Two Easy Dinners that the Girls ENJOYED!

Broiled Tomato and Pasta dinner

Rice noodles (I bought the pad thai noodles) and fresh basil
Sliced tomato with GF bread crumbs, Daiya vegan cheese - broil the tomato for 3-5 minutes

 

Lentils and Sweet Potato Fries

Stewed tomatoes (no salt or fat added), Lentils from Trader Joes, and Rice - put all together in a big pot and cook for about 10 minutes.  Slice an almost cooked sweet potato put on a cookie sheet and broil for 2+ minutes.  Add a little salt to the potatoes.  Salad - spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds.   All spices were added after I served the girls, they do not like spicy things, but Chad and I do!

Oatmeal bars

Enjoy hot out of the oven or cold:
2 cups gluten free oatmeal
1/2 cup soy, almond, rice or hemp milk milk
1 cup applesauce
3/4 cup chopped dried fruit. I used dates, cherries, raisins and apricots
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
Mix well. Press into 8x8 brownie pan (lightly oiled)
Baked 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes
A great snack, dessert or breakfast - Note - The girls did not like these, I have enjoyed them, as they are an easy snack to carry around when I am in a hurry, better for you than your typical bar!

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.

Dinner this week...

 Last week I was a little lazy about dinner.  This week I am more motivated and am trying several new recipes.  All so far, have been easy, delicious, gluten free and vegan.  So what have we been eating?
Sunday
We went to the Grant Park Farmers Market on Sunday morning.  We got there right when it opened, so no crowds and it was easy to see all the great food offered.  Sierra requested Grace's Goodness pimento cheese for her school lunches and both the girls had to have a King of Pops!  I bought amazing corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, and onions.  That night I had to fix all of our fresh veggies.  We had corn on the cob, green beans, and a tomato, cucumber, onion salad with red wine vinegar.  I baked tofu as well.  Delicious summer dinner.

Monday

 New recipe!  Chad found a quinoa recipe on Patagonia's blog.  The link is:
http://www.thecleanestline.com/2011/08/climbing-catering-community-quinoa.html

I changed it up a bit - here is what I used:

• 2 cups uncooked quinoa - cook according to directions (2 part water, 1 part quinoa)
• 1 can garbanzo beans , rinsed
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2  bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup pepitas (I toasted mine with salt first) - you can use almost any seed or nut
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes,halved
• Dressing: whisk  1/2 C of water, 1TBS grape see oil, juice from 2 lemons and 2 tablespoons curry powder.

Mix it all together!

Tuesday
I tried another new recipe from my friend KP.  She seems to effortlessly throw things together and create amazing meals.  She can come up with ideas on the spot when I ask her.  Last night I made a few modifications but my inspirations was KP.  This was SUPER EASY.

• brown rice
• 1 can Wholefood Organic Spicy Black Beans - drained
• 1/2 cup diced mangos (I use the frozen ones at Trader Joes)
• 1/4 cilantro, chopped
• 2 minced jalapenos (I put these in after I took the girls portion out)
• salt and pepper to taste

I put all of these in a big pot and let simmer.  I stirred it constantly, it only took a few minutes and it was done.  I served it with new Hemp chips I found at Wholefoods.
 

Wednesday
Last Saturday night, we had friends over for dinner.  We ordered pizza.  So, I fixed my own.  I made the sauce from theppk.com again and used a crust from Sally's Bakery.  As I did in this post:
http://vegginaroundblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/gluten-free-pizza-night-adventure.html
I have some of the sauce left over and I dont want it to go to waste.  Tonight, I plan to use Quinoa, gluten free spiral pasta, this Romensco sauce and broccoli.  Yum!

Thursday
Another KP inspired recipe.  Again, one I have not tried.  I plan to saute all in one big pot:

• Lentils (I buy the box in the produce section at TJs)
• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes from Trader Joes
• 1/2 cup of water 
• 1/4 cup of veggie broth
• 1/2 of a chopped onion (vidala)
• 1 cup of frozen artichoke hearts - Trader joes
• juice from half of a lemon
• 2 TB Corriander
• 2 TB Cumin

I will let you know how pizza night and lentil night go...

