Monday, November 15, 2010

Recie Links...

GlutenFreeGirl's GF ThanksgivingLinks

And a page I wish I'd had when I started down this path: 50+ GF Foods You Can Eat Today!

And two recipes I want to try:
Ooey Gooey  Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
And an adaptation of Pioneer Woman's  Cinnamon Rolls

Oh and given my recent fascination with Apple Betty, I want to try Apple Crisp

Monday, November 8, 2010

Product Review: Italian Bread

Joan's Italian Bread

Wow, I set this to rise on Saturday morning  as I started my stew. 


By 6pm it didn't look like much, just a tiny lump of dough. It looked smaller than a sub roll. But that's ok - perfect for me even. I didn't need to bake a whole baguette. 


So I brushed it with real melted butter and sprinkled sea salt on top and put it in the convection oven. However I forgot to time it, so I had to go based on guesstimate and sound of the bread. It could have used a few more minutes. My bad. 


However the bread was delightful!! It was crusty on the outside and a little gooey on the inside (that'll go away with proper timing). It was awesome fresh out of the oven Saturday night, and darn good Sunday toasted. 


I have 2 more loaves that came in the pack and look forward to baking them next weekend to go with my vegetable soup~

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The house smells so good...

It's cold up here in MD today and I feel like dookey...so onto the stove went:

  • Bacon grease left over from breakfast
  • 2 Onions
  • 2lg. spoonfuls of chopped garlic

I let that that cook on med-high for 10 or so minutes, until it was a nice clearish light brown (wish I'd had shrooms and celery)

To that mixture I added:
  • 1lb stew beef
  • 1 can gf beef broth
  • 1c cheap Cabernet wine
  • 2 lg bay leaves
  • A large shake of Italian seasonings from Penzey's
  • 20 baby carrots cut into thirds

About an hour before we eat I'll add more Italian seasoning and a pound or so of potato's. As needed I'll add more wine and/or broth.I may or may not add some arrowroot starch to thicken it into a real stew.

There's a loaf of frozen gluten-free, dairy-free bread rising on the kitchen window sill.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A taste of Fall

I was cooking for one tonight so I could play with my food some :)

In a well seasoned 6"cast iron fry pan I tossed 1/2 an apple sliced, a palmful of raisins and a palmful of craisins. I heated the pan and then added a salted & peppered pork chop. After it was browned I added some gf chicken broth and let it simmer.

In another small pan I boiled salted water and added thinly sliced cabbage only cooking it until it started to wilt & change color. Then I blanched it in cold water, added a little bit of butter and a lot of pepper. Back to burner #1 - I added broth as needed to keep the pan from drying out but not much. Once the chop was cooked I put it on top of the stewed cabbage and used a touch of broth to de-glaze the pan and make a sauce. I had a serving spoon of white rice from last night that I mixed with the de-glaze sauce and heated. Nummy I like my meat cooked with fruit and the only thing that would have made it better would be fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger), I'll add them next time!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Cheated w. Comfort Food

MyLove and I had a special date planned for last night - but I simply couldn't find the get-up-and-go so at 8:30 we put the kibash on going out and I began scrounging the cupboards for dinner makings. I couldn't find anything 'safe' that sounded good - so I made the conscious decision to kinda cheat. So here's what ended up on the (coffee) table...

Chix breast baked in Campbells Mushroom Soup (salt, pepper and herbs d'provance) (bake 350 - 1hr) (contains gluten) 
Uncle Bens Wild Rice (contains gluten) 
Green Pea's
Hot Chai Tea
Baked Apples w/ a crumble topping (gf oats, gf flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger) (bake 350 - 1/2hr)


  • Dinner Friday was grilled steak & wilted spinach
  • Breakfast Saturday was a a scrambled egg, corn grits, and 2 bacon.
  • Lunch Saturday was steak sandwich w/ string cheese melted on the steak on Udi's break (yuck!) w/ raw spinach.
  • Breakfast today was 2 bacon and 1/4 fried egg. And leftover apple crumble.
  • Lunch today was an Udi;s white bread grilled cheese (yuck!)  & fruit cocktail.
  • Tonight's dinner was a lettuce wrapped burger from The Burger Joint. And a few pieces of trick-or-treat candy. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

*&^% !!!!

