Gluten free tuna mushroom lasagna

Created this recipe for a yummy comfort food dinner.

1 package of gluten free lasagna noodles (I prefer brown rice but others like corn noodles. Either will work.)
1 8 oz package of fresh mushrooms - washed and sliced
1/4 cup onion - chopped fine
1/4 cup celery - chopped fine
1/4 cup roasted peppers for color
2 tablespoons butter (margarine if lactose intolerant)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup of milk (almond milk or soy milk will work as well)
1 can of gluten free condensed mushroom soup - I use Health Valley or Pacific
2 cans of flaky white tuna - I use the water based pouch.
2 cups of ricotta cheese
1 egg
11/2 cup parmesan cheese (or lactose free substitute)
Gound pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook and drain noodles per the package. In 2 qt saucepan melt butter, cook onion and celery and mushrooms until tender. Stir in cornstarch to make a rue. Add milk, peppers and soup. Cook until bubbly.
In a bowl mix ricotta cheese and egg and 1/2 c parmesan cheese.
Spray 9x13 pan -layer noodles, tuna, 1/2 sauce, 1/2 c parmesan cheese. Repeat. Top with parmesan cheese and if desired crushed potato chips.

Bake for 30 minutes. Pull out of oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy with steamed veggie of your choice. (adds color to the meal.)

Enjoy! Can be frozen for later.

Candy Weds - brought to you by Betty Crocker

Source: bettycrocker.com via Nancy on Pinterest

Gluten-free Monday

Caramel Maple Pears

gluten-free recipe of the week  - this one is from Betty Crocker and one of many on my "Gluten-free Yum!" Pinterest board.

Ingredients:

6

yellow- or red-skinned pears, cored from bottom leaving stems attached

1

cup caramel ice cream topping

1/3

cup real maple syrup

Grated lemon peel

• 1Spray 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place pears upright in cooker. (If all pears do not fit in bottom of cooker, place remaining pears suspended between 2 others in cooker.)
• 2In small bowl, mix ice cream topping and syrup; pour over pears.
• 3Cover; cook on High heat setting 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes.
• 4Remove pears from cooker; place upright on serving plate or in individual dessert dishes. Spoon about 1/4 cup topping mixture over each pear; sprinkle with lemon peel.

Writer's Tip #1

This year I will debut two new series with a third series to debut in 2014.
What does this mean? It means I have to write 4 books in 2013.

Which leads me to Writer's Tip Number One:

DO NOT PANIC

Writer's block is a form of panic. Procrastination is a form of panic. Some people use panic to motivate them. Not me. I like to avoid panic.

Let's break it down. If you write a page a day you can write a book in a year. The secret is sometimes that one page turns into 2 or 3 or 4 because you get going and don't want to stop

In order to write four books this year I need only write 5 pages a day - every day. So as often as you've heard this - it is totally true. Sit your bum in a chair and write your one page a day every day. It becomes habit  - like brushing your teeth and taking a shower.

No, this does not mean revise a page a day - but move the story forward one page a day.

How can you panic over one page? Write one page - and see what happens

Cheers, Nancy

The Next Big Thing Hop

Welcome to The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

What is a blog hop? It’s a virtual event that helps readers discover new authors. The first author tags five others whose work he or she admires, who each tag five more, who each tag five more, and so on. These memes float around the internet every few years, and this particular event has been so big, covering so many genres and amazing authors, that I'm thrilled to participate.

Before I get to the questions, I’d like to thank Sparkle Abby, a fabulous (pair of) author, who tagged me for this. Their Pampered Pets Mysteries are great reads and super fun. check them out at: http://www.sparkleabbey.com/blog/

 

The way this hop works, I (and the authors I’ve chosen) will each answer (on our respective blogs) the same 10 (predetermined) questions ranging from our current works in progress to our writing processes and beyond.  We hope you’ll enjoy learning about our work. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

Okay, ready?  Here is our Next Big Thing!  My Baker's Treat Series debut book, Gluten For Punishment, comes out May 7th, 2013. This year will be a busy year for me since I have sold two more series! So Look for book sin the Spring and the Fall of 2013 and more in 2014.

1: What is the working title of your book(s)?

 "Gluten For Punishment", May 7th, 2013. 

