Gluten Free Challenge

I am finding that sticking to a Gluten Free diet is extremely challenging given my circumstances.

Road Block Number One:
Pregnancy. An immediate challenge. I wake up in the morning with a blood sugar level and nausea dragging me down so hard all I can manage is popping something into the toaster. It's usually a piece of Sweet Hawaiian Bread spread with melted peanut butter, a plain bagel and cream cheese, or at my worst- a Pop Tart. Terrible, I know. Carbs and pregnancy go together. They are instant fuel for a drained system. They pad all that extra stomach acid and calm the stomach down. Add that to debilitating fatigue sprinkled throughout the day and it's a sure-fire way to mail it in and call the pizza guy for dinner.


Road Block Number Two:
Children. Their presence of course is a blessing, but turning the tables on them too quickly will cause a riot. The pantry is full of lots of goodies for them to munch on including a rainbow of cereals, breads, after school snacks, and aforementioned Pop-Tarts. My three children are great at eating, but like me, you take away all the starchy breakfast foods and they will think I've punished them. Should I be converting them as well in order to assure my own success? Can they survive without a sandwich in their lunch and waffles for breakfast? Or can I just resist the temptation of all those convenience foods?

The challenge is solved with more preparation. Have some pre-flighted choices available to grab when the blood sugar runs low and the kids are nearly dying of starvation at 2:30. That means baking some GF cookies, brownies, and pre-cutting some vegetables. Now, if I can just get off the couch...vicious circle.

Bringing in variety

For my birthday, I bought myself a small new collection of cookbooks. As I flip through the pages of these culinary adventures, I find myself a little intimidated. The scary outweighs the comfortable for sure! Ingredients like wakame, chard, rutabagas and buckwheat flour leave me turning the page to a more comfortable place with headlines in more familiar territory.
I am totally guilty of reaching for the usual suspects at the grocery store. White flour, zucchinis, romaine lettuce, tomatoes and carrots. I rarely step out of my comfort zone. I was never very adventurous in my dietary habits as a kid. In fact, I was notorious for ALWAYS ordering a grilled cheese sandwich or pasta no matter where we were. I wasn't exposed to a lot of ethnic foods either. Chinese food was even a rarity. I think Italian was as exotic as it got (and that is a stretch since spaghetti seems more of an American dish than authentic Italian cuisine).
Intent on shedding my juvenile habits, I am warming to the idea of trying some of the other 20,000 varieties of produce, grains, and spices. The closer I get to labeling myself as a "foodie" the more of a phony I become because I have never even challenged myself to try some intimidating ingredients like white truffle oil, gruyere, or heirloom tomatoes. There is an amazing world of variety beyond what I am serving- most of which holds a ton more nutrition and flavor. As a traditional American consumer, I reach for what's available at the regular grocery store. All of which are varieties of produce that were genetically chosen for those shelves because of their ability to withstand gross amounts of transportation and extended shelf-life. The natural region and season to which these fruits and veggies grow is completely obsolete.
Here in Hawaii, you'd think bananas are a dime a dozen since they grow here naturally in practically everyone's backyard. But, the actual local variety is something called an "apple banana", which is a shorter, fatter banana that tastes as if you'd crossed it with a green apple jolly rancher. One would also assume that this variety so readily available locally would cost less than the traditional "Cavendish" variety found in every grocery store on the mainland. Totally wrong again- the bunch of Cavendish I bought yesterday was $1.00/pound (yeah, I'm still not over that one) and the Apple Bananas cost $1.49. Why my bundle from Ecuador cost less than one trucked in from a farm a 1/2 mile from my grocery store is still not apparent to me (I'm definitely not an economics major).

I now understand my fears of trying new things. There are two main reasons I will have to overcome: UNFAMILIARITY and the UNAVAILABILITY. 

Because something is new to me, I rarely risk cooking or tasting it. Eating out, I will always play it safe and go for the preparation I am comfortable trying. Another reason I have talked myself out of becoming a world traveler. I am frightened of being one of those cliche finicky American eaters who opts for McDonalds over fois gras.
Additionally, if it is an ingredient or preparation that is not supported in a mainstream grocery store or restaurant, I may never get the opportunity to try it out. I have gotten rid of several cookbooks that had crazy ingredients which required my travel to another part of town into a tiny Asian food market. It seems many of those cookbooks are written by people in New York or San Francisco where everything is available.
I still have no excuse for not grabbing the dragon fruit I saw tonight at the store. What it is exactly- I'm not sure. But, I would really like to understand the culture behind so many of the foods I have written off in the past out of intimidation. And of course, dragging the kids through this exploration will only expand their palate and they will never have my excuse that it just wasn't offered so they didn't try it.
Maybe I'll get around to trying each of the umpteen varieties of squash beyond acorn and butternut. And perhaps curried foods will actually make it to the weekly menu!
Here's to eating like a grown up!

