These kebabs were a great, quick summer meal. I did marinate them overnight, which worked out well. We served this with tzatziki sauce, cucumber and tomato salad, and asparagus. Definitely a repeat.
Berry Cobbler
Cobbler is one of my favorite summer desserts, since it uses up all of the beautiful fresh fruit! We had a lot of extra blackberries, so I did a mix of blueberries and blackberries for this one.
Homemade Bagels
Is there anyone who doesn’t like bagels?! Probably not. Does anyone love gluten-free bagels…probably not! Alas, I’m here to tell you, they’re just not that good from the gluten free freezer. …and then I made them from scratch. And holy SMOKES were they good! Now, I say this as someone from Connecticut, and our food was generally very influence by NYC – which means incredible bagels. I was absolutely thrilled with these, and Shawn really like them too. They’re one of those foods you couldn’t tell was gluten-free. They don’t last long, so you have to eat them fast, but this was one of my very happiest baking/cooking moments, knowing I could reproduce a bagel ALMOST as good as back home. I used honey to boil the bagels, and I got the original recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes.
Steak Fettuccine
I’ve been planning to experiment with fettuccine sauce with dairy alternatives besides cheese, and this was a great success. We had a flank steak hanging out in the freezer that was perfect for this, and I liked the idea of using steak instead of chicken – if the sauce was lackluster, the steak has a stronger flavor than chicken. But the sauce was great, and I would definitely make it with either chicken or steak. We did use gluten free noodles.
Creamy Gnocchi with Ground Pork
Gnocchi is an easy thing that I can eat and also makes for fast weeknight dinners. If you are watching for gluten-free food, DO read the back of the box – while gnocchi is generally a potato-based pasta, it often has wheat included. I liked this recipe because I think you could sub ground chicken as well, so you have options if you can’t find ground pork. You could also add any number of veggies. It’s a great base recipe that I’ve used several times now, with or without meat.
Salisbury Steak
The ultimate in comfort food! I’ve never actually tried to make this, but it was worth a go on a particularly cold evening after chores. While I am not much of a heavy food person, I did really enjoy this. We had it with mashed potatoes and green beans. I liked this recipe and would not make any changes. It does require gravy, which I don’t include here – use your favorite recipe for beef gravy.
Breakfast Sausage
It has never really crossed my mind to make breakfast sausage from scratch, but why not? We make our own jerky. This didn’t seem like such a leap, and as staying away from all things cured is a necessity, it was worth a try. We loved this! Next time, I would be more careful to flatten the patties so they’re easier with sandwiches. We got this recipe from I Am Baker, and while I personally would up the pepper all around, I would suggest not changing a thing the first time you make this – it’s delicious as is, and you can see what works for you as far as seasonings once you’ve tried it.
Baked Stuffed Clams
We are both originally from New England, and both of us love clams – chowder, fried, dips, or like this recipe, baked. Which makes this meal perfect for our Valentine’s Day – as much as we both love it, it is a bit of work, so we reserve it for a special meal. We had this with a simple salad, and we did make it gluten free.
Chicken and Dumplings
I am generally not much of a comfort food person, but during a cold snap, this WAS pretty good for dinner after coming in from barn chores. I adapted this recipe from The Modern Proper, adding a few more vegetables than called for (including adding a half a bag of spinach that we had on hand), and subbing most of the dairy products. The only dairy I did leave in was the buttermilk. I find that if a recipe is calling for buttermilk, it’s probably there for a reason. This came out very well, but I made the dumplings too big, so they were a little gluey. Would definitely make this again with smaller dumplings.
Popcorn Balls
I haven’t had popcorn balls since I was a kid, and when they popped up as fun ideas for holiday gift baskets, I thought they would be cute! I found this recipe on My Baking Addiction, and I didn’t change anything at all. They were simple and were a hit especially with kids. We will definitely include them next year, and I think they would also be cute for summer parties with something like red, white, and blue sprinkles.
