Menu Planning

I used to be pretty good about menu planning - (when I had only one little girl who took long naps and went to bed really early) but since my life has gotten busier and our eating has changed so much I have fallen out of the habit. I need to menu plan - I know it would make my life less stressful and I would not be sitting here at 5pm wondering what in the world I am going to fix for dinner (I usually manage to come up with something but it is stressful)
I like paper and fun things so when I saw this tonight I had to print them out and hopefully they will help me begin to get back on track - check out these fun summer menu planners and grocery lists and print some for yourself or give them to a friend - they're free!

I found a recipe for a no bake, gluten free, egg free and dairy free strawberry pie. I am going to get the ingredients this weekend and try it and if it turns out I will share the recipe :-)

Pizza - Gluten Free and Low Carb (but not egg and dairy free)

On this journey of reinventing my eating I love that I have friends and family who look out for recipes I may like to try. This is one such recipe that a friend saw posted by another friend and passed on to me. I made it for dinner tonight and everyone liked it. Troy was not home when I was making it and I pulled it out of the oven and served it to him hot - he could not tell what the crust was made from. It really was quite tasty. I will give you the recipe as is and then talk about what I did differently to accomodate my eating.

This would be a great recipe to try if you are looking for a low carb way to enjoy your favorite pizza toppings even if you don't need to eat gluten free.

I don't really have a name for it - but here is the recipe

1 cup of grated, raw cauliflower
2 egg whites (or 1/8 cup of egg beaters)
1/2 cup grated cheese (mexican blend or whatever you like)
dash of italian seasoning

Mix together and pat flat on parchment paper

Bake in 425 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until edges are brown

remove from oven and put on sauce and any toppings you like. Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted

Eat and enjoy!

For my pizza I used my EngerG egg replacement. It did not hold together quite as well as the egg ones but it was still good. I am finding more things that I can sub for eggs so I may try it again with something different.

It is a good recipe but honestly one that I will probably not make too often because of the amount of cheese it uses and trying to go dairy free with the kids.

In all the changes you have to decide what things you want to substitute and what you want to just do without. Cheese is one thing that I am trying to decide about - I am not really excited about to many of the cheese "substitutes" so so far have just gone pretty much cheese free with the kids.
However, it does make me think of the different ways I can continue to find to use cauliflower. I am finding it is very versatile!

Rhubarb Recipes (not gluten free)

With my offer to give away some rhubarb from my garden tonight I thought I would post a couple of REALLY good rhubarb recipes. I am sad I cannot eat them this year but my body will thank me in the long run. Besides these recipes not being gluten free it takes a lot of sugar for rhubarb to not be too sour (unless you are my husband and eat it straight from the garden) But - if you can eat them - it is totally worth the sugar in this case!!

This first recipe for Rhubarb Crunch is awesome! It is a family favorite. When I make this and any of my nieces and nephews are around I can count on it not lasting to long. If they are going to be around I double it because it only makes a 9x9 pan. Ok - enough of the chatter. It is actually my sister's recipe but I checked her blog and she hasn't posted it so here goes: (and don't forget to have some vanilla ice cream on hand when it comes out of the oven!!)



Rhubarb Crunch

Crumb Topping

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon


Fruit Mixture:

4 cups diced rhubarb

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Mix crumb topping together and press half the mixture into a 9x9 inch greased layer pan. Cover bottom layer with rhubarb. Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla in small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until thick and clear. Pour over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumb topping. Bake at 350 (325 for glass pan) for 1 hour. Cut in squares and serve warm, plain or with whipped cream or ice cream! Makes 8 servings.


This next recipe is from my sister's mother-in-law and she says even rhubarb haters will like this one!

Rhubarb Cake

1/2 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, sliced

1 tsp vanilla



Topping:

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

Cream together margarine, brown sugar and egg. Combine buttermilk, soda and salt in 2cup measure. Add flour alternately with buttermilk to sugar mixture. Mix in rhubarb and vanilla. Pour into greased and floured pan (9x13 inches) Combine topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of cake. Bake at 350 (325 for glass pan) for 40 minutes.

For apple cake, substitute 2 cups apples and only 1 cup brown sugar.

