My Trader Joe favorites and learning from others...

I am copying this idea from a friend of mine's new blog http:stiritup.me

Now you may wonder why I would read a blog about the Paleo Diet. As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I am learning the importance of keeping an open-mind.  There is always something to learn from someone else.  Yes a plant based diet (this is what I am trying to remember label my "vegan" diet - more on that someday) is different than the Paleo diet, the biggest being that Paleo eats meat and dairy.  But there are two very similar aspects to how I eat - a focus on wholesome, organic foods (fruits, veggies),  and gluten free!  Yes, there are other differences in the diet, but I not here to analyze the two diets.  All I know is that  I have seen LOTS of  recipes on Stiritup.me that I can't wait to try.   In addition, it has the most amazing photos, it is very well written, and it is always enjoyable to read a friend's blog.

Recently, she wrote a couple of posts about her favorite things.  And most of the items (minus meat and dairy) where MY favorite things too!  I decided to take her idea and share with you my favorite things at Trader Joes.
Here is a link to one of her post:
http://stiritup.me/post/9885542861/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-cont

BTW - Trader Joes is extremely gluten free friendly!  Check this out:
http://www.traderjoes.com/lists/no-gluten.asp

Here is one big picture of my recent trip to Trader Joes - all vegan, gluten free.

• Sweet Potato chips - The girls and I love these, they hold up well dipping
• Taco Shells - easy dinner night, rice, beans, veggies - done.  I put them all in little bowls and let the girls make their own.  They gobble it up.
• Unsweetened Coconut milk - good for smoothies, baking, cereal
• Taco seasoning - being gluten free I have to be careful about seasoning. This one is GF, I add it to everything, beans, rice, tofu
• Unsweetened Cocao Powder - baking, smoothies, oatmeal 
• Organic Lollipops - these girls love these treats
• Marinara Sauce 
• Organic Brown Rice - I do not have a microwave, but I put a little water in a pan, heat it, then add the frozen rice, stir it for a few minutes and it is done.  Great, healthy quick rice.
• Light Coconut milk- great for curry dishes
• Frozen Artichoke Hearts - I am adding these to everything these days. Love them in lentils, stir fries, etc
• Crushers - the girls favorite thing to put in their lunchbox.  Ry would eat a box in a day if I would let her!
• Udi's bread - gluten free (not vegan, but dairy free)
• Lentils- these are the easiest best tasting lentils I have found.  They are in the refrigerated section
• TJs organic extra firm tofu - best FIRM tofu I have found.  Will hold up on a grill.
• Almond flour - for baking, and I coated tofu with it last night - I mixed a tablespoon of Tahini with a TBS of GF soy sauce, spread on tofu, then sprinkled the almonds on top - baked at 375 for about 10 minutes

 

• Hummus - Trader Joes' original is GF and tasty
• Veggies - organic cherry tomatoes - put out in a bowl and they are gone by dinner, these cucumbers the girls love, and the mixed veggies are easy for a stir fry

 Close ups:

 And, I forgot:

Ry's FAVORITE SNACK

My afternoon smoothie with spinach!

Work lunch

When my only restriction eating out was that it had to be vegan, it really was pretty simple.  I was able concentrate on getting that one message through to the waiter.  I enjoy eating out, I love going to new restaurants, date nights, girls nights, group dinners, etc -  was I perfect all the time?  No.  Did I sometimes let a little dairy slide?  Yes.  Sorry, hardcore vegans, I am doing the best I can! 

BUT now - eating out as gluten free and vegan is harder.  Yes, there are a lot more options than there used to be, but the combination of GF/ vegan is tricky.   Trying to convince a waiter to go back and talk to the chef and relay the message, no dairy, no meat, no eggs, no gluten - is a challenge.  And, the waiters that succeed do earn a good tip.  Recently, I have realized that I am letting things slide more than I used to, because I am so focused on gluten free.  If there is a little dairy in my dish my body does not really notice, but if there is a little gluten in the dish, my stomach will hurt for days. 

