Our family's quiche. Gluten free and WW friendly!

So, here is a recipe that began as something from The Gluten Free Gourmet cookbook (by Bette Hagman, a gluten free genius). Then on top of gluten free considerations, we added my Weight Watchers needs. And my family's preferences. Here is the super yummy, gluten free, 7 Points Plus per serving quiche:

Crust:

Potaotes, 3 cups (sliced very thin- I use a food king with a madolin setting)
1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Slice the potatoes very thin and line a large pie pan with them. Then I drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes, and stick in the oven at 425 to bake for 30 minutes.

Filling:

4 oz. Pancetta
2 eggs
4 egg whites
1 leek, chopped
1/2 cup chopped, fresh basil
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/8 cup gouda, shredded (if you don't have gouda, you can sub more parmesean here)
1/8 cup parmesean, grated
3/4 cup fat free milk
Sea Salt to taste
Freshly cracked pepper to taste


Brown pancetta with leek in a pan sprayed with olive oil spray. Mix all ingredients in large bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer, because I'm too lazy to stir it myself :-). Pour in the crust once it's done the 30 minutes in the oven. Put the whole thing back in the oven at 350 for 40-45 minutes. I'd suggest wrapping the edges in aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes, so the outer rim of the potaoes don't burn!

This is a super yummy, make everyone happy, breakfast-for-dinner dish. Served with a green veggie side, it has all you need!

Serves 6.

A yummy cooking accident!

You know those nights when you haven't been shopping in awhile and don't have your stand by ingredients- leaving you feel perplexed and uninspired? Well, I had one of those!

I came home from work tired, with hungry kids, and thought "hey- spaghetti is fast and easy". So I got the ground turkey out, chopped up some leeks and garlic, threw it all in a pan and got the turkey browning. Then I proceeded to the cupboard only to realize we were all out of noodles.

So I thought- AHA! I have a yummy curry sauce- I'll cook some rice, toss the sauce in with the turkey and call it good. Got the jasmine rice started, grabbed the sauce...and realized I should have frozen the sauce so as not to allow mold growth. (EEEEWWWWW!)

Now I'm down 2 ideas. Number 3 was to make a casserole and use the rice as left overs- until I realized that the cream of mushroom soup in the back of the cupboard isn't gluten free (DUH. How did I not know that?).

At this point I have rice over 1/2 way cooked, turkey with leeks and garlic all browned...and that's it. Here is what I wound up with:

Faux Thai Turkey
1 lb. ground turkey, browned with garlic and leek or onions
2 cups water
1/2 can pineapple in juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2-1 tsp. curry powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3-4 Tbsp. flour or gluten free baking mix (to taste)
1 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum
1/4-1/2 package lowfat cream cheese (I used 1/2 package, but in the interest of a slim waistline, I probably shouldn't have)

Mix the sugar, curry, GF baking mix, xanthan gum, cinnamon & nutmeg together- set aside. Pour the water and pineapple into the ground beef. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Add dry mix, stir well. Let simmer until sauce is reduced by 1/2, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream cheese. Serve over rice.

This was a total accident, but there is no question that the family wants it again. I was pleasantly surprised with how a dinner plaugued with roadblocks turned out!

Rules of the kitchen (according to me).

I posted these on a message board, but then I figured they'd do well on here, too. So here they are- the rules of good eatin' according to yours truly:

Thou shalt not eat fried food for dinner more than once a week. (And when you do, it should be pan fried in olive oil)

Thou shalt eat fish at least once a week (preferably non-farmed, high in Omega 3s and low in mercury)

Thou shall eat beef only once a week (and should consider pork a red meat also, so eat that sparingly as well)

Thou shall limit pasta based meals to twice a week (because believe me, without this rule I'd eat it every day!)

Though shalt eat plenty of veggies! (Ok, the rule for ME is to use up my veggie bin every week before a new one arrives)

This is what I attempt to stick to, in order to keep us healthy and happy and all that good stuff!

My 3 year plan.

Here's the plan: I'm opening a cafe. Gresham needs a healthy AND allergy sensitive restaurant. Moms need a place where they can go chat with girlfriends while the kids play, without having to load the children up on saturated fats and chemicals. Families need to be able to go out to eat without having to worry that their gluten free child will get tablescraps in order to stick to the diet. People who have a peanut allergy need to be able to get a birthday cake.

So here's the timeline. Alex is in his first year of pre-school now. Through pre-school (this year and next), I will be researching, cooking and learning what I should cook and what people want. When Alex is in half-day kindergarten, I'll take classes at the college about owning a business and I'll make an "official" business plan. When both kids are in school full time, I am taking some mommy time and starting up a restaurant.

