A skeptic says "bondo"

Whatever the heck bondo means.


I made The Man try a knee cap. And we recorded it.

Recipe test: Alton's GF Chewy

In my former life (read: before the severe food poisoning in March 1997 that most likely was my gluten-problem trigger; I was sick every time I ate from that moment until going GF last October), I had something of a sweet tooth. If it was sweet and didn't run away, I ate it. If it tried to run away, I gave chase and beat it down until it cried, "Fine! Eat me! You'll pay for it later!"

For 10 years, I rarely ate a cookie or enjoyed a piece of cake. I thought for quite a while that my problem might have been sugar-related, so I tried to stay away.

NOT ANYMORE.

Several weeks ago, Food Network's Alton Brown had a food allergy based show that featured his gluten-free chewy chocolate chip cookie. I DVR all his shows (love him, love him, love him) so I can watch them when The Gidge isn't being a demon dog.

Imagine my surprise when Alton started talking about replacements for wheat flour! Holy old cow!

Now, a side story based on my adoration for my favorite TV chef. As you may or may not know, in addition to "Good Eats," Alton also does a show called "Feasting on Asphalt." The second season of this series takes him up and down the Mississippi River.

One of those Mississippi River stops was on a tow boat owned by The Man's company, which is based in New Orleans.

And The Man didn't do a damn thing to get me an autograph. He didn't call any of his coworkers, nothing. He's lucky I didn't call up a lynch mob on his ass.

Back to the Chewy. After watching the show...twice...(god bless DVR) I printed the recipe and read it through. My first thought? HOLY HELL, THAT'S A LOT OF BUTTER!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 8 ounces - or two sticks - of butter. I suppose, if you are gonna be bad, you should be bad.

And GEEZ! TWELVE OUNCES OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS? That's a whole damn bag! I guess we're going to be REALLY BAD.

Well, I couldn't stomach all those chocolate chips, so I cut it in half. And I added a 1/4 cup of macadamia nuts I had sitting around (chopped up, not whole). But otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter. The dough is chilling right now, so I will be back in an hour or so.

Two hours later...

So, here's a GF Chewy.




Here's a GF Chewy, broken in half (still warm).




How does it taste?



I now have a love-hate relationship with Alton. I still love him, but I hate him for ruining my dinner.

A yummy recipe and other tales

Tonight I made another recipe from Carol's new book, but I will get to that momentarily.

The Stepson drove his car up here for the first time yesterday. He fixed it up with help from his grandfather and stepdad. I am quite proud of him - we were afraid we were going to see a rust-bucket when he finally got it up here.

Somebody has new clothes.

Ever think about buying a dog car seat? They're ridiculously expensive. The Gidge doesn't like to ride in the car unless she can see out the windows, so when we go somewhere, she's riding in my lap, putting her paws on the steering wheel, and just generally getting in the way of safe driving. So I started looking into a car seat for her.

I can't remember what the website was that put it into my head that I could make one. But it's simple - buy a tote big enough around for the dog to lay down comfortably, cut holes in it for the seatbelt to feed through, fill it with foam, and put a cover on it. That's exactly what I did, and this is what I ended up with.

I attached a thin leash to the headrest of the seat and have now gotten a harness for her to wear and to hook it to (when we tested it out last night, I was afraid she was going to hang herself if she tried to jump off the seat). On the test drive, she whimpered for the first couple of blocks because she couldn't get at me, but once she realized she could see out the windows.... Ladies and gentlemen, we have a success!

I have begun wearing aprons when I cook. More often than not, I am wearing a white shirt. I make a mess when I cook.

I have a lot of stained white shirts.

I had one apron with my name on it that I got years ago, but I wanted a couple more. Here's the latest:

This is the last recipe I will post from "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy." Honestly, this book has a lot of good stuff in it and I bet I will find more that I enjoyed as much as I did this one. The salsa has just a tinge of sweetness from honey so it went with the salmon wonderfully.

I changed things a bit to suit what I had in the house, so I have added those changes in italics.

Teriyaki Salmon with Tomato-Cucumber Salsa
From "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy" by Carol Fenster, PhD

Salmon:

4 (4 ounce) salmon fillets
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (I used this)

Tomato-cucumber salsa:

1/4 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 diced English cucumber (I used a normal cucumber from the garden)
1 tbsp rice vinegar (I used regular distilled white vinegar)
1 tbsp honey or agave nectar
1 tsp canola oil or sesame oil (I used canola)
1/4 tsp table salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp chopped fresh mint (I skipped because I didn't have any)

Place the salmon in a heavy-duty food storage bag. Add the teriyaki sauce, seal the bag, and refrigerate, making sure that the salmon is coated with the marinade.

