My new obsessions - Project Runway and Prosecco

In an episode of 30 Min Meals, Rachael Ray suggested you buy Prosecco, sparkling Italian wine, instead of Champagne. Its cheaper, and unless your a snob, you'd never know the difference. I love a mimosa! My most favorite is the bottomless blood orange mimosa at Root Down. 

B and I have 'Breakfast for Dinner' on Sunday evenings. We've been doing screwdrives, but sometimes its nice to mix it up with a mimosa.


The new things I enjoy doing is drinking prosecco, eating popcorn, and watching this current season of Project Runway. I feel very Marilyn Monroe doing this - she enjoyed potato chips and champagne.


Anyway, I like Valerie and Mondo. I don't like Ivy and Gretchen. Valerie makes fun and flirty clothes. Mondo is just all around awesome. Mondo is also from Denver.

Tuna Melt

Sometimes life gets ya down. When that happens to me - I like to have good old fashion diner food - at home. I like a tuna melt and sweet potato fries.

I make my tuna melts untraditionally. First step, pull some gluten free bread from the freezer and pop it in the toaster. While its toasting, I mix my tuna. I mix 1 can of tuna with lots of tarragon, dill, basil, and garlic. I add sliced green olives or capers to give the mixture the moisture. and thats it. I don't like to add mayo to tuna salad when I'm making a tuna melt because it can get soggy.

I pile my tuna mixture onto each slice of the pre-toasted GF bread. Then, I top each slice with a piece of cheese. Throw it under the broiler for a few mins to melt the cheese.

I serve my tuna melts open faced. Thats how they serve them at one of our favorite restaurants, Bull & Bush. They serve theirs on an english muffin, which is what I used to use at home prior to going GF.

Update - our summer 2010

Well, again - it has been a few months and we have failed to accurately document our summer.

Here is what we did Summer 2010:

In June, Bob traveled to Michigan with his dad. They stayed with a family friend. While on this trip, Bob learned how to make Chicken Marsala. He drank a lot, smoked a cigar, fished, and came home relaxed.

When Bob returned, we celebrated our first anniversary. We went to Colorado Springs, played mini golf, saw a minor league baseball game, and enjoyed a picnic at the Garden of the Gods park. 

As with  every summer, we explored Denver and Colorado. We tried new foods at new places. Perhaps the most memorable of the summer was Liks Ice Cream in Denver - B correctly answered the trivia question so we received a free scoop. We ate our ice cream outside on a warm evening, and ended up just having ice cream for dinner that night.

In July, Bob and I enjoyed a week in the Outer Banks or North Carolina. A week of sun, fun, beach, family, and sea food. We loved catching up with the east coast branch of the family, and I learned how to pick crabs. Each night someone would take charge an make dinner for the group, and Bob's cousin, Dari, took charge of breakfasts. She made a GF waffle for me one morning! Dari's husband, Sam, and Bob's cousin, Bill, played bartenders. We enjoyed some Dark & Stormy's, homemade cucumber infused gin, and my very first bloody mary. We ate one amazing dinner out at a place with cheesy art on the walls, and B and I bummed around some local art shops one afternoon, and enjoyed East Coast style Mexican food.

While in North Carolina, I participated in a phone interview, and a day later I was offered, and accepted a new job. More hours, more money, a change of scenery, and a new chance to grow. This new job is perfect for me and I love it. The only downside is that it cuts into the education I was getting from watching a lot of daytime Food Network.

In August, I went to Las Vegas with my mom and my sister. Las Vegas is one of my all time favorite places to go. There is so much to see and to photograph. I love to walk on vacations, and Vegas is perfect for that. I treated my mom and sister to dinner at my favorite Vegas restaurant - Mon Ami Gabi, then, the rest of our stay, we hit up some buffets, at which I proceeded to eat my weight in smoked salmon with capers, crab legs, and sushi. We also "enjoyed" the soda tasting at the Coca Cola store, but I use the word enjoyed very lightly.

