August 14 - 23

I had this post completely done last Wednesday. Then, I went to publish and there was a glitch. It wouldn't publish and it didn't save. Next thing I knew, it was lost and gone forever. Sniff. Sniff-sniff. So, here we go again.

I'm learning about this whole blogging thing. I want to be more pin-able (thanks for the idea Joie!) and have learned that more pictures on my blog will help this. That's fine and all, except for the fact that I started this blog to have less photos and more recipes. So, I had this amazing idea the other day while out on my run (if you don't know me, this is where I have all my ideas)...why don't I take a picture of my meal every night and then do a photo collage?! Genius!

Now, I know I'm like the second to last one to the party on food blogs and now the dead-last one to e-photo collages, but hey, better late than never, right?!

You can see that I thought of this great idea mid-week and then proceeded to forget to do it after my posting issue so, for this week you get a photo of just 4 of the lovely recipes below.

August 14 - Chickpea Curry and Citrus Glazed Carrots and Beets
This curry is what I call "stupid easy". It was so simple to make I kept checking to see if I'd left out some step. When I assured myself I hadn't missed any steps I was positive that it wouldn't taste any good.

What? What's that?! I can't hear you over my Puritan work ethic.

Turns out, it was delicious. And easy. Winna-winna-winna: chickpea dinna!

The carrots and beets were also super simple and very tasty. Hardest part there was peeling both of them and just waiting for them to roast. Let's be honest, though, neither of those are very hard. I loved that i got to use an onion from a friend's garden and beets from my father-in-law's garden. You could through in other root veggies you have or like to that sauce, too: onions, rutabagas, parsnips, etc.

August 15 - Ethiopian Split Peas with Steamed Green Beans and Sweet Potato Fries
I got this recipe from a family friend in Seattle who is from Ethiopia. I assume it is an Ethiopian dish because she made it for me as a part of her local fare spread (ohmygoshsogood). All that said, she may have learned this in Scranton, PA, for all I know. Either way, it is tasty, easy, and healthy. Split peas are a great high-fiber, low-cost protein source.

1 cup yellow split peas, rinsed and drained
2 cups stock, broth, or water
1-2 inches of ginger - grated
6-8 cloves of garlic - minced
1-2 TBS olive oil
1/2-1 tsp salt

Add stock, broth, or water to peas and soak as long as you are able (I usually do this when I remember we are having that for dinner, so a couple hours). If you can't soak, no worries. It'll just take you a little longer (and likely a little more liquid) to make the dish. Add the ginger, garlic, olive oil, and salt to the pan and stir. Then, like all legumes and grains: bring to boil and reduce to simmer (BTBRTS) stirring occasionally and until the peas have absorbed the liquid and have become soft and slightly mushy. You can use an immersion blender if you want the texture to be smooth. Otherwise, you can serve as-is.

The green beans were snapped and steamed until bright green and served aside my favorite Alexia sweet potato fries. Since the split peas will be mushy in texture I use my beans and fries to dip and pick up the split peas. In Ethiopia you'd eat without utensils and instead use injera (a flat-bread made from teff flour (also high in protein and iron). Injera is too much work for me. So, I'll stick to my beans and fries for now. Feel free to get creative and tell me how it goes, though.

Call me Captain Industrious because in addition to dinner I also spent most of the day in the kitchen making good use of all the produce I received from my father in law (I call him D2 - for Dad 2...a phrase my mother-in-law coined). Thank goodness I splurged on a new food processor on this day, too, because I really needed it!

Pesto
I followed this recipe and it turned out well. There are loads of recipes out there, though. I have a friend who uses almonds instead of pine nuts to save on cost. That's great. Unless your mom is my mom and your maiden name is Carlascio. In which case pine nuts are the only nuts that will do and your oil had better be the good olive oil. And your garlic had better be freshly minced. And your parmesean freshly grated. Shhhhhh...don't tell mom I used pre-grated cheese and pre-minced garlic.

Zucchini Bread
I mashed up a couple different recipes I found online with an old standby that I had in the recipe book. My problem with almost all zucchini bread recipes is that they call for 1 cup of zucchini. That's nifty and all, but, have you seen the size of most home-grown zucchini?! I need a use for these baseball bat sized squash taking up real estate in my refridgerator. And, I'm not about to use a single cup of veggies to DOUBLE that of sugar.

