Cheese Crackers!

Finding good gluten free crackers is nearly impossible. They all have a strange texture and even worse flavor. Rice crackers are really good, but sometimes you're just craving a Cheeze-it.

This is the first copycat cheese cracker recipe I've tried, and I'm impressed! VERY easy to make, few ingredients, and fabulous results. David even asked me if I'd put crack in them. He couldn't stop eating them and he's not even gluten free. That's how you know it's good :)

This is the recipe I used.

Cheese Crackers

3/4 C. shredded cheese (I used 1/2 cup cheddar and 1/4 cup Monterrey Jack)
3 Tbs. butter, room temperature
3/4 C. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbs. milk ( I used whole)
sea salt to taste

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease pan.
- In a bowl, combine cheese, butter, cornstarch, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder until mixture is crumbly.
- Add in milk and stir until dough forms (I just tossed everything in the food processor and pulsed until combined. I also had to add more milk to form a dough. Maybe an extra Tbs. or so.)
- Sprinkle a small amount of cornstarch on a flat surface. Roll out dough until 1/8-inch thick.

- Cut into squares. Poke each square with a toothpick in the center (I didn't do this)
- Transfer squares to baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are just barely golden.

Last night's dinner:

Garlic noodles and cucumbers with lemon, basil, and parsley.

The kids also shared a banana split for dessert, but I forgot to take a picture of that. This is the recipe I used for the noodles. It was SOOO good! Both kids gobbled them up; we had no leftovers!

Today's lunch:

cheesy pasta, ants on a log (celery with PB and craisins), blueberries,  broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (steamed)

If you're wondering, I do usually eat whatever the kids eat. EXCEPT in situations like these when the main dish consists of pasta, cheese, and butter. Yeah, pass. I had a huge salad instead, with baby spinach, butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, garbanzo beans, and feta cheese. Yum. I did eat the vegetables and blueberries, though :)

Interesting story, I had a "friend" accuse me of feeding my kids cancer (aka animal products such as meat, dairy, etc). Yeah, she actually used the word cancer. It was strange. I sort of...stared at her. Waiting for a punch line or something, but nope. Dead serious.

Ok, so how do you respond to that? Thank you? Teach me, oh wise one? I had a million things running through my head, but I just shrugged and told her a vegan diet hadn't worked for me and changed the subject. She was REALLY surprised that I'd been vegan, and even more surprised that I didn't think it was the ultimate way to eat. 

Here's a though, crazy friend: everyone is different. I honestly didn't like being vegan. Not only did I find it incredibly isolating, but I just didn't feel great. I always felt hungry and started grazing more, instead of being able to eat 3 meals a day. I was constantly daydreaming of burgers, scrambled eggs, and grilled salmon. Haha. And quesadillas. Omg. Vegan cheese is just....not the same at all. 

My vegan diet officially came to an end when I found out I was pregnant with Sophie. My morning sickness was awful and I craaaaved meat. After 6 months I said goodbye to being a vegan and haven't looked back since. 

How do I feel now? Amazing. Truly, my body functions much better on a high protein, low carb diet. Gluten free also, of course. I started drinking dairy again (organic skim) and eating eggs (organic, free range) and it made a world of difference to me. My energy levels are up, my head feels clear and I'm much happier. So is my husband! Poor guy SUFFERED through my vegan months. We're all much happier, I assure you. 

Now, am I feeding my kids cancer? I hope not. I try my best to feed my family everything organic. From the meat, to the veggies, to the fruit. The beef we buy is also grass fed, and the chicken free range. It's much more expensive, but that just means we eat less of it. The bulk of our meals consist of vegetables, fruits, and grains. I think, nosy friend, that it's safe to say we eat healthy enough. 

Are we going to get cancer? Who knows. But just so you know, your vegan diet doesn't exempt you either. I just didn't bother to tell you that because, oh, you know. It's none of my business. 

Manic Monday

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. It was cold, so we pretty much stayed inside and watched movies, played games, and read lots of books. Good times.

