Chunky Potato Soup Recipe

So, I subscribe to The Gluten Free Checklist...and get a GF recipe via e-mail each day. Today's looks great....I think I will definitely be trying this one! (However, I am a big baby and personally don't care for onions...I'll probably either omit them or use a lot less than 2 cups ;)).

Chunky Potato Soup
Ingredients
6 Tbs. butter
2 c. purple onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, chopped
3 Tbs. ARROWHEAD MILLS – white rice flour
1 qt. water 1 qt. IMAGINE - Organic Low Sodium Free Range Chicken Broth
4 c. red potatoes, peeled & cubed
1/2 c. heavy cream
3 Tbs. parsley, chopped
Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions
Melt 3 Tbs. butter in a 5 qt. stock pot. Add onions and cook slowly for 5 minutes without browning. Blend in gluten free flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add water and chicken broth, stirring to prevent lumps. Add potatoes and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes. While soup is simmering, stir in cream, parsley, remaining butter and salt & pepper to taste. Continue simmering to allow butter to melt and flavors to blend.

KIND bars free at Starbucks 2-5-10!

Hop over to your local Starbucks on Fri. Feb 5 to try KIND bars for free! I will vouch for these yummy bars' deliciousness! In fact, I had one for breakfast this very morning! :) :) I typically carry one-two of them in my work bag because they are so yummy, nutritious, and convenient to carry around. My personal favs are ANY of them with macadamia nuts in them! YUMMY to the maximal power!

"Surprisingly GOOD!"

...Thus said my dear loving husband....who tends to be skeptical at times of my GF creations ;). Tonight he made his delicious spaghetti sauce for our dinner...

I had one Schaar pizza crust left in my box of two and I decided to make some garlic toast (just spread on some melted butter that I mixed with garlic salt...not exactly rocket science!) in the toaster oven to go with our salad and spaghetti. I enjoyed my piece...and Jeremy looked at what was left on the serving plate and asked, "SO, is it good? Like, would I like it?" I told him I thought he might, so he tried it.

He actually told me (and he is PICKY about food!!) that it was really great, "Surprisingly good" were really his exact words...and he went on to say that I wasn't missing anything when I ate this, compared to "real" bread! So, if you are GF like me...hook yourself up!! :)

Clearly, this is versatile stuff and can be used for things other than just making pizza...it is not frozen, and it is sold 2 to a package. I've also used it as "toast" with (homemade from my mother) apple butter for breakfast! YUMMY!

Three cheers for Schaar! Definitely has the Rachel and Jeremy stamp of approval! :) :)

Awesome Christmas Gift--Namaste Baking Mixes!

Happy New Year!! Maybe I'll write more this year...and maybe I won't ;). We'll see!

I did, though, want to share about an awesome Christmas gift I received from my mother- and father-in-law: a gift certificate for Namaste food!

I used up the gift certificate shortly after Christmas and received the big box of food last week. I ordered a cookbook (it uses their mixes with a variety of added ingredients...some really great suggestions!), bread mix, brownie mix (I've had this one before...it's great!!), blondie mix, pizza crust mix, sugar-free muffin mix, pancake/waffle mix, and cookie mix. I made the blondies last night for a small dinner party we had with a couple of friends. They tasted pretty yummy! Oh a whim, I added some crushed pecans to the batter, and sprinkled some more crushed pecans and brown sugar on top. Success! :) (I just ate a leftover one a few minutes ago ;)).

I would highly recommend checking out the Namaste website....they have a ton of great products. They also have many of their products available here in Bloomington at Naturally Yours. I've also tried their Biscuit/Pie Crust mix (used it to make a great pie crust for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, to rave reviews from my father-in-law ;)), and their Taco Pasta (comes with pasta and a seasoning packet; I added tomato soup and ground beef to it for a yummy dinner!). I have truly loved all of their products! :)

Namaste's website says, among other things, "...Our facility contains no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy or nuts. It is our attempt to try to eliminate any chance of cross-contamination so you can enjoy Namaste Foods products worry-free...." Awesome!! :) :)