Life, Gluten Free

Our Thanksgiving Holiday Menu, 2011

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is this coming week.

Where has November gone?

It doesn't help be to sick for several weeks, I guess, because then it seems like the month has really escaped us.

But we are back on our feet and we've planned our menu and our activities, and I thought I would share them all with of you.

To make things as easy as possible, I am making what I can ahead of time. My homemade spaghetti sauce, for instance, is something that can easily be made a day or two beforehand.

Gluten-free & Grain-free Holiday Menu Plan:

Breakfast:

Homemade cinnamon & apple chicken sausage (my husband's recipe)

gluten-free/grain-free pancakes (my mom's recipe)

fried potatoes in coconut oil (this may or may not be my favorite food. don't judge.)

Thanksgiving feast:

Homemade spaghetti sauce on zucchini noodles

Orange maple glazed baked chicken

Raisin banana bake

Activities:

Ice skating

Painting ornaments (at home, from a kit)

We've found that ice skating on Thanksgiving has become our tradition, and it is nice because guess what?? Not many people are at the rink. So after breakfast, we will head over and strap on some ice skates.

Our thanksgiving feast will be around our normal lunch time and we will paint ornaments later in the day.

Every year on Thanksgiving, we bring out our thankful book and write down all that we are thankful for.

One thing that I am really thankful for this year, is looking back on the past four years and seeing how we've formed traditions for our daughter. I belive that traditions are very important because children look forward to them every year.

My husband and I want our daughter to look back on her childhood someday and remember all those fun times and how her parents made time for her. Because that is one of the most important things, making time for your kids and those you care about. When you look back on all your favorite memories, it's of time spent with those you love - isn't it? To us, that's what life is all about.

And unfortunately, we have many family members and friends that we don't get to spend much time with because they don't live near us. But they are always in our hearts - and I tell you another thing that will be on my thankful list this year - Skype.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a safe and happy day!

Potato Leek Soup

 

I made a small batch of this soup earlier this week but it was so good, that I had to make another batch. This time I made a bigger batch. After Sophie had a bowl for lunch and my four bowls, I put the remainder away, three 32-oz jars.

I am already looking forward to another bowl later! 

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

9 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 carrots, peeled and cubed

1 small leek, sliced into half rounds

1 large yellow onion, diced

16 cups of water

dash of sea salt

Directions:

Add all the vegetables to a large soup pot

Pour in water and turn stove on high

Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium heat 

You want the soup to be on a nice low boil, but not a high boil or the bottom will burn

Cook, lid off, stirring occassionally

Continue to cook until well done, about 1 hour 30 minutes

Remove from heat

Using a potato masher, mash some of the potatoes and then stir the soup well

If you don't have a potato masher, you can pour some of the soup into a food processor or blender

Blend well and then add back to the soup pot

**this makes the soup creamy

Serve with sea salt to taste!

Makes about 3, 32 ounce jars :) 

Baked Basiled Carrots

"Basiled" is not technically a word but I have made it one for this recipe. These carrots are baked, with fresh basil which adds a terrific flavor. This dish was really simple and quick to make (especially since we have a basil plant on the front porch) and it is a perfect addition to baked potatoes.

A great meal to welcome Fall!

Ingredients:

7-9 carrots, sliced into rounds (or for a chunkier carrot, slice into half rounds)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 small onion or shallot (see picture at top. I used an onion from our garden)

sea salt (just a sprinkle, and add more to taste at the end)

sliced tomato (optional)

Directions:

Chop carrots, basil and onions.

Add all ingredientst to a glass oven-safe bowl and mix.

Sprinkle sea salt.

Bake at 400 F, for 45-50 minutes or until carrots are tender.

**at 45 minutes, I layered sliced heirloom tomato on the very top of the dish and baked about 5 more minutes.

Serve with baked potato and squash!

