Gluten free, dairy free, soy free ice cream

That's actually yummy. Hard to believe, but it's true!

I've found two brands that fit the bill: Luna and Larry's ice cream and Tempt ice cream.

Luna and Larry's ice cream has a coconut milk base. The texture is very thick and creamy, very similar to Ben and Jerry's ice cream. They have several flavors, though our local Whole Foods only carries a couple of the very basic flavors. The vanilla ice cream has a faint coconut flavor, but it's not unpleasant. The coconut flavor is barely noticeable in the other flavors I've tried. This ice cream is sold in pints and ice cream bars (which we like for Friday night movie nights).  We really like this ice cream!

Tempt ice cream has a hemp milk base. And no, hemp milk will not make you fail a drug test :)  This ice cream is also very thick and creamy, not crystal-y like a lot of ice creams. Its texture is also reminiscent of Ben and Jerry's. They only have a few flavors. The chocolate is very good, but the coconut lime was weird.

It's nice to have ice cream that tastes good and doesn't make my stomach hurt. Luna and Larry's has a couple flavor combinations that almost make you think you're eating some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Since that's no longer in my future, it's nice to have a good substitute.

Our Thanksgiving meal

I survived Thanksgiving without eating something I shouldn't. How can I tell? I had a very productive Friday.

Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon I ate some gluten free crackers that contain soy and corn. Derailed the rest of my day.

I've been paying closer attention to how I feel when I eat food. I'm constantly checking to make sure I'm eating safe food, or what I think is safe food. Lately the biggest indication I've eaten something unsafe, aside from the stomach pains and swelling throat, is massive mental fog. My brain checks out and I'm too blotto to get anything accomplished. And I feel like crap.

I've been quite successful at avoiding triggers lately and have been getting a lot done, which feels so good. It also makes it much more noticeable when my brain checks out. Not sure that knowing how much of a space case I can be is a good thing.

What did we eat for our gluten, oat, corn, dairy, egg, soy free Thanksgiving meal?
Roasted cornish game hens (yum!)
Pecan crusted sweet potatoes (double yum!)
Mock cornbread- made from millet (not cooked all the way unfortunately, but I've since made them as muffins and they were very good)
Green salad with pecans, cranberries, apples, and a cranberry vinaigrette (very yummy!)
Orange jello with mandarin oranges (yummy!)
Vegan pumpkin mousse tarts (not so great,  but that's ok)
Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss Vanilla ice cream (soooo good!)

Most of it was good, and we didn't get any stomach aches, so it was a success :)

Food issues and why my posting is so erratic these days

On LMS's last day of soccer we skipped the "banquet" (pizza and cookies), since we couldn't eat any of it. I should have had something prepared, but I've been off my game lately. There's still something that's making me fuzzy headed and messing with my energy levels and attention span.

The supposedly "safe" candy I bought to trade out the unsafe stuff LMS got turned out not to be safe. My stomach's been killing me and LMS has yucky poopy again.  Which means that no store-bought candy is safe.  Grrrrrr. What are we going to do for all the candy-centered holidays? It's easier to downplay it now while she's young and at home so much, but what about Christmas with family, or other times where other kids are eating stuff she can't? 

I've been hoping it wasn't going to be an issue for her, but the week of Halloween has shown that I do have to be careful and not get sucked into the mindset of "it's just a little bit" or "one piece won't hurt". It does have an effect on her, and it's one that neither of us enjoys, especially since it takes so long to clear up.

Since we'll be spending Christmas with her grandparents (and all her cousins on daddy's side) I'm going to have to think of things to put in our stockings so she doesn't feel left out. It'll probably be small toys, nuts, oranges, and some vegan candies. I've seen some recipes for vegan candies, so I'm going to have to try some of them to see if they'll work (translation: edible and yummy).

For the most part, I don't mind not eating what everyone else does, but I'm a grown up and I can be rational about it. LMS is just a little kid. She usually does very well, but there are times where I've had to tell her she can't eat something and she gets upset. I don't blame her- I like m&ms too. That was her favorite part of going grocery shopping: getting a package of peanut or peanut butter m&ms and sharing them with mommy. Ok, the sharing part wasn't her favorite, the m&ms were  :)   I do miss peanut butter m&ms....