Last week I had one such experience.  I was going on a work lunch.  Talk about difficult, do I really want everyone to hear my long list of eating restrictions? Ugh.  And, we were going to Houston's.  Hum, I had no idea how this was going to turn out.  I ordered a gluten free veggie plate and talked  at length about no gluten with the waiter, but I failed to focus on dairy.  For some reason, I forget that veggie plates to me mean no dairy, but to most it means veggies cooked in butter.  I do want to applaud Houston's - they were extremely creative and came up with items that were not already on the menu.  The plate was BEAUTIFUL.  They were very sensitive and respectful about the gluten.  Unfortunately it was my fault for not requesting no butter.  I did eat some of it, the veggie sushi was amazing, but I really could not eat everything because the butter was too overpowering.  I will go back to Houston's and try again though, I feel confident now that they can prepare me a gluten free / vegan meal.  Yes, Chad, did you hear that?  I am willing to try Houston's!

Gluten free / vegan cooking for others

 I used to frequently get together with a small group of moms when our children where in preschool together.  Now that our children are not in the same school (wipe away a tear) we do not see each other as often as I would like.  In years past, these mom night outs were at someone's house and everyone brought something.  I was impressed by and enjoyed the dishes they created.  This was before I cooked, so I always opted to bring frozen Trader Joe appetizers!

Now that I am cooking - I decided to prepare a few gluten free / vegan dishes for them.  I was nervous about trying new recipes, especially given that they were GF/ vegan.  I picked out a new quinoa recipe, two appetizers and 2 desserts to try.

 I am a fan of Dr. John McDougall (http://drmcdougall.com/)- I first saw him speak in 1990.  He is a proponent for a low fat, plant based diet.  His wife is an amazing cook and has published several cookbooks.  They now have a new app for iphone / ipad.  I found the quinoa recipe and a black bean dip on the app. 

Black Bean Dip

This was super easy and I made it the night before.  2 cans of organic black beans (drained), 1 cup of your favorite salsa and food process it until creamy!   I served it with new chips I founds at Dekalb Farmers Market made with beans instead of corn, and of course GF/ vegan.  The chips and dip were quite tasty.  Next time I may use a salsa with a little more kick.

Mexican Pizza

I began with my favorite pizza crust from Sally's Bakery www.sallysbakery.com.  I had some left over Wholefood organic spicy pinto beans and put that on half of the pizza, on the other half I used the bean dip mentioned above.  I grilled asparagus and peppers, sliced them and layered on top.  Then cooked the pizza for about 7 minutes at 375 degrees.  This was a fun appetizer that went well with the bean dip and chips.

Quinoa Salad with Lime Cilantro Dressing

I also found the recipe not only on McDougall's app but also on another blog that I can share it with you:

http://passthepotatoesblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/quinoa-salad-with-lime-cilantro.html

 The dressing is AMAZING.  And, what I really love is that there is no OIL!  Yay.  This recipe did take a lot longer than I expected.  I also left out the avocado, as I made it the day before. Using half red quinoa and half white quinoa  gave the salad a great texture and flavor.  I am now purchasing my quinoa from DeKalb Farmers Market, it is cheaper and they have more variety.  I will be adding more artichokes to my dishes, I love the tangy flavor they add.  I was skeptical about the quantity of cilantro (well to be honest I just didn't want to clean and separate that much cilantro) but the cilantro added with the basil and lime - unreal.

And, last but not least - dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why even attempt to bake these, when I can order from Dr. Sweets??
http://www.drsweetscakes.com/
These are gluten free and dairy free.  They are so rich, melt in your mouth, yet crunchy, and just simple awesome goodness.

Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Crust

This was an experiment that my brave friends willingly gave a try.  The day before I was trying to make healthy no bake brownies by Brendan Brazier who wrote the Thrive books.  Brendan is a triathlete who eats a plant based diet (vegan).  Here is the recipe from his website:

http://myvega.com/recipes/no-bake-brownies

I used almonds instead of walnuts, and did not add cacoa nibs, and added a few coconut flakes.  So, I just threw 1 cup of pitted dates, 1 cup of almonds and 1/2 of cocoa powder in the food processor.  The consistency was not what I thought it should be so I added a little agave syrup.  I patted the mixture into a brownie pan.  No one really liked them.  Then I thought, this would make a great crust.  I broke it apart and put it into ramkin dishes, seen above.

