Trust your instincts…

Man, I was starving after my second class this morning.  I ran us through Salutation G, this morning.  I love that one, but it mixed with other flows left me so hungry afterwards.

And I had the most incredible craving for pancakes.  Well, I think the cravings were induced by a story I heard on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday this morning about a Russian Pancake Festival taking place this weekend.  It’s so funny that all the brain needs is a little hint to bring about a full-scale craving.  So, I set about looking for a (hopefully) yummy grain-free pancake recipe.

I decided to make coconut flour pancakes.  The recipe I picked looked and sounded good.  Heck, even the pancakes looked good, see…

Buuuuuuut, the recipe called for way too much salt.  Hence the title of this post…every fiber in me said, “This is tooooooo much salt” but I wanted to respect the recipe as is.  Crap.  They are too salty for pancakes.  They’re not salt bricks but the salt is noticeable.  Also, the texture was, hmmmm, how to explain?  Not dry, they are moist…but a bit crumbly.  I’m used to the doughy, slightly stick texture that I suppose is the domain of wheat flour.  I’m not going to give up though.  I gotta find a good recipe!  Anybody got a good grain-free pancake recipe?

(On the side, egg white and turkey sausage.  Before I went wheat-free, I bought a box of Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwiches.  Not wanting them to go to waste, I just have the sandwich sans the flatbread.)

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Cookery: new word for the week…

So I have been hooked on Gordon Ramsey’s Ultimate Cookery Course on BBC America.  I have already made two recipes from the show and both turned out beautifully.

I happen to love Gordon, save some of his interesting quirks…like have you ever noticed that in the opening credits of almost every show he has he’s taking off his shirt?    Anyway, I know a lot of people who don’t at all like Gordon’s reality shows but appreciate his cooking shows.  Say what you will, at the end of the day, the man is an awesome chef (with the Michelin stars to prove it!).

Last’s night recipe, Mushroom and Leek Pasta.  I used brown rice pasta, of course, given that I’m now wheat free.  The pasta was great!  I used this brand, Tinkyada, and was thoroughly impressed.  Here’s a pic:

I served this with “garlic bread” I made from my first foray into gluten-free bread making with a bread machine.  Here’s how the first loaf ended up looking at the end:

It was pretty sad…but the bread ended up being edible and not too terrible.  I think it was shot from how much my hands were in the dough.  I took the paddle out too soon last time and had to plunge my fingers into sticky dough trying to put the paddle back on.  Word to the wise: read the booklet for the machine before you dive into using it!  Duh!

Got my second ever bread in the machine now…

Fingers crossed!

Long time, no see…

Boy, it’s been a little while since my last post.

Well, despite not posting, I HAVE been taking pics!

This day is one to mark on the calendars.  I have all day off!  This is a big deal because I have worked almost every Saturday morning for the past year:

10:30 am/Private lesson, with two therapist colleagues

12:00pm/Client at my office

It tends to break up my day, especially if I decide to run errands afterwards.  This actually wouldn’t be that bad if I didn’t also work on Sunday mornings.  Each Sunday morning, with few exceptions, for the past seven and a half years, I have taught yoga at 8am.  A couple of years ago, I added another class at 10am at a different, sister location, on my way home.

This sort of schedule makes lazy weekend mornings in bed, with some cuddly lover impossible.  No wonder I’m single!

Breakfast and juicing this morning, as I contemplate what to do with this day…

Steel cut oats and quinoa, with a splash of almond milk, maple syrup, a mixture of toasted nuts (pecans, almonds, hazelnuts) and a sprinkling of hemp seeds!

I, again, juiced my veg separately and then cubed them to add to my morning juices:

My freezer is taking on a whole new look, and I like it:

Baking the blogs!

So I have also been craving treats since I have given up wheat.  Most recipes for baked goods have been good.  These cookies, however, were great!! Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

The recipe is courtesy of The Urban Poser, another awesome food (and YOGA) blog for y’all to check out!  You must try these!

Cooking the blogs

In an effort to find good recipes that fit within this more restricted food plan I’m following, I’ve taken to my fellow bloggers for inspiration and frankly, help.  Enter this fabulous soup; the recipe, from a fabulous blog aptly titled, Organizing with a side of Fabulous!  Check it out!!