This summer was busy. We cooked a lot. We saw a lot. We ate a lot, and perhaps we will post about it in the future. All of our experiences shape our culinary skills. There are photos on my camera, but right now, we are tired. It time for Fall and football.

Summer Rolls in the Summer time

I love egg rolls, spring rolls, wontons, and most Asian style appetizers, but I have had to say farewell to them since going gluten free.

Now, I have become obsessed with summer rolls. I get them at FireBowl (www.firebowlcafe.com) without the dipping sauce (it’s not gluten free.) Last week I was browsing through this month’s issue of Everyday Food by Martha Stewart and found a recipe for them. The recipe looked easy enough, so I decided to give it a try.

These were so simple to make and tasted so great. I must say, summer rolls are best when they are fresh.

Veggie Summer Rolls

First, get a package of rice paper wrappers. I found mine at Sunflower Market. They were very inexpensive, which I had not anticipated. In the past, I have purchased egg roll wrappers from the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Egg roll wrappers are not cheap, they must be refrigerated, they are full of gluten, and they must be cooked. I’m never going to bother with those again, for obvious reasons, but rice paper wrappers are so much simpler and easier to use. I found them in the Asian foods aisle, next to the Wasabi Peas. I’ve had the package in my pantry for a few months. This is defiantly something I’m going to start keeping on hand.

Decide what you would like to include in your summer roll. I chose carrots, cucumber, basil leaves, rice noodles, and avocado – because that’s what Martha suggested. I decided to do things Martha’s way, and prep everything before I got started.

You will need-

2 carrots – peeled and chopped into matchsticks

1 cucumber (or half of a giant one from the farmers market) – peeled and chopped into matchsticks

Half an avocado – thinly sliced

Some nice basil leaves

Some thin rice noodles, cooked

I prepped and chopped all my ingredients and separated them out into little glass bowls – I’m still putting my wedding gifts to good use.

Now, here’s where it gets a tiny bit tricky –

Take one rice paper wrapper out of the package, and set it into a shallow bowl full of warm water. Perhaps this step would have been easier if I had a shallow bowl big enough to fit the entire rice paper wrapper into, but I didn’t. I dipped it into the warm water – I used the leftover water from boiling my rice noodles. When I realized that the bowl I was using was the improper size, I then just laid the wrapper on a plate and used a silicone grill brush to brush the wrapper with water until it was pliable. Then, I added my ingredients – a small handful of rice noodles (I don’t like my summer rolls too noddlely,) a few matchsticks of cucumber and carrot, one whole basil leaf, and a few thin slices of avocado. Then, wrap it like a burrito.

And that’s it!

Make a few. dip them into soy sauce (or in my case, tamari) and enjoy.

Let me tell you – there is nothing more amazing than the taste of basil and tamari together. I’m obsessed. I must find a recipe to utilize these flavors again…..perhaps Asian meatballs……

Jack's Chicken Salad & Karen's Tuna Salad

Last Sunday was father's day, but it was also Bob and my first anniversary. We celebrated our anniversary B & E style with a baseball game, some mini golf, a picnic, and then a movie at home. My father was kind enough to hang out with our dogs while B and I were out celebrating.

In return, we decided to celebrate father's day with a dinner yesterday. I told my dad that I would make him anything he wanted for dinner. Anything. What did my dad chose? Steak and mashed potatoes? Corn on the cob and chicken? Hot dogs and brats on the grill?

He chose chicken salad wraps.

A few weeks ago, Bob and my dad were working really hard to assemble the new bed I bought in honor of Bob and my first anniversary - prior to this we were sleeping on a hand me down mattress on the floor. They were working hard, while I made lunch. I made chicken salad with apples and spinach. It made quite an impression on my dad, so I have decided to name it after him. (Happy Father's Day!)

