Category Archives: Main Dishes

King Crab Salad with Creamy Avocado & Dill Dressing

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A couple of weeks ago I Googled recipes for salad dressing made with avocados. I made the mistake of trying the recipe right before we were going to eat and the very expensive, organic dressing ended up being poured down the drain. It was too vinegary, too acidic, and I couldn’t detect avocado anywhere in the dressing except in the color. In fact the dressing had no flavor at all. I hated to waste two organic avocados but down they went.

So yesterday when I was contemplating what to do with our leftover Mother’s Day King Crab legs, I thought I’d give an avocado dressing another try.

This time, I made up a recipe. It took all of 5 minutes and it tasted fantastic.

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King Crab Salad

*Makes 2 large personal sized salads.

2 Handfuls of Organic Baby Spinach

1 Head of Organic Romaine Lettuce, sliced

A Few Slices of Organic Red Onion, thinly sliced

1 Organic Tomato, chopped

1 Organic Avocado, chopped

2 Medium Organic Carrots, grated

Juice of 1/2 Organic Lemon, for drizzling over the avocado after it’s on the salad

About 1 1/2 Cups King Crab, chilled

Gluten Free Croutons

Divide the first 7 ingredients between two plates. Top with the crab (I pulled mine apart into bite sized pieces), sprinkle with croutons. Top with Creamy Avocado & Dill Dressing.

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Creamy Avocado & Dill Dressing

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*Makes about 1 Cup

1 Organic Avocado

1 1/2 teaspoons of Organic Dry Dill, you can use fresh if you have it

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon Granulated Sugar

Juice of 2 Organic Lemons

1/4 Cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Organic Almond Milk

2 or 3 Grinds of Fresh Pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

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Stuffed Yams

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I am saddened to say that for about the first 40 years of my life, I only had yams once a year. Typically on Thanksgiving and usually swimming in Karo syrup, brown sugar, and pineapple juice.  Just a little slice because I liked the brown sugar.

Now however, I could eat them every single day.

They’re delicious, what’s not to like? It turns out they’re extremely good for you and if you eat even one little cup once a week it has been shown to reduce the risk of lung, skin, and prostate cancer dramatically.

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They’re versatile.

You can stuff them with whatever you like or just have them with a drizzle of heart healthy olive oil and salt and pepper. You can slather them with dairy free butter and sprinkle them with brown sugar…my personal favorite, and they’re even good plain.

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Have you ever been confused by the whole Yam Sweet Potato thing? We call the orange ones Sweet Potatoes. I don’t know why, but that’s how I was raised. I always thought the yellow fleshed ones were the Yams. Turns out I was wrong. If you don’t believe me, you can go here and scroll down for a visual and an explanation. So technically, that Sweet Potato pie that looks like pumpkin pie, is really made with Yams. Doesn’t sound as good though…Yam pie.

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Call them whatever you like, and make sure you don’t miss out on them for 40 years like I did simply because the sound of Sweet Potato or Yam grosses you out.

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Try stuffing them with all kinds of different things.

Then serve them with your favorite gluten free beer.

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You might just be surprised.

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Here’s how I prepared them tonight:

Lay the potato(s) on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, garlic powder, and oregano. Roll them up tight and place them in the oven seam side up. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove from oven and cool enough that you don’t burn yourself when you unwrap it and cut it. Once cooled, unwrap and slice vertically. Using a fork, rough up the flesh, sprinkle with kosher salt. Set aside.

On a gas grill or in a grill pan, grill boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The amount will depend on how many people you are serving. I placed 1.5 chicken thighs on each potato.

In a separate pan, saute onions, bell pepper, kale, and sun dried tomatoes. (Or any combination of any vegetable you like)

Layer the chicken on the potatoes first, then add the sauteed vegetables. Top with sliced buffalo mozzarella (made from buffalo milk), sprinkle with kosher salt, a few grinds of pepper, and dried oregano. Place under a pre-heated broiler until cheese is bubbly and begins to brown. But not too much or the mozzarella will become tough.

Serve with gluten free beer.

Baked Halibut and Sweet Potato Fries

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I only have one photo today of our lunch. Although I’m using it twice.

I took several but evidently something happened between taking them and saving them. When I went to upload, all were just plain white, except one. With all the positives of fantastic technology, also come a few negatives.

The fish was fantastically flaky and delicious. I’m sorry you had to miss it!

My husband has a huge aversion to oil. He hates greasy food and particularly liked this fish because “it gives you the sense that you’re eating something fried but it’s not overly oily”. I would have to agree with him. This meal feels like you’re really indulging, but in reality, it’s all baked and has very little fat. What fat it does have are pretty healthy fats; the mayo is even made with olive oil.

