Pad po tak. Thai noodle seafood and sausage (gluten free)

 I think this would be called Pad Po Tak.
It's a variation and amalgamation on a few recipes

Soak rice noodles in cold water 3 hours. Then drain.

 To make sauce, mix
 1/4 tsp Thai green curry paste (I used red, should be more mild)
 3 Tb Coconut cream
 3 Tb fish sauce
 2 Tb white sugar
- mix together, set aside.
- Heat a large deep sided pan. In 2 Tb of oil sauté
 1/4 lb Shrimp, shelled, deveined
 1/4 lb white Fish, cut into bite sized pieces (snapper, cod, tilapia)
 2 Thai Sausage, Lemmon grass,  sliced

-then add
 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
 1/4 cup fresh basil
 Noodles
 Sauce
 -Stir to coat.
 -cover and simmer for 3 minutes, until noodles are translucent.

Excellent on its own, or with another Thai dish, like curry soup.

Up-Cycling pasta #5 Kielbasa Pasta

Kielbasa Pasta

4C cooked pasta
12oz Sliced Kielbasa
1/2 red bell Pepper, diced
1/2 orange Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 C broth

Sauté Peppers and Kielbasa in oil.
Add broth and noodles. Simmer 10min.
Top with Hard cheese shreds. (we like Parmesan, and Mizethra)

Gluten free Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe

So, I didn't have any Gluten free condensed soup on hand, so I googled a recipe for tuna noodle from scratch, and came up with this one.
I made a few modifications, to make it Gluten free, and less hassle.
And It occurred to me, that all of the ingredients are from Costco.

One Package noodles, Goldbaum's Brown Rice, Penne, Gluten free, from Costco
4 oz butter
1/4 cup Flour, Bob's red mill, from Costco
1 1/2 cups milk
12 oz of tuna
2 slices, bread, heal pieces, Udi's from Costco
1 cup shredded cheese

-Cook noodles, per package.
-In medium saucepan, melt butter, over low heat, then whisk in flour, one Tablespoon at a time. Then whisk in Milk, slowly. Keep whisking for 4 min. Then add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, to taste.
-Mix sauce, noodles, and tuna together. Pour into 9X13 baking pan.
-Top with bread crumbs, and cheese.
-Bake ay 375, for 8-10 min.

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #4 Penne4 your thoughts

This is a "fancy" sort of "Italian" baked pasta

4 cups left over pasta (this time it was 360 brand)
1/2 LB cooked ground beef
1 cup prepared Tomato based pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan, romaine blend
8oz mozzarella cheese

Oil a 9x13 pan
Mix the meat, sauce and cheese
Pore in a single layer of the noodles. Spoon on half of the mixture. Top with rest of noodles, and rest of mix.
Cover with foil, bake 30 min at 225.

Ronzoni Gluten free Pasta product review

Hubby picked up a new GF pasta for us to try

Its from as brand that he recognized, and was fond of their non GF products.
It was a good texture, and flavor, and held up well.
The flavor was nicely ambiguous. What I mean by that it that it didn't taste like rice, or corn or quinoa, it just tasted like pasta. I like that.
Its a little prier than other brands, but worth the difference, if toy are bothered by other brands.
This is the brand I would go with if serving GF to people who normally don't eat GF.

There sight says:  Ronzoni Gluten Free™ Pasta is also produced in a dedicated gluten free facility. When the ingredients arrive at the facility, they are verified to be gluten free and then each step in the manufacturing process is strongly controlled in order to protect the product from gluten contamination.
http://www.ronzoniglutenfree.com/

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #2 CheeseburgerNoodle

The best way to use leftover noodles is to give then moisture, and bake them.

One of my favorite ways to do this is a variation of Mac and cheese.
I call it CheeseburgerNodle.

. 4 Cups leftover pasta. Pena, elbow, or any short noodle will work.
. 1 cup ground beef or sausage leftovers. More or less is fine
. 4 cups shredded cheese.
. 1/3 cup Parmesan
. 1/4 cup Milk

In a large bowl mix everything. Pore into a baking pan.
Cover with foil. Bake at 250 for 20 min.

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #1 Noodle Caboodle

I am not a huge fan of having the same meal twice in a row.
I am certainly NOT a fan of mixed leftovers.
When I say mixed leftovers, I mean when you have a few servings from several different meals, and they don't go together.
But In the GF world, when ingredients can be expensive, and hard to come by, it's best to get the most you can out of them.
And for some reason this has come up lately.
So, here is one of my ideas.

