1st Pantry Casserole

This blog was finished way back when, I guess I forgot to hit publish! Enjoy!

03/18/12

So I decided that there was definitely not enough food in the house for us to eat for the week. Muffins and scones are not the only things that need to be coming out of my oven. I tend to bake a lot more than I cook, so I figured that casseroles may be the answer. Yesterday, I made a Tuna noodle casserole (blog on that later) and baked muffins and scones. Not exactly the most healthy day, more sweets being created than food. Oh well, I love baking!

After pulling out almost everything from my cabinets the refried beans caught my eye….I went Mexican.

I have been very hesitant to eat any Mexican food since returning from Texas because the Mexican food there is to die for! I didn’t want to ruin the memory of the last amazing bite of the enchilada I had while sitting in the blue goose restaurant eating way more than any human being should in one night. I swear that’s all we did on vacation, eat. GF options everywhere!!! Amazing.

This casserole is also vegetarian, no meat needed here 🙂

Took my first bite just now and wow, it’s pretty flipping awesome. Yup, pantry casseroles are happening weekendly from now on. Yea, that’s right I made up a word, weekendly. I would like to get a little more creative and I think this is a great way to do it.

So, here is my recipe, It is SUPER hard so you may want to enlist help. Ha.

Mexican Pantry Casserole

1 shallot chopped

half a jalepeno minced (depending on how hot you like it, I am pretty much a wus so I go with half)

1 orange pepper chopped

1 yellow pepper chopped

1 cup wild rice mix (before cooking)

10oz can enchilada sauce

16oz can refried pinto beans

15oz can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

9 corn tortillas

1 bagish(not exactly sure how much I had) of mexican blend shredded cheese

cumin

chili powder

salt and pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

canola oil

Put a very small amount of oil into a skillet. Season jalepeno, orange & yellow peppers and shallots with chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste. Cook only until soft. Remove from heat.

Cook wild rice mix according to package. Season with some salt.

Oil bottom of a 9×12 pyrex baking dish. Place 4 corn tortillas on bottom. Sprinkle small amount of cheese. Then add all of the wild rice as the first layer. Season with some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder to taste. Sprinkle in some cheese. Next make a layer of the refried beans (I warmed them up in the microwave so they would be easier to spread out). Sprinkle in some cheese. Next make a layer with the corn and black beans.

After that put the cooked jalepeno, peppers and shallots in a layer. Sprinkle a bunch of cheese here (make sure to save a good amount for the top of the casserole). Now the 5 remaining corn tortillas are place on top to cover as much area as possible.

Pour the can of enchilada sauce over the whole thing making sure to wet all of the tortillas and try to make it even on both sides. Finally sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Bake in oven at 350°F for about 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and delicious smelling. 🙂

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Tuna Noodle Casserole – Ahh yes, Comfort Food.

This one is at M’s request. He used to make it for us before I was GF and this is the first time I am trying to do it GF. It is in the oven as I type and it smells delicious so I am hoping it is good.

Here is the recipe I used:

I adapted a non GF recipe to GF, thank you dine and dish!: http://dineanddish.net/2009/03/what-is-comfort-recipe-tuna-noodle-casserole/

I also adapted it to fit my pantry. I didn’t have the right sizes so I winged it.

1/2 cup of cooked peas

12oz can of Tuna, drained

A little more than half a bag of Tinkyada fusili – read about 8 oz (not my favorite shape, but seemed like it would hold up well)

1/2 cup of milk

1 12oz box of Pacific Natural Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup of crushed potato chips (that’s all I had, if I had more I would have put a cup)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

pinch of seasoned salt and a pinch of pepper

You can change all the measurements for the spices, this was my initial go.

Cook Pasta according to package.

Cook Peas.

Preheat oven to 375°C

Combine cooked peas, tuna, cooked pasta, milk, cream of mushroom soup, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt and pepper in a bowl. Transfer to a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle potato chips on top as evenly as possible. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

UPDATE: Hardly any left after one day. Yummmmy in my tummy!

 

Addendum: I made this again this week. I used almond milk, which worked perfectly. I also used two slices of bacon which I cooked until very crispy and then crumbled it into the pasta, tuna, soup mixture. M’s eyes told the whole story. It was perfection! So you can try that variation if you like 🙂

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OMG, Scones.

I really didn’t know that I LOVED scones or even liked them, but apparently I do! The title of the blog is what I posted on my M’s Facebook page (while he was at work, eek that was probably not the best idea) while I was eating the first one. Warm and delicious from the oven. “OMG, Scones”.

