Gluten Free Archives — Bless this Mess

October 16, 2018

One Pan Chicken Enchilada Casserole

One pan chicken enchilada casserole made on the stove top with ground chicken, enchilada sauce, veggies, and tortillas in less than 30 minutes.

Long live super easy dinners that are on the table in less than 30 minutes. This is one of those meals that you probably have everything on hand to make. It’s super fast and full of veggies (always a pro in my world!). And you only have to dirty one pan to make it. Put this one on your list to make because it’s sure to become a staple in your house, too.

The ease and speediness of this chicken enchilada recipe is awesome but can we talk about all of the flavors for a minute. Using salsa as one of the main ingredients is always a great idea, because it’s a complex flavored ingredient that is super easy to use. I love the addition of zucchini, too. It’s a simple vegetable that you all know I love, but it adds great texture and color to this dish. Then there’s the enchilada sauce – the real star of the show. Make sure you get a brand that you love because again, it’s adding a lot of flavor to the overall dish (you can also make homemade – here’s my Easy Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce recipe). A few simple ingredients never tasted so good.

This is also a great one because it’s easy to make gluten free. Just sub in and out what you like or have on hand. Serve this with a side of chips and The Best Blender Salsa Ever plus some seasonal fruit and you have yourself one simple meal the whole family will love – in less than 30 minutes. We are winning at life with this recipe.

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October 15, 2018

Instant Pot Shrimp Boil

Quick and easy Instant Pot Shrimp Boil made with potatoes, corn, shrimp, sausage, and just a few simple seasonings.

Have you ever had Shrimp Boil? Sometimes it’s also called Low Country Boil or Cajun Shrimp Boil, too. I love it! I grew up going to the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama and this was a favorite meal to eat along the coast. Now anytime we leave the desert in search of some ocean waves, I make a point to find a good shrimp boil place. I introduced my kids to the wonder that is shrimp boil this summer and they begged me to recreate it at home for them. I obliged!

Shrimp boil is fun because it’s all spread out on the table or in a big tray and you just pick and eat what you want. You can dip it in delicious butter, add a little hot sauce, give it a squeeze of lemon. It’s just a whole lot of fun eating communally with your fingers. It doesn’t hurt that there’s plenty of shrimp and potatoes involved, too (favorites of my kids).

I loved using my Instant Pot to make shrimp boil because it really helps to infuse the potatoes with lots of flavor, plus, it’s fast and really hands off. The perk of using the Instant Pot is that it’s a set-it-and-forget-it kind of appliance.

So now when you are craving a trip to the beach, but are stuck at home, you can have a delicious fun meal to remind you of the sand and surf.

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October 8, 2018

The BEST Baked Chicken Breast

Here are the 8 secret steps to making the most delicious baked chicken breast known to your kitchen.

Nothing is worse than cutting into a nice piece of chicken breast and finding that you’ve overcooked and it’s dry and tough. I’m sharing with you today my fool-proof way to make the best chicken of your life. It takes a little more time and effort but the results are always worth it in the end. Every time I get lazy and skip a step, I regret it when I sit down to eat. A little planning goes a long way, and it’s worth it when it comes to a perfectly cooked piece of chicken for dinner.

How to make amazingly moist baked chicken breast in the oven:

Step 1: Brine

I know this sounds like a lot of work but it is worth it!!! People are all into brining whole turkeys on Thanksgiving, but we don’t add this important step to our weeknight meals. Just. Do. It. A simple brine can be made by adding 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water. I wanted to make 4 large chicken breasts one day so I mixed together 4 cups of water, 4 tablespoons of salt, stirred until the salt was dissolved, and then poured my brine over my chicken in a bowl. I popped on the lid and let it sit on my counter for about 30 minutes. 30 minutes is ideal. You can get away with brining for as little as 15 minutes or as long as an hour, but any more or less than that isn’t worth the time or will make the chicken too salty. Brining will make your chicken moist and flavorful, and also helps to bring the chicken to room temperature which is helpful for cooking it. It’s easiest to have the chicken brine in a bowl or a baking dish instead of a plastic bag.

