On messages from higher powers.

So last night I had a dream.  It was lovely.  I was in the mall and there was a doughnut kiosk.  So I went up and ordered myself two.  Delicious.  They were beautiful with chocolate glaze and sprinkles [my favorite].

This morning when I woke up I checked my instagram as usual and J's cousin posted a picture of two beautiful doughnuts with sprinkles.  Seriously?  I wanted one!

Later my best sisterfriend texted me that she just bought 3 doughnuts to kickstart her baby weight gaining.  WHAT?  What is this world coming to?

Clearly it meant something.  It meant God was speaking to me.  What was he saying you ask?  He was saying "doughnut, Megan.  You need one.  Or two.  Or several."

And so it came to pass.  On the 11th day of October in the 2013th year Anno Domini, Megan made herself 4 dozen mini doughnuts.  Excessive?  Yes.  Delicious?  You betcha.

Baby kicking my hand.  "Thanks for the doughnuts, Mom!"

Do me a favor and don't count how many are in this picture.  Because then you'll know how many I ate.  And I don't even know how many I ate.

Sometimes I blog from my iPhone.

Because I have a migraine and I'm laying in bed. But sometimes I have very profound thoughts. I find them profound at least. 

For one, Ladydog was laying in bed with me and she was in a sound, sound sleep. Then she woke with a start, ran down stairs, and now I hear her squeaking her favorite toy [kong wubba]. Did she have a dream about it?  How specific are dog dreams? Last night she was growling in her dream. She isn't a growler. She barks at threats in her lovely pit bull rasp. But rarely growls. What was so sinister that it deserved two very throaty growls?

Secondly, I am shocked and amazed with the bipartisan agreement on the US involvement in Syria that is happening on my Facebook timeline. It's so refreshing that everyone should agree for once. The Syrian doctor I work with disagrees with my Facebook friends. Whatever happens, I pray it stops the turmoil. 

Finally, cravings. I was worried for a while that I wouldn't get those pregnancy cravings that everyone always talks about. Partially I wasn't having any due to the extreme nausea, and thankfully that is starting to wane, though it's still not gone. I can put my fears aside though because a couple weeks ago the cravings hit. Dill pickle flavored potato chips. And lemonade. Yum. I'm getting over that one, though, and starting to get an onslaught of new ones. Yesterday it was pancakes. A hundred million pancakes. Today? Today it is barbecue ribs, baked beans, and French fries from Disney's Animal Kingdom. Only there. Don't ask where that came from. But I need it! Too bad today is fajita day in the Gross household. 

If ribs could banish a migraine I'd be on my way to Orlando as we speak. 

This was the pancakes AFTER dinner. Justin asked me why I made so many. I don't know? The fetus wanted pancakes. 

Gluten free Pregnancy Craving Pancakes: 

2 cups of brown rice flour

1 cup of potato starch and tapioca flour combined [I ran out of potato starch but it was about half and half]

2 tsp baking powder

4 tsp sugar

2 eggs possibly 3 if your husband didn't buy jumbo like mine did. 

1/4 cup oil/butter

1 ripe banana [optional]

Milk of your choice to reach pancake consistency. 

This makes a huge batch. Good for company. A large family. Or a very demanding fetus. 

friday+saturday+sunday

[black bean burgers on gluten free bun+roasted sweet potatoes.]

[gluten free/vegan bagels+daiya strawberry cream cheese.  yes]

[confused]

[lactofermentation! this is cortido+can't wait to try it]

[depressed]

[sour stomached pitbull]

[sweet potato+kale chowdah]

recipe:

1/2 onion

1 sweet potato

3 red potatoes [can be replaced with additional sweet potato]

1 Tbl. coconut oil

-combine and saute-

salt/garlic salt to taste

pepper to taste

thyme to taste

1 1/2 boxes of vegetable broth

-cook until potatoes are soft then mash to desired mashiness-

4-5 kale leaves sliced in thin ribbons.

2 Tbl. nutritional yeast

-simmer for a couple minutes-

-eat-

-fill bowl again-

-repeat-

-add and simmer for a couple of minutes-

tortillas

Justin ate at Panchero's a couple of weeks ago.  He loved it, so I decided to replicate it at home the best I could.  Of course that meant spending $5.99 on a pack of 6 gluten-free tortillas.  Seriously?

