I recently received a gift card to a natural food store and came across Mikey's Muffins.  These English Muffins were priced at around $5.50 which is pretty standard for some gluten free breads.  I was a little excited to use these for eggs benedict.  Gluten Free breads are a very dangerous game.  Most are tasteless, fall apart easily, or basically on the market just because there is a demand for them.  Let's just say I knew what I may be getting myself into by purchasing these.  They could be lacking flavor, or edibility.   Expecting these annoyances, I overlooked a common annoyance that all shoppers experience.

Size discrepancies!  These muffins were half the size of the box.  Why not use a half sized box and save money?  They looked like mini waffles if I had to describe the size.  It was not what I envisioned.

Even though I was disappointed in the size, I decided to still try them and hopefully the taste would be wonderful.   I wanted to try a messy egg sandwich on them to see how the bread held up with a runny egg yolk.    

The bun started to fall apart as it absorbed more egg yolk and the mustard I added to my egg sandwich was not helping the matter (I do not know if that is weird or not, but it is my preferred method).  

Overall, I would not recommend this product.  It is not worth the extra money we shed out for gluten free products.

My sister-in-law told me about Daiya pizza and I finally got around to trying them out recently.   I had been feeling sick to my stomach so I was trying to find a meal that avoids a lot of the common allergens and this one was a hit.  It is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, and vegetarian.  Wow right!  No way it can be any good.  I was wrong.  Considering how many allergens this pizza avoided I would say this pizza was wonderful. 

 I added some sliced tomatoes  to mine before cooking it in the oven and topped it with some chopped basil.  I did cook it a little longer than the pizza suggested.  The cheese did not bubble up like I was used to, probably because it wasn't really cheese!  Everything tasted like a normal pizza.  There was no weird, unnatural taste to it.  The crust was crisp.  If you are avoiding all these allergens I am sure you will be pleased.  The pizza is priced at the $9.99 range which is normal for a gluten free pizza of this size.  Considering this pizza avoided four different allergens I would say it is worth the price!

If you are unfamiliar with Brazilian cheese bread you need to become familiar.  It is naturally gluten free.  They serve these at Brazilian restaurants like chips and salsa.  They are basically balls of bread that have a moist, almost raw-like center.  They taste just like cheese bread.  

This is what Chebe has modified to bring enjoyable gluten free mixes over to the United States.  They are amazing!  I really miss doughnuts after going gluten free and these are the only exception I have found instead of eating a doughnut and getting sick later.  I just take the mix and add eggs, oil, and milk to them and form them into 1 inch balls and fry for a couple minutes.  Then you top them with a cinnamon-sugar mix, or make an icing for them and enjoy them as doughnuts.  They have a nice doughy feel because of the moist center and taste like a doughnut.  They beat buying Katz's Gluten Free doughnuts and heating them up in the microwave and melting the glaze.  If you are lucky enough to see these on the shelf be sure and purchase them and satisfy your doughnut craze.

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of Chebe  Cinnamon Roll Mix
• 2 Eggs
• 3 Tbsp of Oil
• 2 Tbsp of Milk

Directions:

1. Empty the mix into a large bowl.
2. Add the eggs, oil, and milk and slowly mix together the ingredients.
3. Form the dough into 1 inch balls and drop into heated oil for 3-5 minutes.
4. Take out the doughnuts and allow to cool on a paper towel.
5. Roll the doughnuts in a cinnamon/sugar mixture or in a glaze made by  heating powdered sugar and milk together.

Happy Watermelon Wednesday!  I put together this dish as a light breakfast one weekend.  It is truly easy and a great way to punch up your watermelon.  

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a whole watermelon
• 1 Cup of Pecans
• 2 Tbs of Honey
• 1 Tbs of Honey to drizzle over the watermelon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to  350 degrees.  Place the pecans evenly on a baking sheet  and roast for 13 minutes.
2. In a saucepan, heat up the honey and pecans until it starts to simmer.
3. Put the honey and pecan mixture on some wax paper and allow it to cool completely.
4. Slice up the watermelon.  I prefer thin wedges of watermelon instead of  large chunks.
5. Dice up the honey roasted pecans or add them to a food processor and process to the consistency of your liking.
6. Add the watermelon to a bowl, top with the diced up honey roasted pecans, and drizzle with honey.

There was a point in my life when I was eating  gluten free and low carb.  Oh the nightmares.  This is my favorite creation during that time period.   Turning the cucumber into a sushi roll is so genius I am positive I am not the first to  think this up but I have not seen it done before.  This makes for a beautiful and easy snack that will impress your friends.