"All Fudged UP", a Candy Coated Mystery, Fall of 2013

"Her Hand In Murder," a Perfect Proposal Mystery, 2014

2: Where did the ideas come from for the book?

I've been gluten free for five years and taught myself how to bake that way. When I was posting my baked goods on Facebook, mystery author, Joelle Charbonneau, Skating Mystery Series and Glee Club Mystery series suggested I write a mystery featuring my glutenfree recipes. I did and it was a hit! I expanded on my love of cooking by writing a fudgeshop mystery and that took off. Recently I was able to co-create and write a Perfect Proposal series based on a Chicago event planner who plans the perfect marriage proposals. (Something my romance readers should enjoy.)

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I would choose Amy Adams to play Toni Holmes in the Baker's Treat Series and Emma Stone to play Allie McMurphy in the Candy Coated series. Zooey Deschanel would make a great Pepper Pomeroy in the Perfect Proposal Series.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Toni Holmes is a crime solving gluten free baker in a wheat filled world.
Allie McMurphy is a candy maker with a sweet bichon-poo who uncovers murder on Mackinac Island.
Pepper Pomeroy plans individual, grand marriage proposals that tend to end in murder.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Baker's Treat Mystery series is a Berkley Prime Crime series.
Candy Coated Mystery series is a Kensington Killer Cozy series.
Perfect Proposal Mystery Series is a Berkley Prime Crime series.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

You all know I write fast. So first drafts are usually six weeks - it's the rewrites where the fun begins.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

"A mouthwatering debut with a plucky protagonist. Clever, original, and appealing with gluten-free recipes to die for."~ Carolyn Hart 

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? -covered in Question number 2... ;)

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Check out excerpts and more at www.nancyjparra.com.

Next week I'll post five more authors to check out!!

Coming soon - gluten-free recipe Mondays!

I'm back with great new stuff!

Hi All,

It's been a long while since I've posted and so much has happened!

I've sold three mystery series!

I've updated my website!

I'm writing.

Coming soon: Gluten Free Mondays -featuring a recipe from my Gluten Free Yum! Pinterest Board.

Candy Wednesdays - featuring easy homemade candy recipes - (all the taste with less work)

Writing Saturdays - for guest writers, writing tips, FAQ's and more.

Cheers!!

Ted's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Dad! Thank you for your help this year by reviewing books on my blog. I apologize for not getting these out sooner.
In honor of Dad's birthday I'd like to post the reviews he sent me in November.

"Well, another month has come and gone, almost another year as well. So something a little different this month. I'm sure most of you know of and have probably seen "The Bucket List". Well, as I was getting ready to retire, I bought a book called "1,000 Places to see in Your Life". I read through it and marked all of the ones I've already seen. Of the 1,000 I had seen an amazing 78 of them. Doing a little math, I calculated that at the current rate (78 in 69 years) I was going to have to hurry up or live another 800+ years. I have concluded neither would I live that long nor would I see all 1000! I've even slowed down, only adding two in the last three years.
The other day, I received a booklet that had a list of 15 celebrates (actors, news reporters, politicians, etc.) and each had selected six books that they'd read that they considered the best books ever written. That made 110 ---some listed 7 books. Oh boy, I thought, let me see how many of these I have read. I check them off. There were 43 that I had read. I won't list them all, but on the list were Winston Churchill's War Memories, Homer's Illiad and Odyssey, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, War and Peace, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Moby Dick, House of Seven Gables, The Poems of Elizabeth Barret Browning, The Poems of Emily Dickenson, The Poems of Robert Frost, The Plays of William Shakespeare, The Grapes of Wrath, Gone with the Wind, Quo Vadis, The Short Stories of Edgar Allen Poe-------you get the idea.
Missing were some that to me should have been obvious: The Bible ( Maybe none of them have read the whole thing), Don Quixote, Doctor Zhavago, 10 Days That Shook the World, Fathers and Sons, none of modern American Fiction ( Stephen King, Louis Lamour,again a list too long to write in a blog.)
I'll be reading some from their list in the near future....How about you? What books have you read that you would put on the list of greatest books ever written?
Make a New Year's resolution to read at least 1 book a month. Try to read a wide variety, it will help you grow as a person. Happy Holidays, Ted