Settings of Silver

J's Amazing Oatmeal Cookies

2009-10-18T15:57:00.001-07:00

My friend J gave me this amazing recipe for GF oatmeal cookies. I actually didn't read to the bottom of her email and have never put them in the freezer although I made an extra batch of dough that I will probably stick there. I also have never added cinnamon or anything else but I am sure that would be yummy! As a note, oatmeal and oat flour is NOT gluten free however Bob's Red Mill makes GF oats. Take them for a whirl in the blender to make the oats into the oat flour.

Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup margarine---I'm going to try to make them this week with coconut oi instead and see how it goes...

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup loose brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tbs water, 1 1/2 tbs oil, 1 tsp baking powder mixed together (or egg replacer for one egg)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup quick oats

1 1/2 cup oat flour

If you are making oatmeal cookies, add 1 tsp. cinnamon and/or raisins, dried cherries, or dried apples. If you are making choc. chip cookies skip the cinnamon and just stir in GFCF choc chips.

Cream together wet ingredients, stir in dry. If it seems really wet, add a little extra flour. Scoop small amounts (about a tsp) onto cookie sheet and pack tightly. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about ten minutes then bake for 7-9 minutes at 325 degrees or until set. Let them cool well on cookie sheet before removing. Makes about 2.5 dozen.

I know it sounds weird to stick them in the freezer and then the oven, but for some reason it helps them hold together better without any eggs.

Sushi Rice ball ideas!

2009-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

My Son Eats Spinach!!!

2009-09-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ok he drinks it. And don't tell him! One of my favorite food blogs is Happy Foody. Going 100% (or even 50%) raw is probably outside the realm of possibility; however she inspires me to at least eat a bit more 'green.' I have started making 'green smoothies' each day for the entire clan. To start off I have put frozen blueberries in the mix which makes the smoothies purple which is a little less off putting. I mix frozen strawberries and blueberries and a frozen banana with a bit of water to blend. Then I add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach with some additional water and some agave. If you have a 'regular' blender, you need to let it go for quite some time and there might be the occasional spinach leaf that you come across. I am thinking about the purchase of a Vitamix which will not only make great green smoothies but much much more. They cost quite a bit of cabbage though. But I have heard they are a mean machine.

Now don't be scared!!!! I was...but I went for it. And they are delicious. There are many different recipes you can find online and it is great for extra greens you have lying around. Plus, can you get your kid to eat spinach any other way???!!!

Vitamix Giveaway!!!!!!

2009-08-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

You can find a free Vitamix Giveaway here!!!! on Jessie Hawkins blog.

Andrew's Birthday Cake design....

2009-08-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Andrew's design for a birthday cake.
Yes he wants it to say Happy Bday (not Birthday.)
Notice the 'Gold tooth.)
Press the button to see us drawing it using the FB graffiti feature

Val's Weight Loss Challenge.... and back to school lunches!

2009-08-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to participate in Val's weight loss challenge. I am in a blogging rut on my other blog even though I had two running ideas going including Top Ten Assumptions and the melding of autism and hearing impairment. So I think I'll take a break from the heavy stuff and blog on the weight loss and the 'Extreme Makeover" I am doing on the house. (Later on that in another post.)

My goals for this week are to stay away from the chips: Lays and Chocolate. I also need to drink more water and go for regular walks. A massage on Tuesday won't hurt either!

I just picked up a book today, Japanese Meals On the Go Bento Boxes. GFCF lunches are always so much better when you have FUN with them and go 'outside the box' and just forget the sandwiches. There are lots of places to pick up 'to go' Bento Boxes including Laptop Lunches where I ordered mine. I noticed that Pottery Barn Kids had some interesting looking ones and with this being back to school time I am sure you can find great options at Walmart or Target. The Pottery Barn and Laptop Lunches boxes are phthalate, BPA and lead free. The Laptop Lunches comes with a little cookbook with plenty of ideas! You can see one thing we put together here. There are oodles of ideas on the internet and in blogs!

Cream of Chicken Coconut Soup- sans moo milk

2009-04-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dying for something creamy the other night I whipped the following soup together. Red curry paste is nothing like curry powder. So if you think you wont like it...just try it. Or sub another spice.

cook 16 oz Chicken (thighs) in (approx) 16-20 oz chicken broth. (almost a full Costco size box.)
cut up the chicken after cooked. Scissors make easy work of this! I just stick them in the pot and snip away.

