Gluten Free Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Here's an easy comfort-food recipe for you that you can do in your slow cooker or regular pot. I never thought I'd eat this again without using Bisquick! Ta da! I am happy and so is my tummy. :) My photo kind of stinks, by the way!

Gluten Free Chicken and Dumplings (Crock Pot)

2 packages organic chicken thighs
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
4 cups organic free range chicken broth
2 Tbsps tapioca starch mixed with 1/2 cup water
sea salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each?)

Mix all ingredients in crock pot except tapioca starch. Let cook on low for about 4 hours or high for 1 or 2 (until chicken is cooked and veggies are tender). Add tapioca starch/water mixture to thicken it up a bit. Drop dumplings by the spoonful on top, and cook for a few more hours, until dumplings are done.


Gluten Free Dumplings

2 C gluten-free Flour (I use Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix)
1/3 C grapeseed oil
1 Tbs. Baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
3/4 - 1 C Milk (dairy or non dairy)

  Mix all dry ingredients until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Add milk and mix until dough is moist.

**You can also make this in a regular pot. Just cook the chicken/veggies until done, add tapioca, then cook until dumplings are done. :)

Split Pea Soup

Want to know the easiest meal in the world? Split pea soup!

Take one bag of organic split peas, sorted and rinsed, and pour into crock pot.

Cover with organic free range

chicken broth (or vegetable).

Cook for 4-6 hours. Done! And very delicious.

Make it a stew:

Just add everything but the kitchen

sink. No, really. Anything you have, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, scallions, whatever! Here's a couple photos of some I made recently- when it is done, of course it looks more like mush, so these pics are prettier. :) It's really healthy, easy, and delicious. Great with a crusty whole grain bread.

(Almost) From Scratch Chili!

Friday I ventured to make chili completely from scratch. I almost met my goal, except for that one small stinky can of organic tomato paste I had to put in to thicken it. Oh well. Almost there!
I also had to season this as I went, tasting it to decide what it needed. Here is a recollection of what (I think) I did after it was done. The result was good so I will do it again!

3/4 cup each: (raw) garbanzo beans, black beans, red kidney beans and pinto beans, rinsed and soaked 24 hours in advance.
4-5 large organic tomatoes, diced
2-4 organic bell peppers of any color, diced
1-2 medium onions, white or red, diced
3 stalks celery chopped small
10 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
1 small can of organic tomato paste
About 4-6 cups of water
3 tbsps raw honey and organic cane sugar
3 tbsps sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black and red pepper*
2 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder*
1 tsp turmeric, coriander and paprika
*If you do not like spicy chili, use less ground red pepper and chili powder. I will next time until this pregnancy is over! :)

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for eight hours. If done on stove, cook on medium-high for eight hours? Stir and taste occasionally to test! (Remember I said "I think" this is what I did!!) I'll proof it again soon just to be sure. Serve with whole wheat corn muffins (blog under muffins)! Enjoy!

Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew

My best friend Danielle doesn't cook a ton, but man is her beef stew good! I only made it organic and added a few extra fresh veggies :)
I wish I had a picture but it was too yummy I was too busy eating it.
You'll need:

About one pound organic free range grass fed stew beef
organic carrots chopped
organic potatoes chopped
organic celery chopped
an onion chopped
2 cups organic frozen corn
whole wheat flour
water
sea salt and pepper
fresh crushed garlic

She says:

My recipe is simple...I put the stew beef in the crock pot and mix in some flour until all the meat is covered, add veggies (corn, celery, baby carrots), skin a couple potatoes, cut em up and put them in. Fill up the pot with water so that it's not quite covering everything. In a separate bowl, mix half cup flour and water until you get like a thick milky mix and dump that in the pot...add seasonings, salt, pepper, onion salt....mix...cook in the crock pot for like 8 hours...yum....! :) You can always add more flour if you think it's too runny.

So there you have it. Decide what you want in it, put it in the pot and turn it on. Pair it up with home made wheat bread and yummmmmo!

*** You can also use 2 cups beef broth for variety and a tapioca starch/water mixture to make it gluten free!***