Friday Foodie Fix

Today’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Chickpeas.  They are also called garbanzo beans and in Italy ceci.  Chickpeas are legumes.  They are round but with sensual curves and a pale creamish yellow color which is nothing like a lemon.  Firm texture and a nut like flavor fill your mouth.  You can even undress them by taking off the skins.  Chickpeas can be purchased canned and dried and are often found in many dishes from India, the Middle East, Mediterranean cuisine and even Mexican meals.

Chickpeas are a good source of zinc, folate, dietary fiber, protein and calcium.  So what’s not to love about chickpeas?

This week I shared two of my favorite recipes using chickpeas, La Cecina and Roasted Chickpeas.  I’ve also used them in my Pasta Fagioli, Amazing Toasted Nuts, Falafel, and  Tuna Chickpea Salad.

Now it’s your turn to share your recipes and ideas for chickpeas.  Please link to the recipe page with this ingredient and then link back to this post so people can find more chickpea recipes.

Please see the master page for Friday Foodie Fix with a complete listing of all the past Secret Ingredients and rules.  Coming soon a month schedule of Secret Ingredients for those who like to plan ahead!

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is …..Plums!

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.

Friday Foodie Fix

Today’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is coffee.  People either love it or hate it.  I’ve never been a fan but my college age son says I should really give it a try and can be used in so many recipes.

So this summer on vacation we went to Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco.  I had him with me and thought I would try my first cup of coffee.  It was mixed with chocolate and I’m sure that has a name.  I thought the combo might be something I liked.  They did a great job of making sure it was gluten and dairy free but I still didn’t like it.  His next suggestion is to start with a latte and gradually add in the coffee.  Maybe I’ll give this a try on my next visit to Blue Bottle.

Writing about coffee today I went to my tried and true Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion and they have a lot of information on the subject.  They tell you where it is thought to have originated, Ethiopia, all about the different types of beans and how they go from bean to your cup.  They also suggest storing whole roasted beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks and for long storage the freezer up to 3 months.  I guess that bag I’ve had in the freezer since last Christmas should go to the garden.

Coffee

They (Food Lover’s Companion) also share how to make the perfect-tasting cup of coffee.  I didn’t know that you have to start with an absolutely clean coffee pot and filter.  The residual coffee oils from previous brews can make the current batch a bitter or rancid flavor.  I guess if I’m making pot after pot in a row it needs more than a good rinsing.   Check out their book for more of those great tips.

So I don’t drink or cook with coffee but I know a lot of you do.  So I am hoping you will share some great ideas of both food and drink that uses coffee so I’ll have more options to try as I continue my search for coffee I like.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ……….. Chickpea!

Yes, this week’s edition of 30 Days to a Food Revolution is written by me.  I’ve wanted to join in but wanted to make sure I gave lots of great bloggers a chance to share.  With this being  August with lots of people on vacation there was an open week.

Diane’s Recipe:  Italian Torta

Diane’s Tip:  Use what you have on hand, especially if it came from your garden or local farmers market.

This may sound silly but this is one of those meals I make when I don’t want to cook.  Now I realize I’m cooking but for me this is a no-brainer recipe because it’s a method and I’ve done it so many times I just don’t think about it.  This meal is also Budget Friendly and can be made in no time flat.  I like to serve it on a pizza paddle but it’s grain free!

Ingredients:

Eggs

Fresh Vegetables

Potato- white or sweet

Onion and Garlic

Tomatoes if going with Italian

Salty meat on hand like bacon

Herb from garden- I used basil, thyme, rosemary

Directions:

I’ve gone back to a little trick with bacon that is a great way to always have some ready to use without eating a whole package. (yep) First let me say I only use organic uncured bacon.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back.  When you open a package of bacon, take out what you don’t need at the moment and roll each slice individually.  Then I use that plastic wrap that is sticky but you can use any type.  I space out the bacon and cover it so each piece has plastic all around it.  It makes little packets of individual rolls of bacon.  Then when I need it I can just grab one or two pieces and save time and money.

I start this recipe by putting two of those frozen pieces of bacon in my skillet so they cook up nice and crisp and flavor my oil.  Once they are cooked remove the bacon to use as a topping.

Of course to keep this vegetarian either omit the bacon or use a vegetarian version.

Dice up the onions and potatoes.  Cook them in a little oil in the non-stick skillet.  I like to use Organic Virgin Olive Oil but Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil works great too.  Remove them from the pan.

Next saute whatever other vegetables you have.  I always have mushrooms around and this week I had zucchini from the farmers market.  Once browned remove from pan and combine with onions and potatoes.

Now you want to toss in your tomatoes and herbs.  These cute little round cherry tomatoes came from my garden.  This tomato plant is growing like crazy.  It’s taken over my front garden and I don’t do anything to take care of it.  Love that.

Once the tomatoes have started to burst open and start to char remove the herbs, add in your eggs that you have beaten for a few minutes.  The longer you beat the fluffier it will be.

When a little crust starts to form on the bottom add back the vegetables spread throughout the pan.  I also sprinkled it with fresh spinach leaves.  Add in some Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper and sprinkle with some Daiya cheese.  You can also top with basil.  I used both the green and the purple opal basil.  Oh and don’t forget to toss in the bacon.  Turn down the pan from medium high to medium.  If your pan is small you will need to put a piece of foil over the top to it will cook.  You can always finish it in the oven but I was in a hurry so I just used the foil even on a large pan.  Before serving top with basil.  I used both the green and the purple opal basil.  When the eggs look cooked you’re ready to eat.

I slid it onto the pizza paddle and cut it up like a pizza.  It was a great fast meal that went great with a glass of wine.

Shared this on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

First thing I want to do is congratulate Jamie Oliver and crew for winning an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Show with Jamie’s Food Revolution.  How exciting is that!   You the reader, have been and still are part of the Food Revolution.  Keep it up!  We were fortunate enough to have Jamie’s Food Stylist, Anna Helm-Baxter, join in on the 30 Days to a Food Revolution and share her recipe for Granola Bars on Day 30.  Congratulations to everyone.  I hope this continues to move the Food Revolution along.

I am soooooo excited about this week I can’t hardly stand it.  I’m not even sure what I’m going to eat.  It will most likely be leftovers since my entire family will be going in different directions.  What I’m excited about is on Thursday morning I’m getting on a plane and heading to Seattle.  My first trip there.

But that’s not the best part. I’m going to attend the IFBC (International Food Bloggers Conference).

But that’s not the best part. There will be lots of food bloggers from all over the world and gluten free bloggers.  There will also be  amazing chefs, celebrties in the food world like James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief of Saveur, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me creator), tons of amazing presenters teaching me about recipe writing, food photography and other blog technology.

But that’s not the best part. Almost the entire event is being held in a chocolate factory, Theo Chocolate.  Yes, I said I’ll be in a chocolate factory for 2 full days.  Move over Charlie, my childhood dream has finally come true.   If I don’t come home, you’ll know where to look.

But that’s not the best part. On Sunday when most folks are eating from the Lunch Truck (cool meals) I will be joining my fellow gluten free bloggers who are being treated to a meal prepared by Shauna and Danny Ahern (Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef).  Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the whole event, but to hang out with other folks in the gluten free blogging world and have one of the best cooking for you, well that’s pure heaven.  They sent out the menu and it sounds amazing.  They’re even making sure that there is no dairy or rice in the meal.  You know even most gluten free folks don’t want to cook for me when I toss in the line, I can’t eat rice either.  I believe the recipes they are cooking can be found in their new cookbook coming out in September.  Have you pre-orderd yours? I have!  If you missed their video I shared a couple of weeks ago, make sure to check it out.

I’m going to work really hard before I go to share some recipes from last week’s menu.  Thank you for all of the notes asking for them.  But while I’m there I can’t promise I’ll get very many posts up.  I will however be tweeting (using #IFBC) and sharing info on my personal Facebook page as it happens. (also check out IFBC’s website for more info during the events)  Right now I’m really wishing I had one of those new iPhones 4 instead of my 3G.  The 4 takes amazing photos that I could tweet and share right away.  I’ll give it a try with my little 3G.

Well that’s it for now.  I don’t know how I’m ever going to be ready to go by Thursday but ready or not, I’m going!

Oh, one more thing.  Don’t forget to join in for Friday Foodie Fix. The Secret Ingredient is School Breakfasts and Lunches.  I hope you will share your tips and recipes and find some new ones too!  Have a great week everyone.

As I’m working on rearranging things on my blog and planning menus, I began to really think about the people that read food blogs, and this blog.  I was wondering, what would you like to see here?  What types of recipes  would really help you in your day to day life?  Would you like to see more budget conscious recipes?  Ones that are quick?  How about cooking with a certain ingredient?

I want to know.  So you tell me what you are interested in that would make this a really good resource for you and I’ll do my best to deliver.

Please feel free to use this poll by selecting all that apply and even leaving your own suggestion.  You can also leave suggestions in the comments.  Thank you for your feedback.

Back from vacation and still trying to unpack my bags and my stories.  They will be coming soon.  Coming back from the west coast to the east coast can really make me tired but I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to head to the farmers market.  I picked up these tomatoes and peppers.  You can guess what I’ll be cooking with this week.

I love these orange tomatoes because they are so sweet.  So the first thing I made was a BLT.  Oh and to brag on luck, the cherry tomatoes are from my own garden.

These peppers will go into my pasta for dinner along with the Roma tomatoes, some capers, red wine, yellow squash and mushrooms.  Add in a little garlic, fresh basil, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

I also picked up some corn on the cob, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatillos and beets.  I’ll be using the beets in my smoothie tomorrow morning.  I need to go back and search on the ideas for the beet greens.  I don’t want to waste anything.

I also received a wonderful gift of POM juice from POM.  I can’t wait to start playing with it.  I love it in my smoothies but I want to bake with it, make sauces, and I will have to give Shirley’s gluten free easily’s Pomerdoodle Ice Cream a try.

I picked up some arugula this weekend too so I’m going to try some of the recipes shared last week on Friday Foodie Fix.

I’m also going to sort through my menus and pictures of food from my trip and try to recreate some of those great meals.

Now if you want a list of ideas for each day of the week, check out this week’s menu from last year- July 27th.

Have a great week!  I hope you will join in on for this week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix- Whipped Cream!

More menus available on Orgjunkie.

We welcome back our guest blogger today, Alisa from One Frugal Foodie, Dairy Free & Fit, and Go Dairy Free. Like so many people, Alisa grew up thinking that those processed foods with “lean” and “healthy” stamped on the package were somehow providing real food and nutrition. It wasn’t until she strictly transitioned to a dairy-free lifestyle that she discovered what she was really eating. Forced to read every food label in great detail, Alisa was shocked at what she saw. Dyes, additives, “modified” ingredients, highly processed sugars and grains, and completely unrecognizable chemicals, with ingredients like tomatoes, bananas, and whole grains sadly pushed to the bottom of the list (if present at all). She bought her last loaf of store bought bread, her last frozen meal, her last box of cookies, and her last can of conventional soup in 2005, and has never looked back.

Though she tries to support the dairy-free community as a whole and accommodate the variety of requests via her website, Go Dairy Free, her focus has truly shifted to helping people transition to a whole food lifestyle. She created One Frugal Foodie to share her own whole food recipes with the concept that eating real food will actually save you money. She just recently launched Dairy-Free & Fit, also a foodie focus, but to discuss everyday food, health, and fitness topics too.

Alisa’s Recipe: Fresh Maple-Fig Spread

Alisa’s Tip: Treat yourself to a ‘new to you’ food at least once a month, and a healthy ‘splurge’ food at least once a week

I confess, even though I love whole foods and eating seasonally, I can easily get caught in an ordinary repetitive rut … banana smoothies for breakfast; homemade bread and nut butter for a snack; big salad with greens, carrots, and protein for lunch; an orange or apple for a snack; and a protein, grain, veggie dinner that usually contains broccoli, cauliflower, or a similar common veggie.

It wasn’t until I signed up for a CSA that I discovered the fun and excitement of trialing new-to-me foods. Sure, I still love my banana smoothies and an almost-daily heap of my still favorite veggie, broccoli, but throwing a new food in the mix on occasion really perks up my interest in from-scratch meals, and helps me to expand the variety in my diet.

I tried shooting for one new-to-me food per week, but the pressure was a little too much for me when I didn’t have a CSA for guidance. So I have changed up the program to something more manageable. Now I aim to trial one new-to-me food per month, BUT, each week I pick up at least one “splurge” food that is perhaps something that I have trialed before, but don’t indulge in very often. I guess you would call it re-introducing a food to increase the variety and pleasure in my diet. I often combine this concept with seasonality – a box of organic strawberries at their peak, some fresh ears of local corn mid-summer, or a kabocha squash when it makes its rare appearance at my small town grocer.

Keep in mind, the “new” or “reintroduced” food could be fruit, vegetables, whole grains, organic meats, wild seafood, a drink (think herbal or antioxidant tea, kefir, or kombucha), a wholesome baking ingredient, or even or even a fun “superfood” like maca, acai, or mulberries. The sky is the limit!