Add 15 oz can light coconut milk, 2 cups peppers (I dumped in a bag of frozen peppers from TJs.) Add other veggies at will. I used frozen corn but (frozen) spinach would be great as well and I noticed some online recipes added corn. Add 1TB of red curry paste. Simmer for a few minutes and enjoy! Oh..Add cilantro as an afterthought...if you like it!

Although this doesn't freeze well, it is wonderful if you store in the fridge for the week and warm it up in the mircowave.

Bento Boxes

2009-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

I found this at Whole Foods but you can buy it online at Laptop Lunches. With gluten and casein free meals, a sandwich is often not the lunch food of choice. One Laptop Lunch lunchbox holds lunch for Andrew and myself with usually an apple or something extra on the side. In here we have:

leftover salad
cold roasted sweet potatoes
rice crackers
hummus
peas

Hamburger Green Bean Coconut Curry

2009-02-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me know that I am 'good enough gal' and could never write a cookbook because I could not test out the recipes to the degree required. So...that said....I had hamburger and green beans on the fridge. What to do..what to do. DH does not do well with a ton of tomatoes so I didn't want to do the traditional 'stewish' dish. I love coconut milk. You can easily make this dish with frozen green beans...and chicken instead of the ground beef. I would use the curry PASTE and not powder but I'm guessing green curry paste would work as well as the red.

Brown 1 1/2 lb ground beef. Drain to minimize the fat. Brown 1 or 2 onions and 1 1/2 lbs green beans. Put ground beef back in pan and add 1 can (15 oz) tomatoes. (I partially drained these.) Add 1 (15 oz) can coconut milk. Add red curry PASTE to taste. I added probably 1 TBS. Let it cook down 'a bit' and serve on top of brown rice.

Pomegranate Cashew Chicken

2009-02-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

I combined two recipes last night to make a fantastic dish. As always, my measurements are not exact and entirely substitutable...ie: various types of chicken, loose on the liquid measurements, add more or less nuts....etc....

Brown eight bone in chicken thighs in a pan and remove to a large baking dish. (I did these four at a time.) Saute one onion in pan and brown 1 cup of cashews. Add 3/4 cup pomegranate juice and 3/4 cup chicken broth. Let it cook down. Add a dash of cinnamon and a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses. Top the chicken thighs with this mixture, cover and cook 'until done.' (I cooked it for approximately 40 minutes at 350 F. Chicken thighs do not get 'over done' as chicken breasts do. )

Serve this on top of brown rice. I also made 'fake mashed potatoes' made from cauliflower instead of potatoes.

Recipes I want to try....

2009-02-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

There are all sorts of recipes I read online that I want to try....so I will start a list here. The first blog I am looking at is Lori4SquareMom's Place...this is a flowing document...every changing. feel free to leave a comment on one you would recommend....gfcfefsf friendly please ;)

Cabbage Patch Stew (Crockpot)
Pear and Apple Crisp
Chipolte-Lime Chicken Thighs Jamaican Rice and Peas (Slow Cooker)
Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy and Sweet Coconut Rice
Crockpot Gyro
Koren Short Ribs
SuperDuper Spaghetti Sauce

Koren Short Ribs

Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy and Sweet Coconut Rice

Another crockpot winner- Sri Lanka Chicken

2009-01-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

I have been flipping through OLD Christmas magazines in an effort to trash most of them. I came across a baked Sri Lanka Chicken Curry in the 1993 December Bon Appetit which I fully intended to make as written but given the schedule that day decided to do in the crockpot- with other modifications of course.

8 bonless chicken thighs (or ANY type of chicken..bone in, out...whatever)
2 cups (more or less) of chicken broth
1 14 oz can lite coconut milk
curry powder (to taste..they all have different flavors)
crushed red pepper (1/8- 1/4 tsp approximately. more if you like things hotter.)
dried onion (not the nasty dip mix)..or fresh chopped onions.
Salt as needed. The chicken broth adds

Cook for about 8 hours on low. If my chicken is frozen I cook it on high for an hour and flip it to low. Thirty minutes or so before done, add diced red pepper and fresh or frozen spinach. If you wish for a thicker sauce, mix cornstarch and water and add to the mixture before serving and stir until thickened. Add fresh cilantro as desired before serving. Serve over rice.

Ginger was also called for in the recipe and I think that would be wonderful but DH does not like ginger one bit...thus I left it out.

SCD Sweet Potato Muffins

2008-12-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

I think it is important to blog failures as well as successes... maybe someone has an idea to help...

This morning I made SCD Sweet Potato Muffins based on a recipe from Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Last night I cooked up some sweet potatoes in the oven. It is pretty easy to do but requires a food processor. I had a Cusinart for many years but recently got a Kitchen aid. I love it.

