Pull It from the Pantry Gluten Free Black Bean Soup Recipe

Had a hankerin' for some black bean soup, and stared at the pantry shelf...

So I did the smart thing - I looked on allrecipes.com.  Not one (NOT ONE!) seemed to match what was on my shelf.  And monthly shopping wasn't happening for a few more days.  So I looked really hard at the ones that sounded the most tasty to me.  What do they have in common?  What can I substitute?

This is the result:

SPH Gluten Free Black Bean Soup
2 cans black beans
1 can sweet corn
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen brand)
1 can full of chicken stock (use whatever stock you prefer - I used Pacific brand organic free-range chicken)
olive oil
1/2 pound of carrots, diced (I had half of a 1-pound bag of baby carrots left from making carrot cupcakes)
2-3 stalks celery, diced (if they have leaves, even better)
1 onion, diced
@ 2 T. minced garlic
1 T. chili powder (or to taste)
2 t. cumin (or to taste)
2 t. oregano (or to taste)
1 t. black pepper (or to taste)
salt to taste - and don't taste until just before serving!
shredded cheese and sour cream for toppings, if desired

Start with the base for your soup.  In a large soup pot, heat some olive oil over medium-high heat.  I used enough to just cover the bottom, so I'm guessing it's a few tablespoons.  Add diced onion, and cook until onion is translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  While my onion was cooking, I diced up my carrots and celery.  When onion is done, add spices, carrots and celery to the pan.  This will allow your spices to get all warm and cozy and release maximum flavor in your soup.  Stir for a minute or two, just to warm the spices, then add the garlic.  Stir for another minute or two.  Add the tomatoes and their juice to the pan.  Then, fill that can with stock, swirl it around and dump it into your soup pot.  Cover, and allow to simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or til your carrots are tender.  Pour contents of pan and 1 can of black beans into a large blender or food processor.  Puree til fairly smooth.  Pour back into pot, and add remaining can of black beans and can of sweet corn.  Stir well to combine.  Cover and heat again for another 10-15 minutes, or until everything is heated through.  Taste for salt and adjust other seasonings, if needed.  Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream and/or shredded cheese if desired.

The next time I make this, I might try using some browned chorizo.  You know, brown the chorizo in the oil first and allow it to drain while I did everything else.  Then, at the end, adding it back in.  Something to think about the next time I get a taste for black bean soup.

Enjoy!

February Craftivism Challenge - HeartScarves

Did you know that heart disease kills more women each year than breast cancer?  In this season of hearts, our monthly Craftivism Challenge will be making scarves for women facing the challenges of heart disease.


Before we start, please read about the WomenHeart HeartScarves Program.  We'll be doing two scarves - one knit and one crochet.  At the end of February, we'll have a link-up party to share our projects, just like we did for our pillowcases, Little Dresses, and Boy Shorts.

You can order a kit from Red Heart Yarns - a portion of the sale is donated to the WomenHeart program, or you can use up your stash of red yarn.  Follow the pattern from the kit, follow the patterns we use here, or follow your favorite scarf pattern.  The only requirements are the size and color.

By the way, if you are going to a SuperBowl party tomorrow, but aren't that big of a football fan, this is a great project to work on between the commercials.  Who knows - you might get some of your friends interested, and start a stitching circle!

We're going to start with the crocheted scarf today, and do the knitted scarf next week.

REALLY FANTASTIC EXCITING {NEWS}!!!!!

If you live in the far west Chicagoland suburbs:
West of Route 59
East of Route 39
North of I-80
South of I-90

I have a special invitation for you!  SPH will be on WSPY (Comcast channel 18) on Tuesday, February 28th, at 8:30 am.  If you'd like to put a face to the name, I will be on for a half-hour segment, and the producer and I will be discussing gluten-free topics.  You know, the stuff you've seen here, and then some!

I'm hoping to get a copy on DVD, and have Bubba show me how to upload it to YouTube.  Then, I can add the video to the blog and everyone can watch for themselves.

We are pretty excited about it here at the Suburban Prairie Home, and hope you'll watch!

