Settings of Silver

With God All Things Are Possible!!!

2011-11-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

With God all things are possible!!! Truly I have been praying for inspiration, tenacity, and courage to tackle Mount Pool Table. And today my goal was to clean the top of the pool table. Here is before and after. Yes I now have a few boxes of things on the floor. 1) Give. 2) Stuff we will do two years or later from now. 3) Stuff we have done that I want to save. I found extension cords, a remote control, and a pool table!!!! Imagine that. Thank you Jesus!

Day ??? Organizing Frenzy

2011-11-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

I really have not given up three days into this cleaning frenzy.... I am really keeping with it. I am just not blogging it!! Really!!! We went to visit my folks for a few days and so I had unpacking from trip one, packing for trip two and now unpacking. Exhausting. However....

---- The carpets have been steam cleaned while we were gone thanks to the wonderful husband! Kid might freak out with wet floors and so they did it while we were gone.

---- The carpet cleaning necessitated us taking everything off the floor. This does not mean that I became organized overnight. However, I did do some partial organizing and will do more of it while I put all the items back.

---- I am tackling the unpacking one step at a time.

---- My sister helped me put up cube shelving in the 'back room' and so now I have a blank palette with which to work with!!! I can't wait to start organizing.

BEFORE

I can't quite call this 'after'.... but this is how it looks presently. (Notice I do not pan out on the picture.)

My silly sister who helped me ;) Thanks Sissy.

Maaaaailllll timeeeee.....

2011-10-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

I am trying to figure out what to do with my mail. I have 'several' traveling file boxes like this:

The problem is I never look in them. And so now I have three (I think) boxes as well as a giant basket full of stuff. And when the mail comes in the door, it goes on the kitchen table and then in a bin or a box or a pile.

And no solution... Is this a problem everyone has?

At work I used to do binders but my bookshelves are full.

HELP!!!!!!!!!

Book Shelf.. day ?

2011-10-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was going to blog both the bookshelf and desk on the same day but I think each one is worth it's own post. Don't you? First is the before picture. Mind you, this was FULL at one point with books from top to bottom...cookbooks. The bin on the bottom was FULL with "science stuff I want to do this week." Except the same items have been in there for probably a year.

So I parted with fifteen books as you saw a few days ago. Today I wanted to order two new cookbooks so I parted with two more. (Don't tell anyone but I have two other areas where I keep cookbooks and they are quite 'full.' Eventually I want them all in this space but I will have to bring myself to part with a few more for that to happen.)

So actually this isn't the before picture. This is "midway."

And here is 'after.' Nice eh? Sepia makes everything look better! It might seem strange to have weights there but hubby uses them all the time for his exercise regime. The bin is gone. (Ok the bin is on the floor full of books that are going to go to the 'back room' when my sister comes to help me build my cubicle bookshelves. Hey! I got rid of 17 cookbooks! Cut me some slack.)

I put the pictures up there because if I left it empty it would accumulate more items. It is a nice space however for me to put a coffee cup when I am at my desk. I want to find a table for between the bookshelf and the desk because the milk cartons that are currently there say "early american college."

Day 4... The Unpacking After Vacation

2011-10-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ug... 1 day to pack. 2 days gone. 3 days to unpack and clean up and not make progress on anything new. And I will have to repeat this in about a week. Oh well. We had fun.

So that is what happened today. I unpacked, cleaned the kitchen and still working off the kitchen table. I have to find my rebate info that I picked up at the eye doc right before I left and I thought I put in a pile.. it is not here.

So I decided to google, "unpacking after a vacation." And there were many good articles. Here is an assortment.

I really like this note on Facebook.
I actually do some of the things in this blog post.
I still have a bunch of brochures from our MN vacation this summer. Here is just one blogger's thoughts on that..

I usually have a pile of brochures and guide books about everywhere that I visited while on the trip. These are meant to form the basis of a wonderful scrap book. Sadly, this has not happened yet! I try to be realistic by making some notes, but all too often I find a faded colllection of these souvenirs on a window sill long after the event. My hard advice would be to just throw them out!

I'm not there yet.

The rest is just more of the same. So the bathing suits were taken out right away, laundry is in a pile, dishes are done... car is tomorrow. Cleaning the car is always left for tomorrow.

Day 3... The Travel List

2011-10-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well...lest you think you can come and rob me, I am not hitting publish on this one until we get home. Today I got ready for a trip we will be taking for a couple of days. For some this is a no -brainer. Add in special diets and keeping a kid happy in the car and it is just a tad more complicated.

So, although I am not the best of planners, I have a master travel list that I pull up each time we go somewhere. I have each medication, piece of electronics, clothing we might need. I have swim suits and boat shoes on there year round. No need to modify. I can just cross it off if we don't need it. Over the years it got quite lenghty. No longer need bottles. He's eleven..... But I never got around to fixing the list. Finally when we got a new computer- I lost the list- and started from scratch.

I also used Cozi. It really did serve me today. The little things like yell to the neighbor to please see if we have any packages that need picking up. For some reason he doesn't want me to have his phone number so the minute I saw him leave his house I stalked him. I have to say I feel PRETTY DARN good about what I accomplished. I even read off my list to the kid to show him how busy I had been today!

I still have to get up early to do the usual last minute thing but most of my packings are sitting right here to load in the car.

But we are back now. And although I am writing these words before we leave.. I am sure we had a great time.

Cozi... Day 2...and trains.

2011-10-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

All was going well today. I wrote up my list on Cozi. I ♥ Cozi. I can put in my to do list on the computer, iPod touch or iPad and it will transfer to the others. (Works on iPhone too but I don't have one of those.) You can keep track of shopping lists for various stores. Yep...it's a keeper. So my goal today was to make a list and check it off. And then the trains collide...

If you read my other Growing Fruit blog you know we have some 'challenges' in the house and today was no exception. Today was actually exceptionally challenging but at least it was on a smooth track until dinner time. Maybe I'll blog that over on Growing Fruit soon.

But Cozi does help keep me on track. I had a sitter today for four hours. I USED those four hours. Went to the eye doctor and ordered my new glasses. That took an HOUR. Then went to the drug store to find various things. Then to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some organizing 'stuffs.' Blah Blah Blah... The usual mundane stuff but I actually had 30 minutes left to stop at Starbucks and read my Bible for a bit.

I stuck to the list.

Played with the Kid when I got home. (That wasn't on the list but well worth the deviation!) And still had time to finish more things on the list. Yep the list keeps me sane- WHEN I use it. Even when the trains collide. And today I used the list. Tomorrow...more list.

So I didn't get it ALL done but I got more done that if I'd not had a list. Heck I even had time to blog this. Then again, this is my therapy.

31 Days

2011-10-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ok it is October 17 and this started October 1 and I am not even going to be here for every day in the next 31 days. In fact there is probably a week I will be gone.

But I found a 31 days of housekeeping challenge over at Prairie Home Therapy and I am going to try and do it for every day that I am here. I very much want to reorganize my desk "once and for all." I have done this before but I need a place for everything so everything can be in its place so it doesn't revert to chaos. Although I am a system 'tweaker' I want empty shelf space so I can do that with ease.

I have copious amounts of cook books... and by copious I mean probably in the hundreds. I purged about 20-30 awhile back and I am so proud of myself for getting rid of 15 today. This area is right next to my desk so it will allow me to get closer to my 'desk goal'. If you see a title you like, claim it fast....because this box will be going ...going.... gone.

So every day for 31 days (not in a row) I am going to try and do something different than the usual to declutter or cement a habit. By the end of November even Peter Walsh will be proud.

By the way, I found the 31 day challenge via another blog..A Slob Comes Clean. It is a super fun blog to read and watch! I tend to read a lot of blogs and not DO anything. So my reward every day will be to spend some time blogging what I do and then reading a few things as well. Plus I always think, "I don't do anything." This way I can read back over my own progress!!

As a total random p.s.... I have been listening to Joyce Meyers and she has recently been talking on 'finishing strong.' So I do plan to finish this strong.

Summer Beef Stew

2011-08-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I saw this Summer Garden Beef Pot Roast recipe. It looked delicious and I decided to do my own only in the oven instead of the crockpot. Here is basically what i did. (There is a reason I probably will never write a cookbook. I don't really measure. It is tedious.)

Sear a roast on high heat of an oven proof vessel. I used my enameled cast iron pot. It is heavy but I love it.

Toss in some vegetables especially something that is more 'summery' like zucchini or yellow squash. I used zucchini, onions, red bell pepper and garlic.

Add in a box of tomatoes (I like the POM brand but you can use canned as well) and some beef broth. I use Herb Ox beef broth. It is low in sodium and quite tasty. It is not a 'real' food but I don't eat it every day. If you have have home made beef broth..it would be better. Just have the roast mostly covered with liquid. I use more beef broth than tomatoes because we like that better. Do what you like!

Stir in spices. To make my stew lighter I used Hungarian Sweet Paprika that I buy from The Spice House.

Quarter potatoes and add them to the top.

Put in an oven at 250F for 3 to 6 hours flipping it or poking at it along the way. This is basically the same as the slow cooker time wise however I find the stew to be less watery when I do it this way. The meat should fall apart when it is done. Also if you do it in the slow cooker, searing it first can really add some flavor.

Before serving add chopped basil to the top.

Magic Shell Topping

2011-08-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

I actually call this CRACK. Because it cracks just like Magic Shell... and because it is so awesome it is addictive. I took some to Bible Study and people were double dipping their ice cream cones after they had crunched off the first layer...and no one cared.

I found the recipe here. I think it is safe to re print it here as you can find it all over the internet.

Take 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of coconut oil. Melt for about a minute in the microwave.

Yep..that's it. Store it in a pretty glass jar, or an old catsup bottle ..if it lasts that long.

Keep it in the fridge and then re-warm it to liquid in the microwave before serving. I would venture to guess that it is only as good as the ingredients you use. I use chocolate chips without dairy from Trader Joes and a coconut oil I buy from my doctor's office. (Brand name is Omega Nutrition.) Both chocolate and coconut oil are very good for you. Indulge sparingly however if you do not wish to expand your waistline. And beware...it is very very very addictive.

Weekly Menu Planning

2011-07-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

I have taken to grilling up vegetables and chicken thighs at the beginning of the week. Then I can make them into salads, sammies or what have you. This week I will be grilling up the chicken, some asparagus and zucchini. I am also trying to do one thing new each week that might become a habit. It will probably actually be more like something new every few weeks. It all started with the cooking of the chicken and vegetables. Last week I didn't do that (although I did make a GREAT Banh Mi that we noshed on all week), but i missed being able to grab grilled asparagus when I "NEEDED" to eat. This week I am going to try and do some sort of grain salad as the start of a new habit. I found a blog I used to read all the time and she had an interesting Spanish Rice dish. She has a huge rice maker so I will be downsizing but trying it nonetheless. (Update: Yes I tried it. I think I will need to fine tune the amounts because my rice cooker is smaller. It was "ok." )

Spanish Rice in Rice Cooker

When menu planning I do try and think what I have going on that week. There is a Bible study and a mom's meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. I want something I can put together quickly and clean up hopefully before I leave.