Originally I was going to go with the recipe, because it is the first time I was making them and I like to see what I want to tweak after making it by the letter the first time. This meant that these scones would have raisins in them and cinnamon on top. Instead, I decided I wanted to put raisins (more than called for), chocolate chips and chopped walnuts in them along with cinnamon on top. Yummmmmmy, at least it was a good decision! So, I have very inaccurate measurements for those things. Sorry!

They are the embodiment of perfection! And they look kind of pretty too! Go me!

When M tried them he said that the chocolate chips made them. He also added that he used to think scones were just a crappy version of muffins. He no longer thinks that!

Recipe: From “Gluten Free Baking” by Rebecca Reilly

1 cup brown rice flour                                               1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1/2 cup tapioca starch                                              1/2 cup golden raisins, soaked for 10 minutes in hot water and drained

1/2 cup almond flour                                               2 eggs

1/4 cup potato starch                                              1 tablespoon honey

2 1/4 tsp gluten free baking powder                    1/3 – 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp xanthum gum                                             Cinnamon Sugar for sprinkling

1/4 tsp salt

I used just ground cinnamon without the sugar. I also used about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and walnuts together. Not a 1/3 cup each.

Preheat to 400°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease sheet and dust with rice flour.

Mix together brown rice flour, tapioca flour, almond flour, potato starch, baking powder, xantham gum and salt. Add butter and use fingertips to work it into the dry ingredients forming a coarse meal. Toss raisins in (and walnuts and chocolate :)). Make a well in the dry ingredients. Break eggs into well. Add honey and some of the cream. Using a fork, begin mixing the wet ingredients together and then  slowly incorporate the dry. Add more cream to form a soft but not wet dough.

Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured counter. Press into a flat cake about 1/2 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the dough. (I don’t have a biscuit cutter to I cut it into 8 slices). Place scones on baking sheet. Brush with some heavy cream and sprinkle with cinnamon (and sugar if desired). Bake on the middle rack for 12-15 minutes. Check the bottoms of the scones; they should be golden brown when done.

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Quick Dinner Fix

I bought potatoes yesterday to make potato skins to go with the Hanger steak I have. I was way too tired yesterday to do all of that so I ended up making bean and cheese tacos ftw.

I grabbed the soft corn tortillas yesterday at the food store while I was picking up other items needed for the potato skins. This quick dinner consisted of 6 corn tortillas, cheddar cheese, a can of refried beans (only used a small amount of it), 2 scallions, some frozen corn, avocado and sour cream. I took these out of the fridge and cabinets and went to work . My food was done in 10 minutes; it was great to be able to have a dinner option that I didn’t have to slave over for hours to eat!

BONUS: there were already neatly cut up components to this meal in containers for when M got home from work!! Score for me, and clearly him 🙂

I steamed the corn for a few minutes, nuked the beans, cut up my scallions and avocado, toasted the tortillas on a hot pan for 20 secondsish, grated the cheese right onto the top and plopped on some sour cream before I wrapped it up.

Thanks mom for mentioning refried beans and letting me steal the rest of your frozen corn :), then I figured out how to do this in almost no time.

It’s definitely not like this is rocket science, but when all familiar things are gone (or you think they are) it become almost foreign to eat without it being a giant production. I have to gear up to think about gluten free food. Not think thoughts like, “Since now I am eating gluten free everything I know and love is gone and I can’t have anything I like”. Waaaaaaaa.

There are still a ton of options for me and anyone else with food restrictions, sometimes we just need to get a little more creative.

Food restrictions are one of the toughest treatment protocols to follow.

Tell me to take nasty medicine, fine. Tell me to have a PICC line put in and inject myself with antibiotics everyday, fine. Tell me to get a spinal tap, fine. Tell me to take 45 pills a day, fine. Tell me to go to a minimum of 2 Doctors every week for YEARS, fine. Tell me not to eat gluten or dairy or whatever it is and “Oh, there is no way in hell I can deal with that!!” “It’s too hard, I can’t handle it”. Haha

I remember crying in a doctors office when they told me I should stop eating dairy because I couldn’t imagine my life without ice cream…..guess what I still haven’t given dairy up, oh lactaid pills I love thee. I know, I know, one day I will give up dairy fully, but for now gluten is the major enemy and I think I am finally in the right state of mind to build up my arsenal to fight this battle and win gracefully.

Peace.

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