Gluten-Free Maui

Moved

2009-06-16T19:30:00.002-10:00

This blog has now moved to http://www.glutenfreemaui.com

I will redirect it as soon as I can.

Aloha!

Moving

2009-06-02T16:41:00.001-10:00

I'm moving Gluten-Free Maui from Blogspot to our new address here at http://www.glutenfreemaui.com

This is exciting, and it will take some work in fixing up the old posts to look like the new posts, but at least I didn't go a year or more before doing this.

I'm loving Wordpress, and Blogger was a great way for me to start out. I am becoming more committed to this blog by making the move over. Heck, the Nerd even bought me the domain name(he's so sweet).

If things go funky for any reason, please bear with me and all will be well before too long.

I'm working on the redirect from blogger right now so that you all don't have to change your bookmarks(if you've bookmarked me already then I am totally honored).

Stick with me on this journey. We'll have us some tasty fun!

Mulligans on the Blue in Kihei (Wailea)

2009-06-01T12:00:00.002-10:00

From a previous post, separated out for ease of finding information.

Mulligans on the Blue. This is an Irish restaurant, and no it's not on the water. It's actually on a golf course. From what I was told, it's the old clubhouse/restaurant for the Wailea Blue Course, from which Mulligans took part of its name.

Don't even dream of eating dinner here. Just about everything looks to be covered in gluten, and I wouldn't risk cross contamination for the world there. However, I did have some delicious vanilla ice cream and alcoholic beverages(Mojito and Sandtrap). There is no gluten free beer, and the hard cider is a gluten containing brand.

Mulligans on the Blue
Located on the Wailea Blue Course
across from the Kea Lani Hotel
808-874-1131

Sansei Sushi in Kihei

2009-06-01T11:59:00.003-10:00

From a previous post, separated out for ease of finding information.

Last night the Nerd and I went to Sansei sushi, in Kihei, with some friends. This was a planned outing. Sansei's waitstaff was amazing when it came to Celiac Disease. The waitress informed me that they often have people with food allergies dining there. She was able to list every item on the menu which would be safe for me to eat.

Sansei also has San-J Wheat Free Tamari, just ask for it. Most of what us non-gluten eaters can have are the very simple vegetarian rolls and the Nigiri sushi and Sashimi.

Beware. Just because it is an expensive sushi place does not mean they use only crab in their California rolls. The waitress informed that it is actually a mix of crab and imitation crab in them, so please do not eat these if they are unsafe for you. I left totally full, and completely satisfied.

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Kihei Town Center
1881 South Kihei Road #KT-116
Kihei, Hawaii 96753
808-879-0004
5:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Half price late night on Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10pm to 1am.

A Saigon Cafe in Wailuku

2009-06-01T11:59:00.001-10:00

From a previous post, separated out for ease of finding information.

A Saigon Cafe. It's known around here as "The Restaurant Without a Sign" or simply Saigon Cafe. If you like Vietnamese food, or other south Asian fare this is the place for you.

A Saigon Cafe is located Wailuku, and there are stars on the roof. Nope, I'm not kidding, there are electric light stars on the roof. It's a little tricky to get to, but if you take the first right in Wailuku, past the overpass, and then take a right onto Nani St. You'll see the restaurant to the right. Look for the stars on the roof. The parking is somewhat limited, and there is an apartment complex with reserved parking. But, it's never been a real problem to find someplace to park. Besides, if it was really difficult it'd still be worth the trouble.

The waitstaff are friendly and quite funny. I'm careful about what I order. I avoid the "special" dipping sauce that comes with the summer rolls and instead I use hot sauce.

Our favorite items are the Hot and Sour Fish Soup with Mahi-Mahi, and the Shrimp Claypot. I've never had stomach problems after dining there, and I've never felt glutened. If you're very concerned about cross contamination, you might try elsewhere, but you can always talk with your server about the menu items. Presenting a dining card might help make things clear in case of a language barrier.

When I went to the mainland last year, the first place I went after leaving the airport was Saigon Cafe. Hot, flavorful, and comfortable were a great combination for returning home. Not having to cook was also great.

A Saigon Cafe
1792 Main St Wailuku, HI 96793
(808) 243-9560
Mon-Sat 10am-9:30pm; Sun 10am-8:30pm

Meal Plan June 4-10

2009-05-31T18:27:00.000-10:00

Well, I planned out meals for Thursday through next Wednesday, but the Nerd and I went out on Friday and Saturday night.

On Friday we met up with a friend for coffee downtown, and since it was past dinner time by the time we all said goodbye I decided to treat the Nerd to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

The restaurant is Saigon Cafe. It's known around here as "The Restaurant Without a Sign." Saigon Cafe is located Wailuku, and there are stars on the roof. Nope, I'm not kidding, there are electric light stars on the roof. It's a little tricky to get to, but if you take the first right in Wailuku, past the overpass, and then take a right onto Nani St. You'll see the restaurant to the right. Look for the stars on the roof. The parking is somewhat limited, and there is an apartment complex with reserved parking. But, it's never been a real problem to find someplace to park. Besides, if it was really difficult it'd still be worth the trouble.

The waitstaff are friendly and quite funny. I'm careful about what I order. I avoid the "special" dipping sauce that comes with the summer rolls and instead I use hot sauce.

Our favorite items are the Hot and Sour Fish Soup with Mahi-Mahi, and the Shrimp Claypot. I've never had stomach problems after dining there, and I've never felt glutened. If you're very concerned about cross contamination, you might try elsewhere, but you can always talk with your server about the menu items. Presenting a dining card might help make things clear in case of a language barrier.

When I went to the mainland last year, the first place I went after leaving the airport was Saigon Cafe. Hot, flavorful, and comfortable were a great combination for returning home. Not having to cook was also great.

Last night the Nerd and I went to Sansei sushi, in Kihei, with some friends. This wa a planned outing. Sansei's waitstaff was amazing when it came to Celiac Disease. The waitress informed me that they often have people with food allergies dining there. She was able to list every item on the menu which would be safe for me to eat. The restaurant also has San-J Wheat Free Tamari, just ask for it. Most of what us non-gluten eaters can have are the very simple vegetarian rolls and the Nigiri sushi and Sashimi. Beware. Just because it is an expensive sushi place does not mean they use only crab in their California rolls. The waitress informed that it is actually a mix of crab and imitation crab in them, so please do not eat these if they are unsafe for you. I left totally full, and completely satisfied.

After sushi, we all went for a stroll on the beach before the concert. The concert was held at Mulligans on the Blue. This is an Irish restaurant, and no it's not on the water. It's actually on a golf course. From what I was told, it's the old clubhouse/restaurant for the Wailea Blue Course, from which Mulligans took part of its name.

Don't even dream of eating dinner here. Just about everything looks to be covered in gluten, and I wouldn't risk cross contamination for the world there. However, I did have some delicious vanilla ice cream and alcoholic beverages(Mojito and Sandtrap). There is no gluten free beer, and the hard cider is a gluten containing beverage.

Oh, and did I get sick? Nope. I'm doing really well. It's just hot as the dickens today.

Here's what the meal plan for the week looked like:

Thursday Dinner: Black Bean and Pumpkin Enchiladas & Salad

Friday-Wednesday:

General Tao's Tofu & Salad (from vegweb.com)
Venison Teriyaki & Salad
Caribean Chicken Stew (from Savingdinner.com)
Indian-Style Apricot Chicken (from Incredibly Easy Gluten Free Recipes)
Chili con Carne & Cornbread (from the Gluten Free Vegan)

I am also planning on baking a Lemon Chess Pie.

Oh, well, here's where you get to see my life happen LIVE. We're now going out to a friend's house to watch True Blood. This means I have no time to whip up any of the meals on the meal plan. Time to bust out pre-made freezer meals.

Seriously, make your own frozen dinners. They're healthier, cheaper, and taste a heck of a lot better than anything you could get at the grocery store.

What is somewhat okay about this, is that I can simply push the recipes further back. I will need to freeze the meats now, but they'll be fine. Don't thaw and refreeze meat. That can lead to food poisoning. The venison is already frozen, and the tofu is fine already. So, the chicken and beef will go into the freezer.

I have an inspiration for a meal to come. I got it from my dad. Sausage and Potato Soup. Not extremely original, but sounds good.

Speaking of my dad, I'm so proud of how he's cooking these days. Since he has such a fruitful garden he has been eating a lot more vegetables and is losing weight and getting healthier. He's also getting to be inventive in the kitchen. He had some patty pan squash that he filled cored, scraped, and filled with a meat and tortilla chip stuffing. He saw a similar recipe online that used cooked rice, but he was inspired to use the tortilla chips. Serving that with some chili powder spices or salsa would be pretty darn healthy, and tasty. Way to go dad!

Aloha! Dinner calls!

Market Fresh Bistro in Makawao

2009-05-28T12:12:00.002-10:00

Summer is almost right on top of us here on Maui, and I am looking forward to its bountiful supply of fresh foods. I'm sure the folks at Market Fresh Bistro are excited by this too as they use mainly locally grown ingredients in their fare.

While they do offer extremely fresh ingredients, beautifully plated food, and healthy yet generous portions they are lacking in things for us on a gluten-free diet to eat.

According to Maui Time the restaurant uses 80-90% local ingredients. I've also read about delicious offerings for vegan and vegetarian fare, as well as something for the carnivorous of us.

Most of their lunchtime options (which is when I went) were sandwiches or burgers, and their entrees included crab cakes and another dish containing gluten. Obviously the gluten containing ingredients are no gluten containing grains are grown locally

I ordered a beet salad with a side of pan seared fish (additional charge).

I wasn't excited by their limiting menu, but the food I ate was worth it. The fish was cooked superbly, and it was a large piece. The beets were of multiple varieties, and the greens were lovely. I'm not a huge fan of beets, but I can't say I didn't enjoy them a little, even though I still think they have a weird flavor. The dressing was a pesto vinaigrette. It contained parmesan cheese, but I went for it anyway. I figured that with how much dairy I'd been consuming at home, I could handle a tiny bit out. I was correct in my thinking.

The waitress didn't understand gluten, and she had trouble with me telling her that there is wheat in soy sauce. She kept thinking I was allergic to soy too, and I had to correct her on that a few times. The head chef was out that day, or else I would have asked to see if he could come up with something creative for a gluten-free diner.

I do intend to dine there again sometime, but I'll know that I am extremely limited.

The atmosphere is quite nice, and they have outdoor seating in a beautiful courtyard. The restaurant is new, and dined at the restaurant holding the space prior to Market Fresh Bistro.

We tried to go last night for dinner, but the restaurant was closed. I've read online that they serve brunch and dinner(BYOB), but we must have gone on an off night.

To make sure you don't miss out on your chance to dine there, give them a call.

Market Fresh Bistro

Ste 102A
3620 Baldwin Ave, Makawao, HI 96768
(808) 572-4877

Park in the back, or on Baldwin Ave. The restaurant is in the back of the courtyard next to Hot Island Glass and a cute little boutique.

Rachael Ray's Crockpot Indian Curry

2009-05-27T12:10:00.004-10:00

Yesterday I whipped up some of Rachael Ray's crockpot Indian curry. I first saw the recipe over at Crockpot365, and then I saw it again later on the Rahcael Ray site. I ended up following the directions from the RR site, but left my chicken breasts frozen like on CP365.

Following the directions from RR I didn't put the chicken at the bottom of the crock, but at CP365 she did. I wish I had, just so it would have absorbed more of the curry flavor.

The curry turned out pretty good, but on a scale of 1 to 5, the Nerd and I give it a 3. We weren't impressed, but we'll eat the leftovers and possibly make this meal again.

Now, I've heard that anything in the grocery store called "curry powder" is just wrong wrong wrong. However, even Rachael Ray uses it. Not everyone believes she's a great chef, but she does great food. Heck, she has a cult following. Typically when a celebrity known for doing something well puts out a talk show, it's a flop. But not Ray. She's got staying power, and way too much energy.

So, if she puts out great recipes why did we only give this one a 3?

Well, it just wasn't amazing. We've had better. It's not a flop, but it's not worth going out of your way to make. It is simple, it does taste good, and it fills up the belly.

Perhaps we're picky, and so we're not fans of the "curry powder" from the store spice racks. Maybe the Madras Curry Powder I have would make things better.

So, no worries. Eat up if you'd like to. I'll stick to my other curry recipes, and continue to hunt for other curries with "Mmm" factor.

P.S. A friend of mine gave me a new gluten-free cookbook as a graduation gift. I'll be choosing a recipe from it to make this week.

Cheap is Delicious

2009-05-27T10:02:00.000-10:00

Who says the best food in the world has to cost a first born child or a horde of virgins? Or contain gluten?

Why can't dinner cost less than $2 per person while still causing eyes rolling back into heads and noses hunting out your leftovers?

Well, not to fret my friends. Delicious cheap eats do exist. In fact, they exist in my kitchen all of the time. They aren't always so cheap as to be less than $2 per person, but they have happened. In fact, one happened last night.

After reading about lentils with burnt onions over at Cheap Healthy Good I just had to find out more. I looked up Mark Bittman's original post (which CHG links to) and read what he had to say about something so basic as burning onions.

The onions aren't black and dry, but they're right between there and caramelized. Putting them with onions, some carrots, kale, lentils, and brown rice creates a healthy and cheap well balanced meal. There's protein, whole grains and plenty of vegetables. Many other vegetables could be added to this dish to increase the nutrient power and vegetable serving count for the day. I bet a bit of shredded chicken would taste pretty darn good too.

But, last night it was just the basics. I followed the directions at CHG and substituted kale for the spinach. Kale is quite a nutrition powerhouse as it is high in potassium and vitamins A and C as well as being a good source of calcium and fiber.

There is no picture of this meal as it was eaten rather quickly. The smell of it drew us in too quickly for a snapshot. It's probably better that way anyhow as I tend to have a problem with over-stirring causing foods to break down a bit (i.e. lentil mush).

When I took leftovers to work today my boss and coworker could smell the deliciousness radiating from my container. They wanted some. Only my boss sampled the food. It made her remember why she likes lentils, and made her question why she's forgotten them. She's early on in her cooking education, and lentils were one of the first foods she really learned how to cook (other than scrambled eggs). I told her how simple this dish was and she was stunned.

All anyone needs for this dish is a little forethought. At least in cooking the brown rice. Actually, you could wait until you have an hour left to get dinner on the table and you'll be armed and ready to feed the troops.

Put 1/2 cup of brown rice to boil on the stovetop. Once it starts bubbling, turn the heat to low (about #3) and top the pot with a double layer of paper towels and a lid. I got that idea from Gluten Free Cooking School. Simmer it for 45 minutes.

While the rice is cooking rinse 1/2 cup of lentils and put them into a pot to cook with the appropriate amount of water(check the instructions on your bag, they should say it's a 1 cup to 2 1/2 cup ratio). My bag of lentils said to cook them similarly to the rice, but with no paper towels and for only 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, as they're both simmering away, dice up one and a half large onions, 3 carrots, and 1 packed cup of kale.

Coat the bottom of a pan with extra virgin olive oil (non-teflon would be best, but use what you have).

Bring this up to medium high heat (I know this goes against what I've told you before, but it'll be worth the olive oil flavor, use a high heat oil if you'd prefer to not risk it).

Add in the onions. They should sizzle. Stir frequently for about 15-20 minutes. Turn the temperature down to medium if things are progressing too quickly (meaning: beginning to burn rapidly). We want these onions to burn slowly.

Watch the onions to see that they go past the golden, caramel color. At this point add in the diced carrots. When the onions reach the blackened edges and some blackened middles stage add in the kale. Let the kale wilt down. Turn off the heat.

The rice and lentils should be done at this point. Drain any excess liquid from the lentils.

In a large bowl mix together the lentils and rice. ***Don't over stir.***

Then add in the onion, carrot and kale mixture. Once again, combine but don't over stir.

If over-stirring does occur, simply hide the meal from your guests and eat it all yourself.

If not, proudly serve up your inexpensive, nutritious, and tasty dish.

Camping

2009-05-25T15:19:00.003-10:00

I've just returned from camping up at the Nerd's family cabin. His grandmother's dad built it for his mom. It's a lovely little place without electricity or hot water. There is a gas range, but the oven doesn't work. That's a bit of a bummer because I'd love to bake a pie. However, I suspect not having the oven working is a safety thing as well. If the oven worked, someone might forget it is on when they leave, and we definitely don't want to see the consequences of that.

Having the new gas range up there is great for making delicious meals while away. Using a two burner camp stove just doesn't provide enough room or control for whipping up a hot breakfast without frustration. Trust me, I know from experience.

In case anyone is wondering, there is no refrigerator. We used a cooler and what was considered a refrigerator in the late 1920's. It's a box built onto the outside of the back of the house. It doesn't get a lot of sun, and because we're up between 4000 and 5000 ft on the mountain. It stays nice and cool.

Of course I took along the trusty cast iron skillet. It was its first time on a gas stove, and it's first time at the cabin. It performed beautifully, and I believe I have another best friend in my kitchen.

There are utensils and dishes at the cabin, but I took along my own spatulas and tongs. However, I was risking cross contamination from the flatware and the other dishes I used. But, I ended up having no problems and everything was up to par.

I did miscount the amount of my loaf of bread I'd need for the trip, so I had to remove toast from the breakfasts and serve one of the sandwiches open face. It all worked out thanks to a 5 pound bag of potatoes I brought along. No, we didn't eat 5 pounds of potatoes but we ate about 2 1/2 pounds between us.

Here's all of what we ate, and how we breezed through that many potatoes:

Friday Dinner: Imagine Foods Creamy Sweet Corn and Lemongrass Soup with Salad with Homeade Dressing and Cottage Fries(meant to be toast)

Saturday Breakfast: Kapalua Farms Eggs, Cottage Fries, and Kula Country Farms Strawberries

Saturday Lunch: Tofu, Tomato, Avocado Sandwiches

Saturday Dinner: Maui Cattle Company New York Steak, French Fries, Papa Leroy's local Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts

Sunday Breakfast: Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Gluten Free Hot Cereal with cinnamon, nutmeg, and Kula Country Farms Strawberries

Sunday Lunch: Open Face BLT Sandwiches along with a salad and leftover corn and lemongrass soup

Sunday Dinner: Chili beans, local onion, and gluten free TVP spiced up chili style on top of Gluten Free Hoecakes and Salad

Monday Breakfast: Kapalua Farms Eggs, Bacon, and fried potatoes and local onions

There was also a Chocolate Chess Pie to eat for dessert of the course of our stay. It absolutely was the best pie I've ever eaten.

