Advent Week 2 Meal Plan

Taco's

This week is a meal of preparation. It is definitely not a gourmet meal, it's VERY simple. But everyone can take part in making it! Prepare it together and eat together, after lighting the 2nd candle: Remember the Spanish speaking countries and South America at this meal.  Make this advent season a time to pray globally.

Working together the job gets done quicker.  And when we support our missionaries and are willing to be missionaries in our own communities, Christs salvation message spreads more quickly. Be a part of the great commission. God Prepared a place for Christ to be born, and has promised to prepare a place for us in heaven if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Taco's 
1 box of corn GF  Taco shells or 1 bag of corn chips.

1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 small onion chopped
S&P 1 can of beans (pick you favorite, black, chick, kidney, navy)
1/2 cup frozen corn

Taco Meat seasonings:
1/4 c water
1/4 cup GF ketchup
1/3 cup chunky salsa sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika 
2 dashes Hot pepper sauce


Toppings:
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Grated cheese
Salsa Sauce


Directions:
Brown the meat and onion. Add Salt and Pepper (S&P) and drain and add the beans and corn.Mix up the Meat seasoning and pour over mixture and simmer.

Serve hot in Taco shells or over a plate of chips and add your fresh toppings.

Have the younger members of you house pull the toppings from the fridge. Little ones can pull apart lettuce, older ones can cut cherry tomatoes in half  and teens can grate cheese. Everyone can prepare their own plate of food the way they like it!

Advent Week 1 Meal Plan

GF Lasagna and Latkes:

We are doing advent again this year, following last years outline. It is so wonderful, to see the children excited about lighting the candles every night and learning the memory verses.  We have added songs and I have been working out a meal plan for each Sunday night of  advent.

Here's our plan for the first night of advent:

Meal: 
      
Latkes:Serve with French Apple Sauce

We choose latkes because this is the week Hanuka begins and our first candle is Old Testament Prophecy. This week we pray for the nation of Israel, rejoice for the Christian Jews and pray for the opening of the hearts and protection of Jews world wide to the message of Christ. Christ IS the Savior promised to us in the Old Testament  !

Recipe:

• 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup canola oil, or as needed

you need a cheese cloth or open weave fabric to strain the potatoes...

1. Shred the potato and onions by hand or with your processor. remove from bowel onto the cheese cloth and wrap it up tight around the mixture. Squeeze hard, remove all the excess water from the potatoes and onion. 
2. Place back in bowl and add remaining ingredients.
3. Heat small amounts of canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Scoop up about 1/3 cup of the potato mixture per latke, and place into the hot oil. Press down into a patty.  Fry the patty until brown and crisp on the bottom, flip it, and cook the other side until brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the rest of the potato mixture, replenishing the oil as needed. Serve hot.

French Apple sauce:

4-6 large apples peeled and chopped into pieces

1/4 cup water

1tbsp butter

Place apples into a pot with the water and cook on low heat until they begin to soften. Stir to keep from burning. Do not mash the apples, the apples will fall apart on their own as the cook and are stirred.  When apples are chunky and soft like apple sauce, add the butter and remove from heat.  Serve hot over pancakes or latkes.

Lasagna made with homemade Gluten Free pasta

Ingredients:
Lasagna Noodles (see recipe for fresh variety)
1 large jar Tomato sauce
1 can mushrooms
1 recipe of meat mixture. (see below)

Pasta Recipe:
4 cups Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix (or all purpose wheat flour if you aren't GF)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (omit if using all purpose wheat flour)
2 t. salt
1/4 c. butter
1 c. boiling water
Mix all, (I used my bread machine) roll out really flat,

Ground Meat Mixture:
1 onion, diced small
1 lb ground beef or turkey
2 tsp garlic powder
Italian-type seasonings (oregano, basil, parsley, salt, pepper)
Brown together, remove from heat.
Add 1/4 c grated Parmesan and 1 egg.

Roll out the dough as  thin as possible but still holds together, and cut into strips that will fit your pan (Work quickly with the dough, as it dries out fast!)
Pour some tomato sauce into bottom of 9x13 a pan
Layer fresh noodles  into pan with the Ravioli meat mixture, mushrooms and tomato sauce. On the third layer of noodles add the remainder of the sauce and a layer of mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Place in oven at 350o for 45-60 min. covered. Uncover and cook 10 more minutes.

Creamy Asian Carrot Soup

I made up a new carrot soup recipe the other day, it vaguely resembles one I saw online but this one has no cream in it and more pantry ingredients. It also uses peanut butter (weird, but delicious!) which you can omit if there are allergies.

Creamy Asian Carrot Soup

3 cups of chopped carrots
4-5 cups water
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp celery seed or 1 stalk celery
1 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove garlic crushed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes ( I used our pizza seasoning herbs with pepper flakes)
Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender.
Add:
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp peanut butter
Puree all ingredients in a blender or with a hand blender in the pot
Add 1/3 cup of milk (we use rice milk) with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch mixed in. Put back on heat and stir constantly until it thickens a little. Serves 4-6

Make your own Ketchup!

DS1 on top of all his food problems is allergic to Ketchup. I don't know what or why, but he gets horrible leg cramps when he eats any bought variety. A wonderful friend of mine passed on their ketchup recipe that they use for their ADHD son, whom they removed red food coloring from his diet. So anyone who wishes a gourmet and fresher tasting, less sugar ketchup, here's the recipe!