This weekend when I was planning meals and decided to do a re-do of the vegetarian burritos, obviously I had to figure out something cheaper as a tortilla option.  I found a recipe for gluten-free flour tortillas online and holy smokes.  They were excellent.  They were quick to whip up [the recipe said 50 minutes, but honestly I started making them, had to run back into work and then came home and finished cooking them off in a total of about 50 minutes.]  They bent without breaking, like rolled my tortilla into a complete round burrito and it didn't break.  It was a miracle.

I got the recipe here.  I'll never buy tortillas again.

The perfect bite.  Black beans, guacamole and tobasco sauce.  I love tobasco sauce.

That's all I have to say about that.

weekender.

I've decided I'd like to be a professional weekender.  I would like to get paid for this position.  A cool 2 million per year would suffice just fine.  I'll need a little extra cash, you know, for all the DIY stuff I'll have time for.  With includes but is not limited to:

-Gardening

-Building furniture [with what tools....?]

-Painting

-Baking

-Inventing new recipes

-Potting plants [this is different from gardening]

And other various good ideas from pinterest.

I wouldn't mind if this job didn't include digging out plants [which we did this weekend], lawn mowing [our mower isn't self-propelled], tilling, getting attacked by bugs, and the like.

This weekend was the weekend of spiders.  We did yard work and encountered thousands of spiders. Big ones, little ones, hairy ones, ones with white bums, and I'm fairly certain, a tarantula.  Do tarantulas live in Iowa?  To top it all off, I went to put a glass in the dishwasher this morning and there was a daddy long leg spider in it.  Yuck yuck yuck.

I'm fairly certain that Justin is afraid of spiders too.  He denies it, but I know the truth.

And now let the iPhone photos of the weekend commence!

 

Can Rady has some pancakes?

Prease?

The menu for vegan week four.  We're still rocking it.  Some of us miss meat a little more than others...  Some of us might be grumpy about it.  Some of us may have even requested to go to taco bell for lunch even though that one of us hates taco bell.  Basically I'm winning at veganism.  But I've lost 10 pounds so I made this:

COWBOY CAVIAR!  And we finished it in less than 24 hours.  I expect to have gained at least two pounds from this weekend.

And finally, we got this little Lady a year ago from this weekend.  As Justin said, she seems to have adjusted just fine...  Spoiled.

98% vegan

I say that because, occasionally, I cheat.  Like the cookies that my brother brought me from Germany, I'll be damned if I don't eat those puppies!  But for the most part, we've been vegan for 2 weeks and 1 day.  And it's not too bad.  I'll admit, I did have to text my friend whose husband is vegetarian last night and beg for her veggie burger recipe.  But other than that, it's going well.  So well that when I see chicken it grosses me out.  No worries, hamburgers still look amazing.  Hopefully our veggie burgers tomorrow will kick that craving.

Another benefit to going vegan is I've stopped eating candy.  I went cold turkey off of it.  And I don't miss it.  That has never happened to me before.  Usually when I give up candy I get really grumpy and think about it constantly.  That has not been the case this time.  I made black bean brownies for J's birthday last week that weren't stupendous, but we'll get there.  

The worst thing I've made while being a vegan was probably my vegan chili.  Horrible.  The best thing was the vegan waffles.  They.  Were.  Amazing.  Crispy and delicious.  Even if we went off being vegan, I'd never use my old recipe again.  I could eat waffles every day.

I'm even eating spinach.  It's happening people.  I didn't put one piece of spinach in the discard pile tonight. [Background: the discard pile is where I place all of the unsavory bits of food that aren't fit for consumption.  Be it an item that touched the table -the horror- an iffy looking leaf of lettuce, or a particularly menacing spinach stem.  Justin also makes discard piles, but he usually forgets they're discards and eats them...]  This week of vegan meals is looking to be the best one yet.  Pizza, veggie burgers, and one pot pasta are on the list.  

Happy Monday!

UNrecipe

Today I bring to you a delicious and healthy UNrecipe.  Which basically means it's so stupid easy, my pitbull could do it.  Obviously that's not true.  My pitbull can't even defend me in the dark of the night when there are strange banging noises in the garage.  She hides deep under the covers and pretends not to be awake.  True story.  Also, please don't rob me?

