My Asian Theme Continues with this entry... and maybe the next... then I will vary it up. So I am visiting Bremerton for the weekend. I went to my friend Bridget's house and spent a wonderful day with her and her family. Bridget's family is basically eating the same way I am, but for the most part have been doing it longer and are far more skilled and refined at the task. It was so great to have toast and cookies and soup and a fritata...did I mention I was there all day... all that I could eat without having to feel like I was making special requests. Anyway so we made sushi together.

We made a few kinds. Just a veggie roll, a tofu roll, an avocado roll, a salmon roll (which I think is like an Alaska roll from sushi.com), and a California roll (in the sense that the rice was on the outside of the nori... and it was sprinkled with sesame seeds.) I took pics of the whole process. I will include the instructions for making the rice. And some notes about the steps how.... but I am mostly going to let the pictures speak for themselves here.

A side note we used brown rice, and I have decided to stick to only brown rice, unless only white is available. Most sushi is made with white rice. But the brown rice worked just fine and they tasted great. OK so we begin...

This is the season rice vinegar we used.
Sushi Rice Recipe

*Rinse 2/3 cup of rice well and bring to a boil with 1 cup water.
*Reduce heat to low and cover,about 40 minutes, until water is absorbed.
*Remove from heat and let rice stand, covered, 10 minutes.
*Transfer rice to a wide nonmetal bowl
*Sprinkle with 2 tbsp vinegar.
*Gently stir it in.
*Cool rice about 15 minutes.

All of our ingredients. We have white and black sesame seed, Nori, and Salmon (this was canned red Alaskan salmon... With only salmon and salt listed in the ingredients. It was cheaper and worked just fine), Also baked tofu ( you could use my previous recipe from the spring rolls). And the veggies.















We used avocado, carrots, cucumber, and green onion... you can be creative. The best and easiest way to cut them is in as long of strips as possible.

























Place nori, shiny side down. You can see in the picture little creased lines on the nori. You are going to only put rice in between the 1st and last line, leaving about an inch at each end.















This is Gillian. She loves to help cook. Sushi is a great way for kids to help, Since there are no stoves involved once the rice is made.


















Once you have your thin layer of rice on your nori, spreading it gently with a knife, on one edge start adding your ingredients.

















Alaska salmon roll.


















Tofu roll


















Technically I think you are supposed to use the mat when rolling them, but we found we were able to get a tighter roll without it. Roll edge over the ingredients first. Try to roll it all as tightly as you can.


















When you get to the other edge after rolling it, you will "paint", as Gillian calls it, that left over inch of nori with water so that it will stay put in a roll.





We then refrigerated them for a while, but you don't have to. Slice them into about 6 pieced with a very sharp, or serrated knife, and serve with ginger, wasabi, and tamari.















And there you have it. We like tripled the rice recipe and made 12 rolls.













Sushi makes us happy!






I have a couple other blogs coming soon, it was a busy week last week, but stay tuned for a recipe for a curry chicken dinner, a salmon dinner, stuffed peppers, and a review of a restaurant I found in spokane with its very own gluten free menu. I promise some non Asian food recipes soon, it is just so easy to make them gluten free.

As for a health update, Monday makes 4 weeks on this diet. I have lost 5 pounds, but the good news is it seems to be coming off in the right places. My energy is up a bit, my sleep schedule is improving, and I am not cramping when I eat anymore... so all good news.

Have a great day.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than chopping up herbs. It is relaxing to me. It makes me feel like a chef. Most importantly it adds a fresh healthy flavor to my meals. So you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of having a plethora of herbs available just steps away from my kitchen.




I finally planted my little deck garden. As you can see from the above picture, when I say little I mean little. My deck is about 4 feet by 4 feet. I had a choice of a grill, a bistro table, or a garden but not all three... so a garden it is. I decided to forgo my normal tastes and do just basic plastic planter boxes, and 1 hanging tomato plant. I planted thyme, sage, rosemary, garlic, shallots, snap peas, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley, basil, green onions, and chives.



Anyway I didn't do much cooking this weekend, mostly just ate stir-fried veggies and fruit... but I got to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and get my garden started. It got me so excited for summer. I am hoping to spend my summer checking out as many farmers markets as I can.