Combine all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl, tossing well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate if you are making it several hours ahead. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Heat a grill to medium (I used a plain ol' frying pan). Remoe the salmon from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the salmon, skin side down, until it reaches the desired degree of doneness. Remove the salmon from the heat and serve immediately with the salsa.

Go get the book. Really.

Nectarines and plums and other miscellany

I am behaving and cute as hell.


We had a rough weekend with The Gidge - she got into something (don't know what), which upset her tummy a little. Well, a lot. She just had her first normal meal since Thursday and I am crossing my fingers that her little butt behaves. So far, so good.

However, she personally is an uncooperative as ever. And I wouldn't have it any other way.


I am not behaving and am channeling Demon Dog.


I have the woman thing going on. Every month, it gets worse. So at my next obgyn appointment, the doc and I are going to have a serious discussion about solutions without drugs. I am just not comfortable putting that stuff in my body any more.

I haven't cooked much - well, other than rice and boiled hamburger for The Gidge over the past few days. So I made up for some of that today with a loaf of bread from a Breads By Anna mix and a nectarine and plum upside-down cake. I had a yummy sandwich and a wedge of honeydew melon for lunch and a slice of cake for dinner.

I haven't cleaned either. Don't come over. It's embarrassing. I am normally Ms. Anal when it comes to keeping the house clean, but for some reason, I just don't wanna. Going to have to do something about that tomorrow. Maybe.

I am on vacation again this week. The Man is off with me on Thursday and Friday, so maybe we can get some couple-time-without-the-dog-and-the-cats at some point.

Man, am I whiny. I will get over it, I promise. I don't handle pain well. I am such a wuss.

So. About the Breads By Anna mix. I picked it up a few weeks ago but hadn't had the motivation to make it until today. Oh my goodness. Gluten free bread that rises to the height of a gluten loaf! Tastes great, too! I may have to stock up. This could very well be my stand-by bread for when I don't feel like making it totally from scratch.

And now, the nectarine and plum upside-down cake. I found a recipe on Epicurious that I converted to gluten free with mixed results. Don't get me wrong - it tastes great, but the recipe I post below will include the modifications I believe are necessary to make my tastebuds totally happy - with the original amounts in parenthesis. Other than converting the recipe to GF and changing up the fruit, I followed the recipe. Too dang sweet for me, hence the adjustments.




Nectarine & Plum Upside-Down Cake
Adapted from a recipe from Epicurious

12 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (original calls for 1 cup)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (not in original recipe-I didn't have enough light in the house)
1 tbsp orange blossom honey (just honey specified in recipe)
3 plums, cut into 8ths (original calls for 6 large plums in 6ths)
2 nectarines, cut into 8ths (not in original recipe)
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla (original calls for 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond extract)
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine 6 tbsp butter, the brown sugars, and the honey in a saucepan over low heat until the ingredients are completely combined to form a nice thick sauce. Pour into the bottom of a 9" round cake pan with 2" high sides. Arrange the plum and nectarine pieces in circles, alternating fruits, until the entire bottom of the pan is covered. If you want it to be pretty, place them in concentric circles.

In a bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the cup of sugar and set aside. In another bowl, cream together the remaining 6 tbsp butter and cup of sugar. When smooth, add the eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. Mx until just blended and pour evenly over the top of the fruit in the cake pan.

Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean - about an hour. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then run a knife around the outside to insure the cake comes out clean. Place your serving plate upside down on top of the cake, then invert so the cake side meets the plate . Remove the pan. Allow to sit for 10 minutes and then serve.

A recipe brewing, tasting, and animal porn

Since I forgot to take the flank steak out of the freezer when I stopped at home for lunch today, the recipe that is creating itself in my head will have to wait until tomorrow. I promise, it will be a good one.