Futher Mucker! I've been pretty good at reading labels - before I buy anything. 

But for a recent event I picked up these: 

And today happened to look at the ingredients: 


Who'da thunk chocolate would have wheat in it!!  

*&^% it! I'll look better next time!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Mexicana Miscellanea (not really)

So last night I had a taco, leftover collard greens and 2 gf corn taquito's (I forget the brand, but we got them at Safeway)...and salsa....can I just say I am getting sick of corn tortilla, in all their forms!

What I am really craving (aside from sticky rice & mango) is a sandwich like I used to get at Franklyn's...on a chewy dark multi-grain bread...full of turkey, bacon, sprouts, and miscellaneous veggies. I know I could have all but the bread but it's just not the same. And so far all the GF bread's I've tried have been white bread.

I also want a dark beef borgeonoine on egg noodles! And a rich stew! And chicken cacciatore.

Can you tell I've been looking at cooking blogs - I've been tasked w/ ThanksGiving sides so far my choices are:





Whiskey Glazed Carrots

Ok, now I'm really jonesing for good foods! Thankfully I'm headed to Jason's Deli to check out their GF offerings!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Pork Chops & Applesauceeeee....

 After minor surgery on Monday I really didn't feel like cooking last night, but knew I had to...so here's what I made:

Heat oven to 350ยบ

In a dutch oven, or covered stew pot, put 1⅔  c. long grain white rice (or brown), 4 normal sliced pork chops (or chicken tenders/breast), a 32oz box of GF beef broth, salt, pepper, garlic to taste (and here's where you can change it up with herbs d'provance, or cajun seasonings, or whatever is in your garden).

Bake for 50 minutes. And serve. Easy-Peasy. I served it with collard greens from a local bbq joint, but cranberry sauce and/or applesauce rocks with it!

Oh yeah, and while I was in the kitchen I made spaghetti sauce and taco meat for easy to grab/make meals for the kids (who aren't really kids anymore!) 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Cajun-ish NummyNess

Saute onion & garlic in eevo.

Add 4 chopped chicken tenders  (raw unbreaded gf chicken) -add salt & pepper to taste, saute until brown.

Add 2c.uncooked rice (long grain white or brown) , 1c. water  & 32 oz. gf chicken broth.

Add cajun seasoning & cayanne pepper

Cover. Bring to a boil. Then turn to low and simmer 20 mins.

Chop 1/2 a gf kielbasa sausage and add in to mix. (could also add shrimp)

Add southwest frozen veggie mix (corn, black beans, poblano peppers, onions)

Be prepared to freeze or eat this for days :)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Trick-r-Treat

Candy is back in season :-)  (Like it ever goes out of season!) And there are lots of lists about what's safe. I was surprised by a few. Twizzlers are not safe. Butterfingers are safe. How backwards does that seem?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Carrot Cake

Mmm....this year I didn't have a birthday cake...but next year I want a carrot cake...just the pics make me crave a slice of cake!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Lesson Learned - again!

I thought I was buying Mi-Del GF Ginger Snaps instead I bought Mi-Del Ginger Snaps (naturals, but not GF) - no wonder they were so tasty! Thankfully I'd only eaten two when I caught the mistake while grocery shopping - It's not only a lesson in label reading but it is also a lesson in not putting something in a tupperware without the label!!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Muncha-Buncha-Lunch

Lunch remains one of my biggest challenges. My fallback is Chipotle, where I can get an awesome bowl of rice, beans, onions & peppers, steak, cheese, and lettuce. My mouth waters just thinking about it. But it's too much moohlah and too much food to do daily.

Somewhere today I saw an awesome list of lunch-box idea's - I am sure it was intended for elementary aged school kids, but hey - I'm keeping it and going to use it.

I'm also keeping this list from Heinz, of their GF foods.  Some things like their taquito's would be handy to have around. And on the note of handy I want to try Sandwich Petals - I'm going to have to buy them online, but they look like they have flavor.

One of the things I was going to share in this blog was my recipes....but I haven't cooked much lately. I've been eating a lot of fruit and nuts, and eating on the run. Some of my staples for quick lunch food have been peanut butter on rice crackers, and danish ham rolls with cream cheese in the middle. I've made a few stir-fry's with tamari sauce and red pepper flakes that were so tasty there was no leftovers to bring for lunch.

