Stuffed Summer Squash

This. Is. Amazing. (If you like summer squash.)

Once again, forgive the phone photos, but I had to share this yummy dish - made once as an experiment recently and a couple of times since - before I have a chance to make it again and take "real" photos.

This is the way I intended for the recipe to be made, and it was soooo good, but a little more work. The smaller dishes were the rest of the filling poured into the dishes after I'd filled the squash halves.

The second and third time I made this, I cut the squash into strips and put them flat in the pan and just poured the filling over them, rather than try to fill squash halves.

We were recently blessed with a bounty of squash from someone (our garden hasn't been so great, or big, this year) and I was wondering how in the world to fix SO MUCH before it went bad - and make an entire meal of it. Experiments abound in my mind, so this was one of them and we are all glad it was.

Stuffed Summer Squash

(Printable Recipe)

Total time, start to finish: Under 1 hour

1 large and 3 smaller (or the equivalent in volume) round summer squash (I think this is globe squash?) or the something similar (just make sure you've got the volume - summer squash is all good!)

Water

Butter

1 large white onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups prepared polenta (I used this gluten-free kind from Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup shredded mozzarella, plus more for sprinkling

3 large eggs

Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cayenne pepper, a dash or two

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash squash and grease large 13x9 baking dish. 

Slice off stems and ends of squash, then cut in half. Place squash cut side down onto baking dish and bake about 15 minutes, just until squash insides are getting softer.

Bring water for polenta to a boil and prepare polenta according to package directions, then set aside.

While squash is baking and polenta is cooking, melt a tablespoon or so of butter over low heat in a large pan. Add chopped onion and saute over medium-low heat.

Remove squash from oven and scrape squash with a spoon, leaving a little bit on the skin. (At this point you can either slice the squash skin into thick strips to place back in pan, skin side down, or leave the halves to fill in the pan.) 

Place the squash pieces that were scraped off into pan with onion and raise heat to medium-high, breaking up squash into smaller pieces as it cooks and softens for several minutes.

After squash is cooked down some more and softened, remove from heat. Add polenta and season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper.

Add shredded mozzarella and stir to combine. Whisk eggs and slowly add to filling mixture, stirring quickly to prevent eggs from cooking too fast while incorporating throughout filling.

Pour filling into squash halves (in which case you will need a couple of greased ramekins to use up the rest of the filling), or over squash strips. Sprinkle a little more mozzarella over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees approximately 25-30 minutes or until filling is cooked throughout and squash halves or strips are completely softened.

I hope you enjoy! (And I hope this recipe is more clear than mud!)

Ashley's Chocolate Oat Crispy Treats

I've been putting this post off for a while. Making these treats and taking photos of them, and typing this post, kind of makes something so hard seem more final, like there's no turning back. And there isn't. But it was time for me to do it. Today I decided that my children would have these treats for going back to school on Monday.

Please forgive me and overlook any typos, because I'm likely to be a blubbering mess by the time I'm finished. I try hard to not include much of my personal life in this blog, keeping it mostly about food or tips on the gluten-free lifestyle. I have various reasons for this, but I know people want personal, and I often get more feedback when I do give glimpses of my life. I'm not so sure this will be one of those times, but telling you this is the only way I can give you this recipe. I'm going to tell you a very sad story.

If you've read this blog for a while, you've probably seen references to some difficult things I have faced as of late that I said I would write about eventually, particularly in my "And then comes morning" post.

On March 27, 2013 in the early evening, one of the most beautiful spirits to ever grace this world slipped from earth into heaven. Ashley was a beautiful woman, inside and out, a dedicated wife and mother who loved her husband and four young children fiercely, a loving daughter, granddaughter, niece and sister who blessed every person who came into contact with her, a friend who loved deeply. My friend. My closest girlfriend, my kindred spirit on earth. Gone suddenly after catching an illness that had been in her family, like all mothers do, and within less than a week of getting sick, she left us.

I don't make friends easily, at least not the way I did when I was younger. I have lots of friends. I have a lot of women in my life who I listen to as they talk, needing someone to listen. I am their friend, and I love them. But I don't often let my heart open to them. I don't pour my soul out to them. I live in an area that has a high turnover rate. It's a gorgeous part of the country and I'm often told I live in paradise. But it's remote. It's several thousand people in an area that is nearly three hours from the nearest Target. Seven hours from Whole Foods. People either love it, or can't wait to leave. Many who love it can't find work to sustain them and are forced to leave, or live here for a job that will transfer them in a few years. I have made lifelong friends here. Friends who have to leave. The last time I waved goodbye to one of my best friends a few years ago, I said never again. I couldn't keep opening my heart to people who leave me. Even so, I know I am blessed to have people I can call friends in my life when some don't.

I have several close friends and even a couple of best friends - one I've had since the age of 8. I do love her with all my heart. But only one very close friend still lives near me. I have a sister I love with all my heart and she's one of my best friends, too, but she lives across the country. With the exception of my husband, Ashley was the friend who was my closest in the entire world. She was my kindred spirit. We got pregnant at the same time with our second children, and talked for hours each day about everything. We gave birth days apart and were talking to each other on cell phones through labor. We are so much alike, she and I. We had so many things in common - plus when you go through a pregnancy with another woman you are close to, there is a bond that forms that is unlike any other. When you reach that bond, you are able to talk to one another about anything, without fear of what the other will think or say. Ashley had to move away one day, too. Her husband's career took them several states away, as we had known it eventually probably would. But we kept talking every day for years. And until the week before her death, it was usually at least once a week with texts in between.

I last talked to her about a week before her death. She texted me later and told me she was getting sick with the illness that her family had. On Friday we texted back and forth a little, and over the weekend she took a terrible turn in her sickness. On Monday I learned that she had been put in ICU. It was an up and down roller coaster from then on, with bad news and hopeful news. On Wednesday my youngest lost her first tooth in a manner that was fit for a comedy movie, and I naturally took a photo and started to type up the text to send to Ashley, then stopped myself because she was in a coma at that point. I sent it anyway, letting family know it was there and requesting that it be read to her. It was the last communication I had with her, as she passed on hours later. 

It was such an utter shock, so unbelievable and surreal. There were hundreds, and most likely thousands, of people in serious prayer for Ashley. I won't lie that the fact that God had other plans has been hard to swallow and trust.

Months later I continue to want to text her the latest thing, and still occasionally think I'll hear her voice when I hear my phone ring. When my husband was holding me one night after I'd broken down again, my youngest came in and heard me saying these things. "You can still talk to her, Mommy," she told me. "Yes, baby, I can," I said. "But I can't hear her talk back, and that makes Mommy sad." She smiled and said, "But yes you can, Mommy. You can hear her inside of you." And she's right. I can still hear her voice. I can imagine the answers she'd give me. But it's just really, really hard. I can talk to my husband about anything, of course, but there are just some things that husbands really don't want to know sometimes. Things that you can talk to your best girlfriends about.

And I really want to talk to her about our decision for me to home school our youngest, now starting second grade. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would attempt home schooling with my children. Ashley home schooled her four children (now ages 3-9 - they were ages 2-8 when she passed away). I know she would have so many things to tell me and would love that I was going to try home schooling the sweet girl she felt so close to during our pregnancies.

LIFE can be so unfair, so brutal. 

That a mother of four young children and a devoted wife could be ripped away from those she loves so much and who love her so much is just too much. That her parents and brother, grandparents and aunts and uncles and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law and countless friends could lose her this way is just too much. It makes me really, really angry. And bitter. And it rocks me to my core and shatters my heart to millions of pieces that can't possibly be seamlessly mended ever again. It makes me scream "Why?" and question everything I've ever believed.

As I said in that post mentioned above, it's just too much. It's all too much.

And so I pray. I pray for those hurting and for those who have lost. I pray for our world and for love to reign. I pray for peace and for comfort, for all and for me. And when I don't feel like I can pray, when I feel too angry or bitter or "what's the point?" to pray, I take a big breath, and take one more step, and say, "I know you can hear me, anyway, God, and I know you'll be there waiting when I can start up again."

And yet, life can be so beautiful.

And then I look outside and see new life. I look at my husband and my children and I see love and joy, and eventually a smile or a laugh comes from me. I remember that there is no sadness or pain in heaven, and that those I've lost are there together, and have faith that one day I'll see them again. And that brings me joy, too, in the sadness of missing them.

