7 Randoms

My sister of a k8, a cat, a mission fame recently tagged me to do a "7 Random Things" meme and I'm currently procrastinating, so here it goes:

1. Throughout the years I have been diagnosed with a long list of ailments: scoliosis, asthma, raynauds disease, a heart murmur, a short eustachian tube, a hyperactive thyroid and borderline high blood pressure.

Luckily, my scoliosis doesn't really bother me anymore (I was diagnosed with it in junior high). My lung capacity isn't great, but my asthma (diagnosed as a child) has pretty much gone away. The raynauds disease is basically just a nuisance. The heart murmur was only discovered three years ago during an annual physical and (hopefully) has no serious repercussions. My short eustachian tube makes flying painful and annoying and caused me to perforate my eardrum when scuba diving (I could get surgery for it, but I don't miss scuba diving that much). My hyperactive thyroid was discovered by a GI doctor a few years ago, but was never treated (it's not terribly overactive, just slightly) and my blood pressure hasn't been checked since cutting coffee out of my diet three weeks ago, so hopefully that made a difference.

Medically, I'm just strange. But I count my lucky stars that all of these ailments are easily lived with.

2. I'm the runt of my family at 5'5 1/2. My sister is 5'8. My mother is 5'8. And my father is 6'0.

3. My wedding is exactly five months away today. I've already had nightmares regarding the ceremony and forgetting my vows. I'm worried about it raining (it's supposed to be outside) and I haven't even sent the save-the-dates out yet. But! I know how lucky I am to be marrying the love of my life; if there's a hurricane, if I completely flub up my vows, if the save the dates get lost in the mail, it won't really matter as long as we're standing there together, saying "I do."

4. I get really pissy if a few days pass and I haven't worked out.

5. Henry and I went for a walk today that was only supposed to be 45 minutes. It ended up being 1 1/2 hours long because I forgot my keys, got locked out of my place, and my mother had to drive from 15 miles away to open up the place with her extra set of keys (reminder: my parents are saints).

6. My sister is acting as the celebrant (ie she's marrying the A-man and I) at the wedding. Massachusetts has a great law that let's individuals get one day liscenses to marry people. I did the same for her wedding.

7. I own close to fifty sweaters. I think it's time to donate some.

I tag everyone that reads this, and especially my favorite twenty-something, female, gluten-free bloggers: Jenny of Sugar and Spice and My Gluten Free Life, Ali of Sorry I Can't Eat That, Marlow of Gluten Hates Me But I'm Surviving, and Jill Elise of Hey! That Tastes Good.

Tastes Like Chicken: Dry Style Mushrooms

A new year, a new set of goals; just one of mine is to eat more vegetables.

I'd like to think that I'm in a constant state of evaluation, looking at my life and seeing what needs change, but I'm also just like the majority of people this time of year and the new year has motivated me to reevaluate and resolve, again, to do things differently, to live a better life, to reach my goals throughout 2009. I have a mental list (though I should write these things down, and plan on doing so for my next post) of the things I'd like to achieve, but this small goal -- eating more vegetables (and in this case, fungi) -- got a kick start this morning with some hearty mushrooms.

I already eat more vegetables than your average American, but I'd like veggies to play more of the leading role on my plate, and act less like just a side dish. I'm not turning vegetarian or vegan, I'd just like to eat less meat: for health and environmental reasons. So making mushrooms with this technique, mimicking the texture of chicken is a great recipe to get that goal started.

The first photo on this post if of a mixture of raw mushrooms, the second photo was taken after they were cooked and just above, a mushroom scramble or sorts. Mushrooms have a lot of water in them, and when cooked with this technique (adapted by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) become, in a good way, more chewy.

Mushrooms Dry Style (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)

4 oz mixed mushrooms (mine were mini potabella, porchini and button)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

In a pan with a tight-fitting lid on medium-high heat, add the oil, the mushrooms, and the salt and pepper. Mix slightly, turn to medium low heat and cover with the lid and let cook for 6-7 minutes. Then, take off the lid, stir again and put back to medium high heat and cook for another 3 minutes undisturbed until the water has evaporated. Cook for another five minutes, stirring occasionally until they get crispy brown.

Serve on their own, in a salad, in an omelet, or whichever way you please.

Doesn't Henry look like he's wincing in this photo?

A Belated Happy Holidays!

From Henry, the A-man and me. If we were going to send out Christmas cards, we would surely use this photo taken on Thanksgiving. Though, it's difficult to get Henry to stand still when ten sheep are to the right of him.


I'm traveling quite a bit for the holidays, making my posts sparse, but I'm still cooking up a storm! Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Few of my Favorite Things... (3)

I received a great gift for my Birthday this year from my soon-to-be mother-in-law: a cast iron skillet, a corn tortilla press and some masa harina flour (corn flour with lime in it). I've been having lots of fun with all three, but I have really come to enjoy the cast iron skillet, especially since I threw out my worn and slightly scratched teflon pans not too long ago. There are varying reports on the danger of teflon, but I'd rather err on the side of caution then ingest harmful toxins. Also, the well-respected Environmental Working Group has some really interesting (according to a study, teflon toxicity is linked to hundreds of pet bird deaths) articles on the subject; it really makes you wonder.

There are many other options out there for cookware like stainless steel and calphalon, but cast iron, along with being incredibly inexpensive, has some other perks: it lasts a lifetime, it evenly distributes heat and if seasoned properly, it requires no oil or fat when cooking.

Cookware.com has some great tips on buying cast iron (and they also have good ideas for other kitchenware and Christmas Dinnerware if you're still in search of gifts). Lodge also has great tips on cleaning your cast iron and maintaining it.

For those gluten-intolerant folks out there, it should be noted that because of the nature of cast iron and the fact that you don't really "wash" it, there's a big chance that any cast iron passed down from generation to generation most likely could be contaminated with gluten.

