GF/DF Week 3, Funny Story, Amazon, and Granola Bars

I made it through another week. This week was hard, I'm not going to lie. Chocolate is my best friend and I've been thinking about it constantly. It's a weakness. It's hard too that everywhere I look there is delicious Easter candy on sale. Of all the holidays (and yes, I do rate them based on candy selection), Easter candy is my favorite. Delicious chocolate bunnies and tiny chocolate eggs and, even better, chocolate eggs stuffed with all kinds of yummies...I love it all and I'm lusting over it in the aisles of the grocery stores. Ben was also having a bit of a rough week (I'm blaming a growth spurt) so I was feeling a bit defeated. But I stuck it out and I have decided to divert my attention to making homemade strawberry sorbet. Hooray!

While I'm talking about my adjustment to being dairy free, I have to share a funny story. Last Saturday, Brandon and I were celebrating our anniversary 2 days early and went to dinner at the same fancy restaurant we go to every year. I was concerned about navigating the menu now that I had extra precautions to take. I made sure to tell the waiter to omit the butter on my steak, and we had him hunt down a GF/DF dessert option (hence my new obsession with strawberry sorbet) and I thought, Yay! I aced my first restaurant trip! So here's the funny part -- I was really worried about my salad course. They had a wedge salad but I knew I couldn't have ranch dressing on it. I'm not much of a fan of other dressings so I chose something else...something that only had oil and vinegar on it! What was it?? Fresh Mozzarella and Sweet Tomato salad. Caprese, essentially. I ate it, enjoyed it, didn't think anything of it and neither did Brandon! HAHAHA. I was sooo concerned about avoiding the dairy in ranch dressing that I ate three slices of mozzarella cheese without so much of a second thought. But what makes this story even funnier? I didn't realize that I did this until a WEEK later. For some reason, that salad popped in my head and I stopped and thought--Waaaaiiiitttt a second...mozzarella is cheese! I told Brandon later and he had the same reaction as me! I can't believe we missed that!! Hahaha--duuuhhhhh. I've been so used to just looking for hidden gluten that it's kinda hard to switch gears and analyze all ingredients for dairy too. Oy. Well, there's always a learning curve!!

In other news, I have to say that I love love love Amazon. I buy a rediculous amount of stuff from there already, but I've just recently discovered the joys of ordering gluten free products from there as well. For example, my 6-pack of Kinnikinnick Animal Cookies just arrived today and I'm already plowing through my first box. But what's even better is that you can get a 3-pack of Udi's gluten free granola or if you don't want to commit to one flavor, you can get their sampler pack! How convenient is that?!?! I love it! What I especially love is that a 3-pack is only $14.00 which equals out to about $4.67 a pouch. I think at Sprouts I pay $5-6 each! Ouch! I love their granola so this is a major SCORE for me!! (By the way, I'm not getting paid or anything to say this, I'm just genuinely excited to find this as I can't always get to Sprouts when I'm out of these things because of the little one.)

Finding Udi's gluten free granola sold in bulk on Amazon is perfect timing because I just made the most addicting gluten free granola bars!! I use to love putting their granola in yogurt but since I can't do that anymore, I had to find a different way to get my fix. Granola bars are perfect because I can grab it quick and eat it on the go and one-handed! That is a must these days! The batch I just made last Friday barely lasted through the weekend; it was sooo addicting.

Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try. I'm going to type it up exactly as I did it. I had to wing it a bit because I discovered that my light brown sugar was as hard as a rock. So I improvised and used granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses. My next time making it I will probably half the molasses because that flavor was very prominent to me when I first bit into it. These are also pretty sweet so make adjustments according to your preference.

Chewy Gluten Free Granola Bars

1/4 cup butter (I used dairy free Earth Balance)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 package Udi's gluten free Au Naturel granola
1 cup Enjoy Life Perky's Flax cereal
1 tablespoon flax seed meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium size bowl, combine the granola, flax cereal, flax seed meal, cinnamon, xantham gum, salt, and vanilla extract. Set aside. Combine butter, honey, sugar, and molasses in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of dry ingredients. Toss the mixture to completely combine and coat. Spread and pack firmly into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. I let it sit for a couple of hours at room temp to harden up. You can also speed up the process by putting in the refridgerator for an hour or so.

