IMM: Gluten-Free Mongolian BBQ

Last week we were recovering from the week before so Insta Meals Monday was put on the wayside. After a week of a stomach bug for Sweet P and bronchitis for Sprout, Sweet P had a fever on Monday (also bronchitis) so no IMM last. Hopefully this meal makes up for it...especially since it's actually a meal. Although, I'm pretty sure I could just eat Homemade Almond Butter as a meal.

My sister (Auntie Rosita) told me about this amazing Mongolian BBQ she made and I knew I had to figure out how to make it for us. It's gluten-free, vegetarian (vegan if you want to get technical) and delicioso.

The Recipe: Mongolian BBQ
What you need:  Gluten-free brown rice spaghetti noodles (I use Trader Joe's) 1 medium onion chopped 2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 3 large carrots grated and chopped 2 cup fresh or frozen broccoli 4-5 mushrooms chopped 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1/3 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Prepare spaghetti as directed, drain and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Saute until veggies are soft, but not mushy. Add spaghetti to skillet. Stir in spices, sesame oil and aminos. Add 1/3 c of water if spaghetti is sticky (brown rice pasta tends to do that). Top with sesame seeds and serve. 
Simple. Fast. Delish.
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Insta Meals Monday: Homemade Almond Butter

Posting a simple recipe since Sweet P had a tummy bug today. Actually forgot about IMM until about 30 minutes ago! But since Homemade Almond Butter is our new favorite food, I'm sharing that today.  Adapted from Detoxinista's Homemade Almond Butter recipe. Before we get started here are a few things you should know:

1. Heat/roast your almonds before you put them in the food processor even if you're using roasted almonds. It makes the process 432 times faster. Trust me. HEAT them.
2. Be patient. It takes longer than 2 minutes.
3. It's so easy your kids could make it! 
4. This is by far the best nut butter I've ever tasted in.my.life.

The Recipe: Homemade Almond Butter

What you need:

1 lb. Dry Roasted/Unsalted Almonds (I use Trader Joe's)

Optional Mix-ins: honey, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon

A decent food processor

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. WARNING: Almonds will be HOT. 

Dump almonds into food processor. Turn to first setting (mine has 2 options) for 1 minute. Stop, scrape down sides. Repeat until the mixture starts to clump together. Continue scraping every 30 seconds or so until it reaches a creamy consistency. Process for 1 more minute. The mixture will be HOT. Allow to cool slightly and pour into mason jar or other airtight container. Cool completely and store in fridge. 

1 pound of almonds yields approximately 12-13 oz. of almond butter.

I'm not positive how long it will last in the fridge because ours was gone in less than a week.

If you don't think it's working, process a bit longer. Remember - PATIENCE!

NOTE: I've made this twice and the 2nd time I forgot to heat my almonds and the process took MUCH longer and my mixture got clumpy and stayed that way. I heated the clump of almond butter in the oven for 3 minutes and stuck it back in the processor. It eventually got creamy, but I'd recommend roasting them first to avoid this step.

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Insta Meals Monday: Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Ok, so I really had no idea what to call these bad boys because let's just say there is no name to describe their awesomeness. The recipe for Primal Fudge is what sparked the creation of these tiny bits of deliciousness. I took her recipe, modified and created Peanut Butter Banana Bites. They are gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian and paleo. So. Good.

The Recipe: Peanut Butter Banana Bites

What you need:

1/2 c coconut oil

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 c chunky peanut butter (or almond butter - can also be creamy, but chunky's better)

2 tbsp honey

1 banana (chopped)

Heat coconut oil in a pan on the stove until melted. Stir in cocoa powder, peanut butter and honey. Grease a mini muffin tin (you could also use mini muffin liners, but if you're asking me that's wasteful) and pour equal amounts of cocoa mixture into each muffin section. Place a slice of banana in each muffin section and gently press until the cocoa mixture covers the banana (you may see the outline of the banana beneath the surface). Chill for 30 minutes. 

