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. 

*&^% !!!!

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!

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:

Spinach with Garlic Chips

Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges

 
Butternut Squash Puree

Turnip Gratin

Creamy Herbed Potatoes

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!

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 350º

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!) 

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 :)

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?

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!