Friday, October 22, 2010
Sad
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Cabbage Rolls!
A fall favorite. Hearty, nourishing, comforting. Traditional fall food.
The secret is in the sauce. Isn't it always?
I make mine (in the oven right now!) thusly:
bacon
onion
ground round
cabbage
rice
egg (optional)
Chop up the bacon. Cook your rice as you normally would. Brown your meat and onions. When the rice is cooked and the meat is browned, mix the two together and add the chopped bacon.
I steam the heads of cabbage and peel the leaves off from there, once it's cold. I usually have the leaves prepared in advance of the meat mixture.
Cut the stem off of the cabbage, slicing up the rib to remove the bulk. You could just shave this, too.
Place the cabbage leaf in the palm of your hand, put a couple of serving spoons of meat mixture inside. Tuck in the sides and the end of the cabbage and roll it up burrito style. Works!
Place in a casserole dish, seam side down. Continue until you run out of leave, or mix.
At this point you can freeze them individually on a cookie sheet and then bag and label them for later use or cook them, up to you.
When ready to bake, place in the casserole dish and preheat the oven to 350 F.
Now for the sauce:
1 can diced tomatos or crushed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1T apple cider vinegar
1T cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 t pepper
1/2 t salt
Mix spices and vinegar together with the tomatos. You can thin this with broth or stock if necessary.
Pour over and around cabbage rolls. Bake in the pre heated oven for an hour until cooked through.
Enjoy another meal that is gluten free.
Naturally, gluten free.
The secret is in the sauce. Isn't it always?
I make mine (in the oven right now!) thusly:
bacon
onion
ground round
cabbage
rice
egg (optional)
Chop up the bacon. Cook your rice as you normally would. Brown your meat and onions. When the rice is cooked and the meat is browned, mix the two together and add the chopped bacon.
I steam the heads of cabbage and peel the leaves off from there, once it's cold. I usually have the leaves prepared in advance of the meat mixture.
Cut the stem off of the cabbage, slicing up the rib to remove the bulk. You could just shave this, too.
Place the cabbage leaf in the palm of your hand, put a couple of serving spoons of meat mixture inside. Tuck in the sides and the end of the cabbage and roll it up burrito style. Works!
Place in a casserole dish, seam side down. Continue until you run out of leave, or mix.
At this point you can freeze them individually on a cookie sheet and then bag and label them for later use or cook them, up to you.
When ready to bake, place in the casserole dish and preheat the oven to 350 F.
Now for the sauce:
1 can diced tomatos or crushed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1T apple cider vinegar
1T cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 t pepper
1/2 t salt
Mix spices and vinegar together with the tomatos. You can thin this with broth or stock if necessary.
Pour over and around cabbage rolls. Bake in the pre heated oven for an hour until cooked through.
Enjoy another meal that is gluten free.
Naturally, gluten free.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Pea Soup
Love it or hate it?
I love it! It is one of my very most favorite soups. My poor husband, he told me he hated pea soup when we were dating and I told him he just hadn't had GOOD pea soup yet.
So I made him some. Guess what? He married me anyway!
Yes, it was Good Pea Soup.
For most people who don't like it, it's a texture thing. I'm sure of it.
Here's how I make it.
1 ham hock, or 2, or bones from a leftover picnic shoulder, meat on
1 onion
1/2 head of garlic
leek tops
10 cups water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Add all of the above to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a medium simmer and let go, uncovered, for 2=3 hours.
Next step:
3 carrots, scrubbed and diced
3 stalks celery, sliced fine
1 onion, diced fine
1 bag split mixed peas (green and yellow) or 1/2 bag yellow split peas and same amount of green lentils if you're short like I was..
You can place this in another stock pot, or your crockpot. Cover with the strained ham stock and bring to a simmer for several hours until the peas are soft.OR cook in your crockpot on high for 6 hours. Reserve the hocks because you will be adding that meat back to the soup in the last step..
