Name: Tuna Burgers
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 egg, lightly beaten; 1/3 cup bread crumbs, gluten free bread crumbs work fine; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 pouch (6.4 ounces) of tuna, canned tuna that has been drained works too; 2 tablespoons oil; buns, lettuce, tomato, etc. for serving

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Tuna Burgers

Tuna burgers are a delicious inexpensive meal using basic pantry ingredients!

I first shared my recipe for tuna burgers back in June 2008. That was only a few months after I started blogging.

The recipe post had no pictures. I simply gave a short explanation and then the recipe. Oh, how blogging has changed since 2008.

Pictures are now not only a must they are often perfectly staged and edited.

The days of a few short sentences explaining the recipe are also gone. Long detailed explanations, stories, and explaining basic food facts are the current trend in online food writing.

I cringe when I look at some of my old recipes. What was I thinking when I shared a recipe without a picture… However, I do miss the days where we shared a simple recipe with little or no explanation.

Today I am kind of going back to old school recipe blogging with this one.

I am sharing a picture, but tuna burgers don’t photograph well. I think I know why I might not have shared a picture back in 2008.

There also isn’t a lot to say about tuna burgers. They contain tuna and a few other basic ingredients. They are an easy inexpensive dinner to make using ingredients that most of us keep on hand.

Tuna burgers seem to be one of those recipes that have been forgotten about. Not many people make them anymore. My family however loves them.

I think tuna burgers need to make a comeback. When things got crazy back in March of this year, tuna was one of the ingredients that I kept on hand.

It is an inexpensive protein that lasts for a long time. When I know that I can’t make it to the grocery store for a while tuna is always on the list of things for me to stock up on.

Don’t overlook that can or pouch of tuna in the back of your cupboard.

Tuna can be eaten as is straight from the can or pouch, but it can also be used for tuna sandwiches, homemade tuna helper, tuna melts, tuna melt quesadillas, and these tuna burgers.

If you need a quick and easy dinner for this week give this tuna burger recipe a try!

Yield: 4 burgers

Tuna Burgers

Tuna burgers are an easy inexpensive dinner!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup bread crumbs, gluten free bread crumbs work fine
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pouch (6.4 ounces) of tuna, canned tuna that has been drained works too
2 tablespoons oil
buns, lettuce, tomato, etc. for serving

Instructions

In a bowl combine egg, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and onion and garlic powder.
Shape mixture into four patties.
Heat oil in a skillet or pan.
Cook patties 4-5 minutes per side or until lightly browned.

Originally posted in June 2008. Updated September 2020.

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Filed Under: Frugal Meals, Main Dish, Main Section, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Sandwiches Tagged With: Frugal Meals, frugal recipes, quick and easy dinner, sandwiches, tuna

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Cinnamon Roll Muffins have the taste of a cinnamon roll without all the work!

I love cinnamon rolls. I love to make them and I love to eat them.

Cinnamon rolls are a special treat for my family though because I do not usually have the time to make them. That is why we love these cinnamon roll muffins.

Earlier this year when my whole family was home together for six weeks I made these muffins over and over again. I am pretty sure I was not the only one baking during March and April of 2020.

Baking ended up being a great way to spend a stressful time. And these muffins ended up being one of my favorite things to bake.

One of the things that I love about these cinnamon roll muffins is that they contain basic ingredients.

flour
sugar
butter
milk
eggs
cinnamon
salt

These are ingredients that I almost always have on hand.

I also love that these can be made gluten free. Yes, you can make gluten free cinnamon roll muffins. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour blend and it worked just fine. If you are gluten free these are a great muffin to make.

Yield: 12 muffins

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

All the flavors of a cinnamon roll in an easy to make muffin.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour or Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice added)

Topping

1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Frosting (optional)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line muffin tin or grease well.
In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
In another bowl combine butter, egg, and milk.
Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir just until combined.
In small bowl combine topping mixture until it forms a crumbly mixture.
Fold half of mixture into muffin batter. Set aside the remaining mixture.
Scoop batter into muffin cups filling each cup 3/4 full.
Sprinkle the remaining topping mixture on muffins, dividing evenly.
Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Remove muffins to wire rack to cool.
While muffins are cooling mix together frosting ingredients.
Drizzle frosting over cooled muffins.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 289Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 323mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 5g

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Gluten Allergies, Gluten Free Muffins, Gluten-Free Breakfasts, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Section, Main Section, Muffins, Recipes Tagged With: Breakfast Recipes, gluten free breakfast recipes, gluten free muffins, muffins

Menu Plan

I am beginning to feel like we skipped apple season and went straight to pumpkin season. I am seeing pumpkin recipes everywhere. Don’t get me wrong I love pumpkin recipes in the fall, but I love apples too.

