Gluten Free Goodness

Really, I’m in awe of my garden.  It starts so small and by August I have a jungle overrunning the bounds of the garden plot!  I still am learning about proper care, and much of the bounty is due to the nice rainy summer we’ve had.  At this point, I’m growing tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, watermelon, ground cherries, celery and a gob of herbs and a few berries. But isn’t it just lovely to see something go from a seed to something luscious you can eat?

DH is heading out of town part of the week, which frees me to play a bit more. I go through periods where I need more protein, and others where it doesn’t seem to matter. Lately, I’ve felt great when eating vegan, so I’m leaning that way when possible while balancing family harmony and time.

This week’s menu swap is hosted by Mary Francis of GF Cooking School.  Thanks for hosting!

Monday:
Vegan:
My favorite arugala salad (I will probably post the recipe sooner or later!)
Oven roasted tomatoes

Tuesday:
Vegan
Kalyn’s Summertime the Tomato salad (minus the tuna)

Wednesday:
Quick and easy
Millet crusted turkey cutlets with thyme, steamed artichokes in a lemony sauce

Thursday:
Freezer diving (vegan):
African Inspired Almond Collard stew

Friday:
Grillin’
Buffalo burgers with marinated peppers from my garden!

Saturday:
Vegan/batch cooking
Tomato soup with caramelized onions

Baked good: this month’s Daring Baker challenge
and I also just finished making
David Lebovitz’ Chocolate Idiot cake with Valrona shavings (GF, but NOT dairy or egg free…birthday cake for a friend)

I’m also working on GF, vegan, yeast free, sugar free hamburger buns/rolls. They’re getting better, but are not ready for prime time yet…

Garden harvest:

From my garden:
Red and green peppers
ground cherries
tomatoes
thyme
rosemary
oregano

From the market:

plums
peaches
apples
arugala
corn (for DH)

Cat says: Lizard watching is better than the Olympics.  To each his own…

This week is hosted by Wheatstate Celiac and the food is tofu.  Since I’m allergic, it’s not on the menu.

I have an un-plan for this week. I’ve had more and more stomach discomfort for the past week, and no matter what I ate, my stomach would hurt or I’d get nauseous. This happens on and off, usually with stress, and generally it goes away after a few weeks.  And yes, I’ve done the conventional doc and alternative medicine route.  Then I had one of those light bulb moments. Why, exactly, am I continuing to eat when it causes discomfort? So I fasted for most of day, and now am having blended veggies, coconut water and broth and I must say, my GI tract is much, much happier. I can’t believe that in the last 4 or 5 years that never occurred to me before!  I do make a point of eating mindfully, but usually, I feel that *of course* I have to eat. But now I’m leaving it up to my body for the next few days. I am feeling better and so I will probably start more typical food soon, but I’m making a point to plan NOT to plan. It feels really liberating to not have to follow any rules about making something because it’s dinnertime. Fortunately, DH is out of town, so I’m free to eat as strangely as I please.  It’s not in any way a long term solution, but it’s nice to find another way of approaching the situation.

But since DH is away, I hope I’ll be making some of the things that he’s not really a fan of in his absence:

• Broccoli raab with sauteed garlic and pine nuts
• Seared tuna steak with caramelized onions

I’ll also be doing a remake of Ricki’s Spicy Cauliflower soup for Adopt a GF blogger, since my camera ate the last round of pictures.  At least someone in this house currently has a healthy appetite!

So instead of a real meal plan, feast on a roundup of GF news.  As a dietitian and someone who is GF, I’m always immersed in the GF world of events.

News:

There’s new research by Dr. Fasano on where and how gluten causes damage in the intestines of people with Celiac Disease. Here’s an article summarizing the findings.

There’s also an interview from one of the top Celiac docs on the differences between CD and Gluten intolerance

The rules, they are a changin’

In the past, traveling abroad poses some challenges, since many countries follow guidelines known as the Codex Alimentarius, which defines under 200ppm as gluten free (most experts in this country recommend under 20 ppm). However, it’s been reported that they’ve decided to lower their limit to 20 ppm.

Canada has become more proactive as well, and has announced new proposed regulations that all gluten sources must be labeled.

Speaking of the new limit, the official ruling on what can, and can’t, be labeled GF in the US is due out in August, 2008, so stay tuned! However, unlike Canada and abroad, in the US the new ruling is ONLY voluntary. Essentially, if a company wants to label something as GF, they must comply with the rules, but most of our food supply will still not be required to have gluten information on the label.