Have a great day. I promise I will cook something tomorrow... not sure what yet. But something.

Thai food is one of my favorite things. Especially since it is easy to order a gluten free dairy free meal. A little harder without shellfish or peanuts, but possible.

Since I have moved I have been searching for a good Thai restaurant. I started at the one closest to me (about 14 miles). I gauge the success of the restaurant by 5 things. How good is their green curry? How good is their fried tofu? How good are their fresh spring rolls? How good is their service? Finally, how good are their prices? I have tried four restaurants.

The first was Sala Thai in Airway heights. They scored an F. The tofu was the consistency of biscotti, they did not even have fresh spring rolls, the green curry was mushy and flavorless. On top of that the service wasn't very friendly or accomodating, and the prices were very expensive. Plus it just looked dirty to me. I am not even going to include its info... because you shouldn't go there.

The next was Bangkok Thai. Here is its info
1325 South Grand Boulevard
Spokane, WA 99202
(509) 838-8424

Fresh spring rolls and tofu were very good. I especially liked the three dipping sauces. As for the green curry, I found it a little too salty. The prices were ok... a little high, but the service was good and the restaurant was really nice inside. So all in all I would give it a B-.

Next I tried Thai Bamboo
Here is the info:
5204 N. Division St. (509) 777-THAI (8424)
... the tofu and spring rolls were good. The prices were cheaper than the other 2, but the green curry just looked gross, so I ordered the swimming rama which wasn't great... nothing special. The service was good . I give it a C.

Which brings me to todays meal. I went to Thai Kitchen
This was the furthest away from me, but came recommended from a friend.
(509) 926-8161
621 S Pines Rd
Spokane Valley, WA 99206

... So here is the deal.... In theory the grade on this place shouldn't be much better than the others. We got there and it was packed, which is a good sign. They did not have fresh spring rolls or fried tofu, they had a pretty limited menu. The place was sort of a hole in the wall... nothing special about the inside, but it was clean. We waited almost an hour for our food. So on paper not great but I am giving it an A. Not the A+ I would give Pok Pok, my favorite place in Portland, something that I will save for whole different entry. But an A anyway and here is why. This little hole in the wall is owned by the sweetest little man named Paul, who is the only waiter for about 15 tables, and his wife, who is the only cook. The menu is limited, but it has to be to keep it manageable. But the food we did order was wonderful.

The green curry (pictured above) was delicious. Ingredients included coconut milk, red and orange peppers, bamboo shoots, peas, green curry paste, and chicken...all foods I can have. The vegetables were crisp. The spice was perfect. My friend ordered a delicious looking crab and rice dish she loved. On top of that by the time we left, the owner had learned our names, given us his card, shown us reviews others had written, told us about Bangkok where he is from, told us about how much spice he put on his food. He even offered that if next time we call between 9am and 10am and let him know we were coming with a child (she had her 2 year old son with her) he would plan for it and serve us first. He brought her son crackers and a lollipop. And did I mention he did all this while the place was packed, being the only server, host, cashier, and busboy. He was awesome. The price was the cheapest of the four and I had leftovers for dinner, that I actually wanted to eat. Even the Jasmine rice that came with my curry was special.

So all in all I recommend Thai kitchen... even just for the atmosphere alone. But they have lunch and dinner hours. Lunch ends at 1PM and it gets crowded and it is not fast food so plan appropriately. Feel free to Google Thai Kitchen, Spokane... you can read many many other reviews... this one is a fan favorite.

It has been 2 weeks... well 2 and a half by the time I get this posted. It has been a super busy week. I have been on the go constantly and quite frankly my body is feeling it. I am a little discouraged cause things are feeling like they are getting worse. This said I have stuck with it and will stick with it. I have lost 4 pounds total, which isn't much but I am more in this for the healthy habits. So onto today's recipes. I was listening to NPR news, while I made my fresh Thai spring rolls with an almond dipping sauce

I love my rolls with prawns, but I cannot have shellfish so I used tofu... Here is how I started.

Honey Sesame baked Tofu

*Take a block of extra firm tofu, put it on a plate, put another plate over it, and weigh it down. I used some canned food. I let it sit about 25 minutes.

*While the water was getting pushed out of the tofu, I preheated the oven to 375. Then I started my marinade....