Nourish MD has a wonderful way to revamp your cooking slowly with baby steps. That is where I got the idea to cook up the chicken thighs each week. (They also have very affordable nutrition phone consults.) I decided to make two of their recipes; Honey glazed Chicken from Real Simple and BBQ Chicken Salad from Real Salad. Because I never quite follow a recipe, and I didn't have honey, I made a maple syrup and dijon slather for the chicken. It turned out very well. Still waiting to make the BBQ Salad. You can find all of their e-cookbooks here. They often have combo specials on Facebook. I would link you up but I am taking a vacation from Facebook for awhile.

As I write this I am noshing on some zucchini bread fresh from the oven. I will post that later this week. Where does that leave us for food for the week?

Honey glazed chicken with vegetables and spanish rice
Grilled chicken on salads for lunches
BBQ Chicken salad
Burritos from chicken and spanish rice..add black beans and the fixins.
Steak and potatoes.

I am a fluid planner.... as you can see. I think the word for that is flexible!

For fun I just googled Bible verses on food. I think I'll post one each week. This one is well known.

Give us this day our daily bread, Matthew 6:11

Fun Foody stuff

2011-07-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

I do love me my Food Network and now The Cooking Channel. We were watching the Food(ography) show on Cheap Eats. Of course there was MD's on there..and the Automats! That was very cool. Andrew wondered why fast food won out over Automats...it's all about the customer preference. Fancy Food Fast was referenced on the show. He takes fast food and 'remakes' it into something very cool! AJ said, "That is like Extreme Makeover: Fast Food Edition." Love how he makes connections!

Here is a picture from his website. This was made from Taco Bell. I love how the top of his blog says, "Yea it's still bad for you. But see how good it can look."

Food shows are a great way to spend time with your kid and even get them to branch out a bit in the food department. They make them curious! There is also a ton of math, geography, history, science etc... Good Eats seems to be mostly off the air so we are going to have to find some new favorites.

What are yours?

REAL Food 101- a Review

2011-03-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

I was given the opportunity to review a new product published by the folks at Nourish MD. It is an introductory course in how to make the move to REAL food. It is called, aptly, REAL Food 101. You can read below what this learning module contains:

ONE: A Slide Show

We hold your hand and walk you through
ALL the details about REAL Food, Fake Food, and Bridging Food.
Plus, examples of ways we get more REAL food into our own kids! Yikes!

TWO: Video with Dr. Sue
She explains why REAL food matters for your child's health,
what inflammation can look like in your child, and how food likely plays a role.

THREE: Video with Angelle
She teaches you her secret on how to quickly figure out if a food is REAL or at least close to it,
and how to easily teach your child the same.
Plus, she tells you how she uses Bridging food to help her steer clear of Fake food!

FOUR: Audio
No time to watch us? Than downoad us onto your iPod
and learn while you exercise, clean or do whatever it is that you do
when you listen to your iPod!

FIVE: eBook
Filled with information and charts you can read, and reread
or print for your kitchen!

What I like about this is the multi media approach to the presentation of this material. The folks at Nourish MD have a great website where they give step by step instructions on how to convert your family to REAL food but this gives you the information in a variety of different ways (audio, video and print) so that you can really have it sink in. I did ask regarding captions for the video and they do have a transcript for the hearing impaired but the information is already available in printed forms in many places on their website. This is nice for those that either need or prefer to get their information in an audio format as well.

REAL Food 101 includes the first steps to convert your family. There is a follow up called...REAL Food 202. These courses are VERY affordable considering what you pay if you go to a local community class for this type of information. And you can watch it in the comfort of your home, at any time...even in your PJs! This is an excellent first step to move your family to a healthier level.

Nourish MD has a great Facebook group. And they often have specials on their various e-books and even on the REAL Food courses. You can also sign up for their newsletter on their main page.

I was given a copy of all the components of REAL Food 101 in exchange for my honest review.

Super Charged Smoothies Review

2011-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Yea!!! A Smoothie book! I requested Super Charged Smoothies to review from Chronicle Books because, well, I 'heart' smoothies. My dear husband gave me a Vitamix about 6 months ago and we have used it for all sorts of recipes including smoothies. Some of the recipes in the book might benefit from a high powered blender but most can be made with any regular one you might have.

You can peek inside the book on amazon to see the amazing chapters outlined in the book. I routinely make smoothies similar to some of the recipes however they give some interesting twists such as using coconut milk for a liquid, dates for a sweetener or adding nuts for flavor, health and texture. There are many factoids and notes throughout the book that are very interesting and insightful. They do tout soy benefits and I happen to disagree on that point but you can certainly use other types of milk in place of the soy. There is not an abundance of soy milk recipes. They use a variety of ingredients including various types of milks, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

There are lots of ways to find out more about this book. Mary and Sara have a facebook page. In addition, they have a website where they blog and also post some of their recipes from their seven cookbooks. (I just know I NEED another one!) You can buy this book on amazon for $13.07. I wouldn't recommend the Kindle version just because the pictures in the book are mouthwatering.

Below is my very amateurish photo of one of the smoothie we made this morning- a couple of ingredients were changed based on the type of fruit I had in my freezer. It was so delicious and I had only made half the recipe for me and Andrew. I will be repeating later this afternoon. Yum!

I received this book as a complimentary review copy and am not obliged to write a positive review.

And the winner is....

2011-01-05T05:36:00.001-08:00

The winner of the free e-book is...number 11. The following screenshot was from random.org. Congratulations 6-kids. I will be contacting you.

True Random Number Generator
Result:11

Fit-N-Better blog

2011-01-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

I am part of a new blog called "Fit-N-Better." Currently there are five of us blogging on our travails of becoming healthier. I thought I'd put my first post below with a LINK to it HERE. Then on Fridays I am going to do Fit Mommy Friday meme if she is doing a new challenge and I'll blog that here.

So here is my today's post from Fit-N-Better.

----------------

Hi folks! First a starting point. I did get on the scale today. Wasn't as bad as the estimate but clearly want to loose about 20-30 lbs.

First on food for me is mindful eating. I have a 10 year old and I just 'take a bite' of everything I feed him. So I am getting into the habit of at least STOPPING before I do this. Today I took bites of his pear, cashews and some potato chips. On the plus side, I did stop myself before sampling his french toast and also after I ate some chips I stopped...and then I MINDFULLY ate some more. LOL! (It was an uber stressful moment and I said to heck with it.) My next goal will be to stop saying 'to heck with it.' So I plan to publicly declare my success and trials in this area.

On exercise.... I did some Wii today..Gold's gym dance program where I burned a whole 23 calories. My lovely son said, "That's great mom! That took care of the cookie you ate." (He was being serious bless his sweet little heart.) He has told he me doesn't want me to loose weight because I am 'cuddly.' I am also doing PT 3X a week for my neck and that includes upper body weight stuff.

I'll tell you all more about myself another day. Nice to 'meet' you!

REAL food e-book give away

2010-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

It's give-away time. I know you are all looking at how to better your health in the new year. I have found a great resource called Nourish MD. Their facebook page is wonderful and they continually link fabulous resources to all things healthy! Nourish MD takes you through a step by step change to clean up your "dietary" life. You can find that info on the sidebar of their main page at any time. They also blog on many topics.

Now on to the COOKBOOKS. Ya'll know I 'heart' cookbooks. E-Cookbooks are no exception. You can find all of them here. At this moment they are each $9.95 but they continually have "package" deals. They do include eggs, dairy and wheat but most of the recipes are very adaptable to gfcf. I have many favorites that I make from them. If you subscribe to their Facebook page you will keep up to date on the sales.

I have written a review of them before and you can find that here. They are chock full of ideas and recipes to eat REAL food. I am pretty good about eating real. The other night I tossed some taquitos from Trader Joes in the oven. We are gluten, casein and soy free... and this product was pretty 'clean' but I paid for it. I felt terrible the next day and I just knew that was what it was. The folks at Nourish MD give all sorts of great tips about prepping food and making step by step changes to change your life! Angelle also has a ton of resources that you can read about including a 20 minute coaching call for $10. That is a STEAL.

So, how can you win a REAL food e-book that is written by Nourish MD?? It is simple. Leave a comment for EACH item that you do below. Then on January 4, 2011 I will pick a winner and can send you the e-book via email. I will pick the winner via random.org and will count down to THAT comment- thus the need to leave comments for each thing you do.

1) Follow this blog and leave a comment that you are doing so. (If you already follow, feel free to leave a comment.) You can do this by Google friend connect or some other RSS feed indicated. These are on my sidebar.

2) Post this contest on facebook. You may do this once per day but leave a comment for each day please.

3) Re-blog this contest.

4) Send this to 5 friends.

I will draw a winner on Tuesday January 4, 2011

mmmmmmmm.... BEST NO BAKES!!!!!!

2010-12-05T10:35:00.001-08:00

My friend 'Tam" gave me this recipe and we made them yesterday.

Melt 1 stick margarine with 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup milk substitute on the stove until boiling and boil for about 1 minutes. (I cut the sugar to 1.5 cups and will do closer to 1 cup next time.)

Put 3 cups oatmeal, 4 TBS peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 TBS vanilla in a large bowl. (I used crunch almond butter and put a dash of salt in with this mixture.)

Pour the hot mixture onto the oats mixture. I had waited approximately 5-10 minutes after I took it off the burner because we were doing this as an RDI exercise and I wanted to pour it into a plastic container I had.

The hot liquid melts the chocolate as you mix it up. Then drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper. (I used a silpat.) Put in the fridge and 30-60 minutes later- enjoy.

I used Trader Joe Semisweet chocolate chips which are milk free.

REAL Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-20T14:51:00.001-08:00

Putting together my Thanksgiving menu!

Turkey- fresh from John Henrys meat. They are delivering it on Tuesday. I might brine it with the recipe given here.

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

'Regular' stuffing. Shannon in charge here.

Thinking of trying this slow cooker GF cornbread stuffing recipe.

Tripple Cranberry Sauce- I read this in Bon Appetit in 1992.

Green Beans or Haricot Verts- pre-steamed and then sauteed at the last minute with sliced almonds.

Sweet Potato casserole made by mom.

Roasted sweet potatoes potentially with this balsamic glaze.

Bobby Flay's Brussels sprouts with pomegranate.

Homemade rolls made by Shannon.

Pies made by Shannon.

Potentially will have the kids make a no bake chocolate cookies.