Since it is still September, I am not quite ready to move to the pumpkin recipes yet. I am still in the mood for apple recipes, so I put a few apple recipes on the menu plan this week.

Here is this week’s plan.

Everyday Adventures

When I took this picture earlier this week on an evening walk I couldn’t help but think of all my family and friends on the West Coast. They have had such a rough couple of weeks with all the fires and smoke.

It made me appreciate a beautiful sunset even more. We take so much in life for granted! So often we forget to stop and give thanks for the big and small things. Don’t forget to give thanks for today because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Two weeks ago my husband had a few days off and we ran some errands. I knew that we were going to be close to Trader Joe’s so we decided to stop and get a few things.

I have not been to Trader Joe’s since earlier this year before everything shut down in March and April.

I got a few of our favorite Trader Joe’s products and I found a few new things to try.

When I came home with these Trader Joe’s Shrimp Burgers my family gave me a really hard time.

I grew up between Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Ocean. I rarely eat seafood anywhere but in Oregon or at least near a beach.

Seafood always tastes better when you eat it at the beach. And I have never been a big fan of seafood shipped halfway across the country to middle America. I just don’t trust it as well.

So my family was very surprised that I bought these shrimp burgers.

I think I have been missing my annual trip to Oregon. Like many other things in 2020 it had to be canceled. I also wanted a quick and easy dinner. These shrimp burgers were just that. They were quick and easy to cook. They were also delicious!

There were not as good as fresh seafood or what a restaurant would serve, but they were really good for the price and convenience. I have a new favorite Trader Joe’s product to add to my list.

If you eat gluten free or if you know someone that does be sure to check out my huge list of gluten free freezer meals.

And be sure to sign up for my gluten free newsletter. I have been working on more gluten free product reviews and recipes. I am also sharing weekly gluten free tips and facts that help make gluten free easy and delicious!

This next picture is pretty much the opposite of gluten free.

Three people in my family eat gluten free, but two do not. Most of the time my husband and son eat the gluten free food that I make. On pizza night we all eat homemade gluten free pizza. Sometimes though I buy them a treat.

When I saw this cheese bread at Costco I knew I had to get it for them to eat on pizza night last week.

They loved it! There were two pans of cheese bread in the box. I put pepperoni on one of them to make it pizza like and I cooked the other one just like it came. They turned out great.

I loved that they came in a pan. It made cooking, serving, and clean up easy. We are really careful with cross contamination and this made it easy. I cooked, cut, and served it right out of the pan. I will definitely be buying this again for the non gluten free eaters in the family.

I got new running shoes! My old running shoes were not that old, but they never fit quite right. I finally gave up on them and got a new pair.

I love my new ones! But why do running shoes always come in such crazy colors? My running shoes are usually the most colorful thing in my closet.

Pink and purple are pretty much my least favorite colors. Of course, that means the shoes I liked the best were those exact colors. At least they are super comfortable.

I shared my recent reads over on From Our Bookshelf. I read a couple of great books last month.

I hope that your weekend includes some delicious food!

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Filed Under: Main Section Tagged With: everyday adventures

Microwave No Bake Cookies without Peanut Butter

Microwave No Bake Cookies without Peanut Butter is a classic recipe made peanut butter free and in the microwave.

No bake cookies are a classic cookie recipe. They have been around for years.

They were one of the first cookies that I learned to make as a kid. They are also one of the first cookie recipes that I taught my kids to make.

No bake cookie are easy to make, but today we are making them even easier by making them in the microwave. Not only are we making them in the microwave we are also making them peanut butter free.

One of the things that I love about making no bake cookies in the microwave is that they are easier for kids to make. The original version is not hard, but it does use the stove top. The microwave version makes it a little safer for kids to make.

How do I make no bake cookies without peanut butter?

It is easy to make no bake cookies without peanut butter!

You can use alternative nut butter, but my daughter is not only allergic to peanuts she is also allergic to all tree nuts. You can use Sunbutter or Wowbutter in no bake cookies, but we like to just skip the peanut butter or peanut but alternatives and make them with chocolate chips instead.