Ketchup



2- 5.5 oz cans tomato paste
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar (I love pure cane sugar in this)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Cook in a sauce pan on med heat, stirring until boiling. Boil for 1 min and remove from heat a cool. Place in a sealed container and refrigerate. Serve as a condiment.

You could also bottle this while it's hot with regular sealing procedures in a hot water bath.

NOTE: A reader wrote me that they like to add a drop or two of Tabasco to it, YUM!

Turkey on a Bun

Alas, with gluten free diets we can no longer use the traditional can of cream soup in all our casseroles. I have learned to survive without those casseroles, but I sorrowfully missed my turkey on a bun...left over turkey and a can of cream of chicken soup warmed and served on a bun. BUT (!yipee!) I have come up with a Gluten free alternative that outdoes the canned variety! My biggest hint for gluten free today is.....When we make a roast of any kind, we make a SUPER size vat of homemade gravy and freeze the leftovers.
Here's my recipe!

Turkey on a Bun


2 cups of cooked, chopped turkey
1/3 cup Miracle Whip Mayonnaise
1 cup - 1 1/2 cups turkey gravy
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp celery seed (NOT celery salt)

Mix together in a saucepan and heat through, stirring often on med/low heat as not to burn. Serve on closed buns (like a hamburger!)Use gluten free buns if needing GF

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

Here’s a Sweet n’ sour cabbage soup I invented. If you’ve ever had cabbage rolls, it’s very similar in taste

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

In a skillet, cook up:
1/2 - 1 lb ground beef
1 med onion
S&P

In a soup pot combine:
1/3 of a head of cabbage chopped or grated
1/2 cup rice
2 cups water (or enough to slightly cover the cabbage)

bring to a boil and turn down until cabbage is tender, but not limp

add:
meat mixture
1- 1L can of low salt tomato juice
2tsp Worcestershire sauce (not wheat free) or gluten free Soy sauce
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp (gluten free) chicken soup powder mix (or chicken Oxy cube - sorry not gf!)

Cook on med low heat until rice is cooked through. Serve! If it looks too thick for your liking, add more water while cooking.

And apparently you can sub golden raisins for ground beef if you like meatless meals! I saw a recipe on recipezaar that used raisins for ground beef in soup.

Cheese Burger Meatloaf (GF)

I'm posting our favorite meat loaf recipe today! I make it with 2lbs of hamburger and serve half one night and reheat half the next. It is great as leftovers in sandwiches or Hamburg buns, warm or cold. Or reheats in a frying pan with some water to keep it from drying out. As soon as I get a picture of it, I will add to this post!

Cheese Burger Meat Loaf

2lbs hamburger
1/2 cup parboiled rice, raw
1 onion chopped small
1/2 cup milk (we use rice milk)
2 Tbsp. Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce (1 TSP Gluten free soysauce for GF)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp each -dryed marjoram
-dryed thyme
-pepper

Mix all together and pat into a 9x13 pan. Cover with foil and bake 350* for 1hr and 15min. Pull out of oven and tip slightly. Lift fat out with a spoon. Add on top the

"Secret sauce"
2 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Tbsp Miracle Whip
- mix well and spread on top of the meat loaf

add grated cheese (and optional crumbled bacon) and place back in oven uncovered for another 15 minutes. Cut into squares,Serves 6-8

Meat may appear slightly pink from the ketchup, meat should reach an internal temp of 160* if measuring.

Home made Ravioli Ratatouille Casserole (Gluten Free!)

Last nights supper was the most amazing comfort food I have ever made, and ever had! Ratatouille is normally made with egg plant, but I substituted home made ravioli, and it was to die for! My two year old ate as much as I did! The other two children had a mind block eating zucchini, but I'll win them over yet, this recipe goes in the keep pile!! Serve with fresh Potato bread (recipe tomorrow!) and a salad.

Ravioli Ratatouille Casserol


1 pkg of frozen *Ravioli cooked to directions (boiled for aprox 14 min)
OR 1/2 a batch of homemade ravioli, recipe below.

1 tsp heaped, crushed garlic in oil (or saute 3 crushed garlic cloves in olive oil)
1 16 oz can Italian stewed tomatoes
6 fresh mushrooms sliced (or 1 can drained)
1 small zucchini sliced thin
1 jar three cheese pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

In a 3 quart, greased baking dish, empty can of stewed tomatoes
Place cooked ravioli in the pan
arrange zucchini,garlic and mushrooms around and on the ravioli
Pour Three cheese tomato sauce over top
Top with mozzarella cheese
Cover and place in 350* oven for 25-30 min until bubbling and cheese is melted.
Serves 6
*NOTE ravioli bought in a grocery store is normally NOT Gluten free. Always read ingredients when purchasing pre-made foods, including tomato sauces.


Homemade Ravioli Recipe

This recipe uses my Basic Gluten Free Flour Recipe, find it in my labels section on the side of the blog

4 cups Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix (or all purpose wheat flour)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (omit if using all purpose wheat flour)
2 t. salt
1/4 c. butter
1 c. boiling water
Mix all, (I used my bread machine) roll out really flat, cut into circles

Ground Meat Filling:
1 onion, diced small
1 lb ground beef or turkey
2 tsp garlic powder
Italian-type seasonings (oregano, basil, parsley, salt, pepper)
Brown together, remove from heat.
Add 1/4 c grated Parmesan and 1 egg.

I put these together on a cookie sheet. Brush tops of pasta with water to help them stick together, fill, fork edges together on both sides. Then freeze them for 1/2 hour. Lift off pan with a lifter and place in a sealed container or freezer bag without sticking together too bad.