Remove meat from the bones. If you have an immersion blender, now is the time to put it into your soup and whiz up some of that goodness. Leave some peas whole though! Now add back the meat and continue cooking until it's hot. Serve up with buns, bread or bisquits of your choice. We used Kinickinnick's Sunflower Seed Bread and Bun mix (Gluten Free) and it was very good.
I think next time I will make my ham stock in the slow cooker while I'm sleeping. Another thing one can do is use the pressure cooker, if you have one. I've done that before and it's always a time saver.
Soup freezes beautifully in freezer bags. I just lost a jar to the freezer so won't be using jars anymore, for sure!
Best,
Naturally gluten free
I love it! It is one of my very most favorite soups. My poor husband, he told me he hated pea soup when we were dating and I told him he just hadn't had GOOD pea soup yet.
So I made him some. Guess what? He married me anyway!
Yes, it was Good Pea Soup.
For most people who don't like it, it's a texture thing. I'm sure of it.
Here's how I make it.
1 ham hock, or 2, or bones from a leftover picnic shoulder, meat on
1 onion
1/2 head of garlic
leek tops
10 cups water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Add all of the above to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a medium simmer and let go, uncovered, for 2=3 hours.
Next step:
3 carrots, scrubbed and diced
3 stalks celery, sliced fine
1 onion, diced fine
1 bag split mixed peas (green and yellow) or 1/2 bag yellow split peas and same amount of green lentils if you're short like I was..
You can place this in another stock pot, or your crockpot. Cover with the strained ham stock and bring to a simmer for several hours until the peas are soft.OR cook in your crockpot on high for 6 hours. Reserve the hocks because you will be adding that meat back to the soup in the last step..
Remove meat from the bones. If you have an immersion blender, now is the time to put it into your soup and whiz up some of that goodness. Leave some peas whole though! Now add back the meat and continue cooking until it's hot. Serve up with buns, bread or bisquits of your choice. We used Kinickinnick's Sunflower Seed Bread and Bun mix (Gluten Free) and it was very good.
I think next time I will make my ham stock in the slow cooker while I'm sleeping. Another thing one can do is use the pressure cooker, if you have one. I've done that before and it's always a time saver.
Soup freezes beautifully in freezer bags. I just lost a jar to the freezer so won't be using jars anymore, for sure!
Best,
Naturally gluten free
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Grateful
When I married my husband, his father had only been out of the hospital for a month. Then he was back in.
He had a stroke when we met and was in a coma for seven weeks. Add to that a doctor telling me I had to have a partial mastectomy because the test came back atypical. To say my marriage was born in difficult circumstances....
My husband and I celebrate 10 years of marriage this winter. And my father in law, who just had cancer surgery in August, was just here for thanksgiving dinner.
My eldest child had serious behavioural and learning issues. Now she is a bright and engaging girl in high school who is competent enough to do the grocery shopping for the Foods 12 class. She is in Grade 11 and is teachers aide for the class. Not only this but for a child who went to summer school many times, had remedial reading classes, was tutored for three years in math and still managed to be several grades behind, she is now only one grade behind where she started, and gets A's across the board.
I am Grateful.
He had a stroke when we met and was in a coma for seven weeks. Add to that a doctor telling me I had to have a partial mastectomy because the test came back atypical. To say my marriage was born in difficult circumstances....
My husband and I celebrate 10 years of marriage this winter. And my father in law, who just had cancer surgery in August, was just here for thanksgiving dinner.
My eldest child had serious behavioural and learning issues. Now she is a bright and engaging girl in high school who is competent enough to do the grocery shopping for the Foods 12 class. She is in Grade 11 and is teachers aide for the class. Not only this but for a child who went to summer school many times, had remedial reading classes, was tutored for three years in math and still managed to be several grades behind, she is now only one grade behind where she started, and gets A's across the board.
I am Grateful.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thanksgiving
One of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving is.
I can think back over many years, gathering with my family as a child, all the cousins getting together. How come one side of the family is always more relaxed and fun than the other side of the family?