These were so delicious I'm making a second batch today. :)

Pomegranate Orange Banana Smoothie

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but was waiting to get some pictures of this delicious smoothie. Unfortunately, my poor little blender has taken a turn for the worse, and I fear, is now on it's last breath (RIP little buddy).

The fantastic folks at Pom Wonderful offered to send me some of their pomegranate juice to try. Everyone knows that pomegranates are delicious, but who knew they were so good for you?

POM Wonderful is the only company that provides 100% real pomegranate fruit juice! There are no other juices added as filler and no added sugars. Not only that, but POM wonderful is the only pomegranate juice used in scientific research studies that seek to understand all the benefits of pomegranates. Besides having antioxidants out the wah-zoo, pomegranates have been shown to benefit cardiovascular, prostate, and erectile health when consumed daily!

So it's tasty and good for you....can't say that about too many things, can you? Lol :)

I find that the juice on it's own is very tart so I wanted to mix it with some sweet ingredients to mellow it out. I came up with this breakfast smoothie. Again, sorry no pictures. I couldn't recreate it for a photo shoot due to the unfortunate incident with my late blender.

Pomegranate Orange Banana Breakfast Smoothie
(measurements are approximate. Just throw it all in the blender and decide what looks good)

1 cup ice
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 banana
1/2 c to 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

Place all ingredients in a blender and liquify until smooth.

This made about 2 smoothies!

I'm going to be trying a few more things with the pomegranate juice, so I'll post if anything turns out well. (I tried to make frozen yogurt, but unfortunately it didn't come out right because I don't have an ice cream maker).

Farewell to 2008!

Merry (late) Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had great gluten free holidays! I had a FANTASTIC Christmas and got what I have always dreamed about....

A KITCHENAID MIXER!!!

It's beautiful isn't it?

I've been struggling with my pathetic little handheld mixer for a while now, and I've been dying for one of these. My little handheld mixer could not EVER mix bread dough. So if I ever wanted to make delicious gluten free sandwiches, I had to go to my mom's house and mix it there. That's not an easy feat when you're trying to transport 47 different flours. (lol)

So this past weekend, I excitedly made my first loaf of gluten free flax bread in my new mixer. I already see BLT's (remember those?) in my very near future.

This bread is the absolute best bread I have ever tried. Brandon even said that if I make this, he will stop buying regular bread at the grocery store. YAY! Plus, flax seeds are fantastic for your health. Go here to read about all the ways flax seed is good for you!

Gluten Free Flax Seed Bread

(Please follow this link to see the actual recipe. There is a link to her cookbook there as well.)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour
1/4 cup garfava flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup water or milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vinegar

Directions

1. Combine flours, flax, starches, gum, yeast, salt.
2. In the mixer, combine wet ingredients, then add the dry.
3. Scrape the sides, and mix on medium for 4-5 minutes.
4. Pour into 9x5 pan, and let rise to top of pan (took about 80 minutes). I always, always let it rise in a turned off oven.
5. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes.
6. Remove from pan, cool, and slice.

For the flour, I used the Whole Foods brand 365 gluten free flour mix, and since that already has xantham gum in in, I added half the amount called for in the recipe. Garfava flour is a mix of Garbanzo bean flour and Fava bean flour...it took some searching but I found it at a Whole Foods already mixed by Bob's Red Mill.