Last week we cut out soy, not that we actually ate much soy, mostly just soy sauce (gluten free, of course). It's rather discouraging though: there's only a few things left that we could cut out. Of the major allergens, we're only still eating peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. So I guess we've only cut out half the list, it just feels like more.  We've cut out gluten, corn, oats, dairy, eggs, and soy. Every time we eliminate a food, I feel better for awhile, then start feeling crummy again. Eliminate another food, and start the cycle again. I'm really hoping this is the last time we have to go through it.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get stuff done while feeling crummy, and a lot of things are being left undone. Hopefully things will improve soon.

Gluten free pumpkin waffles

Gluten free, egg free, dairy free, corn free, oat free.

The weather has gotten cooler, the leaves are changing (must take lots of pictures very soon!), and fall is here. Fall makes me think of pumpkins- I love anything flavored with pumpkin- pie, cookies, muffins, ice cream (so yummy, but I won't be eating any this year unfortunately), and waffles.

I followed the recipe here, and I have to say her website is a goldmine of recipes I can actually use (ie, eat without getting sick).

I used the smaller amount of salt in the recipe, but should have used more- the waffles were a bit bland. Howevere, we put unsweetened applesauce on top, and they were yummy!

I had a brain fart and had the first batch cooking in my Belgian waffle maker before I realized this wasn't actually a Belgian waffle recipe. I've made waffles several times since then, using the regular waffle maker, and they've turned out better. They were just too thick and dense to make a good Belgian waffle.

The picture is from the first time I made these waffles, and we used store-bought applesauce. The last two times I made them we used the applesauce I made a couple weeks ago. Sooo yummy!

Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

Note: I wrote this before we left, and thought I'd posted it, but apparently not.

Last week I was wondering through Whole Foods (after hitting Kroger first) and I was getting more and more depressed by the number of things I can't eat it right now. In general this wouldn't actually be that big a problem for me, but since we have a roadtrip coming up I've been trying to find snacks and food that won't make me sick.

Normally I try not to eat too much junk food, but I do believe that roadtrips are made for junk food: m&m's, pringles, and licorice used to be our standard snacks, and we'd hit up whatever fast food place we came to when we were hungry.

Since those days are done, I've had to really plan out our trip (it's times like this that I really wish we had a small RV so I could just prepare normal food with the help of a refrigerator, stove, and microwave)- where we'll stop, what we'll bring, and so on. The candy we're bringing consists of fruit snacks. I can't find anything else that isn't manufactured in a facility that also processes wheat, milk, and/or eggs.

It was in this state-of-mind that I was perusing the peanut butter shelves, looking for little foil packets of nut butters. They're great for hiking and I thought they'd do well on the roadtrip also. While looking around, I saw this:

The label states that it's gluten free and dairy free, and there was no eggs or corn in the ingredients, so I read the label further, and it said that it contains a lot less sugar than other chocolate hazelnut butters, so it doesn't taste like frosting. Hmmm, I like Nutella, but it is on the sweet side, like frosting. Less sugar is definitely a good thing.

It is pricey ($9.99 for 16 oz), but it's not like I'm buying any other junk food now. The texture reminds me of the chocolate peanut butter, and the taste is similar too- not overly sweet, tiny chunks of nuts, but hazelnut instead of peanut butter. It's a healthier version of Nutella! Which I can't eat because it has dairy in it.

Definitely a thumbs-up!
Have you tried Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter?

Gluten free Lemon Blueberry Granola

lemon blueberry granola

Since we're not eating gluten, eggs, dairy, or corn now (yeah, I know, quite the list. but I feel so much better that it's worth it), I'm having to re-think our daily menus. Breakfast is the biggest problem since we used to eat eggs or cinnamon chex (which have corn in them) with cottage cheese and milk (tastes better than it sounds).

