Today we faced our first big hurdle in that we didn't have a lot of time to cook supper. We were busy running errands all afternoon and didn't get home until about 5:00. My husband and I both had meetings tonight. I had to leave by 6:00 and he by 6:30. Normally on days like that, we would have stopped for pizza or burgers on the way home because there was not much time to cook. So what to do?
We grabbed some pork chops from the freezer and quickly thawed them in the microwave. My husband rubbed them with some olive oil and spices and barbecued them while I threw together some raw veggies and dip. We had supper ready in about 20 minutes, which was pretty good, and it tasted great! The only drawback was the added stress, but I'm proud of us for not caving and taking the easy, wheat-filled way out!
I'll have to do some more research into fast-food restaurants that offer gluten-free options!
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Challenges of New Foods
I'm finding one of the most challenging things about eating wheat-free is that I'm having to re-learn how to cook. It's taking much longer to make meals now since I'm not able to use many of my tried-and-true favourites! I am going to work on adapting them, though.
I actually didn't crave any wheat today, except at lunch when we made our kids Kraft Dinner and I really wanted to have a spoonful of it! Instead, I enjoyed my spinach salad with egg, turkey, cheese, mushrooms, garden peas, tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It sounds so much better than Kraft Dinner when I type it here, but I really, really wanted that scoop of goopy pasta! I'm very proud of myself for holding back!
I made hamburgers for supper, which is one of our family's favourites. Usually I put bread crumbs in to hold the meat together, so I had to improvise. I used an egg, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, tamari soy sauce and some Epicure French Onion dip mix (I usually use Onion Soup mix, but I threw the box out, so I didn't have the list of ingredients to check if there was any wheat in it - that's on my to-do list!). They actually held together really well on the barbecue, so who needs bread crumbs? I topped my burger with a little grated cheddar and some guacamole.
Another new thing tonight was that we had portobello mushrooms for the first time. I found this recipe and we decided to try it. My husband is an avid mushroom-hater, but he decided that for this month, he will try anything at least once. And he actually LOVED these mushrooms. He ate a whole one himself! we also topped the meal off with some baby potatoes roasted in the oven in olive oil and Epicure Garlic Dill topper (YUM), along with some steamed cauliflower that I mashed with some grated white cheddar and a little nutmeg, so it looked like mashed potatoes.
Our kids have not been overly impressed with our wheat-free experiment as they are also having to veer from their comfort foods that I normally make (we're not making them eat wheat-free, but we are insisting that they try at least a bite of everything we're eating so they get some new taste experiences). They covered the portobello mushroom bite that we gave them with mustard and ketchup, but at least they ate it!
I actually didn't crave any wheat today, except at lunch when we made our kids Kraft Dinner and I really wanted to have a spoonful of it! Instead, I enjoyed my spinach salad with egg, turkey, cheese, mushrooms, garden peas, tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It sounds so much better than Kraft Dinner when I type it here, but I really, really wanted that scoop of goopy pasta! I'm very proud of myself for holding back!
I made hamburgers for supper, which is one of our family's favourites. Usually I put bread crumbs in to hold the meat together, so I had to improvise. I used an egg, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, tamari soy sauce and some Epicure French Onion dip mix (I usually use Onion Soup mix, but I threw the box out, so I didn't have the list of ingredients to check if there was any wheat in it - that's on my to-do list!). They actually held together really well on the barbecue, so who needs bread crumbs? I topped my burger with a little grated cheddar and some guacamole.
Another new thing tonight was that we had portobello mushrooms for the first time. I found this recipe and we decided to try it. My husband is an avid mushroom-hater, but he decided that for this month, he will try anything at least once. And he actually LOVED these mushrooms. He ate a whole one himself! we also topped the meal off with some baby potatoes roasted in the oven in olive oil and Epicure Garlic Dill topper (YUM), along with some steamed cauliflower that I mashed with some grated white cheddar and a little nutmeg, so it looked like mashed potatoes.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Day 4 - The Fog is Lifting!
Well, I'm finally feeling somewhat normal. I don't have the flu, so apparently all my symptoms this weekend were from wheat withdrawal. Kind of scary, isn't it?
I can think more clearly today, and I actually haven't had many wheat cravings yet, but I still have to get through the evening! My husband always finds evenings difficult, as he usually eats a bowl of cereal before bed. He's had to resort to eating nuts instead! He's actually doing much better on this plan than I am. He's lost 4 pounds already, and is feeling great (I'm trying not to be bitter!).
I went grocery shopping again today to find some wheat-free flavourings for my food. Now that we're getting into this more, I need more variety. I was shocked to learn that soy sauce has wheat in it, so I bought some tamari wheat-free soy sauce, along with some wheat-free teriyaki sauce. I also found some crackers made with rice instead of rice flour, and I made guacamole today for dipping my veggies in.
For lunch, I made a "sandwich" using iceberg lettuce as the bread. I spread some guacamole on it, then layered on some turkey bacon and cheese. YUMMY! I also made sure I had lots of veggies along with it. (It doesn't look super-appetizing in the photo, but it really tasted good!)
