Gluten Free Pizza Crust (Made with Chicken!)

source: Your Lighter Side

     My wife tried her hand at a Gluten Free Pizza Crust recipe that she found on another blog (link) and the results were actually quite tasty. The pizza crust photo that you see above is made simply from ground chicken breast and mozzarella cheese. We covered it with some spices and threw it in the oven to toast.    

     Jordan was generous with the toppings and you're welcome to top yours with whatever your heart desires. She opted for green and black olives, mushrooms, zucchini, roasted bell peppers, jalapenos and mozzarella cheese. Yum. 

Just look how delicious that turned out. We added some crushed red pepper to give it some kick. 

     Here's a closeup shot of that crust. This recipe was a great find! We enjoyed it so much that we plan on making this again in the future. So delicious! 

Quick, Colorful Breakfast / Potato Cakes with Bell Pepper Eggs

     A quick breakfast this morning. We go through eggs often but this time we wanted to make it a bit different and colorful to brighten the day. We had left over mashed potatoes from the other night so we turned those into potato cakes and added a little bit of mozzarella cheese and a few snips of green onions. 

     On the left we have two fried (well) eggs. To add some color and taste Jordan threw some some diced green, yellow and red bell peppers. I was a bit apprehensive about eating bell peppers on my eggs but in the end I gobbled it right up. 

     Overall, it was a quick meal and simple, we just wanted something different than just eggs and say... toast. 

Dynamite Shrimp

Based on the dish from Applebee's.

Fried popcorn shrimp
A bed of coleslaw mix (no dressing)
A sweet/spicy sauce made from honey mustard,
mayonnaise and cayenne pepper

Mini-Pavlovas

Made by my mom on Christmas Eve. These are now a tradition at our house. Made with Ina's recipe and raspberry sauce.

NOT low carb. ;)

Low-carb Oopsie Burger

Also low carb. The "oopsies" (the bun halves) are made from whipped egg whites and cream cheese, and have about 1 carb each. This whole burger has less than 4 carbs total.
And it's delicious.

BLT on Flaxseed Bread

Low-carb. As I recall, each piece of "bread" has about 2 carbs.

Homemade Italian Nachos

Inspired by Johnny Carino's.

Baked wonton wrappers
Italian sausage
Black olives
Chopped tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese
Alfredo sauce

Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

A great low-carb snack.

Banana Snickerdoodles

Banana Snickerdoodles via Noble Pig

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake from 101 Cookbooks

This was interesting and I'm glad I tried it. That being said...if I make this cake again, I'm leaving out the rosemary. Just too strange for me.

Giveaway! Enter to win!

Hey y'all!

I recently started an Etsy shop selling personalized cartoon portraits. You can order a portrait of you and your boyfriend/girlfriend, of you and your pet, or of your entire family! The possibilities are endless. Right now I'm having a Father's Day Sale - all portraits are discounted! 10-20% off!

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY...to kick off the new shop, I am hosting a giveaway! The first-place winner will receive a $30 credit in my Etsy shop! The second-place winner will receive a $20 credit, and the third-place winner will receive a $10 credit. You can enter 4 different ways, which are listed below. Enter as many times as you want. The winner will be chosen at random by a computer program. Deadline is June 11 at 11:59 PM. Winners will be announced June 13.

HOW TO ENTER:
1. Become a fan of the Jordyluxe Facebook page LINK HERE

OR

2. Follow Jordyluxe on Twitter and tweet the following:
Retweet for a chance to win a Jordyluxe custom cartoon portrait! http://www.etsy.com/shop/jordyluxe #jordyluxegiveaway @jordyluxe

OR

3. Write a blog entry about Jordyluxe portraits, including a link to my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/jordyluxe Send the URL for your blog entry to jordyluxe@gmail.com with the subject: Giveaway Blog

OR

4. Upload a Youtube video about Jordyluxe portraits, including the link to my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/jordyluxe Send the URL of your video to jordyluxe@gmail.com with the subject: Giveaway Video

Thanks guys!
jordan

Radishes Au Gratin

I heard that baked radishes taste a lot like potatoes, so I thought...why not make radishes au gratin?! I couldn't find any recipe online, so I made one up based on a potatoes au gratin recipe. I also tried to make it less calories, omitting the milk and using a minimal amount of butter and cheese.

