Gluten Free Goodness

This week’s theme is hosted by Scrumptious of In my box, and she’s chosen dutch ovens.  I love my dutch oven…especially when it gets cold. However, given the current state of my kitchen, a dutch oven isn’t possible right now.

I am sorely in need of a menu plan, organization went out the window when we got our kitchen remodeled.  I am hoping for a peaceful week, and to cook and freeze a meal for me for Thanksgiving, if possible.

Monday:

Turkey with celery in chestnut sauce

Tues:
Rosemary salmon and roasted peppers

Weds:
Amy’s lentil soup and papads

Thursday:
Chicken breasts in tomato sauce with sauteed broccoli

Friday:
TBD

Sweets and treats:
Chestnut carob balls
I’d like to make hazenut butter cups. We shall see how that works.

From my garden:
Tomatoes (Still!!)
raspberries

This week’s theme is carrots! These babies came straight from my garden this week. I’m so jazzed, I’ve never gotten carrots this big.

Sorry for the late theme announcement, I need new volunteers!

I don’t really have a menu plan for this week because we’re having the kitchen remodeled and my kitchen is currently in boxes (which presents quite a challenge!) So I am expecting that there will be an abundance of Amy’s soup and fruit and nuts in my diet. Planning ahead is a great thing, but only if you do it!

Instead of my menu plan, I offer my GF Thanksgiving newsletter. There’s a link to a GF turkey list, T-day tips and recipes, a class I’m holding next weekend and more.

And everyone else?

Kim of Gluten Free is Life has had several big losses in the past month and so she is working on regrouping. So please send hugs her way. She enjoys carrots roasted, and has great sounding recipes, like sweet potato hash browns!

Scrumptious of In my box has a beautiful, GF vegan menu planned with a fantastic sounding Moroccan Butternut Squash and Carrot Stew with Quinoa Pilaf that looks like a great melding of seasonal flavors. And I”m loving her pictures, too!

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.

See my beautiful tomatoes and peppers? I’m so delighted to have such an abundance of gorgeous veggies, and I can’t believe they’re still doing so well in late September.

I’ve also just posted the last DB challenges-Vols-au-Vent, which are fancy puff pastry cups.

This week, I chose vegetarian meals as the theme. I don’t eat vegan every day, quite frankly because I don’t feel as well or have as much energy after a day or so.  But I do think it’s important for us to cut back. DH and I have discussed adding more veg meals into our diet, and we’ve discussed it before, but it just hasn’t (yet) happened on a regular basis. We have a few quinoa and bean dishes that we have. We love the quinoa ones, but I haven’t totally sold DH on them yet (with the exception of a chocolate raspberry pie made with navy beans–I will post this later this week).

Here are a few of our favorites

• Quinoa and black bean
• Hearty African Inspired Almond Collard Stew
• Quinoa Italiana
• Lemony Mint Quinoa

I can’t wait to see your vegetarian favorites!

Monday:

Celery and turkey in chestnut sauce

Tues:
(vegan)Lemony Mint Quinoa

Weds:
(vegan)Red lentil curry with cauliflower and papads

Thursday:
(Vegan) Malasian curry (from the spice and herb bible)

Friday:
Pesto-ed mahi

Baked goods:
I surely don’t know. My baking has been pretty impulsive lately. Last week, I made an apple crumble (like this but less arrowroot and a mix of apples and cranberries), cinnamon bread and ginger cookies.

From my garden:

• tomatoes
• peppers
• lemongrass
• basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, etc
• carrots

From the market:

• apples: gobs of them!
• kale
• onions

and everyone else?

Kim of Gluten free is life includes some of her favorite vegetarian dishes, including a Cocoa-coconut chili recipe from ED&BV.  Need I say more?  I think my menu for this week is changing now!  And she even gives a heads up on a pumpkin shortage.  Who knew!

Elizabeth of A Modern Gal joins us with a low carb menu.  She’s got a lot of interesting dishes on the menu, such as Aztec vegetables, quick black bean soup, and more!

Sea of Book of yum was a shoo in for this one, as she’s always a gluten free vegetarian!  She shares a fabulous looking recipe for Arugula Herb Gnocchi, which is dairy free, too, so that baby Sea is a happy camper.

Heather of Celiac Family has a hectic week planned, but she still has some Cilantro Lime shrimp on the menu that sound awesome, and I love the idea of breakfast for dinner.

Trish of Gluten Free in SLC shares a squash primer, and she has many locally grown foods on her menu, which I think is awesome.  I wish we had more co-ops here.

Deb of Green V-neck has a great line up, and I love the idea of sweet potato chili–reminds me of butternut squash chili that I should start making again!  Her asian noodle salad sounds great, too.  Thanks for joining us, Deb.

Thanks for the vegetarian inspirations!

I enjoy the Fall time, especially since I have such a luscious garden bounty. My tomatoes have been generous, I’m finally getting to enjoy some peppers, the carrots are getting big and pumpkins are on their way! I’m a mini-pumpkin kinda gal, as I’m allergic, but love them for their ornamental qualities.

Wendy of Celiacs in the House is kind enough to host with a pumpkin theme this week (thanks, Wendy!)

So…here’s my super quick plan, since I’m already late:

Monday:
Kale and white beans

Tues:
beef/garlic stir fry

Weds:
Roasted rosemary salmon and broccoli

Thursday:
Chicken in a Sri Lankan masala sauce (courtesy of the Spice and Herb bible)

Friday:
Dunno…leftovers?

Baked goods:
the DB challenge–let’s just say, super luscious. in the extreme!
an apple crumble

In my garden:
tomatoes
peppers
herbs
pumpkins!!

From the market:
kale
peaches
apples

M-elle of La Cocina de Michelle (aka Cooking & UNCooking) has picked one of my favorite most foods ever–quinoa! And it’s a perfect week for it, because when DH is out of town, I tend to eat mostly vegan fare. So a big thank you to M-elle!

It was a fun week in the kitchen. I’ve been intent on making a challah for Rosh Hashana, which is right around the corner. I tried, and tried, and tried to adapt one of my egg roll doughs for the process and repeatedly tried to make it into challah…but nope. Tasty bread, yes. Challah, no. So I caved in and tried Vic’s recipe. It seems to taste much more like challah. It’s hard to know for sure–I can’t try it because of the egg, and I’ve had trouble finding people who know what it’s supposed to taste like. But oh, it smells right, and I was totally tickled. I do have to work on the shape, though. It rose more than I expected.

I also posted a flourless chocolate torte this week, which is delightfully gluten, dairy and sugar free, and super yummy!

Monday:

Salmon and fennel

Tuesday:
Lemony mint quinoa with fresh tomatoes

Wednesday:
Red lentil curry

Thursday

Southwestern quinoa and beans

Friday:
Rosemary chicken, asparagus and some yummy apple themed dessert

Baked goods:
Challah
agave sweetened caramel sauce with apples

Growing in my garden:
my tomatoes–despite the weather, they’re alive and happy. I think it’s ’cause I sing to them
peppers
herbs–basil, oregano, thyme, mint, rosemary, lemongrass, etc.

From the market:
peaches
apples
plums
asian pears