Dad will help me cook. Tricia will be a valuable resource for the "how to's" of allergy sensitive cooking, and I will get to be creative with recipes and enjoy the ride. I am really, really excited about this!

A super easy, really yummy way to eat tomatoes!

Today my "best neighbor in the world world" neighbor lady shared something so yummy with me that I have to pass it on!

She takes tomatoes and slices them, skins on. Then she sprays a cooking sheet with olive oil spray, spreads the tomato slices out, and sprays them again. After that she puts them in the oven on 425 for around 40-45 minutes. That's it!

Out come the sweetest, most flavorful tomato slices in the world! Perfect for snacking on alone, or adding to pizza, crackers...you name it.

Tonight when I make lasagna, I'll substitute one sauce layer for the tomatoes that Marilyn so kindly shared with me. I can't wait! Thank you, Marilyn!

Apparently, 1/2 tsp. and 2 Tbsp. are VERY different!

So this morning I decided to make stew. Sounds perfect for a Sunday, right? I went to one of my favorite blogs, A Year Of Slowcooking, and found a delicious looking recipe.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/crockpot-azorean-spiced-beef-stew.html

Wow, it looked good, and worth making. As I was getting it in the crock pot, Dusty was "watching" a game on the computer (I say that loosely, because watching it online is essentially watching a graph which, apparently, means something that I don't understand). As a result, I was really trying to remember the recipe and only make him flip to it when I really needed help.

By the way- that is not a good idea. After putting in 2 Tbsp. of red pepper flakes, I checked one more time...and realized that the recipe called for only a half teaspoon! I tried to get as much as I could out, and was maybe successful in getting a half a teaspoon removed.

All day I smelled this stew. It smells amazing! Seriously- I'd be so proud to have company right now, since the smell would make them think I'm domestic and what not. I was really excited to eat it. Even though after the first bite I knew it would be hot, I decided to push on through.

After a small bowl, I have come to a few conclusions:

1) That is a seriously great recipe.

2) I put A LOT of pepper flakes in.

3) I can't hang with the big boys on this one- Dusty, Ashley, Brian and any other people with flame resistant taste buds will just have to eat this.

4) I need to try it again...without the extra fire.

Really, really good zucchini bread! (And it is gluten free!)

I wasn't going to post this, since they are not my recipes at all...but it is so good that I cannot help it.

I figure, seeing as how nobody really reads this and I certainly don't make money off of it, I'm ok, right?

So here is the zucchini bread recipe I used. I am in love!

From Better Homes and Garden's cook book (you know, the red checked one that takes you back to the days of high heels and aprons and apple pies made from scratch!).

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used a gluten free flour mix)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I probably used at least 2 tsp., I'm a cinnamon freak!)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 beaten egg

1 cup sugar (see my note on this!)

1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini

1/4 cup cooking oil (I used EVOO and it tastes great)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (I skip the nuts, but that's just me)

(I shortened the directions- look in the book for the longer ones!)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the sides and bottom of a bread pan- set aside.

In one medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg. Set aside. In another medium bowl (or mixer) combine egg, sugar, zucchini and oil. Combine dry and wet mix, fold in nuts if desired. Pour in to bread pans.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Now here are MY notes:

About the sugar- I started using baker's sugar a few months back. At first I bought it because a recipe called for it and I didn't realize that it was just a finer version of regular sugar (LOL...I'm new to this cooking stuff!). But, wow! It makes a huge difference, if you ask me, in the texture of baked goods. It gives the food a much smoother texture. So if you're all about taste, use regular sugar. If you want the extra wow factor, get yourself some baker's sugar!

About the gluten free flour mix- At first I was using Pamela's baking mix as a flour substitute. Then a helpful New Seasons employee explained that they sell everything I'd need to make my own mix, and it is much less expensive. So Dusty googled a recipe for me and I am really happy with my savings AND the finished result. Here is the recipe:

http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/ViewRecipe.cfm?RecipeID=13589

New Seasons had both brown rice flour and tapioca flour in the bulk section, and the other ingredients are made by Bob's Red Mill. *Just a reminder that we are gluten free for ADD management- if you were going to bake for a person with Celiac, you wouldn't want to get stuff out of the bulk section because of the possibility of cross-contamination!*

And lastly- The bread came out pretty crumbly. To avoid this, I could have added a little more xanthan gum. But I don't want to! The crumbly texture made it even better to my taste buds! But if you're going for cleanliness and making this gluten free, it is something to consider.