I made some gluten free vegan zucchini muffins that turned out quite good. Looking for recipes that are gluten free and vegan is the easiest way I've found to avoid dairy and eggs. There's a lot of recipes that eliminate one or the other, but it's harder to find recipes that eliminate both. Since vegan recipes do not contain dairy products or egg, that's what I look for these days. We're not giving up meat though!

I've also made a couple batches of granola. The first was cinnamon raisin, the second was lemon blueberry. I thought both turned out pretty yummy. Add some coconut milk, and it's even more yummy.

The base is gluten free oatmeal and quinoa flakes and is easy to make. It's actually very similar to my mom's granola recipe that I used to make in my pre-gluten free days. I like that I can adapt the recipe by adding different extracts (vanilla, lemon, orange, etc) and different dried fruit (raisins, blueberries, cranberries, etc)

I've been playing with the recipe a bit- adding unsweetened applesauce for better "clumps" and trying different flavor combinations. My next efforts will be orange cranberry and mixed berry.

What are some other flavor combinations that might be good?

I've discovered a great new diet!

The secret?

Become allergic to almost everything you eat!

I've been having reactions to things I used to be able to eat. At first I thought it was contamination issues, but now I just think it's my body being even more stupid than usual.

These days I can't eat (among other things) ice cream, chocolate, canned refried beans, or corn chips. Even the chocolate chip cookies I made and the Betty Crocker gluten free brownies caused a bad reaction: extreme nausea followed by massive burning stomach pain and less than pleasant bowel movemnents. Oh yeah, and insomnia. Love that one. I haven't had problems with insomnia since the first couple years that I was sick, and I have not enjoyed it's reappearance.

Because of all the bad reactions, I've pretty much lost my appetite- I'm almost afraid to eat anything packaged for fear I'll have a bad reaction. While annoying on one level, it has been beneficial on another. I've stopped snacking on junk food completely and am truly eating healthier, and in less than two weeks I've already lost 5 pounds!

Last week I eliminated eggs from our diet to see if they were causing the problem. I've had problems with eggs in the past, so I decided to eliminate them first. I had hoped they wouldn't be the culprit because it's hard to do gluten free baking without eggs- egg substitutes are usually a starch, which throws off the delicate balance of gf flours and starches and liquids. Unfortunately, I ate some gluten free eggless muffins last week, and they still gave me problems.

The muffins had milk in them, so this week we've eliminated all dairy products, and I've been doing great! No reactions at all. However, this is a problem because we really like cheese and yogurt and ice cream. Maybe eventually we'll be able to add them back in. Not sure I can do the cheese substitute thing- soy cheese just sounds too disgusting and completely unappetizing.

LMS has been having some poop issues as well (they improved a bit when she went gf, but there's still something not right). I didn't notice an improvement last week, but I've seen a little this week. Hopefully I'll start seeing a lot of improvement in her soon.

Gluten free Ritz crackers

My latest foray into gluten free baking was Ritz crackers. I found the recipe in Easy Gluten-Free Baking, of course, and once again this cookbook came through.

The crackers aren't quite as flaky as a store-bought Ritz cracker, but they definitely taste like Ritz crackers. Yum!

I still don't have any round cookie cutters, so I used a flower-ish shape instead.

Gluten free Animal Crackers

Continuing my quest to feel more comfortable with gluten free baking, I'm working my way through Elizabeth Barbone's 'Easy Gluten-Free Baking'. My most recent experiment was some animal crackers. It took me awhile to find little animal cookie cutters, but I finally found some little Noah's Ark cookie cutters at JoAnns.

I thought they turned out quite well. I was hoping for a Stauffer's Animal Cracker- the kind that comes in the big bags. Those were always my favorite.

In the end, though, they tasted more like the Barnum's Animal Crackers in the little box, Mr. M's favorite.

It does take a bit of time to roll out the dough, cut out the shapes, transfer them to the cookie sheet, etc, etc. But since LMS really enjoyed eating them (first the head, then the feet...), I'll be making them again.

Gluten free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday was my first attempt at de-glutening a recipe I used to use pre-gluten free days. LMS calls these "Daddy Cookies" because these are the cookies we made and sent him on several occasions.