Toying around with a GF dessert option.

Roasted Veggies Three Ways

2010-10-23T16:51:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post with a few ideas because I wanted to send this off to a friend. I will update later with specific ingredients. You who know me know i am NOT a recipe girl. I'm more a good enough gal... so consider this a canvas for your creative abilities.

My friend J gave me a great tip on how to expand the use of roasted veggies. First, you roast a ton of veggies at around 400-425F for as many minutes as it takes to get them done. Maybe half an hour. I use cauliflower, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, carrots, sweet potato. The list is endless. Then divide it into three batches.

Batch one: Add tomato sauce and italian spices. Freeze. Thaw, heat and put on pasta, or bread sticks or make pizza.

Batch two: Add curry sauce (or spices) and maybe some coconut milk. Freeze. Thaw, heat and serve on rice, or polenta or eat with a spoon.

Batch three: Whirl in the blender or food processor and make a dip. You might add Greek yogurt if you want. I can't recall what else she adds to this batch because I have yet to make it but you get the idea. You could add chick peas and make a veggie hummus. This one you probably don't want to freeze especially if you use a milk product.

Play around with it!!

Favorite Allergy Free REAL food blogs

2010-10-23T14:42:00.001-07:00

I admit..I judge a blog very quickly. I was recently looking through a list of REAL food allergy (mostly gluten) free blogs. Here are the ones I found to be my favorites. There are other great ones..and some that are much more well known. But these struck me right off the bat. They are simple looking blogs, not a lot of ads, easy to read and most have beautiful pictures! I 'heart' pictures.

Sure Foods Living

The Whole Life Kitchen

Allergy Free Lunchbox with Brain Power

Glugle Guten Free (Currently has a ton of Halloween ideas.)

The W.H.O.L.E. Gang

My Tartelette

Elana's Pantry

School Snacks: No Milk...No Nuts please.

2010-09-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

A friend emailed me asking for ideas for snacks. Her son is milk free and over the summer they worked on increasing his weight through nut snacks. She cooks / bakes with a ton of almond milk. So... when she realized his classroom would be nut free next year she was bummed to say the least. She understood the gravity but still was bummed. But leave it to my facebook friends who ~~tried to convince her to homeschool~~ gave her lots of great ideas. Keep the ideas coming and I will add them.

Here are a few:

Sunflower butter....for baking and for eating. Still waiting on a friend to tell me what the best brand is.

Fancy toothpick meat snacks

Pre-packaged milk free puddings

Hummus

Guacamole

Black Bean Dip

Various nutrition bars (maybe make them homemade)

Homemade granola and trail mix without nuts

Deviled Eggs

Ham roll ups without cheese..maybe with pickels

Enjoy Life cereal bars

Various nut free cereals without the milk

MMmmmm..Zucchini Bread

2010-08-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

I combined two friends' recipes last week to make a great zucchini bread. One friend has a great banana bread recipe I have posted before. The other makes the zucchini bread without the banana but with applesauce and uses egg replacer of some kind. Here is what I made and it was delicious. It did flatten so I'll have to work on that. But it was very very moist and wonderful.

Ingredients:

2 cups (more or less) grated zucchini

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 large ripe banana smashed

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups gluten free flour mix (I used Trader Joe's pancake mix)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I use incredible cinnamon from The Spice House.)

1/2 tsp nutmeg (I have a whole nutmeg and grate a bit into the mix.)

Combine sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla and banana until well combined. Add zucchini. Mix remainder of dry in separate bowl and mix gently into the wet ingredients.

Oil and flour 2 loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for 30-45 minutes (or until done.)

Spreads and Dips! Theme: Cilantro

2010-05-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

Cashew Spread

Made this in the Vitamix last week. It was very tasty. You can eat it 'straight' or spread it on a tortilla and bake it like a pizza. Sliced tomatoes on top would be good as well. Sorry I don't really measure stuff! It should be the consistency of a thick paste. For those that don't eat cheese, it makes a tasty alternative for pizza. It is not the same...it is better.

Cashews
Cilantro
EVOO
lemon juice- fresh squeezed.
salt and pepper

----------------------

Black Bean Dip

Today I made a bean spread. Cilantro is the theme. I made it too thin but it was still very tasty. You can use it as a dip, topping for nachos or whatever. I didn't have any canned or fresh tomatoes but I think it would have been a great soup heated to serve in the Vitamix with some corn mixed in at the end.

Canned (or pre cooked) black beans
Pitted Kalamata olives
Cilantro
Lemon juice- fresh squeezed.
Salt and Pepper

Rebus Recipe of the day

2010-04-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Recipe 1: Presto Pesto

Add Basil (Stems and all)

+

EVOO

+

Cashews

+

Lemons

Whirl until blended in your

Vitamix

YUMMO!!!

Then- before cleaning it out, because you can't possibly get ALL the thick pesto out on the first try,

walk to your garden and grab some

herbs

add to the Vitamix with some

Lemon and some

Water
and

EVOO

Mix it up. Recipe #2 is Green Dressing for the week!

Lunchables!!!

2010-04-29T16:49:00.001-07:00

I have posted before on Bento Boxes but thought I'd whip up a post on some of the more recent 'homemade' lunchables we have done!

These are made from a new Ziplock product I found at Target. These are very re-usable. In this I have gluten free pretzels, a salad and for dessert a smallish amount of cashews and dark chocolate chips. Trader Joes makes a great cf chocolate chip. The salad was so yummy. I do NOT like romaine or 'regular' lettuce and in general am not a lettuce gal but I have taken a liking to arugula and various leaf lettuces. I put pre-cooked chicken (that I pre-cooked), avocado and tomatoes. I love my new Vitamix for many reasons but it makes the best dressings. I make a very creamy cashew dressing with...cashews, oil and some lemon juice. Yummo.

The other lunchable is from Laptop Lunches. Love it! They have no phthalates, bisphenol A or lead. For a school kid I think they are large enough for lunch and a snack. Often times I pack both Andrew and I a lunch in there but wasn't sure how long we were going to be at the zoo so I wanted to pack for a few days ;)

Happy Eating!!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-24T06:45:00.000-08:00

I posted my basic breakfasts lunches and snacks a few weeks ago and they are pretty standard. You can find them here. I will need to think these through, especially on Tuesday because we have a strangely packed week with two trips to Ann Arbor.

Dinner

Each week I am making a chicken ala Julia Child. I plan to start blogging that this week or next. I serve these with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy.

Turkey Avocado Cobb salad. I will be using chicken thighs instead of the turkey.

Turkey with green Mole. Again...chicken thighs. (I don't like turkey. Can you tell?)

Palominlla Patty Melts with Yellow Mustard Slaw. I saw Rachael make these are her show and they do look yummy!

Some sort of Slow cooker concoction with bone in chicken thighs.

Good Enough Gal...

2010-01-12T15:27:00.001-08:00

I can tell it isn't going well. I am sticking to the plan with one small diversion which involved several rolls of homemade oatmeal cookie dough that I had stashed in my freezer. It isn't as bad as it sounds. Friends were coming over who were also GFCF and I needed to entertain. Still I had a few to many. The cookies were incredible. It is a day to day adventure. If I do this 80% of the time and 'cheat' 20% of the time, I am fine with that regardless of the results.

The Flat Belly Diet has a 4 day jump start which includes Sassy Water and even more calorie restriction. I just knew that if I did that, I'd go straight off the diet on day 5 and I am not quite sure that Sassy water would taste too great. I'd rather just go for something straight from the tap.

The other item that is 'off' the menu for this diet is coffee. Say it ain't so!!! That just is not palatable to me. I have had zero Diet Cokes in the last 4 years, very little cream and have made the move to just a tiny bit of sour cream and goat cheese to feed my dairy habit. My friends who know me well know I am a "good enough gal" and so the coffee is staying. I am moving to tea in the afternoon though and I actually feel better when I do that instead of coffee then. But I can not be a perfectionist and stick with it. Because in the end, it is all about course correction..not pass or fail.

Along the same lines I ran across a young man who has blogged his weight loss. He takes the right track in my opinion. We can't all be on the Biggest Loser. In addition, although I think exercise is healthy, I don't think many of us can manage hours at the gym every day. He has lost over 100 pounds in the last year by diet and exercise and still having cookies and setbacks every now and then. But he keeps on going.

Menu Planning!!!

2010-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Last week I ran short on time... and energy. I didn't really plan or shop. I even pulled out some cookies from the freezer because, "we were having company." That caused the scale to become mean and ornery on me. So this week we plan. The MUFAs are in bold. I think the key to this diet is the planning and the eating..not so much the mufas. But the 400 calorie meals every 4 hours make it seem not so much like dieting.

Breakfasts:

Bob's Red Mill Steel cut Oats with cinnamon, maple syrup, nuts and rice milk made in Zojirushi rice maker. (It is ready when I wake up and lovely.)

or

Eggs fried in Olive Oil and toasted rice tortillas

Lunch choices:

Pizza: pesto, arugula, cheddar goat cheese using rice tortillas as crust. Bake for 10 min at 350F and top with fresh tomatoes.

Indonesian Vegetable Salad

Wrap Sandwich in rice tortilla with meat and avocado.

Snacks:

Hummus with Crackers and avocado

Granola

PB&J with fruit

Apple with almond butter and crackers

Dinners

Roasted Chicken with green beans sauteed in EVOO

Pasta with peanut sauce. Add on Chicken for Mark.

Beef Roast with potatoes. Salad with greens, tomatoes and avocados

Bok Choy Skillet Dinner

Week One and Gluten Free Pizza

2010-01-02T16:37:00.001-08:00

End of week one and I'm down 2 1/2 lbs. I'll take it. Here is just one of the yummy snacks I made. First I made a batch of pesto without cheese. I used basil, pine nuts, olive oil and a squirt of lemon juice. (I forgot the garlic but that would be great.) You have to calculate your own calories because it depends on how much basil you you put in the recipe.

Here is the pizza recipe:

Use a rice tortilla for the crust. I find them at Whole Foods by the other tortillas. Spread 1 TBS (or desired amount) pesto on the crust. You can obviously do this with whatever you want but I added a large bunch of arugula and some shaved goat cheese. I keep a stone pan in my oven and preheat it to approximately 400F. Then just heat it up for 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes when you pull it out and it is very delicious.

The extra pesto can be used with pasta, in soups or any bread. A friend who also does this diet scrambles an egg and puts the egg and pesto on a piece of toast in the morning.

My Peeps...

2009-12-27T13:27:00.001-08:00

I have a really funny "before" picture taken last summer of me walking my Aunt's dog on the beach. My sister says it looks like a papararzzi picture of when they are chasing the star for the 'fattie' picture. Yea...not posting that one. A few of you who did a diet challenge with Val last fall have seen it. If you join me I might just show you...or I might not.

