CSA week two, plus grocery findings

Good morning and happy Sunday! Hope that everyone had a great week and weekend so far! Our week was pretty busy and I did some "throw together" dinners during the week without many pictures. However, I did get a pretty nice CSA haul this week:

I didn't do the extra fruit share this week - mostly because it was still apples, and living in Upstate NY has spoiled me to want apples when they're in season. Still, I got: 

• 2 kohlrabi (a new-to-me veggie)
• Frozen green beans, corn and blueberries
• Oyster and shiitake mushroms
• A handful of onions
• A big bag o' garlic 
• Stella Vallis Tomme cheese

I also still have a decent amount of veggies from last week:

• Onions and potatoes are being stored right now (I also got a free bag of russet potatoes from PC!)
• Still have carrots from last week 
• Still have frozen broccoli from last week

Okay, so what have I done/am planning to do with all of these veggies?

• Last week's garlic bulb was gone in a couple of days. I am realizing how much I use garlic in just about everything! 
• I'm storing the onions and potatoes in modified Trader Joe's paper bags, in cool dark locations, so hopefully they last well until I need to use them. 
• The carrots are in my fridge - I need to use them up soon. 
•  The pea greens from last week ended up being polished off by me - raw - Sunday as a snack while preparing lunch. 
• The apples from last week were brought in to work with lunch by my husband and myself. The last of the apples were sliced last Sunday, and eaten with brie. 
• The watermelon radishes were all used up in salads. 
• The frozen broccoli, green beans, corn and blueberries are all in the freezer still, so I'm holding off on using them up. 
• Friday night, we brought a rotisserie chicken home from Price Chopper for dinner. I sauteed the frozen kale with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and used some leftover mashed potatoes. It was good - and an easy meal!
• Saturday night I made chicken tortilla soup from one of my light and healthy cookbooks, but the only thing I put in it from the CSA haul were onions and garlic. 
• The cheese will be tried today, after my boot camp class at the gym! Cheese, once it's opened, never lasts more than a couple of days in this house. 
• This evening, we're planning broiled steaks with sauteed mushrooms and onions (with garlic) and, if I feel ambitious, homemade garlic and rosemary bread. 
• The rest of the garlic will get chopped up, mixed with EVOO, and frozen. (Food safety tip: it's important to freeze that mixture, and not refrigerate it!)
• During the week I'm planning an cooking tilapia, and making this kohlrabi recipe to go with it: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-kohlrabi/
• Carrots may get used in salads. If not, I have to make a soup next weekend! 

I also found some interesting stuff to stock the freezer with during my travels on Saturday:

• Walmart now carries more gluten free frozen goods! I found Tyson gluten free chicken tenders and nuggets in their freezer and picked up the tenders. I still haven't found the GF Purdue chicken anywhere. Once in a while when we feel like being bad, chicken tenders/nuggets with homemade french fries is a necessary dinner.

• Price Chopper had Contessa frozen  convenience dinners on sale (Buy One, Get One) last week. I haven't tried them, but they caught my eye and some of them were labelled GF! After reading the ingredient label, they're not that bad for a convenience meal - each package has 2 servings, and they're between 300 and 350 calories per serving. We picked up the Shrimp Fried Rice and Paella meals to store in the freezer for when we need a quick meal.

My first CSA

I've been toying with the idea of subscribing to a CSA for a couple of years now. I'll admit that the reason I haven't is basically laziness - I didn't really want to be bothered having to go somewhere inconvenient to me to pick stuff up. Last week, though, I started a Field Goods subscription for the first time, and I am really impressed! 

As those of you who follow me on social media know, I've been trying really hard to eat healthier this year. So far it's paying off, and my clothes are fitting much better (I even dropped a size when I bought new pants for work a week ago!). But, the fact that Field Goods drops off to a location convenient to my office, combined with the fact that I'd like to incorporate more veggies into my diet, made me sign up. 