We bought two locally and organically grown heirloom tomatoes and I decided to add the red one to the top of the carrot dish. Good decision! Heirloom tomatoes are sweeter and seem less acidic than other tomatoes like roma and vine ripened. The two we picked out had fun stripes on them.

Baked Sausage and Brown Rice

One of my favorite things to do is cook for my husband - and my family in general. I really like to know how much they enjoy the food, especially since I believe our food choices are healthy ones. So, I feel like I am nourishing their souls and their bodies all at the same time.

When my husband and I decided to make dinner for friends  and bring it over to them on Christmas Eve, I knew I wanted to make something comforting and something savory. Our friends were having a difficult time with things and we just wanted to extend our hand and let them know that we care.

I searched the internet and decided to adapt a recipe for baked sausage and rice.

Here's how I did it.

Baked Sausage and Brown Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups (dry) short-grain organic brown rice

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 bunches scallions

4 cups of water or stock

3 franks organic beef sausage

2 cups organic cheese (we used mozarella)

salt to taste

Serving size: 2-4, great if served with a baked potato and salad

Preparation:

Melt coconut oil in a large pot

Add chopped scallions and begin to saute

Sprinkle in some sea salt

Rinse brown rice and add to pot after scallions are nearly sauteed

Stir will and add 4 cups of water or stock

Bring to boil, turn down to a simmer and cover with lid

After rice is cooked, transfer to an oven safe glass baking dish

Add more sea salt to taste

Stir in chopped sausage

Top with shredded cheese

Place in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and slightly browned

Variations:

The pictures are not of the full recipe, it makes more than what is pictured in the dish. I often make the full recipe and then put some rice aside in a container before adding the sausage and cheese. Also, in this "photo shoot" I had added some chopped tomato on top. I've also thrown in some spinach with the scallions. This recipe is easily adaptable and versitile.

Veggie Burgers Supreme

That is a picture of my daughter's lunch today. Avocado, veggie burgers and sautéed summer squash.

She loved it. I love making veggie burgers because they are easy and packed with nutrition. Sadly, I don't have a recipe for you. I make mine a bit different each time, with some fundamental ingredients (like brown rice). Below I will list out what ingredients I usually use, for anyone adventurous enough to try it out without an actual measured recipe. It's really not very hard at all.

Ingredients:

Cooked brown rice

Tomato paste (I often use real tomatoes, but if I don't have them then I put in organic tomato paste)

Vegetables (here's the tricky part, I might use a mix of thawed organic frozen vegetables or I may use carrot/veggie pulp that is left over from juicing or sometimes neither and instead I will simply grind dried vegetables, that we dry in our dehydrator, and use them for the vegetable part as well as the dry ingredient part)

Salt to taste (I put only a little salt, I like to sprinkle some on the finished burgers instead)

If I am using the ground dried vegetables, then it is like flour and I don't need to add other dried ingredients to make it dry enough to form into patties. If the mix has too much liquid, I will simply grind some brown rice into flour and add it until it is thick/dry enough to form into patties. At this point, you should know that it is dry eonugh because it sticks together well and you aren't left with sticky globs all over your hands!

These particular burgers were made with brown rice, but in a slightly different way. I made brown rice cereal (where we grind brown rice finely and cook with water + coconut milk) and since I already had a good bit of that left, I decided to not cook brown rice and use the cereal instead. I would not recommend it though, unless you have some brown rice cereal left over and want to use it. It was too liquidy and I had to add a lot of brown rice flour and vegetable "flour" to make it thick/dry enough to work. They sure did taste good though!

My next goal is to make some vegetable burgers without rice, though. I want to make some veggie burgers that do not contain rice because my mom was recently told she shouldn't be eating rice. I think instead of rice I will use vegetable pulp and potatoes. 

After I took this picture, a little hand appeared and snagged one of the burgers off the plate :)

Also, if any of you want to follow my blog on facebook, you can find it here.

Breaded Polenta

Guest poster: My husband! The recipe was written and crafted by him. He originally created this recipe over a year ago.