The Tofu, Tomato, Avocado sandwich shocked and awed the Nerd. He wants more.

The Nerd was also amazed at how tasty the Alae sea salt is compared to standard iodized salt. He even called the iodized salt "cardboard salt." He told me about a TV show he saw on which people were taste testing different kinds of salts and were astonished to find such variations in the flavors. Looks like I might have a salt connoisseur on my hands before too long.

What's for dinner tonight? Lentils and Burnt Onions from Mark Bittman. Although, I think I'll do like someone else did over at Cheap Healthy Good and add a few extras to it. Gotta have those extra veggies whenever you can. I do know that I am out of spinach, but I've got some kale I could steal from if I want to.

While I was away I worked up a new life schedule for myself. That's what getting away to the cabin is for. It's for time to think and manifest things for your life. Time to step back, way back, and look down at the world and view how you've been fitting into it. It's a good place to question whether or not you're liking how you're fitting into things, and how things are working out for you.

I also had time to think on what my next few steps in life will be now that I've graduated.

Don't you all worry though, because this blog did get a daily slot in my schedule. I'll do my best to not neglect posting again, unless I absolutely must. I do enjoy sharing with you all. It's like having you sit at my dining table, even if you're not saying anything. Perhaps your mouths are busy savoring something delicious.

P.S. While I was at the cabin I came across a Wusthof Classic Icon 8" Hollow Ground Carving Knife. People get rid of their unwanted utensils and cookware at the cabin, so since there were so many other knives already there the Nerd thought I should go ahead and snag that little treasure. It's his family, so I accepted his word. I saw the name Wusthof, thought it felt good, and brought it home. Little did I know that it originally retails for $165!

The High Cost of Producing Local

2009-05-21T08:05:00.004-10:00

Last week I experienced sticker shock at the new price of the Kapalua Farms eggs at Pukalani Superette. Not being one who is willing to let things always just pass on by, I e-mailed the farm.

*******

Aloha,

I've been purchasing the KF PR eggs for nearly a month now, and I have
been enjoying them quite happily. I love the variation in the shell
color and size, and I love that they are laid right here on Maui by
pasture raised chickens. This is definitely a good thing for Maui and
for the world.

I've been purchasing the eggs at Pukalani Superette, and for weeks I
was buying them for $4.50 a dozen. Last week when I purchased these
eggs I had to pay $7.50 per dozen on sale (regularly $9.99). I saw
that Foodland carried the eggs for $9.99 a week or two before, and I
was glad to be getting such a great deal while supporting local
agriculture.

I was stretching my money a little to pay the $4.50 for the eggs, and
I would have paid $5.00, but paying $7.50 or $10 for eggs is
impossible to pay, especially in this economy.

In my quest to continue to purchase locally grown and produced food, I
hope that I can see the price come back down.

I do hope that there wasn't an issue with the farm to suddenly cause
the price increase. Lots of love to the chickens and your farm.

If the price increase was not caused by KF I do hope that I can find
another store that will carry these terrific eggs for a better price.

Aloha,

Amanda

*****

This morning I received a response. I am pleased with what they have to say, and I am glad to hear that the prices in the store should come down a bit, and that I can purchase eggs in larger quantities for a lower price direct from the farm as a consumer. The next time I can get over that far I will certainly stock up with a month's supply or more and do a good bit of baking and cooking so that I don't have to worry about buying eggs so often so I can bake bread or pies, etc. Don't worry, I always make my pizza crust with flaxseed, not eggs. I am not an egg freak, and I do know the cost of animal agriculture on the environment. But, if I am going to eat a lot of eggs I should eat pasture raised happy eggs. Going about procuring eggs in this way is a heck of a lot better for the world than factory farm eggs are.

Also, I do know that Kapalua Farms is a part of Maui Land and Pineapple, and that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the company. I didn't like the fact that they shut down a lot of their pineapple production and sold off a bunch of land for development. However, I see this is a way that they are trying to improve and do something good for the islands and the planet. I can only hope that they are inspired by their success with raising chickens sustainably and healthily and continue their exploration into this type of agribusiness.

******

Aloha Amanda,

Thanks for supporting local, the aloha, and for your question.
I apologize for the jump in price. Unfortunately this was an internal
error. When hens first reach laying age of ~6 months, they lay very
small eggs (almost half the size of a large egg). The price they were
sold at to the Superette was at this pullet size. Over time, the eggs
had increased in size, and our packers hadn't quite noticed, so large
eggs were being sold at the medium price - an unsustainable practice,
because our cost of production is high, and chickens eat the same amount
regardless of the egg size!

Now that this error has been corrected, we ran the model again to see if
we could lower the dozen large price, and still be cash flow positive
(which we only very modestly and recently are). We have lowered the
price, so soon (if not now) you should see the price come down a bit,
even with the in-store mark up.

The best deal in town is direct from the farm. If you ever find your
self in Napili, we sell fresh flats (2.5 dozen) for $12.50 at our office
in a honor box system between 6am - 4:30pm M-F. Because they are just
laid, they keep for a month, so most households can make a flat
disappear no problem!

I hope this helps to understand what we are up to. Unfortunately,
pasturing hens in movable cages, keeping low density, importing feed and
hand packing make this local operation many times more expensive to run
than a factory of sick birds on the mainland. The deep yolk color, firm
whites and fresh taste as least are solid indicators that if you can
find a way to swing it financially, you know you are getting a much
healthier food for you, and supporting environmental stewardship rather
than exploitation.

Mahalo for being engaged in your food choices, Tova

Tova Callender
Diversified Ag Supervisor
Kapalua Farms
Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Inc.
4900 Honoapi`ilani Hwy
Lahaina, HI 96761
tcallender@mlpmaui.com
Phone 808-665-5490
Cell 808-357-1424
Fax 808-665-3729

Food Safety in Being Gluten Free

2009-05-20T08:36:00.002-10:00

Sometimes I am glad that I can't eat certain foods. Sure, it'd be simpler to order a pizza on the phone or buy a bunch of frozen dinners, but I'm glad I can't.

I'm especially glad I can't buy frozen dinners after reading an article in the New York Times titled "Food Companies are Placing the Onus for Safety on Consumers" by Michael Moss. In this publication Moss states that food companies are passing the buck on the safety of their food products onto consumers. The companies don't know where the myriad of ingredients in their meals are coming from, and they can't insure the suppliers of the ingredients inspected the food for contamination. So now customers must be sure to follow even more complex cooking directions to protect themselves from potentially being made ill by their dinner.

Microwaving doesn't cut it anymore either, and companies are suggesting consumers use their ovens as the temperature in the oven can exceed that of their microwaves. However, I know that baking frozen dinners in a conventional oven takes just as long as it does to make a meal from scratch. Consumers are also expected to place a food thermometer into their food products to test for a correct internal temperature that should kill off any dangers lurking within the food product.

In a world where a man will call up his grocery store complaining that his frozen pizza has no toppings on it, only to flip it over and discover the missing part of his meal, I don't believe all consumers are capable of handling their own food products to these safety standards.

We all are adults and should be able to take care of ourselves, but that is a pipe dream. Some people still need babysitters in the form of corporations and government.

I can't say I never ate frozen dinners, but that was quite a few years ago now since the time in which I constantly ate them. They are a rare treat for me these days. I call them a treat because I can't always make a gluten-free lasagna, and so it's nice to have a little bit of a food I like already prepared for me. I never keep frozen meals, that weren't made by me, in the house.

I'm glad I have to make all of my own food. I'm glad I can trust what I'm doing. And, I'm glad I'm smart enough to turn a pizza over.

Shepherd's Pie Tonight

2009-05-19T18:34:00.000-10:00

A Year of CrockPotting: CrockPot Shepherd's Pie Recipe

This was pretty delicious, but I did end up with a little grease on the bottom. I used instant mashed potatoes, but I am very sure it would have been even better with homemade mashed potatoes.

I'd make this in large quantities to freeze for lunches. We'll see how the leftovers freeze tonight. I'm sure they'll be fine.

Oh, and I got to use my new cookware to make this meal.

Graduation Day

2009-05-17T10:27:00.002-10:00

Today is graduation day, and we will be dining out at Haliimaile General Store. I do hope the Nerd remembered to call them.

Perhaps I should check on that.

I read someone's post about having a good dining experience there while not being able to eat gluten. I haven't been there in a while, but I do believe I have eaten there gluten-free before. I just don't want any mishaps to mess today up.

Just so you all know, I do have some more material for the blog but I have been working on a rebuild and it is going to be an extremely beautiful and well laid out blog/site. I am also going to buy a domain name and have this address link through to it that way nobody has to change their bookmarks.

I have in the plans a review of Market Fresh Bistro in Makawao (formerly Cafe Del Sol). They use mainly local ingredients, and they have a very creative chef. It was difficult to find something on the menu to eat, but what I got was delicious and the portions were right on.

I'm also going to write about the woes of sudden cost jumps in local foods at the grocery store. I experienced that on Thursday.

I also plan to share my gardening experience as that progresses. I need to begin with a thorough clean up of the yard and a talk with the lawn maintenance man. I don't want him spraying Round Up anywhere near my garden.

Much aloha, and take good care of yourselves and the planet!

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-05-15T16:53:00.003-10:00

Thursday Dinner: Vegan Indian Curry
This went over very well. Our carnivorous friend brought a can of beef stew. It was Dinty Moore, and was gluten-free. I was happy to cook it in our cookware for him.

Friday-Wednesday (No Saturday, No Sunday):

Crockpot Shepherd's Pie
Crockpot Indian Curry
Black Bean and Pumpkin Enchiladas
Lentils with Burnt Onions (adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe)

Well, it looks like one of the above will be shifted to the following week. We're heading out to a friend's house for dinner and to talk story and watch a TV series she enjoys.

I'll have to cook a big pot of black beans for the enchiladas, but that can possibly happen next week. The lentils could also be held over. It's nice when meals can be flexible like that.

I'm currently baking chocolate chip cookies to take over to our friend's home. I still need to get cleaned up to go.

Aloha!

Tried and Tasted

2009-05-15T09:57:00.019-10:00

Konichiwa!

This month's Tried & Tasted was honoring Fat Free Vegan. I love the food over at Fat Free Vegan. Even though I am not a vegan, I do like to include a couple of vegetarian or vegan meals into my meal plan each week. I do this for the health of myself and the Nerd, and for the health and well-being of the planet.

Animals, and by-products like dairy, contribute greatly to the greenhouse gas emissions (18% of all total G.H.G.E.) I know that it is important for us to cut down on our meat and animal product consumption. In my research on eating locally, and organically, to mitigate climate change I found an NPR podcast, Eating Right Can Save the Planet, in which Mark Bittman stated that if we "eat 10 meals a week containing meat...if you eat a couple of meals less of meat, each week, you’re doing yourself, and the planet,... you’re doing all of us a favor.” That's exactly what I believe. I already eat fewer than 10 meals each week that contain meat. I couldn't tell you how many, because that varies based on the leftovers we have.

I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to see that Fat Free Vegan was the Tried & Tasted blog of the month. I thought about trying out something new, but I thought it'd be better if I stuck with something I'd made in the past. I also had some ingredients that could use some tapping into that were suited for the recipe I chose.

My Tried & Tasted recipe for the month was Double Mushroom Miso Soup with Sesame Broccoli for Two. My version of this tasty, light, and healthy meal was actually a Triple Mushroom Miso Soup.

I used Hawaii island Hamakua Mushrooms in 3 varieties:

Alii Oyster (large)

(Alii means royal in Hawaiian)

Shimeji (small white)

Kea Hon Shimeji (small brown)

I used white miso paste, and homemade vegetable stock (I only had 3 cups, so I watered it down to 6 cups and added extra miso paste for more flavor). I didn't have any tofu, so I left it out and used all of the mushrooms. I also added extra wakame because I enjoy it.

Triple Mushroom Miso Soup

Over at Fat Free Vegan it was noted that the meal wasn't completely filling, so I cooked up some brown rice to go along with the broccoli. This was a really good idea as we were full, but not stuffed and completely satisfied. Brown rice is also a healthy whole grain, especially for gluten-free eaters. It was also a good idea as I only had one small head of broccoli left from the previous week's pizza.

Sesame Broccoli with Brown Rice

Together the miso soup, broccoli, and brown rice formed a delicious flavor balance and was texturally pleasing. I would definitely serve this meal again. The Nerd's verdict was, "Mmm miso." He also liked the broccoli. The only complaint he had was that we ran out of sake too soon.

Not Enough Sake Leftovers

I recommend that anyone who likes miso soup, mushrooms, and broccoli or all Japanese inspired food try this meal. I know I'll be making it again.

Triple Mushroom Miso Soup, Sesame Broccoli, Brown Rice

Sayonara!

Links related to Tried and Tasted:

Holy Cow! announcement of T and T

How to participate in T and T at Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen

Nature is Beautiful

2009-05-12T19:53:00.005-10:00

I forgot, I wanted to show you all the lovely purple/pink bottoms on the local spinach I bought.

Tuesday Catch Up

2009-05-12T19:23:00.010-10:00

I thought I'd just post up some pictures of the meals we've had so far this week.

Crispy Sweet & Sour Tofu

Sunday:

I wasn't amazed by the flavor of the Crispy Sweet and Sour Tofu, but the cooking technique was great for me to get the feel for. It would be great for making some mock fried "chicken".

Gim-Bahp

Monday:

The Gim-Bahp needs work in my rolling technique. Okay, I just need to not fill them too much. This was really good for lunch the next day after being refrigerated. They held together much better too.

Crockpot Honey Lentil Stew

Tuesday:

Crockpot Honey Lentil Stew is one of our new comfort foods. We're also putting it into the bulk meal list we're creating.

I've also finished my final assignment for college, and I will be graduating with a 4.0 GPA. I've held all A grades the entire time I've been in school. I've been very lucky though to not have had to work full time, and I have no children. I had a lot of great support as well (family, friends, and great teachers). I'm extremely thankful for every opportunity I've had, and for every person in my life.

Maui Community College was a blessing of an educational experience. I would recommend the school to anyone, and I wish I could continue going to school. Maybe there will be some way I can in the future. I love the learning experience.

I put my name in the hat for the honor of being valedictorian, but I never heard anything back on that. Even though that isn't something that was realized for me, I am extremely proud of the grades I earned.

I look forward to my future.

Bulk Foods

2009-05-11T15:14:00.005-10:00

Lemongrass, because pictures are pretty on blogs.

I'm struggling over here at the computer. I'm trying to come up with a bunch of great bulk food recipes for the freezer. Now, I know I have some, but I want some that are relatively inexpensive but I want them to taste good. I also need them to be gluten-free.

So far, I have on my pad of paper:

Bulk Cooking

Meal #1 Chili

That's all I have. I wrote down a basic chili base from Crockpot365, and I can always play with the ingredients based on what I can get my hands on. Instead of using canned beans, I'll use dry beans. I've discovered that 3 cups of dried black beans is equal to 5 cans of beans(minus water).

**EDIT**

I now have:

Meal #2 Shepherd's Pie

What's great about shepherd's pie is that it is another one of those base dishes, where the basics are meat and veggies topped with mashed potatoes. There's even a Crockpot version over at Crockpot365.

**EDIT**

We now have all of the meals, and we have all of the bulk ingredients we could buy for them:

Meal #3: Honey Lentil Crockpot Stew from Crockpot365 and Rice

Meal#4: Fried Rice

Meal #5: Rice Casseroles (Sausage, Chicken, Beef, TVP)

Meal #6: Thai Curry and Rice

Meal #7: Indian Curry and Rice

Meal #8: Teriyaki and Rice

Needless to say, we now have a ton of rice in our cellar.

We'd like to have food for 3 months in the freezers, pantries, and cellar. We'll cycle through it all over time, and replace things as we need to, in order to keep the food in good rotation. We don't want any food to spoil of course. This means that I will need to keep quite a good inventory system, but I've found some good things online. I'll let you know if I find something that I settle on as a good food system.

The Nerd and I took a trip to Costco today, and we also picked up a friend and her mother. Our friend's car died, and her mom had just arrived on a plane. They were so pleased to have a ride, even if it took us a little bit of time to get through the store.

At Costco we looked at what bulk foods are available for stocking the house. You all know that I prefer to buy local and/or organic, but there are a lot of things that I can't get here. My motto is to do what you can with what you have, and what you have available.

We only bought what we needed there today (toilet paper, local mushrooms, etc.), but we took down a lot of notes on prices, cost per pound, cost per unit, and so on. I will put this into a spreadsheet and figure out what to purchase, and how much it is going to cost us to create a stockpile of food.

I'll post last night's, and tonight's, dinner reviews and recipes tomorrow. Although, tonight's wasn't quite picture worthy as I was trying my hand at rolling sushi with just a bamboo mat. Not an extremely pretty or lovely sight.

What all do you put into your freezer for bulk foods? What are your favorite cheap eats?

Let's chat!

Let's Catch Up

2009-05-11T08:49:00.017-10:00

Mothers Day Rhymes with Parfait

I think it's about time for us to catch up, considering it's been a few days since I've posted.

Thursday night we had our weekly dinner, and that went quite nicely. We had the Hawaiian Style Chili. It contained both local beef, and local portuguese sausage. We really have to be careful when buying sausages as they often contain some sort of gluten as a filler, and if dairy is an issue too then that's something else to watch out for in the ingredients list as well. If you're still unsure, try contacting the company. The brand I've been eating without any problems is Gouveas, but I've received no response to the e-mail I sent to the company in which I asked about whether or not their sausage contains gluten. This may be a company I need to call. As I said though, I've experienced no symptoms after eating the product, but this is something I need to get better about. I admit it. Sometimes I do take small risks, but I would never cheat purposely.

