For now

I'm taking a break from this blog for awhile.

Roasted broccoli

Today is day one of a return to healthful eating (Dragon's Way), and yes, to being gluten-free and casein-free.  I didn't just fall off the wagon...I fell off, then decided to join a crazy happy dance caravan.  When I came to, it was a long and arduous trek back.

But, I'm here now.

I was recently drawn to Elana's Roasted Broccoli post at Elana's Pantry.  I'd starred it in my Google Reader, tucked it away.

This afternoon, I needed a snack.  Withdrawal from meat and dairy, eggs and sugar, and junk food has hit fast.  I sliced a couple of the giant Mutsu apples that came in our CSA fruit share last week and enjoyed them with the kids. 

I needed something more.  I imagine what I need is protein.  Preferably animal protein.  But a quick glance down at my ample belly tells me otherwise.  There's just no way my body needs meat, dairy or eggs right now.


There's broccoli in the fridge so I distracted myself with trying out a new recipe.  Roasted broccoli.

Honestly?  I was a bit underwhelmed.  My first piece was bitter.  (The emotion associated with the heart system in TCM.)  I took these out at 13 minutes.  They are cooked, I was careful to cut them in small pieces.  But, they are just shy of crunchy.  Next time I'm going to push for 15 minutes and watch for the softness/browning ratio.

To be clear, I think the recipe is sound (the recipe can be found in the link above).  Future tweaking will be based on my own preferences and ensuring the quality of the broccoli I start out with (this head was from the supermarket, not John's farm.)

I'm going to pack these up for adding to stir-fries and scrambles later.  They'd be great on pizza.

Easy chana masala and kale

The "easy" comes from the fact that I did not make this chana masala.  Here's a recipe for chana masala that looks good.  It is one of Red Sox Daddy's fave Indian dishes.

I bought some yesterday morning during a solo week's food shopping trip.  It was early and I was alone at the deli counter at Whole Foods which never happens.  While I was waiting for the usual slow cooked ham and roasted turkey, I had a clear view of the big, pretty (read colorful...orange is a color that just makes me happy) vats of chicken vindaloo and chana masala.

The chana masala was vegan and GF so I went off-list and bought a pint container for Red Sox Daddy.

Fast forward to lunch today.  RSD did not like the texture of the chickpeas so there was quite a bit of the chana masala leftover.  There was also leftover white rice in the rice cooker.  I had some kale calling to me so I made me a chana masala-kale rice bowl.

I reheated the chana masala, sautéed the kale with garlic, and added both to a bowl of rice.  Yum.

Sautéed Kale

1 bunch kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces

1 large/2 small cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of a sauté pan

Heat olive oil and press garlic into pan. (I love my garlic press, you may do with your garlic what you will)

Add kale.  Stir well.

Lower heat and cover so kale wilts.

Snack

This blog and my knitting blog have been suffering from some serious neglect.  

I'm in a big decluttering phase right now and energy is definitely going towards unhitching myself, and my family, from environmental (and emotional) baggage.  I sense that as we get deeper into Fall, and certainly by Winter, that I will be more focused on nourishing through food and fiber.

Apple season has arrived in the Garden State.  Our CSA fruit orchard has plenty of apples and we've been enjoying a variety of flavors and textures.  Lately, snacks are an apple and something salty/crunchy.

Today, the kids and I cleaned out and reorganized the pantry.  We found the Chinese rock candy we picked up at an Asian market over the summer.  It rounded out the snack offerings nicely :-)

Hummus-avocado open-faced sandwich

Things have definitely been quiet on the kitchen front.  I mostly go in to fix quickish, routine meals these days.  I am a woman of many passions and don't have enough time and/or energy to juggle all of them at once.  Well that, and it's not in my nature.  I abandoned thinking of multi-tasking as a good thing a long time ago and have never looked back.

I was happy to see that one of my avocados was ripe today.  (Locals, organic avocados on sale at Whole Foods...a bag of four for $4!)

My body has been insistent on being fed protein lately, so rather than my usual avocado on toast with mayo, I decided to swap some hummus in for the mayo.  (My hummus of choice is the Whole Foods house hummus in the "original" flavor.)

I shook on some salt pepper and drizzled the delectable Falconero olive oil over the whole thing.

Oh.  My.  Freaking.  God.  Soooooo good.

I tried not to moan too loudly as I ate since GFCF Kid was sitting across from me enjoying his lunch of something else (he thinks avocados are gross.)

With a couple of bites left, I came somewhat back to earth and thought I'd take a picture.  For you :-)

Now, I know this is not an original sandwich.  And, it's quite likely I've had this combo before.  But, when you're ADDish like me, it is a pleasure of life that wonderful experiences feel completely new because past experiences have been forgotten.

So I present to you, the new-for-me-today: hummus-avocado open-faced sandwich.  Use your most delicious olive oil for this.  It can really make the sandwich sing.

Freezing peaches

This summer's local bumper fruit crop has been peaches.  Week after week our CSA fruit share has contained beautiful, fragrant, delicious peaches.  July and much of August were too hot for me to even think about baking so they have been consumed fresh and in smoothies.  And we can't keep up!  (GFCF Kid and Red Sox Daddy are not fans of the fresh peach.)

So, this morning I got to work and washed, peeled, sliced, weighed, and bagged 8 lbs. of peaches (enough for four pies, yum).  More than once I thought about how American pioneer women kept themselves sane by doing what work they could do together, with each other.  I was a bit lonely, just me and the peaches.

Here is my go-to peach pie recipe.  I'm not sure when I will bake my next peach pie, but with the peaches ready to go, I know we'll be enjoying one sometime soon.   (BTW, I have followed the peeling method in this recipe in the past, but peeled by hand this morning because the peaches were so ripe the skins were practically falling off.)

Chocolate chip cookies

I felt very loved when Red Sox Daddy handed me this plate of cookies that were still warm from the oven.  I requested cold rice milk and it arrived in my favorite glass.  This classic American combo...it gives a wonderful lift to your day or night.

