Gluten Free Days 6 - 10

So I’ve been really bad at posting my gluten free journey lately. Needless to say life has been busy and I’ve not found much time to sit down and write. Sadly this also means I haven’t had much time to mess with photos either – but I do have some to share with you.

This journey has been an interesting challenge. I cannot say I’ve noticed a huge physical change – nor felt all that different in all honesty. But I have learned to get more creative and think fresher – which, in the long run is really a better goal. I firmly believe that all things, in moderation, are ok as long as there’s not a allergy or health issue for you. I think it takes a bit to find the right balance and that it depends on your diet and lifestyle. There is no substitute for being healthy – and to me, that means putting good things in your body as well as working out to keep your body in shape. This is not to say that I do not enjoy to indulge in certain foods – I love to eat… I do not eat to live and I do not live to eat, but I do so love my food! And so long as I don’t over indulge, I like to believe there is nothing wrong with it. However, I do believe I have to get to a point in eating healthier – and I’m not talking fruits and veggies healthier… I’m talking less chemicals and not eating ingredients that I don’t know what they are. There is still plenty of wonderful yummy food to be had in a ‘fresher’ state – for lack of a better way of terming food that isn’t over processed and not filled with all those funky ingredients that I can’t even pronounce.

Anyway, here are my updates for days 6 – 10.

Day 6:

Saturday was the beginning to my current roller coaster – even when you think you’ve planned everything for a wedding, somehow, as things get closer, it’s like you’ve done nothing at all. I woke up and had a trial hair appointment to get to, so I grabbed a bowl of that yummy cereal I mentioned a few days ago and got ready to head out. To give you an idea of how my day went, in getting ready to go in the morning I somehow managed to lose balance and put a nice big scratch down about half my nose – I couldn’t recreate it if I wanted it, I’m honestly still curious how I got it so deep. Then by the time I made it out the door and 40 minutes into my drive, I realized I didn’t have everything I needed for my running around… no time to turn back, I’d be late. So I went to my appointments but couldn’t make all the stops I had planned on.

When I finally got home I was starving. I’ve had lettuce wraps on my mind for quite some time and somehow, my stomach was patient enough for me to make them. I did however forget to add the soy beans that I had prepared for them (they were tossed in a quick salad the next day so they weren’t wasted, but they would’ve been very good in the lettuce wraps). I will admit, for as frazzled and forgetful as I was, I still totally enjoyed the way these came out. I had been documenting my measurements for the ingredients in an email which ended up getting lost when my computer force restarted itself from inactivity, but I do believe I’ve been able to re-write it correctly.

Next I had some scanning to do… I never thought it would take so long to scan in 45 pictures, but man – did it take a long time! As soon as I had managed to finish that up it was time to run out to a wedding celebration, they already got married, this was the after party that they invited everyone else too. It was a dinner event, and I won’t lie – I was a bit curious about what all I’d end up being able to eat or if I’d be quickly tossing stuff together as soon as I got home. It was BBQ and I will admit, I was the dork using Google to figure out if the BBQ sauce was gluten free… and it was! So I enjoyed some pulled pork and brisket and avoided the bun. I was actually quite surprised in my search to find most of their food was gluten free. And to top off my amazement, they even offered gluten free pie! It was a chocolate silk of sorts. I avoided it for awhile – while there was a large table labeled ‘gluten free’ I certainly didn’t want to take anything that was ordered for someone who actually HAD to eat gluten free. This is after all, a choice I’ve made of something to try – it is not a necessity. Towards the end of the night, when the food was starting to be picked up, there was still a decent amount of gluten free pie slices sitting on the table. So I figured I’d try it. Must admit, the crust – nowhere near the same.  But all in all, it took care of my sweet fix just fine and I was very happy to have something sweet. And honestly, to get to try it. They also had a ‘candy center’ set up – it took a bit, but I did successfully avoid it.

And that was all my excitement for the day.

If you’re interested in the lettuce wraps mentioned, here’s how I made them:

1    Cup     Water

2    Tbl       Soy

2    Clove   Garlic

2 Chicken Breasts

Cook chicken breasts in water, soy sauce and garlic. Once cooked, chop chicken into small pieces and set aside.

Meanwhile, you'll need approximately 1/2 cup of the following vegetables cut into small slices:

Carrots

Cucumbers

Red Cabbage

I also chopped 1 green onion and several water chestnuts (came out to about 3 tablespoons). As I mentioned earlier, I meant to add soy beans too - I had about 1/4 cup prepared. 

Combine all ingredients with the chicken in a bowl and set aside.