Pasta, especially gluten free pasta, does not reheat well. It's best to put some sauce on it, coved with foil and bake it. This restores moisture, without destroying the pasta's shape.
My favorite way I like to call:

Noodle Caboodle. {Chicken noodle casserole}
.4 cups left over pasta. Pena, elbow or fusilli work best.
.1 cup chicken, leftover cooked, torn or cut into bite sized pieces
. 1/2 cup spinach. cooked Leftover. Caned or frozen would work.
. 1 cup Shredded cheese. Italian blend or any kind of hard cheese works
. Parmesan cheese. The dry, shaking canister kind.
.1/2 cup Milk

In a 9X13 pan toss a layer of day old pasta. On top of that toss the chicken and spinach.
Next parmesan and shredded cheese.
Then layer the pasta again. In a cup, I use a fork to whisk together milk, and some parmesan, to make a thin sauce. That goes over the top layer of pasta, and then more shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 259 for about 20-30 min.

It's supper good and you can make variations easily.

To Soup or not to Soup

I'm not a fan of soup.
I prefer to eat my food and drink my beverage.
I don't really like stew either.
I have managed, over the years, to find a place for tomato soup and seafood bisque, but your basic water based soup is not part of my repetware.
All the same, it does come up.
And I was given a Gallon bag of Chicken soup, my a friend, with the instructions to heat in the crockpot, and add noodles.
Well, I put the WHOLE bag Gluten free Penne noodles in.
They absorbed 90% of the liquid, and I had a decent casserole.
I will have to remember that.

Stuffed Shells, Microwaveable

I have had Conte's and Caesar's frozen/microwavable pasta dishes before, but never side by side.

So, for science, and future purchases:

First off, they never looks like the package.
The filling was about the same, a smooth white center, lightly seasoned.
The texture of the pasta in either is wonderful, not chewy or crunchy, or mushy.
Conte's marinara had more flavors to it.
Ceasar's had more cheesiness.

My personal preference is to the Cheesiness.
SO I might lean towards the Ceasar's. But if the Conte's shells are on sale, I will not pass them by.

Conte's Pasta Gluten free

Conte's Pasta, spinach and cheese

Yummy. Good balance of filling. Good flavor
Cooked well. Not mushy or sticky or hard.
An excellent quick dinner, just toss with some grilled chicken tenders.

Conte

Gluten free stroganoff recipe

1 LB ground beef
1 box of  Pacific food cream of mushroom condensed soup
6 oz sour cream
 Garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Step
1. Brown beef in LARGE pan.
2. Add Soup, and sour cream, and season to taste
3. Simmer on low for a few minutes.
3. Pour over noodles of choice.

Lundberg Gluten free Penne Brown Rice Pasta

Lundberg Gluten free Penne Brown Rice Pasta



Mayby I over cooked them, but they cooked FAST
They were squishie and the watter they cooked in was clody.

I might give them another try.
But Only when on sale

Hodgson Mill Penne Pasta

I picked this up at my local grocer on sale.


They size of the individual noodles were on the smaller side. Reminds me of the size of the Blue box macaroni…

They help up well to being mixed into sauce. There individual flavor did not detract from the dish.

I took the leftovers to work the next day and they did not hold up as far as I had hoped. Depending on the noodle’s proximity to the sauce, they were either mush, or dried out.

Most GF noodle do that.

So depending on the regular price, I would get these again.

Gluten free café Veggie noodle soup

Too spicy.

I don’t like my soup to burn my mouth when it’s cold.

When I opened the can, I licked the sauce off the lid before tossing it in the recycle. The sauce was spicy enough to burn a little as I put the bowl in the microwave. So I didn't feel very excited when the microwave beeped.

The noodles were very limp/soggy. They were however a nice brake from the vegetables, which were holding the spicy.

The Vegetables were also squishy, overcooked. And a little too heavy on the tomato for my taste.

I thought about adding sour cream, to cut the spice. It would make it more like taco soup, but then I thought about the noodles, and I declined.

I suppose since I was sick, soup that did not require chewing, is alright. But I don’t think I would want this on a day I was healthy.

Gluten free café, Chicken noodle soup

I have been sick, so Hubby bought me soup.

Normally I make soup. It’s not hard. Can of Broth, can of chicken, boiled, with some noodles.