The recipe is from Living Without and can be found here (though I don't know for how long).  This is definitely one of those recipes that will have your gluten-consuming friends coming back for seconds claiming they taste like "regular" chocolate chip cookies.

Tomato salad

Our good friend Mike is stopping in for lunch today.  He is in the midst of a cross-country drive.  He always brings with him his big laugh, shining eyes and rat-a-tat chatter about topics far and wide.  We're all excited to see him.

We're slapping together sandwiches with cold cuts and picking up potato chips to go on the side.  I decided to attempt a recreation of Red Sox Daddy's tomato salad from the other night.  It's nothing revolutionary and this is not a "recipe" per se.

But, doesn't it look good?  I'm letting the flavors marry a little before I take a taste.  With these ingredients it's hard to go wrong.  I think it's going to be delicious.

Here's what I used this morning:

4 ripe tomatoes from the farm: 2 large red and 2 small orange, cut into chunks

5 very small cloves of garlic from the farm, pressed (RSD chopped his)

8-10 smallish leaves of basil from the farm, chopped

salt and black pepper, to taste

my very best olive oil (Falconero), a very generous drizzle

Wraps

It's been all about wraps, or, if we'd rather (because sometimes I would), breakfast burritos, for me in the mornings lately.

Scrambled pastured egg(s), veg and/or aromatic from the farm, Daiya cheese or mayo, seasonings, in some wonderful (and sometimes magical) combo rolled up in a brown rice tortilla.

My breakfast wraps are quick and easy.  I slap a tortilla on a cast iron griddle and heat it over medium to medium-high heat.  The tortilla is so thin I don't even bother turning it, it heats through right nice.

I then sauté/scramble whatever I'm having inside the wrap in a swirl of olive oil: sometimes thin crescents of onion, this week more often than not leftover braised cabbage, this morning it was just two lovely eggs.  (I like my eggs just this side of cooked, so I keep an eye on them so they don't hang out in the hot pan longer than necessary.)

If I'm having cheese, I sprinkle Daiya cheese onto the tortilla when I put it on the griddle.  Placing a lid to cover will help melt the cheese faster, but it's usually not necessary (the heat of whatever goes on top before wrapping always suffices to finish the melting process before the first bite reaches my mouth).

By the time the eggs are approaching ready, the tortilla is heated up and I slide it onto a big plate.  This morning, I spread some mayo on the tortilla, gently nestled the eggs on top of the mayo, and shook on some salt and black pepper (I've been kind of nuts for red pepper flakes the last few weeks, but didn't feel like it today).  Then I spooned on the sublime tomato salad Cap made, leftover from dinner last night.  (Tomatoes delivered from the farm yesterday, farm garlic, farm basil, olive oil.)  

These wraps are big and I've learned to be generous with the stuffing.  More tomato salad?  No problem.

I'm not fancy with my wrapping.  I roll it up and start eating.  As things fall out the end(s) I just eat them off my plate or stuff them back in with my fingers.

So good, so quick, so nice to look forward to every morning.

Farm fresh

We're knee deep in tomatoes from the farm and peaches form the orchard (the veggies in my lunch all came from our CSA share).  

For lunch today, I tossed together some leftover corn (sliced off the cob), cut up tomato, finely chopped onion, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and Falconero evoo.  Toasted up some Udi's multigrain sandwich bread, spread it with mayo, and had me an open-faced salad sandwich.  Summer had a party in my mouth :-)

Lull

GFCF Kid said to me yesterday: you haven't had much to post to the GFCF blog have you, you can't exactly put all the Rita's you've been having on there.

How's that for some truth.

Rita's, for those who don't know, serves up frozen custard and Italian ices. You can even get them combined, in a gelati (my fave is vanilla custard with mango ice), and it's killer.

Being GFCF has fallen by the wayside, as has cooking. Mostly, because I have many interests and I can be fickle. I've been reading more and my knitting has seen a big spike in activity lately. Partly, because of the weather. It was a very hot and humid July and even with a window AC unit in the kitchen, I have not been inspired to spend much time in there.

Falling off the GFCF wagon starts with stepping off. Usually it's a special occasion of some sort. Like going out to eat at Annisa with Bead Girl when she flew in from Oakland for a visit. But, it can also be a moment so benign, like an impromptu trip to Rita's, on a still-sultry-from-the-day summer evening, with the family.

Regardless, what happens next is always the same. I hear the keening whistle of the gluten and dairy express. It comes barreling towards me, swoops me up, barely slowing down, and there I am on the train. This train will not be making any local stops. I may as well sit down and enjoy the ride.

Initially my body is distinctly uncomfortable. My stomach hurts or burns in the morning when I wake up. My shit really does stink. I feel sluggish. I am irritable. But, then, my body adjusts and doesn't feel so bad. I bloat (which when you're used to being round and curvy is easier to not see) and my mind gets fuzzy. Edges soften and blur in a way that I don't even realize I am no longer feeling or experiencing clearly.

I used to feel bad about myself when the pendulum would inevitably make its swing. I would judge myself, deem myself lazy or idiotic or self-sabotaging.

Now, I am almost watching from outside my body. Not as harmful as getting down on myself, but I want to reconnect...reintegrate.

I'll be back here soon. No doubt.

Udi's and Food For Life and Schär

The week-long vacation in Williamsburg, VA went very smoothly in terms of our GFCF needs. Staying in a hotel suite with a full kitchen helped a lot. (Having a full kitchen made packing GFCF back-up food and snacks very easy.) The Trader Joe's in town, as well as, the "natural" section of the regular supermarket, helped a lot, as well.

Eating out was a pleasure. Fat Canary, where we went to celebrate my mom's birthday, took extremely good care of Gem and me. The waiter had background checked every item on the menu so that he could advise us with the confidence that knowing the facts provides.

Gem thought his salmon was delectable and my scallops over lentils with stewed cherry tomatoes was sublime. I also enjoyed the lobster salad appetizer and we were served GFCF crackers instead of the bread basket. For dessert we both opted for the peach sorbet. Yum.

I also ate a dinner at A Chef's Kitchen where they accommodated my request for no gluten and dairy well. The olive oil they served me to accompany the corn bread was so delicious I bought a bottle of it after dinner in the shop.