This particular recipe makes 12-14 dozen cookies. That's not a typo: 12-14 dozen! I usually halve the recipe, bake a dozen, roll the rest of the dough into balls and freeze for later use. Since I didn't know how this experiment would work out, I looked over the ingredients and realized I could easily cut the recipe in quarters. Instead of 12 dozen cookies, I made 3 dozen.

When doing gluten free baking, you can't just substitute rice flour for the wheat flour, you need to substitute a mix of flours and starches, and usually you need to add xanthan gum. I've seen many different 'recipes' for flour mixes, but in this case I used one I bought: Jules Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour. Since it's a pre-made mix, I was able to do a one-to-one substitution.

The results were great! The taste and texture are almost exactly what I remember from the last time I made them (more than a year ago, but still...).

Not that I need to be eating cookies, but it's nice to know that I have more options available.

Vindication

Before we moved, I tried to keep LMS on a gluten free diet, but I didn’t push it too hard. Daddy Daughter dates were at Pizza Hut, crackers and cookies were always available at Grandma and Papa’s, and so on.


After we moved, I tried a little harder, but I didn’t stress too much if she ate something with gluten. When Mr M headed out on a business trip, I decided to do it right and have her go completely gluten free.

Along the way, I wondered whether I should pursue the issue.

Was I being super-paranoid? Was I projecting my issues onto her?

Then I’d remind myself why I thought it was worth focusing on: she’s been a lot crankier and a lot more prone to meltdowns the last two years, and in the last 6 months or so she’s had intestinal “issues”: nasty, stinky, sticky poop that she can’t control, despite the fact that she’s been potty trained since she was 2.

She was completely gluten free for two weeks, and what a difference. She was happier, calmer (significantly fewer meltdowns) and had normal bowel movements in the toilet.

After two weeks of being gluten free, she ate some crackers in Primary on Sunday.

Monday the uncontrolled nasty, stinky, sticky poop in the underpants returned.

I feel vindicated.

I didn’t feel well for a number of years, and I know I tended to be cranky. I think that’s why LMS has been cranky- she hasn’t been feeling well, but didn’t know how to verbalize it.

Now we’re working on asking if proffered food has gluten in it. ‘Does this have gluten in it?’ If the answer is yes, then ‘No, thank you’. And I’m trying to make sure I have gluten free snacks available at home and wherever we go, so she doesn’t feel deprived.

Gluten free Nilla wafers

So, I'm on a baking kick lately (working on that goal of becoming more comfortable with gluten free baking), and I have more results to share.

I think I may end up trying every single recipe in Easy Gluten-Free Baking- something I've never come even close to before. These recipes are sooo good.

Yesterday I tried the tastes-like-Nilla Wafers recipe. Yum!

they don't look like much, but these taste like Nilla Wafers!

The recipe did neglect to mention that you should only put nickel to quarter size dabs of dough on the cookie sheet, so my first two trays were quite a bit larger than regular Nilla Wafers. They tasted good, but the middles didn't get as crunchy as they should have- they were softer than a Nilla Wafer. The tray I made using smaller dabs turned out much better- much more 'authentic'.

These were very yummy, easy to make, and I'll be making them again!

Gluten free Morning glory muffins

Morning glory muffins are basically a spice muffin with lots of stuff added. In this case, there's crushed pinapple, coconut, raisins, apple, carrot, and pecans.

So Yummy!

And so moist!

I think these are the first truly moist baked good I've had since going gluten free (besides brownies, and they don't count).

They're sweet enough that you could even call them a cupcake- sort of a souped-up carrot cake cupcake. We frosted a couple with cream cheese frosting and took them to a birthday party today. I'm sure the sand castle cake tasted good (very cute idea), but our cupcakes were better :)

The recipe makes two dozen cupcakes/muffins, so I froze all but a couple. They defrost quickly and without any problems.

Like all my recent baking experiments, this recipe was also found in Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone. I can't say enough how much I love this cookbook!

Gluten free cheese crackers

I got the recipe for these from my favorite gluten free baking book: Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone.

