Pineapple

Today I had the pleasure of cutting up a fresh pineapple.    On vacation we went to Hawaii and visited the Dole Plantation.   We sampled fresh pineapple and it was good but I thought it would be way too much hassle for the product.   I was so very wrong.

First off,  we are trying to take away all processed foods, Going Paleo for awhile to get into shape loose some winter pounds and just get our bodies back to where they should have always been……………..Natural foods, whole foods, fresh foods.

My daughter asked me to get a fresh pineapple since she loves pineapple and was sad to see her canned stuff go.   I was in a good mood and said okay but to be honest I sat it on the counter and tried to ignore it until I had no choice to cut it up.  It was like an elephant hiding in the room.

When I finally got the nerve to cut it up I went all out.   I got a planter and soil and I was going to try to grow my own.   I got out my big wood cutting board and a big knife.   Me and knives do not get along but today was  a good day.   I pulled the stem out and set it aside then I cut the top and the bottom off and then just went down the sides.   I started slicing chunks and eating as I went and it was so hard not to just devour the whole pineapple.  It was so good.  so I called my daughter down so she could keep me accountable not to eat the whole thing and between us both had a few more slices.

the stem I just cleaned up, pulling the leaves to show 1 inch of clean stem and placed in a cup of water making sure it did not touch the bottom and water only went 1/2 way up.   My planter is all ready once it starts to root.   I am excited to try this and you grow it indoors so you have fresh fruit year round.   Wondering how it will do in the winter time with no sunlight but I am sure I can find some plant lights or something for it when that time comes.

When I say something is easy you know it is easy because I am not that talented with foods.   I can’t wait to dive into the rest of it tomorrow.

 

 

 

Liz Lovely

What a lovely surprise I got today as I was wondering the bakery section at my local store waiting for my pharmacy order. Lovely indeed. I came across a brightly packaged cookie net weight 6.3 ounces so we are talking two pretty big sized cookies in a basket among the rows of pastries.

Okay stop the presses here for a rant. Don’t you just hate it when stores put a gluten-free item in with the rest of the gluten things. No person who has celiac is going to go shopping among the pastries. It was by accident I found these. How long would these have sat there had I not been wondering aimlessly?

Okay back to the cookies. Liz Lovely makes a gluten-free cookie, there are several types but the only one they had were chocolate chip so I bought one just to try.

1. They were expensive but then what Gluten Free item isn’t? $4 for the two cookies. That is $2. per cookie for those who don’t want to think right now. Not a treat I will buy every week but a treat I will buy occasionally.
2. Yum, these tasted like cookie dough, so I am eating it and its like a blob of cookie dough. So I am thinking I need to be home watching a chick flick with these. Alas I was in the car and I devoured every last crumb on the one even the crumbs that fell on the chair which I did get once I got to my destination.

I give them a thumbs up, one for taste and one because I applaud anyone who does gluten-free and makes it taste good. plus they are dairy and egg free. they contain soy but that’s okay this is a cookie I reserve for me the grown up in the family and will continue to give other treats to my son who is soy free. I am confident that they may jump on board and be soy free one day too seeing that is a big yucky to a lot of people.

so I am sitting here looking at the second cookie which I (against my will) saved for later wondering how to get my little boy to sleep so I can snuggle up to a cup of coffee and a chick flick. Nothing goes better than cookie dough and tears.

If you haven’t tried these go searching through your local pastry section, they may be there and if not there is a store locator on their website. I can’t wait to see what the other flavors taste like. I bet just as good and when I try them I will be sure to update you on how I rate them.

now excuse me while I go hide this cookie till I can get my son to bed because my will power right now is not strong.

