Gluten Free Goodness

Ah, what a weekend, what yummy food. We had a great pumpkin carving party and have the pumpkin guts on the walls to prove it! I will post pictures soon, and am recovering from binge baking. That’s a real disease, right?

And, of course, the ROCK Halloween GF candy list is out! I’ve uploaded it on my website if you’re one of those weird people who like candy. Many thanks to those who put it together.

Our fabulous host for this week’s menu plan Monday is Heather of Celiac Family. Now, not only did Heather choose shrimp for this week’s ingredient, but she also chose cilantro, too, so those of us that are shrimp allergic like ME would be able to play, too. I love cilantro, DH does not. We had it in Salsamole this weekend at our party and I finished it off for dinner…yum!!!

This week will be simple because I am working on a very cool Celiac education grant. All warm fuzzies in my direction will be greatly appreciated! However, it does seem like every week I have to keep things simple so I will have to give though to how to reverse that trend.

Monday:
Turkey with celery in chestnut sauce

Tues:
Lemony mint quinoa with our fresh tomatoes

Weds:
Tuna with apple in lettuce wraps

Thurs:
Chicken slathered in arugula pesto

Friday:
leftovers. yahoo!

Baked good:
chocolate torte
lemongrass tea

From the garden:
tomatoes
peppers (not many)
parsley

from the market:
gobs of apples
pears

I must admit, I do love Fall, but I’m so not a fan of the rain and gloomy weather we’ve been having.  I say the guys have the right idea!

Wendy of Celiacs in the House is our lovely hostess and she has picked squash as a theme.  I’m allergic to squash.  All kinds.  Watermelon, cucumbers, butternut (although I do sometimes have it), pumpkin-you get the idea.  So squash will be eaten, but not by me!

This Saturday will be our 8th year hosting a pumpkin carving party, which is good fun, gobs of work, and copious quantities of yummy (gluten free!) food.  So far, I’ve made and frozen rugelach dough and chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate almond balls, which are super addictive, and pumpkin seed brittle. What a way to break almost a month of non baking with a huge baking binge, but hey.  And still to come is pumpkin bread, sweet potato cornbread, pigs in a blanket (yes, gf pigs in a blanket using this croissant dough), an apple crisp and a chocolate cherry pie.  Did I mention that I have a problem with making too much food?  Oh yeah, there will be food, too, and I’ll be making chili and hot apple ‘cider‘.  If you have a good recipe for white chili, drop me a line por favor.

Also, I have a newsletter up on Autumn/Halloween related stuff. Enjoy!

Due to the ungodly amount of baking that has/will happen in the near future, meals will be SIMPLE.

Monday:

Chicken in tomato sauce with asparagus

Tuesday:
Lentil stew from the freezer with papadams

Weds:
Curried bison in a coconut sauce and the biggest cauliflower I’ve ever seen

Thursday:
Rosemary roasted salmon and broccoli

Friday:
whatever I can dig up that’s easy–which may mean fruit and nuts, which I adore.

From my garden:

peppers
carrots
tomatoes
Serranos

From the market:
kale
broccoli
apples
pears
garlic

I’m delighted to be hostessing again with one of my very favorites: apples!  As a NY’er from birth, apples are clearly near and dear to my heart.  It’s been hard to adjust to VA apples, but hey, a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s got to do!

There has been little baking at Chez Harris as one of our kitties was in the hospital and I got in a minor car accident.  Happily, all is well on all fronts, even if we are a bit dazed and confused (and lighter in the wallet).  And it helps us remember what really matters. But meals will be simple to promote the return of sanity

My garden is alive and well due to the mild weather, and I’ve even been getting quite a few visitors to the butterfly bush.

Also, PLEASE sign up to host! yes, you.

So onwards to the food:

Monday:

Grilled peppers and rubbed chicken

Tuesday:
Sauteed kale and Kalamata olives

Weds:
Turkey and celery in chestnut sauce

Thursday:
Veggies in a sunflower curry sauce

Friday:
TBD

Kitchen fun:
apple crumble!!
pesto

From my garden:
peppers
tomatoes
herbs

Wendy of Celiacs in the House teases us with the promise of a GF apple cake.  That must be one of my all time favorites!  She’s trying to get back to planning, since her hubby is back home and she’s got hungry teens to feed.

Heather of Celiac Family has puposas and avocado salsa on the line up.  YUM!!!  She also had some nice posts up about Halloween, so check those out.

Kim has been having a hard week, so let’s all send a collective hug in her direction.  She’s got pumpkin baked ziti on the menu, which sounds delish.

Debbie joins us from Green V neck and she’s got Singapore noodles on the menu.  I’m intrigued.  She also has a few birthday celebrations (her twins turning 16!)  What a milestone!

Elizabeth of A modern gal shares her menu.  She, too, is a fan of Honeycrisp.  She’s got a few crockpot dishes and chili in the lineup that sound perfect for the chilly weather.

Jo ann joins us for a grain free week with some of recipes from Elana’s new cookbook.  Yum!  She’s also got chili on the menu and grain free pizza.

Scrumptious of In my box has a bean heavy week planned.  I’d never heard of 5 spices, 50 dishes, but it sounds like a great book and the chocolate pumpkin loaf sounds delish!

Esther of Lilac Kitchen has some lovely pictures of beetroot and plans to go scrumping for apples.  Esther was kind enough to elaborate on scrumping–essentially grabbing apples on abandoned land, which sure makes more sense to me than having them go to waste!

What a great lineup of menus!  Thanks all for participating, and have a great week.