I read over at Gluten Free in Georgia and Florida that in her book "The G-Free Diet" Elisabeth Hasselback takes cheating very lightly, and in no way do I want to be associated with that kind of thinking.

Channa Masala

Friday night the Nerd and I dined at home on some delicious chickpea curry. It's based on a recipe for Channa Masala on Seriouseats.com. I couldn't find Garam Masala at Foodland or Pukalani Superette, but I do know that it is available in the bulk spices at Mana Foods. However, I think this dish is quite delicious with Madras Curry powder. This dish has a very spicy, comfort food quality that I can't get enough of. Because there is a little lemon juice, the dish also has just a hint of sourness that enhances all of the spices coating every inch of the chickpeas and that have soaked into the rice. Served alongside a nice salad, or some steamed vegetables, this is a delicious and healthy well balanced meal. I do suggest bringing a large pitcher of water to the table, you might need it.

A Delicious Hot Breakfast for Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day. My moms aren't here with me, but I was able to honor the Nerd's mother by getting up early to make a big, beautiful, and scrumptious brunch. I really only needed 2 hours to prepare everything for this breakfast. The Nerd's brother, the Hunter, and his wife CJ came over for brunch as well. CJ brought me a beautiful jade plant, and they presented his mother with a lovely bouquet.

The Hunter said that he normally needs to put ketchup on his scrambled eggs, partly because of how bland and dry they are, but he felt no need to do that with the eggs I whipped up. I made scrambled eggs that I found the recipe for through Food.com and the recipe is from Foodandwine.com. I had never made scrambled eggs over a double boiler, but I think it is now the only way I will do it. I left out the truffle oil and brioche rolls(of course).

Whisk your eggs up in a bowl with some water while bringing a pot of water up to a simmer. Once the water reachers a good simmer, place a metal bowl on top of the pot and add in a little butter or margarine. Let the butter melt and then add the whisked eggs. Drop the temperature just a bit, and use a heat resistant rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl as the eggs cook. Just before they are completely set up, add some more butter. Keep scraping and stirring. The eggs should come together in a curd like consistency. Cook the eggs to the firmness you like, and then remove the bowl from the pot and turn off the heat. Add in your seasonings at this point.

Roasted zucchini, onions, and garlic were also a delicious hit. With a little salt and pepper, they were a nice addition to a savory hot breakfast.

I followed a recipe for buttermilk biscuits from Bobsredmill.com, but they didn't turn out as they should have. I may have rolled the dough too thin, but if I hadn't then I don't believe the recipe would have yielded as many biscuits as it says it will. Despite being thin, I think they worked well with the amount of food served. We topped these biscuits with Poha jam. Pohas are berries that are also known as Cape Gooseberries, Goldenberries, and some other names. I found out from CJ that she's been eating some berries called Incan Goldenberries, and they are highly nutritious and full of antioxidants. She was excited to learn that they are also Poha berries and grow wild here on the island. The jam slightly reminds me of very sweet gold cherry tomatoes with sugar. I will happily eat some more.

It was worth a second shot!

Finally, we had a breakfast "dessert" of strawberry, blueberry, and banana yogurt parfaits. These caused some "Oo's" and "Ah's" from the family. Deliciousness was inspired by the local fruits available at the farm stand. The strawberries, bananas, and blueberries were all local. The yogurt was organic. Mary, at Kula Country Farms, let me run in and buy 2 boxes of berries on Saturday while they were closing up. Thank you for the berries Mary!

To make these tasty treats:

Hooray for Parfait!

AmandaonMaui

3-4 small bananas, sliced
1lb of strawberries, rinsed and diced
1 pint of blueberries, rinsed
Nonfat vanilla yogurt

Layer 4 slices of banana on the bottom of the glass, top with a few tablespoons of yogurt, add in a couple tablespoons of strawberries, add more yogurt, add blueberries, add more yogurt, top with more strawberries and banana slices.

In fact, here's a list of the food in this breakfast that was local:

Eggs

Zucchini

Onions

Strawberries

Blueberries

Bananas

Poha Jam

Here's what was organic:

Butter

Soy Milk

Yogurt

Sugar

If not for the biscuits, then everything would have been local or organic. That's amazing, and inspiring!

Go out to your farmers market or farm stand and get inspired too!

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-05-07T15:39:00.011-10:00

I prefer fresh squeezed orange juice in the morning.

Finally, Thursday's Meal Plan For Ya'!

I've made the meal plan, done most of the shopping, and I'm wiped. Now I'll share with you all what I'll be cooking up this week.

One of the meals this week will be made for the Tried and Tasted Blog Event happening over at Fat Free Vegan. I'm going to make one of her meals, with my own modifications. Tried and Tasted was created by Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen. I'm excited to finally participate in a blog event, especially since I love the recipes over at Fat Free Vegan. The meal I'm making from her is the Double Mushroom Miso Soup and Sesame Broccoli. Instead of using white mushrooms and buying dried shiitake mushrooms, I'm going to go pick up a bunch of locally grown mushrooms at Costco. The mushrooms come in a variety pack, and are somewhat expensive. However, they will be worth it. I don't buy mushrooms often, so I might as well go for the good local stuff.

Have I told you all yet how important it is to me to buy as much locally grown and produced food as possible? Well, it is an important part of my cooking philosophy. In fact, I just gave a presentation on eating locally and organically to help mitigate the climate crisis. If anyone would like to see the powerpoint and/or read my notes on this please feel free to e-mail me. I can also point you in the direction of some really great resources on the topic.

One great way to buy locally is to go to a farmers market. I've got an interview in front of me, from Parade Magazine, with Tom Wilsack the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and former governor of Iowa. He said that he is working to make sure "that food stamps an be used at farmers' markets." (Parade, May 3 2009).

If there aren't any farmers markets near you, look for farm stands, roadside produce stands with honor boxes, and of course check your nearby grocery stores for locally grown produce and locally raised meat products. Even buying locally processed products is a good idea because they don't have to have as much packaging or refrigeration to get to the store as do products that come from half way across the country or globe.

I also promote eating fewer meat based meals each week. Last week was a bit meat heavy for us, with a lot of chicken in our meals. So, this week we're cutting back.

I'm sure you've been wondering when I'd get off my soap box and finally show you the meal plan, and since I've set it up so nicely now:

Thursday Dinner: Local Style Chili (contains local green bell peppers, local onions, and local ground beef, local Portuguese sausage, and all organic canned beans)

This is a chili based on the chili sold at Zippy's restaurants and in the grocery stores here in Hawaii. This makes a ton, and will be good for the meat eaters who are dining here tonight. Plus, the leftovers will help restock the freezer.

Sunday Brunch: Mother's Day

Scrambled Local Eggs
Buttermilk Biscuits (gluten-free of course)
Roasted Local Zucchini with Local Onions
Local Strawberry, Local Blueberry, Local Banana and Organic Yogurt Parfaits (no granola)

Friday-Wednesday (minus Saturday as we'll be out and about)

Double Mushroom Miso Soup, Sesame Broccoli, Brown Rice
Channa Masala (didn't get eaten this week)
Crockpot Honey Lentil Soup (I'm bulking this out to refill the freezer)
Gim-Bahp Korean Sushi
Crispy Sweet and Sour Tofu

Shopping:

6--Onions*

1lb--Spinach*

4--Zucchini (yellow and green)*

16oz--Strawberries*

1 pint--Blueberries*

2 small bunches-Bananas*

1 bag--Organic Carrots

2--Green Bell Pepper*

1lb--Ground Beef

2 bags--Lentils

12oz--Tofu*

2--Portuguese Sausage*

1 carton--Pasture Raised Eggs*

2 cans--Organic Kidney Beans

2 cans--Organic Chili Beans

1 can-- Organic Garbanzo Beans

1/2 gal--Organic Milk

1 qt--Organic Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt

1 1/2 qt--Organic Ice Cream

2 bars--Chocolate

1 Toblerone (impulse buy)

Total=$89

* indicates locally grown, produced, or raised

I still need to buy the mushroom, and I'm not sure how much they'll cost. I'm also doing my Costco trip early this month and getting some tomato paste, laundry soap, and salsa. Although, I am considering making my own salsa. It will be more expensive, but it will cut back on snacking on tortilla chips.

I hope everyone has a great week!

3 Days Later

2009-05-07T09:48:00.011-10:00

Zucchini-Broccoli Pizza

I'm sorry I haven't posted for 3 days. This is my final week of school, and then I will have my Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts. Everyone keeps asking what I'll do once I am done, but I don't know. There aren't many Bachelor's Degree offerings that appeal to me at the college here. Many people have told me to go to the college's culinary school. It is something I have considered. I've even spoken with the counselor for the program. However, I need to make some money and pay back the money I used for my A.A.. I also wonder how I would work going to culinary school with my issue with gluten. I certainly couldn't taste anything containing gluten, and I worry about being around too much flour floating around in the air. I don't have any skin issues with gluten, and I don't believe I have trouble with breathing it in, but it seems like I shouldn't chance it. I'd hate to spend the money to go to school, only to be made sick by it. I believe I've discussed this in a prior post.

It came to my mind this morning because of this being my last week of school, and because of a dream I had. If you can't eat certain foods you have probably had a dream in which all of the food available is food you can't eat. That was my dream last night.

In my dream I was in an airport with my mom, and we stopped to get some food at the food court. She quickly grabbed something to eat, and I told her that I'd go see if there appeared to be anything I could eat. Well, I wasn't having much luck until I spotted a sign at an Italian place. It looked like the sign said they offered brown rice pasta, but the letters were so small I couldn't tell. I actually climbed up onto the counter to read the words, and found disappointment. The letters spelled out something different entirely. So, I went and sat back down with my mom. I watched everyone around me eating. I was so hungry, but because of an awful idea that people thneed gluten on everything to be made happy, I was made angry and depressed.

Dining out is so difficult for people with food allergies, intolerances, and Celiac Disease(which is not an allergy, it is an autoimmune disorder). I can't even call up the pizza place and order a couple of pizzas. I have to make them myself. Which isn't all that bad you know. Homemade pizza has all of the things I like on it, it's delicious, and still hot. It doesn't take long if the sauce is pre-made, or if you have a quick sauce recipe. This was our dinner last night. We ate the pizza and watched Dune.

Now, I know I promised a post on eggs, but I swear that will be here soon enough. I just felt that I had to post this particular entry this morning. All in due time my dear readers.

Unbaked Pizza

Zucchini-Broccoli Pizza

1 small gluten-free pizza crust [from scratch and pre-baked(recipe follows), or frozen]
1/4 cup pre-made pizza sauce
1 cup Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar, shredded*
1/2 a large onion, julienned**
2 medium zucchini, yellow and green***, sliced into rounds
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Using a medium sized spoon, smooth out the sauce over the crust.

Top the sauced crust with the zucchini, starting on the outside, forming a ring, and working in. It's like laying pepperoni.

Place the broccoli as evenly as possible over the pizza.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the veggies.

Bake in the preheated oven, on a baking sheet or pizza pan, until the cheese has melted and the onions are browning on the ends.

Serve with the crushed red pepper for a little spiciness.

*Note: I think goat cheese would taste delicious on this pizza.

**Note: Use less onion if you're not a big onion fan.

***Note: Feel free to use one large green zucchini. You're going to have more than enough for the pizza. Leftover zucchini is great in other dishes as well.

For the pizza I used the recipe for gluten-free pizza crust in The Gluten-Free Vegan, as well as the sauce recipe. I made up the sauce a few months ago and froze half of it.

I'm still trying to understand the copyright laws for posting recipes. I've posted a few without any problems, and I contacted the author of The Gluten-Free Vegan but received no response. Since many of you are probably looking for a good gluten-free pizza crust recipe I'll go ahead and post it in my own words, since it seems that the directions are the most protected part, and if I get a take down notice I'll remove the recipe.

Pizza Crust

adapted from The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
1/4 cup potato flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
Egg replace for 1 egg**
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup milk replacer (soy works well, but so would hemp or perhaps another)
1/8 cup grapeseed oil or canola oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Grease a pizza pan or baking sheet with a little vegetable oil.

Combine the dry ingredients, but not the egg replacer or the ingredients listed below. Whisk it together.

Mix the egg replacer together, and add to it the agave, the milk, and the oil. Whisk this well.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir it together with a rice paddle, a flat wood spatula, or a spoon.

Form into a ball. It may look crumbly, but once it is brought into a ball form it will hold. If not, add a little more milk or oil.

Set the dough ball onto the baking sheet and flatten it down by hand.

Place a piece of wax paper, or parchment, or saran wrap over the dough. Roll the dough into the desired shape(circle or rectangle). Remove the paper/parchment/wrap.

Using your fingers, push down at the edges and push against the side of the dough and form a raised crust.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crust.

Top with your favorite toppings!

Note: The author tops the pizza crust with the toppings before baking it, but I've never found the inside of the dough to be completely cooked when I follow her directions as was the case last night. I've made the recipe in 2 ovens, and haven't had success in getting the dough to be fully baked through. That is why I suggest pre-baking the crust. If you worry about the edges getting too brown, treat it like a pie and cover the edges with aluminum foil.

*If you don't have potato flour, buy some instant mashed potatoes and processes 1/3 cup of them in a blender or food processor until they reach a more flour like consistency. This is my own suggestion, not the suggestion of Susan O'Brien.

**O'Brien uses Ener-G, but I use 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal mixed 3 tablespoons of warm water.

Oh, and we used our zucchini leftovers for breakfast. Pan roasted and topped with poached eggs. Fresh made orange juice too!

Chips Tonight!

2009-05-04T18:11:00.001-10:00

Karina's Kitchen: Gluten-Free Recipes: Make Your Own Potato Chips- escape chip roulette

I only used russets, as they were what I had on hand.

Sunday Cooking Projects

2009-05-03T22:07:00.009-10:00

Kula Country Farms Strawberries

I feel like I do a lot more cooking on the weekends than during the week. Basically I just cook one more meal, but I do tend to plan the more complicated cooking for the weekend.

This morning I made Strawberry Buckwheat Pancakes. I used the Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes from The Gluten-Free Vegan as a guide, but I made my own changes to the recipe.The strawberry flavor isn't extremely strong, so if you'd like more strawberry flavor, try pureeing some strawberries and replace the apple sauce with the puree. The strawberries were locally grown. Here's the recipe, they're definitely worth making.

Strawberry Pancake Breakfast

Strawberry Buckwheat Pancakes

adapted from The Gluten-Free Vegan

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp strawberry guava syrup
1 egg or substitute for 1 egg
1 1/2 cup milk or non-dairy milk alternative
7 medium strawberries, hulled and chopped into 1/8 inch pieces

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, including the strawberries, in large bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until it is thoroughly combined and smooth.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add oil or butter to prevent sticking, if necessary. Ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and heat until bubbles form and pop. Flip the pancake over, and cook until the pancake is cooked through. The pancakes should be a nice brown color.

Serve with more strawberry guava syrup, and if you love peanut butter and jellies use peanut butter instead of butter on the pancakes.

For dinner we had Grilled Chicken Tostadas. These were pretty healthy, and very delicious. We like our Mexican food spicy, so if you don't like too much spice you should use half of the jalapeno and less of the cayenne pepper if you use either at all. The tomatoes and lettuce were locally grown. We didn't have sour cream or yogurt, so we left that out. You could replace that with avocado if you have them readily available.

Grilled Chicken Tostadas

Grilled Chicken Tostadas

AmandaonMaui

1 1/2 tsp goya adobo seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can refried beans
2 tsp chili powder
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and minced
2 cups tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
4 cups crisp lettuce, chopped
9 corn tortillas
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 grilled chicken breasts
Cilantro, minced
Green onions, sliced
Salsa
Sour cream, dairy or non, or plain yogurt (optional)

Grill 2 chicken breasts either on an indoor or outdoor grill. Chop into small pieces.

Empty the refried beans into a pan and add the adobo seasoning, red pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and jalapeno pepper. Stir well, and keep over low heat until the rest of the food is prepared.

Heat the oil over medium low heat and add one or two tortillas at a time (depending on the size of the pan) and heat until they are crispy and partially browned.

Remove the tortillas and place onto a platter with paper towels to help absorb some of the oil from the tostadas.

When everything is ready, top the tostadas with beans, lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, cilantro, green onions, salsa and sour cream/yogurt.

Coming Soon: The beauty of pasture raised, not uniform, local eggs.

Touched by the Noodley Summer Rolls

2009-05-02T22:12:00.010-10:00

Summer Rolls

For making the above summer rolls I basically followed a recipe on Vegweb.com, but I added in things that I liked and worked with what I had available. I was out of bean sprouts like I used the previous week, so I used mung bean noodles. These worked out very well. They're the clear noodles, not the thin white rice noodles. Mung bean noodles are typically called cellophane noodles.

I have quite a lot of mung bean noodles. They're very popular here on Maui. These noodles are used in many local dishes including chicken hekka and chicken long rice. I'm not a fan of either dish, and the noodles are definitely a texture that has to be gotten used to. Hiding them in summer rolls seems to be a great way to use them. They're so cheap, and I have a lot of them, so I'm glad to have found a way to use them up. The other wonderful thing about mung bean noodles is that they're gluten-free.

I served the summer rolls with Thai Kitchen Sweet Chili Sauce. The sauce is kind of expensive at $5 per bottle. As you know, whole meals can be made for $5 as is done over at $5 Dinners. But, it's worth it for the flavor. I know that it is something that I can't easily make myself, and that I'd have great difficulty in finding the ingredients here. I also know that I promote a mainly local foods diet, but sometimes you just have to have a treat.

Strawberry Chocolate Smoothie

Speaking of treats, right now I'm slurping down another strawberry chocolate smoothie. I added extra cocoa powder this time (about 1/2 tablespoon extra). I like how chocolate-y it tastes, and I enjoy the creaminess. I don't think I added the protein powder last time like the recipe suggests, but I did this time. The box of strawberries in the picture came from the farm stand. They had the strawberries on sale for 2 for $5. I know that I can get them for 2 for $4 at Pukalani Superette, but I decided to just grab them at the farm stand and let the money go directly to the ladies and gentlemen who farm them right there next to the stand. Lucky me, strawberry season is year round on Maui. Promise me you'll get some strawberries the next time you're on Maui, or if you live on Maui and you're not buying local berries it had better be because you're allergic or have an extreme dislike of them. There is no reason anyone should ever buy non-local strawberries on Maui.

