Chicken and Parmesan Spaghetti (gluten free)

This is the real deal. You would never know this delicious dinner recipe is gluten free, which is one reason I love working with brown rice pasta. I made this for my family tonight and after the first bite, my five year old asked if I could make it again. Of course, he loves noodles and was extra excited for the "cheese snow" (AKA grated parmesan) that I let him add to the top of his noodles.

Not only is it a super kid-friendly meal, it's also super easy, which is just what a mom of three young boys needs. I especially love the extra kick the red pepper gives this dish, however you should note that a little bit of crushed red pepper goes a long way, so if your kids are sensitive to spicy foods, keep the red pepper to a minimum (the adults can always add extra red pepper to the top of their individual dishes).


Chicken and Parmesan Spaghetti (gluten free)

1/2 pound gluten free spaghetti noodles (I used brown rice spaghetti noodles from Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon coconut oil or grass-fed butter
1 medium yellow onion
5 cloves garlic
1 pound ground chicken
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt, pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
1 14 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes (I used Muir Glen)
1/4 cup grated parmesean

Cook noodles according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, heat oil or butter over medium-low heat in a large saucepan. Chop onion and add to pan, cooking for about 3-5 minutes, until translucent. Mince garlic and add to onion. Cook about 1 minute. Add chicken and spices (through red pepper). Using a wooden spoon, cook the chicken until cooked through and no longer pink, breaking it up into small crumbles as you cook. Add tomatoes and stir.

When the noodles are done cooking, drain the water and add the noodles to the chicken sauce and stir to coat the noodles. Add the parmesan and stir again.

Serve topped with additional parmesan (or cheese snow, as my five year old calls it!), if desired.

Blueberry Biscuits

Sometimes it's all about marketing, even to a five year old. This morning I was asking my kids what they wanted for breakfast and listed off several options: pancakes, eggs, smoothie, fruit... "No, no, no," they said.

"Hmmm," I replied, "How about scones?"

"No!" my five year old exclaimed back.

Well, ok, I really wanted scones. So what to do? One more option, "How about biscuits?" (that are really scones in disguise, just marketed differently.)

"YEAH!!!" they cheered.

Biscuit-like scones it is! I wasn't really in the mood for something savory, so I decided to make my biscuits just a tad sweet by making them into blueberry biscuits. At any rate, these biscuits were a hit, gobbled by the mouthful by my kids. Breakfast success! And they are so easy to make, you can whip them up in mere minutes.

If you are avoiding grains (as I often am), just replace the sorghum flour with almond flour.


Blueberry Biscuits

Dry ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil, liquified
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 drops liquid stevia

1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, then add remaining wet ingredients (through stevia) and whisk again to combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until thoroughly combined. Add in frozen blueberries and carefully stir again as to not break the blueberries up too much that they cause the mixture to turn blue.

Spoon drop biscuits onto prepared baking dish and slightly flatten the tops with your palms.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.

Makes about a dozen.