Slow foods are on the docket right now - what are slow foods you ask? 

Without looking up the definition officially, we are saying they are un-processed foods that 

are cooked as closely to their natural state as possible.  That's NOT to say some of this isn't processed - it is but from farm fresh or fresh ingredients as much as possible.  Can you make it yourself without a list of 

ingredients you cannot even pronounce?  Then it's probably a slow food. Yes, some of the ingredients were bought at a store but the point is, I could have made it with something from home. 

First up is the Italian white bean and sausage soup.  

2cans (or your own cooked white beans) 

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks,

1 onion, diced, 

2 Cloves of garlic minced

2 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil)

1 lb of Italian Sausage (yes, homemade is best but I bought mine from a butcher who makes their fresh with NO artificial ingredients. Just meat and spices) 

1 carton of Chicken broth (I used my own from a chicken I boiled) 

1 bunch of fresh spinach (picked from the garden is best. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Sautee the onions and garlic in Olive oil, add the potatoes. Separately cook the meat and add to the 

onions, garlic and potatoes.  Add broth and cook until potatoes are tender. 

Then add beans and spinach, Salt and Pepper.

I have posted this recipe before - it is NOT my creation. Here is the link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/10/quinoa-salad-with-pears-and-baby.html 

This one again is even better with homegrown and fresh picked but it you don't have it, It's still 

worth buying the ingredients and making it - GOOD!!!!

Lastly, a very simple dish using a homegrown Spaghetti squash, and some garden fresh homemade

Pesto.  Cook the Squash by piercing the flesh with a knife, throwing it in the 

oven and baking on 350* for about 45 minutes.  Cut open, remove seeds and spoon the 

innards into a bowl.  Add your fresh pesto, salt and pepper and eat.  

This is so yummy!!!!!  

I encourage everyone to shop as much as possible at Farmer's Markets - support your local farmers and producers and stop sending your money overseas!!!!

Creamy Pesto Chicken/Asparagus/mushroom Fettucini Alfredo

Well, I've searched high and low for my camara because personally - I think this is a meal worth seeing. But, Alas, It is missing. Tonight's dinner is a compilation of a recipe I found and then I added a bunch of stuff. And yes, It's Gluten Free, Corn free and uses goat milk cream.

This one is so good. I'm thinking I need to make it again SOON!

1 Package of Tinkyada brand Fettucini (follow package directions)

2 chicken breast cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

1 bunch of asparagus, cleaned, ends cut off and cut into bite sized pieces.

1/2 red onion, diced.

2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 C. chopped mushrooms

1 C. Cream (milk is fine too)

1TBSP Tapioca flour

2 TBSP Pesto (jarred or homemade!)

1/2 C. of shredded parmesan cheese

1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts.

Add EVOO to pan and put in onions, Asparagus and sautee. When the veggies are soft add mushrooms, cream, pesto and tapioca flour. Add Parmesan cheese . Then toss with the fettucini. Add jar of Artichoke hears, salt and pepper to taste. ENJOY with your favorite salad! YUM.

Buy it Local, Grow it yourself, eat what you grow!

If you are following this blog you are probably interested in several things. Growing some of your own food, buying locally grown food, cooking that which you grow or buy! I have been on this kick for a while now and really would like to encourage more people to take a step to grow a little more of what they will use. There are so many EASY ways to start!!!

We started gardening when our oldest was born (she's now 17) so she's sort of used to this way of life. She thinks we are a bit wacky but she doesn't give us too hard of a time for growing, raising our own food too much! She's even been known to sit munching on a bowl of homegrown baby carrots while doing her schoolwork! SHHH~ don't tell her I told you!

