Look At What I Found!!!!

http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog/index.php They even have GF potstickers! My favorite :)

Today I didn't want to cook. Also, my groceries are dwindling until next payday.

Breakfast was raw, unsalted Almonds and a banana. Lunch was leftovers. I wil call these Meatball Tacos. Why not. Let me tell you the story behind these yummies. I love meatball subs. Especially La Gondola meatball subs. So I tried to get as close to a sub without the bread. I used corn tortillas, leftover meatballs and sauce from last nights dinner, banana peppers, mozzarella, and a parmesan and romano mix. I put the meatballs in the tortillas already hot and microwaved the whole mess for a minute to heat the cheese and the tortillas. These were very good except for the fact they fell apart instantly and tasted nothing like a meatball sub. HAHAHA :) Oh well, I tried and they were good, just not what I was trying for.






I still didn't feel like cooking by the time supper rolled around and as a matter of fact it has dawned on me that I am not very hungry when I eat GF foods. I think they must meet my nutritional needs better than the fast food garbage I ate all of the time before I found out about my gluten intolerance. Imagine that! Supper was GF (it says it on the package, got this from Aldis) Deli Ham, fat free cottage cheese, raw baby carrots, and all natural - no sugar added applesauce. Yum.

Spaghetti and Meatballs. With Cheese.

Tonight I made Spaghetti and Meatballs.

I used 1 poundof Angus 85/15, diced an onion, one egg, Garlic salt, Red Pepper Flakes and Italian Seasoning.

I sautee the onions before adding them to the Angus because I like a softer, sweeter taste.

This is the type of Pasta I used. Ehhh, it was ok but I really prefer the Quinoa Pasta I found. The meatballs were about 1.5 inch balls.

A bit of olive oil in the pan. Don't put the meatballs in the pan until it is hot. You want them to sizzle a little on contact. Also, the meatballs will be stuck at first, wait it out! The heat will also unstick them when they are browned as long as the temp of your pan isn't too hot. You don't want smoke, just a slight sizzle.

I have found that most spaghetti sauces are Gluten Free. Pour the sauce over the meatballs when they are not quite done and add a little mozzarella to the top. I have these wonderful stovetop to oven, Food Network pand that my mom got me 2 years ago. THANKS MOM. So, I put the whole pan in the oven at 450 and wait til the cheese starts browning.

Serve with Parmesan, Romano, or a blend (my favorite) on top of the pasta. Yum.

Here is my favorite GF microwavable meal. It is at Kroger in Brettwood Village. Please be careful and read ALL of the labels in the section surrounding this meal. Kroger is really bad about putting the little GLUTEN FREE sign on EVERYTHING. If it says Organic Pasta it will have Gluten in it no matter what Kroger labels it as!!!! I talked to a manager about it and he went with me and I even helped him pull tags off of things and explained the seriousness of the issue to him. It's gotten 100 times worse since then. Whatever.

Sandwich... Seems Harmless

I ate a sandwich. I knew it would make me sick but I did it anyways. A month of making my son sandwiches finally wore on my will power. Oh, how I miss soft and chewy bread!

All weekend I have been eating gf rice noodle soup and snacking on naturally gf foods like carrots and cheese, nuts, fish, rice....etc.

My First Review!

