Italian Sausage & Peppers

Ok, so, what Italian doesn’t have a sauage & pepper recipe that they love?! This is my version, and my family loves it served atop grilled polenta. But it’s great over a sturdy pasta, such as a penne, too. I like to make extra and serve it atop a toasted french roll. The best part is that it’s easy to double this to GET those leftovers (and they freeze well, too)

6 Italian sausage links (use sweet, spicy, or a combo, depending on your preference)
4 tablespoons butter
2 onions, sliced thin
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 large red bell peppers, sliced thin
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2-3 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (see my recipe for that, too!)
1/4 cup white wine

Melt the butter in a dutch oven (or a large pot if you don’t have one), and add in the onion, garlic, and peppers.

The colors will be amazing!

Saute until just softened and then add your basil and oregano, and cook for another five minutes before pouring in your marinara sauce and wine (feel free to pour yourself a glass at this point), on a very low simmer. Slice your sausage links into 1/2 cuts (this is MUCH easier if it’s partially frozen – then it won’t fall apart). Saute in a pan, and when mostly cooked, stir into your pepper mixture. Cover and leave on LOW for 45-60 minutes, until your sausage is fully cooked and your pepper mix is tender.

Cinnamon Banana Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

Once you’ve made these, you won’t even miss the gluten or dairy. And the strawberry-banana combo will send you to pancake heaven!

Pancakes:

2 cup white rice flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1  1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups non-dairy substitute of your choice (milk if you’d like!)
5-6 overripe bananas

Syrup:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups strawberries

For the pancakes:
Mash all of your bananas until smooth (a mixer will really come in handy right about now). Add all of your dry ingredients, and gently stir. Mix all of your wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until slightly lumpy, but not over-mixed. Place each on a lightly greased griddle and wait until they start to bubble, then flip.

For the syrup:
Combine the water and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. While it’s heating, puree your strawberries. Don’t be afraid to go too far…you want them mashed down far. After all, syrup with chunks isn’t very appealing. Now, stir in your vanilla and strawberry mixture and return it to a slow boil. It’ll start to look like this frothy yumminess:

Let it simmer and reduce down to a glazy deliciousness for about 10-15 minutes. Drizzle over pancakes and WHOA! What a great combo!

This is what you’ll end up with:

Buttered Langostino

Yes, I know. Everyone is always curious as to what langostino IS. Well, he’s a cute little crustacean that looks sort of like a cross between a lobster and a shrimp. I buy the tail meat already harvested and packaged to make a super-fast, tasty meal that my kids love. I’ve even tossed steamed broccoli into the sauce and made it into a one-dish wonder! Feel free to change it up and substitute a bag of ready-to-go shrimp to make it even easier.

1/4 cup butter, or your favorite non-dairy substitute
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced fine
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/4 pound langostino meat (cooked and ready to go)
Freshly chopped parsley is optional

Melt the butter in a large saute pan and then add the oil and garlic. Saute for just a couple of minutes until the garlic has softened. Add the wine and lemon juice and reduce the sauce slightly, then season with salt and pepper. Toss in your langostino meat and saute very quickly, as it is already cooked.

Serve this atop pasta or rice, with a veggie on the side for a simple, delicious meal.

Double Coconut-Pineapple Pancakes

Now, I had to really play with this to make it deliciously coconutty, with just a touch of pineapple taste for flair. The batter is thick, and really thickens as it rests, so work quickly and you’ll be tasting the tropics soon. Bear in mind that instead of using all of these allergy-friendly substitutes, you could use the real deal and get a delicious taste and consistency.

1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1-2 tablespoons pineapple juice

First, use a spice grinder or something similar to grind the coconut (I used my Magic Bullet and it worked like a dream). Add all dry ingredients together and lightly mix. Then add the wet ingredients to a separate bowl and mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, using the pineapple juice to thin the batter as necessary. Using a cookie dough scoop to pour the batter onto a griddle will make these pancakes an even size and thickness. Turn when they begin to bubble.

Awesome Apple-Cinnamon Acorn Squash

I serve this in the acorn squash shell for a fun presentation factor. It’s sitting alongside my chicken cordon bleu and a fresh salad mixed with a roasted tomato dressing and pomegranate arils on top. Not as difficult as it looks – I promise!

2 acorn squash, halved, seeds scooped out
2 tablespoons butter, or your favorite non-dairy substitute
3-4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 table salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 semi-sweet apples, peeled, and diced fairly small (I prefer Gala)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Once your squash are seeded, drop into a large pot of boiling water until just tender (about 10-15 minutes), and drain. Meanwhile, in a small pan, gently heat olive oil and apples. Stir over medium heat until softened. Scrape the flesh of the squash out with a spoon and set into a bowl. Add butter, brown sugar, honey, salt, and cinnamon, and apples. Use a potato masher or an immersion blender (or heck, even use a food processor) to puree until very slightly chunky. This is already cooked, but if you want a nice presentation, scoop it back into your squash shells and stick it into the oven for a 10 minutes to make it soft and golden.