It feels like we’re finally settling in to our new home and getting into somewhat of a routine. The one thing we can’t seem to acclimate though, is dinner time. We’re hungry for breakfast a later time than usual, then end up missing lunch, and are ready for dinner around 2:30. That would be 11:30 Washington time, which I guess is actually lunch… See what I mean about time acclimation? Amazing how firm our inner clocks are set, isn’t it? This is why it appears that we are having dinner for lunch…because we are. It’s probably better that way anyway. Then we aren’t full when we go to bed and we can have dessert for dinner. See how that works out so nicely? Yay!

For those of you who are visiting for the first time, in November we moved almost 3,000 miles away from our home town in Washington State to southern New Hampshire.

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We love the new house, the neighborhood, the surrounding area, and the abundance of fresh seafood. I’ve probably eaten more mussels and clams in the last three months than I have in my entire life.

But I would have to say that the people of New Hampshire are what really have made all the difference and have taken the sting out of what would normally be a rather stressful experience. They are just so nice. I know it sounds odd, and maybe even kind of dorky…and you may think I’m exaggerating, but I kid you not. In the three months we’ve been on the east coast, I can say I have not seen one person in public be rude to another person, I haven’t seen anyone flip each other off in their cars or yell, people actually stop for you to cross the street whether you’re in a cross walk or not and they don’t get angry about it, and they don’t invade your personal space at the check out stand (all things that happen frequently in our home town). They stop and talk to you and shoot the breeze as if they don’t have any thing better in their day to do than really chat with you and find out how you’re doing. And they are incredibly patient people.

And these are the strangers, people we don’t even know!

Just a few days ago I stood in the gluten-free isle at Hannaford’s and talked to a couple from Massachusetts for about a half an hour (we’re only a few miles from the border).  The wife has Celiac and the husband does all of the cooking for her. I would say they were in their early 60′s. They were shocked to hear that we love the east coast so much and when I told the husband that I was amazed by how genuinely friendly people are, the man was taken aback and thanked me and told me that he considered that quite a compliment.

Moving almost 3,000 miles across the country and starting a new life in our mid 40′s has been an adjustment to say the least. But it is also a fantastic adventure and I’m incredibly thankful we were smart enough to set all the “what-if’s” aside and take the leap!

 “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”  

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

And I’m going to have to say, Amen Eleanor! Amen!

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Baked Halibut with Sweet Potato Fries

You can find the recipe for the sweet potato fries here.

You’ll want to start the sweet potato fries about 30-40 minutes ahead of baking the fish, which only takes about 20 minutes.

For the dipping sauces:

Tartar Sauce

About 3/4 Cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise

2 Baby Sweet Gherkins, finely diced

1 teaspoon Maple horseradish Mustard (Dijon would be fine too)

About 1 Tablespoon Gherkin Juice

About 2 teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice

Dash of Tabasco

Kosher Salt & Pepper To Taste

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Red Sauce

1/2 Cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise

3 Tablespoons GF Ketchup

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1/4-1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Dash of Kosher Salt

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

For The Fish

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

1 Halibut Steak, skin removed and boned

(This will depend on how many people you are feeding, you can also use any other type of firm fish that you like)

About 1 Cup GF Bread Crumbs

A Generous Pinch(s) of Kosher Salt

About 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano

About 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

About 1/4 Cup Dairy Free Butter

About 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Baking Sheet, Cooling Rack, Aluminum Foil

Remove the skin and bone from the halibut if necessary, this will leave you with four pieces. Dry each one off with a paper towel and set on clean paper towels.

Place the bread crumbs, salt, oregano, and garlic powder in a shallow dish and stir with a fork until completely combined. Set aside.

Melt the butter and olive in a shallow dish in the microwave for about 30 seconds, not until it’s boiling, just melted.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with a cooling rack.

Take the fish and roll it in the butter, then roll and cover completely in bread crumbs. Set on rack and repeat until all of the fish are dipped and covered in bread crumbs.

Next, take any remaining butter and olive oil mixture and drizzle it with a spoon over the breaded fish. Sprinkle a little more bread crumbs over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Don’t over cook or the fish will become rubbery. You want it to flake nicely with a fork.

Serve with the sweet potato fries, lemon wedges, and a dollop of both dips.

Chicken and Dumplings

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We finally made it down to Nashua, a little over an hour from where we live. What’s so exciting about Nashua? Well… the town we live in has a population of 6,000 and Nashua has a population of 87,000. Which means of course, they also have some decent shopping. (Keep in mind, we moved from a city of 500,000.)

We were in search of a barbecue grill, which translated, means my husband was in search of a BBQ grill. I was in search of a Barnes & Noble where I could stock up on books (heaven forbid I run out!) and a Trader Joe’s where I could stock up on buffalo mozzarella, organic chicken, and organic olive oil, and a Red Robin where we could stuff ourselves with a gluten-free burger, a mountain of gluten-free fries, and tartar sauce.

I love Trader Joe’s whole organic, free range, chickens. Organic meats really do taste better. I think they have more flavor and knowing we’re not consuming an animal that’s been treated improperly, shot full of hormones and antibiotics, and fed genetically modified food and who knows what else…makes it even better. Do some research on what our country does to non-organic chickens and I dare you to ever eat one comfortably again. We could talk for days I’m sure, on the sad state of what the FDA thinks is appropriate, so we’ll save that topic for another time.

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I like to keep single serving home-made chicken soup containers in the freezer. It’s great to have on chilly days, when we’re feeling under the weather, or when I don’t feel like cooking when Tony is traveling. I’ve also been thinking about chicken and dumplings. Must be because we’re stuck in winter. Every week is like a skipping record (snow, cold, sun, wind, and…repeat) and I guess my body isn’t ready to get out of comfort food mode until it sees some kind of true sign that spring is on its way.

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So as I was making a big pot of home made chicken soup yesterday, I thought, why not use some of it to make chicken and dumplings? 90% of the work has already been done and then I can have the best of both worlds. Chicken and dumplings for dinner and enough home made soup leftover to store a few servings in the freezer.

I used the artisanal flour mix again for this recipe. I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend their cookbook, Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking by Kelli and Peter Bronski. Tony bought it for me while on a guys ski trip in Utah last month. I already have 22 recipes earmarked that I can’t wait to try. Including puff pastry and home made pasta!

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Chicken & Dumplings

1 Batch of Home Made Chicken Soup (I added carrots and broccoli during the final process)

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

About 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour (for thickening broth)

Kosher Salt

For the dumplings:

1 1/2 Cups Artisanal Flour Blend (I use arrowroot instead of cornstarch)

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme, minced

1 1/2 Tablespoons Dairy Free Butter, melted

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Large Egg

In a medium stock pot or dutch oven, add about 2 heaping cups of strained solids from the chicken soup (chicken, carrots, etc.). Add about 2 1/2 cups of the chicken broth, just enough to almost reach the top of the chicken and vegetables. Add the 1/4 cup almond milk and stir. Salt to taste. Set aside.

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In a medium bowl, whisk the artisanal flour blend, baking powder, salt, and thyme. In a measuring cup, add the almond milk and egg and whisk with a fork until combined. Melt the butter. Add the egg mixture and butter to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix, or the dumplings will be too dense when cooked.

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Bring the chicken mixture to a boil. Add the two tablespoons of flour to a small cup, add enough broth to make it liquid, stir the lumps out with a fork and add to the chicken mixture. Boil for 2-3 minutes and reduce to a low simmer.

Spoon heaping Tablespoons of the dumpling dough over the simmering mixture.

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Cover and allow to steam on simmer for 23 minutes. No peeking!! They will expand while cooking. You will want them to be done on the inside, but somewhat soft and moist on the outside.

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Chicken Tetrazzini

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I used to make turkey Tetrazzini every year with Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey leftovers. Of course that was prior to going gluten-free and dairy-free and those Tetrazzini dishes included a lot of cream and probably three kinds of lovely cheese, along with gluten bread crumbs.

Our mornings are chilly now and that always gets me thinking about comfort food. I love fall and even winter (as long as it snows a lot! Yes you read that right…) and I look forward to baking pies, roasting things, and having my house smell like comfort food.

I don’t even know what was on television in the bedroom this morning while I was getting ready, but I heard the word Tetrazzini and thought, “YES!”. I had forgotten all about Tetrazzini! When you’re allergic to dairy you kind of get used to not thinking about cheesy, creamy, delightful, comfort food. Luckily, with more and more people becoming aware of food allergies and more people being tested, the whole food world is opening up with new products and new ideas for those of us that can’t eat traditional things.

I couldn’t remember how I used to make it exactly so I Googled Tetrazzini. Honestly, what did we ever do without the internet? After reading through several recipes it all started coming back to me and I realized that each recipe was different. Really different. So I just winged it and did what I thought sounded good. Giada De Laurentiis puts peas in hers. I thought that sounded good too and I could have sworn I had frozen baby peas, but no such luck. Her recipe also had about 30 ingredients. Seriously?

