Allergy-Free Restaurant Review

Well, if I'm to do product review, I ought to do allergy-free restaurant review. Friday night, after obtaining mom's Christmas tree we went to Bridgeport Ale House at 36th and Hawthorne (Portland, OR). To my most pleasant surprise they had two vegan, allergy-free items on the menu. It rocked. I had the Hawthorne Vegan Bowl with organic quinoa, black beans, grilled tofu, mushrooms, kale, roasted sweet potato & spicy cashew sauce minus the sesame, with added grilled chicken and half an avocado. Oh my god it was the best new thing I've had in a while. So so good. Their other item on the menu was a black bean burger with vegan cilantro mayo. Obviously mine would be bun-less so I went with the bowl. Good choice. Highly recommend it. The non-allergy folk joining me had the mac n'cheese, catfish po'boy, a BLTA and a pitcher of Ebenezer. First GOOD AVOCADO I've had in a while. I'll be back!

The Lazy Allergy-Free Cook

So when one has all these allergies it is often more work to eat. There's not a lot of 'quick & easy' options when you have to start from scratch every time. Lazy days happen when I'm never home, when I only get to cook for myself :-(, and when I really need to go buy some produce or when I'm sick of fruits and veggies for a couple days. My lazy day menu is: Gluten-Free Bisquick, meat, Amy's DFGF mac 'n cheese and applesauce. This can only happen so many times before I want something better-like a sweet potato fries and a burger with EVERYTHING on it or homemade stir-fry or really good fajitas. This post means-I'm cooking something good tonight and trying not to go to the store. Making something from nothing is what mom and I are good at. There's nothing in the fridge so lets make a homemade pizza with caramelized onions, prosciutto, and mushrooms or an awesome taco salad. :-)

Gypsy Soup, Again and Again

Yes, I'm re-posting previous recipes. I don't care. It was different this time. I made it and ate it with different people. I even made it in a different kitchen. :-) I was at my sister's new apartment with friends helping her get ready for Crafty Wonderland this weekend. Gypsy soup has been my dinner twice this week. The homey veggies and the spicy kick just can't be beat. For me, it's a throw-together recipe meaning that when I make it I usually have 'nothing' to eat and end up with this. I know not everyone keeps this on hand so if you need me to bring it and make it :-) just let me know. And so here again is my post though I'm only doing the ingredients which for me, change every time.

Gypsy Soup Recipe Link
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups diced peeled sweet potatoes (my goal for cooking is to make sure these are super soft)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric (this is an anti-inflammatory agent)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne pepper (I put too much but, I don't have much kick in my life with being allergic to chili)
1 bay leaf
3 cups chicken stock (3 cups would NEVER be enough, I put more like 6, the broth is the best part!)
1 tablespoon tamari (it's like soy sauce but without the gluten-you could use soy sauce)
1 cup chopped fresh tomato (or canned diced tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (I wish they had been in longer-I'm not a recipe person & we were hungry)
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I don't like green bell peppers... I used a red)



Cookin' away



Rachel made goat cheese garlic spread which, I'm sure is to die for. Sadly it was discovered post-allergies so I haven't tried it but with the ingredients you can't go wrong!

Recipe
1 head of garlic (about 10 cloves) (Roasted in the oven)
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced (Carmelized)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
10oz goat cheese (I used an 8oz package and it worked fine)
Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh basil (for garnish), chopped
Baguette
Olive Oil & Sea Salt

Result:





Dinah enjoyed the party too. Ahh, a good end to a hectic day.

Why aren't I cooking?

I am cooking-I'm just not cooking anything new. And I had two pizza fiascoes, broke a dish, and spilled a whole glass of wine. Rough week in the kitchen. The pizza's had crust issues that seemed beyond the GF-ness. Both were the same Namaste brand and both were soggy and both I made other friends suffer through (sorry Jackie and Barbara). Thank goodness I put such good stuff on top they can fake it for me. One was soggy due to the bottom oven burner at the beach not working and the other one stuck to tin foil and was cooked in a roasty-ish pan, not a cookie sheet (parchment paper is a true investment). Improvising has not proven helpful. To smite my bad luck in the kitchen I have just been eating artichokes for dinner. Which is heavenly.

Christmas recipes are coming to me slowly but, surely. I want to bake for others but want to save them from allergy-free-ness and just throw a 2 eggs,a cup of butter and milk chocolate chips in but we will see.

The weekend in Seattle

After chowing at Gramma's we headed to Seattle for Thanksgiving and it was awesome. Mom, Rich, Dan, me, Rich's twin brother Andy and his girlfriend Angie. We stayed in a house on the Sound in West Seattle. It was a mansion compared to where any of us live. It was incredible to spread out and not have 5 people in mom's parlor (seated for 3-4). Andy and Angie went out on the town on Saturday but we were completely satisfied with just hanging out at the house. Big screen, big couches, big kitchen, and a hot tub. What more do you need?







THIS is vacation. Hot tub and mimosa at 1pm. Yes!



Momma made turkey soup with leftovers from Thursday.



I made a GF pizza but look at that stove!



GF dumplings are a' cookin'. Made with GF Bisquick which rocks!



Everyone else's dumplings all done.



Dan caught me in a rabbit pose. Mmm basil.



Pizza ingredients: kalamatas and fresh basil,



sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms,



Prosciutto too! So gourmet.



Whoa, what else can we put on the table!



eating, eating, eating



Luxory! The weekend was absolutely glorious. Lucky us! :-)