For some examples, here are a few creations I made with new-to-me and healthy splurge foods:

• Asian-Spiced Kabocha – enjoy the skin and all!
• Honey “Butter” – made with extra-virgin coconut oil
• Chipotle Chicken and Chard Chili – Giada-style
• Maple Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies – made with new-to-me palm sugar and reintroduced gluten-free flours

As it happened, this month the fruit CSA delivered an item that I couldn’t believe I had never tried before, fresh figs. The dried, wrinkly ones have entered my kitchen on several occasions, but this was my first taste of a fresh fig, and it was delicious! I had several, so I opted to make a spread that would replace my morning nut butter for a for a few days, and even used it to jazz up that banana smoothie.

Fresh Maple-Fig Spread

Feel free to add more fresh figs if you want to highlight the fruit even more.

1/4 Cup Cashews or Almonds

1/4 Cup Walnuts

6 Medium-Sized Fresh Figs

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (can sub honey or agave)

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/8 Teaspoon Salt

Grind the cashews or almonds somewhat into a powder (I use an electric spice/coffee grinder). Add all ingredients to your food processor, and pulse, chop, or blend to your desired consistency. I made mine fairly smooth, but with some walnut chunks. Feel free to adjust the sweetness, salt, and spices as desired.

Yields about 1 cup

Smoothie Option – The figs help to sweeten up smoothies, while the nuts add some creaminess, healthy fat, and protein. Here I simply blended about 1/3 cup of the spread with 1 frozen banana (and an extra dash of cinnamon) for a lightly sweet and tasty breakfast treat. Feel free to sweeten to taste if your fruit isn’t quite ripe and/or add some protein powder for a little more muscle in your beverage.

Lately I’ve started watching the Cooking Channel to keep me company while I cook.  There are a few shows on there that keep my attention and sometimes I have to be careful not to burn my dinner when I get too engrossed.  I like David Rocco’s Dolce Vita and Roger Mooking Everyday Exotic. Today I’m sharing my version of Roger’s Curried Macaroni and Cheese, but mine is completely gluten, dairy and soy free.

My vegetarian son Andy who loves Indian food and I, were watching this episode together and he looked and me and said I had to make that for him.  Well what’s a mom to do.  So every trip to the grocery store I would look for the long green hot chile peppers.  When I found it I knew we were in business.  I also had to make sure I was stocked up on Daiya Cheese, Earth Balance Butter Substitute, gluten free pasta elbows and the gluten free flour.

This recipe is like most traditional macaroni and cheese dishes.  It starts with a bechamel sauce, add in the cheese and then the pasta.  When making a bechamel one typically uses equal measures of butter to flour.  This will make a rich thick sauce.  I love what Roger did with this sauce.  When melting the butter, he added in red onion and a green hot chile split lengthwise.  The flavors from those ingredients have a chance to combine before adding the flour.  It’s a great idea that I’m going to use as I continue on with my list of variations on Mac & Cheese.

I made this over the weekend and Andy had some leftover tonight.  He said it still tasted great and had held up well.  The only thing he would change would be to add in one more green chile for a little more heat.  I’m freezing the rest so we’ll see how that turns out on reheating.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Butter- I use Earth Balance natural buttery spread that is dairy and soy free

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 red onion diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 green chile split lengthwise- I took out the seeds too

1 TB curry powder- I used Penzeys Sweet Curry

3 cups warm milk- I use Almond Milk unsweetened

2 cups Cheese- Daiya Cheddar plus a little more for the top (you can order it online)

1/2 cup Cheese- Daiya Mozeralla plus a little more for the top

gluten free bread crumbs- I used Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs (look under Food Favorites)

1  8 oz box of Elbow macaroni- I use Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta (look under Food Favorites)

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

Sea Salt or kosher salt to taste

Directions:

Melt your butter and add in the onion and green chili and cook until soften in a pan,  Make sure you have a pan with sides so there is room to mix at the end.  Don’t put your heat up too high or your butter will burn.  If you are impatient like me, add a little canola oil to the butter so it can take the higher heat without burning.  When you see the onion getting soft, add in the garlic too.  When that’s ready sprinkle in the curry and combine.  Now take a nice deep breath.  Wow that smells amazing.

OK, now sprinkle in the flour and combine well.  You want to let the flour cook a little.  If you find you still have lumps use the back of your spoon to break up or a whisk.

Add in your milk slowly and keep everything moving in that pan.  You want to whisk it so there are no lumps.  Keep stirring over medium heat until it thickens.  Turn off the heat and if you want remove the chile pepper, or wait until it’s covered with all of that cheese and then take it out to eat as a little hot treat while your mac & cheese bakes. (Andy’s idea)  Mix in all of your cheese and stir until smooth.

Now while you were doing all of this you had that pasta cooking.  The elbow pasta I used says it takes 6-9 minutes to cook.  I only gave it around 5 minutes.  I wanted it just before al dente.  Once mixed with the cheese sauce and baking, it will cook a little more and I didn’t want it to fall apart.  Mix the pasta in with the cheese sauce and a little salt.  Taste it to make sure it’s the right blend and then pour into your baking dish.

Side note, Sur La Table is having a great sale and I bought these new dishes for only $8 each.  I don’t know where I’m going to keep them but so far I’ve been using them every night to either bake in or serve in.  Very handy.

OK, now for the finishing touches.  Once the mac & cheese is in the baking dish, sprinkle it with some of the bread crumbs and a little cheese.  Next I used the same topping that Roger did, asparagus spears.  Wash and dry your spears and then break off the bottom woodsy parts by simply bending the spears.  They will break at just the right point for each one.  Now sprinkle those with bread crumbs and cheese and it’s time to bake.

Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes.  Sometimes with dairy free cheese it will brown if baked too long.  If you have that problem don’t put that last topping of cheese on until right before you take it out of the oven.  I didn’t have that problem so mine went on before I put it into the oven.

Here you can see the cooked dish along with another flavor I’ve been playing with, Truffle Mac & Cheese.  That recipe still to come.

First let me give a shout out to Amy Green from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.  Thank you to Amy who has written a review of my cookbook, The Gluten-Free Diner and the recipe she tried from the book, Chorizo and Potato Frittata.  Be sure to visit because she is also giving away 2 copies of the book.

What a week this is going to be.  So much going on, vacation to get ready for and learning to trust things will be great at home even when I’m not there to supervise in my kitchen.  I’m one of those people that are really freakish about anyone bringing gluten into my house and kitchen.  Just ask my family.  It seems that almost every time someone does,  I get sick.  I know it’s hard to understand how careful someone like me has to be about gluten, which is why I just ban it from the house.  Well I hope all is taken care of in my absence.  I did contemplate getting one of those security cameras that I could check on from the internet, but decided I would rather spend my time at the Santa Monica farmers market or shaking the sand out of my shoes.

So my menu this week is a mix of fun for me to cook and fun for me to explore in different cities.  I hope to share next week some of the great photos of my food travels.  I am hoping it is not as hot there as it has been here.

For those of you that missed my stay cool and happy treat, here it is.  Take a lime Popsicle, dip it into Tequila, then roll it around in your favorite Margarita Salt.  We ran out of the popsicles so I’m going to make my own with my limes and my vitamix.  Not sure exactly but I’ll let you know how they turn out!

Monday- Steamed Mussels

Tuesday- Crab Cakes (this week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix)

Wednesday- Roger Mooking inspired two versions of Macaroni and Cheese

Thursday- Pork Cutlets inspired by Roger Mooking

Friday- Dinner in San Diego

Saturday- Dinner in Santa Monica

Sunday- Dinner in Santa Barbara

Find lots of menus at OrgJunkie today.

I totally forgot to share this recipe so finally,  here’s my Crabby Veg pizza recipe.  It takes 6.5 min. to prepare, 25 min. to cook and somewhere in between to eat it.

Again, start with the Chebe All Purpose Mix and build your pizza from there.

I was really excited to get to use my new Breville Smart Toaster Oven.

Ingredients:

Chebe All Purpose Mix (2 eggs, 2TB Oil, 5TB milk or water)

2 organic tomatoes sliced

1 large handful of fresh organic spinach, cleaned and chopped

2-5 TBS Tofutti cream cheese

1 large roasted sweet red pepper diced

2 TBS crab meat or more if you have it

1-2 tsp Pasta Sprinkle Penzeys (California basil, Turkish oregano, minced garlic and thyme)

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp toasted granulated onion

cornmeal

Directions:

Make the dough according to the package directions.  Roll out the dough using the cornmeal to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin or surface.

Place the dough onto the pizza pan.  Spread with cream cheese.  Sprinkle with garlic and onion all the way out to the very edge of the pizza.  Place sliced tomatoes around and sprinkle with Pasta seasoning.  Toss on the spinach, sweet red pepper and crab.

Bake according to package directions.  20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

If you want to keep it soy free, use the Daiya Mozzarella Cheese.

I just wanted to remind you that the $2 discount expires at Midnight Saturday June 19th for The Gluten-Free Diner.  What are you waiting for, get it now!

In case you missed it, here is some information about the book.

The Gluten-Free Diner contains 48 of  your favorite diner-inspired recipes.  I love to eat out and go to diners.  Unfortunately most of them can’t accommodate a gluten and dairy free diet.  So I’ve created these recipes to answer the question, “If I had a diner, what would I be serving?”

This cookbook not only has recipes, but a menu on how to put them all together for tons of great meals.  Click Here to check out what’s on The Gluten-Free Diner Menu!

Also included on almost every page is a little blue box where you can take notes on something you might change to your own taste, what you would serve that recipe with, mark it as your favorite to make again or anything else you want to remember.  Almost every recipe  has a photo of the dish.  I don’t know about you, but I’m a very visual person.  Show me the photo!  As always, I love to get your pictures when you make these recipes.  Please send them along, especially if you make the two recipes that don’t have photos so I can add them in the next edition.

I would love for each person who reads this to purchase The Gluten-Free Diner and then pass this message along to others.  This cookbook makes a great gift for those people in your life that always want to cook for you, but are not really sure what a gluten free meal would be.  Maybe you are looking for a gift to give a teacher, co-worker, friend or neighbor.   How about that Dad that likes to cook or other family members that insist on giving you that dry plain piece of chicken or fish when you visit.

Of course these meals are great for those who do not even follow a special diet, but just love diner meals.  I’ve tested these meals on company, and not one of them ate gluten and dairy free and not one of them even noticed it was missing.

I’m also excited to announce our Affiliate Program.  If you have your own blog and want to get paid every time someone follows the link you provide and purchases a cookbook, please check out the Affiliate Program.  I’m offering a great commission, even on your own purchases.

So if you are ready to get your own copy of The Gluten-Free Diner and get that $2 discount, go now to purchase and use the code save2gf.  Remember this discount expires midnight June 19th!

Friday Foodie Fix

Today’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is your Father’s Day Favorites.  Not exactly a single ingredient but and important one this weekend for those of us cooking for a dad in our lives.  I will be cooking for my husband, the father of our two boys.  He’s a great dad.  He has requested my new Individual Lasagna.  I promise when I make it this time I will take photos and write down the ingredients.  Boy, it does taste good.

Who's the bigger kid, me or my dad?

I wish my dad lived in the same town as me so I could cook him dinner too.  I was really lucky I got to grow up with him as my dad.  Not many kids get chosen, but I was.  You would never know that I was not biologically his daughter.  For one we had the same brown hair and our eyes changed color according to our mood.  He taught me a lot about life and sports.  I’m a huge sports fan thanks to him.  He’s worked really hard for everything he’s ever owned and made my start in life a little easier.  But he taught me about hard work and any job worth doing is worth doing well.  He’s a really tall guy over 6 feet tall to my 5 feet, but he’s a softy at heart even though he’d never admit to that.  I could always count on dad.  When I was young he would play games with me for endless hours.  He taught me how to play softball and how to cut the grass.  I think the later was so he could get out of that job for a while.  I hope this weekend he’s sitting on the beach and enjoying a nice sea breeze.  He’s a great dad and I’m really lucky he choose me to be his daughter.

So what about you?  I’d love to hear something about your dad too.  Are you going to make a favorite for him?   What about something for your husband?  Please use Mr. Linky to share your link for your Father’s Day Favorite foods.  Don’t forget to link back to this page on the page of your recipe.  Lets share the link love.  For all of the rules please check out the Friday Foodie Fix page.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ……raspberries!

One more thing before you start adding recipes.  Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, has submitted a video to have her own show on the new Oprah Channel.  Please go vote for her show! Voting ends July 3rd.  You can read how this came about on gluten-free girl and the chef.

Now, please, leave your link here for your Father’s Day Favorite.

I’m very excited to share a project I’ve been working on for some time now.  My first e-cookbook has been published.  The Gluten-Free Diner is ready for you to get instantly.

Now those of you who were signed up for my newsletter already knew it was out and had received a discount code.  I appreciate all of you that have already purchased the book.  Thank you. If you’re not signed up for the newsletter and want to be among the first to get the latest news, tips and recipes, sign up for it here.

Now that I’m sharing The Gluten-Free Diner with the wider world, I am offering a special introductory discount that will expire in 3 days so don’t wait to get your copy.  Be sure to read to the end of this note for the discount code.