Sorry, that was neither here nor there.
Thanksgiving can easily be a gluten free holiday.
Turkey is gluten free, so are potatos and other vegetables. It is when we add things to them to make them casseroles or give them sauces that we can go horribly wrong.
Over the last number of years I have simplified our Thanksgiving spread to be wholesome and natural, more to my liking than that of my mother's era. (Sorry Mom)
I still cook turkey and dressing, but we don't do the heavy side dishes, creamed vegetables and green bean casseroles.
Instead we have fresh vegetables along side the traditions. Our guest leave the table feeling satisfied but not sick... Thank goodness!
The traditional menu
Roast Turkey, mashed potatos, bacon sauteed brussel sprouts, sweet potato casserole and spinach salad.
Yes, I make gravy. Yes I make stuffing. The casserole? Healthy. No added soups or sauces.
This year I made cornbread sausage stuffing and it was a hit. I was concerned for the stuffing because it's my favorite part. Next year, I'll make two loaves of Gluten free bread and go with that instead of the cornbread. I bet it will be just as good!
Again, no pictures, just good food and a feeling of gratefulness for the family we had around the table...
recipes tomorrow.
I can think back over many years, gathering with my family as a child, all the cousins getting together. How come one side of the family is always more relaxed and fun than the other side of the family?
Sorry, that was neither here nor there.
Thanksgiving can easily be a gluten free holiday.
Turkey is gluten free, so are potatos and other vegetables. It is when we add things to them to make them casseroles or give them sauces that we can go horribly wrong.
Over the last number of years I have simplified our Thanksgiving spread to be wholesome and natural, more to my liking than that of my mother's era. (Sorry Mom)
I still cook turkey and dressing, but we don't do the heavy side dishes, creamed vegetables and green bean casseroles.
Instead we have fresh vegetables along side the traditions. Our guest leave the table feeling satisfied but not sick... Thank goodness!
The traditional menu
Roast Turkey, mashed potatos, bacon sauteed brussel sprouts, sweet potato casserole and spinach salad.
Yes, I make gravy. Yes I make stuffing. The casserole? Healthy. No added soups or sauces.
This year I made cornbread sausage stuffing and it was a hit. I was concerned for the stuffing because it's my favorite part. Next year, I'll make two loaves of Gluten free bread and go with that instead of the cornbread. I bet it will be just as good!
Again, no pictures, just good food and a feeling of gratefulness for the family we had around the table...
recipes tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Chicken or Zuchinni Parmesan
MMmm. Oh yes it was fabulous. It was gone before I knew it and I got yellow zuchinni squash INTO my best friend and husband. Chalk one up for me!
Many of the dishes I'm used to cooking turn out to be easily converted to gluten free. Corn flour is an excellent substitute for dredging meat, or vegetables. Really, for most things you can get away without the breading!
Weight Watchers has many great recipes for things that do away with the usual breading and stuffing. They are a great resource and I learned some handy things from them. I recommend checking out any book at the library before committing to a purchase.
Onto the zuchinni~ I used gluten free all purpose flour to dredge. I also pounded some chicken filets flat and dredged them.
This is really the easiest thing to do. You get to take out some frustration on meat, that is always a good thing! You might get a little messy but it all cleans up in the end and you have a really great meal that tastes like it took many hours, when really it only took a short while.
1 large zuchinni
4 chicken filets
1 can organic tomato sauce
basil
garlic
onion
italian seasoning if you have
1/2 cup parmesan, divided
mozzarella slices
1 cup all purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
Take the chicken and pound it flat between two pieces of plastic film. I have a metal pounder now, but I have used wine bottles (full) or my rolling pin.
Have your dredge ready. (beaten eggs in one dish, seasoned flour, 1/4 cup cheese in the other)
Cut your zuchinni into 1/2 or slightly thinner, slices.