Step 2: Beat it

Chicken breasts are thicker on one end than the other; that’s just how they come. If you want them to cook evenly, then you’ll want to use a meat cleaver (or a rolling pin) to flatten the thickest part of the chicken so that it’s a uniform thickness all over. I put my chicken is a thin plastic bag before whacking it on one end to keep the juices from getting everywhere.

Step 3: Pat dry

Removing any extra moisture from the outside helps the chicken to crisp up nicely when cooked. Just use a few paper towels or napkins to pat both sides dry.

Step 4: Add butter/oil

A little bit of melted butter or oil gives your chicken breast some flavor while helping the outside cook nicely without drying out. It also gives the seasoning something to adhere to. I love to use melted butter because it adds the most flavor. You could also use olive oil. Plan on about one teaspoon of melted butter or oil per chicken breast. Be sure to coat both sides of the chicken.

Step 5: Season

This is the time to make this meat shine! You can go as simple as salt and pepper, or you can make your own seasoning blend. I love 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of paprika (smoked is awesome), and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. This is enough for 4 large chicken breasts or 6 small. I like to mix this together in a bowl and then sprinkle it on both sides of my chicken breast. If you have a favorite seasoning blend (I love Montreal Steak Seasoning on everything), this would be a great time to use it.

Step 6: Cook

Here’s where things get fun! The first 5 steps are the same and then you can decide how you want to cook the chicken breast, adding variety to the dinner table. When I’m prepping a lot of meat for the week, I’ll do steps 1 through 5 for a big batch of chicken (around 4 pounds) and then I’ll bake some, grill a few, and pan sear a few others. I think the cooking method makes them taste different, and I use them in different things.

I highly recommend buying an instant-read meat thermometer. I bought this simple one for around $10 on Amazon and I’ve been using it for 3 years (and I changed the battery for the first time just last month). It’s a life saver! No more guessing if your chicken is done or not, and no more overcooking “just to be on the safe side”.

Step 7: Rest

Make sure when the chicken is done cooking that you wait 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. This give the juices inside the chicken time to redistribute into the meat. If you cut it too quickly all that goodness will end up on your cutting board and you’ll end up with a drier chicken breast than if you had waited. Good things really do come to those who wait.

Step 8: Eat up!

Enjoy the best baked chicken breasts you’ve ever had! A few little tricks like brining, pounding the meat to a uniform thickness, using a thermometer to determine if the meat is cooked through, and letting the meat rest after cooking will really change your chicken game.

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October 1, 2018

Easy Apple Spinach Salad with an Apple Vinaigrette

Quick and easy spinach salad recipe with apples, pumpkin seeds, and a simple flavor-filled apple vinaigrette dressing to go with it.

I love finding quick, easy, healthy side dishes because sometimes I get a roast in the slow cooker or some chicken legs in the oven and then I get tired of thinking about dinner. Apple Spinach Salad is one of those quick, healthy, easy recipes that you can pretty much keep everything on hand for because it doesn’t have a whole lot of ingredients and it always tastes great. It’s a really simple recipe to swap out what you love or have on hand too. No pepitas? Great, use sunflower seeds or cashews. No fresh apples? Great, try seasonal peaches or strawberries. It’s so flexible and always delicious.

The start of a really simple salad, in my opinion, is a great salad dressing to go with it. You are going to love this apple vinaigrette! I tried a few different things to get an apple flavor into it and in the end, using apple juice concentrate made the best dressing with the most flavor. It’s just sweet enough (without being a sweet dressing really) and it’s packed with apple flavor. Add in some basic seasoning, apple cider vinegar, and a good quality olive oil and you have yourself one really easy but very impressive dressing.

Add this easy salad to your meal plan this week because you can’t beat fresh apples this time of year!

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September 25, 2018

Easy Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Quick, easy, and healthy turkey pumpkin chili recipe made with ground turkey, canned tomatoes, pumpkin puree, beans, and lots of hearty spices.