The Gluten-Free Diner contains 48 of  your favorite diner-inspired recipes.  I love to eat out and go to diners.  Unfortunately most of them can’t accommodate a gluten and dairy free diet.  So I’ve created these recipes to answer the question, “If I had a diner, what would I be serving?”

This cookbook not only has recipes, but a menu on how to put them all together for tons of great meals.  Click Here to check out what’s on The Gluten-Free Diner Menu!

Also included on almost every page is a little blue box where you can take notes on something you might change to your own taste, what you would serve that recipe with, mark it as your favorite to make again or anything else you want to remember.  Almost every recipe  has a photo of the dish.  I don’t know about you, but I’m a very visual person.  Show me the photo!  As always, I love to get your pictures when you make these recipes.  Please send them along, especially if you make the two recipes that don’t have photos so I can add them in the next edition.

I would love for each person who reads this to purchase The Gluten-Free Diner and then pass this message along to others.  This cookbook makes a great gift for those people in your life that always want to cook for you, but are not really sure what a gluten free meal would be.  Maybe you are looking for a gift to give a teacher, co-worker, friend or neighbor.   How about that Dad that likes to cook or other family members that insist on giving you that dry plain piece of chicken or fish when you visit.

Of course these meals are great for those who do not even follow a special diet, but just love diner meals.  I’ve tested these meals on company, and not one of them ate gluten and dairy free and not one of them even noticed it was missing.

I’m also excited to announce our Affiliate Program.  If you have your own blog and want to get paid every time someone follows the link you provide and purchases a cookbook, please check out the Affiliate Program.  I’m offering a great commission, even on your own purchases.

So if you are ready to get your own copy of The Gluten-Free Diner and get that $2 discount, go now to purchase and use the code save2gf.  Remember this discount expires in 3 days!

If you write about this cookbook or share it in a video book club, I would love to add your name and link to the list.

Press and Praise:

Creative Musings by Michelle Vocke -  The Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook

Simply Sugar and Gluten Free - Slightly Indulgent Tuesday

gluten free easily- Here, There, and Everywhere

Next Level Blog- Video Book Club The Gluten-Free Diner

What a great weekend of soccer we were treated to.  First, my son’s team played in a round robin tournament and just tore up the field.  They are so fun to watch.  Oh, and that FIFA 2010 Cup thing going on.  Anyone watching that?  Did anyone see the 1-1 tie between US and England?  Not a bad start.  But there will be a lot more soccer to watch.  I just wish they had banned those horns.  I feel like have bees in my ears.

School is out here at my house and that means my oldest is home from college and working in DC (Yeah!!!) and my 16 year old is going to spend the summer learning how to drive.  Does anyone want to teach him?

So I think this week’s menu will need to be flexible to accommodate a new palate in the house (vegetarian), soccer games to watch, upset stomachs from driving and whatever we can harvest from our tiny garden or the farmer’s market.  I love when Andy (oldest) goes to his local farmers market and brings me home some treats.  Today it’s peas and zucchini.  Lots of zucchini.

But also this week contains my favorite day of the year, my wedding anniversary.  23 years and going strong.  So to celebrate we’re headed out to a local crab restaurant in DC that I hope lives up to it’s billing.  I do love to crack and pick crabs.  I could spend all day on that!

Don’t forget to join in this week’s Friday Foodie Fix with our Secret Ingredient being Father’s Day Favorites!

Our gluten, dairy and soy free menu for the week:

Monday- Fresh peas, ham, and potatoes au gratin.

Tuesday- Zucchini spaghetti with mushrooms and chilies

Wednesday- Grilled Kebobs with a mix of vegetables and some with shrimp

Thursday- Easy Pork Stuffed Zucchini and a vegetarian version

Friday- Dancing Crabs!

Saturday- BBQ Bacon Jalapeno Poppers plus a vegetarian version, garden salad

Sunday- Father’s Day Favorites

Check out Laura’s website OrgJunkie where hundreds of people share menus.

Friday Foodie Fix

Yeah, Friday Foodie Fix is back!  I’ve really missed having this roundup each week.  Because there was no warning as to a Secret Ingredient for this week, we’re sharing What’s Hot.  That means whatever you are cooking these days- share it!  It could be something great you found at the farmer’s market, something in your CSA basket, a special dish, an old stand by, a celebration meal, whatever you want.

So here’s how the game is played.

1. Use Mr. Linky below to link your recipe to this post.  Make sure you don’t use your general URL but the specific one for the recipe you are sharing.
2. Then grab the link for this specific post and add it to your post for the recipe you just shared.  Make note that you are sharing your recipe at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang.  We call that link love.
3. If you’re sharing an recipe from an older post, please go back to that post and note the update.
4. Next, check out what others have shared.  Who knows you just might find out what you’re having for dinner tonight!

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ……. Dad’s Favorite!

I know not a specific ingredient either but how could I pass up father’s day!  Share what you’re making for the man in your life or their favorite foods.

In my world of too much and not enough, that is too much to do and not enough time to do it, I need some fast, go to meals that have real ingredients.

I started looking at what the commercials were pushing at us that was unhealthy, but promised fast, easy and inexpensive.  My thought is always, I can make that taste better, without chemicals and preservatives and I know it will be gluten and dairy free.  I know, I have a lot of moxie.

The first to be conquered was Hamburger Helper.  There is a lot of talk of a new gluten free version coming out.  Don’t be fooled.   Just because it’s gluten free doesn’t mean it has good ingredients.  But it gives us that promise of a fast meal for the family, so I took on this “type” of meal.

The results, mine was a hands down winner. (no commercial pun intended)  Well, we didn’t actually taste theirs, but mine is a new family favorite.  And what happens to those favorites, they get tweaked, modified, and adapted to what is on hand.  It’s the process that becomes the important part of these fast meals.

Homemade Hamburger Helper with Daiya cheese-glulten, dairy, soy free

When I first made this dish I thought it would be fun to find out what others put into their homemade version of this fast meal.  So, we’re having a contest. I want you to make your own version, take a picture and send it to me over the next two weeks.  You can give a list of ingredients and even the recipe if you want.  I’ll post them by the end of June for everyone to see and you can vote via a comment for your favorite.  The more they vote for you the better your chances are to win!  I will set a time limit and after that is up I’ll print out the comments and we’ll draw a winner.   I have bought a $25 gift card, that someone who shares their version of Homemade Hamburger Helper, will win to purchase their favorite ingredients.  Are you that someone?

So just to recap so we’re clear.  You create  your own Homemade Hamburger Helper, take a photo and email it to me.  I post the photos, people vote, and someone wins a $25 gift card.  Why? Well if you have not figured it out after the 30 Days to a Food Revolution event, I want you in the kitchen cooking real food and I’m willing to pay you to do it.

If you have a food blog of your own, please give this a shout out.  Maybe one of your lucky readers will win.  And, if you have a blog feel free to submit your entry too.  Email the photos to diane at glutenfreefoodcoach dot com.  If you forget it’s listed on the right side of this blog.

Ingredients:

1 pound grass fed organic ground beef

1 1/2 cup quinoa pasta shells or elbows-gluten free

2 cups hot beef stock- homemade is the best

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce or diced tomatoes or 1-2 dozen fresh chopped roma tomatoes (food processor)

1 TB tomato paste

2 tsp minced toasted onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried oregano or 1 TBS fresh chopped oregano

1 tsp dried basil or 4-5 fresh leaves chopped

1 tsp dried parsley or handful of fresh chopped

Directions:

Brown the beef and drain the fat.  Add in the tomato paste and combine.

Add in everything else except the parsley.  Combine and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down to simmer for 14 minutes.  When the time is up mix in the parsley and serve.

Our Options:

Fresh chopped onion and garlic work great.  Cook them with the ground beef.

A package of mushrooms is wonderful.  I like cremini and sliced cost the same as whole.

If you don’t have broth, water will work.

You can substitute ground chicken or turkey for the beef but still use the beef stock.

To make it vegetarian you can use the soy crumbles or 4 large portobello mushrooms diced works great with vegetarian or mushroom stock.

Toss in whatever vegetables you grab from the garden or farmer’s market.

To see more gluten free meals, check out Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Welcome to the continuation of our wildly successful 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  There were so many blogs with such great information to share that we couldn’t fit them all, in just 30 days.  So the plan is every Tuesday, as long as I have people who want to guest blog, will be our Food Revolution day.

Today’s guest blogger is Rella. Rella has been dairy free for almost 4 years and gluten free for 1. She started a her blog as a way to share recipes and tips on how to make delicious, gourmet food but still stay on a food budget–something that isn’t so easy, especially with food allergies.

Rella’s Recipe:  Indian-Spiced Chicken Smothered in Onions

Rella’s Tip: Experiment with new flavors

I keep a pretty tight food budget, so I limit the kinds of foods that I buy, and I get things in bulk when I can because it’s frequently cheaper.

What does this mean? I eat a lot of the same base ingredients (starches, protein, fruits and vegetables) all the time. I also have a number of food allergies, so that further limits my options. To make sure I don’t get sick of what I’m eating, I have to get creative.

The secret is in the flavor profile–I can use the same basic ingredients, but vary the flavors in such a way that I don’t feel like I’m eating the same thing two nights in a row! Not only do I switch up the salt, sweet, spicy and savory flavors, but I’ve recently started experimenting with new spices from a variety of cultures and regions (lately, I’m on an Indian kick)–smoked paprika, whole coriander, mustard seed, fennel seed…it’s amazing what you can do. Spices also help me add lots of deep flavor and richness without adding sugar or fat.

Note: I like to buy spices that are preservative free, like those here.

Here is a simple chicken recipe that is guaranteed to knock your socks off (and anyone you care to share your dinner with ). I use garam masala, an Indian spice blend that includes pepper, coriander, cumin, cloves, anise; different blends will vary in flavor depending on their ingredients. I also deglaze the pan to make sure I get up all the flavorful bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

For more budget friendly recipes, check out my blog at Penny Pinching Epicure. For all of my chicken recipes, follow this link.

Indian-Spiced Chicken Smothered in Onions

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 large onions, quartered and sliced

4 garlic cloves, cracked and peeled

2 Tbsp garam masala

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 Tbsp ketchup
4 boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup white wine or vegetable stock

Directions:

1. Heat oil over high flame in a large skillet or dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium, add onions and saute until browned, 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook 4-6 minutes more.
2. Combine spices in a small bowl. Sprinkle over both sides of chicken, rubbing to adhere.
3. Add chicken to pan and brown 1-2 minutes on each side. Combine wine or stock with ketchup and use to deglaze the pan, stirring all ingredients to combine, then cover and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
4. Serve over steam basmati rice or quinoa with a side of steamed broccoli.

The cost:

onion: .45

garlic: .15

garam masala: 2.39

chicken: 10.99

rice/quinoa: 1.99

broccoli: 1.99

Grand total: $17.96; serves 4 ($4.49/person)

Wow, it seems so strange to be back to a “normal” blogging routine.  In case you totally missed it, from April 26th through June 4th there was a really special event going on.  30 Days to a Food Revolution.  There was so much amazing information shared.  I’m still sifting through it all and making sure you have all of the links on our dedicated page up at the top here, 30 Days.

It’s taking me days to sift through all of the tweets, comments and newsletter sign ups to draw winners for the cookbooks being given away.  I’ll be announcing those winners later so keep watch on Twitter, Facebook and here!

Tomorrow I have a treat for you.  Just in case you are already missing the 30 Days to a Food Revolution, not to worry.  Every Tuesday, for as long as I can, will be a guest blogger sharing their recipe and tip as we continue our 30 Days to a Food Revolution!

Make sure you check in on Friday to learn what the Secret Ingredient will be for Jun 18th when we start back with that weekly event.  If you have never participated in that event, well now is the time.  Check out our dedicated page to Friday Foodie Fix at the top of this blog for all of the details and past Secret Ingredients.

mushroom, spring onion, spinach, yellow squash, red onion, tomato, Old Bay seasoning, Daiya Cheese-mozzarella & cheddar (gf,df,sf)

Monday- Garlic Scapes Stir-fry with Salmon and Quinoa

Tuesday- Pork Tacos with stewed pickled  jalapenos, tomatillos, onions, and mushrooms, side of beans

Wednesday- Homemade Hamburger Helper

Thursday- Chicken Chow Mein

Friday- Farmer’s Market Veggie Pizza

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Individual Lasagnas with homemade pasta

For more menus visit OrgJunkie.

Welcome to day 11 of 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  Our guest blogger today is Alisa from One Frugal Foodie, Dairy Free & Fit, and Go Dairy Free. Like so many people, Alisa grew up thinking that those processed foods with “lean” and “healthy” stamped on the package were somehow providing real food and nutrition. It wasn’t until she strictly transitioned to a dairy-free lifestyle that she discovered what she was really eating. Forced to read every food label in great detail, Alisa was shocked at what she saw. Dyes, additives, “modified” ingredients, highly processed sugars and grains, and completely unrecognizable chemicals, with ingredients like tomatoes, bananas, and whole grains sadly pushed to the bottom of the list (if present at all). She bought her last loaf of store bought bread, her last frozen meal, her last box of cookies, and her last can of conventional soup in 2005, and has never looked back.