Good Job Liz Lovely.

http://lizlovely.com/

Crockpot PB&C Cake

It was a busy day in our house as we rushed around getting ready for my daughters graduation. I wanted to do a cake but I was so short on time I wasn’t sure what to do. I looked up crock pot cake recipes and found some basic ones but my daughter being very adamant on what she likes asked for a special kind so doing my best I put together this using the basic recipe but changing around the Gluten items to Gluten free and adding different flavor combination. It was very good. First night it was oooey gooey goodness that was so rich in flavor 3 of us didn’t finish the bowl. the second day its wasn’t as ooey gooey unless you microwaved it which I did but daughter liked it cold. It was so stinking easy I just may make cakes in the crock pot from now on……………

Peanut Butter and chocolate Crockpot Cake

in a large bowl combine the following:

2 tsp vanilla ~ 1 & 1/3 cup water ~ 3/4 cup oil ~1 packgage gluten-free cafe chocolate cake mix ~3.5 oz instant chocolate pudding mix ~ 4 eggs.
(notes if you use a betty Crocker GF mix you might want two boxes I opted for GFCafe because it makes a larger cake like a normal gluten cake mix would)

once mixed swirl in 1 cup Peanut butter (smooth) and then fold in 12 oz peanut butter chips.

Pour into a greased crock pot and cook on low 6-7 hours.

Before eating sprinkle the cake with 12 oz of peanut butter & chocolate chips and let melt. Serve with vanilla ice cream to counter the sweetness. I loved it with a big pot of coffee. My sweet tooth almost went into a coma.

Sorry to my readers

as you may have noticed my blogs are a little lacking lately.  far and few inbetween.   I have been fighting illness now for 4 weeks and it is wearing on me.   my family don’t get that many home made meals lately  as you can tell by my previous post of premade pizza crust. 

Please stick with me I promise I will be up soon and back to posting wonderful recipes for you. 

On that note is there anything you have been craving that you just can’t figure out how to transform to gluten free?   give me some thoughts and maybe I can get motivated.

This summer my family and I are going to work on extra healthy so you will find posts of very healthy dishes, hoping all under 500 calories will be posting soon.   The long Alaskan winter has put pounds on all of us  lately except my youngest who is a little whip of a kid depsite eating.   Him we are trying to put weight on

When I was very sick a few years ago I would cook three meals, a low calorie meal for me, a regular meat and potato meal for husband and middle kid and a very high calorie for my son.  it got to the point I was going crazy with three meals like that a day.   so this summer we are all on the same healthy diet  just for my son he gets double/triple portions of it or a side of high calorie snacks.

 

Again thanks for sticking with me and I hope to be on my tip toes again soon.

 

Rudi’s Gluten Free Pizza Crust Review

Tonight was one of those busy nights, I have been sick and not able to cook, husband in tournaments so the teenager in the house was left to make a quick dinner for her and her little brother. We chose pizza since he has just learned to like pizza and it is always a good meal. Normally we make our own crusts and go all out but tonight we picked up some Rudi’s gluten free pizza crusts and some simple toppings.

The price for two of these little guys which is slightly bigger than a dessert plate is $8.98 for two. It does take two to fill up even a little 7 year old that weighs barely 50 lbs. I got a pizza as well as my daughter and although like my son pointed out not that filling they were quick and easy to do.

My first impression was that it was like a large soft/hard saltine cracker. hard to explain it was soft but hard and sturdy at the same time and dense so it was able to withstand the heavy topping that the kids piled on it. I quickly bit into it and not even thinking it would be hardish I almost dislocated my jaw so the future bites were taken carefully.

the taste was not extra-ordinary but it wasn’t bad tasting either. It cooked up fine with all the toppings without sogging out and again I will point out it was easy. just put toppings on and put in oven.

I have neither a Yay or a Nay for this product because it is handy for when the kids have pizza parties at the last-minute at school. I can throw some sauce and cheese on it and they can have their own pizza’s. they can also grab then on days when I am sick again and they want to have a fun Friday night watching movies eating pizzas. But for the price I cannot see eating these on more than rare occasions. I would much rather make my own crusts and freeze them for what I pay for with the Rudi’s. However I am not always that ambitious so any premade crust that is edible gets a happy nod.

I will say I would love to try these again when I am feeling better. I don’t think I gave it the 100% on the review but since they were being made tonight despite my illness I had to try them because like I said at that price won’t be buying them again soon.

interested in any of your thoughts on the product.

Gluten Free Pretzel Review

I got a wonderful birthday gift from my daughter this year.   Several new gluten-free things to try.   One of these items was Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels.

The box reads 2 classic soft pretzels, all natural, gluten-free, wheat free, made in an allergy aware nut free bakery with 5 g of whole grains.

