I’ve been missing. It’s okay; I won’t be hurt if you didn’t notice :) But I have been. I’ve had an entire week without my computer. It’s my first day back and I don’t even know what to do with myself.

Although my dilemma technically started last Monday, it’s been building for a few months. I’m embarrassed to say that I kept forgetting to upgrade my anti-virus software. I have a tendency to close any sort of pop up notifications. Well, I’ve learned my lesson I think. 27 viruses and a handful of malware later, I had a melon for a computer. I couldn’t open programs or anything. All I could do was boot it up. After that, it had a mind of its own.

Naturally, I had a mini breakdown (okay, it was a full-on emotional breakdown, let’s be honest). I was able to keep some sanity with my Droid though. I could check e-mail and was halfway decent with using twitter, but its just not the same. Luckily, I have some friends who work in the world of IT who agreed to help me out with payment of two batches of cookies (oatmeal walnut raisin and my ‘everything’ cookies). But from Monday night to Wednesday night I was without my computer. Although I got it back Wednesday, I had a very long weekend in Upstate NY visiting family and picking up some furniture (I’m moving to Delaware for graduate school in 2 weeks!) So… 7 days without my computer.

I have to say, in retrospect, I recommend it to everyone.

It gave me a chance to catch up on some things I’d been behind on. I did a lot of reading and I studied more in my bible than I normally do. I recently decided to knit hats for charity and this computer drought gave me enough time to knit 7 and three quarter hats! (One’s not completely done yet :)). I got a lot of packing done. I enjoyed my family and my friends; it felt good to give them more of my time. I sat back and spent some time putting my life into a larger perspective.

I feel pretty refreshed.

And now that I’m back? Well… I’m going to try to catch up. I haven’t opened my blogroll/reader yet. I’m pretty afraid to. But I will! :)

Okay, stop blabbing Aubree. Show us the food! This… this i can do :)

GF French Toast To-Go! (& in the Car?)

Yep, that’s right. The portable French Toast! I know what you’re saying… any french toast can be portable. But I would challenge you by asking… could you eat it while driving and not make a mess?

I sure couldn’t…

I made this specifically to be eaten without syrup. What a notion, huh? I don’t use syrup anymore besides the occasional use of real (and local) maple syrup in sweet recipes. I really try to avoid it. I’ve also been trying to use breakfasts that give me energy and lets be honest, sugary types of food aren’t a good sourse of lasting energy. The amazing thing about this French Toast is that you don’t NEED the syrup! They’re plenty sweet all by themselves.

The idea was born when I woke up late the other morning. The Boy and I were headed out for a trip and we needed to leave early. Well, genius here slept in late. I had about 20 minutes to get dressed, do my hair, pack for the day trip, AND make food. I made these in 15 minutes and packed/did my hair while making them.

Necessity really is the mother of creation, isn’t it?

GF French Toast To-Go!

Ingredients:

2 large slices of gluten free bread
3 medium fresh eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
15 drops liquid stevia
1 tbs Date Sugar (optional – The Boy isn’t a huge fan of stevia yet; this was for his benefit. It was sweet enough for me without it though!)
Cooking Spray

Instructions:

Beat the eggs in a low bowl. While whisking, add the cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia, and date sugar. Set aside.

Cut your two large slices of gluten free bread into small pieces (about 4 bites each). Set two to four pieces of bread in the low bowl with eggs. Let them sit on each side for at least one minute.

Put a frying pan on the stove and adjust to medium heat. Apply a small amount of cooking spray to the pan and slowly add the pieces of bread. Be careful not to rip the pieces, I did that with the first one (I was in a hurry, remember? :)) I’d say about 4 minutes on the first side, flip it over, and then 2 minutes. I didn’t time it and some were more browned than others. Just keep an eye on them.

These french toast ‘bites’ were amazing because I literally threw them in a to-go container from the frying pan, snapped a few quick photos and ran out the door. We had to wait for them to cool just a little bit, but 10 miles down the road we were digging in!

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This recipe is linked to Just Another Meatless Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Meatless Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, Gluten Free Wednesday, Food on Friday and Friday Favorites.

