La Cocina de Michelle

New Blog Site!!!

2010-08-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am in the process of returning to my regular blogging. However, I have moved my site over to wordpress.com, Gluten Free Smiles, to be exact. I have loved blogging with blogspot, but wordpress can offer me so much more.

I hope to see you all there in the upcoming weeks. Please keep in mind that I have just made the move this week and I am slowly getting everything set up, so the site is still under construction. I have, however, imported all previous posts there now.

See you soon!

Gluten-Free Pizza

2010-03-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

OMG! I think that I have finally had the best GF pizza ever!!! Sadly, it was so good that I was unable to get a picture of the COOKED pizza, just the product before it went into the oven.

I am not a really big fan of pizza and, in fact, I usually prefer eating it the next day (gross to some, but also very true). Anyway, I do get the odd craving for pizza but it has to be homemade because the only GF pizza place in the Lower Mainland (that I am aware of) and is a good 1-2 hours drive away. Thus, I have been playing around with different crust recipes and have to say that the best recipe is Washburn & Butt's Tomato Basil Drop Biscuit recipe (found in 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes). I simply doubled the recipe last night (because it dinner for my boyfriend, his son, and myself) and then roll it onto a cookie sheet. Then I bake it for about 15 minutes (this helps to keep it from getting too soggy when covered with toppings) and load it up with toppings. I have also found that it is best to put the cheese on last because it holds everything in place - very important as I LOVE lots of pizza toppings!

Last night's pizza toppings included:
finely chopped yellow and orange peppers
1/2 an onion
Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce (beware, this may contain gluten)
chopped mushrooms
pineapple slices
Grimm's GF Pizza Pack (I used the ham only)
Nacho style cheese

Half the pizza was simply sauce, peppers, and cheese for the young one, but the other half was loaded up!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

2010-03-11T11:41:00.001-08:00

Yummy hummus! Finally! I am so excited to finally find a recipe that is delicious. The secret, in my opinion, is to roast the garlic first, who would have thought. I have always found that homemade hummus tastes sour, but roasted garlic sweetens it up beautifully. Thank you Sarah for sharing your secret with me.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 - 19 oz can of Chickpeas, drained
1 roasted bulb of garlic (less if you're not a garlic fan)
3 Tbsp. + 1/2 a Tbsp. EVOO
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. cumin
pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend together until a nice paste forms. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place garlic bulb on oven safe dish and drizzle with 1-2 Tbsp. of EVOO. Cook for 20 minutes. Let cool and then separate garlic cloves from the bulb and add into hummus.

I served these up with some delicious RAW Crispy Corn Red Pepper chips (I substituted a cup of peas for the corn and will probably use all peas next time)!

Green Macaroni Salad

2010-03-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

I love having pasta salad on hand during the week for moments when I am on the run or simply too tired to put something together. Last summer I found this delicious Macaroni Salad recipe, however, I have changed it on numerous occasions to suit my needs or the ingredients in my fridge. I am calling it Green Macaroni Salad because the majority of the ingredients are green (fresh dill, parsley, peas, green onions). For the moment, I have been making it with GF mayo, but I am going to start switching over to plain yogurt...I hope.

Green Macaroni Salad

1 pkg. of Rizopia GF Elbow Pasta
1-2 Tbsp. EVOO
juice of 1 lemon
2 Green Onions
2-3 medium bell peppers, various colours, chopped finely
1/2 cup fresh Dill, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh Parsley, finely chopped

1/2 cup peas
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of GF Mayonnaise
Salt & Black pepper to taste
2/3 cup Cherry/Grape Tomatoes, sliced in quarters

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package (I usually boil the H2O and then cook the pasta for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the consistency that I'm looking for). Rinse with cold H2O and let cool. Once it is cooled down, add the EVOO (this will stop it from sticking together). Add all of the ingredients and stir. Chill and serve.

Menu Swap - Quinoa

2009-09-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am hosting this week's menu swap and have chosen Quinoa for my ingredient. Now that I think about it, I think that I choose that one regularly; I simply love quinoa.

A common misconception of quinoa is that it is a grain. In actual fact, it is an amino-acid rich seed that is related to those tasty leafy greens that we all love so much (or try to love). In its uncooked form, quinoa is loaded with manganese, magnesium, iron, tryptophan, copper, and phosophorus. Because of its magnesium content, quinoa can be beneficial for those who suffer from migraine headaches. Magnesium is known for relaxing the blood vessels, which in turn, prevents the dilation that is common in migraines. Riboflavin, aka vitamin B2, is also found in quinoa; this increases the metabolism within the brain and muscles cells, also assisting in the prevention of migraine headaches.

Another health benefit of quinoa is its antioxidant protection. Both manganese and copper are cofactors of an antioxidant that protects the mitochondria from oxidative damage. Cardiovascular health can be included in this beneficial category too, going back to the magnesium content which relaxes blood vessels and decreases hypertension. One final added bonus is the lysine content; lysine is essential for tissue growth and repair.

However, when we cook quinoa we do loose a fair amount of the nutritional value and I have to say that I am very guilty of that. A great way to eat quinoa in its RAW, natural form is to sprout it. I have used sprouted quinoa in place of bulgur to make tabouli or sprinkled over my salads; I love sprouted it! There are also recipes for RAW energy bars that can easily be made with this added treat mixed in for some added crunch, wrapped up individually, and stored in the fridge. This is great for an on-the-go snack and much healthier than those found in stores (sorry, but the sugar content in some of those things is very disturbing to me - although I do keep those ones in mind for emergencies). I do love larabars, but I find them to be really sweet, so one will last me about a week. Much better to make my own. There use to be a great RAW energy bar recipe posted, but I can't seem to find it; I'll keep looking. For now, that's my RAW foods spiel.

Again, I have another busy week ahead of me with work, training for my new job, and my student-teaching practicum (I haven't even included the homework into this schedule for fear of having a nervous break down at the site of it). This is also the last week of summer. Again, I am hosting this week's menu swap, so if you have a menu to share, leave me the website and I'll share it with everyone, with a link back to your site. Many thanks to our Temporary Headquarters of the Menu Swap, Cheryl over at Gluten Free Goodness for her wonderful organization.

My Menu: TBA (ooops! I am still waiting on RAW foods portions)

Sunday
Breakfast – Creamy Blueberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch – Turkey Wrap & Dill Borscht
Dinner – Garlic Cod over Green Salad (sprouted quinoa sprinkled over top)

Monday
Breakfast – Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit
Lunch – Quinoa & Black Bean Salad
Dinner – RAW Red Chard Slaw with Asian Pear & Cashew Dressing

Tuesday (early AM meeting & student-teaching day)
Breakfast – Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit
Lunch – leftover RAW Chard Slaw (if there is any) & a RAW veggie wrap
Dinner – Quinoa & Black Bean Salad over green salad

Wednesday
Breakfast - Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit
Lunch – Veggie Wrap
Dinner - Quinoa & Grape Salad (RAW FOOD REAL WORLD)

Thursday
Breakfast – Blueberry Peach Smoothie
Lunch – Quinoa & Grape Salad

Dinner –

Friday
Breakfast – Blueberry Nectarine Smoothie
Lunch –
Dinner –

Saturday
Breakfast – Blueberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch –
Dinner -

I hope that everyone has a great week!

Kimberly over at Gluten-Free is Life also enjoys quinoa and mentions that she has made veggie burgers with it. Her menu also has another one of my favourites... squash, which sounds like it will be filled with a delicious stuffing. Enjoy your "date" this weekend!

Book of Yum has a beautiful picture of herself and 2 month old "Baby Yum" along with a tasty sounding dairy-free spinach pie recipe. She is also planning on using cashew in place of ricotta cheese, which sounds delish!

Gluten-Free in Salt Lake City joins us this week with a great sounding menu. She is craving fruit this week and planning on inventing a zucchini "lasagna" (a great idea - I did this back in August and it was fabulous!); keep your eyes out for the recipe.

WendyGK is trying out a new crust recipe from a GF cookbook this week and has a pizza night planned - mmmm, pizza night. Check out Celiac's In the House to see some pictures from this past weekend.

Angela's Kitchen is busy this week, but she will still be in her kitchen cooking up some delicious meals. She will be in her garden picking lots of fresh veggies for her stirfry over quinoa this week; something that I should really think about doing.

Manda, over at Asparagus Thin, has posted some very interesting finds; particularly one regarding iPhones and the Glutenfreepassport. I shall also add Manda to my growing list of quinoa lovers and must commend her new attempts in the RAW foods world. Goodluck with your teaching this week and in the baking contest!

Check out Heather over at Celiac Family. Not only has she posted her menu, but she has also added little notes about her preparation. There's also a link to Indian Quinoa that sounds really good - Yum!

Green V-Neck joins us this week with a vegan menu that sound tasty. Deb has a couple of my favourites on the menu such as sweet potato fries and lentils. I would love to hear more about the coconut chutney as I have become addicted to coconut lately.

Gluten Free Goodness has a week with out her DH and is excited for the quinoa ingredient. Cheryl has been intent on making a challah for Rosh Hashana and has a new post for a flourless chocolate torte that definitely needs to be checked out; it's gluten-, dairy-, and sugar free.

Menu Swap - September 7, 2009

2009-09-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Aaaahhhhhh, back to life I guess. It has been a wonderful 4 weeks of doing whatever I felt like with very little cooking or baking involved. However, my summer break is over and I must return to school & work, plus get ready to start my new part-time job.

I have spent the past 2 weeks trying to eat a diet that is 90% RAW Living foods; I was successful the first week, but last week, well, I didn't do quite as well as the first. I did, however, discover a delicious salad dressing which really isn't a dressing at all. For the past few months my mom has been putting EVOO on her salads with a splash of GF soy sauce (San-J brand) and cayenne pepper. I finally broke down and tried it; it was delicious! We've also been adding some cod fillets into the mix (that's been my filler). We also went out to Milestones Restaurant for dinner one night and each of us had phenomenal salads that were jam packed with some tasty treats... and they were GF! The manager himself discussed the options that were available and was the liason between our table and the kitchen. I will definitely be adding that restaurant to my short list of places to go (my mom had the California Spring Salad sans the pecans and I had the Grilled Seafood Salad with fresh fish - no marinades).

That's only a touch of my RAW adventures, but really, that's not why I'm here. As I said, I am returning to my busy schedule and I am intent on maintaining a regular menu for this semester. The past 2 semesters have been so hectic with work and school that my healthy eating habits dropped, and I'm not too happy about that. Of course, this week's menu leaves a lot to be desired, but I am only getting back into the swing of things. I'll have to work on it.

This week's Menu Swap is being hosted by Manda over at Asparagus Thin. She has chosen cassava (or yucca) as her ingredient since she has a bunch in her freezer. This is a root vegetable that is more commonly known as tapioca. Tapioca flour/starch is a common ingredient in GF baking, and it is this root that is ground up to produce one of my baking staples. There is so much more that you can read about, over at Asparagus Thin, regarding this interesting root vegetable, and I have to thank Manda for choosing it because I had no idea where my tapioca flour/starch came from. I think that I would also love to move into Manda's for the week too - her menu sounds delightful!

For this week, I will not be focused on eating RAW Living foods, but they will definitely be making an appearance. Sadly, there will be no raw cassava as it must be cooked prior to ingestion. I have never noticed this vegetable, but I will be keeping my eyes out for it. For now I'll just have to settle for using it as a flour/starch in my baking.

MENU - September 7

Monday
Lunch – Starbucks Frappucino (really bad, I know!)
Dinner – Chunky Chili with cheesy peppered cornbread

Tuesday
Breakfast – Peach Blueberry Smoothie & Banana Blueberry Muffin
Lunch – Turkey Wrap
Dinner – Basa fish mixed in a salad

Wednesday
Breakfast – Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit, Banana Blueberry Muffin
Lunch – Turkey Wrap
Dinner – Sushi??? (I have class this night and it’s a potluck)

Thursday
Breakfast – Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit, Cheese Scone & homemade jam
Lunch – Vegetable Wrap
Dinner – Soup & Salad

Friday
Breakfast – Peach Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch – Vegetable Wrap
Dinner – Green Salad with some GF Pasta Salad

Saturday – class today
Breakfast – Fresh Orange Juice & Fruit, Cheese Scone & homemade jam
Lunch – GF Pasta Salad & veggies
Dinner – whatever’s leftover!

Excellent! Don't forget to check out Asparagus Thin for other menus!

Quiche

2009-08-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! This quiche is delicious!!! And even better, the fact that I made the whole thing from scratch. I'm won't bore you with the details of quiche. Nope, instead I'll just get to the good stuff... the recipe.

ZT&B Quiche (Zucchini, Tomato, & Basil)
I have used coconut milk in place of cream to decrease the amount of dairy. This could probably be made without cheese as well to make it dairy free.

1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic
¾ cup cheddar & mozzarella cheese blend, grated
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
½ - 1 cup of zucchini, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh basil
1 cup of coconut milk
1 ½ tsp. cornstarch + some extra for sprinkling
¼ tsp. pepper
2 large eggs
1 9-inch pie crust (recipe below)

Dice onion and sauté it with crushed garlic clove. Remove from pan and sauté zucchini slices until they have softened slightly. Remove from stove. Slice tomatoes thinly and chop fresh basil (fresh basil is the key).

In a blender, mix together coconut milk, cornstarch, pepper, and eggs.

In prepared pie pan, sprinkle cornstarch around the bottom of the crust (this is to prevent the crust from getting soggy). Then spread onion & garlic on the bottom. Sprinkle grated cheese over top. Layer with tomato slices, followed by chopped basil. Top it off with the zucchini slices and then pour coconut milk mixture over top.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Let sit for about 10 minutes, then serve.

*I used only a ¼ cup of basil – it’s still good, but I think that more basil is needed to add to the flavour

*Next time I am going to alternate the zucchini and tomato rows together so that there is a more colourful presentation.

*Great to cut up and freeze for lunches or quick dinner runs – that’s what I plan on doing before the summer is out. This way, while I’m in my work/school craze I’ll have instant meals.

GF Savoury Pie Crust

1 cup of basic flour mix
2 Tbsp. sweet rice flour
½ tsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. dried basil *I like to add a spice mix to the crust for added flavour based on the filling

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into a ball and wrap with saran. Chill for 1 hour. Roll out between 2 sheets of parchment paper (sprinkle white rice flour on parchment paper and on top of dough if sticky). Be sure to gently pull parchment paper away from dough and check stick. When ready, pull parchment paper off on both sides. Leave rolled out dough on one sheet and place pie pan over top of crust. Quickly flip the crust and pan over. Gently remove parchment sheet and pat crust into pan.

Basic Flour Mix:
Adapted from one of Rebecca Reilly's flour mixes in Gluten Free Baking
1 ½ cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
½ cup tapioca starch
½ cup almond meal

Sift flours together and mix in almond meal. Makes 3 cups. Refrigerate leftovers for next pie crust.

*Carol Fenster's Rice Flour blend also works.

Blueberry Salsa

2009-08-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here's another party favourite (or atleast, it would be if I had recorded my alterations the first time round). I'm posting the basic recipe. I'll have to make it again and play around with it. This was made a while back and it was to die for, but alas, there was no record of the changes that were made. Let me know what you think.

Blueberry Salsa

4 cups Blueberries
½ Vidalia Onion
1 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper
¼ cup Fresh Cilantro
¼ cup Fresh Lime Juice
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper

Coarsely chop half of the blueberries. Combine the chopped and whole blueberries in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Cover and let stand for 1-2 hours so the flavours can blend.

Sorry, no picture at the moment :(

Potato Salad

2009-08-06T17:29:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year, summer BBQ's and lots of fireworks or camping trips. A perfect time for potato salad, or any salad for that matter.
My Favourite Potato Salad:

3 large russet potatoes
3 medium carrots
2 dill pickles
½ - 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
4 pinches of cayenne
¼ - ½ cup mayonnaise
2 green onions
salt & pepper
small chunk of Vidalia onion

Peel and chop the potatoes, boiling them until they are soft. Mash them and let them cool. Peel and grate the carrots, then add them into the potato salad. Chop the pickles, Vidalia onion & green onions very fine and toss in with the carrots and potatoes. Add mustard, cayenne, & mayonnaise (I like mine to be creamy). Mix together. Add salt & pepper to taste, as well as any extras that you might like.

As usual, this is a recipe that is based on taste. I'll more than likely change my measurements the next time that I make it because my tastes will be different. At the moment, I'm thinking of trying it with grated beets - YUM! My mom's friend did that and it was delicious.

Enjoy!

Fresh is Best!

2009-05-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

I love the smell of spring, but mostly I love the great selection of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs! Last week my mom came home from a friends with some leftover salsa for me. At first glance I wasn't too impressed as it looked nothing like what you get in the stores, but I couldn't stop eating it. I decided to replicate it with a few extra touches of my own, it was that good. There's a great farm market on my way home from work that sells produce grown without sprays for amazing prices, and when I saw their cilantro selection I couldn't resist. It also helped that they have all peppers on for .75 cents a pound! It was meant to be!!! Also quite fitting as this is the week of Cinco de Mayo, so in honour of that I made sweet pepper salsa and Chunky Chili using all fresh fruits and vegetables (except for the tomato sauce - had to use some kind of sauce).

SWEET PEPPER SALSA

1 sweet yellow pepper
1 sweet orange pepper
1 medium tomato
1/2 a small onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
juice of 1/2 a small lime
pinch of salt

Chop the peppers and onions very fine. Chop the tomato and cilantro and add to peppers and onion. Add lime juice and salt. Mix it all together and chill for at least an hour.

Serve with rice crackers, tortilla chips, or RAW bread/crackers (recipe to follow shortly).

This makes a great snack!

BANANA BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2009-05-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
3 ripe bananas
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Biscuit & Baking Mix
2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add bananas and eggs, then mix together with electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, sift the baking mix and baking soda together. Mix in the salt and cinnamon.

Add dry mix to the banana/butter mix. Once both mixes are blended together, gently fold in the blueberries.

Using a 1/4 cup, scoop batter into prepared muffin tins.

Bake for about 20 minutes.*

*time could vary depending on how full the muffin tins are. Mine were completely full, and they took about 30 minutes to bake. Next time I plan on only filling them about half way as they do rise a fair amount.

Menu Swap - February 9 - 14

2009-02-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

“Chocolate is heavenly, mellow, sensual, deep, dark, sumptuous, gratifying, potent, dense, creamy, seductive, suggestive, rich, excessive, silky, smooth, luxurious, celestial. Chocolate is downfall, happiness, pleasure, love, ecstasy, fantasy … chocolate makes us wicked, guilty, sinful, healthy, chic, happy.”

- Elaine Sherman

I cannot possibly describe chocolate any better than Elaine Sherman has above. I must admit that I am not exactly a big fan of chocolate, but, once upon a time, I was a choc-a-holic. However, as with many things, the GF diet has shown me that I really don't care for the taste. But, because this is the week of Valentines, how could I not choose chocolate.

Chocolate has long been used as a gift, after all, it is Theobrama Cacao, food of the Gods, as it's scientific name implies, and what a better way to say I love you than to give such a gift. I don't think we have seen such a versatile gift as chocolate. I can't think of anything that you cannot use a box of chocolates for; congratulations, I'm sorry, or get well soon. The gift of chocolate can be traced back to the Aztecs who prized the cacao bean so highly that they used the beans as currency. However, it was actually the Mayan culture who cultivated the gem as the Aztecs were did not live in an environment conducive to its growth, thus they acquired the beans either through trade or war. The Aztecs even went so far as to have their Emperors collect the cacao beans as taxes. Both the Mayans and the Aztecs enjoyed drinking the chocolate after fermenting the RAW cocoa beans, a drink known as Xocolatl. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma, is well known for drinking Xocolatl golden goblet while repeatedly saying, "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food." When Emperor Montezuma was defeated in 1519 by the Conquistadors, rather than finding his filled with gold and silver, or other treasures, they found it to be full of cocoa beans!

It was the Conquistadors who began adding sugar and vanilla to Xocolatl, or Chocolate as it is now known as. The first chocolate factories were opened in Spain and eventually led to the exportation through out Europe. However, the Spanish never shared the secret source of the drink until the English buccaneers found a ship loaded with cocoa beans instead of treasures in 1579 and thought they were "dried sheep droppings," thus they burned the whole ship!!!

I could go on and on. Who would have thought that chocolate would have such a fascinating history?! However, I would rather share some wonderful chocolate recipes with you instead.

RAW Living Chocolate

Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brownie Cookies in a Jar
Happy Halloween Chocolates (served at a party for Maroon 5)
Healthy Chocolate
Cacao Pudding (scroll down for a few recipes)
Sour Cherry Fudge (even better without the sour cherry icing!)
Organic Chilled Chocolate Fudge
Marbled Chocolate/Orange Tavoletta
Cacao Pistachio Florentine Mint Ice Cream Sandwich

This is shaping out to be yet another busy week, especially since I have my first day as a Student Teacher this Wednesday and I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I won't be spending too much time in the kitchen because of this and my zillion assignments. My apologies for posting this so late, I have been in Alberta as my grandmother passed away last week.

GF Menu - February 9-14 *planning on having leftovers and sandwiches for lunch this week

Monday – not too sure yet…

Tuesday – Wild, Wild Rice Salad

Wednesday – RAW Sunburgers wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves

Thursday – Ginger Baked Tofu with Agave Peanut Sauce & green salad

Friday – Rice Wraps with Ginger Peanut Sauce (Trivial Pursuit Night)

Saturday - ??? (I have a full day of class so it depends on how tired I am)

Yummy Treat: Brownies, both RAW and cooked.