These crackers are so good! They really do taste like Cheez-Its/Better Cheddars. The texture was a bit different- they flaked vertically instead of horizontally, but they definitely tasted very close to a store-bought cheese cracker.

You form the dough into a log, refrigerate, then slice off very thin slices.

I made a second batch and rolled out a portion of the dough. I rolled it to the size of a cookie sheet, but it was a pain trying to get an even thinness. However, after I baked them, they flaked horizontally instead of vertically. Just like a gluten-loaded, store-bought cracker! Yum!

They turned out a little brown, but I like them that way :)

These do taste best the day they're baked- they're not quite as crisp the next day.

It's so nice to have a nice crunchy cracker that actually tastes good! I have not been impressed by the gluten free crackers I've bought. Why waste money on something that doesn't taste good when I can make yummy snacks myself?

Gluten free Cheddar corn muffins

One of my goals is to do some gluten free baking and get more comfortable with it.

I've talked about Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone here and here, and this is the cookbook I'm using for my experiments.

Last week I made some chedder corn muffins. They were supposed to have some jalepeno, but I didn't have any, and LMS wouldn't eat them if I'd included them.

The taste and texture were good. A tiny bit dry, but probably because I tend to err on the side of too much baking time rather than too little. I can't stand undercooked baked goods. Next time I'll take them out a few minutes sooner.

I froze the ones we didn't eat the first day, and we've been having them with an egg or two for breakfast- yummy!

Gluten free Rice pudding

I mentioned 'Healthy Snacks to Go' here, and last night I used the rice pudding recipe in it to make some rice pudding using leftover rice. Yum!

I tweaked it a bit, since I was using leftover rice, and just added the ingredients without measuring them. I'm working on going with the flow when cooking, though I suspect it will be quite awhile before I do that when I'm baking. I also used agave nectar instead of sugar or honey.

Not a lot of ingredients, fairly quick (I let it simmer while I got LMS ready for bed), and yummy. Can't go wrong there!

Avocado pudding

I distinctly remember the one time mom tried to get us to eat avocados when we were kids. I tried a tiny piece, decided it was disgusting, and hid the rest so I wouldn't have to eat it.

I served my mission in California, and I had multiple occasions to try avocados again- plain and in guacamole. I still didn't like them.

I married a guy who served a Spanish-speaking mission in California and who loves Mexican food, including avocados and guacamole. I still didn't like them.

I just haven't been able to get past the texture and the taste.

However, this past week I made some seven layer dip, and included a layer of guacamole. The dip turned out really good, and I actually thought the homemade guacamole (Mr M is quite talented in the kitchen) was good too. So, I decided to give avacodos another try.

We bought a couple more avacoados, and used one in smoothies. I used half the avocado the first time, but while the smoothie really stuck with us, the flavor was a bit too strong, even with lots of strawberries to compensate. And the color was rather off-putting (nasty yellowish tan). I used a quarter of the avacodo the next two times, and the flavor and color improved.

I used the other avocado to make chocolate pudding. I've seen this around on several blogs, but wasn't quite brave enough to try it till now. I mashed an avocado, added 2 or 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a splash of vanilla, and squirt or two of agave nectar.

The end result tasted like really dark chocolate pudding. Mr M didn't like it at all, but I think if it had been a little sweeter and better mashed he would have liked it better. I just used a fork to mash it up, and that left little globs of avocado and some strings. The second time I made it I used my immersion blender, and the texture was a lot smoother. I also noticed that more cocoa powder is better than less- the avocado flavor gets covered up better.

Despite all that, I liked it. The avocado wasn't super noticable, and the pudding was much more satisfying than regular pudding, and had way less sugar. I can go through a whole box of pudding in one sitting, but only managed to eat about half an avocado's worth of pudding before being too full- not just full, but satisfied. My sweet tooth wasn't nagging me, and I didn't feel like I needed to eat anything else.

I'll be making chocolate avocado pudding a lot more- I think a few spoonfuls will go a long way toward beating the mid-afternoon and after-dinner sweet tooth munchies. Hmmm, that sounds like a new diet plan- move over South Beach, here comes the Chocolate Avocado Pudding Diet!