A Few of my Favorite Things... (2)

You know what I absolutely love? Drinking coffee brewed with just a dash of cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. It makes me feel good, it warms my body and it wakes me up. However, I am addicted to coffee: I rely on it too much to make me feel awake, I crave it first thing in the morning and I often get headaches if I don't have my daily cup of joe. And while I love my coffee, I don't like relying on it to get me through my day. Oh yeah, and I have "borderline" high blood pressure -- I blame it on the fact that my dear A-man is constantly in harms way, but I have a feeling drinking coffee isn't helping things out. So, in order to stear clear of heart-attack land (I also have a heart murmur -- yipee!) I think I should cut back a bit, and I'm starting to and it's all thanks to some wonderful, gluten-free, kosher, and thoughtful tea.

I have never described a food or brand as thoughtful before, but The Republic of Tea really fits the bill. Browsing their catalog makes me smile and feel good about purchasing tea from them: their tea bags are unbleached and have no strings, tags or staples in support of the environment, they offer tons of information on every type of tea they sell and I really dig their variety (buy it loose, in bags or as concentrate). Just recently I went on a bit of a shopping spree for Christmas gifts from them. You see, every tea of theirs is certified gluten-free and kosher. Every single one is gluten-free! And they are the first tea company with permission to include the Gluten-Free Certification Organization's certification mark on its packaging.

My goodness; I haven't even spoken about taste yet. Well, you know that cinnamon scented, almond milk splashed coffee that I adore so much? All of the teas that I have tried so far could rival (and surpass) my morning cup of joe in terms of taste (the chai concentrate is gosh-darn amazing). They even have a line of tea called Be Well Red Teas, all with roobois in them mixed with other teas and herbs. The Red Tea line has teas called: Hello Gorgeous which is good for your skin, Get Clean for detoxing and a whole bunch more for those of us wanting to work on ourselves from within.

I consider The Republic of Tea my nicorette, but way tastier and way better for you.

Tomorrow's favorite thing: not your Grandma's cookware?

A Few of My Favorite Things... (1)

I wish I could make like Oprah and give away all of my new, fancy, favorite things to each of you readers, making you cry and scream with excitement like her audience does on her yearly "Favorite Things" show. But alas, I cannot -- not in this economy. In fact, even Oprah had a scaled-down version this year.

So you get a list -- a list of my most favorite gluten-free (okay, and a few that have nothing to do with being gluten-free) gifts for those GFers and health conscious people in your life.

First, I present to you the blender of all blenders; a kitchen tool that Chuck Norris would be if Chuck Norris had to be a kitchen tool: The Vitamix Super 5200


I got an early Christmas present this year from the A-man. He knows we are going to be traveling for much of our Christmas vacation, so he knew I wouldn't be able to "play" with my Christmas present, so he wanted me to open it early. So I did. Last night. And I almost fainted with excitement.

The Vitamix blender is especially good for people with gluten-intolerance because it comes with a "dry blade" which lets you make your own flour! From whole grains! So, I put some raw, whole brown rice into the blender and blended on high for awhile, and out comes flour! I can't wait to try it with millet and sorghrum and tapioca and...

You get the idea. This is also great for people who don't do dairy -- this thing will whip up almost anything you put in it to a creamy-like consistencty. And, if you're a nut-butter lover like me -- you can make your own peanut butter (and cashew, macadamia nut, hazlenut...)! I've only scratched the surface of what this thing can do (after all, I got it last night) but I can't wait to play with it even more. The A-man wants me to keep a tally on my blog of each time I use it and how much money he thinks we'll save over the years grinding our own flour (this is so he can feel okay about spending the amount of money he did on it; let's just say it's an investement). And I can't forget smoothies; the A-man's big on his protein and I have a feeling this thing could turn a steak into a drink. So I'm on to you A-man; it's one of those gifts you give to someone so that you can use it too -- steak smoothies -- I knew it!

On tomorrow's favorite things post: tea for all.

*Muffins!

Mini-jam-filled almond muffins to be exact.

In an effort to make a morning treat as healthy and satisfying as possible, I did a little experimenting. First, I tried to make a pumpkin almond (regular sized) muffin and they were, well, absolutely disgusting: the outside was burnt and the inside was a gooey mess with a mealy texture. So, those got tossed. But, being the girl that I am, I didn't give up. I still wanted a high-protein, low-sugar muffin, but my key -- as it is in a lot of my gluten-free baking, was to make it miniature.

And here you have my miniature jam-filled almond muffins. And they're quite satisfying -- just two of these with your morning tea or coffee can fill you up plenty. Also, I made them two different ways: one with egg, and one with ground flax seed heated up with some water (a basic egg replacer recipe) and they both came out well -- the egg-based muffin looked more, well, muffiney -- the other a tad bit grainier, lighter in color and they didn't rise as high -- but still tasty (in photo above, the flax recipe is the muffin on the left, and egg recipe is on the right -- it's the opposite in the photo below).

Mini-Jam-Filled Almond Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan if you want)

makes nine mini-muffins


1 3/4 cup blanched almond flour (aka almond meal)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg (or 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds mixed with 6 tablespoons water, microwaved for one minute, or until gel-like)
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/4 cup jam of choice

Preheat oven to 325 F and grease a mini muffin pan with shortening or oil of choice.
In a bowl, mix the almond flour, salt, and baking soda until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, vinegar and agave nectar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine. Fill each muffin tin with a scant tablespoon of the batter, then add about a 1/2 teaspoon of the jam, making a small indent in each muffin. Add about a teaspoon of batter on top of each jam-filled muffin and bake for 10-15 minutes in the oven.




*Said in reference to hilarious youtube muffin sensation found here.