I first saw this wonderful bread on Dolce Vita, David Rocco’s cooking show.  It is naturally gluten and dairy free and so easy to make.  I really like this bread with a salad, a meal, or as a meal on it’s own when I’m traveling.

If you are looking for something that is also budget friendly, well this is the deal.  A bag of chickpea flour is a little over a pound and costs around $3-4.  It’s a great deal and can be the centerpiece of your meal.  My oldest who is a vegetarian, likes to toast this bread and top it with Buffalo Wing sauce.  He’s very creative that way.

David says that La Cecina is very common in Italy.  I hope to go there sometime just to see if that is really true.  I followed David’s recipe the first few times I made this bread, but you know me.  I like to experiment and change up seasonings so this recipe is a little different, but not much.  I asked David on Facebook if he ever made this with rosemary or garlic.  He said no but it sounded good.  So I gave it a try.  I hope you will too.

La Cecina

Servings: 16

Prep Time: 5 minute active, 60 minutes inactive

Cooking Time:  35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound chickpea flour

6 cups of cold filtered water

5 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 TB Celtic Sea Salt

2 tsp minced toasted onion

1 tsp minced toasted garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix together everything in a large bowl except only mix in 2 TB of the oil.  Make sure you get rid of all lumps in the mixture.

Let this rest for 1 hour.

Put the remaining olive oil into your 14 inch pizza pan.  Pour the batter into the pan slowly so it floats in the oil.

Bake until golden brown.  I slice it up like a pizza but you can cut it any way you like.

I usually will eat this warm right out of the oven but it does taste good cold.

Welcome to Day 9 of 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  Our guest blogger is Alissa from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Alissa Segersten is the founder of Whole Life Nutrition, a health and wellness business based in Bellingham Washington.  She holds a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Bastyr University and is the co-author of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, a cookbook and reference guide for eating wholesome, nourishing food.  She has four young children who love to cook and taste test her new recipes.  She and her family enjoy harvesting food in their own gardens and throughout the area in which they live.  Alissa and her husband Tom Malterre, a certified nutritionist, teach cooking classes locally. Tom also travels nationwide lecturing to large groups on various nutrition-related topics. Visit their website at www.WholeLifeNutrition.net or say hello to them on twitter @WLNutrition!

Alissa’s Recipe: Rice and Nut milk Hot Cereal

Alissa’s Tip:  Breakfast can be quick and nutritious

Breakfast is often said to be the foundation meal for the day. Sugary breakfast cereals cause a quick spike in blood sugar followed by an uncomfortable and often irritable “low.” This is often the case even with low or no sugar commercial breakfast cereals. I know they are convenient but what if there were other ways to have a quick, nutritious breakfast?

We often have one or two different types of whole grain cooked and ready to be used for any meal. Whole grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, and millet, are considered complex carbohydrates. This means they provide a steady, slow release of sugar into the blood keeping you energized for hours!

On really busy mornings, with four little ones to feed, I like to reheat leftover cooked short grain brown rice with a high-protein nut milk.  I will use either freshly made cashew milk or macadamia nut milk. Now I know this may sound exotic and complicated but it is really quite simple!

To make either cashew or macadamia nut milk: First take a small handful of either raw cashews or raw macadamia nuts and place them into a Vita-Mix or another high-powered blender. Add about 2 to 2 ½ cups water and a pinch of sea salt. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. Add a dash of maple syrup if desired.

uncooked short grain brown rice

Rice and Nut milk Hot Cereal

I often make a much larger batch to feed my family and I usually never measure. These measurements work to serve about 2 to 3 people. We like to top the cereal with ground raw almonds, a little coconut sugar, and frozen blueberries.

3 cups cooked short grain brown rice

2 cups nut milk or your favorite unsweetened milk

pinch sea salt

few dashes maple syrup (optional)

Place all ingredients into a small pot and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened and warm.

More Nutritious Breakfast Recipes from www.NourishingMeals.com:

Green Smoothie

Apple-Cinnamon Teff Pancakes

Blueberry Syrup

Adzuki Bean and Yam Hash

Don’t forget:

In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing.  The more you do, the more chances you have to win!

1. Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like.  Each comment is an entry.
2. Sign up for The W.H.O.L.E. Gang newsletter.
3. Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
4. Tweet about this project using both of these in your tweet so I’ll find you  #30days2 #foodrevolution

When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.

Welcome to Day 8 of the 30 Days to a Food Revolution. Today’s guest blogger is Nisrine Merzouki of Dinners and Dreams.

Nisrine grew up in Morocco in a culture in which frozen meals have not yet found a place, and where people still eat “outside the box” and customarily buy their groceries everyday to ensure using only the freshest chicken for their tagine and the crispest vegetables for their couscous (wheat).  Nisrine is a food blogger and author of a Moroccan cookbook, Marrakesh Express. Her blog features easy, healthy Moroccan and Mediterranean recipes.  She considers it a mission to share her passion for obsessively natural and deliciously simple food.  She has signed Jamie Oliver’s Petition and is proud to be part of this stirring food revolution.

Nisrine’s Recipe: Falafel

Nisrine’s Tip: Simplify. Diversify. Rejoice.

When I moved to the United States I was shocked to see so many people “survive” on frozen meals and fast food. I was refreshed on the rare instances when a co-worker would bring a lunch that looked homemade from scratch or when a host at a party would have one or two fresh items among many unhealthy, prepackaged choices.

Preparing fresh, wholesome, honest food needs to be a daily observance. Because of time constraints it can feel challenging to feed ourselves and families right. As a mother who works full time, I find it challenging too at times, but the good news is that it’s feasible and well worth the effort. If I can do it so can you.

This is a list of 5 tips that have helped me resist the temptation to give in to unhealthy food choices:

1. Easy recipes: build a repertoire of easy “go-to” recipes that you and your family enjoy and that can be prepared in 15 to 30 minutes. On a night when you don’t have a lot of energy left for cooking, you can put together a healthy soup, a salad, or a delicious omelette in less than 15 minutes.
2. Healthy snacks: stock up on fresh and dried fruits, nuts, olives and cheeses to snack on in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Bake a healthy cake or cookies on the weekend to last you the whole week for your snacks. I find that I tend to make more bad choices for my afternoon snack when I don’t have better alternatives.
3. Exercise: regular physical exercise helps curb unhealthy food cravings. I find that when I don’t exercise for a while, my body starts yearning for junk food.
4. Varied foods: cooking with new and varied ingredients, and experimenting with different world cuisines helps keep boredom out of the kitchen and makes you more excited about making your meals.
5. Have fun: take delight in preparing your food and remember that you can eat well without giving up all of your favorite flavors.

Falafel

Makes 6 to 8 falafels

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
30 sprigs fresh cilantro (or 2 handfuls)
3 garlic cloves
1 small yellow onion, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 cup vegetable or canola oil, for frying

Directions:

Place the chickpeas, cilantro, garlic and onion in a food processor and process until reduced to a paste. Transfer to a medium bowl and mix in the salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne and flour until well blended.

Heat the oil until very hot. Place the cornmeal in a shallow dish. Shape the mixture into patties and dredge them into the cornmeal. Fry the patties until golden brown and crispy, 2 to 4 minutes per side.

Visit Nisrine’s 30 Days to a Food Revolution.

Don’t forget:

In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing.  The more you do, the more chances you have to win!

1. Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like.  Each comment is an entry.
2. Sign up for The W.H.O.L.E. Gang newsletter.
3. Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
4. Tweet about this project using both of these in your tweet so I’ll find you  #30days2 #foodrevolution

When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.

