FabGrandpa started taking the Prescripitive Formulas Men’s vitamins manufactured by Nature’s Bounty a couple of months ago. He is liking the added energy he says he is getting from them. I read the ingredients on the package and since they had no wheat ingredients, I ordered the Women’s formula for myself.
I started taking them about a week ago. Yesterday, after feeling sick and generally “bad” all week, I finally decided to read the ingredients on this package. Silly me, the Women’s Formula has wheat listed as an ingredient.
I feel bloated, my muscles and joints all ache, I have a headache, my eyes hurt, and my old friend, the big “D”, is back. I don’t know how long it is going to take to feel better, but I stopped taking these vitamins yesterday. Just wanted to let the gluten free worlkd know about it.
P.S. READ EVERY LABEL!!!
The Book Of Yum is hosting an Adopt A Gluten Free Blogger event this month. I chose Simply… Gluten Free as my adoptee. The purpose of this event is to try out a recipe from the blog you choose. I made Gluten Free Smore’s Cheescake.
I was a Girl Scout leader for many years when my daugthers were growing up. I took the troop camping about four times a year. At each camping trip, we made the smores, roasting our marshmallows over the campfire until they were good and hot and sticky, then plopping them between graham crackers with chocolate bars. So good! and so full of gluten.
I followed the recipe to the letter. I wasn’t so sure about making the crust out of roasted 
peanuts, as I am not a big fan of peanuts; AND because I had never thought about peanuts being in smore’s. But, that crust is a streak of genius! It has many potential uses for other recipes, and surprisingly tastes very little like peanuts.
I used Nestle Special Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chips. They melted quickly and really made the whole thing so chocolaty good.
Here is what my version of the cheesecake looks like:
Oh, and that topping? it tastes a lot like the Seven Minute Frosting my mother used to make for her coconut cake. I know I will be using that again too, but probably as a frosting for a cake. It has all the sticky sweet goodness of that long ago recipe but is very easy and quick to make.
Thanks, Book of Yum! And thank you, Simply…Gluten Free.
We have been taking walks in the desert for the last few days in the afternoon. There are lots of flowers bloomin out there, but most of them are so tiny you have to have your eyes wide open to see them. That’s my shoe in the first pic so I would have some reference to how tiny these flowers are. I have no idea what any of these are, just wanted to share their loveliness.
These yellow ones have “hairs” sticking out all over. Very fuzzy flowers.
These are my favorites. The orange can be seen quite a ways away. The leaves are large and sort of velvety.
I think this one may be lupine. Purple spikes sticking up from green foliage.
When you look out across the desert, you can’t really see many flowers. It really does take looking closer to see them.
These white flowers were mixed in with some dead twigs.
I didn’t have anything to put in this picture to show how little these flowers are. The whole plant was maybe two inches tall. And my camera doesn’t photograph purple accurately so you really can’t tell how pretty these are.
I had to get down on the ground to take this picture. These white one are one of my favorites. And so little tiny!
I think these were the smallest ones we saw. I put my water bottle on the ground next to them just to show how low to the ground the plant was.
The showy desert poppy! There are lots of these blooming right now.
The beauty has been out here a long time.
I wrote about this soup last year, but it is soooo good that it is worth repeating. When you eat it, it tastes like it takes hours to make and like it would be a complicated recipe to make. It really isn’t. If you like a little bit of heat, and a little bit of spice, this is a really good soup. And everything in it is naturally gluten free. You’ll say “¡Esta sopa está tan sabroso!
The ingredients are basically the same as for any good vegetable soup, with a few Mexican herbs thrown in. The secret ingredients? Shrimp, cumin, and shrimp bouillon. Don’t be afraid of it because of the jalapenos, two won’t make it hot, just a little warm.
Mexican Seafood Soup
3-4 tablespoons Olive Oil
3-4 stalks of celery, coarsley chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (or 3 if you dare) jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
3 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
3 medium potatos, washed and cut in chunks
1 zucchini, cut up
3 cubes Shrimp bouillon (Caldo con sabor de camaron) w/ 1 cup water
OR 16 oz seafood stock
6 cups water
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 shakes of tabasco sauce
1 bunch fresh cilantro if desired
1/2 lb tilapia or other firm white fish, cut in bite size pieces
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1 lime
Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Saute the celery, onion, garlic, and jalapenos until the onions are clear. Add tomatoes, cumin, basil, red pepper, tabasco, carrots, zucchini and potatoes. Put the bouillon cubes in 1 cup of water in a microwave safe container. Microwave for 4 minutes, until the water is boiling. Stir well to make sure the cubes are dissolved. Add to the dutch oven. If using the seafood stock instead, add it now. Add the rest of the water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover the pot, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the fish and shrimp, cover, and simmer another 10 minutes. Slice the avocado and squeeze lime juice over to prevent discoloration.