I just went with what I had on hand and it was fantastic. Total comfort food. So creamy and delicious, even I was shocked! Ahhh… the satisfaction of another traditional meal tackled and made into something that can fit my needs! Remember the movie Bruce Almighty where Jim Carey says, “It’s goooood”? For some reason that just popped into my head. Odd the things that rattle around in there…

I love having a good (or “gooood”) challenge. This recipe was challenging because I didn’t know if it would really work. That always bugs me a little because it’s not cheap to be dairy free and gluten-free. If it doesn’t turn out, it’s horrible to watch all of that $$$ going straight into the trash bin. Plus, dairy free cheese is a little weird sometimes. Occasionally it can make the texture of something really unappealing. Also, there’s a lot of steps. I was taking pictures in between steps and different parts of the recipe and not cleaning up, so my kitchen looked like a bomb went off.  But as soon as I had everything in the oven, it all cleaned up quickly and believe me…all the steps and all the prep work to get it into the oven was worth every-single-bite.

Another recipe challenge overcome! Hmmm…what’s next?

Chicken Tetrazzini

Bacon Drippings, or olive oil if you don’t have drippings on hand

2 Chicken Breasts, cooked & cubed or shredded into large pieces

1 Medium Onion, diced

About 6 Crimini Mushrooms, sliced

About 1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme Leaves

About 2 teaspoons Dried Thyme

1 Head of Roasted Garlic

About 1 Tablespoon Bragg’s Seasoning

About 1 Cup of White Wine

3 Cups of Almond Milk

About 2 Cups Gluten Free Chicken Broth

1 Cup Diaya Cheddar Style Cheese

1/4 Cup Buffalo Mozzarella

1/4 Cup Vegan Parmesan

Dairy Free Butter

About 1/3 Cup Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour

Gluten Free Bread Crumbs, seasoned with oregano, basil, garlic powder, vegan parm, & kosher salt

About 12 oz. of Tinkyada Gluten Free Pasta, cooked aldente

1.  In a large skillet melt about 2-4 Tablespoons of bacon drippings. Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides just until they are done. About 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

2.  Add the chopped onion and mushrooms and saute until onions are translucent and mushrooms begin to brown a bit. Add the thyme leaves. Add salt to taste.

3. Add the wine to de-glaze the pan and continue to saute over medium-high until the wine evaporates. Remove mixture to a large bowl. Set pan aside.

4. Dice or shred chicken and add to the bowl. Add the cheeses, roasted garlic, and Bragg’s.

5. Using the same pan, melt about 4 Tablespoons of dairy free butter. Add the flour and whisk together.

6.  Add the almond milk and chicken broth whisking quickly as to not allow lumps. Cook over medium-high until the mixture begins to thicken. Mine became very thick so I added a bit more chicken broth. You want a medium thick consistency. Salt & pepper to taste, add the dried thyme, set aside.

7. Cook pasta according to directions. I removed mine 2 minutes prior to “done”. Drain.

8.  Lightly coat a 9×11 baking dish with olive oil spray or dairy free butter.

9. Add the pasta and sauce to the large bowl of other ingredients. Toss well and pour into the baking dish.

10.  Coat the top with gluten-free bread crumbs (see below), and dot with butter.

11. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until sauce bubbles. Serve with gluten-free french bread.

* I always toast (in the oven) and throw all uneaten or stale bread into a bag in my freezer. It makes it very easy whip up bread crumbs or croutons when I need them.

For bread crumbs I just add the toasted bread to a food processor. Add dried herbs, kosher salt, and  just a bit of olive oil. Pulse until it turns into crumbs and the herbs are incorporated. For this recipe I added basil, oregano, garlic powder, kosher salt, vegan parmesan, and added a drizzle of olive oil at the end so it would all come together a bit.

Finally Time For a Home Cooked Meal

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Life has been absolutely crazy around here. Tony is traveling and changing time zones twice a week, and the house viewing traffic is picking up dramatically. That last part is a good thing, but it puts us in the position of having to be able to leave our house quickly. That makes it very hard to cook a real meal.

This is a very unhappy Chloe, stuck in a crate at my mom’s house while we wait for people to finish a walk through at our house. She’s not quite as happy as Romeo and Abigail to be at Grandma’s house.

I’ve been trying to make this dish since Thursday and finally on Sunday night, even though we were completely exhausted after having five viewings of our house over the past three days, I forced myself to make a decent dinner. Please forgive the pictures…I wasn’t going to even blog about it but Tony asked if I was taking pictures and was sweet enough to run upstairs and get my camera. The recipe will also be one of those “about this much” recipes, unfortunately. I didn’t write anything down, but you all are so smart and amazing in the kitchen, I know you won’t have any trouble making your own version.

Waiting at Grandma’s house for “kitty, kitty” the new kitten to come out and play with her. Penelope, my mother’s other cat is just around the corner growling and hissing at Chloe in the crate.