Tomorrow is New Years Eve, I will be celebrating it quietly. I am looking forward to 2009 with great excitement! I have just over 90 days to finish all this wedding planning! So far I have the location, the dress and accompaning accessories, the cake, the bridesmaid's dress, the officiant, the DJ, and the flowers. I know what I want to do for favors, and I have received what I ordered for it, now I just have to go get the other parts needed to put them all together. I have picked out invitations, just need to order them. I know who is catering, just have to book them. And I am planning on booking the rental stuff (tables, chairs, etc...did I mention the wedding is in a residential park?) at the Arizona Bridal Show coming up here in about a week and a half. So that leaves odds and end stuff and....a photographer. UGH. WHY do they have to be so EXPENSIVE? I'm sure I've forgotten something, too. Lol. I've somehow managed to keep my cool through all this. No Bridezilla moments...yet. :)

So here's to a healthy, happy, gluten free 2009!

Land O' Lakes

I just found out that the Land O' Lakes website has gluten free recipes. I went to check it out, and oh my, there are some really amazing looking recipes that I can't wait to try! Thought I'd give everyone a heads up. Just type in "gluten free" in the search and it'll bring them all up. I'll be trying several of these and let you know what I think!

Pot Roast!

Sorry it's been a while. I've been moving. Eck.

Here is a recipe for pot roast to make up for it! I was bummed that Cambell's Cream of Mushroom soup was not gluten free because I'd thought I had lost pot roast forever. But alas, Heathly Valley's Cream of Mushroom is okay! Here's what it looks like so you can rush out and buy it. :)

Pot Roast

1 chuck roast

1 can Heath Valley Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place the roast, soup, and onion soup mix in a crock pot. Cook on Low for 8 hours or so. That's it! It's so easy, I love it!

Obsession times 3

So I am currently a slave to 3 food obsessions: Tuna and crackers, strawberry yogurt, and a new one....tomatoes. I cannot get enough tomatoes. I walked by some awesome Roma tomatoes at Sprouts, they looked so good that I bought 3 and couldn't wait to eat them. I didn't want them on sandwiches, on my bunless burger, nothing like that. I wanted to slice them up and eat them by themselves. That's very uncharacteristic of me. I ate them pretty much right away and was constantly aching to go back to Sprouts to get more. I am so obsessed with tomatoes right now that I bought a tomato plant. Seriously. I even named it Tommy the Tomato Plant.

I made this tomato and feta salad today to feed the beast that's living inside me demanding more tomatoes. Here's what it looks like:

YUM. So here's the basics of what is in it. I just kinda eye balled it so I don't have exact measurements to give you. I just add a little more of what I like and add a little less of what I don't.

Organic grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Feta cheese, cut into small chunks

Parsley, minced

Basil, minced

Red onion, chopped

Olive oil

White wine vinegar

Fresh ground pepper

Kosher salt (not a lot because the feta is rather salty itself)

Throw it all in a bowl, stir carefully, and enjoy! My only suggestion is to go easy on the onions, unless of course you are a big onion lover. I am not, and I added just a smidge too much tonight.

I googled tomato cravings today because I was thinking that maybe my body is trying to tell me that I was lacking some nutrient that tomatoes offer. I haven't found much yet, but I am going to keep looking. I did read something about it being linked to iron-deficient anemia...there was a case of a woman that ate 6-10 whole tomatoes a day for a long time, then once she started treament for iron-deficient anemia, her tomato craving went away. Hmm..something to think about.

Why can't my body just crave multi-vitamins?? Maybe then I'd remember to take them consistently. Lol.

Strawberry cake!

So I have been dying for strawberry cake ever since I saw this recipe at Gluten Free Mommy. Man, that looks so incredible. But let's face it, I'm lazy about 98% of the time. I wanted the quickest way to a similar result. So I made it up.



I bought this Glutino white cake mix. I hadn't tried it before so I thought, what the hell. I followed the directions on the box, then added 2 tablespoons (or so) of strawberry jello mix to the batter. I stirred it up, poured it in the pan, and baked it!

It smelled amazing while it was baking. It even looked incredible:


I stole some Pillsbury Cream Cheese frosting that my mom had in her pantry. Thanks Mom! P.S. Do NOT buy Betty Crocker frostings...they have wheat starch.

I eagerly frosted the cake up!



