hands of love #21...

Fall is here and it's time for warm comfort foods like soups and chili! (and thankfully Marc's back on dairy again! Although he's only eating it in small amounts...)

For any of you who are gluten free or know someone who is, I MUST recommend a cookbook for you--- Gluten Free Quick and Easy. Seriously, I've never kept coming back to the same cookbook so often because I'm loving every single recipe I make. So many of our previous "hands of love" recipes have come from this book-- it's amazing, and I keep forgetting to mention it to you guys. Here's 3 recipes I used from it just this past week:


Kelli's White Bean Chili. (except I had cans of tri-colored beans to use instead) DELICIOUS.

Then I used the leftovers(or you could freeze it) to make this one the next day:


Crispy Corn-Chip Pie.


Thai Salmon Chowder. Make salmon for dinner one night, and cook an extra one to freeze or use in this recipe later. This is ideal for a light lunch, whether you're gluten free or not! Marc & I LOVED it. Would've been even more beautiful & tasty had I stirred in some cilantro before serving, but oh well! Here's the recipe:

1 cup of gluten free chicken broth
2 medium red potatoes, unpeeled but scrubbed
1 tsp minced onion (I used onion powder)
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 can (14.5 ounces) coconut milk
1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed (I used fresh corn that I already had)
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tblsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce or crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup cooked salmon, in chunks
1 tsp dried parsley, for garnish (didn't have any)
1/2 tsp paprika, for garnish (forgot this)

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium-heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the potatoes, onion, and salt, and cook, covered, 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add the coconut milk, corn, curry powder, thyme, lime juice, hot pepper sauce, and garlic powder and bring to serving temperature, stirring constantly. Do not boil. (I also took a fork and sortof mashed the potatoes into the soup)

2. Gently stir in the salmon, taking care to keep chunks intact. Heat to serving temperature. Serve immediately, garnished with dried parsley (or cilantro) and paprika.

Makes a generous 4 cups. Serve with a green salad and/or bread!


I'm also trying to incorporate more vegetarian dishes into our repertoire, but honestly, we're struggling with not feeling full! How do vegetarians do it? Would love some great GF (FILLING) meatless recipes and ideas if any of you have some! Here, I substituted lots of veggies where I'd normally use ground beef with spaghetti sauce over GF pasta.


FlourLESS Peanut Butter Cookies. (that's right- flourless.) Here's one we ALL can whip up really quick!

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together the peanut butter & sugar in a bowl. Beat in the baking powder. Add the egg. Mix until it is all well combined.

Be prepared to get your hands messy, as the dough is sticky. Roll dough into a ball. (the smaller, the better they hold together) You can roll the ball into white sugar at this point, but I didn't. Put onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper & bake in the oven for about ten minutes. You'll know the cookies are done when they feel coherent but still a little soft. Let the cookies rest for at least 5 minutes. (I gently pressed down on mine with a fork to help them flatten.) After 10 minutes or so they will have hardened. Eat 'em & enjoy!

Made for you, my sweet family, with hands of love!