Stuffed Bell Peppers

The other night I was trying to figure out what on earth to make for dinner. I went through the freezer, the fridge and the cupboards. I had ground turkey and some goodies to add to it...but what...Enter Pintrest. Have I told you how much I love that webiste? 

I was thinking of making stuffed tomatoes. Those are pretty tasty. But then I thought I remembered seeing stuffed bell peppers. The hubs and I both like bell peppers. I found this one recipe on pintrest called Enchilada stuffed bell peppers. Sounds good. I looked at the recipe. Cool! I have everything but the bell peppers. I ran off to Raley's for a quick purchase. 

Items I found in my cupbaord.

The recipe is really easy and the prep work isn't too long. 

First thing to do is hollow out the peppers

Grabbed my turkey out of the freezer

Cooked it up. Only took about 10 minutes. 

Remove turkey from the pan. This also helps to cut down on the grease.

Add black beans...but only after you rinse them.

Add in the corn

I went a little heavy on the cheese

Add in the enchilada sauce

I added in green onions. That was a recipe deviation. And I good one I might add.

Along with the seasonings in the recipe, I added in garlic salt, salt and pepper. Garlic makes everything better.

Stir like the dickens.

Fill each pepper to the top.

Ta da! Look at how beautiful they are!

Cover the peppers with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Then you remove the foil, add shredded cheese to the top and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Looks pretty darn good!

Holy cow! This thing is mega tasty!!!! I will be making this again! Both the hubs and I really, really liked it! And it is completely G free!!!!

Here's the link: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2015/01/enchilada-stuffed-bell-peppers/

Enjoy!!!!

The Kitchen

The hubs and I were looking for something new to do for Valentine's Day.  We decided that this year, we would splurge. So I made us reservations at the amazing Kitchen. It's one of Sacramento's Five Star restaurants. On their reservation site, they had a notes box. I put in there that one person was g free. 

We arrived for our reservation and were very excited about the culinary journey we were about to embark on. As they sat us, the waiter was going over the notes. He asked which one of us was g free. I said me and I know that I won't get to enjoy as much of the food as my hubs. The waiter responded with "You will not miss out on a thing." I was hopeful.

We began with the loster bisque. On it there was a little bread item. I was thinking I would get the bisque without the little bread thing. Nope. They sat mine down and explained the soup flavors, pairings and my g free bread item. It was AMAZING!

Next they brought out bread for everyone. I look at the hubs and said here's where I am left out. Nope. They brought me my own g free bread basket. It was fantastic! It had garlic and some other amazing herbs on it.

I can't remember what this was, but it tasted amazing as well!! And they made sure that mine was g free. 

Some more amazing g free tastiness...

Duck L'Orange. Oh my gosh! I could have eaten my weight in this!

Dessert was an opera cake with espresso icecream. Amazing. And G free. I was so blessed that they had made all these amazing things and were able to include us g free people. There were 7 of us there that night. I nearly cried when I got my own bread. Everything was delicious and the expirience was something else. It was indeed expensive. If you are looking for an amazing date...I HIGHLY recommend The Kitchen.

http://www.thekitchenrestaurant.com

Willow Sweetery

Bakeries...the scourge of the g free world. All those sweet delictables, filled with pain and suffering. Well, now there is a place where we can get our sweet treats and the only price we pay is on the scale. 

Let me introduce you to...

Willow Cafe & Sweetery! This little jem offers g free options for us! Here is their website: http://www.willowcafeandsweetery.com. 

One day the hubs and I were over in Folsom to get our taxes done. We live in Citrus Heights, so Folsom is a drive. When ever we are over there, we try to make a day of it. We got our taxes done and then went off to explore. That's when we stumbled upon the Willow Cafe & Sweetery. We didn't stop in at the cafe, but we made a point to hit up the bakery.

As you can see, I am super excited about the prospect of a delicious G free treat.

Once inside, therer was an array of delectibles that were safe for the eating. I picked out the g free cream puff. OMG! Light, fluffy, sweet and tasty! I was in heaven. My jean size not so much, but I sure was!

I will be sure to make the trek over to Folsom to get some more yummy goodies. I will also try the cafe.