Go ahead and double the recipe- it's THAT good!

Great vegetable service and even better soup!

I'm in love with Organics 2 You! I've probably told most of you all about it (haha...by that I mean my mom, since I'm pretty sure that mom is the only one who reads my blog!) by now. If I haven't, here is the scoop: every week (or at intervals that you want), they deliver a bin of produce to my door. These produce are all organic (and, for me, all veggies because it's what I wanted), and most are farm fresh and local. And the best part is that financially it makes sense! I'm afraid to tell them for fear that they'll change it...but they provide a really good value!

I did this for a few reasons: 1) to increase the amount of organic foods in our diet to help Sky's ADD and our general health; 2) to try new vegetables by just getting the box, seeing what it contains, and learning how to cook it; 3) because I'm lazy. Well, not lazy, per se, but I'd prefer to avoid the grocery store if at all possible.

So today my bin of vegetables contained italian kale. I've never actually made kale, though I've seen it used on the Food Network a lot. Woo hoo! The bin also contained a recipe for soup, which looks intriguing but wasn't totally my cup of soup. So with that recipe and another that someone online shared, I had some ideas and set out to make my own Kale-Bacon soup.

Here goes:

Kale-Bacon soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, sliced

6 potatoes, roughly chopped

1 quart water

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups white wine

3 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. italian seasoning

salt & pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups bacon (some fat removed)

1 bunch kale, chopped

In soup pot, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes at medium heat- do not burn garlic!

Add potatoes and saute for 5 minutes more.

Add water, chicken broth, wine, bay leaves, italian seasoning, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to low boil, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

In skillet, fry bacon until browned over medium high heat. Do not burn! Reduce heat to medium. Add kale, salt and pepper to skillet. Turn kale in skillet, allowing it to become tender and a more vibrant green, 5-8 minutes.

Add bacon and kale to potato mixture, let simmer 20 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Ok, I give in. Camping isn't so bad!

Now that I know I have your attention...we are home from camping! Dusty, Skyler, Alex, Georgia and I hit up Trillium Lake this week. We had a blast! The weather was ok. Actually, at night we froze, but we had so much fun during the day that we didn't care.

Alex "caught" a fish with a fishing pole fashioned out of a stick, fishing line and a sinker. A lady who was fishing next to us watched happily while Alex squealed "I GOT SOMETHING!" every time he pulled up a piece of seaweed. After awhile the lady pulled up a fish who was in shock from just recently being dumped in to the lake (the boys got to watch the lake being stocked with 4000 trout!), and decided to make good use of the fact that the little guy wasn't putting up a fight. She asked me to distract Alex, and while I did she slipped the fish onto his line. Alex is so proud of the fish that he caught! Ask him and he'll tell you all about it! Alex also really enjoyed bike riding. And marshmallows. He wasn't so thrilled about sleeping in a tent, but he had big brother to encourage him on that front.

Skyler is just a joy to watch fish. He rarely catches anything. I, personally, would be frustrated as heck. But his never ending enthusiasm is just contagious. It doesn't matter if he's been out there 3 hours and hasn't had a bite- who knows? In the next 5 minutes, he just may catch a trophy fish! He spent hours at the lake, just happy to be there. He enjoyed riding his bike until one of the pedals fell off, and says that sitting by the campfire is his favorite activity. When Alex had a hard time falling asleep because he was scared in the tent, we heard Skyler singing country songs to Alex until little brother was asleep. Skyler went with my on the 2 mile lake loop, and although we had to stop and rest more times than I can count, he really was a trooper.

Dusty, I think, could spend eternity standing in waist deep water with a fishing pole. He seems to really be enjoying his vacation, and we are so happy he is ours for the week!

I thought camping was fun! I pre-cooked all of our meals, so the only things required for cooking were a dutch oven and grill tools. Super easy to clean up, super easy to make! I'm still not thrilled about tent sleeping, but the air mattress we borrowed from Val and Bruce made it manageable. I loved sitting in a chair by the lake, watching all the boys fish. It was just perfect.

Georgia loves camping. Well...she actually likes anything her family is doing. She is not a fan of riding in a car. My goodness, I've never seen a dog shake so bad! But she made it, had a good time, and is now lounging about exhausted.

Next up is the Oregon Coast! We'll only be gone two days, but we are all excited!

Skyler

I have become obsessed with food.

Really. It is absurd. I love to cook. I REALLY love to cook in the summer when I have fresh produce available and my mom is around to do dishes.

That's all.