Soup's On!

The high today without the windchill is about 20 degrees farenheit...brrrrrrr! My husband has the unfortunate experience of having to work outside today.  This time of year I crave comfort food, and in this type of weather means a lot of soups and stews.

Last week we had several successes. First up for Meat free Monday we enjoyed a broccoli and cheddar soup, recipe courtesy of Wegman's. We had margherita pizza (fresh tomatoes with basil) to go with it. I used Udi's gluten free pizza crust. My husband actually likes these because they make a really nice thin crust pizza.

 Here's the link to the soup recipe: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=732692

Next up was a recipe I discovered on Pinterest, Octoberfest Stew. IT was pretty quick, easy and I already had all the ingredients in my fridge and pantry.  http://thecozyapron.com/oktoberfest-stew-and-shiny-happy-people/

I liked this recipe a lot, it was really hearty. the only thing I would change is that I'd add the cabbage in a bit later so that it wasn't so overcooked. I'd rather have some more vitamins that weren't completely cooked out of it.

Tonight I'm making up some good spicy Indian food, lentils and cauliflower in a spicy tomato curry. I figure the rich sauce and some good Naan bread will help to heat my husband up after a long & cold day.

Tomorrow is a busy day so I'll be using my crockpot to save time and make greek chicken pitas, you'll need:

1 medium onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat

1½ teaspoons lemon pepper

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

4 pita pocket breads

½ cup plain yogurt

1 tomato, sliced
½ cup chopped cucumber
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced in thin strips

Directions

1. In slow-cooker, combine onion, garlic, chicken, lemon pepper, oregano, and allspice; mix to coat chicken with seasoning.
2. Cover and cook onLOWfor 4–6 hours.
3. Heat pita bread as directed on package. Meanwhile, remove chicken from slow-cooker; place on cutting board. Using two forks, shred chicken.
4. To serve, stir yogurt into onion mixture in slow-cooker. Spoon chicken onto warm pita bread. With slotted spoon, transfer onion mixture onto chicken; top with tomato, cucumber, and red pepper strips.

Hope these recipe ideas help keep you warm this week! For my next post I'll be giving you healthier options that will still take care of the hungriest apetities for the upcoming Superbowl celebrations.

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Old Traditions With A New Twist

Happy New Year! One year ago today, my husband and I were moving the last of our belongings from our tiny apartment into our lovely new home. We felt it was only appropriate to host New Year's Eve for our friends and mark the occasion of being settled. It won't be a big blowout, a small crowd of about 8 friends, which is personable & comfy.  We like our gatherings to reflect our tastes. We both love learning about other cultures and we also like the old blended with the new (such as Victorian homes with modern interiors). And I also like to keep things healthy. There's nothing worse than leaving a holiday party feeling overstuffed and bloated.

We decided to reflect all three of these things in our dinner menu.  Our food choices are taken from how they celebrate New Year's Eve form around the world.  So here's some of things we'll be eating and the symbolism behind each.

In China & Japan they have a number of food traditions. The one we chose was eating noodles. My husband loves Soba, which are buckwheat noodles from Japan. In these countries, long noodes symbolize longevity, so I made a cold sesame noodle salad.  Its super easy to make:

- Cook, rinse and drain 1 package of organic buckwheat noodles

-in a bowl combine 10 teaspoons tamari soy sauce, 4 teaspoons of rice vinegar, 4 teaspoons of sesame oil and about 2 tablespoons of honey. Whisk the liquid all together.

-add some chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds to the noodles and toss with the dressing.

In England, and many parts of Europe dishes featuring lots of leafy greens are popular. Greens such as collards, kale and cabage are said to represent money & wealth. My husband and most of our friends don't share my love of Kale, so instead I feaured cabbage by making an Asian slaw with a miso ginger dessing. It also goes nicely with the noodle salad.

In Turkey, pomegranites are traditonally eaten. Their red color is seen to symbolize a healthy heart and fertilityas well. I don't know much about Turkish recipes so I incorporated the pomegranite seeds into waldorf salad.  Egglpant dishes and hummus are also popular in this part of the world, as well as in Egypt and Lebanon. I'm serving up some eggplant tapenade and the hummus with pita chips. The way I see it, feeding my friends lots of fruit and veg is a good way to start the new year! 

Next stop in our culinary world tour is Italy. I diverted the wisdom of Mario Batai & my favorite of his restarants, Babbo, on this one. This dish is one of the most traditional dishes to eat at "Cenone", the Italian traditional New Year's Eve supper. Here is a link to the recipe : http://www.altacucinasociety.com/recipes_detail.asp?id=100

When you eat the lentils within an hour before midnight, they are said to symbolize the wealh you will acquire in th coming year. The sausage is a special one from Modena that is difficult to find. I was able to purchase some on amazon after no luck at any of the ocal butcher shops.

Sticking with the sausage theme, pork is a lucky food throughout most of the world, unlike chicken which is apparently bad luck on his fesive night. In the Netherlands they enjoy little pigs made out of marzipan. Germany has sausages and sauerkraut. I thought this would be easy and got a nice variety of handcrafted german sausages from Wegmans. The sauerkraut is my grandmother's recipe. Her father was an immigrant from Poland and her mother one from Hungary, so she knows her pickled vegetables. Not to mention, she doesn't consider it a proper holiday celebration unless theres sauerkraut and some type of pork. 

Also paying tribute to my cultural heritage, my grandfather on my father's side of the family is Greek. Normally on new year's eve you would enjoy a St. Basil's cake.  I'm sill watching my gluten intake, and settled on making Spanikopita instead, with some special gluten free phyllo, of course.

In Spain and Portugal it is tradition to eat twelve grapes at midnight, one at each of the twelve "bongs" of the clock. Each chime represents a month of the year. This way you will have good luck for each of the twelve months in the coming year. I'll be serving these with our Champagne toast.

True Champagne comes from the region of Champagne France and is often made from Chardonnay grapes. My father's mother came over on theboat from France when she was a girl, so in our home drinking true champagne was a must.  If its not from this region, you are technically drnking sparkling wine. Most sparkling wines sold this time of year can be pretty awful. This is the one time of year most people try champagne unfortunately so it get a bad rap. An alternative that many people enjoy is a sparkling dessert wine from Italy, called Prosecco. It is sweet and light so most people will drink this happily.

Here are a fewgood toasts that I especially liked:

Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin

For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. ~ T.S. Eliot


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt


However you celebrate tonight,I hope you do so safely. I wish each and every one of you a happy and HEALTHY 2013, full of good cheer.

Channeling my Inner Cookie Monster

Its been a busy and exciting last few weeks for me.  For those of you whom I haven't talked to, I am finally leaving my full time job at Lowes. The best part is that I'm leaving it so I can expand my coaching practice. I'll be doing what I love full time! Not to mentino the change in schedule... first time having evenings and weekends off in quite a few years.

What prompted my decision? It struck me that I talk about evaluating quality of life issues and time management with a lot of my clients. I have been juggling this crazy Lowes schedule, not seeing my family adn definitely not getting paid enough for my efforts for way to long. My dream was to be coaching full time. I started building my business but it got to the point that my job at Lowe's was preventing me from pursuing my dreams.

So now that I am free to enjoy my family and my home more, what will I be doing? I've got some great classes and workshops I've been developping that I want to start offering. My favorite ones are using creativity using rubber stamps and papercrafting. Keep your eyes peeled for my monthly gratitude project series.  Over the next 2 weeks I also plan on thoroughly enjoying the holidays by baking, handmaking my holiday cards and gift tags and baking in my newly rennovated kitchen. Tommorrow evening my husband and I will be enjoying a nice quiet dinner at home and burning of the Yule log before all the holiday hoopla starts with our families over the next week. 

This time of year is one of indulgence for me. I let myself take the extra time to treat myself to a day of baking,  and to enjoy the occasional treat or two.  As with everything I try to stay balanced about my choices as possible, enjoying these indulgences in moderation. One of our favorite indulgences lately is the chocolate milk we get from the local farm. If you happen to live in PA and are near Strites' Orchard or see it anywhere else, the chocolate milk from the Apple Valley Creamery is amazing! Its like drinking a milk shake.