When we moved to our current property (our 1/2 acre of heaven in Central NM) my goal was to convert it to being as productive as I could - Edible landscaping, goats, chickens, bees. I'm happy to say that after 8 years, we are well on our way. WE still have a long way to go but I love the luxury of pretty much eating something daily that we produced off our land. We drink the milk and make cheese and soap from our tiny herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. We eat eggs from our little flock of chickens and have managed to raise a few for meat as well. We have been planting trees and garden areas for most all of the 8 years we've been here and it's a trip bringing in something from the yard and figuring out a meal....The less I have to go to the grocery store, the better.

I think I am out to prove something - that you can feed your family (maybe not completely) off of a small parcel of land. YOU can eat a majority of stuff that you produced yourself and you do not need acres and acres to do so!!!! I guess I'm not the only crazy wannabe farm girl out there. Just within the past month I've heard of several such similar situations: Recently I saw a post on Laptop Lunches for a challenge for a diet called 100 Mile Diet. Basically - eating for one month only food that is produced within 1oo miles of your house.....Oh my! Also followed the plight of the Julie http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/my-pyrrhic-victory/ who was being prosecuted for growing veggies in her yard. I even found out there is a name for folks like me (Educated women who opt out of the rat race to raise children, animals and their own food) Femivores. This movement seems to be gaining steam. I am a regular at the Los Lunas Farmer's Market selling our homemade goat milk soaps as well as anything we produce on the farm that I cannot can, freeze or eat!!!!

Today I stumbled across this book (gotta have it!!!) and this blog (glad I found it!!!). Please go there an check it out if you would like to join in this movement....and If I win the book - Sweet! I'm going to hopefully get it anyway because it looks awesome and I hope will help me on the way to accomplish my own 1/2 acre of production! I would LOVE to do what this gal has done!!!!!

http://permaculture-media-download.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-giveaway-quarter-acre-farm.html

cheese Adventures: Bocconcini

Today I found a recipe on Giada De Laurentis Food Network site - marinated Bocconcini. What is Bocconcini you ask? It is "little ball" of mozarella cheese. Yet another way of enjoying your cheese!!!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/marinated-bocconcini-recipe/index.html

so today I went out and picked the fresh herbs out of the garden and made my own homemade Bocconcini. Now, you ask - what am I supposed to do with the cheese once I've made it? Well, that's easy - eat it of course. But if you prefer to use it in a recipe then here you go - it's not mine but it sounds so yummy and with heirloom tomatoes about to be (hopefully) abundantly available - it should be pretty easy to make! Just visit you local grower's market or health food store and buy some yummy heirloom tomatoes and make this lovely salad:http://laurasbestrecipes.com/salads/

Cheese Adventures Make My Tastebuds SING!

Having an abundance of fresh creamy goat milk means a lot of cheese needs to be made and we can have fun creating new cheesy goodness. I told you all I'd update you on the fun things we made with the cheese rolls (Mozzarella rolled into a sheet, filled and then rolled up and cut like pinwheels. Well, We've made the proscuitto, sundried tomato and basil and few times and I never tire of that one. We've made Italian meats and cheese with Prosciutto and salami as well as artichokes and olives (wasn't my favorite - too salty so I may have to modify the way I make it) The Italian meat was good but my new favorite taste sensation is: Proscuitto, Basil and Fig. Okay - sounds wierd but I was surfing some food blogs and found one about a cheese and fig sandwich with Italian bread and basil/pesto on it and the lightbulb went on......Oh yeah, it's GOOD!
there are of course other fun things to be made with OTHER goat milk products - like yogurt. This is a Tex Mex potato salad that I found on another blog; laurasbestrecipes.com. But modified for my tastebuds. This, my friends is delish! I made it with both sweet potatoes and white potatoes (I think Yukon Gold would have been better but I had none on hand) Chipotle Mayo/yogurt dressing (3 TBSP chipotle with adobo paste, 1 C Mayo, 1 C. Yogurt and 2 TBSP spicy mustard) chopped tomatoes, chopped up cilantro and a chopped up red onion and some garlic(minced). I think I could eat this by myself in one sitting but yeah, probably will have to share at the BBQ.
Lastly, Caprese salad. This has always been one of my favs. What more could you ask for - Fresh Tomatoes from the garden, Fresh Homemade Mozzarella, Fresh Basil from the garden, a Balsamic Vinegar reduction with some cracked pepper to top it all off?UM - NOTHING! I would love to take credit for this lovely dish but I have to give credit where credit is due - Thank you Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/caprese-salad/

for sharing this lovely dish on your blog. My tastebuds are singing today - Cheese Adventures ROCK!