Though she tries to support the dairy-free community as a whole and accommodate the variety of requests via her website, Go Dairy Free, her focus has truly shifted to helping people transition to a whole food lifestyle. She created One Frugal Foodie to share her own whole food recipes with the concept that eating real food will actually save you money. She just recently launched Dairy-Free & Fit, also a foodie focus, but to discuss everyday food, health, and fitness topics too.

Alisa’s Recipes: Strawberry Mylk and Fruit ‘n Fiber Breakfast Shake

Alisa’s Tip: Enjoy the Seasons

Though I grew up in the fertile northwest, I still related “seasonal eating” exclusively to garden-growing hippies. I had no idea how much goodness could be found within this single concept. What you eat and when can have a tremendous impact on:

Nutrition: Produce is richest in nutrients when it is ripe, and as it is picked. Seasonal produce doesn’t need to travel as far, so it can reach your table while still rich in vitamins (oh how we love those antioxidants). Produce that must travel great distances is often picked before it is ripe AND it loses nutritional value with every day of travel.

Taste: Have you ever had an out-of-season strawberry? Enjoy the May/June season of this beautiful berry with abandon. While you’re at it, stock up and freeze some for your baking and smoothie needs. Flash freezing does preserve most of those wonderful nutrients.

The Environment: Yes, I do think those hippies were actually ahead of their time in logic. In fact, eating out-of-season produce can do a double-whammy on the environment. In many cases, a greater amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and resources must be used to produce market-worthy produce outside of its natural growing season, and much of our out-of-season produce comes from other countries (where it is in season). A lot of extra resources must be used in packaging and transit to deliver that worldwide food to our local stores.

Price: Hmm, have you ever noticed how beautiful, firm, cherry-red tomatoes go on sale for $.69 a lb in summer and early fall, but often look less than stellar and shoot up to $3.99 per lb in winter. That extra transit time, the difficulty of harvest … it is all placed in your grocery basket. Yep, just when you thought healthy eating was “too expensive,” I throw you this curve ball. Eating seasonally is actually a good economic choice for your pocketbook. Watch the sales; the value produce will often be seasonal and relatively local.

Is this to say that you should never buy dark leafy greens in summer and you must forgo all but citrus fruits in winter? I don’t think so. We are human, and have cravings and recipes for foods we want here and now. But, by shifting the core of your meals with the seasons, you will be doing body, your taste buds, your wallet, and the environment a big favor on so many levels.

The recipes below are quite simple and easy to modify to your own tastes. Keeping with the mantra above, your results will vary wildly depending on how in-season and ripe your produce is. Strawberries are just hitting their sweetest time of year in the coming months, and will be perfect in the recipe below with just a bit of sweetener. However, if making either recipe with less than ripe and/or under-sweet produce the result may require more of the sweet stuff for a tasty end result.

Strawberry Mylk

This recipe is adapted from the Effortless Overnight Oat Milk and Strawberry Milk recipes in my book, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook. It will create a very light, refreshing, and sweet beverage (if using ripe / in-season strawberries. The ones pictured are from my CSA last week). For a richer and creamier strawberry “milk,” see my “whole milk” option below. The following recipes are Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, and optionally Vegan and Gluten-Free.

• 1 Cup Rolled Oats (for gluten-free use certified gluten-free oats if you can tolerate them)
• 2 Cups Water
• 1/2 to 3/4 Cup Fresh or Frozen Halved Strawberries (I recommend the full 3/4 cup of course!)
• 1/4 Teaspoon Alcohol-Free Vanilla Extract (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon Honey (or agave), or more to taste

Place the oats and water in a sealed container (like a recycled glass jar), give it a quick shake, and place in the refrigerator. You can leave it for several hours, or do like I do, and just place the jar in the fridge at night to use the next day.

Give the jar a vigorous shake for 30 to 60 seconds. The liquid should start to turn oat colored. Strain the liquid, pressing as much as you can from the oats. Enjoy the oats for breakfast (they are now softened and ready to eat!), reserve them for another recipe, or see below for a quick breakfast shake option.

Place ¾ cup of the fresh oat milk in your blender along with 1/2 cup of the strawberries, and vanilla, if using. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, drizzle in the honey (or agave) through that top portal. Honey can chunk in cooler liquids, so it is best to drizzle it in while the beverage is whizzing away to help emulsify it. Taste test, and add more sweetener and/or strawberries to taste.

Quick “Whole Milk” Option: Use the Instant Nut Milk in Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook in place of the oat milk for a quick and rich strawberry “milk.”

Yields 1 serving

Lean Fruit ‘n Fiber Breakfast Shake

• 1 Batch Strawberry Mylk (recipe above)
• 1/4 Cup of the Leftover Soaked Oats
• 3/4 to 1 Cup Ripe Frozen Mango Chunks (preferred) or Frozen Ripe Banana Chunks (about 1 medium to large ripe banana)
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• Ice (optional)

Place all in your blender, and process until smooth.

Omega-Me: For some healthy fats, blend in 1 to 3 teaspoons of Omega-3 rich plant oil, like flaxseed oil or grind some whole flaxseeds in a spice grinder and blend them in (pre-grinding helps since less powerful blenders may miss some seeds).

Yields 1 fruity breakfast or snack

For more from Alisa you can read here and here.

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.

Happy May everyone.  I hope you are enjoying nice weather.  We’ve had a mix of cold and warm.  I hope it will stay warm from now on.  Well we’ve just had our first week of 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  I have learned so much already and can’t wait to read this week’s guest posts.  It’s also been great to see all of the interaction around this topic.  Thank you for joining in.

I hope to be sharing more on the weekends but this one seemed to get away from me.  Big deadline in our house on Friday of a book manuscript from my husband, Scott.  He’s working on the second edition of  The Next Level:  What Insiders Know About Executive Success.  He’s added a lot of new information which meant lots of work around here.  I’m still working on my e-cookbook and hope to have that ready soon.

I’ve also been working on a fun way to show our love for cooking real food.  I’ve created products in thewholegang Zazzle shop.  Still working on arranging things but it’s been fun to make aprons, mugs and tote bags.  I can’t wait for mine to arrive.  I hope the magnet will stick to my car.  ** 50% of any profit received will be donated to the Huntington’s Kitchen, formerly Jamie’s Kitchen.  If you want to donate directly, the kitchen is now being run by Ebenezer Medical Outreach.

I wanted to make sure I shared with you my menu for the month.  I’ve had to go back what I call a 50′s style menu where I’ve chosen a protein for the same night of the week.  It’s mostly like that but with some changes.  Nothing in our house can ever be exactly the same all the time.  Our lives are too busy and constantly changing.  But I find with a menu and a plan, it does make things easier and I spend less money.

I also had Brad, my picky eater, go through Jamie’s Food Revolution cookbook and pick out recipes he wants to cook with me and then he’ll have to eat them.  He choose carefully and mostly beef but with a few surprises in there.  Can’t wait to try more of Jamie’s recipes and get cooking with Brad.

Gluten and Dairy Free Hamburger Helper from scratch

May’s Menu

1- Gluten & Dairy Free Hamburger Helper without a box!

2- Jamie’s Bacon Wrapped Cod

3- Chicken Pot Pie

4- Sweet Potato & Shrimp Tacos

5- Pork Enchilada Casserole – Happy Cinco de Mayo!

6- Jamie’s Posh Chicken with Proscutti

7- Sirloin Steak, baked potatoes and sugar snap peas  Celebrating end of AP exams!

8- Oyamel- their taking me out for Mother’s Day!

9- Crab cakes and broiled flounder and  green beans

10- Jamie’s Sweet and Sour Pork with rice and butter lettuce

11- Handmade Mushroom Ravioli- I can’t wait to try my hand at this now that I know how easy fresh pasta is to make.

12- Treating my two son’s to dinner out

13- Leftover Thursday

14- Rick Bayless Chicken with carrots, jalapeno peppers and caramelized onions

15- Fried Rice 3 ways, vegetarian, seafood, pork

16- Pan fried Sole, farmer’s market fresh veggies (yeah)

17- Ostrich Burgers, sweet potato fries, cucumber salad

18- Jamie’s Pasta, Peas and Pancetta with a salad

19- Roast Beef with  roasted vegetables

20- Leftover Thursday

21- Crispy Chicken with yucca fries and peas

22- Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, local vegetables

23- Pan fried Tilapi, polenta fries, chopped salad

24- Quick fry pork chops, apples, green beans

25- Shrimp and Scallop Pasta with salad

26- Skirt Steak with zucchini cakes

27- Leftover Thursdays

28- Chicken Chow Mein with rice

29- Ostrich fajitas, salsa and homemade tortillas

30- Grilled Mahi Mahi with mangos and avocados

31- Jamie’s Pork and Mushroom Kebobs with grilled vegetables

I hope you will find some ideas in here to make your own Monthly Menu Plan!

Friday Foodie Fix

Today’s Secret Ingredient on Friday Foodie Fix is rhubarb.  I don’t recall ever eating it before.  A lot of people rave about it so I thought I might check it out.  Anything that is on my “Can Eat” list, deserves me giving it a chance.  So I need your help.  How should I eat rhubarb?  Use Mr. Linky below to add a direct link to your original recipe, not the home page.  Don’t forget to link back to this post and remember the recipe must include rhubarb.

According to one of my favorite books, Food Lovers Companion, rhubarb is a member of the buckwheat family.  The only edible part of the plant are the stalks as the leaves contain oxalic acid and that can be toxic.    Rhubarb is very tart and is usually combined with a lot of sugar.  It’s generally eaten as a fruit but it’s a vegetable.  1 pound fresh = 3 cups chopped or 2 cups cook.  If you purchase thick stalks you will want to pull off the strings.  Also, to keep them fresh wrap tightly in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 3 days.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is……..not happening until June 18th. Starting Monday April 26th running through Friday June 4th, there will be 30 guest bloggers here sharing some great information for 30 Days to a Food Revolution. (if you missed yesterday’s chance to enter to win Jamie’s Food Revolution Cookbook, go now)  That means Friday Foodie Fix is taking a vacation.  On June 11th I’ll have a recap of all the Friday Foodie Fix Secret Ingredients covering 2010.  That week I’ll announce the Secret Ingredient for the June 18th event.  Feel free to go back to any of the past Fridays to add in recipes using that specific ingredient.  Secret Ingredients like:

• Egg
• Avocado
• Asparagus
• Strawberry
• Artichoke
• Garlic
• Shrimp
• Quinoa
• Mushrooms
• Blueberries
• Green Beans
• Spinach
• Pork
• Cucumber
• Swiss Chard
• Zucchini
• Eggplant
• Onion
• Tomato
• Corn
• Cantaloupe
• Red or Green Peppers
• Apples
• Potatoes
• Figs
• Pomegranate
• Chicken
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Potato
• Cranberries
• Squash
• Turkey
• Pecans
• Chocolate
• Almonds

I love making dishes that taste great and are super easy to create.  This is one of those dishes.  Not much prep work, you let the oven do all of the work and it makes a great presentation.

Keep in mind that I was using small zucchini because one, that’s whats available now and two, they fit into my really cool purple, sorry Casis Le Creuset dish.  Size doesn’t matter as long as it fits.

Ingredients:

4 small zucchini about 6-8 inched in length

1-2 pounds of ground pork

1/2 onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp oregano

1 egg beaten- can sub ground flax seed

1/2 – 1 cup bread crumbs- I used tortilla crumbs

Red sauce, marinara or pasta sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

Cut the ends off of the zucchini, cut it in half and then scoop out the seeds.  I used some old funny looking garnishing tool I found in my drawer to scoop.  You can use a melon baller, a teaspoon or anything you can find to scrape out the seeds.

Put a nice layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan so it comes up a little on the side but not very much.  I’d say 1/4 – 1/2  inch.

Cut up your onion and garlic and mix it into the pork along with the seasonings and bread crumbs.  Next add in the egg that you have beat and mix well.

Now it’s time to get messy.  Grab a handful of the pork mixture and put it into the zucchini you have cleaned out.  Place it skin side down and filling side up into your casserole pan.  Finish until full.  Don’t over stuff the pan.  The zucchini will give off water as they cook and you don’t want all of that sauce all over your oven.

Cover tightly with foil and place in preheated oven to 425 degrees.  Let it cook for 30 minutes.  Check to see if the pork is cooked.  If it’s looking good, remove the foil and let it cook the last 10-15 minutes open.

When it looks like it will melt in your mouth, and it will, remove from oven to serve.

I served mine with a side of fresh made gluten free pasta.  This was asked to be placed on the have often meal list.  So noted!

You can also find this recipe on Gluten Free Wednesdays.

I am reviewing two products from this company, Almond Flour and Cranberry Cashew Granola from jk gourmet.  Disclaimer:  I was sent these two products for free and asked to review them for the website Go Dairy Free.  I don’t do this very often because most products that request my review are not ones I might eat.  But when Alisa contacted me about these products and I reviewed their website it looked promising.