Jack's Chicken Salad

Grill up a few chicken breasts. Let them sit for a few mins, then chop them into bite sized pieces. Add an apple, diced into bite sized pieces - we use Gala apples. Chop up a handful of fresh spinach leaves. Add the following spices - dried or fresh - dill, tarragon, celery salt, basil, and garlic. Then, add about 1/2 cup mayonnaise - mix everything together. We eat this immediately. I eat mine with Nut Thins, and everyone else eats theirs on wraps.

Karen's Tuna Salad

I'm going to take this opportunity to post my a salad I make sometimes for my mother. My mom and I work Tuesday evenings together. During our shifts, we get a half-hour dinner break. Sometimes, we each make part of a dinner and share it.

My mom doesn't like most meats or fish, but she does like tuna. I created a healthier version of her favorite tuna salad. I read someplace about using mashed avocado instead of mayonnaise in tuna salad. I had to convince my mom that she liked avocado, but now she likes this very much.

Open up a few cans of tuna and put them into a bowl. In another bowl, mash a few avocados with the following spices - dried or fresh - dill, tarragon, celery salt, basil, and garlic. Mix together the tuna and the avocado mixture. I eat mine with Nut Thins, and everyone else eats theirs on wraps.

Because I need more projects.....

I was roving around work the other day and was struck with an idea. At work, we call walking 'roving' so it sounds purposeful. I often choose to rove in the 'cooking and entertaining' section of our library. I was putting cookbooks on display in that area when I grabbed this book:

 

How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition:) 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food

By Mark Bittman

Bob and I received a copy of this book for Christmas 2008 from my mother. Aside from last summer, we haven't really used this book. Last summer, when we were participating in our CSA, we received produce that we had no idea how to prepare, and this book came in hardy - yet I don't think we have discovered its full potential yet.

While flipping through this book, I came up with the idea of doing my own Julie/Julia project, but more appropriately named the Elizabeth/Mark project. Also, I'll be making everything gluten free.

Tonight, I made the first recipe in this 1,065 page book: Five Minute Drizzle Sauce.

Heat 4T of oil in a sauce pan. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and sauté. Add 2T of water and 2T of lemon juice. I then chose to add fresh herbs from our window box garden. I minced parsley, chives, thyme, and basil.

I then drizzled this over steamed rice. Bob and I keep a mixture of rices on hand. I buy whatever kind of rice is on sale at the store, add that bag to the container in our pantry, and then shake the container to mix it all up. I grew up on instant microwave rice and rice made in a rice maker, so when I moved out on my own I purchased a rice maker, because that is what I knew. However, I don't like having too many kitchen appliances around, so when Bob and I moved, we decided to get rid of my old, cheap, small rice maker, and instead we decided to learn how to cook rice on the stove top. Frankly, I was surprised at how easy it was.

I'll be honest, I should have looked up Mark Bittman's rice recipe to fit with the theme of this post, but I already had the rice cooking before I decided to make a sauce from the book.

Here is the recipe I use to make rice:

1. Put rice in a pot with a lid. Add water. Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice.  
2. Set the heat to high, and bring the pot to a boil uncovered.  Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes.  

This is not food, but it is a good cause

Hi. I'm Leto


I am participating in the Denver Dumb Friends League's 2010 Furry Scurry with my friend Bob and my friends at the Arapahoe Library District. The Denver Dumb Friends League helps homeless pets find good homes. Without their help, I would have never met my fur siblings— Penny and Duncan.

 Penny, my guinea pig sister, was brought to the DDFL after being found in a parking lot, during a snowstorm, in 2006. My mom adopted her and gave her a great home and lots of love.Penny passed away last spring. I want to help animals in her honor.

Duncan, my dog brother, was sent to the DDFL from a shelter in Wyoming that didn’t have room for him. He was skinny and shy when we met him, but now he’s healthy and fun to play with. He is my best friend and I am glad that he is part of our family.





To sponsor me, Bob, and the Arapahoe Library District, please click
here



Small donations go a long way to helping animals.

Guacamole

The best thing that a person can make without doing any cooking is guacamole. By cooking I mean nothing is every heated, just mixed together. This is considered a "raw food" for that very reason. I'm not quite sure where I am on the whole raw food movement, not having had a chance to read much literature on the topic, but I do know that well made guac is delicious and quite healthy. Here's what you need to make it.

