Gluten Free Tuesday

Hey Blogger people!!!

As many of you know my beautiful and vibrant niece was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is a serious life long illness. For Grace to live in health she need a gluten (wheat, rye, barley) free diet. You would be amazed at how many products in our daily lives actually contain "hidden" gluten. My sister in law, has started "Gluten Free Tuesday" on her blog. I encourage you to stop by and post your own gluten free recipe there and encourage her. If you have never cooked gluten free, it has a lot of health benefits. I have read a gluten free diet can help with arthritis, acid reflux, and many other aliments. Look into it!! Plus eating gluten free can be very very healthy. Anyway I hope you post a recipe or at least visit Vicki's blog and encourage her and pray for her and her family as they make these changes that will make Grace's life better.

Here are my GF recipes for this week.
Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad



1 cup Grilled Chicken-cubed
3 to 5 cups Salad Greens
1/2 cup black beans (soak your own or use canned)
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1/2 sliced red pepper
1/2 avocado
1/2 cup grape tomatoes halved
1/2 sliced red cabbage
1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend (I left this out for calorie reasons)
1/2 red onion
***To be gluten free you need to be in control of what you put in your dressing or buy dressing from Whole Foods-it will be clearly marked GLUTEN FREE.

Here is a recipe to make your own GF Ranch dressing
Ranch Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons powdered cultured buttermilk blend* (Check ingredients to see if your brand is gluten-free. It usually is!)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried dillweed
*Available alongside the canned and powdered milk in most supermarkets.


Whisk first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill at least 1 hour to blend flavors. (Dressing can be prepared 5 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)Makes 1 1/2 cups.
***NOTE depending on your tolerance for spice you can add a bit of lime juice (half a lime) and some chipoltle pepper powder to taste.
Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately.

I love love love this salad. I think it is sooooo yummy. My daughter was not into it so I gave her cubed chicken along with cheese chunks and carrots to dip her ranch.


I have another one I made tonight. Since Grace has been diagnosed I have really tried to become much more aware of what we are eating and what is in it. (and I thought I was pretty aware before) Anyway...
Chicken Bacon Kabobs-236 cal. per serving


INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup soy sauce (you MUST be mindful MANY soy sauces contain gluten. Whole foods is the best place to purchase GLUTEN FREE TAMARI-aged soy sauce)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
10 large mushrooms, cut in half
2 green onions, minced
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
1/2 pound sliced thick cut bacon, cut in half
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
skewers

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce, cider vinegar, honey, canola oil, and green onions. Place the mushrooms and chicken into the mixture, and stir to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Preheat grill for high heat.
Wrap the chicken chunks with bacon, and thread onto skewers so that the bacon is secured. Alternate with mushroom halves and pineapple chunks.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Arrange skewers on the prepared grill. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with remaining soy sauce mixture, until bacon is crisp and chicken juices run clear.


I just made sweet potatoes and sauteed veggies to go with it. We all really like this. It was savory and sweet.

I hope you enjoy the gluten free recipes! and remember even if you are not on a GF diet you can still do a GF day each week. It's GOOD for you!!!