Lately we’ve been living on Jimmy John’s un-which sandwiches, black bean salad, gluten-free organic hot dogs and chili, cereal more cereal, peanut butter toast, and Red Robin’s California chicken sandwiches. Did you know they now carry gluten-free buns and will make your fries in a separate fryer from gluten items? We are addicted. Next time I eat one I’ll take a picture for you. And the tartar sauce (which is gluten-free & dairy free)…so delicious and addictive I should probably just be slathering it on my thighs because I’m sure that’s right where it goes after it leaves my mouth.

Tony stayed home an extra day today to take advantage of a motorcycle track day. The kind of track day that makes me cringe and I have to remind him that I really don’t want to know how fast he went and how many people had to be hauled off in an ambulance. He left early this morning, so this is what a lazy Sunday looks like for some of us…not me of course, I have a whole list of things to do!

Yes, we allow them to lounge on the furniture…

I’m used to cooking whole meals at least four days a week and baking something delicious at least twice a week. But lately, our new way of  living on “whatever is easy and doesn’t make the house smell weird” is getting to me. It’s leaving me feeling unsatisfied and rather unhealthy.

So last Wednesday while I was lying in bed wide awake at 2:30 in the morning because we’ve had a weird rash of car break-ins in our neighborhood, the recipe for Italian Sausage & Pesto Roll Ups was born. Maybe a little bit of fear does help with creativity? Or maybe it was the fact that I was sleeping with my gun and that enabled me to calm my mind enough to think about food. Either way, I also had to figure out when exactly I could find the time to actually make the recipe that was making my stomach growl and getting me excited for real food.

I tried Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to make this meal and it seemed like the dinner God’s were against me. And even though we had two more showings on Saturday, I managed to squeeze in a small nap and muster the energy to cook a nice meal on Saturday night, throwing caution to the wind and not caring if our house smelled like garlic and pesto on Sunday morning. I even managed to make an easy Kalamata olive & garlic loaf.

Italian Sausage & Pesto Roll-Ups

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

About a pound of gluten-free, dairy-free Italian Sausage

Hot Pepper Flakes, I like my sausage spicy

Homemade Vegan Pesto

1 Large Block of Sheep’s Milk Cheese, I buy mine in the white and blue container at Trader Joe’s

About 2 Tablespoons Fresh Oregano

About 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil

Freshly Ground Pepper

About 1/2 Cup Diaya Mozzarella Style Shreds

About 2 Tablespoons Dairy Free Parmesan Style Cheese

1 Jar Ready-Made Pasta Sauce, I used Newman’s Marinara, or homemade of course

1 Package Gluten Free Lasagna Noodles, cooked aldente (follow pkg instructions), rinsed, and separated immediately

Cook pasta, rinse, separate, and set aside. Fry the Italian sausage and pepper flakes (to your taste) until done, drain fat, set aside.

Drain the sheep’s cheese and place the entire block in a mixer. Add the fresh herbs, other two cheeses, and the fresh herbs. Mix on medium until it comes together and begins to look somewhat sticky. I was also going to add 1/2 cup chopped spinach to this mixture but forgot!

Oil a 9×9 inch square baking dish with olive oil. Spoon a small amount of sauce over the bottom of the dish. Set aside.

Lay out a lasagna noodle on your work surface. Spread either with a knife or the back of a spoon about 1 to 1/2 Tablespoons of the pesto along the entire noodle. Add about 2 Tablespoons (or so) of the cheese mixture to the end of the noodle nearest you, add about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the sausage, and roll up, tucking in any filling that falls out of the sides as you go. Place the roll upright in the prepared pan. Continue until you have used all of your fillings.

Once the pan is full, pour the remaining sauce over the top, spreading with a spoon. Sprinkle with a little more of the mozzarella style cheese and the parmesan style cheese. Oil a piece of aluminum foil and cover.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes covered, remove foil, and bake for 10 more minutes.

Kalamata Olive & Garlic Loaf

With this recipe, I made two small plain loaves and 1 medium olive and garlic loaf. I simply separated the dough and took out the plain loaves first, then added the ingredients for the olive and garlic loaf.

1 Box Gluten Free Pantry French Bread Mix (make using directions on back of box)

Kalamata Olives, about 15 sliced in half lengthwise

Garlic Cloves, about 8 sliced in half lengthwise

About 1 1/2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano

1 Egg for Brushing

I wasn’t in the mood to run to the basement to fetch my french bread pan, so I simply lined a baking sheet with parchment paper. It works just fine, but the loaves spread out a bit.

Depending on how you want to separate the dough, do that part first, leaving the amount of dough that you want to use for the olive and garlic loaf in the mixer. Then, add the olives, garlic, and oregano and mix until combined.

Dollop and spread it on the baking sheet or in the french bread pan, brush with whisked egg, and cover with oiled plastic. Allow to rise for about 40 minutes in a warm place

Bake for about 30 minutes (I use convection). You may need to cover lightly with foil if it begins to brown too quickly.