Our last dinner out was at Food For Thought which has a gluten-free menu. Gem had the tuna. I chose to throw caution and commitment to the wind and enjoyed a south of the Mason-Dixon line type of dinner: crab cake, creamed spinach and sweet tea. (I paid for it dearly.)

Finally, a shout out to Busch Gardens. Their fries are gluten-free (it's rare to find places that have dedicated fryers for non-gluten menu offerings) and Gem enjoyed an order for lunch one day.

The week after our return, I did very little cooking. I was exhausted and had little energy or mental space for anything other than reading and sleeping. In our absence, Cap had discovered that Whole Foods is now carrying a GFCF bread in the fresh (not frozen) section.

Udi's sandwich bread is, indeed, good. But, their bagels are even better. I love them. Look at that crust!


Between the hot weather and getting back into the swing of things (read: playdate after playdate after playdate), I still haven't been cooking much. These bagels and Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas (these are in the frozen section but they thaw very quickly) have been getting me through. I love wraps and these tortillas are a hit for me (not as much for the rest of the fam).

Oh, and one last ready-to-eat product I want to mention: Schär's Italian breadsticks. I found these in the "natural" section of the supermarket in Williamsburg. The kids and I all loved them. They turned out to be a life saver on the car ride back, helping to settle Sag's motion sick tummy. (For anyone local, the Shoprite on Broad Street carries some Schär products...don't know yet if they carry the breadsticks.)

Blueberry ice cream

I'm enjoying the ice cream maker. I made strawberry ice cream for our family celebration of Gem's birthday about a month ago. I've had The Vegan Scoop from the library for nearly as long and made peanut butter banana ice cream while the boys were in massachusetts.

Tonight, I made blueberry ice cream while making and eating dinner with the kids. We all had some for dessert.

It's yummy. especially with the local, organic berries. (Red Sox Daddy made a couple of blueberry pies over the weekend which were sublime.)

It's vanilla-y. Next time I may scale back a bit.

It's surprising. I swear I was getting hints of chocolate/coffee. What?

Anyway, here's the...sorry, I can't resist!...scoop :-)

Blueberry Ice Cream from The Vegan Scoop

1 cup soy milk, divided
2 Tbs. arrowroot powder
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup sugar, divided
splash of lemon juice (or a squeeze :-)
2 cups soy creamer
1 Tbs. vanilla extract

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup soy milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice in a small sauce pan. Heat until boiling and some blueberries have burst. Set aside.

Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 cup soy milk, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a sauce pan and cook over low heat. once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably.

Add vanilla extract and blueberry sauce you created earlier.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2 to 3 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Yield: 1 quart.

Notes:

• sorry to those of you who cannot do soy...this recipe is soy-rific.

• I squeezed in some lemon juice directly from a lemon.

• to my eye, the liquid does not thicken noticeably when I add the arrowroot "cream" (not really creamy, in my opinion). but the arrowroot does do the trick, the resulting ice cream is quite creamy.

• I always make the ice cream base the day before and chill it overnight. the base needs to be absolutely cold in order to get good ice cream texture (the liquid in the mixing bowl needs to be absolutely frozen as well).

• I love the ice cream when it is just made. It's soft and creamy, cold and sweet. Any leftovers can be placed in a freezer-safe air tight container and frozen. This ice cream, however, will be very hard and on the icy side. You can leave it on the counter for a bit to soften it up, but to me, thus far, it just isn't the same as 'fresh'.

Greek tofu salad

I'm working the CSA shares with more ease this season. The mindful thing is kicking in a bit more organically with each new moon. With a lot of fresh dill on hand, I was inspired to make this simple, cheap and tasty dish. I had my salad over some leftover jasmine rice.

You can find the recipe here.

Pickled radishes

Delightful.

These are tasty, crunchy, colorful, and, easy to prepare. You can find the recipe here. (The link is wonky at the moment. If you are unable to access the recipe and are interested in acquiring it, let me know and I will e-mail it to you.)

I'd never had pickled radishes before. We received some in our CSA share last week and it was cool to be able to use them all.

Some truth

Confession: I have been eating G (gluten) and C (casein) occasionally.

I am on a continual, for two-plus years now, journey with Vinny (my TCM healer). Opening channels, unearthing "stuff", working through layers...ultimately, raising awareness and aligning myself with Joy and Now.

Increasing awareness builds and plateaus and then builds and plateaus again. For me, anyway. And during the building phase, things can get uncomfortable.

I'm at a place now where I can pretty easily identify and equate the "uncomfortable" as a message. Which is useful. Because that perspective shift can change the discomfort from a negative to a positive...or a potential positive, anyway :-)

Though I have faltered in my resolve to be GFCF for 365 days, these side trips to consuming gluten and/or dairy have led to new information. My body has sent me some pretty clear messages.

Gluten = headache.

Casein = hives and bloat.

These aren't be all end all messages. Body chemistry, the flow of Qi, there are a lot of factors which come into play at any given moment. But, I know, more than ever before, that the G and the C do not help me. They really aren't my friends.

And so it goes.

Roasted chicken

I love the Dutch oven.

Today I roasted my very first chicken. How simple...and easy. And it smelled all sorts of amazing while roasting.

The chicken is from a local farm...I buy through our CSA (the same farm from whence the pastured eggs come).

I modified the Nourishing Traditions Roast Chicken recipe slightly.

• I used a Dutch oven with the lid on instead of a roasting pan (I removed the lid for the last 5 minutes of roasting.)

• Next time I will add lemon, garlic, salt and pepper to the cavity.

• I used olive oil instead of melted butter...and was lazy and did not brush it on. I drizzled.

• I opted for fresh oregano this time.

• I am not making the gravy this time, but will enjoy the onions and garlic carpeting the bottom of the Dutch oven.

ETA: This chicken was DELICIOUS! Both kids loved it. This would make great road trip fare, cold, the next day.

Baked pasta

Cells are shivering and bouncing and rubbing up against each other.

I remember baked pasta dishes very fondly. Especially lasagna and baked ziti, my mom's go to Italian fare (in addition to spaghetti) when I was growing up.