That is right. We leave out the peanut butter and stir in some chocolate chips to give it the thickness and creaminess that regular no bake cookies have.

Don’t want to make your no bake cookies in the microwave? Try one of these recipes.

Yield: 30 cookies

Microwave No Bake Cookies without Peanut Butter

Microwave no bake cookies without peanut butter make no bake cookies even easier and peanut butter free.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick oats ( I use gluten free quick oats)
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

In a microwave safe bowl combine the sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa.
Microwave for 2 minutes.
Stir and microwave for 2 more minutes.
Stir in vanilla, oats, and chocolate chips.
Let sit for 5-6 minutes or until mixture has thickened up some.
Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet.
Refrigerate until firm.
Serve and enjoy!
These will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 143Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 57mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 1g

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Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Main Section, Recipes Tagged With: chocolate recipes, gluten free chocolate recipes, no bake cookies, peanut butter free no bake cookies

Burrito Bowl with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Change up taco night with this burrito bowl with cilantro lime dressing recipe.

Does your family like Mexican or Tex Mex food as much as mine does?

Some sort of Mexican type of food makes it on our menu plan at least once a week.

We love it because it is usually easy to make using ingredients that I almost always have on hand.

Tacos, oven tacos, freezer burritos, taco soup, Mexican pizza, and slow cooked pork with Mexican cole slaw are all favorites at my house.

One of my favorite quick and easy meals for taco night has become taco or burrito bowls.

They are easy to make and everyone loves them. They also make taco night less expensive.

Serving the meat and toppings over rice helps stretch the more expensive ingredients like the meat. Rice is cheap, meat isn’t.

Serving it over rice also works great for serving a crowd. With current events, not many of us are feeding crowds, but someday we will be again. And when we are burrito bowls need to be on the menu.

I have not shared a lot of burrito bowl type recipes because most of the time I don’t really use a recipe.

We usually just use whatever meat we have on hand or that I found on sale. We pile the meat on rice with beans, cheese, and other toppings.

Over the summer though I changed up burrito bowls by serving them with a dressing. Similar to a salad dressing.

Burrito Bowl with Cilantro Lime Dressing takes your basic burrito bowl and gives it an extra depth of flavor.

What ingredients are in a burrito bowl?

This depends on what you like. I am sharing a basic recipe, but you can change up the type of meat, beans, cheese, etc.

For a basic burrito bowl you need:

cooked meat
beans
rice
cheese
salsa
sour cream, lettuce, or guacamole are also good

Yield: 8 servings

Burrito Bowl with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Burrito Bowl with Cilantro Lime Dressing is a great way to change up your basic burrito or taco bowl.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups cooked rice
1 pound ground beef, cooked and fat drained off
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen or canned corn
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese

For Dressing

2 tablespoon lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

In a small jar or bowl whisk together dressing ingredients.
Layer rice, beans, meat, cheese etc. in a bowl and pour dressing over top.

Notes

Thie recipe can be made with cooked chicken, ground chicken, or ground pork. You can also use pinto or another bean in place of the black beans.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8 servings

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 414Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 524mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 5gSugar: 2gProtein: 25g

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Filed Under: Beef, Gluten Allergies, Gluten-Free Main Dishes, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Section, Main Dish, Main Section, Quick Cooking, Recipes Tagged With: gluten free ground beef recipes, ground beef recipes, mexican, quick and easy dinner, Quick Cooking

Menu Plan

I am keeping it simple this week with some of our favorites. Several of the recipes are great freezer meals. The burritos, the pork, and the dessert are all things that we like to keep on hand in the freezer. If you need freezer meals it is a great time to stock your freezer.

Here is this week’s menu plan.

Breakfast

Frozen Breakfast Burritos

Mounds Bar Granola

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

Dinner

Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Salad

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

Tuna Helper

Tortilla Pizza

Oven Baked Chicken Legs

Dessert Of The Week

Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

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Filed Under: Main Section, Meal Planning Monday Tagged With: menu plan

Gluten Free Menu Plan

Here is this week’s gluten free menu plan. I made notes next to the ingredients that need to be gluten free, but as always read labels to be sure the ingredients are safe for your family.