Having people over for dinner

There is a new place in our neighborhood that sells homemade casseroles.  Casseroles -
http://www.casserolesatlanta.com/

Chad tried a breakfast casserole and the mac and cheese recently.  He rated them fair but really wanted to try some of the other items on the menu.  I could not wait to try it again, because they had a vegan / gluten free option right on the menu.  Hooray!  We had another family over for dinner on Saturday night and decided to try the baked ziti with beef for Chad, and the Vegan Biryana.  I was going to prepare a simple salad and dessert to go along with, but got motivated Saturday to try new recipes.  The black bean salad with avocado - lime dressing recipe from wholefoods.com sounded great.
Here is the recipe from the website:
Serves 4

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=2908

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado, mashed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or thawed if frozen
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Method

In a large bowl, whisk together avocado, cilantro and lime juice until blended. Add beans, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, pepper, pumpkin seeds and toss until evenly coated. 

 My Modifications

I used only one can of black beans, and I added 1/2 of a chopped Vidala onion.   I added salt and pepper and 1-2 more tablespoons of lime juice to the dressing.  It was very tasty - I loved the creamy avocado dressing.  And, the toasted pumpkin seeds always add a great flavor and crunch.  Chad felt it needed more pumpkin seeds.

I was craving desserts on Saturday.  GF has eliminated many of my favorite desserts - so I was hopeful I could find something that would satisfy my sweet tooth.  I made the Strawberry Oat Bars from Wholeliving.com.  Here is the recipe

http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/strawberry-oat-bars

Makes 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups pitted dates
• 1/4 cup raw macadamia nuts
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 cup strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Pulse dates, nuts, oats, and salt in a food processor until combined.
2. Press the date mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
3. Mash half the strawberries and spread on top of date mixture. Top with remaining strawberries. Slice into rectangles.

My Modifications
I used cashew nuts instead of the macadamia (that is what I had on hand).  And, I used the incredibly expensive Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats - to make them GF.  I put them in the frig after I made them.  This was a mistake, it made them too mushy.  I would leave them out next time, and add more oats, 3 tablespoons should do well.

Lastly - I made a chocolate pound cake from thehealthyapple.com.  I have really enjoyed this blog / website.  She has amazing recipes and tips, however this recipe did not turn out well, so I wont post the whole recipe.  Here is the link if you are curious!  http://thehealthyapple.com/2011/08/01/gluten-free-dairy-free-chocolate-pistachio-pound-cake/

I did replace the eggs with flax seed - so that might have been what went wrong.  The cake is pretty, but extremely dense and not a lot of taste.  Here is a pic:

In Conclusion

The casseroles were a hit.  We will definitely order them again.  And, welcome the new addition to our neighborhood!  Beginner mistake I made - I didnt give much thought to the menu as a whole.  The black bean salad was delicious, but certainly did not go with a biryani nor a baked ziti.  The strawberry bar was amazing, so sweet, it was unbelievable no sugar was added, but do not put them in the refrigerator before serving, and add more oats!  Chocolate cake - bombed.

Lastly, it was very fun to have other people over, especially considering we all had different eating styles, ranging from me (GF/ VG), Chad wanting beef, to no beef (but brought own chicken), Paleo - oh and the kids - they were happy with the frozen pizza.  So, lots of variety, but I think everyone left satisfied!

Gluten Free Pizza Night Adventure

I did not eat much pizza before going gluten free - however, I did enjoy good pizza every once in awhile.  The thing that I love about pizza is its crust.  I never minded not having cheese on the pizza, just good sauce, veggies and a great crust.  I used to think vegan pizza was a challenge, but it really wasn't, I would sometimes endure funny looks from the waiters as I insisted that I really didn't want cheese, but other than that I always was able to get what I wanted.  Now gluten free really does bring a challenge to good pizza.  I have tried Mellow Mushrooms GF pizza.  I applaud them for giving me an option - thank you.  But I love Mellow Mushroom's regular crust, so I was hoping the GF would be somewhat similar.  No, not at all.  It was cardboard.  Very disappointing as I was drooling over everyone else's pizza.

So, with great trepidation, I tried Sally's Bakery frozen GF / Dairy Free pizza crust. 
http://www.sallysbakery.com Sally's is a long drive, but so far, worth it.  I buy pumpkin bread, banana bread and muffins all GF/ DF and freeze them.  The girls enjoy the baked goods as well.  This was my first venture into her pizza crust.  My friend K told me about a great sauce, once again from theppk.com .  It is called Romesco Pizza.  Here is the recipe:
http://www.theppk.com/2011/08/romesco-pizza-with-caramelized-onions-squash/

I had little luck with carmelizing the onions, but I did try.  And, I still put them on the pizza.  The sauce was amazing.  I loved it.  I used the left overs as a veggie dip- cold!  I was going to also use it on GF toasted bread for a dinner on Saturday night, but I dropped the bowl and it shattered all over my kitchen.

Back to the pizza.  I spread the romesco sauce on Sally's crust.  Then I placed sliced peppers, squash and zucchini on top.  I baked for about 15 minutes at 375.  I did keep checking in on it, it can over cook quickly.  The pizza was pretty good - it was by far the best GF crust I have had.  Chad and I ate most of the pizza.  S liked it, Ry would again not try it!  But if you are crazing pizza and need GF/ DF try Sally's.  And, regardless of your eating habits, the Romesco sauce is awesome. 

Trail Mix

I think my real motive is that I want to eat a lot of chocolate today - my youngest started kindergarten this morning, I was so proud of both of my girls  getting on the school bus, but it was also incredibly hard seeing both my babies leave on that big bus.  Thus, I turn to chocolate to  ease the pain!  So, I came up with a little snack - 1/4 of a cup of each of the following -
dried cranberries
pistachios
vegan dark chocolate chips
toasted pumpkin seeds (I did this in my toaster oven, a little salt sprinkled over 350 degrees for about 8 minutes)

I mixed them all together - beginner mistake - I put the hot pumpkin seeds in the mixture, which melted the chocolate and made a huge chocolatey mess.  So I then spread out the mixture and put it in the frig for a little while to cool. I am hoping they will separate more like trail mix.  But I believe my concoction will actually be more like trail bites. Little clumps of goodness!

Enjoy.

Purple Potato Dinner

Because Ry loved the tofu so much the other night, I made it again the very next night.  But guess what?  Nope, she wouldn't touch it.  Oh well.  So, the menu included tofu (with tahini and GF soy sauce) a stir fry and purple potatoes!  The stir fry consisted of what I had in my frig - broccoli, boc choy and zucchini.  I marinade the veggies in
1/4 cup veggie broth (I use organic / low sodium)
2 TBS GF soy sauce
2 TBS Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 TBS agave syrup
and I chopped up a jalepeno - I stirred all of this together, poured it over the veggies in a zip lock bag and let it all marinade until I was ready.  Then just threw it all into a hot pan and stirred it up!

The Peruvian Purple potatoes - I have not perfected this yet, but I boiled the peeled potatoes until they were tender (10 minutes).  Then put them in a bowl with 1 TBS vegan sour cream, 1 TBS of lime juice and a handful of thinly chopped cilantro.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Next time I will add more sour cream and lime juice and a lot more salt and pepper.  I mixed all of this together with my hand mixer.  But I can tell I am getting close to the perfect purple potato recipe.  Purple potatoes are fun to eat and LOADED with amazing nutrients such as the antioxidant, anthocyanin which has been shown to boast ones immunity and aid in the prevention of cancer.  Added bonus, when you pour the lime juice on the potatoes (if you have children let them watch) they will change to another brilliant shade of purple!

I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen, but WOW:

I was pretty impressed with myself!  I made 3 salads and tofu. 

I went to the Dekalb Farmers Market earlier this week so I had a lot of fresh produce I wanted to use.

1) Kale Waldorf Salad
I found this recipe on WholeFood's website.  They have a fabulous recipe collection.  I typed in vegan and gluten free - 377 recipes appeared.  I read through those and saved the ones that sounded good in my recipe box on WF's website.
Here is the recipe:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=2853  
The walnuts I bought just did not smell right to me.  So, I substituted cashews for the walnuts in the dressing.  In the salad I put in pistachios instead of the walnuts. I think I will continue to make it that way.  I loved the sweet, crunchy, yet slightly spicy from the dijon mustard taste.  And, taste testers response - Chad said he was most scared of this recipe - yes he said "scared" but to our surprise, he loved it and had 2 servings.  S enjoyed it and Ry would not try it.  I ate 2 servings and finished the rest of it today.  Loved this recipe!

2) Zucchini Pasta
This is from Whole Living.  It appealed to me because it looked easy and I like to try "raw" recipes (which the waldorf salad above was raw as well!)
Here is the recipe link:
http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/zucchini-pasta

I made a few changes.  Again,  I had to replace the walnuts, so I did almonds instead.  I chopped the nuts in half.  I also used 2 zucchinis.  I am trying to add more Omega 3 in my diet, so I used flax seed oil instead of the olive oil it called for.  I only used 1.5 TBS of oil instead of 2.  I also tried elephant garlic which has a milder taste.   Chad and I both liked it - the garlic was too much for me.  It will be awhile until I make this one again, Waldorf was much better.  The girls did not try this one!

3)Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango
This one is from my new found favorite website theppk.com
Here is the recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2010/04/quinoa-salad-with-black-beans-mango/

Another great quinoa recipe!  It was missing a little kick that Chad and I like.  I added double the red wine vinegar.  But we felt it needed just a hint more spice - salt and pepper helped.  Maybe chop up a little jalapeno?  Overall though it was a good salad and I will make this one again.  S tried and liked.  Ry did not try.  (Are you spotting another trend?) 

Lastly - I marinaded firm tofu, after pressing out all the water.  I smeared a little tahini on each piece of tofu, then drizzled gluten free soy sauce over each piece.  Then put cilantro leaves on top.  The tofu marinaded for a couple of hours.  Then I baked them in the toaster oven  - no precision here, I just checked on them every ten minutes.  Then I broiled them for a couple of minutes. They turned out great. AND, Ry's plate now just consisted of some of Chad's chicken, and to make me feel better a piece of tofu.  Well, she did not like the chicken and ate all the tofu!  Unfortunately she wanted more, but I had polished off the last of the tofu.  We made a special trip to the store today to get more tofu so I can finally make her a tofu she enjoys!

NOTE - All of these recipes are VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE!  And, the first 2 are RAW!

Asheville

Towards the end of summer we usually get the urge to get out of town for a quick weekend trip.  As we are all tired of the heat in Atlanta and need a change of scenery.  And, yes, right now is almost the end of our summer, the girls go back to school August 8th!  Last week, Chad got that urge and planned a family overnight to Asheville, NC.

Well, the trip was not exactly the "vacation get away" that we had envisioned, but we did get to see great friends and had several amazing meals!  Asheville is similar to Denver and Boulder - most of the restaurants are familiar with "gluten free" and "vegan" in fact, the majority  have options designated on the menu. 

The Saturday we started our adventure turned into a lesson on patience, a virtue our family needs to work on.   The trip up took almost five ours (we were planning on three), it took us about 30 minutes to find a parking space in Asheville, and the wait at the restaurant we had intended to eat (Early Girl Eatery) was 45 minutes. So, we put our name down on that list and walked down the street and discovered Laughing Seed Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant.  So, we put our name on that list too.  We spent the next 35 minutes going between the two restaurants seeing which one would seat us first.  Laughing Seed won.  Mind you none of us where in a laughing mood at this point - tired, hot, hungry, etc.  And, Chad was not excited that the vegetarian only restaurant won:

The Laughing Seed Restaurant -

Hemp Burger

http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com/ 
I was overwhelmed by the menu, so many great options.  And, an actual healthy kids menu - no chicken finger, hotdog or grill cheese only menu for the girls. 

Chad ordered the falafel sandwich with the jalapeno onion fries.  To my surprise, he loved it - cleaned his plate.  The girls ordered a veggie plate with an amazing dipping sauce.  And, I ordered the Omega Hemp Nut Burger.  Since my GF began, I have been missing a good veggie burger, most are not GF.  This was a delicious, hearty burger, filled with good for you ingredients.  Hemp is an excellent source of protein and essential fatty acids - Omega 6 and Omega 3.  I also enjoyed a carrot, apple and ginger juice with my burger.  This meal put all of us in a much better mood.  Now, how do we get a Laughing Seed in Atlanta?

Girls Veggie Plate

 The other place we were going to eat lunch had a great looking menu as well.  I hope to try it out next time:

Early Girl Eatery
http://earlygirleatery.com/

We were planning a hike after lunch, but due to all of our delays, we decided instead to walk around town and then check out our hotel.  The girls had   three favorites of the trip (only one of which we expected):
1) Discovering the plug into the wall phone with a DIAL TONE in our hotel room - you have no idea how much entertainment this provided
2) swimming in the hotel INDOOR pool
 3)The arcade games at the restaurant we met our friends at (this was expected!)
So, on to dinner.  We met our friends from Asheville at:

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company
http://ashevillebrewing.com/2011/index.html
A perfect family restaurant!  They had this big room filled with picnic tables, one way in, one way out (to contain the kids) with a huge movie screen and tons of video / arcade games.  The parents were able to sit and talk and the kids were able to run around and play games.  The cherry on top - good beer (I was told) and GF / Vegan options on the menu and of course other items one would expect at a pizza place!


The next morning I went on an exploratory jog around town and found a little restaurant that boasted juices and smoothies on the window.  On our way to our hike, we stopped in and ordered smoothies for everyone.  My next trip to Asheville will also include a meal at this restaurant!

 Over Easy Cafe
http://overeasyasheville.com/

We drove up on the parkway to our little hike at Chimney Rock.  It was a beautiful drive up there, unnoticed by the girls, but Chad and I enjoyed it.  Our hike was short, but it was nice to get the girls in nature, despite their protest!

On our way out of town we stopped by one last restaurant.  Again, filled with gluten free, vegan labeling on the menu.  It had meals to fit all of our desires after our hike:

Tupelo Honey
http://www.tupelohoneycafe.com/

So do you see a trend here?  It is simply not hard to have gluten free, vegan options at a restaurant while catering to all eating types.  I hope more restaurants in Atlanta will venture into this!

I am a little obsessed with MetroFresh

Unfortunately for my bank account but fortunately for my taste-buds I signed up for the MetroFresh daily emails.  I used to pop into MetroFresh not knowing what was on the menu (menu changes daily).  But now that I get the fun, entertaining email everyday, my trips to MetroFresh are getting out of control.  

Remember my delight with the saying right on the menu of Root Down on my recent trip to Denver?  If not - here you go:
At Root Down we pride ourselves on striving to solve the ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma.’ We have created a dining spot where all dietary needs will be accommodated, including vegetarian, vegan, raw and gluten free; also allergies or intolerances are always handled professionally by the kitchen team.


I realized during my second trip to MetroFresh today that they have incorporated this philosophy exactly.  Everyday they offer something vegan and gluten free - now maybe there is only one option - BUT there is always an option.  And, I have seen as many as 5 vegan, gluten free options offered.  That is quite impressive.  And, down right thrilling.  So, when I anxiously open the email everyday, I almost feel obligated to go pick up some of their delicious, creative, unique vegan, gluten free soups and salads.  The combinations they put together are so amazing, and sometimes so unusual I have to try them.  I feel like each soup and salad has been created with a lot of thought, love of good tasting food and great consideration into what is healthy and in season.  I am seriously addicted.   This morning I stopped by with the girls and picked up fruit salad and yummy gluten free banana blueberry muffins.  The girls would not share their fruit with me!  They each ate an entire bowl.  So, I did not share my muffin with them :)  While I was there, I saw the lunch, so I had to go back to pick up chilled SPICY white grape soup - see what I mean on unique??  And, the Lady Pea, sweet corn, with artichoke hearts and baby spinach salad.  I ate it all - my taste-buds celebrated with every bite.

Now the really fun part - if someone frequents MetroFresh who is not a vegan nor GF, I would bet they dont think of the restaurant as a "vegetarian" place - it is not crunchy at all and always has several great meat, poultry or fish options.  This is place is truly solving the "Omnivore's Dilemma" right here in Midtown, Atlanta in a clean, trendy, beautiful spot. 

Embarrassingly, I will be returning to MetroFresh a 3rd time today - I left the grilled blackened chicken that Ry had requested during my second trip.  Ry is a very picky eater, so when her eyes lite up this morning when she saw the chicken, I had to get it for her.  Yes, sometimes she eats chicken - and I will buy it for her from MetroFresh - I just cant / wont cook it myself :)
http://www.metrofreshatl.com/

Trying to "try" a new recipe once a week -

Chickpea Piccata - Appetite for Reduction

Last night I got my nerve up to try a new recipe.  A friend had shared with me that her family liked it and the recipe said it was "super fast".   My kind of meal - but oh not so fast...

The recipe is Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Surprise, surprise, I did not follow the directions exactly.
The ingredients I used:
1tsp olive oil
1 c thinly sliced shallots
2 TBS of bread crumbs (I toasted 2 pieces of GF bread for 10 min at 350 degrees, then crumbled them up!)
2 cups veggie broth (I use Whole Foods brand)
4 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of thyme
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of capers with brine
Juice of 1 lemon
Well, before reading the entire recipe, I dumped all the ingredients(except for garlic, shallots, and chickpeas) together in one pot - not what you are suppose to do.   So, I had to take strain the capers out and put them aside.  What you are suppose to do is - Saute the shallots and garlic for 5 minutes, add the bread crumbs and toast by stirring for about 2 more minutes.  Then add veggie broth, salt, pepper and thyme.  Turn up heat bring to boil and let sauce reduce by half - around 7 minutes.  Then you add the chickpeas and capers, let them heat through, ~ 3 minutes, turn heat off.  Then add lemon juice.  (My lemon juice was in from the beginning)  Also, recipe called for 1/3 of dry white wine - I didnt have any so I left it out. (I don't think I would add it next time, I loved it as prepared)
Chopping, sauteing, and timing all of this was difficult for ME, but hopefully not for you.  Because it was delicious.  Seriously tasty.  Isa suggested serving it over arugula, again, I didn't have that so instead used regular lettuce.  My side was Caulipots - another one of her recipes.

