October 2009 Archives

October 22, 2009 1:45 PM

I probably went overboard at the farmer's market this past trip, seeing as Matt was going to be away and I've been eating dinner at my parents' house for the past few days. I bought half a head of red cabbage with no real plans for it, so when I came across this salad at 101 cookbooks I knew what I was having for lunch today.

I finally pulled the last beet from my garden (I had grand plans of growing a lot this year then canning them, but I lost interest and ended up only planting a few) so I added that to the mix.

» Recipe for Warm Red Cabbage & Beet Salad

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Gluten-Free Banana Bread

October 20, 2009 9:09 AM

I recently came to terms with the fact that I may have an intolerance to wheat and possibly dairy or lactose. I've cut them out of my diet for the most part and I've been feeling a lot better. (I've also lost six pounds in three days, but that's probably just because I haven't been eating much in general.)

Yesterday I spent $40 on a variety of gluten-free flours and quickly got to work on my first gluten-free baking experiment. I took my tried and true recipe for banana bread, switched out the flour and added a bit of xanthan gum as a gluten alternative.

I was amazed by how well it turned out! You can't tell just by looking at it that it's gluten-free. The texture is a bit gritty though and I think that's from the brown rice flour. Next time I will replace some of it with sweet rice flour.

For more information about gluten-free flours:
Gluten-Free Girl's guide to working with gluten-free flours
Celiac.com's gluten-free flour alternatives

» Recipe for Gluten-Free Banana Bread

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Confetti Corn Bread-Crusted Shrimp in Creole Filling

October 8, 2009 8:06 AM

I've been a bit stressed out lately. To make a long story short, my car was rear-ended and totaled, the insurance company tried to screw me over, I finally bought another car (despite the fact that I still don't have the settlement check) and two days later the check engine light came on. The good news is that my brother, Evan, is a life saver when it comes to fixing cars, and although the whole ordeal is not quite over, in the end I'll have a slightly newer version of my old car (albeit with many more miles on it) and some cash left over to get Evan a great thank you gift.

So, when I'm stressed out, my brain sort of shuts down. This is not ideal. It's hard to get things done when my brain refuses to operate. And dinner? My usual method of winging it has left much to be desired, so last night I did something I haven't done in quite a while - I followed a recipe.

I found this on Epicurious and it sounded perfect for this chilly, windy day. A warm, spicy, tomato-based shrimp stew poured into a baking dish, topped with pepper-flecked cornbread, then baked until golden. Definitely a keeper. I must have missed the green chiles when I scanned the recipe, so I just substituted extra green pepper, and instead of the small bay shrimp the recipe called for, I used regular shrimp and chopped them up a bit.

» Recipe for Confetti Corn Bread-Crusted Shrimp in Creole Filling

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