Local Events:

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NCFA) is hosting a special Celiac Awareness Night on Saturday, August 16th for a game against the Colorado Rockies.

Products, etc.

Triumph Dining is giving away their dining cards. But it gets even better! If enough people take them up on it, they’ll donate to a Celiac related charity.

Good news for multi-allergic chocolate lovers! Enjoy life has new gluten/dairy/soy/nut free chocolate bars that will be at Whole Foods in August. There’s even a crispy rice bar!

Heartland’s finest has closed!  If you are a fan of their pasta or Cereos, you’ll have to act quickly to stock up.  Allergygrocer has some in stock, and you may be able to find in other places, too.

Recipe and info round-up:

We’re seeing GF recipes in the mainstream more and more! Emeril had a recent episode, with recipes that are gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free! The included a brownie, wraps and more.

And, of course, Adopt a GF blogger for July is coming to a close, so please send me your pictures and links.

Gluten Free Mommy is the generous hostess and, of course, the originator, of this weeks’ Menu Plan Monday. It’s a mint flavored week!  Not only do I have “normal” mint in the line up,  but I can’t see going through a week without other kinds of mint, like thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc.

Also, if you haven’t already, please consider joining the fun and participating in this months’ Adopt a GF Blogger, which is now through Aug 11th.

Monday:

Grillin’ Rosemary Salmon with grilled marinated peppers

Tuesday:
Quick and easy:
Baked turkey cutlets in a tomato basil sauce with roasted asparagus

Weds:
More grillin’
Grilled mint-stevia chicken with roasted corn (for DH) and broccoli for me (I will post this recipe if anyone is interested)

Thursday:
Vegan:
Southwestern Quinoa and black bean salad, featuring my very own tomatoes

Friday:

Leftovers =)

Saturday:

East Indian
Beef and coconut curry with Spicy Cauliflower soup (my adoption of Diet, Dessert and Dogs) and maybe even papadams, if I get some energy!

Garden harvest:

From my garden:
Ground cherries
green peppers
garlic
Chocolate mint!
tomatoes
basil
rosemary
stevia

From the Farmer’s Market:
Peaches
Apricots
Cabbage
Summer onions (very yummy)
Red peppers

Dessertof the week:
some variant on chocolate cherry pudding, and possibly something else. I have been a baking fool lately, but most of my endeavors have fallen a little flat (no pun intended)

This week’s ingredient is coconut. Yay! I LOVE coconut, particularly young coconut water. I have a Latino grocery store nearby, and they sell inexpensive coconuts, so they’re often in my cooking. Not only is there coconut in the super yummy secret dessert I’ll be posting for Daring Bakers soon, but there’s also coconut milk in my UNCOOKING recipe AND the coconut curry. Our host this week is M-elle of Cooking and Uncooking.

Speaking of which, you have until July 31st to post your “Uncooked” recipe for Go Ahead Honey, It’s GF (details here). I haven’t posted mine yet, because I made something that sounded like it would be awesome….and it was *okay*. I don’t like posting “eh” recipes, so I’ll be giving it another shot on Tues (fingers crossed).

AND I’m also hosting Adopt a GF blogger. Claim a blog now and post between July 28 - Aug 11!

Monday:
Thai style
Turkey cutlets in a coconut curry sauce, probably with bok choy, broccoli and carrots

Tuesday:
Vegan delight:
Quinoa Italiana (quinoa with tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil and more!) with broccoli raab and sauteed garlic
Uncooking: Peach ice cream! a dairy free delight.

Wednesday:
Here fishy fishy:
Tilapia baked in parchment with a ginger sauce with TBD veggie

Thursday:
East Indian inspired:
Roasted garam masala chicken with roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds and papadams

Friday:
Some kind of leftovers. TGIF!!

Garden harvest:
From my garden:
GARLIC!
Thai hot peppers
tomatoes
ground cherries
green peppers
blueberries
raspberries (maybe)

From the market:
Peaches!
cherries
onions
cabbage

I love peaches so much that I actually got a peach tree for my birthday last year. This was her first year, so she only had 3 peaches, largely due to my own ignorance in how to care for peach trees. But either way, peaches are the ingredient of the week from the MPM swap, hosted by Natalie at Gluten Free Mommy.

I will have to stick with “plain” peaches, (as if there is such a thing!) since I already went food shopping and we’re heading out of town half way through the week for a conference in Boulder. It seems that Boulder is very GF friendly and I am crossing my fingers and hoping that the stars align and that I get yummy safe food.

