Gluten Free Summer - Back to Basics

Has everyone had a great summer? Although fall is so very beautiful I am always a little sad to see summer go. I know I've mentioned this before but I love the beautiful warm summer weather. Tans, tank tops, sunshine....ah I'll miss you summer. There have been some ups & downs over here at The C Chronicles this summer. Job hunting has been at the forefront of my summer. It has certainly been a roller coaster of experiences & emotions! Following and respecting my gluten free/microscopic (lymphocytic) colitis diet is more important than ever through times like these, times of stress. One thing that I've learned is that my body reacts directly to my levels of stress!

I've experimented over the summer by incorporating some of my favorite summer veggies into my gluten free dishes. A trip to the local farmers market is a great way to get the best in season veggies, and it supports the awesome local farmers!

I love love stir fry! Brown rice with organic chicken, green & yellow zuccinni, red peppers, and pea pods. I've switched to all organic chicken because I learned that they add chicken broth to the frozen chicken I used to buy to preserve it and keep it's flavor. Is this chicken broth gluten free? I don't know... so I switched.

Gluten free turkey, olive & cheese burger. The gluten free bun from was key. Pam from the local Bread Stone Bakery gave me the bun to sample and it was absolutely fabulous! Yes, I'm getting that excited over a hamburger bun! Major kuddos Bread Stone Bakery.

The lettuce wraps at PF Changs are darn tasty so I thought I'd try making my own. They were delicious although next time I'm going to use a lot less of the wheat free soy sauce out of the sauce mixture, too much salt...and soy. Extra lean ground turkey, chopped up water cheastnuts, pea pods, & bean sprouts. Wheat free soy sauce, Rice vinegar, & red wine vinegar for the sauce.

...and obviously another stir fry concoction! This is actually one of my regulars because I love wax (yellow) beans. Brown rice with organic chicken, water chestnuts, & yellow beans. So simple!

Who says it's hard eating gluten free on a budget? Not me! I'm saving my money for upcoming fall shopping trip, candy apples, concerts, girls night out, and nice cheap bottle of vino!...ok maybe two cheap bottles of vino!

Holla at'cha suga! Suga COOKIES!

This sugar cookie mix has been burning a hole in my brain for a good 6 days now.  I found myself gazing out the window thinking about cookies, then sugar, then the little man standing on the pile of cookies on the box.  Yes, it got a little out of control but that's all over because they are now a reality!  The Cherrybrook Kitchen sugar cookie mix was on sale for about 4 bucks at my local health food store (worked out to be about $2 a dozen). The actual mix is Gluten Free, Peanut Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, & Nut Free...and they DON'T taste like crap!  How wonderful is that?  If you or anyone you know has any or all of these types of food allergies this mix is 100% recommended!  OR if you're on a diet: 1 cookie w/o the frosting is 0g fat and about 15g-18g of total carbs depending on how big you make them!  Not bad!  The back of the box calls for rice milk to keep it dairy free but I sub'd Fat Free Organic Milk because I'm good with dairy consumed in moderation.   

The store bought frosting scares me.  Way too many "unknown" ingredients so I made my own cream cheese vanilla frosting using butter, cream cheese, organic GF vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Someday I'll make them from scratch, but not today!!  I'd like to think of this as my Sandra Lee semi-homemade experiment.  Tiz the shizzy if I must say!  

As promised...

Our January Dinning Divas theme was "Italian night" so I decided to try making something new. I decided on a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis for herb stuffed tomatoes. I watched Giada make them on her Food Network show Everyday Italian. On the show she made them with italian gorgonzola cheese but I did a trial run before "Italian night" and come to find out, gorgonzola cheese is nasty, or at least the one I bought was. This same recipe posted by Susie D on Recipezaar is essentially the same thing but with pictures, which being an amateur I definitely prefer!

They turned out great! I'm pretty sure the girls liked them, and if they didn't they weren't telling! I sampled only one because I'm not a huge tomato lover and it was da bomb! I mixed the grated provolone with some shredded parmesan then sprinkled it very lightly with colby jack right at the end. It was a special occasion so I cheesed it up but if you wanted to just keep it simple with the provolone it would still be awesome. I of course substituted Gluten Free bread crumbs for regular bread crumbs. I have to say that the Southern Homestyle GF Bread Crumbs are one of my new favorite things. I make homemade chicken nuggets with them and they always turn out so crispy & crunchy, just like nuggie should be! Delish. I rate this dish super easy to make if you're thinking of entertaining a few people or just feeling like trying something new!