Wow, is that a mouthful or what.  Alright now those of you who, like me, say you don’t like beets or you’ve never had them please keep reading.  I had never eaten or cooked beets before creating this recipe but I said I would make the salad course for our Gluten Free Progressive Easter Dinner Party.  This salad came to me as I was falling asleep the other night and I was hoping it would taste as good as I imagined it would look.  Well I hope this looks great because that’s how it tasted.

The beets have a mild sweet taste that pairs really well with the creaminess of the avocado, the bite of the greens, the crunch of the nuts and the sweet citrus of the orange.  It was like a little party in my mouth.

Now that I’ve eaten roasted beets I don’t know why it took me so long to give them a try.  This was an easy salad to make but it can be messy if you don’t wear gloves and keep a wet cloth on hand.   Make sure you check out the notes at the end for a few options.  I hope you will give this a try even if it’s something new.  Don’t you think this makes a great colorful presentation for an Easter dinner?  If you make this please take a picture and send it in.  I’d love to share your creations.

Next on the stop for our Gluten Free Progressive Easter Dinner Party is Katrina from Gluten Free Gidget with our main course.  On Thursday Shirley from gluten free easily will be serving a side dish and on Friday she will be serving our dessert.  If you missed the Deviled Eggs appetizer yesterday please visit Shirley for that recipe and make sure you read the story of the plate.

This recipe will make 4 plates as shown.

This recipe was shared with Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Gluten Free Wednesdays.

Ingredients:

1-2 Organic yellow beets roasted, peeled and sliced

1-2 Organic red beets roasted, peeled and sliced

1 cup water

2 slices of red onion

1 organic avocado sliced

2 orange cut into segments

4 handfuls of frisee

1 handful of watercress

4 tsp toasted pine nuts

juice from orange

9 tsp Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 tsp Sherry Vinegar

Celtic Sea Salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

Scrub the beets and cut off greens.  Now I’ve heard you can cook those greens like you would spinach but this was my first time with beets so maybe next time I’ll give that a try.  If you have cooked beet greens please share your experience.

Now you want to keep the yellow beets seperated from the red beets or your will only have red beets.  Toss the yellow beets with 1 tsp oil and 2 tsp sherry vinegar first, then the red beets next.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil and make a little ridge with the foil to seperate the beets.  Make sure you pull up the sides and create corners with the foil to hold in the liquids.  Place the red beets on one side and the yellow beets on the other side.  Add a total of 1 cup of water to the tray.  If you have the same amount of beets on each side then just divide it evenly.  Cover with foil, seal the edges and bake for 60-75 minutes.  You can test the beets with a fork.  It will not be the same consistency as a baked potato but the fork will move into the beet when cooked.

Once the beets have cooled put on gloves to peel them.  If you don’t you will look like a dyed Easter egg which may stay on you until next Easter.  Peeling a roasted beet is super easy.  I used the edge of a tablespoon and just scraped the skin right off.  I then placed it onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper to keep my cutting board from getting stained.

Cut each beet into 1/4 inch slices.  Make sure you wipe down the knife before changing colors.  Segment the orange (over the bowl you’ll mix the dressing into), slice the avocado and red onion and wash up the frisee and watercress.    For a good representation on how to segment an orange visit Vegan Yum Yum’s post on Making Pretty Orange Segments, AKA Supreming.

I like to squeeze any extra juice from the orange membranes and any that got cut away in the skin, into the bowl.   Add in 4 tsp of sherry vinegar and 8 tsp of organic extra virgin olive oil.  Whip it with your whisk until it emulsifies.  Add in salt and pepper to taste.  That means taste it before you pour it over you salad so you know you like the taste.

For the presentation I started with a bed of frisee.  Then I added the avocado and orange segments.  Next came the sliced beets topped with the red onions, pine nuts and watercress.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.

Notes:

Do not assemble this salad until just before serving.  The red beets will bleed onto the yellow beets and avocados.

For a less formal presentation you can cut the beets separately into chunks along with the avocado.  Also you can cut the orange segments in half.  Start with the frisee but into the center place the two colors of beets.  You could have red on one side and yellow on the other or add them randomly.  Around that center circle place your cut up avocados and oranges.  Sprinkle the red onions, pine nuts and watercress on top and drizzle with the dressing.

If you eat dairy small pieces of goat cheese would be a great addition to this salad or if you prefer feta.

If you are not a fan of pine nuts feel free to leave them out but I would still add something in for that crunch factor.   Walnuts would be a good option.

One last thought, you could always use a separate pan for each color of beets so the colors don’t run together when you roast them.

I love soup all year round but especially when it’s cold out.  I also like fast soups that taste like a soup that has cooked all day long.  Here it is!  Beef Brisket Vegetable Soup relies on your leftover piece of brisket and the stock it made while cooking.  I’ve shared two of the many ways to season and cook the beef.  For more details on that please read Gluten Free and Dairy Free Comfort Food is Good Anytime and Beef Brisket. Not only will you have soup in under thirty minutes, but it will cost you pennies for the pot!

Keep in mind this is a method recipe.  You can create this same type of soup with a roasted chicken, turkey or pork butt that you’ve cooked in your crockpot and saved the stock it created and the have some leftover protein.

Ingredients:

1 stalk organic celery sliced

3 organic carrots peeled and sliced

1 large shallot diced

4 small to medium Yukon Gold Potatoes rough chop

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup filtered water

3-4 cups beef brisket stock

1 piece beef brisket – size of your fist

Directions:

Prepare your vegetables.  I left the skin on my potatoes but you can peel them if you like that better.  I was going for speed as I was very hungry.

Heat your soup pot between medium high and high.  Add the oil into the hot pot and the celery.  Once that starts to soften add in the onion and carrots.   Let them cook up a little, then add in your water and potatoes plus the seasoning.

Bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes start to soften.

Now add in your parsley, thyme, beef brisket stock and the meat.  Before you add in the meat you will want to shred it and take any big chunks of fat off.

Heat this until it starts to boil then turn down to low to keep warm.  Taste for seasonings as you may want to add salt and pepper.  However with this being the stock that was created when cooking your seasoned beef brisket, it should already be packed with flavor.

Serve when ready to eat!

Notes:

You can use a yellow onion if you don’t have shallots.  Just make it around a tablespoon on diced onion.

Add in whatever vegetables you have on hand and enjoy in your soups.  If the soup is just for me I add in some frozen green beans and peas.   I also really like mushrooms in this soup.

You’ll also find this dish on What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

For years I used to make a hot spinach and artichoke dip and served it in a bread bowl.  We would inhale it at parties and people would beg for it at my Super Bowl Party.  It’s been some time since I made it last and to eat it now it would need to be gluten and dairy free.   For some reason I decided it would be best served as a pizza instead of a dip.  Scott thought I was crazy, Brad scrunched up his nose and the dog sat and listened attentively.  Good dog.

So tonight I finally made this creation.  Brad wanted no part of it which was just as well.  He had a plain Pulled Pork Pizza, no sauce or cheese.  But Scott and I dined on an amazing creamy delicious and very filling Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza.  Yes, it was gluten and dairy free but you can make it however you want.

This will most likely make an appearance at my Super Bowl Party.  I use the dip recipe to make 2 pizzas with a thinner topping on a rectangle pizza and cut into squares.  One can’t be worrying about if your food will fall apart when you’re watching the big game.  Around here it’s pick it up and stuff it in and don’t miss a play!

Now if the whole thing on a pizza causes you frown wrinkles, you can just keep this a dip!