4 large avacados diced (I occassionally do more to make extra because it lasts for a while and is great to snack on)
2 Roma Tomatos diced (I like the Roma because it doesn't turn to much when you cut it up)
4 Cloves of garlic minced
4 Jalapenos diced with seeds removed
1 Cup of Cilantro finely chopped (total guesstimation here, I generally use half of what they sell at the grocery store)
2 Limes juiced
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbspn ground jalapeno (this is the biggest variable to make it as spicy as you like. If you don't like spice at all, I'd just drop this. If you're a big fan like I am than go wild)
1/2 onion finely chopped (I put this at the end because I don't usually put onion in my guac, but traditionally you would.)

At this point you have everything piled in your bowl. All you really need to do is get something to mix it together. I wouldn't use a food processor because you want your guac a little chunky, not smoothly blended. My go to tool is a potato masher. This does a really effective job of getting the consistency you want and mixing it together. Once the avacado has been mostly turned into green sludge then you may just want to take a spoon and stir everything to more evenly distribute the ingredients, but the mashing does the majority of the work for you.

A couple of tips when preparing the different ingredients.

1. You definitely want to get riper avacado. If you're slicing an avacado for a sandwhich or in a salad you can lean to less ripeness because you want it to hold its shape well. When making guac your life is easier if it mashes easier, so you can get away with the riper avacado. A good rule of thumb is when you are in the store picking out the avacado is to give it a squeeze. If it hardly budges you may want to let it sit out a couple days to ripen or pick a different one. If it is soft underneath the skin then it is ready to go.

2. Score the avacado. Slice the avacado in half and then pick out the pit with that knife. You then want to draw lines in a grid with your knife on the avacado without going through the skin. Then take a spoon and scoop out the rest. It will save you from making a huge mess.

3. Be wary of the jalapeno. You may want to wear gloves when dealing with these guys. The oils that come from the jalapeno will get on your fingers and burn for a couple of days if you don't prevent it from getting there are get rid of it afterwards. They make a metal bar (shaped like soap) to remove garlic smells by drawing out the oils. This works pretty well but doesn't get under your fingernails. If you forget you will go to bed dreaming of your hand being on fire.

The taste is much better than anything you can get in a store because it is fresh. It is healthy because of the natural ingredients and the good fats that the avacado provides. This whole process probably takes under an hour and is well worth it.

Enchiladas

I love Enchiladas. At a Mexican restaurant, 9 out of 10 times I eat enchiladas. B and I make them at home on ocassion and a few weeks ago I was getting an enchilada craving. We haven't been eating out much lately and decided we'd make some at home. Here's the downside: I went shopping and discovered that canned Enchillada sauce is not gluten free. I went home very disappointed because I had to rethink my whole meal plan for that week. I began researching how to make sauce at home. In the mean time, Bob decided to go shopping and pick up some sauce. Living gluten free is still confusing to me, and I'm the one living it. B tries so hard by reading labels and helping me imagine new recipes, and it broke my heart to see the look on his face when I had to tell him that the sauce he brought home had hidden gluten in the ingredients. He was trying to take care of me and I don't blame him for being confused. I love that he tries.

Before Gluten Free (or BGF) one of my favorite places to eat was a Mexican place called Jose O'sheas. Bob and I would often go their with his sister Allison and her husband Tad. My favorite dish there was the Spinach Enchiladas, but then those bastard went and discontinued it about a year ago. Who does that? Anyway, the Spinach Enchiladas were stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, and then topped with a cheesy spinachy spicy sauce and melted jalapenocream cheese. They were amazing, so I decided to make my own spinachy sauce for my enchiladas.

Defrost a package of frozen spinach. Put in food processor with some jalapenos and blend/process well. Then heat it up on the stove with some milk or EVoo to thin it out. Pour over enchiladas and bake. 