Refreshing Cucumber and Tomato Salad

So, this is on the sweet side, but can be scaled back in the sugar department if you’re trying to cut down. It’s so refreshing during the summer, but, hey, we’re having it on a winter night as a nice side to our dinner. If you want to make a quick lunch, toss in some leftover grilled chicken. To save time, you can even purchase diced onions and tomatoes.

1 1/2 medium cucumbers, sliced very thin
1/2 white or red onion, sliced very thin
3-4 Roma tomatoes, insides removed, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill (or try fresh when you have it!)
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 sugar

Toss the first 4 ingredients into a salad bowl and set aside. Mix the next three ingredients into a small pot until barely boiling, then pour over your veggies and mix together. Set in the fridge for 1-2 hours until chilled.

Random Cooking Tips

Garlic, garlic, garlic….Oh how I adore it.  However, I’ve discovered three great things to simplify my garlic addiction.  First, the vacuum-sealed, pre-peeled garlic cloves that are found in the produce section are awesome.  NO preservatives, just ready-to-go cloves.  Life is so much easier with them.  Second, if you’re going to buy a bulb and peel the cloves yourself, pop them into the microwave for 10-15 seconds, and the skins peel right off.  And third, roasting makes such a difference for so many  recipes.   Cut off the entire top 1/4″ of the bulb, set  it in foil, drizzle with oil, and roast at 400 for about half hour.  Let it rest for a few minutes until you can pick it up without burning the tar our of your hands, and gently squeeze to get the roasted cloves out – PERFECT for mashed potatoes.

Lemons – so great for so many recipes when squeezed fresh, but a bit of a pain.  Microwave for 15 seconds to soften them, cut in half and squeeze cut side UP.  That way, when the seeds come falling out, they’re caught in your hand, not your dish.

 

Mint-Chocolate Chip “Almost” Ice-Cream

I’ve played around trying to find a recipe that works and still tastes good.  This has come out rich and smooth, and still satisfies my girls.  The non-dairy creamer helps thicken it…the more almond milk added, the thinner it is.  I chopped carob chips to simulate mini chocolate chips, but if you can tolerate just a bit of dairy, you could use mini chocolate chips for the sake of quickness!

1 cup vanilla almond milk

2 cups non-dairy creamer

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

4 tablespoons rice flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

3-4 drops of green food coloring if you want “the look”

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large handful of either chopped carob chips or mini chocolate chips

 

Freeze the ice-cream making bowl ahead of time.  Add ingredients in the order listed, or according to your ice-cream maker directions and start.  It takes a bit longer to  get the firmer consistency due to the lack of dairy.  Upon almost firming up (about 30 minutes) add your carob or chocolate chips.  When semi-firm, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze, sealed, for at least two hours until hardened.

One-Pot Sausage and Orzo

Make sure to pick up gluten-free orzo.  You can also make this more low-cal by substituting ground turkey or chicken for the sausage.  Or, omit meat altogether to go vegetarian!  It sounds like a lot of steps, but really, it’s quite fast, easy, and delish!

4 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium-sized yellow onion, finely chopped

1 lb. box of orzo

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 pound bulk Italian sausage (milk or hot, based upon your tastes)

2 medium zucchini,  finely chopped

4 ounces white or brown mushrooms, finely chopped.

1/3 cup pine nuts

1 tablespoon dried parsley

 

Lightly toast pine nuts on a baking sheet at 350 until golden (about 10 minutes), and set aside.

Add onion to a pan with butter AND olive oil to prevent burning, and cook until tender.

In a separate pan, crumble and saute sausage.  When almost cooked through till no longer pink, add the zucchini and mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until tender, and remove from heat.

In a pot, boil chicken broth and 1 cup of water, then add orzo for about 10 minutes until soft.  Drain.  Toss orzo with the sausage mixture, onions, and pine nuts, then top with parsley.

 

Monkey Pancakes (Chocolate-Banana)

You can add chocolate soy milk and bananas to regular pancake mix if you don’t need to worry about other allergies.  But I’ve played around and discovered the combination that my girls eat that is pretty much allergy-friendly.  More sweetness than some prefer, but I prefer to let mine have a bit of indulgence in the ways they can!

1 cup white rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1  1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (lessen if you’re not a huge cinnamon lover)
1 tablespoons  vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate soy or almond  milk
3 overripe bananas

Puree bananas (a mixer  is the easiest, fastest way).  Add all other ingredients and mix until just wet.  It will be slightly lumpy, but over-mixing will make the pancakes chewy.  Pour heaping tablespoons onto a hot, greased griddle and flip when bubbly.