For the sauce:

1/3    Cup      Water

2       Tbl        Smooth Peanut Butter

3        tsp       Hoisin Sauce

2        cloves Garlic (minced)

1        pinch   Red Pepper Flakes

1/2                Lime (juiced)

Combine all sauce ingredients, except the lime juice, in a small saucepan and heat over medium. Once peanut butter is melted in, and sauce is smooth - mix in lime juice. Pour over you chicken and vegetables and stir to combine. You could also add peanuts or cashews - and that'd be really good. 

For the lettuce I used romaine, but honestly, that's just because it's the only kind I had besides spinach and that never would have worked. I think Bibb lettuce is what's normally used. 

Day 7:

Once again it was a busy day and cereal was my go-to for breakfast and it was off to run around most of the morning and afternoon. I was so hungry near the end of things, it was after lunch time, but we were so close to finished. So we finished up and headed back home. On the drive home my fiancé decides he wants Arby’s – says I can cheat one day… needless to say saying no to pizza and bagels was cake compared to go into Arby’s and walking out with NOTHING. I LOVE their roast beef with Arby’s sauce and their curly fries. This was a hard one… thankfully though he pretty much had it all eaten by the time I was done tossing together a salad (spinach, eggs, carrots, my left over soy beans from the day before, avocado, and a little ranch). So at least I didn’t have to watch him eat it :) He had said he’d wait to eat, I told him to go right on ahead and not to worry about it – I knew he was super hungry and really, it took away the temptation to ask for a bite :) The salad was very good but honestly I was so hungry I didn’t bother to even take a photo. I tossed it all together and it became more of an avocado ranch dressing – and it hit the spot perfectly.

Come dinner time we were pretty lazy. We hadn’t prepared for it so by the time we were hungry, we didn’t want to take the time required to really make much of anything. Out came that quick balsamic chicken I had for lunch a few days prior. This time, I added in some garlic and a little more balsamic, but those were really my only changes - I know, looks like something completely different. I also nuked two potatoes and steamed some corn – and dinner was served. Quick, easy, and good.

Amazingly, this was really my entire day, running around and then doing stuff at home pretty much forgetting to eat along the way until our tummies told us we HAD to eat.

Day 8:

Back to the week… the weekend had flown by and when that alarm went off I was seriously confused as to why my phone was making noise. It took quite a bit to realize it was the alarm and that I had to get up. Needless to say I slept through my morning workout time and finally got out of bed when I absolutely had to in order to get to work.

I grabbed a peach and a grapefruit on my way out the door. Not really what one would think of combining – but when eaten separate they worked just fine. If I’d have had the time prepping the grapefruit would’ve been much easier at home with a real knife instead of at work with a plastic one – but it worked, and I still got to enjoy it.

Lunch was another attempt at surviving these darn gluten free tortillas… I was a bit pressed for time so I just made a cheese quesadilla with some spices added for flavor (once again I turned to my dragon salt) and a little extra chili powder for a kick. Still didn’t love it – but so far, it was the best preparation of them in my book. I think it’s because it was crispy on the outside and so it’s texture changed. This really wasn’t anything special; buttered the outside, tossed in some cheese and spices, folded and cooked till both sides were crispy. No recipe or photo to share with this one – but I’m pretty sure you could recreate it without much effort :)

I snacked on some of the Cherry Cranberry Nut and Apricot Coconut balls in the afternoon. The cherry cranberry ones remind me of fruit snacks and the apricot coconut ones are a little lighter with an airiness to them.

Dinner was another quick meal – I had somewhere to be at 7 and was working on finishing up wedding plans up to 6:30. So a quick potato topped with cheese was my go to meal.

As you can tell – I’ve not been all that great at finding new yummy gluten free recipes the last few days – nor even experimenting just to try to see what works. With the exception of the lettuce wraps I’ve been seriously slacking, but I really just haven’t had the time to sit and cook. But I had another recipe in my head (since day 1 actually) and figured I’d have to make the time for it on Tuesday. So at least within 4 days you’ll get more than one recipe This one I prepped by slicing up two chicken breasts and putting them in buttermilk to soak… then it was off to bed.

Day 9:

I started my day with a hardboiled egg after my morning workout. Then I had a bowl of cereal at work (brought the cereal in a bag and milk in a small container).

Lunch was pretty plain as I had packed it in a rush that morning – a spinach salad, some carrots, and a peach. If nothing else, I definitely got my fruits and veggies in for the day :) I also had a really quick trail mix to snack on throughout the afternoon. I didn’t measure anything out – so I can’t tell you the proportions, but really, those are a person preference thing – you can’t really go wrong with trail mix :) I do have a photo of this one, all be it one taken at my desk.