I love pretzels, every time we went to a mall or to Costco we got a big old hot pretzel with extra salt.   One of my favorite treats of all times when I go out like that.  so how did these compare?

Sadly pretzels are one thing I have not mastered so I miss them tremendously and for taste and texture I only give them a 3.  They were small, dense, and not the usual crispy outside soft chewy inside it was more of a chewy all around.  It didn’t cure my craving for soft pretzels but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.   Its like getting a cup of coffee from the soup kitchen vs Starbucks.

I do however give them a 8 for effort.   It’s not everyone (since they are the only brand I know of) that steps up to the plate to make a gluten-free soft pretzel.   Plus the cost was $7 for 2 itty bitty pretzels.  the two together would almost make up a regular size pretzel you buy at the mall

So sorry Kim & Scott’s but I probably won’t be spending my money on your soft pretzels more than once in a long while.  I love the idea, I would buy them all the time if they were just larger, more comparable and the price well that wouldn’t even bother me if they were more like the real thing.

for those who enjoy them, I am sorry I am the harshest critic when it comes to Gluten Free.   I think there is no reason that a product cannot taste like the gluten version.  With pretzels I just haven’t mastered it yet.    We have mastered most everything in our 7 years of Gluten free; but tortillas and pretzels still give me heck.

so enjoy if you like but this is my honest opinion of the food.  I will say I enjoyed them immensely just because they were a very dear gift from my daughter who always thinks of me.  I would have shared but I got greedy and ate them both just because I was almost on the verge of cheating on my diet I wanted one so badly.

the gluten-free life, sometimes its no fun at all in fact I today I am cursing it slightly.

 

 

Gluten Free Penne and cheese

I am the type of gal who thinks macaroni and cheese needs to come from a box.  I grew up on Kraft.   When going gluten free I was saddened by the lack of products similar to Kraft in taste.   There are many gluten free boxed pasta and cheeses but none ever tickled my taste buds.    After 6 years I finally got up the nerve to make my own.    I wasn’t trying to copy Kraft I wanted to do a fancy mac and cheese so I played around a bit.     I wasn’t thrilled with heating it up the next day, taste was fine but the cheese separated from the oils so it wasn’t smooth and creamy but the taste was pretty good.   But right out of the oven it was very good.

12 ounces Gluten free penne pasta ~ 1/2 cup butter ~ 1/2 cup Tom sawyer Gluten free flour ~ 1 tsp sea salt ~ 1 tsp pepper ~ ` tsp stone ground mustard ~ 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce ~4 cups of milk ~ 4 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese ~ 2 ounces baby Swiss cheese ~ 2 ounces fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Heat oven to 350 F, cook pasta as directed on package leaving just a bit aldente so it holds up to being stirred in the cheese sauce.  There is nothing worse than mushy mac and cheese.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat, stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  cook over medium low heat stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.  remove from heat and stir in milk.  heat to a boil stirring constantly and then start adding cheese slowly  until all melted and creamy.

drain pasta and gently stir it into the cheese sauce.  Pour into a casserole dish and bake uncovered for about 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy.   This makes a pretty good batch, perfect for pot lucks or large families.  or a family who loves to eat cheese like mine.

 

Bacon and Shrimp Pasta

I have been experimenting with flavors that at first glance just don’t seem to go together.   I am always pleasantly surprised how well all the flavors end up blending.  This dish was a complicated dish that I changed to make easy as pie since it was my Monday night dinner which is the busiest night of the week for me.   My husband had three big servings and I had two myself.  There were no left overs with this dish.  Thankfully since I still have beans and ham in the fridge no one wants to touch!

I cooked spaghetti (8 oz) up ahead of time, making sure to leave just slightly under cooked (my husband likes his noodles like that) rinsing them so they were not sticky nor would they stick when I put them in Tupperware and into my fridge for later use that day.

liberally olive oil a large deep dish skillet pan and saute up 1 large diced onion, after about three minutes throw in a 3 oz package of real bacon bits (not imitation) and let this all cook for another 4-5 minutes.  The smell will be intense.