Back to the UNrecipe.  This weekend Justin and I exclaimed that we would make healthier eating decisions and made new rules for ourselves [again].  This one was less unhealthy meat.  There have been studies done showing that red meat isn't the healthiest decision, so we've decided to cut back.  More chicken, fish, veggies, and legumes are happening over here!  

Tonight I threw together a delightful spring vegetable and chicken pasta dish.  It reminds me of alfredo without the obvious creaminess, and with the added bonus of fresh lemon juice.  So good and it took all of about 12 minutes to come together.  Honestly the longest part was waiting for the water to boil.

UNrecipe

8 oz. of pasta [gluten-free, or of your choosing.  We used shells because I didn't eat enough shells as a child and now I'm obsessed with them, but any shape would do as well.]

1 lb. of chicken [grilled, roasted, etc. Or no chicken if you're feeling particularly vegetarian]

Spring vegetables of your choosing, we used snap peas and asparagus.

The juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1/4-1/2 cup of grated parmesan

Many good cranks of freshly ground pepper

Garlic salt.  [My favorite can be ordered here.  It's the best ever]

A drizzling of olive oil

Just heat everything up and combine in a big bowl and toss.  It makes enough for 4 big servings, which is convenient because I love a good leftover lunch.

Leftovers.  That is all I have to say about that.

a week of traditions

This week we lost the matriarch of our family.  My mother and her brothers have gotten to spend a few days this week together remembering their mom.  I've been blessed by having a job allowing me to spend the whole week with my family.  We've been honoring my Grandmother's memory all week starting with a Kessler's and ginger ale toast Tuesday after her prayer service.  Last night we had a taco feast with margaritas, because those were her second favorite drink.  And for dessert I made her date nut pudding.

If you've never had date nut pudding, you may be imagining a creamy viscous liquid pudding.  This is not the case with this pudding.  It is a more traditional English pudding studded with soft dates and nuts.  It's honestly the easiest dessert ever.  I love taste inspired memories.

Recipe:

1 cup chopped dates

1 cup chopped nuts [pecans or walnuts]

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk [dairy, almond, coconut, soy...]

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbl. gluten-free flour [just rice flour would be fine in this case, but my mom had an already made blend, so I used that.  this is not the situation in which you can substitute in a nut flour]

Method:

Combine all ingredients into a bowl until well combined.  Pour into a greased glass baking dish (size 7x11 is ideal but 8x8 would do).  Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and no longer jiggly.  

Enjoy as is.  

Or with whipped/ice cream.  Or my favorite way, cream drizzled over the top.

Dabbling in goat cheese

Usually when Justin and I undertake in DIY house projects one or both of us end up in a sour mood.  I know they say that there's more than one way to skin a cat.  And that may be true.  AANNDD I've never skinned a cat... but I'm pretty sure my way would be the best way.

It's like that.

Luckily I was inspired while dodging co-workers at Hy-vee and bought a rack of ribs, so I already had that going for me as a good apology dinner.  To accompany the ribs I made goat cheese scalloped potatoes.  Justin isn't very sure about goat cheese so I went light on it, but if you love it by all means use a heavy hand.

Goat Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

[the UN-recipe]

3[ish] pounds of potatoes- if using baby reds or yukon golds, then keep the skins on, otherwise peel.

A roll, or log if you will, or chèvre.  Herb chèvre highly recommended but the good 'ol Fareway didn't have it this time. Note: I only used about 1/3 of the log, possibly 1/2 if you account for the snacking I did while assembling.

Salt and or garlic salt.

Pepper

1/4 stick of butter

1/4-1/3 cup of corn starch

1-2 cups of milk of choice (almond, coconut, soy, cow, NOT goat)

Any other flavoring you like, for example, thinly slice onion may be appropriate If your husband is mad at you for being huffy about wall hangings I recommend skiping the onions.

Thinly slice the onions [by hand for those seeking penance for their bad attitudes] and layer them in a deep, greased casserole dish.  After there are enough potatoes in the bottom, sprinkle with salt, pepper then dot with butter and chèvre and sprinkle with corn starch.  Repeat layers.  When you reach the top layer, skip the corn starch as it isn't the prettiest on top.  Once everyone is all layered in and happy pour enough milk in the casserole to come about 3/4th of the way up the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1-11/2 hours.  Check the potatoes to see if they're tender and if the sauce is thickening up.