This week's Delicious Menus:

Fresh Ginger has a delicious menu planned for the week, and I have to agree with her on the movie Like Water for Chocolate - a must see with the Spanish subtitles. I am so evious because she has homemade pizza on the menu this week, something that I have been trying to make myself but has yet to work out - I hope that you enjoy your wonderfully planned week!

Asparagus Thin is also having pizza this week and has yet another ethnic selection of meals. She is still excluding Asian food in order to explore other cuisines and is planning on baking a "character" cake, which we will all have to wait and see exactly what that is. I love the chocolate spread picture, very suggestive of the pasts chocolate elixir!

Book of Yum joins us this week with yet another amazing sounding recipe that you'll have to check out. She and her husband are in Florida until Wednesday, enjoying the sun from the looks of it, but that hasn't stopped her from planning some wonderful meals with chocolate fondue and fresh fruit for dessert - Enjoy!

The Lilac Kitchen is planning a week of her stocked up freezer as they may be expecting some more snow, thus she doesn't plan on getting out too much. She has a wonderful picture of last weeks frittata made with her frozen vegetables that you can't miss!

Cheese cake pops dipped in dark chocolate and heart shaped cupcakes for her family are planned for Angela's Kitchen this week. She has a menu filled with training walks and some very lovely dinner plans. I especially like Thursday's plan to have Daddy cook - that is a great idea!

Celiacs in the House is very organized with her notes on when and how she will be starting her meals. However, she has also made a point of keeping pizza night in order to avoid any complaints - good plan. Definitely stop in here to see her Fruit tacos with a chocolate pizzelle taco shell (this is one that I will be trying right away).

HAPPY VALENTINES!

GF Menu Swap - January 26

2009-01-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

First, I have to thank Asparagus Thin's Manda, our lovely host this week, for choosing licorice as our flavour of the week. I discovered the wonderful flavours of fennel last winter and have been in love ever since. She has given me the perfect excuse to make my beloved Hearty Millet Soup, and believe me, with the sudden drop in temperature this week, I'm going to need it! I would love to share all of the great things about fennel with you but I don't think I could sum it up any better than Manda, so I'll just leave it for this week. (For those of you who are looking for something refreshing, you might be interested in an Orange-Fennel Salad Dressing.)

I'm rather excited about the upcoming weeks. I was at the library the other day and signed out a bunch of cookbooks to try out. I wasn't too impressed with Shreve Stockton's Eating Gluten Free initially but after going through it I have found a bunch of recipes that I can't wait to try out and the same goes for Bette Hagman's The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods. I already have stickies scattered through out both books. I also have some Rachael Ray books that I thought might help me with some new dinner ideas, so be on the look out in the next few weeks for some of my experiments (my first one will be tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday). I'm also really excited because I will be student teaching in just over 2 weeks and can't wait (although I'm also shaking in my booties at the thought!).

Well, I guess that about wraps it up. I am currently sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to find out if the weathermen have it right and it really is going to snow, and waiting to find out if my bread creation is a go or a bust...it's just cooling down now. Okay, I'm about to start rambling now, so, I guess I should take that as my cue to share my crazy menu!

GF Menu Swap - January 26 - 31 (holy cow! is it really the end of January?!)

Monday
Lunch – Amy’s chili (not something I would recommend)
Dinner – Roasted Portabello Mushroom spaghetti

Tasty Tuesday (I promise to post last weeks Tasty Tuesday this week)
Lunch – Cold Noodle Salad (Eating GF by Shreve Stockton)
Dinner – Crispy Pretzel Chicken Nuggets (recipe to follow)

Wednesday (night class)
Lunch – Hearty Millet Soup
Dinner – Cold Noodle Salad (Eating GF by Shreve Stockton)

Thursday
Lunch – Hearty Millet Soup
Dinner – Tofu Cauli Curry (Eating GF by Shreve Stockton)

Friday
Lunch – leftover Tofu Cauli Curry
Dinner – Pizza (I passed this up last week for dinner at my Dad’s)

Baking for the week:

bread

blueberry flax muffins (Complete GF Cookbook)

quinoa raisin cookies

Don't forget to head over to Asparagus Thin to find out what everyone else is eating this week!

GF Menu Swap - January 19

2009-01-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

This week's menu is being hosted by Sea Maiden over at Book of Yum. She has chosen Dal (or lentils) for this weeks ingredient and has some great recipe links. Lentils are a great source of dietary fibre and have high levels of protein. There are so many different types of lentils that the nutritional values vary. I think the last time I had lentils was as a soup; Split Pea Lentil soup to be exact. This was when I first went GF and wasn't really sure what I could eat, so I pretty much lived off of stews and salads for about a month - hahaha!

GF Menu - January 19 - 24, 2009

Monday
Breakfast – rice cake with PB&J
Lunch – Split Pea Soup
Dinner – Savoury Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf with shrimp (The Best GF Family Cookbook)

Tuesday (Tasty Tuesday)
Breakfast – fresh apple-cranberry juice & a muffin
Lunch – leftover quinoa pilaf
Dinner – Mediterranean Dolmas with green salad (RAW)

Wednesday (night class)
Breakfast – fresh apple juice & a muffin
Lunch – Italian Pasta Salad
Dinner – Mediterranean Dolmas with Amazing Avocadoes and green salad

Thursday
Breakfast – fresh apple-cranberry juice & cinnamon raisin toast
Lunch – Italian Pasta Salad
Dinner – Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers with green salad

Friday
Breakfast – fresh apple juice & a muffin
Lunch – Italian Pasta Salad
Dinner – Red Lentil Dal (I hope - thanks for posting this one Sea!)

Saturday (long day of classes!)

Breakfast - fresh apple juice & cinnamon raisin toast

Lunch - Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers with green salad

Dinner - GF Pizza!!! (not sure if this will be cooked or if I will try out a RAW recipe)

Don't forget to head over to Book of Yum for this week's menu round up and for some amazing recipes!

TASTY TUESDAY - Pot Pie

2009-01-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize for not posting this sooner, I was beyond exhausted last week and didn't get a chance. For my first Tasty Tuesday I have decided to make the classic Pot Pie using my favourite pie crust. I tried to make one last summer but it was sadly disappointing. This one however, was more than TASTY, it was DELICIOUS! I used Heather Butt and Donna Washburn's Chicken Pot Pie filling for my recipe (found in 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes, Pg. 44) but I was lazy and used a store bought chicken broth instead of making my own and I also added more carrots and onion than they called for.

I think what I really liked about this recipe (aside from the fact that it was great for leftover lunch/dinner) is that the leftover filling (vegetable stew) worked perfectly mixed in with some cooked split peas to make Split Pea soup. I think that I can safely say my pot pie craving has finally been fulfilled.

PIE CRUST
Single Crust:
1 cup basic mix *see below
2 Tbsp. sweet Rice flour
1 tsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. cane sugar
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. spice mix (sweet or savoury depending on the pie your making)

Mix all ingredients together (I use my Kitchen Aid). Once a ball of dough has formed wrap it up in saran and chill for an hour at least (freeze for 20 minutes). When ready, roll dough out for pie, quiche, or tart.

Bake accordingly.

*BASIC MIX
1 ½ cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
½ cup almond meal/flour

This pie crust is great for anything. Depending on what it is that I'm making the crust for, I add a spice mix that is similar to the one used in the filling to give it some extra taste.

Sorry to say that there are no pictures because the pot pie didn't last long!

Menu Swap - January 12

2009-01-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Well, last week was definitely interesting and very educational. I have discovered that I cannot function without having a set menu plan for each day of the week. So, with that in mind this week has been planned right down to the last detail.

I have officially started my final stretch of school and will finally be a teacher as of April 2010. I am so happy that my module is full of a really nice and fun group of people, that has made it so much easier and has taken a load off of me. Now if I can remember to breath when ever I think of my teaching practicum starting up in February I'll be doing great!

But with all of this in mind, I have decided that I am going to start of a Tasty Tuesday plan (if anyone is interested in joining in let me know - you don't have to make the dish on Tuesday just post it by then). Every Tuesday I will make some sort of casserole or stew, or something, so that I can have leftovers for Wednesday night (I won't be coming home from work on these days as I have class at 5:30). This week I have decided to try out a Chicken Pot Pie recipe, just sans the chicken and the chicken broth, so I guess it will be more like a Vegetable Pot Pie. This should be perfect as this week Fresh Ginger is hosting our Menu Swap and has chosen Locally Grown as our ingredient - so I'll have to add lots of locally grown vegetables! I also plan on stuffing my sandwich with loads of fresh produce because I am dying for some good fruit and veggies!

Gluten Free Menu Swap - January 11 - 16

Sunday
Lunch – Tomato Avocado Sandwich
Dinner – Salmon Salad

Monday
Breakfast – Fresh Apple Juice and a Mighty Tasty Muffin (recipe in Shelley Case’s Gluten-Free Diet)
Lunch – Tomato Avocado Sandwich
Dinner – Ginger Almond Nori Rolls (scratch this - if someone could share with me how I put that line through that would be great. Changed to Cashew Kreme, Carrot, Pepper and Nori)

Tuesday (Tasty Tuesday)
Breakfast – Fresh Apple Juice and a Mighty Tasty Muffin
Lunch – leftover nori rolls
Dinner – Vegetable Pot Pie (Tasty Tuesday)

Wednesday
Breakfast – Fresh fruit and a muffin
Lunch – Falafel Salad Sandwich with Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Dinner – leftover Vegetable Pot Pie

Thursday
Breakfast – Fresh fruit and a muffin
Lunch – leftover pot pie
Dinner – Ginger Peanut Stir-Fry

Friday (RAW Dinner)
Breakfast – Fresh fruit and a muffin
Lunch – PB&J Sandwich
Dinner – RAW Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagna and Coco Kream Pie with Carob Fudge on a Brownie Crust

Ginger Peanut Sauce with Rice Paper Wraps

2009-01-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

Ever since going gluten free I have pretty much stayed out of the local bakeries and delis, but I was in the Safeway deli area a few weeks ago and happened to pass the Vietnamese Rice Wraps with Ginger dipping sauce and almost died. I absolutely love these but I don't dare touch them because the dipping sauce has wheat in it. It has taken me a while but I have finally taken it upon myself and created my own rice wraps. In my opinion these were 1,000 times better than the plain vietnamese rolls because they had only a spoonful of rice noodles and LOADS of veggies. I didn't put any shrimp in these ones, but I think that they would taste even better with that little addition. But the best part was the dipping sauce. I had originally made the sauce I found on FoodTV but with a few adjustments because I was lacking a few ingredients, but my mom suggested adding peanut butter and ginger to spruce up the flavour and she was right. The sauce is quick and easy and very useful to keep on hand. It would go well on rice noodles for a quick meal or even as a stirfry sauce.

So, to start off 2009 I am going to post the dipping sauce and rice wrap recipes because they are going to be a weekly staple in my lunches. I think that these will also come in handy for my Saturday classes and my Wednesday dinner run between work and classes. I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do!

Ginger Peanut Dipping Sauce

adapted from FoodTV's The Cookworks recipe

½ cup Orange Juice, freshly squeezed, undiluted
3 Tbsp. Honey
2-3 Tbsp. GF Tamari
Juice of 1 Lime
1 Tbsp. EVOO
1 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
¼ - ½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
½ - 1 tsp. Salt
2-3 Tbsp. Peanut Butter
1 heaping Tbsp. Ginger, grated

Place all ingredients into a blender and mix together. Let sit for 30 minutes at least in order for the flavours to blend (room temperature or in the fridge if not using right away). Serve with Rice Paper Wraps or as a stir fry sauce.

Note: If you don't want to go to the trouble of using a blender, you can simply place all ingredients into a jar and shake them together (I really hate scraping extras out of a blender and prefer to "shake, shake, shake my silly's out" when making this)

Rice Wraps

Grated Carrot
1 sliced Bell Pepper
Fresh lettuce leaves
Fresh mint leaves (or other fresh herb)
Thinly sliced Celery
Shrimp (optional)

1-2 squares of rice noodles
Sushi Vinegar (or Rice Vinegar and sweetener)

Rice Paper wraps
Pan of warm water

Cook up rice noodles and then add Sushi Vinegar (or rice vinegar and sweetener). Set aside. Wash and cut/grate all vegetables.

Place warm water in frying pan (works well because it is flat and shallow). Then soak 1 rice paper wrap into the water and let sit for about 10-20 seconds or until the rice paper is softened. Remove from water and place on a clean dish towel. You can either transfer it over to a plate or add all filling while on the dish towel. Roll up nice and tight, with the sides tucked in. Repeat until you have all the wraps that you need.

I usually wrap these up in saran wrap and refrigerate for my lunch.

Serve with Ginger Peanut Sauce.

Menu Swap - January 4

2009-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

The first week of January 2009 has arrived. Back to work and back to school...sigh. I am so excited to get back to school but at the same time I could really go for another week or 2 off. But knowing that I have created a quick and easy menu of my favourites. I think that this week I will just go with the flow rather then setting up meals on certain days. I always find the first week back to be tiring and would rather have the option of hanging out in the kitchen or not, plus it will give me a chance to figure out when I will have time for baking/preparation.

I hope that everyone has a great week back to work/school.

Lunch

Turkey sandwich
Tomato avocado sandwich
Nori rolls
Rice wraps
Falafel sandwich
Soup
Veggie burger (leftovers)

Dinner

Nori rolls
Salad (x2)
Rice wraps
Soup
Veggie burger

Don't forget to head over the Gluten Free Goodness for some other delicious sounding menus! This week is soup - perfect for this cold, snowy weather.

Menu Swap - December 28

2008-12-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Wow!!! Only a few days left of 2008 - it seems a little unreal. I've had lots of time to look back on the year this past week (I've been snowbound for way too long!) and can honestly say that it's the first year in a long time that I felt well enough to go out with friends. I have learned so many new things this year, both professionally and personally, and now I am starting a new adventure in 2009 - literally. I am so excited and yet very nervous for 2009 to begin because I will be starting my Teacher Certification program while minoring in Counselling and Human Development. In Spring of 2010 I will finally be a teacher and can't wait.

My 2008 Highlights

learning to bake my first loaf of bread from scratch WITHOUT a breadmachine
Surfing in Oregon (well, more like body surfing attempts)
Returning to running
creating a behavioural plan and implementing it
Special Needs gymnastics studio with my kindergarten student

I could sit here and add my New Years Resolutions but in all honesty they change so often that there's no point. I simply plan on being very positive about the upcoming year.

Now, onto the GF Menu Swap. This week I am hosting and I have chosen leftovers rather then any particular ingredient as I'm sure that there are many leftovers from Christmas dinner and will be even more after New Years. This week is looking to be another busy one for me as I hope to create slews of dry mixes to freeze as well as muffins. I am also waiting on my sourdough starter so that I can attempt to make a loaf of sourdough for my mom's delicious spinach dip which I plan to take over to my friends for New Years.

GF Menu December 29 - January 3

Monday
Lunch – Rice paper wraps with orange dipping sauce
Dinner – Falafel wrap

Tuesday
Breakfast – Cinnamon Raisin Toast
Lunch – Falafel Wrap
Dinner – Leftover rice wraps with salmon salad

Wednesday
Breakfast – Cinnamon Raisin Toast
Lunch – Probably snack on homemade goodies
Dinner – Bombay Chicken with Coconut Rice (? – not sure as I have a party to go to)
*taking Spinach Dip with GF sourdough & Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars; and for myself I’ll have a Falafel Wrap on hand and my friend has picked up some crackers and cookies for me too

Thursday
Lunch – Leftover Bombay Chicken with Coconut Rice
Dinner – Green Salad

Friday
Breakfast – Cinnamon Raisin Toast
Lunch – Leftover Spinach Dip Dinner - ??? whatever I have leftover

Don't forget to check out some other delicious Menus!

Over at Book of Yum, Sea has a great menu starting out with a Mexican theme and finishing off with Japanese Avocado Rolls. You'll have to stop by to see her kitties enjoying Christmas.

Manda at Asparagus Thin is planning to try some new recipes out this week as she has some new cookbooks. Her menu sounds great with to of my favourites, pad thai and quinoa.

Living Free with Kimberly returns this week with a yummy sounding low-carb menu. Her Turkey and Vegetable soup sounds tasty and is giving me some ideas. All the best to you!

Fresh Ginger has some great meals planned for this week and is prepared with hangover comforts on New Years Day. Her thai green curry sounds delicious, especially with the bamboo shoots!

In My Box joins us this week with her new slow cooker and some great reviews on the recipes that she has tried this far. Some of my favourites are on her menu for the week such as butternut squash and burritos.

Angela returns with Slow Cooking Thursday and Free-zer Friday this week but also plans on taking it easy in the kitchen so that she can spend time with her family. Her mango-papaya chutney sound delish!

Gluten Free is Life is taking a break from baking this week as she has many leftover goodies already but it sounds like she may be planning some very delicious meals in the near future with her new GF cookbook.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

2008-12-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Clement Clarke Moore or Henry Livingston

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

GF Menu Swap - December 21

2008-12-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all!

I love this time of year, although I must say that this year I am sadly lacking in some Christmas spirit, but I am enjoying the snow and some GF baking - I'm just not too sure who is going to eat all of my Christmas baking. One good thing about GF baking is that you can always freeze it for later, which is probably what I'm going to have to do if the snow keeps up. Late last night my mom and I took the dogs out to the park across the street from us and let them play in the snow. My Husky/Malamute thought it was great, but I think that my German Shepard prefers being inside the house; but at least they got out for a bit and I was able to get some fresh air after a day filled with baking.

I was unable to get any baking done last week because I crashed-not literally, just mentally and physically- after spending the past 3 months on the go. I finally finished my final exam and was left with 1 week of work, so I pretty much needed some down time. It didn't help that we had snow on Wednesday forcing me to spend 2-3 hours on the road commuting home and between job sites. However, I survived it all, just as many others did. Therefore, my baking spree started yesterday. I baked a lot but at the same time it doesn't seem like very much.

After talking to my Dad the other day about bringing my own stuffing to bake in the oven next to the turkey, he has decided to use my stuffing to stuff the turkey and is going to bake the non-GF stuffing separately so that I can have some turkey with everyone else. But now the pressure is on for my stuffing to taste good, so I had a test run last night and can safely say that with a few changes, the stuffing should be delicious. This year I am using Washburn and Butt's Poultry Stuffing Bread which works like a charm. Unfortunately for me I used the whole loaf of bread rather then half, so now I have a lot of leftovers which I plan on adding to my Popover recipe to make Savoury Pudding, a family Christmas classic - these will be my dinner rolls.

I also made Butter Tart Bars, Shortbread cookies, and Apple-Cranberry Chutney for the stuffing (I think that this would make a great addition for gift baskets next year and it's super quick and easy to make). Even though I'm not hosting Christmas dinner, I decided that I needed to bake some goodies so that when it's my turn, I'll have some yummy recipes to choose from, but until then I now have some goodies that I can enjoy other then cookies.

The plan for this week (if the weather cooperates) is for my Mom and I to have dinner with my best friend's family on Christmas day where my friend's Mom makes a delicious dinner that I can enjoy with a rotisserie chicken separate from the turkey; and then I will be heading over to my Dad's on Boxing day to join my brothers and their families for yet another delicious dinner. However, if the weather does not cooperate the back-up plan is for my Mom and I to make our own Roast Chicken Dinner with Quinoa Stuffing on Christmas day and have a movie marathon.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope that Christmas day finds you and your loved ones well.

This week's Menu Swap is being hosted by Angela over at Angela's Kitchen who has a wonderful Christmas theme added to her blog.

Here is this week's dinner menu only as I am off on holidays and plan on eating whatever leftovers I have for lunch.

Sunday

Poultry Stuffing Bread test run with Apple-Cranberry Chutney

Monday

Garlic shrimp over rice

Tuesday

Chana Masala (Chickpea curry)

*this was really good last week, but my Mom and I want to tweak it just a little

Wednesday - Christmas Eve

Home-made sushi rolls

Thursday - Merry Christmas!

Christmas Dinner with friends - rotisserie chicken with savoury pudding, poultry stuffing and gravy, and of course, apple cranberry chutney

Snowbound dinner - Roast Chicken with Quinoa Stuffing

Friday - Boxing Day

Turkey dinner with GF poultry stuffing and gravy and my Dad's special mint peas (I'm sure there will be much more here, but that's what I know for sure) and a GF Spiced Cake (I think)

Saturday

Chicken/Turkey leftovers (if I'm still hungry after so many feasts!)

Don't forget to head over to Angela's Kitchen to join in other Christmas celebrations - I can't wait to check them all out!

GF Menu Swap - December 14

2008-12-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hip, Hip HOORAY!!! I finally have time to think and most importantly, BAKE!!! These past few months have been crazy but the worst part was the lack of time for baking. I was finally able to have a fresh homemade loaf of bread the other day rather then the store mixes (which are good) and it was delicious. But I must also thank Pamela for her yummy bread mix also as it is what I have been living on for the last little while. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make anything today due to exhaustion, but this week will be filled with Christmas baking.

