Turkey Burgers

Last night my husband and I really wanted burgers. Normally we would use ground beef, but we felt silly buying ground beef when we had ground turkey in the fridge set to expire on the 23rd and no recipe in the near future that called for ground turkey, so we made turkey burgers. When I first suggested the idea I think it is safe to say that my husband was less than enthused, his response was "No! burgers are made with beef". I won him over by using his request for me to cook less red meet against him :) hehehehe.

For this dinner I used (approximately) 1.2lbs lean ground turkey, salt, pepper and seasoning salt.

Directions

1. Place the turkey in a medium bowl, dust with approximately 1 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of pepper and 2 tsps. of the seasoning salt and mix by hand. If you like a little extra kick you can add a little more pepper. I did this and they turned out pretty good.
2. Once you've mixed the meat take a small handful, roll it into a ball and smash it into a patty. I made 5 little patties and 1 medium sized one.
3. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly cooked.

We had Caesar salad and roasted potatoes with out burgers. I cut up 3 small gold potatoes into 1 inch chunks, placed them in a bowl and covered them with paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil and then tossed them to ensure every piece had an even coverage. Next I poured them onto a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 365 degrees for 35 minutes.

Pot Roast

When my mom came to visit me she bought me my first crockpot and I have to say I love it! When we bought it we also bought a book filled with slow cooker recipes from individuals all over the country. That book alone has probably 15-20 recipes for pot roast in it so it can be different for everyone, mine is pretty simple

I knew this was going to be a long week/weekend because my husband is training farther from home than usual and we got our to german shepards neutered on Monday so I made a pretty big roast to ensure we'd have plenty of leftovers in case I didn't find time to cook.

For ours I took a 3 lb chuck roast and gave it a decent covering on both sides of garlic powder and pepper. I also dusted it with salt, but I'm not a huge salt person so I didn't use a lot. I sliced 1 large onion and made, what I refer to as, a stand for the roast to make sure it doesn't burn or anything on the bottom. I laid down the onion slices, added 1/4 cup of water and laid the roast on top. I then covered it and let it cook on low for 3 hours.

While the roast was cooking I cut up 6 small gold potatoes and 6 carrots. These don't take as long to cook as the roast so I always add these to the pot at the three hour mark and then cook on low for another 2.5 hours.

If you haven't used your crockpot before make sure to check on your roast at about 5 hours. This same roast in my moms crock pot could take up to 8 hours on low so, it all depends on your pot.

I love this because it's easy, you just put it together and go and then you have a meal for the night as well as left overs. My husband loves to slice up the roast and make sandwiches the next couple days. He always makes me laugh, this week it was white bread, roast, pickles and ranch dressing I think. He switches between ranch and peanut butter sometimes, but it always makes me laugh.

Honey-Glazed Chicken Breasts

Feta Chicken was on the menu for tonight, but as I was getting ready to start cooking I realized I didn't have balsamic vinaigrette and decided I was too lazy to go to the store, so.... I ended up switching Sunday's dinner for today's and made Honey-Glazed Chicken.

We pared this meal with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. The asparagus was seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of butter, wrapped in foil and on the grill for about 7 minutes.

This was probably one of my favorite meals of the week. If you read my previous post, Chicken and Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce, then you know I bought the wrong chicken at the grocery store :). I bought a package of chicken tenderloins and chicken breasts "thin cut" at BJ's Wholesale instead of good old chicken breasts so the chicken recipes this week and next will be a little... iffy. :) This meal turned out pretty good. My chicken was a little dry because I cooked it too long. I didn't think about the fact I was using tenderloins until it was too late. I baked the 20 minutes and when I took them out to flip them I realized they were probably already cooked, however, I still need to get some baking time with the other side of the chicken in the glaze so I turned them over and baked them for 13 more minutes. When I do this again I will either buy real chicken breasts :) or cook them 10-12 minutes on each side if I use tenderloins again.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Start To Finish: 1 hour
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Grated orange peel (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375* F. Spray 13X9 in pan with cooking spray. Place chicken in pan, in small bowl, mix remaining ingredients except orange peel; pour over chicken.
2. Cover with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil; turn chicken. Bake 10 to 30 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170*F). Sprinkle with orange peel.

 

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that I used the leftover tenderloins to make chicken salad. When I make chicken salad I use about 1/4 mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, two celery stalks and a handful of grapes or cherries.. depending on the mood my husband is in lol. This was great because the glaze on the chicken was a little something extra with the honey and saved me a step in the chicken salad. All I had to do was shred the chicken and cut the celery (we didn't use any fruit in this one). Two meals in one :) I love when that happens.

 

Cajun Smothered Pork Chops

Last night I tried another new recipe called Cajun Smothered Pork Chops from the cookbook my grandma sent me. Before I was diagnosed with so many food allergies I was a PICKY eater. When I went to restaurants I ordered the same probably 5 things, and at home I ate what my mom made but usually not all of it. I can't say I'm not picky any more but I am definitely better because 80% of the recipes I've been looking at/cooking... I would've turned my nose up before.

Saying that, last nights dinner was one of my "branching out" projects and I have to say, it wasn't bad. Much like the Chicken and Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce, my husband really liked it. We have so many leftovers in the fridge I asked if he wanted to take the 4 leftover pork chops (I made more than the recipe called for) to work and he said "No I'm eating this for lunch for the next couple days" ... and this is coming from a man who is not a huge fan of pork lol, "unless it's in bacon form", he says. I definitely have to say the feedback from my husband and friends is making me love cooking.

Enough about me...

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in pork loin chops, 1/2 in thick (about 1 3/4 lb)
• 2 teaspoons salt-free extra-spicy seasoning blend (I couldn't find this so I used Cajun seasoning blend)
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded, chopped,
• 1 can (14.5 oz) organic diced tomatoes, undrained

Directions

1. Sprinkle sides of pork chops with seasoning blend. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeño; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender. Push mixture to one side of skillet.
2. Add Pork to other side of skillet. Cook about 2 minutes, turning once, until brown. Add tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; cook 4-8 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center.

1 serving: Calories 270 (Calories from Fat 120); Total Fat 13 g (Saturated Fat 4g; Trans Fat Og); Cholesterol 90 mg; Sodium 190 mg; Total Carbohydrate 6g (Dietary Fiver 1g; Sugars 3g); Protein 32g % Daily Value: Vitamin A 4%; Vitamin C 10%; Calcium 4%; Iron 10%

I started cooking this in a skillet pan on the stove, however, regardless of the pan or the skillet, there was no way I was going to be able to fit the vegetables and the pork chops in one pan side by side. What I ended up doing was heating oil in both the skillet and the pan on the stove. I cooked the onion and jalapeño on the stove and browned the pork in the skillet. Once all of my 5 pork chops were browned I place 4 side by side and the 5th was placed on top in the middle. I then added the onion, jalapeño and tomatoes to the skillet and closed the lid. It took mine the full 8 minutes to cook thoroughly but in the end everything worked out great :) I haven't quite mastered meal planning yet, so I reheated the leftover macaroni to have with this meal. whoops!

Sloppy Joes - Lazy Day

Today was a bit of a lazy day. Last night we had a pretty big thunder storm and I found out my 11 month old German Shepard is afraid of thunder. My husband sleeps through everything so I got to deal with my whining 70+ lb baby lol. My friend Mandy and her daughter came over to drop off their fish because I am fish sitting while they are visiting her parents, and I decided to whip up a quick dinner. I have to say, there's nothing quite like the approval of a 4-yr old... especially when it's over Sloppy Joes :).

I have made homemade Sloppy Joes before, however, tonight's recipe can be found on the back of a Sloppy Joe mix packet.

Ingredients

• McCormick Sloppy Joes Seasoning Mix
• 1 lb lean ground beef or turkey, I'm a turkey fan myself,
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups water
• hamburger buns (I use Rudi's Gluten Free Bread)

*substitute 15 oz can tomato sauce can be used to replace paste AND water. This is important, because the first time I did this I used tomato sauce and water... and ordered pizza. =D

Check back tomorrow for a recipe and write up on Cajun Smothered Pork Chops.

