Life, Gluten Free

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 3

Gardening is in our blood! We didn't even realize just how much we'd love it. This is our second year, and we're ready to expand for next year.

Loading our back hatch with tons of veggies? Priceless.

We've also learned a quick cure for flea beetles, which are small beetles that like to dine on just about everything in your garden.. especially when your plants are at their most vulnerable seedling stage. They are called flea beetles because they jump. We thought we'd might lose most of our green bean seedlings, but fortunately we found a "cure."

I mixed up essential oils of neem, peppermint and oregano into a spray bottle with water. I only had to re-apply a few times before the flea beetles were gone. Our green bean plants are now hardy and producing a bounty for us.

I planted two varieties of green beans, one called Blue Lake. It's one of our favorites. The beans inside are grayish purple, and the taste - from the pod to the bean - is buttery and rich. (Once steamed, we eat them with sea salt and coconut oil).

Our tomato plants are lacking a bit this year. They are taking longer to ripen, which I've heard could be contributed to the hotter temperatures this summer.

But when they ripen, they are very tasty. Especially these sun gold cherry tomatoes.

We love that our meals are consisting of mostly vegetables we're growing in our garden!

Do you garden, what have you grown this year?

Other Posts in our Garden series:

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 1

Our Organic Garden 2012, Part 2

What Our Garden Grows (2011)

A Grain-Free Diet

Some people with Celiac Disease find that being gluten-free is not quite enough for them to feel completely healthy again and symptom free. Our daughter's doctor told us that when Celiac Disease was first discovered, it was recommended that you eat a completely grain-free diet, not just a diet that was void of gluten found in wheat, rye, barley, etc. 

Since our daughter still experiences some eczema, we've decided to adapt a grain-free diet to see if that alleviates her symptoms further. 

Here are some of the products that we've added to her diet. It was not as hard as I thought. My first fear was that she'd ask for brown rice noodles but we quickly solved that dilemma! Now she doesn't ask. That might tell you something. Often times, once you eliminate a particular food from your diet, you then realize that it didn't really agree with you in the first place.

She's been off of grains for about a month, and her skin is looking pretty great! We are pleased. And since I started to write this post a while ago, I can now say that the transition to grain-free has been very easy. She loves the new noodles and she really, really loves the coconut wraps and calls them "flatbread."

Coconut Wraps: (pictured above)

Pure Wraps are heaven. They smell so, so good. They are made in a nut-free, gluten-free facility. They hold together well. You can cram them with avocado, homemade pickles, lettuce and olives (that's Sophie's favorite combo).

Grain-free Noodles:

These miracle noodles are a hit. They may not be just like rice noodles, but Sophie likes them all the same. I even used them for chicken noodle soup and it was a win!

*This post is purely my opinion on these products that we've found to work well for us, I did not receive any free products from the companies listed above. We just love them!

I'll leave you with a photo of my daughter eating a pizza that we made using the coconut wraps as a crust. It was a major win.

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

Potato Lasagna

Potato Lasagna

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts

Ingredients:  

6 large sized potatoes
1 pack tinyada lasagna noodles

2 medium sized tomatoes

2 yellow onions

2 cups frozen broccoli 

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon basil

Preparation:

Boil potatoes until done.

Blend potatoes with a hand mixer to make mashed potatoes. 

Add salt to taste. 

Add 1 tablespoon of earth balance (or your choice of butter or oil) and continue to blend the potatoes.

Saute onion and broccoli in olive oil and add to the mashed potatoes.

Add herbs. Taste and adjust to meet your taste buds!

Boil the lasagna noodles per the directions on the box.

In a glass dish, layer the noodles with mashed potatoes and diced tomato.

Spread earth balance or oil on top of the last layer of noodles.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

You can also top with cheese and add olives.

This is really good variation on lasagna. It is dairy-free but still creamy and good!

-heather

Penne with Sundried Tomato Sauce

The recipe came from my friend Kelly at The Spunky Coconut. I made her recipe for Penne with Tangy Tomato Sauce but I used onion powder instead of garlic powder. I also decided to use Golden Balsamic Vinegar instead of regular balsamic vinegar. 

This sauce is a great alternative to the usual tomato pasta sauce. I have been on a kick lately, making a lot of homemade pasta sauce. But this sauce was a nice change, and it was very quick and easy to make.

If you like tangy, sweet and a little salty, then this is definitely a must-try sauce. I am going to be making it again soon! I already stocked up on the penne! You could even use both onion powder and garlic powder. We have an allergy to garlic, unfortunately.

Ingredients:

10 sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup of organic extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon raw honey

1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Puree until sauce is mixed well.

Top over gluten-free penne pasta or your favorite pasta! We used Tinkyada Penne.

We enjoyed this with some green olives and a salad. Thanks Kelly! Great recipe!

-heather

Tomato Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar

Tomato Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar

NO: gluten, dairy, nuts, soy

Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions

extra virgin olive oil to saute onions (about 1-2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 can of organic fire roasted tomatoes (14.5 ounces)

Preparation:

Saute onions until translucent and slightly browned. 

Add balsamic vinegar and continue to saute. 

Allow the balsamic vinegar to reduce slightly, to decrease the liquid.

Add the herbs and continue to cook, allowing the herbs to release their aroma.

Add the tomato sauce and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve sauce, warm over rice noodles of choice. Have chocolate rounds for dessert!

We used the fettucini noodles by tinkyada.

You can also enjoy with a side of toasted gluten free bread. We had some tempeh sausage left over from breakfast, and so we crumbled some on top:

My husband made the sausage, and he doesn't measure! We will be sure to make it again and put the recipe up. He made the sauce too, but luckily I was standing there with a pen in hand, making him measure each ingredient! :)

-heather