Place in egg, then into flour, shaking off excess, set aside, do all the zuchinni
Drag chicken through beaten eggs, then through flour. Set aside
Do this until you have done all the chicken pieces.
Heat your frying pans to a good medium heat, you want it hot but not hot enough to burn butter right off the bat.
Fry the zuchinni pieces and place them in a casserole dish. Fry the chicken pieces and place them on top of the zuchinni or you can do this the other way around.
Mix your tomato sauce and the herbs, onion, and garlic. Pour it over the zuchinni and chicken. Cover with slices mozzarella and parmesan~ 1 slice on each portion. Place in hot (350*) oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Serve with a great salad.
I forgot to add the parmesan to the flour dredge and it was still really nice. Oh and gobbled before a picture could have been taken . . . sorry.
Many of the dishes I'm used to cooking turn out to be easily converted to gluten free. Corn flour is an excellent substitute for dredging meat, or vegetables. Really, for most things you can get away without the breading!
Weight Watchers has many great recipes for things that do away with the usual breading and stuffing. They are a great resource and I learned some handy things from them. I recommend checking out any book at the library before committing to a purchase.
Onto the zuchinni~ I used gluten free all purpose flour to dredge. I also pounded some chicken filets flat and dredged them.
This is really the easiest thing to do. You get to take out some frustration on meat, that is always a good thing! You might get a little messy but it all cleans up in the end and you have a really great meal that tastes like it took many hours, when really it only took a short while.
1 large zuchinni
4 chicken filets
1 can organic tomato sauce
basil
garlic
onion
italian seasoning if you have
1/2 cup parmesan, divided
mozzarella slices
1 cup all purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
Take the chicken and pound it flat between two pieces of plastic film. I have a metal pounder now, but I have used wine bottles (full) or my rolling pin.
Have your dredge ready. (beaten eggs in one dish, seasoned flour, 1/4 cup cheese in the other)
Cut your zuchinni into 1/2 or slightly thinner, slices.
Place in egg, then into flour, shaking off excess, set aside, do all the zuchinni
Drag chicken through beaten eggs, then through flour. Set aside
Do this until you have done all the chicken pieces.
Heat your frying pans to a good medium heat, you want it hot but not hot enough to burn butter right off the bat.
Fry the zuchinni pieces and place them in a casserole dish. Fry the chicken pieces and place them on top of the zuchinni or you can do this the other way around.
Mix your tomato sauce and the herbs, onion, and garlic. Pour it over the zuchinni and chicken. Cover with slices mozzarella and parmesan~ 1 slice on each portion. Place in hot (350*) oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Serve with a great salad.
I forgot to add the parmesan to the flour dredge and it was still really nice. Oh and gobbled before a picture could have been taken . . . sorry.
Fall... I love Autumn
We have been super busy. Wait, no, I have been super busy. Everything falls apart around here when I get super busy. We have been having some amazing fall weather. It has been GORGEOUS, just beautiful.
Yes, it is getting chilly, we fired up the gas on the fireplace and nudged up the thermostats to hover around 15* but the skies have been blue and clear!
We try to get out in it daily but we haven't been successful in getting in our runs for a week! Tried yesterday but only did two intervals, it was much more fun watching the floatplanes come in and take off again!
What's that? You didn't know? Oh, sorry about that.
I will explain.
I am a homeschooling mommy, so I get to teach PE which is great because one of the hats I wore in my past was one ofdrill seargent group fitness instructor!
My nine year old and I have started a running program to get us out and me fitter, since CD and a malfunctioning system has my body thinking it's starving, I have put on a bit of weight. Considering though, that I was very underweight most of my life, I am not worried about losing the sixty pounds I have gained. I will be happy with about half that. That will put me in a size 6 - 8 petite and that will be nice and healthy, not the stick with spine showing that I once was. And no, wasn't anorexic~ was CD all along. Crazy.
Anyway it is soup season in our house and I have always, always, always loved making and eating soups. I could live on them alone.