So, here's what I did:

1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs, beaten
1 TBS + 1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups honey (you can use sugar and double the amount)

4 cups flour (I used 2 cups of the Namaste Perfect Gluten Free Flour Blend, 1 cup Almond, and 1 cup coconut, this is my favorite ratio for baked sweets)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBS + 1 tsp cinnamon

6 cups grated zucchini

Blend liquid ingredients until smooth. Mix dry ingredients together. Add dry to wet in batches until well blended. Fold in zucchini. Pour into greased bread pans (this will make 2-3 loaves) and bake at 350 for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

and

Lara Bars
My husband now calls these BethR bars and has logged his excitement, approval, and general like for them no fewer than 15 times since I made them. Good to know. I'll likely be making them again. They really were tasty and a great snack no matter the time of day. The sweetness of the dates was well balanced by the salty of the cashews and the almond butter. If you don't like cashews you could mess around with other nuts. I would be interested to try it with macadamia nuts.

August 16 - Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Broccoli

This is an old stand-by that we used to make a lot and that got replaced by a different recipe (Coconut Almond Chicken) that is nearly the same but a little healthier. All that said, it is tasty and fairly easy.

Couple of hints for this one:

• If making this GF use GF pasta and tamari or GF soy sauce.
• Ditch the sugar or use half as much honey instead. 
• If using GF pasta, blanch your broccoli in the boiling pasta water and remove it before you cook the pasta. I wouldn't commit such an act of culinary blasphemy with a traditional pasta, but with GF, it can stand to have broccoli infused water. And, less dishes! Horray! 
• Use the broccoli stalks, too. We love the crowns but the stalks have lots of good for you things in them and once you've cooked them and doused them in peanut sauce, you really won't know the difference. 
• Make this more protein rich (and balanced overall) by adding cooked, chopped chicken.

August 17 - High Protein Salad
This one is for you Sarah Shinn! We found this kit at Costco. Gluten free, animal free, and protein rich (a hard trio to come by). I did add chopped cooked chicken to it, but you don't have to. Kale, cabbage, carrots, almonds, corn, soy beans, chia seeds and an interesting bbq ranch dressing. I love a salad kit.

August 18 - Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Roasted Asparagus and Rice
We eat a lot of salmon. It is local and full of good stuff. And, I have a supplier who brings it right to me (a shout out to my favorite Alaskan fisherwoman Tonya! I miss you and my freezer is now empty, so you need to come visit again.). All that is to say: I try a lot of recipes with salmon and most of them are medium. Not great. Not bad. Just okay. This was RAD. Everything about the sauce and rub compliment the salmon. It was easy and tasty.

I snap the asparagus (hold each end and pull the base downward and allow the stem to snap in the natural spot, that'll reduce your woody ends), toss in olive oil (1-2 TBS), vermuth (1 TBS), salt, and pepper (to taste) and roast for 5-7 minutes at 450.

The rice was from the pre-cooked, minute rice cups. I forgot to get the other rice on the stove in time, so, it was a good thing I had the cups in the pantry. They have a bit of an odd taste but they are good in a pinch.

August 19 - Roasted Eggplant with Spinach and Quinoa and Fresh Tomatoes
Meh. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good. It was just, meh. The eggplant would have been better peeled (but then you miss out on a lot of the nutritional value). The garlic needed to be sauteed before the spinach went into the pot. And, I'll be honest I'm still 50/50 on quinoa. Some days it is my favorite thing in the whole world and some days I really don't get it. Not a ringing endorsement. I think I could have found something better to do with my eggplant. Next time.

The tomatoes were super good. I sliced and topped with a little salt and balsamic vinegar. Had I had basil, I would have finished it with that. We are in the time of year where I am just eating as many real garden tomatoes as I can before they go away and we are left wondering why we try to approximate with anything else. 

August 20 - Opening Days BBQ at Willamette University
18 years after I went through my first day as a Bearcat I worked at Willamette helping welcome the class of 2019 (who else feels old?!). Bon Appetit (the food service at WU) always puts on a beautiful spread for this meal and this was no exception. Thanks to all the wonderful chefs, servers, and staff who fed us all. Anyone else impressed that we fed all the incoming students, their families, and the volunteers and staff on site in less than an hour?!

August 21 - Pesto Pasta Toss with Meatballs and Sliced Bell Peppers
I made this one up as I went along. It turned out well. I cooked some GF penne pasta and then tossed it, after draining,` in the pesto I had made the week before (about a 1/2 cup to 1 lb of pasta). Then, I baked some Aidells pre-cooked chicken meatballs (make sure you check pre-made meatballs for gluten!) and served with a side of sliced red bell peppers. After two long work days, it was a decent attempt at a balanced meal. The toddler decided he liked pesto at this meal, too, so there was an unexpected win!

