Pasta Florentine

Pasta Florentine


1 med onion, chopped

1 med carrot, grated

1/2 cup water or red wine

3 garlic cloves, peeled & minced

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

15 oz chopped tomatoes, with juice

28 oz chunky tomato sauce

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 lb firm organic tofu (opt)

2 Tbsp tamari

2 cups baby spinach, chopped

12 oz gluten-free shells

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced



In a large pot, cook the onion and carrot in the water or wine until soft, then add
the garlic and mushrooms; continue cooking until mushrooms are brown.

Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tamari, and dried seasonings and simmer
20-30 minutes.

Drain and mash the tofu, and add to cooked tomato sauce (opt).

Cook pasta shells until done, rinse and drain. Add to tomato sauce.

Stir in spinach; heat through. Stir in fresh parsley.

Strawberry Applesauce Muffins

1 c GF Rice Flour Blend
¾ c sorghum flour
¾ tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
½ c coconut sap sugar
1 ½ tsp Darifree powder
1/2c warm water
1/3 c expeller-pressed coconut oil
½ c strawberry applesauce
2 Tbsp warm water
1 Tbsp expeller-pressed coconut oil
1 tsp baking soda
Powdered sugar, opt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp warm water, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil.  Stir until coconut oil melts, then stir in baking soda.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix flour blend, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and sucanat together.

Mix Darifree powder with warm water.  Set aside.

Gently melt coconut oil over low heat.  Remove from head and add mixed Darifree, applesauce, and baking soda mixture.  Mix well.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Using a cookie scoop, fill mini-muffin cups.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until done. 

Roll in powdered sugar, if desired, for a taste similar to donut holes.

Corn Bean Dip

2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups cooked corn
1 16-oz jar salsa
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp cumin
Juice of 1 Lime
1 tsp garlic, chopped


Mix together beans and corn. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Ratatouille

I'm not usually an eggplant fan (it's a texture thing) but I do enjoy this ratatouille.

Ratatouille

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lge onion, diced
1 bay leaf
4 Tbsp water or red wine
1 cup tomato juice
5 garlic cloves, peeled & minced
1 Tbsp dried basil
1/2 Tbsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 med zucchini, sliced
1 med yellow squash, sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 small eggplant, cubed
28 oz chopped tomatoes
4 oz tomato paste

Brown rice, cooked



Heat the olive oil and a little water in a large saucepan over medium
heat. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the bay leaf, water, and tomato juice and stir well. Add the
garlic, herbs, sea salt and pepper, and mix well. Cover and simmer for 10
minutes on low.

Add zucchini, yellow squash, and yellow, green, and red peppers. Mix
well, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the eggplant, tomatoes, and
tomato paste; mix well. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender,
about 15 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

Allergy Progress!

E passed his egg challenge!

This means that he can now eat baked goods with eggs in them, as long as they have been baked for at least a half-hour at a temperature of at least 325 degrees.

I was thinking (mistakenly) that he would now be allowed to have pancakes and waffles, but that's not the case. But at least he can have birthday cakes and bar cookies...as long as there aren't any nuts in them!

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Rice and Bean Salad

3 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups cooked cannellini
1 red onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 oz green chilies, chopped (opt)
1 cup frozen corn,
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Hot sauce to taste



Mix vinegar, tamari, water, Dijon mustard, and several dashes of hot
sauce in a jar; shake well to mix.

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Shake
dressing and add to salad, mixing gently. Cover and refrigerate for
at least two hours, preferably overnight.

Full

They say that humans use only 10% or less of our brains' capacity, but apparently I am the exception. I'm convinced that I have used 100%. My brain is full. I simply cannot remember or deal with one more thing!

Last night, Nick went to the store for an Angel Food cake mix. I had to make a cake for E to take to the allergist's office today for an Egg Challenge. The store didn't sell a mix! I didn't want to make it from scratch because we bake gluten-free and I don't even keep wheat flour or white sugar in the house. I didn't have a choice, so I asked Nick to get a small box of cake flour and a small box of white sugar.

As is typical, I didn't have the energy to bake last night, so I procrastinated. I ended up beating a dozen egg whites at 1:00AM and trying to sift the flour and sugar five times! I don't even own a sifter so Nick pulled one out of the kids' play kitchen stuff. :)

So...I got the cake in the oven and let it bake for an hour.

Since I had a bunch of egg yolks staring at me, I decided to make a banana cream pie. I rarely bake anymore and J had commented awhile ago that he'd never really had pie except pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and he doesn't even like pumpkin pie! My mom used to bake all the time and I baked when I was growing up, and I felt sad that my kids hadn't even tried some of these homemade baked goods!

Nick had gotten a premade pie crust, so I stirred away and made the filling. I was hurting and was getting cranky, so I asked him to come back downstairs and help. We baked and worked on the computer together...and I think it was going on 4:00 AM when we got to bed.

This morning, shortly before E's appointment, Nick looked at me and said, "E had to be off of antihistamines before this challenge, right?"

My jaw dropped. I'd completely forgotten about that!

I begged him to call the doctor for me, but he refused. So I called the office and left a ranting message about how I'd stayed up half the night making the cake but that my brain just doesn't work anymore and I'd forgotten to stop E's allergy meds! Thankfully, the nurse was so nice and said that I was actually the second person that had called today saying that they'd forgotten to stop the meds.

I used to be efficient and organized. Those days are long gone. Thankfully, we'll be finished with school tomorrow which takes away so much pressure. Maybe my brain start functioning again over the summer. I have to hope so...

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