* In a bowl mix 1/2 cup of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of tamari, 2 tsp fish oil, 1 tbsp raw honey. 2 tsp sesame seeds, 1/4 tsp red pepper flake, 1/2 tsp ginger

* Put mixture in the fridge until tofu is ready

* After 25 minutes is up, slice the tofu into 1 inch long, quarter inch thick pieces. Add them to the marinade and gently toss in it.

*Spread tofu out on cookie sheet and let bake about 5 minutes, then flip it and let cook 3 more minutes. Then let cool.

Ok so the tofu is done. Next the dipping sauce. I made an almond dipping sauce because I love peanut sauce and can't have peanuts, but you can use peanuts instead... or just use the tofu marinade for a dipping sauce.

Almond dipping Sauce

Add the following ingredients to a food processor
*3 tbsp of almond butter (a friend suggested using sunflower butter instead...she says it will give a better texture. I am going to try it.)
*1 tbsp white rice vinegar
*3 tbsp sesame oil
*2 tsp Chili oil
*1 tbsp tamari
*1 tsp ginger
*1/4 c. coconut milk

heat if you want. You can add more spice by adding red pepper flakes. It's the first time I tried this it wasn't bad, but it was a bit thick when I made it, so I lessened the amount of almond butter for recipe writing purposes. Another disclaimer for this blog... I have always been a cook that adds a little of this and a little of that until it tastes good. So putting it in recipe form is sometimes difficult. Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions if something isn't working or you made it work better... also trust your instincts.

Ok onto the rolls

*Start by chopping your veggies so you have them ready I would say a 1/2 cup of each of the following:
* Julienne... very thinly carrots, (or buy them pre-shredded), and cucumber, green onion.
*Chop some cilantro and basil
*You will also need some bean sprouts

Set these aside and now comes the more complicated part...

* Let a fistful of thin rice sticks soak in a large bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes
* Once soft drain and set aside.



Next You will need a pack of rice paper I found mine at an Asian food Store... when dry they look like the picture above.

* Let them soak in a shallow bowl of water for no more than a couple minutes... you want them just soft... if you over soak it, they will fall apart. Be very gentle.

*When you pull them out, spread them out on a plate, gently working out the wrinkles. Pat dry gently with a tea towel.




This picture shows how to start. Basically you are going to add your ingredients all the way down the middle of your wrapper. If you want it to be a sweet tight package add a little less, if you want more flavor and don't mind it being a little messier... add more.

So to fold it... fold the 2 ends in about an inch each over your ingredients, fold (like a burrito) the next side all the way over your ingredients... then roll it tightly to meet the other side. I found mine to be a little thin, so I added a second wrapper and folded the same way.

Cut it in half and serve. I feel like this sounds more complicated than it is... it turned out pretty good. Here's a pic...

Good luck.. have a great day.

So I did it... I made a gluten free cupcake! Todays recipe was made to the soundtrack of my Monster 80's power ballad playlist on the Ihome. And it was pretty good. I will share the recipe with you now. This recipe comes from a few places in order to make it free of dairy and refined sugars as well. But the bulk of it comes from 1000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster. This is slowly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks. Ok here it is:

Dairy-free Buttermilk:
Add 1 tbsp cider vinegar to a one-cup measuring cup.
Fill the rest with soy milk.
Let sit for 10 minutes to thicken.
Any extra will store in airtight container for 7-10 days.

Yellow Cupcakes:
1 Stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature. ( I used earth balance butter)
.. you can also use 1/3 Cup canola oil
3/4 cup of evaporated cane juice sugar
2 Large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 C. Carol's sorghum blend (1 1/2 cups of sorghum, 1 1/2 cup of potato starch, 1 cup of tapioca flour)
1 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 Cup of buttermilk (or soy mixture from above)
1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

I forgot I didn't have a cupcake pan.. but I did have some star pans so they worked.
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with rack in the middle of the oven.
Generously grease muffin pan or spray cups with nonstick spray. ( I used spectrum vegetable shortening, its made of palm oil.)

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium until smooth. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time beating in between.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the sorghum blend, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and xanthum gum

4. In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk together vanilla and almond extract with buttermilk.

5. Add dry powders, and buttermilk mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Alternating the two, but start and end with sorghum mixture. Beat on low. Pour into muffin cups evenly.