As I mentioned briefly the other day, I went shopping. The kind that I have fun doing. Grocery shopping. I know, I am sick and twisted. I went back to the little natural foods store in Joliet on Saturday morning so that I could really poke around to see what they had. $170.00 later, I had Kinnikinnick hamburger buns, frozen bread, and a bread mix, hot dogs, bacon, 2 different kinds of honey, cookies, vitamins, colloidal silver nasal spray.....and a bunch of other stuff that I can't think of right now. I hauled out one of the hamburger buns for dinner Saturday and I decided that the Ener-G buns I have are better than these Kinnikinnick ones. The bread, however, is very good. I had a very satisfying ham sandwich for lunch yesterday.

For dinner yesterday, I had a visit with Gidget instead of food. And it was worth it. The Man and I ran out to pick her up a little before 5 and took her back to her dog mom at 7:15. It was a lot of fun having her here, although the cats may disagree with that. We played and played, napped, and played some more. I know I am in trouble because when she peed an inch away from the puppy pad (I should mention that it had been a good 2 hours since her last potty break by this time), The Man and I looked at each other, said, "She piddled," and giggled like a couple of school girls. We need to definitely get past that, don't we?

Humorous happenings during the visit:

As long as Baby can go up to Gidget, he is pretty much fine. He sticks his nose in her hair/fur, sniffs, and backs away (but no more than a foot or two). If she goes up to him, we have a hiss-y fit.

During nap time, Gidget and I were kicked back on the couch. Within seconds of bringing Gidget into the house, Vester was under the bed. When she crashed, Vester ventured out and hopped into my lap to snuggle. "Um, mom? There's a dog there!" Pupils huge, he darted away. I giggled so hard I woke up the dog.

We bought that stuffed squeaky toy thing that Baby tried to take over - I introduced Gidget to it yesterday. Damn if she didn't attack that thing right off the bat and cart it around, even though it's bigger than she is.

The innocent face with the toy. This is before she peed on the carpet.

She wanted you to see her butt, too. This is immediately before peeing on my carpet.

And of course, because I can't leave the boys out:

Baby in the kitty carrier that's too small for his big ass. He's crammed in there, but content. He goes in there all by himself. To think that when it comes to a vet visit, he won't go near it...

Vester sunning himself on the back of the couch this afternoon. I made this afghan the week of my father's triple-bypass surgery a year and a half ago.

Being putzy

Man, I have been slacking off in a lot of areas lately. I have been taking the easy road with cooking, have barely maintained the house, barely updated this site... The only creatures in the Just Not Dinner household to benefit from my slack-age are the hairdroppers, who have enjoyed snuggling with their lazy momma.

Ah, to heck with it. Everyone's entitled to a little down time, right?

Tonight, I updated my GF blog links - sorry to anyone I missed. I have been finding and reading more and more sites, logging my bookmarks, and never updated my link list so the rest of the multitudes () that read Just Not Dinner can know about them too.

I have no choice but to get the house in shape during this weekend - The Man and I are hosting our second annual Cubs Home Opener Party on Monday the 9th. This means I get to take a day off of work to wait on a bunch of men drinking beer and yelling absurdities at a TV. But I can be somewhat happy about it because The Man is on vacation the whole week, so any messes that happen will be cleaned up by him for a change!

I am trying to come up with snackies that will have them begging for more (something they have come to expect from me and I just can't disappoint). Of course, this is the first time we have had any sort of party where I didn't have wheat flour in the house. We will be having the standard cheese and ritz crackers (the package will remain on our back porch and will not be brought into the house or the wrath of Sheri will arise), salsa and tortilla chips (both GF), homemade caramel corn, good ol' Wisconsin-style brats (I will make my own 'soaking sauce' with Redbridge - really looking forward to that!), and pizzas will be brought in.

I want to make some sort of warm/hot snack - any ideas out there?

So. Even though I haven't been cooking, I sure have been eating. So here are a few things I have tried over the last week.

Bakery on Main's Apple Raisin Walnut Granola. I had this for breakfast yesterday. It's pretty good and stayed fairly crunchy after a dousing in milk. I also snacked on it dry for breakfast at work this morning and again, pretty dang good. I was a little disappointed in the cinnamon amounts used - when I am eating a granola, especially one with apples in it, I really want to taste cinnamon and that's not the case here. But still very good. I will be on the lookout for more flavors to try.

Oskri Cashew Bar. See the Oskri granola bar I posted about a while ago. In my opinion, it's basically the same bar.