(well, one can hope :D)

This is my submission to this month’s Go Ahead Honey, Its Gluten Free! When I found out it was going to be breakfast in bed, I gave it a lot of thought. Here were some of my thoughts…

If someone were to feed me breakfast in bed, they’d have to come prepared. Prepared for what you say? Disaster! It’s not that I’m a messy eater – I rarely spill, drip, or drop anything. BUT, I’m extremely clutzy. Food + tray + me +white comforter + soft bouncy mattress = big irreversible stains. So I had to choose my fare wisely.

But that brought up the other thought. A romantic thought about the ‘perfect’ breakfast in bed experience. Warm flapjacks with lots of sticky syrup, a side dish of cold cereal brimming with milk; complete with a large class of fruit juice (probably grape – the kind that really stains) and a small vase with Ranunculus eschscholtzii (aka a common buttercup; full of yellow pollen, of course). Naturally, you see my dilemma. So I decided to go the safe route and bake something… solid.

Growing up, on more intimate holidays like Valentines day or family birthdays, my mom would make breakfast style food for dinner. It was such a special treat. One of her favorite dishes to make (that we also loved) was a casserole from eggs, bread, cheese, and milk. We couldn’t get enough of it! Well, just the other day I came across a recipe that reminded me of my mom’s. Amy over at The Finer Things in Life posted an excellent recipe for Overnight Breakfast Casserole and it reminded me of my childhood favorite. So I set out to make one that was dairy and gluten free!

Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:

3 cups of ripped bread pieces (I used this bread)
10 pieces of fried and chopped bacon
8 lightly beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the soy milk and continue to whisk the mixture while adding the salt, onion powder, black pepper and lastly the bacon. Spray a glass baking pan with non-stick or something similar. First put the bread pieces in and then pour the egg mixture over the bread.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, about an 1 1/2 hours before serving, leave the dish covered with the foil and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. Then uncover the dish and let bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Quick, easy, and awesome! A great way to get a good protein packed start of the day. And if you’re apprehensive about food landing in your bed like me, try it for as a nice Sunday brunch instead ;)

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This recipe is not only linked to Go Ahead Honey Its Gluten Free, but also to Mouthwatering Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Tasty Tuesday, and the Quiche Challenge on Gluten Free Wednesday.

There isn’t anything revolutionary about this, but it fills a craving for an off limits food of mine. Pizza! Don’t get me wrong, I CAN make up a gluten free crust; that’s easy. But to have pizza without real cheese and no real pizza sauce (usually has sugar) doesn’t allow for having the taste I remember. I DO love some gluten and dairy free pizza-like recipes, but they aren’t specifically a substitute, they’re just something else that I can make.

Strangely, this omelet that I accidentally stumbled across tasted so much like pizza I’m in love with it! The texture of the eggs gives a sort of pseudo cheese feel; i even had a friend ask me why I put cheese in the eggs because they knew  I didn’t eat cheese! And the tomatoes and veggies act like sauce and topping. Add some Italian seasoning (or Oregano) and its complete! I have yet to put this on a crust, but I don’t think its necessary. I like it like an omelet!

Pizza Style Omelet

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 sweet white onion
1/4 green bell pepper
1 whole romaine tomato
Italian Seasoning (or Oregano)
Onion Powder
Salt
Olive Oil

Instructions:

Cover a frying pan with olive oil (a smaller pan is better so you can use less oil, but sometimes I splurge and use a little extra) and turn onto medium heat. While it heats up, finely chop the onion, green pepper, and tomato. Add to the oil and cook until the veggies become soft at least on the edges (or when the white of the onions starts to turn translucent). Cover the veggies with Italian seasoning, a small amount of onion powder, and salt. Crack both eggs over the mixture and break the yokes. I actually treat the eggs and veggies like they are scrambled eggs. So I guess its not technically an omelet, but it would be easy to do it that way.

And that’s it! I find it makes a great choice for dinner because I can come home from work and be eating a warm and tasty (well balanced!) meal in 15 minutes.

This is a single serving for me, but it makes up a whole meal. Sometimes if I also feed The Boy, we’ll have a small side like rice or potatoes and then it makes a nice meal for two!