Fail to plan, plan to fail

My reaction to gluten seems to be evolving. It used to be throat swelling, now it's burning nauseous pain in my stomach. I think I'd rather have the throat swelling- it doesn't last as long and isn't as painful.

Last night we were coming home from a conference we attended, and ended up with a limited number of choices for dinner. I'd planned on Chipotle, but neglected to make sure that there actually was one in the area. Since there wasn't, I pulled out my blackberry pearl and did a quick search for gluten free options at Ruby Tuesday and Applebees, the only restaurant options available. Both restaurants had very limited options, so we picked Applebees. BIG MISTAKE! Aside from the terrible service, poor food quality, and extremely slow cooks, I managed to eat enough contaminated food to make today very uncomfortable: my stomach's been killing me all day.

We wouldn't have eaten there at all except that I hadn't been able to eat much at the lunch provided and had forgotten to bring adequate food to supplement what I could eat and I was starving. Not a good position to be in. I blame my lack of preparation on how I've been feeling (still recovering from the last round of gluten problems) and the stress of trying to get everything ready for Mr M to go on an extended trip. That's not a good excuse, but it is a fact of life that things aren't always how we want them to be.

A few days ago I purchased Healthy Snacks To Go from KitchenStewardship.com. It's an ebook with more than 30 recipes for snacks that aren't full of processed ingredients. They're not all gluten free, but a number of them are (and are clearly labeled gluten free) or can be easily tweaked. Since it only cost $6.95, I decided to give it a whirl and was not disappointed. Quite a few of the recipes are for snacks that I can prepare ahead of time and carry with me for times when there's nothing safe for me to eat. I also really like that they're healthier and cheaper than store-bought snacks.

Some of the recipes I'll start making next week: granola bars, homemade lara bars (the store-bought versions have been a staple I keep in my purse, but they're pricey and I haven't bought any in awhile), applesauce, fruit leather, and yogurt. Yum!

All the stomach pain I've endured recently has definitely emphasized that I must be prepared at all times. I don't want to be really hungry and not have any safe food options. I really don't want to have this stomach pain ever again.

Hidden gluten got me again

The old nauseous burning pain in the stomach resurfaced this week. At first I attributed it to stress, but then I realized that this is the same nauseous burning pain in the stomach that I had before I went gluten free.

So, either I have another food allergy, which is possible- eggs have given me problems off and on for years, or I've somehow been adding gluten. I haven't been having the swollen throat reaction, so this whole thing crept up on me. After reviewing what I've been eating the last few days, I narrowed it down to eggs, polska kielbasa, or one of my vitamins. If it's eggs, I'll have to completely eliminate them, but that will be the last option I try. The label of the polska kielbasa didn't have anything that should have given me this many problems, but I'll probably avoid it in the future just to be safe.

The most likely culprit at this point is one of my vitamins. I checked all the labels, and my vitamin d supplement could be the one- I recently started using a different brand than I had been buying, and the label says it's produced in a facility that also processes wheat (among other allergens). All my other vitamins specifically say gluten free.

I removed all the vitamin d capsules from my pill box, didn't take it last night, and so far my stomach is feeling better. The nausea burning pain feelings are still there, but not as bad. My appetite also feels a lot more normal. The last few days I've had horrible cravings to eat, eat, eat. After a year of being gluten free I'd forgotten just how I react to it. I need to write down these symptoms so if I start feeling them again I'll realize quicker that something is off.

It's amazing that even tiny amounts of gluten can make me feel this crummy. This also highlights the dangers of cross-contamination, and the fact that it is a real issue.

Recovering from gluten poisoning

Looking back, I can recognize the symptoms, but in the moment I was too sick to put them all together and realized what was happening. I'm writing down how I felt in hopes that I won't let things spiral out of control again, but catch them early on instead.

Fuzzy brain- inability to think clearly
ADD- inability to sit still and get anything done
Massive food cravings
Nauseous burning pain in the stomach
Irritability/short temper/very little patience

These are all things I experienced before I went gluten free, and they're all things I never want to experience again.

