Peaches, Peaches and more peaches!!

Tis the season--peach season! Yum!
We had a large box of peaches that we bought at the farmers market and we were simply not able to eat them quickly enough. So I made the following two recipes:

Peach Coffee Cake:
1 cup gluten free flour mix
1 cup  light brown sugar
3/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup tapioca starch 
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, beaten 
1/4 cup canoloa oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5-6 tablespoons almond milk, as needed
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh peaches (about 12 oz.)

For the streusel topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar
5 tablespoons almond flour 
3 tablespoons canola oil 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

As you can see from the links below I got this recipe from the gluten free goddess blog and I modified the ingredients slightly based on what I had on hand but the assembly was the same so I will direct you there for that.

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/08/gluten-free-peach-coffee-cake-with.html#ixzz2cp94VLDI

With the rest of my peaches I made pavlova--
Any recipe should do--just substitute arrowroot for the corn starch if you need it to be corn free.  I am also making dulce de leche to serve on top of that with the peaches. For the dulce de leche you simply remove the paper from a can of sweetened condensed milk place it in the crockpot with a metal ring under it (I used a canning jar lid)and cover it with water by at least a couple inches. Simmer on high for 5-6 hours and then allow to cool completely before opening. Enjoy! 

Jamie Oliver's Sweet & Sour Chicken

http://www.food.com/recipe/pot-roasted-chicken-with-sweet-and-sour-sauce-258283

This was good. Enjoy!

Blueberry Coconut Cream Pie

For the crust:
1 bag shelled pecans, ground
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. cinammon
1/3 cup sugar

Mix the sugar, cinnamon & ground nuts. Add the butter and stir until mixed
Press into a pie plate. Bake @ 350 for 10-15 minutes until it smells done. 

For the coconut cream filling:
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

bring the coconut milk and sugar to a boil, stir in the arrowroot and stir until thickened like pudding, remove from heat and stir in shredded coconut. 

For the blueberry topping
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1/4 cup water

Heat the blueberries, sugar, water to a boil. Stir in the arrowroot until thickened. 

After the pie crust is cooled, pour the coconut cream in first and top with the blueberries. Slice & enjoy!!

"looks like meat's back on the menu!"

This recipe was not original--I found it in the  "Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook" by Deana Gunn & Wona Miniati which is the best one they have come out with by far. 

Mom's Meatloaf (which I discovered also makes really good meatballs)

1 1-lb package ground beef or turkey
1 egg
1/2 c. gluten free oats
1 small onion finely chopped
1/4 c. parsley
1 tsp salt
1/3 c. ketchup
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dijon or yellow mustard

Mix beef, egg, oats, onion, broth, parsley, and salt (they recommend using your hands because over-mixing can make the meat tough).

Shape mixture into a mound on a cookie sheet. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard spread over the meatloaf

Bake at 350F fo 45 minutes or until juices run clear. 

Summer Asian Salad

Dinner tonight was good so we thought we'd share :)

2 zucchini, quartered and sliced

2 summer squash, quartered and sliced

1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped off

1 bag of julienne carrots

2 packages of thin Asian rice noodles (the kind that look sort of like haystacks)

3 boneless pork chops, cut into strips

1 bottle of ginger miso dressing from Wegmans

olive oil

salt

First soak your noodles in cold water 15-20minutes or as per the package directions. 

Then cut up and roast your zucchini, summer squash, and asparagus (tossed in some olive oil and salt if desired) at about 420 degrees Fahrenheit until they are tender. 

While they are cooling cut your pork chops (or other meat of choice) into strips and cook over medium heat with a little oil to prevent sticking until the juice run clear and they are cooked through. 

Drain the noodles. Toss the noodles, veggies (including the carrots--which I did not cook but if you wanted to you could stir-fry a bit first) and meat with the dressing and serve at whatever temperature you like. (I had cooled the veggies and noodles the night before so we ate ours cold with warm meat on top--yum!)

Italian GF salad

If you are wondering why the sudden change in subject matter it is because the vortex has gone gluten-free, corn-free, and dairy-free as of October  of this past year. So in light of that I am chronicling our cooking adventures in hopes that they might be of use to other vortex-eaters out there. 

Tonight's installment is the first: 

Italian gluten-free, corn-free, dairy-free* salad (*of note, in future unless otherwise indicated all recipes will be gluten, corn and dairy free.)

2 cans cannelli beans

2 cans garbanzo beans

1 large jar sun-dried tomatoes

1 jar kalamata olives

3 assorted peppers (I used red, yellow, orange) cut into bite-sized chunks and roasted)

1 red onion, roasted

1/2 jar pesto

olive oil as desired

Drain all cans/jars and dump in a bowl

Roasting is optional if you prefer raw veggies--I am just really excited about roasting veggies. 

Mix it all together and enjoy :)

It's just coffee

First off we would like to apologize for our long silence. But if any of you have ever read book four of the Anne of Green Gables series you will understand that for good writing you have to have just the right pen. And by pen, I mean, the right setting, enough time and energy, and inspiration.

Anyhow today we would like to ease some wrinkled foreheads, relax some tense shoulders, and calm some panicky hearts with some simple observations. 

Your friend calls you and says that this guy she knows just asked her out for coffee. She is in a panic--wondering what she should wear and if her hair looks better up or down. She wavers between outfits--wanting to look good, but not too good. She isn't even sure that she likes him but she wants him to like her nonetheless. You hang up the phone after 30 minutes of breathless chatter and you think "wow, what was she all worked up over? It's just coffee." Then it hits you that if you were in her shoes not only would you act the same way but you would be mentally critiquing his every move at the date, wondering what it would be like to kiss him, planning your wedding and naming all your kids.
If it is Hollywood-level amazing you are practically engaged by the time the night is over. However if you leave that first date unsure if you could marry him you are in a panic. After all most of your married friends tell you that they "just knew right away." So if you don't know, something must be wrong with you or the relationship.

And here we would like to interject our first observation--WHAT RELATIONSHIP? It was 1, as in uno, as in une--- date. You are not committing to marriage or even a second date---but neither should you be afraid to say yes if he asks you out again. 

Newsflash: Unless you have know this guy REALLY well prior to dating him it is highly unlikely that you are going to have any clue about whether or not you can marry him after one date. It will take a lot more than one interaction for you to determine if you can commit to spending the rest of your life with this man. 

So why do we feel like we have to know right away?

1. The Risk Factor: We don't want to risk investing in a relationship that could end. It seems too scary.

2. Fear of the Unknown:  We fear the future and struggle to trust God with what may or may not happen 

3. The Control Factor:  We want control and matters of the heart often feel beyond our control. We need to trust that God will be with us and in control of all our days. 

4. The Fear of Being Known: We fear that the true "bearing of our souls and the telling of our most appalling secrets" will cause us to come up short of his expectations. 

5. The Friend Factor: Your well-meaning friends--who love you and desperately want you to experience marital bliss, pile on the expectations. You go out for coffee and you come home and your roommate says, "So, is he the one?"

So in the end our advice is: 
Trust God
Be willing to take risks
Ignore your friends silly questions
and 
Please go out for coffee and remember, it is JUST COFFEE!!