Category: Blog

Menu Planning and Recipe Saving Using Plan to Eat

Though I like to pretend otherwise, my recipe management techniques are a disaster. I have the best of intentions, but I tend to leave the organization part of management until “later.” If only I had a clone to handle all the things that fall into that particular life category.

For various reasons, including my decision to get serious about my diet, I’ve been working on getting all the recipes I have stashed in various places under control. These include: pages ripped out of magazines, various and sundry recipes bookmarked over the decades via different browsers, recipes pinned and clipped into various programs. Continue reading “Menu Planning and Recipe Saving Using Plan to Eat”

Sorta, Kinda, Non-Committed Gluten Free

Recently, two friends have been told by their doctors that they should try a gluten-free diet to see if it helps alleviate certain health issues they’re facing. One has cheerfully embraced this challenge. The other is treating it like a chore.

Based on what they’re saying, it’s clear who will be more successful (and the one who has embraced a GF life is feeling so much better!). Continue reading “Sorta, Kinda, Non-Committed Gluten Free”

Using Rotisserie Chicken for Fast Gluten-Free Meals

Yesterday, I did a half marathon, leading to the inevitable questions about my sanity. These remain unanswered. Still, I finished with my best time ever. Sure, it was a mere thirty seconds faster than my previous best time ever, but it’s the little victories, right? After the race, I gorged on french fries and a burger (sans bun, but I was all about the meat anyway). Today…

My muscles are a bit tired, my left hip is suggesting a trip to the spa, and my mind is saying it’s time to resume healthy eating. Last week’s carbo loading may have started a bit early, if you know what I mean. Continue reading “Using Rotisserie Chicken for Fast Gluten-Free Meals”

Variations on Gluten-Free Fried Rice

In my city, the only restaurant that offers gluten-free fried rice is P.F. Chang’s, and I order it every time I eat there. Unfortunately, I cannot always count on this when the craving hits, and, you know, making fried rice is the work of minutes if you have cold, leftover rice in your fridge.

And that is the key: cold, leftover rice, or “overnight rice”, a description I read that charms me to this day. Warm rice is too wet to fry up properly. Leftover rice, after a night or so in the refrigerator, is drier. It hits the wok with a sizzle and fries perfectly. Continue reading “Variations on Gluten-Free Fried Rice”

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping, Part Two

Last week, I offered up a primer to all the possibilities your grocery store offers when it comes to gluten-free grocery shopping. This week, we explore the interior of the store!

After you’ve taken that first deep breath and toured the safest spots in the store, noting all the foods you can eat, expand your horizons. Wander the other aisles. Look, rice! Not that over-salted prepared stuff, but plain rice. White rice. Brown rice. Forbidden rice (which, well, isn’t so forbidden after all). Perhaps even quinoa. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping, Part Two”

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping, Part One

I’ve gotten some questions about facing the daunting task of grocery shopping while maintaining a gluten-free diet. Conventional wisdom holds that a gluten-free lifestyle requires lots of expensive, special food. This cannot be further from the truth, and as I explore grocery stores for a couple of weeks, I want to start with the basics.

The day you’re told (or you decide) you have to be gluten free is weird. It’s scary. It’s overwhelming. All you know is you need to start now, this minute. Go. Eat. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping, Part One”

(Mostly) Easy Gluten-Free Cookies

(Updated 1/19/2015)

A friend of mine toured the Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free facilities and was so enthusiastic about what she learned, she bought a very large bag of Bob’s gluten-free all-purpose flour. For the record, my friend is not gluten free. Some marketing messages are very powerful.

She went home and baked up a batch of chocolate chip cookies using her own tried-and-true recipe. Needless to say, the cookies were not good (her description of her family’s reaction is much more colorful!). She had to dump the whole batch. On the plus side, I was the grateful recipient of the rest of the bag of gluten-free flour. Continue reading “(Mostly) Easy Gluten-Free Cookies”