Sweet Onion Teriyaki Dip/Sauce

Before going gluten-free, I really enjoyed making stirfry with 1/2 cup of teriyaki baste and glaze as the sauce. I hadn't really found a sauce alternative that I enjoyed much, until tonight! I decided to make a dipping sauce for some soft pretzels I made earlier today (recipe will come in a day or two), and wasn't really feeling like the traditional cheesy sauce or anything with honey mustard. I came up with this dipping sauce, and liked it so much that I ended up making stirfry for dinner and stirring this in.

This works great as a dip or as a sauce. If you leave out the cornstarch and water mixture, I bet it would make an excellent marinade too.

***Sweet Onion Teriyaki Dip/Sauce
olive oil, for cooking onion
2 Tbsp. chopped onion (or more, as you desire)
1/2 to 1 tsp. ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce (make sure you're using gluten-free)
1/4 honey
1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 3 Tbsp. cold water

In small sauce pan, saute onion in olive oil until onion becomes tender. Stir in desired amount of ground ginger. Remove pan from heat as you add soy sauce, honey and 1/2 cup water. Return to heat. Stir occasionally until mixture begins bubbling. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water. Add cornstarch and water to soy sauce mixture, stirring continuously. Once mixture has thickened, remove from heat.

For my stirfry, I cut chicken into bite size pieces and cooked in olive oil until it was no longer pink. Then I added stirfry veggies and about 1/4 cup of water. Cover skillet and cook until veggies are desired tenderness. I had about 2 cups cooked rice in the refrigerator from a couple days ago, so I stirred that into the chicken and veggies and then added this teriyaki sauce. Quite good! Hope you enjoy it!

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

With this recipe, I think I discovered two things at once! Not only did I make scalloped potatoes that were dairy-free and still tasted good, I think I might have discovered an alternative to using a can of "cream of ____ " soup in future recipes. Oh, I hope I'm right! Not only was this recipe easy, it also was a money saver because I didn't have to buy an expensive specialty can of soup. And, a lot of those GF soups are not only expensive, but they use heavy cream (not dairy free, and NOT good for anyone's health in any way). So, here it is! (Not the greatest picture, but they tasted great!)

***Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

4-5 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk alternative should work fine)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch or tapioca starch
1/4 - 1/2 cup diced onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
3/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
olive oil, for cooking celery and onions

Preheat oven to 375. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a medium-size sauce pan. Over medium heat, saute celery and onion until tender. Slowly add in water and almond milk. Heat to almost boiling. Very gradually, whisk in cornstarch or tapioca starch, until mixed well. If any stray clumps of cornstarch or tapioca starch remain, scoop them out with a spoon. Cook until mixture thickens slightly. In a 1 1/2 - 2 quart casserole dish, layer sliced potatoes. Pour thickened, "cream of celery" soup mixture over potatoes. Bake uncovered for about an hour, or until potatoes are tender and can be pierced with a fork.

Oatmeal Cookies (gluten-free AND egg-free)!

Usually my husband leaves the cooking and baking to me. He is more than capable of doing both, but he knows I enjoy it, and he has no problem eating what I make! More recently, though, he has taken a liking to baking gluten-free treats so that I have home baked treats that I didn't have to work for. Very sweet of him! On this particular occasion, my darling husband decided to try his hand at gluten-free oatmeal cookies. He started out following a recipe, but quickly realized we were out of almost every ingredient he needed! He got online and started googling substitutions. Then he dumped what he could find into the bowl. I had serious doubts that the cookies would hold together, but we've made them twice now and they hold up great (and taste great, too)!

The first time he made them, it was a very hot day and they flattened more on the pan. Yesterday, it was a much cooler day and they stood up nicely. Either way, they were attractive and delicious. I took them to a meeting this morning and no one would have known they were gluten and egg free if I hadn't told them. And so, here it is:

The Husband's Gluten and Egg-Free Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed loosely
3 Tbsp. oil
5 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (McCormick brand is now certified gluten-free)
3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2-3/4 tsp. xanthan gum (I like to use as little as I can get away with, so I use the 1/2 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 375. To soften the butter, place the sticks of butter (in the package) on a microwave safe plate. Heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in oil, water, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined. Add flours (pre-sift if desired, I often skip the sifting), baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes, or until tops turn light golden brown. Makes about 3 dozen small cookies.

I hope you enjoy them! I know my kids keep sneaking them when I turn my head!