The products arrived and as usual got lost in the shuffle.  Finally during one of my baking weekends I used them both.  I made Susan O’Brien’s recipe for Granola Bars and I made the Double Chocolate Clementine Vita-Mix Cake.  They both turned out great.  I love to bake with almond flour so that was an easy on for me to use up fast.  The granola was a good treat to pack for being on the road or on the airplane.

I think I’ll be finding out where to get more of these items and I may check out what else they make.  When purchasing products that are in box, always read the list of ingredients.  If you don’t know what something is, don’t eat it.  These products contained real food.  That’s what I’m looking for!

You can also find this post on Go Dairy Free.

This will be my last Monday Menu Plan for the next six weeks. Starting next Monday the 26th and running through June 4th there will be a guest blogger here every weekday for the 30 Days to a Food Revolution. I will share my other posts on menus and such on the weekends.

I hope you will check in daily to see what great tips and recipes these bloggers will be sharing. Also, I hope you will also find your way to their blog too.

If you are a member of Facebook please check out our Group page for 30 Days to a Food Revolution.

Monday- Italian Vegetable Soup, homemade rolls

Tuesday- Sundried tomato shrimp pasta with a spinach salad

Wednesday- Calzone

Thursday- Pork tacos with spicy slaw

Friday- Scallops and black beans on polenta

Saturday- Buffalo Chicken Mini Burgers

Sunday- Chili Piquin Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Find more menu ideas on OrgJunkie.

Friday Foodie Fix

Today’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is pasta!  You may recall a couple of weeks ago I issued the Great Gluten Free Pasta Challenge.  Many of you have risen to the challenge and shared great stories of your experiences.  I hope after you see today’s list of dishes using pasta you will give it a go yourself.

My first gluten free fresh pasta!

This week was my turn to try Jacqueline Mallorca’s Fresh Rice Flour Pasta from her cookbook Gluten-Free Italian.  For that recipe go back to the Gluten Free Pasta Challenge where you can print it and also watch a video on how to make it.

We had company over during the week and I thought it would be great to try this recipe out on someone who normally eats gluten.  This way I could tell how good it really was to those gluten going guests.  Now since I can’t eat rice I swapped out the rice flour for sorghum flour.  The recipe was very easy to mix, roll out, cut and cook.  Now I’m not great at rolling out the dough into a complete rectangle but really if you’re cutting up the pasta, who will notice.

I served the pasta as a side to my Pork Stuffed Zucchini (recipe coming soon).  It was a huge hit.  The pasta tasted great.  I love that it cooks in 3 minutes.  You can literally start plating everything else, toss it into the water and by the time you get to that part of the plated meal, the pasta is done.  I tossed it with a little olive oil and when I served it on the plate added a little marinara sauce from the pan I had cooked the Pork Stuffed Zucchini in.

I plan on making this again over the weekend and making two double batches.  This way I can freeze a few sheets of the pasta so I can have fresh pasta whenever I want.  Talk about a fast meal.  This will make 15 minute meals a snap!

Pasta comes in many shapes, sizes and colors, well unless you’re trying to buy gluten free pasta.  Then there are not as many choices.  But now that I can make it you’ll be seeing pastas colored with tomato paste, spinach, beet juice and maybe even squid ink.  I’ll even be making my own ravioli!

With the boxed quinoa pasta, I’ve made many recipes and here are just a few:  Turkey-roni, Beef and Noodles, Pasta Surprise (with cauliflower), and Spaghetti and Meatballs, plus many more.  You can always use my ingredient finder in the side bar to search out more recipes.

Now it’s your turn to share your pasta recipes.  Use Mr. Linky for blog posts and the comments for those without a blog to share your master pieces.  If you have photos you can always send them in and I’ll share them at the bottom of the post.  Remember to check the Friday Foodie Fix page for all the rules that include adding a link back to this post from your post you are linking here.  That is much appreciated.  Link love rules!

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ………Rhubarb!

Pork Stuffed Zucchini with Gluten Free Fresh Pasta

I’m am very excited to announce a new event 30 Days to a Food Revolution! Starting April 26th running through June 4th there will be 30 different guest bloggers sharing with you tips to making eating real food, part of our routine.  They will also be sharing a recipe to entice you to give it a try.

30 days, 30 tips, 30 recipes, 30 different bloggers

This 30 day event was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  Our family has been glued to the TV watching this series.  One reason is to see the familiar faces from the town where we use to call home.  The other is see how he takes his message through that town and the changes it is making in people’s lives.  I loved last week’s Flash Mob at Marshall University.  If you missed it check it at out at the end of this post.

During the 30 Days to a Food Revolution there will be a variety of blogs participating. You’ll find blogs on gluten free living, dairy free living, crockpot living, all recipes, some with life stories thrown in, different cultures and cuisines and even those who live around the world.  I’ve even asked Jamie Oliver to join in and I’m waiting to hear back from him.  If you visit his website or Facebook page please leave him a note that you support him joining in the 30 Days to a Food Revolution.

Speaking of Facebook, if you’re a member stop by the 30 Days to a Food Revolution Facebook group.  Jump in and join the conversation.  Add your tips, ask questions, and connect with others working to make a shift.

During the series if you want to keep track of the who and what, visit the 30 Days page on this blog.  It can be found in the menu bar at the top of the blog.

Here are a list of the blogs that have confirmed so far:

A Year of Slow Cooking

Andrea’s Recipes

Celiac Family

Celiac Teen

Delectably Free

dinners & dreams

Ginger Lemon Girl

Gluten Free Doctor Recipes

gluten free easily

Gluten Free Gidget

I Am Gluten Free

Jenn Cuisine

Lexie’s Kitchen

Milk for the Morning Cake

One Frugal Foodie

Simply Gluten-Free

Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Sure Foods Living

Tasty Eats at Home

The Daily Dietribe

The Messy Chef

The Spunky Coconut

The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen

Keep checking back to see which blogs have joined in and make sure you don’t miss a day of the 30 Days to a Food Revolution.

green smoothies taste great, make me feel great

The weather has been so wonderful it has me itching for the farmer’s markets to open but around where I live that’s not until May.  So for now I keep grabbing a few little plants to add to what used to be just an herb garden.  Today I brought home a potato plant and lettuce.  We’ll see how they grow.

This week promises to go just as fast as the last one I’m sure.  Keep watching because I have an exciting announcement about something really cool that will start April 26th and involves food.  Well I guess involves food is not much of a clue for this blog.  Keep checking.

If you missed last week’s Friday Foodie Fix- Coconut Milk you need to check out all of the recipes shared.  So cool!  This week’s Secret Ingredient is Pasta!

Well this is a short one.  Time to go grab a piece of Double Chocolate Clementine Vita-Mix Cake that Brad and I made this weekend and watch the season premier of  The Tudors.  I think we need to change the name of this cake to Triple Chocolate since we added chocolate chips to the cake.  Brad’s idea and it’s great!  Can you really have too much chocolate?

Monday- Pork chops with carrots and polenta

Tuesday- Tilapia with bok choy, onions, spinach, mushrooms

Wednesday- Chicken Tandori Pizza with salad

Thursday- Cubano Jerk Burgers

Friday- Fried Shrimp and noodles

Saturday- Mushroom Rissoto

Sunday- Beef Burritos

Don’t forget Orgjunkie has lots of menu plans.

Friday Foodie Fix

This week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is coconut milk.  It’s become a staple in our home after giving up dairy.  Well, dairy gave up on me.  I was never a fan of coconut and I’m still not a fan of shredded coconut that is really dried out.  Fresh coconut is good.   If you open my refrigerator you should find at least 2 cans in there chilling just in case there’s an emergency and I need to make ice cream, sherbet, whipped cream or some other frozen treat.

Interesting facts:  A coconut tree will have a life span of approximately 70 years and produce thousands of coconuts.  That’s a lot of potential great foods to eat.  Coconut milk is made when you combine equal parts coconut meat and water.  Bring it to a boil until it foams and then strain through a cheesecloth.  This is one thing I don’t make but buy in a can.  The unsweetened coconut milk I use is different from the cream of coconut that is sweetened and used in many drinks.

Coconut milk can be used to replace milk in most any recipe.  It is often used in curried dishes, salad dressings and desserts. I have used it in Whipped Cream, Blueberry Ice Cream, Pumpkin Pudding, and I also use it when adding a breading like Onion Rings or Fritos Chicken Nuggets.

Whipped Cream on the Double Chocolate Clementine Vita-Mix Cake

Pumpkin Pudding for breakfast!

Blueberry Ice Cream ©Diane Eblin

I can’t wait to see how you are using coconut milk!  Please share with Mr. Linky and in the comments.  Check out all of the rules on the Friday Foodie Fix dedicated page.  Remember it has to have the Secret Ingredient in the recipe or it will be deleted and I hate doing that.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is …………… Pasta!

Can your kids cook?  Do your kids get invited into the kitchen or shooed out?  Do you think kids could cook for themselves, the family or even a party full of people?  If you happened to watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Episode #3  you saw him take a bunch of kids from the high school who volunteered to be part of this project and teach them how to cook.  They didn’t just learn to make a fast chicken dinner for themselves but they cooked a meal for 80 of the mover and shakers of Huntington and their Senator. All of those guests thought Jamie Oliver had cooked the meal for them.

It was amazing to watch these kids dig deep and work hard to make this meal happen.  Everything looked so good coming out of that kitchen.  After the meal and the big reveal that Jamie didn’t do any of the cooking, each high school student on the team shared their story.  By the time they were done there was not a dry eye in the room.

I watched the show with my 16 year old son, Brad.  We had a lot of great conversations around that show.  For instance the fact that the high school served french fries every day and how he used to eat almost as many but now can’t imagine that.  He really liked how Jamie let the kids have a voice and speak the truth about what was going on.

As I’ve been watching this program there have been many things I’ve been thinking that I could do to make changes.  One is to get Brad back in the kitchen with me.  He likes to bake and he’s pretty good at it.  He’s learned to bake gluten and dairy free.  But he doesn’t know how to cook many meals.

So we’ve decided to cook together once a week most likely on the weekends when we have a little more time.  He’s great at the grocery store so we’ll go pick out what we want to cook and plan our meal.  I’m really looking forward to this time together and I think it’s great he wants to learn.

He’s watched his older brother in the kitchen with me learning to cook over the years.  Now he sees the benefit as his brother has an apartment at college and cooks for himself and friends.  As you can imagine he’s very popular with the ladies.

So do you have kids and are they cooking?  Can you take them to the grocery store and they know what and where the ingredients can be found for the meals you cook?  I know doing this takes extra time and that can be hard to come by.  But if you saw the faces of those kids on the show and how proud they were of their accomplishments then you saw why you need to give this a go.  If we don’t teach our kids to cook how can we expect them to make choices that are good for their bodies?  All they’ll know is food shows up and when they have to eat on their own that will mean fast food and boxes of processed foods with tons of chemicals, preservatives and who knows what else.

Now if you think your kids are too young then you’re not thinking creative enough.  Tom and Ali who write The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen blog recently shared a video of Tom and their 27 month twin boys in the kitchen making green smoothies.  It was great to watch them together and then to drink up at the end.  These boys are learning great things at a young age.

If you do cook with your kids please leave a comment and share some ideas on how you get them cooking.  I’d love to see tons of ideas that folks can take and maybe use themselves.

Thanks for the shout out on Next Level Blog.

Double Chocolate Clementine Vita-mix Cake

In February of 2007 I found out I could not eat gluten ever again.  Not too long after that I found out I couldn’t eat rice or dairy.  For the past 3 years I have learned how to convert my cooking pretty easily to accommodate this. I have finally started to take on baking as the last frontier in the world of making things for myself and my family.  Let me say it’s been a very long time since I’ve had a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Well the wait is over!  Let me tell you, I think I’m in love.  This chocolate cake with chocolate glaze is the most moist, delicious cake I’ve ever eaten.  It doesn’t have that strange texture you can sometimes get from gluten free baking.  My whole family is so excited.  They are begging me to make this cake again.  I had to search but I found one last bag of Clementines so we’ll be having cake again this weekend, but then not for some time.  Not because I couldn’t try it with oranges or another fruit, because we would over eat.

So if I were you I would stop reading this right now, run to the grocery store and grab any clementines left you can find.  If you are out of luck, well give it a try with some oranges.

I can thank Shirley from gluten free easily for helping to make this happen.  Back in December last year she shared her recipe for Double-Chocolate Clementine Cake on her blog and also through Friday Foodie Fix when the Secret Ingredient was Clementine.  As soon as I saw it I knew I was going to have to give it a try.  I had already decided 2010 was going to be my year to learn about baking gluten and dairy free.

With my husband’s birthday coming I thought this would be a great cake to make.  Now I happen to have a bad habit of not reading the entire recipe when baking before I start and it often gets me into trouble.

For instance I didn’t realize she had baked it in an 8 inch springform pan.  I only had a small one, around 5 1/2 inches.  So I quickly grabbed my cupcake pan.