Adding pumpkin to chili is one of my favorite secrets to make thick, rich, healthy chili. The pumpkin adds a great texture, a nice sweetness to complement the acidic tomatoes, and a beautiful color to chili. The best part is your family will never know that you snuck a nutrient-packed vegetable into their favorite chili. Pumpkin is my secret ingredient to our favorite Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili as well as this one.

This easy Turkey Pumpkin Chili is on repeat all year long in our house because it’s so filling, healthy, and flavorful. Plus, you can’t beat that it only takes about 30 minutes to throw together and freezes well. I’ll often freeze half of the batch before the pan hits the dinner table so that I know I have a second meal in the freezer. I’ll fill out the meal with our favorite Cornbread Recipe or Mom’s Four Loaf Wheat Bread Recipe, some fruit, our Veggie Box, and some hummus too. It’s a simple, healthy, family-favorite meal that comes together easily. BONUS: you can make this in the slow cooker, too! See the notes under the recipes for instructions and cooking times.

This pumpkin recipe is part of pumpkin week! A week that I dedicate on the blog to all things pumpkin – sweet and savory alike. I’ve done this every year for a few years now, and I enjoy it so much. I hope it inspires you to get in the kitchen and gives you a few more ideas on how to use pumpkin besides the classic pumpkin cookies.

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September 21, 2018

20-Minute Roasted Zucchini, Corn, and Black Bean Tacos

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mission®. All opinions are entirely my own.

Quick and Easy 20-Minute Roasted Zucchini, Corn, and Black Bean Tacos are loaded with flavor, baked in the oven, and loved by the whole family!

Early fall is such a great time of the year. One of the best parts in my opinion is the loads of fresh produce available before the first killing frost hits. My garden is filled to the brim with tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, sweet corn, and so many other things. Produce that fresh and organic tastes amazing. Today I’m sharing a super quick and easy taco recipe that is made from all kinds of garden goodies. I stuffed all of that vegetable goodness inside of Mission Organics® White Corn Tortillas and then topped them with more veggies because organic produce this time of year deserves a few stand-alone dishes.

It’s such a treat to work with Mission Organics White Corn Tortillas today, and you are going to love having them in your kitchen, too. The tortillas taste like corn fresh from the garden. They really do have so much flavor! I love these tortillas because they are certified gluten-free, made with high-quality, wholesome ingredients, are USDA-certified organic, are Non-GMO project verified, and are super easy to find (look for them in the normal tortilla section of the grocery store). Mission Organics has a full line of organic corn, flour, and whole wheat tortillas and 4 different kinds of organic tortilla chips (get all the details on their website). Simple ingredients never tasted so good.

Mission Organics White Corn Tortillas are the perfect vessel to get some of that roasted zucchini, corn, and black bean taco filling to your mouth. I love this dish because it’s super simple, easy to make, quick (hello dinner on the table in 20 minutes!), and full of flavor. It makes a great meatless meal (which is easy on the budget). My kids gobbled this meal up! Use the bounty and fresh organic produce that early fall has to offer and make these tacos today.

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August 30, 2018

Tips and Tricks for Cooking Potatoes in the Oven

The best Tips and Tricks for Cooking Potatoes in the Oven all in one place so that you can make the perfect potatoes no matter the temperature, size, time, or if you have foil on hand.

There are all kinds of recipe, methods, and instructions for cooking potatoes in the oven and so I thought I’d collect up some of the most useful information for you in one place. I know that baking a potato doesn’t sound like rocket science but with a little knowledge behind you, you’ll find success in this simple kitchen skill no matter the baking temperature, size of potato, and even if you are out of foil.

Baked potatoes are one of my favorite easy things to make. They just take a little time but they are always a hit with the kids. I love that they can be a side dish or a main dish. And I love that you can dress them up in so many different ways! There’s just so many ways to top a baked potato that you’ll never have time to get bored with them. Plus them are easy to find, inexpensive to buy, and what kid doesn’t love a potato?! Long live the mighty baked potato!