I am excited to return to the Menu Swap this week and it's perfect timing too because this weeks host, In My Box, has chosen nuts & seeds - yum! I was originally planning on doing half cooked and half UNcooked this week, but due to the FREEZING temperatures I have decided to change this. There are so many wonderful reasons to eat nuts & seeds, such as the high protein content, but they also make great snacks while hiking. There are so many other great things but I don't have the brain power to input that into my blog today - I'm really tired. So on that note I will post my menu. Stay tuned for some Christmas surprises and a Vegan Nog (I can't say anymore then that without giving it away) and I will also be sharing my Apple Pie recipe too.

GF MENU - December 14 - 20

Sunday

BREAKFAST - leftover sushi rolls

LUNCH - toast

DINNER - Chana Masala

Monday

BREAK - PB&J Toast

LUNCH - Chana Masala

DINNER - Spaghetti

Tuesday

BREAK -Pumpkin Seed Bread (125 Best GF Recipes)
LUNCH - Tuna Avocado Bagel Melt

DINNER - Ginger Almond Nori Rolls

Wednesday
BREAK - Pumpkin Seed Bread (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)
LUNCH - Ginger Almond Nori Rolls
DINNER - Home-made Split Pea Soup

Thursday
BREAK - Pumpkin Seed Bread (125 Best GF Recipes)
LUNCH - Tuna Avocado Bagel Melt
DINNER - Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers (The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook)

Friday
BREAKFAST - Cinnamon Bun (Pancake Breakfast at work)
LUNCH - Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers (The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook)
DINNER - Xmas Shopping/Movies/Cactus Club

Saturday
BREAKFAST -Cactus Club leftovers
LUNCH - Split Pea soup
DINNER - Pizza with a Tomato Basil Biscuit Crust (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)

I am now hungry even though I just ate a big bowl of spaghetti earlier...must be all that Christmas shopping earlier and the amazing menus that have been posted.

BAKING FOR THIS WEEK

Pumpkin Seed Bread (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)
Gingerbread House
Nanaimo Bars (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)
Cinnamon Buns (Complete Gluten-Free Cookbook)
Shortbread (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)
Vegan Mincemeat Tarts - recipe to come later this week
Butter Tart Bars (125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes)

I wish you all a very Merry Shopping week!

1st to Give Back

2008-10-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

In 2007, a good friend's sister had a baby girl in Royal Columbian Hospital and it was thanks to "the expertise of its caring and professional staff" that their daughter is here today. This year, on Madelin's 1st Birthday, Melinda and her husband have decided to raise money in order to donate a Co-bedding crib to the hospital.

Please check out Melinda's website at http://www.the1sttogiveback.blogspot.com/ for more information and updates on how much money they have raised so far. As of today, Friday October 24 they have raised $2061 and there goal is $8,165.

Melinda will be CBC Radio at 6:50 am and you can listen at http://www.the1sttogiveback.blogspot.com/ by clicking the map on Vancouver.

For anyone in the Lower Mainland area, they will be selling chocolate covered almonds in front of the LOUGHEED PLAZA LIQUOR STORE on Friday October 31 from 2:00 -8:00 pm and again on Saturday November 1 from 12:00 - 8:00 pm.

Goodluck Melinda!!!

Just a quick note...

2008-10-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to drop a quick note for everyone. I know that it has been about a month since I last posted but I haven't forgotten, I am just bogged down at the moment with school work and because of that I haven't really been doing too much other than working, studying, and eating - and even the eating is not all that great as it's based on prepared GF food or quick and easy meals. I do have some wonderful recipes that I would love to post as well as some product reviews, but I just don't have the time to give my blog the detail that is needed.

I will be back in Early November with menus again and a couple of recipes that I have discovered.

All the best!!!
M-Elle

Menu Swap - September 21

2008-09-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Ummmmmmmm, just smell that crisp, fresh air (or as fresh as "fresh air" gets when you live in the city). I am so happy that it Autumn has arrived. I know that many of you are probably thinking, "what?! Is she crazy?!" And my answer would be YES!!! because I love the Fall weather. I have to say that Autumn is my all time favourite season. There is just something about the smell and the chill that comes in. When I was living in Alberta I thoroughly missed this season. If felt like there were only 2 seasons, winter and summer. As much as I love wearing my flip flops (which I could do all year round with those funky socks that my sister loves), I really love watching the seasons change over, and best of all is that Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, and Christmas are a whole lot closer! I love to decorate for these holidays, I think that this year I will actually find some hay for my front porch and make a real scarecrow instead of my newspaper bodies. I loved (and hated) going to the corn maze in September and the pumpkin patch in October with my students (hated it because we always ended up there during the biggest down pour and left covered in mud). Bales of hay, cobs of fresh picked corn, barn animals, great big pumpkins - how can you not love Autumn?! Of course there is the down side of Autumn such as rain, clouds, storms, darkness, daylight savings...hold on a second, for all of you who know me I love all of those things. I guess you get the idea now, I LOVE AUTUMN, so I'll stop going on about it now and get to the good stuff...the GF Menu Swap.

I am hosting this week's swap and I have chosen apples for my ingredient, after all, 'tis the season for apples to be harvested. There are so many things that you can do with apples:

apple crisp
apple pie
apple sauce
apple fritter
apple strudel
apple juice
apple compote
caramel apples
candy apples
bobbing for apples (although that's not exactly considered safe anymore)
apple cider
apple wine
apple butter

And the list goes on. Apples are also great with other fruit such as cranberries...ummmm, apple-cranberry juice, or cranberry apple pie. I think that I had better stop because I am making myself hungry and I have none of these things lying around to eat at the moment.

Here are some interesting Apple tidbits:

During the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, apples are eaten with honey as a symbol of a sweet new year (September 29, 2008)
the goddess Iðunn is portrayed in the Prose Edda (Norse Mythology) as giving apples to the gods in order for them to have eternal youthfulness

one of Heracles' 12 labours in Greek Mythology was to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides and pick the golden apples off the Tree of Life growing at its center

Paris of Troy awarded an apple inscribed Καλλιστή (Kalliste, translated as the most beautiful one) to Aphrodite after she bribed him with Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman of the world, which led to the Trojan War

Hippomenes used 3 golden apples to distract Atalanta so that he could win her hand in marriage (Greek Mythology)

And let's not forget the famous story of Eve luring Adam into the Garden of Eden with an apple in the Book of Genesis

the apple is believed to be the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
Snow White bit into a poisoned apple and fell asleep, only to be awoken by her handsome Prince

apple tended to be the word used for generic fruit in Olde English tales
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." This adage is most likely the result of farmers trying to counteract the bad rep the apple was given in the story of Adam and Eve in order to sell their product

the larynx is called the adam's apple because it is believed to be the forbidden fruit sticking in the throat of Adam

WOW! I can't believe all of the different references to apples through the ages...no wonder I love apples so much as I'm familiar with most of these tales. Maybe there really is something to subliminal messages after all. Well, it's a good thing that apples are also a good source of fiber. I love making fresh apple juice, especially when I have had some intestinal upset. They say that apples have little vitamin C compared to other fruits, but because of their fibre content they are great for bowel regulations, heart disease, weight loss, and controlling cholesterol.

Sunday
Breakfast – fresh fruit
Lunch – toast and quinoa salad
Dinner – veggie burgers (sol cuisine)

Monday
Breakfast – Apple-Cranberry juice & cheese scone with jam
Lunch – leftover veggie burger
Dinner – green salad & salmon

Tuesday
Breakfast – apple sauce & cheese scone
Lunch – sandwich
Dinner – green salad & salmon

Wednesday
Breakfast – apple sauce & cheese scone
Lunch – quinoa salad
Dinner – spaz-ghetti

Thursday
Breakfast – apple sauce & cheese scone
Lunch – leftover spaz-ghetti
Dinner –

Friday
Breakfast – fresh fruit
Lunch – sandwich
Dinner – something delicious as I will be getting paid!!!

For more great recipe ideas check out the following links!

Sally over at Aprovechar (love that name!) is excited to be entering her final week of work and then moving on to her dream of writing, Go Sally!!! Her meals sound delicious, especially her dinners. She has kindly shared the link to Sunday's dinner of warm sweet potato salad, which I will definitely be checking out.

Gluten Free Goodness is baking up a storm with her "cranky ankle." I wish her all the best in her search for a good Honey Apple Cake and hope that she shares the recipe with us because it sounds like something I would love to add to my apple list. But for now I am more than happy to settle for her lemon poppy seed bread - yum!

Book of Yum has shared her spaghetti squash mac 'n' cheese recipe with us, which has me drooling. She also has a great menu planned with Indian, Mexican, and Vegetarian themes as well as a housewarming menu plan. Don't forget to stop by and check out this months Adopt-a-GF Blogger; it is a Lunchbox Recipe edition in hopes of creating a resource list.

Manda has yet another great menu over at Asparagus Thin, which she plans on enjoying before her crazy work schedule kicks in. She will be making a yummy sounding chili as well as a quinoa dish that is after my own heart (hopefully she'll share the recipe). I hope she enjoys watching the Wizard of Oz soon!

Gluten Free is Life has a very busy week planned with baking and enjoying family favourite dinners. Stay tuned for her homemade biscuit recipe posting later this week, but until then Kim has generously posted a whole bunch of her family favourite recipes just below this weeks menu - Thank you Kim!

Fresh Ginger is enjoying fresh picked apples from the farm and still making her way through cookbooks, which have inspired her for this weeks menu. She has a quite a range of themes like French and Thai, as well as a potluck dinner at work all planned out. Good luck harvesting, roasting, and smoking your chiles and jalapenos.

Angela has just returned from a Gluten Free Culinary Summit and is planning on having an easy menu week filled with family favourites as well as some of the things she learned while away. Keep your eye out for her upcoming post all about the conference as well as how she substitutes natural sweeteners for sugar in recipes over in Angela's Kitchen.

Menu Swap - September 7, 2008

2008-09-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am suddenly feeling a little stressed. On the plus side, I have been called in for a temporary assignment for the next 2-3 weeks, but I feel like what little time I have has just been cut in half and I have a lot to do...or maybe it just feels that way. I think the most pressing thing at this moment is that I have to find an apple pie recipe. Yep, you heard me, an apple pie. Since I have been making my own bread, wraps (thanks to Kate's creations), and many other things, there have been many people harassing me to go into cooking, but I don't forsee that every happening. Maybe a GF bed and breakfast later on in the future, but that's about it.

So, on that note a friend sent me an entry form for an apple pie contest taking place during the Harvest Festival on September 20 and for some reason I filled it out and submitted it without thinking about the fact that I have never made an apple pie...not even pre-CD, well atleast not on my own and not since I entered my twenties. However, I remembered that I just recently signed out Rebecca Reilly's Gluten Free Baking from the library and low and behold there is a pie crust recipe in their. So, I currently have a loaf of bread in the oven (so that I can have lunch tomorrow) and a variation on her pie crust recipe. I also plan on trying a couple of other crust recipes this week and then I'm going to take the different pies (if there are any leftover) to my dad's place for the "Chili Cooks" to try them out. Every year, around this time, my dad hosts a chili cookoff at his place and then we all finish it off by partying it up with a potluck dinner. Obviously I won't be able to eat anything other than my pie but no worries, it will still be fun.

Ok, that is only the tip of the iceberg of my stresses but I feel better already, so thanks for hearing me out. Now on to a fun topic...the GF Menu Swap. This week is being hosted by GF Mommy, who has a delicious sounding Ginger Flank Steak posting from her holidays. I'm going to have to check that out in the next little while. Her ingredient choice is tomatoes - and amazingly enough, before I even knew that I had already planned for a couple of tomato recipes.

Sunday

Breakfast - bananas and peanut butter

Lunch - Cheddar & Broccoli Risotto

Dinner -

Monday

Breakfast - bananas & strawberries

Lunch - roasted pepper sandwich

Dinner - mandarin salad with sweet & sour dressing

Tuesday

Breakfast - fruit salad

Lunch - leftover salad
Dinner - 10 minute pasta meal

Wednesday

Breakfast - Apple Cranberry Juice and strawberries

Lunch - roasted pepper sandwich

Dinner - Ginger Almond Nori Rolls

Thursday

Breakfast - Apple Cranberry Juice
Lunch - leftover Nori Rolls

Dinner - Fresh Tomato Leek Sauce with Prawns (over rice?)

Friday

Breakfast - Apple Cranberry Juice and toast

Lunch - lime quinoa salad with mint

Dinner - Shrimp Caesar Salad

Saturday

Breakfast - whatever fruit is leftover

Lunch - shrimp caesar wrap

Dinner - apple pie?!

I hope that everyone has a great week and don't forget to head over to GF Mommy's for recipe roundup!

Adopt a GF Blogger

2008-09-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

This was my first time joining in on Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger and I am sad to say that I went very wrong at some point in samosa making - talk about a flop! I decided to enter because I really wanted to try Book of Yum's samosas, something that I have been dying to have for months now but no clue as to where to begin in my creation. I should have searched for the chebe mix, but no I had to go with the scratch pastry idea forgetting that there was a reason I use to BUY the pastry pre-GF living.

On the plus side, the filling is fantastic, even if the onions were more singed rather than carmelized! I have leftovers that I'm going to bake up for either lunch or dinner today and have with some naan bread. I'm really not sure where I went wrong but I should have known that this was not going to work for me right from the start. First, I read the recipe wrong and was limited on some ingredients not to mention the fact that I was unable to find coriander seeds and cumin seeds, so I substituted the ground up. However, I think my down fall came when I forgot to pull the teff flour out of the freezer, or maybe it was because I was watching tv at the same time I was putting the dough together...who knows?! I plan on trying this recipe again, but that won't be for a while yet.

Some minor changes that I made:

1 cup of peas instead of 1/2 a cup. I love peas!
1/2 tsp. mustard seed added
used ground cumin & coriander in place of the seeds. I cut the onion up and mixed it in with olive oil then added the spices and mixed them together.

I look forward to making this again, next time with success!

Hearty Millet...Stew?

2008-08-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

Last fall I took a GF cooking class at Choices Market in hopes of learning how to cook GF. Not only did I try 4 delicious meals, but I also received 8 different recipes that included some wonderful soups. At this time I was still pretty new to the whole GF diet and trying to figure out how to survive the winter. I had spent the whole summer trying new recipes, but nothing that I really wanted to continue making. I was still living off of Kinnikinnick breads, which were delicious at the time (and still are great for emergencies) but just not cutting it for me. Thankfully this class introduced me to some grains other than rice such as millet, buckwheat, and quinoa.

I don't know about you, but whenever I make home-made soup the broth is absorbed by the rice or millet turning it into a stew (if I'm lucky). I would have to say that this is the first soup that I don't mind having it like a stew. I only have to add some water, salt, & pepper; heat it up; and viola! This is now my favourite soup. I think I also liked that it is simple to make and I discovered a new herb - fennel. Yep, you can bet that that is going to be one of my ingredients some time in the very near future of Menu Swapping...just wait and see!

Once again, I probably sound crazy because I am making soup and chili in the summer, but if you have been in the lower mainland these last couple of weeks you know that it sure doesn't look or feel like summer. If feels like the middle of fall...only without the wonderful smell of the season. That's how I know we still have a little bit more summer weather coming our way, but I can't wait to smell the cool change in the air that will be heading our way soon.

HEARTY MILLET SOUP/STEW
1 Tbsp. EVOO
2-4 small white onions
2-4 carrots, diced
1 fennel bulb, diced
1 cup of millet (uncooked)
1-540 ml can of cooked lentils, drained & rinsed
1-398 ml can of chick peas, drained & rinsed
5 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 tsp. salt & pepper

Saute onion, carrot, and fennel. When lightly browned add millet, lentils, chick peas, and vegetable stock.
Bring to a boil then simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour (or until millet is cooked). Add salt & pepper.

*Sometimes I will add baked spaghetti squash if I feel like have some "noodles".

This is great to freeze or just to have as leftovers with some crakers. I love that I can choose whether it will be a soup or a stew by the amount of water that I add when re-heating it.

I'll add a picture as sonn as I take one...hopefull I won't eat it all up first!

Menu Swap - August 24

2008-08-25T15:17:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a really quick posting as I am finally doing what I should have done months ago...preparing bread and muffin mixes to throw into my freezer. Sadly, my summer holidays are coming to an end but on the plus side, that means a pay cheque! This week is going to be spent getting myself organized, both in and out of the kitchen. I thought that I had better get my menu up ASAP or else I might forget once I've gotten into my kitchen routine. There's nothing like baking and listening to some great music - all the better for dancing around the kitchen.

My plans for the week are to make up at least 4 of my favourite bread mixes, muffin mixes, 1 or 2 pita bread mixes, and a couple of sandwich wrap mixes. I also need to make at least 2 loaves of bread, 2-4 batches of muffins, and some falafels. All but 1 loaf of bread will be going into my freezer so that I am ready. This way I can spend more time on my studies and not have to worry too much about lunches. Hopefully this will get me through to the end of Septemebr (and if I'm really lucky, it will get me to Thanksgiving weekend when I can buy more supplies and mix up a storm). I also hope to get an inventory going of different meals that I can prepare so that I won't have to do too much scrambling. Oh, and I just remembered that I should get my rear-in-gear and some samosas for Adopt-a-GF Blogger. Phew! I'm exhausted just reading this...not too sure how I'll get it all together...

This week's menu is being hosted by Fresh Ginger, who has chosen eggplant as the weekly ingredient. I have never had eggplant before and have pretty much joined in with the majority of people who avoid it. However, since going GF I have discovered so many different foods that are delicious, I figure what's one more?! I will be making an eggplant dip with crispy flatbread tomorrow as a trial (my mom and LOVE dips!) and if it tastes as great as it sounds, I'll be doubly excited because I'll then have another appetizer for potlucks. I'm kind of thinking of trying out a couple of different mediterranean dip recipes that I found in an old vegetarian cookbook (I pulled them out because I knew they would have some eggplant recipes).

GF Menu - August 25 - 30, 2008

Monday
Roasted quinoa stuffed peppers (never did get a chance to try these out last week) & green salad

Tuesday
Hearty Millet soup (suppose to pour buckets of rain)

Wednesday
roasted eggplant pizza

Thursday
hearty millet soup

Friday
Veggie Burgers

I'm sorry to say that this isn't quite as organized as usual, but I really have no idea what else I'm going to eat...yet. I think that I'll just play it by ear and see where the food takes me.

Don't forget to head over to Fresh Ginger to see what everyone else has in store for this week.

Cookies & Milk - product review

2008-08-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

While I was in Oregon my friends found an awesome deal on Oreo cookies. Thankfully I had my own home-made GF chocolate chip cookies to eat, otherwise this could have been very difficult. Well imagine my surprise (and excitement) to find KinniTOOS at the new IGA by my place. I bought the bag even though I really didn't need anymore cookies. They are delicious! I can't remember what oreos tasted like, so I have no comparison, but I'm quite okay with that. They have these in both chocolate and vanilla flavours, but I had to go with the chocolate. All I can say is that I will be buying these when Girl Guide cookies are being sold & eaten at work.

Oh yeah...these were really good dipped in Original almond milk (yummy!) any milk I'm sure. So if you are dying for an oreo fix, these should more than satifsfy your craving...unless someone has a home-made recipe floating around out there?!

Chunky Chili - vegan

2008-08-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

The funniest thing happened to me yesterday. I went out shopping (I was in desperate need for a new pair of jeans) and the whole time I was out I had the worst craving for a bowl of chili. Then, late last night while I was baking GF Mommy's Whole Beer Bread a friend sent me a text message asking me if I had any good chili recipes. I thought that was the weirdest thing considering my craving that day and the fact that I was thinking that chili would be perfect to have with a nice slice of fresh, home-made bread. The thought continued to grow with the rain that started to fall too. So, I decided that I would make a batch of chili so that I could share the recipe with my "other half" (we have the same name and everyone at work called us M-Elle squared this past year).

However, there were a couple of ground rules for this chili.

there had to be kidney beans and meat
average spice as she is the only one in her family who likes spice

After discussing it via text messaging (what has this world come to?!) I went in search of my favourite chili recipe. Of course this recipe is vegetarian as it is from my high school Home Economics teacher, but how hard is it to add meat? I still haven't added the meat as I never really learned how to cook it being vegetarian as a teenager and into my early twenties, so I rarely cook it myself, relying on the restaurants and my dad. Chicken and fish are all I am comfortable with, and even that is rare. I use to add tofu, but I think that I've had enough tofu this past week, so I'll stick to my vegan chili and my delicious Whole Beer Bread (check it out). However, I have some thoughts on how to make this a meat chili that I will share, along with some other different serving ideas.

Chunky Veggie Chili

1-3 carrots
2-4 celery stix
1 large onion (or 2 medium)
2 green onions
1 large clove of garlic, minced/crushed
1 can (540 ml) of kidney beans
1 can (398 ml) of navy beans (adzuki or garbanzo would also be great)
1 can (398 ml) diced tomatoes

1-2 tsp. cumin
1-2 tsp. chili powder* (recipe to follow)
¼ tsp. oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. tumeric
Pinch of cayenne (optional – if you like spice also add favourite chili peppers)

1 can of Eden Organics Pizza/Pasta sauce (or ½ of preferred sauce in a jar)
1 can of Eden Organics crushed tomatoes
(substitute a can of diced tomatoes for one or the other)

*This was actually a goof up on my part. I had wanted another can of diced tomatoes, but ended up with crushed.