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a very versatile veggie. Back when I began to watch my carb/gluten intake my sister told me about a friend that used cauliflower in place of spaghetti. I began to use it for my "rice" and other pasta dishes as well. Last year I did a cooking class with some vegetarian meals using garbanzo beans as a base and made a yummy Indian Cauliflower Stew (the recipe is here) I have played around with roasting cauliflower before but finally got a recipe we love! I usually do a whole head of cauliflower with a meat and that is our meal. The kids love it and ask for seconds even before they eat their meat. Did you ever wonder how to cut cauliflower so there are not little while shavings everywhere? I did - so before I taught the class I did some investigation on the internet and found a video on how to cut cauliflower :-) Basically you start with your whole cauliflower and put your knife into the stem part and split it rather than cutting through. You continue to do this until you have the flowerets the size you want them. If you are confused do a search for how to cut cauliflower :-)

This really has nothing to do with cauliflower but I just have to show you one of my favorite pans in all the world. We bought this 25 years ago in Germany and it is the best. It cleans up like a dream - so I never worry about making something in it that may be messy in the pan because I know it will clean up without any effort - besides being so cleanable I think it is darling!

So here is the finished product and the recipe - I made this last week and a friend came by for a meeting after dinner and we were still eating - she finished off the pan and asked me to post the recipe so here it is T.

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower split into flowerets

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

2-3 cloves of garlic

Parmesan cheese

Put the cauliflower in the pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Crush garlic and stir all together. Bake at 450 for 25 minutes - stirring occasionally (1 or 2 times) Grate parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the cauliflower. Place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

As promised in my last post here is the recipe for the Chicken Salad. My brother found this recipe and we made it at my PC party. I have made it several times before and since, including this morning for our playgroup. As usual it was polished off very quickly. So here it is - I will give it to you as it is written and then I will tell you my revisions:

Dressing

1/2 cup canola oil

3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup juice from 3-4 limes

2 Tbsp water

Table salt

3 small garlic coves, minced or pressed

2 tsps very finely grated ginger

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsps hot red pepper flakes

Salad

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch by 1/4 inch matchsticks

1 medium carrot, peeled and grated

4 scallions, white and green parts sliced thin

3 Tbsps minced fresh cilantro leaves

5 cups shredded roast chicken, room temperature

1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts

1. Puree oil, peanut butter, lime juice, water, 1/4 tsp salt, garlic, ginger, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in blender until combined. Transfer to large bowl.

2. Add cucumber, carrot, scallions, and cilantro to vinaigrette, toss to combine. Add chicken and toss gently to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve immediately.

Now for my changes:

I used a little over 1/3 cup of olive or grapeseed oil

juice from 2 limes seemed to be plenty of lime

I used palm sugar instead of brown sugar

I have not used the red pepper flakes as I serve it to my children but imagine it would be very good if you like a little spice

I use a whole English cucumber or equivalant and 2 carrots. We decided we like it with more veggies and a little less chicken. I probably only use 2 cups of chicken.

The dressing makes way more than you need - I use about half the dressing even with revisions and then save the rest for a regular lunch salad the next day.

Today I knew that our hostess did not care for cilantro so I left it on the side for people to add if they liked.

You can roast your own chicken or a store bought roasted chicken for an even faster meal. I have done it both ways.

Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

This is the yummy salad we had for dinner tonight! I have a couple of really great main dish chicken salad recipes I want to share with you but you will have to wait :-)

This is a teaser post. My brother will be demonstrating this and another great salad at my Pampered Chef party this Thursday night (April 15th - 7 pm - if you live in the area and would like to attend, leave a comment with your email and I will send you the address etc) so.......... you'll have to wait for the recipe - either at the party or when I decide to post it here :-) Let me just tell you - it is really good - even my kids loved it! and it is gluten/egg free of course :-)

Check back for the recipes :-)

Breakfast - Gluten/Egg Free

So you might wonder what one eats for breakfast when they cannot eat anything with gluten or eggs? I wondered that at first, too! But slowly I have found some great alternatives. Here is one of my favorites. I used to make this with eggs - so now I just leave out the eggs and add a little cheese for a little more protein. Here is my

Eggless Breakfast Omelet

First I julienne a small zucchini
and prepare any other yummy veggies I may have - today I had asparagus and I almost always have a bag of chopped green onions prepared to throw into a recipe

I stir fry that all in my little pan and add some turkey bacon (I chop up and fry a whole package at a time and then just have it ready to add to recipes)

When that is all cooked I add a very generous handful of baby spinach

Once the spinach is cooked down, I lay a few slices of swiss cheese over the top and cover the pan to allow it to melt.

Here is my yummy breakfast with a half slice of my gluten free, egg free bread, toasted.

(I use this bread mix from Bob's Red Mill and the egg replacement from here )