Antioxidant Chili

Oh, and for dinner tonight we ate leftover chili. We had friends over past dinner time, and we didn't get to eat dinner until 8pm. So, to make things easier I just pulled some chili out of the freezer and fed the Nerd, myself, and our friend J who wasn't feeling well. Since the chili was vegan it worked out perfectly as J is a vegetarian. The chili was from The Gluten-Free Vegan and was the Antioxidant Chili. It contained carrots, onions, bell peppers, zucchini (my addition), black beans, kidney beans, and diced tomatoes. I did use canned beans and tomatoes, but it is my intention to use dried black beans for the big pot of salsa chicken and black bean soup later this week.

Well, it's getting late here in Hawaii and I've got some project to work on tomorrow. I need to finish my powerpoint for my class presentation, I need to do a little clean up, and I need to do some more work on my desk project (which I have touched in about a month the poor desk). There might also be a run over to St. Joseph's church in Makawao tomorrow. They're having their annual festival with lots of yummy food and a good thrift store. Although I can't eat most of the food, I can at least eat vicariously through the Nerd. That reminds me, I need to find a gluten-free Malasada recipe. Does anyone have one yet? How about a gluten-free Chow Fun recipe?

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-04-30T13:06:00.005-10:00

It looks like we're only having 2 other people over for dinner tonight. But, I'm going to make a big pot of chili anyway and freeze the leftovers.

Thursday Dinner:

Antioxidant Chili from The Gluten Free Vegan with some ground beef on the side for the more carnivorous guest

The rest of the week:

Summer Rolls with Hot & Sour Soup
Chicken Tostadas
Crockpot Salsa, Chicken, and Black Bean Soup
Barbeque Chicken, Corn, and Homemade Potato Chips
Pizza with Broccoli, Zucchini, and Onions with White Cheddar
Channa Masala

The Nerd had to run down to the dentist with an orthodontic issue, so when he gets back I'll go shopping. I only had 40 dollars to work with this week, so I needed to keep the costs down by shopping heavily in our own cabinets. I also wanted to shop mainly at the farm stand and/or get local vegetables.

Shopping:

Farm stand:

2 Tomatoes $2
2 Lettuce $4
Cilantro $2
Avocado $1
4 Ears of Corn $3
2 Zucchini $1 or $2
Broccoli $1

Foodland:

1 can of organic black beans $3
1 can of organic chickpeas $3
1/2 gallon organic milk $6

Pukalani Superette:

Local Eggs $5
Local Ground Beef $5
Local Green Bell Pepper $1
Organic Carrots $2

Orange Desserts

2009-04-30T08:47:00.009-10:00

Orange Cupcakes

Tuesday night was a crazy night. Somehow I missed 2 ingredients I needed for the beef curry, so I had to pull some food out of the freezer. Luckily I had cooked up some brown rice to go with the curry. Dinner turned out tasty, and very healthy, but not what was planned. We ate homemade chicken soup with brown rice and a delicious salad with homemade dressing (a basic vinaigrette).

I don't like having to pull food from the freezer because it means there is less in there for times when we really are having a food emergency, and it pulls from the lunch supply. It also means that I have to somehow make more food for the freezer out of the recipes for the week without going over budget.

Last night we finally had the curry, but I used green bell peppers in place of the red bell peppers. Since it was a Thai red curry the red bell peppers would have been tastier. Silly me also went to the grocery store yesterday and forgot the fresh basil for the dish because I didn't write it on the board. I ended up using dried. The meal still tasted delicious, but it certainly wasn't pretty enough for me to think of taking pictures of it.

I used the green bell peppers because red ones aren't in season here yet, and the ones the grocery store had are from Mexico and didn't look ripe enough. I know that green bell peppers are simply unripe red peppers, but I had just been listening to "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and so I also would have felt rather guilty buying peppers from Mexico when there were perfectly good looking green peppers from Hawaii sitting right next to them.

As you can see from the picture at the top of the post I am not a food photographer, but there was something worth taking a picture of. In fact, there will be two pictures in this post. The picture at the top is from Tuesday night. I whipped up some orange cake cupcakes from Karina's Kitchen. Silly me didn't want to wait for the cupcakes to cool, nor did I chill the frosting, so it just slid right off. It didn't even completely act like a glaze. However, the icing was so good that it didn't end up in the garbage. In fact, I ate 3 the night I baked them, bargained for half of one from the Nerd after lunch yesterday, and had one last night. When there are gluten-free baked goodies around I can't help myself. It's probably a good thing that I don't bake that often or else I might turn into a giant cupcake.

The recipe can be found here, along with a much prettier picture.

Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess: Orange Creme Cupcakes - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Last night's dessert was beautiful, delicious, and healthy. The Nerd's sister brought over 2 medium size pumpkins which I should have taken a picture of. They were allowed to sit for nearly 10 months after being picked, so the flavors really had time to develop and the pumpkin sweetened nicely. The pumpkins were supposed to become a side dish for the curry, but I decided to make a second dessert out of them. This was probably a good idea because the cupcakes were very sweet, so it was a good step up from spicy curry to super sweet cupcakes.

Pumpkin Puddin'

Pumpkin Puddin'

by AmandaonMaui

Dairy-free, Gluten-free

2 medium sized pumpkins, smaller than basketballs
1/2 cup of soy milk
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
a pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (optional)

Cut around the stem on the pumpkins and remove the top.

Cut the pumpkin into smaller, easier to handle chunks.

Scrape the seeds and stringy parts off of the pumpkin flesh. Discard, or save the seeds for roasting later.

Chop the large chunks into 1-2 inch pieces, leaving the skin on.

Put the pieces into a large stockpot and cover with water, at least one inch over the pieces.

Place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil over high heat.

Once the water reaches a full boil, lower the temperature to medium and let simmer until the pumpkin flesh is tender.

Drain the water off of the pieces by using a large colander.

Let the pumpkin pieces cool for a few minutes until they're still warm, but cool enough to handle.

Take each piece by the skin, and scrape off, or squeeze the flesh off of the skin into a blender or food processor.

Continue this process with the rest of the pumpkin. This should equal about 4 cups unpacked cooked pumpkin.

Blend the pumpkin until it starts to become a smooth consistency, and add in a little of the milk at a time, continuing to blend after each addition, until the pudding is at a consistency you like.

Add in the rest of the ingredients, and blend until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour into a large bowl and chill until dessert time.

Serve in dessert cups or wine glasses, or whatever you have available.

Top with unsweetened flaked coconut, crushed pecans, or whatever toppings you like on pumpkin-y treats.

Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess: The Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet- How to Go G-Free

2009-04-29T07:46:00.001-10:00

Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess: The Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet- How to Go G-Free

This is a great beginner's guide to going gluten-free. If you're new to the gluten-free diet, or are curious about what I can eat and post about here, then this is something you should read.

Easy Gluten-Free Ameri-Mexican

2009-04-28T08:50:00.009-10:00

Grilled Chicken Quesadillas

with

Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad

Last night I served up grilled chicken quesadillas with Tillamook vintage sharp white cheddar on corn tortillas, with a side of black bean, corn, and tomato salad. This was a quick, easy, delicious, and light dinner. The Black Bean Salad made more than enough for 2, and we'll be eating it for days, but it's good enough that I won't mind a bit!

Perhaps you've noticed my love affair with the Tillamook vintage sharp white cheddar in previous posts. I seem to use it exclusively. Well, it's aged for 2 years which means that the lactose levels are very low in comparison to other cheese (Yes, Kraft shredded "cheeses" often say they contain 0g lactose per serving, but that's not cheese to me), and the flavor is sharp just how I like it. I did consider picking up another package of the Tillamook mild cheddar cheese at Costco, but the budget didn't permit it, and I think the vintage white is able to be used on just about anything that requires cheese. I'd even put it on apple pie if I had an apple pie. That gives me an idea for another post sometime soon. Looks like a bag of apples goes on this week's shopping list.

Going without dairy for nearly 10 years, and now being able to have it again is a wonderful thing to me. I've worked so hard this past year to keep myself healing. I've stayed away from so many delicious gluten containing foods in hopes of healing up and feeling well; and then I learned that some people with a gluten intolerance, or Celiac disease, who have lactose intolerance can eat dairy again after a long enough healing period. Well, I'm one of those people.

So, why on earth after all of that hard work would I eat cheap dairy products? I only eat the good stuff now. Why buy cheap champagne to celebrate something wonderful when you know it's a special treat you won't be having all of the time? It's the same thing for me. Getting to have dairy again is so special to me, that I'm going to buy the best. And, I do treat it like a special occasion when I pull out the Tillamook.

If you have a love affair with Tillamook cheese like I do, check out the Tillamook Fan Club.

Grilled Chicken Quesadillas

with Tillamook Vintage Sharp White Cheddar

8 corn tortillas

2 cups of shredded Tillamook Vintage Sharp White Cheddar

1/2 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts

Crisco for the pan, or other high heat cooking fat

Grill the chicken breasts either on an indoor grill or on an outdoor grill. Slice into pinky finger sized pieces.

Heat the Crisco, or other fat, in a large skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat until the fat has melted and coated the bottom of the pan.

Place one tortilla into the pan and put about a golf ball sized amount of cheese in the center.

Put as much chicken as you'd like in the quesadilla on top of the cheese, fanning it out toward the edges of the tortilla. Top with about half the amount of cheese put onto the bottom tortilla to make the chicken and top tortilla stick together.

Cook until the bottom tortilla gets crispy, but not burnt, and flip the quesadilla over carefully.

Cook until the other side is crispy. Remove from the pan and repeat the process with the rest of the tortillas, chicken, and cheese until you run out of one of the ingredients (in Chemistry this would be your limiting reagent; I told you all I'd been studying too much...).

If you like your tortillas not crispy, then just cook until the cheese has melted, then flip and repeat. I like mine more like tostadas than soft quesadillas.

Serve with salsa and non-fat plain yogurt, or sour cream.

Note: I used Crisco because a friend of mine said that when she cooks Mexican food she always uses Crisco because it can stand the heat and makes the tortillas nice and crispy. She's been cooking a while longer, than me, and I respect her cooking knowledge. She was definitely right on this one. Normally I wouldn't recommend Crisco as it is a hydrogenated fat (it stays solid at room temperature) which isn't healthy for your body, but if used sparingly it can be included in your cooking.

Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad

adapted from vegweb.com

2 cans of black beans (organic preferably) drained and rinsed

2 large ears of corn (organic preferably, I used local), shucked

1 can of diced tomatoes, drained

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 green onions, green parts only, sliced

2 tablespoons dried parsley (or 4 tablespoons fresh, chopped)

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Fresh cracked pepper

Break the ears of corn in half and boil for 8-10 minutes until the corn is bright yellow and the kernels are tender. Remove any bad kernels carefully using a paring knife.

Cut the kernels off of the corn cobs using a sharp knife. Place the cob on one end, holding it in place with your fingers at the top of the cob, and the ball of your hand on the side opposite from your cutting point. Slice down the cob, starting at the top, or near the top, and cut all the way down. Turn the cob and continue this procedure. Repeat with the 3 other corn cobs.

In a large bowl combine the minced garlic, green onions, parsley, cumin, vinegar, oil, and pepper. Whisk together well.

Dump the beans, corn, and tomatoes into the bowl, and toss with 2 spoons until the beans, corn, and tomatoes are coated with the spices.

Chill in the fridge while you're making the rest of your meal.

Note: For an extra refreshing kick, add some fresh cilantro and use lime juice instead of the vinegar.

Gluten-Free Lahaina

2009-04-27T09:50:00.015-10:00

3 Penne Pastas at Penne Pasta Cafe

Last night I had an event to attend in Lahaina with some friends, so the Nerd, his sister, and I had dinner there on the west side of the island. I had been wanting to try the pasta at a restaurant I read about. Penne Pasta Cafe offers gluten-free brown rice pasta, penne shape only, for $2 extra. They also have dairy-free mozzarella cheese available for another $2 extra.

We all decided to get the brown rice pasta, but the Nerd was confused as to what chicken parmesan actually was (he was thinking chicken primavera). I asked him to ask the cashier if there was any breading on the chicken, but he got distracted and forgot. So, of course he ended up getting the brown rice pasta, but he also had breaded chicken sitting on top of it. That was a bummer, especially since he paid the extra for the brown rice pasta. He had no complaints about the food, and dug in happily. The Nerd said that everything was cooked very well, and that it was definitely worth the $11 (including pasta substitution cost). He wouldn't pay $20 for it, but he was pleased with his meal. Oh, and he said that if he hadn't known it was brown rice pasta, he would have thought the penne was high quality "regular" pasta.

He did find it funny too that they'd sell him brown rice pasta and not mention the breading on the chicken, but perhaps they thought he knew what he was doing. To avoid this, I think they should provide descriptions of their various entrees. A trip back to the restaurant is in order the next time we're over in the area, according to the Nerd.

Chicken Parmesan

(not gluten-free)

His sister ordered baby calamari in pomodoro (tomato and basil) sauce over brown rice penne. She too was happy with her meal, though she said she could have eaten a lot more. We both agreed we could have split another plate of pasta, but we're both rather gluttonous right now.

I was able to taste her dish, and the calamari wasn't tough and it had a nice smokey flavor to it. I do think it was a little too salty, but the flavors all worked well enough together. They also could have gone a little heavier on the calamari as I am a huge fan of little squid rings. The price of this dish was $12 with the substitution of the pasta.

Baby Calamari in Pomodoro Sauce

I chose to go with clams in the pomodoro sauce over brown rice pasta. The sauce was a little thinner than I would have liked it to be. The sauce on the calamari pasta seemed slightly thicker somehow. I was quite happy with the amount of chopped up clams in my sauce, but I could most certainly tell they weren't fresh. They were clumped together in places as though they were scraped out of a can (think canned tuna). I only had a tiny bit of grit from the clams, and my pasta was not over cooked or undercooked. My pasta was also $12 with the substitution.

Clams in Pomodoro Sauce

We drank water, although they do have soda, iced tea, Republic of Tea drinks, wine, beer, and some other spirits for sale.

We didn't have dessert, but they were offering bananas foster with vanilla ice cream as the special dessert while we were there.

Place Your Order Here

On one wall was a large flat panel TV showing TV Land (classic television channel). The space wasn't brightly lit, however I didn't find it uncomfortably dark either. I think the owner has the lighting just about right. My personal opinion is that some music would be better than the television.

The Dining Area

I can't speak about what they do to prevent cross contamination as I didn't get to speak to the owner, but I am feeling perfectly fine and I'm still wanting more pasta. The owner also owns Maui Tacos.

I believe the brand of pasta they're using is Tinkyada. It reminded me a lot of the penne Tinkyada pasta I make at home, but not overcooked and not wet(I need to drain my pasta better).

If you're on Maui and want gluten-free pasta you should definitely go to Penne Pasta Cafe. I think it was so worth the drive to get to dine on Italian style food at a restaurant again. I'm salivating just thinking about getting some more soon.

Penne Pasta Cafe

180 Dickenson St.

Lahaina, HI 96761

808-661-6633

Leftovers

2009-04-25T23:00:00.004-10:00

We all have to eat them sometimes. Tonight was our night. The Nerd had a long day with a photography project for a friend, and I had a long day as well. So, dinner wasn't a possibility until 8pm. We each had some leftover candy chicken and rice, and some mashed potatoes (we were craving carbohydrates). Don't worry, we did have some vegetables today. For breakfast I actually did cook breakfast. I made buckwheat pancakes like on most Saturdays.

Tomorrow evening we'll be going out for a while, so we'll be dining out. I'm hoping to go to a restaurant I've heard has gluten free pasta. I'll let you know what happens. I'm going to email them tonight.

Venison

2009-04-24T21:02:00.008-10:00

Venison, Potatoes, and Salad

The Nerd's brother, the Hunter, brought us some fresh venison a few days ago. He hunts it and butchers it himself. Deer hunting season is year round on Maui as there are too many deer destroying the mountain side.

I ended up freezing the piece because I wasn't quite sure when I would use it. But, I was able to include it in this week's meal plan . In fact, I made it tonight, and invited their Mother to join the Nerd and I.

I've learned to pan roast, and tonight I did that with the venison.

I cut the piece into 3 parts, and I seasoned it with alae salt, fresh cracked pepper, rosemary, and butter.

For sides I served up some delicious garlic mashed potatoes and a salad of romaine, bibb lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onions, and cucumber. Everything in the salad, other than the dressing, was local.

This turned out to be very delicious, and I would serve it again.

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-04-24T20:29:00.004-10:00

Fresh Carrots

I know, I know. I'm late again. It couldn't be helped though. Thursday was a very rainy day, and when I tried to go to the farm stand I found it to be closed because of the weather. So, that threw me off. I still went to the other grocery stores and got the shopping done, but then there were other things that came up.

So, here's the meal plan and shopping list for the week:

Thursday Night Dinner: Tacorritos

Red Beef Curry

Grilled Chicken Quesadillas and Black Bean with Corn Salad

Pan Roasted Venison and Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Salad

Antioxidant Chili(from the Gluten Free Vegan) and chips with guacamole

Summer Rolls and a can of Hot and Sour Soup

Freezer Meal or Pizza

Shopping:

Foodland:

1 can Rotel $3

1 lb Organic Butter $8

2 chocolate bars $5

2 cans organic kidney beans $8 (turned out to be $5)

2 cans organic black beans $8 (turned out to be $5)

Brown Cow Nonfat Plain Yogurt $6

Alden's Ice Cream $8 (read about this on Glutenfreegirlreccomends)

Farm Stand:

4 Onions $6

3 avocados $4

1 Lime $1

2 bunches carrots $4 (none available, they won't have any for another month, bummer)

Bib Lettuce $2

2 small heads romaine $3 (got 1 large for $1.25)

Local strawberry jam $5

Pukalani Superette:

5lbs Potatoes $2

1 stalk Celery $1

2 Local Green Bell Pepper $3

Jalapenos $2

28oz Local Tofu $4

Local Eggs $5

Ginger $1

Local Sprouts $1

Long's Drugs:

Local Green Onions $1

2 household items $9

Total: $100

Actual Spent: $90.1

It's good to overestimate how much you're going to spend. This leaves you room in case there turns out to be something on sale that you'd like to grab a couple extra of, and you can always roll it over into another week, or you could take the money left and put it into a savings account. What we do is put the extras toward a trip to Costco.