Nothing like being slowly poisoned...

Gluten free frog eye salad, part 2

The other day I made a second attempt at gluten free frog eye salad. This one was almost, but not quite, perfect, and I learned a few more things.

The reason it wasn't perfect was because it was too salty. This was due to transcription error, more than anything. Mr. M's mom gave him the recipe for the custard over the phone, but she was guessing on the exact amount of salt- she eyeballs an amount in her palm and throws it in. The guesstimate measure turned out to be a bit too much, so I just need to decrease the amount of salt next time, and it should taste fine.

Some things I learned:

Beat the eggs really well before mixing into the rest of the custard base. Otherwise you end up with bits of cooked egg in your custard.

Use a really fine sieve when rinsing the tapioca pearls, otherwise you'll lose a bunch done the drain.

the two sieves I've used to rinse my tapioca- the left one has mesh that is too far apart

close-up of the larger mesh sieve

the smaller mesh sieve- works great, but the whole sieve is a bit small for rinsing large amounts of anything

I'll post the recipe next time, after I've tried it one more time and made sure it tastes good.

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad, Part 1

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad Recipe with Egg Free Option

Gluten free frog eye salad, part 1

The other day, Mr M and I were bemoaning the fact that I couldn't make frog eye salad ever again. Frog eye salad is made with acini de pepe, which is a pasta that is formed into tiny balls. While the gluten free manufacturing companies have come a long way in expanding their product lines, I have yet to find gluten free acini de pepe.

Then we randomly started talking about tapioca, how Mr M loves it and how as a kid I hated it because the only time I'd had it was the one time I was in the hospital overnight, which was not a great experience, and I thought all tapioca tasted as gross as it had that time. I've since realized that it's not all that bad, and can actually be quite good.

In the midst of all this, Mr M said "why not try tapioca pearls in the frog eye salad? They're about the same size and texture, maybe it'll work out."

So,  the next time we went shopping we bought a box of tapioca pearls. I followed the directions on the box for cooking (boil water, then whisk the pearls in, let cook for 17 minutes, then wing it from there). Ok, not really, the only directions they had were for making tapioca pudding, so I used the first few steps and then made it up as I went. After the 17 minute point, I think I cooked it a little bit longer till the pearls were mostly clear. Then I dumped them in a wire sieve and ran warm water over them to rinse the gel off.

I let them drain for awhile, then stirred in some cool whip.

The texture looked right, so I added some drained, crushed pineapple and a handful of marshmallows

and mixed it all together.

We had it for dinner, and we discussed the results as we ate it. It was good, but not quite the same as what we remembered frog eye salad tasting like. I had made this without a recipe because I couldn't find it, and it turns out I'd forgotten the custard. Mr M called his mother and got the recipe so I can try it again.

While the overall taste wasn't quite the same because of the lack of custard, the texture was pretty close. Tapioca is a bit chewier than acini de pepe, but when you're eating it with a spoonful of other stuff (marshmallows, fruit, etc), it's not noticeable. We noticed because we were analyzing the results. The next step is to make it again, this time with the custard.

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad, Part 2

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad Recipe with Egg Free Option

Gluten free eating thwarted again

Today we went to Wendy's for lunch while we were out running errands, and I had a rude surprise. They've changed their salad menu, taking out the old ones and introducing four new salads. I understand the need to keep the menu fresh, exciting, blah, blah, blah, but as near as I can tell, none of these are reliably gluten free.

The changes must be really new, since I can't find them on Wendy's website. I thought I'd be able to use the site to confirm everything, but since I can't, here goes my faulty memory:
1. Grilled chicken with apple, bacon, and bleu cheese
2. Grilled chicken with something and bleu cheese
3. Breaded chicken with something
4. Taco type salad with tortilla strips

From what I've read, some bleu cheese is gluten free, some isn't, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not eat it at all (plus, I don't like the flavor of bleu cheese anyway). Since the first two come with the bleu cheese already on the salad, those are a no-go. The breaded chicken in the third one is an automatic red flag. The tortilla strips on the fourth one are the bad guys. Admittedly, the tortilla strips might be packaged separately on this one, I didn't ask- I don't like taco salads, so I didn't even bother with it.