Good and spicy. We stuffed these ones with cheese and ground beef. We used corn tortillas. We always like to top our enchiladas with black olives. 

GF flours

I am so excited to be stocked with Gluten Free flour...I just had to take a picture!

A bit about Celiacs

Guess how I spent Valentine's Day...

Holding hands with my love?

Kissing my love?

Going to work? 

Eating wonderful food?

Nope. Sitting on the couch with a tummy ache. 

Last night, B and I went out with his family to celebrate his mom's birthday. We went to a pizza place near us that has gluten free crust. Their crust was actually very good, but the GF crusts only come in small, so B and I each got a salad to start. When our salads arrived, mine had a piece of bread on the plate. I am not super assertive yet with my dietary needs, I'm just scared to be. Naive me thought that I could just pick up the piece of bread, give it to Bob, and be ok.

About 45mins later I started to get the tummy rumble. Gluten attack!

It lasted the rest of the evening. I was able to hang on for all the festivities, but then I just went to bed with a heating pad on my tummy and the worst headache ever. The symptoms continued today, causing me to call in sick to work. I described the way I felt as food poisoning.

There is now no doubt in my mind that I have Celiacs, and that my body cannot handle gluten. I never want to experience a night like that again. 

All the books say that even one crumb of bread can cause a reaction. I believe it.

My Valentine has been nursing me back to health. I love him.

Valentine Mudslide

My special to treat to my beloved wife this Valentine's day was let her experience the mudslide. This is an alcoholic concoction which is so delicious I don't mind that it diminishes my manly drinking street cred. The ingredients are Kahlua, Vodka, Ice, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, and Bailey's. There are debates on whether Bailey's is gluten free so I excluded it to be safe. I also used orange Vodka because that's what we had available. It actually adds a nice layer of flavor. On my second go around I added a few Bananas to smooth out the flavors even more. Don't ask me amounts. This is all on gut feeling. Pour alcohol (Vodka, Kahlua) about equally until you are satisfied that you will feel it and taste as you are drinking. Don't skimp on the chocolate, that should be a dominate flavor.

Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf

Bob loves meatloaf. (Come to think of it, Bob loves a lot of things...) 

My hard working husband put in a 12hr day last week. Class in the morning, 8 hrs of work, and no time to come home for lunch. All why I sat around the house watching soap operas.

To cheer him up, I surprised him with a Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf and some Rosemary Potato wedges.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Mix the meatloaf. Take 1lb of ground turkey and put it in a bowl. Add some mustard, poultry seasoning, an egg, and breadcrumbs. I have been making my own gluten-free bread crumbs by saving the crumbs from the bottom of the cereal, corn chips, and cracker packages. Saves me money and saves my tummy. I then mixed in a spoonful of prepared cranberry sauce. I bought some in a jar a while ago that we keep in the fridge, and it is a great topping on turkey burgers. Mix everything well.

Form. I don't use a bread loaf pan for my meatloaf, I just free form a loaf on a cookie sheet, then spray it over with some olive oil.

Bake. At 400 for about 35mins. use a meet thermometer to test the internal temp. You want it to be 165.

About 10mins into the baking, I tossed some prepared potato wedges onto the cookies sheet. I like the Alexia Foods brand. (http://www.alexiafoods.com/)

This was really good. We ate it all, there were no leftovers.

Roast Chicken

Bob loves roast or baked chicken. In an attempt to cut back on the amount we spend on food, and to simplify our meal planning, Monday night at our home is 'chicken night.' I do not work on Monday's, and roast chicken is something that I can easily toss in the oven and leave to bake while I work on cleaning the house or doing some of my other projects. Bob works Monday afternoons and evenings, and a few weeks ago when he came home for his dinner break, he told me that he could smell the food from his parking spot outside our home and was so excited that those yummy smells were coming from his home.

I am almost embarrassed to post this, because it is really, really easy. Also, I like B to think that I have slaved in the kitchen all day to create the meal for him.