Breakfast

Fluffy Gluten Free Pancakes

Gluten Free Apple Muffins and Instant Pot Eggs

Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies– use gluten free oats

Dinner

Apple Bacon Cheese Frittata

Mexican Breakfast Pizza

Bacon Cheeseburger Salad

Gluten Free Pizza Recipe

Slow Cooked Southwest Chicken Legs

Eggs and Sausage over Rice – Use gluten free soy sauce

Gluten Free Dessert of the Week

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

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Filed Under: GF Menu Plan, Gluten Allergies, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Section, Main Section Tagged With: gluten free menu plan

Apple Muffins

These apple muffins are a recipe that I have been making for years. The recipe came from my sister and makes a perfect fall muffin. But really we enjoy these all year long.

We love these for breakfast, but they also make a great afternoon snack or lunchbox treat for the kids.

I like that these have both apples and applesauce in them. It gives them a great apple flavor.

These are a must make for fall at our house. A batch of these is gone in no time.

Can I make apple muffins gluten free?

These muffins can be made gluten free. Not all muffins work gluten free or work well with a gluten free blend, but these work well with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend.

What is the best muffin pan for making muffins?

USA Muffin pans are my favorite. They are pretty much all I use. I like them so much that I have the 12 cup muffin pan, the 6 cup muffin pan, and the mini muffin pan.

Yield: 15 muffins

Apple Muffins

Apple muffins are a fall must have at our house, but they work great for any time of year.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Muffins

¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup applesauce
1¼ cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1¾ cups flour ( Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour works well in these)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup milk
2 cups peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples or cut into small chunks

Topping

¼ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour ( Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour works well)
2 tablespoons butter, cubed

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Grease muffin pan or line muffin pan with liners. Makes about 15 muffins
In a large bowl, cream together cup butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at time. Stir in applesauce.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
Fold in apples. Scoop into muffin cups to fill ¾ full. Lightly sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon crumble recipe below
To make Cinnamon Crumble: In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup white sugar, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 3 tablespoons flour, and 2 tablespoons cubed butter. Mix together using a pastry blender, or two butter knives. The crumble topping should resemble small peas.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from pans, and cool on wire rack.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 203Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 187mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 3g

Originally published in September 2009. Updated September 2020.

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Filed Under: Fruit, Gluten Free Muffins, Muffins, Recipes Tagged With: apples, Breakfast Recipes, gluten free muffins, muffins

Menu Plan

Before I share my menu plan this week I want to take a minute to talk about my menu plans and why I post them.

I have received some comments and emails recently that reminded me that I have a lot of new readers. Some readers have mentioned or more like complained, that my menu plans are not truly gluten free. I have also had some complaints about the fact that I share recipes using oatmeal and that my family eats oats.

I have been blogging for over twelve years. That is a long time in the blog world. When I started this site I was not gluten free. No one in my family was gluten free.

Now we have three people that eat gluten free, one that eats dairy free, and two that do not deal with any food allergies or issues.

I have recipes on my site that I posted over ten years ago. They are not gluten free because I didn’t eat gluten free back then.

Because I have both gluten free and non gluten free recipes on my site, I also have gluten free and non gluten free readers. Some people might not like that, but I LOVE it. It is part of what makes this site great.

Gluten free is so common now that almost everyone knows someone that eats gluten free. I love sharing food that is so good no one will know that it is gluten free. I also love sharing recipes that are normal food that just happen to be gluten free.

Many of my recipes are not gluten free specific, but they can easily be made gluten free by using ingredients like gluten free pasta and making sure all the ingredients are gluten free.

I love sharing normal recipes that can be easily made gluten free. Many of my readers love that as well.

Yes, I have shared many gluten free recipes over the years. Those recipes are loved by many of my readers, but so are my regular recipes.

Each week I share two menu plans. One is a normal recipe menu plan and one is a gluten free menu plan.

Many of the recipes on my regular menu plan can be made gluten free, but not all of them are gluten free. However, all the recipes on my gluten free plan are gluten free. If you are gluten free I recommend the gluten free menu plans because my regular menu plans usually contain a few recipes that are not gluten free.

I also want to add that I eat gluten free and so do two of my kids, but none of us have celiac disease. We eat gluten free because of health issues, but it is not celiac disease. There is a definite difference. I know that. It is one of the reasons that my family eats gluten free oats.

Not everyone that is gluten free can or should eat gluten free oats, but oats don’t bother my family. I know the debate about gluten free oats. It is a choice we have made for our family. If you make a different choice that is fine. If you have celiac disease I totally understand why you might not eat gluten free oats, but please also understand why my family may choose to eat them.

Now for this week’s menu plan!

Breakfast