Beyond Rice and Tofu

Last week I managed to get sick with something, not really sure what, but boy was I pooped and yucky. Comfort food was definitely in order. And coming home from work early to snooze and sit on the couch all evening wrapped up in a blanket.

And so it was fortuitous, that just last week I happened upon some new-to-me gluten free canned soups at Whole Foods. Gluten Free Cafe soups from Health Valley. I was so grateful that I had picked up a couple of cans. It was wonderful to have some canned chicken noodle soup to eat while feeling sick. (I am not the vegetarian in the family, remember?) My husband was grateful as well, he just (lovingly) dumped it in a bowl for me and heated it up! They also have a cream of mushroom soup and a veggie noodle.

I liked the chicken noodle soup. To my sickly taste buds, it tasted good. There were plenty of noodles,veggies and broth and a few chunks of chicken. The chicken was a little bit hard but it all still tasted good to me. Have any of you tasted it yet? Did you like it? I have yet to try the veggie noodle and cream of mushroom.

I often enjoy tea when I am sick too and luckily the Celestial Seasonings seasonal teas are out! Be sure to read the boxes as only a couple of them are gluten free. My two favorites are Candy Cane Lane and Nutcracker Sweet. I will be buying more this week and stocking up because they will be gone after the holidays! Here is a snack I had this weekend with some treats from Katz Gluten Free. (A full review of Katz products will be coming soon, once I can make my way through all their goodies!)

Despite feeling crappy most of the week, I did cook some and I owe you some recipes and reviews!

This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Wend at Celiacs in the House and the theme is mushrooms. (Her mushroom hater is gone for the week.) I am not a huge fan of mushrooms but my husband is, so I will include them periodically.

As for this week, this is what I am up to:

Stir-fried Tofu ad Vegetables with Miso Sauce and rice – new-to-us recipe from Fat Free Vegan with mushrooms – she has great tofu recipes!

Matar Paneer and rice – a favorite!

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup from Stephanie over at A Year of Slow-Cooking. I’ll probably make a salad or corn muffins to go along side.

And then I am going to try my hand at Pupusas. Many folks have made them and so I am taking my inspiration from here, here and here. And I will make Diane’s Spicy Slaw. I can’t wait! They will most likely be filled with black bean something-or-other.

I also have to make something for my husband’s holiday potluck at work and so I will be making Glutenfreeda’s Wild Rice Stuffing with Hazelnuts and Cranberries. This has become our go-to dressing for Thanksgiving and the holidays. It also travels well, heating up in a crockpot easily. I took it to my office Thanksgiving potluck a few weeks ago.

As for dessert, I have been eying Elana’s Vegan Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream…and I just might have to make some holiday cookies or candies too!

Have a great week!

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Well, we’re back from our annual Thanksgiving cross-country trek…

Somewhere near Weatherford, Texas, only hours into our 22 hour journey.

The two pups (yellow and chocolate), curled up for the long drive.

So, we have an empty fridge, which means a clean slate. And I have a couple of new cookbooks! I recently tested a wonderfully delicious recipe for Michael over at Herbivoracious and I won two cookbooks for doing so! (I will share more with you once his book is ready to come out.) I ended up choosing A Fistful of Lentils and The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook. I have also been reading my way, albeit slowly, through Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. And I am still cooking my way through a Vegetarian Planet. So much inspiration!

I wrote up my meal plan this evening without even checking to see what this week’s theme was for the Gluten Free Menu Swap, but it is sweet potatoes. Check out the other menu’s over at Gluten Free Goodness, who is hosting this week. I didn’t have any sweet potatoes on my menu, but I noticed this a little bit ago from Book of Yum and it sounds delicious! I just might have to add it…

For this week, plus a little more…

Chickpeas in Tomato, Ginger and Garlic Sauce with Basmati rice – one of our family favorites that I haven’t made in a long time. From a well-worn cookbook, Indian Vegetarian Cooking from an American Kitchen.

Tomato Lentil Soup from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons, new to us.

Pasta Alfredo with chickpeas, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. and salad – this is a make it up as I go along deal. I am craving Alfredo sauce. I might put some chicken or shrimp in mine.

Black Rice with Chickpeas, Bok Choy and Tamari Sauce from Gluten Free Girl and The Chef’s new cookbook. This will be the first recipe I have tried from their cookbook (which isn’t very vegetarian friendly unfortunately).

Thai Coconut Soup from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons with salad or leftover rice.

And maybe, Book of Yum’s Mexican Vegan Sweet Potato Black Bean Hash.

I have also been eyeing these Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas. I love salt and vinegar potato chips and I love chickpeas, so this sounds right up my alley!

What are you cooking up this week?

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Hello! I hope you all had a great Halloween. We don’t get any trick-or-treaters out where we live, although this guy has been known to show up on our front door step. ..

But I don’t think he’s looking for candy…

Maybe one of these?

Ha! No worries, they are secure in their home. The girls got quite the Halloween treat yesterday after I roasted three pie pumpkins.

I didn’t make any treats (or tricks) for us this week but I do have something planned for later this week as part of Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger. I adopted Jenn of The Whole Kitchen. Go on over and check out her site and be sure to read about her transition to the gluten free lifestyle eight years ago. Amazing and inspiring! Plus she’s a wonderful cook. And I’ll be posting soon about some of her creations.

This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Celiacs in the House and the theme is peppers. I don’t have any pepper-centric recipes on the menu this week except for some green chile added to a couple of things, but we have had two batches of stuffed poblanos over the past few weeks. The first batch was quinoa stuffed and the second was cheese, corn and pecan stuffed. Both were delicious but need another trial session before they’re ready for prime time.

This week will be a bit calmer for us, no travel or evening meetings, as far as I know. So I should be able to do some cooking this week!

This week, we are planning…

Santa Fe Pumpkin Chowder with Pumpkin Corn Muffins

Green Chile and Cheese Tamales with fresh roasted salsas and Spanish Rice – Contains peppers – New Mexican green chiles!)

Veggie Burgers (or salmon burger for me) with Quinoa Tabbouleh – and as David Lebovitz says, tabbouleh is meant to be an herb salad, more herbs and vegetables than bulgur, or in this case, quinoa. (I had just read his post as I was making my meal plan and the green herbs and lemon juice sound wonderful right now!)

Sesame Noodles with Broccoli and Roasted Tofu

Anasazi Bean something… does anyone have any good recipes? I have never made them before but we grew some this year and I bought a big bag at the farmer’s market.

So that’s it for this week. I also will be making a sweet or two from The Whole Kitchen…so stay tuned!

Be sure to check out the other plans at Celiacs in the House and OrgJunkie.

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