I was just thinking this past week that we consume entirely too much produce. I'm not even sure how it happens. Every time I get back from the store I think, "there's no way we're going to finish all this, I finally bought too much." and nope. Gone before the week is over. Here's an example of what I got this week:

1 dozen apples
1 dozen pears
1 dozen plums
1 dozen white nectarines
1 dozen kiwis
1 dozen tangelos
3 lbs. grapes
Huge box of blueberries from Costco (not sure of the exact quantity)
2 quarts of strawberries
3 lbs. lemons
6 lbs. bananas
6 broccoli crowns (yes, 6!)
1 head cauliflower
1 lbs. green beans
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 box of organic baby spinach

And a few extras like onions, garlic, celery, etc. Well, from ALL that stuff above, here's what we have left:
2 apples
1 pear
2 plums
1 kiwi
1 tangelo
2 lemons
2 bananas

Seriously! It hasn't even been a week! That's going to last us until tomorrow. Ugh. I like grocery shopping once a week only because I feel it cuts back on spending and I don't waste time and gas going back and forth to the store. Good thing I have frozen mangoes, peaches, berries, and some vegetables. That will have to do until Wednesday.

Another thing we devour are eggs. I buy 2 dozen organic, free range eggs every week! We don't eat eggs every single day, but I do use them for baking, and when the kids eat them for breakfast they easily eat 2 eggs each. Plus, I like having a few harboiled eggs in the fridge as a high protein snack for the kids or just to add to my salads.

If we go through this much food now, how will I keep up with them when they're teenagers?! Hold me.

Baby cucumbers, cheddar cheese cubes, blueberries, black bean patties with sour cream, eggplant sticks

White nectarine, carrot ribbons, EnviroKids cereal, cream cheese and cucumber heart sandwiches

Pear, peas, black bean patties, grilled cheese sandwich (cut up for Sophie)

Coconut water! Yum!

coconut with chile and lime. Mmm....

Gluten free onion rings for the Super Bowl

gluten free pizza

Yummy snack

blueberries, strawberries, and grapes

Gluten free chocolate cupcakes

Black Bean Patties

I just threw these together to use up some leftover beans. They're good!

1 cup black beans (if canned, rinse and drain)
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 egg
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper to taste.

Whiz everything together in a food processor. Heat olive oil in a skillet and drop by spoonfuls. Fry a couple of minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.



For the Onion Rings I used this recipe and it was fabulous!

Slacker

Yeah, I know it's been a while. Here are a few good eats:

Brown rice made in the oven. Soooo amazing!

Quesadilla, green grapes, mini turkey pepperonis 

Eggplant sticks, cubed grilled salmon, green grapes, peas and corn,  Kinnikinnick chocolate animal crackers

Gluten free flour tortillas

Plantain patties, beans, rice, roasted green beans, brownie bites, green grapes

Annie's Rice Macaroni and cheese, apple cut-outs, baby carrots with ranch, peas 

Homemade corn tortillas

Cream cheese-cucumber sandwich hearts, Envirokids cereal, carrot ribbons, white nectarine

Gluten free Miracle Bread

Baked Brown Rice
I used this recipe by Alton Brown. Seriously amazing, and I don't even like brown rice!

Eggplant Sticks
I sort of just "wing" these. But this is basically the recipe:

1 medium eggplant
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Cut eggplant into matchsticks. Try to make them all approximately the same size so they cook evenly. You can peel it if you want to; I don't.

Put whisked eggs and set aside.

In another shallow bowl mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and italian seasoning.

Dip a few eggplant sticks in the egg, then roll them in breadcrumb mixture. Arrange in cookie sheet in a single layer. Spray the tops with cooking oil. Bake for 15 minutes and flip over. Bake another 15 minutes until browned.

*Both my kids LOVE these. We usually eat them with marinara sauce, but recently Levi has requested ranch with them. No matter what you eat them with, these are awesome.