Homemade Chicken Tenders

Friday night I was short on time, dinner ideas and ingredients, so I decided to make homemade chicken tenders. I've made them before for myself, but I have never made them for my husband before and I was a little worried about how he'd feel about the gluten free flour.... He didn't even notice! I have to say, it was one of the best dinners we've had in a while and it's so fast!

I absolutely love this meal, unfortunately, I more or less "wing it" when cooking this. The next time I make it I will make sure to keep better track of ingredients and time, however, I choose to post the "approximate" recipe for those interested now.

I paired this recipe with broccoli, Annies Macaroni & Cheese, Rice Pasta & Cheddar for myself and Kraft Macaroni for my husband.

Ingredients

• oil
• chicken breast
• all-purpose gluten free flour
• 1-2 eggs
• 2 bowls
• 1 medium frying pan/skillet

*You may notice I do not have exact ingredients for this recipe. This recipe is something I learned from my mom and adapted to my gluten free lifestyle. The amount of chicken depends on how many people you want to cook for. I bought pre-cut chicken breast tenders, however, if you buy 2 chicken breasts you should be able to slice them up into enough tenders for 2-3 people depending on the appetites. If you have a family of big appetites I would recommend 1 chicken breast per person.


Directions

1. In the first bowl, crack your eggs. (1 egg should be sufficient for 2 chicken breasts.)
2. Fill your second bowl about 1 inch with your all-purpose gluten free flour.
3. Cover the bottom of your pan with oil and put it on the stove on medium heat. You want to make sure not to make it too hot in order to cook your chicken thoroughly without burning the outside.
4. Slice your chicken breasts into tenders and spice them with your favorite spices (for this recipe I gave each tender a lighting coating of salt and pepper on either side).
5. Take each chicken tender and dip both sides in the egg, making sure to get a decent covering on both sides.
6. After saturating in the egg, place the tender in the flour, make sure to get a decent covering here as well. *If you don't think your tenders are covered enough you may let them sit for a moment and then repeat the process.
7. When your tenders have a decent covering of flour place in the oiled pan. they should take about 5 mins on each side to fry, however, make sure to keep an eye on it and cook until juices run clear, or thickest part of chicken is cooked through when cut.

Chicken & Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce

So today was "Chicken and Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce" day. This is one of the recipes I picked, however it was geared more towards my husbands taste than mine. I like this recipe, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten, or "Recipes to commit to memory" category, however, my husband on the other hand, could not stop talking about it! We had mashed potatoes with this and he not only had seconds, but tried to scrape up every last bit with the mash potatoes.

Ingredients

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 bell pepper (any color), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 apricot spreadable fruit, melted

1/4 ripe avocado, sliced

 

Directions

1. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat chicken breasts, broth, garlic powder, pepper and bell pepper over medium-high heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut. Remove chicken; keep warm.
2. Pour broth mixture into blender; add spreadable fruit. Cover and blend until bell pepper pieces are pureed. Slice chicken breasts crosswise. Arrange chicken and avocado slices on plates; top with sweet pepper sauce.

Now for those of you who know me, I'm no Julia Child and I seem to have a reading level of maybe 2nd grade, when it comes to cook books (I'm working on that). I forgot to melt the apricot spreadable fruit, and I accidentally bought thinly sliced chicken breasts at our grocery store and had to use 4 instead of 2 regular chicken breasts. Regardless of my mistakes, it came out rather well with the only real issue being the chicken breasts were a little dryer than I'd hoped. As I said previously my husband absolutely loved this and finished the meal with "I demand this meal to be on repeat".

Next time I think I will make sure to get full chicken breasts instead to help with the dryness and distribution of the spices.

*Disclaimer: I forgot to take a photo before my husband got to it and...I'm better known for taste than presentation! The picture below is my husband's seconds. I hadn't planned for seconds so he just took one of the thin fillets put a chunk of avocado on it and poured the sauce on top!

Turning Over A New Leaf

At dinner tonight my husband asked, "Whatever happened to that blog you were writing?" and I thought about it for a minute and realized I'd stopped posting because, well, I stopped cooking anything interesting. I didn't cook anything worth mentioning very often and when I did I didn't remember to post.

