Shout-out to my fabulous mother :)

So along this gluten free journey, there have definitely been some pretty definied ups and downs....the best part, though, has been the support of my super-amazing husband, family, and friends :).

My sister got married last Saturday (YAYYY!), and my mother...though there were dozens of other things to worry about....was totally on top of making sure there were ample things for me to eat from the moment I arrived at her house on Wednesday until I left to go back home last Sunday. She arranged for a friend to pick up Biaggi's take-out and bring it to the reception so I would have a safe meal to eat (shout-out to Jen as well for picking it up for me!). And, during the reception...my dad went out to get a bag with some GF brownies my mom had baked for me so I could have something to eat when everyone was eating the yummy gourmet cupcakes at the reception :). (I must add that the brownies were made using the relatively new Betty Crocker gluten free brownie mix....and were absolutely fabulous. I would HIGHLY recommend that baking mix...plus it is pretty widely available! Just here in Bloomington, I know you can find the Betty Crocker mixes at Cub and at Wal Mart, among other stores!).

She also made an awesome coffee cake using the Betty Crocker yellow cake mix....she basically prepared the cake mix, put half of it in a cake pan, put some butter/cinnamon/brown sugar mixture (the typical cinnamon-y coffee cake concoction stuff) in the middle, put the remaining cake batter on top, and added more of the butter/cinnamon/brown sugar, etc. mixture to the top along with some chopped pecans. It was divine! She made it for breakfast on Thursday morning and I ate it after returning from a 4-mile run with the bride-to-be. She also brought leftovers of it to the hotel where we got ready for the wedding on Saturday morning...which was also fantastic! :) I would definitely recommend experimenting with the apparently very versatile Betty Crocker yellow cake mix to make some yummy coffee cake concoctions!

So, thanks, Mom! You always take care of me! :)

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

Busy month

It's been a BUSY month....the first weekend in April I traveled to MN with my sister to my good friend Rosalee's bachelorette party...the second weekend in April I ran my first half marathon...the third weekend in April Jeremy and I traveled to MN to attend Rosalee and Bobby's rehearsal and wedding....whew! So, I haven't been blogging much.

Highlights...

~gluten-free chili at the bachelorette party on Saturday, April 4 made by Rosalee's older sister Nicole who awesomely made it with me in mind
~delicious sangria at the bachelorette party (GF, of course! :))
~I FINISHED a half marathon on April 11th....in under 2 hours! The snacks afterwards, however, were lacking...the only thing I could eat were the bananas and apples! Ok, I realize this isn't exactly suffering ;), but when everyone else is stuffing themselves with Papa John's pizza it's easy to feel sorry for one's self! I said to my sister, as she bit into a hot piece of pizza, "I am THIS close to eating a piece of that! It looks awesome!" I was serious, too. Well, she took one look at me and said, "Let's get you out of here then" and made a bee line for the exit to the food area. Good idea, sister! Remove me from the situation :). So, yahoo for sisters ;)
~I had some of the BEST gluten-free meals EVER the weekend of Rosalee's wedding...the rehearsal dinner at the Hubbell House in Mantorville, MN was AMAZING (walleye, baked potato, and wine...can't go wrong, really.)...and the wedding food was great too! The caterers were SO helpful (Roz had talked with them beforehand) and I had a yummy plain chicken breast (it really was rather good!), potatoes, green beans, fruit and ice cream (in place of the ice cream cake the guests had)...not too shabby! So, yahoo for Rosalee, MN, and gluten-free weddings :)
~Rosalee's step-mom Joleen made AMAZING gluten free monster cookies in the little out-of-towner goodie bag she had for me and Jeremy at the hotel we stayed at. Can we say amazing?!??!

Needless to say, GF life isn't treating me too badly right now. This girl loves her food! ;) Sheesh, I sound like a fatty!! ;)

Shout Out! :)

The other day, my friend Abbey (a fellow SLP) sent me an e-mail at work asking me about what I could/couldn't eat...pertaining to getting me a "special" meal for her wedding reception in May! How amazingly sweet and kind was that?! She is so thoughtful...another reason I love where I work. I work with some really special, kind people :). Thanks, Abbey!

Also, similarly, an old friend, Rosalee, sent me a text this week saying "gluten free meal coming your way on April 18th!" April 18th is her wedding day (I am a bridesmaid!)...and she met with the caterers recently and they told her that a gluten free meal wouldn't be a problem.

Yahoo for wonderful friends...and yahoo for not just picking at lettuce leaves at their wedding receptions :). We have a couple more weddings this spring (Jeremy's friend Kelly (May), Jeremy's friend Scott (June...and we have to travel all the way to CA for this one! Jeremy is a groomsman), and Jeremy's friend Ken)....I haven't decided how to address these issues. In my trusty Gluten Free Bible, Jax Peters Lowell tells the reader to address these issues with the bride/groom and that in most cases it really isn't a big deal at all. The other option is just to eat beforehand ;). How uncomfortable, though, must that conversation be! A wedding is SO not about the guests...it's about the bride and groom! I hate to be the person to add one more concern to their plates on that special day.

Sigh. We'll see...