First puree 1 1/2 cups of sweet potatoes.
Add:

1/4 canola oil
1/2 cup agave (or honey)
2 TB pre-mixed Egg Replacer.

Blend well.

In another bowl combine:

1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup whole hazelnuts

Add to food processor and mix until well blended.

Bake at 325F for 20 to 30 minutes until a knife comes out clean. I used Pampered Chef Stoneware muffin tin and it seems to take a tad longer in that. So make sure to check them at 20 minutes or sooner based on your oven. It seemed to take a long time for these...I kept checking and they were still moist inside. After 35 minutes I took them out of the oven. still not done! fell apart and gooey inside. A few potential things I did wrong.

Maybe too much oil in the bottom of the muffin tin?
I used egg replacer. We can't do eggs though!
I cut down on the sugar...and used agave vs. honey in the recipe.
I used sweet potatoes vs. butternut squash. I actually DID bake up squash last night as well but it seemed to watery so I went for the sweet potatoes in stead. But maybe squash bakes up 'dryer' than sweet potatoes???

I just stuck them back in the oven actually. I'll keep you posted but thought I'd rip off this blog post.-

Weekly Menu

2008-09-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Trying to clean out the fridge this week!
Sunday: Hamburgers with famous baked potatoes w/ onion** see below
Monday: Tacos!
Tuesday: Baked Chicken and Green beans
Wednesday: Dinner out;)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Stir Fry Veggies
Saturday: See what's at the farmer's market!

Famous Baked Potatoes...
cut sweet and white potatoes in desired size depending on how fast you want them done, dice onion (1 or 2) the same... add any other veggies you want to roast. (I did red peppers.) toss on evoo and S&P. Bake at 400-425 degrees F until you have yummy goodness.

Menu Planning Day

2008-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Andrew turns 8 this week and I'm attempting to look for a GREAT GFCFEFSF birthday cake recipe. FIL is also coming over for dinner. And we have various other 'stuffs' going on.

Sunday: Lamb chops on the grill. Cook Chicken for DH sandwiches during the week.
Monday: Pork Chops with sauteed eggplant side
Tuesday: Roast- crock pot with onions and potatoes
Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches
Thursday: Hamburgers (or Mediterranean Burgers)
Friday: Pizza night!! Andrew's birthday
Saturday: Andrew's party and Costco food!!!!!

Bathroom Re-do

2008-07-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Shower BeforeShower After

Towel Rack BeforeTowel Rack After

Organizing Junkie is having a Bathroom Re-do roundup. I had redone the kid bathroom a few months back- but forgot I had done it - because- well- it doesn't look like it did in my after pictures at the moment! But it is quick to spruce it up and the new accessories give it a fun feel. In a Sunday newspaper ad I saw a sale for 'Spunky Monkey" bathroom decorations at K-mart and they were quite a steal.

One thing I do to keep the bathroom 'de junked' is to work through even a corner of a shelf every time DS takes a bath. I can not leave him alone in there and so it seems as good a time as any to 'get-r-done.' I will have to say that the cupboards in this bathroom are almost empty!

BeforeAfter

We like to read in the bathroom so I just added a basket where we keep all the books that we might wish to browse through while doing our business...or just when we need to escape. This room is one of the few with in the house with a lock on the door. The 'chart' over to the right is a handwashing reminder for DS and you can find it here.

"Check" This Out

2008-07-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

GF girl had a blog on Chex Mix gluten free. There is also a website with Chex mix GF recipes! Not sure about the 'milk' status of it however..so do check the label.

Menu Plan Day

2008-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Burgers and Fries
Monday: Chicken Nuggets w/ cornmeal crust
Tuesday: Take out Pizza- cousins here
Wednesday: Tuna Croquettes from Good Eats. (Substitute GF breadcrumbs.)
Thursday: Vegetable Soup from Good Eats
Friday: Leftovers

Other things I am making this week: Pumpkin Drop Baked Cookies (will have to find recipe to post) and quick bean salad w/ white beans and 'whatever' happens to be around.' I will post both of those sometime in the next weeks.

Menu Monday July 7, 2008

2008-07-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Simplicity is key this week....