August 22 - Out at Cafe Yumm
My son calls this the "special lunch" place and we go here often. Easy, nutritious, and yummy. I get the Original Yumm bowl, vegan, substitute cabbage and carrots. I've been here with loads of friends and family, though, and everything everyone else has ever gotten looks amazing. They even have wine and beer! 

August 23 - Taco Salad
We were supposed to go to Corvallis to visit some dear friends. But, one of them was sick. And, like I've learned from Daniel Tiger: When your sick, rest is best. I had already made Coconut Lemon Bars to bring and bought a bottle of wine. So, we opened the wine and had some at nap time, at the lemon bars for snack, and then decided to make an actual dinner with what we had on hand.

For the salad: I heated a can of rinsed and drained black beans with 1/2 cup of salsa, a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and some pre-cooked white rice. I served that a top a bead of chopped romaine lettuce, chopped avocado, and shredded carrots. We had a handful of tortilla chips on the side and more cheese and salsa as needed.

For the bars: They turned out ok but I think there are better GF lemon bar recipes out there. For some reason the lemon filling portion soaked through the crust (I might not have let the crust cool long enough) and so it was more like a lemon flavored oatmeal bar. The topping was tasty and they are a good treat, I just wanted the crust to be more shortbread like than it was.


Ok...wish me luck on publishing this time.

And, until next time: be well and eat well!

August 5 - 13

It has been a tasty week (+ 2 days) in our house. Hope you can enjoy some of these yummy recipes.

August 5 - Honey Sriracha Chicken with Steamed Broccoli
This was a second-time dish for us because the first time I made it we devoured it and my husband said we needed to add it to our repeat list. If you like sweet and heat, this one is for you. I think you could easily adapt it to be a crockpot dish, too. We aren't lovers of dark meat so I used chicken breasts and it turned out fine. If you're making it GF be sure to use tamari instead of soy sauce. I also like to use rice vinegar instead of plain white vinegar, it is a little sweeter and more delicate. Served this on top of a bed of steamed broccoli and called it good.

August 6 - GF Freschetta Pizza with Caesar Salad
Some nights are just pizza nights. We have converted to frozen pizzas now that I'm GF as I have experienced that as a safer bet than any prepared in a fresh kitchen where wheat flour is being used to toss all the dough. Freschetta is a decent one. I made a caesar salad from a kit ('cause I'm classy like that) and left out the croutons.

August 7 - Jalapeno Popper Meatballs with Kale Salad
Holy Moses were these good. My husband couldn't get over them, or, for that matter, that I served bacon wrapped meatballs for dinner. If you've known me a while, you know I'm a recovering vegan. He's been with me for nearly 16 years, so he's seen all sorts of cuisine and food aversions. I think he is still in a bit of shock about how much animal protein we eat. Thanks, gluten. To balance out all the animal protein and fat I served this with my old-standby kale and brussel sprout salad (sans crouton) that I get from Fred Meyer.

For the meatballs: I halved everything for our family of 3 and it was still plenty. You could keep the filling doubled and just put more in per ball, that would be easy and tasty. I also think you could add more jalepeno in general. And, if you aren't in a "bacon wrapping" kind of mood, you could certainly incorporate some pre (or at least par) cooked bacon into the meatball mix. We did struggle a bit getting the bacon crispy enough for our liking. While the broiler worked fairly well I actually found that they were best the next day when I reheated (and therefore crisped the bacon) stove-top.

August 8 - Southwest Grilled Sweet Potato Salad
We went to two different summer BBQ's this weekend. Such. Fun. To the first one I brought this tasty salad that was a big hit. It was very easy to make and was a surprisingly yummy conglomeration of a potato salad and a Texas caviar. Since I had just done it for dinner on the 7th I roasted another jalepeno, chopped it, and tossed it in with this. It was yummy. I also added about a half of a raw jalepeno, chopped to this as well as doubled the green onion and cilantro because it needed brightening overall (especially with the sweet potatoes). The only other things we would be careful about next time is cooking time on the sweet potatoes. They got just a touch mushy by the time we incorporated them into the rest of the dish. Less time on the grill would have probably been good. But, we had just come from "Big Truck Day" and we were all a little taxed.

I ate this with a grilled salmon burger and fresh fruit salad and it was DELISH. Who needs gluten with a meal like this?

