Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Baked Taquitos - Super Easy 4 Ingredients - gluten free and top 8 allergen free *vegan option





Simple, healthy and cheap!

This is a 4 ingredient (minus spices) go-to dinner that everyone in our family loves. One part of it that I really love is that I'm sneaking in beans that my picky eater doesn't even notice.  

It can be very universal in the fact you can sub in or out the ingredients, depending on what you prefer or have on hand.  In this recipe I use ground turkey, but beef, chicken or pork is just as good.  The beans are refried, but I have used black and kidney too.  We need to use a Allergy Free "cheese", but you can use the real stuff if tolerated!  You can even switch out the corn tortilla if needed.  Making them a baked Taquito helps with keeping them healthy, quick to make and less of a mess to clean up in the end. 

I keep this recipe very simplified since cooking whole foods from scratch every night can be daunting!  It almost feels like cheating to me~  Adding in onion, peppers, olives, corn, cilantro, avacados and any other delicious ingredient would kick it up even more- the skies the limit if you want to take the time.  But you won't be disappointed with just the basics!  

Another plus of this recipe is that it makes a large serving amount which can be used for leftovers or put in the freezer and reheated in the oven when needed.  (I have doubled and tripled this before just so I had freezer food for the future)  The recipe ends up being pretty cost effective since it uses such basic and few ingredients.


gluten free and top 8 allergen free *can be vegan


Baked Taquitos:

1 lb.  Ground Meat of choice (or meat substitute)
1  15.4 oz can Organic Refried Beans
20  Organic Corn Tortillas- 5 inch round
1/2 Cup  Allergy Free Cheese

1/2 tsp.  Garlic Powder
1 TB  Chili Powder
salt and pepper to taste

Oil of choice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Drizzle oil -(about 1-2 TB) to coat pan.  
In large skillet brown ground meat until fully cooked.  Add in whole can of beans and spices. Cook and stir until completely mixed together.   Warm tortillas in microwave until soft.  Fill softened tortillas with some meat and cheese.  Roll and lay seam side down on oiled pan.  Brush tops of filled tortillas with oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.  Enjoy!





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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Black Bean Fudge Brownies-gluten free, vegan & top 8 allergen free





There is nothing better than having your super picky eater scarf down dessert made out of black beans and prunes!  Trickery at it's best.  

This is one of those recipes that you probably have all the ingredients on hand and is really quite simple to throw together. 

I would add that this particular brownie recipe is for a fudge brownie, not cake like.  It is very dense and rich, but not overly sweet.  Using the coconut type sweeteners really help to keep the sweetness under control, which can be quite a problem when cooking Allergy Free.  

The prunes that I am adding is simply baby food.  It works perfect! I had been making a homemade date paste for these types of recipes, but found this works equally as good, and it's one less thing I have to do!  Plus, you can store it in the cupboard and have on hand when needed.  






gluten free, vegan and top 8 allergen free     


Black Bean Fudge Brownies:

2 Cups  Black Beans  (cooked)
1/3 Cup  Prunes, pureed          (I use baby food prunes 2.5 oz)
1/3 Cup  Unsweetened Applesauce        
2/3 Cup  Coconut Nectar          
1/3 Cup  Palm Sugar        
1/4 Cup  Coconut oil (melted)
3 tsp.  Pure Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup  Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/4 Cup  Brown Rice Flour
1/4 Cup  Potato Starch
2 tsp.  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp.  Salt
2 TB  Egg Replacer Powder

1/2 Cup  Allergy Free Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a brownie pan with parchment paper.
In food processor combine all wet ingredients.  Black beans, prunes, applesauce, nectar, sugar, coconut oil and vanilla extract.  Process until smooth, scraping down when needed  (you will still have some black bit from the beans, that's o.k.) .
Add dry ingredients to wet mixture.  Cocoa, brown rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, salt and egg replacer.  Process until mixed well.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.  Spread into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cool and frost.  Enjoy!

Fudge Icing:

1/2 Cup  Allergy Free Chocolate Chips
2 TB  Coconut Oil

Allergy Free Sprinkles

Add ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and microwave 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted together.  Pour over cooled brownies and let set up.  Add sprinkles.  *for quick set up, place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.  



*Notes and Substitutions:

My brownie pan in 8 X 12, but a 8 X 8 would be fine too.

You can use canned black bean or homemade cooked.  The 2 cups equals just a little less than two cans- 15 oz each.

I use baby food pureed Prunes (2.5 oz)- you could also use date paste which would give a little bit more sweetness to the end product.  

The prunes and applesauce are interchangeable, you can use all of one or the other if needed. (prunes give a little bit more "depth" of flavor)

The applesauce equals about a  4 oz applesauce cup.

If you can't find coconut nectar, maple syrup works good too.

I can't use flax or chai in my daughters food, but I'm sure those would work good in replacement to the Egg Replacer if needed for a binder.







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