Lee’s Insights

One of the fun parts of my Gluten Free lifestyle has been creating great holiday menus - I usually find recipes from other GF sites or just convert the ones I find on traditional recipe sites like Epicurious.com and then mix and match with my old faithfuls.  My Mother is coming over for Sunday brunch so it will be my Mom, my husband, Scott , my 15 year old son, Brian, and me - small group.  I want to do something a little festive because it’s Mother’s Day, but also don’t want to be slaving away all morning because, well, it’s Mother’s Day.   Here’s what I came up with - I think a happy medium:

• Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon & Lemon Cream
• Choice of Blueberry or Banana Pancakes w/ Assorted Syrups and Preserves
• Nitrite and Nitrate-Free Applewood Smoked Bacon from Wegman’s
• Lee’s Ambrosia Salad
• Assortment of GF & Non GF Toast and Muffins
• Mimosas & Coffee

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon & Lemon Cream (Epicurious, Bon Appetit 2/2009)

Ingredients:  This recipe serves 2, I will double it.

• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon butter (I’ll substitute Virgin Coconut Oil)
• 1 large green onion, thinly sliced
• 2 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon -preferably Alaskan salmon

Preparation

Mix sour cream, fresh lemon juice, finely grated lemon peel, and chopped fresh thyme in small bowl. Season lemon cream to taste with salt and pepper.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt butter (coconut oil) in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add thinly sliced green onion and sauté 1 minute. Add eggs; cook until almost set, stirring often, about 1 minute. Divide scrambled eggs between plates. Top scrambled eggs with thinly sliced smoked salmon; drizzle with lemon cream and serve.

Choice of  Blueberry or Banana Pancakes

I use Pamela’s GF Baking & Pancake mix - as far as I’m concerned it’s the best GF Pancake mix on the market.  I will make 2 separate batches according to the instructions on the back of the package (each batch makes approximately 6 medium sized pancakes) - to one batch, I’ll add chopped banana and to the other I’ll add 1 pint of fresh organic blueberries - note when the blueberry pancakes are cooking the berries will burst which makes for an ultra delicious but also a bit of a soggier pancake, so I usually add a little less water to the blueberry batch.   I’ll serve with a variety of syrups, preserves and confectioners sugar - I love finding neat organic home made syrups and preserves at local health food stores or outdoor farmer’s markets.

Lee’s Ambrosia Salad

Ingredients

• 1 c. Fresh organic pineapple, drained & cut into chunks
• 1 c. Fresh organic Red Delicious (or any other firm, sweet apple) cut into chunks - I leave the skin on for better health
• 1 can mandarin orange segments, drained- reserve a few tablespoons of the juice
• 2 bananas cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 c. walnuts, chopped and toasted
• Shredded organic coconut (no sugar added is best, but either will work)
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• small marshmallows (optional)

Preparation

In a nice serving bowl, toss gently to combine  the fruit, nuts and shredded coconut.   In a separate bowl, add the sour cream and reserved mandarin orange juice, whisk to combine well.  This should be a little thick.  Gently fold the sour cream mixture into the fruit - the sauce will thin when the salad sits.  I like less sauce on my salad - if you like more, just add more sour cream. Add marshmallow, if you like them - we don’t.

I think this will make for a yummy and fun morning - the plan is to stay in our jammies, eat and then curl up on the couch and floor and watch movies until it’s time for me to go to yogar at 4:00!  Perfect Mother’s Day, if you ask me! 

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I was diagnosed with Gluten Intolerance almost 8 years ago …  I can’t believe it’s been that long - time has flown by.   Sometimes I think back to who I was PD (Pre Diagnosis) and I almost can’t even identify with that person; always sick, always tired, moody, depressed … ugh!  I am one of the lucky ones who has managed to wade my way through this lifestyle with relative ease - I  feel good most of the time, in fact, I feel great most of the time and I am incredibly grateful for that!   That being said, I had pretty much come to the conclusion that there were a lot of things I would just never eat again  - topping the list, Pizza!

About a year ago I saw a GF pizza at Wegmans - can’t remember the brand.  I bought it, made it, ate the whole thing.  It was just OK - weird crust, no toppings, just cheese and sauce.  Never bought it again…  never even bought GF crust to make my own at home,  I basically just wrote the whole pizza thing off.

Until I heard about Z Pizza!  Here’s how it happened: My GF friend, Tina, says - “Hey, before our next GF meeting let’s meet at Z Pizza for dinner, they have amazing pizza with any toppings you want on it and it’s really good!”  I agreed, knowing full well that it wouldn’t be good and they wouldn’t have anything else for me to eat there, either.  I was WRONG!!

Tip: Be sure to call first and ask if they have the GF crust in stock - another friend of mine was despondent when she got there after craving  pizza all week, only to find they were out.

Let me just say that they have a list of about 16 pizzas on the menu.  Here are a few: the Mexican (homemade salsa, avocado, tomato, red onions & sour cream), the Casablanca (homemade roasted garlic sauce, ricotta, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and parmesan) and the Californian (organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, red onions, bell pepper & zucchini) and the list goes on, that doesn’t include the standard pepperoni, cheese, meat lovers, etc.  If none of those appeal to you, no problem just create your own combination from the extensive list of toppings.   I must say it was tough to choose what to get - after so much deprivation I wanted it all!  I chose organic tomato sauce, caramalized onions (delicious!!),  mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and basil.  All I can say is YUM!  It was delicious and an almost transcendental experience  - not sure it was better than sex, but almost!  If they served gluten free beer, my experience would have been complete!

In addition to fabulous gluten free pizza, they have a bunch of really great gluten free salads to choose from,  as well as non GF sandwiches and pastas, too (I can’t vouch for the non GF stuff, though). They combine select ingredients using award-winning skim mozzarella from Wisconsin, certified organic tomato sauce, MSG-free pepperoni, additive-free sausage, and fresh produce. and so far the service has been pretty good, too!  This is definitely a place to take the family.   On a scale of 1 - 10, I give it a solid 8 (points deducted only because they don’t serve beer!)

Check them out!!  Z Pizza!

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I’m having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.  It’s raining outside, so my plan to get out and weed the beds kind of went out the window.  I decided to take advantage of the day and just sit and catch up on personal “stuff” like thank people for the #FollowFridays, download the podcasts I want to listen to this week on the way to and from work and catch up on some personal e-mails.   I suddenly remembered that I had a box of  gluten-free graham crackers that had been given to me by the owner of the health food store I frequent – Healthy by Nature in Leesburg, Virginia.  Usually the gluten free version of things that we remember fondly from our youth somehow always seem to fall short.  Not this time!  I went to the pantry, tried one and Wow – it was really good!  The texture is a little different from the traditional, but the flavor was fabulous with just a hint of molasses.  I immediately made myself a lovely cup of Tazo Chai tea with a teaspoon of organic raw cane sugar and a just a splash of lactose free milk and along with that ate the ultra yummy graham crackers.   What a lovely experience – I just had to share!!!

For really good graham crackers that will probably live up to their name, check out S’moreables by Kinnikinnik and if you live in the Loudoun County VA area, check out Healthy by Nature on East Market Street and ask for Bobbi!

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