 I have discovered that living a gluten free lifestyle does not mean I really have to give up my favorite holiday foods. I just get to morph the recipes a bit. I love baking cookies this time of year.  Here are a few that I plan on making over the next few days during my extra fee time.  Note: the recipes below are gluten free, if you need to make them vegan as well, I've had a lot of luck using the earth balance buttery sticks in my cooking and baking. they're in the dairy case of the natural foods section at the grocery store.

Ginger Molasses Cookies
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/gluten-free-Ginger-Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Gluten-Free-Sugar-Cookies

In our family its not the holidays without peanut butter cookies, occosionally topped with a chocolate kiss, luckily for me they are naturally gluten free!

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Gluten-Free-Peanut-Butter-Cookies

This was a neat dessert that I plan to take to my parents' home, Gluten free sugar Cookie blueberry cheesecake:


http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=752638



Lastly, my piece de resistance I'll be making my famous Pumpkin Amaretto Chessecake for Dessert for the holiday celebration with my husband's family. I'll use the ginger cookies pictured above to make the crust so I can keep my cheesecake gluten free as well. I'll  post some pictures as soon as I have some. I'm sorry to say that recipe however is top secret.  I'll be posting next about the approaching new year. In the meantime, happy holidays regardless of how you celebrate them.

My crockpot is becoming my best friend.....

...not because it's chilly this week either.  I came home from work yesterday to discover my husband had finally demolished our kitchen so our new one can be installed. This is exciting on several levels but really scary to me for one reason: I don't want to compromise my personal food values just because I don't have a normally functioning kitchen at the moment, I'm not sure where everything has been stashed and lastly everything is covered in about a quarter inch of dust.

I teach a lot of my kitchen design clients about the need to be prepared and organized during their remodels, but much like my struggle with my new gluten free diet, talking about something and living it are two completely different things.

I decided, in advance, I was going to set up my kitchen like I do when on a camping trip. My friends at festivals joke that I'm glamping because we always have such a nice kitchen for the week. What it really boils down to is that just because I'm at a festival doesn't mean I should start suddenly eating a ton of junk food that makes me feel crappy just because it's easier. This remodel, I feel the same way except this time I have one added bonus, electricity.

On our side porch I'm setting up my camping kitchen table with bins of my basic necessities underneath. My husband was happy with having a hot dog roast over our backyard firepit, but with his brother staying with us to help with the kitchen, I had a nicer set up in mind. We have a grill, a single butane burner stove, a convection toaster oven, but most importantly a crockpot. I used to think the only things to make in a crockpot were hearty stews and overnight applesauce, boy did I have a lot to learn!

One of the most surprising resources I found for crockpot cooking was Pinterest. Yes, I've filtered out a lot of recipes that contained a lot of processed junk, but I've also found some gems and learned a lot of new techniques. My most recent discovery was that you can roast an entire chicken just like you would in the oven, in a crockpot. Just place the onions, potatoes and carrots underneath the chicken like you would in a roasting pan, season it up and cook on low between 4-6 hours. This has proved invaluable to me. I come home from a long day of work to dinner that is already done. Talk about a great way to make sure I can relax and enjoy my time with my family.

This week I don't have a full kitchen, and I'm on jury duty so I have the challenge of packing gluten free lunches. I am refusing to eat takeout during this remodel, (as if you hadn't guessed). The crockpot is helping me create dinners that easily can become leftovers that can be eaten the next day, without a lot of dishes or mess (especially important since I'm currently using our bathtub to clean dishes).

This week I'll be doing meat free Tuesday since I have the house to myself and I'm not entirely sure what my brother in law is and isn't willing to eat while he stays with us.  Tonight we are having pulled pork barbeque, a super easy dish to make. I rubbed on a pork shoulder with my family's secret spice rub. I then placed it in the crockpot, fat side down) with some apple juice (local of course), beer works well for this also.  I put the crockpot on low and left for court. 8 hours later I have wonderful pork that is juicy and falls apart that can be used Ina multitude of dishes. I shredded some of the pork and am heating it up with 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part water and 1 part homemade BBQ sauce. My husband and his brother will be having it over whole grain rolls to soak up the juices, while I will be enjoying mine plain.

