Day 25 - Gluten free pizza

Monday was my son's first day of Kindergarten!  He LOVES it, I cried like a baby after I left him in his new class room.  For the first three days, he will attend only half days.  So, to celebrate his first day in school, we took him out for a special lunch.  He chose pizza!
I recently heard of a restaurant nearby, called Palio's Pizza, they offer gluten and diary free pizzas!  I thought I would try it out.  To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations, but the pizza was quite good.  If I ever find myself needing a pizza, I'd definitely go there again!  I opted for a delicious chicken, spinach, and artichoke pizza.  They call it the Marcella.  The gluten free crust was thin, and basically tasted a lot like a whole wheat crust.   My kids and husband enjoyed their "normal" pizza too.  They offer delivery and dine -in, but currently only have locations in the DFW area.  Here is a link: Palio's PIzza Cafe.

It's Smoking Saturday!

We are lucky enough to have a lot of family, on both sides, that live near us.  This Saturday, we decided we would smoke a brisket and invite my husband's family over for dinner.  Smoking a brisket is relatively simple, but very time consuming.  I smoke using my gas grill.  To do this, you need a smoke box for wood chips, hickory wood chips, a full tank of propane, a grill thermometer, a drip pan, and your grill.  Get a whole brisket, (I get mine from Costco) 10 lbs will take about 12 hours to cook.  The night before, trim a good portion of the fat off the top, I like to leave about 1/4 of an inch, to keep the meat nice and moist during the long cooking process.  Then season it liberally with salt and pepper.  It should look sandy, and feel kind of like sand paper.  Then let the brisket sit overnight.
When you wake up (before the sun) take the brisket out, and let it sit at room temp for about an hour.  While it is sitting on your counter, you can begin soaking your wood chips (they need to soak for at least 30 minutes, but not longer than overnight).  I soak about a cup of wood chips at a time, in a small bowl with water.  Then, start preparing your grill.  Position your drip pan under the grates that you'll be using for your brisket.  You should only use one burner of your grill, and try to keep the internal temperature of your grill close to 225 degrees.  Your smoke box should be placed over the burner that is lit.  When your grill is hot, simply place the brisket over the burners that are not on, and let it smoke.  The fat side should be facing up, so that the fat can drizzle down the meat as it cooks.  I check and rotate mine every 2 hours, when you check the meat, check the temperature of the grill, and also replenish your wood chips as needed.  After 12 hours, you'll be done, and it'll be delicious! The internal temperature should be between 195 and 205. This is what mine looks like before the cooking begins.  I got busy with company and forgot to take a pic when it was done.

Day 22 - Back to real food

I've spent the last couple of posts talking about a lot of gluten free products I've found.  I was excited to find these, not so that I can use them everyday, but for when I feel myself having a craving for some wheat filled product.  I am sure you are all very well aware of this, but I feel like I should put it out there anyways.  A gluten free cookie, is still a cookie.  A processed food, is still a processed food, even if it doesn't contain gluten.  Real food is always better, it is always healthier.  I wish I had the time and discipline to only eat real food all of the time, but I haven't figured that out quite yet.  I will keep trying, but every once and a while, I find myself slipping into poor habits and need to rededicate myself back to that goal.  So, with that being said.  Today's post will focus again on real foods!

And, to honor a sweet and dear friend's request, I tried to keep these recipes fairly simple.  I'm going to include the recipes for a complete meal, the meal we had for dinner.  We had sweet and spicy mahi mahi, pesto smashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus.

Sweet and Spicy Mahi-Mahi
For the sweet and spicy mahi mahi, you'll only need three ingredients.  Colorado spice mixture for sweet and spicy salmon rub, 4 mahi mahi fillets, and a lemon.  I used frozen fish, you can find some high quality frozen fish that is almost as good as fresh, but a lot cheaper.  If you buy frozen, look for individually wrapped fillets.  I got mine at Costco.  You can use salmon, or another firm flesh fish for this recipe also.

Rub the spice mixture on both sides of your fish.  If your fish still has skin, only place the spice mixture on the top of the portion.

