One Week Down: Gluten-free

I am one week into my Gluten-Free (GF) diet; and just as a reminder, I am not doing this for fun, this is out of a need to heal my body. It hasn't been as hard as I originally thought it would be. I find that I am just eating more naturally GF products (with a few corn chips and GF pretzels thrown in.) I have stopped looking at this change as a bad and disappointing thing but more of a change for the better. I am already noticing that I am making better food choices and my body can tell the difference. I figure it will take a few more weeks to really notice a change but I know my mornings haven’t been as painful. I will still get an upset stomach after eating some things that I thought were GF or anything with too much dairy, but still it hasn’t been as bad. I know I have a lot more research to do to fully understand the GF lifestyle and I am prepared for the challenge adventure.  I am starting to see this as a life change, and not just a hump in the road, I have to admit it is a little scary but like I just said, I am prepared for this and having my family's support really helps.

I have been looking at different blogs, through different books, trying to get inspired for different food ideas. This past week, I ate a lot of salad with all my favorite add-ins, well except the croutons but nuts and seeds make up for the crunch. Some of the other foods I ate/made were: egg muffins with sautéed kale and mushrooms, that were great as a grab and go morning breakfast along with a banana; pumpkin and sweet potato soup, I froze some and the rest brought to work for lunch; tacos! {I love tacos} in corn shells of course and had left overs for lunch. I also snacked on grapes, multigrain corn chips, GF pretzels, hummus and vegetables like cauliflower and celery. I got to try Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix, for one evening we did breakfast for dinner. I personally really enjoyed them. It was a combination of different flours which included almond. There was a chocolate chip cookie recipe on the side of the bag that I would like to try at some point.

I have two parties to attend this weekend, the one I know that I will be bringing at least one dish (maybe two) but the other is a kids party and will probably not have too much for me to nibble on.  Both parties I will probably eat at least something before I go, just in case. [Side note: this wasn't posted until after the parties, I gave in and tried a piece of an awesome Mushroom Marsala Tart and I am not sure how much it did to me because I also drank too much wine and that usually bothers me, but either way my belly was NOT happy with me in the morning.]

Okay, so enough about that and now on to the recipes.  I mentioned this soup on an earlier post, it was originally from The Gluten-Free Goddess, I made a few changes due to what I had on hand.  The flavor was really good, not too sweet, not too spicy. I also try not to over puree soups because I like a little texture.  The egg muffins on the other hand were inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I like having things I can just grab and go in the mornings.  And these freeze really well.

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

(adapted from the Gluten-Free Goddess, see the original recipe here)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Dash of salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
2 small sweet potatoes, roasted, peeled, cubed
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons dry sherry

In a heavy soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes until softened. Add in the chopped carrots and celery, and stir in the spices. Lower heat and gently cook for about 10 minutes.

Add in the pumpkin, sweet potato, broth and sherry; stir together. Cover and bring to a slow simmer, cooking the soup for about 25-35 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

Remove from heat, and puree the soup. (I used a my blender, and pureed it batches filling only about half way full. Put the pureed soup back into the pot and continue to cook on low. Taste and adjust the seasonings.  This made about 6 servings or so and seems to freeze well.

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/11/pumpkin-sweet-potato-soup.html#ixzz2AKacxJ3O

Egg Muffins with Kale and Mushrooms

(makes 12 muffins)

2 cups Kale, chopped (spinach would work also)

1 cup mushrooms, sliced (use your favorite)

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

6 eggs

3 tbsp plain yogurt

pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and saute until translucent  Add the chopped kale and mushrooms toss to coat in the oil onion mixture, sprinkle with the salt and cover. Let cook until the kale had wilted and the mushrooms are tender.

Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray, fill each cup about half way with the kale and mushroom mixture.  Let cool slightly.

Mean while, whisk the eggs and yogurt together. Fill the muffin cups with the egg mixture. Bake  at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or so until the egg is firm to the touch.

*I didn't add cheese but you could easily add different ingredients. However, I do add a little bit of cheese on top when I heat them in the microwave. They only take about 30-45 seconds to heat through in the microwave from a frozen state.  You could also use a mini muffin pan to make little appetizers. The options are endless!