For a side dish: zucchini corn salad, fresh from our garden. Simply toss corn kernels and diced zucchini with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss with some fresh chiffonade basil from the garden. Let the flavors marinate about a half hour before serving.  It's a simple dinner that is full of flavor and does not take a lot of time to make. Once the kitchen is finished I'll be posting about how my homemade tomato sauce is coming along as our harvest should be just about ready as well as my first attempts at making catsup. In the meantime, be well and treat yourself to all the wonderful flavors this season has to offer.

Gluten Free... Not by Choice

The latest health craze for a lot of people is going gluten free. With books out like "The Wheat Belly Diet", wheat in our food supply had become the next food enemy number one.  Whole grains are a wonderful thing, when they truly are whole grain. The problem with the latest media blaze against wheat is that the media is not recognizing the difference between the wheat our ancestors ate and the stuff that is mass produced and put in almost all of our food supply.  

I've tried the occasional gluten-free cookie and have even developed recipes for my clients, but these were infrequent meals.  What happens when you are forced to eat gluten free all the time? I am about to find out.  I was diagnosed with a very unhappy thyroid this past week.  My doctor was ready to prescribe me a pill that I would have to take for the rest of my life.  I knew there had to be another option and it would involve my diet.  I talked with my doctor and presented her with testimonies and studies from experts in the nutrition field and professors from my schooling at the Institute for Integrative nutrition, such as Andrea Beaman. These people have shown that through nutrition therapy it is possible to reverse some thyroid conditions if caught early on. We made a deal, if after one month some of my symptom haven't lessened in severity I try the pill.  I may be creating a lot of extra work for myself but I'm willing to try it. 

 Let me start by saying I am not allergic to gluten, but it, as well as soy, happen to be things that make a inflamed thyroid grumpy so I have to give them up.  This is a bit brutal for me, having grownup in a heavily French influenced family, where my father did not consider dinner to be ready or even sit down unless the bread was crusty, warm and ready on the table. And I admittedly really LOVE bread. I don't even like anything on it because I love tasting the complexities of the crust. I love baking it even more.

Its the beginning of day three for me and I'm learning that I can't do this cold turkey.  Yesterday's provided labor day lunch at work was a real wake up call.  Staring at macaroni and pasta salads, cookies, cupcakes and a whole slew of food and not being able to have any of it was not an easy feat.  I was able to eat a plain hot dog, no bun....That was literally the only thing in the spread that I was able to eat by my nutrition plan guidelines.  

 I can't be superwoman in the kitchen every day, I work too much for that, so I headed to the natural food section of the store. I don't like buying pre-made food of any kind, but drastic times call for drastic measures.I bought some gluten free bagels and English muffins to try to make my hectic mornings a bit easier, not to mention the transition to go a bit more smoothly.

The flavor of these breads is actually pretty good and they look normal enough, but the texture is the main difference I notice. They are Very  crumbly, not exactly the best choice to eat on the go unless you want everyone at work  to know what you had for breakfast, because your clothes are covered in it.(learned that the hard way) SO in a nutshell some of these products are pretty good but I definitely will be experimenting with baking some of my own when I have a bit more time on my hands.  In the meantime, I am developing an entirely new level of respect for my friends struggling with Celiac disease. I will definitely be sharing my experiences on this journey, as well as the recipes I develop while on it. 

The english muffin looked and tasted pretty good but it fell apart when I spread my almond butter  & homemade fig jam on it.

A Little Indulgence

I love  food and especially food that is whole and natural. I have found a lot of substitutions for foods I used to eat that were bad for me that taste pretty much the same. Every once in a blue moon though, I come across something that I just can't substitute. A dish that just tastes like comfort and smiles. Today is my one weekend off a month. When my husband and I get time off together we love enjoying a lazy morning and a yummy breakfast.