When GFCF Kid was diagnosed with his food allergies/intolerances, all thoughts of baked pasta flew out the window. And, for the most part, I've never looked back.

I do occasionally order lasagna when eating out, and enjoy it thoroughly. But, when I'm GFCF, I've gone without. Mainly because GFCF Kid has no interest in, or taste for, things "cheesy". The other reason is that there has not been a tasty CF cheese on the market that melted like the real thing.

But, now there is: Daiya cheese. I had a bag of rotini that's been residing in the pantry for a few months so I picked up some ground turkey, a jar of Newman's marinara sauce, and a bag of Daiya cheese. I had peas in the freezer so added those for color and "vegetableness".

While I cooked the rotini in salted water, I sauteed and seasoned the ground turkey in a bit of oil. When the turkey was cooked, I added the tomato sauce to the turkey. I defrosted the peas in a colander.

Once the pasta was done, I drained it and put it into a baking dish. I added the meat sauce and peas and cheese. I covered the dish with foil and baked it at 350º for about 25 minutes. I uncovered it and baked it for 5 more minutes.

(I added a dollop of homemade basil-pine nut pesto to my bowl...yum!)

Simple, old school, not totally from scratch, baked rotini. GFCF Kid wouldn't touch it, The Omnivore couldn't tolerate the rotini shape, I relived my past and loved it :-)

(Good thing Red Sox Daddy is coming home tomorrow, he'll help me finish the pan. Next time I'm making it meatless!)

Carrot tofu scramble

This is a longtime favorite of GFCF Kid's. The recipe came to us via my sister who got it from The Vegetarian Times Cookbook. If you have a food processor it's pretty quick to put together. It's great over white rice. This is the only way, so far, that GFCF Kid enjoys tofu. I've made this for various people who have always really liked it.

Carrot Tofu Scramble

2	Tbs vegetable oil (I use safflower oil)
1	lb carrots, grated
1	lb extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1/3	cup Bragg's
1/3	cup sesame seeds
1	tsp dark sesame oil

Directions

1. In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and cook the carrots, stirring, for 15 minutes.
   
   
2. Add the tofu and cook, stirring, until the carrots are soft, about 5 minutes more. (I put the block in whole and mash with potato masher.)
   
   
3. Add the Bragg's and sesame seeds. Cook 1 minute more.
   
   
4. Stir in the teriyaki sauce.
   
   
5. Serve hot.
   

Vegan Scoop

Picked this up at the library today... I can't justify buying yet another book at the moment so I will peruse and see where inspiration strikes. Peanut Butter and Jelly ice cream? Watermelon sorbet? Earl Grey ice cream? Yum!

Burger on a bun

Tonight was kind of special: GFCF Kid has his first burger on a bun.

I've been sitting on a GFCF burger bun recipe for a long time and have yet to make it. (This particular recipe calls for the dough to rise which is an additional step to the process...for my ADDish brain this has been enough to lose focus again and again. Some day I will make these buns.)

Tonight, he enjoyed his turkey burger on a bun I ordered from The Gluten-Free Mall. I rarely order from GFM, but I was there to buy red licorice sticks recently and noticed the buns were on sale so I put them in my virtual cart. (At $5 for 4 buns I am thinking of ordering some more to bring on our upcoming extended family trip to Williamsburg.)

The verdict? GFCF Kid thought it was okay. He didn't like how big the bun was. The Omnivore, who has enjoyed a variety of gluten buns ranging from Elevation Burger to supermarket to diner, loved his burger, unequivocally.

Me? I wasn't sure I'd get a bun, but GFCF Kid was full after his first, so I had myself a guacamole turkey burger. It was satisfying. The bun was pretty remarkable. It was soft but had some bite. It's small by American standards, but really, just right for a homemade burger at home. It had a vaguely processed quality to it which did not interfere with the enjoyment of consuming it.

'Tis the season for grilling and the like. If you don't have the time or confidence yet to make your own, these might just be the ticket to enjoying the Summer.

Ice cream cones with sprinkles

The kids have been enjoying soy ice cream cones with sprinkles lately. The weather has turned quite summery and our new reality has most definitely pointed us in the direction of air conditioners, lemonade and ice cream.

With Red Sox Daddy away now for over two weeks, we three are starting to seek comfort in small and deviant ways. So, during our last trip to the market, when The Omnivore piped up that he'd like his ice cream on a cone (I'd just loaded up the cart with three different flavors of soy ice cream: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry), we went looking and found GFCF cones.

The GFCF sprinkles I had picked up a couple of weeks ago...for a reason I no longer remember.

It's a simple pleasure, that frankly, I had forgotten about. Ice cream on a cone with sprinkles.

Granny Choe's Kimchi

click to embiggen this one.

It's as intense as it looks (and it's GF and vegan). Incredibly fresh, like nothing else, kimchi...yummy, kimchi. You can order yourself some here.

Home fries

Home fries are one of GFCF Kid's favorite things that I make. It's truly a homegrown dish that I've improved on by picking up tidbits of info here and there. It's hardly a 'recipe' but I will share with you how I make them.

4 medium to large organic yellow potatoes
safflower oil
salt, pepper, garlic powder
cast iron skillet

• Peel potatoes and cube them.
• Boil potatoes in salted water for about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Coat the bottom of the skillet with safflower oil. Heat over medium to medium-high heat.
• As the oil heats up, add the potatoes to skillet. (Be careful, water droplets from the colander may send hot oil popping back at you!)
• Season potatoes with salt, pepper and garlic powder. (Add more spices of your choosing :-)
• Adjust heat and cook potatoes to your liking (brownness, crispiness, etc.)

Serve hot and savor. Ketchup optional.

Cold noodle salad

BFF Abe Lincoln made this cold noodle dish for me ages ago. And it was memorable.

Wow, it was such a long time ago that she was still consuming gluten.

Though I have carefully stored the small note paper sheet that holds the recipe, tucked into my binder for years, I had never made it because nothing clicked when I thought about subbing GF noodles in for the soba.

