This is Almost Easy

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Ha! Eating GF is easy if you shop often and appropriately; have the time/take the time to cook at home.

Amazingly, there were many menus in Door County with clearly -marked GF options. Adaptations of regular items, etc.

At home, I just have to be on my toes. All the time. At least until it all become automatic.

Eating lunch with good friends at Eataly Chicago yesterday involved GF pasta. Just as chewey as the GF pasta I tried at home, but otherwise good. At home, we had a late dinner--angel hair pasta with marinara and sausage from Bari Foods on Grand Avenue. The sausage turned out to be Italian sausage meatballs with obvious bread crumbs, so I passed mine to CA. He declared them delicioso! Bari Food's Barese sausage is amazing, and similar Barese is available locally (for me) at Caputo's. That will be GF.

I did eat my marinara with the DeCecco angel hair pasta because it's made in Italy where wheat is wheat. No adverse effects, but I won't overuse this option. DeCecco is my all-time favorite pasta brand.

 

Down Memory Lane

 

Years ago on our visits to Door County (our last trip was @1990), we ate most of our meals at The Cookery, in Fish Creek. So pleased that it's still going strong with the next generation in charge still locally sourcing much of their food, and baking all their own breads and desserts. The Cookery is now 2-story, with an upstairs wine bar (limited menu), including a GF version. We scored almost immediate seating upstairs. (It's a rainy night, so outside was iffy, and a 45-minute wait for downstairs, inside.)

A Wisconsin favorite: Smoked Whitefish Spread.

 

I enjoyed Steak Frites (2 Saturday dinners in a row, in 2 different states than my own) while CA had Scallops in a Pinot Grigio and Butter Sauce, with Polenta on the side. For a starter we shared the Whitefish Spread with cucumber slices for moi, and toasted bread rounds for CA. Wisconsin knows how to grow flavorful meat. Good food. Great only-in-Wisconsin Whitefish Spread.

I was miffed to find it seriously rainy, rather than the earlier spitting, when we exited the restaurant. Miffed because I had both a light-weight slicker and an umbrella... In the car.

Didn't stop us from running between a few shops before heading to the car, with a sidestep into The Door County Chocolate and Fudge House. Hey, fudge is GF. Not carb-free or calorie-free, though. And, Dippy's just a few doors down has bottled water in a cooler. Yes.

 

Results:

Road food takes planning. This was a totally spontaneous roadtrip. We were on the highway 1-1/2 hours after waking up and deciding to go. I packed a small cooler with iced tea, Jill's garden Cocktail Tomatoes, a Banana, both GF and Club Crackers, Aged White Cheddar and peanutbutter. Just what I could quickly assemble.

After an hour+ of drive-time, we had breakfast at Panera. I ordered a Cafe Sandwich--tuna with lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Just tossed the bread and ate the remainder with a fork. Very satisfying.

We had a bit of a late lunch in Egg Harbor at Galileo. CA had Pear-Gorgonzola Flatbread (pizza), while I managed GF with a Door County Salad (mixed greens, grilled chicken breast, candied pecans, dried cherries, a bit of a delicious (I think) aged goat cheese. All tarted up with a raspberry viniagrette dressing. Slow service, but adequately good food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner Tonight

 

Found a container of a glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas in my freezer a couple of days ago,

Tonight I decide to use the filling to make taquitos. I hate to fry, but I figure these will reheat well so I can make enough to make the grease clean-up worthwhile.

A little more than halfway into this project, I decide to finish off the filling using the "good" white corn tortillas. For CA. For me, they unfortunately include wheat flour. But, I'm guessing that's why they taste so good. They are the best!

 

Results: O.K., except the organic white corn, gluten-free tortillas are just this side of indigestible. Or, at least that's the mouth-feel. CA tries both versions, and feels my pain. His are far better.

 

Front 4 are the tasty non-GF.

 

Suffering through with these.