The Cheese Adventure takes a turn for the SWEETER!

The sweet tooth came out today. I was sitting around wondering what to do with some sweet chevre and got an idea - can you make truffles out of chevre. The answer is YES! I found a few recipes online but decided to go my own route. I had already made some Chevre with agave nectar, orange flavoring and orange peels. (about 1 C of Chevre with 1/2 tsp flavoring and 1/2 tsp. dried orange peel).
So I heated up the Milk chocolate I had left over from the Valentine's chocolates I'd made.
And Dipped them. then sprinkled a tiny bit of sea salt on top (if you've never had sea salt with your chocolate - do not knock it till you try it! HEAVENLY!) I think the ONLY thing that could have made these little gems better is having dark chocolate instead of Milk chocolate! OH YEAH! The most amazing part is how easy this was. NOW I'm thinking what yummy flavors one could make with this chevre deal......lavender, peppermint, strawberry, how about a fig, stuffed with sweet chevre, dipped in chocolate! Let the sweet side of cheese adventures.....begin!

A continuation of the Cheese Adventures

Well, who says I cannot combine my food adventures. Tonight we decided to go on a little journey to France in our culinary adventures and because there is CHEESE involved - yes, it's part of our cheese adventures as well. Tonight is also a vegetarian meal so for those of you doing the veg thing - this one's for you too! First up is Asparagus with bleu cheese and pinon nuts. I'm not sure this is really French but I figure with the Bleu Cheese, why not? EASY to make and the only things I can think of to make this EASY side dish better would be HOME made bleu cheese (maybe someday!) and HOME grown asparagus - again - maybe someday since I planted my first root stock this year. I roasted the asparagus with Olive oil and salt/pepper and then sprinkled pine nuts and bleu cheese on top right toward the end. see - EASY!

Next up is a lovely French Cucumber salad - again easy and oh so yummy. Funny thing is there isn't much difference between this salad and our favorite Cucumber Soup - except maybe a blender. This salad is nothing more than cucumbers, salt, pepper, 1 Tsp lemon juice and 1 C. Greek style yogurt. Also I added some mint leaves chopped up to make it have a bit more zing. YUM! IF you don't like mint leaves I bet you could substitute a myriad of other yummy herbs: lemon thyme, chives, or even dill.
Lastly is my family's favorite cold or hot soup - Potato Leek soup (hot) or Vicchisoise (cold) on a hot summer day - COLD is the way to go. make it early in the morning and refrigerate! After a long hot day, this will hit the spot! It is simple to make: 3 good sized leeks chopped up and washed, then sauteed in EVOO, Then peel and add about 5 - 6 good sized potatoes. Add stock - I used vegetable stock for this but you can use chicken also. Then cook until potatoes are nice and soft. Add Creme Fraische or milk if you don't have CF. Blend and add salt and pepper to taste. We are adding French Bread with Chevre cheese (ooh more french! more cheese!) and pickled beets. I think the only thing this meal is missing is Creme Brulee........

Father's Day Dinner.

Father's day dinner ended up being part of our cheese adventures. I think I have a new FAVORITE. I know, I keep saying that but really, the whole cheese thing - just keeps getting better. So what are these you are asking? Well, Mozzarella pinwheels I guess is what you could call them. Sundried tomato, basil (from the garden) Prosciutto and mozarella cheese - all rolled up and cut!