But then, on my last trip to H Mart, I picked up a bag of Sea Tangle. I had never heard of Sea Tangle before, but right on the package it said it was gluten-free. And clearly, it held noodle potential.

This cold noodle salad comes together in under 30 minutes using the Sea Tangle*. The grown ups all liked it, Sister and Bro-In-Law brought home leftovers enthusiastically.

* I plan on making this dish with Shirataki noodles ate some point.

Cold Noodle Salad (may be an Emeril recipe...)

1/4 c honey
1/4 c Bragg's or coconut aminos to make soy-free
4 tsp sesame oil
1 lb. Sea Tangle noodles
1/2 c thinly sliced scallions
1/2 c mung bean sprouts
1/2 c thinly sliced carrots
1/2 c cuke peeled, seeded, thinly sliced
1 c crushed toasted cashews or peanuts
3 Tbs chopped fresh cialntro (left out this time bc my mom cannot abide cilantro)
2 Tbs black sesame seeds (optional...I love the visual interest they add :-)

• Whisk together honey, Bragg's and sesame oil and set aside.
• Prep all the veggies: wash, rinse, peel, slice, etc.
• Prep cashews: toast and chop/crush.
• Prep cilantro: wash, dry and chop.
• Cut open bag of Sea Tangle. Rinse noodles in cold water and break apart as needed. Cut noodles, as desired, with kitchen shears.
• Mix together, well, noodles, veggies, nuts, cilantro, sesame seeds and honey mixture.

Strawberry soy ice cream

strawberry soy ice cream with grilled banana crumpets.

We've had an ice cream maker for years, but, somehow, its use has always been rooted in Red Sox Daddy's kitchen domain. With him away, and Summer pushing in on Spring 'round here, and a family holiday dinner upon me (my family likes to eat), I decided to go for it and make ice cream.

Strawberry is The Omnivore's favorite flavor. And I thought a fresh strawberry ice cream would go well with the grilled banana crumpets. (Red Sox Daddy can't eat bananas so this was a good opportunity to make these babies.)

In the past, the kids have balked at non-dairy ice cream made with coconut milk. They don't love it like I do. So, for this batch of ice cream, I searched for a recipe that did not use coconut milk. (Interestingly, I found this recipe which claims to mask the coconut flavor of coconut milk-based strawberry ice cream by upping the vanilla content. I may try this one in the future.)

I found this recipe and decided to give it a go.

Making ice cream with an ice cream maker is very easy. However, there's prep that you need to know about beforehand:

• The mixer bowl needs to be in the freezer for at least 24 hours before making the ice cream.

• The ingredients need to be pre-mixed (not in the ice cream maker mixer bowl), sometimes pre-cooked, and then chilled, preferably overnight.

• The ice cream takes about 25 minutes to become ice cream once the machine is turned on. You can almost ignore it during this time (it can appear to come perilously close to overflowing...)

• The ice cream is pretty soft, but in my opinion, wonderful, when freshly made (see pic above). It can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container and will be much harder once it's been frozen.

Everyone loved the ice cream. I used fresh, organic strawberries and vanilla Silk soymilk. The ice cream was a terrific complement to the banana crumpets if I do say so myself :-) I look forward to making more ice cream this summer!

Sweet banana crumpets

Let me start by stating that I am not a crumpet person. I don't think I've ever had one homemade. I vaguely remember trying a store bought one at the home of a child whose family I used to provide respite care to, twenty or so years ago.

When I saw this recipe for Sweet Banana Crumpets, this was what caught my eye:

"They are delicious warm from the oven as shown-- but truly sublime when sliced in half and grilled in a touch of olive oil till golden."

Gluten-Free Goddess knows how to eat :-)

I bought these muffin rings to make this recipe. I like cute gadgety things...and I love these.

Beautiful.

These crumpets were easy to make. They are cooling now and tomorrow, I plan to serve them grilled with homemade strawberry soy ice cream. Yum :-)

Sloppy lentils

Once a month, my friend, E, hosts Sacred Singing at her house. It is a wonderful gathering to sing sacred songs and to break bread together. It was at Sacred Singing that I was introduced to E's Sloppy Lentils.

I have very fond childhood memories of Mrs. Kasuga's Sloppy Joe's. I don't remember anyone else ever making them for me...maybe my mom once or twice. If I close my eyes, the memory of her Sloppy Joe's are multi-sensory. I loved them.

I think my kids would probably like Sloppy Joe's. They love the meat sauce I make for spaghetti, which is made with ground meat. But, because I have yet to venture into baking burger buns, Sloppy Joe's hadn't entered my mind.

These Sloppy Lentils are so good, they have me seriously pursuing the baking of burger buns. I came close to making them today, but I'm in the midst of a lot of cooking and just didn't have the energy and time.

So, tonight, we will enjoy the lentils over rice. This batch came out quite salty. I'm not sure why, though I am certain the fault lies with me and my 'eyeballing' style of cooking :-)

E's Sloppy Lentils

(...as modified from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook...with some tweaks by me)

2 Tbsp safflower oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes (I prefer Muir Glen fire roasted
tomatoes for the extra smokiness)
5 cups water
2 Tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
3-4 Tbsp honey mustard (if I don't have any around, I just put in 2
Tbsp honey and 2 additional Tbsp prepared mustard)
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet (I use the saucier, but sometimes
resort to a soup pot) over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and
cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, stirring
to coat.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, turn up the heat until it comes to
a boil, then turn it down to a lively simmer and cover it. It takes a
solid two hours to cook, sometimes longer. Check it every half hour
to stir and make sure it has enough water.


I've adjusted the amount of cooking time and water to make this with
navy beans or kidney beans, too -- not quite as perfect to pile into a
crusty roll when I use the larger beans, but still quite tasty. With
the beans it takes at least an extra hour cooking time, and additions
of water for the last hour or hour and a half.

Clean Food

It has been a long time, years, since I have been inspired enough by a cookbook to buy it.

We have a lot of cookbooks. We used to buy them for fun. And when GFCF Kid came along, we bought them out of necessity. But, somewhere along the line, we stopped buying them. Between diminishing shelf space, coming down on spending, and the advent of the blogosphere, my modus operandi shifted.

I began borrowing cookbooks from the library and photocopying recipes here and there. I discovered that most books were not worth buying for the couple of recipes that sounded good. Some books had helpful tips about cookware, organizing one's kitchen, and cooking. This information I took in without having to buy the book, thanks to libraries. I also learned that I liked reading food/cooking blogs and that they were a fertile source of recipes. For free!

BFF Knitgirl recently recommended I check out a book called Clean Food. What really piqued my interest was that I thought she mentioned a recipe for kombucha. So I requested the book from the library, it didn't have a recipe for kombucha, and I kind of fell in love with it anyway :-)

I believe all the recipes are vegan. Most are gluten-free and most of the recipes that do use gluten offer gluten-free substitutes right in the recipe. I really like how she offers tips on maximizing the nutritional values of staples like grains. I like how many of the recipes use seaweed and sea vegetables. I like how recipe after recipe, I thought, "that sounds yummy", "I could make that with my regular pantry items", and "I think the kids/partner would not only eat that, but like it, too".

Yes. Inspiring.

It is a hefty 45% off cover price at Amazon. I bought it and eagerly await its arrival!

Chili garlic sauce

Took the kids and some friends to H Mart today. We needed more seasoned nori! We went to a different store and I'm glad we did. Though this one was further as the crow flies, because less of the journey was on surface roads, it ended up taking close to the same amount of time to get there and back.

They had the chili garlic sauce I used to love when we lived in Sacramento! I was very happy to place that in my bag. We picked up a lot of the nori and I also bought some baby bok choi kimchi.

This store also had a ton of free food samples, yummy smells greeted us at every turn! The Omnivore tried some ice cream he really liked so we bought some of that, too. GFCF Kid found the sushi section and we briefly debated buying the nice looking piece of sushi grade salmon. We decided we'd come back on a day of planned sushi making.

I had a delicious lunch, an okonomiyaki sandwich. The bread is my homemade sandwich bread, the GFCF okonomiyaki was made by Miki yesterday (we didn't stay for the campfire backyard dinner but she gave me some of her always tasty food to take home), mayo and chili garlic sauce.

Super yum. No, yum extraordinaire :-)

Korean pickled radish

pickled radish, vinegar, salt, sugar, sesame seeds.

Maybe someday I will make my own pickled veggies on a regular basis. But, for now, I am enjoying these, found at H Mart last weekend. I was looking for kimchi with no preservatives, something simply GFCF. It was interesting how so many of the kimchis contained shrimp paste, which Red Sox Daddy cannot have (he is severely allergic).

I ended up buying the pickled radishes because I coildn't find a jar of kimchi I was happy with...and frankly, was too shy to talk to the kimchi monger about their house kimchi, which was being sold, without labels, in large plastic bags.

The radishes are good. Fresh, with great texture and flavor. I've been eating them with white rice.

And, incidentally, I learned of an online kimchi shop yesterday. It's a small business, family-run, and very hands-on. My inquiring e-mail about whether their product was gluten-free was answered promptly and in the positive. I placed an order and eagerly await my kimchi sampler trio :-)

Interesting fact: before my pregnancies I could not tolerate spicy food. It didn't taste good to me, at all. Now, I experience hot peppers and spice very differently. It is as if I stepped into an alternate dimension. It feels like a connection has opened up and makes me happy.

Seasoned nori

Until fairly recently, I had no idea that nori had the nutritional richness that it does. (Huh, it contains protein?!)

I grew up eating the stuff and the kids have been eating it since they were wee, mostly as a wrap for sushi or onigiri.

I remember eating ajitsuke (flavored) nori when I was a kid. The seasoning changed the quality of the nori experience, for sure. Japanese seasoned nori is flavored with soy sauce, which contains wheat. So, GFCF Kid has not been able to try this savory treat.

About a month ago, we were over at Melody's house and she made us lunch. She served us Korean seasoned nori and I was delighted to see that the ingredients were just nori, sesame oil, corn oil and salt. I tried it and loved it. I can't remember if the kids tried it or not. They tend to not eat very much when we are at someone's house. They want to get back to playing.

Last weekend Cap and I had some kid-free time and we used part of it to make our first trip to H Mart, a Korean supermarket. One of the items I was on the look out for was seasoned nori. And I found it :-) The kids cannot get enough of it, they absolutely love it. They've been wrapping rice with it and eating it unadorned as a snack in the car.

Cooking vessels

I didn't really cook before GFCF Kid became, well, a GFCF kid.

My mom is a great cook and I always enjoyed eating her food growing up. But, I was never interested in learning how to cook myself.

In college, I ate food service food quite happily. Back then, we were only required to buy a meal plan our freshman year. But, I always had money on my ID card (thanks to my parent) and often ate my meals on-campus even after I moved out of the dorms.

During college I did start to dabble in home cooking. My circles happened to have like-minded folks when it came to food and we began having co-op meals where we would cook for each other, somewhere between a dozen and two dozen of us. I got to know the Moosewood cookbooks well.

After college, I moved to Hiroshima for a year and lived alone for the first and only time in my life. What did I eat? A lot of canned tuna. And toast with butter. And convenience store onigiri. And I ate out. I was a regular at Mitchan, an okonomiyaki place. I took off a lot of weight that year.

What I remember most about cooking in Cambridge, the time before GFCF Kid came along, was that when I cooked, it was almost always scrambled eggs. They were just about the only thing I cooked, but they also became my specialty. I became curious about improving my technique and taught myself a few things.

But, then came GFCF Kid. Our firstborn, who changed everything. When he was about three months old, I went on an elimination diet to try to ascertain what in my diet, which he was getting via breastmilk, could be causing his bloody stools. Suddenly, it became very difficult to have our staples or any take-out. A month later, I was down to eating rice and some veggies and fruit. I was also back to work full-time and newly parenting not only my first baby, but also a baby who had bloody poops (though he was, thankfully, fat and happy and didn't appear sickly at all).