Use a spoon to pop the bites out of the muffin tin. Devour. You will. I promise. And if you don't - you must not like coconut. Or chocolate. Or banana. Or peanut butter. What's wrong with you!?

The banana takes on an ice cream like consistency that I can't explain and well, The Farmer and I can't stop eating them and he doesn't even like chocolate AND I'm perfectly fine with giving Sweet P one of these for breakfast. Yep. Chocolate for breakfast. 

Stay tuned for another version coming soon. 

NOTE: If you don't want the banana, simply omit. The result is still amazing and very similar to fudge.

For more gluten-free recipes follow my family's collaborative Pinterest board (my mama and sissies post to it as well): Gluten-Free

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Insta Meals Monday: Broccoli Slaw Salad

I got this recipe from a meeting I went to about a month ago and adapted it for our family. I left out the Ramen noodles, the seasoning that comes with it and Bacon Bits, and revamped the sauce to include Bragg's Liquid Aminos. The sauce also called for a 1/2 c of sugar which I omitted. 

It still turned out AMAZING. This is seriously my new favorite side dish...and who I am kidding? I'd totally eat it as a main course. We've paired it with portobello mushroom burgers and gluten-free pizza.

The Recipe: Broccoli Slaw Salad

What you need:

1 pkg broccoli slaw (I found organic at Trader Joe's for $1.99)

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice)

1/4 c shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 c slivered or shaved almonds 

1/4 c rice vinegar

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos 

Mix broccoli slaw, cheese, sunflowers seeds and almonds in a large bowl. Pour sauce ingredients into a small bowl and combine. Pour sauce over slaw, stir to combine and serve! 

We eat it immediately, but it's also delish leftover or chilled for a few hours. 

To be honest, I didn't even know they MADE broccoli slaw until I tried this salad at the meeting. Now I'm hooked! You'll never know you're eating broccoli! 

**If you're unfamiliar with Liquid Aminos, it's a great gluten-free alternative to soy sauce. 

Portobello burger: grilled on a skillet and served with roasted red peppers, avocado, spinach and cheese with pesto as the sauce on an Udi's gluten-free bun. Yum.

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Insta Meals Monday: Quinoa Greek Salad

A little late today, but that's what happens when you're being spoiled my your mama! This is one of my absolute favorite meals for lunch or dinner. It's great leftover and SO delish. It's also super simple. (Somehow I deleted my original Instagram photo so this is a raw version). 

The Recipe: Quinoa Greek Salad

What you need:

3 c of cooked quinoa

1 c cooked garbanzo beans (can also use canned)

1/4 c feta

1/2 - 1 c grape tomatoes (chopped)

1/4 c kalamata olives

2 shakes garlic powder

5 big shakes (or to taste) Rustic Tuscan Seasoning (from Costco)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cap full lemon juice 

Prepare quinoa according to directions (we use a rice cooker). Allow to cool and place 3 cups of quinoa in a large bowl. Add garbanzo beans, feta, tomatoes and olives. Shake in Rustic Tuscan Seasoning and garlic powder, then pour in olive oil and lemon juice. Stir until combined. Add more lemon juice or olive oil to your liking. 

Chill for 20 minutes or serve immediately. Can also be served over a bed of lettuce or spinach. We love it both ways.

Try not to eat it all at once, but if you do, just know you aren't alone! 

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Insta Meals Monday: Introduction & Raspberry Sorbet

Today, I'm delighted to bring you the first post in my series: Insta Meals Monday. Let me share a bit of the background that led me to this series. First off. A confession. I, The Iowa Farmer's Wife, am addicted to Instagram. There. I said it. And I have definitely fallen into the Instagram trap of photographing my food. And after several encouraging nudges (and a few phone calls from Auntie Rosita) I decided to designate Mondays as Insta Meals Monday.

Now, before you get too involved, there are a few things you should know.

1.) All meals will be vegetarian. 

