Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Feeling Fishy?

I love fish, but I grew up in a house were we really didn't eat fish.  And if we did have fish it was either fish out of a box or canned tuna.  Now my mom did try to make "real" fish but every time my mom made it I ended up in the bathroom puking my brains out.  It wasn't until I was dating Jeremy that I finally tried "real" fish again.  Yes, that is how scared I was by my mom's cooking.  


But, I have had a hard time getting the girls to eat fish.  Lorelei LOVES shrimp and she will fight us for them.  I have even been stabbed by a fork because Lorelei was trying to get my shrimp off my plate.  I have gotten Annabelle to try cod and liked it a lot, but that can be pricey at the store.  My kids also go through phases where they don't want to eat protein and to me fish is a great way to reach your daily protein goals.  So, I have come up with a great canned tuna dish that the girls eat up.  



One can/pouch of tuna packed in water
1/4 cup of shredded carrots
1/4 cup of shredded salad greens (whatever you have on hand)
1/4 cup of shredded cheese (whatever you have on hand)
3 piece of bacon crumbled
enough light mayo to make moist (or 
Vegenaise)
Dump everything into a bowl and stir together.  Eat on crackers or toast or anything else you would like to put this with such as Wasa bread, pasta, etc... I eat mine in lettuce leaves or as Lorelei calls them Salad Boats.  Now depending on how much you want on a sandwich this can feed 3 adults or 6 toddlers in half sandwiches.  

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Strawberry Shortcake + Pancakes = HEAVENLY


The other day at the grocery store Lorelei wanted strawberries in the worst way.  I told her no at first because they aren't in season and more expensive, but once I saw the deal that if you bought 2 bags of lettuce you got free strawberries I gave in... plus I need green rabbit food anyways.  Then Lorelei wanted to make a dip for the berries, so I picked up some already whipped cream cheese.  Fast forward a few days to yesterday Lorelei ordered me to make strawberry cream cheese pancakes.  Ok, that sounded good too me.  And a great way to try to sneak in some berries to Annabelle (if it's not a banana or an apple she won't eat it fruit wise).

Well, lets put it this way, I was going to use Jeremy's phone to take a photo of the pancakes and... well... umm... they are allllll gone folks.  So trust me huge hit.  Lorelei also is very proud of herself.  She put the batter into the skillet and flipped the pancakes.  I also think she ate them as she cooked them lol.

2 eggs
1 stick of unsalted butter – melted
2 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp of gaur gum

4oz of whipped cream cheese (aka half a container) at room temperature
6 big strawberries- diced
½ cup of sugar + 1 tbsp of sugar
1 cup of my GF Flour Mix
¾ cup of milk

1.5 tsp of white vinegar

In a bowl placed place the diced strawberries and 1 tbsp of sugar.  Mix to make sure that all the berries are covered with the sugar.  Then microwave them for 20 seconds to help speed up the process.

In the measuring cup that is holding your milk add the vinegar.  We are making our own “buttermilk” because I never have the real stuff around.  You will see the milk change texture some while you are mixing the batter.  If you have buttermilk you can use it.

Beat the eggs in a different bowl once a creamy yellow color add in the vanilla and slowly drizzle in the melted butter while beating the eggs the entire time.  Once the butter has been completely incorporated in add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, gaur gum.  Then add in the cream cheese.  Make sure it is at room temperature and whipped.  Now you want little happy chunks of yummy cheesy goodness throughout the batter.  Then add in half of the milk mixture and half of the GF flour mixture.  Once that has been mixed in add in the rest of the milk and flour.  Once everything is combined let the mixture sit for a few minutes to get fluffy.

Cook, Eat, and Enjoy.

Btw- you won’t need any butter or syrup on top of these pancakes.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Shannon's Ohhh So Good For You Mac & Cheese


Here is the recipe I was talking about all the time when I talk about making my home made Mac and Cheese.  It is really easy to change up for whatever needs you need to meet…

Pasta Mixture
1 box of mac noodles
1 tbsp of garlic powder
¼ cup salt
1 tsp of red pepper flakes (opt).
Large pot of hot boiling water

Sauce
1 tbsp of butter- unsalted
1 tbsp of flour
1 can of chicken stock (I use reduce salt and fat free ones)
1 cup of milk (whatever you have on hand)
1 block of cream cheese
1  16 oz package of shredded cheddar cheese
3 piece of bacon cooked and crumbed
2 eggs
2 cups of left over chicken (opt).
½ cup pepper jack cheese- shredded (opt).
Salt and pepper to taste
1  9x13 baking dish- sprayed with PAM

In the large pot of hot boiling water add salt, garlic powder, and if you want the red pepper flakes.  Stir in the mac noodles. To change things up and make it more fun for Lorelei I also have tiny little star/flower shaped pasta and will mix the 2 together.  Cook until done- for us it is about 15 mins.  Drain and set aside to make the sauce.