Anyway, I love the above picture of me and two good friends Brenda and Elizabeth at Christmas but I want to loose some of those belly pounds that have packed on especially over this last year. I have a few BF's and these are the two I have known the longest. So, this is my 'before' picture. Anyone else want to share??

Went grocery shopping yesterday with menu made and list in hand. And when I got home I changed the menu! That is one thing I like about this diet- it is very adaptable to what I want to eat and what I have in the house. Good food!

PS...I have a secret desire to be a redhead which is why I surround myself with them.

Stepping on the Scale and Kid Tip

2009-12-26T17:24:00.001-08:00

I already modified my menu on the fly yesterday and ended up making a variation on a theme for dinner. The salad had arugula mix with goat cheese, avocado, beets and a few pine nuts with lemon/EVOO dressing. I have a spiral slicer and as they say, you get what you pay for. Half way through making beet spirals, it bit the dust and I ended up making diced beets instead. When buying my slicer, I didn't really find a 'good one' on the market so if anyone has any ideas, toss them my way.

KID TIP: Roasted beets are so yummy when sprinkled with some EVOO and salt. Then roast them at 400F for 20 minutes or so. I buy the golden beets when I can find them and my son gobbles them up. They are not as strong as red beets and don't leave a nasty mess all over the kitchen. I 'sell' them as being similar to french fries.

Above is my mid-day snack. I found out though that smoked salmon is out of the picture. I had tried a small bite on Christmas but after eating them yesterday I started wheezing. Not a good way to start out a diet! Bummer..because I love smoked salmon. After while I'll probably try canned salmon to see if it was the 'smoke' or the salmon. This was even additive free! Oh well- still plenty of good stuff I can it!

Today I probably won't vary to much from yesterday since we are digging through the leftovers. I did however make some chocolate covered frozen bananas!!! Although I am sure making a daily meal out of them would not be advised, at the end of dinner, if I am still 100 calories away from 400, i can include those from time to time.

I did make myself step on the scale. If you want to join in on the fun, comment or email me and I'll tell you my starting point. I plan to post a 'before' picture tomorrow.

Flat Belly Diet...GFCF

2009-12-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

OK...starting the Flat Belly Diet today. I don't have all the ingredients to do the 'official' 4 day start so I am just re-structuring my meals until I get to the grocery. The thing I love about this is that I eat this way already and it is very GFCF-able. Also, I think I can make a serving for four as indicated in may recipes, and Mark can eat three of them. Or I'll have an extra serving left over for lunch. It is a good way of eating.

I was able to take the general 'rules,' go into my fridge, and make breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. You can get the book, go to the website for the official rules but basically...

Eat 4 times a day
Eat every 4 hours
Eat 400 calories every meal
Eat a MUFA with every meal. (Monounsaturated Fatty Acid.)

Today's journey includes:

Breakfast:
2 Eggs fried in EVOO served with a toasted rice tortilla and bit of butter

Lunch
Gigantic arugula, pear and prosciutto salad with EVOO/lemon dressing

Snack
GF crackers with smoked salmon and avocado. Veggies and hummus

Dinner
Repeat of lunch. (I have oodles of leftovers. I don't plan to do repeats every day.)

I don't agree with 100% with the ideas in the book. They suggest buying cartons of egg whites. I eat whole foods as much as possible and think that the yolks have a ton of good ingredients. They use a fair amount of cheese and milk with meals for protein in the book. I have some goat cheeses that I eat from time to time. But I need protein for breakfast so I think I will be modifying even the 'quick start' which includes cereal and milk each say for breakfast. But there are oodles of meal and snack ideas that either 'fit' or are adaptable for me.

I'll provide pictures as I go along too. And I am giving myself a prize. After I loose X lbs, I plan to buy myself a Vitamix. I have wanted this for quite some time. And the pounds I need to loose are not a small number. I used to want to loose that 5 or 10... its more than that.

If you want to join up with me... post a comment. Could be fun!

Holiday Baking-Banana Bread

2009-12-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

About a year ago Penny posted a wonderful 'template' for making GFCF quick breads. Today my holiday baking was 7 mini-loaves of banana bread! Here is the recipe I use, more or less, for a gigantic batch of batter.

Grease and flour (see note) 7 or 8 small loaf pans or two large pans.

Blend well the wet ingredients
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
6 bananas

Mix together
1 package Trader Joe Gluten Free Pancake flour mix (minus the flour used to coat the pans.)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Add dry ingredients to wet.

Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes to an hour.

NOTES:

I grease and flour the pans using the pancake mix. There is just the right amount to coat the pans and make the recipe in one 18 oz. package. Don't skip this step.
I use Spectrum Organic All Veg Shortening. I tried 'buttery sticks' and much prefer the shortening.
I have tried doing without eggs. They are 'ok' but if you can do eggs, I recommend that. Especially if you are going to give them away as gifts.
I freeze bananas. Then when ready to use I partially thaw them in the microwave. The riper, the better.
The loaves go from gooey to DONE very quickly. After 40minutes check frequently with a toothpick or knife.

The video below is for your stimming pleasure.

GFCF Thanksgiving

2009-11-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Here we are again...THANKSGIVING....CHRISTMAS.. which means..STUFFING, COOKIES, MASHED POTATOES WITH OODLES OF BUTTER.... What's a GFCF family to do??!!!

There are lots of ways to make the holidays a 'treat' without having to give in to bad flavor and soggy stuffing. I was watching Rachel Ray Thanksgiving in 60 and realized that I could make most of what she had in her episode with very few adjustments. The pumpkin soup could use GF flour for the roux and the cream could be replaced by coconut milk. You could even make the squash soup I just posted here on this blog in it's place. I have found stuffing difficult with gluten free breads because it tends to get soggy. I like her stuffin' muffins because I think they would dry out easier and make for a better gf muffin.

Everyone in the food world is talking about Gluten free...and it is not a fad. It is seriously helping so many people feel well again! Even Martha's blog is talking about it here on her post about Thanksgiving and special diets.

Aut2Bhome has a wonderful collection of GFCF recipes. The pictures on this post have disappeared but the food is still very yummy.

I am going to post our Christmas dinner that we did last year (Beef Tenderloin!) and some gfcf Christmas crafts over the next few weeks.

Squash Soup

2009-11-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

I tried making this soup the other day with canned pumpkin and canned butternut squash. It wasn't even close to the same. I ended up not eating it. Add liquids to your liking. Make it think, thick, more coconut taste...whatever.

Cook 2 butternut squashes. (you can use other types of squash.)
saute 1/2 onion
Add cooked squash
Add chicken broth (I added about 1 cup)
Add coconut milk (I added about 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk. If you add lite, which is fine, you will probably want less broth.)
Add a dash (1 TBS) of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
You could add cinnamon, nutmeg etc... but I personally like it with just salt and pepper.

Top with toasted pine nuts.

You can find coconut milk in the Asian section of any grocery store. My favorite brands however are 365 or Trader Joe.

J's Amazing Oatmeal Cookies

2009-10-18T15:57:00.001-07:00

My friend J gave me this amazing recipe for GF oatmeal cookies. I actually didn't read to the bottom of her email and have never put them in the freezer although I made an extra batch of dough that I will probably stick there. I also have never added cinnamon or anything else but I am sure that would be yummy! As a note, oatmeal and oat flour is NOT gluten free however Bob's Red Mill makes GF oats. Take them for a whirl in the blender to make the oats into the oat flour.

Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup margarine---I'm going to try to make them this week with coconut oi instead and see how it goes...

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup loose brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tbs water, 1 1/2 tbs oil, 1 tsp baking powder mixed together (or egg replacer for one egg)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup quick oats

1 1/2 cup oat flour

If you are making oatmeal cookies, add 1 tsp. cinnamon and/or raisins, dried cherries, or dried apples. If you are making choc. chip cookies skip the cinnamon and just stir in GFCF choc chips.

Cream together wet ingredients, stir in dry. If it seems really wet, add a little extra flour. Scoop small amounts (about a tsp) onto cookie sheet and pack tightly. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about ten minutes then bake for 7-9 minutes at 325 degrees or until set. Let them cool well on cookie sheet before removing. Makes about 2.5 dozen.

I know it sounds weird to stick them in the freezer and then the oven, but for some reason it helps them hold together better without any eggs.

Sushi Rice ball ideas!

2009-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

My Son Eats Spinach!!!

2009-09-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ok he drinks it. And don't tell him! One of my favorite food blogs is Happy Foody. Going 100% (or even 50%) raw is probably outside the realm of possibility; however she inspires me to at least eat a bit more 'green.' I have started making 'green smoothies' each day for the entire clan. To start off I have put frozen blueberries in the mix which makes the smoothies purple which is a little less off putting. I mix frozen strawberries and blueberries and a frozen banana with a bit of water to blend. Then I add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach with some additional water and some agave. If you have a 'regular' blender, you need to let it go for quite some time and there might be the occasional spinach leaf that you come across. I am thinking about the purchase of a Vitamix which will not only make great green smoothies but much much more. They cost quite a bit of cabbage though. But I have heard they are a mean machine.

Now don't be scared!!!! I was...but I went for it. And they are delicious. There are many different recipes you can find online and it is great for extra greens you have lying around. Plus, can you get your kid to eat spinach any other way???!!!

Vitamix Giveaway!!!!!!

2009-08-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

You can find a free Vitamix Giveaway here!!!! on Jessie Hawkins blog.

Andrew's Birthday Cake design....

2009-08-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Andrew's design for a birthday cake.
Yes he wants it to say Happy Bday (not Birthday.)
Notice the 'Gold tooth.)
Press the button to see us drawing it using the FB graffiti feature

Val's Weight Loss Challenge.... and back to school lunches!

2009-08-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to participate in Val's weight loss challenge. I am in a blogging rut on my other blog even though I had two running ideas going including Top Ten Assumptions and the melding of autism and hearing impairment. So I think I'll take a break from the heavy stuff and blog on the weight loss and the 'Extreme Makeover" I am doing on the house. (Later on that in another post.)

My goals for this week are to stay away from the chips: Lays and Chocolate. I also need to drink more water and go for regular walks. A massage on Tuesday won't hurt either!

I just picked up a book today, Japanese Meals On the Go Bento Boxes. GFCF lunches are always so much better when you have FUN with them and go 'outside the box' and just forget the sandwiches. There are lots of places to pick up 'to go' Bento Boxes including Laptop Lunches where I ordered mine. I noticed that Pottery Barn Kids had some interesting looking ones and with this being back to school time I am sure you can find great options at Walmart or Target. The Pottery Barn and Laptop Lunches boxes are phthalate, BPA and lead free. The Laptop Lunches comes with a little cookbook with plenty of ideas! You can see one thing we put together here. There are oodles of ideas on the internet and in blogs!

