A Gluten Free Sloppy Joe Recipe | "Sloppy John Joes Burgers"

Gotta love that name. That's what my oldest daughter used to call this gluten free Sloppy Joe recipe - "sloppy John Joes burgers." And, she calls it a burger because that's how I make it for her. This isn't just a nifty GF dish, it's also a recipe for easy Sloppy Joes.

I tried the real Sloppy Joe recipe for them, thinking it'd be simple, economical and enjoyable. But, no dice. At the time, the loose meat was a distraction and frustrating at that age. The meat fell out of the gluten free buns that I bought (which is normal) but something they couldn't handle back then. I tried serving it bunless, but it wasn't a hit. 

So, I gave up on that for a while. Then, I had the idea of simply revising the recipe by making the Sloppy Joe more like a hamburger. It's the same taste as the Sloppy Joe, just in the form of a burger..

If you don't have a recipe for easy Sloppy Joes around, try this one and you'll have a simple gluten free sloppy joe recipe to use.

• 1 lb ground beef 
• 1 good squirt of ketchup -- probably about 1/4 cup (I use Heinz but for those more sensitive, you might consider other brands)
• 1/2 tbsp chili powder 
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perkins is gluten free) 
• 1 dash of ground red pepper 
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Now, combine everything together and make about 4-5 burger patties. Bake on 350 for about 20 mins.

Serve as you would a regular burger. Serve on a gluten free bun if you'd like. And, enjoy this gluten free Sloppy Joe recipe as we have for years.

By the way, no idea who John is/was - the name just somehow got smashed into the name of this recipe!

Gluten Free Scalloped Potatoes | An Allergy Friendly Recipe

I love potatoes -- all types. And, I sorta miss having scalloped potatoes since we've become mostly a GFCF household. Being soy-free also doesn't make subbing dairy any easier. I've tried to develop a recipe for gluten free scalloped potatoes a few times but failed. Getting them to be gluten free was one piece of the puzzle - the other was also making this a dairy free scalloped potatoes recipe.

Getting the right flavor and texture was vital to this recipe. At the urging of my potato-loving kids, I came up with a recipe that's simple and pretty darn good. Most important, my kids really liked this as they were growing up. I made this in the crock pot, but I'm sure you can adapt for the oven.

Ingredients

• Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 
• Dairy free margarine or ghee -- I used Spectrum shortening
• Sea salt 
• Black pepper 
• Gluten free tapioca flour (I think potato starch, corn starch would work too) 
• Gluten free chickpea flour (I think potato flour, rice flour, etc. would work too -- anything that's a fine flour and not grainy) 
• Garlic powder 
• Dairy free milk - I used rice milk
• Water 
• Corn starch (I think tapioca or potato starch would work too) 

I use a big crock pot, so adapt if yours is smaller. Start by peeling and slicing the potatoes. I peeled two average sized potatoes at a time. Then, layer the slices of those two potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot. Sprinkle a dash of salt and a pinch of pepper over top of the layer. Then, sprinkle 1 tbsp of the tapioca flour over the layer and then 1 tbsp of the chickpea flour over the layer. Then, drop about 4 small dabs of the shortening (or margarine) in various places over the layer --  1/2 tsp each. 

Then, repeat this process by adding another layer of potatoes over top -- about two potatoes. Then, the seasoning, flours and shortening. Do this with about 4-5 layers of potatoes. Using this mix of flours is what makes this a gluten free scalloped potatoes recipe.

When done, pour 1 cup of dairy free milk over top and then 1 cup of water. Turn the crock pot setting to high and let it go for four hours. After 2 hours, spoon over the top layer of potatoes to ensure they don't dry out. Do this again after the 3rd hour. 

After the 3rd hour, test taste. When I first made these, I found that the milk alternative taste was coming thru too much and not enough of the seasoning. So, I added another dose of salt and pepper and a couple dashes of garlic powder. You can skip this if you don't like garlic. It was enough to flavor but not overwhelm. You also can experiment with different milk substitutes. Your choice of margarine/ghee and dairy-free milk is the key to keeping this a dairy free scalloped potatoes recipe.

Of course, you can play with the seasoning - add any other spice that you like.

That's it. Enjoy your gluten free scalloped potatoes.

An Easy Dairy Free Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe!

I don't know where it came from, but when my oldest daughter was about 7, she asked me to make her a cream soup. I don't think she'd ever had cream soup at that time and her parents - us - didn't really make much cream soup at home. So, it was one of those out-of-left-field moments. But, it seemed like a fun challenge to figure out how to make a dairy free cream of chicken soup for her to try - and of course, it wasn't just a dairy free soup, it also was a gluten free soup.

As you may know from reading the blog, we're not just a gluten free, dairy free family, we're also soy free. So, it's not like we could just run down to the store and buy the soup. And at that time, alternative dairy free soup products were few and far between. 

Anyway, I found a recipe and tinkered with it a bit to make a dairy free cream of chicken soup. It may not be the best soup you've ever had ... but I think it was successful. My daughter loved it and ate it for two days. I also did one better, I made it in the slow cooker over the weekend. So, I dumped the food in the pot, turned it on, and left it all afternoon. I love 'easy' too. 

Here's what I did. You might tinker more with the "cream" ingredients to fit your family's diet needs and preferences. I obviously made this as a dairy free cream of chicken soup, but you certainly could make it any type of cream-based dairy free soup that you want - mushroom, celery, etc.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped into chunks
• sea salt and black pepper to taste 
• 1 tsp basil 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp sage 
• About 2-3 pounds of chicken -- any kind you prefer (I used bone-in breasts with the skin removed and later, pulled the meat off and diced it into small pieces) 
• 2-3 garlic pieces, crushed 
• 5 1/2 cups of water 
• Dairy free milk (I used rice milk) 
• Corn starch -- GF of course 

Place all ingredients, except the dairy free milk and corn starch in the slow cooker. Cook for four hours on high. When nearly-done, pull chicken out and cool. Remove meat from bones. I diced the meat into small pieces and put it back in the cooker.

Before serving, I pulled out the onions, since my kids won't eat them. 

Now, to make the cream soup. I took about 2 cup servings of the soup broth from the crock and poured it into a small stove-top pot. I turned the heat onto low-medium. In a small bowl, I put 1 tbsp of the corn starch and 2 tbsp of cold water and mixed with a fork until mixed well. Pour this into the pot and stir with a whisk. Note that this will thicken the soup quickly, so keep stirring and be sure the heat is not high. Once thickened, I poured about 1/4 cup of the dairy free milk into the mix and let it heat for another minute. Mix in some of the chicken pieces. 

This results in a tasty chicken soup, thickened by the starch and given that cream color by the alternative milk. 

A couple of notes ... 

• First, this is easy to freeze too. If you like the basic soup, freeze it in portions, like in ice cube trays, for example. 
• Second - if you don't remove the skins, you'll need to take the added step of cooling the broth and removing some of the fat.
• Last, if your child is a picky eater, this is great way to sneak them in. Carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes, rice, etc. You can make just about cream of anything. Chopping into small pieces or even blending a veggie to get it in is possible.

I hope you give this dairy free cream of chicken soup recipe a try! Happy eating.