Apricot-Pork Stir-Fry – I came up with this recipe one day while trying to create something from a limited list of ingredients. It was delicious! Dressy enough for company but quick enough for busy weeknights. (Prep the veggies ahead of time for a super-fast meal.)

Approx 1 lb Pork Tenderloin, sliced into strips
3/8 c Wheat-Free Tamari, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
Approx 1 ½ TBS Apricot Kernel Oil (other oil would be fine, too!)
1 ½ c baby carrots, cut into thin strips
1 small-medium sweet onion, cut into wedges
4 stalks baby bok choy, chopped
½ c dried apricots, sliced
1/3 c pine nuts
1/3 c Reinzi apricot nectar
1 tsp sweet rice flour
Hot cooked rice

Place pork and minced garlic in a ziplock bag and add ¼ c tamari. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Heat oil in a large pan. Add pork and cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook!) Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Add onions and carrots to pan and cook 3-5 minutes or until almost crisp-tender. Add bok choy and cook 2 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in dried apricots and pine nuts. In a separate dish, combine nectar, remaining tamari, and sweet rice flour until smooth. Return pork to pan and add nectar mixtures. Cook and stir until sauce is thickened and flavors are blended. Serve over rice.

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Chocolate Bliss Bites – Amy shares this favorite cookie recipe that she found in Prevention magazine. She tells us, “These sinfully delicious cookies have a rich chocolate flavor – yet are low in carbs, have zero fat, and contain only 25 calories each. In fact, you could eat ten of them and still not equal the calories in one piece of chocolate cake! And yes, they’re GFCF, too.”

½ c unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
½ c. sugar, divided
3 large egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp Giant pure or other GF vanilla extract
1 TBS Domino or other GF confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. In a small bowl, sift together cocoa, salt, and ¼ cup of the sugar. In a large bowl, with electric mixer at medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining ¼ cup sugar, ½ tablespoon at a time, until meringue is glossy and stiff peaks form. Fold in cocoa mixture and vanilla extract.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1” apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 25 minutes for soft chewy cookies or 40 minutes for crisp ones. Dust cooled cookies with confectioners’ sugar.
Makes 24 cookies. Per cookie: 25 cal, 1 g protein, 6 g carb, 0 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 mg cohol, 0.5 g fiber, 13 mg sodium.

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Orange-Sesame Chicken – We enjoy this with polenta (just slice and bake). The orange-sesame sauce is so good over the hot polenta!

1 small whole chicken (about 4 pounds)
1 c Sunrise Valley or other GF Orange Juice
1/3 c sesame oil
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp tarragon leaves
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 TBS + 1 tsp corn starch
2 TBS + 2 tsp cold water

Rinse chicken, pat dry, and place in roasting pan.

Whisk together next five ingredients (through seeds) and pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 300 for two hours or until cooked through. Remove chicken. Bring broth to a boil. Combine corn starch and water until smooth. Pour into broth and stir until thickened.

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Carrot Cookies – Cookies for breakfast?! Well…maybe. These “cookies” might be just the thing to jazz up your breakfast or snack options.

½ T flax meal
1 T hot water
½ c tapioca flour
¼ c garbanzo bean flour
3/8 c brown rice flour
2 T sweet rice flour
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ c Earth Balance or other GFCF “butter”, softened
½ c brown rice syrup (or use sugar)
¾ c raw carrot, shredded

Combine flax meal and hot water and let sit for 10 minutes. (Note this is a replacement of “half” an egg.) Meanwhile, combine flours, cream of tartar, soda, and salt and set aside. (Note: cream of tartar and baking soda are replacement for 1 tsp baking powder.) Beat butter and syrup together with an electric mixer. Add carrot and flax mixture and mix well. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet (I covered with release foil) and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

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Porcupines – When a friend loaned Raegan the book, "Lori Bakes Gluten and Casein Free for Kids", she found this perfect-for-potlucks recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us, too!

Sauce:
1 (15oz) can Giant or other GF tomato sauce
1 c water
1 c V-8 or other GFCF vegetable juice
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp Giant or other GFCF Worcestershire sauce

Meatballs:
1-1/2 lb. ground beef (lean)
1/2 c water
1/2 c uncooked long grain white rice
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 TBS dry minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp Giant or other GFCF Worcestershire sauce.

Mix sauce ingredients: set aside. In a medium bowl, combine porcupine ingredients and mix well. Using an ice cream scoop, shape into 2" balls. Pour sauce into deep 2 quart casserole; drop uncooked porcupine balls into sauce. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until meat is no longer pink inside. Serve on top of a mound of mashed potatoes. Yield 10 porcupines (2" each)

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