Cream of Chicken Coconut Soup- sans moo milk

2009-04-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dying for something creamy the other night I whipped the following soup together. Red curry paste is nothing like curry powder. So if you think you wont like it...just try it. Or sub another spice.

cook 16 oz Chicken (thighs) in (approx) 16-20 oz chicken broth. (almost a full Costco size box.)
cut up the chicken after cooked. Scissors make easy work of this! I just stick them in the pot and snip away.

Add 15 oz can light coconut milk, 2 cups peppers (I dumped in a bag of frozen peppers from TJs.) Add other veggies at will. I used frozen corn but (frozen) spinach would be great as well and I noticed some online recipes added corn. Add 1TB of red curry paste. Simmer for a few minutes and enjoy! Oh..Add cilantro as an afterthought...if you like it!

Although this doesn't freeze well, it is wonderful if you store in the fridge for the week and warm it up in the mircowave.

Bento Boxes

2009-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

I found this at Whole Foods but you can buy it online at Laptop Lunches. With gluten and casein free meals, a sandwich is often not the lunch food of choice. One Laptop Lunch lunchbox holds lunch for Andrew and myself with usually an apple or something extra on the side. In here we have:

leftover salad
cold roasted sweet potatoes
rice crackers
hummus
peas

Hamburger Green Bean Coconut Curry

2009-02-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me know that I am 'good enough gal' and could never write a cookbook because I could not test out the recipes to the degree required. So...that said....I had hamburger and green beans on the fridge. What to do..what to do. DH does not do well with a ton of tomatoes so I didn't want to do the traditional 'stewish' dish. I love coconut milk. You can easily make this dish with frozen green beans...and chicken instead of the ground beef. I would use the curry PASTE and not powder but I'm guessing green curry paste would work as well as the red.

Brown 1 1/2 lb ground beef. Drain to minimize the fat. Brown 1 or 2 onions and 1 1/2 lbs green beans. Put ground beef back in pan and add 1 can (15 oz) tomatoes. (I partially drained these.) Add 1 (15 oz) can coconut milk. Add red curry PASTE to taste. I added probably 1 TBS. Let it cook down 'a bit' and serve on top of brown rice.

Pomegranate Cashew Chicken

2009-02-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

I combined two recipes last night to make a fantastic dish. As always, my measurements are not exact and entirely substitutable...ie: various types of chicken, loose on the liquid measurements, add more or less nuts....etc....

Brown eight bone in chicken thighs in a pan and remove to a large baking dish. (I did these four at a time.) Saute one onion in pan and brown 1 cup of cashews. Add 3/4 cup pomegranate juice and 3/4 cup chicken broth. Let it cook down. Add a dash of cinnamon and a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses. Top the chicken thighs with this mixture, cover and cook 'until done.' (I cooked it for approximately 40 minutes at 350 F. Chicken thighs do not get 'over done' as chicken breasts do. )

Serve this on top of brown rice. I also made 'fake mashed potatoes' made from cauliflower instead of potatoes.

Recipes I want to try....

2009-02-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

There are all sorts of recipes I read online that I want to try....so I will start a list here. The first blog I am looking at is Lori4SquareMom's Place...this is a flowing document...every changing. feel free to leave a comment on one you would recommend....gfcfefsf friendly please ;)

Cabbage Patch Stew (Crockpot)
Pear and Apple Crisp
Chipolte-Lime Chicken Thighs Jamaican Rice and Peas (Slow Cooker)
Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy and Sweet Coconut Rice
Crockpot Gyro
Koren Short Ribs
SuperDuper Spaghetti Sauce

Koren Short Ribs

Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy and Sweet Coconut Rice

Another crockpot winner- Sri Lanka Chicken

2009-01-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

I have been flipping through OLD Christmas magazines in an effort to trash most of them. I came across a baked Sri Lanka Chicken Curry in the 1993 December Bon Appetit which I fully intended to make as written but given the schedule that day decided to do in the crockpot- with other modifications of course.

8 bonless chicken thighs (or ANY type of chicken..bone in, out...whatever)
2 cups (more or less) of chicken broth
1 14 oz can lite coconut milk
curry powder (to taste..they all have different flavors)
crushed red pepper (1/8- 1/4 tsp approximately. more if you like things hotter.)
dried onion (not the nasty dip mix)..or fresh chopped onions.
Salt as needed. The chicken broth adds

Cook for about 8 hours on low. If my chicken is frozen I cook it on high for an hour and flip it to low. Thirty minutes or so before done, add diced red pepper and fresh or frozen spinach. If you wish for a thicker sauce, mix cornstarch and water and add to the mixture before serving and stir until thickened. Add fresh cilantro as desired before serving. Serve over rice.

Ginger was also called for in the recipe and I think that would be wonderful but DH does not like ginger one bit...thus I left it out.

SCD Sweet Potato Muffins

2008-12-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

I think it is important to blog failures as well as successes... maybe someone has an idea to help...

This morning I made SCD Sweet Potato Muffins based on a recipe from Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Last night I cooked up some sweet potatoes in the oven. It is pretty easy to do but requires a food processor. I had a Cusinart for many years but recently got a Kitchen aid. I love it.

First puree 1 1/2 cups of sweet potatoes.
Add:

1/4 canola oil
1/2 cup agave (or honey)
2 TB pre-mixed Egg Replacer.

Blend well.

In another bowl combine:

1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup whole hazelnuts

Add to food processor and mix until well blended.

Bake at 325F for 20 to 30 minutes until a knife comes out clean. I used Pampered Chef Stoneware muffin tin and it seems to take a tad longer in that. So make sure to check them at 20 minutes or sooner based on your oven. It seemed to take a long time for these...I kept checking and they were still moist inside. After 35 minutes I took them out of the oven. still not done! fell apart and gooey inside. A few potential things I did wrong.

Maybe too much oil in the bottom of the muffin tin?
I used egg replacer. We can't do eggs though!
I cut down on the sugar...and used agave vs. honey in the recipe.
I used sweet potatoes vs. butternut squash. I actually DID bake up squash last night as well but it seemed to watery so I went for the sweet potatoes in stead. But maybe squash bakes up 'dryer' than sweet potatoes???

I just stuck them back in the oven actually. I'll keep you posted but thought I'd rip off this blog post.-

Weekly Menu

2008-09-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Trying to clean out the fridge this week!
Sunday: Hamburgers with famous baked potatoes w/ onion** see below
Monday: Tacos!
Tuesday: Baked Chicken and Green beans
Wednesday: Dinner out;)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Stir Fry Veggies
Saturday: See what's at the farmer's market!

Famous Baked Potatoes...
cut sweet and white potatoes in desired size depending on how fast you want them done, dice onion (1 or 2) the same... add any other veggies you want to roast. (I did red peppers.) toss on evoo and S&P. Bake at 400-425 degrees F until you have yummy goodness.

Menu Planning Day

2008-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Andrew turns 8 this week and I'm attempting to look for a GREAT GFCFEFSF birthday cake recipe. FIL is also coming over for dinner. And we have various other 'stuffs' going on.

Sunday: Lamb chops on the grill. Cook Chicken for DH sandwiches during the week.
Monday: Pork Chops with sauteed eggplant side
Tuesday: Roast- crock pot with onions and potatoes
Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches
Thursday: Hamburgers (or Mediterranean Burgers)
Friday: Pizza night!! Andrew's birthday
Saturday: Andrew's party and Costco food!!!!!

Bathroom Re-do

2008-07-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Shower BeforeShower After

Towel Rack BeforeTowel Rack After

Organizing Junkie is having a Bathroom Re-do roundup. I had redone the kid bathroom a few months back- but forgot I had done it - because- well- it doesn't look like it did in my after pictures at the moment! But it is quick to spruce it up and the new accessories give it a fun feel. In a Sunday newspaper ad I saw a sale for 'Spunky Monkey" bathroom decorations at K-mart and they were quite a steal.

One thing I do to keep the bathroom 'de junked' is to work through even a corner of a shelf every time DS takes a bath. I can not leave him alone in there and so it seems as good a time as any to 'get-r-done.' I will have to say that the cupboards in this bathroom are almost empty!

BeforeAfter

We like to read in the bathroom so I just added a basket where we keep all the books that we might wish to browse through while doing our business...or just when we need to escape. This room is one of the few with in the house with a lock on the door. The 'chart' over to the right is a handwashing reminder for DS and you can find it here.

"Check" This Out

2008-07-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

GF girl had a blog on Chex Mix gluten free. There is also a website with Chex mix GF recipes! Not sure about the 'milk' status of it however..so do check the label.

Menu Plan Day

2008-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Burgers and Fries
Monday: Chicken Nuggets w/ cornmeal crust
Tuesday: Take out Pizza- cousins here
Wednesday: Tuna Croquettes from Good Eats. (Substitute GF breadcrumbs.)
Thursday: Vegetable Soup from Good Eats
Friday: Leftovers

Other things I am making this week: Pumpkin Drop Baked Cookies (will have to find recipe to post) and quick bean salad w/ white beans and 'whatever' happens to be around.' I will post both of those sometime in the next weeks.

Menu Monday July 7, 2008

2008-07-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Simplicity is key this week....

Monday: Baked chicken and broccoli
Tuesday: Beer soaked Pork tenderloin in the slow cooker
Wednesday: Cornmeal crusted chicken nuggets
Thursday: Chicken Ala King (from pre-frozen make ahead meal.)
Friday: Chicken Stir Fry
Saturday: Picnic -take Brownies, baked beans and potato salad
Sunday: Leftovers

Chicken A la King

2008-07-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I made Chicken a la King where I spring boarded off a recipe from Once a Month Cooking. Here is my recipe sans milk products

1 medium onion- chopped
1 8 oz package button mushrooms- chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped
EVOO as needed
1/4 to 1/2 cup gfcf flour. I used a mixture I keep in the freezer from Big Batch Cookies
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup coconut milk*
3/4 cup almond or hazelnut milk
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbs sherry
1 - 2 lbs cooked chicken **

In a large pan saute the onion, shrooms, and bell pepper with EVOO until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed. Add coconut milk, almond milk and chicken broth and stir until thickened. Add chicken.

Serve on top of any gfcf biscuit. I made biscuits from this month's Living Without.

As for my "*" and notes; first, this is a double batch so we ate dinner and I put the rest in the freezer for a later date. I will make fresh biscuits at that time. * For the coconut milk; my plan was to use 'lite' but I did not have any. If I had I might have used more coconut milk and less almond milk (rice milk would be fine too.) The original recipe called for half and half. Do use the sherry...it makes a difference. I tasted it before putting it in and it was very bland. ** For the chicken I used one package (probably 1.5 lbs) of boneless skinless chicken thighs that I baked for 20 minutes or so while preparing the rest of the meal. Any chicken would be fine. Feel free to deviate from the amount of liquid and chicken....I consider most recipes to be "templates." Bottom line, the coconut and hazelnut milks made wonderful substitutions for this meal.