Radishes Au Gratin
(serves 2-3 people as a side dish)

About 15-20 fresh radishes, sliced thinly
1 yellow or white onion, sliced into thin rings
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 slices of cheese - I used Muenster
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the bottom of a round glass baking dish with the sliced radishes (you can overlap and make layers). Arrange a layer of onion on top. Melt the butter, and using a spoon, drizzle it over the top of the dish. Then sprinkle the flour over the dish. Season the dish with salt and pepper. Be aware that radishes are basically flavorless...I would suggest at least 1/2 tsp of salt. Next tear the cheese into smaller pieces and place it on top of the onion layer. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 50 minutes.

THIS IS SO DELICIOUS. I've made it twice so far. :)

Farinata (chickpea-pancake) wrap

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Ever since I saw this post, I'd been wanting to make my own version of this wrap. When I researched it, I learned that there are many types of chickpea pancakes. Different cultures have slightly different recipes; India has "papadum," Italy has "la farinata," and France has "socca." Once I finally got my hands on chickpea flour, I made my chickpea pancakes using the Italian method. You can experiment with this wrap, and tweak the ingredients to your liking.

This is what my wrap consisted of:

1 chickpea pancake
1 sheet of whole-wheat flatbread, toasted
Shredded lettuce
Chopped white onion
Fresh sliced tomatoes
A sprinkle of fennel
Sauce made from sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and Tabasco (to taste)

This was really good. The pancake (farinata) is similar to falafel, but it isn't deep-fried like falafel usually is (and so, it also has less calories...) The toasted flatbread gives it some crunch, plus all the veggies, and the yummy spicy sauce...it's good. :) Plus it's WAY easy to make. Just remember that the pancakes take about an hour to set, so you should plan for that.

Another interesting thing is that you can make hummus from chickpea flour. I tried it one day, because I figured it would be easier to blend than whole chickpeas. Well, I was right. It is easier to make, however it has kind of a strange aftertaste... Probably just gonna save the chickpea flour for farinata.

Pumpkin cornbread

Coq au Vin

(Chicken) Coq au Vin made by my dad

Old-fashioned Berry Chocolate Cake

Based on this molasses cake. (Hold the molasses, add chocolate ;))

Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween from the Barefoot Contessa!

Actually, a Contessa IMPOSTER!
But who better to dress up as than the amazing Ina Garten!

Happy Halloween!

Mozzarella-basil-tomato tart

Fresh Tomato Tart at Ezra Pound Cake
from The Completely Italian Vegetarian Cookbook

Oeufs en cocotte (Baked eggs)

Oeufs en Cocotte
from Julia Child

Per ramekin:

1/2 teaspoon butter
1 ramekin 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high
2 tablespoons whipping cream
A pan containing 3/4 inch of simmering water
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter ramekin/s. Break an egg into the ramekin. Pour in a spoonful of cream over the egg and top with a dot of butter.

2. Place in middle level of preheated oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes. The eggs are done when they are just set but still tremble slightly in the ramekins. They will set a little more when the ramekins are removed, so they should not be overcooked.

3. Season with salt and pepper and serve. The ramekins may remain in the hot water, out of the oven, for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. To prevent overcooking, remove eggs from oven when slightly underdone.

Ina's Berry Pavlova

Mixed Berry Pavlova from Ina Garten

This gorgeous confection was my birthday "cake" this year. I wasn't feeling the traditional birthday cake, and once I saw Ina make this, I knew I had to have it. I'm a huge fan of Barefoot Contessa and I just love Ina. I also saw a Martha Stewart recipe for pavlova that also looked beautiful and delicious, but ultimately I had to be loyal to my contessa. ;)

My mom took on the task of making this. I know it was time-consuming and I am so grateful to her for doing it for me - and it turned out amazing. She did an awesome job.

Pavlova is basically a dessert made from a giant circle of meringue. I've never been a fan of meringue, but this was different. After you bake it, you let it cool, then cover it with a massive amount of homemade whipped cream, and then finish it off with a berry sauce made from fresh berries and a raspberry-flavored beer. (We actually sipped on the beer before lunch and it was very good - it tasted more like a raspberry champagne.)

This combination of creamy flavors makes the pavlova sweet, luscious, melt-in-your-mouth yummy. I loved it.

Actually, we all loved it. And if you need proof - this is what was left of the pavlova after 10 minutes: