Update on Allergies

Since I was first diagnosed with food allergies in December of 2009 this was my list of reactants, since then I have crossed some items off as no longer allergens! Very exciting. It took a lot discipline to wait a year to allow my gut to heal before trying things. It was scary to try things again, my first egg tasted terrible, my first cup of coffee tasted like liquid gold. :-) I do recommend testing to see if you still have an allergy, but only for gut ones and only after allowing yourself to heal. Good luck!

DAIRY
Casein (milk, cheese, butter)

Clarified Butter (11/2012)

Parmesan (10/2012)
Whey
Egg (White and Yolk)(mayo)

FRUIT
Banana***Anaphylaxis
Blueberry (5/13)
Cranberry
Pineapple (3/13)
Oranges

Orange Peel
Melon

VEGETABLE

Asparagus

GRAINS
Wheat/Gluten
Sesame
Spelt

NUTS/ETC.
Almond (6/12)
Peanut (5/13)

Pecan (11/12)

Coffee (10/12)

Oyster (12/12)

Resolution: Sweat and Spice

It's been a year since I posted anything, a year since I left Portland, a year in the Navy. I haven't continued my food blog for many reasons: A. The food in Virginia is not better than Portland B. Regardless of how amazing my cooking is, I still don't think it's that cool. C. I didn't want to have any more hobbies that involve me sitting on my ass. So today I've decided I have something worth while to write about and since it's 4AM and I can't sleep-what else is there to do. 

Sweat and Spice

Wherever I am and Whatever I eat, I want to feel the burn.

To start this year I decided on a few things. One was that my sister and I were going to start a long distance workout program called #sissyfit. It is a way to be accountable to someone for working out. I was pretty skeptical when my sister proposed the idea but it's been working great! When we run we instagram a photo #sissyfit and record our distances on Nike+. My goals for the past two months have been to run 45 miles! I can't believe I'm 90 miles into the year. Always good to have someone who can hassel you about working out. 

The second part of my new year has been an addiction to eating anything that tastes like fire. Whether it's Sriracha mayonaise on my sandwich, or never eating a fried egg without Tapatío, sign me up! I have yet to have 'too much' garlic, ginger, onion, cilantro, not to mention red chili paste, spicy mustard, wasabi, or tabasco. When I go out I should ask for a menu and the hot sauce. This initially started when my roommate was trying to quit smoking-needed another way to 'get a fix.' My taste buds now require a royal kick in the pants to be satisfied at nearly every meal. I carry red chili flake in my purse and have started collecting money towards the hot sauce fund at work. I don't mind crying while I eat. 

So there you have it, my current obsession in life of feeling the burn. 

Best GF Pizza in Portland!

This is by far the best pizza I have had in two years was at the Sellwood Pizza Kitchen in Sellwood, Oregon (yes Sellwood). It is true artisan gluten free pizza! I unfortunately only found this place approximately three weeks before moving out of Portland but I plan on going back when I visit. This was the best crust I have found; crispy and delicious. Doesn't taste like cardboard. The toppings are delicious and very well done. It tastes like real pizza! It was a very Mom and Pop environment, incredibly welcoming. The waitress offered me a glass a new wine they were sampling. Very fun. Family friendly yet quiet, lots of regulars. Must try in Portland!

Christmas 2012

Playing catch up. 

We were good this year. :) It may have been the best Christmas dinner ever!

Carving up the prime rib. 

Grampa and Gramma: Prime Rib

Aunt Leslie: Brussel Sprouts

Aunt Becky: Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Onions

Mom: Cabbage Salad

Me: Black Rice Salad and Tarragon Cooked Carrots (These recipes were fantastic, I'm happy to provide recipes upon request, once I get moved in and find them)

Followed with Allergy Free Apple Spice Cake with Spiced Frosting from Living Without Magazine. It was fantastic and is highly recommended. We used too much frosting but man it looks great!

Visit to Lompoc, CA (in November 2012)

I'm a little behind. I just want to catch up for historian stake. 

Paella at Beachside restaurant in Santa Barbara, CA. Non-traditional but clearly delicious!

Followed by lots of home cooking from mom and me with Great Aunt Suzie and Great Uncle Bryce's help. We cooked up tacos and had steak night! 

Mom's birthday dinner at Steamer's restaurant in Pismo Beach, CA just north of Lompoc. This is my family's favorite restaurant to visit for a special occasion. We each got our own mini-bottle of Freixenet cava. Yum!