So today I made homemade mozzarella cheese out of goat's milk. After stretching it, I dunked it back in the hot whey to make it more pliable and then rolled it out. Yep, into a sheet of cheese. Then I brined it and dried it off, laid thin slices of proscuitto, chopped basil from the garden and some sundried tomatoes on it and rolled it up. Let it rest for the rest of the day and cut it up for dinner. YUM! I got to thinking, you could almost fill these with anything and have lots of fun. Stay tuned. I think I could be posting a whole bunch more of the recipes from this particular adventure!

But that's not all folks!!!!! Yes, the cheesy goodness doesn't end here. I found this delish recipe on Cuceesprouts.http://cuceesprouts.com/2010/12/beet-and-orange-soup/

which calls for plain chevre to make it creamy and good! Two cheesy good recipes in one meal and healthy to boot. Also, for those of you cooking Gluten Free - there is NONE here!

Lastly we topped off the meal with this delicious wild rice salad from another of my favorite blogs

Simply Recipes! Nope, no cheese here but that's okay. It is a wonderful salad and a nice complement to the rest of the meal which included fresh salad from the garden.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/wild_rice_salad/

Adventures in CHEESE!

I was considering doing an "Around the World" tour of recipes - trying some recipes from any country I could find and posting my culinary trip but frankly, I need more time. All of my time currently seems to be spent milking goats, making dairy products, cooking with said dairy products so I went - AHA! for now while the cheese and milk is in abundant supply - I will post about our cheesey adventures. I do not make a LOT of cheeses: so far just ricotta, Chevre, and mozarella.

I will make more as we are trying to save up to get a cheese cave up and running and I know I need to order some more starters but for now I am going to post recipes using the cheeses I currently make. Hopefully sometime in the midst of this, I will also add Feta cheese and cream cheese as well as Marscapone and Creme Fraische to the repertoire.

Today's cheese is Chevre. It's a pretty easy cheese to make. You can make it numerous different ways. I make mine using Flora Danica and Rennet. I heat a gallon of milk to 80* and then add 1/4 tsp of Flora Danica to the heated milk. Let it float for about 10 minutes, then add 2 drops of rennet to the milk and stir. The yield is pretty big with my creamy Nigerian milk so I usually have a lot of cheese to play with. After you add starters, you need to let the cheese rest for about 8 hours, usually I make mine in the evening and then I let it sit overnight. In the morning I use the curd skimmer to put the curds in the drain - I line a colander with cheese cloth, and then spoon the curd in. Sometimes this is where I layer my "fillings" in the cheese. Sometimes I just drain and use the food processor to add flavor to the cheeses. Most of the time I make several different flavors of Chevre so there is a variety.

Here are our favorites:

Chevre with dill and garlic - when you drain the cheese, layer the cheese, salt, dill (fresh or dried is fine, and minced garlic. I let it drain and then roll into a log, wrap and refridgerate.

Plain Chevre with Jalapeno jam. I used to not like Jalapenos, Until I was introduced to Jalapeno jam - I grow jalapenos now just to make the jam. It is sweet-hot and delish on crackers with plain chevre.

Chevre with Chipotles in Adobo - I drain the Chevre to make plain, the put it in the food processor with Chipotles in adobo and give it a whirl!

Chevre with Blueberries and Lemon - Another food processor one - plain chevre with blueberries (fresh or frozen) and lemon peel. This one is great to stuff Crepes with.

Chevre with Artichokes and Spinach - Oh YUM! I put plain chevre in the food processor with

canned artichokes (I like the one in oil) fresh or frozen spinach (IF it's frozen or you cook it yourself drain it really good!!!!) salt, pepper, and some grated romano cheese - it tastes off without the grated cheese - I promise.

Green Chile or Roasted Ancho chile - this one is layered during the draining process and made into logs

Red Chile - I use plain chevre and then layer drained cheese in a jar with homemade red chile sauce. I do not like the storebought stuff but if that is your only option, heat it slightly and add -garlic, cumin, salt and pepper to it, let it cool and then layer the cheese in the jar alternating with the cooled sauce.