It was about half a second later that I was digging out a slice.

Holy cow, right? Well, it was really good! It was really, really sweet though so go easy on the slice! This was a pretty small serving (since it's late) and I couldn't even eat the whole thing. The strawberry flavoring isn't over powering, it's just enough to make it's presence known. I might try a different frosting next time, I think that's where the sugar overkill lies.

Overall, I am very pleased with this recipe. It was extremely easy and didn't turn out sucky! Woohoo!

Yogurt Parfait

This weekend I made my own version of a yogurt parfait. I know they make gluten free granola out there, but this girl works hard for her money, and those grocery store prices just ain't treatin' me right. So I made one using rice chex. It actually turned out really good!

So I layered it up, here's what I did:

Strawberry yogurt on bottom
layer of rice chex
strawberry yogurt
layer of fresh sliced strawberries
strawberry yogurt
layer of fresh sliced bananas
strawberry yogurt
Rice chex to top!

The rice chex are a good substitute for granola, if granola in yogurt is really your thing. If I were super artsy-fartsy I would have stuck a little strawberry slice on top to garnish, but I was hungry!

Summer Recipes

So, right now I am completely preoccupied with making foods that I feel represent summer. Besides scouring for fun, new grilling recipes in my spare time, I make an abundance of the good ol' standbys. Here's a few of my favorites that I happened to make all in one night (last night).

Deviled Eggs

Boil eggs. Mix mayo, mustard, pepper, and garlic salt with egg yolks. Sprinkle with paprika. Delightful!

Potato Salad

Not the best picture of my potato salad. I overcooked the potatoes last night which made them kind of crumbly. Watch out for that! Boil red skin potatoes until fork tender (maybe a little harder than this, even). Let cool and cut into large chunks. Add chopped green onion, bacon pieces (buy the ones in the aisle with the salad dressing for convenience), and dill to potatoes. In a separate bowl, combine mayo and dijon mustard. Add to potatoes, but be conservative! I've made the mistake of putting too much and it really lowers the amazingness of this side dish.

Muddy Buddies

Since Rice Chex are now gluten free, I am sure that this recipe is a lot of celiac's new favorite treat! This is quick and easy, and down right scrumpticious. Here is the recipe from the Chex website:

9 cups Rice Chex® cereal (gluten free)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Anybody remember Nutter Butters? I use to love those growing up, but now that those are forbidden, so I find these to be a good substitute. I generally make a half batch of these because it's more managable. Plus, if I have 9 cups of this laying around, I WILL eat it all and then tell myself I really should sign back up for that pilates class. But I won't.

Amazing dinner tonight!

We went to Costco today and they had a sample of the product pictured below. B tried it and checked the box to make sure it was okay (which it was), then brought me a sample to try. We had to get it! It is soo good. It was about $15, but it has waay more than 1 serving in it.



We decided to make tacos with it tonight. You let the meat defrost and grill it. It's really quick and simple. We cut the meat into little pieces, and heated some Mission white corn tortillas in a skillet.



I made some of the Black Bean and Corn dip that I posted in one of my previous posts. It's really good to put in your tacos, or eat as a side with tortilla chips.

Throw in a little lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and refried beans, and you have yourself an awesome dinner! We are going to make mini quesadillas with some of the extra meat added in tomorrow! It doesn't get much better than that!

Sausage and Green Bean Soup

I got the recipe for this soup off of the Whole Foods website. I made this the other night and it turned out fantastic. We've been eating it as leftovers the past couple of days. It's really easy to make and doesn't take long to cook at all. The recipe calls for organic items, obviously you don't have to do that if you don't want to.

Sausage and Green Bean Soup

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 (12 ounce) package Kielbasa pork sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices (I recommend cutting these again to make half circles, so it's more managable when eating)
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen organic cut green beans
4 cups gluten free chicken stock (I accidentally bought chicken broth and it turned out fine)
2 bay leaves
Sea salt, to taste
Ground pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a large soup pot. Slowly bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste before serving.