Ingredients:

1 box frozen chopped spinach

1/2 red onion diced

3-4 cloves of garlic diced

1/2 can of artichoke hearts, rough chopped

1 large roasted red pepper, diced

1 tsp thyme

4 oz cream cheese – I used Tofutti made from soy

2-4 TBS sour cream- I used Tofutti made from soy

1 cup white wine 1/2 cup chicken stock- can substitute vegetable stock

2 tsp arrowroot

Celtic Sea Salt Course

ground black pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Butter – I use Earth Balance Buttery Spread Soy Free

Pizza Crust- I use Chébé All Purpose Mix (found at grocery store & in my shop)

Red pepper flakes- optional topping

Directions:

First thing to do is thaw your box of spinach and then get every last drop of liquid out.  To do this I put it into a kitchen towel and squeeze it until no more liquid comes out.  The towel really helps with the torque of twisting.

Heat the oil and butter on medium high until the oil ripples.  Add in the onions and cook until they start to become tender.  Add in half of your garlic and cook for another minute. Now add in your red pepper and thyme to heat for one more minute.  Pour in the wine and stock.  Reduce to 1/2 to 1/3.  

Now add in your artichoke hearts and heat through.  Add in your spinach and combine.  At this point you can either sprinkle with the arrowroot or create an arrowroot slurry. Turn off the heat and add in the cream cheese and sour cream.  Combine well.  Add salt and pepper and taste.   Adjust to your liking.

Mix together your pizza dough and roll is out.  I like to use cornmeal to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin and pan.  As far as pizza dough mix goes I can’t tell you about very many of them.  I cannot eat rice and so many use rice flour that I’ve not tried them.  I can however tell you about Chébé.  I love it.  It mixes together fast and easy.  I’ve used it to make calzones, Stromboli, bread sticks, and countless types of pizza.  It’s next performance will be buns for my sliders.  Have the cute little cutter and all.  Back to pizza!  For this pizza I used the All-Purpose Mix because it’s free of spices.

To really make this pizza pop I made a garlic paste to coat the edges or crust part your hold.  Let me say this took my Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza from good to amazing.  Don’t skip this step.  If you’re afraid to make a garlic paste don’t be.  You really can’t mess it up.  But let’s say you’re out of fresh garlic by all means use minced or granulated garlic.  Don’t skip this step!

To do this take your chopped garlic and add a generous pinch of salt to cover.  Take the side of your chef knife and place it at an angle on the mix.  Pull it towards you and press the garlic into the board.  Also use  a circular motion while pressing.  You are trying to flatten it with your knife.  Keep pushing the mix back together into a pile and then spreading it out with your knife.  This is how you break down the garlic and create a paste.

With your dough rolled out, brush the edges with olive oil.  Now distribute the garlic paste around the edges.  Add your spinach and artichoke dip into the center of the pie and bring it out to the crust that you’ve created with the garlic but don’t cover it.  Bake according to the dough directions. (mine took 25 minutes)  I like to eat my slices with a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes.  This is a very filling pizza that is piled high with the dip.

Notes:  To make this dip go a little further it really is enough for 2 pizzas with a thinner layer of dip.  I would definitely do that if I was serving it at a party.  Make a large rectangle pizza and cut it up into squares.

If you eat dairy feel free to mix in a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese to the dip.  You can also used regular cream cheese and sour cream.

To keep this vegetarian and vegan, use vegetable stock instead of chicken.

For a twist you can add in crab to your dip before spreading on the pizza.

If you’re looking for gluten free casseroles, check out the Gluten Free Homemaker.

One thing I really have missed eating while living gluten and dairy free is Eggs Benedict.  The part I miss the most is the Hollandaise sauce.  It’s full of butter and can be a lot of work to make.  So I decided I had waited long enough and I was going to try and come up with a good gluten, dairy and soy free Hollandaise sauce.

I searched on Julia Child and found that she had made a good blender version but still with butter.  Now that I found an easier way to make it, I thought I would try and make one more change so I could eat it.  I used my Earth Balance soy free buttery spread.  The verdict… it tasted great.  Just like Hollandaise sauce.  It was a little thinner than most traditional sauces.  I’m going to try it again and this time use olive oil or a mixture of both oils.

Keep in mind that making this in a blender means your eggs are not cooked.  You use lemon juice and warmed up butter substitute, but you are not cooking it over heat.

One of my favorite versions of Eggs Benedict includes crab and a crispy English muffin with tons of nooks and crannies and melted butter in them.  Well I’ve not found a gluten, dairy and rice free version of an English muffin that I like to eat.  So, bring in the potatoes for my base and I was licking my lips.

This meal got rave reviews and it will become a regular on my menu.  Well, I may change up some of the parts but the basic recipe will for sure.

This recipe was submitted to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.  See what else was shared.

If you are hesitant to make this because it involves poaching eggs and refuse to buy one of those poaching gadgets like me, you’ll want to try this technique.  I found the Perfect Poached Eggs technique perfectly described by Elaine Corn on Sally Bernstein’s website, Sally’s Place.  This gal has some serious food chops.  Thanks gals for the great technique!

I managed to poach all 6 eggs in one large sided frying pan with a lid.  I didn’t have tons of white stringy eggs and naked yolks but perfect poached eggs.

So, there are a lot of parts to this recipe but they come together easily.  I make my potatoes in a separate pan than my crab meat.  This keeps the taste of the potatoes separate and it keeps it vegetarian for my oldest son.

Hash Ingredients:

1 bag Shredded or cubed potatoes (I use frozen as long as it doesn’t have preservatives, sugar and a bunch of !!##@%! mixed in)

1/2 – 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1/2 tsp minced toasted onion Penzeys

2 tsp canola oil

8 oz Jumbo Lump Crab sauteed in 1 tsp butter substitute with 1/4- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Directions:

Brown the potatoes and onion in the oil and mix in the Old Bay seasoning.  In a separate pan warm up the crab in a little of the butter substitute.  Be careful not to break apart the large lumps.  Sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning.  Turn off burner and let rest until you are ready to assemble.

Dairy free blender Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

2 TBS lemon juice (half a lemon)

1/4 tsp salt

pinch cayenne

pinch white pepper

1/2 cup melted butter substitute or olive oil

Directions:

Add eggs, lemon juice and seasonings into blender and liquefy.  Once combined pour in the butter from the opening in the top of blender lid.  If your lid does not have a removable circle, turn the blender off before opening the main lid and adding liquid.  Blend for a minute and use right away.

Poached eggs Ingredients:

6 organic eggs, each in it’s own cup

1 TBS white vinegar

1 tsp salt

enough water to fill a large skillet with lid 3/4 full

Directions:

Heat the pan of water with the lid, on high and bring to a boil.  Add in the vinegar and salt.  Turn off the heat.  Now dip each cup into the water so some of the water flows into and around the egg.  Then let the egg slide out into the water.  This will keep the egg yolk and whites together.  Repeat for each egg.  When all the eggs are in the pan, put the lid on.  Leave them in the water for 3 minutes for medium firm yolks.  If you want the yolks firmer or runnier, adjust the time accordingly.

Now comes the assembly and then the eating!  For this you need 1 green onion sliced and the Old Bay Seasoning.

Place a good size serving of hash brown potatoes on your plate, top with some crab meat, place your poached eggs on top and pour the Hollandaise sauce over the eggs letting it roll down to the potatoes.  Sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning and green onions.

This made 3 servings.

Now that I’ve got this one under my belt, the varieties of Eggs Benedict are endless.  It’s good with the traditional Canadian Bacon, or you can use steak, smoked trout, asparagus and prosciutto or keep it vegetarian with black beans and tomatoes.

Notes:

You can always use fresh onions minced and cooked with your potatoes instead of the dried ones.

To save money on the crab you can use a Select style which is shredded crab instead of lump.  Great taste, cost less.

If you eat dairy, feel free to use real butter.

Large bacon weave, hash brown and egg stack

I love bacon and I’m always looking for new fun ways to use it.  Take your average bacon, hash brown and eggs meal and make it fancy, fun and even finger food if you wanted.   Once you get the basic bacon weave process down, you are on your way to countless ways to use bacon.  I’m keeping it gluten free and dairy free but you can change this up 100 ways from Sunday.  We decided this meal was baconlicious.  Not a real word, but real descriptive.  If you are a fellow bacon lover I know you’ll be trying this recipe.

These are the crazy things you dream up when you are forced to think about eating things without two pieces of bread.  This was something I imagined when we were eating burgers.  I thought it would be great to stack a burger on top of the bacon weave.  I still do, but for this meal I chose the breakfast route.

But for a dinner route can you just imagine a new way to make Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Chicken cooked in mustard, sliced and placed on top of this bacon weave.  You could top that with a little cheese if you partake.  What about a pizza?  Take the bacon weave, place a nice thick slice of tomato on top with thin slices of garlic and broil it.  Again, you could always sprinkle parmesan but I think it doesn’t even need it.  I would use basil chiffonades. It certainly would make a cool BLGT.  Hmmm, maybe I’ll start serving vegetables on top.

What would you put on top of your bacon weave?

I made a large bacon weave and a small bacon weave.  I’ll warn you that the large bacon weave used 10 slices of bacon.  For me that’s an entire package of the brand of bacon I use.   It was impressive but I wouldn’t want to eat it all by myself.  The large bacon weave would be best for a dish you are going to serve whole and then cut out into portions at the table.  No matter what size bacon weave you make, each side should have an uneven number of slices of bacon.

The small bacon weave was perfect to top with the hash browns and an egg or two.  I found that using a circle form kept the egg to a size that equaled the bacon weave.  If you want it to see what’s under the egg, use a smaller round form.

I hope you will continue to have fun with your food and give this a try.  If you make this please take a photo and send it to me.  I can’t wait to see them!

I’ve included lots of photos so you can see step by step how I created this dish.  Take a deep breath.  Can you smell the bacon……..

Update:  This was submitted as part of What Can IEat That’s Gluten Free.

Ingredients:

3 slices of organic gluten free bacon for small stack

10 slices of organic gluten free bacon for large stack

hash browns

organic eggs

Directions:

This works best if you have a griddle or a square pan.  If not a large frying pan that has a large flat area.

Make the weave on the griddle while it is OFF.  I found it too difficult to make it and try to transfer it to a hot griddle.  Not pretty.  So take my word for it, use a cold griddle or pan.

Cut your bacon slices in half if making a small bacon weave.  If making a large bacon weave keep the slices whole.

Bacon cut in half step 1 of small bacon weave

Separate your slices and place 3 half slices side by side for the small bacon weave and 5 full slices for a large bacon weave.

Small bacon weave step 2

Now you want to start building your weave.  The process is the same for the small and the large bacon weave.  Take your next slice and place it at the top of the weave.  Lift up the middle slice and put the cross slice underneath.  Now you have the start of the pattern.  The second slice you do the opposite.  You leave the middle slice touching the griddle and and put the top cross slice under the two outside slices.  The third and last slice you repeat the pattern you made with the first slice.  You lift up the middle slice and put the cross slice underneath.

Weaving the bacon

Once you have all of the slices woven together try to tighten it up so there are no big gaps.  The tighter the weave the easier it will stay together after it’s cooked.

If you are making the large bacon weave you are doing the same over under pattern, just with more slices in each row.

Now you see why it’s important to do this with the griddle OFF.

Now you can turn on your griddle to 375 degrees or your pan to medium high.  If you want to bake it I’m sure that would work too.  I just didn’t give that a try so if you do please let us know how that works.  I would use a hot oven at 425 degrees and make your weave on a foil lined jelly roll pan.  Don’t use a cookie sheet with no sides or you’ll end up with a messy oven.

Large and small bacon weaves cooking

When one side of the weave looks crisp, carefully flip your bacon weave.  For the large I used two large flat spatulas.  The small ones I only used one spatula.  If you don’t let it cook long enough it will come apart when you try to turn it over.  That’s your key to know if it’s ready or not.

Once your bacon is ready you can top it with whatever you like.  I cooked the hash browns in a separate pan while the bacon was cooking.  The eggs I cooked on the griddle after I had pulled the bacon off.   I love my new griddle.  It comes in handy and it’s really easy to clean up.

Bacon weave, hash brown and egg small stack

I hope you have fun making bacon weaves and you’ll share your stories of great toppers.  We really did enjoy our Bacon weave hash brown and egg stack!

Large bacon weave

Small bacon weave

Scrapple

I grew up outside of Philly and there are a few foods I ate that I really miss now that I am eating gluten free and dairy free.  Cheese Steaks and Hoagies (not a sub) on an Italian roll, Tastykakes, Hot Pretzels and Scrapple.  Well I’m working my way through the list and have eaten some really good gluten free and dairy free versions of these items, except scrapple.  So this week I took on scrapple.

At our house we ate Habbersatt Scrapple.  For those who are not familiar with scrapple it’s made from pork, spices and cornmeal.  Most companies that sell it also add wheat flour so it’s not allowed in my house.  It has a different taste and consistency than sausage and I could eat it for every meal.  When you slice it up and cook it in the frying pan, let it get a nice crispy crust.  Some people where I grew up would eat it dipped in ketchup.  Some people will put ketchup on everything.  I like mine plain.

So I searched the Internet for recipes that would work for me and there was not one complete one that I liked so I took the basic components of scrapple, added what I wanted, left out what I couldn’t have and gave it a go.  The verdict was scrapple.  It tasted just like the scrapple I grew up with.  I was dancing in the kitchen and got a high five from my husband.  He also taste tested it with me.  From the time we started dating I’ve cooked him scrapple, so he knew what the commercial brands tasted like.

So here is my recipe and I hope you will give it a try even if you have never eaten scrapple.  It does not cost much to make and it makes a lot so it should last for many meals if you slice it and keep it in the freezer.  You can put the slices in the microwave to get the freeze out of it.  I put it on low or level 5 for a minute.  When you cook scrapple put it into a cold pan and turn it up to medium high.  When it’s really brown and crispy turn it over.  The second side will cook much faster.

Announcement-

I’m looking for people to participate in Diane’s Test Kitchen with this recipe.  All you need to do is cook it according to the directions and send me your feedback according to how easy the recipe was to follow and how it turned out.  A photo should be included.  If you are interested in participating or have questions, please Email Me!

Ingredients:

Cooking the meat-

2-5 pound pork shoulder (pork butt)

1/2 package of bacon, chopped – I use Organic, Dry Rubbed Uncured Pork Bacon from Wellshire Farms.  Make sure your bacon is gluten free.

2-4 bay leaves

4 sage leaves or 1-2 tsp dried sage leaves

water to cover meat in crockpot

Mixing the scrapple-

2 cups Organic yellow cornmeal

4-6 cups of pork stock (created when cooking the meat)

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp savory

1-2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 ground bay leaf

Directions:

Cut the pork butt into 2 inch chunks except for the part around the bone.  You can leave that whole and use that cooked meat for your scrapple or, I saved it and will use it in tamales or some other recipe.  Place the pork into your *crockpot with the large piece fat side facing up.  Add bacon, sage and bay leaf to the pot.   Now pour in water so it covers the cut up port butt.  I didn’t cover the larger piece with the bone completely with water.   Cook on high for 4-6 hours.  You know it’s done when you pull out the larger piece on the bone and the bone comes out clean with no effort.

Pork falls off the bone, clean

Now that the meat is cooked, you want to get the pieces out of the crockpot and reserve the liquid.  Whatever technique you like will work but this is how I do it.  I place my strainer over a large bowl, then with a slotted spoon scooped out the large chunks with the bacon and placed them into the strainer.  There will be liquid that drains off.  Then toss the meat into your food processor.

All-Clad Strainers

The last piece I pull out is the large section with the bone.  With the pot empty I now pour the liquid into the strainer which is draining into the large bowl.  This will give you the pork stock you need to finish off the scrapple.   Discard items in the strainer unless there are pieces of bacon.  I put them into the processor.   I also saved that larger piece of pork for later and just mixed the smaller pieces for the scrapple.

Pork Butt

Once the meat is in the food processor, add in the spices, sage, thyme, savory, bay leaf,  salt and pepper.  Process until a smooth consistency.  If you let it go too long it will be too fine but I don’t like pork pieces in my scrapple.

Cooked Pork in Processor

Now transfer it into a large stock pot and add in the cornmeal and start adding in the stock and bring it to a simmer.  You want it to be thick and smooth but not watery.  This will take around 15 minutes.  If you add in too much water it will take a little longer for the water to cook off.  Note on the stock- it will have a lot of fat that rises to the top.  If you want to cut down on the fat content skim it off.  Or you can mix the stock and pour it in right away before it separates out again.

Now it’s ready to put into loaf pans.  You can use 2 large or 4 small.  Whatever you have on hand.  I had 1 large and 2 small.  I would recommend you line the pan with plastic wrap so when you want to take it out of the loaf pan it will be much easier.  I didn’t do this and it took me some time to get it back out once it had set up.

Place the loaf pans into the refrigerator until completely chilled.   This will take a few hours so I suggest you make it in the evening and eat it in the morning.

After is has set up, take it out of the loaf pan, slice it up, about 1/4 inch thick, and place it into a cold pan then turn on to medium high.  You don’t need to add any oil to the pan, it has enough contained in the scrapple.  Fry it until it is brown and crispy, then turn it over and again, fry until brown and crispy.  It only takes 5-10 minutes to cook. Now it’s time to enjoy.   I sliced the entire loaf and then separated them with wax paper, placed it into a large zip lock back and put it into the freezer.  This way I can just pull out a few slices at a time and have scrapple anytime I want.

Like Now!  My scrapple is waiting for me to cook it up so I’m going to do that now.  Talking about it is driving me scrapple crazy.

*note- if you dont’ have a crockpot you can cook this in a large stock pot on simmer.  I just can’t leave a pan on the stove and walk away and I’m not staying there for 3 hours.  I often burn things left on the stove.  I’m sure you are much better at that skill than I am.

Don’t forget Diane’s Test Kitchen.  Let me know if you want to participate.

After spending 24 hours smelling this wonderful beef brisket cooking in my house we had to have it for dinner tonight.   I was originally making it to have on hand for other dishes like pupusas, tamales, tacos, BBQ and many others.  I decided today as I was pulling the meat out, at which time I just had to taste it, that this meal could not wait.  I think I’ve also been watching too much of Guy Fieri’s show on the Food Network, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Great comfort food ideas on that show.  Couldn’t believe the hamburger stack I saw last night where the buns were actually two grilled cheeses.  Over the top or as Guy would say “Off the Hook!”

My plan was to have the brisket, mashed potatoes and green beans. Then I remembered I had all the ingredients to make Elana Amsterdam’s Nutty Bread that she posted on Elana’s Pantry.  If you read my blog regularly you know I don’t bake often because it requires measuring and too many steps. This bread only had a few steps and not a lot of liquid measuring.   This could work.   I baked the bread in the afternoon and it only took me 10 minutes to get it into the oven.  It tastes great and I loved soaking up my gravy with the bread.

Oh, and you’re probably wondering where the green beans are in the photo.  Totally forgot until I was plating the meal for dinner.  Oh well, there was parsley and chives in the potatoes.

So don’t think you need to wait until winter to make a meal like this. It’s great anytime.

Beef Brisket Ingredients:

1 large piece of beef brisket
1 cup water
1/4 – 1/2 cup Rosemary Salt -Kalyn’s Kitchen recipe
1/8 cup fresh cracked pepper
2 bay leaves crushed

Directions:

Put the beef into your crockpot and add the water.  Next cover the top with the remaining ingredients.  Make sure you put the meat in fat side up so all of that great flavor flows through the meat.  I cooked mine on low for 24 hours. It was spectacular.

Gravy Ingredients:

Au Jus from the crockpot
arrowroot slurry (equal parts arrowroot and cold water mixed)

Directions:
Strain the liquid from the crockpot into a pan.  Bring to a boil and stir in your slurry. Keep stirring until it thickens which should be fast.

Mashed Potatoes Ingredients:

8 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2-4 TBS Earth Balance Soy Butter or your favorite butter
1/4- 1/2 cup Almond Milk or your favorite milk at room temp
Salt and Pepper to taste
3-4 parsley leaves sniped
small handful of chives sniped

Directions:

Peel and cut your potatoes into a pot of water with salt.  Boil until tender, around 10-15 minutes.  Drain potatoes and put back into the pan you cooked them in and place on stove that has been turned off. You want to let the excess moisture evaporate out of the potatoes.  I add the butter and milk and grab my masher.  I don’t like mixers.  Now make sure you only add in a little milk and butter first, mash and see if it needs more.  If you add in too much you’ll have paste.

As for the green beans, well I’m sure you’ll come up with something great.

What is your favorite comfort foods to eat?  What to you add to your mashed potatoes?

With Friday Foodie Fix approaching rather fast, like tomorrow,  I decided tonight I would cook up the Swiss Chard.  As I started pulling it out of the refrigerator I grabbed some pancetta, garlic, leeks and a yellow onion.  I thought the pork and the onions would add great flavor to the soup.   This was a another quick meal that tasted great and gave me lots of leftovers.   Now this can easily be made with not pancetta making it a vegan soup.

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of swiss chard rough chopped (approximately 8 large leaves)

2 leeks cut in half and sliced

1 yellow onion diced

2 cloves of garlic diced

1 package of pancetta

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans

1 qt vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

1 tsp Bouquet Garni from Penzeys Spices

1-2 tsp dried jalapeno from Penzeys Spices, can use fresh

Directions:

Dice the pancetta and cook on medium high heat in a soup pot.  I use a porcelain cast iron pot from Le Creuset.  Cook until it starts to crisp, add in the garlic for just a minute, then remove from the pan.  Use the oil left behind to cook the onions.   When they are starting to brown add in the swiss chard and let it wilt down.  Add in the beans, stock, seasonings and bring to a boil.  Turn it down to a simmer for 10-20 minutes.

This would be a great soup to serve up with some fresh bread.  I didn’t have any so I paired it with potato chips.  I’m sure you’ll find something wonderful to pair this soup with too.

Have you ever eaten Sopes?  Sopes are a cousin to tortillas, but can be more versatile for fillings that have more liquid.  They are thicker than tortillas and have sides so they can hold fillings.  They don’t encase the fillings like a burrito or pupusas.  Usually you cook sopes by frying them on both sides in oil.  I didn’t want to make a mess and had really liked the way Carol Kicinski’s Sopes looked in her Simply Gluten Free blog post on Oven Baked Sopes. So I used the basic recipe I use for tortillas, pupusas and sopes but put them into a muffin pan to bake.

These were a big hit!  So much so that we’re still coming up with things to fill the leftover sopes.  Also the nutritional yeast gives it a nice cheesy taste but with no dairy.  Love it!

Nutritional Yeast mixed with Masa

Cheesy Sopes Ingredients:

3 cups Masa

2 1/4 cups water

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

Mix the masa, salt, nutritional yeast, and water.  You want a consistency that stays together but is not wet.  Make these into balls and place one in each cup of the greased muffin pan.  I have this fun little tool that I use to press a depression in the center of each ball.  I found that if I kept this wet it made the work easier.  Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes.  After 10 minutes brush with oil and sprinkle with salt.

Chicken filling ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts

8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced

1 large onion sliced

2 small or 1 large zucchini diced

Shallot Pepper

Virgin Coconut Oil

1-2 cups chicken stock

arrowroot slurry

Direction:

Saute the onions until brown, add in the zucchini.  Next add in the mushrooms.  Now I used cooked chicken breasts but you can also use raw and cook it up in the pan.  Sprinkle in the Shallot Pepper once these are all cooked.  Add the stock and bring to a boil.  Once boils add in the arrowroot slurry.  Take off the heat and stir constantly.  The sauce will thicken fast.  Make sure you bring in all of the stock around the pan and other ingredients so it is combined.  You want a nice gravy or sauce.

To serve I put two of the sopes on the plate and spooned in the chicken mixture with some spilling over the sides.

You can also check out What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free on The Gluten Free Homemaker.

©Diane Eblin

I love when the farmers markets open and the local fresh vegetables start showing up.  Fresh lettuces and tasty little cucumbers.   Of course the herbs and vegetables you grow yourself are organic and as local as it gets.  They’re also priced right.  This salad was created by what was available at the farmers market, my tiny garden and leftovers in my freezer.  This was a fast and easy meal, low cost and so fresh.  The trick to this salad is to load up on the veggies and then shred the meat to make it look like there is more than what is really there.  This way you can cut down on the meat, calories and cost.

Have you made a trip to your local farmers market?  Do you know where they are located?  Well if you’re not sure check out the sidebar of my blog.  Just below the listing of Categories you’ll find a Farmers Market Finder created by Culinate.  Just type in your zip code and you will be taken to a map showing you just where you can buy local.

If you start or continue to buy local you can join the ranks of the Locavores.  What is a locavore?  A locavore is someone who pays attention to where their food is grown and buys their food from local farmers as much as possible.  This doesn’t mean you have to buy all of your food this way to be a locavore.   If you would like to read up more on eating local check out the sites  Eat Local Challenge and Enjoymentland.  If you happen to have an iphone, check out this cool iphone app that will let you know what’s in season where you live,  so you’ll know what to expect when shopping.  Doesn’t it feel good to support the local farmers in  your community and eat fresh foods!  That’s what I call a win win.

Ingredients:

©Diane Eblin

mixed lettuce

arugula

parsley

red onion diced

carrots shredded

cucumbers diced

tomatoes diced

organic bacon

organic turkey shredded

raw sunflower seeds

Champagne Dijon Vinaigrette :

1-2 tsp dijon mustard (I like Annie’s Naturals  gluten free)

1-2 tsp champagne vinegar

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tsp water

Celtic Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix the mustard and vinegar together.  Whisk in the oil until it emulsifies.  Add in the water, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust.

For more gluten free recipes today, check out What’s For Dinner Wednesday.

©Diane Eblin

Have you ever been really hungry for a quick meal but didn’t want to cook?  Well that was where I found myself.   As my eyes darted around the kitchen for a meal to magically appear, the red and orange tomatoes I bought jumped out at me.  Hmmm, I’ve not had a BLT in a long time.  There was a period of time where I couldn’t eat tomatoes.  But now I can as long as it’s on a 4 day rotation.  I had made bacon this morning for breakfast so I had some left in the refrigerator.  I also had picked up romaine  lettuce at the same farmers market where the tomatoes came from. Excellent!

I really like to add avocado to these sandwiches.  They call that a BLAT.  But I had used all of my avocados last night for guacamole.  So I was going to make a BLGT.  Or is it a BLTG, GLBT, LGBT, or TBLG?  BLAT sounds funny, what does BLGT sound like?  Anyway, I was really hungry so I got busy making my sandwich.  Toasting gluten free bread is key.  I’m still working on learning how to make gluten free bread turn out to look like a loaf of bread in my bread machine.  For now we eat Glutino’s Flax Seed or Corn bread.  It works for everyone in my family.

Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Guacamole

Start by spreading the guacamole on both slices of bread.  Then layer your lettuce, tomato and bacon.  I like to salt my tomatoes a little with Celtic Sea Salt.  Carefully put both sides together.  You can use toothpicks to hold it together until you’re ready to eat.   Whatever you do, don’t cut it in half.

The sandwich was delicious.  It was so good I’ve had it twice in one week.  The guacamole added the glue to kind of hold things in the sandwich and added great flavor.  Here’s a tip.  Once you pick up this sandwich and begin to eat it, don’t put it down. It can be messy and it will fall apart if you let go.  But don’t worry, it’s finger licking good.

For the vegetarian version of this sandwich leave out the bacon.   I served this to my son and he thought it tasted great, just messy.  So, what do you add to your BLT and what do you call it?

For more glute free meals, visit What’s For Dinner Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker.

Egg Salad ©Diane Eblin

This is a quick and easy dish to make for a picnic, lunch, dinner, brunch and any meal in between.  Each week I like to make a pot full of hard boiled eggs.  I will keep them around for a quick protein snack or fast breakfast.  I can use them to make deviled eggs or egg salad.  Either way we’ll have a good fast snack or easy meal on hand.  This time the egg salad went along for a picnic.

But before we go any further lets talk about what type of egg you eat, where it comes from and the packaging.  Your best bet is to get them from the farm where they are organic.  You can often get them at farmers markets if you don’t live down the street from a farm.  Also, many CSA shares (community supported agriculture) offer a share of eggs.  There is no comparison to a fresh egg.  You will wonder what you’ve been eating and why after tasting what eggs are supposed to taste like.  The next thing you should look at is the packaging.  If you can buy in bulk at your grocery store that will save on the wasteful packaging that can sometimes be used for eggs.  You know the ones, they are clear plastic and double sided so it’s like you are unveiling the eggs.  Please, plain old cardboard is much better.  But recycling your cardboard containers is even better.  That’s what I’ll be doing with my CSA.

If you eat farm fresh organic eggs I want to hear from you.  Do you taste the difference?  If you’re not eating these gems I challenge you to find some from a farm and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled organic eggs, diced (boiled for 5 minutes)
2 TB organic mayo (I use Spectrum organic Mayonnaise, gluten free, no preservatives, contains soy)
1/2 anaheim pepper, diced
1-2 sliced green onions
1 tsp Fine Herbs from Penzeys (chervil, minced parsley, french tarragon, chopped chives)
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp celery salt
pepper to taste

Directions:

After cooking the eggs for 5 minutes the rest of this should only take 2 more minutes to mix up.  I’m assuming you gathered all of the ingredients and prepped the veggies while the eggs are cooking and not just daydreaming.  (sometimes I choose to daydream)  Mix all ingredients together and serve.  I like to spoon this into lettuce leaves.  You can serve with crackers or on toast as a sandwich, of course I use gluten free.  For sandwiches I love to add a slice of organic bacon.

For more gluten free dinner ideas check out What’s For Dinner Wednesday!

Pesto Chicken Salad ©Diane Eblin

Today was a beautiful day outside and just begged for everyone to go out and play.  So, we did.  My thoughtful husband suggested we take a ride in my convertible VW Bug and have a picnic at a state park.  He chose one about 45 minutes away that took us through the beautiful winding roads in the Virginia countryside.  It was  wonderful.  But, what I had on the menu was not going to work so plan B.  Having leftover chicken drumsticks that I had cooked in the crockpot the other night and pesto from my Pesto Shrimp on Polenta Portobellos was a good start.  I gathered up some ingredients and created this really tasty salad.  I also made a Tuna Salad and Egg Salad, and cut up fresh pineapple for dessert, packed the picnic basket and off we went.  This was a gluten free and dairy free dinner.  It was a wonderful excursion and I’m so happy we went.

Ingredients:

5 chicken drumstick legs (meat picked and rough chop)
2-3 green onions, sliced
1/2 orange pepper, diced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 -3/4 cup pesto (leftover from shrimp on polenta portobellos)
1/4- 1/2 cup white wine

Directions:

In a mixing bowl whisk together the pesto and wine until it’s the consistency of a salad dressing but not too thin.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and pack it up to go!

How easy is that.  It was a big hit as was the rest of the meal and dessert.

These little gems are as much fun to make as they are to eat.  Wait, that sounds like an old commercial.  But, if you are looking for a low cost meal you hit the jackpot.  I first saw pupusas at the DC United Soccer game.  There was a little stand in the stadium that sold them and the line was long, very long.  Any food that was attracting that much attention was defiantly getting mine.

I waited in the long line and bought two with a side of slaw for my husband.  I’m always hesitant to jump into something I don’t know all of the ingredients when I’m out, so he was the taste tester.  I am very sensitive to gluten and even one crumb will do me in for a week.  After my long wait in line, I returned to a very hungry husband and he was thrilled with the pupusas.  He gave me that look.  You know the one with the puppy dog eyes that melts me, and asked if I could make them.  Ok, the look was probably all in my head but he knows I’ll try to make just about anything.

Pupusas ©Diane Eblin

Pupusas were invented in Salvador and were brought to the US when many left their country to live here.  Pupusas are typically filled with cheese, beans, pork or all three.  I’ve also seen where people use shrimp, loroco (tasty green flower blossom), chicken, fish and even pumpkin or squash for vegan and vegetarian options. They are gluten free as the flour is made from corn treated with lime and can be made dairy free if you leave out the cheese.

I’ve been living gluten free since February 2007 and there are some things I miss.  I don’t really bake and don’t buy the processed breads and pastries, most contain rice which I can’t eat.  So I miss having a doughy tasty bundle in my hands like a burger on a brioche bun or a traditional calzone.  These pupusas have filled that gap for me.  They are warm, savory and doughy.  Of course, now I have to experiment with all types of fillings.  I’m going to try diced apples with a little cinnamon this weekend for dessert when we have friends over for dinner.  We’ll either have a tasty treat or strange looks.

I’ve had bags of the MASECA around to make tortillas.  One day while reading the bottom of the bag it listed all the different foods you can make with this corn.  Tortillas, Tamales, Empanadas, Atoles (hot beverage), Gorditas, Sopes and Pupusas.  I thought this was a sign and I should get busy cooking.  Since it is a stuffed tortilla, I basically used the same recipe for tortillas that is on the bag for the dough.  I had made a pork mixture that I used for the filling.

I will also be making some with beans so my vegetarian son can enjoy these.  I definitely need to make some big batches and freeze these to pop out and eat for lunches or when I don’t want to cook.  They are typically served with curtido, a colorful pickled vegetable mixture of cabbage, carrots, and onion, and spicy red sauce.  I made my own version of spicy slaw while the pupusas were cooking and served them with salsa and Tabasco.

If you live near a Shoppers grocery store, they are selling these 4.4 lb bags 2 for $5 or $2.50 each.  With the help of my extremely gifted in math son Brad, we calculated that each batch of 16 pupusas costs $0.38 to make plus the cost of the filling.  I only used a TB of meat in each one I made but I didn’t weigh that out so I can’t give you a total cost per batch of 16.   With the ground pork costing $2.25 per pound it’s not going to be very much.   I’m guessing around $0.10 each.  So you can stuff yourself for less than $2 and that includes the slaw!

Ingredients:

2 cups Instant Corn Masa Flour or Masa Harina like MASECA (DO NOT substitute plain corn flour or corn meal)
1 ¼ cups water (filtered is best for you)

Pork Filling:
½ – 1 pound ground pork
½ cup minced onion
1-2 TB Paprika
1 TB Smoked paprika
1 TB Cumin
1 TB Ancho chili powder
½ cup Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Virgin organic coconut oil

Directions:

Mix the flour and water together.  You want the dough to be soft.  If feels dry add more water, a little at a time.  Divide the dough into 16 equal ball portions and cover with either plastic wrap or a damp cloth so they retain their moisture.

While that waits sauté the onion until it is soft.  Add in the pork and cook through.  Add in the seasonings and vinegar.  Once this is combined, take it off the heat.  You can put it into a separate bowl to help it cool off a little.

Now it’s time to prepare the pupusas.  Heat your pan to medium high and add in a little oil.  Keep a bowl of water near by.  Keeping your hands wet makes all the difference in the world.  Take a portion of the dough and start to make a little cup with your thumb.  It works best if you keep the dough going in a circular motion.  The dough should end up ¼ thickness.  Put a tablespoon of meat into the center and then close up the dough.  Now here is where mine don’t always turn out looking just right so I’m going to practice more.  Your goal is to have the filling stay in the middle and not break out of the dough and to end up with a round piece of dough like a stuffed tortilla.  So far mine has ended up looking like a half moon.  The shape does not alter the taste so don’t let this deter you.  Once you taste one of these gems you won’t care what shape it takes.

Toss it into the pan and cook up on both sides until brown.  This doesn’t take long, about 3-5 minutes on the first side and 1-3 minutes on the second side.  You really want to make sure to serve the pupusas warm so have a cookie sheet in the oven on 250 degrees that you can toss yours onto.  That is if you don’t eat them as you make them.

Add a side of spicy slaw and red sauce and let your mouth do a little happy dance.

I grew up outside of Philly and on cheese steaks.  I really miss them.  I don’t think anyone can recreate those crusty Italian hoagie rolls they are served on anywhere, gluten free or regular.  I think it must be something in the water.  With no equal roll around, these cheese steaks are served on a baked potato.  To make it a cheese steak, you have to top it off with cheese.  When choosing the meat for your cheese steaks, please never use shaved beef, minute steak, chipped steak or reconstituted steak.

The two famous places to get the original Philly Cheese Steak are Pat’s and Geno’s.  If you’ve ever been there, let me know which one you like better.

Pat's Steaks in Philly

Geno's Steaks Philly

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless trimmed rib eye slice 1/16 of an inch (very thin), slightly frozen to make slicing thinly easier
6 baked potatoes
1 onion sliced thin

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

First cook your onions in a little olive oil until golden brown, then move them off to the side.
Cook the steak with a little salt and pepper in the same pan.  You may need to add a little more oil.  When cooking the steak let it get brown, but not crispy.

Pile the steak and onions onto a split baked potato.

Other possible toppings:
Cheese- American or Provolone (check to see if it’s gluten free)
mushrooms
sweet peppers
hot peppers
pizza sauce
tomatoes

I don’t have a photo of this recipe so if you make it take a picture and send it to me.  Thank you.