Yesterday I decided to turn over a new leaf. We are going on a money and food diet so I decided to try and go the next month (or until our anniversary trip) without eating out... breakfast, lunch or dinner. I know that may not sound hard, but for us, unfortunately, it is. I try to cook more often than not, but at least twice a week laziness gets the better of us and we go out to eat.

This past weekend, however, I spent a better part of my days going through nearly every cook book I have finding recipes. I have one for almost every day for the next two weeks, starting this past Saturday. I have cooked every meal since Saturday's lunch and I have a bunch more planed and I am pretty stoked!

I plan to update my blog with all of this recipes, new, or old, just in case anyone was in a rut like I was!

Fudge Cookies

If I do say so myself, these cookies are divine! I first made them with a family friend I uses to babysit. He and his sister love to cook and when he came over to help me pack I let him pick out a recipe. I am so glad he picked this one!!

Ingredients
2 packages (12 ounces each) semisweet chocolate chips divided
1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter, cut into chunks
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325*F

2. Combine 1 package chocolate chips and butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30 seconds: stir. Repeat as necessary until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly.

3. Beat eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until blended and frothy. Add sugar; beat until thick. Add chocolate mixture; beat until well blended. Add flour blend, cocoa, baking powder, xantham gum and salt( beat until combined. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 325*F. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until cookies are firm. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove to wore tacks; cool completely.

* makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

Blog Neglection

O my! I feel like a bad parent who should be turned in to social services. Earlier this summer I fell behind on my blog and I kept thinking, well, I'm so far behind it will take a while to catch up so i'll do it this weekend, then it was the next weekend and, well, now it's November.

From here on out this will be a new blog, daily recipes from my family and I!

I will apologize in advance because there will be a short interlude sometime between December 26 and January 2. My husban (yes husband!!) and I will be driving from my parents house in Sparks, NV, to his parents house in Rosenberg, TX and then heading up to our new home (where we will finally live together after 5 years!!!!) in Fayetteville, NC.

First recipe will come this evening... I'm thinking dessert!

Glazed Slamon

Last night we had the most amazing glazed salmon with green beans and wedge salad with blue cheese dressing. It is so simple too!

Purchase an amount of salmon fit for you family, slice lemons lay them on foil and lay the salmon on top. Place on grill for 5-6. Brush the glaze on and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Cut up a head of lettuce into wedges and lightly pour blue cheese dressing on top. We also like to slice up tomatoes and onions and throw those on top.

Pick your favorite vegetable and done!

New Project- Banana Smores

Banana Smores

This recipe calls for cinnamon toast crunch however, I think I will either use cinnamon chex mix or i might just use the banana, chocolate, chips and marshmallows and call it good. This sounds amazing!

I will let you all know how it goes!

Gluten Free - Corn Free Camping

When people thinking about camping things that often come to mind food wise are hamburgers, hot dogs, smores, chips, etc.

There are two ways to do this.

1. With a BBQ. You can eat the same things as everyone else just make sure if they toast their bread they keep it on the other side of the grill and if you are corn free only eat the burger and bring your own chips.

Lesson Learned

Life has been so crazy lately. Between work, helping out friends, hanging out with friends and sleep I haven't been doing much cooking.

An important lesson I learned recently is to read every single ingredient. One of the reasons I've been absent for a while is because I've been passing out every spare minute. I couldn't figure out how I could possibly be so tired when I've been sleeping so much.

A few days ago my mother and I went to the store together and I went to the natural foods section to get more bread. I picked up the same bread I got last time and realized it was in a different spot then it was before. Before it was on the bottom shelf with the other gluten free stuff, this time it was up a few shelves closer to the organic foods. This puzzled me so I began to inspect it. On the front of the bag it says "flourless" but I decided to read the ingredients. I didn't even get to read most of the ingredients before the words "organic wheat gluten" caught my eye. ... Awesome I thought. No wonder I've been feeling so crappy!

I used to be so careful but I got lazy and had started thinking, if it's on top of the gluten free shelf it's gluten free. Do not get lazy. Anytime you are buying a new product read it. No matter what.



