Pioneer Woman

I know I am late on the Pioneer Woman fan club train. Until my sister asked for a copy of her cookbook for Christmas. And I bought it for her at an excellent price online. And then I got it and read it from cover to cover, addicted to her beautiful photography and clever wording. And then I realized I loved her when her recipe for "The Best Chocolate Cake Ever" was one and the same with my family's sacred, coveted "secret" chocolate cake recipe that has been known to make people cry (me, namely). And then I cooked 5 meals from it the book on Christmas vacation. And then I had to run out on Christmas Eve Eve (a true holiday in our household) to buy her a newer copy at regular price as I had dirtied the original gift and decided it too tacky to give a cookbook with splattered food on the pages. It's true.

The upside is that I am pretty sure my family was okay with that character flaw, as they enjoyed some amazing dishes this Christmas. Mom thought I was crazy wanting to cook that much on vacation, but for me it is cathartic. It was also exciting to try out so many new recipes and to cook big meals... obviously I don't set out to make a pan of lasagna for just me every night. And in case you are wondering, these were all easily tweaked to be gluten free any suffering from the gluten eaters. I have found I MUCH more prefer finding recipes/foods that are naturally gluten free than making big, expensive, elaborate gluten free meals. Some of the ones we tried that I HIGHLY recommend include the following (with just a taste of her beautiful photography):

• Eggs Florentine Casserole... This just so happens to be naturally gluten free and a GREAT breakfast casserole for special occasions.

• Pico De Gallo... Have you ever made it from scratch? You should (and I don't use the word should fast and loosely).

• Enchiladas... I had a pickle finding canned gf enchilada sauce.. Okay I lied, I didn't try. Mom bought one can with gluten, and I figured I could just make some from scratch that tasted better, to which I used this RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS enchilada sauce . I mean it is heavenly sauce... so easy and simple. Omit the salsa and water- it's perfect without.


• Olive Cheese Bread... Oh. My. This is easy to make for mixed gluten eaters... I put most of the spread on regular french bread for my family but saved a little that I put on my own special millet bread. Delicious. Makes a great dip too.



• Lasagna... Very tasty. We used gf noodles and know one ever knew the difference. If you have a little cooker in your family, this is a great one for them to help with. JT loved stirring the ingredients and piling all the layers.



• When I was cooking/freezing for the family, I also hit up the recipes for this pork marinade as well as chili, which were also wonderful.


• We ran out of time to try the recipe for Migas. It's still on my hit list.

As much as I enjoyed it, I have been barely cooking this week... my regulars cast of salads, tuna, omelets, and omelets have sustained me just fine!