I heard about a chocolate pudding made with avocado instead of dairy.  Yes, avocado.  My curiosity got the best of me and I found several versions on the web.  Paleo blogs have many versions of this recipe.  (Note, if you do not like bananas or coconuts do not try this recipe!)
I put the following in a food processor:
1 avocado
1 banana
4 TBS cocoa powder
4 TBS coconut milk
1 TBS coconut oil
2 TBS agave syrup

Whipped it all up and filled the ramkins.  Well, it is rich, it is thicker than pudding, not overly sweet.  But I probably will not make it again.  I am glad I tried it though!  Now I know what chocolate and avocado together taste like.

 I did have one friend bring a cheese and meat platter and another bring a salad - just in case my food bombed.  So my friends said they liked everything.  I think they did!  But regardless, it was a fun evening re-connecting with friends on our porch and of course enjoying some wine.

Rediscover Cafe Sunflower

For some reason I have not been to Cafe Sunflower in awhile.  I went about a month ago to the Sandy Springs location for lunch but I have not been to the Buckhead location for dinner in a really long time.  I guess I have been focusing on going to newer places BUT going to Cafe Sunflower tonight was like going to a new place.  I knew I was safe on the vegan front - but how would they do on the gluten free front?  Oh - they have an entire gluten free menu, thank you very much! 

It was girls night out.  S&Ry and I were greeted by Joe, our server for the evening.  He immediately won the three of us over with his enthusiasm, big smile and willingness to provide us with drawing paper.  The girls eagerly put crayon to paper to begin their masterpieces for Joe - including their signature hearts all around his name!

Joe share the gluten free menu with me but  directed me towards the VG/ GF quiche.  I am not a quiche fan (I dont like eggs) of course there are no eggs in this dish, but humm, quiche?  His accolades for the dish won me over.  I ordered it.  Ry ordered the mock chicken nuggets and S ordered the minestrone soup.  They both cleaned their plates! 

Wow - Joe was dead on - the veggie quiche was out of this world good.  It was topped with an arugula salad with a perfect balsamic vinaigrette and surrounded by a chilled butternut squash sauce.  Both added the perfect flavor to the quiche.  The quiche was filled with great veggies and an amazing curry flavor.  The texture was incredible, and all of those taste put into one dish - curry, balsamic, sweet, savory - amazing.  Oh,  I almost forgot to mention the crust - I had to call Joe over and ask again if this was truly gluten free.  The crust tasted way too good to be true.  I learned it was made from quinoa flour - go figure!

I joined the clean plate club as well....

Dessert?  Anytime there is a GF/ VG dessert on a menu I order it.  (This happens so rarely!)  They had peach cobbler.  I should have ordered two.  The girls and I were fighting over it - so good.  The girls also had GF/ VG vanilla ice cream.  And what a great touch to put them in fun "fancy" ice cream dishes. The girls LOVED it. 

So, rediscover Cafe Sunflower.  The girls and I had a fabulous evening rediscovering this veggie gem in Atlanta!

Bars

Bars... you know, granola bars, cliff bars, power bars, etc.  There are at least a million different bars offered today.  My relationship with bars has been a long, love / hate adventure.  Back in my college days, a Big Gulp Diet Coke and a chocolate Power Bar from the Kangaroo in Athens would be my breakfast and sometimes repeated for lunch.  Then the arrival of Cliff bars, I thought these were super healthy, so I switched my diet to those and subsided for quite sometime.  Now, I am not dissing any one brand, anyone who eats any type of bar day in day out for a long period of time will a) get stomach aches and b) get completely sick of that type of bar.  I went through a few more brands and finally woke up one day and decided I needed to eat real food instead of bars for breakfast and lunch.  Real, whole, healthy food.  So, I gave up bars completely. (And, yes, diet cokes were eliminated a long, long time ago.)  I had great success with this decision - more energy, less stomach aches, felt more satisfied, etc. 

But, are bars all bad?  No, and sometimes bars are extremely convenient.  This past weekend, we went up to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to go white water rafting and hiking with another couple.  -I digress here, but have you been to the NOC?  SO much fun.  What a great place, I can't wait to go back and take the girls. 

