Playing With our Food

Oatmeal Scones: reinventing the wheel

2011-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

After more than six years of being gluten-free, I am learning... that I'm still just learning.

I THOUGHT that the best way to bake was to create just the right combination of flours, taking the consistency & elasticity of each flour into consideration. I THOUGHT that the more flours one used, the better.

Then along came a store-bought baguette.

Against The Grain makes a baguette that is absolutely perfect for making submarine sandwiches. This past weekend, my son and I had our first subs in over 6 years... and they were everything we'd been dreaming of. My husband & daughter who CAN eat gluten concurred - this is the real deal. So naturally, I was curious. What was IN them that made them so tasty? The answer was... practically nothing. There was only ONE flour used! Tapioca starch.

This morning, after canning lemon marmalade until midnight, I wanted to try my new topping. And what better to use, than an oat scone? I KNOW I have a recipe here somewhere and that it's positively amazing, but even after searching my backup recipe cards on the computer, I just couldn't find my recipe. So thinking of these single-flour baguettes, I decided to try something daring. I threw out everything I knew about gluten-free baking, rolled up my sleeves, and got creative.

The result is a low-ingredient, YUMMY scone that was just a little sweet to offset the intense sourness of the lemon marmalade... and it had just the right stick-to-your-ribs texture that makes an oat scone perfect for breakfast alongside a strong cup of tea.

To make 8 of these amazing little pretties, you will need:

1 1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour (I grind my oats in a coffee grinder because it's SO much cheaper than prepared oat flour!)
1 1/3 cup gluten free oats
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar (don't pack it - less sugar that way!)
1/2 cup applesauce (homemade works perfectly!)
2/3 cup buttermilk substitute (I used 1 Tbsp lemon juice to 2/3 cup almond milk...)

Preheat your oven to 400F. Mix together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients one by one, mixing until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a well-floured surface, (I used rice flour... because it's cheap) and pat into a 3/4" circle. Using your pizza-wheel, cut into wedges and place on a parchment/silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15+ minutes or until tops are slightly browned, and sound solid when you tap on them. Serve HOT with your favorite toppings.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Custard - reinvented

2011-10-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

Some days your plans don't work out quite the way you'd hoped. When that happens, you have two choices... pout, or make the most of your situation.

As I cleaned out the bottom section of my freezer last week in preparation for pureeing pumpkins, (an odd sight I'm sure, as it involves my dangling bodily from the edge of the freezer, legs waving precariously in the air behind me as I try to keep myself from tipping into the freezer) I discovered several frozen quarts of pumpkin puree - from LAST fall. Not being one to waste food, but knowing it's use-it-or-lose-it time for these delicious baggies, I grabbed a few & popped them into the fridge to thaw.

This morning I woke to thawed pumpkin in the fridge, visions of pumpkin custard in my head... and a faulty memory. As I danced about the kitchen gathering my ingredients to whip up a delicious warm surprise for the kids, everything came to a screeching halt when the can of what I THOUGHT was evaporated milk in my cupboard ended up being the light coconut milk I'd accidentally picked up thinking it was full-fat. Whoops.

My stomach informed me that it was still breakfast time, evaporated milk or not, and I stopped for a minute to reconsider my recipe. It's *my* recipe after all, so why can't I alter it? So with a tweak here, a substitution there, and some flax thrown in... just because I could, I reinvented one of my favorite fall breakfast recipes.

THIS time for this recipe I used:
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup brown sugar (go dark, or go home... it's all about the rich flavor!)
3 eggs
1 can light coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
Blend all ingredients together, and pour into a 7x11" (or 8" square) glass baking dish. Bake at 350F for 70 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

It was... AMAZING! The coconut added a wonderful richness, and was a perfect pairing with the pumpkin. The flax added just a hint of nuttiness, and because of the natural sweetness of coconut I was able to cut the sugar in half from my original recipe. My kids added a tiny scoop of ice cream to theirs, but I had mine with a big mug of tea. Either way, this is definitely a repeat-recipe!

Enjoy!

Salsa! (a canned recipe)

2011-10-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

In our house, salsa is its own food group. We like it mild, warm, spicy... and upon occasion we'll melt a bit of cheese into the REALLY hot stuff & create a deliciously tummy-warming Salsa Con Queso. We eat it on chips, rice & potatoes... and use it as a mix-in to spice up all sorts of delicious recipes.

Usually we prefer to make up small batches of fresh salsa or save coupons for Newman's Own Mango Salsa. But we've been toying with the concept of canning our own salsa with as many home-grown ingredients as we can possibly muster in a northern climate - which means hunting for a wonderful CANNED version that we like as much as our favorite fresh salsas.

This year I had planned on picking up the jars & comparing tiny portions of multiple recipes so we would be ready for next year's harvest. What happened however, was that I found a farmer selling canning-jars who had an extra 1.5 bushels of tomatoes. So the canning frenzy commenced.

Having never canned tomatoes before, and knowing there was some "secret" to canning them properly I searched the internet for tips & safety-tested recipes. That big, bad tomato-y secret is nothing more than that you need to boost the acid when canning tomatoes. A lot. Fortunately when it comes to salsa, this can be accomplished by using BOTTLED lemon & lime juices... which only makes salsa taste better! (Fresh juice is NOT recommended as each fruit can have a slightly different pH but this far north bottled juices are easier to find anyway!) So armed with several safe recipes that looked tasty, I concocted my own variation... being VERY careful to keep the same proportions of everything so it would stay safe. Nachos-Con-Botulism aren't exactly my "thing."

So for our first try at canning salsa, what we have is nine quarts of positively delicious warm-but-not-painful salsa that's SO yummy, even my tomato-hating son is pleased that we've canned so much! It's absolutely not the same as dicing your veggies & serving everything fresh, but this is quite possibly just as GOOD!

For this recipe we took:
24 POUNDS of tomatoes (yep, I used a kitchen scale)
5 cups onions - diced
3 cups assorted peppers - diced
(DH diced up 2 poblanos, 4 anaheims & 6 tiny jalapenos for ours, but as long as you stick to 3 cups you can use WHATEVER peppers you like!)
1 cup fresh cilantro - minced
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp oregano
and 3 cups of bottled lemon/lime* juice.
* We used 1 cup lime & 2 cups lemon... next year we'll be reversing that for 2 cups lime & 1 cup lemon however for just a bit more *pop*.

To start, blanch your tomatoes... if you don't know how, there are thousands of picture tutorials, but all you do is dip them into boiling water for 20 seconds, then move them into ice water for a minute so they practically peel themselves. I'm sorry I didn't get any photos of this step, I had two helpers and it took everything I could do to keep up with them both!

Once you've skinned your tomatoes, chop them into large-ish pieces (I cut the huge tomatoes into eights, and quartered the smaller ones) then smoosh them a bit to remove some of the extra seeds & juice. You can skip this step, but cooking it down will take HOURS longer - and it's not nearly as fun. My son smooshed them against the side of a large colander, set inside a HUGE bowl to catch all the juice. He cackled every time he hit a particularly juicy tomato, as they made a most satisfying squelchy noise, but giggling is optional. However, don't waste that juice!!! With this recipe we ended up with 10 CUPS of juice! (We strained out the seeds & froze ours to use later as soup-stock, but YOU may have a more creative idea!)

Now that your tomatoes are ready, toss all the ingredients into a 2.5 gallon stock-pot, and start cooking it down. It took us about 2 hours to cook it to a consistency we were happy with, but if you like your salsa a bit wetter it may take less time. The important part here is that it MUST boil for at least 30 minutes to kill any scary bacteria that may be lurking in the pot! After that, it's all up to you.

When you've reached a consistency that makes you happy, immediately can into hot sterilized jars & process for 30 minutes at 0-1000ft. Yes, a full half-hour with water-canning. Lift your jars out & set them on your counter, and DO NOT TOUCH for at least 8 hours... until they're completely cooled. Then just make sure each jar is sealed, and stock your pantry!

Hopefully next year I'll be able to capture a few photos of our canning process, and MAYBE some day in the future I won't be afraid of pressure-canners & can try a few recipes that are forbidden to water-bath canners, but for now I'm quite happy canning the way I've always done it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it... right?

We'll be enjoying our salsa all winter long on tortilla chips, on baked potatoes, with "loaded" nachos, taco-salad, seasoned rice, to flavor our chili-cornbread & on grilled veggies... and I'm thinking of using at least one jar as a base for fresh chili or as the sauce for a taco-pizza! Enjoy!

Frozen Berries

2011-08-03T07:34:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite raw foods, is fresh berries... and my absolute favorite berry is the blueberry. I could eat a pint a day every day for the rest of my life and probably never grow tired of them. Unfortunately blueberries have a short growing-season and can reach as much as $5 per pint - and for half the year, they aren't anywhere to be had at ANY price.

This week I found blueberries on sale for $1.29 per pint, and decided to do a little freezing to brighten my day during those terrible berry-free months. Yes you can buy frozen berries , but at this price it's actually cheaper to buy them fresh & freeze them yourself. Also, while you can buy properly frozen strawberries, I've yet to see a bag of frozen blueberries where they didn't use the squashy overripe ones - which spoils the flavor of the entire bag in my opinion. This is quick, easy, and ALMOST as tasty as eating them fresh! This does take about a day, but actual preparation time is about 1/2 hour so ANYONE can find the time for freezing - and I truly believe that it is worth it!

Before you begin, assess your freezer capacity. How much room do you have for stocking up on goodies, and how much room do you want to devote to one specific food? There's no sense in picking up twelve bushels of berries, if you can only store one. In my pantry, I have a 5 cubic foot chest-freezer that's devoted wholly to bulk cheeses & veggies, and hand-frozen produce & baked treats. (I like to bake 2-3 times what we'll eat when baking, and freeze the extra for later - it saves me time in the kitchen!)

Once you know how much room you have for preparation & have purchased (or picked if you're lucky enough to have your own berry garden) what you can store, wash your fruit VERY gently. You don't want to bruise your fruits or they can spoil. Yes it takes a very long time, but fruit CAN spoil in your freezer. After they're washed, lay them out flat on your counter or tabletop to air-dry. Depending on humidity, this can take between 10 minutes & an hour. Be sure to pick out any berries that are at all soft or wrinkly as you're doing this. I think of these as "bonus berries" and set them aside for the kids to nibble.

When your berries are dry, you'll need to set them into shallow dishes & pop them into the freezer. You don't want to pack them in, they need to be loose & layered no more than two-high for this so they don't press down & squish each other. I prefer my shallow baking dishes, because they stack without nesting tight together - it makes for a perfect way to layer them in the freezer!

Let your berries sit for at LEAST 12 hours. I like to let them freeze for an entire day, just to be sure they're frozen completely solid. At this point you should be able to gently shake your dishes, and hear them rattle. That's the sign for you to pull out the bags, and finish.

You will want two sets of bags... smaller bags for individual servings, and large gallon or 1.5 gallon FREEZER-SAFE (don't skimp on these, the freezer ones are thicker & designed to keep out freezerburn) bags. I use pint-baggies & gallon baggies, because I tend to use a pint of berries at a time, but you can use snack-baggies or quart baggies if you prefer. Measure out a pint (or whichever size your small baggies are) of berries into your small baggies, squeeze out any extra air while closing them, and pop them inside the larger freezer bag. Make sure to label your freezer bags, so you don't end up with mystery-bags in a few months. I find I get half as many small bags into the large ones as the capacity calls for... so for my blueberries today I have four pint-baggies inside each gallon-size bag. I've squeezed a fifth in before, but this way they lay flat in the freezer so I can actually store more food!

That's it... now all you need to do is pop your labeled bags into the freezer, and bring them out as needed later in the year! You can bake with them or run them through the blender for smoothies or sorbet... but one of my favorite ways to eat freshly frozen berries is straight from the bag & still frosty!

St Patrick's Day Pie

2011-03-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Some days, plans just don't work out the way you want them to. Today was one of those days. I have been planning my St. Patrick's Day menu for weeks and was so excited to try a few new spins on some favorite dishes.

Unfortunately I came down with the flu last week, and am still working on recovering. Which means my kitchen creativity has been seriously hampered. So rather than stand shakily in the kitchen ruining dish after dish while sneezing germs into everyone's dinner, I rustled up a houseful of help & made a quick, but delicious St. Patrick's Day pie.

This ended up being absolutely scrumptious, and now we will have to make it many more times... because it ended up being even quicker than my shepherds pie to put together, and we ALL enjoyed it! (even my queasy tummy is happy!)

For this particular pie, you will need:

2Tbsp butter substitute
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium potato, shredded
2 cups shredded cheese (we used gouda this time)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp each: dried parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme (right out of the song Scarborough Faire)
Bacos - for garnish (optional, but tasty!)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Saute the onion & potato in the butter, just until softened slightly. Spread this into the bottom of a glass pie plate, and top with the cheese. In a large mug, (shaky hands) whisk together the eggs, milk & seasonings. Pour evenly over the cheese, and bake for 30 minutes. If using Bacos, sprinkle about 1/4 cup onto the top at 20 minutes & poke them into the mixture a bit before returning to the oven for the last 10 minutes. They'll stay crispy rather than turning to mush. (for real bacon, you could add it in with the egg-mixture, just don't tell me how heavenly it turns out!) This should have a nice golden-brown top that's firm. Serve immediately - and enjoy!

better-than restaurant pizza

2011-02-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

This is more of a food-review than an actual recipe but I've just GOT to share our latest trick. We have been using Namaste Pizza Crust Mix for the past three years and while it's GOOD we thought perhaps we could try and make it better. So... we used it to make a "deep dish" pizza!

Here's what we did. Follow the directions on the baggie to make BOTH crusts at once. Then spread them in the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan & bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Take it out, top it with your favorite toppings, then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes and voila! Deep-dish herbed crust! I wouldn't recommend this as a regular addition to the table as the calories & carbs must be positively astronomic. But for special occasions like today I'll make an exception.

Today is our 16th anniversary, and to celebrate we're indulging in our latest pizza of choice. Instead of traditional sauce, we used barbecue sauce! That and a little cheese made the zestiest, yummiest pizza I've had since... well, possibly ever! And it's so quick to make up that it's almost dangerously convenient.

Enjoy! In moderation, of course.

mmm, mmm - Minestrone!

2011-02-18T13:06:00.000-08:00

I have been craving minestrone for a few weeks now. Not my usual quickie-minestrone, but the kind of simmering-for-hours minestrone that would welcome my husband the minute he opened the door, with a giant fragrant "hug." The kind that if I HAD an Italian grandmother she might bring over on days just like this when it's foggy & drippy, just to cheer me up.

Ahh well, with no Italian grandmothers popping up to claim me I'll just have to make my own soup.

I love to make soup on cold days. It's the only food I know that can be as fast or as slow-cooking as I choose, and come out "just right" every single time. Today I felt like taking my time, and oh am I glad that I did. This is rich, savory, and wonderful... yet there's nothing in it to make my tummy regret having come back for seconds. In a word, perfect.

To share in this wonderful perfection you will need:
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen green beans
1 14oz cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can white beans, drained & rinsed
8 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes (the ones I use are double-size; you want enough to equal 4 cups of broth)
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
8oz uncooked Tinkyada pasta (yep, I'm being brand-specific here on purpose... you don't want any leftovers turning to mush!)
and 1/4 cup fresh pesto

In a large pot, saute all of the raw veggies until the onion turns clear. Now add everything else EXCEPT the pasta & pesto. *For the best flavor turn the burner as low as it'll go, place a lid on the pot, and let it sit for four hours. (yes the crockpot would work fine, but I always double my soup recipes & my crockpot isn't big enough!) Give it a stir every once in awhile, but don't worry about diligence... this is a soup for sleepy days when you'd rather not spend all day in the kitchen but still want that cooked-all-day flavor! Twenty minutes before serving, add in the pasta & pesto and TURN THE STOVE OFF to let the pasta cook.

*Like most soups, you can speed this up when you're in a hurry. Just bring the heat up to a nice lively simmer, and cook for 30-45 minutes. It will be ALMOST as wonderful!

First Impressions - Egyptian Koshari

2011-02-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

We have been working our way through the Mediterranean countries, trying new & exciting dishes. This was one that we have been putting off just because it sounded... well, so WEIRD!

Apparently Koshari is sold "everywhere" in Egypt by street-vendors, as well as being made at home as a comfort-food breakfast. Every site I looked at had a slightly different variation, which apparently is also customary. So in keeping with that, we took about two dozen versions & combined them to create our own last night.

After serving it up, we looked into our bowls & nearly lost our nerve. Not only had we mixed some VERY odd ingredients together, but it LOOKS funny too. Yet when we mustered up the courage to try it, we discovered a wonderful treat. My daughter, who absolutely hates lentils, came back for seconds. My husband insisted we make it again - the very next day. And my son is discussing mix-ins to make interesting variations. It might not look all that great, and it sounds positively crazy - but Koshari gets eight thumbs up in our house!

To make OUR version, you will need:

1 cup lentils
1 cup brown rice
6 cups water
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups cooked macaroni elbows (we used Ancient Harvest Quinoa elbows this time!)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, minced
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
and 1 tsp chili powder

In a medium saucepot, bring water to boil, then add lentils salt & pepper and let simmer for 25 minutes. Add rice, and let simmer 25-35 minutes until rice is cooked & water is gone. While the rice is cooking, saute onions & garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes & chili powder, and let simmer until rice is cooked. Mix lentil-rice mixture, cooked pasta AND tomato-mixture all together, and serve hot.

For a quick & tasty dessert, we decided to make up some rolled dates. No recipe needed, all we did for this was pit fresh medjool dates & run them through the food processor, then roll little balls of the date-mush in shredded coconut. These babies are quick, raw, tasty, and positively addictive. Honestly, I like them ALMOST as much as dark-chocolate truffles.

Almost.

新年快樂 (Happy Chinese New Year!)

2011-02-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

I love celebrations, but I think I enjoy planning new foods for celebrations just as much!

The Chinese New Year didn't mean much to me until the day my daughter was born ON the Chinese New Year, in the year of the dragon. My husband worked with several Hmong women at the time, and they went out of their way to congratulate us & tell us how lucky we were. Now at her insistence we usually try a handful of new Asian foods throughout the month of February.

Today I am introducing the family to a treat I've had just once, when I was eight years old. It's Vietnamese, and was served at a Chinese New Year party by a family of brand-new immigrants from Vietnam. It's called Ce Chuoi, and is positively dreamy. It incorporates several of my favorite non-chocolate dessert ingredients, and cooks up in minutes. Bananas, coconut milk & tapioca pearls blend together to create a creamy, dreamy dessert that's just as good hot as cold. And just in case that doesn't tempt you... it's vegan!

For this recipe you will need:

one 14oz can coconut milk
two cups water
1/2 cup tapioca pearls
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
and 4 bananas, sliced

*After trying it my family informed me that 1/2 cup sugar might be better... it was not quite sweet enough for them, even though I liked it as-is.

Bring the milk & water to boil. Reduce heat and add tapioca & sugar. Let boil until the pearls become translucent. If you're using regular pearls, this will take about 15 minutes. If you can only find the minute-pearls, it's only going to take 1-2 minutes so stay by the stove stirring constantly! Turn off the stove, and stir in the vanilla. To serve, divide the bananas equally between your serving-cups, and spoon the pudding over them. If desired, you CAN sprinkle with sesame seeds for garnish. (I didn't, but it's traditional!)

This can be served hot as a thick soup-like dessert, OR you can serve it chilled. It will thicken as it cools to more of a pudding. Enjoy!

Mad Scientist Cookies

2011-01-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever woken up ready to completely recreate a recipe? I mean a recreation so severe, so PROFOUND that you'd have to be absolutely inescapably mad to try it?

I found a lovely recipe for banana cookies quite some time ago. I'm afraid I don't even remember where I got the original from but it's been years since I first baked them. And to be honest the first time I tried them, while they were GOOD they weren't necessarily GREAT. They were more "good, but could be better." They needed a little something, but I'd never really gotten around to experimenting with them. This morning however, knowing that we needed to stay healthy after yesterday's "junk food" I woke up craving cookies. Naturally. So there was really only one thing to do... redefine cookies as they're known.

This cookie began with an absolutely mad concept. I wanted a cookie with no sugar, no flour, and no eggs. No kidding. From there I just went a little crazy. My son stood behind me shaking his head as I tossed things into the mixing-bowl, laughing at the number of baking "rules" I was breaking. After giving them PLENTY of room for spreading-out on the cookie sheets, I tossed them into the oven, crossed my fingers, and prayed that I wouldn't be spending the afternoon cleaning the oven.

What came out was a moist, perfectly round little ball of utter bliss. These are SO moist, SO rich, and so DELICIOUS! I had to be a little mad to create them, but YOU would be mad not to try them. They're seriously that good. Even better, they're good FOR you! Just look at those ingredients. Healthy, awesome, perfectly acceptable for breakfast... Mad Scientist Cookies!

You'll need:
1/2 cup fresh dates
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup flax
3 large bananas
2 cups gluten-free oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup carob-chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Take the dates, sunflower seeds & flax, and run through the food processor until everything is ground together. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas, then add in the ground date-nut mixture. Slowly mix in the oats, and then the remaining ingredients. Roll into 2-Tablespoon size balls, and place on unprepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes... they'll still be soft, but that's okay they're done. This makes ABOUT two dozen wonderful, delicious, absolutely MAD cookies. Go ahead, try them... I dare you.

Psst... for anyone interested, I just calculated the nutritional content for these babies. For TWO 2Tbsp cookies, you will get about:
341 calories
16.85g fat
8.9g saturated fat
4.1g polyunsaturated fat
2.g monounsaturated fat
491mg potassium
61g carbohydrates
8g fiber
10g sugar
9g protein

1% Vitamin A
16% Vitamin B6
5% Vitamin C
11% Vitamin E
8% Calcium
25% Copper
11% Folate
14% Iron
30% Magnesium
97% Manganese
6% Niacin
8% Pantothenic Acid
27% Phosphorous
6% Riboflavin
10% Selenium
29% Thiamin
18% Zinc

31.2mg Phytosterols
1633mg Omega-3
2490mg Omega-6

WOW! To quote my kids, "I think I'm gonna have to make these... a whole bunch more times!"

Teenage Lunch Review

2011-01-25T13:17:00.001-08:00

This review is for my son... who despite my best efforts to keep him a sweet little boy who only eats all-natural unprocessed foods, has become a famished teenager - with a teenage appetite for all types of convenience foods.

When he saw that Hamburger Helper now has Gluten-Free varieties, he BEGGED me to pick up a few boxes. My husband, who somehow managed to grow up eating this boxed "stuff" nearly every day of his youth, stood beside me gleefully loading the grocery cart with box after box as I stood by horrified. How on EARTH could this be healthy? But sometimes it's easier to let starving teens & nostalgic husbands have their way than to refuse something just because I can't see the nutritional benefit. So the Hamburger Helper came home with us. Many, MANY boxes came home with us.

Now the funny thing is that my guys almost NEVER eat ground-beef... and they like ground turkey even less. I know it's been at least a couple years since we've bought anything at all resembling hamburger, so I was truly curious to see what the guys would come up with to mix into this. Boy was I surprised.

Todays lunch was prepared by my son, who is ever so proud to have created a "healthy version" of this particular boxed monstrosity. One box of Hamburger Helper mixed with two cups of frozen broccoli-mix AND two cups of shelled edamame turned what could have been a dietary nightmare into something that even I have to admit... wasn't bad! Oh I'm sure I have enough sodium floating around in my veins to raise my blood pressure at least a zillion points, but all in all it wasn't the nightmare it could have been. And that fake-cheese? Well in a guilty I-shouldn't-be-enjoying-this-because-it-must-be-awful-for-me sort of way, it was actually kind of tasty!

Tomorrow's lunch will be raw. Pure, raw, cholesterol & box-free raw foods. But for today, at least the boy gets to pretend he's "normal" ...whatever that may mean.

Oddly Balanced

2011-01-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am working right now, on jump-starting my weight loss efforts. Which means that for the next month or so I will actually be tracking calories & key nutritional information. I don't do this often, but since it's been a year since I last tracked my meals it's definitely time to see how I'm doing. My next few food-blogs will include nutritional information as I work on brushing up on balancing diet-friendly meals.

One thing I learned years ago was that foods don't need to make sense together, to be perfect companions. Todays lunch is an example of foods that balance each other. I have half a red grapefruit, two tablespoons of raw honey, and two full-fat Babybel minis with my giant cup of Irish Breakfast tea. (The kids have additional calories, this is Mama's weight-loss lunch.) While it may look like a random selection, it's actually quite balanced. More than that, it TASTES great together! The honey gives me carbs & sugar for energy, the cheese has fat & proteins for that "fullness" sensation, and the grapefruit rounds it out with plenty of fresh flavor as well as my vitamins A, C & a little fiber. This isn't an everyday lunch, but when I'm craving a nice soft rich cheese which would otherwise be too rich for my tummy AND too high-calorie to justify, this is an excellent way to balance a rare treat.

Edit: After counting up my calories for the entire day, I came up short in protein & overall carbohydrates. To complete my day, I added a full cup of fresh soybeans to lunch. My nutritional totals for the day look like this:

Calories: 1410 (goal: 1400-1700)
Fat: 55g (goal: 38-66g)
Carbohydrates: 208g (goal: 191-276g)
Protein: 57g (goal: 60-149)
Calcium: 127g (goal: 100-150g)

Not bad for a first-day tracking!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

2010-12-15T07:31:00.001-08:00

It's baking-day today, and we are happily making cookies to share with church & family under the pretense that using the oven will cause the furnace to run less. As I formed the last sheet of cookies, I started wondering how many substitutions, omissions & changes must you make to a recipe before you can claim it as your own? Now I'm not talking about entering a contest with my recipes, or selling them in a cookbook or anything else nearly that professional... but here, on my own blog, when does an altered recipe become MY recipe?