Right now I'm signed up for a $37 subscription. That gets me: 

• The "Small" fruit and vegetable share, which they say is good for 1-2 people. 
• The extra fruit share
• The herb and allium share
• The cheese share (which is what my husband was most excited about, lol)

All right, so what did I get? 

First, not pictured: 

• We got a Caerphilly cheese from the cheese share. Man, that stuff was good - didn't last long enough to take any pictures. 
• We got frozen broccoli and kale, which is sitting in my freezer as we speak. 
• Carrots (which I forgot to take a picture of for some reason)

Pea greens (I've never had these before, but they were good!):

Yukon gold potatoes: 

Watermelon radishes, another "new-to-me" veggie: 

From the herb and allium share, I got a whole bag of onions, and a bonus bulb of garlic (not pictured):

Also, I got a whole bunch of yummy gala and fuji apples (from the combined fruit and small fruit and vegetable shares): 

All right, so what have I made with these so far?

First, there's this awesome salad: 

Organic baby greens, pea greens, watermelon radish, cucumber, red bell pepper, carrot, mushroom, and chickpea. That's one good (and colorful!) salad, and I still have some left over for tomorrow's lunch. And I love how the radishes really do look like little watermelon slices! :-)

Then, last night's dinner, szechuan style shrimp. I use this base recipe, but I double the sauce (and obviously use gluten free soy sauce) and add a lot of veggies. In this case, I wanted to use up some veggies that I had on hand, so I threw in snow peas, the last of my red bell pepper, mushrooms and baby corn. I serve it with jasmine rice, and I was so stuffed by the end of the meal that I didn't even have room for more of that awesome salad (but I guess I did get a lot of veggies in the main dish). 

Other stuff that I didn't take pictures of - Well, for breakfast a couple days I did a hard boiled egg with a sliced apple, and yesterday's lunch was apple slices and light brie cheese. I also polished off the pea greens (raw) yesterday. Right now I'm storing the onions and potatoes and carrots, and hoping to find something to make this weekend (if nothing else, maybe a chicken soup). 

Can't wait to see what this week's bundle brings!

Happy New Year! ... and humbling experiences in the kitchen.

Happy New Year all and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! My husband and I were both off starting Christmas Eve, and we go back to work tomorrow. We've enjoyed our relaxing vacation and a lot of fun times with family and good friends, but now it's time to get back into the swing of things - going back to work, eating slightly more healthy (and trying to trim down for an upcoming cruise!) and not skipping as many workouts. :-)

However, I do have to say, I have one complaint about this past holiday (technically, two, but they're rolled up into one). I had not one, but two, incredibly humbling experiences in the kitchen over the holidays. I like to think of myself as a good cook - I may not always cook the healthiest, lightest stuff around but it always tastes good. I haven't royally messed anything up in a long while, but I think it's fair to admit when I do - and see what lessons I can learn for the next time!

The first, was my in-laws' holiday party. My mother in law asked me to bring a couple of things, including my gluten free pepperoni pizza puffs. Based on the number of people we expected to attend, we decided that a double batch would probably be best. Now, I was rushed that day - I came home from bootcamp at the gym and had just enough time to shower and cook before heading out to the party - and I didn't want to cook two separate batches, so I borrowed her mini muffin tins and crammed all four tins in my oven. I cooked them for the usual amount of time, figuring that since more stuff was in the oven I'd check them and see if they needed more time. Unfortunately - I'm guessing due to the fact that the tins were much closer to the side of my oven than usual - I ended up burning about half of them. Not. Cool.

So - lesson one: When doubling a batch of anything, try to keep the amount in the oven the same if possible. And if cramming more in the oven than usual, keep checking on everything starting at the halfway point! 

Anyway, the pizza puffs ended up not being quite the catastrophe that they could have been, because the party guest list was halved due to snowy weather. Still, that's so annoying!

The second, was last night. New Years' Eve. A couple of close friends had decided that a low-key night with board games was the best way to ring in 2013. We had a gluten free restriction, a vegetarian (but eggs and cheese were OK), and a white/black pepper allergy. We decided that keeping it low-key was in order, so I decided to make pizzas - I made my favorite white broccoli pizza, along with a half-cheese/half-mushroom pizza and a pepperoni pizza. I also made buffalo chicken dip, Indian relish dip, and put out a cranberry spice cheese with Glutino cinnamon bagel chips (yum - my mother in law found that combination over the holiday, and it's like crack). And I made my champagne punch, as well as a requested toxic party punch (toxic because it doesn't taste like alcohol and goes down smooth, but is extremely potent), so we were all set! We also had macaroons and amarettis from our Christmas baking extravaganza, and friends brought an awesome fruit platter!

First things first - I bought Penzey's pizza seasoning, but when I read the ingredient label I saw black pepper. You know that scene in Bridget Jones' Diary, where her boss catches her on the phone with a friend, and then catches her lying that she was talking to a dead author? .... Yeah, that was my reaction. I texted my friend quickly, asking her if she wanted a pizza with plain marinara sauce, but fortunately her allergy isn't that severe, so she said she'd take a Benadryl and to season away! So I did, but kept it on the light side.

My master plan here was to make the pizza crusts ahead of time, and then just put the toppings on them when everyone got to the house. Sounds good in theory, right? Well, unfortunately, keeping them in the oven on warm for half an hour dried out the crusts so they were hard and rather unappetizing. :-(

So - lesson two: New cooking techniques are better to be experimented on just us, first, And New Years' Resolution: Find out how to make pizza crusts ahead of time, so they can just be taken out and warmed up with toppings, and still taste great! 

Ah well. We still had a great time, played games like Cards Against Humanity and Dirty Minds, enjoyed good company and good conversation, and rang in 2013 in style. Even with my culinary mishap.

Final lesson - lesson three: Don't let a kitchen disaster ruin your night! 

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Gluten free holiday party recipes

Happy holidays! I can't believe it's already December 6. Time is flying - and I don't feel anywhere near ready for Christmas!

Anyway - with all of the holiday parties, etc. going on this time of year, I wanted to share some of my favorite go-to holiday recipe bookmarks. These are great if hosting a party, and super-easy to make if bringing dishes over to someone's house as well! 

Appetizer: Indian Relish

Link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/indian-relish/

This is my FAVORITE appetizer recipe. When I'm done following the recipe as-is, I stir in a brick of softened 1/3 less fat cream cheese (I usually use Philadephia, because of Kraft's labelling policy, but the brand probably doesn't matter as long as it's gluten free). Make the night before you want to serve or bring it, and let it chill in the fridge overnight - serve with plain rice crackers. It's delicious in a sweet-then-spicy, addictive sort of way. 

Main dish: Chili

Link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/flatlander-chili/

This is a nice, simple, not-too-hot (unless you customize it) chili. It's great to bring in a crock pot if you're not sure someone's going to have gluten free offerings, and they'll always go quickly! I serve this chili with Scoops, sour cream, cheddar cheese, diced onions and diced avocados and it's amazing - and always goes! 

Dessert: Pecan Clouds

Link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-clouds/

These are a super-yummy, easy and naturally gluten free holiday dessert. I use dark brown sugar for these, and they were also my go-to gluten free "pecan" dessert on Thanksgiving. I use chopped pecans (or chop them myself). 

Addictive Snack: Caramel Corn

Link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-popcorn/

This is my favorite fall-and-winter recipe. I use light brown sugar for these. It's wonderful, addictive, good for a dessert or a snack, and is guaranteed to be polished off. I usually make these in my turkey roasting pan so I have enough room to stir - it's good hot, but even better once it cools off! 

Hope that helps if you're looking for something to make this holiday season! 