As for this week's menu...I've been looking over Happyfood and other 'raw' food recipes. I don't plan to do 100% raw but I have noticed that I do feel better when I eat my veggies! And, I am ALWAYS for doing things that don't try and REPLACE gluten and casein but that just plain don't include it in the first place. Raw foods do that. I am juicing daily and may make some green smoothies as well. These will be for breakfast and lunch and then probably a 'regular' dinner meal.

Sunday: Cabbage salad with chicken (will post 'recipe template' soon.)
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: cornmeal chicken nuggets
Wednesday: Taco Salad;) aka...leftovers disguised.
Thursday: Greens salad with chicken
Friday: Potatoes with chili topping. (Chili is in the freezer and pre-made.)
Saturday: Cooks night off...sandwiches...soup...whatever.

My new favorite kitchen tool; Chicken nuggets

2008-07-05T15:53:00.001-07:00

I bought a needle meat tenderizer in order to make Alton Brown's Swiss Steak. I already blogged that here. It was quite expensive ($30 at Bed Bath and Beyond locally) so I decided to try it out elsewhere on other recipes and I LOVE it. I have used it on chicken thighs several times to make both fried and baked chicken nuggets. For both recipes, I go over the meat vertically and horizontally on both sides and then slice it into strips. It truly makes the nuggets very tender. I think part of the reason Andrew has balked at my nuggets in the past is the 'string' factor of the chicken. This all but eliminates that.

My sissy is going to send me the recipe directly for the baked nuggets that she makes because I thought mine were a bit crunchy but both Andrew and Marked liked them. I mix dijon mustard, honey and rice milk in one dish and gf flour, seasonings and cornmeal in the other. (I mix a blend of flours from gf Christmas cookies and keep it in my freezer.) I take the tenderized strips and put them first in the wet then dry and finally on a baking rack over a cookie sheet. Cook at 375F for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the strips. You can also do full chicken breasts or thighs instead of the strips. Of course I know this is a loose recipe- one reason I will probably never write a cookbook! This would be a great RCR (regulatory) activity for you to do with your child if you don't mind their hands in raw chicken. (You could also use forks or tongs.) You obviously don't NEED the tool to do the RCR as you can just pre-cut the strips without them being tenderized. By the way- the tenderizer is VERY VERY sharp. Please do NOT use this with kids. I had thoughts of this being a great sensory exercise for Andrew in that he could slam on the tenderizer without touching the meat and get some great proprioceptive input but decided against it because any curious kiddo will certainly get hurt.

For those that might like a further lesson in the science of meat tenderizing you can click here.

Good eats! Swiss Steak

2008-07-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite family shows is Good Eats hosted by Alton Brown. Andrew finds it witty, Mark finds it interesting, and I find it....Good Eats! When we recently watched a show on frying I asked Andrew if he would eat home-made fried chicken if I made it the way Alton does and he said yes. I reminded him that Alton made 'meat' on another show called Swiss Steak. I made it today and...drumroll...Andrew ate it!!!!! Alton is big on 'hardware' meaning kitchen gadgets and I DID purchase the needle meat tenderizer. I 'scaffolded' for Andrew by removing the sauce. It was delicious. I should, however, have heeded Alton's advice and procured some good smoked paprika. I grabbed the plain jar from the cupboard and it was lacking a bit in flavor. For the gluten free flour, I used my mixture that I try to keep in the freezer that comes from big batch Christmas cookies.

Our next stop is fried chicken. If you watch that episode....see if you can find the pig. Andrew kept wanting me to 'skip back' to see the pig which of course he had to point out because I certainly didn't!! The fried chicken is Andrew's favorite episode. I need to get some additional hardware before I tackle it however; a cast iron skillet and a high temperature thermometer. Oh- on the chicken episode they also took a tour of the Lodge Cast Iron factory which, according to Alton is the only cast iron made in the U.S.A. (They do use 'soy' in their pre-seasoned pans so keep that in mind if you have a soy allergy.)

Sorry no pictures of the meal today......

Cranberry Chicken

2008-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

This recipe is based off of "Cranberry Chicken" on page 25 of Once a Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg. I don't use the book for the purpose intended...just for the great food! I also often make a double batch of something and keep it in the freezer for a day when I don't feel like cooking.

Take 6-8 pieces of chicken. You can use anything with or without bone and with or without skin. My favorite for this recipe is bone IN skinless chicken thighs that you can find at many places now. Thighs just have more flavor than breasts and are less apt to dry out.

Make a cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, some water and some cranberry juice concentrate. Just put it in a saucepan until the berries pop. Guess at the amounts...as Emeril likes to say, "It ain't rocket science." When the sauce is done add in a couple of handfuls of "Just Crunchy Onions. These take the place of that nasty dried onion soup mix and I find them at Whole Foods. Add salt and pepper.

Put chicken pieces in baking pan and pour sauce over the top. Bake at 350 degrees F until done. Bone in chicken thighs take about 30 minutes. I often use a probe thermometer to keep track of things.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - June 29

2008-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

I found a few 'raw food' cookbooks at the Library. (Can you call them raw food 'cook' books?) I am just doing a general plan this week and here are some things I am trying that are 'raw' foods:

From RAWvolution
Summer Corn Salad- made last night. very good
Borcht - made for lunch. ummm..yucky:( and my kitchen looked like there had been a crime committed.
Breakfast Bars
Creamy Ranch Dressing
Mock Tuna

From Raw Food Real World
Grapefruit Salad

I was able to find these cookbooks through inner-library loan. I don't think I can write any of the recipes here as that would be a copy write infringement but here is a link I found to the ingredients used in some of these recipes. I am also cooking meat for dinner for DH and DS...but keeping it simple. I made some chicken breasts for DH last night and will make some burgers too this week.

Last week I made two delicious recipes from Happy Foody including Raw Strawberry Pie and Raw Caesar Dressing. Both were delicious. I did not use the white miso for the dressing as soy is a no-no for me but I DID use the flax oil which I think gave it a great 'fishy' taste as Caesar dressing should have. I made plenty of smoothies. One day for lunch I was so hungry. Some friends had been over and by the time they left it was well past lunch so I put a bunch of frozen fruit in the blender thinking I was being such a good girl. Well, the bottom wasn't on and when I went to pour it in the glass it was ALL over the place....so lets just say I had Lays chips for lunch that day and leave it at that! My favorite juice combo however is a bunch of kale and parsley, a couple of stalks of celery and some green apple. Very good!

Yummy Stir Fry

2008-06-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yum!!!! I searched the world over for a stir fry sauce that tasted great but had no soy! I do believe I have found one. I saute any favorite vegetable with some chicken (or not) in sesame oil. The sesame oil gives great flavor especially when you are not using soy, a typically key ingredient for stir fry recipes. At almost the end of the cooking add some chopped garlic taking care not to burn it. Then add...the sauce which can be doubled and is not exact science. It is primarily DH and I eating this dish so you may find that you want to make more sauce because you have more vegetables and meat to cover.

The Sauce:
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 TB brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice (I use the plastic lemon juice on this one.)
1 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch.

Mix above well and pour over sauce. It will thicken quickly. I also have in my 'notes' that you can include 1/2 tsp ginger in the sauce. DH can't stand ginger, so I leave that out! I serve this on top of brown rice. If I have leftover rice, I add it after I add the sauce and sometimes add some additional chicken broth to soften up the rice. I have also added sliced almonds or even some sesame seeds. The possibilities are endless. This is so good!

c 2008

Chicken Nuggets...Veggie Disguise

2008-06-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

A friend recommended the book Deceptively Delicious. You basically steam a bunch of veggies, puree them and then sneak them in your kids' food! I tried to sample this technique with some Lays potato chip crusted chicken nuggets!! Here are the steps I did:

1) Cut boneless chicken into strips or chunks. (I prefer thighs vs. breasts and you can find the boneless ones at many stores including Costco.)

2) Dust the pieces in gfcf flour of any kind. I keep a blend of flours in my freezer taken from Big Batch Cookies.

3) Dip the floured chicken pieces in a vegetable puree. I used spinach puree. The final product will show this color. Maybe try these out for St. Paddy's Day.

4) Roll the nuggets in crushed Lays chips. I made several batches. In some I used just hand crushed Lays. This is what the final product picture is below. In others I ground up the Lays in the blender. This is the picture below in the pan. I think the blender actually works better for a more cohesive final product.

5) Fry them in liberal oil in preferably a cast iron pan. QVC has some descent priced enameled cast iron. Many of the 'treated' cast irons that are on the market are cheap but treated with soy oil which is a no no for us. I did this on the stove over medium heat.

Below is the final product. Yes Andrew DID eat them; however the room was dark and I fed them to him while he was on the computer. Yes I'm bad. The next day I put them on a plate and he balked at them. I informed them that he had eaten them the day before and they had Lays chips as the coating. That sold him. Still I do not see him eating these daily. I find them exceptionally yummy but not fat free LOL! They say that if you fry things in hot enough oil and do it correctly that it is almost the same as baked. Whoever 'they' are.....i think I'll believe them on this one because they are too good to pass up.

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

2008-06-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged any recipes in awhile...so here you go. I made a wonderful lemon sorbet in my ice cream maker today. It is Meyer lemon season. These are slightly sweeter than the traditional lemon and they work wonderfully in this recipe.

The night before making, dissolve 1 1/2 cups sugar in 1 1/2 cups water in a pan on the stove. Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 cups Meyer lemon juice squeezed from the lemons. Regular lemons would work fine as well but PLEASE do not use lemon juice from a bottle or 'plastic lemon.' It defeats the purpose of fresh sorbet and you should just proceed to the freezer section and buy some wonderful pre-made sorbets if this is the route you choose. Add the zest from one of the lemons using a microplane grater. Put this in the refrigerator overnight (or at least a few hours to make sure it is cool.) Then proceed to making the sorbet per the directions of your ice cream maker. As with most 'non-milk' ice creams, this is better when consumed the same day. You can always set it out on the counter for a half hour or so before serving if you eat it at a later date.

Menu Planning Day

2008-06-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here we are...at Menu Planning Day again. Last week I tried two recipes off of HappyFoody. The Raw Strawberry Pie is great and the Raw Caesar Dressing is very good. I did not use the miso in the dressing because I have problems with soy. I DID use the flax oil to mix with the pine nuts and I think that gave it a 'fishy' flavor of typical Caesar Dressing. I will be doing both of the recipes again for sure. I may even do the pie this week again if I get to the farm to get some fresh strawberries!