Last week I made a lovely side dish of creamed tomato's, baking the tomatos in cream in the oven. They were very nice but the leftovers made a great soup, with the addition of some seasonings and chicken broth.
I have used the same method to make today's soup. I had one pound of slice mushrooms that I put in my baker and covered with cream and let go for a couple hours in the oven. It was SOO hard to stay out of them, I love mushrooms.
I didn't have time to do anything else with them, when I did this so I stuck 'em in the fridge.
Today, they are simmering away on the stove with a whole liter of chicken broth added, a pinch of poultry seasoning, some herbamare, and pepper. The texture isn't quite what I want so I added about 1/2 cup of leftover mashed potatos and gave them a whir with the stick blender.
The flavor is very deep and mushroomy. I could add some sherry for a hint of sweetness and it would be very good. I added instead a pinch of hot mustard powder and it was very very good.
I have made mushroom soup before and it always turns out good. Next time I may steam some cauliflower to blend in for that creamy, rich texture that I used to get using roux. I don't always want to use roux though.
So a recipe format
1 pound dark mushrooms
1/2 liter of whip cream
1 liter of chicken stock
pinch poultry seasoning
pinch Colhmans hot mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
Bake mushrooms and cream together 2 hours in a 350 oven, until reduced by half.
Scrape into saucepan and add chicken stock and seasonings. Heat through. Add puree'd vegetables for thicker texture.
Optional * add 1/2 ounce good sherry wine
Lovely. Smells grand!
And it's Naturally, Gluten Free!
Yes, it is getting chilly, we fired up the gas on the fireplace and nudged up the thermostats to hover around 15* but the skies have been blue and clear!
We try to get out in it daily but we haven't been successful in getting in our runs for a week! Tried yesterday but only did two intervals, it was much more fun watching the floatplanes come in and take off again!
What's that? You didn't know? Oh, sorry about that.
I will explain.
I am a homeschooling mommy, so I get to teach PE which is great because one of the hats I wore in my past was one of
My nine year old and I have started a running program to get us out and me fitter, since CD and a malfunctioning system has my body thinking it's starving, I have put on a bit of weight. Considering though, that I was very underweight most of my life, I am not worried about losing the sixty pounds I have gained. I will be happy with about half that. That will put me in a size 6 - 8 petite and that will be nice and healthy, not the stick with spine showing that I once was. And no, wasn't anorexic~ was CD all along. Crazy.
Anyway it is soup season in our house and I have always, always, always loved making and eating soups. I could live on them alone.
Last week I made a lovely side dish of creamed tomato's, baking the tomatos in cream in the oven. They were very nice but the leftovers made a great soup, with the addition of some seasonings and chicken broth.
I have used the same method to make today's soup. I had one pound of slice mushrooms that I put in my baker and covered with cream and let go for a couple hours in the oven. It was SOO hard to stay out of them, I love mushrooms.
I didn't have time to do anything else with them, when I did this so I stuck 'em in the fridge.
Today, they are simmering away on the stove with a whole liter of chicken broth added, a pinch of poultry seasoning, some herbamare, and pepper. The texture isn't quite what I want so I added about 1/2 cup of leftover mashed potatos and gave them a whir with the stick blender.
The flavor is very deep and mushroomy. I could add some sherry for a hint of sweetness and it would be very good. I added instead a pinch of hot mustard powder and it was very very good.
I have made mushroom soup before and it always turns out good. Next time I may steam some cauliflower to blend in for that creamy, rich texture that I used to get using roux. I don't always want to use roux though.
So a recipe format
1 pound dark mushrooms
1/2 liter of whip cream
1 liter of chicken stock
pinch poultry seasoning
pinch Colhmans hot mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
Bake mushrooms and cream together 2 hours in a 350 oven, until reduced by half.
Scrape into saucepan and add chicken stock and seasonings. Heat through. Add puree'd vegetables for thicker texture.
Optional * add 1/2 ounce good sherry wine
Lovely. Smells grand!
And it's Naturally, Gluten Free!