I love experimenting and am still working on some new flavors.

I'll let you know how they turn out after I try them. Most of the time we eat our chevre on crackers, I use Graham crackers for the "desert" cheeses and wheat thins or homemade gluten free crackers for the savory cheeses.

Enjoy!

Some GREAT finds!

Okay, so this blog is not always about me. Occasionally I manage to stumble upon some other great blogs (food - mostly) that are just amazing and I am blessed to find recipes that really work for me!!! So my two most recent find are these two:
Homesick Texan - some of the MOST amazingly yummy recipes I've ever found and yes, I've made quite a few already - one is the Texas Potato Salad and her amazing carrot salad. So take a few moments to check out this blog - it's not too hard to convert some of her recipes to GF also!

http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2011/05/lavender-brownies.html

And the other one I found recently was this one - Mennonite Girls can Cook. Okay - this one was a nifty little find as it has a ton of recipes that are Gluten Free!!!!! We made the Coconut Flour Brownies. And of course - are you seeing the theme here? Yeah - my goal is to make an amazing Gluten Free Brownies - A Culinary Marriage of sorts between Homesick Texans Lavender Brownies and Mennonite Girls Gluten Free. Stay tuned for the outcome.
But for those of you who cannot wait and are ready for some Gluten Free Brownies - here's the link:

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2008/09/coconut-flour-brownies-gluten-free.html

You won't be sorry!!! Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!

Vegetarian, Corn and Gluten Free Baked Ziti

This dinner is a little out of the ordinary in that it is more HOMEMADE than most of what I make is. The spaghetti sauce is made from tomatoes, basil and onions from our garden last summer that I canned. The cheeses (Ricotta and Mozarella) was homemade from our own goatsmilk. OF course if you don't have these things, store bought would work well!!!!

Gluten Free Penne or Ziti pasta - cook according to package directions until Al Dente

1 onion - diced

1 head of broccoli, chopped fine,

1 container of baby shitake mushrooms.

spinach (I prefer fresh

1 - 8 oz container of ricotta cheese

1 - package of mozarella shredded.

1 - quart jar of pasta sauce (homemade or whatever tickles your fancy!)

Mix all the ingredients together EXCEPT the mozarella, dump into a baking dish and

top with Mozarella cheese. Put in the oven for about 20 min on 350* until cheese is melty and bubbly, slightly browned. Oh yeah! Eat Hearty!!!!!

BTW- you could easily add any veggies you want: grated zucchini, carrots, olives etc. and if you don't want to eat VEG. go ahead and add some meat: Italian Sausage, ground beef, lamb, goat or turkey would work great.

Gluten Free Spring Pasta and Shepherd's Pie

Today I am posting 2 Gluten Free Recipes even though I only have one picture. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the Shepherd's Pie - it sure looked and tasted good.
The first recipe is for GF/CF Spring Pasta
1 Bag Tinkyada brand GF shapes pasta (corkscrews, shells etc.)
1 bunch of small asparagus cut into bites size pieces,
2 large chicken breasts, browned in EVOO, salt and pepper to taste. Cut into bite size chunks
1 red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 package of baby bella mushrooms
Peas - fresh is better but frozen works if that's all you have.
1 can olives. Personally I prefer calamata but use what you have.
1/2 C. Cream or Milk,
1/4C grated Parmesan or ASiago cheese.
1tsp Arrowroot powder to thicken.
Cook the pasta according to package directions, rinse well and massage some EVOO into the pasta to prevent sticking.
pour some EVOO into your saute pan and add your onion, garlic, and asparagus. Saute until everything begins to soften up. Add mushrooms, peas and chunks of chicken and saute until everything is heated. Then add olives, cream or milk, parmesan cheese and arrowroot powder.
stir good and then salt and pepper to taste. Top your hot pasta and ENJOY!!!!


