Breakfast Fruit Smoothie

Fruit and Peanut Butter

I love a good smoothie in the morning. It is a great way to get in fruit, protein and dairy in the morning.
I blend one big one and it makes two days worth.

Breakfast Fruit Smoothie
2 Bananas, fresh or frozen*
1 cup frozen strawberries, slightly
1/2 cup frozen blackberries, thawed slightly
2 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter
16 oz of whole fat yogurt

Almost-ready Smoothie

In a blender, toss in the bananas, strawberries, blackberries and peanut butter. Blend until in small chunks. Then add the yogurt. Blend until smooth.
Pour half of the smoothie into a glass serve with a straw. I poured the other half into a to-go container and put in the fridge for another day.

I have a friend in Australia. When I told her about my smoothies she was extremely grossed out. In Australia, they don't eat peanut butter on everything like we do here. They eat a sandwich spread called Vegemite. Needless to say, the first time she had peanut butter and chocolate together in peanut butter cup she was skeptical, but loved it. I am sure I could convert her to these smoothies.

A recipe better suited for this yogurt!

*When bananas start to turn brown, I freeze them. Not only are they great for banana bread, they are perfect when thawed for smoothies.

a yummy way to start the day

Quick and Easy Vegetarian Pasta

Quinoa Corn Curls Box

The other night I was hungry right after work. I was in desperate need of a grocery trip, but didn't want to wait until after a shopping trip. So I literally threw together things we had lying around the house.

Strained Noodles

I just bought some Veggie curls a week prior, I had hoped to make a pasta salad out of them. But alas hunger pains kicked in and I couldn't wait to use them. I boiled water for the veggie curls. They are corn quinoa blend noodle that is colored with red peppers and spinach. Quinoa is a grain that is high in protein. When I use these noodles, I don't have to add a meat source of protein. These noodles are enough to leave you full and satisfied.

Vegetarian Quinoa Veggie Curls Pasta
1-8 oz box of Quinoa Veggie Curls uncooked
water to boil
1-15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of italian seasoning
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese for topping

Once the water boiled I threw in the whole package of noodles in for about 10 minutes.
While the noodles were boiling I created the red sauce. I opened the can of tomato sauce, and threw in some brown sugar, italian seasoning, garlic powder and black pepper to taste.

Ingredients for Sauce

I strained the noodles, and then added the sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese to the top of it. I micro-waved it until the cheese melted.
I made this dish for myself, but my significant other literally came up from the basement to see if what smelled good. I made a dish for him and he complimented it up and down. It was a quick and easy main dish.

Fast and tasty 

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping

Preparing for family meals is no small task for anyone. However when you factor in a dietary restriction or two it makes it more challenging. To make this challenging task easier, I have picked up some tricks along the way.

Gluten-free iPhone App

I never go shopping with a working cell phone. You never know when you will have to call a company. I tend to shop after most companies are closed for the evening, so that doesn't always work best for me. Shortly after I found out a had to be on a gluten-free diet, I got a smart phone. It makes shopping easier because I can search company's websites, which are up around the clock. I also downloaded a smartphone app called Is that Gluten-free? I know it is available for an iPhone, but not certain other smartphone compatibility. This app lets you search for products that are confirmed to be gluten-free. It also has a spot of where it was confirmed by the company and the date of that confirmation. That part of the app also has a place where it has the company's phone number for you to call, and a spot for you to type your own notes. You can look up products by brand name, categories and ingredients within a product. I use the app often when shopping.
Make friends with the person who is buyer of products for the store. Introduce yourself and explain dietary constraints only after complimenting them on some of their selection. This person may help find foods that you are missing or stock foods within the store that you have found at another location. The assistant store manager knew that I was looking for a better gluten-free, yeast-free pizza crust. He couldn't get in what I was looking for, but found a frozen gluten-free, yeast-free pizza. (See blog post for April 12th.)
Always look down your gluten-free aisle even if you are going on a short trip. You can check for sales on your favorites or staples and stock up.

Stack of cookbooks

Prepare a shopping list ahead of time. I have a typed list of family staples that I print out and put on the fridge. I highlight things as we run out of them. The list is set up in the order of the grocery store. That way I don't waste time going from one side of the store to the other. Then before shopping, I sit down with cookbooks and look for recipes that I want to try or recipes of favorites. I write down all the ingredients that I will need for the recipe so that I don't have to go back multiple times in the week. This cuts down on impulse buys. This also helps me stick to my budget. As I shop, I scratch off items. This way, I don't forget anything for a recipe. When you shop at multiple grocery stores, lists make these trips go as fast and as smooth as possible.

Working shopping list

Coupons are another way that I cut costs and help me plan my meals. I buy things on sale or the things that I need to buy with a coupon.
I hope these tips help. ;)

Chocolate Chip Cookies from a Mix

Not only do I bring a hearty appetizer for Easter, I pack my own dessert. It makes it easy to pass on the cheesecakes, bunny cakes and festive cookies.

