Dear Blog,

I'm very sorry for neglecting you this holiday season. I promised myself you would be "fun" and not a "job" so I didn't make you a priority over the holidays. I do miss you though and I even have some pictures and recipes to post on you soon. So don't give up on me blog, I do love you and will be back soon. 

xoxo

Val 

Bacon & Sage Wrapped Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe in All You magazine a few months back and finally got around to making it tonight. It was so tasty, the whole family loved it, including the kids! 

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken breasts
• 12 sage leaves
• 8 slices thick bacon (I use Hempler's all natural, it is labeled gluten free. You can buy it at Fred Meyer) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 cup gluten free chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. 
2. Place 3 sage leaves on the top of each chicken breast. 
3. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each chicken breast and lay flat in baking dish. 
4. Bake until chicken is cooked all the way through, about 40 minutes. 
5. When chicken is done, drain juices from the pan into a small saute pan. Cover chicken with foil and let rest for a few minutes. 
6. In small saute pan heat juices from the chicken, broth, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in gluten free flour until sauce has thickened ( I brought it to a quick boil while continuously stirring and it thickened in about 2 minutes). 
7. Poor sauce over chicken and serve! I served it over rice and it was delicious. 

Hope you like it as much as my family did! 

Peppermint Bark

 This has to be the easiest gluten free dessert to make!

 My kids are addicted to it and I'm having a hard time turning it down as well. 

Here is what you need: 

Ingredients: 

• 2 bags Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 bags Nestle White Chocolate Chips (both are gluten free, I linked their website in the side bar) 
• candy canes (I used 6) 

Directions: 

1. line baking sheet with wax paper
2. melt 2 bags of semi sweet chocolate chips (you can do it in microwave or over the stove)
3. spread semi sweet chocolate over the baking sheet and place in refrigerator to cool 
4. while cooling put candy canes in a Ziploc bag (I double bag it) and smash candy canes into tiny pieces
5. when semi sweet chocolate is hardened remove from fridge
6. melt white chocolate and spread on top of semi sweet chocolate
7. sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of white chocolate
8. gently press candy canes down so that they are set into chocolate
9. place in refrigerator again to cool
10. once cool use a butter knife to break up into pieces
11. Enjoy! 

Sugar Cookies from a Box!

 I bought this cookie mix awhile ago and never got around to making it. The kids and I wanted to make Christmas cookies tonight but I didn't feel like all the work so I pulled out this little gem. They were SO easy to make and tasted great. The dough it a bit gooey to roll out for cookie cut outs (but maybe if you refrigerated it it'd work?) so we just made circles and decorated them. 

 Not bad for egg, dairy, & gluten free! 

Yum! 

** I bought the Cherry Brook's Kitchen mix at PCC, I think I've also seen it at Whole Foods. 

Coconut Curried Chicken & Chickpeas

I found this recipe in a magazine a few months ago and decided to give it a try the other night. I'm not a huge curry fan but I am trying to branch out a bit, plus it's a crock pot recipe and I love those. I changed the recipe a little to suite my taste more and I actually liked it! 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 can coconut milk (I used the light kind to keep the fat content down)
•  2- 15 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed & drained

Directions:

1. Coat chicken with olive oil, curry powder, and salt. Put in crock pot. 
2. sprinkle onions and garlic on top of chicken. 
3. Pour tomatoes on top and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 
4. During last hour of cooking add in chickpeas and coconut milk. 
5. Shred chicken with forks before serving. 
6. We served it over rice and it was delicious