Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 (4.25-oz.) box Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins
• 1/4 cup Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds, finely chopped
• 1 (1-oz.) packet dry gluten-free ranch dressing mix
• 1/3 cup light gluten-free ranch dressing
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1 1/4 lbs. chicken tenderloin or 1 1/2-inch cubes boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking sheet with gluten-free nonstick cooking spray. Place Blue Diamond Nut Thins in a gallon-size bag and fold over the top. Crush with a rolling pin until chips are in tiny pieces. Add Blue Diamond Almonds and dry ranch dressing mix to bag and shake well to mix.
2. Stir together ranch dressing and butter in another medium bowl. Dip each chicken tenderloin in ranch dressing and shake off excess. Roll in chip mixture, pressing into the surface to coat well; place on prepared baking sheet. Coat with nonstick cooking spray and bake for 10 minutes. Coat with cooking spray again and cook for 10 minutes more.

Quick tip: Any of the coating mixture that falls off the chicken after cooking is great sprinkled over a tossed green salad or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 2 summer squash
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce

Directions:

1. Using a mandolin, grate each squash down the long way to make long, thin strips.
2. Place the strips on top of each other and slice them all the long way to form thin ribbons.
3. Place the squash in boiling water for 1 min and then drain well. Plate up and top with your favorite sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 pound ground chicken thigh
• ½ orange pepper, finely diced
• ¼ -½ red onion, finely diced
• ¼ -½ white onion, finely diced
• ½ Anaheim pepper, finely diced
• Handful fresh cilantro chopped
• 3 TB creamy tomatillo salsa
• Sea salt & pepper to taste
• Virgin coconut oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 TB tapioca flour

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Spoon mixture into pan preheated medium high.
3. Use medium scoop, approximately 2 TB to make them mini burgers.
4. Cook until brown on the bottom and the sides start to cook. Turn over, cook until firm to the touch and cooked all the way through.

Optional:

Serve with mini black bean cakes and top with tomato salsa and tomatillo salsa. Add some tortilla chips for more crunch and texture.

Ingredients:

• 1 package extra-firm organic tofu
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup gluten-free Italian bread crumbs (I use Gillian’s)
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare the tofu by removing from package and pressing for two hours. Cut into cubes.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat (You want the oil to be hot, but not smoking. The tofu should sizzle when added to the pan).

3. Sprinkle half of the bread crumbs on the tofu and add to the pan. Fry, turning, until golden and crispy (approximately five to seven minutes). While you are turning the tofu, sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs over the squares.

4. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate with a paper towel. While still hot, sprinkle with salt to taste.

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound gluten-free quinoa elbows
• 2 cups of 1% milk
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend
• 6 ounces Gruyere, grated (2 cups)
• 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (1 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/3 pound fresh tomatoes (2 small)
• 3/4 cup brown rice bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Drizzle oil and add 1 T. salt to a large pot of boiling water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 5-8 minutes. Drain well and rinse pasta with cold water.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt 3 T. of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the gluten-free flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 T. salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish.

Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 1 T. of butter, combine with the bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Note: You can make this dish ahead of time – just add the tomatoes and bread crumbs right before putting it into the oven.

Prep Time: 25 Min
Start to Finish: 50 Min
12 Servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked gluten-free elbow macaroni
• 3 cups Corn Chex cereal, finely crushed
• 2½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon store-bought gluten-free
• flour blend
• 1 cup whole milk, warmed
• 2¼ cups cooked gluten-free elbow macaroni
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, plus 1 egg white,
• beaten until stiff but not dry
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Cook and drain macaroni as directed on package.

2. Move oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 12 regular-size muffin cups.

3. In a medium bowl, mix crushed cereal, 1 cup of the cheese and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Divide
mixture among muffin cups; press firmly in bottom and up sides of cups with spoon.

4. In 3-quart saucepan, stir together remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter and flour blend with whisk; cook over medium heat 1 minute. Gradually stir in warmed milk with whisk; cook and stir about 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup of the cheese until melted. Stir in cooked macaroni, egg yolk and salt. Fold in beaten egg white. Spoon about ¼ cup of the macaroni mixture into each crust-lined cup. Top with remaining ½ cup cheese.

5. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden and puffed. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm.

Note: Look for gluten free on packaging. Wheat Chex and Multi-Bran Chex are not gluten-free.

4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes.
Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins.
Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
Bake for another 15 minutes.

Yes – better than your Mom’s meatballs and spaghetti. (Actually I never remember eating homemade meatballs as a kid, but the title sounded catchy!) The kids in our family out-number the adults, so the recipes posted here are designed with kids in mind. However, these meatballs are so good that adults will not be able to turn them down. No compromising for the kids on this meal these are the kind you get at a good (family oriented) restaurant.

Yes, they are time consuming. Anytime you put the words homemade and meatballs together, you are in for a couple of hours. So put on some good music (Madeleine Peyroux is good for meatballs) and roll up your sleeves.

For the Meatballs
1 pound sausage (we love Beelers breakfast sausage) or for a milder meatball use ½ pound veal and ½ pound pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs (make your own by taking stale bread and whirling it in the food processor or use Ener-G crackers or Hol-Grain Brown Rice Bread Crumbs)
1 t parsley flakes (or 2 T chopped fresh)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (use Vegan Grated Topping for CF)
2 t kosher salt
½ t pepper
1 egg beaten
½ cup warm water
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the Sauce
1 T good olive oil
1 chopped yellow onion
1 ½ t minced garlic
½ cup red wine such as Chianti
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
½ t parsley flakes (or 1 T chopped fresh)
1 ½ t kosher salt
½ t pepper
Of course, 1 ½ pounds GF spaghetti

Mix the ground meats, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg and ½ cup warm water in a bowl.

With your hands, lightly form 2-inch meatballs. Yields 14-16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable and olive oil in a large skillet to ¼ inch depth. Heat the oil. Brown the meatballs on medium-low heat in batches (it took me 3 batches). Carefully turn them to brown all sides – tongs work well for this. It takes about 10 minutes for each batch.

Remove the meatballs to a plate and discard the oil, but do not clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent, 5 – 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates – about 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper. At this point I set aside a little of the sauce for the vegetarian in the family.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.

Serve over cooked spaghetti with grated Parmesan cheese,Caesar salad and Chebe bread sticks.

For many more delicious recipes like this one visit Gluten Free Mom