Gluten Free Pizza Fondue Recipe

So you're going to a Super Bowl party this weekend and you need to bring as a dish to pass...
SPH Gluten Free Pizza Fondue Recipe
1 jar spaghetti sauce (your choice of flavor and brand - I use Muir Glen Organic)
1 pound Italian sausage, well-browned and well-drained (your choice of mild or spicy)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup beef stock/broth (I use Pacific Organic brand)

Empty spaghetti sauce and cheese into a crockpot.  Add sausage and stock/broth and stir well to combine.  Allow to cook on high for 1-2 hours, or til cheese is melty and gooey.  Serve with gluten free bread sticks (you can make these with a GF bread mix), or garlic toasts (Against the Grain brand has gluten free baguettes that taste just as good as "regular" bread).

When you take GF dishes to parties, be sure to mark your dishes and serving spoons well.  Explain to your host/hostess your system and explain the dangers of cross-contamination.  You may feel like you are being a pest, but you have to look out for you.  Nobody else will do that job as well as you can.

Here's an example:  Our first Thanksgiving gluten free, I bought all new serving dishes and some serving spoons.  All my dishes were red, and the handles of my spoons were also red.  My pie server had a hole in the handle, through which I tied a red ribbon.  This made it easy for everyone to tell what was what.  After all, that red worked as an international symbol of "STOP!" for everyone at the party.

Odds are that the folks you are partying with are your friends and/or family.  Most people within this group probably know about your situation, and are willing to help you stay healthy.  Certainly any reasonable person would not intentionally want to hurt another!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes Recipe

Today is National Carrot Day - and what better way to celebrate than with carrot cake!

SPH Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes
1 Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix
cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to taste (I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons because I like mine spicy)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1-2 t. vanilla (to taste)
2 c. shredded carrots
8 oz. can crushed pineapple WITH JUICE, undrained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins (I used yellow raisins because that's what I grabbed first out of the cabinet)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Frosting
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Vanilla frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill two muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, spices and brown sugar.  Mix to combine well.  In a separate bowl, beat egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla together.  Pour into dry ingredients, and beat until well combined and smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients, making sure to combine well.  No one wants clumps of carrots in their cupcakes!  Add batter to muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or til skewer inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

Make the frosting by beating the cream cheese into the frosting.  Spread or pipe as desired on top of cooled cupcakes.  Eat and enjoy!

Princess and I thought these would also be amazing if you had some sugared pecans broken into bits and sprinkled on the frosting.  Just a thought...

Happy Carrot Day!

Super Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge Recipe

This recipe miraculously appeared in my inbox when I needed a little something extra to take to a bake sale.

Beautiful pink sweet strawberry fudge.  Can you believe it - only 2 ingredients!

I knew I so totally had to make it - it would be quick, simple, and look beautiful on a plate.  A few pieces per plate would fetch a nice profit at the bake sale.  And I had most of the ingredients in my house.  That sounds so funny, doesn't it, since there are only 2 ingredients...

So here's how I compensated...

SPH Super Easy Gluten Free Strawberry Fudge Recipe
1 T. (from a 3 oz. package) strawberry Jell-o
1 container Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Vanilla Frosting
2 T. butter (omit if using the white chocolate chips)
1 12-oz. package Wilton white candy melts (I also had red on hand, and debated about using those instead)
  *OR* 1 12-oz. package white chocolate chips

Combine Jell-o and frosting.  Melt butter into candy melts, and combine with frosting.  Line a 9x9 baking pan with foil, and butter it well.  Pour frosting mixture into pan, and allow to set in fridge for about 30 minutes.

Now if you're a purist, and you want either plain white or regular chocolate fudge, this recipe works for those as well.  Simply use the plain white frosting with the butter and candy melts or chocolate chips, or chocolate frosting with chocolate candy melts/butter or chocolate chips.