First, preheat the oven to 450. I always use a quartered chicken, but you can roast a whole chicken, just cook it a little longer. I season the chicken skin with various spices, depending on our mood, but one of our favorites is a lemon garlic poultry blend that we buy at our local spice shop - Savory Spice shop (http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/)

Then, I put the pieces in a roasting pan and place them in the oven. I let them bake 45mins, then test to see if the pieces reach 165 on the meat thermometer. If so, they are disease free and safe to eat!

I usually pair this with a quick side, like a tossed salad or some veggies.

Steakhouse dinner

Bob loves a good steak. And I love him. I recently recreated out Valentines dinner from last year, which is posted here. And the results....

Seasoning the steaks

Boiling the Potatoes. We subbed Sweet Potatoes in for the regulars.

All four burners going at once. I'm always amazed and a bit anxious when this happens in my kitchen.

The finished product. Rosemary seasoned steak. Creamed spinach with warmed tomatoes. Mashed sweet potatoes with horseradish. 

The Frittata

I've loved this style of breakfast food whenever I've had a chance to try it. It kind of works out to be an omelet that you scoop out of a pan. My first foray into creating my own turned out to be delicious even though it didn't come out like a traditional frittata.

Ingredients are subject to personal preference just like with an omelet so I'll just discussed what I used.

2 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup of mushrooms
half a bag of spinach
1 large zucchini chopped
6 eggs
shot of milk
goat cheese
asiago
feta

Ideally you would have a cast iron skillet for this task, I did not so I used a skillet that isn't oven safe. Melt the butter in the skillet at medium low heat and add the garlic and the mushrooms. The mushrooms will absorb the flavor and some of the butter after a few minutes of being sauteed. Saute them until the look totally moist. I also through in a shot of white wine into the mix to add a little more flavor for the mushrooms to sponge up.

Add the spinach and the zucchini. I used frozen, chopped spinach, and too much of the water that came from the melting process diluted things and may have caused some trouble with the final stage of cooking. If you use spinach from a bag there won't be that problem. It may look like a lot at first but it will wilt down quite a bit. Continue the saute until the spinach has wilted and the zucchini begins to brown.

Whisk eggs, the shot of milk, some garlic power, ground sea salt, and cracked pepper in a bowl. The whisk puts air into the egg mixture and makes for fluffier eggs, which is key with frittatas, but should be done with any egg mixture. Pour mixture over top the vegetables in the skillet.

Let this cook, just using a spatula to pull back cooked egg, and allow the runny stuff to find the bottom of the pan so it can cook quickly and evenly. Cook until all the egg is solid, but still is very moist.

If you have a cast iron skillet you can skip this step, if not transfer it to a oven safe dish.

Preheat the oven to broil.

Top the frittata with an evenly spread combination of the cheeses. Goat cheese is perfect for this type of thing because when it is melted it essentially turns into a highly flavored cream. The asiago and feta just add some different flavors to the mix, but can be used more sparingly than the goat cheese.

Place skillet/dish in the oven and let it cook until all the cheese is melted and the eggs begin to brown a little bit. Under the intense and direct heat of the broiler the egg should begin to rise like with a souffle. This didn't quite work for me and I suspect that it may have to do with the excess water from the spinach, the skillet to dish transfer, or using milk instead of cream. Next time I'll use dry spinach, I may invest in a cast iron skillet, but I'm probably not going to get heavy cream for this or many other recipes. We don't cook with it enough, and there are health concerns with using it at all, let alone enough to make it worth the purchase. Next time I'll see if I can get it to rise, but even without that added extra, this was one of the best meals I've ever made.