 

Hands-down the best we've ever had.

 

Will make taquitos again. Next time spicier.

 

 

Pancakes for Dinner

 

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Breakfast for dinner was a hit tonight. Very good tasting King Arthur Flour mix. We made 1/2 recipe and that was perfect for two, with some well-drained applewood smoked bacon.

Results: Pancakes were excellent, although texture was a bit mealy on the tongue. Outside of pancakes had excellent appearance and texture with a definite light crunch. Just get a good taste before chewing, and don't dwell on the texture.

 

 

GF Road Food

Madison, WI Farmers' Market

 

Busy morning, and we're traveling today. We've got a quantity of semi-prepared food in the frig that we do not want to leave behind--6 hard boiled eggs and three farmers' market tomatoes, to name a couple. Plus grocery items, staples and fresh food that does not fit into a GF lifestyle. JE's family will benefit...

After the gym I accomplish a produce(tive) market run, where I stumbe onto perfect baby Arugula, baby Spinach, lovely Avocados, clean and chrisp Cilantro, firm Red Grapes, beautiful Sweet Potatoes, etc. At home I rush around finishing packing while CA starts chopping the eggs (no time to make deviled eggs), and then I cut up tomatoes and finish making egg salad. We fill a large bag with 2 large servings of egg salad and two servings of lightly-salted cut tomatoes, add the Ziplock of freshly-washed grapes and top off the supplies with disposable eating utensils and napkins.

Yep. A car picnic.

CA has an 11:00am rehab (knee) appointment in Crystal Lake, and straight from there we get on the road toward Cincinnati for a Fun Kids weekend, and to celebrate my Satuday birthday.

All our provisions work out well, and we're stocked-up and ready to stay GF, one day at a time.

 

Quick Mexican

 

Not certified Gluten-Free, but made with GF ingredients.
Good enough for me, and delicious.

These tamales are a long-time favorite from Trader Joe's. Pleased to see they still fit into my life. And, I already had some Quickie Enchilada Sauce from the Gluten-Free Goddess in my freezer.

 

Microwave for just 3 minutes.

 

I serve with rice, shredded Romaine lettuce, and sour cream. More than I can finish. One tamale isn't enough, two are too many. Need to make 4 for CA and I to enjoy as leftovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where to Begin, Part 3

It's taken me several grocery runs to accept the fact that I need a pantry-shelf-full of new ingredients. Denial is a very powerful dynamic. It's dynamic.

I first purchased:

I ground much of this into a flour in my food processor.

 

 

Then, I read a few more Gluten-Free Goddess recipes, and some Aran Goyoago recipes. And, headed to Whole Foods for:

 

My first GF baking is a Nigella recipe Lemon Shortbread (GF buscuits), which I adapted a bit. Switched out the almond flour for coconut flour because I'd forgotten I'd already acquired almond flour. (Need to get these flours organized ASAP). And, I couldn't fathom using the zest of (3) lemons so I cut the quantity down to the zest of (1).

I used an 8" square baking pan and baked for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

 

 

Results: Tasty, but definitely a different mouth-feel compared to the all-purpose flour version.

 

Where to Begin, Part 2

At Aldi.

 

So, after almost giving up on finding a GF wrap, this was randomly at Aldi. Guess Aldi has a short-term commitment to this product line, depending on how they sell.

 

Wrapped a Trader Joe's hot dog and condiments in one. Not bad. Not great. Let's just say, I always finish a hot dog bun. There was wrap left when I'd devoured the hot dog, but I didn't eat the last bite or two of wrap. It works to hold the sandwich goodies, so that'll have to be good enough for now.

 

This works for toast, if you have oodles of good toppings on it. Too dry for a sandwich. Maybe try it grilled?

 

Results: Made a Pizza Margherite for lunch yesterday. Crust is not bad; baked-up crunchy. Browned well. Good taste. A little mealy on my tongue, but I'm a food snob.