Take my absolute favorite cookie recipe, for example. These cookies started from THIS recipe from my favorite food-blogger, the Gluten-Free Goddess. Except that I halved the baking soda. And omitted the salt. And added extra cocoa powder. And cut out ALL the white sugar. And used flax instead of egg-replacer. And made them half-size, which of course changed the baking time.

Now honestly, these started out as Karina's cookies. And honestly, I still consider them to BE hers... or, at least, inspired by hers. But at this point anyone making these cookies by HER recipe will have something radically different from what I make. Does this make the recipe mine? Hers? OURS???

Does it really matter WHOSE recipe it is when we're discussing a cookie so positively toe-curling delicious that my kids are willing to make them all by themselves if I don't have the time to be in the kitchen? Probably not. The point is, whether you make them her way or my way... this is the BEST chocolaty-minty cookie I've ever had with OR without gluten! Try them! Try them both ways! Create your own version if you prefer, but if you need a new gluten-free VEGAN Christmas cookie recipe... this is IT!

To make these "my way" you will need:

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ground flax (I like to grind it VERY fine so it doesn't add texture)
2/3 cup Spectrum shortening
2 Tbsp molasses (the darker the better, baby!)
3/4 cup chocolate soy or almond-milk (I LOVE the unsweetened Almond Breeze!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips.

Combine the dry ingredients, then slowly add the wet ingredients. Hand-mix in the chocolate chips, and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350F & form measured-tablespoon balls of dough onto unprepared cookie sheets. Flatten to roughly 1/2" and bake for 8 minutes. Let them cool for 5 minutes before removing from the sheets. Makes ABOUT 40 cookies.

As if these cookies aren't good enough straight from the oven, their real character is brought out the next day... the longer they sit, the stronger they get! If you can manage to freeze a batch, they will be unbelievably peppermintylicious upon thawing... and don't crumble to bits! Enjoy!

A Cup of Christmas Tea - and TRUFFLES!

2010-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I really enjoy my tea. A lot. Maybe even TOO much. But hey, there are no calories so why not?

My sister in law brought over a box of the most amazing tea the other day. Now normally I'm not too fond of green tea. I'll drink it because it's "good for me" but it is NOT my favorite! This however is positively dreamy. Trader Joe's Candy Cane Green tea is SO much more than simply mint-flavored green tea! There's cacao in it. There's chicory in it. There's vanilla in it. It's like Christmastime wrapped up in a sweetly illustrated box!

And it goes, oh so well, with one of my other favorite holiday indulgences. Homemade truffles. I giggle when I see these little sweets selling for $3 apiece (or even MORE) since they are so easy to make! Anyone who can stir a pot can make them. And any child whose ever played with play-dough can roll & decorate them!

Today as I sit with my lovely cup of Candy Cane tea, I am enjoying the last of my chocolate hazelnut truffles. To make these little goodies you will need:

2 cups Nutella (are you hungry already?)
4oz dark chocolate (try chopping a bar of Green & Blacks for extra "oomph")
1/4 cup agave nectar
1Tbsp your favorite butter-substitute (I used Earth Balance)
3Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder - for rolling.

Microwave the first four ingredients until melted. Stir WELL every 30 seconds, as it will melt but not lose shape without the stirring! Once everything is melted & mixed, chill for an hour. Sprinkle the cocoa powder onto a small plate. Roll Tablespoon-size balls of the mixture in the cocoa powder, and set on wax-paper or in mini cupcake papers to chill until ready to serve. We made about three dozen... but when measuring "exact tablespoonfuls" with kids who crave variety you never really get the same amount twice.

Next week it's peppermint truffles - which may or may not survive long enough to be photographed.

Stone Soup

2010-10-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

We are just entering the Depression era in our homeschool lessons, and I have been hunting for recipes that can be made or altered to be period appropriate. One "recipe" that I've used since my college days immediately sprung to mind, and became our lunch today.

While at college, I was required to pay for a meal-plan that covered two meals per day, five days per week. This would have been fine, but with my allergies there were quite a few days that I simply couldn't eat what was served... thus I became somewhat proficient at making the most of the itty bitty kitchenette in my dorm. One day in dire need of a trip to the grocery store, I checked the daily menu & found that lunch would be pork. So into my little kitchen I ran to see what leftover food might be found. I had three small potatoes, a can of evaporated milk, and a few baby carrots that were soft, but hadn't gone bad yet. So seeing as it was a chilly fall afternoon anyway, I diced the potatoes & carrots into a pot with the milk, and decided to make a warm bowl of potato soup.

One of my roommates came in, just as the potatoes were warming nicely & asked what I was making. I told her, and she asked if I would share if she gave me an onion she'd bought but not used. As we were dicing the onion, our other roommate came in, asking what on earth was making the hall smell so wonderful. She then offered the remains of a head of celery, and we added that to the pot along with some salt & pepper.

By the time our little pot of soup was done we had split it into two pots, to fit on our tiny stove. It smelled divine, and we shared it along with tea & a few lovely onion-rolls that had been donated to the dorm by a local bakery. (They would bring all sorts of baked goodies to the dorm & donate it the day it passed it's sell-by date, for anyone to use up immediately... Thursdays were very popular at our dorm!) That evening one of my roommates brought me a pretty lake-polished stone, insisting that I keep it in my kitchen as a reminder of the day we'd reinvented "stone soup."

That stone still sits in my spice-cupboard, and HAS reminded me that I can make dinner from anything, on several of our leaner days. Today as I dropped my stone into the pot along with potatoes, onion, carrot & celery I told the kids about my first pot of stone soup. My daughter decided that we needed to add black beans, parsley & garlic to the soup, but even with the new additions it was just as wonderful as that first pot... and we discussed how people during the depression probably cooked in a very similar fashion, using whatever they had in the most creative manner possible. If there's one thing I want my kids to take away from this next era of history it's that we may not always have everything we want, but with creativity & determination we DO have everything we need!

Old Favorites, Rediscovered

2010-10-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

My kids LOVE carrots. They will eat them any way I serve them. Cooked, baked, mashed, raw, shredded... they all disappear faster than I can prepare them. So I've never really understood why my kids didn't like carrot-raisin salad. It's one of my favorite summertime dishes, and I love how quick & easy it is to toss together. This summer I was craving it, and decided that it just didn't matter if I had to eat an entire bowlful myself, I was going to make some.

As I was reaching for the raisins, our giant bag of dried cranberries caught my eye. I tend to prefer cranberries in just about everything, and since this was just for me I figured "why not?" and dumped a healthy serving of them in instead of the raisins. Since it was hot & I didn't feel like eating much, I also tossed a handful of walnuts in for protein. The next thing I knew, I had two kids begging to be allowed to try my colorful lunch. And they DEVOURED it! We have enjoyed our redesigned carrot-raisin salad at least a dozen times this summer, and it's now one of our favorite side dishes. The cranberries add a pretty jewel-like sparkle to what was otherwise a fairly "blah" salad, and the walnuts add enough protein that this can stand-alone or be enjoyed alongside just about any meal. And just like its' original recipe, it whips up in less than five minutes.

Today's lunch is a pretty dish of our carrot-CRAISIN salad, seasoned parmesan-rice with the last of our garden peppers, and a shaped hard-boiled egg. Everything was quick & easy to put together, and full of antioxidants & vitamin A. Hooray for rediscovered recipes!

Treacle Scones

2010-09-13T07:38:00.001-07:00

I must admit that MOST of the time, when I want to try a new recipe I will search online & try one that someone else has already test-drove. It's easy, it's safe, and I'm relatively guaranteed that the results will be wonderful.

After having my kids ask me one too many times what treacle was, I finally looked it up only to discover that it's MOLASSES! Who would have thought, I've had it in my cupboards all this time?

We happen to LOVE the bold flavor of molasses, and go through quite a bit over the course of the cooler months. So after discovering its secret identity, I started hunting for new & inventive recipes. One that kept coming up as a "traditional Scottish breakfast item" was treacle scones, but no matter where I looked I couldn't find a gluten-free version.

My kitchen-bravery comes alive each fall. I don't know if it's the cooler weather or the fact that my favorite foods are all harvest-goodies, but I am always more adventurous in the fall than any other time of the year. This morning I decided that recipe or not, we were going to try treacle scones. And oh, am I glad of that decision! These are reminiscent of gingerbread, with the flaky texture of a traditional scone. Next time I make them, we will have them with fresh apple-butter... and there WILL be a next time, because both kids have declared this a "Threepeat!"