2 small zucchini’s
3 sweet baby bell peppers (orange, red, yellow)

Drain & rinse beans, then add to slower cooker (or large pot), followed by can of tomatoes with juice. Chop up carrots, celery, and onions (I like mine to be chunky) and add to the beans and tomatoes. Turn slow cooker on to about 3-4 (mine is permanently stuck there) and add the spices.
Mix it all up and let it cook for about half an hour (I actually had to run out for some ingredients, but I think that the flavours blended together really well by doing this). Then add sauces and chopped zucchini and peppers
Mix it all together and let cook in the slow cooker for about 3-4 hours (or until vegetables are cooked to your liking), or let it simmer on the stove for about an hour.

For all you Meat Lovers:

Either substitute meat for a can of beans, or some of the vegetables, or simply added meat along with everything else.
Add some pre-cooked cubed steak (this would be my preference)
Turkey or chicken pepperoni

Serving Suggestions:

Over green salad
Over rice
Mixed with quinoa (I am actually working out a quinoa chili recipe)
Over buttered bread (Sloppy Chili Sandwiches!!!)
In a bowl with some corn bread on the side

For some more delicious chili recipes, head over to Asparagus Thin and click on her recipe index. Scroll down until you have reached "you want 'nother bowl?". She has quite an assortment of different chili's that I plan on trying out during the cold winter season.

Spinach & Avocado Salad

2008-08-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

SPINACH & AVOCADO SALAD

SALAD

1-2 large avocadoes

juice of 1 lime or lemon

1 small bunch of green leaf lettuce

1 small bunch of spinach

1 large tomato

4-6 green onions

1/2 a cucumber

1/2 a daikon radish

cut the avocado(es) in half, remove the pit and remove the skin. Cut into slices and marinate in lime or lemon juice while preparing the rest of the salad.
wash and dry the spinach and green leaf lettuce, then place in serving bowl.
cut the tomatoes and add to bowl with the green onions. Cut cucumber and daikon, then add to salad bowl.

DRESSING

1 C. plain yogurt (silken tofu works too)

3 Tbsp. almond milk

2 tsp. of prepared mustard

1/2 tsp. vinegar

pinch of cayenne

salt & pepper to taste

Place first 4 ingredients together in food processor and blend together.
Add cayenne and salt & pepper to taste.
Process/blend together until smooth.
Scrape dressing into a bowl and serve with salad.

Unfortunately I forgot all about the dressing in my haste to enjoy this salad, so it never got made. But now that I have typed this up, I'm thinking that I should make this and soon!

Menu Swap - August 17

2008-08-18T02:58:00.000-07:00

Cape Lookout This is from my hike down in Oregon

This week's Menu Swap is being hosted by Mary Frances over at Gluten Free [Cooking School]. She is focusing on using up what is in her freezer and pantry - a great idea if you ask me. I don't really have a lot in either my cupboards or freezer (in fact, I really need to stock up but I'm really hoping that I'll be able to make it until I return to work), so I guess I'll have to go grocery shopping...one of these days. Oh well, I have some delicious GF wraps still and bean burgers that I raced to put together for a last minute BBQ that ended up being Celiac Friendly - gotta love my friends!

I think that I'm going to be really picky this week as I ended up getting some gluten the other day. I am feeling much better, but my tummy tends to be sensitive for a few days afterwards.

I will probably increase my carb intake this week as I really need to get my rear out and focus on my dogs WALKING beside me with a leash (rather than their typical race around the block with me flying behind them) and a few runs as I have decided that I should return to soccer in the fall. I use to play when I was but a wee child and then made a brief return a few years ago, but I wasn't able to stick with it as I was feeling the ill effects of CD without knowing it. However, I really need to get out there and play, but first I better make sure that I can endure some running without keeling over!!! I have one month - I'm sure that's more than enough time if I run 3 times each week...NOT! But hey, it's better than nothing.

GF MENU - August 17-23, 2008

Sunday

Lunch - bean burger

Dinner - Parmesan Risotto & veggie wraps (it's going to be a very late night)

Monday

Lunch - veggie wraps (I need to finish up my delicious wraps - check them out!)

Dinner - bean burger & green salad

Tuesday

Lunch - cucumber sandwich

Dinner - chicken caesar salad

Wednesday

Lunch - chicken caesar wraps

Dinner - salmon salad

Thursday

Lunch - pasta salad

Dinner - ???

Friday

Lunch - pasta salad

Dinner - quinoa stuffed peppers

Saturday (heading to the States for some shopping)

Lunch - wraps

Dinner - probably eat out

I haven't posted any breakfast (my usual fresh fruit/juices) or snacks (veggies & dip among energy bars) because I really have no clue. I'm kind of following my tummy cravings at the moment (not always a good thing, but I'll see how it goes).

I also wanted to share a few of my pictures with you of my trip to Oregon at the beginning of the month - there are many more, but I chose the ones that give you a pretty good idea of what I was up to. I will posting the recipes later today that I promised from last week.

We were camping at Cape Lookout and there were some amazing hiking trails. However, the weather was very damp, making the trails very mucky, hence my muddy shoes. This was the actual Cape Lookout hike - a trail that is not for those who are afraid of heights.

The top of Cape Lookout. The beach is our campsite.

Tierra del Mar

We went surfing at Cape Kiwanda. The beach was BEAUTIFUL!!! I had no qualms about walking around here in my bare feet.

Crazy Cravings - tuna & sprouts

2008-08-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that tuna & sprouts don't really sound all that crazy for a craving, but if you knew me, you would know that I rarely buy either of these foods (except tuna sashimi). However, since my friend's tuna & avocado salad on our first night in Oregon, which included alfalfa sprouts, I have been craving that very salad. I made it again this past Sunday and found it to be deliciously satisfying. But then I got to thinking of other ways to use the tuna & sprouts up and suddenly I was dying for a tuna sandwich with crisp lettuce and alfalfa sprouts. Oh yeah, I had to go out and buy more tuna.

As I said before, I am not a tuna fan. But this sandwich was delicious. It was filled with fresh green onions and celery in the tuna, and then the added touch of crisp lettuce and alfalfa sprouts (bread was pretty good too, it was Bob Red Mills GF Wonderful Bread mix).

On the plus side of this craving is that alfalfa sprouts are incredibly good for you. They are full of spanonins, which are known for lowering bad cholesterol and fat while leaving the good HDL fats alone and stimulating the immune system with T-lymphocyte growth and interferon (the killer cells). Sprouts are full of minerals and active antioxidants that prevent DNA destruction and protect us from aging.

Anyone interested in growing there own alfalfa sprouts then check out this site.

Sesame Ginger Tofu

2008-08-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to make a couple of alterations to this recipe, but personally I think that it came out much better than before. I haven't made this recipe for 2 years at least. I actually snagged the recipe (or the ingredients) from the Choices Market Sesame Ginger Tofu found in their deli, something that I loved to eat but had to give up since there's no guarantee of it being safe from CC. I have to admit, I was really tempted to throw caution to the wind the last time I was at the store, but when I looked at the other products in the case with the dish, I knew that it would be pure stupidity.

I wrote out the ingredients a few years ago because I new that it would be cheaper to make my own rather than constantly buying it from the deli. However, I omitted some of the ingredients at the time because there was no way I would be using them. So here it is, one of the few things tofu that it tasty AND GF!

Sesame Ginger Tofu
1 cube of tofu (I used a different brand than usual and it was in a cube, about 3/4 of the rectangular block usually found in stores)
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1/4 C. sweet chili sauce (be careful of the type of vinegar used)
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. white sesame seeds

Drain the tofu. Cut into cubes ( I don't make them too small, but not overly large either - it depends on your preference) and place into a bowl. Mix the other ingredients together separately (blends together much better than pouring over the tofu individually), then pour over the tofu and mix together.

Let marinate for 1 hour at least (this is a major secret for the taste - at least that's what I think), or longer.

Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 10 minutes. Stir the tofu mix and then move the rack up higher and broil for 10 minutes; stirring throughout. Then serve.

*The trick to flavouring is marinating before cooking and stirring during baking/broil.

Enjoy!

Menu Swap

2008-08-10T23:48:00.001-07:00

Well, I survived my camping trip with no major problems. Actually my friends were pretty cool about everything. They had their bagels and hot dogs and buns and an evening of kraft dinner, but otherwise everything went well and I was able to join in on the majority of the meals. I discovered Fred Meyer and became a regular at the store - they had canned soup that was GF so I had to stalk up, only to find out that the very soup has been brought in to my local Superstore! I have to say that being out in the fresh air was wonderful, but even better was that I had the energy to go hiking and surfing (or attempt it), something that I have been lacking for years. I was even able to go for a run with my girlfriend! I've been back for 2 days now, but I really haven't had to worry about recovering my energy (my sunburn is a whole other story). But with my trip being over, it means that I now must return to reality and the realization that I only have 3 more weeks left before I return to work, very sad.

I think that I'll be spending this week doing laundry and cleaning the sand off of me. I also plan on enjoying a great variety of salads. I didn't eat quite as many fruits and vegetables as I usually do while I was away, so I plan on eating a lot fruits and green salads. I already started tonight and it was delicious!!!

This week's menu is being hosted by Wheatstate Celiac and the ingredient is tofu. I was a vegetarian for about 12 years, so I look forward to re-introducing myself to some of my tofu recipes. Book of Yum is a great blog for tofu recipes.

GF Menu Swap
Sunday (dog training)
Breakfast - cherries & banana
Snack - mighty tasty muffin
Lunch - quinoa bean loaf
Snack - chips & salsa
Dinner - tuna & avocado salad

Monday (30 min Interval Run)
Breakfast - fruit salad
Snack - mighty tasty muffin
Lunch - tuna salad sandwich with cucumber, sprouts, green leaf lettuce & GF mustard (I love this company's dressings, oils, and mustards!)
Snack - veggies and dip
Dinner - GF Pancakes

Tuesday
Breakfast - fruit salad
Snack - pancake wraps
Lunch - sandwich wrap
Snack - Lara bar
Dinner - bunless burger & salad

Wednesday (Swimming)
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Snack - banana & peanut butter
Lunch - sandwich wrap
Snack - veggies & dip
Dinner - Sesame Ginger Tofu (recipe to follow) & salad

Thursday (30 min Interval Run)
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Snack - smoothie
Lunch - sesame tofu sandwich wrap with greens & sprouts
Snack - veggies & dip
Dinner - peanut tofu satay with vegetable stirfry

Friday
Breakfast - fruit salad
Snack - Crispy Rice Bar
Lunch - quinoa & lima bean salad (recipe to follow)
Snack -
Dinner - spinach & avocado salad (recipe to follow)

Saturday (30 min. Interval Run)
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Snack - banana with peanut butter
Lunch - quinoa & lima bean salad
Snack -
Dinner - sushi

My menu still needs some tweaking, but this is the gist of it. As usual, I'll have to add pictures tomorrow, but for now here it is. I'll be back with some delicious recipes and some pictures of my trip.

Cheers!

Menu Swap - August 3

2008-08-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

I know that I'm really early with this, but I figured I had better post while I had some time. Tomorrow will be spent in dog obedience (which is doing wonders for my circus), baking up a storm, & packing. I am heading out for a week of camping down on the Oregon Coast this Sunday and really excited too as I haven't gone camping in many years. I have no idea where I'm going exactly as one of my girlfriend's planned it. I'm only responsible for food, or my food at least. The bonus is that everyone is pretty understanding about my "dietary restrictions" so there shouldn't be too many problems, and if so I'll just bribe them with fresh homemade GF chocolate chip cookies - who can resist that?!

As I sit here typing this out, my brain keeps throwing out reminders of things that I have yet to do - such as pick up sleeping bag from the dry cleaners (oops, I kept forgetting to take it in and now I can't seem to remember to pick it up). I have to say, I always thought that I was a fairly organized person (really I was organized in my head, but I was racing around at the last minute) where as now, I have no choice but to be organized. One plus about having to be prepared for meal times is that seems to be crossing over into some other aspects of my life. I'm impressed that I had my bag packed last weekend (only because it has been cold and rainy all week, so I had no use for my shorts and tanks) and I think I finally have a functional plan for meals so that I won't starve, but knowing me I'll have planned all this food only to eat barely any of it! A little side note: while I was stocking up on GF munchies the other day, I was told that they were going to be expanding the GF line up this weekend - I was so excited, but it was lost on the manager, oh well.

But back to the Menu Swap. This week is being hosted by Natalie over at Gluten Free Mommy and mint is the ingredient of the week, but aside from my peppermint tea, I have nothing with mint in it...oh wait, I still have some peppermint extract, so I can make mint chocolate chip cookies. I love the smell of mint and mint ice cream! I'm sorry to say that I don't have any interesting info on mint, and I know that if I go exploring info on it now I'll never get to bed, a place that has been calling me since dinner time (that's what I get for only 4 hours sleep last night). But I can say that it is perfect for upset tummies and headaches. In fact, mint has been my saviour on many occasions, thus our secret love affair and all the different types of mint in the garden - chocolate mint, peppermint, and spearmint are my faves!!!

For this week I hope you'll forgive me as I haven't actually planned a daily menu. I simply planned what meals I would make sure I was stocked up for, so that's what I'm going to share with you.

GF Menu Swap - August 3 - 8
BREAKFAST

fruit

muffin (Shelley Case's Mighty Tasty Muffin)

pancakes

"toast"

Gorilla Munch & Mesa Sunrise cereal

Bob's Red Mill GF Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal

LUNCH

sandwich

quinoa-bean burger (original recipe black bean burgers, but I can't have oats, so I made some quinoa and substituted it) on an english muffin

salad

italian pasta salad (found in Carol Fenster's Wheat and Gluten Free Menu Planning)

quinoa & black bean salad

DINNER

quinoa-bean burger

spaghetti

salad

parmesan risotto

restaurant

chicken

SNACKS

Glutino ritz style crackers

chips

muffins

cut veggies

cereal

Envirokidz crispy rice bars

lara bars

fruit

Well, that's the plan for this week. There are about 5x more carbohydrate meals than I usually go for, but I'll be doing alot of running/hiking, swimming, surfing (possibly). I've also made a list of the dishes that I'll need for myself, just in case (I am not taking any chances) and I've packed my GF dictionary and waiting for my palm pilot to charge so that I have references while grocery shopping.

I hope that everyone has a FAN-TABULOUS week with some beautiful weather, and don't forget to head over to Gluten Free Mommy for some more great menus ideas.

Pineapple Julius

2008-08-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

I think that I should have saved my song quote for this posting, although it would have been something more like "put the lime and the pineapple in the coconut milk, and blend it all up!" Tonight I was making "black bean burgers" (which turned into bean & quinoa loaf) and every now and again I would get wiffs of a sweet smelling pineapple. It was like it was calling to me. After I was done wreaking havoc in the kitchen (everytime I bake or cook the kitchen looks like a food bomb went off) my mom thought that it was safe to enter so she could cut up the pineapple. Well, knowing that she had just made a fresh batch of coconut milk this morning, I mentioned that we could make a pina colada. Well, that's how it started out, but I ended up changing the recipe around to something much simpler - I really wasn't up to anything too time consuming as I will be baking cookies later tonight and then I have to slave away tomorrow afternoon baking bread and muffins for my camping trip. So needless to say, my idea of a pineapple julius was born. Hmmm, maybe next time I'll add ice cubes so that it's icy cold like a julius. At least this version is all natural and RAW. I don't think that I could expect anything more.

Pineapple Julius

2 cups of fresh pinepple chunks
1 cup of coconut milk
a small chunk of lime
1 Tbsp. RAW agave nectar
a pinch of salt

put all ingredients into blender and puree. Serve with a slice of lime.

I'm thinking that this would also be good with an orange instead of pineapple, or maybe both...

Menu Swap - July 27

2008-07-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

"Put the lime in the COCONUT, and mix it all up..."

For some bizarre reason I love that song and it pops into my head everytime I see, hear, or read coconut, so I figured that it would be fitting to make it my ingredient for this week. I mean seriously, who doesn't love the movie Practical Magic and the scene of them all drinking margaritas and dancing around the kitchen?! Ok, in all honesty I chose coconut because I found this RAW Samosa recipe months ago and I've been dying to make it. It uses a mix of young coconut meat & water blended with a couple of spices and then dehydrated as the wraps - sounds delicious in my opinion, and I can't wait to try it out. My mom making coconut milk and using it for cereal, smoothies, or RAW pudding.

Now here is something interesting - coconuts are a dry nut. Huh, I had no idea. The meat of a coconut has less fat than other nuts, such as almonds and peanuts, but there is a high concentration of saturated fat. Yes, saturated fats have a bad rap, but in my opinion that is because all of the studies have been done on the saturated fats found in dairy products and not on the NATURALLY occurring saturated fats found in living foods like coconuts. Bonus - coconuts are fairly high in the minerals iron, phosphorous, and zinc; and a good source of protein. There are both young and mature coconuts. Young coconuts have a softer meat and taste much sweeter, while the mature ones have a firmer meat. My dogs love eating coconut pieces - they think that they're a great treat!

Differents ways to use a coconut:

substitute for milk = blend "meat" of a mature coconut and water together
cream = an infusion of coconut water and shredded coconut
whipping cream (my creation - recipe to follow)
thai curries
butter
oil
electrolyte drink = there are zillions of sports drinks on the market that claim to boost our "electrolytes" before, during, and after a workout. Personally, I find such drinks too sweet (which says a lot because I love sweet food & drinks), but coconut water is a great source of electrolytes (better because it has less sugar than commercial drinks). Simply substitute coconut water for plain water and make a coconut lemonade drink (I'm actually drinking coconut water right now as I type this up).

I think that I had better stop now. I could probably go on, and on, and on...forever; because there are so many wonderful things about coconuts. However, I will restrain myself from droning on any further and move on to this weeks menu round up.

My menu has yet to be created (yikes!). I am still enjoying summer holidays and haven't actually thought about this weeks food because I've been focused on figuring out how to survive my upcoming camping trip with gluten tolerant friends (any tips would be great) and then I unexpectedly ended up attending a dog obedience class that was exhausting, to say the least! I'll promise that I'll add it in later today.

GF Menu - July 27 - August 2
Sunday
Lunch - 2 pieces of toast (intended to be my breakfast, but I ended up joing a dog obedience class unexpectedly and missed lunch)
Dinner - RAW samosas with banana tamarind & mango chutney

Monday
Breakfast – banana & peanut butter
Lunch – Mango Avocado Salad
Dinner – Spicy Thai Lettuce wraps with leftover banana tamarind & mango chutney

Tuesday
Breakfast – fruit salad with coconut crumble
Lunch – blood builder smoothie
Dinner – Ginger Almond Nori Rolls

Wednesday
Breakfast – fruit salad with coconut crumble
Lunch – GF McGriddle
Dinner – green salad with mango lime dressing

Thursday
Breakfast – berry coconut “pudding”
Lunch – tomato & avocado sandwich
Dinner - Mahi Mahi with Coconut Rice

Friday
Breakfast – Fruit
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner – Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers with fries

Saturday
Breakfast – fruit & toast
Lunch – Quinoa & Black Bean salad
Dinner – restaurant or leftovers

Natalie over at GF Mommy is going to be busy baking cakes this week, so she has planned a menu of "stand-by" recipes (it still sounds delicious and I am seriously contemplating "borrowing" her menu). Oh, and she is still looking for some recipes using coconut flour.

Gluten Free Goodness sounds busy as she is hosting this months Go Ahead Honey, it's Gluten Free as well as the upcoming Adopt a GF Blogger. Her gourmet menu looks great! I hope she plans on sharing her coconut curry recipe because that is something that I would be interested in trying.

Manda has yet another wonderful sounding week planned with her different themes over at Asparagus Thin. She is hoping to catch up on last weeks posts this week, so stay tuned for some more recipes. All the best Manda.

All She Is has her menu up and I must say that I am now hungry. She will be on her own for this week and has planned to revisit a few of her favourite dishes and then finish off any leftovers as she will be heading to a wedding next week.

Kate has been having a bit of difficulty trying to decide what to have for this week over at Gluten Free Gobsmacked. She has chosen a classic though with coconut shrimp and stuffed bell peppers. Even though she hasn't mentioned it, she appears to have a different theme going on for each night.

Angela's Kitchen just had a weekend full of family, but she is still rarin' to go for this upcoming week. She and her family love coconuts and have a great link to make coconut kefir, I can't wait to try it out. I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one who loves the coconut song, can't beat Kermit's version though!

Gluten Free Sox has tasty week ahead of her. And as a bonus she gets to enjoy a cooking class in which she can enjoy some yummy GF cooking with half the work. Wednesday night sounds like a feast with stuffed chicken (check out the link) and asparagus, and then she seems to be more organized than I could ever dream with her plan to make some extra pizza crusts for the freezer.

Related Sites:

A Foodie's Fall from Grace; Vegan Popsicles with Coconut Milk
Coconut & Lime; some delicious sounding recipes, but they aren't GF, I just like the name of the blog

Mango Avocado Salad - Go Ahead Honey, it's GF

2008-07-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Mango Avocado Salad

2 mangoes

2 avocadoes

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 tsp. EVOO

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Slice the mangoes and avocadoes and toss into a mixing bowl. Chop the cilantro leaves and add in. Juice the lime(s), and add EVOO and sesame seeds. Mix it all together, and voila! A perfect combination of bursting flavours!

Hosted by Cheryl at Gluten Free Goodness. Check it out for thre round up, there are some delicious sounding recipes!

Nori Rolls

2008-07-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ever since going GF, I have probably doubled my sushi intake (which says a lot since I was already addicted to it before). Strangely enough it is sushi that helps keep my stomach calm when recovering from gluten ingestions. Now I have to admit, there have been a few minor incidents where I haven't double checked for sauce in the rolls (this was very upsetting as I loved the vegetable roll, but they kept putting some soy sauce mix in it), but for the most part, as long as I stick to the basic - tuna & salmon sashimi, avocado rolls, tuna roll, salmon roll - and use my own soy sauce - San J's GF one - then I am generally safe, at least at most restaurants.