Ingredients:

Cucumber Sushi Rolls

• 2  seeded cucumbers
• Turkey Breast Sliced Lunch Meat
• Roast Beef Sliced Lunch Meat
• Swiss Cheese Slices (optional)

Sandwich Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1/4 Cup Mustard
• 6 Diced  Kosher Dill Gherkins

Directions:

1. Prepare the cucumbers.  Peel the cucumbers if you prefer. Leaving the skin on will give you more fiber.  Cut 1 inch off the ends of the cucumbers and then cut the cucumbers in half. 
2.  Using the handle end of a spoon, place the end into the seeded area of the cucumber  and make your way around the cucumber hollowing out the center of the cucumber.   
3. Roll up your lunch meat. (You can usually fit 4 pieces of meat into a cucumber depending on its size.  If you want to use cheese, subtract a piece of meat.  I was trying to avoid cheese at the time.)  Slowly work the rolled lunch meat into the center of the cucumber.
4. Now slice the cucumber into 1 inch pieces.  (If you slice smaller than 1 inch the lunch meat will easily fall out of the cucumber slices at a certain size.)  Arrange the pieces on a plate.
5. Prepare your sandwich dipping sauce.  I dice up some Baby Gherkin pickles and add them to 1/2 Cup of mayonnaise  and 1/4 cup of mustard and mix.
6. Dip your slices into your sandwich dressing and enjoy this quick and easy snack.

This is an easy, delicious breakfast dish that I love to do on the lazy Saturday mornings that I so often come across.  I buy all the ingredients and put them in a dish and let the oven do the miracles!  I usually double this recipe to feed two.  Bake it in a large dish and serve from that dish!

Ingredients:

• 1 Jar of La Madeleine Tomato Basil Soupe 
  
• 3 Eggs
• 4 Strips of Bacon
• 1 Cup of  Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Tbs Fresh Basil Chiffonade (optional)
• 1 Tbs Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use the butter to spread evenly across your baking dish.  I use Rachel Ray's 1.25 quart Stoneware but anything close to a 9x9 baking dish will do the trick.  
3. Add the jar of Tomato Basil Soupe to the dish.
4. Crack open the eggs into the soupe.
5. Top with the shredded mild cheddar cheese.
6. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.  This will make the eggs cook all the way through.  The egg yolks being cooked all the way through adds a great depth of texture and flavor to the  tomato soupe.
7. Top with the diced bacon.  I use the microwave bacon for convenience because it is easy to make quickly.  By all means go the extra mile and make bacon for a better taste but this dish is all about convenience for me.  I added the uncooked microwave bacon to the dish before cooking it in the oven, allowing it to heat up in the oven instead of cooking in the microwave and then topping.  Do as you please, you're the chef!
8. Top with basil chiffonade if you prefer.  A chiffonade is "fancy talk" for taking fresh herbs and rolling them up and cutting them into long thin strips.  

Here is a quick and easy way to  frill up your breakfast tacos for brunch.  Apparently, breakfast tacos are only a Texas thing!  The rest of the world is missing out.  You can add some capers if you would like to give these tacos some texture!

Ingredients:

• Guerrero  Corn Tortillas
• 1 Tbs Kraft Philadelphia Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread
• 3 Eggs-(1 Egg per taco you are planning on making is my rule of thumb)
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Fresh Cracked Himalayan Pink Salt
• 1/2 package of Smoked Salmon
• 1 Tbs Butter

Directions:

1. Put your desired amount of corn tortillas on a microwave safe plate and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.  If you are heating more than 4 tortillas, turn over and heat another 30 seconds. (This is my method for cooking corn tortillas when I am wanting to reduce the amount of dishes I have to clean later or speed up my eating process)
2. Put the butter in a skillet and heat over medium heat.  When the butter is melted add the eggs, then season with salt and pepper. Continually scrape the bottom of the skillet with a rubber spatula until the eggs come together and scramble.  An easier method is to add the eggs to a  saucepan and continually whisk them until they come together.
3. Just before the eggs are totally formed, add 1 Tbs of the Cream Cheese spread to the eggs. Stir the cream cheese into the eggs and remove the skillet from the heat source.  Allow the eggs to finish cooking with the heat that is still in your pan.
4. Slice 1/2 package of smoked salmon into desired shape/length for your tacos.
5. Assemble your tacos.  To the tortillas, spoon on desired amount of the garden vegetable cream cheese spread to flavor your taco.  Add the scrambled eggs and top with black pepper and salt.  Then add a few smoked salmon pieces on top of the eggs.  You can finish these off with  a few capers for an added crunch.
6. Put said tacos in your mouth and chew!  This is How We Chew It!  With our mouths.  Crazy!
   

I threw some pork butt in the crock pot this morning expecting to make some BBQ pulled pork for dinner.  Short story shorter, I didn't want to have BBQ twice in one day.  So I decided to use the pulled pork to make a twist on the Cuban sandwich.  Real simple to make, just have to remember to put the pork in the crock pot before leaving for work one day. 