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August 17, 2018

Easy Taco Zucchini Boats

Quick and easy Taco Zucchini Boats made with a simple taco meat and corn mixture, cheese, and zucchini – all done in about 30 minutes.

Welcome to the final recipe of Zucchini Week! I’ve gotten you all kinds of great sweet and savory zucchini recipes this week such as Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Zucchini Cookies, Easy Healthy Make Ahead Zucchini Egg Bake, Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, and Supreme Pizza Stuffed Zucchini and we are finishing up the week with these awesome Taco Zucchini Boats – because tacooooos! I’m so excited that you all loved this week as much as I did. It’s so fun to see your pictures on Instagram and hear your reviews. Thank you! I love the feedback.

Taco Zucchini Boats are awesome because they take all those great taco flavors and stuff them into an unassuming zucchini. Top it with cheese and some hot sauce and you have yourself one veggie filled dinner that is packed with flavor. My whole family loved digging into these and I loved that they were good for us and that they were on the table in a flash. You can use fresh sweet corn in the recipe if you have it. If you have zucchini in your garden, chances are you’ll have some sweet corn in there too.

Long live easy dinners that are a bit out of the box but taste like tacos and are full of vegetables. That’s a big win in my book. I can’t wait for you to make these too!

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August 15, 2018

Easy Healthy Make Ahead Zucchini Egg Bake

Healthy Easy Zucchini Egg Bake recipe is made with 3 ingredients, can be customized to your liking, reheats well, and is a great option to prep ahead.

I have a few recipes that I make over and over and OVER again. They aren’t much of a recipe, though, so I’ve never really put them on the blog. This simple healthy zucchini egg bake is one such “recipe”. I’ve been making one version or another of this recipe on repeat for years and I love it. I thought it high-time I shared it with you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have.

I love zucchini egg bake because it’s high in protein, low carb, filling, and easy to make. The best part is that you can make it ahead of time and just reheat it as needed. I’ll often make a pan or two of this early in the week and then just reheat it for breakfasts or simple lunches all week long. When I can start my day off with some protein and vegetables it’s much easier to keep eating well throughout the day. There’s something to say about starting off the day on the right foot.

Here’s the other thing that I love about this egg bake recipe – you never have to make it the same way twice. It’s pretty foolproof and you can add what you like. I’ll often cook up a 1/2 cup of bell peppers and 1 cup of chopped mushrooms with the zucchini. I love mushrooms and peppers in my egg bake. You can also add cooked meats like sausage, ham, or crumbled bacon or toss in a cup or so of your favorite shredded cheese.

I know you are going to make this recipe over and over again, and I can’t wait to hear what your favorite additions to the base recipe are.

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August 13, 2018

Supreme Pizza Stuffed Zucchini

All the flavors of a supreme pizza turned into a stuffed zucchini, made with sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onions, cheese, and more. Done in less than 30 minutes.

Long live allllll the pizza! This recipe is all of the flavors of a supreme pizza, stuffed into a zucchini! It’s a fun twist on a classic and makes for one seriously delicious zucchini boat. Stuffed zucchini and zucchini boat recipes are on repeat in my house all summer long. I love that zucchini is mild in flavor but sturdy enough to be a vehicle to get all kind of other flavor into your mouth. Making vegetables taste good is my job, and this pizza stuffed zucchini might just be the best tasting vegetable on the block. I have 5 kids and truth be told, they all ate this for dinner! Big win in my book.

I didn’t want to do just normal pizza zucchini so I went for the supreme angle. You saute up a little sausage and cook mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper along with it. Add a little pizza sauce plus some cheese and pepperoni and you have yourself a delicious, simple, low-carb dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. I think the magic is in the veggies and sausage; they add so much flavor.

This recipe is part of Zucchini Week! I’m sharing sweet and savory zucchini recipes for a solid week. Long live this inexpensive, bountiful, and versatile summer vegetable! I can’t get enough of it.

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