By the time GFCF Kid started eating food (he was switched from breastmilk to hypoallergenic formula at 4 1/2 months), we knew he was very allergic to cow's milk. We didn't discover he needed to be gluten-free, as well, for another year or so. For awhile there, he was also allergic to soy.

Between having a toddler with multiple food allergies and the arrival of a second baby within eighteen months of the birth of the first, and working an incredibly rewarding yet equally demanding full-time job, something had to give for me.

So I quit my job. And we moved in with Red Sox Daddy's dad. And began the journey of figuring out how to live on one income while nourishing each other and ourselves, trying to be as independent as we can, but also relying, as gracefully as we could, on the help of our family and friends.

Something I have learned over the years is that, as much as possible, it is worth it to spend more money/time on purchasing certain kitchen/cooking items. It takes time to figure out when you are simply paying more for a brand, as opposed to finer workmanship or more quality base material.

And it definitely takes time to figure out which are the tools of the trade you will use and depend on for years and years, as opposed to the ones which seem nifty at first but turn out to be redundant because something you already have can perform the same trick (which is really cool).

This hasn't been easy for me. But, having been at it for seven years or so in three different states, I have a lot of experience under my belt. I never anticipated that this would be such a big part of my life, but this is what I have spent much time and energy on. First, there was learning the ingredients, then there was learning the resources, then learning recipes, then streamlining (time), streamlining (cost), and streamlining (tools/space) some more.

As I have moved away from novice status, I have felt quite a drive to make more and more efficient the process and the life of being a GFCF parent.

All this front story for a post about a rice cooker and Dutch oven.


I have wanted a Le Creuset Dutch oven for years. I love color and Le Creuset is colorful. I am drawn to heirloom pieces. Things that are crafted to last for generations to come. Le Creuset fit that bill, too. Then, I began seeing recipes that called for the use of a Dutch oven. And I learned what a Dutch oven was. (That's me...wanting something before I even know what it's used for...or that it could be useful to me. I love beautiful things, unreasonably sometimes.)

I never bought one because they are really expensive. I could somehow never justify it. A quirk of the brain since I have justified spending a lot of money on other things in my life.

I am also not one for delaying gratification. It is very unusual for me to be able to wait comfortably for something that doesn't have a definite arrival date. So for me to have waited years...that's something.

Recently, one thing led to another and I bought a Dutch oven. It's made of cast iron and coated in enamel. Like Le Creuset. It was not made in France and I was disappointed that it was not made in the U.S.A., but at a fraction of the Le Creuset price tag (I bought mine from Amazon), and the personally known reliability of their other cast iron products (which are American made), it was a no-brainer.

I was very happy to find our new Dutch oven, made by Lodge.


The timing of buying the Dutch oven coincided with the search for a new rice cooker. Our old rice cooker was sixteen years old and had served us so well. But, the heating elements were going awry and the rice was coming out soggy in spots and crunchy in others.

I spent some time doing research and some time mourning the demise of ol' faithful. And chose the Zojirushi 10 cup mid- price range rice cooker. It cost nearly $200. But, we have been using it almost every day since its arrival, it makes perfect rice and keeps it warm for 24 hours (they say 12, but it's been fine for 24), and I am betting we'll have it for a good 15 years or so.

I know not everyone lives a culture of rice like I do, but if you like rice, I recommend looking into getting a rice cooker if you don't already have one. It makes streamlining easy.

Natto

Natto is one of those foods people either love or hate. Natto is fermented soybeans and you can read about them here.

I hated the way natto looked, more than anything, when I was kid and my parents would eat it. But, somewhere along the line, I tried it again as an adult and discovered that I really liked it. The added bonus of its healthful properties push it over to a must-eat food.

Because I eat it uncooked, and soy is not on-list, I have not been drawn to eating it during this semi-Dragon's Way time. But, I did have some the other day. Partly because we've been eating a lot of rice thanks to our new rice cooker, and partly because I was in the mood for having a pastured egg raw.

My favorite way to have natto is with a raw egg, soy sauce (I tried it this time with coconut aminos but didn't love it...will go back to Braggs next time), grated daikon pulp and chopped scallion. Sometimes I add shredded nori. Yum.

Natto freezes really well. I usually buy a bunch whenever I go to an Asian market and toss them in the freezer. They defrost overnight in the fridge or in about an hour on the counter.

Teriyaki-ish chicken

The photo is not very appetizing. This was one of those instances where the magic of what I was doing removed any thoughts of archiving from my mind. By the time I realized I wanted to take a photo, all the nicely browned pieces were eaten and the day's natural light was fading fast (I much prefer shooting in natural light than the flash.)

I'm sorry to say that there isn't much of a recipe to speak of in this post, either. I wing this dish, based on experience. I hope you can give this idea time and repetition, too. It's worth it. Promise.

Ingredients:

* skinless boneless chicken breast (no reason you couldn't use skin-on chicken here)
* safflower oil
* garlic powder, salt, pepper, sugar
* Bragg's or coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
* mirin

Heat a pan that you will be able to cover, add oil.

Slice into the chicken breasts, but do not cut through. Alternately, you could pound the chicken. (The point is to allow the chicken to cook through in less time.)

Season the chicken with garlic powder, salt, pepper, sugar, to taste. I usually season just one side and let loose with the garlic powder, in particular. The sugar is critical for that teriyaki flavor.

Once the oil is hot, place chicken in pan. Tongs work nicely to place them gently, minimizing hot oil splash.

Add mirin (about 1/4 cup for about 1 lb. of chicken) and soy sauce substitute (2-3 Tbs) over the chicken, into the pan.

Cover and steam/braise/cook over a medium to medium-high for 5 minutes. The liquid in the pan should be bubbling merrily.

Uncover, flip the chicken over, cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let sit for about a minute or two.

Serve sliced, with rice of choice and a veggie.

The chicken should be remarkably tender and moist, the flavor yummy. Tweak your seasoning and cooking time/stove top heat to your liking next time, if it doesn't quite do it for you the first time.

Gluten-Free Pantry French Bread

There's a Gluten-Free Goddess recipe for sweet banana crumpets that I want to try to make at some point. When I was at Nature's Pavilion last month (or the month before...whenever that was...) I bought a box of Gluten-Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix thinking that was what the crumpets recipe called for. It wasn't. So, the box sat in the pantry for a few weeks.

