I wish.

COOKIES! Oh my gosh I wish I could eat them more often. I banned myself from making desserts awhile ago. But last weekend I just had a craving for cookies. I wish there was a place in this small of a town that I could just buy a cookie. But no so I had to make them. Making gluten free cookies from scratch = nightmare. So I bought this box mix at Whole Foods and it was even on sale too. It was really simple, only called for you to add, 1 egg, butter (I used vegan Earth Balance) and vanilla. I mixed everything up and snacked on the yummy yet very crumbly dough. What else about being gluten free is new though?! I squeezed the dough into balls and baked. When I pulled them out of the oven I was amazed to see a real cookie. Not a super flat or spread out mess. The cookies looked real, like in those old days of so called food. I was amazed and ate one when they cooled a bit. Satisfied the craving! Thank you. I froze the rest so I didn't eat them all at once (the reason for the ban on baking) and I still have some a week later. So it worked. Anyways, I recommend this mix, it's pretty quick. I also have the chocolate cake mix that I'm making for my boyfriend's birthday in a few weeks so I'll let you know how that turns out. Good eating!

It was different and delis!

My friend and I try to make dinner every Tuesday night. She has the same food standards that I do, very healthy. And she knows that eating gluten, dairy and meat free is amazing. I saw this recipe in the Whole Foods Market Local Food Magazine also. Told you it has amazing recipes. I wanted to try a different kind of quinoa recipe because I feel all of them are kind of weird. This one was very good. It made a large bowl full! So we had extras for lunch the next few days. I like it because it has all the food groups in it. Protein (3 kinds- nuts, grain, yogurt), veggies, fruit and yeah that's all I eat so yes. Anyways try it out for yourself and enjoy!

Quinoa Salad with Stone Fruit and Basil
1 1/2 cups quinoa
6 Tbs. Olive Oil-divided
4 Tbs. lime juice- divided
1 bunch fresh basil (we only used 4 leaves because we didn't want it too strong, but you could use a few more)
2 cups halved fresh cherries or sliced plums, nectarines, or apricots (I also used pears)
1 cucumber, diced
1 can (1 1/2 cups) cooked chickpeas
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts (we used pine nuts-yummy!)
1/4 cup plain soy yogurt

1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a pot. Stir in quinoa. Reduce heat to medium, cover and let sit for 15 minutes, or unitl all the liquid has been absorbed.
2. Remove from heat and cool. Transfer to serving bowl and toss with 3 Tbs. olive oil and 2 Tbs. lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Lay 5 or 6 basil leaves flat on tip of one another on cutting board. Roll tightly into cylinder, then slives into thin strips.
4. Add basil, cherries, cucumber, chickpeas, shallots and alomonds to quinoa mix. Toss. Chill for 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.
5. While that is going on, whisk together yogurt, remaing 3 Tbs. olive oil, and remaining 2 Tbs. lime juice in small bowl. Serve salad with yogurt dressing.

Colors!

I love the colors of this meal. Pretty sure I need to get a white plate like this because it just makes the food stand out so much more. I was at my boyfriend's and we were deciding on what to do for dinner. We thought about going out to P.F. Chang's, Maggiano's or Beau Jo's Pizza, or we could just make our own. Haha usually what I opt for, him the other. So he had these great salmon burgers from Costco that are so versatile. I thought of putting fruit on it because my friend and I did that over the summer. And we both love asparugus and it's pretty cheap right now again. And then we need some gluten free carbs and potatoes are yummy! So there's the meal. It was great and super healthy and my stomach felt wonderful afterword!

-Cut up pieces of rasberries and pineapple. (Could also use mango, peach, blackberry, lemon)
-Grilled Salmon Burger from Costco
-Steamed Asparagus
-Wash, cut off ends, place on plate, put 1/4 cup water onto plate. Microwave for 3 minutes.
-Could put tamari or lemon juice on. I didn't have any.
-Roasted Red Potatoes
-Cut up potatoes into about 8 pieces each.
-Saute in olive oil until brown on a few sides. Can also cover for faster cooking. Makes them softer also.

Trying for normalcy

Hello! It's been awhile but I have been busy with classes starting and all the randoms that come along with that. But my boyfriend did come up the other weekend and I made wonderful dinners for him. He is the new person I cook for. He is a full meat, dairy and gluten eater so I really have to impress. But he's a good sport, eats what I make and says it's wonderful. The way it should be of course. I know he loves burgers, I was going to actually make real burgers with real meat. (Local of course) But I saw this great recipe in the Whole Foods Market Magazine- Local Edition. (I swear I don't live there) Surprisingly, most the recipes in that edition were gluten free. It was a nice surprise. But anyways, back to the dinner. First of all, it took FOREVER. Somehow I labored over these burgers for 2+ hours! I think it was just the rice cooking (but I was cutting up veggies), mixing in the different steps, letting it cool, then refrigerating the burgers after I made them before grilling them. It was kind of lame. Should have had a glass of wine because I was frantic. But the burgers turned out very well. Had a little kick to them. I put in more sauce then it called for I think. But it was a different flavored mexican dish so that was nice. The guacamole on top was the icing on the cake. And I added Alexia Gourmet Sweet Potato Julienne Fries which are amazing! I had extra burgers of course so they are sitting in my freezer, waiting to be grilled on a busy day.

Hot Tamale Burgers (Makes 8 burgers)

1 cup short-grain brown rice

1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

3/4 cup corn kernels

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced, plus 2 tsp. sauce (I bought a can in the mexican section)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (I despise this stuff so I left it out)

1 1/2 Tbs. lime juice

3/4 tsp. lime zest

1. Boil rice and 3 cups of water. Simmer after until soft, about 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, corn, chipotle, adobo sauce, garlic, cumin and salt. Saute 2 minutes, reduce to low heat. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

3. Whisk 1/2 cup water with cornmeal in a bowl. Add to skillet mix. Stir in and let cook for 10 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, stir in rice, cilantro lime juice and zest. Cool 20 minutes. Shape into burgers. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Grill!

Guacamole

2 avocados

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 TBS lime juice

1 tomato, finely chopped

1. Smash avocados in bowl.

2. Mix in other ingredients.

3. Eat with everything!