Easy Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Home-made soup is easy to prepare and tastes much better than anything that comes from a can. Start with a package of frozen broccoli in a pan with water that just covers the broccoli and add in one vegetable or chicken bouillon cube. Set that on medium to high heat and let it cook until your broccoli is tender.

In a larger pan/pot (I use my dutch oven) add 1/2 a stick of butter and turn to medium heat. Once the butter is melted add 1 TBSP of Tapioca flour and 1 TBSP of rice flour and make a rue. Add 1 cup of milk and stir with a whisk.

Add your two cups of grated cheddar cheese and stir.

Using a ladle, spoon in your cooked broccoli with broth one spoon at a time while stirring.

Season with salt and pepper at the very end. 

Congratulations! You just made gluten-free broccoli cheddar soup. It's that easy. 

Here is the full ingredients list:

Gluten-Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup
1 Pkg of frozen broccoli
1 cube of chicken or veggie bouillon
1/2 stick butter
1 Cup of milk
1 TBSP of tapioca flour
1 TBSP of rice flour
2 cups of cheddar cheese (any kind)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!
Zabrina

Crochet Lemon

Just wanted to share this cute crocheted lemon I whipped up last night! Pattern is free here: http://www.beansproutcreations.com/2008/09/08/lemons-n-limes/

I have tons of yellow yarn from another project I'm working on (pictures soon!) and wanted a quick pattern to work on at the dinner table. I love the satisfaction of completing any project...even small ones.  Having patterns like these makes it easy to take a break from larger projects without using too much time (or yarn!).

Gluten Free Nutella Cookies

Gluten Free Nutella Cookies! These take 5 minutes to throw together at the most. I made them yesterday and they are already gone.

I use Pamela's Gluten Free Baking mix. Of all the Gluten free baking mixes out there, Pamela's is by far my favorite and we use it for everything.

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
1 cup of Pamela's Gluten Free baking mix.
1 cup of Nutella
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and form 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet and flatten down with your fingers or use a cup/drinking glass. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. (my oven is 8 minutes)

Let cookies set/cool for 10 mins. For more yumminess, add 1 TBSP of chopped pecans to the dough mixture.

My latest obsession - Crochet!

A coworker at my last job taught me to crochet last year, and I've been hooked (sorry, couldn't resist) ever since! Here are a few things I've made:

Amigurumi Bomb-omb. This was fun and fairly easy!  Pattern here: http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2009/04/bombomb.html 

Broomstick lace cup sleeve. No pattern, but this was the first usable thing I made.

Amigurumi dachshund. This pattern is free on Ravelry.com (Dachshund 'Claw') and is actually a great pattern despite how this thing looks. It was my first amigurumi, and I used a hook that was way too big! I need to retry it now that I know a bit more.

Wrap scarf for mom - she wanted something shorter that would wrap around her neck. I ended up creating a pattern with a combination of post stitches to get the ridged effect with textured yarn. The matching hat needs more work...

 Long man-scarf for dad. Made with Dan's Minimalist Scarf pattern on Ravelry, but also available here: http://www.hookedupcrochet.com/patterns-minimalist.html

I definitely recommend the crab stitch edging - it makes the scarf!

Do you crochet? What are some of your favorite projects so far? Let me know!

-Yellow

My favorite salad

Don't let anyone tell you that a salad doesn't make a full meal! This is my go-to dinner for those nights when I want to feel full and energized, but not weighed down.  It's also fantastic as a side dish for almost any meal; the combination of flavors and textures makes it anything but boring. I'll use whatever I have on hand at the time, but I always include:

baby spring mix

pecans

sliced pear (or other crisp fruit)

feta cheese

dried cranberries

For the pictured salad, I also added cucumbers, mushrooms, and avocado. Tomatoes, fresh berries, and sections of citrus fruit are also great additions!

I slice all my fruit and veggies into bite-sized pieces, and toss them with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. My husband and I love a balsamic vinaigrette with this, but just about any fairly light dressing seems to work well.

If you're serving this with a meal, put your dressing on the bottom of the bowl and layer your ingredients over it, with the lettuce on top. This keeps it from wilting before you toss it all together to serve.

Hope you love it as much as I do! What's your favorite salad?

-Yellow

"It's No Yolk!" Gluten Free Quiche

One of the changes in the past year has been our switch to gluten-free cooking at home. This is a recipe we make all the time, and even bread-loving company loves it!

Zabrina's "It's No Yolk!", Gluten Free Quiche:

Start by putting 2 cups frozen potato rounds in a pie baking dish and microwave for 2 minutes.  Smash with a spoon or the the bottom of a heavy cup to make a crust and set aside.

Heat oven to 375 degrees

In a bowl: 

12 egg whites, no yolks.

¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese

¼ cup smoked Gouda cheese

3 TBSP Feta cheese

2 slices cooked bacon, chopped

¼ cup frozen spinach, thawed, chopped

Salt and pepper.

Softly fold egg whites and all ingredients together. Be careful not to beat the egg whites. Pour into potatoes in your pie dish.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Mine is done in 20. Egg whites cook faster, so keep an eye on it!  Low cholesterol, yummy food. Enjoy.

Note: You can add any favorite cheese and veggies you want to this dish and make it your own.

Zabrina



from Yellow: I love this recipe and make it all the time! I'll add whatever leftover veggies and cheeses I have in the fridge, but my favorite is a combination of broccoli and sharp cheddar. You can't go wrong!

We're Back!

Hello everyone!

Now that it's January 2013, I have found the time to breathe and return to Zabrina's Roses.

The last two years have been busy. Yellow was married, and now Red has been married as well. Thanks to Red, we have a grandson and a granddaughter on the way. Yellow and I have been busy crafting and cooking up a storm and we are both excited to share all of our ideas with you. Yellow and her husband (my handsome son-in-law) have been doing so much traveling this last year to visit family and friends, as well as a couple of very interesting vacation trips. I'm sure Yellow will share these exciting times with you all soon.

Glad to be back!

Zabrina