Hamburgers

Yesterday was the first day that I was able to barbecue and eat outside. So we made up amazing hamburgers. For me a hamburger is not just about the meat it is about all the toppings that can go on a hamburger and if you have a lot of vegetable toppings then you do not need as much meat to fill up and you are still getting a good portion of vegetables in your meal. On the burgers we put tomatoes, spinach,olives sprouts, avocado (that I mixed with a little mayo), a slice of provolone cheese, and then top with whatever condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup) you like. I am gluten free so I served my burger on gluten free rosemary ficasa bread (Tarte Bakery, and you can buy at Market of Choice or Sundance in Eugene, Oregon). My partner is not gluten free so I put hers on a regular roll. Use whatever rolls, bread, or buns you want or serve without a bread source and use lettuce, kale, or spinach to act as your bun.

Teriyaki Chicken and Vegetables.

A couple of weeks ago I made a delicious teriyaki chicken with broccoli, zucchini, Asian greens, garlic and of course teriyaki sauce. I cheated with the sauce and used a per-made  gluten free teriyaki sauce. I marinaded the chicken over night in the sauce. The first thing that you do is cook the chicken. I cooked in a fry pan. I find that it cooks best on medium heat. Once the chicken was cooked in put in the broccoli, zucchini, and garlic. I find that if I turn down the heat to medium-low it cooks best. I than added a little more of the teriyaki sauce while the vegetables and the chicken cooked. While is this cooking I prep the sauce that is going to cook in when I add the Asian greens. I put a little water in  a glass and added a little teriyaki sauce or soy sauce. Once the vegetables were almost cooked all the way I added in the Asian Greens. I then took the soy sauce/teriyaki with water and add it into a fry pan at this point and let everything cook for about 5 minutes. Then serve and enjoy. I served this over rice however you could serve it plain, over rice, or even our noodles. Rice noodles are fun to put this on top of and it is then still Gluten Free :)

Of course you can substitute any vegetables that you want and you can also use tofu, beef, pork, or fish for the protein source instead of using chicken.  Make it with the vegetables and Protein or no protein that you like most or happen to have. I also have been known to do this recipe without the teriyaki sauce. For the sauce I mixed together peanut butter, garlic, soy sauce. and water and that makes a delicious peanut Asian infused sauce.

Salads

Salads need to have a ton of goodies. When most people make a salad they give you a ton of lettuce and then a couple slices of tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber if you are lucky. So the first couple of bites are good because you can have a bite of lettuce with a piece of carrot, but halfway through your salad there is nothing but lettuce left and most people (including myself)don't want to finish it then. Therefore when making a salad add many different ingredients so that the salad is always different and exciting.


In my salad tonight I put in spinach (that I grew in my own garden)carrots,tomatoes, broccoli,cauliflower,cucumbers,olives,avocado,eggs,steak,and then for toppers I have chooses of raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, and croutons. If you want gluten free croutons you can take gluten free bread brush the bread with olive oil and then broil. Once browned on one side flip and brown the other side. Watch to make sure not to burn the bread. Take out let cool and cut pieces into the size that you want, and than you have gluten free croutons for half the cost that they charge you in the store. I had these vegetables on my salad tonight because when I was at the store this week I bought a head of cauliflower, 2 heads of broccoli,and a cucumber. A great way to save money is to buy produce every four or five days and plan out your meals for those days off of the food that you buy. That way you have no wasted food and no food that spoils. This week a lot of my spinach was ready to harvest so I harvested and was able to make salad three times this week. One of the salad I did had chicken instead of steak and one of the salads did not have cucumber because I ran out.

Tips to save money

One of the ways that I save money and eat great food is by having a garden. Right at the moment I am harvesting spinach, cilantro, and Asian Greens. Therefore in the next couple of posts you will see recipes that are using a lot of those vegetables.

I like to buy whole chickens instead of just pieces. It is cheaper to make a whole chicken and then you are able to use this protein source for recipes throughout the week. In addition when I buy a chicken I almost always plan on doing a chicken and vegetable soup because I can boil the carcass and use it as the protein source.

Learn to like and how to cook many different vegetables. This way you are able to cook whatever is on special. I also use many different vegetables in my cooking so that I am able to use only a little bit of one thing. For example with a head of broccoli I will put the crowns in a salad, stir-fry, curry, or korma but then I will save the stem. Then with the broccoli stem I will peel the broccoli and the I will cut the inner core into pieces and will use these in a soup. Therefore I am able to get two meals out of one head of broccoli. I always try to use every part of the vegetable. In addition when I can buy cheap vegetables I use more of these vegetables and then I am able to stretch the expensive vegetables over a couple of meals.

Shop at multiple places. For example in Eugene I shop at The Grocery Outlet because they have a fairly good selection of organic food for fantastic prices I also shop at Sundance and they have a 50% shelf and there I am able to go distressed produce. This normally means that the foods needs to be eaten that day or the next. Distressed could also mean that there is one spot that needs to be cut off and then it can be enjoyed!!

Hello My food Rocks!!

I love to cook, eat, and dream about food!!! I love cooking for other people, and whenever I do they rave about my food. The food that I cook is healthy, simple, and delicious. The other day my partner suggested that I start a blog about my food so that other people can enjoy simple, good, healthy, gluten free food.  Therefore that is what this blog is for.  I will share with you my simple, scrumptious, and fun recipes. In addition to living a gluten free life I live on an extremely tight budget.  I am a poor educator and so I have to make a lot of food from scratch because boxed and pre-made gluten free food is extremely expensive and high in preservatives. When I first started eating gluten free three years ago it was hard because I did not know where to shop, what to buy, or even how to get variety in my food. However I have learned that eating and cooking gluten free can be really fun, exciting, and easy if you have the right help!!