But Since Hubby bought them for me “special” I tried them. Chicken noodle was  first. There was not much chicken. The noodles were very limp/soggy. I suppose since I was sick, that noodles that do not require chewing, are alright. But I don’t think I would want this on a day I was healthy.

Amy's Lasagna

Contestant #2. Amy's Garden Vegetable Lasagna made with Organic rice pasta and vegetables.
With a BIG Gluten free label across the whole top.

It has become Fall her rather rapidly, so having a hot lunch was nice.
It actually reminded me of childhood school lunches.

It was good.
It has lots of vegetables and sauce. And there was a reasonable sized portion of food.
There appeared to only be one layer of noodle, and it was rather soft.
Not very hearty.
290 calories.
I could have used some Italian sausage, and more cheese. But I would suppose that would increase the calories and fat.
I liked the Caesar's gluten free Italian dinners better, but there quite a lot more calories/fat.

Maggianos's Little Italy

It was a special occasion and we decided to go to Maggiano's.
We have been before and I love it.
Very yummy.
I Like the Chicken Picada. That is in the foreground.
The Pasta special, make with gluten free noodles is in the background.

When yours seated tell the waiter that you need gluten free,  he goes and gets the Chef.
The actual Chef.
The Chef comes to your table and asked you what your in the mood for.
I have pointed to almost any of the pasta dishes and she has reproduced a reasonable GF facsimile of the dish.
The only GF noodles they carrier are corn spirally things, but they are good, and there willing to make what you want to go on top.
I usually ask them for a GF version of the chef special. Since your talking to the chef he usually likes that. And then he makes it just for you. I have NEVER EVER been disapointed.
I fee like a movie star when I go.

Caesar's gluten free

Caesar's gluten free Italian dinners
I had the stuffed Shells one day for lunch, and the Manicotti the next day.
They were very Yummy!

They go in the microwave for a long time, to get hot all the way thru. Then you have to let them sit for a while or they are too hot to eat.
The noodle held up well afterwords too.
Some GF pasta dishes you can't tell what is sauce, and what is noodle, because it has all gottne too soft and mushie, but not these! The noodles were still aldneti, without being hard or undercooked.
SO good!
And it was just the right blend of seasonings and cheeses.
I think they are just as good an any I had in my pre-Gf days.
Only drawback is they are about 400 calories a box. But at least they acknowledge that one whole box is a serving. (Comes to about a calorie a gram...)

Gluten free Cafe-Frozen dishes

I decided to try the new "gluten free cafe" line of frozen dishes.
They were on sale.
I picked up the "Asian noodle" flavor. "Rice noodles with tofu, carrots, edamame, water chestnuts, roasted peanuts and red bell peppers."
I could not find any bell peppers or any peanuts.

There were only TWO edamame.
It was mostly yellow curry.
Now I know that technically India is part of the Asian Continent, but generally when I hear "Asian noodles" I don't think Curry.

This was a bowl of curry. And even if It had been labeled "curry noodles" (which it should have been) I still would have thought there was way too much sauce.
I could have cooked two more bowls of rice noodles to spread the curry over.
I could only eat about a third of the bowl, picked out the tofu, carrots, and the TWO edamane, and tossed the rest.
I drank whole bottle of water, and then had to get a candy bar to clear my pallet.
Over All, not something I will get again.

Ancient Harvest, Quinoa Pasta

Our local grocer had a sale on Ancient Harvest Brand Quinoa Pasta
I'm normally not a big pasta eater.
Non GF pasta is like a dollar for 2 servings. Comparatively GF pasta is about four dollars per serving. And since I can get protean for that price, I usually just cook rice, or bake a potato.
But since they were on sale I picked up a few boxes to add to the week's menu.

First up: Quinoa Pasta-Elbows
Cooked the whole box.
It made about three main dish sized servings.
They held there shape well. Cooked evenly. Good texture, good flavor.
I covered it in melted Colby cheese and added cooked sausage.

Hubby did not even know they were GF*

Second Contestant: Quinoa Pasta-Shells
Cooked the whole box.
It made 4 side-dish sized servings.
The shells lost some of there shape once cooked. Cooked evenly. Flavor was good.
Texture was a little dry,( if you can imagine how that works.)

Had them with Alfredo sauce and shrimp.

Third Contestant: Quinoa-Corn Pagodas

Cooked the whole box.

It made three main dish sized servings.

The Pagodas lost some of there shape once cooked.

Cooked evenly. Flavor was very good.

I made them into Pasta salad. But the leftovers did not keep very well. (got mussy in the dressing)