I began playing with other flavor profiles in my mind, too - like adding some orange extract to either the white or chocolate fudge.  Maybe some coffee liquer?  Or melting up some red-hot candies with the red candy melts?  Lots of ideas!  So I came up with this one - kind of a St. Valentine's Day type flavor.  This is the fudge in the photo above...

SPH Super Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge Recipe
1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Cherry Frosting
1 12-oz. package Wilton white candy melts + 3 T. butter **OR**
1 12-oz. package white chocolate chips
@ 3 T. Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate Frosting
@2-3 T. cream or milk

Make cherry fudge as above.  Pour mixture into well-buttered, foiled pan, and allow to chill for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt chocolate frosting and cream together (think ganache), and pour over fudge about 10 minutes before it's done setting. This chocolate glaze does not set entirely, but it sure tastes good!  Cut into squares and enjoy.


So make a quick batch of super easy fudge, and take a plate to that Super Bowl party!

One Yard Wednesday - Romantic Heart & Roses Headband Pattern and Tutorial

Why you should visit the Parties and Blogs page - you never know when you'll find a real gem!

Our project today comes from Able to Sleep.  Be sure to visit the link to print out directions and a pattern.   While you are there, leave some nice comment love! This is another great beginner project, and you can make it with less than a fat quarter and a drug store elastic headband.  Seriously!  You only need enough fabric to make an outer layer and inner layer of the pattern.  You will also need either fusible interfacing (I used scraps from my stash), or muslin, to help stiffen the fabric part of the headband.

So here are the fabrics I chose from my stash.  I wanted a soft, romantic rose-y type fabric for both sides.

I really wish I had bigger pieces of these - they'd make such a wonderful baby girl quilt!  Speaking of which, check out the color panel for the large floral:

Yes, there are really 16 dots!  This fabric goes with just about anything!  But, I digress...

Print out your pattern and the directions.

Trim paper pattern down to a smaller, more manageable size.  Fold one edge of your fabrics toward the center (unless you want to "fussy cut" an image from a patterned fabric - more on that in a minute).  Repeat for muslin or fusible interfacing.  Stack your 2 fabrics and your muslin/interfacing, and pin your pattern on the fold.

The reason you fold and cut this way is so you don't put a large hole in the dead center of a perfectly good piece of fabric.  You want to get as much mileage as possible from your fabric - even your stash.  Folding and cutting this way will ensure that you are making the most of your resources.

Now, I mentioned fussy cutting.  If you are making this headband (or pretty much anything else for that matter), and you want to highlight a certain aspect of the fabric (the large roses for example), you can make a template with the pattern provided with either muslin or paper.  Planning on making a bunch for your granddaughters?  Definitely make a template!  Just be sure to mark the fold line and notches.  For the fussy cutting, make the template the full size by printing it, cutting it out, and tracing it right side up then right side down on another piece of paper or on some muslin.

After I cut out both pieces, I taped them together.

Let's say that this section of flowers is what I want to feature for my project.

I will place my template (centered, of course) over the top of the flowers, and pin and cut.

So back to our regularly scheduled program...


Iron fusible interfacing to the wrong side (back) of each of your fabrics, if using, according to manufacturer's directions.  Place fabrics right sides together.  If using muslin, layer it on top of one side.  Stitch long sides, with 1/2" seam allowance, from one notch to the other.  Fold fabric up at notches and press.

Turn right side out, using a large crochet hook or some such (I used a small spatula because it was handy - don't worry, it was clean).  Press.  Cut your elastic headband in half.  Insert one end about 1/2" into the fabric and pin.

Insert other end of elastic into the hole on the opposite side and pin.  You can try it on CAREFULLY and adjust as needed.  Stitch both ends in place securely.  Top stitch across long sides.  You can use whatever stitch you like - I used a decorative stitch from my machine that looks like this.  I even used a thread that is a similar color to the diagram.

So make one for yourself or a bunch.  Make them for nieces, grandbabies, DIL's, SIL's.  Make them from reclaimed sheets or pillowcases or flannel shirts or blue jeans.  Applique some hearts or flowers or a monogram.  Add a lace ruffle.  This pattern is so flexible and versatile!  Enjoy!