Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig.

Welp, my food options got pretty limited by the end of the week.  Good thing I'm home for the holiday weekend and can get some serious cooking done!

Wednesday night I scrounged through the fridge and freezer and managed to throw together a decent meal.

Cooked quinoa heated in a frying pan with frozen carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes.

Plus a bowl of frozen fruit that I thawed.

Thursday's lunch was another pathetic example of the healthy options for me in the university union.
A raw veggie cup, bag of brown rice chips, and a soy chai latte. (All a little overpriced of course.)

I drove home Friday morning and arrived around 12:30 pm, just in time for lunch! My first stop in town (after dropping clothes off at my parents of course) was the local health food store.  Then home to whip up an easy, tasty, healthy pizza.

Gluten free tortilla with organic tomato sauce and spinach leaves, baked at 350 degrees for 15 or so minutes. Basically until the tortilla was brown around the edges.  Delish!!

Many more Labor Day weekend cooking pics to come!

Over Priced Much?

Since I failed to ration my granola, I've had to resort to stopping by the university's union to pick up light lunches and snacks. The prices are pretty ridiculous. Nothing like a $7.25 lunch consisting of a fruit cup and napkin full if nuts to inspire a weekend of baking. I foresee much food prep happening come Friday.

Seriously not worth the money. I bet I could have made at least a week's worth of munchies for that cost!

Holy burst of flavor, Batman!

As per my weekend goal, I tried out a gluten-free granola recipe that did not contain oats. The recipe was really easy and tastes ...

INCREDIBLE!

Good golly, this granola is the cat's pajamas. It is a perfect blend of sweet and salty with a satisfying crunch. I need to make another batch STAT since this one is nearly gone. Hello new go-to breakfast and snack.

I pulled this recipe from the 120+ recipes I have pinned on Pinterest right now. I happened to have most of the ingredients in my pantry, so it ended up being very affordable as well as delectable. The recipe needed some modifications to fit my diet plan, so the following is my altered version of Vegetarian Times' Quinoa-Rice Granola.

Ingredients
5 gluten free brown rice cakes
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/2 cup mixed nuts
1/3 cup agave nectar
5 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup dried fruit (I used dried mango)

First, crumble the rice cakes in a bowl.  The pieces should be fairly small, about 1/2 to 1/4 inch.

Next, stir in quinoa flakes and mixed nuts.



In a separate bowl, mix together the agave, oil and cinnamon.

Then pour it over the rice/quinoa mixture and stir until well coated.

 

Spread it onto a parchment paper lined pan (or two). I only lined one of my pans and that was a big mistake.



Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Stir the granola and then bake for another 10 minutes. It should be golden brown. Let it cool on the baking pans until completely cool and crispy.

 

Next brake it into clusters and mix in the dried fruit. Store in an air-tight container and try not to eat the entire batch in one sitting.

Et voilà! Scrumdiddlyumptious oat-free gluten-free goodness.

Adorable Eats

Golly gee I can't say this enough, I just adore my little pink crock buddy. Perfectly heated meals each and every time we dine together. It had been 48 days since I last microwaved food, a feat that would be excruciatingly difficult without this cute addition to my kitchen.

 

Look how yummy those fajita veggies look. Hot but not soggy and as delicious as when they were fresh off the pan.

 

 

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT.

Antici................pation

Yesterday's appointment with the natural health doctor was via phone since I'm living the university life again.  I was really hoping he'd tell me my food allergy test results are in and then say those glorious words I'm dying to hear: "you aren't allergic to oats."

Alas, my food sensitivities blood work has not come back yet.  Perhaps next week, but likely the week after.  Two more weeks of living an oatless life. 

I'm trying to accept that I may not get the news I want when the time does come, but hey a girl can dream right? The past several weeks I've been cooking under the assumption that this no-oat diet is temporary. But, my goal this weekend is to make an oat-free and gluten-free granola snack. Maybe a few tasty non-oat snack recipes in my repertoire will soften the blow I'm anticipating any week now. Granola pics to come!