BBQ Honey Lime Boneless Chicken Thighs

There is nothing like grilled anything in the summer! These gluten free chicken thighs are so scrumptious it was hard to stop at two. You can eat them as they are or even shred them and make tacos, chicken salad or even enchiladas. I ate them with a side salad and asparagus.

They taste best marinated overnight but if you're in a rush, marinate for at least 1-3 hours to let the flavors bind. I added the pique, which means hot sauce, for an extra kick but you don't have to.

Summer Berry Cake

Sponge like gluten free cake with blueberries and raspberries....yummmy!!! This is a perfect desert for your 4th of July BBQ. I wanted to top them with coconut cream to complete the red, white and blue but I forgot to refrigerate the can, and you have to refrigerate the can to get a cool whip texture.  I thought about taking the pics the following day but I knew they wouldn't go the night without being eaten 😜

I made a smaller portion just in case the recipe didn't work, because as I said in previous posts, I am not a baker.  It is all trial and error but there was no error in these little babies! 😊😋 I was going to  make them as muffins but I wanted to try my new little springform pans.  I think the only thing I would've done differently was add more fruit.  This would make 6 muffins if you made them in muffin tins. It was a little less then 3/4 cup in these small springform pans. So a serving is 1/3 of these.

Enchilada Sauce

This is my favorite sauce because it's so versatile and naturally gluten free! You can use this to make anything: dips for the tortillas, Casseroles, Enchiladas or tacos.  This sauce is awesome alone or as a part of any dish.  Best of all you can double this and freeze some for future recipes.

Southwestern Quinoa Platter with Shrimp

If you are planning a Father's Day BBQ this is the dish to bring! Quinoa is a very versatile gluten free complete protein rich grain, complete meaning it has all nine essential amino acids with twice as much fiber as most grains. It is hailed as the super grain and interestingly enough I didn't even know what quinoa was up until about six years ago when my Bolivian friend introduced me to it and now I can't get enough of it.  Quinoa is not a staple for Puerto Ricans so it took us some time to even learn the proper pronunciation!  

When I first brought this dish to a family BBQ, there were a lot of questions  The first question was what the hell is this? and where the F&#%@ is the rice???? We take our rice very seriously! Luckily, I had arranged for my aunt to bring the rice so the natives calmed down. I watched to see who would be the first to eat it.  Everyone put a little taste on their plate but it was obvious they were really leery of this new character on the table.  But, by the end of the BBQ it was clear who the winner of this battle was........MY Quinoa Platter!! Unbelievable, but yes the quinoa platter was almost gone and the rice tray was still half full. Now I am tasked to bring this at almost every event! Success! and now we all love the super grain, even my not so healthy eaters!!  

I shouldn't be that surprised considering all the delicious ingredients that go into this dish.  Look at how pretty that looks!  But as I said, Puerto Ricans take their rice very seriously.  So this is a great way to convert your family to a healthy lifestyle, especially our diabetics.  This is a much healthier option then rice.

  

I don't always use shrimp for this dish.  It's expensive to buy enough shrimp to accommadate the amount of quinoa in this dish.  I usually make just the quinoa if it is a side dish.  However,  this is never my side dish, I add the shrimp when I want to make it a complete meal.  If you are taking this to a family BBQ just omit the shrimp since there will be many other sides to choose from.   

Grilled Ratatouille (Vegetables)

Ok so usually I make the meat the center of attention in all of my meals but this dish is clearly the star of the show.  I have been working hard to make my veggies so good that I won't miss the carbs and boy oh boy did this dish rise to the occasion.

Just look at all of the vibrant colors! It's funny but while I was grilling the veggies I smelled pizza.  It's interesting how certain aromas can trick your brain or bring you back to a distant memory.  It seems cruel but whatever I still didn't miss the carbs!  This is a great dish!  It looks like a lot but it actually made 6 full cups after it was grilled.

 

I grilled them in two batches on a copper infused grill mat called Yoshi sheet that is designed to go on the grill and it was awesome! I am excited to try cooking fish on it.  

Mediterranean Chicken Kebobs

These Kebobs were marinated in a delicious yogurt sauce and were spectacular! My co-worker is from Armenia and she gave me this delicious gluten free recipe.  I modified it a bit to make it lower in fat but the results are still fabulous.  I wanted to food prep for myself and my family and decided to try this. It's a large amount of chicken but no reason you can't modify it and make half. I cooked half of the chicken and froze the rest.

I marinated the chicken overnight and cooked it the next day, anything more then that will cause the chicken to be mushy.  This was probably the best kebobs I have ever had.  I didn't make a sauce but I think a tzatziki sauce would be nice as well.  The red onions and different colored peppers were a great addition.  I ate this with a salad but my son had it with Jasmine rice.

I packed the chicken in different sized containers since my goal is to lose weight and my children are trying to gain weight.  So I made 4 oz containers for myself and 6 oz containers for my kids. If you were packing with the goal of losing weight this would make 8 four ounce servings.