Caulipots - I tried to get creative with this one - she called for 2 russet potatoes - I found purple potatoes (unfortunately I didnt read that they were purple sweet potatoes).
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
1 TBS olive oil
4 TBS veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste

Place the potatoes in a big pot with enough water to cover them and the cauliflower (when you put those in later)
Bring potatoes to boil, once boiling add cauliflower and lower heat to simmer.  Simmer for ~ 15 minutes until they are tender.  Drain potatoes and cauliflower, then return them to the pot, add the rest of the ingredients and mash together, until they are the desired consistency.  What I have learned -my family doesn't like the sweet potato taste - so no one ate these last night.  BUT if I had used regular potatoes, or regular purple potatoes and a lot more seasoning, they would have been great.  They did have a great texture, and you could tell they had potential.  Next time I might add lime juice and a little vegan sour cream.  Lots more salt and pepper!

If you have not picked up Isa's cookbook - Appetite for Reduction - do so, it is amazing - it is listed on my Amazon page on the homepage of my blog!

Family verdict - Chad LOVED the chickpeas, Ry ate all of hers and a second serving.  S did not like them at all.  No one like the potatoes.   Also, Ry asked for me to post her new healthy dessert - frozen mangoes and strawberries.

Denver - to be exact it was 52 hours not 48 hours

So Denver - Day 3 - At the pool party the day before, I was told about a vegan restaurant, Watercourse.
http://watercoursefoods.com/  After a wonderful jog with Chad along Cherry Creek, we packed up and went to find Watercourse.  I believe it is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.  Once again, I thought I was in heaven, right on the menu- tons of vegan / gluten free options.  But of course the true test, is can Chad and I both enjoy a meal here??  There were literally so many things I wanted to try I didn't know where to start.  I ended up ordering two breakfast entrees AND a coconut milk/ cacao / banana smoothie.  Since going gluten free I have not had any pancakes.  I did not eat pancakes often before, but when I realized I could not have them, I seemed to think about them more!  They had gluten free / vegan pancakes on the menu - those were ordered along with a tofu scramble.  It was AMAZING.  The smoothie was more like a milkshake, the pancakes were perfect and the tofu scramble had more taste than any scramble I have had.  The tofu had peanut butter in it - sounds weird, but it worked.  The tofu also had broccoli and artichoke hearts, served with GF corn tortillas and potatoes.

Chad's meal before

 Now - did Chad enjoy this vegetarian restaurant???

Chad's meal after

INDEED.  Best biscuit he said he has ever had.






I finished the smoothie and tofu, but wrapped up the pancakes to take on the plane.  Then, we headed out to find Watercourse's BAKERY.  A few blocks away is their bakery, and next door is City o City where they sell and serve their bakery products, coffee and breakfast.  I walked into find a case filled with vegan treats!  And, gluten free muffins, cupcakes, keylime pie, and chocolate peanut butter pie. All VEGAN/ GF - are you kidding.  After much consternation I decided only the muffins would survive the plane ride. So I bought their 2 remaining GF muffins.  They were incredible.

Filled to the brim and carrying a bag of gluten free treats we got on the plane and headed back to ATL.

Denver Day 2 - Good friends

Day 2: Denver (wow it is taking me a long time to post blogs these days!).
We woke up early, still on East coast time, and decided to drive up to Boulder.  Chad went to school at University of Colorado so it is always fun for him to reminisce.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was hot, but not like in the South - no humidity.  If you are in the shade it is perfectly pleasant.  We got to Boulder so early that most of the brunch places were not even open.  We walked around for awhile and found Foolish Craigs.  Very fun atmosphere. I told our waiter that I needed a vegan / gluten free breakfast - and once again was greeted with "no problem."  I had a delicious tofu scramble with spinach, tomatoes, onions, etc in a GF sauce and a side of potatoes.


Walking around Boulder was so uplifting.  Everyone seemed so healthy.  People were biking everywhere.  Most of the shops were geared towards outdoor activities.  A great life indeed!

That afternoon we meet up with Chad's good friends from college and hung out by a pool for awhile then headed to dinner. 

This weekend I was around Chad's friends whom some I had just met, but after about 5 minutes, I felt like I knew all of them for a long time.  It was really nice to be in a different city with new people but to not feel like an outsider.  They were incredible to talk with and very interested in and accepting of the way I eat.  I enjoyed going to dinner in Denver at Little Ollie's a sushi place.  http://littleolliescherrycreek.com/
Usually, sushi isnt too difficult, you can always order veggie sushi rolls.  But with the new GF restriction, it is harder because soy sauce has gluten.  When I ordered, I asked the waiter to make sure none of the sauce on the veggie roll I ordered had gluten.  She said no problem and without me asking, brought  GF soy sauce to our table!  And, they had a creative selection of veggie rolls, not just the plain cucumber or avocado rolls I end up ordering at other places.  Our table had a thought provoking conversation about food, and there was no judgement (I hope they didn't feel any frm me!) or anyone saying, well you SHOULD eat this way or you are not eating enough protein!  And, even better that we indulged in more conversation topics than just food. 

Thanks Denver for being so accepting and for offering so many selections!

Found a gluten free bakery and created a new recipe - all in one day

Today, thanks to a friend who introduced me to this bakery, I took a drive OTP to Sally's Bakery.  Everything in the bakery is gluten free!  And the majority is also vegan.  Yippie!  I stocked up - I bought pumpkin bread, banana bread and banana chocolate chip muffins.  The girls and I love all of it.  Fortunately it freezes well, so I wasnt tempted to eat it all in one day!  Well worth the drive!

So another friend inspired me to make basil pesto out of the basil my mom had given me from her garden.  I read a couple of recipes but made up my own.  I still had some cashew cream left over, so I incorporated that.  I used:
1 cup of my mom's fresh basil
1/4 cup of pistachios
1 TBS miso
1 TBS cashew cream
2 TBS of water
Pepper to taste - put all of this together in the food processor.  The smell was unreal!
I spread this over hot pasta.  I added tomatoes, roasted red peppers and asparagus to the pesto and pasta.
I boiled the asparagus for a few minutes, then put it in a shallow dish with a little sesame oil and GF soy sauce.  They marinaded for about 15 minutes while I got everything else ready.   The red peppers were straight from the jar and I just chopped in half little tomatoes and tossed it all together.  Delicious! 

Another quick note, I am experimenting with different gluten free pastas.  I am trying all of the spiral pasta, because the pestos and sauces stick to it better.  So far, I like the quinoa pasta the best.  The rice pasta gets a little soggy for my liking.

My Basil Pesto Creation - no oil, no garlic, yet creamy and tasty!

Sally's Bakery Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sallys-Bakery-A-Gluten-Free-Place/110108582334971

Fancy Monday Night Dinner

I have never cooked brussel sprouts before last night.  It was not until I tasted MetroFresh's brussel sprouts a few weeks ago, that I became a fan of brussel sprouts.  I cut the ends off and cut them in half, blanched them (which I just learned means put them in boiling water for a few minutes), then coated them with a very little grapeseed oil, salt and pepper, then roasted them on 350 for about 15 minutes.  I served this with polenta and tofu.  For the polenta, I cut them in 1/2 inches rounds, and put them in a hot pan with  oil cooking spray.  You can watch as they change to a darker yellow, then flip and wait for them to cook all the way through.  I served the polenta with a little cashew cream, basil, a drizzle of balsamic glaze and topped them with nectarines and strawberries.  Awesome new creation!!  For the tofu, I marinaded them in 1/4 cup agave syrup, 1/2 cup GF soy sauce, the juice of 2 limes, and lots of pepper.  After pressing the tofu to get the water out, I cut them in triangles, put them in a shallow pan with the marinade for about 30 minutes.  Then baked them at 300 for about 15 minutes.  After the oven, I put them on our stove top grill for a few minutes to get the grill marks and become a little more firm.  Yes, the dinner was  more difficult and time consuming, but the taste was out of this world.  BOTH girls loved it, and I saved the tofu sauce for Chad's dinner.  He just substituted a piece of chicken for the tofu.   I am trying to do one "fancy" dinner a week - I cant do this kind of cooking every night!!  (For those interested, Whole Foods as already cooked chicken breast by Bell that I pull out of the freezer for Chad's dinner.)  By the time he gets home it has thawed, and takes just a minute on the grill to heat up.  Cashew cream is a new discovery.  I now have little cups of it frozen in my freezer.  You soak cashews in a lot of water over night.  The next morning drain the water, and put the nuts in the food processor.  The result is delicious, and can be used in mashed potatoes, salad dressing, as cream on top of polenta, etc.  I hope to discover many more ways to use it.  Its a great dairy substitute.
MetroFresh mentioned above is a favorite restaurant of mine - amazing vegan, GF options EVERY day!!
http://www.metrofreshatl.com/

