Strawberry Lemonade Recipe--Gluten-Free and Great Fun for Kids!

This is so simple, I can't believe I'm even bothering to post it. But I've had people ask me, "How do you make that?" So here I am, showing everyone how easy it is.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pkg. frozen strawberries
1 pkg. gluten-free frozen lemonade concentrate
water

DIRECTIONS:
Read the ingredients list on your frozen concentrated lemonade to make sure it's truly gluten-free, but honestly, I have yet to discover a brand that isn't. Again (like I said in last week's post) though, give people a chance to contaminate your food and voila! It happens at the snap of your granny's leathery fingers.

Once you've determined that the lemonade is fine, just mix it according to the package directions and plop about four or five strawberries in there with it. Let it sit for 20 minutes until the strawberries start to thaw.

Put some ice in your glass before you pour the strawberry lemonade into your glass, so it's nice and chilled.

That's it. Simple as can be!

Perfect Potato Salad--Gluten-free and Dairy-free

I know, I know. It's kind of a stupid title, because really, most potato salad is gluten-free and dairy free. But believe it or not, people can screw this up. The main problem is with the GF status. How do you screw that up? Using mayonnaise that has been contaminated with gluten-bread crumbs.

See, every time your grandmother comes to visit and she dips her knife in the mayo to spread it on her regular bread, then she dips it again, little bread crumbs end up in the mayo.

So whenever we go to someone's house for a big dinner, we bring our own potato salad. That way we can be sure the mayo is completely crumb-free. We also use a squeeze bottle of mayo at our house, to prevent double-dip contaminations.

I don't even know how you can manage to screw up a potato salad with dairy, but give people an opportunity to contaminate your food, and they'll manage to do it every time! ;)

Anyway, here's the potato salad recipe I use:

INGREDIENTS:
5-7 medium potatoes (I tend to lean toward 7 unless the spuds are huge)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery--more if you like it crunchy

2 hard-boiled eggs, diced into small pieces
1 scant tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
dash of celery salt (to taste)
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing (we use Kraft Zesty Italian)
1/2 cup mayo

Boil clean potatoes on the stove for 35 minutes after the water reaches the boiling point. Once they've chilled in the fridge for a couple of hours, skin them and dice them up into small cubes. I usually add the onions, celery, and eggs at this time.

In a seperate bowl, I mix the remaining ingredients. Taste this dressing to see how much celery salt you need. It's a tough call sometimes, but less is usually better than more.

Add the dressing mix to the bowl of spuds. Mix thoroughly. Chill for at least two hours in a covered dish before serving.

I think you'll really like this recipe. It's truly fantastic!

Dairy-free and Gluten-free Coleslaw Recipe

I love cole slaw with fried chicken or hot wings, and it's relatively easy to make, even gluten-free and dairy-free. Here's what it takes:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 head green cabbage, minced
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 celery stalk, minced
2 tablespoons minced green pepper
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup soymilk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice (to make "buttermilk")
1 capful of apple cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)
1 teaspoon celery salt

Take the first four ingredients and mix them together in a bowl. Then put all other ingredients in a seperate bowl and mix them together to form the dressing. Finally, combine the vegetables with the dressing and chill for at least an hour. I find it's tastiest the next day though, because it allows the dressing to really seep into the veggies. YUM!

Creamy Jello Knox Blocks -- A fun, easy, GF dessert!

Again, this is one of my mother-in-law's recipes. My whole family loves it--even the folks who aren't on a GF diet.

INGREDIENTS:
1 six-ounce pkg. of Jello
1 three-ounce pkg. of Jello (same flavor)
2 pkgs. Knox unflavored gelatin (this is found in the baking aisle, near the Jello, but usually on a top shelf or away from all the other Jello products)
1 cup cream for whipping (not the same as whipped cream--this is thick cream that comes in a milk carton and says, "whipping cream" on it)
water

DIRECTIONS:
In a large, heatproof bowl, mix unflavored gelatin with Jello. Add 3 cups boiling water and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved (two minutes). Stir in whipping cream.

Pour the whole mixture into a 13x9 inch pan and chill until firm--about four hours. The cream will rise, chilling to form layers. To serve, cut it into squares or rectangles of desired shapes. Makes about 20-30 squares. (They go fast though--my kids LOVE these.)

If you're not allergic to strawberries, I recommend it for your first try. Everyone seems to like that flavor best. Our second favorite flavor of Jello for this recipe is orange. But you really can use it with any flavor of Jello.