Tuesday To Do List: short week, short list

It’s a Tuesday that feels like a Monday.

I get it.

So let’s make this short and sweet.

 

Check, check, check these off your list this week:

• If your garden is giving like mine, make GAZPACHO! (I use the Cook’s Illustrated recipe — the subscription to their site is worth it for us, they take all the work out of recipes by testing them over and over and giving you tips to try for success every time.)

• On the garden note: THIS recipe for stuffed spaghetti squash (lasagna style!) remains the most popular recipe on the site!

• These flatbread pizzas are a frozen fave.

• One Good Thing by Jillee started following me on Instagram this weekend — this is my equivalent of Oprah following me! 😉 Hi, Jill! I include her clever ideas and posts here often, and am planning on making this “cloud bread” next.

• Many of your kiddos are off to school this week — Linda has  you covered for lunch box ideas! 

• These gluten free, vegan salted chocolate chip bars look like the perfect dessert for the lunch box.

• Fellow traveler and lover of food, Johnna from In Johnna’s Kitchen has your guide to Gluten Free in Memphis.

 

May your Tuesday be short and your coffee be strong. xoxo

 

 

Tuesday To Do List — what to buy, spy, and try! (or sometimes cry about)

Tuesday To Do List is my newest attempt at bringing you tidbits from the gluten-free world each week. This will continue until my mind-that-doesn’t-rest comes up with another way to entertain you guys. You can read my very first to-do list here. Cross your fingers I am back here next Tuesday with another list…

Checked off the list from last week: made the un-pumpkin spice from Alton Brown and the pumpkin puree. (why have I never done this before? THE best.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you spy my lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash over on Prevention Magazine online? Yipeeee!

Too many fall recipes to choose from? I hear ya. Luckily you can see an entire carnival of fall recipes HERE. (I added my pumpkin spice granola!)

I’ve been trying recipes from Yummy Supper. Not only is the book full of gorgeous photos and stories, but the recipes are simple and made with real food. I made Sunshine Soup with ingredients from my own garden — if you don’t garden, this may not seem like that big of a deal, but for me, I get giddy over garden fresh goods. Always have. I think part of it was growing up with a family that gardened. I learned early on that it is hard to beat the flavor of a warm-from-the-sun tomato at peek ripeness, plucked from vine and eaten like an apple. I brought the book with me to our last GF Get Together dinner and my GFFs drooled over it, especially our vegetarian. Maybe you should add it to your list to buy? (or stop by for Sunshine Soup and borrow mine!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try these. No-bake donut holes. (thanks Johnna!)

 

Follow up from last week: the FDA is now investigating reports of illness due to the new “gluten-free” Cheerios. You can see last week’s post HERE, including posts from others in the community. Please read up. Since last week, I have had several people tell me they got sick from Cheerios — pretty please contact the FDA (as well as General Mills) to let them know. You can follow the steps listed here.

Because my mama and dear friend Shirley, from glutenfreeeasily.com, don’t have Instagram, I’m going to try to do a recap of the week’s photos here too. (the first two photos are Shirley’s flourless, gluten-free pizza — make it ASAP.)

So, I spy from Instagram…

(follow along: @celiacinthecity)

dreaming of London: my 1st doughnut from Borough 22 (now available at Selfridges!)

garden fresh = THE best.

#realfood50 dinner: Korean bbq marinaded venison & spicy-sweet garden green beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

quickly become my fave flave: melon & grapefruit (with frozen melon cubes) just add Tito’s. 😉

caprese eggs — waiting for balsamic drizzle

cinnamon glazed popcorn mix from 100 Days of Real Food (my pumpkin spice version was even better!)

coffee lovers: add pumpkin spices to coffee grounds before brewing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s NATIONAL COFFEE DAY — check out yesterday’s post (yes, I know, a day early) for all kinds of coffee treats! Speaking of treats…I owe Lincoln some treats for this sweet photo. 😉

 

As much as I wish I were getting paid big bucks to add these links to my page, I’m not. They are not affiliate links. I’m just sharing to share. (because I love you guys. and coffee.) 

Tuesday To Do List — what to buy, spy, and try! (or sometimes cry about)

Tuesday To Do List is my newest attempt at bringing you tidbits from the gluten-free world each week. This will continue until my mind-that-doesn’t-rest comes up with another way to entertain you guys. Cross your fingers I am back here next Tuesday with another list…

• Once upon a time, I got to meet THE Pioneer Woman — I talked a mile a minute telling her what a big fan I was and that I had found out about her wonderfulness through Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. Although I don’t follow along as closely as I used to, (I’m still sad that Google Reader is no longer!) I’m still a big fan, have a couple of her books, make her baked beans recipe by request, and will probably end up buying a piece from her new collection because it’s so dang pretty. (she is too and she’s hilariously down to earth)

• And speaking of Gluten Free Girl… they have a new cookbook coming out this week! Their recipes have never let me down and I’m guessing this one will not disappoint: American Classics Reinvented. It’s already in my cart to buy on Amazon.

stuffed spaghetti squash: lasagna style

It’s a good feeling to still be using up goods from the garden harvest — squash will actually last quite a long time when stored in a  cool, dry place. (thanks Mamasita!)

If I could get away with it, I would eat pizza every single day. Or lasagna.

No joke.

Or anything Italian for that matter.

Time-out story: I’ve heard Italy can be easier to navigate gluten-free than many other countries, anyone been? It’s on my life list. I’ll get there someday.

But for now… I’ll keep coming up with ways to “healthify” my addiction to Italian foods.

Who’s with me?

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash

1 lb Italian sausage (we like to mix spicy & sweet)

2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce (or see the simple sauce recipe below)

2 tablespoons fresh basil

½ cup ricotta cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (plus extra for topping)

Olive oil

salt & pepper

Roasting the squash

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash spaghetti squash, cut off stem and slice squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and gunk. (save the seeds and roast them!) Brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place, cut side down, in baking dish (9×13 works well) with a little water in the bottom of the dish — as the squash cooks, you can add more water if it dries up. Roast for 45-60 minutes, depending on squash size, or until inside is soft and easily “fluffs” with a fork. It will look like very tiny spaghetti noodles… hence the name, cool huh? 🙂

While squash is roasting, brown Italian sausage in large skillet over medium heat. Remove sausage from the pan and set aside, but SAVE the drippings in the pan for the next step.

If you are using a jar sauce, add that to the pan now and simmer.  If you chose to make the super simple sauce recipe below, use the drippings in the pan instead of the olive oil to start your sauce.  Add the sausage back into the sauce.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and fresh basil, set aside.

When squash is tender, remove from oven and using a fork, scoop, fluff, flake, scrape, whatever you’d like to call it, to get the inside of the squash to look like spaghetti noodles. You don’t have to get at ALL of the squash, you can scoop more later when you get to the bottom after it’s been filled and you’re enjoying it for dinner.

Now we FILL THEM! Start with a scoop of the red sauce, followed by a layer of the cheese mixture, (you can add extra mozzarella on each layer too!) and repeat the layers until you’ve over filled your squash, ending with a layer of red sauce and then topping them with mozzarella. Trust me. Over fill ’em.

Turn the oven to broil and put them back in to brown up the cheesy top.

EnJOY.

xoxo

Simple Red Sauce

1 small yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 basil leaves, chopped
1 large can crushed tomatoes
4 oz tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced (I use a garlic press)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. 

Add onion and celery and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until they start to soften. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with salt & pepper. Reduce heat and simmer while roasting squash, add fresh basil at the end of cooking. 

This recipe is part of Gluten-Free Wednesdays, be sure to check out all of the recipes each week!