MacDuff's PB Holiday Shortbread

Cookies for your dog!!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky
3/4 cup milk

Mix together and roll out on floured surface. Cut out and place on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool and treat your dog!

from Just Cook Already

Family Fresh Green Bean Casserole

I saw Claire Robinson make this on Dear Food Network. Not only did it look delicious, but it did not call for the usual cream of mushroom soup or onion straws so it was easy to make gluten-free!

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh French green beans, ends trimmed
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped Vidalia onion
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• 4 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
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• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups corn cereal (recommended: Corn Flakes)
• 1/2 pound grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and cook for until just tender but still firm, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the beans from the water to a large bowl of ice water to preserve color and stop the cooking. Drain the beans and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and saute about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir for another minute, to cook out the raw flour taste, and then whisk in the sour cream. Simmer for just a couple of minutes to bring the flavors together and taste for seasoning.

Cut the green beans into 2-inch pieces. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan. Crush the cereal flakes in a resealable plastic bag and add them to the pan with the butter. Toss to coat. Spread the green beans over the bottom of a 9-inch casserole dish. Pour all of the mushroom sauce mixture over the beans and top with the grated cheese. Sprinkle with the buttered cereal flakes and bake in the preheated 400 degree F oven, until light golden brown and bubbly, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Homemade Yogurt

Growing up the only kind of yogurt I liked was Yoplait lemon and lime yogurts. My mom would make homemade yogurt, but I didn't care for it because it was plain. As I got older I decided to give homemade yogurt a try again and added a lot of cinnamon sugar and I loved it! My parents found an old yogurt maker for me at D.I. when I was in college and I have used it since. The way I make yogurt has a ton of shortcuts so I will explain my way, then I will link over to ways to make yogurt if you don't have a yogurt maker.


What you'll need:
Milk
A cup of plain yogurt (Greek or regular - I used Kroger brand)
Candy thermometer (or yogurt spoon if you have a yogurt maker)

(This is the old one that I have)

1. Take a yogurt cup from yogurt maker and fill with milk to about 3/4 full. Pour into a 2-qt sauce pan. Repeat for however many cups you have in your yogurt maker. (See I'm not even thinking about measuring or doing the math)
2. Scald your milk, stirring frequently. (Scalding will take it to about 180 F)
3. Let the milk cool down to about 110 F (pretty warm, but not hot - if you don't have a thermometer) and pour a little bit of milk into a bowl. Mix 2-4 Tbs. of plain yogurt (this is your starter) with the milk in the bowl. Then add this mix back into the pan of milk and stir.
4. Fill your cups with the yogurt, put the lids on and place in yogurt maker. Plug in your yogurt maker and wait 8-10 hours.
5. Remove cups and refrigerate.

Easy peasy, right? This will make a fairly runny yogurt. I like it this way, but my husband prefers custard-like yogurt so I'm going to be experimenting with starters and extra add-ins (powdered milk, etc.).
If you don't have a yogurt maker, but still would like to make your own yogurt, you can do it in a slow cooker. A good link I found was here at Utah Deal Diva. She goes over how she makes homemade yogurt and it looks to be fairly simple. I hope you try it!

Mexican Lasagna

I have been waiting for it to get cold enough to make this and it finally is. I looked at the ingredients and realized that if I used corn tortillas instead of flour, then it could be gluten-free! So yummy. I bought double ingredients so I could freeze it, but I chickened out and decided to try it first, but I will be making a freezer version this week.

Mexican Lasagna

This dish freezes and reheats exceptionally well, which makes it perfect for double batches. Makes 1 9×13″ pan, or about 12 servings. If you prefer a bit more spice (I do), you can up the taco seasoning to 1 1/2-2 packets.

• 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
• 1 (15 ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chiles
• 2 (14 ounce) cans refried beans
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives
• 8 large flour tortillas (preferably handmade—most better grocers will carry them)
• 1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• sour cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 425F. In a large skillet, brown ground meat. Drain fat. Add tomatoes, taco seasoning and water. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine the refried beans, diced green chiles and black olives. Stir. Blend the two grated cheeses together in a separate bowl.

Coat a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread half of the bean mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Cover with two of the flour tortillas. Spread with a third of the cheese mixture, then cover with half of the meat mixture. Cover with tortillas once again, then layer the remaining beans, two more tortillas, 1/3 of the cheese, the remaining meat mixture, the remaining tortillas, and the remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. Top with a dollop of sour cream if desired.