Breading

1 cup Corn Meal (finely ground) or corn flour may work as well

4 tablespoon Tapioca Flour

2 tablespoon Potato Starch

1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum

4 tablespoon Coconut Milk (So Delicious Unsweetened)

1 rounded teaspoon Egg Replacer

1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar

1/2 cup Water – this is approximate – add enough water to turn this into a batter

I sifted the flour mix (corn meal, tapioca flour, potato starch and xanthan gum) before mixing the liquids in. I then put the egg replacer and rice vinegar in a small bowl and mixed them together with about a tablespoon of warm water. Mix this and the water together. This batter needs to be thick enough to stay on the polenta, but not so thick that it makes the polenta crumble when you try to coat it.

Polenta

I cooked 3 cups to produce extra.

There really is no secret to this, just be sure the grits are thick so that it will set rather than stay mushy. Keeping the water to dry grits ratio at 2:1 should work well. Add more water if you have to but as I said before, don't overdo it.

Add lots of butter, Earth Balance, coconut oil, or olive oil. I used coconut oil. If the grits are thick enough, you can add lots of oil/butter. Generally, the more the better and richer the polenta will be. Also, you can sauté and brown onions, scallions, leeks etc and add the basic Italian spices. You really need to add lots of flavoring to get that flavoring to come through in the final product. Luckily, you can add everything to taste since the polenta is already cooked and you can test it as you add the herbs.

Once the polenta is ready, put it in a large pan to spread out the polenta. I usually spread it to about 1” but you can spread it as thick or thin as you want. Next, put it in a refrigerator until it cools or you can just leave it out to cool. Once the polenta sets and hardens up you can cut it up, coat it in the breading, and fry it in coconut oil (or oil of choice) in a wok.

Balsamic Reduction & Avocado

For the avocado, we simply cubed avocado for garnish. We also made an avocado sauce by mashing avocado in a bowl and then adding salt , herbs and onion. You can also add tomato, sort of like guacamole. Get creative and flavor it how you prefer!

Put balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan. Place on medium heat and let simmer until it reduces to a thick syrup.

We hope you try it!

- Heather & Matt

Potato Stuffed Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce

Every now and then, we're all in need of a bit of fun. Call me crazy, but I find a lot of excitement in culinary adventure. We started using these large rice pasta shells a while ago. I've stuffed them with a rice pilaf, which was excellent. I should make it again and post a recipe. But this time, I stuffed them with mashed potatoes. It came out excellent too, I hope you try it!

I used this recipe for the lemon and dill mashed potatoes with avocado. I stuffed the grand shells with that mixture and topped with a tomato sauce. I made the tomato sauce myself and included capers. You can create a sauce or use a pre-prepared sauce. When I make tomato sauce, I use pureed tomatoes and tomato paste. My favorite brand of tomatoes to use is bionaturae.

I saute onions and then I add the tomato sauce and paste. I also add herbs like basil and oregano. I can't even remember the last time that I had a store bought sauce. I started making my own tomato sauce when I was a kid and became addicted ever since :) It just tastes so much better!

The sauce I made with this dish did not include onions because Sophie is allergic to them. I either make her a sauce on the side without onions or just make a sauce without them for everyone, which I did this time. So, if you are allergic to onions or don't like them, you can definitely leave them out!

The grand shells by tinkyada are really fun to use and we like to experiment with creating things to stuff them with. Next, I'm thinking some type of squash. There will be more recipes to come that include these shells - yum!

And if your house is like mine, then topping with olives is a must :)

-heather

Lemon and Dill Mashed Potatoes with Avocado

A friend of mine told me she had seen (and tried) a recipe recently that added lemon juice, olive oil, dill and avocado into mashed potatoes. Since she didn't have the recipe, I decided to figure it out and add those ingredients to taste to create a recipe.