When I was shopping for the ingredients for this soup, I couldn't find things in the exact measurements it called for (For example, I had to buy 2 10 ounce bags of green beans, the sausage was 16 ounces, not 12, they only had large potatoes, etc) so I bought a extra little thing of chicken broth to adjust the liquid accordingly. Also, cooked chicken sausage could be used in this recipe in place of the pork sausage, if you'd like. This soup reminds me of the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden that I miss so much, just with green beans instead of that green stuff they put in their soup. It's a great substitute, so I am not even sad about not being able to eat their Zuppa Toscana anymore! Hooray for gluten free!

Chipotle Lime Chicken

This recipe was a huge hit! I found it at the Sprouts website. I was the perfect mix of smoky Chipotle and tangy lime. You won't be disappointed by this one!

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons chipotle Tabasco
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons honey

Preheat grill to medium-hot.

Combine lime juice, oil, tabasco, and salt in a small bowl. Place chicken in a large ziploc bag. Measure out 1/3 cup (I just estimated) marinade and add to chicken. Allow chicken to marinate at room temperature for about 15 minutes. To make glaze, stir honey into remaining marinade until dissolved. Grill chicken and brush with glaze. Grill until glaze is lightly browned.

This is one of our new favorite dishes!

Black Bean and Corn Dip

This is an amazing recipe that I got from B's mom. It's rediculously quick and easy to make and can be used as a dip or topping. We usually eat it with tortilla chips, but you can put it in taco salad, top your carne asada tacos, or as a side with Chipotle-Lime chicken (recipe coming soon). Don't hesitate in trying this recipe. Make it tonight. You won't regret it!

1 can Bush's Best Black Beans, rinsed
1 can White Shoepeg Corn, drained (not the regular yellow corn! This is important)
3/4 teaspoon Cumin
Approx 1 tablespoon chopped cilatro (I'm not a big cilantro fan, so add more if you fancy it)
Green onion, sliced small (I usually use 1 of the "sticks" (?) and cut just the green part)
Juice of 1 lime (I happen to like a lot of lime, so I do 2 small limes)

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Eat it and write me to thank me for changing your life. :-)

Leftover chicken from Chicken Parmigiana

Last night, The Boy made a really amazing salad with the leftover chicken from the night before. I'm jotting this down because I'd really like to make this again, maybe this time with enough for the both of us. :-)

2 small pieces of leftover chicken parmigiana (see recipe below for how we made this)
Leafy green lettuce
Fresh spinach
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice (lemon juice in the bottle works fine, but we both thought fresh would be better)
Fresh shredded parmesan cheese

So cut the chicken up into pieces and toss it in with your lettuce and spinach. Drizzle olive oil over (not too much!) and lemon juice. Sprinkle cheese over salad, and devour. It's really good. Eating the chicken this way really brings out the flavor of the seasonings. It was kinda lost in the tomato sauce in the other dish. This salad packs so much flavor that you don't even miss the salad dressing!

B's (Gluten Free!) Chicken Parm and Pasta

The Boy came up with the idea of making a gluten free chicken parmagiana for dinner tonight. It turned out so amazing that I thought I'd shared the recipe.

B's (Gluten Free!) Chicken Parm and Pasta

2 or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 box Debole's rice pasta (we used ziti noodles, angelhair would also be good)

1 jar Newman's Own Roasted Garlic tomato sauce

1 packet italian dressing seasoning mix

Gluten free all purpose baking flour (Whole Foods brand 365 is awesome), enough to coat chicken

Fresh shredded parmesan cheese

Pound the chicken out thin. Combine egg and milk on one plate, and flour and seasoning on another. Coat chicken in egg mixture and then cover in flour mixture. Heat skillet and extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover whole bottom of skillet) over medium heat. Place chicken in skillet and allow to cook for several minutes on each side, or until browned.

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Warm up pasta sauce on stove top. To serve, pour sauce over chicken and pasta. Top with freshly shredded parmesan cheese. Enjoy!