Monday: Baked chicken and broccoli
Tuesday: Beer soaked Pork tenderloin in the slow cooker
Wednesday: Cornmeal crusted chicken nuggets
Thursday: Chicken Ala King (from pre-frozen make ahead meal.)
Friday: Chicken Stir Fry
Saturday: Picnic -take Brownies, baked beans and potato salad
Sunday: Leftovers

Chicken A la King

2008-07-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I made Chicken a la King where I spring boarded off a recipe from Once a Month Cooking. Here is my recipe sans milk products

1 medium onion- chopped
1 8 oz package button mushrooms- chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped
EVOO as needed
1/4 to 1/2 cup gfcf flour. I used a mixture I keep in the freezer from Big Batch Cookies
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup coconut milk*
3/4 cup almond or hazelnut milk
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbs sherry
1 - 2 lbs cooked chicken **

In a large pan saute the onion, shrooms, and bell pepper with EVOO until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed. Add coconut milk, almond milk and chicken broth and stir until thickened. Add chicken.

Serve on top of any gfcf biscuit. I made biscuits from this month's Living Without.

As for my "*" and notes; first, this is a double batch so we ate dinner and I put the rest in the freezer for a later date. I will make fresh biscuits at that time. * For the coconut milk; my plan was to use 'lite' but I did not have any. If I had I might have used more coconut milk and less almond milk (rice milk would be fine too.) The original recipe called for half and half. Do use the sherry...it makes a difference. I tasted it before putting it in and it was very bland. ** For the chicken I used one package (probably 1.5 lbs) of boneless skinless chicken thighs that I baked for 20 minutes or so while preparing the rest of the meal. Any chicken would be fine. Feel free to deviate from the amount of liquid and chicken....I consider most recipes to be "templates." Bottom line, the coconut and hazelnut milks made wonderful substitutions for this meal.

As for this week's menu...I've been looking over Happyfood and other 'raw' food recipes. I don't plan to do 100% raw but I have noticed that I do feel better when I eat my veggies! And, I am ALWAYS for doing things that don't try and REPLACE gluten and casein but that just plain don't include it in the first place. Raw foods do that. I am juicing daily and may make some green smoothies as well. These will be for breakfast and lunch and then probably a 'regular' dinner meal.

Sunday: Cabbage salad with chicken (will post 'recipe template' soon.)
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: cornmeal chicken nuggets
Wednesday: Taco Salad;) aka...leftovers disguised.
Thursday: Greens salad with chicken
Friday: Potatoes with chili topping. (Chili is in the freezer and pre-made.)
Saturday: Cooks night off...sandwiches...soup...whatever.

My new favorite kitchen tool; Chicken nuggets

2008-07-05T15:53:00.001-07:00

I bought a needle meat tenderizer in order to make Alton Brown's Swiss Steak. I already blogged that here. It was quite expensive ($30 at Bed Bath and Beyond locally) so I decided to try it out elsewhere on other recipes and I LOVE it. I have used it on chicken thighs several times to make both fried and baked chicken nuggets. For both recipes, I go over the meat vertically and horizontally on both sides and then slice it into strips. It truly makes the nuggets very tender. I think part of the reason Andrew has balked at my nuggets in the past is the 'string' factor of the chicken. This all but eliminates that.

My sissy is going to send me the recipe directly for the baked nuggets that she makes because I thought mine were a bit crunchy but both Andrew and Marked liked them. I mix dijon mustard, honey and rice milk in one dish and gf flour, seasonings and cornmeal in the other. (I mix a blend of flours from gf Christmas cookies and keep it in my freezer.) I take the tenderized strips and put them first in the wet then dry and finally on a baking rack over a cookie sheet. Cook at 375F for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the strips. You can also do full chicken breasts or thighs instead of the strips. Of course I know this is a loose recipe- one reason I will probably never write a cookbook! This would be a great RCR (regulatory) activity for you to do with your child if you don't mind their hands in raw chicken. (You could also use forks or tongs.) You obviously don't NEED the tool to do the RCR as you can just pre-cut the strips without them being tenderized. By the way- the tenderizer is VERY VERY sharp. Please do NOT use this with kids. I had thoughts of this being a great sensory exercise for Andrew in that he could slam on the tenderizer without touching the meat and get some great proprioceptive input but decided against it because any curious kiddo will certainly get hurt.

For those that might like a further lesson in the science of meat tenderizing you can click here.

Good eats! Swiss Steak

2008-07-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite family shows is Good Eats hosted by Alton Brown. Andrew finds it witty, Mark finds it interesting, and I find it....Good Eats! When we recently watched a show on frying I asked Andrew if he would eat home-made fried chicken if I made it the way Alton does and he said yes. I reminded him that Alton made 'meat' on another show called Swiss Steak. I made it today and...drumroll...Andrew ate it!!!!! Alton is big on 'hardware' meaning kitchen gadgets and I DID purchase the needle meat tenderizer. I 'scaffolded' for Andrew by removing the sauce. It was delicious. I should, however, have heeded Alton's advice and procured some good smoked paprika. I grabbed the plain jar from the cupboard and it was lacking a bit in flavor. For the gluten free flour, I used my mixture that I try to keep in the freezer that comes from big batch Christmas cookies.

Our next stop is fried chicken. If you watch that episode....see if you can find the pig. Andrew kept wanting me to 'skip back' to see the pig which of course he had to point out because I certainly didn't!! The fried chicken is Andrew's favorite episode. I need to get some additional hardware before I tackle it however; a cast iron skillet and a high temperature thermometer. Oh- on the chicken episode they also took a tour of the Lodge Cast Iron factory which, according to Alton is the only cast iron made in the U.S.A. (They do use 'soy' in their pre-seasoned pans so keep that in mind if you have a soy allergy.)

Sorry no pictures of the meal today......

Cranberry Chicken

2008-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

This recipe is based off of "Cranberry Chicken" on page 25 of Once a Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg. I don't use the book for the purpose intended...just for the great food! I also often make a double batch of something and keep it in the freezer for a day when I don't feel like cooking.

Take 6-8 pieces of chicken. You can use anything with or without bone and with or without skin. My favorite for this recipe is bone IN skinless chicken thighs that you can find at many places now. Thighs just have more flavor than breasts and are less apt to dry out.

Make a cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, some water and some cranberry juice concentrate. Just put it in a saucepan until the berries pop. Guess at the amounts...as Emeril likes to say, "It ain't rocket science." When the sauce is done add in a couple of handfuls of "Just Crunchy Onions. These take the place of that nasty dried onion soup mix and I find them at Whole Foods. Add salt and pepper.

Put chicken pieces in baking pan and pour sauce over the top. Bake at 350 degrees F until done. Bone in chicken thighs take about 30 minutes. I often use a probe thermometer to keep track of things.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - June 29

2008-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

I found a few 'raw food' cookbooks at the Library. (Can you call them raw food 'cook' books?) I am just doing a general plan this week and here are some things I am trying that are 'raw' foods:

From RAWvolution
Summer Corn Salad- made last night. very good
Borcht - made for lunch. ummm..yucky:( and my kitchen looked like there had been a crime committed.
Breakfast Bars
Creamy Ranch Dressing
Mock Tuna

From Raw Food Real World
Grapefruit Salad

I was able to find these cookbooks through inner-library loan. I don't think I can write any of the recipes here as that would be a copy write infringement but here is a link I found to the ingredients used in some of these recipes. I am also cooking meat for dinner for DH and DS...but keeping it simple. I made some chicken breasts for DH last night and will make some burgers too this week.

Last week I made two delicious recipes from Happy Foody including Raw Strawberry Pie and Raw Caesar Dressing. Both were delicious. I did not use the white miso for the dressing as soy is a no-no for me but I DID use the flax oil which I think gave it a great 'fishy' taste as Caesar dressing should have. I made plenty of smoothies. One day for lunch I was so hungry. Some friends had been over and by the time they left it was well past lunch so I put a bunch of frozen fruit in the blender thinking I was being such a good girl. Well, the bottom wasn't on and when I went to pour it in the glass it was ALL over the place....so lets just say I had Lays chips for lunch that day and leave it at that! My favorite juice combo however is a bunch of kale and parsley, a couple of stalks of celery and some green apple. Very good!

Yummy Stir Fry

2008-06-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yum!!!! I searched the world over for a stir fry sauce that tasted great but had no soy! I do believe I have found one. I saute any favorite vegetable with some chicken (or not) in sesame oil. The sesame oil gives great flavor especially when you are not using soy, a typically key ingredient for stir fry recipes. At almost the end of the cooking add some chopped garlic taking care not to burn it. Then add...the sauce which can be doubled and is not exact science. It is primarily DH and I eating this dish so you may find that you want to make more sauce because you have more vegetables and meat to cover.

The Sauce:
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 TB brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice (I use the plastic lemon juice on this one.)
1 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch.

Mix above well and pour over sauce. It will thicken quickly. I also have in my 'notes' that you can include 1/2 tsp ginger in the sauce. DH can't stand ginger, so I leave that out! I serve this on top of brown rice. If I have leftover rice, I add it after I add the sauce and sometimes add some additional chicken broth to soften up the rice. I have also added sliced almonds or even some sesame seeds. The possibilities are endless. This is so good!

c 2008