Upside Down Taco Pizza - and taco seasoning recipe

Every once in a while I get an idea in my mind for a recipe experiment and once it's in my mind, I can't stop thinking about it until I try to make it. On my most recent menu plan, I wanted to try making an upside down taco pizza with Food Should Taste Good's lime chips on top. I had never tried their lime chips before, but I knew they would be great because I've loved every other FSTG chip I've tried. Just in case you were wondering, I was even more pleased with the lime chips than I thought I would be. The lime flavor is so subtle, but so zesty at the same time. I don't know how they pulled it off, but these chips are perfect!

The upside down part was inspired by Crockpot 365's slow cooker puff pizza recipe (which is fantastic, by the way).

I have heard that McCormick's mild taco seasoning mix is gluten free, but I forgot to pick some up. That meant creating a taco seasoning recipe in addition to a taco pizza recipe. So, today you will get two for the price of one. :)

***Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp. tapioca starch
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried minced onion
1/4 tsp. sugar (optional)
1/8 tsp. black pepper (pretty much two good-size dashes)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. There you go! To use for regular taco meat, brown 1 pound ground beef. Then add in either 3/4 cup water or 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce. Then mix in the taco seasoning mix. Cook until the majority of the liquid has been absorbed. Yum!

***Upside Down Taco Pizza

1 bag Food Should Taste Good lime chips (or about 15 chips), or any other GF corn chips

1 pkg. GF taco seasoning mix, or prepared homemade taco seasoning mix (see above)

1 pound ground beef

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

1/4 cup water

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (plus a little for sprinkling on top, if desired)

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup white rice flour

1 cup milk (or milk alternative, I used almond milk)

2 eggs

Shredded lettuce, and any other desired taco toppings

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 9x13 baking dish. In skillet, brown ground beef. Drain. Add tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Mix well and cook until some of the liquid absorbs. Add about 1/4 cup water to mixture. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.

In medium-size bowl, combine flours, 1 cup cheddar cheese, eggs, and milk. Pour meat mixture into bottom of 9x13, spreading evenly to coat. Pour flour-cheese batter over the meat, and use a spoon to spread it evenly over the top. Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until cheese has melted and puffy dough on top springs back when touched. Top with desired cheese, lettuce, and any other taco toppings. Last, top with lime chips. If you want your lettuce to wilt a bit, you can stick it back in the oven for about 1 minute.

Yummmm! My husband forced himself to stop after eating seconds (I think he ate 4 of these sections) because he wanted to have leftovers for lunch! I think that's a compliment!

For anyone wanting to make this NOT gluten free, just substitute 1 cup all purpose flour for the brown and white rice flours.

I read an article today that said pizza is the number one food people eat the night before Thanksgiving. If you traditionally eat pizza the night before the big Turkey Day, why not give this taco pizza a whirl. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Product Review: Bakery on Main Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars

A few months ago, I was on a road trip to see some of my extended family. When I arrived in town, I was told that the local grocery store was creating a gluten-free section and that there was actually quite a bit to choose from. When I had a chance, I zipped over to the store, and while there wasn't really a lot of selection, there was a new gluten-free section, and there were a few things I had never seen before.

One of those things was Bakery on Main granola bars. Now, I don't know if you are anything like me, but I can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate mixed together. Such a wonderful combination. So, I picked up a box of these and headed back to see my family.

These bars have good flavor, but the texture is a little interesting. They are VERY chewy, but you just never know how gluten-free products have been stored prior to selling. So, I hate to fault the company for something like this. Sometimes things are left on the shelf for much longer than they should be, or they are kept in less than ideal conditions prior to being shelved. The bars were not past their expiration date, but they were a bit chewy and a little stale. It did not bother me enough to keep me from eating the entire box before we came back home.

If you are looking for a PB and chocolate fix, these bars can help you with that. Just chew carefully!

Product Review: S'moreables and S'more Mix Recipe

Time for another product review!