 I realized later what a great idea it would have been to add Swiss cheese to the top of these to make them more authentic.  Unfortunately, my refrigerator was all out of Swiss Cheese today. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Pork Butt
• 1 Bottle of Stubb's Sweet Black Pepper Marinade
• 5 Gherkin Dill Pickles
• 1 Tbs of pickled  Pepperoncini peppers
• 1  1/2 Tbs of  Brown Mustard
• 1 Tbs of the juice from the pickled Pepperoncini pepper container
• Guerrero White Corn Tortillas
• 1 Tbs  Queso Fresco -would recommend using Swiss Cheese if you plan this meal unlike me!
• Water
• 1 Tbs Oil

Directions:

1.  Take the pork butt out of the package and  poke holes throughout the pork butt with a fork to let the marinade soak through the pork. 
2. Put the pork butt into the crock pot base and add the bottle of Stubb's Sweet Black Pepper Marinade.  Add water to the Stubb's bottle and continue to fill with water until the pork butt is covered with liquid.
3. Let the pork butt marinade overnight in the refrigerator.   In the morning, put the base into the crock pot, cover,  and cook for 8 hours on the low setting.
4.   Heat up a skillet over medium-high heat with a tablespoon of oil.  Once heated, add the corn tortillas to the oil and cook each side for about 30 seconds or until just before each side starts to become a little hard.  This is my favorite way to cook corn tortillas.  It adds a little texture to the softness of the tortilla.
5. Dice up the gherkin dill pickles and the pepperoncini peppers.
6. In a bowl, add the peppers, pickles, and brown mustard to make the pickle and pepperoncini mustard sauce.  Add a little of the pepperoncini pepper juice to the sauce to thin it out.
7. Assemble your taco!  Shred your wanted amount of pulled pork with two forks.  Add them to your cooked tortillas.  Top with the pickle and pepperoncini  mustard sauce.  Then add the cheese to the top.
8. Congratulations!  You are now a Cuban!

I've started utilizing watermelon in different ways just so that I could term the phrase "Watermelon Wednesday."  Too bad today is Thursday!  Either way, this is a great addition to watermelon slices for a light breakfast or mid afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a Watermelon cut up into small chunks
• 8oz of Mascarpone Cheese
• 1/4 Cup of Heath Bits O' Brickle Toffee Bits
• 1/4 Cup of Pecans
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Cut up watermelon into small chunk pieces.  I tend to purchase quarter pieces of watermelon in an effort to not force myself to......cut myself open by trying to slice through a huge watermelon.
2. In a food processor, pulse the Heath Bits and Pecans until processed.
3. Add the mixture to a bowl and stir in the mascarpone cheese and vanilla extract.
4. Put the watermelon into a bowl and add the mascarpone crumble to the top and enjoy an easy snack! 

Trying to make meatloaf gluten free can be a challenge since you need to eliminate the bread crumbs.  What are you to do on Meatloaf Monday's?  I believe I have finally perfected this recipe just by happenstance of wanting to put Meatloaf on the grill.  Gluten free meatloaf formed into patties is a great way to  not waste an hour on cooking meatloaf.  My secret substitute for bread crumbs in this recipe is crunched up Fritos.  I have also tried Lay's potato chips with great success.  Breaking up your favorite gluten free chips to substitute as bread crumbs in your meatloaf is a better alternative than purchasing expensive gluten free bread crumbs.

Meatloaf Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground up Fritos
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup mixed cheese
• 1 Ib Beef Brisket for Burgers Ground Beef
• Fresh Ground Pepper and Salt to taste
•  1/4 cup Meatloaf Sauce
  
  

Meatloaf Sauce:

• 1/2 Cup Ketchup
• 1/2 Cup Chili Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Mayonnaise
• Fresh Ground Pepper   to taste
• Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat up your grill, or preheat your oven to 350  degrees.  If putting the meatloaf patties on the grill make sure the grill is not too hot, cook it partially indirectly if you need to. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup of Fritos and begin to break them up with your hands. 
3. To the broken up Frito mix, add 1 egg and mix with a spoon.
4. Add the 1Ib of ground beef to the Frito/Egg mixture and mix.  I use beef brisket for burgers ground beef from HEB because it is the best ground beef I have ever had.  Use your favorite ground beef or experiment with different types. 
5. Add  1/4 cup of mixed cheese to the beef and mix.  You usually do not want to over mix a meatloaf.  The mixed cheese helps bind the loaf mixture along with the Frito's and egg in this recipe.
6. Now you can add 1/4 cup of the meatloaf sauce to the loaf.
7. Form the meatloaf into your preferred shape.   I formed them like oblong burger patties to try and make them look like meatloaf slices.
8. Add meatloaf sauce to the top of the meatloaf patties.
9. If using a grill, make sure the heat is on low or cooked a little indirectly.   Cook the meatloaf patties for 20-25 minutes.   Then turn the patties over and you can add remaining meatloaf sauce to the other side of the patties.   Cook for another 5 minutes and enjoy!