Gluten-free Chicken Stew with Dumplings

I've never been really big on bread, so when I realized that pretty much all my health problems were a result of a previously undiagnosed gluten allergy or intolerance (I'm not really sure still which it would be defined as, since I was self-diagnosed.  But the fact remains that if I cut out the gluten, pretty much all my health problems vanish and, if I "cheat", I suffer!), it wasn't the end of the world.  There are a few things that I've really been wanting every now and then though, and chicken stew with dumplings (if you can have gluten and just want the regular recipe, click here) is one of them.

I'm not the kind of person that wants something that is almost as good as the "real" thing.  If I'm going to go through the hassle of preparing food for myself, it better be GOOD.  Not only that, but I'm not the kind of cook that is going to make special meals for different members of the family, even (especially?) if that family member is me, so when I decided to give gluten-free chicken stew with dumplings a try tonight, it had to be something the kids would eat too.  And eat they did!  My 8 year old son complained when I wouldn't let him have a fifth helping and the other kids had at least two helpings each!  I also am writing this stuffed silly with gluten-free chicken and dumplings and have a cat-that-got-the-canary grin on my face because I can be confident that it won't give me the digestive problems it would if I had gone the easy route and just "cheated".

I'm not super proud of my gluten-free cooking skills yet, because this still uses a mix, but gluten-free cooking isn't as easy as regular cooking and I didn't follow any package label, so I am somewhat pleased with myself...and given the successful reception of dinner tonight, I don't want to lose the recipe for what I did!

Warning: This picture contains gluten.  Yeah, rather than taking a fresh picture since my camera is broken, I just used the picture from the original recipe to have a picture available in case you're like me and have to stick everything on Pinterest to ever be able to find it ever again.  The only real difference between this picture and the gluten-free version is that the GF one has brown flecks in the dumplings from the almonds in the mix.

Gluten-free Chicken Stew with Dumplings

2 tbsp butter

1 small onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 tbsp fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

5-6 cups chicken stock (store bought gluten-free ones, or make your own)
1 cup peas (optional)

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

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2 tbsp butter

approximately 1 cup cooked chicken

3 tbsp Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix

1/2 cup milk

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3 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix

3/4 cup milk

Melt first 2 tbsp of better in a large saucepan or stew pot over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft.  Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes and cook until tender but still firm.

In a separate saucepan, melt 2 tbsp butter.  Stir in the chicken and 3 tbsp baking mix.  Add the 1/2 cup milk and heat through.  Stir the chicken mixture into the vegetable mixture and cook until thickened.

Cut the remaining butter into the remaining baking mix with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Stir in the remaining milk.  Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the hot chicken or vegetables in the boiling stew; do not drop directly into the liquid.  Cook uncovered 10 minutes, then cover and cook for 10 minutes longer.