Mi-Del Arrowroot Cookies. Anyone else over the age of 30 get cravings for animal crackers? This was a case of "I came, I saw, I bought" while wandering the store looking for a snack. Thinner than the gluten-y animal cracker, the taste is similar to the "real thing." These could probably use a little more sweetener, but they help me kick the animal cracker craving. As a matter of fact, the bag is sitting open on my end table right now - for every sentence or two I type, another cookie gets stuffed in the gaping maw. Now, the package states that this product is produced in a factory...blah, blah,blah...., but it also states that their gluten free products are routinely tested to ensure gluten free status.

Somebody take these damn things away from me.

Tacos...sort of!

The Man loves tacos. Granted, he's never tried a gluten-free taco...but he loves tacos.

I do too. I haven't had a good one since going gluten free since I didn't want to take a chance on the taco seasoning packets. The few times I made them, I just used Mexican spices and created something similar, but it's not quite the same, you know?

I hit that store I found, which is called For the Good of It, located in Joliet. It's fairly small and has a pretty teeny GF section. They had The Gluten Free Pantry's taco seasoning, so that's what started this recipe brewing in my head. I found the Kinnicknick items (not very many) but was in a rush; I plan to go back and take a good look at everything they have on a weekend, maybe this one, to see what I can see at my leisure.

Anyway. Catherine over at Gluten Free Guide is having a GF pizza round-up next Friday, April 13th. Since I am about the klutiziest person on earth, I don't take chances on any Friday the 13th. So here's my pizza now. Of course, in keeping with the "rules," I am technically supposed to post a pizza on the 13th, so I will probably come up with something new and just make it on Thursday instead.

Remember, we are big on Halloween, have 2 black cats, and I am a major klutz. No sense in pushing it on such an auspicious day.

But this pizza flippin' rocks. I ate it with a fork because...well, I happen to like this shirt.

Taco Pizza

1 GF pizza crust (I used 1/2 the recipe for the Arrowhead Mills box mix)
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup refried beans
2 cups cheese of your choice (cheddar, monterey jack, cojita, etc.)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup GF taco seasoning
1 pound ground sirloin
Any other toppings you'd like

Make your pizza crust about 1/4 inch thick so it holds the weight of the toppings to come. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brown the ground sirloin in a skillet over medium heat. Once browned, add the taco seasoning (add water if directed), mix well, and continue to cook until thickened slightly.

When the oven is hot, place the crust into the oven to bake for about 10 minutes to take the rawness off. Remove from the oven and then layer as follows:

Refried beans - spread evenly across the crust
1/2 the taco meat - you'll have the other half left for another day
Onions
Tomatoes
Other toppings
Salsa - "sprinkle" with a spoon
Cheese

Place back into the oven for an addition 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.

Eat hearty.

Unbutton your pants. Pretend to be Al Bundy (you know, stick the hand in the waistband of your pants and stare at the tube, making snarky comments to anyone and everyone).

Cooking with dilated pupils

Why do I have dilated pupils? Pick one:

(1) Sheri has become a drug addict.
(2) Sheri lives in the dark.
(3) Sheri had an eye appointment today.

If you guessed (1), I am probably one of the most anti-drug people you will ever meet. I don't even like to take my necessary prescription medication or something as simple as Advil.

If you guessed (2), I only live in the dark when I have a migraine or if the power went out.

If you guessed (3), you can just imagine how huge my pupils are. I had to drive my stupid butt home after the doc dilated my eyes, holding those cheesy sunglass things up to my face because they're too wide for my head and don't stay. It's a good thing I live less than a mile from the optometrist's office.

But I have some kickass Prada frames on order and I am also getting a trial pair of extended wear soft contacts. I have worn contacts since I was 17, but I have only worn the gas-permeable kind because no one made soft contacts for nearsightedness and astigmatism together. And, well...I am blind as can be, without correction. In fact, when I take my glasses off, I am legally blind and can't see 2 inches in front of my face. But over the last couple of years, someone made soft lenses that correct both problems. The doc said that my gas perms (which I am keeping - there's nothing wrong with them) will give me better vision, but when I explained that I have issues at night....

...more than once, I have scared at least a year off of The Man's life because I woke up in the middle of the night and panicked because I couldn't see. Imagine it - 2 or 3 AM - pitch black room - wife sitting straight up in bed shrieking like a banshee.

...the cats like to knock my glasses off the nightstand, necessitating a search of the floor in the dark just so I can pee.

So he said that I could try the extended wear, but under no circumstances am I to actually leave them in for the 30 days advertised. I am kind of excited and hope they work out, because the thought of waking up in the morning and being able to see without groping for a pair of glasses...well, I haven't been able to do that since third grade. I don't even know what my glasses prescription is anymore.

So, I have been shying away from daylight since I got home. A simple dinner was in order, one that didn't involve a run to the grocery store. I ruminated on what to make while I tried on frames; he dilated my eyes, then I slapped in my contacts long enough to see to pick new frames, then I popped them back out so he could do the evil shine-the-light-through-a-mirror-while-you-look-in-every-direction thing.

So here's dinner. To go with, I made The Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix as French bread. Blech.

Somehow I feel like I have posted something very similar before, but if I didn't I couldn't find it anywhere. If I did, sorry. If I didn't, try it. You might like it!

Shrimp & Parmesan Spaghetti

1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter (not the lightest recipe in the world -sorry)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
8 ounces gluten-free spaghetti

Prepare the spaghetti per the package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, stirring often to insure it doesn't burn; saute 1-2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink, about 4 minutes or so, depending on the size of the shrimp. Add the cooked spaghetti, pasta water, basil, parsley, and cheese to the skillet, tossing well to coat. Serve immediately.

Flatbread? Or Pizza? You be the judge

I saw this recipe while dinking around on the internet the other day. I really wanted to try it last night, but...well, you know.

And it was..... The cheese and veggies are a good idea and I will definitely attempt this again on a pizza crust, but the Madwoman Flatbreads are already in the garbage can. Win some, lose some.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe. Minus the Madwoman Whatever Flatbread, plus pizza dough.

Zucchini & Red Onion Pizza
Based on a recipe on www.epicurious.com

1 recipe GF pizza dough of your choice
3/4 cup Alouette Garlic & Herb cheese spread (according to their site, it's gluten free, but it's processed in a plant...yada, yada, yada. I haven't had any problems.)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
1/2 a red onion, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced into thin coins
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare your pizza dough. Quickly saute the zucchini coins in a skillet with the olive oil, no more than a minute or two to start removing the stiffness.

Spread a thin layer of cheese over the crust. Then layer the onion, zucchini and tomato. Sprinkle the top with parmesan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until crust is browned.

Now I will go and donate the rest of that flatbread to the raccoons in the yard.

A different Oskri bar

First of all, Old Man Winter is playing with us Midwesterners yet again. Yesterday, 45-50 degrees and rain; today, really windy, cold, and snow. I blow raspberries at you, Old Man Winter!

One of the things I got with my latest FHC/Natural Farms order was a different Oskri bar - this time a granola bar. If you like granola and nuts, you will probably like this. I certainly did. I am checking to see if all of the Oskri bars are both gluten free and lactose free, like this one and the coconut cherry ones I already mentioned.

It's made up of:

Pecans 25%
Rice syrup 22%
Raisins 13%
Pumpkin seeds 12%
Honey 10%
Buckwheat 10%
Amaranth 4%
Crisp rice 4%

Soft, chewy and crunchy all at the same time. I ate 2 of them at work yesterday.

Eh.

Dinner was an "eh" and a shoulder shrug.

I made this recipe for dinner tonight with a few changes: I used fresh peas instead of frozen, I used vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth, and I used my rice cooker to make the risotto.

Eh.

Shrug.

Nothing spectacular.

On a good note, I ate an Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco bar on a snack break at work today. I liked it and will buy them, but you definitely get the texture of the fig and date pastes. Not bad, though. The only bad thing I can say about them is that I really needed 2 to get through until lunch.

On a not-so-good note, while bending and squatting (you know, that half-bend, half-hunch thing you do when you want to get something out of a bottom drawer?) at work this afternoon, something in my lumbar region gave way. I am in a lot of pain, worse than any other back pain I have dealt with before, and I have had my share Cross your fingers that this is not my first osteoporosis fracture. Because that would suck.

I have one of those Thermocare heat jobbies on it now. As long as I don't move once I get into a position (sitting down, standing up), I am fine. It's the trying to move into a new position that is excruciating. I sure hope my legs stay up on my foam wedge while I sleep tonight or I bet I won't be getting any (sleep, that is).

I'm sure it didn't help that I had to haul in 5 bags of groceries and 2 boxes from Timber Creek/Natural Farms when I got home from work. The Man was sound asleep on the couch, where he remains even now. Since I had perishables in those bags and boxes, they couldn't sit out.