2.) All posts may not be complete meals (i.e., side dish or dessert - although you just might consider dessert a meal).

3.) All meals will be gluten-free. Substitutions for gluten-free options may be suggested depending on the recipe.

4.) Meals are not based on the paleo plan, however, many meals will follow paleo guidelines.

5.) All recipes are my own unless otherwise noted.

6.) And finally, the term Insta doesn't mean that the meal will be Instant, it's simply because I post the pictures to Instagram. 

Posts will include 1 picture (pulled from Instagram) and the recipe. I don't plan to take pictures of the process or ingredients. I'll do my best to share the ingredients and where I find/purchase them. 

My goal is to make these meals/recipes and user/mom-friendly as possible without ingredients you can't find in a regular grocery store. While you may not have these items in your pantry, they won't be hard to find or locate. 

And lastly, I hope that these posts will inspire you to try to meals for you or your family, try new foods, eat less meat and eat less gluten.

Without further ado: 

The Recipe: Raspberry Sorbet

What you need:

1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (I use Trader Joe's brand with no added sugar))

1.5 bananas

1 cup frozen raspberries OR blueberries

Note: I use an immersion blender for all blended recipes.

Place ingredients into a blender (or cup if using an immersion blender). Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add almond milk. If mixture is too thin, add frozen raspberries until desired thickness. Serve immediately. Makes 2 small bowls of sorbet.

Can be frozen for 10-30 minutes before eating.

My kids eat this for breakfast, but we also like it for dessert. We call it ice cream because it really does taste just like raspberry sorbet, and I'm super excited to make it in the summer to eat outside! 

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Vegetarian Gluten-Free Avocado Enchiladas

As you probably know, we are vegetarians. We have also recently embarked on a gluten-free adventure. Ya'll eating gluten-free when you're already a vegetarian is a CHALLENGE! But we're making it work. And I may or may not have eaten some pizza last night (I've yet to find a homemade gluten-free crust that I like), but we are really trying to rid our diet of gluten.

My creative cooking skills have been in overdrive trying to figure out things to make for dinner that don't involve gluten (our previous week included pasta and pizza at LEAST once a week). And yesterday as I browsed instagram, I saw a photo of avocado enchiladas and I set to work coming up with a recipe. 

It did not disappoint and I even got "These are restaurant quality." from the Farmer (that's kind of an inside joke at our house), which means they were pretty dang good.

I haven't posted a recipe in a long time so I really want to share these, especially for Auntie Rosita since she's the one who inspired the Farmer family to go gluten-free.

The Recipe: Avocado Enchiladas (Serves 2 - can easily be doubled)

What you need:

8 corn tortillas

1 1/2 avocados (chopped)

1 c shredded cheese*

1 jar Trader Joe's Organic Tomatillo & Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa

1/4 c organic Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine entire jar of salsa and 1/4 c Greek yogurt in a small bowl. Set aside. Chop avocado. Grate cheese into a small bowl. Place a spoonful of avocado and a hand pinch (use all fingers to pick up a pinch of cheese) of cheese into a corn tortilla. Roll and place horizontally in a 2-qt (or 7x11) baking dish. Continue with all tortillas. Pour salsa mixture over the top of the tortillas and top with remaining cheese (or grate more if you need to). Bake for 25 minutes. 

*certain cheeses may contain gluten

Total preparation time: 15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins

We paired the enchiladas with Mexican rice I made in the rice cooker with brown rice, 1/4 c salsa and 1 tsp cumin. 

Sweet P would have loved them, but she got sick one night while my mom was making tacos and can't stand the smell of corn tortillas. Plus, I think the salsa was a tad too spicy for her. 

Next time I'll use salsa verde for a green sauce instead of red and make a larger batch! These were delish! If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, just find another type of tomatillo based salsa. The Farmer and I both thought the tanginess of the tomatillos and Greek yogurt worked really well with the avocado. 

Did you try this recipe? Please leave a comment to let me know how it turned out or what you did differently!