Shepherd's Pie - MY style!
If i had ground lamb or chevon I would use it but I had ground turkey on hand - worked fine!
1Lb ground meat (whatever you prefer)
10 potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked. Mash them like you like to for regular mashed potatoes and set aside. If you don't eat white potatoes - use sweet potatoes for this!
Onion - med, diced.
Peas (1/2 bag frozen)
brocolli, 1 head chopped
1 small bag of green beans, ends removed and cut into bite sized pieces.
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks.
1/4 lb of grated cheese of your choice!
brown ground meat and fix potatoes. When the ground meat is done add veggies except carrots. The cool thing about this is you can add whatever veggies you want/like!!!! I do not add corn because of hubby's corn sensitivity but if you can eat it - add it. Saute everything until is is mixed up and add salt and pepper to taste.
transfer the "filling" into a large casserole dish and top it with the mashed potatoes and grated cheese. Pop it into the oven until the cheese is melty and top of potatoes are a bit browned.
Serve and Eat. The great thing about this is you can add whatever you have on hand or that tickles your fancy - add spices that you like to change the flavor up!

Thai chicken and noodle salad - Gluten Free/Corn Free

I sort of was bored and in the mood for something Thai so I created this salad. I am posting the recipe as I would make it (for real) not how I did make it with what I had!

1 Package of Tinkyada spaghetti noodles (brown or white rice)

1 cooked chicken cut in chunks and let cool

1 diced cucumber

1 C. Bean Sprouts.

1 head of lettuce chopped up

1 package of shelled edamame (only the beans cooked in salt water - let cool)

1 red bell pepper (or orange, or yellow) diced up.

about 1 cup of Peanuts - dry roasted.

1 head of cilantro chopped up

When noodles are done cooking rinse in cold water to cool off and toss all ingredients except the

peanuts, cilantro and lettuce with 1 recipe of homemade or Gluten Free Thai peanut dressing.

Put Lettuce on a large platter or in a large bowl to make a bed. Top with noodles mix

and sprinkle peanuts and cilantro on top. I used San J brand Gluten Free Thai peanut dressing.

It is good but I prefer my homemade sauce.

Thai Peanut Sauce Homemade. I'd love to take credit for this but it's out of 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.

1/2 C Smooth Peanut butter,

6TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP Rice wine or dry sherry

4 tsp cider vinegar

4 tsp sugar ( you can use honey or Agave but use less, same with stevia)

2 tsp chili oil (for mild version, use less or none at all)

1 small garlic clove minced

3 sliced scallions, green and white parts.

Blend everything except scallions - toss those with the salad and sauce when you are ready.

this is a pretty thick sauce - if you need it thinned a bit add some water or coconut milk. Just not a lot.

Can't get enough of those babies!!!

Well, I keep trying to get good pictures of both kids but it is sooooo hard to get pics of these little guys when they don't stop moving! I tried to get a good side view of the little doeling and bucky decided to get in the way of her face. But hey, that's not a bad backview of little guy so I guess it works!
Here are the two of them side by side. I wanted her head up so everyone could see her adorable little face but no....
And again - great side shot and little boy decided she needed a hug.

But boy does this picture show how long and level he is. OH, and here is a pic of her face....look how sweet she is. I sure do love these little ones. The next set is due tomorrow. I don't know if she'll go on time or not but it's going to be fun seeing Hope freshen for the first time and to see more of Intrigue's kids. This will be his second set - so far he's thrown 2 boys and 2 girls. The other set was born friday afternoon to The Last Straw herd's Halona Belle. The doe is a flashy tricolor and the buck is gold and white like momma. Haven't see a great shot of them yet but if i get some good pics of them I'll post. I did hear Halona has a GREAT udder and I believe it - she's from great udder genetics so if someone needs a little buckling withe milky possibilities let me know and I can get you in touch with them!

Gluten Free YUM!