Gluten Free Pigs in a Blanket

So, this year my husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving for our families. The last couple of years my mother in law has been hosting Thanksgiving while I concentrate on finals, but this year was our turn. Well, one of the things that we had been thinking of for an appetizer were pigs-in-a-blanket: something that we hadn't had since childhood (when we used Pillsbury crescent rolls). I wasn't sure if I could do these, so I tried a trial run yesterday for lunch: 

First, I bought a package of Hillshire Farms cocktail weiners (after checking online and finding out that Sara Lee is another company that promises to clearly label gluten in their ingredients list - while I much prefer companies that go the extra mile and slap "gluten free" on their label, I won't complain here). Then, I rifled through my recipe box and found a pumpkin pie recipe that I had made a few years' back (the last time I hosted Thanksgiving). 

Here's the pie crust recipe, from Libby's: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/143974/Gluten-Free-Pie-Crust-with-LIBBYS-Famous-Pumpkin-Pie-Filling/detail.aspx I hade made this the last time I hosted Thanksgiving, and used the crust for both a pumpkin pie as well as a homemade apple pie for my husband and mother in law. My husband liked the pie, but my mother-in-law informed me that it was not nearly sweet enough for a pie crust and needed a lot more sugar. So, in the recipe box it went, but I remembered how easy it was to roll out the pie crust and figured it might be an easy way to make pigs in a blanket. 

It's a pretty easy pie crust recipe: 

• CRUST
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
• The instructions basically have you combine all the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter and mix until it's crumbly. Then add the egg and apple cider vinegar. After that, just sprinkle the water in slowly until you get to the desired consistency - which is to be able to shape the dough into a ball. Now, be careful with the water here - just a smidge too much water and it's much harder to roll. I dusted my rolling pin with cornstarch, and it was very easy to roll out this crust with a rolling pin. 
• I rolled out the dough very thin and cut with a knife. I then rolled up the weiners in the dough and placed them on a greased baking sheet. Don't over-do Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes - until the dough starts to get a little golden brown. Mine never got golden brown on top, just on the bottom. Don't over-cook them and make sure to check the bottoms after 15 minutes. 

Serve immediately, with spicy mustard - we like French's. :-)

Apple Cinnamon Chex

We're always on the lookout for new gluten free "normal" cereals, and when we heard that Chex was coming out with an Apple Cinnamon flavor, we couldn't wait to try it! I have to admit that I love the fact that General Mills is reaching out to the gluten free community, for example through glutenfreely.com. It's about time that a major company realized how much money there is to be made by properly labeling gluten free food, and I know that I vote with my dollars.

That said - I hate to say it, but as soon as I got my hands on a box of Apple Cinnamon Chex? ... Not that big of a fan. There's a very strong apple taste that overpowers the cinnamon flavor, and it doesn't quite go well with milk. I love their Cinnamon Chex, and think that their current Cinnamon Chex would have been a better place to start for an apple cinnamon flavor.

My suggestion: Combine some Cinnamon Chex with Rice Chex to tone down the cinnamon flavor, and add dried apples to make them "apple cinnamon."

That said - I'm glad that General Mills is innovating and creating new products. Now if only Post and Kelloggs would follow suit and add more options than Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles and Gluten Free Rice Krispies!

Nacho Cheese Doritos

When my husband went gluten free, one of the things he missed the most was Doritos. Sure, Cool Ranch and some other flavors were safe to eat, but his favorite - Nacho Cheese flavor - contained wheat in the ingredient list.

Every week, for years, whenever he's been in the chip aisle of the grocery store, he's picked up a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, seen that they still contain wheat, and said "Why!?!?"

... Until last week that is. We went to the grocery store and saw "Contains milk" under the ingredient list - NO WHEAT. Of course, I was immediately paranoid that it still contained wheat and it was a labeling mistake until I contacted Frito-Lay.

I'm happy to say that Nacho Cheese Doritos no longer contains wheat. I still wouldn't feel comfortable buying a bag that said "Contains wheat," and I'd double check the ingredient list to make sure you don't get an old bag, but how sweet - or should I say cheesy ;-) - is this?

Anyway, the response from my inquiry to Frito-Lay is after the jump: