Can't Eat A Thing

Sauteed Sweet Potatoes

In one word, these are delicious.  That pretty much sums it up.

What it takes:

2 sweet potatoes

1 tsp. Olive oil or use olive oil spray

1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder

Pinch Salt 

Pinch Pepper

How to make it happen:

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.  You want this to get HOT before you think about adding the potatoes.

Slice the potatoes lengthwise in about 1/4 inch thickness.  Then cube.

Once you’re sure your oil is hot (you can get your fingertips wet, then flick your fingers to splash a few drops of water into the pan.  if they pop, it’s ready) add the potatoes to the skillet.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  

Cover the skillet.  Be sure to give the skillet a good shake, or stir up the potatoes every other minute or so.  Cook until potatoes are crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.  About 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

IC friendly, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan 

Chicken Chili

With IC, chili is pretty much out of the question.  I had been craving it though.  So I came up with the next best thing and it was DELICIOUS.  My husband would say after almost every bite, “mmmmm, this is goooooood”.

I had all these great pictures, but when I try to add them here, they’re sideways…so no pics this time.

What’s in it?

2 tbsp butter

1 shallot finely diced (onion if IC isn’t a problem for you)

3 chicken breasts

4 cans of navy beans

1 box chicken broth (Swanson Natural Goodness is IC friendly and GF)

1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon cumin ( I use cumin seeds and crush them in my fingers.  If you use ground cumin, use a little less)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

How to make it happen:

Fill a large pot with water and place chicken breasts in the water.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 8 minutes.

In another large pot, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add shallots and saute.

When they are transparent, reduce heat to medium.  Add a little bit of the stock, and scrape the good stuff from the bottom of the pot(if you’re using a cast iron pot like I did).  This blends that yummy flavor into your broth.  Add remaining broth.

Add beans, cumin and oregano to the pot.  Cover and simmer.

Remove the chicken from the boiling water and shred.  If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, this is the fun part.  Use the batter paddle.  Place all 3, WHOLE breasts in the bowl and turn the mixer on low.  Once the chicken is torn into a few smaller pieces, you can turn the speed up.  Voila!  Perfectly shredded chicken in less than 30 seconds.

Add chicken to the pot with the rest of your simmering ingredients.  At this point, it’s all cooked, but chili tastes better the longer you simmer.  I would let it simmer for at least an hour.  Stirring occasionally and adding salt and pepper until it’s just right.

GF, IC Friendly

The Eggplant Dish.

First of all, you have to like eggplant to like this dish.  Eggplant, is eggplant is eggplant, no matter how you cook it.  

What’s in it:

Eggplant 

Cornstarch

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

How to make it happen:

Cube eggplant and put into a colander.  Place colander in sink and generously sprinkle the eggplant with kosher salt.  Let sit, “sifting” a few times, for about 30 minutes.  This draws all of the excess moisture out of the eggplant that tends to make it mushy.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  You want the oil HOT.  Sprinkle cornstarch about 1-2 tablespoons over the eggplant and stir around until each piece is lightly coated.  

Add eggplant to the skillet and pepper to taste.  You won’t need to salt, since we already did this to draw out moisture.  

Stir eggplant frequently.  Cook until the cubes are golden brown.  Only takes about 3 minutes if your skillet was hot enough.  You don’t want to over cook, or it gets a weird texture.

Enjoy =)

GF, IC Friendly, Vegetarian, Vegan

Fried “rice”

Okay, so maybe referring to this dish as fried rice is a stretch.  But when you can’t have half of the ingredients that typically go into fried rice, this tastes pretty spot on.  

What’s in it?

1 cup quinoa

Half bag frozen peas

3 eggs

1 shallot

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

How to make it happen:

Cook quinoa according to package directions I like to substitute the water with chicken broth for added flavor.  

In large skillet, heat olive oil.  Saute shallot, then add eggs and peas and scramble in skillet.  Add cooked quinoa to skillet then season to taste using garlic powder, salt and pepper.

You can add all kinds of veggies/meat to this.  I just used what I had on me.

Pretty stinking delicious!  Has all the flavors of fried rice just no soy sauce.  I heart this dish.

GF, IC FRIENDLY, VEGETARIAN

BEEEAAAANS.

Long time, no blog.  I gave up on the camera cord.  I even somewhat gave up on documenting the cooking process I suppose, because these next few posts will be pictures of food, at my desk in tuperware containers!

Beans…where do I start.  How about the good stuff, to real you in.  1 serving of these bad boys = 8 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, only 120 calories and .5 grams of fat, holler.

They’re really tasty and super easy to make, if the nutritional info wasn’t enough for you.

What’s in it?

1 bag dry pinto beans

2 cups chicken broth(I use Swanson natural goodness low sodium, it’s GF)

water

How to make it happen:

Combine beans, broth and enough water to cover beans in a crock pot.  Cook on high until done(you know what beans feel like when they’re done).  Takes about 6ish hours.  So you can start these when you leave for work in the AM.  

I make a batch of these on Sunday then put them in containers to take to work for a snack/lunch throughout the week.

GF, IC FRIENDLY, VEGETARIAN(no broth)

Quinoa at it’s finest…

In case you haven’t already caught on, I HEART QUINOA.  What’s not to heart?  It’s a super food, y’all.  It’s delicious and nutritious, and quinoa.  Quinoa should be the new word for awesome.

What’s in it?

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken broth - Or, 1c. chicken broth, 1 c. water  Progresso is GF and ICF.

1 shallot diced

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil 

salt and pepper

How to make it happen?

In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil.  Add rinsed quinoa to pan, cover and reduce heat to low.  Leave it alone, let it simmer until all the broth is gone.

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. 

Dice shallot, peppers. Add to skillet and saute.  When they’re almost cooked to desired done-ness, add garlic then salt and pepper to taste.  

Add cooked quinoa to skillet and mix well.  This is great as a side dish.  I usually eat it as a meal instead of a side though.

GF, IC Friendly

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Homemade corn tortillas, homemade “refried” beans(recipe later), guacamole, chicken with shallots and red peppers and shredded cheddar.  GF and IC Friendly TexMex.  Yummmmm

Holy guacamole!

Back in the day, when I didn’t have to eat crazy, my guacamole recipe consisted of: avocados, onion, tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic and lime.  For all those with Celiac or gluten intolerance, you can still enjoy that pure deliciousness.  If you also have IC, like me, you can’t.  And I-LOVE-GUACAMOLE.  So, I had to come up with something. Here’s my new recipe, and it was so stinkin’ good!  The hubby loved it too.

What’s in it?

4-5 avocados

1 cup frozen corn

1 red pepper chopped

1 small shallot

2 cloves garlic

Salt

Pepper

How to make it happen:

In a small skillet, heat some oil, any oil.  Add corn to skillet and cook.  Let some of them char up.  We’re making faux-fire roasted corn here.  

Dice the avocado.  In a medium bowl using a fork or mashed potato masher, mash the avocado.  I like to only lightly mash, because I like the chunks of avocado.  But of course, make this the consistency you prefer.  Dice red pepper, shallot, and garlic.  Add corn and diced veggies to the avocado.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Voila!  Guacamole!!

Place a piece of saran wrap down into the bowl against the guacamole.  Make sure it’s touching the guacamole.  Then place another piece of saran wrap across the bowl.  This will keep your guacamole from turning brown, since you don’t have the aid of lime.  Keep like this until you’re ready to serve.  We had left overs, and the next day, the top was brown, but that scrapped off and it was still a beautiful bright green underneath.