6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack and let them cool completely.


ok so onto the frosting....

First off I made my own confectioners sugar... It is super easy. My disclaimer is that I am not 100% satisfied with this frosting. The flavor was good... but I need to perfect my confectioners sugar.. it just wasn't fine enough but here is what I did...

The Frosting recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar so...

Add 2 1/2 cups of evaporated cane juice and 4 tbsp of Potato starch to a food processor... and let it go into a fine powder. And there you have it.


I wanted pink frosting. I didn't have any beets, which may have worked best, so I threw a few strawberrys and raspberries and a half a cup of pomegranate juice into a pot on medium low heat and let it reduce down. I put it in a mesh sieve and let the remaining juices cool in the fridge. It came to about 2 tablespoons.


Buttercream Frosting Recipe

1/3 cup spectrum vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1 stick) earth balance butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coconut milk ( or soy or rice or almond milk)
2 tablespoon of strawberry raspberry puree

Mix it all together at medium speed... let it whip for a while... it wasn't quite as fluffy as I was hoping for but I will perfect it.


So there you have it... Stars are a little harder to frost but the fruit on top was a good replacement for sprinkles. My nephews and niece loved them. The were moist and not nearly as crumbly as normal cupcakes... and they weren't as sweet either. I really liked them .

So I recommend trying it... just make sure you have some time set aside. Have fun!

My class today is an evening class, so I decided to have some fruit for breakfast, make a hearty lunch and have my shake for dinner. I started with my newest cup of happy. Anyone who knows me knows I am a Grande soy no water chai girl. But chai has a lot of caffeine, and Starbucks does not have decaf chai. So I purchased a 10.00 milk frother from World Market, and I bought the decaf Tazo chai from the grocery store. This is the brand Starbucks uses but it is a bit more diluted then they get. I like it because it does not have refined sugar. So I filled half the mug with decaf chai and the other half with some heated soy milk with about an inch of foam, and cinnamon on top. Nummy stuff.

Ok so I had my nummy drink, Roxette playing on the Ihome, and started my lunch. I have 2 recipes for todays entry. I made a curry chicken salad for lunch, but I used homemade mayonnaise for it. So first is the Mayo recipe.

I have experimented with this mayo recipe several ways. I have used different tools and ingredients and amounts of eggs and oil and this is the best I have used.

Tools:
For me either an immersion hand blender, or just a plain old whisk (I used this, excellent arm work out.)
Ingredients:
2 Egg Yolks
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of white vinegar ( I used rice)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c. Canola oil
(some people add a teaspoon of dijon mustard, or 1/2 tsp paprika, I did not for this purpose)

****ok the very most important thing with this recipe is to add all the ingredients together but NOT the canola oil.

1. Whisk the ingredients (NOT the oil) together to the consistency of really scrambled eggs.
2. Add the canola oil in just a few drops at a time. (this is much quicker with the hand blender. But be patient... you want the egg and oil to emulsify ( or come together and become creamy)
3. Keep doing this very slowly at least until you get about 1/3 of the oil added, then you can speed it up a bit.
4. When it is the consistency of mayo and a light yellow color you are good to go.

for other recipes you can add garlic, cayenne, chipotle, or whatever but we just want plain for the salad.

Ok onto the salad...



So this is pretty simple.

1. Brown a couple chicken breasts, or 6 chicken tenderloins... with some olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. Dice it up, it should be about 2 cups.
3. Add
2 cups chicken
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup apple
1/2 cup celery
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup of the mayo
1 tbsp of good curry powder
1/4 tsp of Red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy, you can also add chili oil or tabasco and add it to your taste)
1/3 tsp paprika
2 tsp ginger ( you could use fresh grated but I used dry)
Salt and pepper to taste.

throw it in a bowl and mix it together. And let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour to let all the flavors meld and the raisins plump a bit.



I ate this with some garlic onion brown rice snaps, but you could serve it on a piece of endive, or lettuce... or just eat it plain.

That is it today. Enjoy.

I have learned there are a lot of flours and starches involved in gluten free baking. Currently in my cupboard: Sorghum flour, potato starch, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, guar gum, and xanthum gum. What each of these does I am not sure but I know that you can't just replace regular flour with one of them.