On a happy food note Jimmy Johns #16 unwhich with thinny chip and a diet coke.. approx 440 calories. AMAZING! I looked up a salad at wendy's... just for the salad it was about 500. It's amazing how many calories are in "healthy foods". I guess it's all that filler the fast food restaurants talk about. Anyways, lol, so if you're gluten free and calorie conscious jimmy johns is amazing!

Father's day Homemade Hamburgers

Yesterday all my dad wanted for Father's Day was chilliburgers and fries for dinner. So we all made homemade hamburgers with ground beef mixed with chopped onions and a few spices, and twice fried homemade french fries. For the french fries you cute up 2 potatoes and fry them in oil in small groups for a few minutes, when you take a group out put another in till all are cooked, then start over with the first batch you fried and fry them again. This makes them crunchier. When we were first making fries we fried the potatoes one time for a longer period of time and they were always just a little soggy. To solve that problem, you cook them twice!

We also had watermelon and dill pickles. For those who weren't allergic to everything there was also corn and cantaloup. They do make gluten free buns, however, I find it better to just eat the patty with the lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on it's own. Why add the carbs if it tastes just as good right?

Mexican Food Night! (with a little tangent added =P)

So, Mexican food has never been my favorite food but since I'm  often outvoted I've learned to work around my allergies to enjoy it.

Last night my family hosted a dinner for the members of my mother's union group. It was a potluck, more or less, and there was a ton of food. Many people who are gluten free could've enjoyed majority of the stuff there. We had homemade tamales, tacos, nachos, Mexican rice, and much more, but for those with an additional corn allergy, like lucky little me, most of this food is just something pretty to look at.

I was able to stuff myself with pulled pork and tamales. While tamales are wrapped in a corn husk, we made sure to make the insides gluten and corn free so that I could eat most of the meal. It was amazing. There is nothing quite like homemade food. My mom's friend Sarah made the tamales, one of my favorite parts is that she asked if 90 tamales would be enough..... There were 12 people. Haha we are going to be eating tamales forever.

Tangent-
Over the past year the most important thing I've learned is that there's always an option. Last week we went to a BBQ where the only thing they BBQd was pizza. Hello plate full of amazing toppings, strawberries, watermelon and carrots. Let me just say, gluten allergy? perfect excuse to be a fruit hoarder. You know that moment when you're at an event and the fruit looks amazing but it doesn't look as if there's enough for everyone... but part of you doesn't really care? Now I don't have to care haha if anyone asks why I'm taking all the fruit I'm like "Well, you can eat everything here, I can only eat the fruit ssssooo... I win!"

hahaha For a long time I looked at my gluten intolerance as an extreme and unfortunate burden, recently I've realized it is not even close. Not only do I feel so much better (I was so tired of feeling like my insides were going to explode!) but I have been introduced to so many new and interesting foods and people. It's kind of a special bond, being gluten free. You can talk about all the things you eat and the stuff you've tried and the best recipes and wheat alternatives and you get to educate people.

One of the most interesting things to me is when people learn about my "conditions" (as they're so often called) and the reply with "Wow, that sucks, I could never do that", or "What do you eat" or my personal favorite, "O my gosh! I would starve to death I don't know how you do it. Then I get to explain to them all of the things that I can and can not eat. It's always fun for me to watch their faces as the process the information. Sometimes I even make comments to their faces as if that's what they're thinking haha.

Breakfast Time! - Pancakes :)

This morning I had awesome pancakes which I actually made this past weekend and froze in multiple servings for later occasions. They were made from a pancake mix I bought at Raley's and are extremely simple to make (and they taste great!)

In N Out of the house all day

My entire life I have been kind of a busy body. I love to have way to many things to do and pride myself on always getting them done. The only problem that arises in this situation is the number of encounters I've had with fast food restaurants.

Before I found out I was gluten free I ate everywhere. My two favorites were McDonald's (yes I was one of those kids) and Port of Subs. O how I miss POS. Nevertheless, when I found out about my gluten intolerance I began looking up restaurants and fast-food restaurants which offered gluten free food. To my surprise, there are a lot of things cooked in gluten in the fast-food/restaurant industry, however, there are some restaurants that pay attention to the growing need for a gluten free alternative. I will have to make a list of them shortly. My friend Lauren's mom is gluten free and they have a great book that lists restaurants all over the country that

If you are one of those people who spends a lot of time eating out of house meals there are a great number of aps and books which provide not only lists of places, but lists of food. One of the most important things I learned is to never be afraid to ask. It amazes me how many restaurants actually do have allergy alert menus. At first I just decided to go the salad route, I figured that was safe, but there are actually a lot of ingredients and dressings that have wheat in them.


Some of my favorite fast-food places are:

• In-N-Out 
• I had this today. It is fast and easy and since they make their own fries they are gluten and corn oil free and order a protein style anything and you're good to go. The burger sauce has corn syrup in it though, for anyone who is corn conscious.
• Carl's JR. (Hardees)
• They too offer a protein style hamburger called the low-carb burger, and their original fries (not the crisscut :/ are gluten free)

Some of my favorite restaurants/fast-food sit downs:

• Applebee's
• Allergy information
• BJ's Brewery 
• BJ's Brewery has made a gluten free pizza that is pretty amazing. I am secretly convince they make it with corn flour but I'd rather not ask lol.  They also have an allergy menu if you request it.
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Allergy information
• Jimmy Johns
• Jimmy Johns' "unwich" is a great alternative for those who are gluten free and it still tastes great!
• Red Robin
• Being somewhat of a traditional American restaurant it is hard to have an extensive variety of gluten free meals but red robin does a great job at accommodating those who need it. They have an entire book of allergies and what you can and cannot eat and they even recreated their special fry seasoning a year or so ago to make it gluten free!

These are the places I go most often, however, there are ssssooo many more. When I first went gluten free I was afraid I'd have to eat home-cooked only for the rest of my life. It wouldn't be bad but sometimes you just need to get out :) and more and more restaurants are making that easier for allergy alert and gluten intolerant people to do! I'll check back in for a book and ap update soon!

Sloppy Joes

Who doesn't love Sloppy Joes? They're delicious and provide you with an opportunity and excuse to get messy. Woo!

I believe for an average Sloppy Joe you jsut need to switch out the bun for a gluten free bun to make it gluten free, however, if you are allergic to corn, or just want to make it from scratch here is a great recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic gloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup ketchup (all natural doesn't have corn in it)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water

1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet with olive oil.
2. Add onion, garlic and spices; cook 1 minute.
3. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and water and simmer until thick, about 15 minutes.
Serve on your choice of bread or roll; good with potato chips :)

Salmon-potato Cakes with Mustard Tartar Sauce

Salmon-potato Cakes with Mustard Tartar Sauce.... Haha more like Salmon-potato mash with Mustard Tartar Sauce. Hahaha.My family said they were very good and my  mom is stoked there's leftovers, however, due to an accidental excess of salmon, parsley and lemon juice than the recipe called for the cakes kind of fell apart. I do have to admit that this is a pretty good recipe though. One of the blessings of being gluten free is that I am beginning to eat and like more foods than I ever have.

I paired the cakes with my mother's homemade twice cooked french fries and a green salad with carrots and ranch.

Salmon-potato Cakes with Mustard Tartar Sauce

• 3 small unpeeled red potatoes (8 ounces), cut into halves
• 1 cup cooked flaked salmon
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon Cajon seasoning
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon plain yogurt or sour cream
• 2 teaspoons coarse grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fill pickle
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Place potatoes in small saucepan and cover with water. bring to a boul; reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain; mash with fork.

2. Combine potatoes, salmon, green onions, egg white, 1 tablespoon parsley and seasoning in medium bowl.

3. Heat oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Gently shape salmon mixture into 2 patties (These make large hamburger style patties, you can also split it up into smaller flatter patties. The patty shown is one of these smaller ones. It was a little crispier and held together better than the others). Place in skillet; flatten slightly. Cook 7 minutes or until browned, turning once.

4. Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, yogurt mustard, pickle, lemon juice (I put off frying the patties for the salad and preparation of the fries and made this sauce haha I missed and accidentally put the lemon juice in the bowl with the salmon while waiting to cook these) and remaining 1 tablespoon parsley (missed the 1 when reading previously and put 2 tablespoons in the salmon mixture and had to chop more for this sauce) in small bowl. Serve with cakes.