Wildflour Bakery on Main St. in Decatur. They say they offer gluten free items.. Not really though. I went in with high hopes because it has been said that the owners have friends that are gluten intolerant. It was HEAVEN. Huge homeade croissants stuffed with feta and spinach, Turkey and Swiss stuffed Croissants. Beautiful cookies, Wonderfully soft and chewy looking breads, To Die For Cakes. You name it, they had it. So I asked the lady behind the counter if they had anything gluten free. She got another lady who explained to me that they can order it for me and call me when it comes in but that to tell me the truth the brownies and other gf stuff they have available to order are embarrassingly small servings and VERY expensive. My high hope balloon quickly deflated. Here I was surrounded by things I love but couldn't have. All of a sudden I was mad and frustrated about my situation. They showed me the only gf thing they had in stock at the bakery. Death By Chocolate. Its a fudgy cakey type dessert made of only sugar, eggs, and butter. Chocolate too, of course. Problem was it wasn't labeled gf and it was in the display case on the same dish as some type of gluteny lemon cake bars. I got it anyways because I am not so bad that cross contamination makes me sick. I can tell when I have eaten something cross contaminated but it is short lived and sometimes I feel it is worth it. Especially when I HAD to buy something in there and it was either the stuffed croissant or the contaminated fudgey bar thingy. Bottom line is... this is a wonderful, homey yummy bakery! Try it if you can eat gluten, you will be pleasantly surprised. However, if you need a gluten free baked good do it yourself. I really really loved Betty Crocker gf Brownie Mix. It tasted like regular brownies! I also like Udi's new cookies, they are 7 bucks for 10 very small cookies but the Snickerdoodles are delicious.

I am making Spaghetti and Meatballs tonight. Didn't have time to get my Quinoa Pasta so I will be using Spaghetti Style Rice Noodles. I'm sure it will be great :)

Weird Food... Or So They Say

Several people in my life say I eat weird, as in strange things. Mostly I beg to disagree. Today I would agree with them. Breakfast was the same ole stuff. Clementines, String Cheese, Nut Crackers.. yadda yadda yadda. Lunch was McDonald's. MCDONALDS??? Yes, the craving was too much to take. So I ordered a McDouble with NO BUN. It was gross. Not strange taste gross, it tasted like McDonalds. I have gone long enough without that yuckfest that I didn't like it. WIN. Here's a pic. They purtied it up for me :)

For supper it was a real food freakout. These are the type of meals that I occasionally make (just for me, I wouldn't make Ben eat this...lol) when I am tired. I love it :) Leftover carb of choice. I used rice. Leftover meat of choice. I used hotdogs. Favorite Condiment. I used BBQ sauce. So, microwaved BBQ hotdogs over rice. YUMMMM..... Hey, I said Simply Made!!

Beef Teriyaki Fried Rice and more

I have been seriously hungry lately. For breakfast I went with a clementine, 2 light string cheeses and one serving of Blue Diamond Crackers. For lunch I had Tasty's of Chicago. For $2.96 I get a huge side of Gyro Meat topped with onions and banana peppers, a big cup of Feta Cheese, and a big side of the Cucumber Sauce (aka. gyro sauce). I don't know what is in these, however I haven't gotten sick after eating it. This is my go-to meal if I just HAVE to go to a drive thru. Please keep in mind that I can handle some cross contamination without being sick (THANK YOU GOD)

For supper I made Beef Teriyaki Fried Rice. I cooked jasmine rice. Then I took beef (any kind) and pounded it flat and marinated it in LaChoy Teriyaki sauce (the only one that is gluten free that I have seen, their soy sauce is GF also! ) I cut the beef with chicken boning scissors into bite sized peices before cooking. After the beef was just about done I added the onions, frozen corn, frozen peas and carrots and teriyaki sauce. I simmered this mix until the onions turned almost translucent and the frozen veggies were hot. There will be liquid in the pan. Don't worry because the rice will soak that up. So, add the rice and mix carefully so that you don't mush the rice, folding the rice in is best. After the rice is mixed clear a space at the middle of the pan and crack an egg into the space. I add red pepper flakes and ground black pepper on the egg, add what you like or leave plain :) scramble the egg after it sets into the space, too soon will make the egg get into the surrounding rice and although it tastes the same, the texture isn't very good. After the egg is done, fold the fried rice again so that the egg is combined and serve. YUM!!!

Today's Food

Breakfast is the most difficult meal for me to eat. I am not a morning person so I usually just run out the door at 630am every weekday morning. Right now I am using snacks as breakfast. I drive a schoolbus so if I don't eat anything before work or at least bring something with me on the bus, I get very sick to my stomach by the time I go home at 1030am for lunch break. My go-to's? Raw unsalted almonds. Aldi's has the for 3 bucks a bag and they are actually decent sized bags. One bag lasts me a little over a week if i take about 20 nuts per day. I also take either a fruit or a yogurt with the almonds. Today I took Blue Diamond cheese flavored crackers and deli chicken lunch meat and 2 thin slices of Muenster cheese. Blue Diamond crackers are a new type I just found and LOVE. They are nut and rice crackers! Gluten free but still flavorful. I have tried the cheese flavor, don't expect a 'Cheezit' flavor.. it's a light cheese flavor. Very good though. I also have tried the smokehouse flavor, very good with light cream cheese! I have found these at Country Nutrition and at Cub Foods.

Lunch~ a rice noodle soup, not unlike a ramen bowl but much healthier. (They are also available without the bowl, not unlike a pack of Ramen noodles... I prefer the Spring Onion flavor. Yum... I find these at Kroger and Country Nutrition.. (Kroger is cheaper) I cracked a raw egg into the water before microwaving this and cooked for 5 minutes. The soup perfectly poaches the egg and it reminds me of egg drop soup! I had this idea one day when I wanted protein really badly and hadn't been to the store for a while. Definitely worth a try.

Snacks - Aldi's has Light and Fit String Cheese. GOOD. Cuties Clementines... Perfect and Today I had a Snickers. YES, they are gluten free!!! I don't eat them often but i realllly needed my chocolate fix today.

Supper~ I sauteed sliced, fresh mushrooms and diced onion in 2 tbls of salted butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. (I do most of my recipes without measurement. SIMPLE... just add more if you like it and take some or all away if you don't) I had already cooked my Quinoa Pasta (found at Country Nutrition!) so when the veggies were soft and brown in the butter I added the pasta and tossed it until they were mixed well. Add pepper. I used coarse ground pepper but whatever you like would work. I also mde salmon patties. A small can ( this kind from Aldi's) one egg yolk, about a tbls of mayo and a tiny squeeze of lemon, dash of salt and a couple pepper grinds. Then mix well with a fork and pan fry them in a bit of oil. Whatever kind is fine. just make sure it's good and hot so that the patties will cook without getting too greasy. Flip once a smash a tiny bit to flatten. Dont cook it to death! The only thing needing to be really cooked (salmon is precooked) is the egg. Eggs cook fast in hot oil and all you will do is dry the salmon and make it fall apart or burn.

Here are my pics for today :)

Welcome

I was informally diagnosed with Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance by my dietician in the late summer of 2010. Currently, I have gone without gluten for 25 days. Why? Because I was overwhelmed with the thought of no bread, no pasta, no cakes, no Ben and Jerry's, no soy sauce, no restaurants, no fast food.... ever again! A little backgrounding for you. I have an addictive personality and I have several addictions. My last vice was food. So, here I am, abusing food, mostly fast food, and some crackpot says..."You need to give up all of your favorite foods and you will feel SO much better!!" I said "YAY, that's great!" Ok, not quite. I went off and on gluten several times. I would lose weight (bloating is extreme in my particular case, everyone is different though) and I would feel my mood calming. Then I would eat a sandwich or something unassuming 'just this once' and off the wagon I would fall. My symptoms are~ bloating, fatigue, depression, extreme irritability and bad skin. Everyone is different with Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance which is why it so difficult to diagnose. As a matter of fact, you can't medically be diagnosed other than to go off of gluten and see how you feel. Or exploratory surgery... I think I'm okay with not being medically diagnosed :)

I am using this blog to reach out and hopefully show others who may suffer from Gluten Intolerance that it is possible to stay gluten free without spending all of your money on groceries or losing your mind planning menus. I work, have a 3 yr old and run my household my myself (at this time I am not in school, but will be returning in the fall) and I can find time and the means of staying away from gluten. Anyone can.

In this blog I will include meals that I cook and reviews of restaurants (that "claim" to have GF selections). I will be happy to answer any questions that I am asked. I also intend on having guest bloggers that have the same type of issues with Gluten. Welcome to my blog :)