I will admit that my kids had an "off" day at the grocery store this week, and so I didn't pay super close attention to what I was selecting when I picked out a couple new GF products to try. The picture on the box of Kinnikinnick Foods S'moreables sold this product to me. I saw s'mores and had to try them. If I had read the bold print on the box, I would have realized that the product was graham crackers and I would need to supply the chocolate and marshmallows. Ha! Oh well!

The crackers are fantastic. They taste almost exactly like their gluten counterparts, but I actually like these better. They aren't flimsy. They aren't overly hard either. They are sturdy enough for making a s'more, but crumbly enough to be a cracker. The texture is perfection. My kids loved them too, but I didn't share very many. After eating a S'moreable, I started thinking about s'mores. I wanted one. And then, it hit me! Why not have a "s'more" in a bowl? After a bite or two, I wanted more S'more Mix!

***S'more Mix
Kinnikinnick S'moreable crackers
Chocolate chunks of your choice (I read that dark chocolate M&Ms are GF, though you may want to check for yourself)
GF mini marshmallows

Break crackers into bite size pieces. Combine with chocolate chunks and marshmallows. Enjoy, and pretend you are sitting near a campfire somewhere.

Product Review: Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries

I'm not big into couponing, but if I can easily find a deal I will take it. I've been using Swagbucks as a search engine and a way to save up gift cards for Christmas and birthday presents, and I  noticed that you can print coupons through their website as well. One of the first coupons it offered me was for Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries. I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes in all forms, but sweet potato fries particularly delight me. I went ahead and "clipped" the coupon online, but I doubted I would be able to buy the product. There had to be some hidden wheat in there. I was sure of it. I have noticed that a lot of frozen fries and potato products use wheat as a sticking agent, and I was guessing that this product would be the same way.

When I got to the grocery store, I made a bee-line for the sweet potato fries. I was totally thrilled to read on the side of the package: "GLUTEN-FREE." Ahh!!!! Joy!!!!

So, we had a family cook out, and I stuck some of these sweet potato fries in the oven. The fries held together nicely when I flipped them part-way through the cooking time, and they achieved a wonderful crunchy-but-slightly-soggy texture. I love that about good sweet potato fries.

Not the greatest picture in the world. I never realized how hard it was to get a good picture of orange food until I went through probably 30 pictures before I got one that wasn't simply terrible. These fries were great, and I definitely recommend them if you are a lover of sweet potatoes. And, if you hunt around, there are several coupons floating around online. Hope you love these as much as I did!

Product Review: "Plantain Crunchers" by Amport Foods

If I am ever driving through a town that has a Hy-Vee Grocery Store, I have to stop and check out what's new in the gluten-free section. Hy-Vee has really impressed me with their organic and health food selection, and I've been particularly impressed by how much they stock in the way of gluten-free food. I have always been able to find healthy snacks in the gluten-free section of the store, and it is my go-to store for the various flours I need for GF cooking and baking.

This past week I stopped at a Hy-Vee I'd never been in before, and they had a couple of products by Amport Foods. They both looked great, but I decided to try the "Plantain Crunchers" first. I have to be honest that I don't think I have ever eaten a plantain before this, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew they were like bananas, but usually used in preparing main dishes. That was about the extent of my knowledge. So, I brought these cute little yellow snacks home with no idea what to expect.

My first impression was of "sensory confusion." At first my nose smelled banana, and so I expected a sweet flavor even though I *knew* the crunchers were salted. Once I got over the fact that they tasted pretty much nothing like bananas, I started to enjoy them. My son started begging for some of mommy's "new yellow chips," so I decided to share. He loved them too! They have a texture similar to banana chips in that they are crunchy without being hard, but they have a flavor that is full and meets my salty carb craving.

If you see these snacks in a store near you, it would be worth giving them a try! I've heard Amport Foods has a line of other dried snacks, but I have not yet seen them in the store. Have you tried any of Amport Foods' products? What did you think?