However, last year I had a japanese exchange student staying with me and she showed me how to roll my own sushi - it was wonderful! I started making all kinds of combinations. But the kicker was when I first saw a RAW nori roll recipe in Raw Rose's book. I tried it out last summer, and they were delicious, not to mention way easier to roll. I was rollin' nori rolls like mad! Then a few months ago, when I bought Real Food, Real World and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen I found a couple more recipes. One used jicama/daikon as rice (this is one of my favourites). But finally last week, I tried Ani's roll. Another yummy nori roll that was made with an almond pate (also good as a "cheese" on top of salads). The only thing is that I couldn't find burdock root. So, I just made them with other vegetables instead. Of course a week later I find out that burdock root is also known as gobo and at this moment, there's lots of it in the asian markets. Now I know, and be prepared for some future info on that little gem of a plant - some interesting tidbits there.

Needless to say, the nori rolls were delicious and there was enough leftover for me to take for lunch the next day, always a plus.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls

Adapted from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo; printed with permission from Ani Phyo

Wrappers

4 nori sheets* (I actually used about 6 or 7 - but maybe I wasn't putting enough filling in)

Filling

1 batch of Ginger Almond Pate (recipe below)

4 cups of green leaf lettuce leaves

3 celery sticks, cut into long strips

2 cups of shredded carrot

cucumber, sliced into strips

2 avocadoes

To fill wrapper, lay out nori sheet, spread 1/4 of the the avocado on the end closest to you. Top with 1/2 cup Ginger Almond Pate, a mini celery sticks and 1/2 cup of shredded carrot. Add a few cucumber slices, then roll. (I did some with just avocado, some with just the pate, and then some with both)

Roll up your nori to the top and serve whole, or cut into 4-6 pieces with a sharp knife. Serve immediately.

*for 100% RAW, make sure the nori wraps are not toasted, but dried

Ginger Almond Pate

from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo; printed with permission from Ani Phyo.

2 Tbsp. grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp. sea salt

2 cups of almonds

4 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup water - as needed

Process ginger, garlic, and salt until mixed well. Add almonds and process while adding lemon juice. Add water only as needed for a hummus-like texture.

Will keep for 3 days in the fridge

ENJOI!

New Labelling Announced by Government of Canada

2008-07-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

Government of Canada Announces Proposed New Labelling Requirements to Protect Health of Canadians

News Release2008-117
July 23, 2008
For immediate release

OTTAWA - The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today announced increased protection for Canadians with food allergies by introducing new labelling requirements for food allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites contained in prepackaged foods. Health Canada also announced the launch of several allergy studies, including a large national study of food allergy prevalence, and two studies on the dietary habits and coping skills of people with celiac disease who are on a gluten-free diet.
"The Government of Canada is taking action to protect the health and wellbeing of Canadians with food allergies and celiac disease," said Minister Clement. "These new proposed labelling requirements will provide Canadians with the information they need to manage their own allergies, and give parents greater assurance about the food they give their children who may have allergies."
The current Food and Drug Regulations require that ingredients of food products be declared on the labels of most prepackaged foods. However, components of certain ingredients are exempted from declaration in the list of ingredients. While the Canadian Food Inspection Agency does have the ability to recall foods exempted from the labelling requirements if a health risk is identified, the strengthened labelling regulations will provide manufacturers with clear labelling rules for allergens to be followed in a systematic and consistent manner, aimed at reducing the number of food recalls and allergic reactions.
The improved regulations would require that manufacturers declare all food allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites on labels of prepackaged foods. The regulations would also detail exactly how these allergens, glutens and sulphites are to be listed on food labels.
Today's announcement is another step the Government of Canada has taken to improve and protect the health and well being of Canadians through strengthened food and product safety standards. Other recent initiatives have included the tabling of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, which will allow the government to order recalls for health and consumer products and better protect Canadians from unsafe products; tightening the definition of "made-in-Canada" and "product-of-Canada" labelling; and showing international leadership in the safe management of chemical substances used in the production of many common household products through the Chemicals Management Plan.
Minister Clement today also called on industry to take proactive steps to improve the labelling of food allergens to allow Canadians with allergies to better identify foods that are safe for themselves and their children.
"Ensuring safe foods for Canadians is a collaborative effort between government, industry and consumers," said Minister Clement. "Until the regulatory amendments proposed by my department are enacted, we are asking industry to be proactive in improving labelling of food allergens and gluten sources to protect the health of Canadians."
"Reading food labels is the first line of defence for food allergic consumers," said Laurie Harada, Executive Director of Anaphylaxis Canada. "Making sure that Canadians can identify foods which could cause an allergic reaction is essential. The proposed regulatory amendments will be an important tool to protect and improve the quality of life for food-allergic consumers."
The food allergy prevalence study initiated by the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network (AllerGen), and co-sponsored by Health Canada, will look to provide accurate data on how many Canadians suffer from food allergies, as well as information on the types of food most commonly known to cause allergies. It is the largest study to date on the prevalence of food allergies in Canada, and is co-led by researchers from McGill and McMaster Universities.
Results from these studies are expected to give Canadian researchers, government officials and the allergic community essential information on the scope and impacts of food allergies in Canada.
The two research studies to be conducted in collaboration with the Canadian Celiac Association will examine how individuals manage gluten-free diets, and the psychological impact that living on a gluten-free diet has on the daily life of an individual with celiac disease. The information this survey will generate will be used to create a better awareness and understanding of gluten-free diets by health care providers, policymakers and the food industry.
It is estimated that up to six per cent of young children and three to four per cent of adults suffer from food allergies. Nearly one per cent of the population is affected by celiac disease, a serious sensitivity to gluten.

Found at Health Canada

Klean Kanteen

2008-07-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I am so excited (sad, but true) because I have finally found a stainless steel water bottle. I have been using 2 plastic water bottles for the past year and have to say that my water has not been all that great. After the BPA scare a few months ago, I stopped using them all together. I almost bought an aluminum water bottle back in May because I thought it was the same as the stainless steel, but I am so glad I didn't. Aluminum is just as bad as the plastic (I should mention that there are certain plastic water bottles that are safe but they should be either a number 5 or 6 - I think...there are mixed messages on this, but a #7 is the worst for leaching chemicals into the water - yum - and that's what most plastic water bottles are). Aluminum itself is toxic, but the coating that they use inside the aluminum bottle is even worse as it is epoxy - a very toxic substance that is similar to BPA (hey...isn't that the same substance that they claimed to have banned from being used in dishes?!).

I will admit, that I still have some reservations about klean kanteen, but short of using glass (which I'm scared I'll break) stainless steel seems like the lesser of the evils. I can give you a review on my bottle in a couple of weeks, let's see how it fares my camping trip. Klean Kanteen bottles are made from #304 stainless steel, the same steel that is used in food processing, dairy, & brewery industries. It is easy to clean, durable (I'll let you know after some test runs), and non-leaching (thus far). The best part is that it is odor free. I use to get so grossed out when my water would have this odd smell to it, and I was one who used alternated bottles daily.

Hopefully this will finally be the answer to my searches.

I've been Tagged!

2008-07-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Melanie over at A Foodie's Fall from Grace has tagged me this weekend, oh my. Well, I guess this means that now I have to actually share somethings about myself instead of thinking that I really should introduce myself. Here goes...

The Rules:

Link to the person who tagged you

Post the rules on the blog

Write six random things about yourself

Tag six people at the end of your post and let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

A little peak at My World:

I work as a Special Education Assistant in the public school systems, specializing with children who have Autism or severe challenging behaviours. I absolutely love what I do. This past year I worked with a wonderful kindergarten girl who has autism (she kept me in great shape trying to keep a few steps ahead of her) and had the pleasure of sharing in her accomplishments. I also got to work with a 6 year old boy (we found a love for running and raced each other around the field at lunch) who had behaviour difficulties and discovered that underneath all that attitude was sweet and loving little boy. However, as much as I love working with children such as these, it is time for me to move on and so I will be returning to university in January 2009 to get my Teaching Certificate - but I still plan on remaining in the special needs field.

My ultimate dream is to own a piece of property that is big enough for me to take in all kinds of animals with no where to go. I would also like to open up a home/school/camp for special needs children.

I love to learn!!! Between the ages of 10 and 14 I actually read the Webster's Dictionary, front to back. It was one of my Christmas presents, along with a globe, and probably a zillion other really cool things, but it was the dictionary and the globe that I was thrilled with - yep, I admit it, I'm a bit of a nerd.

The Great Outdoors...I really don't know what to say about this. Hiking, running, camping...all things that I enjoy, but I have yet to return to any of them since my diagnosis because I am still building my blood levels up. I will be remedying the camping one in the next couple of weeks though.

I am "secretly" addicted to the tv show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I became an avid fan near the end of the first season after seeing it in the tv guide and thinking that it was the orginial movie from 1992 (even though it was really cheesy, I still love to watch it because it was the first movie that my BFF and I went to on our own. We thought it was HUGE deal because we even got to take the bus to the theatre all by ourselves!). I have the first 4 seasons on DVD and all of the soundtracks. In fact, I am in the middle of watching season 3 at the moment and hope that by the time I have finished season 4 I will have added the last 3 seasons to my collection.

And finally, I use to play the piano. I took a bit of a break from playing for many years (personal reasons) but I kind of returned to it this past school year when I discovered that my student with autism loved listening to Beethoven. It was the only way I could take a few minutes to relax and not worry about her terrorizing the rest of the school.

Phew!!! I made it through 6 completely random things about myself - that's much harder than it sounds. Now I have to tag 6 other bloggers, that could be a feat in itself since I don't know that many.

Manda over at Asparagus Thin
Laura at What Grows Here

Cheers,

M-Elle

Menu Swap - July 21

2008-07-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

This week's menu swap is being hosted by Manda over at Asparagus Thin and the ingredient is onions. I love onions. So, head on over to Manda's blog to check out this week's menu lineup!

I am going to make this really short, even for me. I am currently finishing off a University course that has been condensed into 7 days rather than a whole semester and it's killing me. I still have 2 more assignments to do, one of which is due on Tuesday and I have yet to even start it...yikes! But once I'm done I'll be back for about a week and then I'm off to go camping with friends for about a week.

GF Menu - July 21 - 25, 2008

Monday

tomato & avocado sandwich (burning the midnight oil to write a paper)

Tuesday

RAW Chili (this was delicious, and it uses green onion - stay tuned for the recipe)

Wednesday

italian pasta salad (with sauteed white onions)

Thursday

BBQ Chicken (maybe going boating with friends?)

Friday

burger & fries

My lunch, for the next 2 days, at least will be sandwiches. I promise that once my paper is done tomorrow night, I iwll come back and update this with much tastier meals, but at the moment this is the plan.

Cheers!!!

Menu Swap - July 6

2008-07-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

I am going to make this short and sweet because I am pooped! I have only planned my dinners with some breakfasts and snacks for this week since I'm off work for the summer. I do, however, have plans to meet with a bunch of friends on Wednesday for a potluck, and then I'm heading out for some sailing, so that would be another day that I have planned...sort of. I might have to make some changes as the week progresses, but oh well, I'll worry about that if/when it becomes an issue.

This week's GF Menu Swap is being hosted by Gluten Free Goodness and raspberries are her pick of ingredients. Did you know that there are at least 8 different raspberry species? They are very high in fibre and polyphenol antioxidants, not to mention a rich source of vitamin C and manganese, B vitamins (1-3), folic acid, magnesium, copper, and iron. I'm already thinking that I may have to add Raspberry Shortcake as a dessert one night this week, just talking about them is making me crave a handful or two.

GF Menu - July 6 - 12

Sunday
Breakfast - Trifle-to-go (RAW)
Snack - Watermelon Salsa with corn chips
Dinner - Sashimi & Avocado roll with GF Tamari

Monday
Dinner - Alfredo Zucchini with Peas & Peppers (RAW)

Tuesday
Breakfast - Avo-Apple Pudding with hemp & flax seeds (RAW)
Dinner - Nori Wraps with Ginger Almond Sauce (Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo)

Wednesday - Potluck/Sailing
Potluck - Crispy Pecan Chicken Fingers (Best GF Family Cookbook by Donna Washburn & Heather Butt)
Watermelon Salsa with GF Pita Chips
*not too sure what else I'm going to take with me to have on hand

Thursday
Dinner - Confetti Salad (Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo)

Friday
Dinner - Wakame Hemp Power Salad (Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo)

Saturday
I'll have to play this day by ear as I'll be baking up a storm.

Don't forget to check out Gluten Free Goodness for more recipe ideas, that's where I'll be later tonight!

Happy Sunny Days to all!!!

Let the BBQ Begin!

2008-07-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things is a BBQ, and it's even better when it's a GF Potluck BBQ!!! So many different tasty treats to eat! Kate over at Gluten Free Gobsmacked is hosting a Virtual BBQ and to make it a little more challenging, we picked a letter of the alphabet to use when making our dish. I ended up with the letter W and planned on trying a bunch of different things with watercess to take but that was big flop. NO ONE had watercress anywhere (I kind of feel bad for my fellow Menu Swap bloggers who used watercress in this past week's menu when I didn't). I'm still searching and as soon as I find some watercress I'm grabbing it up so that I can eat it up. However, it all worked out as I knew it would. I chose a well-loved favourite - WATERMELON.

Last weekend, when it was super hot, I was dreaming of fresh watermelon. After searching on the web, I found a some really great ideas, but only one sounded really good!

Watermelon Salsa - oh yeah!

I think what I really loved about this recipe was that it is very versatile. It can be eaten with corn chips or rice chips, used as a BBQ sauce on chicken, or used in as a salad dressing (this is the one that appeals to me the most). I made the salsa last night (with my lovely mom's help) and left it to chill over night. Then I doctored it up in the morning and got it all ready to serve (this was perfect timing as my BFF's mom was hosting a baby shower for her, so I took it with me to share). I was pleasantly surprised at how great this tasted. There is quite a combination of the different tastes - sweet, sour, & spicy (& salty if you put it on corn chips/rice crackers).

So here is the water melon salsa, bon appetit!

WATERMELON SALSA
recipe found at Eating Well, with slight changes to mearsurements

7 cups watermelon, chopped/cubed
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 hot pepper, finely chopped (give or take depending on how hot you like it)
1/2 a large red onion, chopped
1 1/2 limes, juiced
(1/2 cup Smirnoff Ice - or a tart GF alcohol) **
Salt to taste

chop the first 4 ingredients into small chunks and mix together in a large bowl. Add the lime juice (and alcohol if using) and salt. Mix together, cover, and then chill. This can either be chilled over night or for an hour or two, but I recommend a taste test at least a couple of hours before serving to make sure that it's not too spicy, fruity, or tart. This will be watery, but it's perfect for marinating. This way you don't have to worry about stirring it up every so often.

**If adding alcohol, then 1/2 the amount of lime juice. Note, Smirnoff Ice is GF in Canada, but I have heard that it is not GF in the States. Plain Vodka would probably work just as well with extra lime juice.

I didn't put any Smirnoff in my salsa for today simply because I didn't feel that it was appropriate for a baby shower, but I will definitely be making it with Smirnoff later this week.

Also, check out this Watermelon BBQ Sauce recipe as well, just make sure that all ingredients are GF.

Happy Summer BBQing!

Garlic Bread (with great Ravioli)

2008-07-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, tonight I decided to get a little crazy and go full out for dinner. As soon as Kate over at GF Gobsmacked posted her GF Shrimp Ravioli with Lemon-Pepper Pasta recipe I knew that I had to make it, and soon because it was exactly what I was looking for. I have been dying for a really good pasta dish for the past year now - one can only handle so much spaghetti. I had put the ravioli down for Friday's dinner, but I jumped a day since today was cooler and I won't be home for this upcoming weekend. Now I have lots of leftovers!

Now, in my opinion, you can't have a full fledge pasta dish without garlic bread. But the problem is that I have always been the one who buys the frozen garlic bread and heats it up in the oven (I am so guilty of never really going the extra mile to make my food pre-CD) or, even worse, I bought the pre-made garlic spreads! Of course, I don't do that anymore because I have no idea what is in those spreads and most importantly, I have discovered the joys of cooking/baking. So, aside from the few times I've made a roast chicken or turkey, I really haven't out into making my own full fledged meals. My appetite tends to be small when it comes to carbohydrates, but like I said before, I have been dying for a really good pasta dish with all the fixings.

WOW!!! This whole meal was beyond my wildest dreams. The garlic bread was the perfect added touch to what I've been missing and the best part was that it was EASY! I used Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread/Pizza mix, which was good (I would prefer to make my own french bread next time - I think that I am going to venture out and try creating my own recipe and see how it goes), but I can't complain since that was probably the hardest part of the whole garlic bread recipe. I looked at a few different garlic spread recipes online and took the basics to create my own spread - butter, garlic, and parsley -

and ta-da!

GARLIC BREAD

1 loaf of Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread mix

or favourite GF Bread

1/2 cup of Butter

3-4 cloves of Garlic

1/4 cup of Parsley

(1/4-1/2 tsp. of salt)

Make the bread mix according to the directions.

Just before ready to serve, mix butter, garlic, parsley, and salt (if the butter is unsalted, use 1/2 tsp. or if it is salted only use up to 1/4 of tsp.) together and then spread on sliced bread.

NOTE: I baked my bread in a regular loaf pan because that's all I have, thus I chose to slice my bread individually. You can also slice the bread right down the center and then spread it with the mix and cut up after it's been cooked.

Bake in oven however you like it - for crispy bread broil the bread until it is to your liking and for softer bread, slice and wrap in foil then bake it in the oven for about 10 minutes (I think).

I still have some leftover bread and garlic spread left, so I'm going to slice it and spread it with the garlic mix, then freeze so that I have garlic bread ready to go next time around.

This goes great with Gluten Free Gobsmacked's GF Shrimp Ravioli with Lemon-Pepper Pasta and aside from being time consuming (everything usually is with me and my perfecionist complex, not to mention my lack of organization today), it is really easy to make. I didn't use the sauce though - not too sure what went wrong there - but it was great mixed in with Classico's Grilled Portabello pasta sauce. I'm excited to try this again now that I know what I'm doing.

I should also note that my mom is currently stealing of some of my leftover pasta as I write this and doesn't realize that I can see her!

Menu Swap - June 29

2008-06-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

watercress

Finally I am free to relax and sleep in...sort of. At least I don't have to get up for work again until September. I spent the weekend taking it easy on the couch reading and watching movies (I even managed to do some of my course readings too). Sadly though, I was unable to sleep in past 6am - yuck! But I really can't complain since the weather is beautiful and it's nice to be up before everyone else to enjoy the birds singing, and I really mean that since there's a bird nest in the drainpipe of my garage.

I don't have too many plans for this week except trying to find something to "take" to a virtual BBQ, which is why I chose watercress for this weeks ingredient. By the time I read the blog at Gluten Free Gobsmacked most of the good letters were already taken, so I figured that I would challenge myself more than necessary and take the letter W. Hmmm, what to make with the letter W? I thought watercress would be nice and it's really good for you. I had no idea that watercress is full of iron and calcium. In fact, it has more iron than they claim spinach has and more calcium than milk (good to know since I have never liked milk and remember my mom bribing me to drink it when I was a kid). Watercress is also an excellent source of Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant and promotes cardiovascular health - something that I should be getting more of since I can be an active person. Vitamins A (helps the body resist infection and repairs and maintains both red & white blood cells) and C (another important antioxidant that we're all familiar with) are found in this aquatic vegetable, as are folic acid, protein, lysine, arginine, potassium, and beta-carotene. Watercress is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant that also happens to be one of the oldest leaf vegetables consumed by humans and is a member of the cabbage family. I love learning about different foods and interesting facts!!!

I have to be honest though, this is my first time actively buying watercress. I found a website that has a bunch of recipes with watercress and they sounded good, so I have taken a few of them and incorporated them into my menu for the week plus I'll be adding it into my salad. Now I know that a few other bloggers had a hard time finding watercress and I had a hard time myself, but I'm not surprised. I'm planning on heading to my local farmers market tomorrow morning and I'm sure they'll have some. Otherwise I will have to take a quick detour to the IGA who usually has some. This is one reason why I've arranged for my watercress recipes to be later on in the week. The other one being that I didn't actually get my butt out the door for groceries until around 10pm tonight.

All right, let the menu begin!

GF Menu Swap - June 30 - July 5
Monday
Breakfast - apples, strawberries, cherries
Lunch - bagel with cream cheese & veggies
Dinner - Lime Chicken Tacos

Tuesday
Breakfast - fruit salad
Lunch - leftover lime chicken tacos
Dinner - Watercress & Mandarin Orange Salad (found under recipes)

Wednesday
Breakfast - fresh fruit & watercress cheese scones
Lunch - caesar salad
Dinner - RAW Chili (I still have yet to actually make this!!!)

Thursday
Breakfast - fresh fruit & watercress cheese scones
Lunch - RAW Chili on a bed of lettuce
Dinner - salmon salad

Friday
Breakfast - fresh fruit & watercress cheese scones
Lunch - sandwich
Dinner - Shrimp Ravioli

Saturday
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Lunch - Watercress Tabouleh (I'm going to modify this so that it's GF - stay tuned)
Dinner - burgers with homemade GF bread

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING SITES FOR THEIR DELICOUS MENUS TOO!!!

