Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Family

Mush Tastes Good

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This is one of my favorite recipes that my whole family enjoys. The inspiration for this came from my Grandma who made the best goulash. I remember sitting in her little kitchen and taking big helpings of this delightful tomato, beef, noodle mix from her yellow French Oven Le Creuset. Straight up comfort food.

Grandma’s Goulash-Healthified

~This goulash is gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, nut-free, and, of course, sugar-free! 

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 cup gluten-free elbow noodles. (I use Tinkyada brown rice noodles-they are my favorite! I they taste just like the real thing, and they are well-priced, too.)
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes (I use canned)
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, 2 zucchini both chopped
  • 2 15 oz. cans of beans of choice. (This time I used garbanzo and kidney beans)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Spices: 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, salt and pepper to taste
***NOTE: You can change the recipe however you like. Feel free to add any other veggies lurking in your kitchen. If you are vegan, you can omit the ground beef and just use the beans.
In a skillet, cook the ground beef with the chopped onion on medium heat. In the meantime, cook the elbow noodles according to the package. In a large saucepan, mix the cooked noodles, chopped vegetables, beans, and spices, and then add the beef-onion mix. Simmer for 20 minutes on medium-low heat until the carrots are soft.
I’m sorry, but it is hard to get goulash to look pretty. You are just going to have to trust me when I say this mush tastes GOOD! So please try it.
I hope you find it as nourishing and comforting as I do.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Is there a dish you remember eating as a kid that made you feel like you were home? A comfort food that you will always remember?

In addition to goulash, my grandma made the best deviled eggs! They were amazing, and I requested that she make some for all my birthdays.

Happy Birthday Pudder!

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Yesterday (May Day!) Was my sweet doggy’s 10th birthday 🙂 What a big day! Therefore, I made him a cake out of his favorite ingredients: apples and peanut butter.

Hold on Alex, I thought peanut butter was your favorite food.

You’re right. It is. He’s a smart dog.

Birthday Boy!

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Doggy Apple Peanut Butter Cake

Doggy Apple Peanut Butter Cake

~This cake is made especially for your special pup. However, I must say it tastes pretty darn good for humans, too.

Ingredients

  • 1 apple
  • 4 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or flour of choice. I chose brown rice because there is brown rice in his dog food)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Shred the apples into tiny pieces and mix with peanut butter, flour, and baking powder. Then add water and mix.
  3. Pour batter into a lightly greased mini-loaf pan or muffin tins. Feel free to use whatever shape you want. Bake for 20 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
  4. I decorated the cake with an extra apple slice (dipped in lemon juice to prevent discoloring) cut into the shape of a bone. Then I wrote his name in more peanut butter!
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/05/02/happy-birthday-pudder/

He attacked the cake! Literally! It was gone in 2 seconds!
 
Happy Birthday, Pudder! I love you!

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you have pets? If so, do you feed them “human food?”

I don’t feed Pudder human food that often, but I will give him my apple core when I am done eating my apple. He loves it. I will also fill is bone with peanut butter occasionally. He is an apple-loving, peanut butter-snarfing dog!

***** I am going to be out of town next week, so would any of you be interested in doing a guest post? Blogger or not, I would love to get some fresh articles on my blog while I am gone!

Happy Easter!

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Happy Easter Everyone! The Easter Bunny hopped on over my way with some tempting peanut butter…

Remember I gave it up for lent? Now I am reunited with my beloved, spreadable, creamy friend.

PEANUT BUTTER!!!
If Elvis Liked Chocolate Bites
Chocolate Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Peanut Butter Crust
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate-Peanut Truffles

I need to catch up on some peanut butter recipe experiments!

Have a great Easter, everyone! What are you doing to celebrate? 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16 NIV

Meat Lovers Rejoice!

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As soon as I saw Heather make a Meatza, I started defrosting my ground beef.

You all know that I am such a lover in grain-free foods, so meatzas are right up my alley (Meat Pizza=Meatza). However, I wasn’t in the mood for regular old pizza (I don’t eat cheese anyway), but I was in the mood for Mexican food. Thus, the Taco Meatza was born!

Taco Meatza

~You can rearrange the recipe however you like to make your favorite pizza. Grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, yeast-free, soy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 package of Taco seasoning (make your own by combining 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika)
  • 1/2 chopped onion
Toppings
  • 1 cup of your favorite salsa (You can make your own using THIS RECIPE)
  • 1 cup cooked rice or crushed tortilla chips
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1 cup chopped veggies (I used onions and bell peppers. Feel free to use whatever you like)
  • optional toppings: guacamole, black olives, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, cheese (if you eat dairy), cilantro
Preheat oven to 450*. Combine all crust ingredients and spread mixture onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes (it will shrink). Drain off beef fat.
Top the crust with salsa and sprinkle the black beans, rice or tortilla chips, and chopped veggies on top. Broil until golden. Serve with your favorite cold ingredients (like the ones listed above or other favorite taco-toppings).
The crust with salsa
The crust with salsa ‘sauce’ …
Broiled with rice, beans, onions, and bell peppers…
Topped with Guacamole, tomatoes, cilantro, spinach, and black olives. Served with fresh watermelon.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is your favorite pizza topping?

I’m not really picky, and I could eat any pizza topping-as long as it doesn’t have cheese 😉

Use up that White Flour!

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No, I am not suggesting you eat white flour. I am suggesting that you play with it!

 

Homemade Modeling Clay

~This is not like play dough, but this is the type of clay that dries into shapes. Keep leftovers in a air-tight plastic bag to keep from drying out.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • optional: food coloring or paint

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Feel free to adjust wet or dry amounts to create the desired consistency of a tough, yet workable clay.

 

Shape into anything you like! Make beads, animals, letters, shapes. Then, put in a dehydrator over night or until dry. If using an oven, turn on low temperature, preferably 200*, and bake for a few hours or until dry. The bigger the shape, the longer it has to cook and dry.

Beads!

Then, paint it if you wish!

Awwww! A teddy bear 🙂

This is a great way to use up all that yucky white flour, white salt, and gross vegetable oil you might have lurking in your cabinets. Then you can replace them with fun stuff like coconut flour, garbanzo bean flour, himalayan salt, olive oil, or coconut oil!

Did you see that I didn’t paint any of them yet? Well…..I’ll leave that up to you! What colors should I paint my new creations???

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Were you a big artsy kid growing up?

My mom is an artist, so I always had markers, paper, felt, fabric, beads, buttons, you name it! I loved craft time!

Unplug and…

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To the 7 of you who voted “Yes” in yesterday’s post, you were right on! It started raining just a couple hours after the picture was taken, and it continued to pour all throughout the day and into the night. As I look out my window this morning, the clouds hang over, it looks dreary, and it looks like it is going to be another rainy day.

To the four of you who voted “No,” well, you were wrong. To the two who voted “Ummmm…This is Weird,” I completely agree with you. Whatever, I had fun 😉

As much as I’d like to write a longer post, I need to pack because I am going to North Carolina! I’m not bringing my laptop, either, so I will get a few days break from it.

I encourage you all to do the same, too!

Unplug this:

Bake some of these:

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Do some of this:

And just a little bit of this:

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you like having time off of your computer?
I LOVE time off of the computer. I feel better when I don’t sit in front of it. It always sucks up my time, and I can’t stand sitting there for extended periods of time. I need to take breaks!