So far after one week eating this way I have lost 2 pounds. My body has gone through a detox of sorts, and I am still having my good days and bad. I have also learned that starting a blog on the premise of providing gluten free recipes, seems overwhelming. First of all any baking recipes I use are for sure not of my own invention, though any variations I make I will let you know about.
And secondly as a single girl, living alone, one pot of sausage kale soup last me four days, so its not like I am trying new recipes every day.

Easter, a day of ham, gooey potatoes, chocolate bunnies, green bean casserole... oh how I love green bean casserole, for me was not as exciting. I had a mango, peach, pineapple smoothie... made with coconut milk... and benefiber and all the usual oils and powders for breakfast. For lunch I had a cantaloupe. And for dinner I had roasted potatoes, green beans, onions, and carrots. Dessert an Enjoy Life allergen free chocolate bar... which isn't half bad.

But tonight or maybe tomorrow I am going to try my friend Kim's gluten free apple pie recipe... she says its the best recipe ever so I will post it with pics. If any one has any suggestions or requests I will gladly take them. I am going to a function serving pizza. As rude as it seems I will be packing my own dinner. It will have to be good to make me not want the pizza. I will post that recipe as well.

I will leave you with my favorite discovery... well not a discovery, but a learned fact contracted from a Google search done prior to the meal.

Sushi is Gluten Free! Sushi along with Thai food, are two of my very favorite things. So I went to Sushi.Com, a restaurant in Spokane, on Saturday night. I did have to change much of my normal order, as I am also off shellfish. So I order spicy tuna rolls, Alaska rolls, and Salmon skin rolls. Though the texture of the skin rolls was weird they weren't that bad. Anyway I liked Sushi.com already, but I like them even more for having Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) available upon request. Not a bad treat at all.



And finally did you know, that if you put the words gluten free in your status enough on Facebook, the add bar on the side starts showing you adds for gluten-free sites, products, and restaurants? I have to say it is much preferred to the over 30 and dating sites they were showing me before.

Have a great day!

My four hour class at school was cancelled today. So I wanted to get a jump on some weekend goals. I wanted to hit Target and buy a scale, something I swore I would never own. I wanted to finally get my deck garden actually planted... I am very excited for all the fresh herbs, tomatoes, snap peas, shallots, and green onions that I hope to actually be able to produce in it. But I was pretty down for the count today. I just was hurting. My back hurt my stomach hurt... I was coughing up some blood this morning... a newer development for me. This is most likely attributed to ulcers in my esophagus. Anyway so I got up took my pills... made my smoothie.... then went back to bed. I did have a goal however ...

Goal: Drink 8 glasses of water....
I actually did drink.... 8 glasses of water.

For breakfast I had my smoothie with fresh strawberries and coconut milk and almonds and cod liver oil, brown rice protein, and Aloe Vera Juice. The aloe is supposed to soothe the pain on my insides. I took my many pills... including a probiotic.

Here is a pretty good link to explain the benefits of a Probiotic. I hesitated to use them because they are 20 to 30 dollars a bottle, but I have decided it is worth it for the what they do.

By about 5 pm I was feeling well enough to head to the grocery store and then make dinner. So I turned on the Weepies on my ipod and got to work.

Today I made gluten free foccacia bread with caramelized onions, rosemary, and goat cheese for the first time. I am a cook not much of a baker. I used a recipe from 1000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster. It actually turned out pretty darn good.

I made this to go along with my favorite sausage and kale soup. A recipe I got from a friend. I couldn't find turkey sausage (She uses pork sausage) at the grocery store I went to, so I just bought ground turkey and spiced it up. Here is the recipe... it is super easy but super good.



So first :

In a large pot add:
1 qt of Chicken Broth.. I use the Pacific organic free range broth, mainly cause it has no refined sugars which is rare.
3 medium red potatoes sliced
2 cups packed Kale, roughly chopped with stems removed
1 tbsp of Fennel seed
1/2 lb of ground turkey, browned and seasoned with:
2 Tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flake (I like spice)
1 tsp steak seasoning

let all of this cook on medium low heat at least until the potatoes are cooked through. I let it sit until the bread was done.


Any way a simple recipe... but very nummy.