Lunchtime Julia

Delicious Everyday

I guess I am not alone in my love of all things Julia Childs. I have the book, I have visited her kitchen, and I even have the French Chef series in my Netflix queue.  What I love the most is how versatile her recipes are and the fact that by making them, your really learn to cook.

I have found that a lot of her recipes translate to a gluten free diet. She even gives directions on how to make sauces out of cornstarch instead of flour. My new favorite recipe for weeks worth of lunch is fresh Potato Leek soup. Follow her directions in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 and you will have a heaping pot of goodness. And it isn't even that difficult. I just use an immersion stick blender to finish it off and within an hour (most of that is simmering time) I am done.

Try these yummy add-ins:

Blue Cheese crumbles

Diced chicken

Cooked carrots

Cooked cauliflower

Diced broccoli.

Cheesy Goodness

Grilled Cheese


One of things I have missed the most in the last 3 years since becoming GF is a nice and tasty grilled cheese. Most of the GF breads are dense and just soak up the butter and do not brown. They really just do not hit the spot. Recently, I discovered Udi's Bread. It browns, it's soft and super yummy. I really recommend it. If your local store does not have it, you can order it online.  They also have really good muffins.
http://www.udisfood.com/

Another substitute is the Toasted Cheese.
Just take two corn tortillas and a slice of Cheddar and place in the toaster over. Just toast on both sides with a little kosher salt on top. I think this does the trick really well.

Dinner Recipe

Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is great for lunch and dinner. The quantity makes enough for a couple nights of dinner and a couple days of lunch, plus it is "souper" savory.

Items you will need:
Dutch oven or heavy bottom stock pan with lid
Very sharp chef knife
Immersion stick blender or stand blender.

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons of butter
6 cups of diced butternut squash
2 cups of sliced leeks (white part only)
1 cup of sliced carrots
1 container of GF low- sodium chicken stock (4 cups)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of curry powder
2 bay leaves
Whipping cream (optional)

Directions:
Be careful dicing the squash. I recommend cutting it up into smaller chunks to prevent knife slipping.

Saute squash, leeks, and carrots in butter for 15-20 minutes until tender on medium heat. Place the lid and stir occasionally while sauteing. Add chicken stock, salt pepper, curry powder and bay leaves. Simmer for 20 minutes until thoroughly heated and the carrots are soft. Remove bay leaves with slotted spoon. Turn off heat. Use immersion blender to make soup smooth or scoop one half of mixture at a time into a blender.  Return to pan and stir in 1/4 cup of whipping cream. Serve hot.

You can freeze half of the soup in a Pyrex pan to take for lunch. I did it this week and it was great and really filling. I just heated it up in a coffee cup.

Travel

Rice Cakes

I never had an affinity for rice cakes in the "Before Time". But, since breakfast is the most difficult meal for me to come up with, I have started to like them. I eat the caramel ones with some Skippy All Natural peanut butter. It fills me up and I am not hungry again until lunch time.

I usually by the Lundberg Farms ones but I can only find the flavored ones at Whole Foods. To my surprise, I came across this article stating that Quaker Oats now makes GF Rice Cakes.

"The delicious Quaker Rice Cakes labeled gluten-free include Apple Cinnamon, Butter Popcorn, Caramel Corn, Chocolate, Lightly Salted, Unsalted, and White Cheddar."

I find them a great thing to pack in the suitcase or lunch bag and they stay pretty fresh. Check 'em out. I also hear they help with the ever expanding waistline. As we all know, being GF can be unexpectantly high in calories. That's no fun for anyone.

 http://www.quakeroats.com/quaker-for-health-care-professionals/content/fitness-and-nutrition/rice-cakes-now-gluten-free.aspx

http://www.lundberg.com/products/rice_cakes.aspx

Travel

HAPPY TRAILS

I do find eating during long car trips to be difficult. I usually leave packing to the last minute and I rarely make time to pack snacks. Although I have been trying to be better about this, I have found some road options.

Wendys: Wendy's has a gluten free menu online. www.wendys.com 

I usually stick to their baked potatoes.

At gas stations, I like to grab some peanuts or some chips. Greg always sneaks me some Reese's Cups. 

Another savior while traveling is the Larabar. The cinnamon bun ones are pretty good and they are also good to have in a suitcase in case of emergencies. 

If you are planning on staying at a friends house for the weekend, I recommend packing some GF crackers (Blue Diamond Pecan Thins, Gluteno) and some peanut butter.

I will be posting some more travel tips soon so stay tuned. Everyone needs a happy vacation.

And to my little brother Loren, HAPPY GRADUATION!!!