Green Chile

Although I have yet to win the chile competition at my work the green chile is easy to make and tastes great.

lb. pork tenderloin cut into bite size pieces
1/2 onion diced
bundle of cilantra finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
2 limes
4 jalapenos chopped
8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1 large can of green chiles chopped into bite sized pieces
1 can of crushed tomatos
1-3 chopped bell peppers (optional)
cumin
chile powder

First take a large pot and heat the onion, jalepno, and garlic with some olive oil. I try to get the onions as fine as possible because I don't like to bite into onion chunks, but admit that cooked down onion adds nice flavor. Depending on how hot you want your chile will determine how much you clean the seeds and ribs out of the jalapeno. That's where the majority of the heat is, so if you want it gone you'll have to clean everything out of the middle. I would wear gloves because prolonged exposure to the oils of the pepper can cause your skin to burn for days. Just cook for a couple of minutes until the oil has been infused with the flavors of the ingredients.

Add the pork and cook in the put stirring occassionally until it has been browned.

Add 1/2 of the cilantro and the juice of the limes to finish flavoring the pork.

Add remaining ingredients. I always eyeball the amount of spices relative to the amount of chile being made. You want to generally include a proportional amount of cumin, so the bigger the batch the more you put in. Cumin is pretty powerful, so somewhere around 2 tablespoons for a large batch is about right. Your chile powder is another way to control heat, if you don't like any, you may not include any. Put as much as will give the right amount of pop to your chile. Since the green chiles you buy in the can are always mild, it makes adding the powdered stuff necessary. If you can get chiles freshly roasted during the right times of year you may have options to buy the hotter stuff, rendering the powder unessecary.

Bring the chile to a boil then turn the temperature down to low and cover with a lid. I would cook this at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. The longer the pork gets a chance to cook the more tender it will become and the more its juices will flavor the broth. All the veggies will also cook down quite a bit and that will break them down also turning your chile into a more singular creation.

Serve in a bowl and for those who find it a little hot, mixing in a dollup of sour cream should do the trick.

A big batch works great because you can either freeze the leftovers, or use as a topping or a dip in later days.

Lemon Bars

I’ve decided to experiment with Gluten Free baking. I enjoy baking; it is something I don’t want to give up. With some of my Christmas money, I have invested in Gluten-Free flours and ingredients.

I decided to make Lemon bars to share with my co-workers. I love lemon bars, and I love that I can still eat a GF version of them. I used a recipe from the The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook: Breakfasts, Entrees, and More by Elana Amsterdam. The recipe uses Almond flour, a new ingredient to me, but it gives the crust a nice texture. Grapeseed oil is sweet and worth the investment. B and I have used agave nectar before in beer making, but this was my first time cooking with it – it has a consistency similar to honey.

The recipe says that it makes 24 bars, but I have more than 24 co-workers, a hungry husband, and I don’t own an 8 x 8 cake pan, so I doubled the recipe. Here are the measurements I used, but they can easily be halved to make a single batch.

For the crust:

3 cups almond flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 T grapeseed oil

2 T agave nectar

1 T vanilla extract

Mix the flour and the salt together, and then add the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. I didn’t even have to use my mixer for this, I just used a spoon. Spray, butter or grease an 8 x 16in pan. Pour the batter into the pan, and then place it into an oven that has been preheated to 350. Let the crust pre bake in the oven for 15 mins.

For the filling:

1/2 cup grapeseed oil

1/2 cup agave nectar

6 eggs

1cup fresh lemon juice.

While the crust is baking, make the filling. If I had known earlier in my life that lemon bars were so easy to make, I would have made them more often. Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. Then, pour it into the pan, on top of the crust. Put it all back into the oven at 350. Check after 15mins, but mine ended up taking a total of 20mins to set up. Let them cool – to speed up this step, I shoved the whole pan into the refrigerator until it was time to go to work…or about 30mins.

WARNING – these are very tart!

NFL Potato Skins!

Check this out, I'm totally obsessed with this idea. Thanks Christie for posting it originally. We are making the Saints Skins tomorrow.

Small Bites for the Big Game #1: NFL Potato Skins!

Pear & Strawberry Margaritas

Over the summer, we were receiving a box of fruit eat week from our CSA. Beautiful pears. Wonderfully ripe peaches and plums. Juicy watermelons. Crisp apples. All grown in Colorado. All Organic. It was wonderful. The only problem is that Bob and I are only 2 people, and it was hard to eat so much fruit each week. I took the bulk of it each week, juiced it, and froze it. It has been nice to use in smoothies, but also has been very tasty in frozen cocktails.

