Crab Noodle

This recipe is my quick and easy rendition of one of my favorite Thai dishes, crab noodle.  It is also extremely allergy friendly!  It can be made egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free!  Enjoy!

 

Crab Noodle 

1 16 oz can lump crabmeat
14 oz Thai rice stir fry noodles*
3 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ yellow onion, thinly sliced into strips
1 bunch green onion, white portion thinly sliced
1/3 c reduced-sodium soy sauce*
Cilantro for garnish  

In a medium saucepan, bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat and immerse noodles in the hot water. Let stand 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until noodles are soft and tender. 

While noodles are soaking, preheat a large skillet and add oil.  Sauté yellow onion until tender and slightly translucent.  Add garlic, green onion and crab, sauté until heated through.    

Drain noodles well and immediately add to skillet and sprinkle with soy sauce.  Gently stir until noodles are evenly coated with soy sauce.  Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro. 
Serves 4

* For those on a gluten-free diet, be sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce and double check the rice noodles to make sure no gluten has been added.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

We LOVE these muffins.  They are my favorite fall sweet treat!  If chocolate and pumpkin together sounds weird to you, you can easily make them without the chocolate chips.  Enjoy!!

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 c plain pumpkin

½ c margarine*, melted

1 c sugar

1 T pumpkin pie spice

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1 1/2 c flour

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips*

Grease muffin tin or fill with liners.  Blend pumpkin and margarine.  Mix in sugar.  Add pumpkin pie spice, soda and baking powder, blending until incorporated.  Slowly mix in flour.   Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour evenly into prepared muffin cups.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  (If using fresh pumpkin, cook about 25 minutes.)  Cool at least 5 minutes in muffin pan.
Makes 12 muffins.

*If you are on a dairy-free diet make sure these two ingredients are dairy-free.

Note:  If you use canned pumpkin, one can contains slightly less than 2 cups.  If you want to double the recipe, using one full can will work just fine.

Fall Snack Mix

Do you need a fun but really easy fall treat?  I got this idea from Munchkin Munchies blog.  The great thing is that the possible combinations are endless.  You can make it to suit your own tastes.  I have made this a couple of times now.  The first time, we decided to keep ours full of sweet treats!  The second time, we mixed salty and sweet snacks and omitted nuts to make it a little more allergy friendly. [Updated 11/09/15]

If you like this snack idea, you may also like Fall Apple Slices (EF, DF, GF).

Fall Snack Mix #1

Carmel popcorn with peanuts
Honey teddy grahams
Coco puffs
Frosted cheerios
Candy corn
Reese’s pieces

Mix in a large bowl and separate into treat bags.

You can find an idea for really cute treat bags here.

Fall Snack Mix #2

Kettle Corn
Honey teddy grahams
Mini Pretzels
Cheez-Its
Autumn Mix candy corn
Fall Crispy M&Ms

Mix in a large bowl and separate into treat bags.

You can find an idea for really cute treat bags here.

Pillsbury Chocolate Cupcakes {made Egg-free}

My previous post for Pillsbury cupcakes {made Egg-free} was a big hit.  Some of the various flavors of Pillsbury Moist Supreme cake mix, call for slightly different added ingredients.  This changes the egg-free adjustments slightly.  So, I decided to do a separate post for chocolate cupcakes.  I frosted these cupcakes with Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate Fudge icing.  We took them to a fall party, so I topped them with orange Reese's pieces.  Mmmmm!

I also made some vanilla cupcakes with orange-dyed vanilla icing topped with brown Reese's pieces for the party.  The brown and orange decorating scheme came from this website.

 

Pillsbury Chocolate Cupcakes

 

1 box Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food cake mix^*

1 c water

2/3 c oil

1 T baking powder

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350^o.  Line cupcake tins with paper baking cups.  Mix ingredients with an electric mixer on low until combined.  Scrap the sides of mixing bowl.  Mix an additional 2 minutes on medium to medium-high.  Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 18 minutes.  Cool cupcakes in pan.  Frost cupcakes when completely cooled.  Makes about 18 cupcakes. 

^* This mix calls for the added ingredients of 1 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3 eggs.  If you are going to try a different flavor of mix, make sure the added ingredients are the same for the adjusted recipe to work properly.

Note:  The Pillsbury mixes do contain dairy.  I am not trying to promote one brand over the other.  I have just found that some brands work better when making adjustments for egg-free cooking. 

Here are the fully decorated chocolate cupcakes.

Here are the fully decorated vanilla cupcakes.

White Chicken Chili {Slow-cooker}

My husband actually found this recipe.  He made it the first few times and often helps me when I make it as it takes a little time to chop everything that goes in it.  The recipe as originally written is hot, so I lightened it up some for the kids and for friends that can't tolerate the heat.  The result is a flavorful white chili that everyone will love!

 

White Chili 
Adapted from White Lightning Chicken Chili on Cooks.com

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cans great northern beans, rinsed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 cup frozen white corn
8 oz fresh mushrooms, diced

8 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 serrano peppers, seeded and diced
1 can chicken broth *
2 t cumin powder
1 t coriander powder
1 T ground white pepper
2 T olive oil
1 lime, squeezed for juice
½ c sour cream
shredded cheese for topping

Heat 1 T olive oil in large sauté pan to medium-high heat, add onions, mushrooms and peppers.  Sauté for about 10 minutes or until onion is slightly translucent and mushrooms are tender.  Transfer sautéed onion mixture to crock pot.  Add chicken and 1 T oil to the same pan and sauté for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Add chicken to crock pot.  Add chicken broth, cumin, coriander, ground white pepper, lime juice, garlic, corn and beans.  Cover and cook on high for about 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.  Using the slow cooker makes the chicken so tender but the beans do break down some.  If you prefer firmer beans, wait to add them halfway through the cooking time.  Just before serving, stir in the sour cream. Garnish with shredded cheese, and serve with cornbread.  Try this egg-free cornbread (not gluten-free).

Serves 6-8

*If you have a gluten allergy make sure the chicken broth you use is gluten free.

Thyme-Roasted Chicken with Onions and Potatoes

If you have never roasted a chicken, this recipe is for you.  It isn't complicated and it always tastes delicious!  It is a family favorite at our house and is fancy enough for company.

 

Thyme-Roasted Chicken with Onions and Potatoes 

Adapted from The Best of Food & Wine Chicken Collection cookbook 

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

½ t low-sodium seasoned salt*

½ t freshly ground pepper

1 t dried thyme leaves

3-4 pound whole chicken

6 medium all purpose potatoes, peeled and quartered

Preheat oven to 400^o.  Melt 1 tablespoon of margarine in a skillet.  Add onion and a dash of salt, pepper and thyme.  Sauté onion until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining 7 tablespoons of margarine, salt, pepper and thyme.  Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Using your fingers, gently loosen the breast, thigh and leg skin of the chicken.  Rub 4 tablespoons of the thyme margarine mixture under the skin, rubbing a little on top of the skin.  Place chicken in 9”x13” glass baking pan.  In a large bowl, toss potatoes, sautéed onions and remaining margarine mixture.  Arrange the potatoes around the chicken in the baking pan.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until juices run clear when the thigh of the chicken is pierced.

4-6 servings

*If you are using a salted butter or margarine, you do not need to add much salt.  If you are using unsalted butter, you may want to add a little more.