Whatever you do, DO NOT cover the casserole dish or you and your partner in crime will be running around opening doors and windows and flapping towels as the dog runs around looking very concerned about the decibal at which the smoke alarm screams.  Plus you'll have to clean the oven, and that's such a bummer.  

Harry Potter is on ABC Family, which is excellent.

It's "The Order of the Phoenix" which I haven't always appreciated enough.  But as I've grown older, I appreciate it more.  Except for the part when Cho and Harry kiss because that is just so weird.

Also tonight we went to the Hyvee, which I love because we didn't need anything real (except syrup for my pancakes) so we could just meander around.  And meander we did.  We roamed around the fruit and J let me prod a weird looking fruit that actually was really pokey and hurt.  Then we considered buying sun dried tomatoes, but they were expensive so we got roasted red peppers instead.  Then we bought Log Cabin syrup, which reminds me of growing up.

I was also allowed to buy Peanut butter Panda Puffs because I said I was craving them.  PLUS we got to buy treats.  Justin got frozen greek yogurt and I got raspberry sorbet which was so good.  

When we got home I ate some sorbet.  And then a bowl of Panda Puffs.  And then I almost cried.  Because the snacks were good.  And I really love when Harry Potter is on tv.

Chicago: The Food

Basically what I love most about traveling is also what I get the most anxiety about.  Well, that and the scary thought that I might have to throw up somewhere weird.

Anyways, the thing that I'm talking about is the food.  Being originally from the Twin Cities area, I had a lot of gluten free restaurant options.  I love all those options and visit them when I go home, but it's so fun and exciting going to big cities that have new and old options.  And now let's begin our culinary journey.

Let it be known that I don't have pictures of everything because I temporarily lost my brain and forgot that I always take pictures of what I eat.  Whoops.

Friday:

We arrived.  On the car journey over, we ate sour cream and chive nut thin chips.  Which were medium.

We meant to eat at Naked Pizza that offers pizza on gluten free crust.  But we parked a half mile away from the restaurant.  Then the place was plum out of gf crusts.  So we ate at Qdoba next-door that has some safe options.  And was medium.  Maybe medium plus, but not pizza.

Saturday:

For breakfast we ate at the "bistro" at our hotel.  I ordered fresh fruit.  $4 was a lot for fruit I thought. Until I got basically a huge bowl full of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries.  And then I was the happiest little Megan.  Raspberries make my rocking world go round.  Plus I ate a Kind bar for protein.  To which I will give a rating of 8,000 sprinkles.  Which is a good rating if you're asking.

For lunch we panicked out of our original lunch plan because I heard the place was only "eh" and it was pretty far away from where we were located so last minutes I said "There shall be Spicy Chicken at P.F. Chang's China Bistro." And so it came to pass.  And there was spicy chicken.  And there was fried rice.  And all was good in the world.  So, not original, but I loved it.  So 3.1 stars.

On our way to deciding that PF Chang's was a good choice, we passed the Weber Grill restaurant.  Justin said "Oh!  That's where I wanted to eat last time I was in Chicago, but I couldn't get in." Then while I was dawdling in the creepiest bathroom that there is ever to be in a PF Chang's, J googled to see if Weber Grill had gluten free options and, lo!  There was such a huge gluten free menu that we walked right back to that restaurant and made reservations.  And this is what I had:

 

That, my friends, is barbecue ribs, barbecue beef brisket, mashed potatoes and baked beans.  Heavens they were amazing.  I decided that I'm moving to there.  To the restaurant, not Chicago.  Justin loved his option too.  He got this PLUS pulled pork and he got mac and cheese instead of beans.  Also he ate all 4 pretzel rolls with the cheddar butter.  Not going to lie, I wanted cheddar butter.  This meal earned a rating of 16 hugs.

Sunday:

For breakfast we went to Tweet.  I recommend Tweet because the food is good and the atmosphere is squishy.  If you like sitting next to the vegans and being able to hear their entire conversation, you're in luck!  It didn't bother me, I think J would have appreciated more space.  There were also a lot of boobs on the walls.  Like, so many.  But they also had so many gluten free options that I had to ask the waiter to come back three times because I hadn't made a decision yet.  I chose pumpkin pancakes which were so good.  And Beautiful. 

And this iced coffee was the nectar of the gods.  Justin hated it and just got regular.  Which is boring.  Tweet gets a rating of 547 boobs, which is actually probably how many boobs there were, which is weird but didn't bother me.

