DIY

Taco Rice (GF, DF) and Homemade Burrito Bowls – Blog Post #18

My mom an I enjoy going to a place called Hot Head Burritos.  We usually  get a lil bowl with either brown or white rice, pinto or black beans, and our choice of meat and toppings.

You can use this recipe to be the base of your own burrito bowl.  It would be delicious with taco meat or chicken ranch taco meat.  You can use either black or pinto beans.  It’s up to you to decide what type of toppings are on your burrito bowl.

Some topping ideas are:  lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, pico, sour cream, corn, and guacamole.  Yum!

As you can see being gluten free does not have to be boring.

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Taco Rice

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

– 2 Tbsp. oil

– 1 onion

– 1 garlic clove, minced

– 2 c. white rice

– 2 Tbsp. homemade taco seasoning

– 2 c. water

– salt to taste

 

Directions

  1. Set an electric pressure cooker to saute’.
  2. Add the oil, onions, and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.
  3. Add the rice and taco seasoning.  Stir.  Cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Add water and salt.  Stir.  Manually set the pressure cooker to 8 minutes on high.  (Put the lid on the pressure cooker.)
  5. After the rice has finished cooking, do a quick release.
  6. Fluff the rice.
  7. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Dollar Store First Aid Kit

When my boys went to Boy Scout Camp, I needed to make sure they had a personal first aid kit. I knew there was going to be an infirmity if they had a serious injury. All they needed was band-aids, first aid ointment, and something to clean up his injury.

So we headed to the Dollar Tree to get those items plus a container.

I almost got a sandwich container to hold of the items in the first aid kit. The Imaginative One who is the Boy Scout veteran told me that the sandwich container was going to be too big.

Then I realized there was school supplies in the store. I decided using a pencil bag would be compact enough.

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All of the first aid items that I put in the kit. We also got them so medication for bug bites.

All of the items were bought at the Dollar Store. Each kit was about $4.83. (The sanitizer came in a pack of 3 and I put half of the wipes in each kit.)

I love this idea that I came up with and am planning to make one of those kits for my desk at work. I’m going to add an eye glass kit to my kit. My students are always asking for band-aids. The clinic gives us a limited amount of band-aids at the beginning of the year. Once those are gone, I’ll use band-aids from the Dollar Tree.

I think I’m going to also make a hygiene kit with another pencil bag. In the bag, I would put a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, breath mint strips, deodorant, and a brush.

I hope these give you some ideas.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Lemon Garlic Marinade (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo, Whole30)

When I went grocery shopping last Sunday, I got some boneless pork ribs.  I almost bought a bottle of lemon garlic marinade for the ribs but decided not to get it.

I decided to make my own lemon garlic marinade for the ribs instead of buying that bottle.

When I served dinner last night, Hubby was delighted with the ribs.  Since there were a couple left over, he claimed them as his own for our left over night.  So I think this marinade is a winner.

This marinade would be good on pork chops, boneless pork ribs, pork roast, or even chicken breast.

Bonus:  It’s Whole30 friendly.

Oh, and I finally figured out how to make my recipes printer friendly.  That’s been a big problem during the 7 years I’ve had this blog.

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Lemon Garlic Marinade

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

-1 lemon, zest and juiced

-1 clove of garlic, minced or 1 Tbsp. minced garlic

-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

-1 tsp. Salt

-1 tsp. Pepper

-2 tsp. oregano

Directions

  1. In a gallon sized ziploc bag, add the ingredients. Close the bag. Knead the bag until the ingredients are combined.
  2. Add either boneless ribs, pork chops, or chicken breast.
  3. Allow meat to marinade for 4 to 12 hours or freeze for up to 3 months.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place meat in a baking dish.
  5. Cook the pork or chicken for 20 to 30 minutes.
  6. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
  7. Serve and enjoy!

The pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees and chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Happy eating,
Traci

2 Yummy Do It Yourself Cream Cheese Flavors – Cinnamon Brown Sugar and Strawberry

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

-1 tub of WHIPPED cream cheese, room temperature

-1/4 c. brown sugar

-1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Directions

  1. Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon.
  3. Mix with electric mixer until blended.
  4. Enjoy with bagels.