Mom's scampi with mashed potatoes and gravy!

My allergy-free fish tacos!

Cheers!

From Oregon to Virginia!

So much to share! I just completed my Naval Officer training in Newport, RI and have arrived at my ultimate duty station-Portsmouth Naval Medical Center near Norfolk, Virginia. I have a three year contract here and I could not be more excited for the food adventures that await me! I also look forward to sharing the ones I had on the way in Newport, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, and Norfolk. For now I must house hunt so I can get back to cooking as soon as possible!

New Look!

So excited! Thanks sis for the great new blog design. I've been lacking on posts lately due to holidays, news of my new naval career and because I couldn't post on something so ugly. I'm excited to get back online and get things rolling! Happy new year! In less than 30 days I'll be headed 3000 miles to start my new career as a Naval Officer in the Nurse Corps. After 5 weeks of training in Rhode Island I'll head to Virginia where the Portsmouth/Norfolk area will be my new home. Can't wait! Hoping to continue published my food adventures, especially those in the military. Wish me luck!

Allergy Free Thanksgiving Part 1

I tried out Udi's Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe. It worked out great. I cooked it with a cornish game hen and another dish of extra stuffing. It was delicious. I'm really glad I made the hen, it made the stuffing extra-fantastic. I used almond creme as my dairy free substitute. I'm enjoyed the fennel. This was great recipe.

Udi's Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe
Serves:  10-12
Preparation time: 20m
Cooking time: 1hr 10m Ingredients

• 1 loaf of Udi's Whole Grain Gluten Free Bread
• 1 loaf of Udi's White Sandwich Gluten Free Bread
• 1/4 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tbsp of fresh sage
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 cup of unsalted butter
• 2 onions (or 1 large onion)
• 1/2 cup of chopped fennel
• 1/2 cup of chopped celery
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• ­1/2 cup heavy cream


Directions
Lightly butter each side of Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain and Udi's White Sandwich breads then broil until slightly brown/toasted.  Allow bread to cool completely on a wire rack.

Place toasted, cooled bread in a Ziploc bag and break into bread crumbs (or pulse in a food processor).  Place bread crumbs in a bowl and add parsley, sage, salt, and pepper.

Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat; add onions and sauté until onions are softened. Add fennel and celery, stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft.  Transfer vegetables to the bowl with the toasted Udi's gluten free bread crumbs, parsley, sage, salt, and pepper.  Add eggs, stock, cream and gently toss.

Transfer mixture to a buttered shallow baking dish.  Bake, covered, in middle of oven for 30 minutes at 325°F.

To brown the stuffing, uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Gluten Free Cookie Dough Review

I happily found a new gluten free vegan cookie dough in the freezer section at Whole Foods. I was delighted to find such a label design. Forgive the ugly background (the dirty countertop at the beach cabin). This fantastic packaging was just... deceiving. The dough smells bad and tastes bad. It has a cardboard/plastic bag smell and taste for that matter. I guess these 'fake' cookies are really just too 'fake.'

Cheers to the cute label, boo to the product. 

Homemade Waffle Ranchero!

My favorite dish at the Gluten Free Waffle joint, Cafe Rio Co. is the waffle ranchero. It's a delectable combination of huevos rancheros and waffles. A waffle topped with egg, cheese, sausage/bacon, avocado, and salsa. 

Cafe Rio Co.'s version:

Cafe Sweet Pea's version:

I took the easiest route possible for this as I had just gotten done working a night shift and was headed to bed. 

Ingredients:

One Van's Gluten Free Eggo Waffle, toasted

One fried egg, over easy

Fried proscuitto

Avocado

Salsa

Dairy free cream cheese

Highly Recommened. I like Cafe Rio Co's better because I don't have to do the dishes! :-)

Gluten Free Onion Rings!

One of the many cravings in gluten free diet. Onion rings! A great way to get a non-greased onion ring is with the oven-baked method. Less messy and more healthy. I used Glutino's gluten free bread crumbs which is made from milled corn. They turned out great and I can't wait to do it again. Inspired by the Wooden Nest's recipe for oven baked onion rings. Thanks Lindsay!

Ingredients:

-Big, round onion

-Brown rice flour

-Egg (or dairy free milk)

-Glutino's GF Bread Crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remember for onion rings you cut the onion the wrong way. Instead of cutting from top to root you'll slice it through the middle. Cut onion to desired thickness. The thicker the onion the longer it will need to cook. 

3. Coat the onions in brown rice flour. I used the ziplock-bag-shake method. 

4. Set up your station: once floured, dip in egg or milk, coat with bread crumbs and set on parchment lined cookie sheet. 

5. Bake for 15-20 min they start looking nice and crunchy. 

6. Enjoy with fry sauce. :)

Butternut Squash Soup!

Yes, another round of allergy-free butternut squash soup. I made this with my sister Rachel and friend Britney the other night and it was quite a hit. I'm lucky I jotted down the recipe with their help because I would have never remembered all we threw in. This was a collaboration of us standing around the stock pot throwing in what we thought was best. It was a very fun night! 

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash peeled, brushed with olive oil and roasted 30 min
4 cloves of garlic (we like garlic)
2 TBS earth balance buttery spread/butter 
2 shallots, chopped
1 zuchinni, chopped 
4 cups gluten free chicken broth
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp curry
1 tsp oregano
dash cayenne
dash nutmeg
dash paprika
pinch of whole coriander seeds
Garnished with:
Almond cream
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Proscuitto


1. Cut the butternut squash length wise and peel. Brush with olive oil and put in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Chop up as best you can, it will be blended later so no need to be perfect.
2. In a stock pot, add butter and turn heat to medium. Saute the shallots, zucchini, and garlic for 2-3 minutes.
3.  Add butternut squash, salt and pepper, cumin, curry and oregano. 

4. Add 4 cups chicken broth (less for a chunkier soup). Add the dashes of cayenne, nutmeg, paprika and coriander seeds. 
5. Allow to boil for 15-20 minutes and then blend using immersion blender. 
6. Our soup needed another 20+ minutes to simmer after this. It needed this time to thicken up and get even tastier. 
7. For garnish I added a dollop of almond cream and some fried proscuitto and pumpkin seeds. 

YUM! 

More appetizers!

Time for hummus again. I headed to a family party with some filling food in hand. This is the 'potluck' dish I bring in case I can't eat anything. :) Easy to pair with chips, veggies or some GF flatbread.


Gluten Free Flatbread Recipe
1 c. brown rice flour (maybe 1/2 potato flour and 1/2 all purpose)
1/2 c. corn starch
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. water
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. canola
2 eggs (or flax eggs)


1. Mix all dry ingredients in medium size bowl.

2. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

3. Grease two 8 in. square baking pans and dust with brown rice flour.

4. Spread half of batter evenly into each pan. Use the back of a wet spoon if the dough is sticky.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes, or until bread pulls away from the sides of the pans.

Substitution Notes: Tapioca starch or potato starch can be substituted for the corn starch. Flax eggs are 1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp. water.

Roasted Garlic! Yum!

Roasted Red Pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to BROIL. Cover the pepper in olive oil, I use my hand and swirl it in a bowl

2. Place on a cookie sheet 

3. Use tongs and oven mitts to pull the rack out and turn the pepper. Keep your eyes on it! Don't leave this unattended. 

4. Hmmm watch out for the parchment paper, use foil!

5. Important step: place the pepper back in the oiled bowl and cover with saran wrap so it can steam.

Hummus:

Ingredients:

-2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and juice SAVED

-1 roasted garlic head, skinned

-1 roasted red pepper, seeded and chopped

-1/2 a lemon, juiced

-Salt to taste

-2 TBS olive oil

-Garbanzo bean juice if more liquid is needed

-Paprika to garnish

BLEND!

YUM! Great eats!

More food at Brasserie!

Matt and I headed out for a fancy Saturday night dinner. I wanted to wear high heels and drink champagne so I we use my dinner groupon to Brasserie Monmarte. We had a wonderful night of great food and fun. 

I felt very comfortable ordering allergy-free. I told the waitress I was gluten free and dairy free and started to describe what that was and she told me not to worry. At first I was not sure but she said that all she needs to know is no diary and no gluten and the chefs know what to do. I trusted this and had no issues! Very nice. Great service. Gluten Free Entree: Idaho trout with chanterelles and spinach. Yum!

Matt went for the not-so-allergy-free special. Rib-eye sandwich with mashed potatoes and onion rings. He was very satisfied. :-)

Live music in the bistro so we sat there. Have yet to sit in the dining room but oh well. Great food and great night. This may be in my top ten favorite places.