We took some frozen pear juice, some frozen strawberries, and some limeade, and put it all together in the blender. We added some tequila and triple sec. Ok, thats a lie - we added a lot of tequila and triple sec.

Then we blended.

And then we drank. Bob was skeptical of the pink concoction, but he went back for seconds, so I think he was won over.

Curry Chicken Salad

I have accidentally found a dish that Bob loves. Fortunately, Curry Chicken Salad is easy to make and we often have the ingredients on hand. Bob and I are lucky enough to work within 10 mins from our home. Bob is able to come home most days and we are able to spend a little time together mid day. This dish is quick and easy to whip up for lunches.

1) Grill up some chicken breasts. Some weeks we grill up some extra chicken to have on hand for sandwiches and salads. This salad comes together best if the chicken has had some time to cool.

2) Dice up some celery. Add it to a bowl with some chicken.
3) Add the following:
Dried cranberries
Chopped Pecans
A handful of curry powder
some dried basil
some dried tarragon
some dried dill
salt & pepper
Mayonnaise

4) Mix everything together.
5) Enjoy

Aunt Elizabeth Cooks. Uncle Bob Eats.

 WE HAVE A NIECE!!!!!

My sister-in-law’s friends threw a baby shower for her this past weekend. Allison, my sister-in-law, announced this past fall that she was pregnant with her first child, and soon after the announcement, her friends began plans for a gender-neutral shower (my sister and brother-in-law wanted to wait to find out the baby’s sex.) The shower was scheduled for January 23^rd, approx. 6 weeks before Allison’s due date. I coordinated with Allison’s friends and agreed to bring a salad. After looking at the menu they had prepared, I decided to bring two salads so that I (a gluten-free girl) and my mother-in-law (a sugar free, yeast free Vegan) would have something to eat.

The January 19^th rolled around and Allison’s water broke 6weeks early. Elliot (Ellie) was born. She weighed 5lbs and 4ozs at birth and is currently living in the NICU at the hospital while she is developing. She and her mother are doing very well.

We still had the baby shower on January 23^rd, but it was more Baby Girl themed than gender-neutral.

Here are the salads I made for the occasion.

Black Bean and Mango Quinoa

Take some Quinoa and cook it in a pot using the same water to grain ratio as you would with rice. I did this step the night before so my Quinoa could cool.

I then chopped red bell pepper, cilantro, and mango. I decided that this day would be a wonderful time to use the food processor for the first time. I received it in June as a Wedding gift, and just now got up the nerve to open the box. Here is a photo of my boys with the box.

I processed the bell pepper, mango, and cilantro briefly in the food processor and to my surprise it turned out well and was easy to do. I think I have found my new favorite kitchen appliance.

I added the cilantro, red bell pepper, mango, and a can of drained black beans to the Quinoa and stirred well.

Greek Inspired Greens

I wanted to take a green salad to the party because I had a pretty bowl to put it in. I also received the bowl as a wedding gift and had yet to use it because it has to be hand washed.

I do not eat gluten and therefore I do not eat croutons. My mother-in-law does not eat cheese. This salad needed something special, so I roasted some eggplant with some springs of rosemary. I diced up a meadium sized eggplant and roasted it in the oven for about 20mins. After they were done, I took them out of the oven and put the pieces of eggplant into a ziploc bag to add to the salad after I arrived at the party.

While the eggplant was in the oven, I put some mixed greens, sliced tomatoes, olives, and sliced cucumber in a bowl.

Then, I used my fancy food processor to make a relish/dressing for the salad. I bought a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. I put the contents of the jar, liquid and all, into the food processor and pulsed it 4 times. It made a nice, chunky topping that I dressed the salad with after I arrived at the party.

Food was yummy. Party was fun. My niece got a ton of stuff. Elliot finally got to come home from the hospital yesterday, January 31st.