In a non stick sauce pan add the butter and flour and cook until combined and the roux starts to change color slightly.  Then slowly add in the chicken stock.  Then stir in the cheddar cheese and mix until it is melted in to the chicken stock sauce.  Then slowly add the milk, sometimes you need more, and sometimes you need less milk.  Once the milk is added in stir in the crumbled bacon, cooked chicken bits, and the drained pasta.  Once everything is mixed in pour into the baking dish and let it cool for a few mins.  In a small bowl beat the 2 eggs and once the mac and cheese mix has cooled for a few mins stir in the eggs into the baking dish.

Bake at 350 for about 20 to 30 mins or until golden brown on top.  Pull out of the oven for a few mins to sprinkle the pepper jack cheese on top and then put it back in the oven for a few mins until the cheese has melted.

The red pepper flakes and the pepper jack cheese adds a very very small amount of heat.  Lorelei is 2.5 years old and loves this…

If I have left over veggies like carrots I will toss them in with the pasta to get soft… and if I have onions and garlic I add it to the sauce.  If you want to use beef- change the chicken stock to beef stock... and if you want it to be a veggie dish- use Veggie stock and toss in some chili beans.  You can also use this sauce as a fondue cheese sauce.  It tastes like a full fat mac and cheese without any of the badness lol… btw- for WLS peeps serving size is 1/2 cup if you don't add the chicken... if you have chicken 3/4 cup serving size.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

I like things CRUSTY...

One of the hardest things when you have WLS is giving up certain things that have become a comfort food.  I have to admit I love a good fish dipped in batter and fried.  I love things with a crunch on the outside with a moist middle.  Since then I try hard to avoid it because I couldn't right ingredients to get it just right without blowing my eating plan.

Last night I wanted to do pork chops with just a little texture on the outside.  I read some of the cookbooks in my collections and nothing jumped out in what I should do to keep it low carb.  Well when I was cleaning up from making the cookies I spilled some brown rice flour.  Right then it felt like I got hit by a frying pan... why didn't I try some of my "alt" flours.  It was a great success... Everyone loved them last night!

GF flouring mixture:
1/4 cup of brown rice flour
1 tsp of kosher salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of white pepper
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp of sugar

Mix in a bowl and rub away on the meat.  But, if you would like this to be a fine grain rub, then blitz in a coffee/spice grinder.  Once I had coated the meat I let it set for a few minutes while the olive oil heated up in the skillet.  And then cooked away in the skillet till done, only flipping once.  I had about 1.5 inch thick boneless pork chops, heat on Med High.

Now you could always to the egg/flour mixture dip with this mixture.  However you will have to make a lot more...

I tonight we are going to try this mixture out on some white fish that I have in the freezer.  

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookies- Shanny Style

Ok I have now tasted and tried a number of Gluten Free items and have a huge issue... the texture.  Ugh.  I have done some research on my own and after a lot of reading of my own cookbooks and food chemistry books... I think I have it!

The last few weeks I have been messing around with my own mixture for a GF baking mix.  Now I know mine has oatmeal flour in it and that is up for debate in the GF world so if you have an issue to it ditch it.  Not a big deal that I can real tell, other than, to me, an earthly taste to the baked item.

1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 large eggs
1.5 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of guar gum
1 tsp of kosher salt

2.25 cups of GF baking mix (recipe below)
1 package of mini chocolate chips (or whatever flavor and style you want)


My GF baking mix:
I make up a big container of this and then use it almost cup per cup to flour.  If you can't tolerate oats just take the oatmeal flour out.  I didn't notice a difference mouth feel wise.  I keep this in a container in my pantry area where it is cool and kind of dark.
2 cup of brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup oatmeal flour

Cookie time:
Cream together butter and sugar.  Once light and fluffy add eggs once at a time and then the vanilla.  Scrape down the bowl and then added baking soda, baking powder, guar gum, and salt and mix.  Then add in slowly 3/4 of cup at a time the flour scraping down the bowl after adding the flour mixture.  Then stir in by hand the chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake on the middle rack to 8 to 11 mins.  I pull them out while they are a little gooey in the middle since I like a softer cookie.  For a crispier cookie leave in till done in the middle.  if you would like your cookies puffier- use 1/2 cup of butter and shortening.

I hope to have photos later if I can get Jeremy's cell to take a photo since Annabelle broke my camera.  **A friend who tested out the cookies for me took some photos of them for me... so ignore the Christmas plate :)