Finally a bit o' posting

Life took a turn for the crazy. I got a new job at a Mental Health and Detox Hospital which is keeping me on my toes but going great. The Red Cross is kicking things into gear and needing more volunteers. AND I'm 98% set to move into a new apartment on this Friday. I'm excited but exhausted. Things will keep on moving. Just wanted to fill in some of the food I've been eating. Recently my cooking has seemed like nothing to write home about: fajitas, pancakes, stir-fry, and chicken lettuce wraps are just so delicious I can't stop.

Superbowl Fajitas-so pretty



Corvallis Fajitas-so delicious



Recipe?-yeah sure (store bought taco seasoning can have wheat and too many additives)
Peppers, I like one of each
Onion
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 pinch cayenne
Garlic seasoning or crushed cloves

Allergy Free Macaroni and Cheese! (Dairy-free, wheat-free, egg-free)


It was amazing, I made it once at the beach and shared it with friends and then again at home. Sooo delicious and should be one of my staples.

Recipe
1/2 box quinoa pasta, cooked, drained and placed in baking dish
1/2 cup rice milk or other non-dairy milk
3/4 cup Daiya mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Daiya cheddar cheese
2-4 Tbs nutritional yeast
salt and Pepper
3 zucchini
1 onion
sausage
2 garlic cloves, crushed

I first cooked the sausage and threw in the zucchini, onion, and garlic. Pour these over the pasta and cook the cheese sauce in same pan for sausage-delicious-ness. First add milk and yeast and slowly add cheese. It melts well and gets thick. Add more milk/cheese as needed. Pour over pasta and stir in. I baked it for 30 min to get it really good but if could be eaten more readily. Check out the awesome dish from the beach cabin. Highly recommend this recipe!

Pure Comfort Food!

Happy happy weekend enjoyed with Jackie, Rachel, James, Mom and Rich (missed you Dan). This is all I wanted: taco salad and margaritas. If I had to have this every night, the world would be a better place. It was fantastic as always and highly recommended.

Recipe
Thousand Island dressing mixed with Taco Seasoning*
*Taco Seasoning: 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, pinch cayenne, sprinkle of paprika
Ground beef, cooked, drained, and seasoned with the same
Refried beans, warmed up
Kidney Beans
Lettuce
Cilantro
Tomato
Avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream (for those non-allergry-free folks)
-Could also add corn or substitute black beans.

GFCFEFSF Enchiladas! Again!

(Gluten free, casein free, egg free, soy free) So I made enchiladas again. Very tasty, I took them to Gram's for Friday night dinner. Here's the recipe. This time I added 3 gloves of garlic, one yellow onion, and one jalapeno. I think it could have twice as much of all those things and it would probably be safe to go up to 3 jalepenos depending on how much you're making. This round I made 3 big pans (48 enchiladas).

I baked all three pans, let one cool, and put it in individual servings and then in the freezer. We'll see how that goes. I had a hard time deciding if I should still bake it and I think that it will hold up better with freezing/thawing.

I will also say that the assembly line is challenging with one person. This time I warmed up all the tortillas and kept them in a tortilla warmer. Then I moved on to the dipping and filling. Tongs are a key ingredient here to prevent finger scalding and I never feel like there is enough sauce. I would use at least 1.5 cups of the water from the boiled tomatillos to spread the sauce out, maybe 2+cups. It gets chunky and I always want more.

Blended tomatillos and pureed cilantro/onion/garlic/jalep/tomatillo water (I don't have a big food processor).

The Verde sauce! mmm

The wondrous Daiya cheese

The assembly line!

The process...

Very delicious. I serve with chopped iceberg lettuce, tomato, avocado and I REALLY like the squirt of lime on top of it all.

Enchiladas!

Mmm, so my hairdresser who is a 7 year food allergy person, introduced the best thing of my life, cheese. Daiya cheese is pretty much the most amazing vegan cheese ever, only found at whole foods for $9 of course. I opened the bag and it smelled like cheese, not some soy crap. It's made with flours and oils and it's amazing. Mom and I whipped it up and I fed it to my family and even my sister didn't catch on. I'm so proud. We made chicken verde enchiladas. With everything on it (accept chilies because of the allergies)






I kind of made up the recipe after lightly perusing the net.
15-25 corn tortillas
2 bags of Daiya vegan cheese mmmmm!
1 bunch of cilantro
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 can black beans
1/2 can corn
1.5-2 lb of tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
Salt and Pepper
Iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion, garlic, etc.

1) Put the tomatillos in a pan, cover with water and bring to boil. Turn down heat and let simmer for 5 min. Drain and put into food processor agent. Pulse until it's goo.
2) Add 1/4c cilantro, salt, and about 1 cup of the boiled water
3) Put the cooked chicken, beans, and corn in a bowl and add cumin and whatever else you like.
4) Heat a pan with a little oil and heat up the tortillas until soft (not burnt).
5) Pour the processed sauce into another pan (or same) and let heat and simmer.
6) With tongs, dip the warm tortillas in the sauce on both sides. Carefully fill with chicken mixture, sprinkle with cheese and roll up in a 9x13ish dish. Repeat x 25.
7) Top with cheese and the leftover sauce (we ran out so I beefed up the recipe).
8) You could potentially eat it at this point, it's all warm. We put it in the oven at 350 for 20 min. to goo and melt the cheese.
MMMMMMMMMMMM

Forgotten Cooking Adventure!

I almost forgot about these! I just found some photos on my camera of the fish tacos I made before I left Albuquerque. I had used up a lot of my food but was able to throw this together. I breaded the Tilapia in tapioca flour because that was all the gluten-free-ness I had left at Jordan's and it turned out great! The fish was delicious-don't cook it too long. Just add cilantro, veggies, and guac-and a rum and coke and call it good! Mmmm