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This post is linked to Just Another Meatless Monday,  Tasty Tuesday, and Gluten Free Wednesday.

I’ve recently been on a mission to find something yummy for breakfast that was extremely cost effective. I’m happy to say that I’ve finally found it!

I had been using Bob’s Red Mill Hot and Tasty Breakfast cereal when I first went gluten and dairy free. Its really good! But its $4 for a small bag that lasted about a week to 2 weeks. But that’s with having very small portions. So good, but not cost effective.

I posted earlier my amaranth breakfast cereal that used whole grain amaranth. That was good but in a weird way. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it! But I think I would prefer that less as an ‘everyday thing’ and more as a treat sometimes. The other reason I wouldn’t want to eat that too often – amaranth grains aren’t much cheaper than buying Bob’s Red Mill Hot and Tasty Breakfast cereal.

So… what to do, what to do. I was digging around in my cupboard one Sunday (two ago actually) and noticed I had a neglected bag of white rice. (I very rarely use white rice anymore, brown or wild is so much better for you!) But being the non-wasteful person that I am, I came up with this recipe. It’s pretty yummy, I must admit. And I don’t think I need to tell you how cheap it is in comparison.

The other great part is that is has a similar consistency to oatmeal. And for someone who used to eat oatmeal everyday for breakfast, that’s a pretty sweet gluten free deal!

You may never see another breakfast cereal recipe from me on this blog. THAT’S how much I love this! Except maybe when I try it with a healthier type of rice : )

Sweet Rice Breakfast Cereal

Ingredients:

2 cups white rice
4 cups water
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, cook rice and water until the water is mostly gone (essentially you’re making sticky rice at this stage). It should take about 15 minutes on medium for this stage. Make sure to stir occasionally to keep the rice from sticking to the pan.

Once its cooked, turn off the heat. Add the soy milk, pecans, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix until its blended.

Makes about 6 servings.

I use those little 1 cup ziploc containers and stick my six servings in the fridge. One for each work day and then one extra for when I feel like it. Or Saturday if it’ll last that long : )

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This post is linked to Friday Foodie Fix, Simply Hot Recipes, Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap, and Foodie Friday.

Okay, so… breakfast is a challenge for me. I’m at work by 7am every morning. And I can’t eat at 6am, my body just can’t take eating too early. Luckily I can eat at my desk, so I do breakfast while working. Although that’s limiting of course. So I’ve gotten a system down of cooking a breakfast cereal, dividing it up into 5 different mini tupperware containers, and then grabbing one out of the fridge each day. I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free ‘Hot and Tasty Breakfast Cereal’ which is yummy. I also tried a ton of different variations with grits (not so in love with any of those). But I felt like trying something different. So this week I cooked Whole Grain Amaranth to use as a breakfast cereal.

Its hard to describe. Earthy maybe? That makes it sound bad; like you’re gnawing on a hunk of sod… :D Its got a weird texture too, but its not a bad texture. Its soft but also has a small crunch feeling to it. Long story short – I liked it, but I didn’t like it plain. So this recipe is how I made it work for me. And I’ll been eating it everyday this week!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole grain amaranth
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon butter flavor extract (unless you can use real butter, that would probably be tasty!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
5 drops liquid stevia
Chopped pecans and unsweetened dessicated coconut for ‘garnish’

Instructions:

Boil the 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan. As soon as you seen signs of boiling, add the whole grain amaranth. Once you come to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Its actually really fun to watch it cook because for most of the time the grains are all separate. I’ll be honest, I had doubts as to whether they were going to actually fuse! But they did. You’ll know they’re ready when the water seems to miraculously disappear and you’re left with mush (oh boy, I’m really making this sound awesome aren’t I?). At that point add your extracts and stevia. Mix those in first before you mix in the coconut.

At that point I spoon the cereal out into containers, then I covered the tops with some coconut and chopped pecans. This is obvious from the recipe, but it makes about 3 cups. I find it makes perfect 1 serving amounts for my 5 containers. If you’re brave and aren’t afraid to experience a different texture for your breakfast, give this a try!

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This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.