I had a lot of fun with Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger that Book of Yum has started.  It gets me out of my own head and into that of fabulous cooks.  My new favorite book is Ali Stegersten’s Whole Life Nutrition Book.  It is a great resource and it was wonderful to have her guest blog last week.  Check out her recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Potato crusted Frittata ©Diane Eblin

The rules of the monthly adopt a gluten free blogger is to take one of their recipes, make it and share your experience by the 1st of the next month.  Well, looking at my calendar today I realized I was almost out of time and needed to get cracking.  I also found a carton of eggs that were getting close to their expiration date.  Yes, eggs have expiration dates when you buy them by the carton in the stores.  So I found a great frittata recipe which had a potato crust in Ali’s cookbook.  Potatoes are one of my favorite foods.

The recipe was easy to follow and quick to make.  I couldn’t find the pan it called for so I made mine in a large muffin tin.  I also don’t have cheese on hand of any kind so I omitted this.  It turned out  great!  I’m going to freeze the little frittatas and I’ll have a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner for those nights where I don’t want to cook or go out or I’m really pressed for time.  With running a business, writing two blogs, and making sure my teenager is where he needs to be, some nights a dinner from my freezer is a must.  It is nice to know when that happens that I don’t have to rely on a boxed meal or fast food take out.

I really liked this recipe and would recommend it.  So check out Whole Life Nutrition and Book of Yum blogs.

One of my favorite things to do is take leftovers from meals during the week and make a soup on the weekend.  This week when I cooked those delicious Jerk Pork Ribs and Chicken it created a wonderful stock in the pot.   I strained it and poured it into a leftover pasta sauce glass jar and stuck in the refrigerator.  This will allow the fat to rise to the top to be easily removed.  Always label these jars or else you’ll never remember down the road, especially if you forget to use it within a week.  This was a great base for my soup and this dish cost so little to make.

Pork Noodle Soup ©Diane Eblin

Ingredients:

Leftover stock from Jerk Pork & Chicken
1 cup Stock (I had turkey vegetable)
3 organic carrots chopped
1 organic onion diced
1 stalk of organic celery diced
1 bay leaf
½ thyme
2-3 small sage leaves crumbled
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp virgin organic coconut oil
1 tsp fat from top of stock (discard the rest)
1 boneless pork loin chop diced
2 handfuls of gluten free pasta noodles like Tagliatelle by Glutano

Directions:

Heat your pot on medium high and add in your oils.  Cook up the onion and carrots.  Once they begin to soften add in the celery and pork.  When the pork has cooked add in the stocks and seasonings.  Scrape the bits off the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and add in the noodles.  Put the lid on and turn down to simmer.  The noodles cook up in about 6-10 minutes.

This soup is very inexpensive and fast to make.  Plus you clear out your refrigerator while you cook.

Frittata ©Diane Eblin

My husband says I have a gift of opening the refrigerator and creating a meal from random ingredients.  I call it make it up as I go cooking at the last minute because I didn’t finish the plan. Shhh, don’t tell him.  I don’t want to ruin his image of me. My plan was to make a quiche which I’m not sure why because I like frittata better.  I don’t like messing around with crusts because that requires baking.  I try not to bake as that requires specific ingredients and measuring.  I enjoy the thrill of the creating on the spot.  I knew I had plenty of eggs around and I thought some chorizo since that was already on the menu.  The last time I made a frittata I used thick heavy cream which I no longer can tolerate.

So I opened the refrigerator to see what “milks” I have on hand and vegetables or other proteins to join the chorizo in this frittata.  I always have onions and potatoes on hand so that seemed like a great fit.  The only option left was soy cheese or not.  We opted for not but if you are a dairy eating human than cheese is wonderful in frittatas.  For this I would have used a Manchego, a wonderful Spanish cheese, or Gruyere.

So as you are cooking your frittata, check out what is hanging around in your refrigerator.  Garlic is always wonderful (I’m not supposed to eat it), assorted types of peppers or whatever you have give it a try.  This is a very inexpensive dish to make so give yourself permission to make a flop and who knows, it might be your masterpiece.

Ingredients:

2 links of chorizo diced (read labels for gluten free)
2 medium potatoes, cooked and rough dice
½ large organic sweet onion
8 Organic eggs
½ – 1 cup milk (I used almond but coconut, hemp, soy, rice or your favorite will work)
1 tsp thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp Coconut oil
Cast Iron Skillet- Key equipment
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Directions:

Grab your large cutting board that you use for meats so you can work on one surface.  If you’re like me, who did not have 2 cooked potatoes hanging out in the refrigerator, put them in the microwave and cook to almost done.  They should be soft enough to eat but firm enough to cut up.

As they are cooking dice your chorizo and onion.  You can do a fine or rough cut on these.  I like a rough cut to give it a more interesting look and texture.
Heat your cast iron skillet on medium high with the oil.  Add in your onions and allow them to start to soften.  Then add in the chorizo and allow to start rendering it’s fat.  Next add in your potatoes.  Allow it all to start to brown.

Frittata in oven as edges had started to cook.

Meanwhile whip your eggs in a separate bowl.  Add in your milk.  I add milk according to the color of the eggs.  They will be a nice rich yellow and as you add milk they start to lighten.  As you whip, if you get to a very pale yellow that is too much milk.  Keep in mind I use organic eggs which have a more true rish yellow/orange color.  Add the thyme, salt and pepper to eggs.

Pour the eggs into the pan.  Once you can see the eggs starting to cook around the edges you know it’s time to put it in the preheated oven.  Bake it until it sets up firm and starts to brown on the top.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minuets.  You can then cut it up and serve it or turn it out onto a cutting board and bring to the table so people can serve themselves.  This will serve 3-4 people depending on how hungry they are and if you are serving other foods with the meal.  Please remember you just pulled that pan out of the oven so don’t grab the handle without protection.

Enjoy and please share your favorite ingredients for your frittatas with us.

Tonight’s dinner ended up being a mix of turkey fajita leftovers and some steak.  My wonderful husband offered to have the leftovers so my son and I could have the steak.  This worked better for me with my 4 day rotation diet.  He’s the best!

So I thought I would share one of my favorite breakfast meals.  It is fast and keeps me satisfied until lunch.

Berrylicious Gluten Free Shake

©Diane Eblin

This is a great way to start the day.  You can add in the supplements that you want to include in your diet.  I like to have FLAX and extra greens.  I also use the whey protein as I can tolerate it.  If you eat any type of dairy adding greek yogurt is great.  But be careful to read all labels.  Many yogurts have sugars and stabilizers.  FAGE is a gluten free greek yogurt that I use to eat and I’ve been told that kefir is also good .   You want to also look for yogurt with Live and Active Cultures.  These are the yogurts that are a good source of probiotics.   It’s a good thing to have some type of protein in your smoothie.  Some in my house use peanut butter, almond butter or macadamia nut butter.

The Greens+ that I use contains soy so if you are avoiding that there are others that are soy free.  Amazing Grass GreenSuper Foods is another great supplement.  I find these supplements in my Whole Foods, local health stores and online in my Amazon store.

½ cup Blueberry juice (low in natural sugars)
1/3 cup coconut water
1 scoop FiPro FLAX sprouted
3 tsp Greens+
1 scoop Whey Protein Powder
1 cup frozen organic mixed berries-blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries (low in sugars)

I put the ingredients into the blender in the order written.  Always put your liquid in first.  If you find your smoothie is too thick and your blender looks like it’s going to start smoking, add more liquid and stir.  Then blend.  I start my blender off on chop and mix to get the frozen fruit broken down.  I work my way up to liquefy.   It works best if you use frozen fruit instead of fresh.  This will give you the thick milkshake like consistency.  I use to top my smoothie off with a plastic straw but I decided the landfills didn’t need my straws.