Vegetable Stuffed Portobello For One

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A very long time ago I said we were going to go to “Meatless Mondays” . We never quite made it. Although, we have cut back on our red meat consumption dramatically, I find it hard to stick to one thing on a specific day of the week. Partly because I haven’t put much effort into figuring out enough meatless meals and also because my husband travels so much that I rarely exert a lot of energy into figuring out what I’m going to make myself for dinner when he’s away.

Last night, it was black bean re-fried beans, dairy-free cheese, and Tabasco that I heated in the microwave. Then I ate it while reading a book.  Don’t scoff, it was quite enjoyable.

But, tonight, in an attempt to get my daily recommended allowance of vegetables, I thought I’d put in a tad more effort. But not so much that it would be too complicated to eat while reading my book.

Grilled Vegetable Stuffed Portobello with Sautéed Rainbow Chard

1 Portobello Mushroom

1/2 Orange Bell Pepper

1 Small Sweet Onion

About 3/4 Cup Broccoli

About 6 Sugar Peas

Rainbow Chard, about 8 leaves, stems removed

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

Diaya Cheddar Style Cheese, optional

Drizzle the mushroom with a little olive oil and rub to coat, set aside. Add the cut vegetables to a bowl, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and garlic powder, and toss to coat. Add everything to a grilling pan and grill on medium-high until mushroom is cooked and moist and vegetables are tender and browned on the edges.

While vegetables are grilling, coat a saute pan with a little olive oil. Heat on medium-high and saute the chard until it is wilted. It will wilt a lot, just like spinach does, so if you’re cooking for more than one, you’ll need to use a full head or more.

If you would like to top yours with dairy-free cheese, you’ll need to melt it under the broiler or in the microwave.

Bird’s Nest

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I thought it was a good idea to eat something somewhat “healthy” for dinner last night after indulging in fried chicken livers three meals in a row…

This is an incredibly simple and gorgeous meal.

It looked so pretty I hated to poke my fork into it…

But that didn’t last long.

Bird’s Nest

Gluten Free Spinach Pasta (I use Tinkyada)

Vegan Walnut Pesto

Organic Red Chard, sautéed with organic olive oil

Squeeze of Lemon

Organic Egg (s), over easy

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Saute the chard in olive oil until wilted, squeeze about a Tablespoon of lemon over it, and set aside. Take the finished pasta and place it in a saute pan over medium high heat and toss with the pesto. I used about 1 1/2 Tablespoons for one serving.

Arrange the pasta on the plate in a “nest”. Top with the wilted chard. Top with an egg, over easy, and finish with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Fried Chicken Livers & Smashed Potatoes with Pan Gravy

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A meal like this is just where all of those bacon drippings you’ve been hoarding come in handy. You do that too, right?

This is how I keep my bacon drippings in the fridge. It lasts a very, very, long time and then you always have it handy for those special occasions when you’re making something extra delicious.

You MUST have a splatter lid when frying the chicken livers. Number one, because it makes clean up of your stove much easier, and number two and most importantly, because you do not want exploding chicken liver all over your kitchen ceiling. You need a splatter guard, which is a mesh screen, because if you cover the liver with a lid, it won’t crisp.

When you flip the livers, hold the screen in front of you and your face. Hot bacon grease and exploding chicken liver is painful.

Fried Chicken Livers

1 Container of Chicken Livers, organic if possible, rinsed

Organic Almond Milk

1 Organic Egg

Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour

Organic Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Bacon Grease/Drippings (from all natural bacon)

First, let’s remind ourselves that this is a special meal. An indulgence meal…I only make it about once a year. So we won’t be counting calories or worrying about our hips and thighs. We will simply enjoy the comfort and memories of childhood that these types of meals bring with them.

Melt a generous amount of bacon grease in a large skillet. I used about two heaping serving spoons full.

In a medium dish or dinner plate, add about 1 cup or so of the flour and generously season with the garlic powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. Remember, it’s just a dredge so the majority of the coating stays on the plate. You want what ends up stuck to the liver to be flavorful!

Pour about 1/2 cup almond milk into a cereal sized bowl and whisk in the egg.

Once the bacon grease is heated on medium to medium high, dip each chicken liver into the milk and egg mixture and then into the flour mixture. Coat well, shake off, and lay carefully into the bacon grease.

Cover with the splatter shield. Allow to brown thoroughly before flipping. I would say about 6-7 minutes on each side or more, depending on the heat in your pan.

Smashed Potatoes with Pan Gravy

Both the smashed potatoes (basically the lazy cousin of the mashed potato) and the pan gravy are a no brainer. I’ll just give you the ingredients that I used. You can go here for pan gravy instructions if you’ve never made it. It’s SO easy!