August 9 - Fatty-Nutty-Cheesy-Beans
The second of the two weekend BBQ's was equally as delightful. We brought wine, of course, and a made-up dish that I'm now calling FNC Beans. I toasted pinenuts, crisped some bacon, steamed some green beans (and now remember, when I say steam, I mean until they are bright green and still crisp-tender) and tossed them all together with olive oil and lemon juice. I topped with shaved (with a vegetable peeler) parmesean. Nom. Nom. Nom. Our hosts made salmon, chicken, salad, brussel sprouts and dessert. Really, it was a summer feast. Good company, good view, and good food. What's not to like?

August 10 - Garlic Herb Roasted Shrimp with Roasted Veggies and Garlic Toast
So. Freaking. Easy. I should almost be against a rule or something.  I do nothing different for the shrimp except half the recipe when making it for just the three of us. I use a similar combination of flavors for the veggies, too. I chop a summer squash, zucchini, and red onion. Saute the onion with garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the summer squash and zucchini with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning mix (basil and oregano will due if you don't have a mix). The garlic toast was GF hot dog buns that were getting stale in the freezer. I sliced them lengthwise, topped with butter and olive oil (yay for omega 3 fatty acids!) and garlic powder and just toasted along side the shrimp until golden brown.

August 11 - Mediterranean Chicken with Basmati Rice and Tossed Green Salad 
This dish is also an old stand-by. I use chicken breasts and add some olive oil and broth to the mix to keep it from getting to dry or burned. Mostly I use large Spanish olives but I ran out this time and used small ones (had to de-pimento each of them...ugh!) and I think I liked them better. They just sort of fell apart in the sauce and added more flavor than anything else.

I make the basmati rice stove top (I find the rice cooker makes it too sticky) and my secret ingredient is to use chicken broth/stock instead of water. That adds enough fat to keep the rice fluffy and gives it a great balance of flavor. It also adds some good fat and a touch of protein in the event that all my toddler eats is rice. I almost never top with chopped parsley, mostly because it is usually too late, or I'm too tired, or I've forgotten it completely. It goes just fine without.

For the salad I put what I like, which is easy this time of year and with the abundance from all the friendly gardeners (and gardens) in our life: cucumber, tomato, carrot, pepper, green onion, and mixed greens.

August 12 -Out at Joe's Burgers
We went out after a fun afternoon doing some "back to school" shopping for our little guy. He's all equipped now with a back pack, lunch pail, shorts, shirts, underwear, and jammies. All of the above are either pink or have something to do with trucks or music. Love that kid. He starts preschool two mornings a week in September. How'd that happen?!

August 13 - Kale and Quinoa Chicken Burgers (from Costco) with Sweet Potato Fries and Green Salad
It was a leftover and freezer meal kind of night. The burgers I found in the refrigerated section of Costco and they are very flavorful and easy to use. I didn't even bother with a GF bun or any toppings. We used the good old Alexia sweet potato fries and left over green salad from August 11. Tasty. Healthy. Easy. Good.

Until next week, eat well and be well!

July 30 - August 4

How is it AUGUST?!

A few notes from last Wednesday's meal: 
The coconut shrimp was yummy but I had real fits keeping the breading on the shrimp while it was cooking. I've seen loads of recipes out there for coconut shrimp and I'll try a different on next time. I'm thinking one that gets baked as opposed to pan fried would improve the experience.

It would be easy to miss the recipe for spicy peach dipping sauce on the site I've linked. Here's what I did and it worked well.

Chop 3 peaches and place in small sauce pan with juice of one lime, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, sweet Thai chili sauce. Simmer on medium-low until the peaches break down. Mash with a potato masher for smoother texture. I also added some fresh basil at the very end to brighten it. You could  add cilantro instead if you were so inclined. 

The cabbage steaks were RAD! Everything about them was yummy. Cooking them did make the house smell a bit like baked cabbage (imagine that!?) but it was rectified by the yum-factor. My husband really liked this one. I will try it again with savoy cabbage. I used green and it worked well but am curious how a different type would hold up. I wouldn't suggest using Napa, it would wilt before it was done caramelizing.

July 30 - Salmon in Lemon Caper Butter Sauce with Sauteed Veggies and Corn Muffins
Lemon Caper Butter sauce is also known as piccata.  This was a keeper. Super easy, super yummy. I like how the tang of the lemon and capers balance the richness of the salmon.

For the veggies: I chopped a 1/4 purple onion, one summer squash, and one zucchini. I saute the onion with garlic in olive oil (known in my family as the Holy Trinity) and then add the squash and zucchini once the onion is translucent. I add salt and pepper to taste (and sometimes some red pepper flakes or fresh basil, if I'm feeling spicy...or herby?!...). I saute until the squash/zucchini are soft but not mushy.

The corn muffins were a bit non sequitur for this meal, but there were left over from last week and starting to get stale so we toasted them in the oven and served with butter/margarine. Fitting with the meal or not, corn muffins are always delish.

July 31 - Out at Deschutes Brew Pub in Bend
When in Bend, I feel like one really must do something with the word Deschutes in it. I covered my bases and ate here and kayaked on the river. Phew. The Brew Pub has a whole gluten free menu and even a GF beer on tap (I didn't partake, but it was cool to know I could have!). I had the Turkey Torta, the turkey was a little dry but the roll on which my sandwich came was so good that I was worried someone in the kitchen had served the wrong one, but I experienced no negative side effects so I think it was just that good. Huzzah!

August 1 - Out at Spork (lunch) and Noi (dinner) in Bend
Spork was AWESOME! A slew of easily discernible GF options that were all delicious.  I had the Chilaquiles with added chicken. I overate at this meal because it was so yummy. I also ate my entire week's quota for dairy in that meal, but it was SO worth it. If you are in central Oregon and want a really refreshing, unique, well-prepared lunch, go here.

At Noi I got the Cashew Nut Chicken. It was a little heavy on under-cooked purple onion but otherwise tasty. I appreciated their menu for identifying which items were available as gluten-free and noting that we needed to request the GF option. Thanks, Noi!

August 2 - Out at Mother's Juice Bar (breakfast) in Bend Baked Eggs in Avocado with Smoothies
At Mother's I got the Baden-Baden on a GF roll and it was To. Die. For. My BFF (with whom I was on this road trip) got the same thing but as listed on the English muffin and we both just raved and raved and raved about how tasty it was. Seriously, it was a little silly how good it was.  The really fun part about this place is that it was our 3rd attempt at a breakfast spot on our way out of town and not even the place I had intended to go. Apparently there are multiple "Mother's" in Bend. Now I know. What a happy mistake it was.

For dinner: these babies were AWESOME! I've seen them all over Pinterest and always wanted to try them. They were super easy and equally as yummy. I carved out a bit of the flesh from the avocado to make room for more egg. I reserved that for the smoothies (to which I added fresh fruit, almond milk, and kale). I would slice a small piece off the back of the avocado next time to keep them from tipping over in the transport to/from the oven. Also, I separated my eggs - dumped the yoke straight into the avocado and then I combined all my whites into a bowl and added them to the avocados until they were full. I  scrambled the remaining whites for the toddler's dinner, you could also reserve them to make meringues for dessert. Oooo...meringues.

I'd like to take this moment to recommend an app that someone looking to eat GF might want to get: it is called "Find Me Gluten Free" and it was what lead me to all these tasty places above. The app is easy to use and will search based on a number filters (location, type of meal, distance, etc.). If you don't want to take your chances or troll the internet looking for menus, this app is a MUST. 

August 3 - Kale Frittata with Fresh Fruit
I've made this before and it received the same rave reviews then as it did this week. Instead of pepperoni I used the pre-cooked bacon (about 3-4 slices) and it works swimmingly. I also totally muffed this one up and forgot to pre-cook the eggs stove top before moving to the broiler. To rectify this (as the top was browned but the center was still jiggly) I cooked it stove top after it came out of the broiler. I ended up having to par-scramble them which made the whole thing less pretty but luckily no less delicious. I had leftovers for breakfast the next day and they reheated well. You could pour this whole mixture into a crust if you wanted a quiche. You could substitute spinach if you don't care for kale. A shout out, though, to baby kale. If you don't know about it or haven't tried it, it is worth it. I chop it before adding it and it is much less rough and much more sweet/tender than its fully developed counterpart. Think the veal of cruciferous vegetables. ;)

August 4 - Halibut A L'Orange with Steamed Green Beans and Wild Rice
...again...with the photo orientation...sorry! This one is simple enough I know you'll be able to tilt your head and figure it out. 

Finding a recipe written in my mom's handwriting is like getting a little hug that you didn't know you needed but you really did. This one is an old standard at our house but we haven't made it in a long time. Not sure why. MAN was it tasty. Even the toddler ate some (admittedly by force, but still, he did eat it). You could make the sauce and use it for chicken, or any white fish, really. It is a good one. I steamed fresh from the (not my) garden green beans and cooked a wild rice blend stove top and served them all together. Healthy. Tasty. Yay!

Until next week, be well and eat well!