Blueberries

This summer I have fallen in love with blueberries. Living on the island is strange in the fact that the blueberries I eat have traveled like five thousand miles to get here. If I buy the regular packs at the grocery store, they quickly turn rancid after a day or two. But somehow, the berries at Costco are far superior in taste and quality. Of course, I have to buy a pound of them at a time!
Fruit salads have abounded in our house this summer because of the large quantities of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries I indulge on from Costco. But, sometimes, there can be a little bit too much of a good thing. Like bananas when they sit on the counter too long, they are reincarnated into an awesome banana bread. Blueberries, too have a future destined for a delicious baked good, where blemishes are no longer seen and purple-y goodness melts in your mouth.
Last night, a pregnancy craving overtook me, and I was compelled to sympathize with this aging batch of blueberries and incorporate them into a cobbler. It was already 8:00 by the time these fantasies took over, so I was pressed for time, needless to say. Using small souffle dishes, I made four individual cobblers in about 15 minutes. Super easy, delicious, and just what the doctor ordered.

Ingredients:

2 pints blueberries
1/4 cup organic sugar or evaporated cane juice
2 cups granola cereal (I used Quaker Naturals- it had little slices of toasted almond in it that added a great texture and flavor)

Combine blueberries and sugar in a bowl. Divide equally among four souffle cups. Top with equal amounts of cereal. Place all on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for ten minutes (the last couple minutes take off the foil to brown the cereal a bit). They will be done when you see the blueberry goodness bubbling up from underneath the cereal topping.

Note: These weren't as good the second day, so reconsider saving one for breakfast like I did. Enjoy!

I've got two pounds of hamburger...now what?

I have this strange thing against casseroles. Really it expands beyond casseroles to anything that was invented in the 50s and involves a strange concoction of meat, sauce, noodle, and a vegetable in one dish. I just hate making them, they are an embarrassment to serve because no one looks at them and says "hmmm, that looks delicious". What's strange is that I think I am alone in this aversion. What tipped me off was this great little cookbook from a church group that has loads of favorite recipes from women my age. I am amazed at how so many of them are still cooking the dishes their grandmothers made.

Now, I am not against family tradition- some of my favorite dishes from my childhood (comfort food) are handed down from my grandmothers. But, most of them involved several processed and canned ingredients. My friend Jennifer told me what she made for dinner last night, it was Chicken Divan (I'd never heard of it- it's probably a classic Tuesday night meal in most households). She explained that it is the worst combination of ingredients, but her kids love it. In it was a boiled chicken, mayonnaise, cream of chicken soup, cheese, curry...I got nauseous after that and couldn't hear another random ingredient. 

I'm not saying we should all be cooking the South Beach Diet or asian fusion, but with today's global economy and local food craze, there are so many fresh ingredients available that are so easily thrown together, that it seems silly to raid the cellar for the evaporated milk and macaroni noodles . 

It still begs the question of my post- I've got two pounds of hamburger... now what?

Which brings me to tonight's dilemma. I have an awesome menu planned for the week, but a couple meals are entirely new to me, and it's 4:40p. Dinner should have been started a while ago. Do I mail it in and whip up one of the three obvious choices: meatloaf, hamburgers or stuffed peppers? Of course, there is the whole spin on hamburger helper routine... no thanks. I basically feel like when I bought the hamburger it had a purpose, and to stray from my creative intent would insult the process. I saw it best served as an awesome baja style mexi-cali burger with beans, tortilla chips, and avacado. But, no buns in sight. It's definitely a weekend meal. So, it shall remain in the freezer until I can serve it in a way that truly is a delight to the senses.

My last resort- stick to what you have planned, no matter how daring and give this recipe a try. 

I'll put my own spin on it so it's big enough to feed us all as a main dish and let you know the results. It does have some of grandma's favorites in it: canned beans; so maybe the apple isn't falling too far from the tree after all.