Friday Photos featuring “Mashed Potato” Soup

Welcome to Friday Photos, a weekly feature here on Celiac in the City — you can read how it all started by clicking HERE.)

I’m playing nurse again for my guy — nothing too serious, but it’s tooth related, and you and I both know how much dental pain can ruin a Friday night.

Since he’s on a soft foods diet for the next day or so, I thought I’d throw together some soup with what we had in the kitchen. The first time I made Potato Leek Soup was several years ago when my nephew was visiting for the week — man was he a picky eater! Had to get a little creative and leave out the part where there were leeks and onions involved. (they were on his “I’m not eating THAT” list)

Once he tasted it though, he was sold. He absolutely loved it, said it tasted like mashed potatoes, then went home and kept asking my sister for it — which led to a her calling me to figure out the secret to this so called Mashed Potato Soup.

The secret is out.

Tayden’s Mashed Potato Soup

1 ½ lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed (Yukon Golds work nice)

3 leeks, washed well and sliced

1 medium onion, diced

6 cups chicken stock (vegetable works too)

2 tablespoons butter or oil

salt/pepper

Heat butter over medium-high heat, add onions and leeks and cook for 5-7 minutes, until leeks become soft. Add potatoes and chicken stock, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes have softened.

Using a hand blender, puree until nice and smooth. I added a tablespoon of butter while doing this and more salt and pepper to round things off. This soup is pretty thin, if you prefer it more thick, you can use a tad less stock or return it to the heat and reduce it down some.

I grabbed some chives from the little “herb garden” we have going in the kitchen to top it off.

 

What else did this week bring?

• Recipe testing for Carrie over at Ginger Lemon Girl – her book, The Everything Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Cookbook comes out in the fall, but I’ll have my copy on pre-order long before that.

• Putting the recipe to good use — not only did we scoop up that super simple and oh-so-tasty applesauce as a side, I used it in my breakfast combo this week.

This is really the only product (except for the allergy-free chocolate chips) from Enjoy Life that I can tolerate. These crunchy bits give a great crunch to yogurt — and in this case, mixed in with honey sweetened yogurt, the slow cooker applesauce and cinnamon.

 

• More breakfast options — poached eggs with roasted red pepper hummus and grapefruit. (sans sugar!)

 

• Keeping it real with real food and no Diet Coke — this Honest Tea with lemon has been a treat!

 

Wrapping up Week 5 of the Couch to 5k tomorrow morning — time to hit the hay!

 

 

Friday Photos: 10 Days of Real Food – Day 4

Welcome to Friday Photos, a weekly feature here on Celiac in the City — you can read how it all started by clicking HERE.)

It’s Day 4 of the 10 Days of Real Food pledge.

And those cookies are the last thing on my mind.

Instead, I’ve actually taken the time for making breakfast.

Nothing fancy this week because (sadly) I am back at work, after a refreshing (but too short) holiday break. The students aren’t back for classes until the end of the month, so my days are a bit less rushed right now — perfect for sitting down and actually enjoying a meal.

And right before we started this pledge, I had one tasty breakfast at Stubby’s – where they have Crispin Cider on tap, my first indicator they were cool. Our server was quick to check with the chef on safe brunch options and I went with the fan favorite, Tenderloin Benedict: two 3-oz. grilled tenderloin medallions served atop grilled portabella mushrooms with poached Yuppie Hill Farm eggs, finished with Sriracha Hollandaise. (sans tater tots — they brought me fresh pineapple) Because everything was made from scratch, this would have fit right in this week. Ok, maybe minus the Crisposa — Crispin and orange juice.

My breakfast of choice the last two days though, was this.

plain yogurt, sweetened with a little honey. banana, figs and a sprinkle of cinnamon. served with Gluten-Free Girl’s graham crackers

I  had to modify the graham cracker recipe to fit into the “real food” category, but it was worth it. I won’t lie, they were a little better with cinnamon and sugar on top, but I’ll take what I can get.

As I said in my last post, Mark is joining me on this 10 day adventure, which has helped tremendously. (that and my daily hourly emails with Kristi, to keep us on the straight and narrow) This has inspired us to get in the kitchen and get creative. Not only are we focusing on eating real foods, but also eating from the pantry and freezer.

acorn squash stuffed with homemade venison andouille sausage, kale, peppers, celery and onions topped with parmesan cheese

You really could stuff any ‘ol vegetable and the “stuffing” ideas are endless. Just pre-cook your meat (or go meatless) then in the same pan, add in your veggies. Pre-roast your squash, fill with your masterpiece of a veggie mix, bake to warm through and melt cheese.

Real food dinner is served.

See? Endless ideas — on the first night we pan seared some shrimp as a topper.

Not everyone is a fan of venison. Truth be told, I turned my nose up at it for years, until I met my husband. He has the magic touch for all things venison. And we’re not just talking throw some venison steaks on the grill — that was the only way I had tried it prior to Mark’s menu of options, and I was not a fan.

