Meat Puffs

***The entirety of this recipe was stolen from this website* I didn't write a word of it, but I do like the recipe. :) We used 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 ground bison, sweet potatoes, and cornmeal.***

Meat Puffs: (or Meat Loaf)

This is a modified version of the Special Diets for Special Kids recipe. It is a great recipe for kids! (Warning! Parents rarely like eating this recipe! Remember it is for the kids!) This recipe has helped even the fussiest eaters eat protein and veggies! Hint: start with 1/⁄4 cup vegetables then get it to at least 1 cup over a 1-month period.

14 oz. Meat (Ground meat like hamburger meat. Choices include: beef, buffalo/bison, pork, veal, turkey, chicken)

1/2 cup GF Breading (this is where you get creative!!) Here are some options: Quinoa Flakes and Quinoa flour one day, GF Rice “Krispies” and Rice Flour another Potato flour and Potato buds on another day

2 eggs or egg replacement

1/3 cup water or CF milk substitute

2 teaspoons GFCF baking powder

sea salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons flaxseed meal/powder (OPTIONAL)

1/4 cup - 1 cup veggie (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes)

1. Cook the meat (I boil mine) for 15 minutes. Use a food processor and make sure meat is a puree - with not too much water in the blending process
2. Make sure breading is blended to a powder or without large pieces (use a food processor or coffee grinder)
3. Make sure the vegetable is shredded to a fine, disguisable vegetable! I use a cheese grater (that has not been used for cheese!). A food processor will do the trick too!
4. Put all ingredients into bowl - mix well.
5. Make meat puffs into little “sushi” like shapes for your child’s small hands! (Easy for cooking and defrosting!) Or you can make in the shape of meatloaf in a larger pan.
6. Heat oven 375 degrees - cook until slightly brown on top – 25-30 minutes (until top is golden brown)

NOTE: If you do a meat loaf – add 15-20 minutes to cooking time. AND THIS RECIPE FREEZES WELL!!

Looks like cheese dip...but isn't even close

I had a can of pumpkin and didn't know what to do with it. So I googled for recipes that didn't involve pie and found some intriguing references to making Thai soup with it.

My adventurous attempt appeared to go well, as Simone in particular loved it. I passed it off as a cheesy-dip and served it with Ezekiel pitas (just tortillas cut up and cooked at 300F for 15 minutes).

Into the crockpot goes:

- One can pumpkin
- One can coconut milk
- Blended up garbanzo beans
- 1/2 onion chopped (I use frozen)
- Lotsa salt (that might just be us, though)
- Garlic to taste
- I also added chopped red peppers, but that's completely optional. It does make it look festive, though. ;)

I just cooked it for about an hour on low. Just enough to warm it.

I don't suggest passing it off as cheese dip, though, unless your child has no recollection of real dairy items. ;) But, it does have that child-pleasing bright yellow color that all school cafeteria food seems to have.

Crockpot Bean Dip

I had some overcooked Aduki beans that I made from dried ones. Not so much burned, just a bit smooshy. Since I refuse to waste food, it was re-packaged as Bean Dip.

I put all these into the food processor:

- 3 cups overcooked Aduki beans
- 1/2 carton of veggie broth
- 1/2 bag frozen corn
- 1/2 bag mixed peppers
- Salt to taste

Then I plopped it into the crockpot and added 2 cups of black beans, not blended up. Truthfully, I'd do that with the corn too...just leave it unpureed...but Jack is suspicious of corn chunks so I try to puree anything I can. ;) He doesn't mind the taste, apparently, since he ate THREE bowls of the bean dip with tortilla chips.

The bean dip, quickie-guacamole (smooshed avocado with salt), and tortilla chips were our dinner at the end of a super busy day. Nice to have it in the crockpot waiting for me when I got home. :)

Crockpot Fruit Sauce

This isn't complex enough to call it a recipe, but I want to remind myself to do it again.

In the food processor:

- One bag of cranberries (rinsed)
- 2 sliced apples (I used green)
- Splash of OJ
- Other fruits work too- I used blueberries

Blend it up and stick it in the crockpot just to warm it. Stovetop would do the same, but requires that I pay attention. Hence, the crockpot.

Simone ate 3 little bowls of this version. Andrew ate one and said he liked it, so I packaged some for his lunch tomorrow. Jack said it was a bit sour, so I added a packet of stevia for him. Syrup or a bit of honey would be good too. Next time, I might try using red apples instead of Granny Smith, to see if that helps for Jack.

Shifting dietary gears. Again.

It's odd that I haven't been tracking recipes, as we've had some huge successes lately. Pulling out rice for Simone was a bit of an UGH, but the 12-hour sleep stretches that followed made it SO worth it. And it's not going too badly. We were getting too reliant on rice, so the diversity has been good for us.

And we're going to try doing no chicken or eggs for a couple of weeks. I thought I'd rather crumble into bits than lose eggs, but it's not going too badly.

So. Next comes a few new recipes that are worth repeating, almost all revolving around the crockpot.

I freakin' love my crockpot.

Crockpot Pasta Fagioli

Patricia was also my resource here, but she snagged it from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-305.html. Snagged recipes are just as good as new, in my book. :)


--1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
--1/2 large red onion, chopped
--1 cup carrots, chopped
--2 celery stalks, sliced
--2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
--1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
--4 cups beef broth (check label for gluten!)
--1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
--2 tsp oregano
--1 T Tabasco sauce (can be omitted)
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time (I used TJ's brown rice fusilli)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.

Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.

Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it.

Easy Chicken and Rice

This is from Patricia. When I do this next time, I'll make a chicken pot pie out of some gluten-free crust and use this as filler. It was excellent "as is," but would work great for pot pie, too. Simone and Andrew devoured this! Jack liked it, but not quite as intensely. :)

Easy Chicken and Rice

15oz chicken broth
3/4 c. water (I used veggie broth to replace these two liquids)
1 cup brown rice all in bottom of crock pot.
Put 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts on top.
small chopped onion and spices go on top of that.
1/2 tsp salt
1 T. dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic pwd
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp tarragon
low 6 or high 4
Add a bag of mix frozen veggies in the last hour.

Complete meal in the pot!