 After you rub the fish with spice, place the fillets in a gallon sized ziploc bag and place in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.  (While the fish is sitting, I began working on the potatoes and asparagus. Those recipes are below)

Start warming up your grill to med-high heat, or preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After the fish has set for around thirty minutes, spray both sides of the fish with Pam, or brush with  olive oil.  And place them all on the grill.  I always face them the same direction so that I can make those pretty hash marks.  Let cook for about 2 minutes.

If you want pretty hash marks, turn the fish 90 degrees and cook for another two minutes.  A total of 4 minutes on each side. 

Then flip the fish over and repeat, turning after 2 minutes.  The fish should reach an internal temperature of about 145.

Once the fish is finished, remove from the grill and tent with foil.  Try to serve immediately. 

Pesto Smashed Potatoes

For the pesto potatoes, you'l need about a pound of potatoes.  I like to use the golden potatoes, because I'm lazy and I don't like to peel potatoes, but you can use any variety.  You will also need a bunch of basil, two cloves of garlic, a small handful of nuts, (I used pecan, but you can use pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, etc), olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, and salt.  

Wash the potatoes and place them in a large sauce pot, cover with cold water.  It is important that the water not be hot, so that the potatoes cook evenly.

Begin simmering the potatoes, simmering is when the water reaches around 180 degrees, and you can see a small bubble surfacing every once in a while, it is NOT boiling.  Boiling can create uneven cooking and destroy the tender flesh of the potato. 

While the potatoes are simmering, you can create the pesto.   Put the basil, nuts, garlic cloves, and a couple tablespoons of olive oil into a food processor and chop until you get a semi-smooth puree like the picture below.  If the mixture looks too dry, you can add extra oil. 

The potatoes should simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until you can poke a butter knife or fork through the potato without any resistance. Drain the potatoes, mash them, then add two large spoonfuls of the pesto to the potatoes, you can also add a little butter and milk if desired.  I used about a tablespoon of smart balance with flax oil (dairy free), and almond milk.  Mix them all together and season to taste with salt and white pepper.  

Grilled Asparagus

For this recipe, you only need asparagus, pam or olive oil, and garlic salt. 

Some people like to cut the bottoms off their asparagus, but since each stalk is a little different from the other, I've found the best way to get rid of the really coarse ends is to simply snap the bottoms off.  They will generally break, exactly where you need them to. 

Spray the asparagus with pam, or brush with olive oil and place on the grill, when the fish is cooked about halfway through. 

Let grill for about 1-2 minutes, turn the asparagus over and grill the other side for about 1-2 minutes or until the asparagus is still slightly crisp to the bite.   Remove from the grill and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Arrange your finished dishes on your plate and serve!  I included a slice of lemon to squeeze on the fish. Everyone loved these potatoes and my kids ate everything on their plate!

Changes to the blog

I am working on trying to make this blog a little more user friendly.  My goal is to make it a great source for gluten free recipes, product reviews, and to store links for helpful information I've found regarding wheat intolerance and inflammation.  I have started working on the tabs at the top of the blog.  You should see one that says "Home" and another that says "Recipe Links".  I've added links for all the recipes I've mentioned on the blog.  Check it out!  If you have any suggestions, let me know!  I'm all ears.

Day 21 Gluten Free shopping and Product Review

My husband had planned a date for us to ride bikes together the day after my run.  He had arranged for his mom to watch the kids.  Unfortunately, I had such a sharp pain in my right foot, that I thought maybe I had developed a stress fracture. So, we decided it might not be a great idea to ride bikes.  (The pain has gotten a lot better so I'm doubtful its a stress fracture, phew!)  But, the cancelled plans left us in that uncomfortable, "What do you want to do? I don't know what do you want to do?" stage.  A new whole foods had opened close to my Mother-in-law's house, so we decided to get a snack and then stop there to explore their gluten free products.  Whole Foods is a cool store, we don't have one close enough for us to shop there regularly at this time, but even if we did, I'm not sure it would be my favorite store.  We are lucky enough to have a couple of Whole Foods alternatives in our area, such as Central Market.  Central Market is quite a bit cheaper for most of the same product lines.  Whole Foods does seem to have a wider selection of the specialty products though.