On our way out of town through grayness and rain we stopped at a five guys burgers and fries.  Such a good decision.  So many fries.  I can die in a happy food coma now.  And really need to work out...

The worst picture I have ever taken.  Period.

Also, tonight I made pancakes and didn't have any syrup in the house.  Isn't that the dumbest?

Happy Hour

Today Justin had to go to a company dinner.  This saddens me outwardly, as it should.  But secretly thrills me.  My co-worker was in dire need of a happy hour outing, and today was a PERFECT excuse to go out.  

After much grumping about how my town isn't exactly a gluten-free mecca, I did some research and found that Carlos O'Kelly's has a gluten-free menu.  

We showed up grandma early (4pm) and ordered queso and raspberry margaritas out right!  Can I just say that their gluten free menu is beautiful?  It's colorful and had enough options to make me happy.  I clarified a couple times that the queso and chips and salsa were gluten free [because I'm OCD and that's how I do] and the server put up with me ever so graciously.

For supper I ordered the chicken fajitas.  I have been on a fajita kick lately, so it was fun to get to eat them without making them.  I again verified upon their delivery that there were corn tortillas and they were.  I'm not going to say that it was a culinary masterpiece, but honestly, from someone that hasn't eaten out at a chain restaurant in...6 years?  Yes.  6.  It was wonderful.  I will definitely be going back.  The queso was everything you want in cheesy, spicy queso.  The salsa was delightful.  The chips were super delightful.  I have a place for happy hour now.  Margaritas are my poison and chips are my juggernaut.  

I only had the wherewithal to snap a photo of my margarita.  Half guzzled.  And a corner of the salsa snuck into the picture.  Next time I'll try and do better.  There will definitely be a next time.

Reese's Peanut Butter Pie

I have a cousin-in-law [is that what you call them?] named Reece whom I lovingly call Reecey-Pie just to get his goat.  He and my Brother-in-law [I know that one is right], JB, have been kicking some major bum this season in football.  In fact, Thursday is the state final game for their little town.  The team is a great group of boys playing their hearts out and I'm so glad to be in-law-related to some of them.  I'm so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family.  J and I are playing hooky on Thursday to cheer the boys on and hope with the rest of the town, no joke, that they'll finish up this year with an undefeated season.  It means a lot to them, they're all playing for another cousin-in-law [or whatever they're called] of mine that is cheering them on from heaven.  Win or lose, these boys have done amazing.  They continuously bring tears to our eyes for their hard work and awesome team spirit.

Tears aside, this post is about one of my favorite desserts.  

Reese's Peanut Butter Pie. Oh my.

Recipe:

1 package of instant chocolate pudding

1 1/2 cups almond/soy/coconut/regular/rice milk

2/3 cup of peanut butter

1 package of cool whip

8-10 regular sized reese's peanut butter cups

1 cookie pie crust

or

2 cups graham or cookie crumbs with 6 Tbl of melted butter (graham only add 2 tsp of sugar)

Pre-bake the crust at 350 for 8-10 minutes if it is not a store bought crust.

Combine pudding, milk and peanut butter and whip for 2 minutes.  The stand mixer with whisk attachment is super convenient for this recipe.  Chop up the Reese's while the pudding mixture is whipped and set aside about 2-3 peanut butter cups worth for sprinkling on top.

When the pudding mixture starts to thicken, remove from mixer and fold in entire carton of cool whip and the rest of the Reese's.

Pour in cooled pie crust, sprinkle garnishing Reese's, cover and freeze for at least 3 hours.

Cut.  Eat.  Think about what heaven will taste like.  Imagine that it's going to taste like peanut butter pie.  Share the pie with someone.  Agree that it's the best thing you've ever eaten.  Share your theory about heaven.  Be happy.

Oh.  And here is the real deal Reecey-Pie

My brother-in-law [JB] is the blonde football player in the middle.  Reecey-Pie is the handsome baldish football player.  Look at that wonderful family I acquired.  Lucky girl.

the magic that is target

Today I wandered through target for an hour.  I left work early and "needed" some things to prepare for the weekend.  And I did really NEED a stocking hat for the ISU game this weekend because today the temperature took a drastic nose dive dropping from 68 to 44 in about an hour.  Rude.  I digress, target.  It's a mecca for the distracted shopper.  Which Justin will adamantly agree that I am.  I wandered to and fro, hither and thither.