To be truly honest with you all I get bored really quick in the kitchen! It's hard for me to cook the same ol' things because I just like so many different things. And it's really easy to get in a rut when cooking - I cook it because I know how. But sometimes I just gotta change it up. So today randomly typed in Gluten free recipes. I came upon a blog I already knew about and have actually done a few of her recipes but when I just sat here and perused her blog recipes today - I got REALLY excited. OH the joy of it - and really it doesn't matter if you are GF or NOT!!!!

These just sound like great recipes and you folks out there who don't have to worry about gluten

just have it that much easier. I am not posting my own recipe today - I'm just giving a MAJOR Kudo to Gluten Free Goddess Karina!!!! Most of the recipes I came across made my mouth water and we are going to have the Quinoa,pear,pecan and spinach salad today for DH's birthday.

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

I'm glad I am hungry! This is gonna be a great birthday celebration with some yummy food.

OH, another Kudo today.....this one goes out to Betty Crocker and their line of Gluten free cakes. I am so excited. It's hard enough to find Gluten free but to find Gluten AND Corn Free - even better.

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil's food cake is made with Guar Gum instead of Xanthan gum making it Corn free! Go Betty Crocker!!!! I also made homemade frosting with Amaretto flavor. OMY does this frosting taste divine!

MORE Rudi's Gluten Free Bread

Well, here's the deal!

We got a free loaf of Rudi's Gluten Free Multigrain Sandwhich Bread to try (Thank you Rudi's!)

and gave it a test run today.

here is the nitty gritty

Me - I love it, especially as toast (maybe they should get a bloggy Toast award?) with butter and peanut butter. Couldn't get enough!!!! It was a bit drier as a sandwich bread BUT I only had PBJ on it and I think if I made a turkey, mayo, lettuce, tomato, avocado sammy - I may like it a lot. It is fairly moist and has good body and flavor not like some of the OTHER GF breads I've tried that taste and feel a bit like (AHEM) cardboard.

Hubby (He's the GF one in the family) Tastes good but won't eat more because it has Xantham Gum (purportedly from Corn)AND corn meal in it. He is sensitive to corn. DANG (yeah, right, it leave more for me to eat as toast!) But agreed the taste was certainly good so if you have no corn issues then it's a great bread!!!!

7 year old - not too fond of it. But come on, she's a kid and they all would rather have white (cough, choke, EWWWW) bread.

16 year old - didn't really like either but then again, she doesn't like anything unless it's BAD for her. I bet her assessment would change if she HAD to eat GF.

12 year old didn't try it because he was either asleep or too busy playing basketball and why bother using anything but regular bread if you don't have too! "Where's the pizza?" was his response. OK. So 2 out of 5 isnt horrible. And really what do the kids' opinions matter anyway when they don't have to eat GF. I don't and I love the bread but I am an adult with discerning taste! The kids did like the other fun stuff Rudi's sent (again, Thanks Rudi's) I am thinking of trying their Cinnamon Raisin Bread too. Why not?

Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery

Not too long ago I was contacted by Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery and asked to try their bread since I wrote a (MOSTLY) Gluten Free Recipe Blog. I told them "NO PROBLEM" and told them of our family situation. Today, the UPS guy dropped off a box for us!

We opened it to find this....
Which was filled with this! My kids are already fighting over the little sandwich keeper (it's pretty cute, I admit!) WE will be trying the bread today for out PB&Js that we take with us to the kids' basketball games. My kids aren't the Gluten Free ones, it's hubby who said he probably won't try the bread because it's made with Xanthan Gum which he purports is made using corn which he is also allergice/sensitive to. Too Bad! But we figure, you don't have to be gluten free to enjoy gluten free bread and we are all willing to give the bread a try to see if we like it.
They also generously sent us coupons, a magnet and some Rudi's sticky notes. Those always come in handy! Thanks Rudi's for picking us to try your bread!

Stay Tuned for part 2 .....after the sandwichs!

BTW, for those of you who are gluten free and want to check out Rudi's products....here are some links

www.rudisbakery.com

http://www.rudisglutenfreebakery.com

www.facebook.com/rudisglutenfreebakery

Rudi's is also taking part in a project called spread the bread. It is in conjunction with NFCA's Continuing Medical Education program, a free online certified training tool that educates PCPs about Celiac disease. To support Rudi's Project you can go to Rudi's website and FB pages, download $1 coupons and donate $1 to NFCA. This project is ongoing through February.

Celiac is not a fun disease to deal with and helping physicians to understand, diagnose and manage the disease is a great thing!!!!

PS - I am not getting paid for this. Yes, we got the box, Yes, we are willing to try Rudi's bread and give our honest opinion but there is no money being exchanged here!

We are in search of a gluten free bread that tastes good, is affordable, and that hubby can eat so he, too, can eat PB&Js again!

Gluten Free/Tomato Free Pizza

Once again experimenting with some things so my WHOLE family can go back to

eating things we can enjoy. Yes, sometimes we have to be creative but when it turns out good.

Here is a pizza recipe that I think is GOOD! Got kudos from hubby and I and I don't have to eat GF or Tomato free!

Dough -

1 C yogurt (goat yogurt works too) plain

1 C melted Butter

3 1/2 C Flour (I used Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix but you can use any GF baking mix you want or substitute your own mix here, if you are NOT GF then substitute any good whole wheat flour you'd like)

2 tsp salt.

mix this up and let it sit - it says to let it sit overnight but I've made it when it's only sat for 2 or 3 hours. It is fine. spread it out in a cookie sheet as evenly as possible and then bake on 350* for about 1/2 hour or so.

Topping - now, of course you can top this with whatever you want (I promise) but here's what I do since hubby also cannot really eat cooked tomatoes!

saute garlic in EVOO (2 cloves should do it) and spread this over the already cooked crust, then top with: crumbled Feta (goat milk feta works too!), calamata olives, red onions, capers and artichoke hearts and marinated roasted bell peppers. bake again for about 10 minutes. IF you like meat on your pizza try: chicken marinated in EVOO, lemon juice and oregano and maybe a pinch of pepper flakes. OR

not too spicy breakfast sausage. It's all good.

New Year's Eve Dinner

New Year's dinner was a cooperative effort. We decided to for go traditional fare (Posole, Tamales etc) due to the food allergies and go for something really healthy. So we did a Lentil salad (from Sandy Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions - if you don't have it, I highly recommend it!!!!) It is cooked lentils with cilantro, shredded carrots and green onions topped with a basic dressing of EVOO, Dijon Mustard and white wine vinegar. It was good.
Secondly, There was a Kale salad. We were introduced to this by my cousin on Thanksgiving and with a little recipe tweeking - made it our own. It is a bunch of Kale (can't wait to grow this in the garden this spring) de-ribbed and finely chopped, Toasted seeds (pepitas, sunflowers and sesame) and chopped red bell pepper with a dressing of 2TBSP each: lemon juice, Wheat Free Tamari, and Olive oil. You massage this dressing into the Kale really well and toss with the other ingredients and it's yummy ! The original recipe for the dressing calls for Bragg's liquid aminos but hubby doesn't like them (I DO!) so I just use the wheat free Tamari. We also had the soup I posted a while back that is sweet potatoe with the cranberry sauce stirred in - I'm not going to repeat the recipe.
And lastly my kids (well, really my 16 yo) made this cheesy fries!
She peeled and cut up about 8 potatoes, tossed them in EVOO, salt and pepper and then baked them on 400* for about 40 min. Then added the cheese and stuck them back into the oven. They were yummy but I think they taste a bit better with some Herdez brand Salsa Verde - Hubby doesn't eat cooked tomatoes so some salsa's are OUT but this one is GREAT! I'd really like to say that the kids loved all this healthy food but the truth is, they ate the fries and some good old fashioned salad and left the soup, and two salads to dad and I. OH WELL, you can't win them all.