The girls are now Jamie Oliver fans

Lotta Frutta's Pops

I thought Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution might be a little over my girls heads or that they would become instantly "bored".  But, I was telling them about where food comes from one day and had his show saved on our DVR so I  decided to give it a try.  They LOVED it, and seemed to understand healthy eating much better after watching his show.  They now ask to watch him everyday!  Their new found enthusiasm and curiosity about healthy eating as been a lot of fun for me.  To hear them talk about what is healthy and what is not, and how can we find a good healthy meal, etc is exciting.  Today, my oldest suggested that we go out to lunch, because I had worked so hard cleaning the kitchen and she didnt want to have to see me do that again.  Humm, valid point, my dear, where shall we go?  Both girls screamed, Lotta Frutta.  I know, I have written about this place too much - but I had two new exciting discoveries!

Coconut Milk Mango Ice Cream

I was able to talk with the owner, Myrna for a few minutes.  She was so full of love and excitement it was a pleasure to spend time with her.  I told her I was heartbroken that I could not eat my favorite sandwich (b/c of the gluten).  She did not miss a beat and came up with an amazing salad.  Mixed greens, tomatoes, the avocado spread that I love on the sandwich, toasted pumpkin seeds, kiwi, oranges, and a lemon vinaigrette.    Wow!!  Seriously -   I am beginning to think the more things I tell a chef that I can not have, the more exotic and full of taste the dishes become!  So - Lotta Frutta - vegan, gluten free salad. Awesome.  2nd, they are now serving vegan / GF ice cream made of coconut milk - today was mango.  Again - awesome.  Soooo good. 

Salad creation - GF and Vegan

Amazing meal in Highlands, NC

I am pretty confident that  I can find something vegan to order at most restaurants.  Sometimes it takes a little creativity, but I rarely find it overly challenging.  Now that I have added an extra layer of complexity - vegan and gluten free - I find dining out a LOT more difficult.  But when the chef smiles at the challenge and doesn't roll his or her eyes, I know I am in for a treat.  So it was Friday night in Highlands, NC at Lakeside Restaurant. (www.lakesiderestaurant.info/)  The Chef and Owner, Marty came out, and I told him my obstacles, and he said no problem.  I had the most scrumptious variety of veggies embolden with a hint of curry and simply, an amazing taste.  My tastebuds were delighted, and the mix of vegetables was filling and satisfying.  I could not put my fork down.

Gluten Free / Vegan Muffins

I awoke this morning craving muffins -  I walked down to MetroFresh but unfortunately I got there during the one hour a day they are closed!  So, I upon my return I remembered that I just bought a gluten free muffin mix at Whole Foods made by Namaste.  I combined the Namaste mix with:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/8 cup of apple sauce
• 1/8 cup of oil (I use grapeseed oil)
• 2 TBS of ground flax seed with 6 TBS warm water (mix and let this sit for 2 minutes)
• a handful of vegan dark chocolate chips
• a handful of dried cranberries
• I baked according to the directions on the Namaste package

Result - delicious, sweet, dense, moist muffins!

Experimenting begins:

Let me reiterate - I am not a cook, nor do I LOVE to cook.  I mildly enjoy it when I have all the ingredients I need, a quiet kitchen, maybe some music playing and a glass of champagne in my hand.  So, as you can imagine, that scene never occurs.  But, I do have a few summer goals - create a great gazpacho, a tasty hummus and a delicious, yet healthy frozen coffee drink.  The last two, I am still fiddling with.  The first, I undertook this morning at 7:30am with 2 girls running around screaming over their latest drama.  Note, I said 7:30am, yes the family had been awake since 6:30.  I had no less than four recipes spread out on the counter, and I did my best to take what I liked from some and combine. I came up with this:
Summertime Gazpacho

1 cup of orange juice (I use organic Trader Joes)
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
1 whole chopped avocado
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/2 chopped garlic clove
1/2 chopped vidala onion
1/2 finely chopped jalapeno (next time I would use a whole)
1/2 chopped cucumber
1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

First lesson - I need more kitchen utensils - something that will chop all of that stuff for me - that took way too long. 

After dicing everything, I put the OJ, spices and half of all the chopped goodies in the food processor.  Blended away, then added the rest and pulsed it a few times.  I used my mom's trick of putting it in a big pitcher in my refrigerator and let it chill for a couple of hours.  Then it is easy to pour yourself some healthy gazpacho anytime!  Ry did not like it, S loved it, and I loved it.  I did not ask Chad to try it, he doesn't like sweet dishes.  (Lucky guy)

Notice - this dish is gluten free, vegan, and  low in fat!  One small goal accomplished, on to many more.