Also, this is the Adopt a GF Blogger headquarters for July, AND I am the hostess of Go Ahead Honey, it’s GF–Uncooking edition.

Monday:
Grillin’
Moroccan Kebabs with sweet onions skewers for me and roasted corn (for DH)

Tuesday:
Vegan
Quinoa with a lemony thyme sauce,pine nuts and broccoli and a side of avocado

Wednesday:
Plain and simple:
Roasted turkey with celery in a chestnut sauce
Sauteed onions, garlic and green peppers–my newest obsession

Thursday:
Travel food
Something from my freezer
Canned tuna and carrots and whatever else I can find!

Friday:
Out to dinner

Garden roundup:

From my garden
Tomatoes
garlic
ground cherries
raspberries
blueberries
green peppers
parsley
basil, oregano, thyme, etc.

From the market:
Onions
cherries
peaches
broccoli
cabbage

Baked good of the week:
I made a “whole foods” version of Nanaimo bars, and those will keep me all week, for sure! I’ll post the recipe soon.
Dried cherries: I’m putting my dehydrator to work, which is very new for me.

This is my first time as the happy hostess of Menu Plan Monday, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to participate! Please email me at cheryl(at) eharrishome (dot) com with your entries.

And, by chance, if your menu involves dining out, I just put out a newsletter on Dining out GF.

The food of the week is raspberries. As you can see, I’m fortunate to have lovely raspberry plants, and this is one of their last weeks. However, the problem is my arrangement with the birds. See, I was quite naive and misguided and offered to share my berries, meaning they get half of the berries, I get half of the berries. However, they took my offer quite literally and have eaten half…of each berry. Neither DH nor I are crazy about eating berries that are partially pre-munched, so as of late, the berry patch has been largely for the birds. I’ve covered it with tulle and everything, but somehow they mange to wriggle their way in. Part of the problem is that there is a family of rabbits living in the maze of the canes, and they tend to move things around as they hop through. It’s not really a problem because the babies are too cute and I’m glad that they’ve been nesting at our house for the last 4 or 5 years. But I would like to get a larger share of the raspberries!

This will be a raspberry-heavy week for me! We had a raspberry tart, which is tasty, but not yet blog worthy. I plan to make almond cookies filled with chocolate and rasp jam from one of my favorite farmers, and will be using raspberries in the Chocolate Rosewater Parfait, too.

Monday:
Grillin’
Lemony-thyme chicken kabobs with grilled sweet onions and peppers
Sorrel soup with a walnut “cream”
Tues:
East Indian inspired:
Curry turkey cutlets with Cabbage Curry (Kobi Nu Shak) and plain papadams

Weds:
Easy!
Baked trout almondine with steamed broccoli

Thurs:
Vegan
Southwestern Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Saturday:
Thai
Spring rolls with Thai dipping sauce, grilled chicken skewers, Spiced black rice pudding (I will post the recipe this time!)

Weekly Harvest
From my garden:
Raspberries
Blueberries
Parsley
Oregano, basil, thyme, etc.
Tomatoes!
Ground cherries

From the Farmer’s Market:
Raspberry Jam
Raspberries
Onions
Sorrel
Lettuce
Peppers

Baked good of the week: Almond cookie variations–probably with raspberry jam, white chocolate, dark chocolate and dried orange.

And check out the plans around the web!

Kimberly, at Living Free of Gluten is joining us with a fabulous looking Blueberry/Raspberry Cobbler.  She’s got a fabulous menu of vegetarian treats, including a breakfast for dinner, which is a great one to have in the rotation.

Karen, of GF Sox Fan has been concentrating on blackberries rather than raspberries, and tempts us with the mention of Creme brulee, my DH’s fave!  Maybe she’ll share her recipe if we gently hint?  And she’s got a bunch of fun dishes on the menu, from an Asian slaw to Grilled Salmon Pizza.

Terri, of Faking it Gluten Free Style has a big week ahead of her.  She’s quitting smoking, starting South Beach, and has a lot of grilling in her forcast!  I’m delighted to hear her hubby will be back soon.

Great news from Manda!  She’s working on a GF cookbook, which should be awesome, given her passion for cultural cuisine.  Cooking has been a bit more difficult for her lately since she’s spending time with her grandma in the hospital, but she’s still managing to whip a great menu and is even trying swordfish.

