Hello again!

Long time no see!  Wow I can't believe I checked back on the blog today only to find that I had not written a single thing since 2011!  Its hard to believe that I simply didn't take the time to write about my food in all of 2012.
I actually managed to do a bit more circumnavigating in this gluten-free lifestyle and learn a few new things, both about food and about myself and even about blogging, which I will try to find time to share with you and write about this year.  There are also things I want to maybe organize better here on the blog but mostly I'm just going to try to be back and active on here.
I hope you come back and join me!

Quinoa Patties

Quinoa is one of those whole super foods that are really good for you but not always entirely easy to eat.  At least in my case, when I make a batch I inevitably forget about it until its a few days old and I don't know what to do with this.  Of course you can cook up a fresh batch of quinoa specifically for this recipe but it won't be nearly as fast.

Well I recently saw an idea to make patties out of cooked quinoa so I set about to make my own really easy and quick recipe using already cooked quinoa.

Feel free to tweak it to your taste!

Quinoa Patties

1 c. cooked quinoa (I had red quinoa.)

1 egg

1/2 c. fresh herbs or 1 Tbsp. dried herbs

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. dried onions

1-2 tsp. All-purpose gluten-free or rice flour

A pinch of freshly ground pepper

Of course all the seasonings are optional so you should only use what you like and feel free to tweak the amounts to suit your taste.  This is unfortunately not a vegan recipe since the egg is a necessary binder for the quinoa but for vegans feel free to experiment.

Mix and incorporate all ingredients together in a bowl EXCEPT for the flour.  Your quinoa mix should be a bit moist but if you feel it is too moist add flour by a single teaspoon until you feel it will hold together.

In the bowl sort of quarter the quinoa mix as seen below.
Heat 1 tsp. coconut or canola oil in a skillet.
Then take one quarter at a time and shape it into a patty then cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip and cook the other side for 3 minutes.
And ta-da! You have a versatile quinoa patty, a very filling, non-meat, gluten-free protein substitute.

Since I had cooked red quinoa my patties are darker and I had to be careful not to burn or over brown them.  If you use regular quinoa make sure you don't burn it!
One way I served it was with a side of eggplant punjab and a broccoli coleslaw salad.

The other way was in a spinach, jicama and blueberry salad with feta cheese and walnuts.

Yogurtland

Recently I was introduced to the wonderful world of frozen yogurt via Yogurtland, a new self-serve yogurt place in Austin, where you serve yourself as much as you like and pay by weight (price is 33¢ per ounce).
While I am a new convert to the fro-yo, I think it is a great and healthy(ish) gluten-free treat option!
Even though Yogurtland is new to town , its easy to see why it's an instant hit.  As well as having a wide array of yogurt flavors, most of which are gluten-free (!!!), there are also many topping choices, many of them healthy options like fresh fruit.
Personally I like to steer clear of the topping area since there are some options that are not gluten-free and I like to avoid any danger of cross contamination.

Toppings area.

Since my first visit there I have actually tried other yogurt places but none measures up to Yogurtland in quality, taste, availability or display of nutritional/health information and cleanliness.
First there is a wide array of flavors.  Whether you prefer tart or sweet, you can find something to tempt your tastebuds.  Below you can see the actual yogurt machines.  The left and right hand handles each serve a different flavor and if you pull the middle handle, a swirl of both flavors in that machine is served!
From what I have seen, Yogurtland does a great job at pairing the flavors since there are machines with such yummy combinations as Strawberry and New York Cheesecake or Dutch Chocolate and Arctic Vanilla.

Yogurt machines

The flavors I chose below are Plain Tart (which is anything but boring), Red Velvet Cupcake Batter and New York Cheesecake, all three of which are gluten-free.
The more I go the more I adjust my perfect combination but so far I know that for sure I love the tart flavors like the Plain Tart, Guava Pineapple Tart and the new Dragon Passion Tart and I always make sure to get a bit of Red Velvet.  Also good are New York Cheesecake and Strawberry swirl and the Kona Coffee Blend.
My Mister enjoys the Mango, Dutch Chocolate, Coconut and Dragon Passion flavors and for the finishing touch always sprinkles on some kiwi slices, which he says are always sweet, ripe and fresh.

One of the things that I love about Yogurtland that I find lacking in other yogurt places I've tried, aside from the wide variety of flavors and general cleanliness, is the clear and easy to understand labeling.  Below is an example of the information on just one of the flavors.

As you can see, the gluten-free information is clearly labeled, as well a few more things like calories.

To me this is key, since sometimes there is more people and I don't want to have to always ask for help in choosing which flavors I want.