Next Thursday is an odd day because it falls on the 30th, the last day of the month. So, the day could be counted as April or May. The Nerd says we'll count it as April, and we'll figure it all out after my Costco shopping tomorrow.

Happy Shopping to all, and remember to use your reusable bags! Put them in your car, purse, etc. Somewhere that you will remember them. If you do this for a while you'll get so used to it, you'll feel awkward without your bags.

Wednesday and Thursday Breakfasts

2009-04-23T08:27:00.008-10:00

No Rice Fried Rice

As I posted a while ago, breakfast is a great meal and shouldn't be overlooked if it can be helped. I especially enjoy a hot breakfast, and a healthy breakfast is very important too. I've often wondered how to get more vegetables into the morning breakfast, and I've been able to do that this week. With the leftover zucchini I simply reheated it and topped it with an egg. The same type of breakfast occurred yesterday with an egg on top of kale sauteed with spinach. And, this morning it was a no rice fried rice. I wanted to make fried rice to use up more of the vegetables before I go to the farm stand today, so I thought that this was a great idea. Unfortunately I didn't have any leftover rice in the refrigerator. That's sacrilege living here in Hawaii and dining on a great deal of Asian style foods. I also think that having pre-made rice around is a good idea for those on a gluten-free diet. Some people stop getting enough grains, especially whole grains, in their diet when they go gluten free; but, if they kept a container of brown rice in the refrigerator they could warm some up in the microwave to have as a side dish or part of a main dish anytime.

So, no rice fried rice was born. Instead of using rice or noodles I used washed and drained mung beans as the base.

Thursday's Breakfast:

No Rice Fried Rice

(see above picture)

2 cups of rinsed mung beans
1 cup of of sugar snap peas, ends cut off and then cut in half
1 large carrot, diced
1 green onion, white part sliced and dark green part sliced
3 eggs, beaten
Braggs, or gluten-free soy sauce to taste
Crushed Red Pepper to taste
Medium-heat Oil (optional)

Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add a little bit of oil if needed to keep the vegetables from sticking.
Add in the diced carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Then add in the whites of the onions and cook for another 1 minute.
Toss in the snap peas and cook until they start to get slightly blackened on the edges.
Incorporate the mung beans and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
Push the vegetables to one side of the skillet and add in the eggs. Start scrambling them, and mixing them with the vegetables. Cook until the eggs are cooked through, and the eggs sticking to the vegetables are cooked completely.
Spritz in some Braggs, or pour on a little gluten-free soy sauce and sprinkle in the red pepper.
Stir well, and serve hot.

Wednesday's Breakfast:

Sauteed Kale and Spinach with Toasted Pine Nuts

Topped with a Fried Egg

Sauteed Kale and Spinach with Toasted Pine Nuts

adapted from vegweb.com

Greens and nuts:
1 bunch of kale, leafy part only, torn into bite size pieces
1 bunch of spinach (about 2 cups of leaves, compacted)
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/2 a medium onion, julienned and diced
1Tbsp Grapeseed of other medium to high heat oil

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper

Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat and add in the pine nuts. Let them cook, but watch them carefully. Do not let them burn. They should be a golden color when they are done.
In, or over, another medium pot steam the kale and spinach for 3-5 minutes (depending on level of squishiness desired). Remove from the heat.
When the pine nuts are done place the kale, spinach, and pine nuts in a medium bowl. Top with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to your desired level of coating. This is where you really get to experiment and learn your palate.
Top with a fried, or poached egg, or serve as a side for any other dish like fish, chicken, tofu, etc. It's very versatile.

Maui Tacos

2009-04-20T18:45:00.012-10:00

Tacorritos!

Hola!

There is a restaurant here in Hawaii(and apparently elsewhere across the US) called Maui Tacos, and I will share some information on them with you, but tonight I made tacos for dinner. Well, a cross between tacos and burritos.

Typically burritos are made with the big flour tortillas, but being gluten-free I don't eat the flour tortillas. I eat corn, and I actually now have a preference for corn tortillas. My dad told me that there is a taco stand down the road from his house now, and that he always gets corn tortillas. The woman working at the stand asks him every time wether he'd prefer corn or flour. He tells her corn, and every time he tells her that she looks very confused but gives him the corn tortillas anyway. I guess most white American men prefer flour, or at least in her mind they do.

To get back to my tacorritos here is the recipe adapted from $5 dollar dinners.

Vegetarian Lentil Spinach Tacorritos

1 cup brown rice, cooked (Leftover brown rice works great here to help make cooking this meal go much more quickly.)
1 cup lentils
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 teaspoon Goya Adobo powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
14 Mission corn tortillas
1 cup Tillamook white cheddar cheese, shredded
1 bunch fresh spinach
Salt and Pepper
Sour cream or substitute, and salsa

x. Preheat your oven to 250F.

1. If you haven't already cooked up your rice, do so before beginning on the rest of your meal preparation. This could take you up to an hour or more depending on how you cook your brown rice.

2. Rinse the lentils, and then put them in a pot with water coming up to about an inch or so above them. Bring this to a boil, and then simmer it for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and most of the water is absorbed. Drain off any unused water.

3. Put the lentils and brown rice into a large skillet with the diced tomatoes with green chiles.

4. Add in all of the spices, including salt and pepper, and mix well.

5. Tear up the spinach into bite sized pieces and place it into the skillet as well. Mix everything together well and let the spinach wilt for about 5 minutes. Heat all of the this through well.

6. Warm the corn tortillas in another skillet to make them more pliable. Then, add the filling to each tortilla. Add about a golf ball sized amount. Top the filling with the shredded cheese and roll the tortilla shut.

7. Repeat the above process until all of the filling is used. Place the tacorritos into a large baking dish and place the dish in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tortillas reach the crispness you desire.

8. Top with sour cream or substitute, and salsa.

Now, to discuss Maui Tacos.

For those who are gluten-free, it's a pretty good restaurant to know about when you're on Maui.

Their website states:

Gluten Free Menu:
All items on our menu are gluten free, except for the items that include a flour tortilla. Our burritos always feature a flour tortilla, but you can order a burrito bowl instead. A bowl has all the same ingredients as a burrito except for the tortilla. All other items are made with corn. Our enchilada sauce also has some flour in it, but all salsas are gluten free. All meats, beans and rice are made gluten free.

I've never been made sick by eating their food, but you should be very clear in what you want when you order. But, this is true no matter where you dine.

They do something the website calls a "burrito bowl", but don't ask for that because they won't know what you're talking about. Just ask for a burrito, no tortilla. Then it's kind of like a taco salad. This is great for when you see something delicious on the burrito menu, but can't eat it because of the tortilla.

Their tacos are what I believe is pretty authentic for tacos. Anthony Bourdain dined at a near border taco stand on his trip to Mexico on his TV show, and those tacos were meat, soft corn tortillas, salsa verde, and cilantro. At Maui tacos, you get the soft corn tortillas, meat (or not), lettuce, and you can choose your own salsa and wether or not you want other additions at their salsa bar.

They used to use potato starch made utensils, but I think the economy drove them back to cheaper plastics. I was so jazzed when I first encountered the potato starch utensils, and I was heartbroken when I saw them replaced with the standard. Sorry earth, guess everyone's feeling too broke to care.

Here's an interesting note about Maui Tacos: their owner also owns a small Italian restaurant that offers gluten-free spaghetti for an additional dollar, and soy cheese for a dollar. I haven't had the opportunity to try it, but when I do I will most certainly blog about it.

For those of you who have been searching the web for gluten-free restaurant information, I hope this post and my post about Down to Earth help you out.

Aloha!

Monday's Breakfast

2009-04-20T08:16:00.004-10:00

Eggs and Pan Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar

I'm wanting to get back into working out again, and so I thought to start the day off right I'd make the Nerd and I fruit smoothies with kale hidden in them. Well, let me tell you, that kale wasn't hiding anything. Down the drain it had to go. I made it through a 1/4 of a glass, but the Nerd only managed two sips while making "disgusted cat" faces about the salad like taste.

Breakfast instead became something quite beautiful and delicious, and pretty healthy too.

Last night for dinner I whipped up two pan and oven roasted chicken breasts with butter, rosemary, thyme and the old alae sea salt and pepper. I slightly overcooked them because I was off dealing with the zucchini, but they were still moist enough and delicious. It's a good thing though that they were a little dry, because the zucchini was not.

I pan roasted the zucchini while following a recipe in Think Like a Chef. The zucchini took quite a while because I could only do it in one layer at a time, and I was using 4 jumbo zucchinis from the farm stand. They were 3 for $1, how could I pass up that deal? So, I made a ton of pan roasted zucchini. It's very good, seriously. The flavors of the olive oil, sea salt, and pepper mix together so beautifully. They're all such simple flavors, and make simple flavors, but pairing them with the zucchini makes my mouth think it is dining on something rather expensive. I'm learning that it's all in the techniques.

So, after the major "Fail" on the smoothie front, I reheated some leftover zucchini and topped it with a fried egg and some balsamic vinegar (the good stuff, not the stuff I hide in spaghetti sauce). I think it would have been worthy of an elegant breakfast had I made poached eggs, but I didn't think about it until afterward when I saw the zucchini piled on the plate.

This was a beautiful, and very ono breakfast.

GF Pastry to be Sold at Starbucks

2009-04-19T12:05:00.003-10:00

This is exciting news. Here in Hawaii the major coffee store chain is highly addictive to much of the population, as I am sure it is to those elsewhere in the country. I don't usually go there on my own, but if a friend wants something and I go with them I will get a tea latte or something along those lines. I do drink coffee sometimes, but I have to be sure my stomach is up for drinking it. If my stomach is feeling too sensitive the coffee can make me have some serious digestive problems.

Anyway, on to the good part!

For those who do like to go to Starbucks, or for those who are drug along like me, we will soon have a treat available to nosh on. A gluten-free cake is going to become available to us gluten-free folks soon. It will be an orange cake and will be individually wrapped and sold for $2.25 (I don't know if that price applies everywhere).

As soon as I spot the snack cake at a Starbucks here in Hawaii I will let you all know so that we can head out and grab one of these. Here's hoping they don't taste like crap or have the texture and weight of rocks.

More information can be found at Forbes.com

Did I mention that their stock price rose after the announcement?

Saturday Info and Contest Info

2009-04-19T11:44:00.003-10:00

Saturday I spent the whole day out, and that meant eating every meal but breakfast out. For breakfast we had strawberry buckwheat pancakes with strawberry guava syrup made here in Hawaii. I used the recipe for blueberry buckwheat pancakes from The Gluten-Free Vegan and instead of adding blueberries, I added fresh strawberry pieces. I cut the strawberries up pretty small so they would be distributed nicely throughout the pancakes.

On top of my pancakes I also added some tsubushian(sweet red bean paste) that I had leftover from the ichigo daifuku I made on Thursday night. Oh, I didn't post about those because they were a disaster in their appearance. They tasted quite nice, but the mochi became too cold by the time I could get the strawberries semi-coated in in the tsubushian and into the mochi to be wrapped. However, everyone ate their treats happily. Thank goodness a guest brought some more strawberries and some whipped cream for dessert.

Today I am posting about a contest that is being held over at $5 dinners. You could win a fifty dollar gift card to use at Home Depot. They are promoting the spring planting season, and are giving this away for people to start their own home gardens. I wish you all, and myself, luck in winning!

Thursday Dinner and Breakfast

2009-04-17T08:59:00.008-10:00

Fresh Maui Tofu

Last night's dinner was delicious. My Red Curry Tofu was spicy and delicious. None of the vegetarians or vegans showed up, but we still enjoyed it.

I had originally purchased the steak to feed Devin and I later in the week, but another one of the guests requested a piece of the steak. So, I gave away 2/3 of the steak last night, but this morning the Nerd and I are splitting the last piece with our breakfast. More on that later.

Definitely Press Your Tofu for this Recipe

(Yes, it's under there.)

Red Curry Recipe:

4 cups of dry rice, cooked

8 Tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste

Oil (optional)

4 cans of Coconut Milk

1/2 a super sized zucchini, or 1 large zucchini

1 cup of chopped Kale

2 large red bell peppers, sliced and cut in half

1 large block of tofu, pressed

2 cups of water

Sautee the curry paste in a non-stick large pot, or in oil in a standard pot. Then add the coconut milk and stir it up until combined. Watch for chunks of the curry paste and mash them with the back of a large spoon against the side of the pot to break them up. Bring to a mild simmer.

Add in the red bell pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Then add the zucchini and kale. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Add in the tofu, and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Put all of the water into the pot, and bring back up to a simmer.

Serve this over rice. You'll have more than enough rice, which is great because you'll have some for the leftovers.

The steak I made last night was very well received, and I heard some groans of pleasure. I was paid a great compliment from my friend C who said that for top sirloin butt steak can get very tough, especially since it was a thin steak. However, mine was very juicy. I attribute that to the slow pan roasting and the basting.

To slow pan roast your next steak:

Heat a pan to medium low
Put in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan
Cut off a small piece of steak to test the heat of the pan
If the oil sputters or smokes, remove the pan from the burner and turn the heat down
Once the oil only produces a nice sizzle, then add the rest of your steaks
Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, if you steak is sticking let it stick for a moment and it will release itself when it is done browning
Add a tablespoon or two of butter to the pan along with your favorite steak seasoning
Return the steak to its first cooking side and let the teak cook for about 13 minutes for medium rare
Test the doneness of your steak by pressing on it with your finger: the more give there is, the rarer the steak, the more firmness the more well the steak is
Pay attention to the thinnest part of your steak, it will give you a good idea of how the rest of your steak is doing
Remove the steaks from the pan before they reach the done point you desire as they will continue to cook for a few minutes after being removed from the heat of the pan
Resting the steak before eating it is important because it gives the steak time to redistribute the juices for a juicier and more flavorful steak
Enjoy!

(Information adapted from Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio, a chef I greatly respect for his knowledge and skills)

Mmm a real breakfast!

Breakfast this morning was the piece of leftover steak, reheated in the cast iron skillet; pan fried and oven roasted sliced potatoes with onions, alae sea salt, pepper, and thyme; a pan fried egg with pepper; and sliced strawberries. It took a while to make. I didn't get to cooking it until 7:45am, and it was done by 9am. In that time I was able to wash up some leftover dishes from last night, and I got some towels washed in the washing machine. Now that I know more of what I like in this meal I could do this quicker, but the potatoes still take a while.

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-04-16T09:09:00.004-10:00

My breakfast this morning

Thursday Dinner:

Thai Red Curry Tofu with Mochi for dessert, for our meat eater I will be serving Pan Roasted Sirloin, corn on the cob, and a baked potato.

Friday-Wednesday (No Saturday, possibly no Friday):

Lentil Burritos from $5 Dinners
Summer rolls and Tom Kha Ga (okay, the soup is canned Thai Kitchen)
Crockpot Beef Pho from Crockpot365
Grilled Chicken Quesadillas with Black Bean and Corn Salad from Vegweb
Steak leftovers with baked potatoes and corn on the cob
Pan roasted chicken breast, a delicious vegetable from the farm stand, and brown rice

Shopping list:

Chocolate bars (2 for $5)
Organic milk $6
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce $5
Beef Stock $4 (could make this, but not this week)
Rotel $3
Local Tofu (2) $6
Garlic(2) $1
Red Bell Pepper $2
Cucumber(2) $3
Local Sprouts $2
Rice wrappers $2
Basil $2
Local stir fry beef $5
Pasture Raised Eggs $5
Local Onions(2) $3
Local Watercress $2
Local Snap Peas $1
Local Corn Cobs(4) $4
Local Carrots(2 bunches) $4
Bibb Lettuce $2
Local Romaine $2
Local Avocado $2
Local Lime $1
Local Spinach(2) $4
Local Delicious vegetable $2
Local Cherry Tomatoes $3
Local Green Onions $1
Local top sirloin steak $7

From the Onions down to the Cherry Tomatoes are all bought at the farm stand. Prices can fluctuate there, and so can supply. Carrots weren't available last week, but they looked so good when I saw them that I am excited to get my hands on them. I'll see what else I can get there, so I am going to have to get a good deal of cash from the Nerd for the food there.

My estimated total is: $90 out of available $120

With that much room available, I don't feel so scared to go shopping. That room too makes a Costco trip possible soon. I don't promote Costco for all things, but we are running out of toilet paper, and that's the best way to get that here in the islands. There is no locally produced toilet paper.

I'm going to take a peek at the local milk now that it is on sale and they are selling a half gallon now. If the expiration date is far out enough, I'll get that and save 2 dollars more.

Friday night we may be going out to eat with a friend, or she may be coming over here, or we may be going over to her house. If she comes over here I'll serve the Pho or the Pan Roasted Chicken Breast.

Okay, time for me to finish getting ready to head out to the stores. I need to shop earlier today so I can straighten up the house and prepare for dinner tonight.

Have a splendid day!

*EDIT* Exciting news! I bought a box of strawberries at the farm stand and still came in at $80.67! That's nearly $10 under my estimated total. Now I certainly have enough money for Costco!

Severe Lack in Breakfast Blogging

2009-04-16T08:27:00.004-10:00

Bananas Foster Pancakes with Genmaicha Tea

Yesterday I noticed a severe lack in breakfast blogging, especially among gluten-free and vegan blogs. Everyone always focuses their attention on supper. Supper is a terrific meal, but breakfast is as equally as amazing(and can often times be better). So, where are all of the breakfast recipes and photographs? Is breakfast just too hard to blog about, or to get people interested in? Or is it that we're all skipping out on the meal entirely?

When I watch old TV shows breakfast seems to be the biggest meal with pancakes, meats, eggs, waffles, milk, orange juice, and potato dishes; in the movie Pleasantville they mock this.

These days in movies and on TV you see people grabbing a granola bar, or a yogurt and rushing out the door. What happened to the nice hot breakfast to start the day off right?