Lemon and Dill Mashed Potatoes with Avocado

NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts

Ingredients:
8-9 medium sized potatoes, peeled

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill (loosely packed)
2 avocados, diced
salt to taste

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes and make mashed potatoes as you normally would.
I usually put some earth balance in the mashed potatoes (and I did this time).

In a separate bowl, whisk together lemon juice and oil.
Add to the mashed potatoes and stir well.
Add salt to taste.
Lightly fold in the diced avocado with a spatula.

This dish is awesome and is one of our favorites now. I made a small batch for Sophie without earth balance and with coconut oil instead of olive oil because of her allergies.

The avocado adds a really nice creamy texture to the dish. I like the salty and tangy tones that are created by the lemon juice, dill and sea salt. You can also use dried dill if you don't have access to fresh.

After dinner, my husband and I kept talking about how much we enjoyed this twist on mashed potatoes. I am looking forward to making it again soon. We also sauteed some fresh local pesticide-free corn and swiss chard with onions to eat with the mashed potatoes.

I hope you try these potatoes! If you are not particular fond of dill, you could substitute for another herb or even leave it out. Dill actually contains iron and manganese. Potatoes offer Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and Potassium. Avocados are a great source of Vitamin K, dietary fiber and are a tasty source of essential fatty acids. Combining these ingredients in mashed potatoes make this dish even more healthy!

-heather

Summer Salad (Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free!)

Hosting this month is the lovely Shirley from Gluten Free Easily. Shirley has quickly found her way in the gluten free blogging realm and she is a great addition. Her theme for the Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten Free (founded by Naomi at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried) is Make Me a Happy Camper. She asked us to submit a dish that we'd take camping, on a picnic or on a hike.

On a whim of inspiration, we roused ourself on Sunday and rushed out of bed to prepare for a hike on Lichen Loop. And of course, what's a hike without a picnic lunch or a picnic snack, in the least? I quickly shucked some fresh corn and washed it along with some cucumbers as a pot of water boiled on the stove, splattering water angrily. We decided to pack some gluten free pasta salad and make a quick summer salad with the fresh corn and cucumbers.

I didn't know it at the time, but the summer salad that I made would by my submission for this months Go Ahead Honey. I had originally planned to post another dish but found out that the pictures that I had snapped did not come out well enough for my liking. That will have to be published another day (because who can resist a dish made out of coconut and orange?).

Summer Salad

NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, nuts

Ingredients:
4 ears fresh corn
3 small cucumbers (these were the pickling kind)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar
4 stems scallions
1 teaspoon dill (dried)
salt to taste

Preparation:
Shuck the corn and use a knife to slice it off the cob. Place it in a bowl.
Dice the cucumbers and toss in the bowl with the corn.
Chop the scallions and add to the bowl.
Add the olive oil and vinegar, mixing well with a spoon.
Mix in the dill and then the salt to taste.

Store in a glass container with a lid and allow the flavors to sit.Take on a picnic or serve at home and enjoy :)

Thanks Shirley. This was fun. I have to say, Go Ahead Honey is my favorite event to partake in!

We had a great hike and a great lunch afterward.

Be sure to check Shirley's blog to see who else participated, she should be posting the round-up by July 31st.

-heather

Easy Dinner Pilaf with Cumin

This dish is even easier to create if you have some brown rice already cooked and in need of attention. I made this dish in about 10 to 15 minutes and it was really good.

Easy Dinner Pilaf with Cumin

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, nuts

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked brown rice

3 carrots

5 scallions

1-2 cups of fresh spinach

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon herbamare

sea salt to taste (if you need more salt than the herbamare provides, or if you don't have herbamare)

Preparation:

Chop the carrots and scallions and start sauteing them in olive oil. 

Chop the spinach and add it to the carrots and scallions. 

After the vegetables are almost done, add the brown rice. 

Stir well and then add the spices and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

This goes well served with a nice side salad. After a weekend of festivities, I needed something simple and nourishing :)

-heather