To serve, fill each bowl with soup, then put some slices of avocado on top, followed by a squeeze of lime juice. ¡Demasiado delicioso ser verdad! I always eat way too much.
“Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset”
It only took them since February 11 to get my order to me, but it DID arrive today. Just in time for me to make some biscuits for dinner with the Pamela’s Baking Mix I ordered. Everything I ordered was received in ONLY 21 days. They DID however, send me two of the items for free since it took them so long to deliver my order. I have to give them that. So, just so you’ll know who they were, I’m not naming them here but I will give you this link. Order if you have time to wait.
Now to tell you that I absolutely LOVE Amazon.com. I have placed two orders from them since Feb 11 and have already received both of them. The stuff I ordered from them on Friday came yesterday. Excellent service from them, folks. I just wish I didn’t have to order 6 of something to get it from them. I’ll just have to look for other storage options. Maybe in my side of the wardrobe closet.
I know yesterday I talked about not having leftovers, but only to show how I try to make them different the next time. We do, sometimes, eat the leftovers, or previously cooked food, and there is not much I can do to change it. As in tonight, we had leftover stuffed peppers and eggplant parmesean. When I absolutely have to serve leftovers, I let him choose what he wants first. The whole meal tonight included another tossed salad, and some home made cheese biscuits made with Pamela’s Baking Mix.
The salad was romaine lettuce, strawberries, zucchini, and green onions. A sprinkle of garlic salt, and some Wish Bone Bountifuls Berry Delight Vinaigrette. I don’t know about the rest of the gluten free world, but whenever I see “new” on a product in the store, I don’t usually get excited about it. Most companies just seem to not care about those of us who have to eat gluten free. But I picked up that bottle anyway, and just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the words “Gluten Free” on the back of the bottle. This stuff is GOOD! I was making my own raspberry vinaigrette at home, but I may never make it again. It’s that good. They have a printable coupon on their website good for 75 cents off. Get it while you can.
I read Baking For John, another gluten free blog. She has posted about a Monkey Cake that she made for her two year old’s birthday. That cake looks so stinking cute! I am going to make one myself. Just for me and FabGrandpa.
In our house there aren’t really any leftovers. What we do have is food that has not yet been eaten. It may be cooked already, but I don’t call it leftovers. You see, Fabgrandpa does not LIKE leftovers. So, I found out a long time ago that in order to make good use of the food we have, I have to do something different with it from time to time.
Tonight I made stuffed peppers with garlic toast and tossed salad. I started out with something entirely new, two green bell peppers. I cut them in half, took out the seeds and membranes, and put them in a 8 X 8 casserole dish.
I had some rice that was leftover, I mean stored in the fridge, from last week. I put that together with 1/3 pound ground meat (I use a mixture of 1 lb ground turkey, 1 lb ground pork, and o1 pound ground beef. I mush it all together and freeze in 1/3 pound portions). A half an onion, one zucchini, some garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and a 16 oz can of tomatoes finish up the dish.
Cook the meat with the onion, garlic, and zucchini until the meat is just browned. Add the seasonings, rice, cheese, and can of tomatoes to the pan. Mix together well. Fill each of the pepper halves with a generous portion of the filling. There will be about half of the filling left when you are finished stuffing the peppers. You can put that part in a ziplock freezer bag and put it in the freezer for another day. Pour about 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the baking dish, place the baking dish on a cookie sheet, and place in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
While the peppers were baking, I made a tossed salad. I think lettuce is quite pretty, don’t you? Anyway, the salad was a simple one of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and green onions. I had some of that fresh mozzarella pesto tomato salad from the other day. It wasn’t enough for one person, but I added a little olive oil and some wine vinegar, mixed it up, and used as a dressing for tonight’s salad. When the peppers were done, I put some slices of that bread I made the other day under the broiler with some garlic butter. That rounded out the meal:
Do you use up all your leftovers, or just toss them out? What do you do to make them “new”?
