Mexican Spaghetti

One of my favorite cookbooks is Cooking Light's "5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook". Nate and I got this book for our wedding almost 6 years ago. Ever since we have loved many of the recipes in this book! Who wouldn't love, just 5 ingredients in only 15 minutes that's full of flavor?

Luckily, having Celiac doesn't mean that you have to toss out all of your favorite recipes! All you need to do is tweak and you can still enjoy all the recipes that you have loved for so long! Below is a recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook that I have tweaked to be g-free.

Mexican Spaghetti

Ingredients

1. 1 pound ground turkey

2. 4 oz. uncooked rice pasta

3. 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

4. 1 (8.75 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained

5. 1 package taco seasoning mix

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, fry the ground turkey in a skillet with a little olive oil over medium high heat. Once the turkey is cooked, add the tomatoes, corn and taco seasoning. Mix together and add the pasta. Cook together for 5 minutes.

Tips

There are many different things you can do to this recipe and still keep if g-free even though it may not be "light". Instead of the turkey you can use ground beef. You can also add black olives or cheddar cheese as a topping. I usually always add an onion to the meat while it's cooking because I think everything needs a little onion or garlic! The rice pasta that you buy can be any type: spaghetti, penne, elbow macaroni, etc. Always check the labels on the cans of tomatoes and corn. Some companies will add junk (gluten) to it. Some safe brands of canned foods are Woodstocks and Natural Directions. Also, when buying the taco seasoning, check the label. I buy McCormick's seasoning which is gluten free and I stay away from Lawry's which is NOT gluten free.

Enjoy your spaghetti!

PF Changs China Bistro

A couple days after I found out the the good news and the bad news, I discovered PF Chang's gluten free menu! The good news was that I now knew what has been wrong with me for so long and the bad news was that I thought I could never go out to eat again. Well, I quickly discovered that I really could go out to eat again.

A couple days after I was diagnosed my mom came into town and we had a girls night at PF Chang's. I quickly realized that I had a large menu to choose from! We started with wine (yes, all wine is g-free!) and lettuce wraps. We then had lemon scallops and shrimp with lobster sauce. My attitude about my diagnosis quickly changed after this night. Maybe this would be so bad after all?

Since then, my husband and I frequent this establishment ALOT! The manager, who we have come to know well, is always making sure that we have everything we need. She really cares about those of us that are g-free! She told us that on March 8th they would be rolling out a new g-free menu. So, guess where we went for Date Night this week? You're right, PF Changs!

We had an awesome dinner that night! They probably doubled their selection of g-free items which took the menu from large to huge! They also added some beef options. The best part is that the g-free menu is on their regular menu! I love not having to ask for a separate menu. I have only come across 2 restaurants that do this!

I would highly recommend this restaurant! Below is the link to their NEW gluten free menu!

http://www.pfchangs.com/Menu/Menu.aspx?menu=14