Three ingredients or less is healthy, right?

I wish that were true about last night’s dessert.  It has only three ingredients: lemon, heavy cream, and sugar.  What a great combo.

I made Lemon Posset, last night and it is heavenly!

I had this with a gluten-free shortbread cookie from the Wedge Co-op.  Yum!  I’ll have to find a good gluten-free shortbread cookie recipe now.  I’m envisioning a lemon tart.

For dinner last night, I made a spinach salad with a great Maple Mustard Dressing from the Wedge, and made lemon pepper tofu to top!  It turned out great!

Aaron came over and hung out last night.  He gobbled his salad up quickly.  I sent him home with about half my freezer.  All those yummy gluten filled treats that had been staring back at me every time I opened the freezer door.  Rather than being tempted, or mocked depending on my mood, I decided to give them away.  It’s good food and he can use it so I feel good about it.  Now I have room to store all those darn gluten-free flours I’ve been accumulating.

Lemon muffins

More gluten-free baking!

This time I made Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, courtesy of Elena’s Pantry:

Now, watching the Chopped Champions Finale! These guys are killing it. Can’t wait to see who wins. My money is on Vincent!

Juice crazy!

I was recently perusing the 101 Cookbooks website, an awesome website by Heidi Swanson. It’s got enticing photos and texts and I’ve had great success with all the recipes I’ve tried from there; which I think says something great about it.

This post about juicing, in particular, inspired me.

So, yesterday I set about juicing some of my go-to ingredients to use in my morning juice.

First, photos of the fruits of my labor (har!):

Any idea what is in the last jar? And, nope, it’s not lemon…

It’s:

With the cucumber and carrot, I poured them into ice cube trays:

Then I popped them out and added them to a tightly sealed container in the freezer.

This morning I tested out the carrot. I juiced a couple of small apples and a small lemon and added three big cubes of carrot juice. Oh, I also added about a half teaspoon of ginger “ice: shavings and added them. It added a great kick! The icy bits melted nicely in my vacuum sealed cup and left the juice super cold for a while.

Even though I still juiced a little this morning, it still saved me time. I think I’ll have to do some more juicing this coming weekend. Hmm, what to juice next?

Paleo Bread!

OMG.  I made my first Paleo bread today!

It’s so freakin’ good!  And it didn’t even turn out exactly as it should.  Thank goodness there are suggestions on Elena’s site that I ca try next time.

Regardless, this is one yummy bread.  Gluten-free, paleo-friendly, and really nutritionally packed!  You gotta try this recipe:

I cheated a bit.  It’s the last day of the elimination-challenge.  But I had a smear of butter on this bread, along with some blueberry preserves!

I can see the finish line…

Whew.  It’s been a while since I last posted.  As I last noted, wheat day (and the following days) was horrible.  That was then followed by nightshade day.  This, and the days that followed it were, sadly, no kinder to me.  I was moving and thinking through mud and still in a lot of physical pain.  I’ve never had sciatica hang on for this long.  But I do believe that the wheat and nightshades are the main culprits.

I had a lot of fun, initially, on nightshade day.  Even though as the day went on I felt more pain, I made this amazing dinner:

A bacon-covered Yellow Bell Pepper (nightshade) stuffed with crushed tomatoes (nightshade), olives, basil, garlic, and hot peppers (nightshades)!  I paid for it the next few days.  Not as badly as with wheat though.  So I think that I might allow myself nightshades occasionally and be careful not to mix them or eat a lot in one day.

Yesterday was corm day.  The last of the food challenges!  And I’m happy to report that it went well.  I was worried! Funny enough, all I really had yesterday was corn.

Corn Bran cereal for breakfast, Food Should Taste Good Tortilla chips and Pop’d Kerns (a yummy popped corn snack) for snacks during the day.  And frozen corn for dinner.  As an aside, I was also supposed to have leftover roasted pork…oh, it smelled so good.  Well, I dropped it on the floor before I could even get a bite.  😦

The most amazing part was getting to eat this gluten-free cupcake, with cornstarch and xanthan gum (corn-based)!  It was really good:

Here’s a pic of the Pop’d Kerns: