Recipes with pictures!!

Thai Beef with Chili and Basil

I have had this recipe as a staple for a long time now. Good ol Martha. Super flavorful. Really easy. I use jalapeno instead of the hot red chilis. I only use two and cook them together. Recipe calls for three and to add some in the end. I like to cook them all as to make sure it's not too hot for the kids. Doesn't turn out spicy at all. As will all of the recipes I will be posting now, gluten free. I use a Kikomon gluten free soy sauce. If you didn't know already, wheat is a main ingredient in soy sauce which is ironic to me because it is called SOY sauce. Why not call it wheat sauce for crying out loud.

Today for lunch I had a surge of energy and got all these things cooking. I had a pot on the stove going for pasta. I had the oven going roasting some zucchini. A pot on the stove boiling carrots. A pan cooking some Italian sausage. And some asparagus and broccoli steaming in the microwave. I was super leery about trying this brown rice pasta I had bought at Trader Joes. I must say, super super good. Tasted just like the real thing. The kids chowed it. It turned out to be a super tasty lunch with lots and lots of beautiful leftovers. I simply put a little butter on the carrots and broccoli but everything else had so much flavor it didn't need anything. I buy an Italian chicken sausage at Super Target that I love and have buying for a year or two now. Happens to be gluten free, so lucky me. It comes in a tube over by the breakfast sausages.

Easy Chickpea Curry

Me and my good friend Laura started cooking lunch for each other on our play dates. It gives us a great chance to make things our kids and husbands wouldn't typically eat. I love food. Really love food. I have never liked Indian food. It's one food I have never had a desire to eat. The spices smell far to strong. I don't like coconut milk at all, which is typically found in Indian dishes. She really surprised me with this dish and ever since I crave it on almost a daily basis. I had to make it for myself and wound up eating it for six straight meals. That does not upset me. For the tomatoes I used two 14 oz cans of plum tomatoes and smashed them up in the pan. As for the cauliflower; I used almost a small head. You can gauge it as to your liking. We served it over white rice. Wow!!! I love this dish. Super super healthy and super super flavorful. Plus, no coconut milk!

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with peppers and water chestnuts

This was a super delicious stir fry from the Food Network Magazine. Again, really healthy. A little more prep and steps but totally worth the work. Really flavorful. Anytime I see sesame oil in a recipe I instantly put up the flavor flag. I would definitely give this one a try. Your family will love it.