Since play it safe by staying away from the toppings and it is easy to see which yogurt flavors are gluten-free and because of it I have not gotten a side effect from eating here, I consider Yogurtland to be a safe and gluten-free place!

Also, how gorgeous is their glass tiled wall?

Adelea's On Main

Last weekend we went on a day trip to Salado.  As I've mentioned before, I always do my research beforehand to make sure there is a safe and gluten-free place we can enjoy.

For our day trip I simply typed "Salado" into a search engine and came to the official page for the town of Salado, which led me to a list of places to dine in the downtown area, which led me to Adelea's On Main.

After reading on the Salado town page that they offer gluten-free options I quickly confirmed the fact on Adelea's own menu page!
In addition to salads, Adelea's offers a gluten-free sandwich lunch using Texas' own Serious Sourdough's gluten-free bread which are served with kettle chips.  Since that is a nice and solid lunch I knew this trip was a must!
(Serious Sourdough is a bakery based in Lampassas that also sells at farmer's markets like Sunset Valley in Sunset Valley, Tx and at Adelea's Farmers Market in Salado!)

After spending the morning exploring the shops and parks in down town Salado (fair warning: the shops do not open early!) we walked on over to Adelea's a little after noon.
We started off with some delicious margaritas to cool off with as well as plenty of water while we perused the lunch menu: one Adelea's raspberry flavored "House Margarita" and one traditional margarita.

Most any sandwich can be made gluten-free if you ask, so my mom ordered the sweet and spicy chicken sandwich on gluten-free bread.  The sliced loaf bread is sweet while the chicken is salty and savory and the portion size is good, I would say comparable to that of a regular slice of store bought wheat loaf.  While she said it was really good and very tasty she didn't feel it hit the spot; even though she normally likes the mix of sweet and salty, she wasn't particularly feeling it that day and she felt it was a bit soggy.
The generous portion of thick kettle chips were also a nice touch but because they are thick and substantial they can perhaps be too much food for some people who are used to smaller portions.
On a side note, it's always a good idea to make sure and read the full description of the entree before you order so it is really what you feel like eating and you are not surprised.

I for one LOVED my sandwich!  The classic BLT sandwich on a gluten-free jalapeño roll is listed right on the menu; there is no need to separately request it gluten-free since it already is.
As you can see, this sandwich bread is a good sized square shaped roll and roll breads have more yummy crust than loaf slices.  The top was sprinkled with sesame seeds and the bread itself was a bit spicy, not so much that it took away from the flavor but actually enhanced it.  Given the option I probably would have preferred a non-spicy roll but only because I really enjoy the "fatty" savory flavors of bacon and mayo.
The ratio of filling to bread was perfect and surprisingly nothing "slid" out, making this sandwich clean and easy to eat.
It is also served with an insane amount of kettle chips!  I'm not complaining, I love kettle chips (!!!) and they give you about half a bag's worth, but it was a lot for me.

The best part of this and any gluten-free meal I enjoy at any restaurant is of course that I did NOT get sick later!  I don't know how they run their kitchen and of course cross contamination issues are always a worry but I personally did not feel I suffered any cross contamination and felt just fine after eating here.
I can say that for me, Adelea's On Main is a safely gluten-free restaurant worth trying!

Adelea's On Main
302 North Main Street
Salado, Tex.
254-947-0018

Superfruit Salmon

This is one of the tastiest new ways to eat salmon that I've discovered so far.

What I used:

• a little over 1 lb. of salmon
• 2 Tbsp. of Crofter's Superfruit Spread - I'm thinking you can use just about any berry jelly you like but I chose Crofters North American blend because a) I'm a sucker for the black bear, b) my salmon was from Alaska and I wanted to keep the whole "North American" theme with the blueberries, cranberries and cherries and c) oh yeah, did I mention it's organic and fair trade?
• 2 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil (more or less) - I used this because I didn't want it to stick to the glass casserole dish but I don't like to use cooking spray very often.  You can also use canola oil but if you use olive oil cook it at 225º for a little longer.  (Olive oil cooked at a higher temperature can become volatile a.k.a. it loses all of it's good healthful properties.)
• salt + pepper to taste

First I preheated my oven to about 350º.  I rinse my salmon, patted it dry, and rubbed it down with the coconut oil, and placed it skin side down in my baking dish.

Then I salted and peppered the top.

In a bowl I mixed the fruit spread with the vinegar and then smothered the salmon in that mix and baked for about 22 minutes.  (Cooking time will vary depending on the weight and thickness of your filet, so time accordingly.)