Treacle Scones
1/2 cup rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter-substitute, room temperature
1/4 cup black treacle (we used the darkest blackstrap molasses available locally)
1/2 cup almond milk

Preheat the oven to 425F. By hand, blend the dry ingredients & then cut in the butter. Slowly add the wet ingredients & mix well. Scrape dough out onto a well-floured surface, and pat into a circle roughly 1/2" high. Cut into eighths & slide each piece onto a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until they sound vaguely hollow when tapped... you don't want to overbake these! We enjoyed ours hot from the oven, though they would probably be wonderful cold as well... if you can wait that long!

Garden Goodies

2010-08-22T11:27:00.001-07:00

I never really know what to do with our garden produce, when it first starts appearing... one tiny pepper, and one adorable little cucumber at a time. I can tell that NEXT week we will be positively buried in tomatoes & peppers, but two days ago we had three tiny tomatoes, an itty bitty pepper, ONE of our cucumbers, and an entire serving-bowl of beans mature.

Todays lunch is inspired by our garden... and is showing the kids exactly how much better the garden-veggies truly are. In the pink bowl are our purple-podded pole beans. On the plate is 1/4 of our pretty chocolate pepper, 1/4 of our "dragon's egg" cucumber, and one of our own tomatoes. To augment these goodies we paired them with extra tomatoes, extra cucumber, wedges of cheese, a few kalamata olives, and my favorite vegan gluten-free mini-pita recipe. The dressing is an organic Greek-olive dressing that was a perfect companion to a nice, hot-afternoon lunch.

Mama's Gluten-Free 101

2010-08-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

This post is especially for my friend Lisa! *waves* Enjoy & good luck!!!

I get asked about a dozen times per year, how to go about STARTING a gluten-free diet. After about the tenth time of typing out essentially the same message, I finally realized it was a LOT easier to save ONE message... and tweak/update it every so often. Since I know there are actually a few people following this blog, I've decided to post my latest "tweak" just in case it could help someone.

For anyone just starting out - there are a TON of helpful websites & blogs out there... this is just ONE way to go about starting. Please feel free to share any/all of this with anyone who could use it. I'm not claiming to be an expert, just someone who's been-there, done-that with nearly five years experience.

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Mama's GF 101

Welcome to a new page in your life... one without gluten, but also with fewer stomach cramps and seasonal allergies! I will apologize for the length of this, but there are a LOT of things I get asked about – and most people seem to ask the same handful of questions when first diagnosed. My son and I have been gluten-free now for nearly five years, and I can honestly say that after the first few months... it really IS worth the headache, and we ARE thriving on our new favorite foods. My son is finally gaining enough weight to be within the healthy range, and *I* am finally LOSING weight! Gluten sensitivities are not easy to deal with, but it really & truly is worth the effort. Here are a few pointers that I wish I could have had, as we first began our journey.

First things first: going gluten-free is not a death-sentence, and yes you truly CAN adapt. I won't lie & say it's easy or that you won't have a LOT of trial-and-error moments/days/weeks... sometimes months, but it's doable. Rather than focusing first on what you CAN'T eat first – it might help to remind you of what you CAN still eat.

* Fresh fruits & vegetables. Every single one of them is still safe, and can be prepared hundreds of ways without making you sick.
* Meat, (if you choose) eggs, beans... most of your UN-processed proteins are still safe. (note: watch things like cured & processed meats – as these vary by brand & flavor)
* Dairy. With the exception of things like cookie dough ice cream or cheese with funky mix-ins, this is another whole food-group that's generally safe. Ditto for dairy-free soy, almond & rice options!
* Whole grains. This one shocks people, but rice, (ANY kind so long as it doesn't come with seasoning) quinoa, corn, and special oats grown in Canada are all safe for you. And if you've never heard of quinoa, it's definitely worth trying!
* Beverages. Nearly every non-alcoholic beverage you can think of is naturally safe. Steer clear of malts & grain alcohols, and do a bit of homework on wines, (many wine companies use a wheat-paste to "glue" their barrels together!) you're fine! For chocolate-milk, it's best to make your own... I've got a recipe on this blog, but you can search the internet for literally thousands of homemade mixes that taste better, and cost a mere fraction of what you'd pay for a store-bought cocoa. My current favorite? Hazelnut Cream!
* CHOCOLATE!!! Chocolate is naturally gluten-free, so as long as you're not addicted to a cookie-crunch type candy bar, you can still indulge! Most of the organic brands are made in dedicated factories too, which means that even if you're super-sensitive to cross contaminations these will be safe. For an at-a-glance page of safe candies... you can check this website: (a staple in our house, with a teenage son!)
Gluten-Free Candy List

Things have gotten a bit easier since we switched, in identifying “safe” foods. A new law passed in 2008 meaning that foods containing wheat or any of the "big 8" main allergens MUST list them, even if they're in hidden-ingredients! This doesn't rule out all gluten... but it sure makes our life easier. Most companies seem to have taken this required change one step further and you can now find THOUSANDS of mainstream foods clearly labeled "Gluten Free" right on the packaging.

For no-fail shopping, Trader Joe's is awesome for quick ready-made foods & pastas that actually taste like “the real thing” and don't turn to mush when refrigerated. Look for the crossed-out wheat head symbol on their store-brand packages, and if you ask they'll give you a LONG list of ALL the safe foods they stock! My son swears by their mac 'n cheese, and I am partial to their GF cranberry-almond granola when the budget allows. Another lovely store that we practically live at, is Fresh & Natural Foods. They have shelf-labels for immediate identification... if the shelf has a red arrow through the foods' name, it's safe! No reading labels, and NO hunting for hidden ingredients. Nothing could be easier!

For days when TJ's may be too pricey or too far away to justify a grocery run, some other nice things to know are that Chex cereal now has 4 types of gluten-free cereal. My son is addicted to cereal, and it's nice to pay less than $4 per half-size box of something NOT buried in sugar or that tastes like cardboard. Also, most of your traditional single-ingredient spices (NOT spice blends... as some use flour as an anti-caking device) will be naturally gluten-free. And three of the biggest brands out there: Kraft, Frito Lay & Nestle all have a strict labeling policy, so if it's safe the label will TELL you! They even go so far as to specifically list hidden-wheat, so you don't have to sit there chewing your fingernails wondering if “natural flavorings” is safe or not.

Now one question people seem to be the most worried about, is eating out... and I'm afraid it CAN be a nightmare, depending a lot on how sensitive you are. I can eat at places with some cross-contamination, but if an onion ring accidentally falls into the grease my son's fries are cooked in, we'll know. So because of his extreme sensitivities we tend to stick to places that have strict cross-contamination measures in place. I can tell you that with our experience it is ALWAYS best to call ahead & not go, if there's any question at all about being able to dine safely. Likewise, check a restaurants website first... MOST of them have gluten-free statements & safe-food lists available on the internet. I like to keep a printed list of safe foods for each place we know we can eat in our glove compartment as well as in a folder here on my computer desk at home. It helps for those “I don't want to cook, but can't think of where we could possibly eat!” days. To get you started, here are the places we have eaten WITHOUT my son getting sick:

* Subway – nearly all of their salads & most of their dressings are safe & they'll switch gloves if you ask!
* Chipotle – again, all of their bowls are safe & we've never had a problem here!
* Outback Steak House – one of our favorites for really fancy splurge-nights. They have a whole MENU... complete with chocolatey dessert! I could live on their garlic mashed potatoes.
* PF Changs – Another nice “splurge-worthy” place. Their gluten-free chocolate dessert is positively the best on the planet – and their meals are pretty good too... and if you choose, and they even had safe soy sauce!
* Taco Bell! Who'd have thunk - yet every time we eat there, we're fine! Their gluten-free selections are extremely limited, but when you just want a cheap dinner out - this is the place to go.
* Z Pizza is another new restaurant that is fast becoming our favorite. They will make ANY of their pizzas gluten-free in a small size... and they taste awesome!
* Baja Sol – a wonderful alternative to Chipotle OR Taco Bell... FRESH Mexican food, and a complete GF menu rather than one or two dishes!
* and a brand-new goodie... Mongo's Grill! These people really & truly go all-out with making sure their grill is scrubbed & scoured for you. No cross-contaminations and their food is awesome. If you've ever been to Khan's Mongolian Kitchen, it's just like that – but with healthier options!

Now there ARE other places that CLAIM to have a gluten-free menu, but we've had mixed luck with contamination issues. Burger King, Wendy's, Boston Market, and any number of fast-food places all CLAIM they have GF items on their menu... but the boy has gotten sick enough times that we've decided it's not worth the trouble.