Am I a bathrobe person?  Maybe?  Or would I just wear it at inappropriate times, like, all the time.

How do I convince Justin that I need ALL of the Nate Berkus decoration collection?  Especially this.  And only 40$?  A steal if you ask me.

Does target have the gluten-free brown rice crispies.  No.  (I already knew this, but pretended that I didn't so that I could go to target.)

Will gel eye liner make me look like Audrey Hepburn?  Again, no, not quite.

What is the meaning of life as it relates to target (just kidding) but seriously, I need zebra print towels, right?

After picking out three shirts I needed like I need a hole in my head.  And a hat that I really NEED, then a hat that I NEEDED more.  

 I found it.  

The purchase I knew I had to make.  

I texted Justin "This is real.  Bulldog puppy bookends.  My heart says yes and my brain says yes."

He didn't reply.  I bet he wishes he had now.  I called my friend Ashley, who I knew would support my purchase.  But felt like I needed to give someone a fair chance to tell me no since J wasn't taking his.  Of course Ashley approved with gusto, and I named the bookend[s] Pierre the Pup.  I love him.

Oh.  Justin texted me back.  When the cashier gave me the receipt.  "Mine says no."  Anyways, he didn't know how much he would love Pierre the Pup and now he agrees (probably) that I had to get him.  I love target.

Also, hat (that I NEED) and shirt (that I don't)

Plus a pit bull to admire.  She made her most pathetic faces for me.  They clearly say "why do you put me in the garage when you go to work?"

Also, I made buns. So that's not nothing.

Macaroni & Cheese

Not just any macaroni and cheese.  Macaroni and cheese with bacon.

We died and went to heaven this weekend with good food.  I can't even name a favorite.  But the macaroni and cheese was delightful.  And possibly a little too sinful for a Sunday.  Thank goodness God is a forgiving God.  I like this recipe because it doesn't require a roux for the cheese sauce.  It seriously makes the best macaroni and cheese either Justin or I have ever eaten.

Recipe:
1 Box of noodles (use shells to make your heart sing with happiness)
1 8oz block of Medium Cheddar Cheese
3.5 oz (approximately) of Farmer's Cheese-whatever that is
2 cups of milk/almond milk/soy milk
2 tsp brown rice flour
1/4 pound diced and browned bacon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp sour cream
1 egg

Cook noodles and drain them.  Cook to al dente.  I used quinoa noodles because they were the cheapest on the shelf.  Use your favorite.

Shred up the cheeses. Save some cheddar to sprinkle and brown on top.

Combine egg, flour, s&p and nutmeg, sour cream and milk in LARGE bowl with the rest of the shredded cheese, and bacon.

Grease your 2 qt. baking dish with -wait for it- the bacon grease.  You'll thank me.

Mix noodles into the cheese sauce mixture and then pour into the dish and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Menu

Growing up, my mom went to the grocery store about 4 times a week because we never decided what we were having for supper until the last minute and then we had to go and get any missing ingredients.

That was fine then.  But now I'm the one going to the grocery store.  And I don't like it.  After I've worked a full day, the last thing I want to do is figure out what to make for dinner.  Decide if I have the necessary ingredients.  Go to the store and fight the droves of people doing the same thing.  And then go home and prepare a meal.

No.

So I became a menu planner.  This helped not only with my sanity, but with saving money at the grocery store.  I now scan the ads before I decide what I'm going to make, and take inventory of our produce and pantry items.  I then make a list on Excel breaking down each meal and the ingredients I need from the store for each one with a miscellaneous column on the bottom.  We went from spending about 120$ per week on groceries to around $80, and I've had weeks where we've only spent about $40.  That's more like it.

This week's menu:

Monday:

Pizza (I had all these ingredients already)

Tuesday:

Pork Chops

Grilled Veggies

Wednesday:

Barbecue Chicken

Green Beans

Thursday:

Chicken Stir Fry

Rice

Friday:

Hamburgers

Oven Fries

Fruit Salad

Saturday:

Jerk Chicken

Grilled pineapple

Baked Potato Soup

karma

So yesterday after I complained about how sometimes Celiac Disease is a major bummer and today, this is what I ate.

Yay.  What a perfect supper.

On top of my soap box

I don't have a ton of complaints anymore about the mandatory gluten free lifestyle that I follow.  5 years of it has beat me into submission and even taught me to appreciate the hand I have been dealt.  Some days though, I feel like I did at the beginning.  This isn't fair.

J and I have been invited to one of my co-worker's houses this weekend for a get together.  My co-worker said she was going to make hamburgers and told me I should just bring my own bun.  I said oh that's ok, I'm just not going to eat. [Note: I don't eat at other people's houses unless I am the one preparing the food because I am a VERY sensitive celiac and have gotten sick from ridiculously small amounts of gluten cross contamination.]  My co-workers response to my statement was somewhat unexpected, though I've heard it before, "you're weird!"  No, dear people of the world.  I am not weird.  I am protecting myself and my health, if I could eat safely at your house I promise you I would.  Your food always looks good.  Upon explaining this, her statement was retracted and I was instead deemed "high maintenance."  Au contraire.  I am no maintenance.  You don't even have to feed me.  How is that high maintenance?  I simply go to these sorts of functions to be in your presence.

I realize that we are a species that loves feeding one another, and when people come over to my house I live and die to feed them.  I feel awful that I cannot eat the beautiful food that has been prepared.  I know it is hard.  Please don't slap a hurtful label on me for a choice that I never wanted to have to make.  My intention was never to make anyone uncomfortable.

Invite me out to dinner.  If I don't eat, don't say anything.  Know that I will eat eventually, but at that moment I care more about the company I'm with than the food.

Brownie Love

I love brownies.  I don't necessarily have a favorite recipe.  I love them all.  I love Betty Crocker's gluten free brownie mix.  I love the cakey mint brownies my mom makes.  I even love blondies because they remind me of brownies.  This particular brownie recipe I stumbled upon and decided to convert to gluten-free goodness.  I found it on Brown Eyed Baker's blog.  I'm not comfortable saying I'll never use another brownie recipe again, because that's not true.  But this is a solid gluten free brownie.  If I ate ice cream I would have poured an entire carton out over the brownie pan with some hot fudge and whipped cream and curled up on the couch with it.

Fudgey Gluten-Free Brownies

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 cup + 2 Tbl Boiling water

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate chopped

4 Tbl melted butter

1/2 cup + 2 Tbl vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup gf flour blend

3/4 tsp salt

6 oz 60% chocolate chunks

All the chocolates.  My favorite cocoa powder is from Penzey's.

Chop the unsweetened chocolate and toss in a bowl with the cocoa powder.  Pour the boiling water over and whisk, whisk, whisk!

Yes, that's a Pampered Chef avocado masher.  I have limited resources right now.

Add in the butter and oil then mix in the eggs, yolks and vanilla until it's glossy and beautiful like this:

Then mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chunks/chips.

Pour in a greased 9X13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Whilst your brownies bake, do this:

Lick those fingers! It's a shame to waste good brownie batter.  My mother taught me well.

Now just try and make them last more than 2 days.  That's the hard part.  Enjoy!

Look at that fudgey goodness.  

Justin's Chicken

My fiance is not a picky eater.  He hates mustard.  And olives.  And cucumbers.  And he just informed me the other day that he doesn't like snickerdoodles.  Who doesn't like snickerdoodles??  Other than that, he really seems to like what I make him.  I make this once a week though and he loses his brain waiting to come home from work to eat it.  [I'm guessing].

Justin's Chicken:

2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 lemon

4 Tbl. Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Sprinkling of oregano

3 slices gluten free bread (toasted and ground in food processor)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

I cut my chicken boobs breasts in half so it looks like I'm making 4 instead of only two.  Even though we still eat it all...  Juice the lemon in a bowl, add olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.  You could add garlic powder at this point too, but I only remember that about 50% of the time.  Throw the chicken in the olive oil/lemon juice to absorb delicious lemony goodness.  Then toast the bread in the oven.  Or toaster.  But I don't believe in toasters.  And grind it up in the food processor.  Then combine on a plate with parmesan cheese.

Next just dip the chicken in the crumb mixture and lay it in a baking dish.  For extra crunchy deliciousness, I put the left over crumbs on top of the chicken once it's all been dredged.  Finally you take the left over marinade and drizzle it over the chicken.  Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes depending on how thick the chicken is.  I ate mine with a healthy salad, but I would have liked it with lemon broccoli pasta.  Yum.  

P.S. I bet this would be amazing with fish.