OK, ready to go.  First thing it said was to cook the clementines for 2 hours.  What, we had to leave the house in 1 hour.  Well I was not going to finish my day with no cake.  Luckily I had just purchased a Vita-Mix Professional 500.  I’m still learning all about this wonderful machine but let me say, I don’t know why I waited so long to get one.  Yeah, it costs a lot of money but not like buying a car.  Save up a little at a time and get  yourself one of these gems.  Amazing smoothies, sherbets right from the container in 5 minutes and even hot soup!  Deep breaths Diane, deep breaths.  I’m so in love with this.  I really wish I had purchased it at the beginning of my gluten free journey.  Eating those amazing green smoothies is so good for your body.

But back to my cake dilemma.  So I thought with the soup setting on the Vita-Mix I am able to make steaming hot creamy soups in 5 minutes so why not clementines for this cake.  So I scrubbed them, tossed them in with a splash of OJ, set it to hot soup and pushed start.  I even Skyped Shirley to ask if this would work.  She had not tried it before but was anxious to hear.

When the Vita-Mix turned off, yes it automaticly turns off at the end of the pre-programmed cycles, I had a hot velvelty creamy mixture of clementines that looked divine.  It looked so good I had to taste it.  Wow, talk about tart.  Suggestion, don’t taste it until it’s baked into the cake.

So I baked the cake and cupcakes and set them out to cool.  The glaze also called to be made in a sauce pan so I thought, why not.  I tossed all of the ingredients into the Vita-Mix and hit hot soup.  The most amazing hot chocolate glaze came out of that pitcher I could have shrunk myself and jumped in.

So here is Shirley’s recipe with my adaptations.  As a serving suggestion that made this cake even better if you can imagine that, I served it with my Easy Gluten and Dairy Free Whipped Cream that I make from coconut milk.

One more thing that makes this cake even more special to me.  After I had made the cake and it sat out a day or two we decided to wait until the following weekend to eat it.  I wrapped it and tossed it into the freezer.  When we were ready to eat I took it out that morning so it could thaw.  It tasted like I had just made it.  So are you thinking what I’m thinking.  Move over shrimp and fruit, make room for a little more cake in the freezer!

Clementines creamed ready for chocolate cake

This was so effective that I had to take a taste, but don’t.  Wait until it’s baked into the cake with a little sweetness.

Dry ingredients for cake

Now if for some reason you already have this mixed together it would be like having your own cake mix that tastes better and costs less.

Chocolate Clementine Cupcakes hot from the oven

I got almost an entire pan of these cupcakes in addition to the cake.

Cooled cake waiting for glaze

When I took the cake out of the oven it was a little higher and then it settled.  After it cooled I took it out of this pan to pour the glaze over the top.

Chocolate glaze waiting to be tasted

UPDATE:  Made this again with Brad and he added chocolate chips from Enjoy Life.  Now it’s a Triple Chocolate Clementine Cake and man was it good.

Cake Ingredients:

5 clementines

1/4 cup orange juice

6 eggs

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/3 cups Honeyville blanched almond flour (or finely ground raw almonds using your Vita-Mix)  I tried jk gourmet almond flour and it worked great.

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder- I like Scharffen-Berger

Directions:

Scrub your clementines and cut into quarters.  Check for seeds and remove if you find any.  Add your orange juice and clementines to the Vita-Mix, secure the lid and select the Soup setting.  If you have an older version check the directions for the setting used to make hot soup.  This setting takes 5 minutes.  You may need to tamper the clementines a little at first but the quickly incorporate.

During that time I mixed together the remaining ingredients, greased and lined my spring-form pan with parchment paper, put cupcake papers in that pan and cleaned my knife and cutting board.  When the clementines were done I put them into a bowl so they could cool a little.  I was afraid if I mixed them right in with the eggs I would end up with scrambled orange eggs.

Mix everything together and pour it into your prepared spring-form pan or cupcake pan or both like I did.  Bake at a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  With my pan being smaller than the size Shirley used, it took closer to 40 minutes to bake and so did the cupcakes.  Make sure you test it with a toothpick that after inserted comes out clean.  Shirley’s tip is to cover the cake with foil after 40 minutes so the top doesn’t get too brown.

Now is the time to be patient.  Let this cake cool before you spring it loose.  But of course the cupcakes are ready a little faster.

Glaze Ingredients:

4 TB of water

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 TB Olive Oil

2 pinches of Salt

This is a double version of Shirley’s glaze recipe.  If you are making cupcakes you need more since you are covering more surface area.  If you are making just one cake you can go back to a single recipe and cut this in half.  But, nothing wrong with a little extra glaze!

Glaze Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into the Vita-Mix and use the hot soup setting.  When it’s done just pour it over your cake and cupcakes.  Of course don’t forget to put some wax paper under your cooling rack to catch any glaze that might drip off.  After it cooled we pulled the paper out and peeled off the chocolate drips.   It was like eating Dots.  Remember that candy that comes on a long sheet of paper.  Not sure if it’s still around but that chocolate glaze was not to be missed.

This is one terrific cake and I hope if you make it you will send us your photos too.

This was also shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Spring has finally arrived in full bloom at my home.  We had a beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine.  I made sure to get my 15-20 minutes a day from 11:00am-2:00pm to soak up that Vitamin D.  Man does that feel great!

Yesterday we celebrated Easter and my husband’s birthday.  We have a lot to be thankful for and it was great to take time to remember that.  I asked him what he wanted for this next year of his life and his answer was simple, to be happy and healthy as well as the members of his family.  How I love that man.

Double Chocolate Clementine Vita-mix Cake with Whipped Cream

I hope you had a great weekend too.  I’m looking forward to this week to hopefully more sunshine and a detailed report from my dear friend Lady A who just got back from Napa Valley.  She was able to have a meal at the French Laundry (Thomas Kelller) and Bottega (Michael Chiarello) and I can’t wait to hear all about it.  I hope she took pictures.  Maybe she’ll share.

Don’t forget to go back and check on the Great Gluten Free Pasta Challenge.  Let me know how yours turned out.  I think I’ll give it a go this week on Saturday. Quinoa pasta will be my back up plan.  Also, this week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Coconut Milk.  I hope you’ll join us.

Monday - Roasted Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Onions

Tuesday - Chicken LoMein

Wednesday- Spinach Dip Pizza

Thursday - Burger with yucca fries, salad

Friday - Broiled flounder, broccoli, quinoa

Saturday -  Quinoa pasta with roasted vegetables

Sunday- Chicken cacciatore with rice

For more menu plans visit Orgjunkie.

Pastelón is a popular meal in the regions of the world where plantains grow in great quantities.  This dish is referred to as Plantain Lasagna, a layered baked dish that builds upon fried plantains.  It has the sweetness of the plantains and the saltiness of olives all blended with ground beef.

It has a wonderful flavor, easy to make and low cost to boot.  If you search for recipes on this traditional dish you will find many variations but with common ingredients.  One typical ingredient which I didn’t use because I don’t know if it is gluten free is Sazón from Goya.  Because I’ve never eaten this dish before I made it I cannot speak to how it would taste different without using it.  I will say that I loved this dish and will be making it again.

An important ingredient that I did keep is a green sofrito, which is typical for Puerto Rican cooking.  It has green pepper, jalapeño pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro.  Other sofritos have tomatoes in it but not this one.  Now don’t get worried about this dish being spicy because you see jalapeño.  Typically Puerto Rican dishes are not spicy and neither is this one.

I also made a little change to the ingredient of olives.  Usually there are whole or halved olives with pimentos added to this dish.  Well olives are one of those ingredients that my husband keeps telling me the he doesn’t like but every time I hide them in a dish, he likes it.  So I finely chopped them and mixed them in once more.  You will also find many recipes for Pastelón that contain raisins.  I decided to leave them out this time but next time will add them in to see which one I like the best.

Now the main ingredient in the lasagna part is plantains.   You really need 2-3 ripe plantains (black peel) for this recipe.  Well I really wanted to make this dish and I had some leftover tostones which are twice fried plantains and I didn’t exactly have enough.  They were also round slices that are smashed.  If I was making this with a new plantains I would use long slices like lasagna noodles.  The key is to fry them first before you place them on the bottom of your 9×13 pan.

So how do you put together Pastelón.

After you chop the sofrito and the olives brown your ground beef and add in the adobo seasoning.

Mix the cooked beef with the olives and half of the sofrito, mexican oregano, adobo and tomato sauce.  Now give this a taste and see if you want to add in more sofrito or not.  Place your fried plantains on the bottom and cover them with this ground beef mixture.

Top with green beans and sliced roasted red peppers.

Now beat the eggs so they are fluffy like you would when making an omelet.  Pour the eggs over the entire mixture.

This is a great dish for every day, pot luck dinners, and makes great leftovers.  This is also good for company when you want to spend time with your guests instead of having to be in the kitchen cooking while they’re having a good time in the other room.

Oh yeah, it’s a great way to get your vegetables!

Today instead of just sharing my weekly menu I’m sharing my monthly menu for April as it begins mid way through the week.  If you want to see what is on the menu for the first 3 days of this week or you may have missed a weekly menu plan, visit the Monthly Menu Plan – March 2010 post.

I’m working on creating my menu as I wait for my gluten free flours to come up to room temperature.    This week I’m baking extra to send back with my JMU college son.  He’s really been wanting me to bake Shirley’s (gluten free easily blog) Double-Chocolate Clementine Cake ever since she shared it on Friday Foodie Fix- Clementine.  I’m also making the most requested Pumpkin Bread and Carrot and Raisin Muffins from Ali Segersten’s( Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen blog) Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.  I’m trying a new recipe from Susan O’Brien for Granola Bars using a new product so I’ll let you know next week how they turned out.

One of my goals this month is to only buy fresh fruits and vegetables to add to the other ingredients filling my freezer and pantry.  I love when my favorite proteins go on sale and I take full advantage.  I rarely buy them at full price which is how I can have supplies of seemingly expensive ingredients in my recipes when in actuality, I got them at a much lower cost.  The seafood and meat department have weekly and even daily specials.  Get to know your fishmonger and butcher even if you are shopping where all of the products are packaged and out in the cooler shelves.  They often know what specials are coming up, what is the freshest and will look out for you.  After all, most people don’t pay much attention to service employees and your attention will be noticed and appreciated.

Another one of my goals this month is to pay attention to how much fat we are consuming.  Did you happen to catch the second episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution?  He trucked in the amount of fat a school was consuming in a year.  It was totally disgusting.

We very rarely eat processed foods and when we do it’s a box of pasta, jar of pasta sauce, can of beans, jar of mayonnaise, some mustard or ketchup which does not have more than 5 ingredients and very little fat.  But you will also find in my freezer two boxes of Amy’s frozen meals and  two boxes of Organic Bistro meals that have been in there forever.  No one eats them because the have the taste for real food.

So our fat consumption comes from the oils I cook with and the cuts of meats we eat.  I do like to buy the inexpensive cuts of pork and beef that I cook very slowly and freeze the extras to have ready for meals.  Those cuts of meat have a higher fat content.

So when I was creating my menu this month I thought about eating more of the leaner versions of protein like chicken and turkey breasts, seafood, beans, vegetables, and quinoa and keeping the amount of the other meats to smaller portions.  I worked on incorporating them into my meals and my baked goods.  Because, even though I can try to sit on my high horse and say my kids don’t eat processed foods or school lunches like the people shown on Food Revolution, we still could do better.  I could do better in planning and making my meals.

So I’m offering a challenge to everyone, even those who don’t eat processed foods often.  What can  you do with your menu and your cooking to bring more of what our bodies need and less of what we don’t need? If you are eating a lot of packaged and processed goods are you willing to try and learn to make some of those dishes from scratch this month? I can tell you from experience that when most people find out they need to live without something like gluten, our first step is buying the frozen gluten free meals.  I did it A LOT!  I believe it’s really part of the learning curve and getting comfortable with a new lifestyle.  But I implore you to start to take walk away from those meals  and then run as fast as you can.

The Food Revolution starts in our homes.  Will you take this challenge with me this month?  If there is something you would like to learn how to make instead of eat from a box and you don’t know how, I’m here to help.  There are many of us here to help.  Just ask for help.

Finally, here is my menu.

1-Pastelón – Plantain Lasagna

2- Eating out at Poste Restaurant

3- A version of Steamy Kitchen’s  Ham with Mango Ginger Glaze, sweet potato hash, asparagus

4- Salmon with wild rice, mushrooms and harricot verts

5- Roasted Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Onions

6- Chicken LoMein

7- Spinach Dip Pizza

8- Burger with yucca fries, salad

9- Broiled flounder, broccoli, quinoa

10-  Quinoa pasta with roasted vegetables

11- Chicken cacciatore with rice

12- Pork chops with carrots and polenta

13- Tilapia with bok choy, onions, spinach, mushrooms

14- Chicken Tandori Pizza with salad

15- Cubano Jerk Burgers

16- Fried Shimp and Noodles

17- Mushroom Rissoto

18- Beef Buritos

19- Italian Vegetable Soup, homemade rolls

20- Sundried tomato shrimp pasta with a spinach salad

21- Calzone

22- Pork tacos with spicy slaw

23- Scallops and black beans on polenta

24- Buffalo Chicken Mini Burgers

25- Chili Piquin Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

26- Ostrich burgers, sweet potato fries, salad

27- Mahi Mahi with pineapple glaze, rice, salad

28-  my version of Steamy Kitchen Cookbook Thai Style Chicken Flat bread

29- Steak fajitas, beans, rice

30- Mexican Seafood Stew using whatever seafood I have on hand

Shared this menu on OrgJunkie.

