Preparing the filling is easy. For example, you can stuff the mushrooms with themselves. I mean, are you going to discard the stems or what? Stems are good. If you want, you can use them into  some other meal or you can chop them, mix them with a little bit of egg, cheese, onions and garlic, and you’ve got a lot of healthy stuffed mushrooms recipes to try. If health is not your main concern, minced meat is another delicious option. You can use either pork, beef, turkey or chicken, or a mix of minced meat and bacon pieces. How often do you cook pulled pork recipes, have a great barbecue party, then try to do something with the leftovers for the following week? Stuffed mushrooms can help you clean up your fridge, because they make good friends with all other veggies. I admit I haven’t tried them with eggplants, but who knows, I might discover a new recipe to share with you one of these days.

What other mushroom stuffing secrets do you know? Would you care sharing them with us?

Here are two recipes which are delicious and gluten-free. One is for a main dish and the other is for some gluten free cookies which I’ve tasted at one of my friends and I can assure you they are great.

Southwestern Chicken Gluten Free Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 8-10 uncooked Rice Lasagna
• 1 pound chicken breats, coarsely ground
• 1 egg (egg substitute is also fine)
• 2 cups low fat ricotta (which can be replaces with  cottage cheese)
• 1 cup reduced fat cheddar (if not available, try Monterey Jack cheese instead)
• 2 cups cooked beans (kidney or pinto), mashed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
• 1 cup prepared picante sauce, divided in half
• 1 cup chopped green chili peppers
• 2 cups diced tomatoes in tomato sauce (canned or homemade)

Cooking:

Mix the egg with the cheese in a bowl. Saute chicken in a frying pan until fully cooked. Add the beans, about 1/2 cup of water, cumin, garlic powder, 1/2 cup picante sauce and the chili peppers. In a separate bowl, mix tomatoes and remaining 1/2 cup picante sauce. In a 9×13 inch baking dish, put the following ingredients in layers: tomato sauce, lasagna noodles, chicken/bean mixture, cheese mixture. Repeat until you finish the mixtures. Cover the dish and bake at 350 F for 1 hour or until done.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a quick video showing you how to make delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. The film is made by a newbie in the gluten-free world, but it’s really great.

Pork chops can be marinated in advance, then frozen separately for later cooking one at a time, but only in the following conditions:

1. Freeze only fresh pork chops. If the meat was already frozen before you use it, do not freeze it one more because it’s detrimental to your health and may determine food poisoning.
2. Use special freezer bags to store the marinated pork chops. You can add a bit of the marinade inside the bags, for preserving even more flavor.
3. Make separate portions, small enough to be cooked at once and eaten within 1-2 days. Once frozen, cutting the meat or separating the chops will be almost impossible, so it’s wiser to think ahead when you make the packs for the freezer.

Can any of you offer us some more tricks for freezing marinated pork chops?

What I’m suggesting today is an unusual main dish recipe. It’s unusual because it brings together pork chops with cranberries and with orange marmalade in the same dish, in a sweet and sour surprise for your gustatory system and eventually for your brain.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup fresh cranberries, chopped (frozen ones are also fine, but the real taste and aroma are always in fresh foods)
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pork chops (bone-in, about 1 inch thick)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Oil an average size baking dish (cover is not needed, so don’t worry if your dish doesn’t have a lid).
In a bowl, mix the cranberries with the orange marmalade and with the ground cloves. With a meat knife, carefully cut a pocket in each pork chop by cutting into it toward the bone; spoon the cranberry mixture into these pockets.
Place the pork chops in the baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour one tablespoon of honey over each chop, trying to cover as much as you can of its surface. Bake the food uncovered for about 50 minutes. The honey will create a sweet glaze over the chops, which will combine with the sourness of the cranberries into an exotic taste you’ll either love or hate (there’s no middle way here).