This week:
Sunday: Leftover Lasagna
Monday: Chicken Nuggets in baked cornmeal crust and vegetable
Tuesday: Hamburgers and vegetable
Wednesday: Steak on top of salad and veggies that come in my bi-weekly vegetable delivery
Thursday- Sunday: heading "up north." I will have to plan for that but it will include lots of prepackaged yums and canned stuff.

Yummy Lasagna - allergy free

2008-06-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Elena from the Everyday Miracles Yahoo group posted a Lasagna recipe a week or so ago so I decided to give it a go....with a few modifications.

Step 1: Make Bechamel sauce
Melt 2 TBS appropriate butter substitute. I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. Add 2 TBS gfcf flour. I used my mix that I store in the freezer taken from Big Batch Cookies. Whisk these two things together constantly until they form a thick paste. Then add milk substitute, a little at a time stirring constantly. It will be thin, but keep whisking. I kept adding rice milk until I had about 2 cups total product. I did not add it all at one time. I used 365 Rice Milk...and oops...i only had vanilla. It was a bit sweet but fine in the final product. I also added some salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. I think that brightened it up a bit. Take care not to burn the sauce. Per Elena, if you do turn it brown, start over...it will not be tasty.

Step 2: assembly
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Spread one cup of tomato sauce (with your choice of seasonings) in the bottom of a 9X13" pan. I used Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce.
3. Arrange 3 or 4 precooked gfcf lasagna noodles over the sauce taking care that they do not touch each other or the side of the pan. I was able to put 3 length-wise and then I broke one in half and put it on the end. I used DeBoles Rice no boil lasagna noodles which according to their website are available at Walmart. (I did not buy them there- but I didn't look for them their either.)
4. Put some bechamel sauce to cover the noodles
5. Cover the sauce with a layer of fresh baby spinach noodles. Again, per Elena, frozen spinach doesn't cut it.
6. Spread another cup of tomato sauce on top of the spinach.
7. Arrange another 3 or 4 noodles on top
8. More bechamel.
9. More baby spinach
10. More tomato Sauce.

I stopped at this point but as I read Elena's post, she did do another layer. Easily done. I do not like, nor can I eat, soy cheese but this is fantastic without it. The noodles must be covered completely with sauce as they are 'no pre-boil' and need to effectively boil while in the oven.

Step 3: Cook.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake approximately 40 minutes. (Not rocket science here. Poke at the noodles and see how they feel.) Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes until bubbly. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Elena says this can be made with meat instead of the spinach...and of course there are 100 other variations.

Kid review: Andrew didn't like it...wouldn't taste it... but I'll keep presenting it. (Andrew has about 10 foods he eats currently. Thankfully most of them are healthy!) I am most indebted to Elena because I've wanted Lasagna for SO long and didn't think it could be made yummy without the cheese. Much thanks!

Chicken Thighs with Pomegranate Molasses

2008-06-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made Chicken Thighs with Pomegranate Molasses on Gluten Free Girl's Blog. I actually followed the recipe in the book which calls for twice (8 chicken thighs) the ingredients as on the blog recipe. I am glad I did because it was very good and I will enjoy the leftovers. Mark even praised it and about 90% of the time he gets out the BBQ sauce for any chicken. A few comments should you decide to make:

It could easily be made with boneless skinless thighs. I personally have grown tired of boneless skinless breasts. The thighs are harder to overcook. I think the skin gives it flavor when you brown it, but Mark didn't like to pick the skin off.

I don't love garlic- so I halved the amount and it was very good.

Mark did think that the nuts were superfluous. I loved them. Easy fix: serve them on the side.

I found the pomegranate molasses at Whole Foods in the baking aisle.

Not sure on the side dishes for this main dish. Any thoughts???

Leftovers

2008-06-16T09:01:00.001-07:00

When I was in college, we would truck to Zingerman's every Sunday afternoon when the dorms didn't serve dinner. (Zingerman's is now known internationally---but we supported them 'back in the day' a couple of years after they opened.) They have some incredible sandwiches, my favorite of which is "Tom's new Job" aka- a turkey ruben. However...I think I have a new favorite and it was made in my very own kitchen. I took our leftover beef tenderloin from Christmas Feast and put it on some gluten and casein free toasted bread from Sugar Kisses. Add some tomatoes and some omega 3 mayo. Yum!!!!!!!!

Fancy Dinner Menu

2008-06-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm re-writing this today since we have had our two GFCF feasts (and I took some more food pictures.) We had Mark's sister and family over Saturday and then today (Christmas) my folks came over. For both we had the same side dishes. It was great...

Roasted Potatoes : simply roast red potatoes and sliced onions with salt, pepper and olive oil in a 425degree F oven.

Green beans: again..simply steam green beans and store in fridge until right before dinner. Quickly saute the beans with sliced, crushed or whole almonds at the last minute in some EVOO.

Tossed Salad with various veggies and some avocado and homemade croutons from Sugar Kisses gluten free brown bread. My dad noshed on the croutons not even knowing they were gluten free. I just cubed the bread, tossed with EVOO and salt and pepper and baked in a 400 degree F oven for about 8 minutes. (Keep an eye on them.)

On Saturday for the main dish : Ta variation of crockpot coconut chicken. I load approximately 4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs in the crockpot, add 2 cans of light coconut milk and 2 cans of chopped tomatoes. I add some salt and pepper and a substantial dash of thyme. When it was done, I put the sauce through a gravy strainer that also took some of the grease away. It isn't really a 'gravy' but it is good on the potatoes.

For Christmas my folks bought some beef tenderloin and we cooked it up. It was wonderful.

Dessert: Namaste brownies with coconut ice cream (home-made- see below) and sides of warmed mistake fudge, chopped almonds and chocolate chips. This was incredible. Everyone liked the coconut ice cream and i was a bit nervous about that. I wish I had taken a picture of the dessert!

For the coconut ice cream: mix 2 cans coconut milk (NOT light), 1 can almond milk, 3/4 cup honey or agave and 'vanilla.' You can use gluten free vanilla however I had only vanilla beans. I scraped half a pod into the honey and then also put the pod in the honey for half the day to let it infuse. I put the mixture in the fridge for a few hours before loading it in the ice cream mixer.

On Christmas day we are having beef tenderloin instead of the chicken.

Can anyone guess what my present was from my SIL...COOKBOOKS!!! I'll put that in another post.

Spreadable Fudge....aka an incredible mistake

2008-06-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

I tried my hand at milk free fudge. Most Christmas fudge is made with sweetened condensed milk. My finished product is delicious but it isn't fudge....it is almost a frosting but I think WAY better than regular frosting. I just spread some on a gfcf Christmas cookie. And you can eat it with a spoon....and it would be delicious on ice cream ....oh...the recipe:

dump 1 can coconut milk (not lite), 2- 12 oz packages of approved chocolate chips in a sauce pan and melt. Add 1/4 cup sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup chunky almond butter. Put in cake pan (any dimension- it will just change the thickness) and cool in the fridge Again- this isn't fudge....it is just incredible chocolate goodness on a spoon, or a cookie or on ice cream or.... add an idea in the comments. I have a lot of it (and it is probably 200 calories or more per TBS.)

Weekly Menu Plan- Gluten and Casein Free

2008-06-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

I finally made the breakfast cookies last week. YUM!!!! We only have 2 (maybe 3) that eat these so I made a whole batch of the dry ingredients, added half that to half the wet and stored the remainder of the dry for a later date. I can not stress this enough- try them. There are a LOT of ingredients and some were a bit expensive (rice protein)...but it got me thinking of other places to use those ingredients. Since this was a cupboard meal, you can certainly make substitutions and see how yours come out!!!

As for this week's meals. I do NOT feel inspirational!

Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Potatoes w/ chili on top. Chili is in the freezer. I didn't get to this last week.
Tuesday: Taco Salad;)
Wednesday: Spaghetti or lasagna - depending on effort I want to expend. Would like to use the zucchinis I have in this.
Thursday: Salads topped with Chicken and 'stuff.'
Friday: Steak and broccoli
Saturday: Whatever....

Cookie time!

2008-06-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

Christmas cookie time. I whipped up a batch of dough to make cookies from one of those cookie shooters...it did not work! The shooter that is...going in the garbage I think. I pulled out SDSK II and found a vanilla cookie recipe. Online I found a recipe based on this for a big batch on only sometimes clever blog. For starters I mixed a large batch of flour based off the big batch recipe with amaranth, brown rice, sweet rice flours and potato starch. Then I scaled back and scooped out of that bag to make the recipe in SDSKII. Judging from the amount of dough I wish I had made the big batch but we will see how the cookies turn out tomorrow and then perhaps make a larger amount. The Only Sometimes Clever Blog is a new favorite for me. Stay tuned for how they turn out. The dough is in the fridge to make cut-outs with Andrew tomorrow. I decided to scaffold and make the dough ahead of time.

----------------------

Cookie update

We rolled our cookies that I made yesterday. I will definitely make a big batch of them as this batch that I made equated to less than 2 dozen! And they were small. Also, bigger cookies were better. I made all sizes and the smaller ones got too 'done' and crispy. The larger ones were better. I have to admit, although tasty, they just weren't as good as my Grandma's made with real butter! The texture was very good with the flour mix I used though. They were not grainy. I may make them with a bit of coconut oil next time. I know that isn't a resounding review but they are much better than the box gfcf mixes I have made in the past. The dough was terrific!!! (Yes we eat raw dough.)

-----------------

Another update...

A few days ago I made up a 'big batch' of cookie dough and yesterday turned them into chocolate dipped moons (some were crescents but they were too hard to form so I went for a 'full moon.') I also made thumbprints with American Spoon Food Spoon Fruit in the middle. They are so good. They are not too sweet which I think is good. For the moons, I put gfcf Trader Joes chocolate chips in the micro with a spoon of Spectrum Shortening and melted it. I sprinkled powdered sugar over both. I personally think this dough works very well for bigger cookies. I had a thumbprint with my coffee for breakfast;)

I Scream, you Scream....Ice Cream!!!!

2008-06-14T15:40:00.001-07:00

For my birthday my mom got me an ice cream maker! Thanks Mom!! A couple of days ago I made Almond Joy Ice cream. It was incredible. As noted in the comments on the linked blog, I did make a few changes, I didn't add as much cocoa, i only added a handful of chocolate chips and I didn't freeze or chop them. I did the almonds in a magic bullet but will chop by hand next time. Also I think that even the small amount of cocoa did have an affect on Andrew and myself. I am going to make some 'plain' with 1 can of coconut milk, some agave syrup (you could do honey but I like the subtle taste of the agave) and some almond or hazelnut milk this week. I also bought some candy canes to mix in. If you are a milk free family- i highly recommend putting an ice cream maker on your wish list. (The linked one is the 'best' on the market. ) You will not find a better milk free ice cream in the grocery store.

Cranberry Slow Cooker Chicken

2008-06-14T15:37:00.001-07:00

I hope I write this out correctly- but if not, it won't matter because slow cooker recipes are so forgiving. It is an from a diabetic slow cooker cookbook (with Amy modifications.)

Put 4-6 bone in chicken thighs in the crockpot. Skin on or off.... honestly any type of poultry would work out just fine.- bone or not.

mix:
-1/2 cup cranberry juice (I just put about 2 TBS of frozen concentrate in a measuring cup and added hot water to 1/2 cup.)
-2 TBS Dijon mustard
-dash (or to taste) of cayenne pepper
-salt and pepper

pour on chicken.

The originally recipe called for chopped onion. I substituted dried onion. NOT soup mix!!! (That stuff is nasty for you!)

Put on high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours. Pull chicken out and cover with foil to keep warm.

Mix 2 Tbs cornstarch and 2 Tbs cold water. Add to liquid in the crockpot and turn on high for 15 minutes until thickened. You could also just put the thin liquid over the chicken and that would be fine.

I served this with broccoli cooked in the microwave.

dinner- squash and black bean saute

2008-06-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

I love sauteed squash but hate to cut it from the 'shell.' Trader Joes sells it already cut up. Tonight's simple dinner included sauteing the squash. Then I added a can of black beans. I tossed a bag of quick cooking rice (frozen) in the microwave, also from TJs and on top I put sliced avocado. I don't heat the avocado. I leave it cold as it is a nice contrast. I did add salt and pepper and you could also add cilantro.

Chicken Rice Soup

2008-06-14T05:01:00.001-07:00

just threw this together...

cook 4 chicken thighs (boneless skinless) in the oven with some salt and pepper- 350F approx 20 minutes

saute 1/2 onion, a handful of cut baby carrots, a clove or two of garlic.
add 3-4 cups chicken broth
add cut up cooked chicken
add frozen broccoli
add favorite chicken seasoning. I use Mickey T's Chicken Rub but any chicken seasoning would do.

Heat or let it sit awhile.
Cook up some frozen rice (Trader Joes has this) and then toss it in.
Hubby adds some Franks Hot Sauce...

Very easy. Of course you can do any veggies! Very soothing....

Pork Tenderloin Korean

2008-06-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful recipe called Pork Tenderloin Korean I make from Saint Louis Days Saint Louis Nights cookbook. The recipe is to marinate and then cook in the oven. I decided to try a 'crock pot' version where I put the marinating liquids and spices in the crockpot. Here is what I did:

Wrap 2-3 pork tenderloins in 6-8 strips bacon. (I didn't worry about fastening with toothpicks.)
chop 1 onion
peal some (3-6) cloves of garlic...don't chop..
put these in the crockpot.
Mix
- 1/2 cup soy sauce (choose tamari without wheat for gluten free)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbs vinegar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

pour over the pork. Turn on low for 6-8 hours.

It was very yummy. It does pull apart so don't serve it if the queen is coming. If you are soy sensitive then this one won't work for you. (I actually think I did have a reaction but it was so good!!! )

Meatloaf and Mickey T's Spices

2008-06-13T18:14:00.001-07:00

Andrew and I mixed up some meatloaf. He was excited to help me. He wanted very much to play his game but I told him I had to get dinner together and he was welcome to help me. He did a great job NOT pouring in the ketchup and mustard before it was time. I even had to get a new ketchup bottle open and thought surly he'd dump it in but he waited for my signal..mostly. I did remind him a time or two but it is still progress.

Another note- this past week Mark and I celebrated 15 years of marital bliss:) I love my hubby. This pan was given as a shower gift...and I don't believe it has ever been used. It still had the wrapper on it....so finally off it came to be used.

Oh- the recipe:

1/2 cup oatmeal in the magic bullet (or blender)

2 eggs whipped

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1 TBS Mickey & T's All American Seasoning*

3/4 lb ground beef**

3/4 lb ground veal

Mix above together with hands and put in loaf pan or form in a ball on a cookie sheet. Cook in a 350F oven. Cook to 155 degrees F (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours.) Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

* I originally bought the seasoning at an art fair. I questioned Mickey and he does not use 'additives' in the seasonings. You can order online. I had read at one time that some of the seasonings were available at Holiday Market in Royal Oak but I don't see that on the website at this time. This is a mixture of a bunch of spices and is VERY good. Most of his seasonings do not have salt. This one does. My two other favs are the rib rub and the Mexican. Because we don't use those nasty taco packets (with wheat- not to mention other junk) it is great to sprinkle on meat or beans to make tacos.

** You can use any combination of meat to add up to 1 1/2 lbs.

Yummy Granola

2008-06-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

I made a batch of granola today. I love the recipe in one of Kathleen Daeleman's books but decided to wing it and just go off on my own. Here is my step by step....

Put 4 cups oatmeal (not instant) in a large bowl.
Crush 1/2-1 cup nuts of your choice and add to oatmeal. (I used walnuts.)
Add slightly more than 1/4 cup each agave and honey. (You could easily just use one or the other.) add 1-2 tsp salt in with the honey before mixing with the oatmeal.
Add 1/3 cup unflavored oil* (I used canola.)

Mix above together. At that point I needed more liquid. I added about 1/4 cup water and a squirt more honey. The next time I make it I will measure differently/better and re-post but you don't want it dry or gummy when you put it in the oven. That said, one time I added (by mistake) double the liquid, and just cooked it longer. It was fine.

Andrew also said at that point wanted to taste a cinnamon stick I had bought last night and I said ..'Ah Ha! cinnamon!' so I added a sprinkle on top. I am also going to add vanilla next time. (As Emeril would say.."It ain't rocket science!)

Put in a thin layer on a large greased cookie sheet (or 2.) I used a large glass 9X13 pan.

Put in approximately a 200F oven and keep stirring every 20-30 minutes for about 90-120 minutes. Many recipes use a higher temperature but I like 200F because you don't have to 'babysit' it as much. You can do this in the dehydrator I am told but have not tried.

I have some pears and plums in the dehydrator and plan on adding those as well. Coconut is also a good addition to granola and can be added toward the end of the baking.

* note on the oil. The store bought brands have quite a bit of oil. The no fat brands have none. I like a bit of oil. I think it helps the oatmeal not to burn.

Pork, Apple and Cider Stew

2008-06-13T15:16:00.001-07:00

I am making a Pork, Apple and Cider Stew from the Christian Homekeeper. As usual, I don't make it to recipe. I was going to do it in the crockpot- then decided to do it as written in the oven- THEN...decided it was such a beautiful day that I tossed it together around 2 pm and Andrew and I headed out to the park. I made some Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread with rice milk. I just took the cornbread out and it is yummy. I have made the Gluten free pantry cornbread in the past and it was not great.

I did modify a few things in the recipe. I used 1/2 amount chicken broth and 1/2 amount cider per Sylvia's post on the dinner results. I used turnips and parsnips vs. the rutabaga as I could not find one at the market. The granny smith apples I used fell apart. Not sure what the recommended Jonathan would have done. Also Mark does not like rosemary so I put in thyme. Because we don't do flour I also omitted the flour when searing the meat. I used pork shoulder chops. Also I did not puree the vegetables at the end. It was tasty, not too sweet. I really enjoyed it. I asked Mark if he liked it and he said "It's OK." He does not PRAISE anything unless it is something he loves. He also does not love stews... but i will probably make it again- maybe in a month.

Above is a bonus item... a picture of Andrew at the park. It was such a great fall day there was no way I could turn down going to the park!

Bean and Sausage Soup

2008-06-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

My friend B. gave me a great crock-pot recipe for Bean and Sausage soup. It is from THE BEST SLOW COOKER COOKBOOK EVER. Today I tried making a 'quick' version. It was quite tasty. I don't ever use exact amounts...sorry!

Saute 1/2-1 onion and a red pepper.
(also saute garlic if you wish. We have had oodles of garlic in the past few days.)

add:
1 can (12 oz) white beans
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes
approximately 2 cups chicken broth
3-4 precooked sausages (spicy or sweet- your choice)
a dash of salt
a pinch of pepper
a bit of dried basil

Cook and let simmer for 'awhile.' Add a box (10 oz) of frozen spinach. No need to thaw. I had a large bag of frozen spinach so I just added a couple of handfuls. Bring back to a boil and then let simmer again. You could eat it right away but it simmered for 90 min or so because some friends stopped by and then I decided to go for a walk before I ate. I had to add additional broth and water to thin it out. Also in my haste I added too much salt- so I threw in a cut up raw potato (in LARGE chunks) and it soaked up the salt. Good trick! Take out the potato before you serve the soup.

This soup is like many soups.... it is palette and you can add what you like, switch out the beans to another type, add other veggies.... add some Franks hot sauce...

I made a green lettuce salad with avocado, tomato, red pepper and homemade gfcf croutons that I made with bread from Sugar Kisses.

Mediterranean Burgers for dinner tonight

2008-06-13T15:14:00.001-07:00

This is very loosely based off "Spicy Beef kabobs" from The New Mayo Cookbook. The recipe calls for cumin as well but I do not like cumin. They also serve it with a yogurt sauce but I had pre-made hummus in the fridge which made it easier. (There were quite a few other differences as well...I never seem to be able to follow a recipe.) Andrew really liked them.

1 lb ground beef
1 cup oatmeal pulverized in food processor (use gfcf if you are worried about cross contamination.)
1/4 cup pine nuts chopped fine in food processor
1 or 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
1/2 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
juice from one lemon
approximately 1/8 cup water

Form into small patties. (Makes about 12 patties.)

Grill or 'fry' on skillet. I used non-stick and it did not need additional oil. I generally don't use non-stick but I bought a new griddle for pancakes and thought I'd give it a whirl for these. It worked out great and I was able to cook them all at once. (I am sure you could use the broiler as well.)

Serve with hummus. I served microwaved winter squash with it. I put the whole squash in the microwave with vent holes. It took about 10 -15 minutes.

Coconut Crockpot Chicken

2008-06-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe Sylvia's Crockpot Chicken. I did not add the cumin as I do not like it. I also used regular caned organic tomatoes and added 1/2 diced onion, a handful of dried basil and a diced red pepper. The side dish---mashed potatoes: I added some of the cooking liquid to the mashed potatoes...it was SO good! FYI: you find the light coconut milk by the Asian cooking section usually at the grocery. Trader Joes also has it. Mark gave it 2 thumbs up...and he never gives a false compliment. And...it's GFCF.

Coconut Chicken
8-10 chicken legs, skin removed
1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes with basil and onion or about 1/2 quart home canned tomatoes
1 - 15 oz can lite coconut milk, not the sweetened kind.
1 Tbsp cumin

Combine all in a large crock pot. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or on LOW for 8 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice with a green salad.