Another question we get asked a lot is what OUR favorite foods are. So here is a list of a few of our absolute favorite pantry-stockers:

* Trader Joe's macaroni & cheese, Thai noodle bowls, and gluten-free granola.
* Pamela's Kitchen chocolate cake mix... GF or not, this is hands-down the best cupcake batter EVER! (possibly eclipsed however, by the new gluten free devils food cake by Betty Crocker – I reviewed this several months ago on this blog!)
* Kinnikinnik's ready-made (frozen) pizza crusts. These make the closest thing to a “real” breadstick we've had to date & are positively WONDERFUL for “lazy” days when you don't want to be in the kitchen for hours on end! Again, there's a personal review on my blog.
* Tinkyada pastas... regardless of your former cooking practices, you MUST add salt to the water with these, (I learned the hard way) but these taste like “real” pasta – even the next day! (most others turn to “mush” in the fridge overnight and are therefore only good for dishes that will be finished immediately)
* Namaste pizza crust mix... another nice mix to keep on hand. It spreads out to make TWO cookie-sheet size pizzas, OR you can use the whole bag & make a 11x15” pan of deep-dish yumminess!
* Food For Life rice tortillas... they're kind of crumbly unless you eat them immediately, but I prefer them over bread for a quick low-calorie sandwich option. (wink)
* Rudis whole-grain bread... for days when it's too hot or I'm too busy for a day of bread-baking.
* and Rapunzel brand bouillon cubes. Not all bouillon is safe, and I like their “not beef” and “not chicken” ones for soup bases better than anything else I've tried to date.

I always recommend one (and ONLY one after reading dozens) cookbook as a must-have for your kitchen. It's Incredible Edible Gluten Free Food For Kids by Sheri Sanderson. The front explains what being gluten-free means, how to make your kitchen “safe,” what things ARE still safe, and what “hidden ingredients” to watch out for. The recipes are really nice too... a bit bland as it's designed for kids, but if you double up on the seasonings or season-to taste they tend to turn out fabulous! Likewise, my all-time favorite recipe-blog is Gluten Free Goddess because she LOVES her seasonings, and nearly everything I've tried of hers has been a hit! I like her baked goodies better than most others I've tried and return to her site first when deciding to try a new recipe.

That reminds me however... baking gluten-free. I do not recommend simply trying to swap wheat-flour for an all-purpose gluten-free flour, even IF you add Xanthan Gum unless you're working with a very forgiving recipe. I've only had this work a couple times... which just isn't great odds for someone who makes nearly everything from scratch. Rather, find a recipe that's designed to be GF and then swap the spices or mix-ins to your liking. I always omit salt & halve the sugar, but tweaking flours needs to happen on your 2nd, 3rd, 97th try... NOT on the first try - and only then with extreme care & at your own risk. Likewise, there are over 3 dozen kinds of gluten-free flour available locally. I would NOT recommend picking up one of everything... you'd spend about $300 in flour, only to learn that MOST of them are only for specific types of recipe, and can only be used in extreme moderation. (I just had to toss a half-bag of coconut flour that was five years old & still unfinished!) What's in my kitchen? Rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, and sorghum flour are my year-round staples. I also keep small quantities of 3-5 other flours on hand for seasonal baking, but these change with the weather since we don't eat (or cook) the same in July as we do in November. Currently I've got potato starch, garbanzo-bean flour, arrowroot flour, and almond meal on hand for “summer-weight” baking.

Cooking is completely different of course. Substitute cornstarch for wheat flour & make your gravy the way you always have, and swap pasta brands in your favorite one-dish recipe for a few “old friends.” Generally when a cooking recipe calls for flour as thickener, cornstarch or arrowroot flour can be swapped out in equal quantities. There ARE readily-available gluten free breadcrumbs, but I don't recommend them... they taste like cardboard & have ruined everything I've tried them in. Rather, save the heels from Rudis bread or any HOMEMADE bread, and freeze them for instant breadcrumbs that actually taste decent.

It's a huge change, and there are still days when I feel as if I'm missing out on “the good stuff.” But my son & I have dedicated ourselves to making this an adventure rather than a death sentence... and are committed to trying one new food & two new recipes every single week. The “adventure mindset” really helps on days when we try something not quite as tasty – we call those “misadventures” and add them to our experience!

Good luck! If you have any questions at all, PLEASE feel free to ask! I get asked about being GF fairly often, and don't mind sharing our experiences... heck, it would make my day to help someone before they do or something we've already learned the hard way!

In HIS Love,
mama

"I don't feel like eating"

2010-05-20T11:13:00.001-07:00

When temperatures get above 80 degrees, my kids transition into a state of "too hot to eat" that just isn't healthy. I've tried waiting it out, but they can go days without eating. I've tried pleading & threatening to revoke privileges, but it doesn't do any good. And since I'm rarely in the mood to eat when I'm hot either, the only thing left to do is to find creative mini-meals we WILL eat!

With our susceptibility to heatstroke, this week marks the beginning of our annual "food fight" so I'm on the hunt for highly nutritious snacks & finger foods. I like to bake first thing in the morning & freeze batches of our favorite goodies for those days when it's TOO hot to turn on the oven. Today was one of those baking days, so for lunch I took our favorite tried-and-true soda bread recipe and created tiny sandwiches with cream cheese & apple chunks. Because this is a high-fiber, high-protein bread even though we're nibbling there's no lack of nutrition. And for a special "it was on sale so let's splurge" addition, we're enjoying Bolthouse Farms' Vanilla Chai & Purely Chocolate. This is a favorite "trick" of mine because often the kids will drink something even when they can't stomach food!

My soda-bread recipe is one of our favorites because it has that soft, non-crumbly texture that we crave. This is a five-flour bread, but it's definitely worth it. I used real buttermilk today, but have also soured almond milk for a vegan version that was positively divine. Please note however that this is NOT a low-sodium recipe & I haven't tried to create one yet... my apologies to those of you with blood-pressure issues, but I'm working on it.

You will need:
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1/2 cup bean flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
2 Tbsp. ground flax
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
(or 2 Tbsp lemon juice plus enough almond milk to equal 2 cups)
1/4 cup butter-substitute - room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Mix the dry ingredients together, then slowly mix in the wet ingredients. This is best hand-mixed as it is particularly aggressive at climbing up mixer-blades and is wet enough to REALLY splatter well. (a-hem... not that I would know, mind you!)

On a well-floured surface, hand-pat half the dough into a 1" thick "wheel" and cut into 6 equal slices. You can bake the slices like you would for a scone, but I prefer to roll then into balls to prevent overbaking the points. (note for moms: my daughter LOVES to help roll these - their texture is rather unique & fun to handle!) Set each section on an ungreased cookie sheet a good 3" apart & repeat for the second half.

If you're making a dozen, you'll want to bake them for 20 minutes... I've also made 6 mega-rolls that took 30 minutes to be done. These won't brown, but if you tap gently on their tops they'll make a hollow sound when done. Serve hot or cold - these are good with soups & stews as well as for mini-sandwiches! Enjoy - and good luck surviving the heat this summer!

Food Review - Kinnikinnick Pizza Crust

2010-04-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

There are foods that you like, and foods that you crave... foods that call to you in the middle of the night, and force you into the kitchen at 3am. For my son & me this food was breadsticks. Chewy, garlicky, carb-loaded breadsticks dripping with butter & herbs.

From day one of our gluten-free adventure, finding a breadstick that would pass our finicky idea of what the perfect breadstick ought to taste like has been our ultimate challenge. We have mixed, baked, whined and cried as batch after batch of quasi-breadlike foods just didn't quite measure up. And to be honest, I think we were both beginning to think that perhaps this just wasn't possible.

I sent my husband to the local health food store for a pizza crust mix this weekend, but our favorite brand was out of stock. Knowing better than to return home emptyhanded when the teenage food-machine is craving pizza, he checked the frozen section and found frozen personal-sizza crusts by Kinnikinnick. Having enjoyed several other goodies from Kinnikinnick & finding them to be reminiscent of their glutened counterparts, he picked them up.

Here's the nitty-gritty for my GF friends. The package holds four square-shaped crusts literally as large as the package for $9. They are bagged in twos, so you won't have half a package getting freezerburn. They're gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, trans fat-free... and they come from a peanut/tree-nut free facility. They claim a single crust is two servings - and for me that's about right, but my starving son ate the whole thing... a sparse 496 calories before toppings as well as 10g fiber & 8g protein! (half that for an actual serving) The directions said to bake for 10-15 minutes & that longer baking times would create a crispier crust so we stuck with the 10 minutes for the chewiest crust possible.

It's tough to tell what a crust will be like when it's frozen solid, but we were vaguely optimistic when the cornmeal dusting on the bottom reminded us of several restaurant-variety glutened breadsticks. Still, we've been fooled before. We decorated our pizzas - mine with Greek toppings & his with cheese & pepperoni, and popped them into the oven. They weren't even halfway through baking before my son & I were sitting in front of the oven, chanting "come ON already!" as the aroma of pizza... real, honest-to-goodness pizza wafted through the house. Once baked the crust was a not-too-thick, not-too thin "handtossed" style chewy, firm, completely non-crumbly crust that reminded us of one thing... BREADSTICKS!!! Don't get me wrong, it made an excellent pizza crust, but we knew how we would be preparing the other two.

