Hanging By a Thread

#GF {Gluten Free}: Ditching the Gluten and Opting to Feel Good

New Year/New Eating Habits

After denying the signs for a while and toying with the idea for a while longer, I finally made the jump to gluten free. I won't bore you with the detailed description of why this became a necessary choice; and frankly, it's none of your business anyway.

I welcomed the change though. I was beginning to feel stuck in a lazy rut, food-wise. I love good, fresh food; I even love to prepare it and create new dishes and combinations, but for too long my focus had not been on our meals; and this seemed like the appropriate segue.

The Meal Plan

For me to make this work, I needed a plan. It couldn't be haphazard grocery shopping and half-hearted meal planning.

I did some research and found some sites that made me feel like this was something I could do without much stress or confusion. Then, I picked up the Park Nicollet Health Newsletter I'd gotten in the mail and found Beth Dooley's {I love Beth Dooley's recipes} super easy, super soothing and soul warming ideas for roasting a chicken each week. And this gave my plan life.

I started by going aisle by aisle through Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Target taking stock of what choices I had available to me in a gluten free version, or perhaps was naturally gluten free. I gathered flours, crackers, mixes, breads, chips, veggies, fruits, pastas, rice, cereals, nuts and seeds, polenta, corn tortillas and cheese and two big roasting chickens.

I made a meal plan for the first week, each one incorporating chicken in a different way; chicken, veggie, rice soup, soft corn tortilla tacos with chicken, guacamole and cheese, spinach salad with peppers, pears, apples, cranberries, sunflower seeds with a balsamic vinaigrette, chicken salad with cashews, cranberries, mayo and lemon juice in lettuce wraps, nachos with falafel chips, chicken, black beans, salsa, guacamole and cheese.

We roasted the chicken with herbs and garlic in chicken broth with potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms on Saturday, then ate them in these meals through the week. It made the transition extremely simple. This week it's not all chicken, as we find our footing in this new way of eating.

Taking it Bite by Bite

It's been just a little over a week, and I already feel a difference. For one thing, I am really thinking about what we're eating. No more stopping for a quick snack at a favorite patisserie; no more running through the drive through; and no more having sandwiches or pizza delivered.

I have found that I no longer crave food, as I always have before. I feel lighter in my gut, and Will and I have both lost pounds; an added bonus.

I have discovered that it's not really about giving up things; it's about trying new options and adapting. Even the kids have accepted this new idea...for the most part. Darling 1 is more excited about it and seems to have gotten a grasp of what it means; Darling 2 is not quite willing to accept all that he is giving up...yet.

And while the whole family has ditched gluten for now; it may not be necessary for all of us to remain gluten free. But it's worth the test to see how we feel and act after several months of eating in this way. So far, it's been easy and tasty; another added bonus.

The Scoop

Have you ever changed your diet in a major way? What was easy? What was hard? Are you gluten free? What's your favorite gluten free blog and/or cookbook?

Right now I'm shooting from the hip and reading lots of labels, but I have come across some great recipes, including chocolate mousse and polenta crust pizzas, and one of my all-time favorite easy meals is gluten free: rotisserie or roasted chicken in a warm corn tortilla with avocado slices/guacamole and shredded cheddar cheese; so simple and so delicious. Over and out..

Anna

 

 

Motherly Recipes: From Anna’s Kitchen {Little Fudgy Cakes}

Is there a mandatory minimum number of ingredients for a recipe to be a recipe? I'm not sure, but if there is, this recipe is on the verge of disqualification. There are only two {yes, two} ingredients in this recipe.

I wish I could say that I had thought to do this, but I didn't. I got it from one of my hostesses at a Norwex party.

Simply mix a chocolate cake mix {I suppose you could use other flavors of cake mix, but I don't know why you would} and 1 can of pumpkin puree, dollop it out into a greased muffin pan or cake pan and bake. That's it! Really!

The result is a rich, fudgy little cake without all the fat. You can't taste the pumpkin at all.

Now, you can put some fun add-ins based on your taste, but you don't have to. I added dark chocolate chips because that's what I had on hand. The hostess at my Norwex party had three varieties: butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and coconut/walnut.

Please do yourself a favor and try this quick and easy, not-so-bad-for-you treat! You can thank me later! This minuscule recipe makes for a very short post! Over and out...

Anna

Motherly Recipes: From the Kitchen of Anna {Pick-a-Top Open-Faced Sandwiches}

Each Easter, our family boils the eggs and dyes them pink, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple, decorates them with stickers, crayons or markers, takes some photos and places them back into the fridge so they don't spoil.

As a child, we boiled them, dyed them and then set them in our baskets; later we hid them in the yard and then let them lay in our Easter baskets until they were rotten; then we threw them out. But as an adult, I haven't wasted them; we eat them.

I try to be inventive with the boiled eggs, but still there are only so many ways to use a boiled egg. This year we actually ate our dyed eggs on Easter. The boys were strangely agreeable to this and loved the choices of toppings for their eggs.

