, and I've amassed tons of recipes that I can't wait to make this summer.  I wanted to keep all those recipes in one organized place, so I decided to make a recipe notebook.  This notebook needed some washi tape on it.  Obviously.

You can download the Yum! printable right here.

Here's what you'll need if you want to make this notebook too:

1.  A notebook.  I used a 9" by 12" sketch pad that was on sale at Micheals for $5.
2.  The printed out Yum! printable
3.  A piece of thick paper to go in between the notebook cover and the printable so the design on the cover of the notebook won't be visible through the printable.
4.  Two kinds of washi tape
5.  Scissors

Directions:

Start by printing and cutting out the free printable Yum!

Now set the Yum! aside and start washi taping the notebook.  Yes, I did just use "washi taping" as a verb.

1.  Cut the thick piece of paper so it's the same size as the notebook, place it on top of the notebook, and use washi tape to secure the two outside corners (the top right and bottom right) so that it looks like there is a triangle of washi tape in those two spots.

2.  Place 4 more strips of washi tape on the bottom right corner of the notebook, parallel to the strip in the corner, wrapping the excess tape around onto the back of the cover.  Do the same thing on the bottom left corner, but don't wrap the tape around the cover yet.  Instead, leave the excess tape hanging off the cover (as pictured above) and then cut it off of the side with the spiral binding with scissors once you've placed all 5 strips of tape.  Now you can wrap the excess tape on the bottom edge around the cover.  Tape the top corners exactly as you taped the bottom corners.

3.  Now that all of the corners are taped, it's time to fill in the middle.  Starting at the bottom and working your way up, apply 5 more strips of washi tape as pictured above.  This time the tape will be horizontal instead of diagonal.  Cut off the rough edges of the tape strips diagonally so they match up with the diagonal tape.

4.  Repeat step 3 on the remaining 3 sides of the cover.  Once you've done that, your notebook should look like the 4th picture above.

Now it's time to place the Yum! printable in the middle of the notebook and tape down it's entire perimeter using the second type of washi tape.  You're notebook cover is all finished (yay!) and it should now look like the very first picture in this post.

Fill the inside of your notebook with recipes from all over the place: cutouts from magazines, printouts from websites, handwritten notes from your parents' kitchen, etc.

To add a little extra flair, use washi tape to tape in the recipes.  That way the inside of the notebook matches the cover and the whole thing will feel more cohesive.

I found that most printouts from websites will already have the recipe source printed somewhere on the page (like the Caramelized Peach and Brie Quesadilla with Honey Recipe from Oprah.com).  If the printout doesn't have that, or if you're using a recipe from a magazine or a book, make sure that you write down where the recipe came from.  That way you can refer back to the original source if you ever want to share the recipe with a friend or write about it on your blog.  (I'm a firm believer in citing your sources!)

I'm super excited to get cooking, and I hope that this post has inspired you too!  What are your favorite recipes?

Happy cooking!
xoxo
Laura

Week in Review (Jan 27-Feb 2)

Here's a quick look back at some of the little things that made last week special:

Did you do anything fun this week?
xoxo
Laura

(Gluten-Free) Pumpkin Pie!

Last weekend, my good friend hosted an early Thanksgiving party, and when he invited me, I offered to bring a homemade pie.  I don't really know why I did it, seeing as how I had never made a pie in my life.  I guess I was just so taken with the idea of being the sort of girl who whips up a pie to bring to a friend's house that I lost touch with reality for a second.  I started kicking myself as soon as I walked away.  But here's the thing: situations like this are exactly why I started this blog.  I genuinely want to be able to do things like this.  So on the morning of the gathering I took a deep breath, asked my mom a lot of questions, and went for it.

Crust:

I really lucked out with the crust because my dad had made extra gluten free dough and put it in the freezer, so all I had to do was roll it out, put it back in the fridge for 20 minutes to make it easier to work with, and then shape it into the pie pan.  He made the dough from the Gluten Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust mix, and it tastes great; my gluten-eating friends didn't notice a difference.


Filling Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cups evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425
• Beat eggs
• Gradually add sugar while beating
• Add pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, salt and beat well
• Add cream
• Beat well
• Pour into crust
• Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then 350 for 50 minutes

When I finished beating the pie filling, I got really nervous because it seemed like way too much of a liquid, but it thankfully turned into the right consistency once I baked it.



Doesn't the finished product look nice next to the pumpkin I carved for Halloween?  I was so happy when I brought it to the party and everyone liked it.  I succeeded!



I hope you have an equally happy and successful Thanksgiving!
xoxo
Laura

(Gluten-Free) Pumpkin Cookies

Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and one of the reasons why is all the yummy food.  (Two words: Halloween, Thanksgiving.  Enough said.)  Every fall, for as long as I can remember, my mom has baked her homemade pumpkin cookies and I love them with all of my heart.  Today, I decided to try to make them myself!



That is a picture of my mom's recipe.  It changed slightly a few years ago when I found out that I couldn't eat gluten anymore, but all my mom did was replace the flour with a gluten-free flour mix.  If you are a gluten eater and you would like to make this recipe, regular flour will still work great.



Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour mix (make sure it includes either xanthan gum or guar gum for texture)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:                                                                                                                          

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy.
• Beat in egg, orange extract, and vanilla.
• Stir in pumpkin.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
• Add flour mixture to egg mixture, mixing well.
• Drop by rounded tablespoons onto greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.

Today's batch turned out delicious, and now the house smells great.

I'm calling it a success.
xoxo
Laura