Then, one day, the box provided a needed shortcut in making a loaf of sandwich bread. (Either I was missing ingredients to make my usual loaf or I was feeling enervated by hormones or the dullness of routine, I can't remember the exact circumstances.)

This first loaf was close to inedible for me, but the rest of the fam liked it.

While doing the weekly food shopping the week after I made the first loaf, I noticed that the mix was on sale, buy one get one free. So I bought another box and a box of the muffin and scone mix (for those banana crumpets).

One of my strengths as a learner is that I revise well, and easily. I had found the first loaf on the dry side so I boosted the liquids in the second loaf: more water, more oil, and bigger eggs (I had my wonderful pastured eggs on hand). I was out of safflower oil so I used olive oil for this loaf.

The second loaf was delicious. Really yummy. The unbelievable egg yolks gave this loaf a warm yellow color. And the olive oil masked the flavor that really turned me off of the first loaf (likely the xanthan gum).

Which brings us to this week. I still haven't made the crumpets, but I did put two more boxes of this bread mix on the shopping list. It's a great pantry item to have handy. It's cheaper than a store bought loaf of GFCF bread and much tastier.

The loaf I made Monday morning was gone by Monday night. This morning, I made another loaf. I had both the rice cooker and the bread machine going within 15 minutes or so. There was warm rice available for breakfast and sandwiches on soft, fresh bread for lunch. Yum.

Cole slaw

Cole slaw was a side I could take or leave for most of my life. If there was potato salad around, then forget it, I always chose that over the chopped cabbage.

This all changed the day I had Jamie's mom's Cole slaw. It completely redefined the food for me. That's some kind of special.

Jamie's mom generously shared her recipe with me and I was delighted at its simplicity. I have made it many, many times since and it has yet to let me down. (That's a definite upside to uncomplicated...it's easy to replicate.)

Tomorrow night we are hosting common meal. We had hoped for a picnic and I immediately thought of making Jamie's mom's Cole slaw. The forecast is calling for a wet Wednesday, but this dish will bring the picnic indoors with its unmistakable seasonal signature.

Jamie's Mom's Cole Slaw

Shred 1 head green cabbage (cored, outer leaves peeled) and grate 2 medium carrots (peeled) in a food processor.

Combine 1 cup mayonnaise with 3 Tbs oil (I use safflower), 2 Tbs white vinegar (I use apple cider), 2 tsp sugar and dashes of salt and pepper (to taste) in a small bowl (I use my 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup with its handy spout).

Toss everything together in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy, people, I do...every single time :-)

Granola

I made granola for the first time today. A newly GF friend and I went in on a bulk order of GF oats. I'd thrown the bag out awhile ago (the oats went into an airtight container and then into the fridge shortly after its arrival) so I can't say what the company name is.

Since buying these oats, I've discovered that the super Whole Foods near us sells Bob's Red Mill rolled oats (certified gluten-free) for a comparable price so next time I'll probably just get those.

I used Stitch Marker's recipe which can be found here.

This was very easy to make. I did buy peanut oil (Whole Foods didn't have corn oil) and almond extract...neither of which is a usual pantry item for us. Everything else, I had on hand.

I used parchment paper rather than oiling the pan which worked fine.

I couldn't pinch mine into clusters so well. But once the granola was cooked and cooled, it broke apart into clusters easily.

My batch tasted bitter at first. But then it was as if my tongue adjusted and I no longer tasted the bitterness. Strange.

I would like this a touch sweeter. I'll probably add more brown sugar next time.

It's tasty, the almonds go well in it (I stuck with just almonds mostly because I knew walnuts would really turn the kids off) and makes a great snack.

Choc and pb

A quickie sans photo:

A scoop of your favorite non-dairy chocolate ice cream and a dollop of peanut butter. Combine and enjoy.

And, yes, I am PMSing ;-)

Veggie scramble

Our pastured eggs come every two weeks and this latest batch is gorgeous. Red Sox Daddy made corn bread last night and the color of the bread was completely different, deeper and brighter, due to the yolks of these amazing eggs.

This morning, I couldn't resist the siren song of the eggs.

I decided to make a veggie scramble because something from the Dragon's Way book has been reverberating. Something that never has before (the benefit of doing anything more than once is you really can and do pick up and learn something new/different every time).

The healing foods are healing no matter what. So, if you choose to go off-list, try to do so in addition to eating healing foods, not instead of.

This morning's scramble:

3 scallions (white and some green parts, chopped)
1/2 zucchini (chopped pretty finely...they cook faster this way)
1 plum tomato (chopped pretty finely...see above)
safflower oil
1 lovely pastured egg
salt
pepper
sugar

Heat oil in small pan. Sauté the scallions, then add the zuke, then add the tomato. Once it looks wonderfully melded and smells really good, crack the egg in. Stir and stir to scramble the egg. Season to your liking, with seasonings of your choice. I almost didn't use sugar figuring the tomatoes were sweet, but am so glad I did. It pulled the flavors together gently and nicely.

I had my scramble on toast with mayo.

Pasta with bread crumbs

Sometimes what the heart wants is double starch super carb.

Since mentioning pasta with bread crumbs in yesterday's post, the idea has been lodged in my mind. Firmly.

And I had a hankering for it tonight, so here it is:

• GF pasta of your choice (Red Sox Daddy made tuna pasta salad for dinner tonight so I had him set aside some rotini for me)
• GF bread crumbs
• veggie(s)/aromatics of your choice, or, choose no veggie(s)/aromatics at all (tonight I added plum tomato and scallion)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper (if I wasn't using any aromatics I would definitely add garlic powder here)

Heat the olive oil in the pan. Add chopped scallion and sauté. Add chopped tomato and sauté some more. Add bread crumbs and sauté some more (if you prefer crunchy bread crumbs, toast them in a separate pan before adding...tonight I was in the mood for a one-pan meal). Add pasta and mix thoroughly and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper (and/or the seasonings of your choice).

Enjoy.