Organic Yukon Gold Potatoes, skin on

Almond Milk

Dairy Free Butter

Kosher Salt

For the pan gravy:

Leave drippings in the pan

Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour

Dairy Free Butter

Organic Chicken Broth

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

A Mish Mash of Life

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Roasting a chicken at 9:30 AM in 90 degree weather…why not?

I’ve been addicted to these three seasonings lately.

We do have central air conditioning, but with several days in a row of very hot weather, even the air conditioner let’s out a sigh of relief when I am able to shut it down and open the windows after dark. I can’t complain about the weather, other than I don’t like having the house closed up during the day. I love the sun and love the heat. The dogs have been rather lazy though and I’ve had to coax them outside to get some sun and fresh air. Seems they’ve become a little spoiled in the cool house.

The reason I’m roasting a chicken at breakfast is because upon returning home from our camping trip, I realized that we have a freezer full of organic meat. What’s wrong with that you ask? Well, if our house sells quickly (God willing!) we won’t be able to take it with us because only a minimal amount will fit in our trailer freezer as we trek across the country from Washington to New Hampshire. And as I’m sure you know, organic meat is not cheap. My poor husband is only home for two dinners a week lately if that, so if the house sells “quickly” the math doesn’t add up if I keep making myself toast for dinner while he’s gone. So I decided yesterday that I would roast a chicken so I could have roast chicken and vegetables for lunch and then use the remainder of the chicken for “other” dishes throughout the week while he’s gone. And of course, maybe a little special snack or two for the pups. Then I’ll have to force myself to make a proper dinner instead of toast or crackers and goat cheese at least a few times a week so I can whittle down our freezer meats and fish .

So as I mentioned, we are selling our house…we haven’t had any bites yet. A lot of people have looked at it on various websites, but no offers have come in and no one has been by to look at it! The Realtor assures us it’s because of the wonky weekends around the 4th of July holiday with people traveling and such. He assured us that because we priced it reasonably it will sell within 60 days. It’s only been 13 days, so maybe I’m being a little hyper… I’d like to believe him but my inner, anxiety ridden, worrier mechanism that I try to beat down and keep at a low murmur, thinks differently. We’ll see. I would really rather not move across the country in the middle of the winter.

I’m trying of course to see this entire thing as the huge blessing that it is. The move is exciting, buying a new home is exciting, seeing and experiencing new things is very exciting. But the details and keeping the house spotless at all times, and the thinking, thinking, thinking, and not knowing…that part is highly annoying! So this morning, I’m throwing caution to the wind. I sit here still in my pajamas with raccoon circles under my eyes because I was too lazy to remove my mascara last night after a Home Owner’s Association meeting from hell, my feet are up on the stool next to me while I type, and my house is not spotless. See how rebellious I am? (ha) If I have to clean at the speed of lightning and rush out of here like my hair is on fire with dogs and cat in tow so someone can look at our house, then so be it. Today, I’m doing what I want to do. Which so far hasn’t amounted to a whole heck of a lot!

I mentioned up above that we recently returned from a camping trip. It was amazingly relaxing. My husband and I both knew we needed it, but I don’t think we knew how much we really needed it. We were in bed by 10:00 every night, slept in until 7:00 every morning. I usually hop out of bed around 4:30 or 5:00 each morning, so I guess I needed those extra few hours! The sleep was blissful. The rest was blissful. The scenery was gorgeous, the bird and the water sounds were like salve to my soul. I only made it home with one mosquito bite. Life is good.

And the sun and heat. Oh. My. Goodness. We’ve endured a long, wet, winter and spring and waited a long time for the sun to finally show itself.

We were able to sit in the evenings in front of our trailer and watch Osprey hunt in the water, watch swarms of birds fly around feasting on the evening bugs, and were even able on a couple of occasions to get a good look at a Bald Eagle. On our last morning, just up from the end of our trailer a mama deer trusted us enough to allow us a look at her new fawn. It was adorable. Bouncing around and enjoying the morning. My camera had broken the day before…so no pictures of mama and baby. More about that later.

Of course for us, food is a big part of camping. I didn’t take pictures of everything and didn’t write down recipes for my food or my mother in law’s, but this will give you an idea of what we were enjoying.

These are Cecelia’s pickled onions from thekitchensgarden. I used rice vinegar, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, and garlic cloves to season mine. And by the way, I love her blog. I look forward to it every morning and it’s the first one I look for out of about 30 that I follow. Take a look through some of her posts and read her About Me section, and you’ll soon understand why I look forward to it every day.

This is a typical macaroni salad, except mine is made with gluten-free pasta and olive oil mayo. Make sure you make extra dressing if you’re not going to serve it immediately. Then, stir in the reserved dressing right before serving.