Sometimes, I swear, my life is a soap opera, without all the cheating bitchiness.

Enjoy Life Rye-less Rye Bread

I should go on record right now as disliking rye bread. Even when I ate gluten, I hated rye bread. The only time I actually enjoyed eating the stuff was at the Eagles Club Friday Fish Fry. Dad has been a member of the Two Rivers Eagles Club as long as I can remember, and they have been doing their Fish Fry thing for years. Every once in a while, I would get roped into helping in the kitchen.

I don't know who they get their rye bread from, but it's the only one I would eat and enjoy. I think it's because it wasn't overly "caraway-ee." I have bad memories of my dad going a lot overboard with the caraway seed in the sauerkraut and to this day, too much caraway will cause me to promptly spit out whatever it is I am chewing.

So it was with reservations that I toasted two slices of Enjoy Life's Rye-less Rye Bread to make a sandwich for dinner. To the toasted bread I added 2 slices of Hormel's GF deli ham, baby lettuce, a couple slices of tomato, mayo, and some provolone cheese.

And it was....


...


GOOD.

Toasted, the crust was a little tough for my beat-up teeth to bite through or chew easily, but once I got past that normal annoyance, it was pretty darn good. The bread didn't have so much caraway that it turned me off, for which my keyboard is grateful (that's where the bite would have landed).

Would I buy it? If I was planning a reuben fest or a fish fry, you betcha. Just for noshing, probably not. It will probably take me 6 months to finish off this loaf.

But know that the next trip to my parents we take, I will have 2 slices stashed in a cooler in preparation for the Friday Fish Fry.

Just call me Slacker with a bagel

Usually on the weekends, I am a cooking fiend and catch up on all the posting I should have done during this week.

I was a slacker this past weekend. Sorry about that. I just had no motivation to do anything other than play a stupid computer game. Well, that's not completely true. I did make spaghetti sauce in the crock pot yesterday, even going so far as to write down everything I did in preparation for blogging about it (I have been making my sauce on the "fly" for years). But we ate a very late lunch, I ate a lot of fricking chocolate, and therefore the household was not hungry at dinnertime. Into the fridge the spaghetti sauce went. Once we eat it, I will post.

I really hate doing dishes when I didn't eat anything.

Speaking of doing dishes, a miracle may soon occur here. My father owns a tv and appliance store in my hometown in Wisconsin. I may shortly be receiving (either by drop-ship or personally delivery by my parents) one of these. It won't be anywhere near the sink, so we are going to run water and drain lines up from our basement. I will still need to wash dishes, as I will not put my knives or calpalon cookware in a dishwasher, but it will be much easier to clean up after cooking.

And maybe my motivation to create in the kitchen will become as forceful as it used to be.

About the Enjoy Life bagels.... I never did eat one with just jam. However, on Sunday I did use one to make an egg sandwich. It was delish. Will I buy these? Absolutely. The taste isn't what I was used to in a bagel, but the texture is good, the taste isn't bad, and I am not a "just-bagel-and-cream-cheese" person anyway.

Bagels...bagels....!

I must have whined prettily enough over on Mike's blog because Enjoy Life got in touch with me and sent 2 goodie boxes to me, too. One of the things I got is something I miss mightily - bagels. Well, I don't miss bagels themselves, actually...I miss Bagel Bites. You know, those pizza-bagel things in the freezer section?

I told you before that I love pizza.

So tonight, even though I made myself a pizza last night (yes, pizza 2 days in a row - leave me alone LOL - blame it on PMS, k?), I used one of those precious, adorable, cute as all get-out bagels from Enjoy Life and made me some bagel bites.

I guess I should start this off by saying that when slathering pizza sauce and other pizza goodness over the top of something you want to truly taste-test, it doesn't work out so well. I was more interested in satisfying the pizza-taste craving to pay attention to the vehicle conveying that spiced yumminess to my mouth. However, I can tell you that that chewy texture that I associate with bagels is there.

The taste? I will let you know tomorrow, when I plan on eating one for breakfast with some homemade blueberry jam. And maybe some peanut butter.

Thank god I only buy natural peanut butter.

If it's not one thing lately with the food poisoning, it's another. Makes you wonder what the heck is going on in the plants that make our food, doesn't it?

More taste testings

I am a pizza fanatic. Back in my gluten days, I ate pizza at least 5 meals a week. Sick, I know, but I really, really like pizza. Just veggies, sauce and cheese. Yum.

Since going gluten free, I have been disappointed in the crust mixes available to me in my local stores. I love to make crust from scratch, but during the work week, it's just too much. So I rely on mixes for my pizza fix.

I finally found one that I like. Enough to eat half the pizza. In one sitting. Which is saying a lot, as I packed some veggie punch onto one pizza: a whole tomato, half a package of mushrooms, half a green pepper, half an onion, a good-sized handful of baby spinach leaves, lots of fresh basil, and half a ball of fresh mozzarella.

Who makes the crust mix? Arrowhead mills. If you haven't tried it yet, try it. You'll like it! (Mikey) Get it?

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I have been snacking on something else for several weeks now that I hadn't gotten around to mentioning.

I got a box of these a LOOOOOOONG time ago through Natural Farms, I want to say November. The first one I had, I took 2 small bites out of and pitched the rest, chalking it up to experience. I was very surprised that I didn't like it because I absolutely love coconut. That's why I got them in the first place.

A few weeks ago, I needed to take something along with me somewhere, just in case. The only thing I had in the house was the box of Oskri bars. I tossed one in my purse and out the door I went.

The second time around, I chewed more slowly and allowed my taste buds to get past the texture. Not bad, I thought.

That was 8 bars ago and now I am hooked.

A word (well, a few words) to the wise: you really, really gotta like coconut to eat these. That's all they are - coconut, brown rice syrup and cherry flavor. They have a bunch of other flavors, too. Once this box is gone, I am going to try a different kind.

A taste test

A few weeks ago, I picked up a couple of "instant" quinoa dishes made by Seeds of Change. Tonight, I poached me a piece of salmon (yes, The Man went out to dinner with a friend tonight) and made the tomato basil quinoa blend.

It was pretty good. I'll buy it again. Added to the pretty good taste is the fact that it's certified organic, which makes me happy.

Speaking of organic, where the heck is my Natural Farms delivery? Hmm...

Annie's GF Mac and Cheese

If you don't have time or the inclination to make your own (had the inclination but not the time as I had to give a lesson tonight), Annie's Rice Pasta and Cheddar isn't bad. I even used Lactaid instead of regular milk and it turned out pretty okay.

I am trying to stay away from dairy; it isn't agreeing with me lately. This is a difficult endeavor for a woman born and raised in Wisconsin! I tried soy milk with my chai tea but (1) the taste is way too different for me; and (2) my tummy didn't really like it.

So I am doing Lactaid with success - I can finally have my 1 jolt of caffeine every day without a "full" tummy 10 sips into the cup.

Gluten Free Pantry Muffin and Scone Mix

I tried this for the first time this morning - I needed breakfast for work this week. I have to say that they aren't bad, but I added 1/2 a cup of sugar because the recipe on the package didn't call for any. It might be okay without sugar with bananas, but I am a cranberry fiend and they need a little help.

The tasting of the crisp

Oh. My. God.

Sweet and tart all at the same time.

Definitely a keeper. Make it. Now.

Eating a madwoman...pizza

Since going GF, I have made pizza several times. The last time, I glutened myself somehow, so I am giving myself a homemade pizza break.

About 4 PM today, The Man called to let me know he'd had a big lunch and to not make dinner. OK, then....what am I going to eat? I didn't want leftovers from last night - the parmesan risotto was TOO parm-y for me, so it met my friend, the garbage disposal.

On the way home, I debating taking a detour to the grocery store to find something that appealed. But you know what they say about going to the grocery store when you're hungry, so I nixed that idea and just drove home...

...and when I got there, two boxes were on the front porch waiting for me. My Natural Farms order. I had ordered several weeks ago (they are only in the area once a month) so I had forgotten what should be in the box.

Rice-almond bread...blueberry and buckwheat waffles...tomato sauce...GF salad dressings...Madwoman veggie pizzas.... PIZZAS! Little pizzas perfectly sized for one. Dinner is served!





I usually prefer a homemade pizza, but if you're in a time crunch, need a lunch for work (they're microwaveable), or are cooking for one tonight, these are definitely not a bad way to go. I preheated my GF toaster oven to 400, popped it in for about 12 minutes, and had dinner before my cats had cleaned their plates.



Sorry no cooked picture - I was starving. LOL