About every six months or so I give in to the power of sugar and make our favorite breakfast sandwich. It happened by accident a few years ago and has become a symbol of  a mini vacation for us.  Not to mention I can reward my hubby for being so open to trying so many new healthy alternatives and sticking with me on the journey.   It doesn't have a name, we just call it yummy. Here's what you need for two of these addictive sandwiches:

• 3 eggs
• 2 slices cheddar cheese
• 4 slices bacon
• 2 Panera Cinnamon Crunch bagels
• 3 tablespoons of organic milk

Cook the bacon to your desired level of crispiness. Toast the bagels. We like to put the bottom hal fin the toaster oven first with the slice of cheddar cheese so it gets melty.  Meanwhile scramble the eggs with the milk. Divide the eggs in half and place on the bagel bottoms. Top each sandwich with 2 slices of bacon.  Place the top halves of the bagel in the toaster oven. Then place on top of the assembled sandwich. Enjoy!

The crispy sweetness of the cinnamon sugar crunchies goes great with the saltiness of the bacon and cheese. Sure its definitely not a very healthy breakfast, but we can't all be Mary Poppins every day. Moderation for me is the key and when I do eat something this out of the ordinary I'm sure to savor the experience. 

Hakuna Fritatta & a cup of Jo

Happy Friday all! Sorry I've been a bit more absent than I like lately but all this rain has me working over time in my garden. I had no idea a garden would be so much work. I am happy to say that I am finally reaping a bunch of rewards.  We have a had a ton of rain this summer in Central Pennsylvania and my plants have gotten huge.  There has also been twice as many weeds to pull. I was feeling a bit frustrated because as big as the plants are, I haven't been seeing any veggies yet, but the plants have had a ton of flowers.

 A few weeks ago I talked to a fellow backyard gardener and she explained when you see lots of flowers but aren't getting any fruit there is usually a mineral or nutrient deficiency.  I have been determined to keep my heirloom vegetables 100% organic, gmo and chemical free so I hopped online to do some research and was surprised at the solution I found.

There is one thing that almost every home across the country has and surprisingly enough we consider it trash: coffee grounds.  Coffee grounds are approximately 1.45% nitrogen. They also contain magnesium, calcium, potassium, and other trace minerals. They are great to add to your compost bin to create some really great fertilizer.  You can also give your plants the benefits by simply sprinkling the used coffee grounds around the base of your plants before watering or it rains.  Tomatoes and roses especially like this method.

You can also use the grounds to create a slug and snail barrier. Coffee grounds are both abrasive and acidic, so a barrier of grounds placed near slug-prone plants may just save them from these garden pests

I gave it a try and the garden exploded, especially the zucchini and cucumbers.  Ironically enough, Wednesday was National Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbors Porch day.  I understand why, because there are is only so much zucchini you can eat at a time when your garden decides to let loose.  I spent yesterday baking zucchini bread and a few other yummy treats to portion and keep in the freezer. After all of that work I wanted an easy dinner (and I still had more zucchini to use up), so I made a frittata.

A frittata traditionally is an open faced omelette that the ingredients are added into the raw egg mixture before it is cooked (instead of being added after the eggs are fried and folded into the middle).  THey typically are cooked over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, although I prefer to make mine in my convection toaster oven.  Here's what I did:
First off, I beat 4 eggs in a glass bowl with a whisk & added in about 2 tablespoons of flour.  Then I folded in  1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, about a 1/2 cup grated carrot and about 1/2 cup shredded cheese (sharp cheddar works nicely)  to the mixture. 

I lined my stoneware baker with a piece of parchment that had been greased and poured the mixture into it. I then baked it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  When it was done I lifted the parchment out of the baker and cut it into wedges. Add a nice glass of pinot grigio, a side salad and you've got one quick & easy dinner.

Today the garden harvest madness continues with making tons of pickles and oven roasted tomato sauce.  I'll talk about the cucumbers next week. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying all the wonderful produce this summer has to offer!