Pick-a-Top Open-Faced {Egg} Sandwiches

• I made a basic egg salad with 6 boiled eggs using liberal amounts of mayo, mustard, chopped sweet and spicy pickles, salt and pepper.
• I toasted some fresh Austrian Pumpernickel from a local baker; in the oven with a little smear of butter.
• I sautéed onion, sweet peppers and mushrooms, separately.
• I chopped fresh chives from the pot outside my kitchen and some cherry tomatoes.
• I placed the egg salad on a large, thin piece of the toasted pumpernickel and served it with roasted asparagus and the choice of all of the above.

The boys piled it on and were excited to choose and to create their own meal.

This is a great way to use up any leftover meat, veggies or cheese. This would work well with tuna salad, leftover roast beef, ham, chicken, meatballs, melted cheese, hummus or any other combination you can think of.

Spinach, peppers {sweet or hot}, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, summer squash, carrots, fresh herbs like basil, oregano, thyme and sage and a variety of shredded cheeses are all tasty options for topping choices.

Choose your favorite fresh, hearty bread and the sky is the limit. You could add a pesto, tomato sauce or cream sauce too.

Kids love to create concoctions in the kitchen and at the table. Give them choices and it might surprise you what all they try. Plus these sandwiches look and taste sophisticated for the adult foodie types too.

For the roasted asparagus, wash and trim spears. Put foil on a cookie sheet and put spears on foil. Drizzle choice of oil on spears. I used Walnut Oil. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Gently mix with fingers to ensure each spear is coated. Roast for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy! Over and out...

Anna

Motherly Recipes: From the Kitchen of Anna

Mixin' It Up

When I have something going on in my head; something that I need to work out; something I'm avoiding doing I go to my kitchen and bake. Baking may be my mechanism for avoidance, but once I have my sweet treat, I'm ready to face whatever it is I'd rather not be doing or thinking about. So, I guess it's also a coping mechanism.

When I'm inspired, light-hearted or exuberant I head to my kitchen and cook. This is my method for getting the creative juices really flowing. I put this and that together and craft delicious meals for my family.

I rarely use a recipe when cooking. I may be inspired by a recipe I've read in the past or eaten or heard about or by a flavor or food I've been craving. I generally work with ingredients I have on hand; a bit of this; a handful of that; mixed with this and tossed with that; voila.

I have a knack for knowing which flavors marry well with others; it's an inherited trait. I get it from my dad; one of the best chefs there is. This is fortunate for my family since they have to eat my concoctions.

Baking is based on more precise measurements, of course. So, it's a bit trickier to be inventive with the recipes and truly make them mine. However, I almost never have all the ingredients I need for a recipe. Therefore, I am forced to be creative. And that's OK because I am the queen of substitutions. My recipes almost always turn out really well; I can't remember any we couldn't eat or didn't taste good, actually.

So, here's the point. I've noticed that when I post a random recipe here and there on ML, you all really like that. So, in shaking things up a bit, I thought I'd try posting a Motherly Recipe: From the Kitchen of Anna each week. Some weeks it might just be substitution tip or cooking suggestion; other weeks it'll be a recipe that I have tweaked to make it my own.

Here's one to start out. This is my classic go-to meal.

Anna's Easy, Fresh Veggie Pasta Toss

Start with pasta or rice; whatever you have in your pantry. Cook it.

Next, raid your veggie drawer. Slice and sauté whatever you've got. We usually have onions, spinach, carrots, sweet peppers and mushrooms on hand {in the summer, I usually have summer squash, zucchini and tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower on hand too}

Heat your skillet, pour in a little olive oil or walnut oil {my new fave} or other type of oil you have on hand. Put your sliced veggies in skillet. You can do each veggie separately if you want to keep the individual flavors more intact or throw them in together – keep the spinach out until the end though; it won't need to be on the heat long.

Monitor your heat. You want it hot enough to caramelize the veggies, but not so hot that it cooks them too fast and dries them out. So, a medium high is a good temp for my stove when sautéing. When the moisture cooks out of your veggies and their edges are a caramelized color remove these veggies to a bowl. If using spinach, turn the heat back on, add a small bit of oil to the skillet and add spinach; it won't take long to wilt the fresh spinach. Once wilted, remove from heat.

When your pasta is ready, drain and toss with sautéed veggies, then top with parmesan or feta and/or toasted nuts, chopped olives, etc.

And dinner is served.

I don't cook with meat much {I have an aversion to raw meat}, but if you have some leftover chicken, fish, beef or pork, feel free to toss that in with the veggies. That's tasty too. In fact, when I do have chicken or pork tenderloin, etc., I usually save a portion for the next night to cut up and put in a salad, pasta, stir fry rice dish, etc.

My kids will always eat pasta. And they are pretty good about veggies too {most of the time}, but if there is one they aren't fond of I just chop it smaller than the rest of them. Or they can pick out the parts they don't want.

The Scoop

The thing about my recipes is that they are easily interchangeable with ingredients you have in your kitchen right now. So, you can create your own creation for dinner. Another great thing about this recipe is that it's great cold too. So, take the leftovers for lunch the next day. Over and out...

Anna