Book of Yum's Seamaiden has a great variety of themes planned for this week. Friday's Indian Fusion recipe of watercress with chickpeas is giving me some ideas. I wish her and her DH all the best in their upcoming move.

Fresh Ginger has a fun week ahead that sounds like it will be filled lots of fresh herbs. Her shrimp ceviche sounds good. I wish her all the best on her trip North for the Fourth.

Manda over at Asparagus Thin has reminded me that cooking can be very relaxing, something that I've forgotten this past month. She also has some great sounding dishes lined up this week, such as spaghetti salad and jezebel chili. I would also like to send her and her grandmother all the best.

Gluten Free Sox Fan has found a recipe for grilled chicken & watercress that she's hoping to try out this week. I hope that it tastes as good as it sounds!

Mary Frances' Gluten Free [Cooking School] has found a cookbook published by her high school that she is going to use with some minor changes. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Goodness is sticking to the basics this week and it looks like she is going to have a great harvest to help her out too! Congratulations on your 30 days grain free, your celebration dinner sounds wonderful!

Esther is very busy with the baby right now, but she has still found time to post her menu. She is planning to make potato and chickpea curry this week in her Lilac Kitchen with the addition of spinach.

Rachel of All She Is makes her debut in this weeks Menu Swap with a "simple and basic" menu that won't heat the house up too much - I am with you on that! Welcome to the mix Rachel!!!

Happy Canada Day and 4th of July!!!

Quick Addendum

2008-06-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

I finally found the Creamy Cilantro Dressing recipe that I love. It's at Gluten Free [Cooking School]. This a great dressing/spread that is quick and easy to make. I also found some other recipes that I'm hoping to try this summer.

Also, I had mentioned that I made Falafels but never gave the link of where I got the recipe - I am so sorry Melanie at A Foodie's Fall from Grace! You can find the recipe there along with some other great recipe and wonderful information.

Please accept my apologies for this oversight, and thank you for sharing your delicious recipes!!! I have made the necessary adjustments to the original posting as well.

Menu Swap - June 23

2008-06-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

This is my last week of work, and even though I love my job and the kids that I work with, I am incredibly excited for the school year to come to an end. I will, for the first time in a long time, be taking a summer break that I will be able to enjoy. Last summer was my first summer after my diagnosis, but I spent it learning all about CD, how to bake GF, and searching for places that carried GF products. Granted, I only have one trip planned for this summer and will also be spending a couple of weeks in an Autism course, but I also plan on going hiking at least once a week (hopefully!). 5 days and counting.

Today I made some falafels and a Creamy Cilantro Dressing, but I have no idea where I found the dressing recipe, so if it sounds familiar, please let me know so that I can give credit where it is due. I'm also planning on making GF Gobsmacked's sandwich wrap bread so that I can enjoy a nice falafel wrap - I think it would be similar to a GF Donair?

This weeks Menu Swap is being hosted by Gluten Free Sox, who has a lovely blog and some yummy sounding recipes. She has chosen oregano for this week's ingredient as she has oodles of it in her herb garden. Check out her menu for this week and keep a watch for her Pork Ribs.

GF Menu Swap - June 22 - 28

Sunday
Breakfast - PB & J Toast
Lunch - leftover shrimp & rice
Dinner - Peanut Stir fry with Coconut Rice

Monday
Breakfast - fruit salad and choco chip muffin (meeting)
Snack - Lara Bar
Lunch - Peanut Stir fry with Rice (leftover)
Dinner - gingered basa & salad

Tuesday (Barnet Beach with the whole school)
Breakfast - apple juice & fruit salad
Snack - Lara Bar
Lunch - Falafel Donair (homemade falafels, cilantro dressing wrapped up)
Dinner - RAW Chili

Wednesday
Breakfast - fruit salad
Snack - toast
Lunch - RAW Chili
Dinner - Mandarin Chicken Salad

Thursday (Last Day of School)
Breakfast - fruit
Snack - Lara Bar
Lunch - not too sure - staff are to go out, but the restaurant was hesitant about accomodating me and my GF needs
Dinner - Mandarin Chicken Salad

Friday (Admin Day)
Breakfast - muffin/bagel/donut - Staff Breakfast and Goodbyes
Lunch - salad
Dinner - Pizza Party with myself, the dogs, & the HD Television

Saturday
Breakfast - GF Cereal with fruit
Lunch - tomato & avocado sandwich
Dinner - BBQ with friends (?)

I am hoping to take the weekend off (like I can really do that) and spend it catching up on all of the movies that I've missed. Then I'll be all set to do the readings I have yet to do for my Autism Course later in July (yeah right, who am I kidding, I'll probably be busy in the kitchen or out catching up with my friends!).

Be ready for the following week, I'm hosting the next Menu Swap and plan on trying out a bunch of recipes that start with the letter 'W' so I can be all ready for Kate's GF BBQ.

Sour Cherry Fudge

2008-06-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

*Prepare Macadamia Nut Yoghurt at least 3 days before time!!!

SOUR CHERRY FUDGE
2 cups of Pecans
1 cup of Dates, soaked & pitted
½ cup of fresh Coconut Mylk
½ cup of Macadamia Nut Yoghurt (recipe below)
6 Tbsp. of RAW Carob
4 Tbsp. of RAW Honey
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
½ cup of cherries

Prepare your juicer with a blank screen. Drain the pecans and dates and put through the juicer. Add the cocconut mylk, half of the macadamia nut yoghurt along with the carob, vanilla, and honey to the pecan/date mixture. Mix by hand. Spread mixture onto a serving platter. Leave the fudge about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut the cherries up into small pieces. Mix the rest of the macadamia nut yoghurt with the cherries. Use as icing and put on top of fudge. Place in the freezer and let the topping get hard. Score with a knife into small squares before serving.

MACADAMIA NUT YOGHURT

1 cup of macadamia nuts

Soak the macadamia nuts overnight in filtered water.

Drain nugts. Put in a food processor with 2 cups of filtered water. Blend until smooth. Place in shallow container and cover with cheesecloth. Leave on the counter in a warm dry place for 24 to 36 hours. The solid will separate from the liquid and float on top. Carefully take a spoon and skim the yoghurt off and place in a separate container. Discard liquid. Store in fridge.

*These recipes are from handouts given to my mom in a Living Foods Workshop back in 2002

Birthday Surprises!

2008-06-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is a picture that I found on the next and I think looks awesome, so since I can't make one look like this yet, I figured I'd post it to share!

This past week was my birthday, and strangely enough, it was also my week at work to tidy the staff room and bring a treat in for everyone. I decided that since it was my birthday, I would bake a cake (or 2) and share them with everyone. I also took in some pita bread with home-made hummus and store bought tzatziki. Thankfully, I wasn't relying on the cakes because I could not find a single GF icing in any stores near me. I know that it's really easy to make icing/frosting, but by that time I was exhausted and didn't want to even look at my kitchen anymore. So I ended up putting the pita and dips out on the Wednesday, and then putting the cakes out on the Thursday, which happened to be my actual birthday anyway.

I chose to make both a white cake and a chocolate cake, one from scratch and the other a box mix. The white cake recipe came from Donna Washburn & Heather Butt's book, 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes. It tasted delicious, but I found it really heavy even after I sifted the flours 2x, according to the recipe. I have to say that I have yet to find a recipe that uses just rice flours that I enjoy, but I thought that I'd give it a try. I will definitely make it again, but I think that I'm going to have to experiment with it. In all honesty I wish that I had stuck with my original plan of making Ginger Lemon Girls Everyday Carrot Cake. She has it with a chocolate cake recipe that I am also going to make soon, but I made the Carrot Cake a couple of weeks ago for dinner at my Dad's house and it was delicious. I thought it tasted even better the next day though - I think that I might have used too much liquid because it was quite "glutinous" as my brother put it, but delicious none the less. For the icing on my white birthday cake I stole the recipe from the icing sugar bag. It wasn't my favourite either, but I've never really been one for icing, hence the reason for trying to buy some rather than make my own. Actually, it was quite funny because after cutting the cake up and serving it, I tried a piece and was grossed out by the icing, but I think that it was because it was an end piece and had more icing than necessary. Later on the principle came in and snagged a piece, and the look on his face was priceless!!! I think that it was partly a joke, but I also think that it was because of the icing. When he saw my name up for treat day, he knew instantly that it was GF and harassed me, but it was all good.

White Icing
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter

cream together until smooth. Then add:

2 tsp. water
milk
vanilla

I found that the combo of milk and water helped to take away some of the sweetness, so I actually added more. And I rarely measure vanilla out because I love the taste.

Note: Ginger Lemon Girl has just posted a recipe for a chocolate fudge glaze that uses coconut milk and I think that that would be perfect in this recipe - I'm going to have to try it out.

Now for the best - the Chocolate Cake. Sadly, I didn't actually make this cake from scratch. I ended up buying one of Glutino's box mixes. I really wanted to make Ginger Lemon Girls Everyday Chocolate Cake (she has it posted with her carrot cake recipe), but because of a shortage of sorghum flour out my way, I have to be very picky on when I use it and right now my bread is a priority. But, I am happy to say that I managed to find some sorghum and plan on making the cake soon (I'll be heading to a dinner theatre club next weekend and they said that I could talk to the chef about bringing in a dessert for my group, so we'll see). However, the cake mix was a big hit with all of the staff. And even better was how easy the frosting was to make. I had completely forgotten that I had signed out a GF cookbook from the library with zillions of dessert recipes, so I managed to find the recipe in there. It was chocolate chips and butter melted together, it was delicious on this cake!!! I even used the leftovers to drizzle on top of the white cake. I overheard one of the teachers telling anyone who walked into the staffroom to try the chocolate cake because it was "to die for". So, I definitely recommend Glutino cake mixes when in a jam (I still prefer to put my own together, but you gotta do what you gotta do). I took pity on on of my students and shared the cake with them because I know that they love chocolate cake.

Well, those were 2 delicious surprises for myself, but to top it all off was dinner out with my mom. We went to the Cactus Club Cafe in White Rock/Surrey. I had heard a while ago that they were great when it came down to allergies, but I never could have imagined that it was this great. Right from the start I told them that I had Celiac Disease and in turn a liason between customers and the kitchen came out with the allergy book to talk to me. He was great!!! For the first time I was able to eat something other than salad AND I could have fries!!! I chose to have the Burger (sans the bun of course) with french fries. The liason said that he would go and talk to the kitchen staff and make sure that everything was prepared in an allergen free zone and that a separate frier was used for my fries. My mom chose to order the caesar salad with grilled salmon and no croutons. Then it was the same liason who brought us our food. My meal was delicious and my mom said that her salmon was also good. I am happy to say that this is the first time that I really enjoyed a meal out and didn't get sick later. I even ordered a side of fries to go, they were so good. I will definitely be returning to that restaurant!

It is more than safe to say that I survived my birthday GF and enjoyed myself - Phwew!

Menu Swap - June 15

2008-06-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

This weeks Menu Swap is being hosted by GF Mommy who has just posted a recipe for cherry clafouti. She has chosen cherries for her ingredient - yum! I'm going to have to stop at the farm market on my way home tomorrow to see if I can find some and add them to breakfast, a cherry fruit salad sounds delicous!

My menu for this week is all about survival - 2 weeks and counting until I can officially relax. This upcoming week is full of transition outings and meetings, and possibly a field trip to the aquarium. I also have to be on-call for back up at work as 2 of the other EA's are off due to injuries - not good. Oh well, in all honesty it's these kinds of weeks that I thrive on. I love the adrenaline rush and the racing around much better than the constant paper work. This will keep my mind off the fact that I'll be returning to the sub list in September, a necessary evil so that I can return to school to get my teaching certificate - yeah! I'm almost there, only another year and a half.

I'm back on my salad fix because I haven't had much of one in the last few weeks and amazingly enough I'm missing them, so I've made sure that I have at least one salad a day.

GF Menu Swap - June 15 - 21

Sunday
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Lunch -romaine lettuce with guacamole
Dinner - out with a friend for "dinner and a movie"

Monday
Breakfast - apple sauce with blueberries and strawberries
Snack - Glutino breakfast bar
Lunch -leftovers or salad
Dinner - vegetable stir-fry

Tuesday
Breakfast - applesauce with fresh fruit
Snack - PB&J toast
Lunch - leftover cold stir-fry over a bed of greens
Dinner - mandarin chicken salad

Wednesday
Breakfast - applesauce with flax & hemp seed mix
Snack - Lemon Larabar
Lunch - mandarin chicken salad
Dinner - turkey marinara over pasta

Thursday
Breakfast - fresh fruit & tea
Snack - Lemon Larabar
Lunch - vegetable sandwich wrap
Dinner - baked basa fillet with fresh dill and a salad

Friday
Breakfast - fresh fruit
Snack - PB&J toast
Lunch - basa and salad
Dinner - whatever is leftover and still edible

Saturday
Breakfast - CCA Pancake Breakfast (10 - 12)
Lunch - Quinoa Tabouli
Dinner - The Giggle Dam Dinner Theatre

Have a great week!

Menu Swap - June 8

2008-06-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have decided to stop saying that I'm going to get on here to post the information from my May conference because it's just not happening. I guess I should have known considering that May/June are always crazy months for me. I work as an Educational Assistant in the public school system, and this year I have wonderful kindergarten student who has low functioning autism. Every school year I seem to block out the fact that the last 2 months are spent on field trips, IEP meetings, and prepping for the following year & the EA that will be taking over. This year is probably the worst when it comes things to do because I also have to add my own personal life chaos into the mess - not only have I had to worry about birhtdays (mine and my mom's), but I also went to the Canadian Celiac Conference and I have been dogsitting off and on, constantly moving between my house, their house, and a hotel.

I have to admit that I don't really have a menu set up for this week, I'm actually going to create one off the top of my head because the thought of sitting down and really planning something is not appealing to me at the moment and if I wait until tomorrow, I'll totally miss the line up. This is probably a good thing because I'm going to be forced to use up what I know I have on hand, such as frozen chicken, soup, and of course, fruits and veggies. My lunches this week are also going to be a little bit larger than usual because the kindergartens are going to swimming lessons everyday this week, and we're walking there and back (well, my student and I will walk there, but I fully plan on driving her back) AND I will be in the pool with my little one - not that hard a feat for me since I love swimming.

Oh, I'm just remembering that my mom came back from a RAW Retreat last weekend with some delicious recipes, so maybe I'll be able to sneak in on some of those meals too - yum! She made this delicous RAW beet soup and beanless hummus last week, so I wonder what she'll make this week. Unfortunately, I stupidly left the recipe book at work on Friday, so my mom is "patiently" waiting to make some RAW Brownies with her bag of RAW cacao [ca-COW]. I couldn't resist taking the recipe in since I had just shared the hummus with everyone at work the previous day and they were all in love with it. I'll post the link to the recipe in my menu just below so that you can take a look if you're interested. I also recommend checking out the rest of the site, it's RAW ROSE and she has some very simple to make recipes in her book.

GF Menu Swap - June 8 - 14
Sunday
Breakfast: warm butternut squash soup (I have been hit with a cold and wanted something hot)
Lunch: PB&J Toast (only because I was taking the dogs out) and a bowl of RAW Beet soup upon my return
Dinner: more butternut squash soup

Monday
Breakfast: fresh cantaloupe, RAW Apple Pie, PB&J toast
Snack: Mighty Tasty MuffinLunch: RAW Pizza with RAW Can't Beet that Salad
Snack: fresh red & yellow peppers with RAW hummus
Dinner: baked herb chicken with green salad

Tuesday - My Treat Day at work
Breakfast: RAW Apple Pie
Snack: Mediterranean Spread - tzatziki & hummus with pita bread
Lunch: chicken salad
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: RAW nori rolls

Wednesday
Breakfast: fresh fruit
Snack: muffin
Lunch: leftover nori rolls
Snack: romaine lettuce with Holy Moly Guacamole!
Dinner: RAW Alfredo Zucchini with peas & peppers

Thursday - Happy Birthday!
Breakfast: RAW Cacao Fruit Fondue
Snack: Birthday Cupcakes - bonus treat for those at work!
Lunch: turkey sandwich
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: Birthday dinner with my mom

Friday - TGIF!
Breakfast: fresh fruit
Snack: Larabar - if I'm not full from previous night's dinner
Lunch: turkey sandwich if there are no leftovers
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: RAW Veggie Chili

Saturday
Breakfast: fruit salad
Lunch: sandwich & green salad
Dinner: Cactus Club to celebrate my birthday with friends

Well, I conferred with my mom about her RAW plans for the week and it looks like I'm going to go with most of that, but if the weather continues on it's wet path, than I may be living off of hot soup to stay warm and battle my mini cold. I feel a little sorry for my co-workers this week because I am probably going to wreak of garlic if this cold doesn't pass soon.

Manda over at Asparagus Thin is hosting this week's swap and her ingredient is eggs. I have nothing on my menu with eggs (except home-made bread and cupcakes) because eggs and I have a love-hate relationship. It is very rare that I enjoy eating eggs, but there have been the odd occassions when I have had a craving and after "satisfying" said craving, I end up feeling nauseous for the rest of the day, so it's best if I just use eggs for baking purposes only. However, on that note, I look forward to seeing what Manda has planned for this week because she has some great recipes that I can't wait to try out this summer!!!

Menu Swap - June 1

2008-06-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm going to make this short and sweet as I am really tired and functioning on Brain Overload! This week's GF Menu Swap is being hosted by Gluten Free Mommy and her ingredient is cabbage. Not only is cabbage is delicous, but it is also really good for us (I'll have to get back to you on this, the only thing that comes to mind is its detoxifying effects)! My favourite recipes for cabbage are cabbage rolls and coleslaw salad.

My menu will probably be changed about a zillion times (I've already had 2 unexpected changes) this week, but I'll let you know as I go.

My Menu for June 1 - 7

Sunday
Lunch: leftover chicken souvlaki & rice pilaf
Dinner: Family Dinner at my Dad's

Monday
Lunch: cucumber sandwich on Seedy Brown Bread (The Best GF Family Cookbook)
Dinner: caesar salad

Tuesday
Lunch: quinoa tabouli on a bed of greens
Dinner: lemon garlic chicken with lemon rice pilaf (The Best GF Family Cookbook)

Wednesday
Lunch: sandwich wrap (a special day spent at Playland with the kids)
Dinner: leftovers (who wants to cook after this long day of fun?!)

Thursday
Lunch: green salad
Dinner: quinoa pilaf

Friday
Lunch: sandwich wrap & veggies
Dinner: broiled salmon with a green salad

Saturday
Lunch: sandwich (Sport's Day at work - I'll be running around while the kids eat hot dogs)
Dinner: salad

Having typed this up, I'm beginning to think that I choose one book (unintentionally) and make it my book of the week or something...interesting idea. Anyways, this is only the first of 4 crazy weeks...gotta love when school wraps up!

"Soups On!"

2008-05-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

At EAT! Vancouver last weekend, I discovered that Happy Planet now has their own line of soups - and they're GLUTEN FREE! I should clarify that, there are a number of them that are GF, but 1 or 2 aren't so we still have to make sure that we read the labels. The Armenian Red Lentil soup is my favourite (at the moment). Last night I had the Tuscan Tomato Soup (too lazy to make my salmon and salad). It wasn't bad, but tasted more like a pasta sauce to me rather than a soup. So, I decided to add some brown rice fusilli pasta. My plan was to eat it like pasta, but I didn't make enough and ended up eating it like a soup, but it was delicious! I figured that I'd share it because we're always looking for quick and easy meals.

Tuscan Tomato Soup with fusilli

I pkg. Happy Planet Tuscan Tomato Soup
1 1/2 cups fusilli rice pasta
cheddar cheese or non-dairy cheese substitute
parsley for garnish

Cook the fusilli according to the package. Heat up soup. Toss cheddar cheese in with drained and rinsed pasta, mix it up. Then toss cheesy pasta into soup and serve. If you want to go all out, garnish with some parsley.

Well, that's my "cheesy" post for today, but I'll be back! Oh-oh! I just checked their website, and apparently the soups are only available in BC, but as of September 2008 they will be available internationally. Also, 4 of the 6 are organic...even better!!!

Menu Swap - May 25

2008-05-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Phew! The crazy part of May has finally passed, and I now have a reprieve…at least until June. Thankfully, I am now back at home with 2 crazy dogs rather than 3, and I have my own bed to sleep in (once my dogs decide to give it back to me).

I spent this past weekend working down at EAT! Vancouver in BC Place Stadium. Thanks to GF Gobsmacked’s sandwich wraps (I can’t get over how wonderful these are) I was able to enjoy a delicious lunch that I could eat while I worked. Contrary to what my brother believes (much to my delight) there were quite a few things that I was able to sample this weekend (of course I fully accepted responsibility for any possible cross-contamination). There were quite a few stands serving East Indian cuisine that was gluten free, and Happy Planet was there serving both their juice/smoothies and SOUP! From what I saw all but one were GF and delicious. My favourite was the Armenian Red Lentil – delish! I even found 2 different stands serving GF Beer and brought the issue of celiac disease to a vodka vendor who had no idea if his product was GF, but promised that he would look into it – he said that he never even thought of any grain intolerances and picked my brain for a little while. I even had the pleasure of meeting a local chef who gave me his email address so that I could contact him with info on CD. He said that he would love to learn more about it so that he can make his restaurant safe for celiac customers. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and even though there was A LOT that I couldn’t eat, I really didn’t mind. I just made sure that I had a variety of my own GF food to enjoy instead. I also decided that I should create my own chili so that next time I can join in the chili competition festivities instead of working my tale off as runner/clean-up crew! But we’ll see.

This weeks Menu Swap is being hosted by Lilac Kitchen and she has chosen tomatoes for our ingredient. Don’t forget to head over to her blog to find some other great menus for this week and to learn some amazing facts about tomatoes - thank you for acknowleding that it is a fruit!

When I was first diagnosed with CD, I spent the first 6 months eliminating all common allergens in hopes of getting my stomach back to normal and tomatoes was one of those foods. Since that time I’ve discovered that tomatoes aren’t really one of my favourite foods. I do still eat them, but they’re like bananas to me – a necessary evil! I do enjoy tomatoes in my guacamole and in a sandwich – both with lots of avocado and some tomato. I also enjoy greek salad, but mainly for the cucumber, and of course I love chips and salsa. So I have decided to take all of these and enjoy them this week (I do the same thing with bananas, eat them all in one week so that I can enjoy many other weeks without them haunting my dreams). On that note, I should probably point out that I prefer tomatoes in their oringinal state – RAW. I believe that they are better for you and less acidic than when they are cooked.

Menu for May 25 - 31

Sunday
Breakfast: Pine-apple sauce (recipe to follow in the next couple of days - I PROMISE!)
Snack: blueberry buckwheat loaf (found in Washburn and Butt’s 125 Gluten Free Recipes)
Lunch: turkey sandwich wrap
Dinner: chips & salsa

Monday
Breakfast: fruit & fresh juice
Snack: Glutino apple-cinnamon bar
Lunch: turkey sandwich wrap
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: Quinoa Tabouli (never got a chance to make this last week)

Yea! Grocery shopping will finally be done!

Tuesday
Breakfast: home-made apple sauce
Snack: blueberry buckwheat loaf (found in Washburn and Butt’s 125 Gluten Free Recipes)
Lunch: quinoa tabouli with veggies & dip
Snack: pita bread with tzatziki
Dinner: chicken souvlaki (Washburn & Butt’s The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook) & greek salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: home-made apple sauce
Snack: blueberry buckwheat loaf (found in Washburn and Butt’s 125 Best Gluten Free Recipes)
Lunch: avocado & salad
Snack: pita bread with tzatziki
Dinner: cheeseburger salad

Thursday
Breakfast: home-made apple sauce
Snack: kinnikinnick hot cross bun
Lunch: chicken souvlaki salad
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: broiled salmon with green salad

Friday
Breakfast: whatever fruit is left for the week
Snack: donut
Lunch: salmon salad
Snack: romaine lettuce leaves with Holy Moly Guacamole!
Dinner: Girls Night out for Sex and the City movie premiere

Saturday
Lunch: shrimp caesar salad
Snack: veggies & dip
Dinner: Ian’s chicken nuggets & sweet potato fries

Before I sign off, I have to apologize for my lack of postings these past couple of weeks. I have a very long list of things that I really want to share (in particular what I learned at my Celiac Conference), but I just haven’t had the time or energy. Hopefully, that will all change this week, or for sure next weekend.

Cheers,
M-Elle

Menu Swap - May 19

2008-05-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we are already half way through May! At least the sun has finally arrived and I can toss my sweaters back into my closet. I can also relax for an extra day since it's the Victoria Day long weekend, but once again I will be spending the week house/dog sitting for friends, so once again, my menu for this week is not too difficult so that I can prepare things at home for the week and not have to worry about too much cross-contamination while I'm "away". The nice part is that I get to sleep in a bit and not worry about too much traffic - beats leaving 3 hours early so that I can skip the bridge traffic.

Since the sun has decided to grace us with its appearance and I will be going on a day long (but it will probably feel like 5 days) camping trip with a bunch of kindergarten students, I have decided to stick with easy to eat lunches, such as sandwiches. A while back I tried making a sandwich wrap bread recipe but something went wrong (I probably didn't spread it out enough) and so I haven't tried it again. However, Kate over at Gluten Free Gobsmacked has re-vamped her original recipe and it sounded so good that I decided to try once again and this time with success. I was trying to save the bread for tomorrow, but I simply couldn't resist placing my mini salad in it and wrapping it up, and I am so glad that I did because it was delicious and easy to wrap. I think that I will be making another batch tomorrow night so that I can guarantee a week's supply (or at least enough to get me to Tuesday's lunch). I plan on making my filling, wrapping it in the bread and then tightly wrapping the sandwich wrap in some wax paper, followed by saran wrap. Hopefully this will make it easy to eat while I'm on the go with a zillion 5-6 year olds. I can't wait!

Well, now that I've done my usual babbling, I should probably get on with this week's menu. As I said, this is my first week hosting the GF Menu Swap that Gluten Free Mommy started up, and my ingredient for the week is Avocado. Many of my friends think that I'm crazy because of my love for avocadoes. I honestly can't get enough of them, so on top of the excitement to have my sandwich wraps, I am really excited to have an excuse to go avocado crazy. Even now, full from my late night dinner wrap, I am drooling at the thought of another wrap but with avocado and sprouts, nice crisp lettuce, more avocado, fresh cucumber, did I mention the avocado? I am well known for lathering my sandwiches with avocado - it's a good thing that avocado is really good for us.

Avocado, aka alligator pear, is believed to have been cultivated back around 750 BCE. The trees are native to Mexico, as well as Central and South America. It is a part of the flowering plant family Lauraceae and is classified as a fruit because it has a seed (pit). One whole, medium sized avocado contains approximately 21 grams of fat, which is mainly monosaturated (a good fat). They contain 60% more potassium than bananas and are also high in B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K and have a high mineral content that is good for our skin and hair (every time I hear this I think about an episode of Ellen from last month in which one of her guests had some avocado goop that she spread all over her hair - the Green Haired Monster!). I also discovered that avocadoes have the hightest fibre content of all fruits - this is really good for those of us either with CD or simply lacking in fibre. In the RAW Living world, avocadoes are very important and consumed on a regular daily basis for the above reasons - they make great cake icings!

During my travels on the internet, I found some notes on how to grow an avocado plant in the house. Save the pit from the avocado, wash it and either plant it in a large pot with soil or suspend the pit, with toothpicks embedded in the sides, pointed side up in a glass and fill the glass with water until the bottom quarter of the pit is covered. This will allow the pit to crack and absorb water so that it can germinate, and then sprout; all within about 4-6 weeks. Once the roots and stem become visible, you can plant the pit in a pot with soil.

Ok, that's my mini "science" lesson, now onto the food!

Menu for May 19 - 24

Monday
Lunch: quinoa tabouli

Dinner: black bean chili (found in Washburn & Butt's The Complete Gluten-Free Cookbook)

Tuesday

Lunch: avocado sandwich wrap

Dinner: leftover chili or tabouli - whatever is the easiest to serve/grab

Wednesday

Lunch: romaine lettuce leaves with Holy Moly Guacamole! & veggies and dip

Dinner: 10 minute pasta meal

Thursday

Lunch: green salad with goddess dressing

Dinner: toasted avocado & tomato sandwich, veggies on the side

Friday

Lunch: green salad

Dinner: grilled salmon & pepper fusilli

Saturday
Lunch: grilled salmon & pepper on a bed of greens
Dinner: avocado nori rolls

Over at Faking it Gluten Free Style, Terri sounds like she has a busy week ahead of her. Her menu, with chicken torilla soup and nachos, sounds yummy! Stay tuned because she is also working on some different culinary projects and has a top secret dessert for later on - my imagination is already running wild!

In the Lilac Kitchen, Esther has created her menu around the vegetables that have been growing in numbers her kitchen. She has 2 different recipe ideas using cauliflower, something that I really need to use more often, and a nice simple stirfry that should help to clear out some of those veggies. I hope that sun returns for to her soon!

Sally has created a wonderful menu with a great variety of vegetables through out the week over at Aprovechar. Her acai chocolate smoothie sounds dreamy.

Cooking, Illustrated just got a book on Persian cuisine and is excited to try something new this week. I can't wait to hear how it all goes and hopefully learn something new. She also has one of my favourite breakfast foods on her menu...PANCAKES! Happy cooking!

Happy early Birthday to Gluten Free Goodness, who will be celebrating on Friday. But never fear, she will still be cooking up a storm until then, venturing into the worlds of grilling, vegan, and east indian cooking. I hope that her tummy bug has cleared up by then so that she can enjoy herself. Also, be sure to check out GF Goodness's Oat Recipe Contest, it ends May 30.

Sea over at Book of Yum is after my own heart. She has a some great theme dinners for this week, in particular an Irish one with vegan pot pie - what irish girl wouldn't drool over a pot pie, and a vegan one at that! She has also posted a dip recipe that sounds like something I should have to go with my veggie snacks this week - the picture is amazing!

Over at One Beggar's Bread, Deborah is planning on making a stew to take to a sick friend - the best medicine is always fresh homemade soup/stew from a good friend in my opinion - that she saw on org junkies (she is the secon person to mention this site; I'm going to have to check it out). She has also shared a link to an avocado shake recipe that sounds yummy. I wish her the best with her "mostly GF, low carb, low budget" menu (any tips on keeping the budget low would be greatly appreciated!).

Asparagus Thin has also created a menu that has a different theme each night, and I think that she deserves a round of applause for including one dish with avocado even though she is not a fan. She has also included some interesting tidbits about the melon/gourd.

Ginger Lemon Girl not only does she have a fun menu planned for this week, but she already has everything prepared so - this is something that I can only dream of doing! She also has a link to 2 cake recipes that she made earlier this year and a couple more tasty sounding recipes to come - I know that I'll be watching out for those!

I think that Celticjig at Fresh Ginger is teasing us with her delicious sounding mac & cheese talk, thankfully she will be sharing this recipe with us soon. She has the upcoming week off and plans on experimenting with cooking, possibly trying Gobsmacked's Lavash Style Bread recipe - I hope she enjoys it as much as I have this weekend!

Gluten Free Sox has posted her fish taco recipe, which uses red snapper; one fish that I have yet to make with much success. I would also like to wish her a Happy 9th Anniversary and I hope that she has a wonderful dinner out for both that night and tomorrow night with friends.

Gluten Free Mommy has decided to implement phase 3 of the South Beach diet and is only 5lbs away from her goal weight - GO NATALIE!!! She has, as usual, created a wonderful menu this week that also takes her children's preferences into consideration. Be sure to check out her site for information on The Triangle Allergy and Intolerance meetup group.

Last but certainly not least, we have Angela's Kitchen. Angela appears to have a fun-filled week ahead, but she isn't letting this stop her from making some scrumptious meals for her family. In fact, tonight's crock pot dinner sounds like something that just might come in handy for family get togethers - take a look see!

I must say that hosting is a lot of fun, but it's also really difficult to sit and read such wonderful menus - I can't help but drool over so many delicious goodies! So check out all of these wonderful blogs because you don't know what you're missing!

Have a great GF week!

Quinoa & Black Bean Salad

2008-05-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

When I was diagnosed with CD, I was told that I could eat rice, rice bread, fruits, veggies, and meat. Oh yeah, and I could use rice flour in my baking. My first thought was that I was going to starve to death if rice flour in my food tasted anything like the cookies I'd tried a few weeks prior to that. But, being the resourceful person that I am with my never-ending thirst for knowlege, I came straight home to my computer and did research. Thankfully, there is much more out there than just rice - especially since I really can't stand too many products with a rice flour base.

This now leads me to Quinoa [keen-wah], which was a main food staple for the Inca civilization, who believed this crop to be sacred. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain, and is also a good source of dietary fibre, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin E, and several B vitamins, as well as containing high amounts of magnesium, potassium, and iron. This grain is easy to digest and contains almost all 8 essential amino acids (this is a plus because these are important for human tissue development). Interestingly, I just found out that technically speaking quinoa is a fruit in the Chenopodium family. It is classified as a grain simply because of it's cooking properties. Some of its relatives are spinach, swiss chard, and beets (all favourites of mine). I'm kind of wishing that I had chosen quinoa for my ingredient in this week's Menu Swap, but oh well, next time.

I should add now, that it is very important that you wash/rinse the quinoa really well. I like to put it in a strainer and just hold it under running water for a few minutes, making sure that the water is draining out clear. This is because quinoa tends to have a green filmy coat around it that can effect the taste in a very bad way.

I was first introduced to quinoa last summer when I decided to make a Roast Chicken with Quinoa Stuffing. I had found the recipe in my travels and it sounded so good that I couldn't resist, so I used my parents as guinea pigs. It was delicious. Then, in October, Choices Market was holding a GF cooking class for Celiac Awareness Month and I thought it might be interesting to go. I gained some wonderful recipes that I've made over and over again, one of them being Quinoa & Black Bean Salad.

This salad is fairly easy to make. I tend to mix it with my salad for lunches and sometimes add salad dressing, which is what I like about this recipe, it's easy to mold to whatever your tastes are calling for.

Quinoa & Black Bean Salad (on a bed of greens)

(by Choices own Antonio Cerullo)

Ingredients:

1 C. quinoa

398 ml can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red/yellow pepper, diced

1 small red onion

341 ml can of corn

1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 a lime, juiced

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Pour in quinoa and return to a boil.
Simmer uncovered until all water has evaporated.
Chill the cooked quinoa and then combine with the other ingredients in a bowl.
Mix the dressing ingredients separately and then pour over salad.

Serves 6

Will last in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes:

lemon juice can be used instead of lime
instead of quinoa, you can try millet, rice, or buckwheat
great with chopped up mushrooms

*The pictures don't really do this salad justice - I had already put it away after getting my lunch together.

The Gluten Intolerance Festival 2008

2008-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

This was my first Celiac Conference, as I was only diagnosed in March of 2007 and didn't really understand what having Celiac Disease really meant until June, so you can imagine that I was really excited. The conference was held in Victoria, BC which was great because it was only a ferry ride away for me. I went on my own and I'm really glad that I did. The people at the conference were very friendly and welcoming. I was sitting with someone different for every event, and it was great because I met someone knew and learned different things. The conference started on Friday May 9 and ended at noon on Mother's Day, May 12. I was really lucky that I ended up in a hotel that was literally across the street from the Victoria Convention Center, so not only was I close by, but I was also forced to walk around - and believe me, I needed it after each day! Connected to the convention center is the Emperess Hotel, and their kitchen staff were the ones who were catering the event. They did an amazing job and created a wonderful assortment of GF foods.

I walked down to the convention center to register and was surprised when they gave me this bright green reusable bag filled with different samples from both the exhibits and the sponsors. There was also a package of information sheets from all of the vendors. I don't think that I can even begin to discuss how overwhelmed I felt. As I said this was my first conference, and I went on my own, but to see all the exhibits laid out and to know that I was able to try all of the offered samples was stunning. So, I went to take a look at the cookbooks that were being offered.

Both Donna Washburn and Heather Butt were at their table selling their 3 books. I had taken my copy of their latest one for them to sign, but ended up buying their first 2 books instead and had them sign them. They were very nice ladies and were more than willing to answer any questions that I had, and believe me I had many. It was also great timing because people were still heading in and looking around at the other exhibits, so they weren't too busy.

I then headed into the conference room with the other exhibits. I don't think that I can even remember all of the vendors that were there. The ones that really stick out for me are the following:

Silly-Yak - a bakery that is based at Village Bulk Foods in Qualicum Beach, BC - they had deliciuos cinnamon raisin bread

Glutino - who had samples of their new cracker line (I loved the vegetable ones and plan on asking my local superstore if they'll bring them in)

El Peto - they had a collection of their products lined up on a few tables and were taking orders that included free shipping. I did buy some "toasta bags" from them.

Freybe

Rice Works

Pamela's Products

Kinnikinnick Foods - had some delicious samples such as their cinnamon sugar donuts, waffles, and cookies. They were also handing out their GF graham cracker called "s'morables". They're not bad, and I think that might buy some in the summer when I go camping. Whether or not I make s'mores though, is a whole other story since I've never had them and I'm not really a big fan of marshmallows (to put it nicely), but I like the idea of chocolate.

Rizopia Rice Pasta

These are only a few that stick out for me, but there were many more and can be found on the Canadian Celiac website, Victoria Chapter, if you just look down the left hand side. I'll add more when as I remember them or find the info that I collected (I have yet to go through the bag of goodies/info since my return). I placed an order with Kinnikinnick since they're one of my favourite companies and they also had free shipping. Their prices were much better than store prices, obviously, so I thought I might as well check it out and fill up my freezer so that I'll have some goodies for work parties on hand.

On the Saturday, Dr. Alessio Fasano (University of Maryland, USA) spoke about the past, present, and future of Celiac Disease, and for me, it was a real treat to hear him - he was a great speaker with lots of information. I have pages of notes that I took from him as well as Dr. Mohsin Rashid (Dalhousie University, Canada), who discussed CD and Anemia. This was an important discussion for me, as I have been plagued with anemia for years and it is only within the last 6 months that it has finally started to turn itself around. It makes a big difference when listening to someone than researching it yourself, although I found that I was able to make many more connections to his information because of my past research and this allowed me to take in much more. Dr. Connie Switzer (Edmonton, Canada) spoke about tTG and what it's good for and we finished the day off with Dr. Godefroy, discussing labeling in Canada.

In the afternoon we also broke out into 2 different groups with a choice between hearing Shelley Case speak or attending "Baking Tips" with Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. I chose the baking tips because I bake the majority of my foods. So far I've been lucky, and about 95% of my baking has turned out well, but I really wanted to learn the tricks of GF baking.

I still have my notes on all of the speakers, and I will be writing up posts on each one, hopefully this weekend. I've just realized that this post is probably scrambled (as are most of them) but there was so much to take in over the weekend and then I returned to work chaos, so once I've found where I left my brain I'll add more information.

Menu Swap - May 11

2008-05-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

This week's menu is going to be very simple...salads! I just came back from the Canadian Celiac Association Conference in Victoria this weekend, and I AM STUFFED!!! The Emperess Hotel created a beautiful buffet for all of our meals and it was delicious. I think that I probably ate the equivalent of 1 week of food within 2 days and I am full. In all honesty, I'm not overly concerned about food, at least not at this moment. There were so many wonderful things that I learned and tried, but I'll save that for another posting in the next couple of days. Actually, I'm a little behind - I'll have to take a look at everything and see about adding the pictures that I have and write about TGIF - I better get crackin'!

Menu for May 11 - 16
Sunday
Lunch - leftover GF pizza (there's a pizza place that makes GF pizza!)
Dinner - shrimp caesar salad

Monday
Lunch - sandwich
Dinner - quinoa salad on a bed of greens

Tuesday
Lunch - more quinoa salad
Dinner - grilled salmon with salad

Wednesday
Lunch - leftover salad and salmon
Dinner - grilled chicken mandarin salad

Thursday
Lunch - leftover salad
Dinner - vegetable stirfry

Friday
Lunch - sushi
Dinner - halibut steaks with black bean salsa and salad

This week's menu swap is being hosted by Terri over at Faking it GF Style, who has chosen strawberries as her ingredient. I've checked out her menu for this week and it sounds wonderful with strawberry spinach salad and strawberry salsa (which I hope that she will share with us).

Have a great week,
M-Elle

Menu Swap: May 5

2008-05-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

My menu selection is a little off this week because I am staying at a friends house, dog sitting, and I will be attending the Canadian Celiac Conference, The Gluten Intolerance Festival, this upcoming Mother's Day weekend in Victoria, BC. I'm really excited as this is my first conference, and I haven't been to Victoria for quite some time. Even more exciting is that Donna Washburn & Heather Butt will be speaking at the conference, Shelley Case, who I heard speak back in October 2007, and Dr. Alessio Fasano. I will be sure to post all about it when I return. So, because of the change in kitchen and the conference, my menu is really simple and easy to prepare.

My Menu:
Sunday, May 4
Lunch: Salad
Dinner:Total Oven Meal (found in The Complete Gluten-Free Cookbook)
-Crunchy Citrus Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

Monday, May 5
Lunch: Cucumber sandwich with veggies & dip
Dinner:Black Bean & Quinoa Salad on a bed of fresh organic greens

Tuesday, May 6
Lunch: Salad
Dinner: Swedish Potato Salad (in honour of the ingredient of the week - potatoes)

Wednesday, May 7
Lunch: Sandwich
Dinner: Broiled Salmon steak with organic salad

Thursday, May 8
Lunch: Salad
Dinner: Leftovers so that I don't have to worry about anything going bad while I'm away

Friday, May 9
Lunch: Sandwich/salad
Dinner out at one of the recommended GF restaurants in Victoria

This weeks Menu Swap is being hosted by Cooking, Illustrated, another great blog name, and she has chosen potatoes for the ingredient. Last week she had a recipe link for Herbed Greek Chicken Salad, which sounded delicious. I have made a copy of that recipe so that I can try it out when I get back.

Last week I said that I was going to try and find a recipe that used pea flour, however I was only able to locate one recipe but it also contained a few ingredients that I prefer to stay away from, such as coffee. So, I'm still looking for a recipe or recipes using pea flour. A friend of mine said that she has some, but I haven't spoken to her since.

Pot Pie

2008-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Before going GF, I use to love pot pies. For the last while I have been wanting to make a pot pie, but just wasn't up to it. I finally made one today. There are definitely a few changes that I would make next time, but for the most part it turned out really well.