Ester enjoys raspberries, too.  She’s got new raspberry canes, but I’m sure they’ll be huge in a few years!  There’s a chicken with walnuts and apricot dish on the menu that sounds delish.

Natalie, the Gluten Free Mommy and originator of this event ishas a great menu planned.  She and her gang had trip and area a little frazzled, but  with raspberry chicken and raspberry carrots to fit in with the ingredient of the week.  And the picture of her little guy is just too cute!

Mary Francis of Gluten Free Cooking School was ahead of schedule with her post (then I forgot…)  She’s got an Asian inspired menu in the works, and even has recipes and veg options for most days.

Angela of Angela’s Kitchen is a gardener, too, and has an abundance of zucchini.  She’s got a great looking menu and had me at home made gelato.  Yum!

M-Elle at Cooking and Uncooking has a gorgeous rasp shot, and a fun menu of largely raw dishes, like nori wraps and an avo-apple pudding.  I’m intrigued!

Head over and give Sally a little lovin’. She’s recovering from a surgery and still has an ambitious, healthy, locally grown menu planned, and as always, has a great outlook and attitude.

Oh, and hop on over…I’m hosting Adopt a GF blogger and Go ahead, honey. I was such a slacker about hosting that I volunteered for a few, and then it all ended up being in the same month or two…oops!  Chef Jenna is also hosting a great looking event “It’s all about memories“.  I think most of us GF folks have had to remake something from our childhood or culture. so it should be fun!

I thoroughly planned to sit this one out, I’ve been posting so much lately.  And then I saw watercress at the market.  What I’m going to do with it is still a mystery, but I’m sure I’ll get thoughts from M-Elle’s roundup!  All I know about watercress is that Lewis the trumpeter swan from EB White’s book used to order watercress sandwiches.  Which doesn’t do much for me at this point.

Anyhow, on to the food. I’m sticking to the basics and recycling a lot of quick and easy dishes.

Monday:
East Indian-ish
Garam Masala rubbed turkey breast with panch phoron roasted broccoli

Tuesday:
Leftovers with steamed asparagus in a lemony sauce. Or perhaps watercress when I figure out what the heck to do with it…I haven’t done my research yet!

Weds:
Quick and easy
Baked tilapia with tomatoes and herbs, topped with avocado

Thurs:
CELEBRATION!!!! my 30 days of grain free living is up. Yahoo!
Quinoa with garlic scrape pesto and roasted asparagus
yes, I know I’m a wild child with these crazy celebrations!

Friday:
Grillin’
Probably grilled salmon with rosemary, grilled peppers and spring onions sprinkled with thyme and herbs, and corn for DH

Harvest from my garden:
a bunch of baby tomatoes
ground cherries (more on these later!)
Raspberries
blueberries
basil, marjoram, thyme
Garlic scrapes and garlic, too!
spring onions
parsley

From the Farmer’s Market
Serrano peppers
cherries

Baked good of the week:
Still working on the last of the Brazil nut brownie, largely because I won’t let DH have any more. Mine! All mine!!! (Cheryl growls menacingly)
I will be making the Gluten Free Hippie’s Chocolate Rose Parfait for Adopt a GF blogger sometime this week, too!

I can’t believe how the summer is flying by! It seems unbelievable that it’s the end of June but here we are. This week’s flavor is oregano, as chosen by our kind host, Gluten Free Sox Fan. It is very convenient, as I’ve got more than my share of it. I have a lot growing as you can see, but have just begun to use it more in my meals. I’m looking forward to seeing the other oregano recipes! I’ll be posting an oregano-heavy meal for “Go Ahead Honey, It’s GF” which is hosted by Ginger Lemon Girl. It’s not too late to submit yours!

Monday:
Dinner: Nightshade stew, featuring oregano with avocado

Tuesday:
Here fishy fishy
Garlic scrape pesto halibut with steamed broccoli

Wednesday:
Leftovers! Something from my freezer (maybe turkey?) with red pepper sauce and caramelized cabbage

Thursday:
Rotisserie grilled chicken rubbed with oregano and other herbs and caramelized spring onions (finishing up my harvest for this year)

Friday:
most likely, munching while prepping for Saturday’s cookout

Saturday:
GF Cookout!
Speidie marinated chicken, bbq chicken, veggie skewers, cornbread, freshly squeezed mint lemonade, fresh guac and chips, 3 bean salad, chocolate almond balls (maybe), black bean brownies (still tinkering with the recipe), pecan pie and…well, if I get inspired, who knows.
All GF, though not all dairy/egg/soy/corn/sugar free…but I’ll have plenty to eat.