I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies to bring with me. 

I used King Arthur's Basic Cookie Mix and added a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

The Cookie Mix Box

To make the King Arthur's Gluten Free Cookie Mix you will need:

1 stick of softened butter

1 large egg

2 tablespoons of water

1-3 cups of add-ins (I opted for just semi-sweet chocolate chips) You could add nuts or peanut butter chips, dried fruit, etc. 

and of course the mix.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I cut some parchment paper to fit my cookie sheet. 

You use 1/2 the cookie mix and the wet ingredients. Mix well. Then add the second 1/2 of the mix. Add your mix-ins. Then use your cookie scooper to scoop the dough onto the parchment paper. You should squish the cookies to make them flat. (The cookie scooper is a must have to make consistently sized cookies.) Then bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on pan for at least 5 minutes.  (Otherwise the cookies totally fall apart.)Then let cool completely before storing. *This is basically their recipe off the box. I included it so you could see how easy this recipe is to make in comparison to others. 

My new scooper and the cookie dough

Hot tasty cookies: I wish you could smell them!

Things that I liked about this mix is that it is a simple gluten-free mix that does not require random extra ingredients that you would have to go out to buy. It is a quick mix that doesn't need a mixer to make. Also can be made start to finish in about 45 minutes. Which is awesome. The dough tastes just as good as the cookies. Gluten-free dough, doesn't always taste like gluten-y dough. The texture is off, it's gritty. Not this dough. It definitely hits the cookie dough craving spot. Bonus this week, they were on sale at my grocery store for under $3 dollars when they are normally $5. It was like getting the chips for free. :D

Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Tomorrow is Easter. My family celebrates it by getting together to share a meal. My immediate family is around 30 people, so we each bring a dish potluck style. A lot of my family is really considerate and brings something that is gluten-free so I can eat what they bring. This is not always the case when I go to other potlucks.
One of my favorite potluck carry-along dishes is a recipe from one of my former co-workers that I modified for a crock-pot. Kudos to Mandi for the original awesome recipe. I doubled the original recipe to feed my large family which makes it ideal for a large crowd.

Stoneware sprayed = easy cleanup

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Can of Pam cooking Spray
1- 14 oz can of Reese Artichokes, drained and chopped
2- 10 oz packages of Frozen Spinach, drained and thawed
1-16 oz tub of sour cream
2 Cups of Low-fat Hellman's Mayo
4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped or pressed
1 cup of Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated

First spray the crockpot stoneware with Pam. It's a must anytime you cook in a crockpot. It makes clean up easier. I have a rather large crockpot. I think it is a 6 quart crockpot.
Mix the thawed spinach, artichokes, mayo, sour cream, and garlic. I mix it right in the crockpot. I cook it until the cheese is golden and bubbly. An hour on low or 30 minutes on High. My crockpot has a warm feature that is awesome for parties and gatherings.
I love that I can prep this recipe the night before. I throw the stoneware in the fridge and then warm it the next day. We can go to church, then go home pick it up, bring it to the party and cook it there while the rest of my family arrives.

Dip without cheese topping

With cheese topping

If you don't have a crockpot you can put this recipe in 2 - 13x 9 pyrex dishes. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and golden. You may want to add more cheese to this version since there will be more surface area to cover.

Serve this recipe with your favorite gluten-free tortilla chips. I love Mission tortilla chips.

Happy Easter!

It's party size for more fun!

Fresh, but Simple Salad

The beautiful flowers are just because from my parents. 

Even though I am not vegetarian, a lot of my favorite meals lack meat or can stand alone without meat.

Before I was dating my husband, I ate meat about once a week to once a day. Then I started cooking for him and meat had to be included in each meal. In his opinion, chicken isn't exactly meat. Since I don't eat fish, I had to get creative a with the hamburger and pork products. :) This meal is one of those stand alone types. But if you had leftover chicken it wouldn't hurt the flavors by adding it in.

This is a meal that I crave in the spring and summer. I love to eat the fresh veggies and this is a quick way to get a lot of them in one bowl.

Simple Salad
1 Heart of Romaine Lettuce torn into bite sized pieces
Leftover carrot shreds
1 Red Pepper chopped
Olive Oil Vinaigrette Dressing (I used Bolthouse Farms)
A splash of Kraft Parmesan cheese
A dash of fresh cracked pepper

Extra for lunch the next day 

Combine in a big bowl, or separate them into bowls as you cut them up. Serve and enjoy. If you have time to make it ahead, chill the salad with the cheese. It sets up a little nicer that way. I would have loved to add cucumber to this recipe, but I ate the last of ours before this salad. You could also add some walnuts or pecans for a dry crunch. Either way it was satisfying.