Heallthy, Delicious Snacks

Pintrest is an amazig creation. There are millions of ideas out there for food, hair styles, crafts and such. It's a great resource for people looking for specific ideas or recipes and what not. It's down right addicting. As a g free person, there are tons upon tons of g free recipies or recipes that can be easily converted. 

I am trying (keyword is trying) to eat healthier, loose some extra weight and be healthy over all. I am looking for snacks that can fill the void in between meals. My mom had suggested hummus. I do infact enjoy hummus. So, onto Pintrest I go.

I found this one recipe that looked pretty good and had some great reviews. Here's the link for it: http://hintofjoes.com/easy-hummus-without-tahini/. I am still unclear as to what Tahini is, but I do know that it is expensive! I was happy to find a hummus recipe without the tahini. And you know what? It was really good! I added more garlic then what they had called for. It was delicious. Be aware, the recipe yields a lot! It's perfect for parties. Rather than use pita chips (not g free), I just used baby organinc carrots or tomoatoes. Veggies and hummus go really well together and it's a healthy option! 

Taquitos

I love quick and easy meals. Sometimes, you are just too busy to make lunch or too tired to make dinner. Enter the Taquitos. 

When I had to go G free, there was a lot of things that had to be cut out of my daily diet. "Easy and convenient" foods had to be avoided. In a lot of ways that is good...much healthier that way, however, sometimes you are just too beat to cook. 

One day, I was shopping at Costco and I spotted it...Taquitos...Oh how I miss Taquitos. Just for grins I picked up the box.Then I saw it!

Larger than life! The 2 magic words! Gluten Free! Oh my gosh! I squealed with delight and added the Taquitos to my cart of goodies. Sure, they are not the most healthy meal ever made, but when you are starvng and exhausted from training...why not :o)

Trader Joe's also offers a g free friendly version of Taquitos. However, only the chicken Taquitos are g free. Why the beef ones aren't? I have no idea. Maybe the beef is marinated in soy sauce. 

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookie

I am training for a Triathlon. It takes place in May, up on Bainbridge Island. I have been training really hard to do this thing. In the mornings, before training with my trainer, he has me eat a pretty hearty breakfast. It's quick, easy and full of protien and complex carbs that a trainee could use. 

Here's his recipe:

Prepared oatmeal

Organinc Maple syrup

Organinc 1% milk 

Peanut butter

I use Trader Joe's rolled oats. They are g free and easy to make

I know, you were expecting some organic, all natural peanut butter. Nope...just reduced fat Skippy

I love this maple syrup.

Prepare the oatmeal as directed. While it's still hot, I add in the milk, maple syrup and a big spoonful of peanut butter. Stir until well mixed. I call this the oatmeal cookie as it tastes just like a cookie! Super yummy and healthy! Provides me with enough energy to burn 600-700 calories with my trainer over a period of an hour and a half. 

Enjoy!

A Trader Joe's Inspired G Free Cookbook

One day I was at Barnes and Noble looking for heart healthy cookbooks for my father-in-law. He had recently had a heart attack and needed to change some eating habits. While searching for the perfect cookbook for him (yes I found one: Betty Crocker's Heart Healthy Cookbook), I stumbled across a G free cookbook based entirely on Trader Joes:

How cool is that?!? I like Trader Joes. It's Whole Foods without the expense...although nothing replaces the awesomness that is Whole Foods. I purchased the book and set off to pick out some meals. 

The first one I tried out was their tacos. Pretty tasty. A little spicy, but yummy. This meal was hubs approved.

The next one I tried was the Honey Mustard chicken. This was pretty fantastic. The hubs really liked this one. I used all organinc products that I found at Trader Joes, Raleys and Costco.

The hubs made a side dish to go with this: 

Organic zuccini that has olive oil, garlic salt and cheese on it. Th then BBQ'd it. Delicious and healthy!

Pretty yummy!

The last meal I made from this book was Paella. I love paella. It's a Spanish dish that is pretty hard to mess up. You can add all sorts of things to it. 

This is the first time I made paella not using my special paella pan, so that felt weird. But the meal turned out really good! I need to make some more things out of here. They have breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts and side dishes! All items in the cookbook can be found at Trader Joes. It's a really cool book. Some of the items are easy to make and some, not so much. Be sure to read the recipe all the way through.

Enjoy~