Curry for Champions

     It's a dangerous thing to Google the calories in the food you're craving. I learned this the hard way after my hankering for Thai chicken curry led me to question if it would make me feel guilty later or not. Coconut milk, rice, potatoes... that's not good. But there's veggies and chicken...? I won't even bother telling you the caloric intake. I'm not usually one to count calories and I truly believe whole foods are the nourishment your body needs so screw monitoring everything I eat. Being gluten-free requires enough monitoring for this gal. Alas, the Olympics are on and it's gotten me into some sort of health kick, so I'm going to ride this wave as long as I can.

     Craving still lingering, I took stock of what I had in the fridge from our recent CSA box. Green peppers, mango, zucchini, onions up the yin-yang. No meat...Quinoa...ok. I got the rest of what I needed from Safeway and started cooking. To be a little "healthier" I made quinoa instead of jasmine rice, easy substitution packed with protein. Brown rice annoys me anyway so forget it. My Olympic-inspired health kick made me buy low fat coconut milk but I told myself it was ok since it had no extra ingredients. (Remember my definition of healthy = no additives or weird man-made ingredients) You can really alter this easy curry recipe to your tastes and what is in your fridge. I highly recommend adding a juicy fruit to curry, whether it's mango, pineapple, or any type of peach/nectarine variety. It adds a sweetness to the spice of the cayenne. Curry recipes usually call for brown sugar but no need since you added fruit. If you need more spice, add some chilies.

Curry for Champions
Step 1: get that quinoa going while the chicken is cooking in a little bit of olive oil and a toss of onion
Step 2: 1 sliced green bell pepper
     1 sliced onion
     1 diced mango (it was a gamble but soooo good)
     1 sliced zucchini
     Saute these with a little olive oil, toss in some chopped garlic
Step 3: Add some curry and cayenne to the chicken and the veggies
Step 4: Slowly add the whole can of coconut milk to veggies and add as much curry as you want, taste as you go, and don't let it boil too much
Step 5: Serve it all up!

*I didn't cook the chicken all the way through so I tossed some navy beans into my curry and OMG it was an amazingly good accident. Cooking well should be easy and full of substitutions. Enjoy!


     

Pumpkin Muffins

It's late August in Seattle - the time of year when fall gives tiny hints that it is just around the corner. The first leaves have turned a shade brighter and eager spiders have started spinning webs. As the clouds turned a little more gray this afternoon, I couldn't help but dream about pumpkin. I love love love pumpkins; from the bright orange color to the smell of the mushy flesh. I even love the hollow sound they make when you pat their sides.

I usually exercise restraint in my seasonal cooking, saving the flavors of that particular season for those few months. It makes it feel exciting and fresh. Today was an exception because as soon as the idea of creating a pumpkin muffin that was packed with nutritional fuel came to mind, it was a done deal. This is the first recipe I have ever created - I made this - and that is almost as sweet a victory as these muffins. They taste like fall. The gritty teff flour and quinoa flakes hold the maple tinted pumpkin in your mouth long enough to remind you they must be nutritious.

Combine the following in a large bowl:
1 cup teff flour (lots of fiber and protein)
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp each salt, baking soda, and baking powder
1/2 cup each of sugar and brown sugar
10 dashes each of nutmeg and cinnamon (or more if you like it spicy)

Mix these together, then add to flour mixture:
3 eggs
splash of canola oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy milk (or any milk)

Fold in the following:
1 can pumpkin
handful or more of chopped walnuts or other nuts (hello omegas)
1/2 cup quinoa flakes (quinoa is a protein powerhouse!)

**Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

My secret? I threw in what I thought sounded good. If you don't have an ingredient, substitute it! I hate having to run out to the store to pick up more so I don't...just get to know your ingredients and what they bring to your recipe, and the proper substitution will present itself.

Elimination Diets are Evil

I am struggling to enjoy food. I felt like I was finally reaching the peak of the gluten-free mountain and the challenge was soon to be conquered. Almost 2 weeks ago my new doctor suggested I also go off of dairy, eggs, and yeast as a way to see if I was truly allergic (allergy panel says I am) and potentially get rid of my chronic migraines. Elimination diets are intended to rid your body of toxins and is a great way to test allergies. I committed to this extreme diet because I will do anything short of jail time to get rid of the migraines. So I can essentially eat produce, nuts, GF grains, and meat. This sucks. Not like an inconvenient suckage, but an intense, depressing suckage. As you know, food is a really special thing in my life - it's family, love, travel, spice burning on your tongue, comparing different flavor profiles....I feel like that joy is just gone, poof.

Having food allergies and celiac disease pop into my life as an adult feels like a chronic illness. I know it sounds dramatic, but it's how I am experiencing it. I'm angry. I'm grieving. I'm tired of hearing myself talk about food and what I can and can't eat. People can't outwardly see how much of a struggle this is for me but internally I am drowning.

Why don't you just cook more veggies and fruits? Awesome suggestion! I'll get right on that in a year and a half when I am done with my master's program. I don't know how to cook produce well and in a short amount of time. With my schedule I have to cook for a few days at a time with leftovers for class nights... cooked veggies turn into mush and frankly I'd rather not eat. If you have suggestions, I'm open to them. For now, I will go back to sipping a soy chai and doing homework.

Sundays are Meant for Soup

A lazy Sunday afternoon - what else could fit more perfectly than a walk around Greenlake with my husband and homemade soup for dinner? Let me begin by saying chicken & rice soup is the easiest thing in the world to make, minus prep time. Start by pre-making some brown rice and cooked chicken at the same time, set aside chicken after it's cooked. While those are cooking, chop up whatever you want in the soup - I chose celery, carrots, garlic, onions, and whole sprigs of herbs. I felt so happy & content standing in my kitchen, chopping veggies and sipping tea.

It reminded me how much I love to cook from scratch although I have been neglecting it since school began again in September. As a therapist in training, all I hear is "practice selfcare!" This is often more difficult than the act of counseling itself, because making time to do things that bring you back to the core of your being requires time and energy. Grad students usually have neither.
Back to the soup! So cut up those veggies and throw them in the pot with the rice and a whole container of Pacific brand chicken broth, let simmer. Cut up cooked chicken into little pieces, add to the pot. At this point you can decide how much broth to add, depending on how much broth you prefer. Let the pot cook on low for as long as you'd like. While waiting, you could prepare a side dish to the soup with anything you happen to be craving. I happened to have been craving biscuits and starchy, gluten goodness. But alas, no. Cornbread would do. I wish my house could always smell like a big, fragrant pot of soup and cornbread baking in butter.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Good news and bad...

Starbucks cannot guarantee any of their flavors/syrups are gluten-free due to the potential for cross contamination. In my opinion, it is irresponsible for a company that huge to ignore this health concern that effects so many of their customers. Bye bye Starbucks yumminess...

Good news! Monin syrups and flavors are ALL gluten-free! I always loved them. That includes pumpkin spice. I emailed Peet's and will hear back soon if their flavors/syrups are GF or not.

Confessions of a Sweetoholic

Hi, I'm Chrissy, and I'm a sweetoholic. ("Hi Chrissy.")

I don't understand when people say "Oh, I'm not really a 'sweets' person..." I literally can't comprehend someone not enjoying desserts. They are my weakness. Something to celebrate? Have a treat. Depressed and sad? Have a treat. Just today I had a good exercise and it somehow turned into a good reason to have two cookies. However, we all know two cookies does not equal one good workout. Having celiac seriously increased my sugar consumption...so many gluten-free options. It's especially hard to say no to sweets when I feel like I have to say no to every other piece of food.

Eggplants!!

Eggplants are beautiful. The deep purple color, the silly, rubbery texture... I am in love with eggplants. I simply don't know how to eat them. My beautiful husband bought me the cookbook in the photograph above - The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook by Vanessa Maltin. I adore this book because it has totally practical yet authentic Italian, Asian, and Mexican dishes. So I immediately went to the index to see what the book had for eggplants. My eyes fixated on fried eggplant with garlic-ginger sauce and jasmine rice. Yum!!

This one requires timing. First chicken, start the sauce and rice at the same time, then the eggplant last. (I added a little bit of my own flair and added chicken.)

1. Chicken: throw some chicken in a pan with a light drizzle of honey, 4 basil leaves, and chili flakes
2. Sauce: throw all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on medium (and stir) until the sauce because thicker...or for about 15-20 minutes. Set aside when done.
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup *shiitake mushrooms sliced thin (we couldn't figure out which ones were shiitake so we winged it, haha, fun cooking moment)
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup fish sauce - which I sub in more veggie stock instead
1/2 cup gluten-free soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs chili flakes (good amount of spice! If you want your mouth to be on fire, add more)
1 tbs ground ginger
3. Cook jasmine rice
4. Fry eggplant! Mix up 2 eggs and 1/4 GF soy-sauce in a bowl. In a wider bowl mix up 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup corn starch, and 1 or 1/2 tbs salt. I only used one eggplant, which is a ton anyways...so cut it up about 1/2 inch thick into however long you want (I did about 2 inches long. Heat up oil in a deep-ish pan. Dish eggplant into egg mix, then coat totally in the flour, and fry 'em up!!
5. Put it all on a plate with sauce over, but go easy on the sauce it's rich. YUMMMMMMMMM