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.

What a glorious weekend.  The weather was amazing finally.  Got out and dug in the garden, pulled weeds, got rid of dead shrub and I’m still not done.  So now I’m exhausted and I’m looking forward to going back to work at my desk for a little bit.

This week is our Gluten Free Progressive Easter Dinner Party.  I hope you will visit everyone and check in to see what they are making.  Here’s the schedule:

Monday March 22nd Shirley at gluten free easily will be serving the Appetizer.

Tuesday March 23rd I will be serving the Salad.

Wednesday March 24th Katrina at Gluten Free Gidget will be serving the Main Course.

Thursday March 25th Shirley at gluten free easily will be serving the side dish.

Friday March 26th Shirley from gluten free easily will be serving Dessert.

Now here is our family menu for the week:

Monday - Scallop Pasta with Chorizo

Tuesday – Chipotle Burger on a Bun with Tomatillo Salsa

Wednesday - Have on Hand Soup

Thursday - Buffalo Shrimp

Friday - Beef and Noodles

Saturday - Pork and Lentils

Sunday - Winter Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with Prosciutto Topping

Don’t forget this week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Carrots.  If you have a lamb recipe head to the Friday Foodie Fix page and revisit last week.

More menus can be found on OrgJunkie.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you all have a day filled with luck and happiness.

I know I said I would share my crab veggie pizza recipe with you today but I forgot it was a holiday.  Instead I’m cooking with an ingredient often used in many Irish dishes, cabbage.    Traditional dishes like Bacon and Cabbage, Colcannon (creamy potatoes and cabbage), and Cider Braised Chicken and Cabbage to name a few.

Growing up my mom would stuff cabbage with ground beef and rice and simmer it in a tomato sauce.  I was never a fan of  ham and cabbage but I loved this dish.  My mom is a wonderful cook.  This is an old traditional Polish recipe, not Irish,  but I thought I would share this one with you today anyway.

This is a really easy and very tasty dish.  You simply put all of the ingredients into a crockpot in the morning, go about your day, then enjoy a wonderful dinner at night.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 head cabbage sliced

1 small onion diced

1 small can of fire roasted tomatoes 14.5 oz

2 cups of organic chicken stock

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt and pepper

for a deeper tomato flavor add in 1 tsp tomato paste

Directions:

First add the ground meats into the crockpot and break apart.  Add in the onions and cabbage.  Top with tomatoes and add in the stock, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Notes:

To keep this a little closer to the traditional recipe serve it over cooked rice.  If you want to cook the rice in the dish add in 1/2 cup rice and an additional 1 cup stock.

You can also change up the ground meats you use.  I’ve also made this with ground pork and turkey thigh meats.

This recipe was shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays.

Is the luck of the Irish with you?  I hope it’s with us all this week.  Wednesday is St. Patrick’s Day so don’t forget to wear green.  If I see you with no green on I’ll be sure to pinch you.  I plan on having my Irish Beef Stew simmering with a little gluten free beer.  Of course the day will have to start off with green eggs and ham (I add spinach)and a nice green smoothie for lunch.  I also will be making another loaf of Karina’s Irish Soda Bread.  What about you?  Will you be turning any foods green to celebrate?  How about corned beef and cabbage for dinner?  If you celebrate the holiday I’d love to hear how.

Well here is our gluten and dairy free menu for the week.  I’m hoping for dry warm weather.  Maybe I’ll get lucky.  My maiden name was Dougherty.  I’d say that should give me at least one day of luck this week.

Monday -Chili

Tuesday - Pork Noodle Soup

Wednesday – Irish Beef Stew

Thursday - Roasted Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Onions

Friday - Whole Roasted Fish

Saturday – Roasted Pork Loin

Sunday - Chicken Enchiladas

For more menus visit OrgJunkie.

Friday Foodie Fix

This week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is raisins.  You might be thinking why did I chose this ingredient.  Well I was eating a piece of Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread I had just baked, thanks to the Gluten Free Goddess, and thinking about the many Mexican recipes I have been reading that use raisins and I thought that’s it.  This coming week some of us will be celebrating St. Patty’s Day making Irish foods, some green some not.  I will have to make another loaf of that soda bread since the first one is long gone.   Maybe you have a recipe for that bread you would like to share.

Back to our star ingredient raisins, those dried grapes we love to snack on.  Raisins are made from Tompson seedless grapes and are either sun-dried or mechanically dried.  I used to really love to eat the golden raisins but after what I’m about to share with you I’m not so sure I want them anymore.  This is from my favorite book, The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion (You own this book right?  If you eat food you should own this book)  ”Golden raisins have been treated with sulphur dioxode (to prevent their color from darkening) and dried with artificial heat, thereby producing a moister, pumper product.”  I’m just not a fan of chemicals in my foods.

Here are some interesting facts, also from my favorite book.

Freezing raisins makes them easier to chop.  Currants can be substituted in recipes calling for chopped raisins.  When adding raisins to a batter, first toss with some of the flour called for in the recipe, separating the pieces with your fingers as you do so.  Keeps the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the batter.  And this little gem, stored in brandy, rum or liqueur will add flavor when used in baked goods.   Put in jar with screw-top lid and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.  Now that sounds like party raisins to me!

What do you make with raisins?  Are you baking, cooking or snacking?  Share your recipes with Mr. Linky and in the comments section.  Please make sure your recipes contain raisins and are your creations.  Please link back to this post even if you are sharing an old recipe.  I like to add a line like UPDATE:  This recipe was shared on Friday Foodie Fix.  That would work great.  For more details check out our Friday Foodie Fix page.  You can also find all of the past week’s ingredients.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ………………… lamb!

I really miss having pizza.  I have to say I ate it way too much and with just about anything I could think of.  My favorite combinations are ones that people would never think to put on a pizza.  For instance my Spinach Artichoke Dip Pizza.

Recently I’ve been playing with Chebe All Purpose Mix.  I’ve made a few different pizzas.  The last two being a Za’atar pizza and a Crabby Veg pizza.  I love to toss a pizza in the oven, mix up a salad and there you have it, a cheap and fast meal.  I bet you can do all of this in a shorter time than it takes to phone in your order and wait for the delivery.  Well that’s if you’re lucky enough to have gluten free pizza delivery near you, able to eat cheese and rice which in their dough.  We have delivery here but the dough has rice so if I want pizza, I’m making it.

First, let me share the Za’atar pizza because it is so fast and simple that if you skip a line you’ll miss the recipe.  Next week I’ll share my Crabby Veg Pizza.

I’m sharing this recipe with Gluten Free Wednesdays?

Ingredients:

I bag of Chebe All Purpose Mix following directions (2 eggs, 2 TB oil, 5TB milk or water)

1+ TBS Za’atar seasoning-sumac, thyme leaves, white sesame seeds, salt (Penzeys Zatar)

1-2 TBS Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Corn Meal

Directions:

Follow the directions on the bag of the Chebe mix.  I use almond milk, organic extra virgin olive oil and organic eggs.

Roll out your dough on a flat surface.  I use the corn meal to keep the dough from sticking to my rolling pin.

Put the dough onto your pizza pan.  Spread the olive oil and sprinkle with the seasoning mix.  Use as much as you want to eat.  Bake according to the package directions, 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Kayln’s Kitchen had a great blog post about Flatbread with Olive Oil and Za’atar.  She uses whole wheat but the process is the same, I just use gluten free dough.

One thing you’ll find is many different ways to spell the seasoning mix. They are basically the same.  She used a mix from The Spice House which she tells me is related to the owner of Penzeys.  That’s one spicy family!

So now you have the basics to make a great gluten free pizza.  What do want on your gluten free pizza?

This recipe was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

As I write this I’m watching the Red Carpet before the Oscars.  I really enjoy seeing all of the beautiful dresses and the gorgeous guys in their tuxes.  George Clooney looks amazing as always and Meryl Streep such a classy woman in a beautiful gown.  I can’t wait to see who wins.  Of course by the time you read this we’ll know who won.  So, did you guess right?  Did your favorites win?

I hope you have a great week!

Monday – Beef Brisket Vegetable Soup

Tuesdays – Pizzas

Wednesday – Shrimp and Cauliflower Couscous

Thursday – Pastelón or Sweet Plantain Lasagna

Friday – Scallop, Chorizo and Purple Sweet Potato Tacos

Saturday – Garlic Garbanzo Bean, Swiss Chard, Pancetta Soup

Sunday – Pesto Shrimp on Polenta Portobellos

Check out more menu lists on OrgJunkie.

At the beginning of this year, before things started going crazy,  I was reading one of the really good food blogs I follow, Kalyn’s Kitchen.  She has great recipes and so many of them are naturally gluten free.  Make sure you take time to look around her blog.

She shared a recipe for West African Chicken and Peanut Stew with Chilies, Ginger and Green Onions.    It sounded amazing and easy to make with ingredients I usually have on hand.   So I made it that night and immediately contacted Kalyn to tell her how great it was and to ask if I could share it with you.  I had made only a couple of changes so I wanted to make sure I had her permission.  Something anyone should do if you are reprinting a recipe.  Thankfully she said yes and wanted to read what I had changed.

Since that first evening I’ve made this dish a couple of times.  However, I think I need to come up with a new name for it.  Something clever and short that would explain that this is the new leftover dish we race to the refrigerator to get to first.  If you don’t get there first, you’re out of luck.  If you like chicken, peanut butter and jalapenos you are going to love this stew.  But I’ve warned you, so just be prepared to get to those leftovers first.

Whenever I cook my Spatchcock Chicken, I always put two on the cookie sheet so I have extra cooked chicken on hand just for recipes like this.  Whenever you have extra cooked chicken, put it into the freezer and label it so you have it on hand.  Of course you can plan ahead and roast your chicken on Monday and have this stew on Wednesday or Thursday.

Now this recipe was so fast and easy that I forgot to take photos along the way.  Kalyn however took great photos of all the steps so make sure you check it out.  So here is Kalyn’s recipe with my changes.

Ingredients:

1-2 T Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1 T fresh ginger root grated

2-4 jalapeno diced, seeds and membrane removed (Kalyn used 2 tsp of pickled jalapenos but you know I like more of the pepper flavor)

3 tsp Ancho Chili powder

1 tsp Aleppo chili powder (Kalyn used 1 tsp chili powder which is a mix of chili peppers)

2 cups chicken stock (Kalyn used 1 cup of stock or broth)

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I like Earth Balance with no sugar)

2 T tomato paste

1 T apple cider vinegar

3 cups shredded or diced roasted chicken

4-5 green onions sliced, white and green parts

Celtic Sea Salt and Tellicherry pepper to taste

Directions:

Grab your large cutting board and prep your ingredients.  I would start with the jalapenos so you can get the oils off your hands.  Remember, when you dice a jalapeno pepper to cut off the stem, cut it in half and then carefully cut out the membrane and seeds.  Then you can dice the pepper.  When you are done run your hands under cold water, smacking them back and forth to get the pepper oil off the hands.  You do not want to touch your nose, eye or something else sensitive.

Dice the red onion,  chop your chicken and grab your ginger root from the freezer.  Well that’s where I keep mine.  I scrape the skin off and put it into the freezer.  It will keep for a long time and you’ll have fresh ginger whenever you need it.  Who uses the whole big piece you buy all at once anyway?

Heat the oil on medium high in a heavy pot.  I used my 3 1/2 quart Cassis LeCreuset french oven.  It worked great and looked even better.  Cook your red onion and jalapenos for just a minute.  Next I like to grate the ginger right into the pot with my zester.  Add in the chicken stock, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar and chili powders.  Make sure you mix well so the peanut better is combined into the stew.  Bring this to a slight boil.  Now add in the chicken.  Kalyn suggests you not stir much or the chicken will shred apart.  We like it when that happens so I stir.  Let it simmer 10-15 minutes.

Wash and slick your green onions.  Stir your stew and serve it up.  Top it with a big handful of those onions for each serving.

You can also find this recipe on What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free? and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Best Ever French Onion Dip from February Newsletter

March madness is upon us.  Whether it be with college basketball, Spring Break, kids spring sports starting or digging out of the winters last snow storms, it’s here.  For me that means going back to some tried and true recipes.  It also means more hands off cooking and more minute meals.  So this month’s menu plan you’ll see some past recipes and some new fast and easy ones.

Don’t forget coming up on Sunday March 7th is the Oscars.  Last week we shared some ideas on what to serve while watching the show with our Gluten Free Progressive OSCAR Dinner Party.  Check out all of the great recipes shared.  Other celebrations this month include St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th, first day of Spring on the 20th and Passover begins March 29th.