And on the note of lunch, I think I shall go see what's in the freezer and head outside for some fresh air.

Update:  I had Ceaser's Manicotti - and it was 'eh...the texture was good, but the taste was a little off. It tasted more like a TV dinner than real food...I read the ingredients and it is all real, but still just 'eh.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Dinner for One

Last night I had a chance to not cook or find take out...So I popped an Amy's Garden Vegetable Lasagna in the nuke-o-wave and toasted a slice of Katz's Wholesome Grain Bread (btw: link is for a free sample). Nummy - it felt like a "normal meal" And oh so easy. I finished up with a colored sprinkle cookie!

Since I am thinking about easy eats....
Olive Garden 
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Carrabbas
Outback
Uno

Or Sweet Sin Bakery in Baltimore!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Product(s) Review


Trader Joe's Spring Onion Rice Noodle Soup Bowl

 1 word - Nummy!!!  A little over salty, and I wanted soup, but by the time the bowl was cool enough to eat it was just noodles...but oh-so-tasty ones! 

 And since I was feeling hungry (ate at 2p) I also had a GF Enlish Muffin from/by TJ's.  It was a little crumbly and reminded me more of texas toast then an English muffin...but tasty nonetheless.

TJ's also has a great listing of GF Foods on their site. 























Kojo Show

Kojo had Vanessa Maltin/Celiac Princess on his show today - great show!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Jonesing for Wings

While I haven't been too cranky about missing out on bread, pizza and the like, I have been craving wings - and thanks to Glory Days I can have some!! Must make a trip soon!

(Link found on GF Travel Site - lots of national restaurant chain GF menu links)

Another link I wanted to save is DC Celiac Support - it had lots of local links.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Restaurant Review!

7089 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd Ste F
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
(410) 684-3817


Went in late last night in an act of desperation. For someone who can't consume gluten an Italian Restaurant sounds like h-e-doublehockeysticks! Pasta or Pizza - ummm no. But the gentleman who was taking orders (manager perhaps?) totally understood my issues and even pointed out that while the chicken wasn't breaded they used flour in the wine sauce - he offered to make it without flour - and then offered veggies instead of pasta. It was a super win - and possibly the most flavorful meal I've had in 3 month's of being gluten free.  (fwiw: I had the chicken piccata w/ vegetables - real ones like zucchini & asparagus!)

If I have as good an experience next time this place will certainly get 5 stars in my book!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Ewwww...grossssss!

After a flaky manager at McD's just outside Pennsic I looked up their menu - in particular the fries, here's what I found:

French Fries:
Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to
preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK *(Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients).

McD's Menu

Friday, July 23, 2010

Quick Thought~



“Food is never just food. 
It's also a way of getting at something else: 
who we are, 
who we have been
and who we want to be.”
—  Molly Wizenberg

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Cool Link!

Baltimore GFree Restaurants!!

First real post here....

I'm moving this part of my private blog over here - I re-posted all my old posts (well all 3 or 4) and  will continue this here...Here's my final LJ post on the topic...

Bless me, Readers, I have sinned. It has been a month since my last post. These are my thoughts...

I've been focusing more on eating real and whole foods. It works for me. I am still amazed at this GF process. I have almost no food cravings. Not much in the way of compulsive eating. (it still happens when I am not remembering mindfulness) And almost no noise/pain/nascar in my gut. I have more energy and more clarity of thought. I don't feel quite so exhausted, burdened, half-dead . These days when I am hungry it's because I need to eat, and when I am tired it's because I need to rest. 

I'm frustrated that my body hasn't changed outwardly, but I am treating it with love more often than not, and working on stopping the automatic negative thoughts. It's slow, but then again I didn't learn these maladaptive behaviors around food overnight either.
 

I'm moving this whole food she-bang over to BlogSpot...Kel's Kitchen and planning to post more there.

"When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart." ~ Geneen Roth - I am learning to trust my intuition and my body more and more.

Post from June 8...

The GF experiment has been going well - too well maybe :-)  It's been 10 days and the only time I've had gut pain was after eating wheatberry.

