menu swap for may 4-10

This weeks menu swap is being hosted by Cooking Illustrated. She has a fantastic website and I plan on using her Creamy Dill Salad Dressing as part of menu this week.

Potatoes are this weeks theme ingredient. YEAH!! I love potatoes plus most varieties are high in (yep you guessed it) antioxidants. however my choices here are very limited I plan on using them to their fullest potential.

Sunday: baked potato soup

Monday: pork chops with chorizo gravy and rice

Tuesday: grilled steaks with twice baked potatoes and roasted cherry tomatoes

Wednesday: pumpkin gnocchi with cream sauce and Parmesan

Thursday: grilled chicken with a warm potato salad dressed with creamy dill dressing

Friday: tuna patties with macaroni and cheese

Saturday: eating out

now for the best part my dessert of the week is going to be potato candy (recipe to come)

cinnamon twists

OK this post is for Manda over at Asparagus Thin but first a little background on Taco Bell night. When ever I am love sick and missing my husband, which is all the time, I crave Taco Bell. See we worked there together in fact that is how we met and all though it was one marriage and baby later before we would get together even though there was always a chemistry between us.

OK so now you know how I came to meet and marry my soul mate let me tell you the truth of cinnamon twists. They are fried twisty pasta! That's right fry rotini pasta at 375 and coat with cinnamon sugar. The problem now is finding the best gf pasta brand for the flavor. I used an Italian corn pasta which left a popcorn flavor and I had to add a pinch of salt to the batch because of it. They were still very tasty.

OK now that you know the secret I hope you enjoy experimenting with it.

menu swap for april 27- may 3

This weeks menu swap is hosted by Asparagus Thin who has a fantastic site going. The ingredient is peas which I love however my mom is here visiting and she hates peas so I will not be able to utilize the theme ingredient.My menu this week will continue to focus on a diet rich in antioxidants. A bonus for this week is that I went to wonderful olive mill and purchased some fresh olive oil so I am going to whip up some wonderful dressings for my salads and fish.

Sunday: Taco Bell Night with tacos, beans, mexican rice, salsa, guacamole, and homemade cinnamon twists and chocolate ice cream

Monday: grilled tuna steaks with fresh herb infused olive oil and a greek salad

Tuesday: grilled chicken breasts topped with mozzarella cheese served with spaghetti and a homemade tomato sauce

Wednesday: grilled steaks and salad

Thursday: hamburger steaks topped with wilted spinach and asiago cheese with baked potatoes

Friday: crab legs and corn chowder with Ginger Lemon Girl's cheddar biscuits

Saturday: eating out

my dessert for this week (well I have 3 this week since i was feeling inspired but no recipes. I will post them as i create the desserts) rocky road gelato, cinnamon twists, and meringue oreos

Today was market day in downtown and even though I did not buy any vegetables or cheese I wanted to share this awesome picture my mom took. We sat at this outdoor cafe for lunch and watched the people crowding the square. I was inspired to make some gelato this weekend though. I am thinking a chocolate rocky road kind. Well i hope you enjoyed the picture and stay tuned for the verdict on my previously posted gelato recipe in rocky road flavor.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Well I was up at 4:30 this morning in pain from my most recent clumsiness and found myself in need of a distraction. You see yesterday I took my mom to see a fabulous castle in Soave IT and while walking down the slick wet marble steps from the tower i slipped and broke my tail bone. I did not think that it was actually capable of being done but I did. OK so anyway I am up and in pain searching the web trying to be quite when i came across peanut butter cookies on Gluten-Free Girl's website. I couldn't believe that there was a quick easy recipe that i would have all the ingredients to make at 4 am. Inspiration swept through me and with her recipe i recreated a flavorful version on jam cookies. YEAH!!!

I tell you you have to try her recipe it was Divine. I also took a few to the little boy down the street whose mother has decided to go GFCF for his autism and he is doing very well with it.

things i have found out

So I have been checking out different gf blogs and amazed and inspired by every ones ideas and recipes. There are so many bloggers doing amazing things and so what I have learned is that even though I am gluten free now I can still do amazing things in the kitchen. I have learned that there is so much that can be done if I learn to try to cook outside my box and even though I think I am a decent cook I don't try to create my own recipes I just play with recipes I have been using for years. I have been inspired truly inspired to get in there and try something new. I see now that a recipe may fail but i should keep trying. Anyway my point is to thank all the bloggers out there kicking it gf style for showing me there is more to my kitchen then bland bread and strange prebaked cookies.

menu swap for april 20-26th

this weeks swap was hosted by gluten free mommy and her menu looks very tempting
OK my menu this week will be focused on fresh fruits and vegetables as I try to detox from my travels. I have been reading up about antioxidants and free radicals lately so I have decide to start eating healthier. The National Cancer Institute provides some basic information on the subject. I also looked at other websites and magazines, but I warn do not believe everything you read on the Internet because it is hard to tell which sites are reputable and which are not.

I found this list at another website called The Nibble and thought I would share it with anyone interested.

Undutched cocoa
powder
Dark, semisweet
chocolate
Milk Chocolate
White tea
Green rooibos
Green tea
Red rooibos
Oolong tea
Black tea
Montmorency cherry
Prunes
Dark grapes including
currants, raisins, purple
grape juice and red wine
Blueberry
Blackberry
Cranberry
Strawberry
Raspberry
Plum
Orange
Red grape
Cherry
Avocado
Kiwi
Grapefruit, pink
Kale
Spinach
Brussels sprouts
Alfalfa sprouts
Broccoli flowers
Beets
Red bell pepper
Onion
Corn
Eggplant
Artichoke
Asparagus
Avocado
Beans (small red beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans)
Beets
Carrots
Olives (in the form of extra virgin olive oil)
Red pepper
Russet potato
Spinach
Tomato
Walnut
Pecan
Hazelnut
Allspice
Cinnamon
Cloves
Ginger
Lemon balm
Oregano
Peppermint
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Oats
Sunflower seeds

Sunday: pasta tossed with sun dried tomatoes, olive oil and fresh rosemary topped with some shaved Parmesan

Monday: citrus glazed ribs with steamed broccoli

Tuesday: seared tuna patties with stuffed cherry tomatoes

Wednesday: grilled steaks with citrus asparagus

Thursday: grilled chicken with a fresh spinach and strawberry salad

Friday: nachos with homemade salsa and guacamole

Saturday: going to Venice so i am leaving this open to possibly eating out

My dessert for the week will be a pinapple orange sorbet

gelato

i found this looking for a basic gelato recipe i can use to create different flavors of gelato. i am really excited about my new ice cream maker and plan on making up a batch this weekend i just have not decide what flavor.


Gelato SUBMITTED BY: OSTAFF1
at allrecipes.com


INGREDIENTS
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cream. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.
Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the gelato is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency.

menu swap for april 14th

The theme for this week is cornmeal and the swap is being hosted by Gluten Free Sox's Fan !! Yeah I love cornmeal because it can be used for so many different things. I had to add an extra day this week to get my menu back on track after my unexpected trip home.


Sunday: pork tamales with chile sauce, refried beans,and mexican rice

Monday: steak, cornmeal cheese fritters and asparagus

Tuesday: cornmeal crusted catfish, baked potatoes, and caprese

Wednesday: chicken and cornmeal dumplings

Thursday: cornmeal pizza topped with fresh asiago cheese and spinach

Friday: chicken fingers with toasted corn salsa, fries and salad

Saturday: chili and sour cream and lemon honey cornbread muffins
Sunday brunch: cornmeal and ham pancakes with fried eggs
Sunday dinner: tomato soup and grilled cheese (to give are tummies a break before next weeks exciting ingredient)


my dessert for the week will be chocolate polenta cake


OK so this was the menu i had planned for the week but have since decided a more low fat healthy menu is in order to combat a very long trip and the extra pounds that came with it so here is my revised menu

Sunday: shredded mexican flavored pork (the tamale filling) with roasted tomatoes and corn

Monday: grilled steaks and salad

Tuesday: grilled catfish with caprese

Wednesday: chicken and vegetable soup

Thursday: hamburger steaks topped with wilt spinach and asiago cheese and roasted potato wedges

Friday: grilled chicken fingers with toasted corn salsa and salad

Saturday: baked pork chops with roasted asparagus and rice

Sunday: vegetable soup

i am back sorta

Ok so I have been gone and now I need rto get myself back on track. For those who don't know i had to take an unexpected trip to the states and i am not going to be back to my house until April 12th. I plan on getting back to my recipeces and the menu swap then though and in the meantime catching up on what other people are doing.