And as promised, here's the recipe for last night's Parmesan Pork Chops:
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- garlic powder & onion powder to taste (about 1 tsp of each)
- 4 - 6 pork chops
Whisk together the egg & milk. Combine the almonds, parmesan, garlic & onion powders in another bowl. Dip the pork chops in the egg/milk mixture, then dredge it through the almond/parmesan mix. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown the pork chops (about 2 - 3 minutes per side). Remove the pork chops from the skillet and bake them in a 350 oven, covered, for about 30 minutes.
I can think more clearly today, and I actually haven't had many wheat cravings yet, but I still have to get through the evening! My husband always finds evenings difficult, as he usually eats a bowl of cereal before bed. He's had to resort to eating nuts instead! He's actually doing much better on this plan than I am. He's lost 4 pounds already, and is feeling great (I'm trying not to be bitter!).
I went grocery shopping again today to find some wheat-free flavourings for my food. Now that we're getting into this more, I need more variety. I was shocked to learn that soy sauce has wheat in it, so I bought some tamari wheat-free soy sauce, along with some wheat-free teriyaki sauce. I also found some crackers made with rice instead of rice flour, and I made guacamole today for dipping my veggies in.
For lunch, I made a "sandwich" using iceberg lettuce as the bread. I spread some guacamole on it, then layered on some turkey bacon and cheese. YUMMY! I also made sure I had lots of veggies along with it. (It doesn't look super-appetizing in the photo, but it really tasted good!)
And as promised, here's the recipe for last night's Parmesan Pork Chops:
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- garlic powder & onion powder to taste (about 1 tsp of each)
- 4 - 6 pork chops
Whisk together the egg & milk. Combine the almonds, parmesan, garlic & onion powders in another bowl. Dip the pork chops in the egg/milk mixture, then dredge it through the almond/parmesan mix. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown the pork chops (about 2 - 3 minutes per side). Remove the pork chops from the skillet and bake them in a 350 oven, covered, for about 30 minutes.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Day One
Well, I've almost survived the first day without wheat. I was fine for the morning and through lunch, but around 3:00, the wheat cravings really hit me. I snacked on nuts and cheese and veggies, but nothing was what I really wanted. I didn't give in, though, and I've made it so far. I'm also really, really, really grouchy and irritable and tired (and no, it's not PMS!). I think I'll be going to bed early tonight. My husband has been fine, though he said he had a headache before supper.
For breakfast, I had Apple Walnut "bread" made with almond flour instead of wheat. The recipe was in the Wheat Belly book. You can find the recipe here, but it has applesauce, walnuts, almond flour, flaxseed and a few more healthy ingredients. This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven last night:
It was very tasty, but wasn't quite as sweet as I expected. It also crumbled and fell apart when I took it out of the pan, so I think next time I'll bake it a bit longer (or if you have any suggestions to make it stay together, I'd love to hear them)! I added a bit of butter to it, warmed it in the microwave and ate it from a bowl this morning like a crumbly cereal. It was a very filling breakfast, and I wasn't hungry at all until lunchtime. Here it is after it came out of the pan (and after my husband and I had gotten to it!):
Lunch was a very satisfying spinach salad with strawberries, mushrooms, egg, cheese, nuts and a home-made olive oil and raspberry vinegar dressing made with Epicure Selections Italian dressing spices. I'm very happy that most Epicure Selections spices and mixes don't have any wheat in them; they really enhance flavour. Doesn't that look yummy?
As I mentioned above, around 3:00 I started getting "hungry" - not that I was really hungry, but I really wanted some wheat snacks - crackers, chips, anything! But I made it through until supper. I made a taco pizza with a cauliflower crust (another recipe from Wheat Belly). It was very filling as well, and the crust tasted like cheese, though it had more of a frittata consistency than that of a crust. Here's the recipe:
- 1 head of cauliflower, steamed until soft
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs
Once the cauliflower is soft, mash it until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. Add the olive oil, cheese and eggs and mix them all together. Press the "dough" onto an oiled pizza pan and bake it at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then top it with pizza sauce and your favourite pizza toppings (we had taco meat, tomatoes, green peppers and more mozzarella). It was very tasty, and my husband had three helpings!
So it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. If we can get through the first week, apparently the cravings are supposed to subside. I'm really shocked by how irritable I'm feeling, though. Everyone is annoying me (and they're not doing anything wrong!). Hopefully that will lighten up tomorrow so my family won't hate me!
For breakfast, I had Apple Walnut "bread" made with almond flour instead of wheat. The recipe was in the Wheat Belly book. You can find the recipe here, but it has applesauce, walnuts, almond flour, flaxseed and a few more healthy ingredients. This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven last night:
- 1 head of cauliflower, steamed until soft
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs
Once the cauliflower is soft, mash it until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. Add the olive oil, cheese and eggs and mix them all together. Press the "dough" onto an oiled pizza pan and bake it at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then top it with pizza sauce and your favourite pizza toppings (we had taco meat, tomatoes, green peppers and more mozzarella). It was very tasty, and my husband had three helpings!
So it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. If we can get through the first week, apparently the cravings are supposed to subside. I'm really shocked by how irritable I'm feeling, though. Everyone is annoying me (and they're not doing anything wrong!). Hopefully that will lighten up tomorrow so my family won't hate me!
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