Garden roundup:
My garden:
gobs of raspberries and some blueberries–that picture is the berries from one day, and I get those daily. it’s awesome!
one peach
garlic scrapes
a pepper!
oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, etc.
mint
spring onions
And the first tomato, unless some little critter gets to it first! *update: I got it and it was super yummy. Nothing like your first home grown tomato of the season!!!

From the Farmer’s Market:
Cabbage
cherries
cilantro
tomatoes
apples

Our lovely host this week is Gluten Free Mommy, and she’s chosen cherries. Cherries just hit the Farmer’s Market today, but quite honestly, weren’t great. So I may hold out a week or two before I go overboard with cherries, though I do hope to bake with them. Baking has been a bit dicey lately, because I’m doing a challenge for a nutrition conference I’m attending and going grain-free for a month (in addition to normally being gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and egg free, too.) No, I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea, but I’m 15 days in, and not giving up now!

However, first I need to brag about my babies. If fruit pics just aren’t your thing, you may want to skip down to my menu plan…

Here’s my peach tree! What a cutie she is. She was my birthday present to myself last year. I didn’t know much about peach trees, and like all children, she came with no instructions, so I figured we’d wing it. Well, if a peach tree is inside, it’s up to you to be momma pollinator. It took me a while to figure that out, and though I dutifully played with a paintbrush to move pollen, I didn’t do a stellar job. There were 4 peaches total, most didn’t do too well, but look! One left, and I’ll know better next year. But actually, it’s best for the tree’s health to have few fruit the first year, so let’s just pretend I planned that, shall we?

These are my blueberry bushes–we have 4, all in pots. If you want to actually eat the blueberries you grow, netting is a must. The first year the birds ate them all before they ripened…and then pooped blueberry blue all over my car. Lesson learned.

And these are my raspberries, large and in charge. I get a big handful each day, and always keep them covered, too.

On to the menu!

Monday:
Grilled rotisserie Chicken with collards and sauteed onions
Caramelized cabbage
Leftover almond rosewater cookies...yum!

Tuesday:
Roasted turkey breast with celery and carrots
Roasted Asparagus–last of the season

Wednesday:
Grill:
Grilled salmon with roasted mixed peppers
Cherries for dessert!

Thursday:
Quick and easy:
Nighshade skillet meal–for Carrie’s One Pot meals “Go ahead, honey”

Friday:
Vegan
Caramelized spring onions, avocado, and whatever leftovers I can scrounge up

Baked good: (maybe) a black bean brownie concoction featuring cherry

Weekly Harvest:
From my garden:
green pepper! (first of the season)
spring onions
basil
rosemary
thyme
marjoram

From the Farmer’s Market
Collards
Onions
Cabbage
Asparagus
Cherries

This week is going to be another busy week, and there are quite a few days when I simply won’t be home at dinner time, so planning before hand is even more important, so that my husband simply has to put something pre-prepared in the oven. The ingredient of the week is egg. I am very allergic to egg, so you won’t be seeing it in my menu! However, I do have chicken planned, does that count?
Our host this week is Manda at Asparagus Thin, who always has a great, global menu.

My garden is bursting with raspberries canes, and they’re fruiting! I bought a few raspberry plants a few years back and they never grew. I decided to try once more, and that ONE plant has become 30 or so. It’s such a big patch of raspberry canes that I was watering it last summer, and a very indignant rabbit hopped out. Oops.

Most of the time, we’ve been having raspberries plain, but as the season goes on, I’ll have to find something fun to do with them.

Monday:
Fish
Halibut with parsley hazelnut pesto and carrots

Tuesday:
Brined lemony baked chicken breasts with fresh mint and roasted cauliflower with rosemary

Wednesday:
Vegan
Tomato and caramelized onion soup (from my freezer)
Avocado

Thursday:
Freezer diving
Turkey leftovers with rhubarb

Friday:
Crock pot love
Vietnamese inspired beef stew, with star anise, lemongrass, and a slew of veggies

Baked good of the week:
Almond rosewater cookies
Sheltie Girl’s Truffles

Weekly garden harvest:
From my garden
Parsley
Mint
Lemongrass
Basil
Raspberries
Garlic
Garlic scrapes

From the Farmer’s Market
Rhubarb (fingers crossed!)
Cabbage
Broccoli
Asparagus–last of the season