Rudi's Gluten Free Bread

So we have potluck lunches every so often at work (usually my idea ;). I head up the "Fun Committee" at work...a very boring, very vanilla name for a group of co-workers who tries to come up with fun ways of promoting a more exciting workplace and making relationship-building a priority)...

Obviously potlucks are really no place for gluten allergies, or food allergies of any kind for that matter. Usually I can eat what I bring...and maybe 1-2 other things, if that. Really, it doesn't bother me much...if at all. 2 years ago when I started this "journey"...I usually got annoyed. Once I even skipped a work lunch because pizza was being served and I really didn't want to deal with sitting there and being the only one who wasn't eating pizza. It probably sounds completely lame...but it was really hard for me to be the "odd man out."

So, yesterday we had a potluck. My co-worker, Debra, signed up to bring bread (the "main dishes" at this particular potluck were a variety of soups). In addition to a loaf of "normal" ;) bread...she brought a loaf of multi-grain gluten free bread made by Rudi's...a company I'd never heard of until that moment!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

If you've ever tried gluten free bread...you know that most gluten free breads leave more than a few things to be desired. Taste. Texture. UGH...gluten free bread is usually pretty nasty and similar to cardboard or styrofoam.

Rudi's though....delicious! Really! I ate two slices dipped in my carnitas taco soup (made by me ;)).

Check out the website: Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery

I am not sure where Deb found the bread...but I looked on the website, and they do carry it at Naturally Yours here in Bloomington! WOO HOO! :) You can search on the site under the "where to buy" option and search for locations near you where you can buy this yummy bread! Apparently they are a few different varieties...the one I tried was the multigrain, and again...I'd completely recommend it! :) Two thumbs WAY up! AND...FYI, it's dairy free as well! :)

I am already looking forward to my toast in the morning...complete with homemade cherry jam from my friend Jami! :)

Chunky Potato Soup Recipe

So, I subscribe to The Gluten Free Checklist...and get a GF recipe via e-mail each day. Today's looks great....I think I will definitely be trying this one! (However, I am a big baby and personally don't care for onions...I'll probably either omit them or use a lot less than 2 cups ;)).

Chunky Potato Soup
Ingredients
6 Tbs. butter
2 c. purple onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, chopped
3 Tbs. ARROWHEAD MILLS – white rice flour
1 qt. water 1 qt. IMAGINE - Organic Low Sodium Free Range Chicken Broth
4 c. red potatoes, peeled & cubed
1/2 c. heavy cream
3 Tbs. parsley, chopped
Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions
Melt 3 Tbs. butter in a 5 qt. stock pot. Add onions and cook slowly for 5 minutes without browning. Blend in gluten free flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add water and chicken broth, stirring to prevent lumps. Add potatoes and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes. While soup is simmering, stir in cream, parsley, remaining butter and salt & pepper to taste. Continue simmering to allow butter to melt and flavors to blend.

random food...

Ok, so here is the other "recipe"...if you can call it that ;)...I mentioned in the previous blog. I say it that way because I have kind of gotten in a habit of just throwing random crap together lately ;).

Tomato-y Chicken and (Rice) Pasta ;)

1 box gluten-free tomato soup (I used Imagine brand; I really like this. It is available at Meijer, for you Bloomington-ites ;))
1 can tomatoes and green chilis
Chicken breasts (I used 3 large breasts)
Rice pasta (any shape will do!)

Basically all I did was put the still-frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of my crock pot, pour the soup and tomatoes/chilis on top and let the whole thing cook on high for 3 hours and then low for 3 more hours. At dinner time I boiled up some yummy rice pasta (I used spaghetti-shape; obviously you can use anything that suits your fancy!). When the pasta was drained, I returned it to the pan and put a little butter and garlic on it (you can omit this or use olive oil or whatever). Next, I put some noodles on each plate and covered each plate of noodles with one chicken breast and some of the tomato sauce from the crock pot. You could serve this with cheese on top or with parmesan to shake on top...but we didn't add any cheese. We are actually cheese-a-holics ;) so if we think a dish is fine without cheese, it probably really is! HA!

Today I stopped home for a quick lunch again and am currently chowing down on leftovers from last night. I made a box of Trader Joes' Gluten Free rice mac n' cheese and added a flaked pre-cooked salmon fillet. I found the salmon at Cub Food's here in Bloomington in the refridgerator section by the other seafood....it said "gluten free" on the label, so of course that piqued my interest ;). I am a marketer's dream ;). HA! Anyway, it was simple and oh-so-yummy!

Jeremy and I are going to a wedding this weekend; it will be my second gluten-free wedding reception experience ;).

Have a good day, all!

Rachel

Good eats

I stopped home for a quick lunch and thought I'd jot down a quick blog entry as well. I sure haven't been blogging much lately (explanation in the previous entry!). Anyway, hopefully I'll get back into it. We'll see. Also, in the last entry I wrote that I would be posting another entry right after posting that one with new food ideas/recipes. Well, I must have gotten sidetracked by something else because I sure didn't post anything! ;) Well, here are a few tidbits...

My favorite easy lunch lately has been somewhat random but totally delicious :).
Ingredients:
2 slices of Whole Foods Gluten-Free Sandwich bread (any bread will do, of course, but this is my all-time favorite!)
Butter
Cheese of your choosing (I typically prefer cheddar ;))
1 egg
honey

1) Cook the egg however you like (I "fry" it, but just in a few spritz' of cooking spray), set aside.
2) Lightly butter 1 side of each slice of bread. Fry each of these in the same pan you cooked the egg in (butter-side down, just like you would a grilled cheese sandwich)
3) Put cheese on the un-buttered part of one slice of bread, and cover with the egg. Cook until the cheese is melted.
4) Turn the other slice of bread over (so now the buttered/toasted side is facing up) and spread some honey on it. Keep it on the pan until the honey is warmed a bit.

There you have it, an "open face" egg/cheese "sandwich" and a slice of toast with honey. YUM! I love it...in fact, it is just what I ate for lunch today! Somewhat random, but totally delicious :).
~~~

Also, this past week I made 2 really easy dinners:
First one: Baked Turkey Breasts with Black Beans and Hominy (ha, really creative title ;))

Ingredients:
2 lbs Turkey breasts (boneless, skinless, fat removed)
3/4 cup chicken broth (Progresso brand is gluten free, and it is my preferred brand. I like their low-sodium version)
1 can organic black beans
1 can hominy
sour cream
cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Place turkey breasts on the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the 3/4 cup chicken broth over top. Cover with 1 can each of black beans and hominy. Cover pan with foil. Bake until nearly done (approx 40 minutes or so, depending on thickness of breasts). Uncover, sprinkle cheese on top (whichever variety you prefer, and whatever quantity you want). Return to oven, uncovered, and bake until cheese is bubbly. Ensure turkey breasts are done, and then serve with sour cream and additional cheese if you wish. So simple and really delicious. It worked great to put together ahead of time (minus the cheese) when I came home on my lunch break and hold in the fridge for a few hours before popping into the oven at dinner time!

I need to hurry back to work now, but I will post the second recipe later...yummy tomato-ey chicken over garlic rice pasta! YUM!

Have a great day, all!

Rachel

Yummy dinner!

Thanks to JILLIAN for this awesome present...two boxes of gluten free mac and cheese from a recent trip to Trader Joes!! Jillian, a great friend I met at work, is just AWESOME and sooo generous! She always finds me little goodies...and I love her for it!!

I have a pot of water with one box of the noodles a'boilin' downstairs and can't wait to eat it! After that I am off for a pedicure...a silly indulgence, I know ;). It is in preparation for our trip to AZ on Thursday...my biggest trip yet while gluten free! It'll be an adventure, I am sure...but I am up for it! :) Time to go consume said mac and cheese....have a lovely night, all!