I was excited to find some dairy free dark chocolate chunks, and gluten free all purpose flour.  We bought some wasabi rice crackers, and another gluten free cereal for me to try.  I was searching for gluten free flour like tortillas, or flat bread.  I wanted to make wraps for lunches, and was looking for something I could use.  My search has come up very short though, so I might just try to make my own with the flour I bought.  If any of you know where I could find this product, please let me know!

The following product I actually found at Costco!  But, they carry the single pouches in a wider selection at Whole Foods.  I believe the boxes at Costco are $7, or $8 with four pouches in a box.  The brand Tasty Bite packages their products in these neat little pouches.  The pouches are a single serving and so incredibly simple.  You just cut the top and microwave for 1 min.  All their products have great labels too, you can just look on the box or pouch and it says, Vegan, No GMOs, Gluten Free, etc. I've tried two of their products.  The first one I ate was the Mardras Lentils, and it is delicious!  Unfortunately, it has some dairy in it though, so I'm no longer eating that one.  I was excited that Costco started carrying another variation, called Channa Masala.  I simply made some rice, heated the Channa Masala in the microwave, added a veggie for a side, and we had lunch.  My daughter loved it, and I loved it.  It is slightly sweet and has that great masala flavor.  The chick-peas make it really filling and delicious.  I bought a couple of their other variations at Whole Foods, so stay tuned, I will review those products soon too!

Days 20 Fitness fight

Maybe it was a runner's high, maybe it was optimistic delusions, or possibly it was just the natural ups and downs of a flare, but I felt great!  It all started with an early morning run.  I haven't been able to run much more than 4 or 5 miles since my flare started, so my half marathon training has been stuck at 9 miles.  My last outdoor run felt so terrible that I convinced myself that I would have to start my training over.  But, I had been feeling better and spending a lot of time on the elliptical machines at the gym without much trouble.  So, my goal for the day was to run at least a 10K, or about 6.34 miles.  My hope was to be able to run 9 miles, I thought it would give me an emotional victory and I'd at least get back on track with my training. My run felt great through about mile 4, then there was a moment that I thought I was going to have to stop at 5, but I found some more inspiration and made the 10K.  It wasn't a personal best or anything, but it was a much better run than any I'd had recently.  When I stopped for a drink at 10K, a fellow runner stopped to ask about my training.  She is a Type 1 diabetic and gave me some great ideas for future races to sign up for.  This conversation gave me some motivation to keep running.  So I kept it up, I had some trouble through mile 7, but once I got to 8, I knew I could do it from there.  I did it!  I was thrilled with myself.  I felt like I'd won, I'd beat the arthritis at least for the day.

Unfortunately, the arthritis fought back, I have had an increase in my achiness since.  I had a hard time pushing the stroller at the zoo due to pains in my shoulders.  It is disappointing that I've felt so terrible since the run.  I went back to the gym for my next scheduled workout, but I lowered the intensity some. I'm hoping the resurgence is very short lived.  I'm not going to stop fighting!

Days 18 & 19 Gluten free product review

We usually eat leftovers on the weekend, so I thought I'd take a moment to fill you in on a couple of gluten free products I've tried.

I found this product when I was grocery shopping with my children at Central Market.  My son was begging and begging for cocoa puffs.  I don't generally like to buy sugary cereals, so I told him we could try to find a healthier version.  I glanced up and down the cereal isle and came upon a gluten free cereal, Barbara's Puffin honey rice puffs. I looked at the box suspiciously, but grabbed it and thought I would be adventurous and give it a try.  I have always heard these types of gluten free products are a little disappointing, so I wasn't super anxious to try the cereal.  The box sat on my counter for a couple of days before I finally tried some.  OH MY GOSH, this cereal is delicious!  It is sweet and crunchy and made with all natural products, I think I'm in love.  

My husband surprised me with this next product.  He said he read about it on the internet and wanted to get me a box to try.  (He is such a sweet guy.)  He found these cookies at Trader Joe's.  They are gluten free oreo-like cookies.  If you bite into them expecting them to taste just like an oreo, you will probably be a little disappointed.  They can certainly satisfy a craving, but they aren't an oreo.  The first bite is pretty tasty, however as you continue chewing the texture gets a little strange.  It is a little like they cookie part is made of highly compressed crumbs.  My children ate them, and didn't complain at all, in fact they asked for more!  Overall, they were good, but definitely not exceptional.