Trail mix consisted of approximately (all measurements are my eyeballed estimate of what it was – again, you can make it with whatever proportions you would like):

1 handful of dried cranberries

About a ¼ cup dried sour cherries (it was all I had left)

1 small handful of dried apricots

2 handfuls pecans (I’d have had 1 pecan and 1 almond, but I’m out of almonds currently)

About 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds

About 2 tablespoons pepitas (the kernel of the pumpkin seed)

About 2 tablespoons white chocolate chips

 

Come dinner time it was time to make my spin on buttermilk chicken – without flour. I served it with garlic herb mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. It’s not a particularly beautiful dish, but it is a yummy one. Usually I use seasoned flour and cream of chicken soup in this recipe - but neither of those are gluten free so this is my tweaked version. 

Buttermilk Chicken:

3                  Chicken Breasts

2     Cups    Buttermilk (divided)

-----

1.5  Cups    Corn Flour

2     Tbl        Italian Seasoning

2     tsp        Chili Powder

.5    tsp        Ground Black Pepper

1     tsp        Dragon Salt

1     stick     Butter

-----

1     Cup      Milk

1     Tbl        Butter

2     Tbl        Corn Starch

1      tsp       Chicken Base (mine says gluten free so I'm not sure if that means some aren't)

.25   tsp       Ground Black Pepper

.25   tsp       Chili Powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut chicken breasts into small slices and soak in 1 cup buttermilk for at least 8 hours, up to a day. 

Melt the stick of butter and pour into a cookie sheet.

In medium bowl, combine corn flour, italian seasoning, chili powder, and black pepper. Take chicken out of buttermilk and coat in corn flour mixture. You can cover it once, or dip it in buttermilk and the corn flour again if you'd like a thicker coating. As you finish each piece of chicken set it in the butter on your cookie sheet. Make sure your cookie sheet is big enough to fit all your chicken in a single layer.

Place chicken in oven for 15 - 20 minutes. 

While chicken cooks combine the milk, tablespoon butter, corn starch, chicken base, pepper, and chili powder in a small saucepan (I re-used the one I melted my butter in earlier). 

Bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly. After it's boiled for about a minute you should have a pretty thick sauce. Stir in your remaining cup of buttermilk. 

When your chicken beeps - take cookie sheet out of the oven and pour your sauce over the chicken. Put back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (cooking times will vary depending on how big your chicken strips are and your oven).

Day 10:

To give you an idea of how crazy today started – I started to run out the door before I even realized I hadn’t had breakfast. So I’ll go ahead and say – I’m sure what I ended up with wasn’t the healthiest. I grabbed a hardboiled egg (so thankful I make about 4 at a time so I can grab one when needed) and tossed some  Cherry Cranberry Nut and Apricot Coconut balls  in a bag. Not the best I’m sure, but really – they’re dried fruit, coconut, and nuts… can’t be all that bad. So long as I don’t make a habit of it I'm not too worried :)

Lunch was another lazy quick one – I finished off the leftovers of last night’s buttermilk chicken. So no real story there for you. In all honesty – this gluten free challenge and my promise to document it is what keeps me finding the time (even if sometimes I have to lump a few days together) to write. I have a feeling after this – with the wedding quickly approaching. I may be a bit silent. However, when I come back I will share all the fun DIYs I did for the wedding with completed photos of how it turned out.

Dinner I fell back to Salmon. A long time ago I was tired of the lemon and dill that I always seemed to use. I wanted something different. So I tried jalapeno - it's one that's stuck with me ever since. I don't blend the jalapeno anymore, I actually like the chunks now for the little extra kick they provide. But it's very easy. I've changed the herb from dill, to basil, parsley, and oregano. Honestly, I think it's just a matter of personal preference. 

I take about 1.5 tablespoons of butter per salmon filet. I combine the butter with a little salt and pepper, as well as the herb I'm mixing in. Then I chop up about 8 jalapeno slices (this varies depending on the size of the slices) and mix it in the butter.

I smooth some of the jalapeno butter on the bottom of the pan so the salmon sits on it and then I top it with the rest of the butter and cook it (the size filets I use are usually cooked within 15 - 20 minutes at 350 degrees F). 

It's yummy and has just a faint kick to it. 

Well, that's my story for the past few days :) I will try to update again sooner next time - until then, keep experimenting and have fun with your food :)