You may notice in my pictures there is blue tape on containers. I live in a shared kitchen. My family doesn't have to eat gluten-free and yeast-free, but I do. I have a roll of bright blue electrical tape that I label my leftovers, condiments and speciality foods with as an indicator for people to be careful with/ or leave that item alone. This helps cut down on the cross-contamination in kitchen. The only hiccup is when people come to visit or for parties and have yet to learn about the tape.

Our pantry has a few baskets that have blue tape and all the items inside the basket do not have to be marked. The benefits from the electrical tape is that it is sticky enough to stay on an item, but removes easily enough that pieces of tape can be reused multiple times before having to be thrown away.

I still write GF on some items, like my peanut butter jar. But this cuts down on writing on tupperware, or cheese zipper bags. Not only is it a waste of time, but sometimes, the writing doesn't come off the tupperware, and therefore would be mislabeled. In the case of the cheese, there is already so much print on one bag, that I think gluten-free would not stand out well to others.

Blue Tape in Action

How about you? Do you have a system in place? Or do you live in a gluten-free only kitchen?

A Childhood Cereal Treat

The other day a received a picture message from my friend Steph. It was a picture similar to this one.

Reformulated to be Gluten-Free

Fruity Pebbles are her favorite cereal and when she saw they were gluten-free she had to tell me right away. For my birthday, I decided I would relish in a meal that would take me down memory lane. (Plus I really wasn't all that hungry since we went out to Chevy's for a birthday lunch.) I have taken to putting cereal over yogurt. I learned this when I was a nanny, and it makes it easier and faster to eat cereal. I eat a whole milk yogurt to keep hunger pains at bay longer. I also looked for a gluten-free yogurt that has tons of active pro-biotics. This one is my favorite.

It is also more expensive than other yogurts, but I find it worth it. I have tried to go back to a skim-milk yogurt and I find myself snacking between meals.

Best yogurt ever

After not having Fruity Pebbles in many years, I was not anticipating the sweetness level to be as high as it was. If I ate the whole box, I don't know if my blood sugar could handle it.
I don't recommend Fruity Pebbles with yogurt, they are much better over milk or dry straight from the box. In fact, I had to have an apple to make my stomach settle.

Although my eyes loved the rainbow of colors inside the bowl.

Like fireworks in a bowl

Frozen Pizza: my Holy Grail

It is often said that time is money. Going gluten-free surely shows this and that gluten-free means it often costs more money. Since going gluten-free, I wanted some of semblance of normalcy. I  feel like there were a few American staples that would need to be replaced. One of those staples would be pizza.
I have tried a variety of gluten-free crusts, but finding a gluten-free, yeast-free pizza crust that tasted like one that was not was impossible. It has become my holy-grail. Schar's Pizza crust are the best pre-made crust, but contain yeast. Delicious, but made me sick. Rob's Red Mill Pizza crust is fantastic, but requires yeast to make it rise and you have to prep it ahead of time. (Which does not appease a working woman's hungry tummy when she gets home.) Again, it would make me sick. I have been using Chebe's pizza mix which is void of yeast, gluten and corn. It can be prepared without dairy too. This is closer to what I remember pizza to be like, but has it drawbacks. One is that no grocery store carries it in town. I have requested it at two different grocery stores and can't get it. We have to bring back packages from another town 100 miles away. (We travel there to visit friends and always make a quick stop to check out the gluten-free section there.) I also tried a rice based thin pre-made crust with is okay if you are desperate.
Along this journey, I was delighted to find a recipe for pizza soup, that tastes like pizza, but looks nothing like it. I will have to post that another time.

The box sans pizza

This past week, my husband I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items. We always swing by the gluten-free section just to see if there is anything new, or sales too good to have missed. And there it was... waiting in the freezer section for me... I saw a new gluten-free pizza and of course flipped it over and read the ingredients. I scanned for yeast and saw there was none! It is a frozen pizza made by a company called Against the Grain. They are gluten-free and yeast-free. We, of course had to buy it despite it's over $10 price tag for a 12" pizza.
At work every Tuesday is a pizza day. Which means when I get home, I always want to eat pizza. Today was no exception. I preheated the oven, got out my pizza stone, my gluten-free cornmeal, the frozen pizza and the oregano.

I had low expectations and couldn't believe my eyes when the totally cooking time was 12-15 minutes. It was a first, a "real" cooking time.

I covered the pizza stone with some cornmeal, laid the pizza down, and heavily dosed the pizza with oregano. Then I popped it in the oven and waited.

Once it was ready, I couldn't wait to cut it and eat it.

The final product 

I typically add a little brown sugar to my homemade pizza to eliminate my heartburn from pizza.  So I knew it was going to be different than my own.
Even with the oregano, the pizza lacked pizzaz. It didn't leave you wanting more. I decided to add some garlic powder to the extra pieces.
When I reheated the leftovers, the garlic was exactly what it needed.

A company that avoids many allergens

I can check a frozen gluten-free, yeast-free pizza off my list of must haves, because I found a quick suitable solution. :)