I will keep checking the website to see what the nutrition info says, but I'm not holding out any hope. I'm disappointed because I liked the mandarin chicken salad and it was a good standby if I needed to eat and couldn't find a Chipotle's nearby. Until I find out otherwise, if I eat at Wendy's again I'll be sticking to the baked potato and the mandarin oranges.

Meal plan: check

I know I said I was going to stain the bed frame yesterday or today, but that hasn't happened yet- I've been busy working on a meal plan and shopping list to use after we move. I've done very little cooking in the last 2+ years, so cooking every single day is going to take some getting used to. I'm not a fan of complicated recipes with tons of ingredients. Simple, quick, and easy is the what I go for.  In the interest of making a smooth transition, I'm starting out with a bunch of crockpot recipes (which are quite easy and don't use lots of ingredients), and then we'll go from there.

When I made up my meal plan I used a lot of recipes from Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea. I also used a few from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone and some from The Flexitarian Diet by Dawn Jackson  Blatner. The crockpot recipes were already gluten free, and I picked naturally gluten free recipes from the other two books. The recipes I picked use a lot of fresh produce and very little processed items, so hopefully they'll be healthier than some of the meals I've cooked in the past.

The meal plan I made is for seven weeks of dinners (each a unique recipe, allowing one night per week for leftovers or pizza), but I only did the ingredient and shopping list for the first two weeks. Since the recipes are ones I haven't used, I really don't know how they'll turn out or if there will be lots of leftovers or none. Hopefully after two weeks I'll have a better idea of how well things are working and what changes need to be made. I also have a list of breakfast and lunch recipes, but I didn't chart those out for x number of weeks, so there's a lot more flexibility with them. I did make an ingredient and shopping list for all of them, though.

It was all quite time consuming, but being the OCD control freak that I am, I do feel more prepared to jump back into daily cooking.

On another subject:
Mr. M heard from the company he was working with this fall - they have a couple positions available that they think he might be a good fit for. Too funny that everyone's got openings now that he's a got a job. The one he took is the one we wanted, so at least there's no buyer's remorse (or the equivalent).

'Make it Fast, Cook it Slow' and 'The Kind Diet'

In my search for new gluten free healthy recipes I've been reading quite a few cookbooks. Two I recently read are 'Make it Fast, Cook it Slow' and 'The Kind Diet'.

'Make it Fast, Cook it Slow' by Stephanie O'Dea is a book of crockpot recipes that originated in the author's goal of making something in her crockpot every day for a year. I found it interesting- they weren't all meat and potatoes recipes, and they weren't all dinner recipes either. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, even a few crafty ideas. A big bonus for me is that the author has celiac, so the recipes are all gluten free already- I wouldn't have to do any tweaking. I don't plan on trying them all, but there is a good number of recipes I'd like to try.

Another book I've read recently is 'The Kind Diet' by Alicia Silverstone. She has lots of information about the environment and why veganism is the way to go, and does a good job of documenting where she gets her information. However, she does make the statement that celiac is very rare and uncommon (and doesn't document a source for that statement), and basically brushes off gluten intolerance. I wish it were that easy.

In any case, the real reason I checked out the book was for the recipes, not the philosophy. I've been looking for healthy bean recipes and recipes that use a lot of veggies and aren't full of refined crap. I knew I'd find those in a vegan cookbook, and I did. I'm definitely not going vegan (I like my meat and dairy products too much), but I don't mind using recipes that are healthy, regardless of whether they come from a mainstream cookbook, a vegetarian cookbook, or a vegan cookbook.

Next up: using all the recipes I've found to make up a preliminary menu for a month or two of meals and a shopping list to go with it. That way I'll be ready to cook healthy meals for us as soon as we move, and not 2 or 3 weeks later, during which time we've been eating whatever I can find or whatever Mr. M talks me into getting from restaraunts (not cheap or healthy).