These are organic, gluten-free and dairy free, handmade sausages from one of our local specialty stores. I was not impressed. But then again, when the butcher assured me they were gluten-free and dairy free and I asked for two of the chicken and jalapeno sausages he said, “Now those have jalapeno, is that gluten?” Yikes. I wanted to snort and roll my eyes, but I didn’t. I asked kindly if I could look at their ingredient list.

This is a cherry pie, of course. I wasn’t extremely impressed with it either. I haven’t made a pie in a very long time and it seems I’ve gotten a bit rusty. Looks like I will have to bake a nice pie once a week until I can get it right and get my mojo back. I didn’t hear anyone argue with that logic.

This is a Namaste brownie. It’s by far the best allergen free brownie mix I’ve tried. And I have tried a few! You can freeze them and they are just as delicious as when they are fresh.

This is one of my favorite summer cocktails. Meyer’s Dark Rum, Knudsen’s all natural Tangerine Spritzer, the juice of 1/2 Clementine, and the juice of 1/2 Lemon. I call it the Yummy Rummy.

This is my homemade creamy sheep’s milk cheese salad dressing. When you can’t eat dairy, a creamy salad dressing on your greens is heavenly every once in a while. It’s just sheep’s milk cheese, olive oil mayo, rice vinegar, ground pepper, and any seasoning you like. This time I used the Bragg’s seasoning I pictured above and dill.

I also made another dressing/spread that I called creamy pesto. It was just a few spoonfuls of homemade pesto, olive oil mayo, and lemon juice. It was incredible both as a salad dressing and a spread. Unfortunately I was so intent on eating it, I didn’t get a photo.

This is my mother in law’s meat spaghetti sauce on top of gluten-free noodles. Her sauce is wonderful. Rich and flavorful and making me wish I had some right now! I wasn’t lying when I said I hadn’t accomplished much today. It’s now 6:30 PM and I am just adding photos to the post. I did manage to get out of my jammies and remove the raccoon look though. I also did some laundry, and squeezed in a little nap. It was a heavenly day…

This is just one of many delicious lunches we enjoyed. A BLT with avocado, red onion, and creamy pesto spread.  The salad has a mixture of the creamy dressing and homemade thousand island dressing I made. You can Google the thousand island, it’s so easy! That’s my favorite gluten-free beer.

We took Chloe camping with us for the first time. It will be a good precursor for the trip back east. It wasn’t as weird or as difficult as I thought it was going to be.

Evidently, this particular cigar has received the highest rating ever for a cigar. I know absolutely nothing about cigars, but my husband assures me this is true information. And no, that is not my hairy arm! This is just one of many cigars my husband was able to enjoy on his much-needed vacation.

Here he is, kicked back and enjoying an evening of chatting with his parents. I can’t quite believe we will be married 21 years on the 25th of July. Time goes by so quickly! I am truly blessed and thankful that he is mine.

Every morning I woke up to this out of our bedroom door, which we left open every night so we could hear nature and see the moon and stars. Wonder what the view is like from up there?

The only bummer of our trip was that my camera broke right when we headed into Lake Chelan (about 60 miles from where we were camping in Winthrop, WA) on our third day. I’m sure you’ve noticed that some of my pictures above are not exactly up to par. Something was wrong with my shutter and as I was getting my camera ready and experimenting, I was only able to get these two shots right as we got out of the car. And then it wouldn’t work. (Enter sad violin music here…)

After this last photo, the camera completely seized up. Certainly makes you appreciate the finer things in life. The little pocket Kodak is not quite the same experience.

Lake Chelan is absolutely gorgeous. The water is deep blue and you can see right through it to the light-colored sand below. It’s a 50 mile long, glacier fed lake. Just gorgeous. I could have taken so many wonderful pictures for you! But such is life. I guess it’s a good reminder that we probably depend on these gadgets instead of memory far too much. So for now, I will have to live with our little pocket Kodak until my camera is repaired.

We toured around the town for a bit, ate lunch, and then went wine tasting at a few of the local wineries. If I couldn’t take pictures…then my next agenda was to sample a lot of wine and do some stocking up of west coast wines before we make the big move. And stock up, I did. From Tsillan Winery, Lake Chelan Winery, and one of my all time favorites, Lost River Winery. I hope I make friends quickly in our new home, my husband doesn’t drink. If not, my posts might take on a new look if I have to drink all this on my own!

Well, the day has sped by and it is now 6:41 PM. I think I’ll head out into the yard and mill around. It has dropped from 94 to 93 so it doesn’t look like we are going to get much of a reprieve from the heat until later tonight. I’m tired of the house being shut up tight, so I’ll open it up and just be thankful that summer is finally here.

I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing Independence Day!