Last night we whipped up an herbed batch of Smart Balance for the second pair of yellow squares, and we giggled together conspiratorially as the house began to fill with the nearly-forgotten fragrance of freshly baking breadsticks. And oh, was it divine! They were chewy, rich, doughy... everything we could have wanted (and remembered) from a breadstick was there! It may have taken us 1670 days and dozens of wrong recipes, but we found our breadsticks! These little squares have absolutely made our year. And baby, my waistline is in danger.

My Little Skinny Greek Lunch

2010-04-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

I have to confess, today's lunch comes from a failed dinner experiment. We love to try new foods, and one of our favorite nationalities of late has been Greek. There's just something about tangy olives, feta cheese & fresh cucumbers that we all love to sink our teeth into.

One food we keep trying to recreate is spanakopita. It's a spinach & feta cheese pie, and traditionally it should be made with phyllo dough. We have tried making it in deep-fried & then baked springroll wrappers, and now our latest attempt was to tuck the filling between a Greek yogurt-flavored cornbread. And I am the ONLY one who even kind of enjoyed this, (the collective response from everyone else was "this tastes fishy!") so it's up to Mama to finish the leftovers.

So for Mama, today's lunch will be a serving of the not-so-popular spanakopita-wannabe dish, three of our favorite gluten free mini-pitas with a small dollop of tzatziki sauce (a yogurt & cucumber dressing) to be added last-minute, a scoop of horiatiki, (tomato-cucumber salad) and a handful of red grapes to fill in the empty spaces & round things out. The kids will be substituting turkey & cheese wrap sandwiches for the "fishy" dish, while happily helping me with the more palatable leftovers... which are all tried-and-true favorites from our growing recipe collection and will probably make quite a few returns to our bentos during the coming warm months.

Once again, it seems that the motto for today is "ONE new dish per meal!" I was tempted to break this family rule last night as I had found three fun new Greek dishes to try... but had I done so, I could be in serious leftover-trouble today. Yep, the rule stays!

Bento#3 - "cheeseburgers"

2010-04-09T10:19:00.001-07:00

Remember the "meat" loaf from two days ago? Here's the other meal! It's cheeseburgers! When pressed & formed into a pattie shape, these babies bake into itty bitty burgers that are better than any of the other gluten-free veggie burgers I've tried. They're a tiny bit dry, but that just gives us an excuse to use extra ketchup! The boy opted for turkey burgers today & pressed his own patties so Mama didn't have to play with the meat, while the girl & I happily created little cheese shapes with poppy seed eyes for our veggie versions.

Today's lunch is two veggie cheeseburgers, (the "extra cheese" from the cookie-cutter is stacked between the two burgers) tater-tots with plenty of ketchup, mixed vegetables, and apple-walnut salad. This is the end of week one, and my kids are positively giddy for next week. They've loved our meals so far, have LOVED helping to choose & create them, and have actually been carefully scrubbing out their own bentos (these are NOT dishwasher-safe!) each afternoon so they'd be ready for the next day! *thud*

I've actually shared my "meatloaf" recipe with several people now, so here it is just in case anyone else is looking for a meat-free alternative. This does have cheese in it, but I've also made a perfectly wonderful vegan loaf by substituting extra tomato sauce! I like to make this recipe a day or two after making spaghetti, and use my own sauce for a pre-seasoned richer loaf. This is also a nice "end of the paycheck" meal since I always have ALL these ingredients on hand!

3 cups cooked lentils
1 small onion, diced
1 cup Gluten-Free Oats (we use Bob's Red Mill & have found them for $2 cheaper per bag at Super Target, than at the local health food store!)
1 cup your favorite grated cheese
1 cup tomato sauce (if you're skipping the cheese, use 1 1/2 cups!)
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley

Mash up the lentils, and mix everything together. Form into loaves, "hamburger" patties or whatever shape you like, and bake at 350F. If you're using a regular loaf-pan, it will take roughly 45 minutes and patty-pans or burgers bake in 15 so keep an eye on them. The top will form just a bit of a crust when you tap it.

Bento #2 - Ladybugs

2010-04-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I fell in love with THIS ladybug bento several months ago, and have been waiting for the weather to be warm enough to recreate it. It's still pretty chilly outside, but the other day a lone ladybug followed us into the house & flitted around our light until we shooed her back into the garden to keep the aphids from our lilies. In honor of our first garden-helper of the season, we decided to celebrate the return of ladybugs (and spring) with our own version of "ladybug salad" today.

Lunch today was a green salad with a half-tomato ladybug on top. Her face, stripes & spots were cut from a sheet of nori, and her eyes are itty bitty bits of the Babybel cheese wheel tucked into the side of the container. For the top layer, we had fresh mandarin oranges, and brown-rice stars which we were VERY excited to see turn out so well, as I've read that brown rice isn't supposed to form shapes very well. The kids are now quite excited about ordering MORE rice molds as they not only worked perfectly but were SO easy to make! Our next attempt will be to actually season our rice before shaping it, as they were a bit bland for our tastes. The nori has a distinctly "fishy" taste that we weren't expecting. It's not terrible, but we will be using it sparingly. Still, it was fun to make shapes on our food & my picky-eater was particularly excited about lunchtime today.

Bento #1 - "Meat" loaf

2010-04-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we started our "Bento Adventure" with an old favorite, reinvented. We love our comfort-foods, and one day while considering dinner I had a sudden urge to make meatloaf. I don't know why because I HATED it as a girl, but there it was... one of those irrational, unfounded cravings that just can't be ignored. So I sat & schemed for a few days, and finally reinvented meatloaf - sans meat, and sans gluten. It was an instant hit, and has been repeated & tweaked dozens of times.

Today it got a facelift, thanks to our beloved patty-pans. For our very first bento lunch, the kids begged for mini-meatloaves. We prepared them & "frosted" them with ketchup, before laying them on a bed of corn, peas & carrots. The top layer was filled with strawberries and grapes.

The verdict? Yep, we like our meatloaf even MORE in miniature! It baked up in 15 minutes, and we were able to use the "leftovers" to create a new idea that we'll be enjoying for tomorrow's lunch. Two meals out of one quick baking adventure almost seems too good to be true! Our star pans were just a little too big for the bentos though - while my son's larger container was no problem, had we needed to use our lids my daughter & I would have never gotten it on properly without squishing our stars. Time to consider some silicone baking cups!

reinventing our food-blog

2010-04-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

After nearly two years of neglect, we are reinventing this blog. No longer are we "Not-Quite Bento" as our first REAL bento boxes have arrived! So after several years of using divided plates, saving ideas & wishing we could carry our food in cute containers, we are venturing into the realm of bento boxes. And oh, are we excited!

Our first purchases included three bento boxes, two hard-boiled egg molds, two rice molds... and a package of nori wraps from the grocery store. We have dozens of other goodies on our "wish list" but for now we're just excited about making beautiful lunches in the cutest containers ever.

All of our posts have been & will be gluten-free. Most days we also eat vegetarian as mama doesn't eat meat, and we also watch our dairy as there is a dairy sensitivity. This will mainly remain a lunchtime blog, however I also do the occasional "new GF food" blog and also like to share creative recipes. I am not a professional photographer so sometimes the food-pics don't turn out as well as I would like. Please bear with me, I'm still learning. This is mainly a place for us to compile & review our food adventures but we've made it on a public site just in case someone else might find it helpful as well. For all of us dealing with multiple allergies, I don't think there CAN be too many food blogs or new ideas.

For the few people I know follow my other blog - I am officially splitting things up, so this blog is where all of my food photos reviews will be from now on. We'll see how long I can manage to maintain TWO blogs! Heh.

August 4th - What Mama Eats

2008-08-04T09:21:00.001-07:00

Often when people hear that I am gluten free AND a lactose-sensitive vegetarian, they ask me "Well, what on earth CAN you eat?" My answers vary depending on my mood & how the question is asked, but the simple answer is that my meals are actually quite varied, colorful, and healthy.

Today for example, as I "prepared" lunch for the kids this is what I made for myself. Yes, in essence I created three different lunches, but it took me less than 5 minutes to have them ALL ready to go. And even on a day when I am actually baking, it is easy to pull a small portion of whatever we are having just before adding the meat and/or cheese for myself so it isn't nearly as hard as it sounds to make sure that we all have what we like, and what we can safely eat.

My lunch today is a handful each of carrots & grape tomatoes. Normally I would have these with a nice dollop of hummus to use as "dip" and to act as my protein, but I ran out last week, so I'm splurging on two pepper-jack cheese sticks cut into nibble-sized blocks. Alongside this I have a serving of Flat Earth Chips, and some red & green grapes. Isn't that a pretty lunch? And I'm not "missing out" on ANYTHING!

August 4th - A Rare Treat

2008-08-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

During the summer, it can be a battle to get the kids to eat. So our finger-food lunches really come in handy. We tend to have more raw fruits & veggies, and less "comfort foods" and there are days when lunch may be little more than several wedges of melon, with a scoop of cottage cheese.

Today we are having a few rare treats. Two all-natural meat sticks, a pair of string cheese sticks, and a triangle of grape tomatoes are resting in the large container. (my son of course opted for carrot sticks because tomatoes are "evil") Above them is a serving of Goldfish crackers, (with my son choosing Flat Earth chips as a Gluten-Free option) and red & green grapes.

June 26th - "Too Hot to Eat" Pasta

2008-06-26T11:22:00.001-07:00

I don't know about most families, but in our house it becomes nearly impossible to find anything that people want to eat when summer finally arrives. It's too hot to run the stove or oven, and all anyone really wants to do is sit around & sip at iced tea.

One thing I HAVE been able to feed the kids on these hot, sticky days is cold pasta salads. This is one of their favorite versions. (note: cook the pasta the night before, or first thing in the morning to conserve air-conditioning)

Todays lunch is quinoa pasta spirals with green onions, black olives, cherry tomatoes & diced cucumbers tossed with just enough cucumber ranch dressing to coat the pasta. On the side are the last of this seasons' bing cherries, a small plum... and GLUTEN FREE "Oreo" COOKIES!!!

For anyone else who happens to be gluten-free and has a little one that is pining for Oreos, these really do taste similar! The "cream center" is a dairy-free glaze-like paste, but the cookies themselves are actually rather good, and are enhanced by dunking in a cup of milk. I tried a few too, and they were surprisingly tasty as a rare treat dunked in my soymilk. It's not exactly the dessert of a refined connoisseur, but for a kid who's craving sweets it made a nice easy no-bake treat.

May 12th - Happy Mother's Day

2008-06-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Oh my, look what I found! I had completely forgotten about this meal until I went to post today's lunch.

For Mother's Day this year, we had a wonderful salad with plenty of dried cranberries, feta cheese & calamata olives, and hot dogs (for the kids) or portabella mushroom caps (for DH & me) along with Mandarin oranges. There was enough left over that we decided to have the same thing for lunch the next day!

We discovered on this day that my son (who has previously informed us that mushrooms were "evil" and to be avoided at all costs) LOVES grilled mushrooms! He ate nearly 6 ounces!!!

May 7th - Finger Foods

2008-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, but we've been feeling under the weather and sticking to things like leftovers or soups for lunch. But with the warmer weather we're back to feeling like creative lunches again!

Today for lunch we are having pretzels or rice-crackers, with cheese sticks. (Mama is having a small slice of Irish cheese instead) On the side we have thin-sliced pears, and English cucumber slices with "quick-dip"... sour cream with a bit of lemon pepper. The muffin cup has a single serving of sour gummy bears from the "Let's Do Organic" company; they're gluten-free and vegan & a rare, but yummy treat!

March 20th, 2008 - Happy Spring!

2008-03-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

For the first day of spring, we decided to have a little fun with cookie-cutters. Now I'm thinking we may need some more SMALL cutters as this was the only one we had that was small enough to do the trick! All the same, my daughter loved making cheese shapes.

Lunch today is brown rice seasoned with pesto & liquid braggs, and two Irish cheese chickies sitting on top. (their eyes were made from poppy seeds) On the side is a vegetable medley, organic edamame, and mixed tropical fruits. Yummy!

March 17th, 2008 - St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today in honor of our Irish heritage, we are having traditional Irish foods all day long. Lunch today is a family favorite, discovered LAST year on St. Patrick's day!

Lunch today is Irish champ (mashed red potatoes) with plenty of green onions & parsley mixed in. To go with it, we have two kinds or Irish cheeses, a green pear, and three dark chocolate Hershey's kisses... frozen & saved from Christmas!

If the servings look slightly larger today, it's because we photographed my son's meal rather than mine or DD's. Being 12 he eats just a bit more than we do, but he wanted HIS lunch photographed today because his plate is green.

March 10th, 2008 - We LOVE Gingerbread!

2008-03-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Todays lunch was inspired by nothing more than a burning desire for fresh, warm gingerbread. We're working on finding the tastiest gluten-free gingerbread, and today's muffins were made using the recipe found in Gluten-Free 101, by Dr. Carol Fenster. They were very rich & full of spice, but just a bit "airy" for our tastes. I suppose that means we'll have to try again!

Lunch was a warm from the oven heart-shaped gingerbread muffin with lemon sauce, (we poke holes in our muffins to let the lemon seep in... our favorite trick!) To go with it was a small serving of sunflower seeds, a cup of yogurt, and some of the largest juiciest strawberries I've seen in awhile!

March 4th, 2008 - Veggies Galore

2008-03-04T13:10:00.006-08:00

This evening is a special night, and Daddy will be taking the little princess out for a "just us" night, while Little Man & I will be having a special evening at home. Because our dinners will be rather high-carb, we are rounding out the day with a low-carb lunch. My daughter's comment was "Isn't it PRETTY?!?"

Lunch today was veggie sticks and with "quickie dip" (sour cream with lemon pepper, savory & lemon-thyme) and corn chips, with cottage cheese (I had hummus with the chips instead) and fresh pears.

February 29, 2008 - "Little Devils"

2008-03-04T13:10:00.005-08:00

While making up our shopping list last week, my daughter asked if we could have "those cute little devils." It took me awhile to compose myself, and after trying desperately to figure out where she might have heard such a phrase & consulting her to find out what she'd actually meant it turned out that she'd meant deviled eggs!

So just for my princess, today we had "little devils" with Waldorf salad, and broccoli & cauliflower on the side.

February 21, 2008 - Fruit Rainbows

2008-03-04T13:10:00.004-08:00

With the flu invading our home, we were looking for a lunch that would help chase away the sniffles. I wanted to make fruit-kebabs for the kids, but when I went hunting for our skewers they seemed to have disappeared. So we made rainbows instead!

Todays lunch was a rainbow of of fruit slices & wedges, and a few almond-coconut mini-muffins with vanilla yogurt to dip everything in.

February 14th 2008 - Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-03-04T13:10:00.003-08:00

Not every one of our lunches makes sense, until you take the entire day into perspective. This is a fairly carb-heavy lunch... but for dinner we rounded things out with a giant salad. I'd found the cutest little heart-shaped foil cupcake pans at the dollar store before Christmas, and put them away just for today.

Lunch today consisted of pasta salad (quinoa pasta spirals with garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes & parmesan cheese) and fresh cucumber slices, with baked organic apple slices (frozen from Grandmom's garden last fall) sprinkled with cinnamon, and a heart-shaped gluten-free chocolate cupcake.

February 4th 2008 - Popcorn for lunch?!?

2008-03-04T13:10:00.002-08:00

This was an attempt by my kids to create an entire balanced lunch from snack foods. I wanted them to see that there are no "bad" foods, and that healthy rounded meal choices can be created from nearly anything. They sat down and thought for awhile, before finally deciding on this as their "healthy snack" lunch.

Lunch included a serving of air-popped popcorn with a bit of Earth Balance "butter" and salt, with mandarin oranges & a trail-mix made of raw almonds & chocolate chips.

January 30th 2008 - Cheesy Stars & Ham

2008-03-04T13:10:00.001-08:00

I purchased a set of patty-pans while we were studying Little House on the Prairie three years ago. Little did I know then, how often they would actually be used! Every time I pull out the loaf-pan for bread, these little pans come out for "leftovers" as well. Today we were baking cornbread for a chili dinner, and decided to use the pans to create little star-shaped sandwiches for lunch!

We filled the star-shaped muffins with cheddar-jack cheese, (mine had hummus) and rolled up slices of nitrate/nitrite-free ham for the kids & a small green salad for Mama to go alongside. On the side there were baby dill pickles, and fresh blueberries.

Why Not-Quite?

2008-03-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

I discovered the concept of Bento lunches one day while hunting for NEW lunch ideas. I had recently chosen a vegetarian lifestyle, and my son & I were considering trying a gluten-free diet so things like peanut butter sandwiches could no longer be our meal of choice.

My children are homeschooled, and the three of us love to plan & prepare our lunches together. Because we usually have no need for lids or reheating, we usually create our lunches on a set of divided plates. It is fun to decide what will go in each of the sections, and to create the most colorful arrangements possible.

Having been Vegetarian for 2 1/2 years now, and Gluten-Free for 1 1/2 years food has been a constant adventure. We all love trying new foods and new combinations of old favorites, and are constantly on the hunt for our next "photo-worthy" lunch.