Ok - on to bars.  I was not sure what the food would be like, so I packed a lot of gluten free, vegan snacks, and I went down the bar aisle at WholeFoods.  I was shocked by how many new bars there are.  I found several vegan, gluten free, and even raw bars.  Bars, are sometimes, the least perishable and most convenient snack one can bring on an outdoor adventure.  Several brands went into my basket.  And, my friend whom we went with, also brought up some bars for us to try.
All of these are gluten free and dairy free:

1) Nutty Goodness - raw, simple, good - I will buy this again. The girls enjoyed this one as well-
2) Go Free - we did not like this one, chalky, and hard
3) Two Degrees - I enjoyed this one, especially because it was chocolate and peanut butter.  Added benefit- the company also donates a nutritional packet to a hungry child for every bar bought. http://twodegreesfood.com/
4) Kind Bar - cant go wrong with this bar.  I have tried several flavors, and enjoyed them all.  I particularly like the almond coconut.  Yum.

My two favorites are Two Degrees and Kind Bars.  I do not plan to start eating bars everyday - hopefully ever again.  But on road trips, or just to have in my purse for times when I am not sure I can find GF/ VG food these are great to have on hand.

Circle back to the NOC - I was able to get a vegetarian / GF meal for lunch and dinner!  Yay.

Lessons learned this week...

1) The amount of time spent in kitchen does not always equate  a successful meal.  (Success in my world means at least 3 out of 4 of us enjoy the meal!)
2) Allowing the girls to pick out the recipe does not always mean they will like it.  (I should have known this!)
3) Rice flour is not an appropriate substitute for all purpose flour.
4) Look at expiration dates.

Rainy Monday, I embarked on cooking a meal that my whole family would LOVE.  I got input from everyone, I went to Wholefood and Trader Joes to stock up, and even had to send Chad back to both.  So, 4 trips to a grocery store. I was motivated to make some serious food.  The girls picked out a quinoa, kale and potato stew and I chose a vegan cornbread recipe all from the Appetite for Reduction cookbook that I use often.  I literally spent all afternoon cooking. 

My only success was a third recipe I have mentioned before, an easy trail mix recipe, toasted pumpkin seeds, vegan dark chocolate chips and dried cherries, mix all together while seeds are still hot then let cool spread out on a pan in the frig. and it forms great little chocolatey clusters.  Well - that was the only recipe that two of us liked (me and S).

The stew was a disaster - I ate it (and am still eating it) but the girls attempted one bite and had a fit.  Chad attempted a bite and I saw a face that I had never seen before.  I think it took every ounce of his strength to keep the stew in his mouth.  Thankfully he did, and the girls did not see his face.  The corn bread was even worse.  Rice flour does not equal all purpose flour.  So much for my creative gluten free baking.  Oh - and expiration dates...  I have said before that this cooking thing is new to me, I truly started cooking a few months ago when I started this blog.  The expiration date on my baking powder serve as evidence.  October 2007.  This means this baking powder was packed up from our old house, unpacked in our new house and has not been used in 4 years.  4 years - no baking!!

I won't show pictures of the stew or cornbread.  No need to further embarrass myself.

Yesterday, was my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!  I was going to prepare a vegan, gluten free meal that would really impress.  But, after my lessons learned on Monday, and Chad's response when I suggested I cook for my dad "maybe we should go out??" I decided to pick up food from Metrofresh.  All gluten free (except for the rolls).  The quinoa and veggie trail mix were also vegan.  Picking up from Metrofresh is just so much easier!  And, everyone ate!

Thank you Metrofresh for saving the day.

Thursday Lentils!

Well - home late after the girls' guitar and piano  classes, they are "starving". I am determined to make KP's lentils. But I dont have time to find the recipe. Off the top of my head, and lots of Trader Joe's ingredients, I actually prepared a dish that 3/4 of us liked.

• 1 box of Trader Joe lentils (in the refrigerated section)
• 1 can roasted tomatoes
• about a cup of frozen artichoke hearts
• juice of 1/2 of a lemon
• 1/2 TBS cumin
• 1 cup of already cooked quinoa (I had this left over and threw it in)
• salt and pepper to taste

Threw all of this in one big pot at the same time, stirred and cooked until simmering.  (about 10 minutes)
I put some of the plain lentils in a separate pot for the girls.  They said they didnt want lentils and tomatoes, in fact they no longer liked lentils.  (Funny with babysitters, they love lentils)  So, I put plain lentils with salt, a sliced peach and lettuce with their favorite dressing on their plate.  I did give S some of the lentil and tomato recipe I made.  They both cleaned their plates.  Finally - Ry ate SOMETHING.  Chad loved the dish, and of course I loved it as well.  So, this is SUPER EASY, and delicious.  S asked for it in her lunchbox tomorrow.  Done!