Natalie at Gluten Free Mommy has an Easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe posted, which sounds wonderful, as does Ginger Lemon Girl with Michael's Rustic Chicken Pie. I would love to make both of these recipes, but I was lacking on some ingredients, even after taking my little trek to stock up (they didn't have the main flours I needed), so I had to make do with what was on hand.

I found a recipe at Bob's Red Mill that uses their GF All-Purpose Baking Flour. This was the first flour that I started baking with. The package comes with a great banana muffin recipe. So, since I still have some of that flour, I decided to use that and save myself the trouble of combining a number of different flours. It was fairly easy to make, and the filling would make a great stew. I took the recipe for GF Chicken Pot Pie but I substituted portabello mushrooms for the chicken. I really wasn't in the mood for chicken. The mushrooms were great and so was the crust, actually, I'm thinking of trying the crust recipe as a biscuit for turkey dinners. But I think that next time I would either double the filling recipe or half the crust topping, and I would spread the dough on top thinner. The crust reminded me of my dad's dumplings from his chicken & dumpling stew, a favourite amongst my siblings and I.

Fish

2008-05-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Friday nights are always an interesting night for dinner, actually the whole weekend is interesting for all meals! I generally try to leave both Friday and Saturday nights open - this way I can eat up any leftovers or I can go out with friends and have no worries of food going bad. Also, I tend to go grocery shopping during dinner time on one of these days because I really hate shopping (not grocery shopping so much) and I really, really hate crowds. I just like to go into a store, grab what I came for, pay, and leave! Christmas time this year was great because the Superstore by me was open 24 hrs., so I was one of the few crazies who went grocery shopping at 2am on the weekend - went out with my friends, then went out for groceries - I had a great time because there was no one there.

Anyways, tonight I went grocery shopping. Actually, I pretty much went grocery shopping most of the day - I had to go and stock up on GF flours, which is a bit of a drive for me, then I went to a couple of different grocery stores (because I can't get everything at one) and I had to stop and pick up some movies. So, needless to say, that dinner didn't get eaten until around 11pm at night and it was an interesting creation. My mom picked up some white fish at Safeway that was different from the norm, and it wasn't bad, but I think that it needs a different sauce next time around. Tonight's fish was Cape Capensis fillets. We usually eat basa or salmon, and it's usually the same sauce/marinate/toppings. So, tonight, I really didn't know how to cook the fish, so I suggested that we do the same as the basa. There were a few changes made to one of the pieces of fish and unfortunately lemon juice was forgotten (I guess that's what we get for waiting until after 10pm to make dinner). All-in-all the fish was not bad, but I would definitely do it differently next time. Not too sure what exactly, but I'm sure I can find something. Also, my mom mixed the usual sauce/herbs with dijon mustard for her piece and strangely enough I preferred her piece to mine. I don't usually like dijon, but it wasn't too bad. I ended up eating my piece in a salad with some Greek Feta salad dressing. Salad is always my back-up plan for fish - if it doesn't taste too great, throw it in a salad with some a delicious dressing.

Basa Fish

2 basa fillets
fresh dill, chopped
GF mayo
1 lemon

Place 2 pieces of fish in baking dish. Spread a little bit of mayo over the fish, then squeeze lemon juice all over. Sprinkle chopped dill so that the fish is covered - the more dill the better in my opinion. Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes or until it is cooked how you like it.

Lefovers are great cold the next day or in a salad.

Salmon

2 salmon steaks
GF tamari/soy sauce
water

Place salmon steaks in small casserole dish (the closere they are the better) and marinate with soy sauce and water - usually about 1:1, but it's however you like it. Flip fish over after about 30 minutes and continue to marinate. Then broil in the oven for 20 minutes or until fish is cooked to your satisfaction. I like my fish nice and moist.

Cape Capensis

2 cape capensis fillets
fresh dill, chopped
GF mayo
dijon mustard

Place fillets in a baking dish. Mix the dill, mayo, and dijon mustard together then spread on both pieces of fish. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.

*Not the most beautiful picture, but we had started eating it before I even thought to take a picture - ooops!

Holy Moly Guacamole!

2008-05-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

I should start by saying that I LOVE AVOCADOES!!! I remember eating them with a spoon right from the shell when I was a kid. For the last month or so, I've been eating at least one avocado a day. Sometimes I have that for lunch as is, or sometimes I'll slice it up and mix it with my salad (although this is rare since I tend to eat it all up as I go along), or I'll use it in my sandwich...yummy! Well, a while back Martha Stewart had Eva Longoria on her show and she was showing Martha how to make her guacamole - so naturally, I had to try it.

It is delicious and did not last in my house. In fact, we stood in the kitchen with romaine lettuce leaves (no chips or crackers at the time) eating it. We've been making it ever since on a fairly regular basis with a few alterations of our own. I've actually taken the dip to work for my lunch with lettuce leaves once or twice and had some odd looks come my way, but I think they've gotten use to my strange lunches.

I was eating this dip yesterday with rice crackers. They don't look like much, and really have no taste, but I really enjoy them with mozzarella cheese or some cream cheese and jalapeno jelly. I was eating the dip with HOL GRAIN Brown Rice Crackers this time around. I like that in the box there are 2 different packages of crackers, so I can keep one package in my "special GF emergency car kit" (I'll have to write about that one day - it's very handy, but also a curse to my sanity).

Guacamole (small batch for 1)

1 avocado
1 tomato
a small bunch of cilantro
juice of 1 lime (lemon juice works, but I think that the lime juice tastes 10x better!)
pinch of sea salt

Cut and peel the avocado and put into a bowl. Cut up tomatoes and cilantro and add to the avocado. Juice the lime and toss in a pinch of salt (or more if you like). Stir it all together and then referigerate for an hour at least for best results (it rarely makes it to the fridge in my house, but I try really hard to make sure that it does so that I can taste the lime blended in with everything else.

Serve with your choice of crackers, chips, or lettuce leaves.

I have just typed up 1 serving because in all honesty, I simply mix it however I like - if I feel like lots of tomato, then I'll add more and the same goes for the cilantro - I probably add way more than I put down, but I'm a cilantro fan.

This is also great for a party appetizer! Everyone loves it.

NOTES:

Glutino"Ritz" style crackers are really good with this

the original recipe also called for red onion, but I'm too lazy to cut this up usually

GF Menu Swap

2008-04-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I have spent the last few months watching everyone post their weekly menus and I've even borrowed some ideas/recipes. I figure that it is now time for me to branch out and actually join in rather than sitting back. And I'm hoping that it will force me to be more vigilant about creating my own weekly menus. That's the only way I seem to eat properly through out the week and can guarantee a reasonable grocery bill rather than one that's just plain frivolous! I guess that I had better get on with it before I babble myself into the following week.

The Gluten Free Menu Swap is organized by Natalie over at Gluten Free Mommy and this week is being hosted by Asparagus Thin, who's site name alone inspired great interest in me as I love asparagus. The ingredient is peas. What can I say about peas...hmmm. I remember my grandparents growing peas eons ago when I was child. They had a beautiful garden that was full of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I have some wonderful memories of that garden, in particular one of myself and a cousin sneaking into the garden to pick and eat the fresh peas. The best was when my cousin ate the pea pod with the peas. I thought she was going to die! After not dying, she coerced me to eat the whole pod too and I was thoroughly grossed out. Now I do enjoy the pods, but only after the fun of picking the peas out first! Before going GF I would make up rice noodles for my work lunch and pour frozen peas on top, letting them thaw through out the morning and then pouring a ginger teriyaki sauce on top...yum. I think that I have some pea flour in my fridge. I'm going to challenge myself to find a recipe that calls for pea flour this week and try it out. But I might not be able to make it until Friday night since I have a zillion things to do this week and I prefer to bake when I don't have to worry about getting up the next AM.

Well, here is my first GF Menu:

Sunday
Brunch: green salad with caesar dressing
Dinner: BBQ Chicken (IGA) with plum sauce

Monday
Lunch: Grilled Portabello Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato spread
-leftover from the weekend
-found this recipe on Seamaiden's website, Book of Yum
Dinner: Dijon Mustard Dill Salmon with salad and Litehouse's Greek
Feta dressing (again, the main course is from Book of Yum)

Tuesday
Lunch: Greek Salad with Moroccan Millet
Dinner: White Mushroom Risotto with Dolmas (RAW Living meal found in Ani Phyo's book)

Wednesday
Lunch: Salad or leftovers or both!
Dinner: Lentil Leaf Rolls & Salad with Kreamy Curry Dressing

Thursday
Lunch: Salad with Kreamy Curry Dressing
Dinner: Homemade Nori Rolls

Friday
Lunch: Nori Rolls (if there's any left) for a snack, but I think that I'll probably eat out since I get off work early that day and plan on heading out to stock up on GF flours and herbs.
Dinner: I like to leave this night open for any possible leftovers that need to be eaten

Saturday
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

I don't really have too many links for my menu selection yet, but I will get some of the recipes up as the week goes along. I should point out now that I'm not very big on breakfast. I usually make fresh fruit juice and eat whatever fruit is available to me. I find that anything else just sits in my tummy, dragging me down for the day.

I hope that everyone has a great week,
Happy GF Eating!
M-Elle

SALAD, SALAD, SALAD

2008-04-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ever since going GF I have become a salad junkie. If I don't have a salad for lunch, then I have to have one with my dinner, if not a giant one FOR dinner! Spring and Summer are my favourites because there is always such a variety of fresh vegetables, lettuces, and fruit. Oranges mixed in with my salads are the best.

Of course, with celiac disease, it has now become a little bit more difficult to find salad dressings, and not just because they may contain wheat/gluten. Being forced to read the ingredients on everything that I buy has forced me to start searching for alternatives. In fact there are some things that I simply won't buy anymore because I now know what's in it and I'm thoroughly grossed out. Seeing all of the chemimals that are in our foods today is simply wrong and un-natural. I will admit that I do still occasionally buy the not so good dressings, but my dressing recipe list is quickly growing thanks to many other bloggers who share their recipes. I have to admit, I'm not much of an inventor in the kitchen. I have my odd moments (very few), but mostly I am a recipe follower. However, I am confident that this will change soon - I mean it has only been a year since I was diagnosed and probably about 6-9 months since I started making and baking my own food (crossing my fingers that once I have the basics down pat, there will be no stopping me).

My mom is the one who is really good at creating things in the kitchen, saucs in particular. A few months ago she created an amazing ginger sauce to cook Basa fish, and last night she made it again but this time she didn't cook it and used it as a salad dressing instead. It was delicious! I have been given permission to share it, so I will post it below. But first I would like to share some of my favourite salad combos.

Caesar Salad - I LOVE this type of salad, especially with shrimp or chicken. I was ecstatic when I found out that Cactus Club makes their Caesar salad dressing with no gluten (my poor friend probably didn't know what to do because I was so excited). At home, I use a caesar dressing made by Boccalino Grotto. They recently changed the label to include Gluten Free on it and it's also sugar and preservative free (no artificial sugar either). I also use Glutino crackers in place of croutons.

Greek Salad - I don't have much to say about this one since it's only in the past week that I've started making my own. I use goats cheese (not a fan of feta) and sometimes I do just tomato & cucumber, but I usually mix it with mixed greens. Sadly, I have yet to find a dressing that I like to make (but I did find one on Karina's Blog - link on the side - that I'm going to try), so I've been using the Litehouse Greek Feta blend (can't taste the feta).

Seedy Salad - Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are delicious in salads and pretty much a staple in my fridge. Pine nuts are also my favourite. They all add a nice crunch and are great for protein and the "good" fats.

The Greens - personally, the more greens in my salad the better! Mustard greens, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, romaine, arugula, even spinach. You name it, and I'm sure I've had it. During the winter I buy the organic bagged salad (only it's not bagged but in a big container) and I share it with my dogs (yep, my dogs also love their greens, but they prefer them juiced up).

I know that there are many other salad combos I do, but for now that's all that pops out of my head. Actually, as I've been typing this I've been eating a salad - that's my breakfast.

In Ani Phyo's new book, "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen", she has an Orange-Fennel dressing recipe. I'll post it below also, but my version is slightly different with no measurments because I'm too lazy to do that and I usually work with whatever is in my kitchen.

Orange-Fennel Dressing

fennel oranges EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) poppy seeds

Juice one orange or squeeze the juice out of it into the bowl/jar that your dressing is going to be in and then peel and chop the orange or oranges and add them. Chop the fennel however you like it and add as well as the other ingredients. I like to let it sit for an hour, at least, in the fridge. Then serve over any mix of greens.

*Adapted from Ani Phyo's "Shaved Fennel with Blood Oranges, Poppy Seeds, and Micro Greens" in Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen. It is a great book as is her website, where she also shares some wonderful recipes.

Ginger Dressing

ginger olive oil onion dijon mustard lemon agave nectar maple syrup garlic tamari (GF)

Blend all ingredients together in the blender. Then serve with salad or pour over white fish and cook as usual.

I'll have to get back to you with measurements - my Mom's not really into measuring either, she goes by taste and what she's in the mood for.

Kitchen Extravaganza - Part II

2008-04-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the final item that I made on Good Friday was a loaf of bread. At first, I wasn’t too keen on the flavour, but since I really hate to see food go to waste I decided to eat it anyway. I probably had about 3 slices - 1 with GF butter, 1 plain, and the best one was lightly toasted with pure organic RAW Almond butter. Then, yesterday I cut open an avocado and had a couple of spoonfuls. But when I saw a bunch of tomatoes sitting on the counter that needed to be used up I decided to have a tomato and avocado sandwich with a little mustard.
It was that sandwich (un-toasted, I might add) that won me over. This is my second favourite bread. I am so excited because I now have to bread recipes that I actually want to eat. Funny how I never like sandwiches while I was growing up, and I was never really a toast fan either. I loved bread, but it had to be sourdough or french bread. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed that I really started craving untoasted sandwiches, well now I have my wish (and my cravings).
The bread that I tried this weekend was the recipe that had been posted by Gluten Free Mommy with the variations that were posted by Kate on Gluten Free Gobsmacked.

I also used a loaf pan that was 9.5 inches since I could not find a 10 inch pan anywhere. Probably would have been good to have paid attention to Gobsmacked’s full article in which she gives pan suggestions. Oh well, live and learn. I have no pictures of my loaf, it was eaten up by all this weekend. Went especially well with spinach dip.

Lazy Week!

2008-04-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I created a blog at word press originally, but I must say that I found it way to complicated to work with, plus it just happened to be the time that work became crazy and almost everyone I know decided to have their babies within the same week! So needless to say, I really haven't posted much of anything.

This week is no exception in regards to how lazy I can truly be. I didn't even eat dinner on Tuesday because I was too exhausted to think and ended up going to bed at 5pm!!! But that wasn't a great plan since I woke up hungry in the night and felt a little woozy in the morning. So I decided that I had to have a dinner on Wednesday night that was hearty and delicious. Well, that's exactly what I did. I pulled some chicken out of the freezer and the Best of Bridge recipe out that one of the teachers I work with had shared with me the previous week - Honey Mustard Chicken. It was to die for! Mine was little bit spicier than hers had been (she had brought some for lunch and I ended up stealing it while she ate her salad - it looked and smelled really good), but that just made it even better.

Now I have no idea which book the recipe came from but it is definitely from the Best of Bridge collection and is easily made GF by simply picking up the GF products rather than the general run of the mill products. I served this with rice, and then I had cold leftovers for lunch the next day and it tasted even better! (but I love my food cold).

I also have to thank my mom here, because I pulled the chicken out and had every intention of making it myself, but she had both the chicken and the rice all ready for me when I got home from work - what a sweet mom!

Honey Mustard Chicken

3 lbs chicken pieces
1/2 cup liquid honey
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2-4 tsp. curry powder
pinch cayenne pepper

Place chicken in single layer in large ovenproof dish. Combine honey, butter, mustard, curry powder and cayenne. pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, basting once. Turn pieces over, baste again and bake another 20 minutes or until pieces are no longer pink inside.

Serves 4

Kitchen Extravaganza - Part I

2008-04-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Uncooking
Well, last night I went to the gym, swam laps, sat in the hot tub and the steam room. I went home energized! I made a couple of sushi/nori rolls, and let me tell you, they were delicious! I found the recipe in one of my new Raw Uncooking books, “Real Food, Real World” by Matthew Kenney & Sarma Melngallis. The pictures in this book alone were the reason for buying it - they look AMAZING!
I love sushi…really. I can’t get enough of it. They have a recipe in their book that uses jicama instead of rice, marinated shiitake mushrooms in place of raw salmon (I think - that’s what it tastes like to me), and loads of vegetables. I changed the jicama rice recipe around a little, using the sushi vinegar in my fridge (which a Japanese exchange student last year used while teaching me how to roll sushi), then dehydrated it for about 2 hours. For me personally, I think that I would dehydrate it for a little bit longer, but that could be because I was too lazy to squeeze the jicama between a towel before mixing it with the vinegar. I did the mushrooms exactly as they said, and have decided that they will be a regular in my fridge for sushi and salads. They have a pickled ginger recipe included, but I didn’t have enough time to make it, plus I’ve become addicted ginger in my berry juice (I’ll save that for another posting, and trust me, it will be here soon!).
Now, on this beautiful Friday morning, Good Friday I might add, I woke up and decided to make a loaf of bread. But of course it didn’t stop there. I made my bread (I’ll post about this later because I haven’t tried it yet, it just came out of the oven), then I decided to finally try making a couple of recipes from “Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen” by Ani Phyo. I have been in love with this book since day one. I have the majority of the ingredients and the recipes are fairly quick and easy (I don’t find them to take any longer then preparing a loaf of gluten-free bread -at the moment). I am in love with her salads, in particularly the one that uses oranges and fennel as the salad dressing…um-um-um!
Today I made 2 different dishes. The first one I made was Walnut Cranberry Squash Rice, which is a little misleading because I didn’t put any walnuts in - I cannot stand walnuts! I haven’t thought of what nut to use instead, but I will. Cumin was one of the spices used, and as much as I love cumin, I think that I added too much or maybe I didn’t have enough butternut squash. I also made note of the onion portion. For me, the onions were too big. I like chunky food, but apparently not onion. They definitely add some great flavour, but I would prefer to have them chopped much smaller than I did.
To go along with this yummy rice (which tasted wonderful at first, and only got better after having sat for a while) I decided to make the Save-the-Salmon Patties with Holandaise Sauce. WOW! Again though, a lot more dill than I put in, and less garlic (I feel bad for the people who are meeting me to walk our dogs in the morning, my deepest regrets at not thinking that through!). I forget that raw garlic is much more potent than roasted! Oh well, live and learn. Besides, they’re still delicious and again, the taste is only improving the longer they sit and blend. A choice is given on dehydrating or not. I chose to eat half as is and dehydrate the rest, so I’ll see how those taste. The patties are good both with the holandaise sauce and without, but the sauce does give them that extra ooomf! that makes food so yummy.
Well, I am pooped now, and I still have to try my bread (which smells wonderful) and clean the kitchen - oh wait, my mom’s cleaning up for me, YEA! I will be back with more on my kitchen extravaganza!
Cheers!
I was just looking at the picture have to say that the food tastes 100x better than it looks. I’ll have to make a point of working on presentation. Oh well, as long as it tastes good…for now!

Jicama vs. Daikon

2008-04-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today I finally cracked open the giant root that’s been sitting in my fridge for the past week - Jicama. This was my first time eating jicama. For the past couple of years I’ve been drooling over the white shredded garnish on the sashimi trays. Even when I was sick and sushi/sashimi was all that I could eat (strange, according to my friends), I loved eating the white garnish. I finally asked the sushi restaurant what it was. It turns out that it was daikon. So, I went out and bought daikon in the korean market one day, really excited about having my very own daikon and even more excited because it was organic – talk about a BONUS! It tasted nothing like the shredded garnish that I had been enjoying in the sushi restaurants! At first, I didn’t like it, but since I bought it I felt that I had to eat it, so I started putting it on top of my salad. Well, that actually worked out quite well. I told a friend that I was doing this, and he said, “are you sure it’s daikon and not jicama that the sushi restaurants use?” Well then I was totally stumped. I made it my mission to find jicama and taste it to see which one they were serving. Well, I have now tasted both jicama and daikon, and I think that it’s safe to say, the sushi restaurants that I frequent are using daikon.In my opinion, both vegetables are delicious and great on salads. I actually used daikon in my own vegetable nori rolls last summer, and tonight I used the jicama. In way of nutrients, neither contain all that much except vitamin C. This past week I also had daikon in a stir-fry that my mom made (it was garbage day, so she was cleaning the fridge out and decided to use everything up that was still good – hence the giant stir-fry when I got home from work). I really liked the daikon in the stir-fry, but for me personally, I would put it in last, just before taking it off of the stove, so that it maintains its crunchy, crisp bite (there’s something about crunching into my vegetables - I love the sound). Here are a few tidbits about jicama and daikon.
Jicama is an edible root that is crispy and sweet. Part of the legume (bean) family, it is a popular staple in Latin America. It is grown in Mexico and Central America and commonly used to replace water chestnuts in a recipe and tends to take on the flavours of the other ingredients when cooked. Contains high amounts of vitamin and is a carbohydrate in the form of dietary fibre. Interesting fact: the vine that grows above ground produces its own natural insecticide, allowing it to protect itself from pests.
Daikon is a giant white radish that is East Asian. It is low in food energy, but it does contain the active enzyme myrosinase that helps with the digestion of food, especially starchy foods. It can be eaten raw in salads (or as a garnish), pickled, or in stir-fries.