I haven't had any real food cravings, and haven't had the crazy need to eat righthisverysecond even though I just ate type thoughts. I feel like a (wonderful wonderful) switch has been flipped. I haven't denied myself anything besides wheat products. But mostly I've eaten meat, fruit & veggies. Here's tonight's dinner:




Pork Chop dry fried in onions salt and pepper, with a white wine mustard sauce
Fresh broccoli
Corn on the cob (ended up in the trash though, was a bad ear)

bfast = protein shake, gf choco chip cookies, coffee
lunch= pulled chix, collard greens
snack= small handful (literally 5 or 6) potato chips (yep GF)

I snacked on GF granola before dinner, and that may have thrown me off.

I also made it to the gym for 25 min elliptical (1.75mi)

I feel "cleaner" - not quite the right word, but close. More awake, less sluggishy. I feel good for taking care of me, and am working on catching and off negative thoughts (i.e. her thighs are so much smaller than my elephant thighs) and replacing them w./ positive (my belly might be bigger than I want, but it served me well bearing children etc) And my PT noticed a big difference in the ankle swelling (which of course is rampant after working out tonight)

Post from June 4...

“Recovering your energy means recovering your most impassioned self—a revolutionary process that subverts all people and situations seeking to keep you small.”
— Judith Orloff

Strawberry Vivano (w/ extra protein)
Tall coffee

Lucy's GF Choc Chip Cookies

Dried Edamame

Mozz Cheese Stick

Salad w/ mixed green, chix, veggies, egg white - 1 tbsp ranchish dressing
6oz raspberries
semisweet tea

Post from June 3

Also as a side note/post script I am reading  Women Food and God and have The Shadow Effect lined up to read. Interesting insights on food, and have seen some kinda scary (and OMG they're talking to me!) stuff, particularly relating to my adoptee issues. Weird weird, but makes sense.

Also i just finished reading Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, which led me to get back on the fish oil, flax seed oil, and vit d supplements (plus B supplement, joint supplement, and a prenatal multivit (covered by FSA & has added iron - NOT for prenatal reasons *g*), which may (or may not) be making this process & cravings easier.
(more after the jump...)

Dinner - June 2nd

Dinner was
* chicken strips, rolled in corn flour, salt, pepper, and cajun seasonings
* fresh green beans, blanched, then heated with a little bit of butter, sea salt, and garlic powder
* cold corn, shucked from the cob
* white rice

I see some places this could be healthier, and eventually I will get there...

How I got here....(June 1)

How I got here....

So inspired by [info]magickalmom's adventures in going gluten free (and the positive changes), a "like" on FB from [info]tis_caitlin about restarting new years goals on June 1, and a convo with [info]museclio about my general unhappiness with my body I started thinking about trying this gluten free stuff.

Shortly after my WLS 5 years ago I developed an allergy to certain sugars - it seemed pretty random. Well last week, after having recently read something on [info]magickalmom's LJ about gluten and sinuses, it occurred to me that each time I can recall having that drastic reaction to sugar (essentially 30 mins of awful sinus drip and congestion) that the food also had contained wheat. The reaction I had Friday was post breakfast bagel. Hmmm, what is 1 + 1 again - apparently it's not 3 like I'd thought.

So I decided to go GF on June 1 - and went hog wild with picking up snacks for the weekend event. Saturday I munched on pretzels and goldfish, and then had hot fresh bread. By the time we drove the 40 miles back to the hotel I was in so much pain that if someone had offered me a cyanide pill I would have taken it.

So Sunday I skipped the baked goods for breakfast - and did a protein shot and yogurt. I had turkey at lunch, snacked on pistachio's, had a grilled chix breast for snack, and then Chinese (hunan chix) for dinner. Still not GF, but getting a lot closer. And wow, I felt "cleaner" No gassyness, or pain in my gut. No doubling over wishing I hadn't eaten that, etc.

Monday was the party - I had yogurt & bacon for breakfast, and bun-less burger/sausage...and lots of fruit and veggies. The only place I wasn't so good was in having a bite of the crust on my blueberry cobbler. Again, felt great. And wasn't really craving crap.

Tuesday - back to work and I wanted to stress eat but didn't. I have dried edamame to snack on, and that helped. Dinner was chili - so all good there.

Wednesday - I realized my thinking is clearer, and that I am not having non-stop cravings for food. I feel more in control over food than I have in a long long time.

Fudge! I think I am on to something.