Usually when I make salmon it tastes crazy good the first time but the leftovers always seem so bland and boring.  But with this salmon the berry flavor actually made the leftovers seem appetizing.
Here it is served with rice and a side of freshly baked bread.

Yes that is a Cookie Monster plate.  I had had that plate since I was a kid and this was its last meal.  Shortly after this picture was taken and the meal on it was consumed, it fell off the drying rack and shattered on the floor. :(

Can diet explain winning streak?

Tennis star Novak Djokovic recently discovered that he was allergic to gluten and thus changed to a gluten-free lifestyle.  

There is an article however that entertains and refutes the idea that somehow this athlete's recent winning streak could partly be due to his change in diet.

To me it is evident that the author didn't do his research so I want to clarify some points because frankly it is articles like this that cause so much misinformation about Celiac disease, food allergies and gluten-free living.

First of all, a "gluten-free diet" isn't just a fad diet but rather a lifelong life style change.

Second of all a change in "diet" CAN have that effect on a person.  

Think about it: when you are allergic to a food, it becomes poison to your body and your body becomes consumed with battling that poison instead of other things like digestion and absorption of nutrients.  

Whether this athlete was in the dormant or early stages of the disease, his body was still being affected to the point that he wasn't at his full potential.  But once you cut out what is poison to the body, your body slowly begins to regenerate and reach it's full potential once again.

The fact that this athlete was a star before is a testament to his sheer will; the fact that he is even better after the change in lifestyle is a testament to the benefits of a gluten-free lifestyle!

If you can, go and read the article and then please post your thoughts on living a gluten-free lifestyle.

Frito Pie

For some reason I never got around to posting this earlier but now I will!
Remember the vegan bolognese sauce I made?  Well we got tired of the leftovers as soon as we finished the spaghetti squash (because you can't have spaghetti without the noodles, right?)
So I had this mock meat sauce when it occured to me that I could turn it into vegan chili since chili is basically meat (in this case mushrooms as a meaty substitute) plus spices.
So with the help of my friend, 2 Alarm Chili Kit, I set out to make a way less guilty version of Frito Pie.

The instructions are for 2 lbs. of meat so I found myself tweaking the recipe quite a bit, namely omitting the set amount of water and eyeballing the moisture level and I didn't have to brown anything I simply warmed up my meaty sauce, added the spices and let it simmer to blend the flavors.  I reduced the salt since it ended up needing only about a quarter of the packet.
That's my hint though: you don't have to add allll of the spice packet, add and taste and just use what tastes good to you.
I also added some blended black beans for a little extra nutrition and because this is Texas and there are no whole beans in Texas chili!  (I learned that tip from a regional expert so it's not something I just made up.)  The blended beans helped thicken it up.
Side note:  I always feel a bit guilty buying the chili kit because chili spices are pretty much Italian seasoning, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, salt and paprika, plus corn meal for thickening!
The 2 Alarm Chili Kit is gluten-free and according to Frito-Lay so are Fritos Corn Chips.

Of course I should note that while my spaghetti was completely vegan, alas my Frito Pie was not.  I did add some shredded cheddar to the top because I had to get my cheesy melty on but the chili itself however, remains completely vegan/vegetarian.
We all got seconds of this of course and even my meat eating mom and my Mister agreed that since it wasn't as rich as regular chili, it didn't leave you feeling bloated or yucky afterwards.  That's always good, isn't it?

Gatti's Gluten-Free

Austin institution Gatti's Pizza now offers gluten-free pizza crusts!  Special thanks to my Tía for emailing me this tip!

For more info see below or click here.

I remember going to this place as a little girl, back when it was called Mr. Gatti's.
Their pizza was my favorite and in the summers my mom would take me and my sister to the lunch buffet as a treat.  But of course my mom always had to put a healthy spin on it and in her version of the buffet she required us to get a bowl of salad and veggies each time we got up to get more pizza.  Way to make us eat those veggies!
I especially loved the cheese bread so when I went gluten-free this was one of the places I missed the most.  I have my reservations about cross contamination issues and while I can't wait to try this childhood favorite, gluten-free style, I don't know if I'll be running over to try it any time soon.

Gluten Ataxia

I just received this really important article in my inbox.  It's called Gluten Attack: Ataxia and addresses the question "Is gluten attacking your brain?"
What many people fail to recognize is that gluten isn't just a digestive disorder.  Since Celiac and food allergies/sensitivities are really auto immune diseases, they can cause a roster of other problems even some seemingly unrelated to digestion.
How scary it is to see that gluten can also cause neurological problems!