Pic - less

I should have taken pictures for the last two days but hey... I know it looked awesome! Yesterday was a thrown together kinda Jambalaya. Smoked sausage (john morrell brand) sauteed with minced onions and a minced clove of garlic.. and drained and dried canned corn.. and finally cajun seasoning, salt, pepper, and a little bit of red pepper flakes and cooked rice. It was tasty but next time I will make sure I have a can of stewed tomatoes or even a few fresh tomatoes to stir in. Tonight I am making boneless BBQ beef ribs (ALDIS, THEY LOOK GREAT TOO) and I am roasting a huge pan of Asparagus and 2 ears of fresh corn... (the yellow and white kind... mmmm) When I roast veggies I always do the same thing to them no matter what veggies I am roasting. Olive Oil, a generous amount of coarse salt and some coarse ground pepper. Ben had rice pasta with sauce and smoked sausage, carrots with peanut butter, strawberries with a bit of sugar, and for a snack he had a blueberry Yoplait yogurt. (full fat!) Weare doing pretty good, I still would love to be back on my perfect 55 day streak again. How did I do that ????

Hit It With A Hammer.

I have had flank steak before. It tends to be chewy and tough. It is a less expensive choice while on a budget, though. Here is how I make it work. put it in a LARGE Ziploc freezer bag. Add olive oil and spices you like. I used season salt and Cajun seasoning... a little sweet / hot mix. Then because I have limited resources, I get my hammer and WHAM!!! Beat the crap out of the steak. The meat will thin and widen considerably. The oil and spices are pushed into the meat by force, you can get your aggressions out, and it tastes good after cooked. I cooked the steak on HIGH heat for a bit less than a minute and flipped it and did the same on that side. Then I put the entire pan into a 400 degree oven until when I pushed on it with my finger it was getting firm. Not too firm or it will be tough not matter what care you took in the prep, remember that you need to let meat rest before cutting it. This does 2 things... Keeps the juices trapped in the meat for a juicy steak and it also finishes cooking the meat a bit more. I like medium to med well. I also roasted 2 beetroots ( fresh beets) in the oven with olive oil and salt. Stirring occasionally until fork tender. I also made homemade coleslaw. I took a green cabbage, chopped it up semi-fine and added T. Marzettis slaw dressing. No wheat in there :) I had an awesome supper. for breakfast today, I had eggs over medium with just a little sprinkle of shaky cheese for added richness. Ben is still GF to except for last night when Grammie and Papaw took him out to dinner. Special occasion, I guess... I told them he could eat whatever he wanted to eat this time. My mom said he didn't hardly eat. He didnt eat at home either. Must not be growing right now. He still loves that I make his lunches and snacks. He feels special :) Today he had Cinnamon Rice Chex for breakfast and I made him GF chicken Nuggets, mixed veggies, and applesauce for lunch and Quaker mini rice cakes for snack time.

Loves Lunch.

Ben is really getting into the GF thing. He loves that he gets a special lunch everyday. I try to stick close to the daycare menu. Today I had to make gf Mac and Chz before I took him to school because I called and found out the daycare was serving mac and chz. A sandwich would not even compare if they had mac and chz... a fit would be thrown, I'm sure of it. Ben's menu this week....

• Tuesday - Pb and J on Udi's bread with mini cheddar rice cakes, carrots, and strawberries.

• Wednesday - Ham sandwich on a gf hoagie. ( half the hoagie), gf Boulder Canyon chips, broccolli, mandarin orange slices, and an Udi's snickerdoodle cookie.

• Thursday - Quinoa elbow noodles with spaghetti sauce, (Hunts 4 chz), a little mozzarella cheese shred on top, green beans and applesauce

• Friday - Annie's GF Mac and Chz, John Morrell brand hotdog (all John Morrell brand processed meats are gf, or at least I havent seen one that isnt gf... find in smoked sausage/hotdog section at Kroger), greenbeans, strawberries.

Ben is a happy camper and the extra work is worth it. I feel much better and will get on the ball with my pics asap.