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

-1 tub of WHIPPED cream cheese, room temperature

-1/2 c. diced strawberries (cut into tiny pieces)

-1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

  1. Cut the strawberries.  Place in a bowl.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
  2. Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
  3. Add the strawberries.
  4. Mix with electric mixer until blended.
  5. Enjoy with bagels.

Blueberry Vinaigrette

While I was looking through my Evernote account this afternoon, I found this recipe and picture.  Since I posted I was going to share more salad dressing recipes, I was delighted to find this recipe.

It’s a simple recipe to put together.

Blueberry Vinaigrette

Blueberry Vinaigrette

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1/2 c. partially frozen blueberries
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
  • 1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

Steps:

  1. Add the ingredients to a blender cup
  2. Blend together until smooth.
  3. Use over your favorite salad.
  4. Keep refrigerated.  It should last a week.

Enjoy!

Happy Eating,
Traci

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Grapefruit VinagretteWhen I was perusing my blog, I noticed there was an absence of homemade salad dressings.  I make my own on occasion but hadn’t shared any recipes.

During winter, citrus fruits are the stars of the fruit world.  They are refreshing.  The vitamin C in citrus fruits are great for you.

So I decided to use the grapefruit I had at my house to make a vinaigrette.  The result was pure deliciousness.

A hint about juicing fresh citrus fruits:  place the fruit in the microwave for 10 seconds.  This causes the fruit to release their juices.

I used the grapefruit vinaigrette on top of a simple salad of spinach, kale, goat cheese, and slivered almonds.  Yum!

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Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1/4 c. grapefruit juice (1/2 of a large grapefruit)
  • 1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 – 2 tsp. honey
  • 1 tsp. salt

Step:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a jar.  (I use a mason jar.)
  2. After placing a lid on the jar, shake the jar until the ingredients are combined.
  3. Use on your favorite salad.
  4. Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Happy eating,
Traci

Do It Yourself – Spreads, Sauces, and Breads

This is my last installment of reviewing my Do It Yourself blog posts.  This DIY post features the spreads, sauces, and breads on my blog.

Sauces and Spreads

applesauce

Homemade Applesauce

Homemade Applesauce

 

Homemade pumpkin butter

root beer

Root beer Barbecue Sauce

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

thousand island

Thousand Island Sandwich Spread

Breads

homemade baking mix

Homemade Baking Mix and Pancakes

homemade tortilla

Homemade Tortillas

I’ve created  a page with all the Do It Yourself posts for easy access.  Click on the picture below to go to the page.Do It Yourself.

Happy Eating,
Traci

Pressure Cooker Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

The other day I went an event.  They served frozen lasagna.  It made me crave homemade lasagna so I decided make some.    I asked Hubby to get me the ingredients for my lasagna.  Rather then using store bought sauce, I decided to use my spaghetti sauce recipe.  I adapted the recipe for the pressure cooker.

The kitchen smelled amazing as it cooked!  This is an easy recipe to put together.  If you don’t want to use the pressure cooker, click on the link to the original recipe.

I use an Electric Pressure Cooker.Pressure Cooker Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Pressure Cooker
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 (28 oz.) or 2 (14.5 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 c. water
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
  • 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 Tbsp. beef granules
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. white sugar or shredded carrots (reduces acidity and adds sweetness to the sauce)

Steps:

  1. Combine all the ingredients in the pressure cooker.
  2. Place the lid on the pressure cooker.
  3. Set the setting to pressure cook and the time to 10 minutes.
  4. After the sauce is done cooking, allow the pressure cooker to release the steam naturally for 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
  5. Carefully remove the lid to the pressure cooker.
  6. Enjoy over your favorite pasta!

Do It Yourself – Spices and Other Random Kitchen Tips

Making your own spice blends is so easy.  You can customize the amount of the spices.  Hubby doesn’t really like cumin so I put on a trace amount in my taco seasoning.  He enjoys when I make tacos because he knows it’s customized to his liking.  I haven’t bought taco seasoning in years.

Here are some of the spice blends I’ve shared over the years.

 

Spice Blends:

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Pumpkin Pie Spice

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Other Kitchen Hacks:

brown sugar

DIY Brown Sugar

Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin Puree

 

Here are the other Do It Yourself blog posts.

Drinks and Coffee Creamers

Breakfasts

Desserts and Snacks

Happy Eating,
Traci