I can't say I'm not guilty of eating a cold breakfast most of the time, but I live for those weekend breakfasts with warm pancakes and leisurely eating. Just about every Saturday I make pancakes. We usually wake up around here at 10am on the weekends, so breakfast is almost like a small brunch, with a light lunch later in the day, and then dinner.

I'd love to get into creating some delicious breakfasts, and show that they can be done quickly while still getting out of the door on time. Being a student who doesn't have to be downtown for class until noon gives me a lot of time in the morning, but the Nerd has to be in his office(he telecommutes) by 8am. Giving that I don't get out of bed until about 7:10, this doesn't give me a lot of time. I still have to get dressed, cleaned up, and in the kitchen in time to make a good breakfast. Sometimes I can take his breakfast into the office for the Nerd. But, I would like to make a really great breakfast for him to enjoy before he is thrust into corporate land and meetings.

This will definitely be an involved experiment, and I probably won't be able to do it all of the time, but I'll give it a shot.

There is one problem though: fitting more food into the budget.

Being gluten-free means that pancake batter isn't as cheap as a bag of flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and some baking powder. The gluten-free flours all tend to be quite expensive, and there's the mixing of the different kinds to get them to create something tasty that isn't flat as a well, too thin pancake, and doesn't turn into a rock. I'm so reliant on mixes or other people's recipes that I am afraid to branch out to my own brain for the correct mixture of flours, but I'll try. It will probably just start with modifying some existing mixes and playing with that. But see, here's that problem of money again. How to do this without wasting expensive flours? I'll start with slight alterations that shouldn't affect the mix greatly.

What about other breakfast dishes? Well, potatoes are cheap and you can leave them alone to do their cooking while you're off dressing yourself for work, school, etc. or while you're dressing your husband, boyfriend, etc. or while you're wrestling your children into clothes. Heck, you could even start a load of laundry while they're cooking. Potatoes like to be left alone to cook at a lower to medium temperature. If you try to cook them too fast on a high heat they'll burn and breakfast will be ruined. If cooked too low then they won't be ready by the time you're ready to leave. There is a happy middle. I'll come up with a great recipe and we'll learn that temperature and time together.

Eggs are quick, and if you are patient and use that happy middle again, they won't burn or be undercooked. There will even be time to get a kid's shoes on, or time to brush your hair and put on a little makeup, or give a quick spit shine to your shoes. You could even move the laundry to the dryer. If you're a vegan, then great, go with a tofu scramble. It's a simple quick fix too. There are more spices to throw in, but a quick crumble of tofu with your hands and some seasonings, and once the tofu is heated through you're ready to go. What makes you lucky is no fear of salmonella from improperly handled and cooked eggs.

And, if you can afford gluten-free oats then throw them into the crockpot the night before, and you've got breakfast piping hot and waiting in the morning. Throw in your favorite toppings, and mmm so ono(delicious in Hawaiian).

If you're absolutely in a rush, mix up a smoothie. They should be faster than any of the above, given a good blender you don't have to fight with(like mine). Take the standard smoothie and hide some spinach in it for extra vitamins and a serving of vegetables. You'll notice a slight difference, but not much of one.

One of our favorite hot breakfasts during the week is fried rice. This is a great way to get vegetables into breakfast(which seems quite difficult to do). It's a wonderful way to use up leftovers. Scramble two eggs in a large skillet or wok, and then move them to a plate(we do this so they don't dry out while everything else cooks). Add a little oil to the wok and toss in some vegetables(frozen mixed vegetables work quite nicely, and are much faster and easier than chopping fresh). Cook them until they're almost tender. Toss in some leftover, refrigerated rice. It should be nice and dried out.(If your rice isn't very dry, take the lid off and put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes.) Stir fry this together over medium high heat with some seasonings(I like crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper). Finally, add in some pineapple chunks and a little bit of gluten-free soy sauce(I use Braggs). Put the cooked egg back into the wok, give everything a good stir, and serve it up in bowls with extra Braggs on the side. Delicious!

Well, that's my way too long breakfast post for today. A dinner posting and the meal plan for the week are up next!

Channa Masala

2009-04-15T11:51:00.004-10:00

The Ingredients

I took a picture of the ingredients because it seemed like such a small amount of things were going to come together as dinner. And, then did. There's no rice in the shot, but I already had some rice cooked and waiting.

I didn't have any Garam Masala spice, and I had a moment yesterday when I realized I could have put some together from scratch. However, I didn't. I used the Madras curry powder you see in the shot. It's the center, and the star of the dish.

The whole meal was a spicy, delicious comfort food. It also had bits of zing to it from the cardamom pods. I cracked them open with a knife and scooped their insides out into the pan with the onions and garlic. I don't have a mortar and pestle yet, but if I had then the zing wouldn't have been in such concentrated pockets, and would have lent a great mellow "hrm what's the flavor?" to the whole dish. The cardamom pods were not part of the original recipe, but I saw them used in another channa masala recipe (whole) and so I thought I'd give it a shot in my own way. Since I hated the idea of having the whole pod in my bowl, and having to eat around it, I thought it would be a much better idea to get out the good stuff.

Unfortunately, the food smelled so good, and I was so hungry, that pictures of it were not taken. However, the image on the link below will give you an idea of what it looked like. Mine had more tomatoes (about half a can) as that seemed to be the general consensus in the comments.

So, here's a link to the recipe at seriouseats.com

For my version, as I said above:

Add two cardamom pods, opened up with a knife. Scrape out the insides and into the pan while the onions and garlic are just finishing their cooking.

Add half a can of tomatoes instead of 3tbsp. You'll be glad you did.

Leave out the jalapeno (I did because I didn't have one, but you could put it in. However, the cayenne pepper says that you don't need it, seriously.)

Use Madras curry powder instead (or garam masala, but I don't know the flavor of that in this dish).

Serve over brown rice; and, I recommend serving a salad alongside, or some other simple vegetable. There really weren't enough vegetables in this dish to make me happy, so later I had some salad while I watched Religulous with the Nerd's sister.

Spicy Beef and Broccoli

2009-04-13T19:55:00.007-10:00

Tonight we had spicy beef with broccoli. This is so much better than anything we could get at any fast food Chinese take-out. The original recipe is from glutenfreeda.com and uses shrimp and soba noodles. Here in Hawaii, 100% buckwheat soba noodles cost 8 dollars per package. So, I use rice instead.

I also used Maui Cattle Company stir fry beef. This is the only beef I will purchase for my home use, and when dining out. It is local, free range, and they are some seriously happy cows. I have been up close and I see them all of the time happily grazing in the pastures. If you're on Maui, or visiting Maui, I suggest this beef be your only choice as well. The slightly higher price is worth it because the meat is so very tender, and juicy. I've never had a bad cut of beef from this group of ranches. Even their stew beef is outrageously tender.

Along those same lines, Maui Cattle Company is now selling half lambs (25lbs). This comes out somewhere over $100, but may be worth your money if you love lamb and want to get pasture raised, happy lamb meat. You can purchase it at Pukalani Superette, but I'm not sure where else on the island right now. If you know, please post and I will update my information.

Now for the recipe, with my changes:

Spicy Beef and Broccoli

2 cups cooked brown rice
1 Tablespoon dry sherry
¾ teaspoon paprika
4 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
¼ cup gf Chinese chili sauce (Sriracha)
1 lb. beef, diced for stir fry
2 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1-½ cups broccoli florets
1 cup sugar snap peas
Vegetable oil for stir-frying

Cook Rice.

Mix together the sherry, paprika, minced garlic, and chili sauce. Add to the mixture the beef and coat well. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Stir together the water, cornstarch, sugar and salt.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add the broccoli and sugar snap peas. Stir fry until bright green, and crisp tender. Add the beef; cook until the beef is done through. Add the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce thickens. Add the rice to the pan; mix the ingredients together until a uniform mixture is formed. Serve.

Notes:

Can be served with Soba noodles instead.

Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

2009-04-13T07:46:00.001-10:00

Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

Here's a pretty good picture of last night's dinner. The Nerd says I am getting closer to the flavor and texture of the donburi he remembers having in Seattle years ago. He used to get it at a Japanese Restaurant at First and Seneca in Seattle. It's down by the Harbor Steps. They did have amazing sushi when I went there, so I'm not surprised their donburi would be tasty.

I can't remember where I found the recipe online, but I've made my own changes to it, so here it is:

Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

3 cups of dry, short-grain white rice, cooked

3 cups water

½ cup Braggs, or wheat free Tamari, or wheat free soy sauce

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 clove of smashed, minced garlic

2 organic chicken breasts, thinly sliced

3 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally

2 carrots, julienned

2 cups of mung bean sprouts

12 reconstituted shiitake mushroom caps, or 12 fresh caps

Grapeseed oil, or another high heat oil

Pickled ginger, optional

**Note** The marinade and chicken can be made up the night before, to let the flavors soak in better. See steps 2-5.

1. Cook the rice, and keep warm.

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, onion powder, and garlic. Set aside.

3. Thinly slice the chicken breasts.

4. Reserve 1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons of the sauce/marinade.

5. Place chicken breasts into marinade, and make sure all of the pieces are fully covered. Cover the container with plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.

6. Drain the mushrooms, and squeeze out as much excess water as you can.

7. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok over medium to  medium-high heat.

8. Add the julienned carrots and cook until just before they are tender. Toss in the mushrooms and sprouts next. If you need more oil because of sticking, add it .

9. Stir fry until everything is tender, but not soggy.

10. Remove the vegetables and set aside, keep them warm.

11. Now it’s time for the chicken. Do a test piece of chicken to make sure the pan isn’t too hot or too cold. If it’s too hot then there will be a lot of smoke and sticking. If the pan is too cold you won’t hear any sizzle.

12. Cook up the rest of the chicken, but do not overcrowd the pan. This isn’t stir frying either, so flip each piece of chicken individually. Chopsticks work well for this.

13. Turn off the heat, and set the cooked chicken aside. Keep it warm.

14. Pour some of the reserved marinade into the bottom of each individual serving bowl. Top with rice.

15. Top the rice with 3 mushrooms per bowl, and some of the carrots and bean sprouts.

16. Neatly place the cooked chicken over the top of the vegetables, and garnish with pickled ginger and green onions.

Meal Plan for the Week

2009-04-13T07:35:00.001-10:00

I'm terribly sorry I am late on posting this. It will usually be up by Thursday afternoon, which is my shopping day. Having a house guest for those couple of days threw me off of it, but I am back. I did have a lot of fun though, so maybe you can forgive me for having some fun in the middle of the busiest school week I've had in a long time.

I'll even post the meals we were having last week and weekend so you know what is left in my arsenal:

Wednesday Dinner (usually included in the meal plan for the previous/next week): Matzoh Ball Soup
Thursday Dinner: Vegan Indian Curry with Quinoa
Friday: Crockpot Honey Lentil Soup and a salad with basic vinaigrette
Saturday: I had leftovers from the night before, and the Nerd had some salmon Onigiri and salad leftovers because he went out to record a band
Sunday: Teriyaki Chicken Donburi
Monday: Stirfry Beef and Broccoli(need to use the beef tonight)

What's left:

Crockpot Spanish Rice Casserole and Green & Yellow Beans
Vegetarian Channa Masala & Brown Rice
Red Curry Beef & Brown Rice

Because we had Freezer Food Saturday I now have an extra meal to throw into next week's plan. That will help cut down on cost in the next meal plan. So, with that I can either save up the space for a Costco trip, or I can buy something extra at the store, or I can stock up on something that is on sale. Only time will tell.

I'm really interested in getting involved with the gluten-free menu swap, and I so need to keep on top of this and what the theme food is.

Now back to mine, and your, regularly schedule Monday.

**EDIT** It appears that the menu swap is dead. That's so sad. The last post was in September of last year.

Easter Sunday Brunch Pt.3

2009-04-12T13:24:00.002-10:00

Two eggs, over easy. Charoset, over pureed. Potato Pancakes, just right.

Bigger view.

The Nerd and I each had 2 eggs over easy, 2 potato pancakes, and some charoset. His mother had 2 eggs scrambled (not dry), 2 potato pancakes, and charoset.

The charoset was still good despite being pureed within an inch of its being. I tossed in a few broken up walnuts and some golden raisins to help with the texture. The walnuts gave it a bit of a metallic tang in my mouth, but I would eat it again. I might try it with pecans in the future, or maybe almonds. I'd add them last to help keep the crunch more pronounced.

The potato pancakes were the hit of the day. Ketchup was offered, but was not necessary. They were terrific plain. I switched the dill for fresh rosemary from the back yard, and I used grape seed oil in them and to cook them in instead of vegetable oil. I accidentally overheated the oil and it smoked and sputtered for a few seconds, but I removed the pan from the heat immediately. I am still getting comfortable with how quickly the cast iron heats up, and how well it holds heat.

Breakfast was yummy, and I was very tired right afterward, but now I have a cup of genmaicha (green tea with toasted brown rice) and all is well.

My mom just called, so I'm going to go talk to her. Hoppy Easter to you all!

Easter Sunday Brunch Pt.2

2009-04-12T11:42:00.002-10:00

The potato pancakes are in the skillet, and some are already done and waiting on a platter. I'll place them into a low temperature oven to keep them warm while I make up the eggs to order.

The charoset is finished and in the refrigerator. Unfortunately it turned into more of a baby food consistency puree. I was relying on the food processor attachment that came with my Oster 12 speed blender, and since it was stated in the recipe that I should place all of the ingredients into the container, I did. I now know that I should do things like that in batches in that food processor. It took too long for the top layer items to get sucked down to the blades, and I had to provide a lot of assistance. I don't recommend people buy this blender plus food processor attachment. I liked it when I saw it because it has a glass carafe and the metal drive system, but now I loathe this blender set. My future blender is to be the Blendtec blender, and I am hoping dearly that I love it a lot more than this one. It's ten times the price of the Oster, so it had better be worth it.

Pictures of the foods will be up as soon as they are all plated.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the Easter Bunny (the Nerd's mom) left a heart shaped container of Dove Easter Chocolates. Before I ate them I looked up wether or not they are gluten-free. According to Gluten Free Mom, Dove has a prerecorded message stating that these chocolates are gluten-free. So, I've had 2 already. Haha! Come on, I've been up since 9am, and it's nearly noon. I needed something in my stomach, and it might as well be chocolate.

Here's something I hate about coil burner electric stoves: the coils often sit unevenly, so the oil slides to one side of the pan. Ugh. What I'd do for a gas range.

Easter Sunday Brunch

2009-04-12T09:55:00.002-10:00

Today I will, hopefully, be blogging my brunch as I go. Right now I have the potatoes boiling for:

Gluten-Free Bay: Non-Gebrokts Passover Potato Pancakes with Dill

I was hoping to have brunch ready by 11am, but it's looking like it will be more like 11:30 or noon. I forgot that I have to cool the dough in the refrigerator for an hour. Whoops.

Later on I will be making:

Elana's Pantry: Charoset

and eggs, however the Nerd and his mother would like them. I'll be making over easy eggs for myself. I know a lot of people fear the over easy egg because of salmonella and because they can be difficult to make if you aren't patient. But, I've never been made sick by an over easy egg and I've been eating them my whole life. Over easy is how my dad always made me eggs, and I always ordered eggs that way at restaurants. Often times when people make scrambled eggs they undercook or overcook them, so it's difficult to get good scrambled eggs. Hard fried eggs tend to be too try for me, and quite boring. Hard fried eggs require a lot of ketchup or other sauces. I do have a love for a poached egg, but that's something I have yet to master. I'm getting pretty good at making an omelette, and I'm okay at making a frittata that doesn't fall apart when I flip it.

Last Easter I think I still ate gluten, but I had limited it quite a bit. I made eggs, bacon, and strawberry apple tartlets. Those tartlets were so good, but I just didn't have the time or money to make them this year. Apples are very expensive here, and I prefer to buy organic apples now which jacks up that price even more.

I hope this year's brunch is as delicious as last years, or better. With some great recipes and some patience, the experience will be delightful.

After I finish brunch, it'll be time for clean up and then back to more school work. I spent 8 hours yesterday on Chemistry studying, and I didn't finish. I have at least 4 hours of studying left today, and then I have to write up an integrative approach to solving the climate crisis issue.

If you don't hear back from me for a while, you'll now know why. At least my belly and soul will be quite satisfied.

I'm Back

2009-04-11T12:00:00.001-10:00

I'm back for your reading pleasure. I actually had a dream last night that one of my posts had over 300 responses, and that this blog suddenly did extremely well in the couple of days I was away. A girl can dream can't she?

I was away because I had a house guest visiting for a few days. The first meal the Nerd and I shared with her was the gluten-free matzoh ball soup(aka gluten-free kneidlach). This was a simple, yet very delicious meal. I am thinking that I'll follow the recipe for the kneidlach again for making gluten-free chicken and dumplings. That's something I've had difficulty in faking since going gluten-free. I grew up with them being made from bisquick pancake mix, and it might be possible to use a gluten-free pancake mix as a substitute, but this recipe may be a tasty and cheap alternative. It's cheap because potatoes are cheap, and so is potato starch. They're tasty because they're not as hard as rocks and they have a neutral flavor which could be jazzed up anyway I like. Our guest brought me a piece of gluten-free vegan pumpkin bread from Mana Foods. I'm glad they are baking up gluten-free goodies now, but I have yet to find out wether or not they are baking them in a gluten-free kitchen or not. So, if you're on the island and are super sensitive, I'd stay away from them unless you find out how they're made and find out they're safe for you.

The second day she and I went grocery shopping. Our first stop was at the adorable farm stand in Kula. They have the best fresh produce, and the stock rotates so I get a variety of produce based on what is in season and available. I picked up three medium sized romaine lettuce heads for 75 cents a piece. I also bought two bags of beans (green and yellow) for a dollar a piece. I picked up a cherimoya as well. If you've never had a cherimoya, please treat yourself to one the next time you see them at a grocery store or produce stand. I was hoping the cherimoya would be ripe before our guest left, but it wasn't. I was bummed. The stand also didn't have the beautiful carrots I had seen the week before, but I was able to pick up a bag of carrots for 69 cents at the superette. The carrots at the farm stand would have been $2.00, but I was willing to pay that considering their level of freshness and the fact that they still had the carrot tops (they are the best way to determine how fresh the carrots actually are: do they stand up well, are they bright green, or do they look wilted and sad?).

Thursday evening, after all of the shopping, she and I cooked up a gigantic pot of my Vegan Indian Curry. I use Patak's mild curry paste, coconut milk, canned diced tomatoes, a wide array of vegetables, and some apple juice (the secret ingredient, and I always use the organic juice that is still cloudy from the pulp). I can't give away all of the secrets to it here because it's so good. Yes, I'll be self-centered and think someone might steal the recipe and sell it and leave me in the dust. It is that good.

I will say that the vegetable that makes it the most beautiful is the Okinawan Sweet Potato. They're so beautiful and purple. They secrete a milky white substance when they are cut, and they do oxidize, so I place them in a bowl of ice cold water to help them retain that purple color until they're cooked. You've never seen beautiful mashed potatoes until you've seen these mashed (unless you have made mashed potatoes from the other varieties of blue or purple potatoes).

Last night we shared some crockpot goodness. In the morning I threw all of the ingredients into the pot so that we'd have a delicious dinner waiting for us after our day out. I made up the Honey Lentil Stew from Crockpot365. I served it over brown rice, with a salad from some leftover romaine lettuce from the week before, cherry tomatoes in red and yellow from the farm stand, carrots grated on my new box grater, and raw yellow beans. I topped it with the basic vinaigrette from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. So simple, and so delicious. For dessert we shared some fresh Kula strawberries, and I had a little bit of gluten-free, dairy-free mint chocolate by Sunspire from their line called Tropical Source. We munched on these delicious treats while we watched Kinsey.

For our picnic lunch yesterday we stopped by Down to Earth, a health food store in Kahului. While they do have an impressive hot bar, I was a little nervous to eat from it. The ingredients are listed on a name tag above the item, but cross contamination can be worrisome. However, I decided to give it a try and I had some mock chicken tofu, classic mustard potato salad, and a green salad with a multitude of toppings. I forgot to get some salad dressing, so I had to use one of the sample packets of Braggs I had in my purse. I was slightly bummed that I could no longer order any sandwiches or wraps from their deli counter, but I did eat well and I didn't get sick. I noticed that Down to Earth is now using wheat-free soy sauce in their prepared foods now, instead of sticking with the regular shoyu (soy-sauce). That pleased me, but I was still nervous. It had been a while since I'd tried to eat there. Down to Earth is an okay source of buying gluten-free products, but they shelve gluten containing products right next to the gluten-free products which irks me at all health food stores, especially in the bulk bin sections.

Here's something hilarious I discovered in the world of food and gluten-free yesterday. Our guest was drinking a probiotic beverage called Good Belly. It's supposed to be very good for the digestive system and it is dairy, soy, and wheat free. However, it is not gluten-free. It contains barley malt at the end of the list of ingredients. They seem to be forgetting a whole lot of people when they add that particular ingredient. It's made from many juices and has added probiotics, but the barley malt is a silly add-in. Their yogurt cups contain oat flour. Our guest offered me a taste, but I declined. I am glad I read ingredient lists like a fanatic these days. I wasn't so good about it when I first started.

I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight, but I'll do my best to get a photograph.

Gluten-Free Bay: Potato Kneidlach: Another Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Alternative

2009-04-08T22:42:00.002-10:00

Gluten-Free Bay: Potato Kneidlach: Another Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Alternative

I had these matzoh balls with a homemade veggie stock, and sauteed celery, onion, and carrot.

Absolutely fabulous, great for anyone who is Jewish. What I especially liked about them was that I just bought two 5 pound bags of russet potatoes, and potato starch is very cheap here in the islands. Almond meal for making matzoh balls is nearly 13 dollars here on Maui.

Make Your Own Salad Dressing

2009-04-06T18:48:00.002-10:00

The Center of the Home

Tonight I made my very first real salad dressing. I'd thrown oil and vinegar on a salad before, but that's not dressing. That's moisture. To me a dressing needs to be seen, and it needs to have plenty of flavor. It also needs to be able to be a marinade. Oil and vinegar alone aren't much of a marinade.

The Basic Vinaigrette Dressing from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom was the salad coverage this evening. It contains shallot, dijon-mustard, salt, lemon juice (fresh is always best, but you could cheat with bottled), wine vinegar (I went for a white wine vinegar, but I could have used rice wine vinegar, or maybe even red), olive oil, and fresh cracked pepper. The shallot, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar are a 1:1 ratio. I doubled the recipe so I used 1 Tablespoon of all of those, with 1/2 tsp salt, and 2/3 cup of oil. Add the oil last and whisk very well as you slowly pour the oil in. Julia Child stated that you could shake it in a jar, or whisk it together. She suggested adding the ingredients one at a time, but if you're like me (a throw it all in the bowl and let's go kind of person) you just put everything but the oil and pepper in, then do your whisking. This will keep well in the fridge for almost a week, but the lemon juice and shallot will start to go funky eventually. My doubling serves 12-16.

I marinated a leftover roast chicken breast in this(see, a marinade) and then served it on top of romaine lettuce with some julienned onion (I just learned to julienne yesterday).

Oh, and we each had a salmon-mayo onigiri because the Nerd wanted some rice, and he said "How about an onigiri with it?" So, we had surf and turf.

I'm sorry, but I forgot a picture (I took a picture of my kitchen post clean up for you). It also wasn't the prettiest presentation considering I accidentally put too much dressing on each salad. We ate 6 servings each! Yikes!

But hey, olive oil is a "good" fat.

Cooking Projects

2009-04-05T19:39:00.002-10:00

My Chicken, Peep

This would have been a lovely picture of my homemade roasted chicken, courtesy of the recipe for roasted chicken in Julia's Kitchen Wisdom, but I forgot to get a picture of it, and then we ate our dinner and I destroyed the carcass:

Destroyed!

I'm not good at carving, and I certainly don't make things pretty when I rip the meat off the bones of a chicken. I just try to get as much off of there as I possibly can. I was hoping for more meat than what I acquired from this chicken, but then again I did end up with another mouth to feed(which is alright by me as I love to feed others).

After cooking a whole roasted chicken stuffed with celery leaves, a whole sliced lemon, and half an onion, and cooking up a batch of mashed potatoes that made 8 servings, I wanted to cook more food.

I spotted my target: the leftover corn bread. It was going stale anyway, and so I sped up the process by baking it in the oven (after cutting it into 1/2 inch cubes) at 350F for 30 minutes. This did a great job of drying the bread out. The food processor attachment that came with my blender, an Oster 12 speed, did a good job at shredding these bread cubes into bread crumbs (the only other decent job its done in its life was when it made hummus).

Cornbread Cubes

I also turned the chicken carcass into a stock. I followed a recipe for stock from, once again, Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. While the chicken was cooking I took the time to cut up a bunch of carrots, onions, and celery to cook in the stock. I put them in the pot, and then I put the pot in the fridge until I was ready for it. I also made an herb bouquet from a recipe in the book. This was a delicious stock, and I used it tonight when I made soup, but more on that later.

Cornbread Crumbs

After all of this cooking, and visiting with a friend, 11pm showed up and I was exhausted from all of my day's events (including staining my desk, doing chemistry school work, etc.) and I headed to bed to gear up for another day of projects and good food.

Wok It Baby

2009-04-04T16:26:00.002-10:00

My Beautiful Wok

You don't have to spend a lot of money to have a great cooking tool. All you need to do is find a great wok. My wok actually came from Wal-Mart, but on the mainland I would have looked for a great wok in an Asian grocery store. Here in the islands we have a large Asian population, and so stores like Wal-Mart carry things you wouldn't find at other Wal-Mart stores unless you had the same cultural situation that we do here in Hawaii.

My wok was about $20, it's made of rolled steel, and it has 2 wooden handles. The smaller handle on the left makes the wok easier to pick up when it is full of liquids or when it is heavy with food. It's also great for holding on to when you get your food moving around quickly and your pan is trying to hula on your stove top. Wood is great here because it isn't going to get hot. Wood means you can't put it in the dishwasher, but you would never want to put a wok in a dishwasher.

Woks are meant to turn from their initial shiny steel color to a more golden and blackened color over time. This means the pan is properly seasoned. I freaked out when I turned the bottom of my wok black, but the Nerd who is from Hawaii told me that the blackening was correct.

For a while foods stuck a bit more, and I had to learn to play with temperature and the amount of oil I was using, but now I treat it like my cast iron and we get along nicely. Foods that have a lot of moisture to them, like tofu (like in my tofu fried rice this morning), like to stick. If you have foods that have a lot of moisture to them, keep the heat a little lower than usual. Your food will still turn out lovely.

When cooking with high heat in a wok it is important to use the right kind of cooking oil. Please use oils made for high heat cooking such as refined avocado, almond, grapeseed, safflower, sesame, sunflower, peanut, and canola oils. Check out the chart on PCC Natural Markets for more information on which oils to use for what temperatures. Heating an oil above its smoke point (the point at which the oil starts to smoke in the pan) can damage the oil and possibly create cancer-causing properties.

Woks are versatile tools. They can be used for cooking soup, stir frying, pan frying, sauteing, and a lot more. There's a great podcast by Lynne Rossetto Kasper on How To Eat Supper in which she and her co-author and producer, Sally Swift, discuss woks. They even suggest that they be the first pan given to a young person when they move out on their own. Check it out on iTunes.

Well, I think that's enough on the wok for now. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask Google, or me.

The Notebook

2009-04-02T11:21:00.001-10:00

The Notebook

Changing the Way I Do Things

2009-04-02T10:29:00.002-10:00

I've been thinking about how I can become more frugal in my cooking. How can I still get great tasting stuff without spending too much money? Now, I know there are a million and one blogs out there on the subject, but I too can jump on this bandwagon. Everyone is doing it now.

I've been doing pretty well with keeping our grocery budget at a decent level for living on an island where nearly everything has to be shipped in. Shipping costs money, and as far as I know, it's taxable at both ends of the shipping process. There have even been national news stories on how much a gallon of milk costs in Hawaii. For the Nerd I buy a half gallon of organic milk every 2 weeks, and it is 6 dollars for that half gallon. There is a Big Island dairy that is selling milk at my nearby grocery store for 8 dollars a gallon, but I need to see how long it lasts. The bf likes stuff that will last a while because he might not get around to drinking it fast enough, and then the money is wasted. The organic milk lasts for about a month because it is ultra-pasteurized, something I just learned. This means it is pasteurized twice instead of once like other milks. This may destroy some of the valuable nutrients in the milk, but it's how they can guarantee its freshness by the time it arrives in Hawaii (since it comes by boat, not plane). I have seen news articles about milk here, that is not ultra-pasteurized, going bad nearly the day after people get it home from the grocery store. That's ridiculous.

So, how can I live more frugally here? Well, that's something I'm just going to have to learn to do.

I thought I was going to do that this week when I decided to buy two 5 pound bags of potatoes for $4.50, and when I decided to buy a 5 pound whole chicken for $8 (yes, that's on sale for $1.59 per pound, non-organic, non-free range, Foster Farms). Granted I am shopping for the chicken at what is the most expensive grocery store in the state (according to multiple sources), I thought I could do even better than $100 for this week.

Nope. My total cost guess for this week's meal plan is $94.10. There is tonight's meal, which as you all know includes multiple people (only 5 this week), which adds a little more than normal, but not too bad. I'll be feeding everyone tonight for $2.60 per person. I've also got a big meal of curry for the Nerd and I this week that is $2.60 per serving. I was going to serve that tonight, but the coconut milk is too fattening and doesn't meat Weight Watcher's requirements for one of our friends, but that's totally fine.

The Nerd and I are also planning on visiting the new farm stand just up the road later today. I'd like to see what they have available. I want to start including more fresh fruits and veggies into our diets, especially as snacks. Chips and salsa is not a healthy snack to me.

Last night the Nerd and I discussed what we could do to eat healthier, and he expressed that he feels we're doing really well. We only eat beef one two times every two weeks, we don't eat pork, we don't eat a lot of processed sugars (no sodas, no store bought cookies, cakes, etc.), and we eat quite a few vegetarian meals. I just want to make sure we're doing all we can, without being deprived, to eat well.

I read so many things that tell me that I could be doing better at this than I am. I could eat more fish, more vegetables, more fruits. I see how well other people eat, and I feel like I'm not keeping up. Although, I do see how poorly some people eat and I feel like a health nut, or at least just sane.

So, I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing, maybe cut back on the eggs in the morning and go for smoothies instead. Eat yogurt and little bits of fruit for snacks. I need to get the Nerd into eating cut up veggies for snacks. He's just not into them.

He has issues with some health food because of how he grew up. His dad didn't use spices in his cooking. Okay, he used what he thought were spices. He would use beets to spice up steamed potatoes or turnips. Blech. The Nerd could never go back to eating carob because he ate it as a child and when he finally had chocolate he thought "Why am I eating this crap?" So, now he likes to eat lots of spices and lots of sweets. Spices are good, so I need to figure out how to do them more healthily and I need to wean him off too many sweet treats.

A friend of his told me "If you want him to eat something, just put it in front of him. Don't ask."

Oh, I bet you all are wondering where in the heck the meal plan is, alright, I'll stop rambling:

Thursday Night: Veggie Stuffed Red Bell Peppers from The Gluten-Free Vegan and a salad which a guest will bring.

The rest of the week:

Vegan Indian Curry (a recipe I made up , which I will post below)
Sweet and Sour Tofu (from glutenfreeda.com)
Roast Chicken with carrots & onions and mashed potatoes (from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom)
White Chicken Chili (from Seriouseats.com found through cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com)
Chicken Breast Salad (from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom)
Simple Chicken Soup with rice (from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom)

It appears to be a Julia Child week. It's good to learn the basics, and I am trying. I'll actually be making my own vinaigrette to go along with the salad.

Here's what the shopping list looks like, and my rounded up estimates of prices:

Tofu (2 packages) on sale 2 for $3
Apple Juice $4
Whole Chicken (5lbs) $8
Chopped Green Chiles (1 can) $2
Northern Beans (1 can) $3 (normally I'd buy beans dry, but I have no future plans for this type of bean)
Dijon Mustard $4
White Wine Vinegar $3
Shallot (1) $1
Bananas (2 bunches) $4
Chocolate bars (5 for the Nerd) $3
Yogurt (non-fat, plain) $5
Kitchen String (for the bird) $3
Zucchini (3) $4
Mushrooms (1 tub) $2
Red Bell Pepper (5) $10
Cauliflower (1/2) $4
Okinawan Sweet Potatoes (4) $8
Ginger $1
Potatoes (two 5lb bags) $4.50
Lettuce (1 head romaine) $3
Lemons (2) $2
Onions (5) $5
Celery (1 bunch) $1
Carrots (1 bag) $1
Eggs (local, free range) $4.69
Parsley $2

I do have onions and a little bit of celery and some carrots in my fridge, but I'd like to keep these staples around, so I'll buy more. Kitchen string is a long term investment, and I won't have to buy it often. The Nerd must have his chocolates to be very happy, and that's how I like him to be. I didn't have white wine vinegar, only red wine vinegar, and I had no Dijon Mustard, just standard yellow mustard. Bell peppers are expensive here no matter white time of year it is, because the reds always seem to be from Mexico, and the Nerd won't eat green peppers. Apple juice is just that expensive here, that's all there is to it. And, the eggs are my splurge to help save the planet, be kind to the chickens, etc.

I am working on eating more locally, and if the Nerd would eat green bell peppers I could get local ones and they'd be less expensive. Hrm, that gives me an idea. Maybe I'll serve everyone else green bell peppers and get one red one for him. That's an idea for sure.

Talking with you all is very inspiring. Perhaps I should have done this last night when I was having a meal plan mental block.

Oh, and one of the cashiers at the smaller grocery store calls me "The Notebook Girl" and always checks to see if I have it. I carry a spiral notebook with me which contains my meal plan and shopping list. She saw a girl with a notebook last week and thought she was me, but I showed up later with notebook in hand.

**EDIT** I ended up grabbing a couple of other useful things, like peanut butter, so I came in at $103.

Crockpot Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings

2009-04-02T08:28:00.002-10:00

Crockpot Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings

Yesterday I attempted to make the chicken and cornbread dumplings from $5dinners. However, I was short on some ingredients, and the white sauce recipe she links to on the page doesn't make enough for the chicken and dumplings, and so I got a little frantic. I had to throw in every frozen veggie I had, but I still came up 5oz short. Yikes. Then, when the sauce only made half of what the recipe called for (I could have foreseen this if I'd had time, but I had to get out the door and so had to do this fast) I threw in some more soy-milk into the pan with a little arrowroot starch and some scrapings of the already made sauce. I didn't have the time for it to fully reduce, but I put it in the crock-pot anyway. I slapped the lid on the pot, turned it on low, and got on with the rest of my day.

When I got home it was still cooking away, smelling pretty darn good. At about 4pm, the bf tells me that there's an event we might need to go to, so I turned the crock-pot on high. When 5pm rolled around I turned the crock-pot back to low for the rest of the hour and a half of cook time because it turned out that the bf(whom I will refer to as my nerd in future posts, just to get rid of this awful bf thing) decided there was no need for us to go, and that he'd rather stay home anyway. That's fine, I can go with that.

But the chicken soup didn't like that. The sauce separated a bit from being turned on high. *sigh* When 5:30 arrived I threw the pieces of cornbread on top of the soup as the recipe directed me to, and I wandered off for more studying.

When dinner time finally showed up I was ready for it. Serving up this concoction was rather a trial. Since the pieces of chicken were not cut into bite size pieces (I wasn't directed to do so), I had to use my spoon to break them in half. The cornbread didn't like getting shoved around and mixed about (especially since it is gluten-free) and crumbled quite a bit into the soup. Things were a bit more liquidy than I had anticipated (oh, I forgot to mention that I followed an old family trick of putting some instant mashed potatoes into the soup for thickening).

But, before I knew it, I had gobbled up every bite out of my bowl. I looked down, and it was gone. My salad had vanished too.

So, just because it wasn't pretty, was under-seasoned, was liquid-y, and had slightly separated, doesn't mean it wasn't delicious comfort food(a necessity after too much chemistry studying).

If I were going to do this again, I'd double the sauce recipe and add a lot more pepper. I'd also make sure I had enough vegetables, and I'd thaw them before adding to cut down on the melting water in the pot. I'd also cut the chicken into smaller pieces. I may thaw it too, but if I didn't I think things would be okay if I left the pot on low.

I'd say it was a good experiment in panic cooking and in learning to throw stuff together.

Thus ends the week of 20 some dollars to spend on groceries.

My budget has actually increased to 120 a week, but it's better if I don't go over 100 so that I can have money for Costco. More on that in the Thursday Meal Plan!

Late Night Baking

2009-03-31T21:59:00.003-10:00

Cornbread

from

The Gluten-Free Vegan:

150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipes

This is really some of the best cornbread I've ever had, and I wish that I could post the recipe. I'll do my best to get in touch with the author to see if I can post the recipe here or not. It's absolutely delicious, and worth the 40 minutes to bake it. It's about twenty minutes to prepare it, if you do your preparation as slow as I do, and 20 minutes to bake it.

This cornbread is not your old fashioned dry cornbread. It's sweet(agave sweetened), it's moist, soft (sorghum and brown rice flours), and absolutely not complicated.

I will tell you that you can make this recipe gluten-free, vegan, bean-free, and soy free. I don't know about substituting other flours for the brown rice to make it rice-free, but you could give something like buckwheat(not a wheat, and contains no gluten) a shot from what I've read.

For the cornmeal I like to use Bob's Red Mill cornmeal, but it's a little coarse and expensive. So, I end up getting Quaker cornmeal (if you're extremely sensitive to gluten and are unsure about this product please call or e-mail them, I'll do the same and get back to this as soon as I can, but I've never had any issue). The Quaker cornmeal is a finer grind and so I end up with fewer hard pieces of corn in my teeth. It is not whole grain though, and that's why I like the Bob's Red Mill better. Whole grains are healthier than the stripped and enriched grains. They've also been linked to weight loss.

I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who can't eat gluten or dairy. It's full of wonderful recipes from baked goods (like cornbread, scones, and biscuits, and various quick breads) to pizza crusts (it's terrific, especially if you do like I do and use ground flaxseed for the egg replacer, always good to add a little extra fiber), an amazingly simple yet delicious pizza sauce, puddings, pies, healthy salads of all kinds, vegetable dishes galore, and "dive face first into your bowl" soups, plus a lot more.

I'm not getting paid to say this. I wish I were. I'm a broke college student.

Seriously good cornbread worth posting about while your face mask cracks on your face.

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

2009-03-31T20:26:00.002-10:00

Tonight, as a break from my chemistry studies, I am reading Julia's Kitchen Wisdom by Julia Child. So far it seems like it would be a very useful book for me to keep around. It gives the basics for how to start a soup, how to make a stock, mayonnaise, dressings, how to roast meats, etc. I haven't made it past the dressings yet. These are all of the things I need to memorize. The basics are so important, yet I don't know them. That's the problem with following recipes all of the time. I've come to rely on someone else to tell me what to do, when it's time to do it, etc. That's not right for me in the kitchen, especially if I want to make it out of my own kitchen some day.

I'm not sure yet if I want to pursue a culinary career, but it's an option. All things are possible.

I have so much to learn. I don't even know how to properly handle leeks. I just rinse the outside and chop up the white parts into small pieces. They've never looked dirty to me, but everything I've read states that I need to cut them a certain way to rinse the dirt out from between the layers.

I don't really know how to dice versus chop, or julienne, or chiffonade. I want to go take classes to learn these things. I know that in culinary school they'd teach me the basics, but for now I need to learn what I can at home. Culinary school is a possibility, but not until next spring. I need to be 24 years old before I can start getting grants for school, and no I don't want loans hanging over my head for the rest of my life. I already owe the bf money for my education.

I do worry that if I start working and get stuck in a job that I'll end up being 40 or more before I start thinking about culinary school again. That is just so sad a thought.

I am scared of culinary school. I'm scared of commercial kitchens. I'm scared of the way things operate, the stress, the frustration, the high energy. I like to cook slowly. I do wish I could chop an onion or carrot faster, but it feels like a great labor of love to do things slowly. I also get to listen to audio books or The Splendid Table while I am preparing the mise en place.

I love trying out new and exotic recipes, but only recently have I started making my own stock, and just last week I made my first beef stew from what I had lying around (I had to look up how to do that!).

I suppose I am being too hard on myself for not knowing these things. I've been having to study everything else for the last 3 years, and I only started to really enjoy cooking a year and a half ago.

Given time, energy, and some brain power I think I could do pretty well with cooking. My family is always telling me that they'd love to see me go to culinary school and/or start cooking professionally. They say that chefs make good money, and that I have the passion.

I may have the passion, but the basics and a lack of fear are what I'm missing.

Maybe writing here to you all will help me get them.

Cowboy Beans and Rice

2009-03-31T18:54:00.002-10:00

Tonight I made the Cowboy Beans and Rice from $5 Dinners.

I accidentally added the corn and salsa to the dish, instead of making them into a side dish. The ingredients list included them, and being in a rushed mood I put everything into the pot. It wasn't until I got to a later step in the directions that I found my error. Oops.

The beans and rice turned into more of a goulash, which is fine by me. I think it was probably better that way. The beans and rice would have been extra bland on their own. I did find the overall dish pretty tasteless, and I put in 2 jalapeno peppers instead of the canned green chiles. I also used TVP instead of meat. The rice took longer, and a lot more water, to cook than the recipe stated it would. I blame the TVP for this issue.

However, I think the dish is a reasonably good one if you're money is stretched a little tight. I do have leftovers of it in the freezer, but it probably won't be the first thing I reach for from the freezer until I get some hot sauce.

I didn't get any photos, but I wouldn't say it was worth pulling out the iPhone for a snap shot anyway. It certainly wasn't as pretty as much enchiladas. I'm thinking I need to get another shot of them for posterity.

Vegetarian Black Bean and Pumpkin Enchiladas in Tomato Based Sauce

2009-03-30T19:03:00.005-10:00

Vegetarian Black Bean and Pumpkin Enchiladas in Tomato Based Sauce

AmandaonMaui

7 corn tortillas

1 Tbsp Olive oil for sauteing

1/2 onion, chopped (keep a little for garnish)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (keep a little for garnish)

2 cans black beans (or equivalent pre-cooked dried black beans) drained and rinsed

1/4 cup of water

1/2 can of pumpkin puree

1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese (or whatever cheddar/Mexican shred blend, or cut some cheese off a block)

Enchilada sauce from lampuntomyfeetandalightuntomypath.blogspot.com

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Make the enchilada sauce. Make sure it's nice and smooth. Don't over reduce it either, because you're going to want quite a bit.

2. In a large saute pan add 1Tbsp olive oil and almost all of the onion and jalapeno peppers. Saute for a minute until the onions just barely start to turn translucent. Add in half of the black beans, and add a little bit of the water. Use the back of a large spoon, or a potato masher, to mash out the black beans until they start to look like chunky refried beans, keep adding water as needed to get the right consistency. This should take about 4-5 minutes.

3. Add in the rest of the black beans. Cook, stirring occasionally for another 2 minutes.

4. Into the beans mix the canned pumpkin, making sure there is even distribution of the ingredients. Continue cooking until everything is warmed through, about 3 minutes.

5. Pour into the bean and pumpkin mixture 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce. Stir it all together and keep it warm.

6. In a large casserole (9x13) pour in just enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Spread it around.

7. Place a corn tortilla into the casserole and top it with some of the bean mixture. Roll the tortilla up and flip it fold side down. Repeat this step until all of your tortillas or mixture, or baking space, is used (whatever your limiting reagent may be depending on how much filling you use up per enchilada, etc.).

8. Cover your rolled tortillas with the rest of the enchilada sauce. Pour it over as evenly as you can.

9. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top of the enchiladas.

10. Garnish the enchiladas with the leftover onion and jalapeno peppers.

11. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, or the cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

12. Eat and say OMG, these are so good.

I am sitting next to a casserole dish with foil over the top, and I've eaten an enchilada and salad, and I am full, but I'm about to rip into that dish if I don't move it to the refrigerator right this second!

P.S. This dish could easily be made vegan if you switch to a vegan sugar in the sauce and use vegan cheese.

Oh, and it's totally gluten-free!

Eating Healthier

2009-03-30T15:59:00.001-10:00

I'm trying to eat healthier and make my portions more reasonable. I'm from the south of the United States where portions are traditionally very large, and buffets are everywhere.

Having lived away from the southern US for a while now, I can't fork it down quite like I used to, but I can still out eat most everyone I know.

I was doing pretty well a while back, but I've fallen back into too much snacking and too large of portions (according to my mind).

I'm not in need of losing weight. Heck, I've not seen my belly this flat in years. However, I am trying to keep myself from developing unhealthy habits later in life. As I said in a previous post, I don't want to develop a multitude of health problems caused by a poor diet.

So, I am going to be working on that while I blog.

I did pretty well this morning. I had a smaller serving of Bob's Red Mill's Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal with one Kapalua Farms egg (cooked in cast iron without added fats) seasoned with crushed red pepper flakes (Did you know they're quite good for you? If eaten in the morning, according to YOU: On a Diet, they will help decrease your appetite, thus reducing your caloric intake.)

Later I had some Cultured Soy Yogurt by Nancy's, with some organic blueberries from Costco (I thawed them out last night).

For lunch I had some not so healthy Candy Chicken leftovers (see my previous post for the recipe).

I just finished my afternoon snack which wasn't terrifically healthy to me (but the bf thought it was fine) of organic tortilla chips and some organic salsa. I also munched on some leftover salmon- vegan light canola mayo salad with Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins.

So much for portion control on the afternoon snack. I knew the chips and salsa weren't satisfying enough, and when I spotted the teeny bit of leftover salmon salad I couldn't resist.

Dinner tonight is the Enchiladas. I am thinking of putting some organic canned pumpkin in them for extra vitamins (and because I'm out of spinach, oops).

I'll try to get up a picture when they're fresh out of the oven. I need to go make the enchilada sauce now.

Great Grandma Dot's Potato Salad Recipe

2009-03-30T15:31:00.001-10:00

This is the actual potato salad recipe written by my great-grandmother. Her name was Dorothy, but everyone called her Dot. She was a bit crazy, but we loved her. I remember when she would give me little juices in plastic barrels, and she would make me do the "seek and find" (finding the differences) game in the newspaper. We all thought she would outlive us all just to spite us.

So here it is, Great Grandma Dot's Potato Salad:

Xanthan Gum

2009-03-29T11:46:00.001-10:00

I'm currently listening to the audio book version of "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. As I was half listening (because I was involved in another activity), I heard her mention that xanthan gum is made from corn.

I had thought it was made from a bacteria, and so it was a lab thing.

However, it turns out that it is made from corn, and that it gets its name from a bacteria. It's all rather confusing.

Since this is a common ingredient in gluten-free baking, and in salad dressings, I think I will have to do some more research.

Perhaps I should switch to guar gum; it's cheaper anyway.

**EDIT**

I have been informed that Xanthan Gum is indeed a bacteria, but it is grown on a corn substrate (molecule upon which an enzyme reacts). Thank you Just Jenn.

Maui Onion and Tillamook White Cheddar Pizza

2009-03-27T19:23:00.002-10:00

No pictures folks, so sorry about that. But this was my first real cheese pizza in a very long time. Because of the high quality of the cheese it was amazing. This pizza was definitely worth the wait. I know that I can buy the more expensive cheeses now because I can't eat as much of it, and I'd prefer that over eating Kraft any day. I know Kraft has its uses, but I'm so over it.

Some of you foodies out there probably think that Tillamook is now on the level for you that Kraft used to be, but it's really good cheese for a great price. I'd never had white cheddar before this month, and I enjoy the heck out of it. I don't know if I can go back to yellow cheese. Okay, yes I can, but I am forever changed.

I made tonight's pizza by following the pizza crust and pizza sauce recipes from "The Gluten-Free Vegan." Instead of using Ener-G egg replacer I used flax seed, which adds some fiber to the pizza, and it still cuts back on the unnecessary calories and cholesterol in eggs.

Neither the bf nor I have to watch our cholesterol, and I want to keep it that way. My parents deal with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (my mom). I don't want to reach a point where every time I go to the doctor I get lectured about how unhealthy I am and how I should be doing so many different things to get myself back in shape. I send them lots of information about foods they can eat to help with these issues, and they even eat oatmeal nearly every morning with ground flaxseed now (I got some when I was visiting and left it with them to use, their doctor was happy about that).

Dairy is high in fat, calories, cholesterol, etc. but it's a treat around here, not an every day or every meal occurrence. I still drink my soymilk, and the bf eats Yoplait+ yogurt with fiber in the morning and the occasional white Russian with organic milk, although I'm considering switching to local if it will last long enough.

Here's a tangent for you. I was watching a spot with the local milk producer on the news, and I read an article by Michael Pollan(author of "The Omnivores Dilemma"), and I learned that the organic milk is ultra-pasteurized to make it last longer and that the process ends up killing off a lot of the good bacteria and vitamins. Not cool.

Well, that was quite the Sagittarius segway(since when is that not an actual word?).

Pizza. Good. Try white cheddar and onion on your next pizza. You'll love it too.

Oh, and I had to follow it up with a little pineapple gelato from Ono Gelato.

Cheap Healthy Good: 1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo

2009-03-25T16:19:00.003-10:00

Cheap Healthy Good: 1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo

This is a great idea, and I may just have to give it a shot in a week or so.

Week One

2009-03-25T12:56:00.001-10:00

Alright, so here I am trying to come up with a meal plan for the coming week. My week begins on Thursday and ends on Wednesday. Some weeks I don't have 7 dinners to plan for because I know I am going to be going out somewhere and eating away from home. This is about once a month, but it could happen more than that.

My weekly budget is $100 for two adults. For some of you that may seem like a lot, but here in Hawaii it really is not that much. I have a friend who told me that even before she had her child (nearly 10 years ago) she and her husband had a grocery budget of more than $150. So, if that is the case, and food prices have gone way up since then, I'm doing working with a pretty good budget(in the frugal sense) for two people.

This week, because of a big trip to the local health food store on Monday, I am working with 27 dollars. Because of this, I will be doing a lot of cabinet shopping and serious planning to get things to work out.

My bf and I have begun a tradition of hosting a community(friends) dinner on Thursdays. The number of people who attend varies. This week it seems that we could have at most 10 guests. (I'm wishing now I hadn't spent that extra 20 dollars on things that weren't on my list on Monday.) However, I can do this. It's a good challenge for me(it makes me think I'd do alright on Top Chef if I can make it out alive this week).

With those Thursday dinners I also have to work with a variety of diets. Two people are on Weight Watchers (one of them hates chicken), one person is a vegetarian, one person is a serious meat and starch type, and I don't eat much dairy (just starting to eat a little well aged cheese and yogurt) and I don't eat any gluten.

So, this means that I have to prepare 2 dinners. One needs to encompass the W.W. sans chicken, m&p, and GF Lactose-Free. The other is the vegetarian dish.

For the vegetarian dish this week I have asked this friend to bring a big salad, and I will provide some yummy marinated and grilled tofu for her to place on it.

For the other meal, well, I'm still working on that. So far I have one option: Mexican Potato Casserole which is about 6 points on Weight Watchers. However, it meets all of the requirements for the omnivores.

I'll let you know the outcome of that search as soon as I know it.

In addition to planning this large feast, I also have to plan out for next week. Now, as I said $100 isn't a lot in Hawaii, and $27 certainly isn't a lot either (and most of that will be going toward the community dinner).

Well, shopping out of my cabinets has begun, and I just found a great recipe on 5 Dollar Dinners for this week. I'll keep scouring their site, and Crockpot365 as well as Google and my brain for some great dinner ideas straight from my own pantry.

So, stick with me. Perhaps we'll both learn something.

***EDIT***

So, I have decided to do a Beef Teriyaki recipe that I have. I got it from a local woman. This is seriously good stuff. My bf says it's at the top of the crack list, and that it's actually the best teriyaki he's had in his life (and that's growing up on Maui). It's kind of a secret recipe, and I'm a little hesitant to put it out there on the web for everyone, so if you really want it, please comment and I will e-mail it to you under the strictest confidence. *haha*

I was afraid that the points value on this meal would be far too high, but as long as the ladies portion themselves to 4 ounces of beef and 1/2 cup of rice then they should be coming in at 5 points maximum. They can also add some salad on the side.

For my vegetarian friend I will do the same teriyaki marinade, but I'll put the tofu in it and then grill it on my little George Foreman. She is bringing the salad, so of course she can have some of that.

And the rest of us will eat the beef teriyaki without worry, and we too can have salad.

Hrm, I should probably make sure my friend is bringing enough salad for 9 people (the m&p person won't touch the stuff).

Oh, and here's this week's meal plan:

Cowboy Beans and Rice
Black bean, pumpkin* enchiladas (the sauce is from a link through on 5dollardinners.com)
Crockpot Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings
Gluten-Free White Cheddar and Onion Pizza (idea from kaitlininthekitchen)
Crockpot Candy Chicken and Brown Rice with vegetable from the freezer
Salmon Onigiri and Miso Soup (my idea) with edamame from the freezer

*Here's hoping the pumpkin goes okay with the tomato based enchiladas sauce

So, the things I have to shop for then are:

3 pounds of teriyaki cut Maui Cattle Company beef (approx. $10)
1 small bottle of Tropicana orange juice (approx. $3)
Scallions (approx. $1)
Kapalua Farm Eggs (approx. $4.50 for local free range eggs)
Maui Onions (approx. $3 for local onions)
Yo+ Yogurt (approx. $4)
I think I'll have the bf's mom get the milk this time since we've bought it the last few times.

Approximate Total= $25.50

I wanted to buy some salad mix for during the week, but it won't fit, so we'll make do with something else.

I can't wait to grow my own lettuce again.

Okay, take care! I'm glad I'm done with this for the day, but Chemistry does not sound like fun.