Also, if you want the recipe for the Best Ever French Onion Dip, it is part of the February Newsletter.  All newsletters will be archived under our News page.  If you signed up for the newsletter after that edition went out, you will need to visit the News to view the February edition.  You will receive March’s newsletter directly.  If you have not signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

Have a great month and as always, share with us your experiences with making any of these recipes.  Love to hear from you!

1- Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Mushroom Stuffing

2- West African Chicken Peanut Stew

3- Pizza Soup

4- Beef Brisket with mashed potatoes and gravy

5- Posole

6- Calzones

7- Spinach Artichoke Dip Pizza, Roasted Potato Slices with Smoky Aioli Dip, Southern Fried Oysters, Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookies with Whipped Cream

8- Beef Brisket Vegetable Soup

9- Pizzas

10- Shrimp and Cauliflower Couscous

11- Pastelón or Sweet Plantain Lasagna

12- Scallop, Chorizo and Purple Sweet Potato Tacos

13- Garlic Garbanzo Bean, Swiss Chard, Pancetta Soup

14- Pesto Shrimp on Polenta Portobellos

15-Chili

16- Pork Noodle Soup

17- Irish Beef Stew

18- Roasted Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Onions

19- Whole Roasted Fish

20- Roasted Pork Loin

21- Chicken Enchiladas

22- Scallop Pasta with Chorizo

23- Chipotle Burger on a Bun with Tomatillo Salsa

24- Have on Hand Soup

25- Buffalo Shrimp

26- Beef and Noodles

27- Pork and Lentils

28- Winter Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with Prosciutto Topping

29- Chicken Chow Mein with Gluten Free Soy Sauce

30- Fast Pantry Soup

31- Shrimp Tostados

Don’t forget OrgJunkie has more menus.

On March 7th we celebrate the 2010 Academy Awards.  An evening full of beautiful women, handsome men, amazing clothes, red carpet interviews, exclusive parties and for the lucky few, an Oscar.  If you visit the Oscar website you can find information on all of the nominees, a ballot, and fun videos on all that goes into the production like photographing the co-hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  I’m watching on the 7th just to see the two of them work together.

Nominated for Best Leading Actress is Meryl Streep for her role as Julia Child in Julie & Julia.  First I think she is a brilliant actor and can play just about anything.  Loved her in The Devil Wears Prada, It’s Complicated and about twenty other films.  However she and her role as Julia Child has inspired this recipe I’m sharing today as part of the Gluten Free Progressive OSCAR Dinner Party.    This is where we share foods inspired by nominees and that can be served at your Oscar Watch Party.  The entire list of blogs participating is at the bottom of this post.

On pages 580 and 581 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, you can find directions on how to make whipped cream.  There are a few tips shared that are key.  First, everything must be very cold.  That means the cream to be whipped and the bowl and whip you will use.  Next you will want to use a balloon whip.

Well in order for me to have whipped cream I was going to have to find something different to whip to make it dairy free.  Having used coconut milk for ice cream and having readers tell me it was possible I decided to give it a try.  The verdict:  AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think both my husband and I could have jumped in head first to the bowl.  It tasted amazing.  The first little taste I could taste coconut but after the second lick it was just whipped cream.  I couldn’t even get it out of the bowl fast enough so he could lick the beater and bowl.

Now I will say I made way too much thinking I might not make enough, but the leftovers really lasted a long time and we enjoyed them every day for almost a week.  You may want to half the recipe which will work just the same but might not last as long.

Now that I have whipped cream the possibilities are endless.  But now my mind wanders to chocolate mixed into the cream.  Hmmmm.

So what will you do with your whipped cream?  Here’s what I did with mine.  I served it over mixed berries with Aleia’s almond cookies and shaved Gnosis Chocolate.  Take a look but no licking your computer screen.

Ingredients:

2 cans of coconut milk full fat

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Place your cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours.  The longer the better.  So when you bring them home from the grocery store just tuck two into the ice box for when you need emergency whipped cream.

Also, place your bowl and whip into the freezer for at least 3 hours to chill.  I use my son’s Kitchen Aid mixer with the balloon whip.

Once you take your bowl and whip out of the freezer and set up the mixer do not waste time.  You need to keep the equipment cold.  Open the cans at the bottom with a bottle opener to drain off the coconut water.  Save this it is great for smoothies.  Now open the top of the can all the way and scoop out the thick cream.

Start your mixer on low and move up 1 or 2 notches for speed until you get to moderate.  As it starts to whip and increase in volume, gradually add in the powdered sugar.  Once it’s mixed and looks fluffy like whipped cream, well you now have whipped cream.  Tip from J.C.- look for the beater to leave light traces on the surface of the cream.

NOTE:

I’m not sure if this will work with a different sweetener such as agave.  I do have agave granules that I will try just for my readers.

Now make sure you check out everyone hosting this month’s Gluten Free Progressive OSCAR Dinner Party.

Monday February 22-  Shirley from gluten free easily sharingVeronica’s Pumpkin Soup

Tuesday February 23- SEA from Book of Yum with appetizers inspired from the movie Avatar- Millet Eggplant Croquettes and Chips

Wednesday February 24- Karen from Cook4Seasons and Diane from The WH.O.L.E. Gang using inspiration from Julie and Julia

Thursday February 25- Alison from Sure Foods Living

Friday February 26- Ellen from I Am Gluten Free

Wow, the last week of this month already.  That means it’s time to take inventory and start working on next month’s menu plan.  I want to know if there is anything you would like me to make and share with you.  Is there something you want to know how to cook?  Something you’ve want to convert to gluten and dairy free that you used to cook?  Yes I’m taking requests.  Just let me know ASAP and I’ll see if I can work it into my menu.

If you have not already signed up for the newsletter jump in know so you can get this month’s news. (top right corner of this blog)

ALL this week join in our Gluten Free Progressive OSCAR Dinner Party.  Here’s the party schedule.

Monday February 22-  Shirley from gluten free easily sharing Veronica’s Pumpkin Soup

Tuesday February 23- SEA from Book of Yum with appetizers inspired from the movie Avatar

Wednesday February 24- Karen from Cook4Seasons and Diane from The WH.O.L.E. Gang using inspiration from Julie and Julia

Thursday February 25- Alison from Sure Foods Living

Friday February 26- Ellen from I Am Gluten Free

Get ready for your OSCAR party by printing a ballot to share with your guests or for just your family!  Also check out this page an Oscar Party Kit.

Here’s my menu for the week.

Monday – BBQ turkey leg and slaw

Tuesday - Cornmeal crusted fried fish, fries and peas

Wednesday - London broil, yucca fries, spinach salad

Thursday - Pork chops, applesauce, sugar snap peas

Friday - Shrimp tacos

Saturday - Greek chicken, rice and broccoli

Sunday -Mini crab cakes, broiled lobster, corn on cobb, chocolate cake with chocolate icing

For other menus please visit OrgJunkie.

Friday Foodie Fix

This week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Agave.  Agave is a succulent plant that grows in the south-western US and in Mexico and Central America.  Agave syrup or nectar is sweet and is often used as a substitute for cane sugar.  It has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar, so many people concerned with their sugar intake make the switch.

Now here is where we can run into trouble.  Thinking that one can eat as much agave as they like is not the approach to take.  Agave nectar is fructose and glucose.  And lets all repeat what that means, it’ssimple sugar.  So using agave does not make the food sugar free.  Also, some people have the same reaction to agave as IBS.  So don’t over do it.  If there is one thing I’ve learned in life to be true no matter what, sugar of any type is addictive.  It can cause swelling, pain, weight gain, malabsorption of nutrients.  It can also create such a strong hold over a person that you will go out at all hours of the night just to get a fix.

Oh yeah, and you probably noticed it’s used to make tequila.  No wonder I love margaritas!  Had some great ones in San Francisco with my friend Shirley (gluten free easily) at BlogHer Food Conference.   Can’t wait for this year.  Already signed up and going back for more of those margaritas!  Where was I?   Oh, see how easily distracted I get thinking about food and sharing it with friends.

©Diane Eblin

Back to what I was saying.  So a little goes a long way.  I do like agave nectar and use it in my baking and cooking often.  I’ve even used it on a roast before I covered it in seasonings.  I’ve used it in Blueberry Ice Cream, Pumpkin Pudding, Chocolate Sorbet, Amazing Toasted Nuts, Blueberry and Blackberry Crumble Pie, and Bananas Foster.

OK, so you can see what I mean with getting carried away with sugars and who I was talking about.  Thankfully I didn’t make these all in the same week.  But this is the week to share your recipes using agave.

PLEASE only add links to recipes that use the Secret Ingredient Agave.  If not I will have to remove it and I hate doing that.  Also, please link your recipe back to this page and make sure your recipe link is to that specific recipe and not your home page.

You can also add recipes in the comments section and leave your tips for using agave and not over using it.

Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ……………………….Kale!

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.

Aphrodisia, Wild Rose, Cupuacu Truffles by Gnosis Chocolate

Happy Presidents’ Day!  I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day yesterday and had the opportunity to do something nice for someone else.  I spent the weekend cooking for my two guys here and  I hope to be sending my college guy something in the mail.  Wish he was here.  My dessert treat was two fold over the weekend.  First I had chocolate truffles from Gnosis Chocolate.  They are raw,vegan, organic, handmade, gluten free, soy free, no refined sugar and low GI.  I really liked the Cupuacu chocolate with a cream filling and would buy a huge box of those.  Then I created an amazing whipped cream from chilled coconut milk cream (good stuff from the top of the can) and powdered sugar to top off fresh berries.  It was divine.

But yesterday was more than just Valentine’s Day, it was my mothers birthday.  Her 80th!  She looks amazing and no one would ever guess her age.  She’s an amazing cook, has the biggest heart and is the best mom ever.  I got really lucky that she decided to make me part of her family.  Thanks Mom!

Charlotte, Andrea, Abby Girl, Dorothy, Diane

Before the blizzards hit we traveled to visit my mom and met up with my niece, her husband and 1 year old daughter.  We got to spend some of the day together but when the snow started we had to leave.  I hope we can do that again real soon.  Isn’t this a cool photo!

This week you only get a couple of days to recover from Valentine’s Day and it’s time for Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday!  Oh the foods that go along with that holiday.  It’s a tough choice for me, chocolate or spicy gumbo with andoullie sausage.  hmmm

Well enough chat, on to the menu for the week.

Monday - Pulled pork tacos, salad

Tuesday - Shrimp Creole, red beans and rice, King Cake(some version of Jules Shepard)

Wednesday - Soy Citris Salmon, rice, haricot verts

Thursday - Skirt steak, black bean, sweet potato, red onion hash

Friday - Chipotle Shrimp

Saturday - Roasted vegetable pizza

Sunday - Buffalo and pork chorizo hash

Don’t forget this week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Agave!

Check out OrgJunkie for more menus.

This is a fast and easy recipe to make on a night when you really just want to eat and not cook.  It’s gluten and dairy free and full of the most amazing flavor.  This recipe will make enough for 12 tacos with leftover filling for an omelet the next morning.

This recipe was also shared with the NFCA and is featured as their Recipe Of The Week. If you have not visited their website yet you might want to see all of the great information they have to share.

Ingredients:

1 pound bay scallops

2 Purple Sweet Potatoes diced (can sub regular potatoes)

8 oz  Easy Homemade Fresh Chorizo

½ red onion diced

Handful of fresh cilantro chopped

1 tsp Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Corn Tortillas, warmed

*See notes for substitution ideas.

Directions:

First thing you want to prep is your purple sweet potato.  Peel and dice it and add it to a microwave safe bowl with water.  Cook on high for 6-10 minutes until they have started to soften.  The length of time will depend on your microwave.  Pre-cooking these potatoes while you are getting everything else ready, will go a long way to getting this dish cooked up fast.

Heat your pan on medium high and then let the coconut oil melt.  Add in your diced onions and cook until soft.  I like to remove these to a serving bowl while I cook the chorizo so they don’t over cook.  Remove the chorizo and add the purple sweet potatoes to the pan.  When they have browned remove them to your serving bowl and toss the scallops into the pan.  Make sure they are dry before adding them to your pan or they will steam and not brown.   Although I find it difficult to brown the smaller bay scallops as compared to the large sea scallops.  Warm your tortillas and keep them wrapped or covered on your table.

Once they scallops are cooked add them to your serving bowl along with the cilantro.  Mix it all together and taste.  You may or may not want to add any salt and pepper.  The chorizo is so full of flavor and seasonings that I didn’t need anything else.  You may feel differently.

At the table spoon the mixture into your tortilla, fold in half and eat.  It doesn’t even need any salsa but if I were going to try some it would definitely be a Creamy Tomatillo or Regular Salsa.

*Notes:

You can substitute a white potato for the purple sweet potato.  I found the purple sweet potatoes at the International Market.

You can substitute the large sea scallops for the smaller bay scallops if that is what you have on hand.  Just cut them into bite size pieces after you cook them.

If you don’t like or have scallops you can substitute shrimp.  Thanks Alta!

If you have chorizo that comes in a casing and it’s fresh, take it out of the casing to cook.  If it’s cooked links just dice it so it will be smaller than the potatoes.

You can also use homemade tortillas which would make this dish taste even better.