If working with raw shrimp throw these in and let cook until pink.  I used already cooked shrimp so I just threw them in and then added my pasta.    Saute until it is all heated through and add in some crushed red chili pepper.  (this will be according to your heat tolerance)

If dry add some olive oil for taste.  about 10 minutes before ready to serve add in about three handfuls of arugula and let wither.   Serve with a nice salad.

I put the olive oil, chili pepper, salt and pepper on the table so that each person can flavor their own dish up a little more.  I opted for a little salt since I don’t like spicy but my husband put on the chili flakes and just loved it.

it was amazing in flavor and it is definitely going on our list of to make again soon dinners.

orange and bacon chicken wings

My three favorite flavors together are orange, bacon and chicken.   It is just the most delightful aroma and the taste sends my taste buds into a frenzy wanting more.    I don’t make this combo often because it’s so hard for me to stop eating.   Normally I put this combo together in the way of baked chicken breasts but today I wanted to be adventurous and try it as a coating over wings.   it was delicious.

5lbs party wings

GF flour mix

Eggs

Dip party wings into a mixture of eggs and milk (coconut milk for dairy free) and then dip into your gluten-free flour mixture.  I deep-fried mine but you can also fry them in a skillet if you don’t have a deep fryer.   Set aside in a warm oven.

Sauce

½ jar orange marmalade

¼ cup hone

1 tbsp. gluten-free soy sauce (tamari) or coconut aminos for soy free

½ lb. crispy bacon crumbled into small bits

3 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with a small amount of water

Put the orange, honey, soy sauce into a sauce pan and heat up.   Slowly pour in a small amount of cornstarch liquid till it gets thickness you prefer.    Taste as you may want more orange flavor or more honey or even more of a salty soy sauce flavor it’s up to you.  When thickness and taste is perfected add in your bacon bits and pour over your crispy fried chicken.  I use a big pan with a lid and shake it around to make sure all pieces are coated.

Place in a baking dish and put back into a 250 oven and bake for about 30 minutes to achieve gooey goodness and make the house smell fantastic.

now you want to see a photo of this delightful dish?

Jambalaya!

I can’t say jambalaya without a southern accent popping up for some reason. The problem arises when I try to get my southern cooking ability to pop up, it just isn’t there. I will admit I have never in my life made jambalaya, ate jambalaya or been around anyone who does make and eat it. But I see it on tv all the time and its been one of those dishes I have always wanted to attempt. Since my family does not like this type of meal I always just turned away but since my sister told me she recently made a pot  my taste buds have been screaming for me to attempt it.

I am not familiar with the dish I couldn’t tell you whether this is good or bad. I would like to know if any of my readers are from the south or are familiar with this dish that can tell me how it tastes (if you want to attempt making it) or if you have a tried and true recipe you use. Remembering to keep it gluten/dairy/soy free.

So here is what I did:

melted 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and sautéed 1 large onion (diced), 1 green pepper (diced), 3 stalks of celery (diced). Once I sweated them I added 1 tablespoon of tom sawyer gluten-free flour and added 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon parsley, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), a few generous shakes of red chili pepper flakes, 2 large tomatoes (diced). I mixed this all up and let it heat up. once hot I added 6 cups of chicken broth and brought that to a boil. Once boiling I added 3/4 cup of white rice and turned to simmer. I simmered for 40 minutes. I then added in 1 lb of peeled cooked shrimp and 1 lb of smoked sausages cut into diagonal slices and let that heat up. I then seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper.

I let simmer more, I was waiting for all the liquid to disappear but there was liquid left and it looked a little more like a dry soup than what I thought a jambalaya was supposed to look like which was more of a rice casserole type dish.

It was yummy in the tummy, spicy enough to make my nose run, flavorful enough for me not to mind that my nose was running and it was extremely filling and satisfying. I enjoyed it. Not something that will go on our menu on a regular basis but it was sure fun to actually try something new. I tried getting a picture but it just looked like a big mess so I opted not to post a photo, but hopefully you can picture it in your mind and perhaps it will make your taste buds start to tingle so you will want to attempt making this dish as well.

suddenly I am hankering a glass of sweet tea, and maybe some sweet potato pie for dessert.  Southern kind of grows on you.