First Signs of Spring

Hold tight! Spring will be here soon. We saw a newly emerged Robin yesterday. And my hubby went to the feed store on Monday- and brought home some babies (Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rock pullets).

We already have seven hens- Barred Rocks, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds and an Aracana, a Rooster (who was supposed to be Buff Orpington Hen) and a Guinea Hen. The RI Reds are my favorites- the hens are friendly enough to eat out of your hand. All of our critters will be brown egg layers- except the Araucana, who lays blue eggs.

What to do with all of those eggs? Well, GF baking takes lots of eggs. Omelets, of course, but also wraps (thin omelet wrapped around a filling), frittatas, and egg cups. I got an off-blog question from Dianne wondering about the egg cups on my lunch menu last week. They are easy, reheat well and fit in a lunch box. 

In Spain and Italy, eggs like this are more likely to show up as a lunch box item than a breakfast one. It's also a great way to use up bits and pieces of leftover rice, pasta or veggies.

Portable Egg Cups

Makes about 12 muffin-sized cups

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1 Tablespoon salsa

1/4 cup ham, turkey or salmon (leftovers are great here- and meat is optional)

3/4 cup shredded cheese (any variety)

1/2 cup "starchy" cooked leftover (dice potato, cooked pasta or cooked rice)

1/2 cooked, frozen spinach (or other green veggie, cooked and drained, if necessary)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup (or two 6-cup) silicon muffin pan, teflon coated muffin pan or regular muffin pan lined with foil muffin papers.

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. All of the vegetables and starches are interchangeable- use what your family likes or what you have on hand. I have actually used 1 1/4 cups of frozen mixed veggies, thawed in the microwave, in place of the assorted vegetables in the recipe

You may sub reduced fat cheese, soy cheese, or if you prefer, no cheese.  You may want an extra egg if you opt to go cheeseless.

Divide all of the mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes until set in the middle. You can freeze or refrigerate them, and re-heat in the microwave, if you wish.

 

Gluten Free CIA Book

Oh my, have I been out of the loop! I received my Alumni Magazine from the Culinary Institute of America today- and Chef Richard Coppedge (all around nice guy and Certified Master Chef) has a gluten free cookbook. My things are a changin' since I was a student there. 

I will be placing my order tomorrow. Has anybody seen it? Used it?! Tell me all.

I adopted Simply Gluten-Free

This week, I am participating in the “Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger” event hosted by Book of Yum. I adopted Simply Gluten Free, and did her Spoon Salad and Lemon Tahini Dressing.

Simply Gluten Free is a very visually attractive site with recipes that appeal to my food philosophy; good quality fresh food, simply prepared.

I chose the spoon salad because I just love my food processor, and to get to shred pounds of vegetables? How fun! 

Her idea of doing enough for four or five days of salad eating is brilliant: my kitchen looked like I had been mulching garden leftovers by the time I was done. But a crunchy, fresh salad base is there, in my fridge, just waiting for me to finish however I want. I have been known to just skip salad rather than hauling out the cutting board and the knife, especially at lunch.

I’m glad she considered the recipe to be a guide, because despite my good intentions, the vegetables listed on the recipe weren’t the best that my supermarket had to offer. I ended up using swiss chard, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower and a little basil.

For the dressing, the only substitution I made was using gluten free soy sauce rather than tamari. Tamari has sweeter undertones and less harshness, and I think that would have made a difference in this recipe. I liked the brightness of the dressing, but felt that it needed a touch more sweetness in the overall balance- but that was likely my soy sauce. I will add this to my regular recipes that I use, it is a good break from the vingairette rut that I get into. My hubby suggested a touch of grated fresh ginger as well.

This was a wonderful salad for the kids- I treated it like a green salad, letting everyone put on whatever dressing they liked. The kids added shredded mozzarella cheese and ranch, my hubby did the tahini dressing with some toasted sunflower seeds, and I had just a little dressing and the salad. Even my most veggie adverse teenaged boy had seconds.

Great blog, good recipes, lots of fun- thanks Simply Gluten Free!

What's for Lunch?

I was talking with someone who is just starting out on a gluten-free diet. Aside from the shear overwhelming nature of the change, the whole idea of breakfast and lunch without bread really had her stumped.

Lunch is really tough for gluten-free folks. The most American of lunch items, a sandwich, is challenging with gluten free bread. GF breads just don’t travel as easily as their wheat containing cousins.

It’s easier if you have access to a kitchen, or at least a microwave. For those looking for some ideas, I have added a “Lunch this Week” feature.

My lunch schedule varies quite a bit during the week- since I am an Instructor, I have a couple of days a week where I eat on the run out of a cooler, a couple of days where I have access to a kitchen and one or two days a week that I am never sure about. I have  one day a week where I often eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on the road. Three days a week, the preschooler and I are home (or on the road) together at lunch time, and she eats what I do. 

When I have it “together” I prep a couple of days worth of quick eats into storage containers and freeze or refrigerate them. This is really helpful because I have a hubby and teenager who pack lunch most week days as well. 

I really am flexible about what I will eat for lunch: I can eat a cold bean salad or leftover chicken leg and be perfectly happy. I know that some people (my lunch-packing teenager, for example) who cannot deal with last night’s leftovers in a storage container without a microwave to heat it up.

My food choices are usually pretty simple at lunch, and I don’t rely on many gluten-free products.  I don’t often run into monotony problems, because I use lunch to rework leftovers when I can. 

What are your favorite lunches? What packs well and is easy, tastes good, and contains at least a little nutrition?