I like mine flavored with a marinade, breaded for venison parmesan, spicy for venison tacos, pounded down and rolled around stalks of asparagus and goat cheese, or double ground with pork shoulder to make sausage.

venison bratwurst patties topped with swiss cheese, pickles and spicy brown mustard  & a quick potato gratin

I guarantee you’ve never had venison all the ways Mark has made it — you would be a fan, promise. Because we are eating out of the freezer, there will be more venison recipes to come.

And keep the veggies coming. Need more ways to incorporate them? Check out Daily Bites – Hallie has some ideas and a recipe for you, plus some giveaways you won’t want to miss. And stay tuned each Thursday as she and other bloggers ring in 2012 with “New Year, New You.” Eating habits that you can carry through the entire year.

*****

One thing that doesn’t fit into my 10 Day Real Food pledge, but still deserves a photo, is this fun-filled package that arrived for me this week. As a runner up in the Cup4Cup cookie contest with my Snowflake Cookies recipe, I received a bag of their C4C gluten-free flour mix, a bowl scraper, and a hand written note from Lena Kwak! (she is the mastermind behind C4C, working alongside Thomas Keller) It’s not everyday you get mail from The French Laundry… kind of a big deal.

(they love my website. yes, in the scrapbook it goes.)

Not only do they have this handy new gluten-free flour mix, but they work hard to provide GF options in their restaurants too. I’ve said it before, we really are in the “golden age” of gluten-free.

When a world famous chef is taking note of the gluten-free community, I can move past the little comments like, “well, yes it’s the same fryer, but it’s such a minimal amount, that it’s fine” (shame on you bartender at Cafe Hollander) I’ll just keep bringing in my own fries from Stack’d. ;)

Off to the gym for a nice long walk. (or maybe I should be outside with these nice temps!)

Thanks to sister Laura for this video — can you limit your sleeping and sitting to just 23.5 hours a day?

video source

How are YOUR new year resolutions going? 

Friday Photos: a crazy week in review

Welcome to Friday Photos, a weekly feature here on Celiac in the City — you can read how it all started by clicking HERE.

We started out the birthday celebration last weekend at Roots, one of my top choices in Milwaukee. They get the gluten-free thing, their menu changes each season, never disappointed. (but I do miss the Kobe pot roast — please bring that back) Talk about learning something new everyday — just went to their site to link you to their menu, and they have gluten-free options listed right on the website. I had no clue. Usually I just show up, ask questions, am taken care, life is good. I had no idea I could have the nachos… and they are amazing.**update: the nacho chips might go into the fryer which is NOT gluten-free, will have to investigate this futher!**  So we’ll be going back soon. You should too. We are fans of the Cellar, their downstairs area that leads out to the patio, with one of the best views of the city.

Cioppino from Roots Restaurant and Cellar

After a night out, with a little too much RumChata, a hearty breakfast was in order. I’m blessed with a husband who, even when sleep deprived, has the energy to whip up breakfast.

6 minute eggs over bacon & onion skillet potatoes, with Molly’s GF Bakery toast

My celiac-sister sent me this book, very fitting don’t you think? It came highly recommended by my dear friend, fellow blogger and food allergy advocate, Christi. She wrote about it here, but you can find her over on her new site here. If she recommends something, it’s worth reading. Want a visual? Watch this video for a sneak peek of the book.

I’m off to La Crosse this weekend, to meet up with my best buddies.

We’re celebrating our birthdays with a trip to the children’s museum, swimming until our fingers wrinkle, (and Auntie Sarah tires out) Happy Feet 2, and giggling way past bedtime.

Happy (almost) Birthday, buddy.

Eggs. A favorite gluten free breakfast. (or lunch. or dinner.)

Before being diagnosed with celiac, I wasn’t able to eat eggs. If they were cooked in something, like baked goods, I was fine, but cooking them up for breakfast was pretty much out of the question. Or, if I did decide to indulge, my stomach would be upset the rest of the day.

So I ate egg substitutes. And I was okay with that. For a while. But I got bored with them because you can really only make those into an omelet or scrambled eggs. And I wanted poached eggs, fried eggs, egg sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, and deviled eggs. The white. The yolk. The whole deal.

I had read that often people who have celiac disease are unable to tolerate eggs and/or dairy. But that after allowing your intestines to heal, there could be hope that your body would accept them again.

I got lucky.

My love for eggs doesn’t have to be limited to egg substitutes.

I can eat eggs any time I want now. (and I do, often.)

Poached eggs have always been a big time favorite for me. They are soft and delicate. I use Poachpods to make mine, but you can just poach them in a pot of water too.

They pair perfectly with so many different sides.

On my recent travels to Denver, I found out that I love hummus on toast. I stumbled upon this when I realized I couldn’t use their butter. (too many knives full of who-knows-what kind-of-bread-products had been in it) But I had fresh Udi’s bread. Not out of the freezer section. And it needed my attention. So hummus it was.

And it’s been making its way to my breakfast plate ever since.

What’s your go-to way to make eggs? Any other poached eggs fans out there?