That Ashley had lived and blessed so many was beautiful. That I have faith I will see her again is beautiful. That we somehow, someday, sometimes get to see glimpses of beauty in our world and sometimes are able to dwell in that beauty until it soaks into our souls is beautiful. That we are blessed with family who loves us and we love is beautiful. There is so much beauty. And so much pain. I'm still in a lot of pain, and grateful for the beauty and family that surrounds me every moment I breathe.

And this cycle starts all over again. Pray. Breathe. Take another step. Smile. Laugh. Cry. Pray. Breathe. Take another step ...

And it's this taking another step that brings me to this recipe. It's a recipe that Ashley and her children came up with several months ago. "They are sooo good! It's tastes a lot like a 100 Grand bar!" she told me excitedly. "You can use it on your blog if you want!" 

Ashley was probably this blog's biggest fan. With the exception of my family who gets to be guinea pigs and tell me first of their enthusiasm or suggestions for my recipes, Ashley was the most excited about my creations.

She texted me the recipe and we made it, agreeing it was a good snack. Somehow back in February I accidentally erased several months' worth of our correspondence. I kept meaning to ask her to send it again, but when we would talk I would always forget and I can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't just text her to ask for it again. And then she was gone, and I desperately wanted to put this recipe on the blog and no longer had it. 

I knew I needed to figure the recipe out, but I kept hoping by some miracle she would text it to me from heaven or those missing texts would just reappear. In an odd way, as long as I kept putting this off, it wasn't quite so final that I couldn't ask her for it again.

With some brainstorming between me and my family who remembered the treat, and a friend she had told about it but hadn't yet shared the recipe with, I think I got it back. I do remember her original called for 2 cups of oats and crispy rice, but when I made it the first time I thought I should cut back on the oats (gluten-free oats seem different to me for some reason). I also couldn't remember if it contained raisins, but my oldest said it did and her memory is generally better than mine so I added them. I'm pretty sure she had cinnamon and vanilla in the recipe, so I added them, as well, but I could be wrong. 

Regardless, I'm pretty sure Ashley would approve of this final version and I hope you do, too. I hope you make it with your children, and hold them a little tighter today and let you know you love them. Cherish the moments with them, and make some memories. And please say a prayer for Ashley's family whenever you make these.

And slowly, every day, there is light that comes out of the darkness. And there is morning after night. 

Ashley's Chocolate Oat Crispy Treats

(Printable Recipe)

Projected prep time: 15 minutes

1/2 cup almond butter (creamy, natural)

1/2 cup raw honey

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons organic extra-virgin coconut oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 cup certified gluten-free rolled oats

2 cups gluten-free crispy rice cereal

1/2 cup raisins

In a large saucepan, place almond butter, honey, chocolate chips and coconut oil and stir over low heat until melted together.

Stir in cinnamon and vanilla. 

Remove from heat.

Gently stir in oats, then crispy rice. 

Fold in raisins.

Line two baking sheets with wax paper and scoop out approximately 2 tablespoons of mixture, gently squeezing into a ball and then slightly flattening. Place on wax paper. 

Refrigerate until set. Store in airtight container, preferably in refrigerator.

Makes approximately 2 baker's dozen.

Squash Casserole and Thanksgiving Menu

It's here again - exactly one week and one day away. Thanksgiving. Are you cooking yet? Are you baking yet? (We've been sick over here in my house, so I'm not. I hope to get to it SOON.)

We have much to be thankful for, even when things don't seem to be going our way, and I'm trying hard to continue counting my blessings each day. Among so many other blessings I'm counting, this year I am thankful that all the scary stuff with my health last year turned out not be cancer or an illness we feared with a poor prognosis. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is no walk in the park, but I'm learning to live around it.

Some of our wall art for Thanksgiving last year - a painting by one of my daughters and leaves the girls made to scatter around the house.

My Thanksgiving menu this year is the same as last, with my goal once again to get as much of it prepared as I am able, and not fret if I don't get every recipe made. (Here is last year's post: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-menu.html)

Thanksgiving Menu:
-Turkey (roasted)
-Gravy (Just whisk together some of the turkey juice with some butter and sweet rice flour or brown rice flour over heat)
-Crockpot cornbread dressing (stuffing)
-Squash casserole (see below)
-Sweet potato casserole
-(Dirty rice, if I have time - another one I grew up with!)
-Broccoli with cheese
-Corn (from my brother-in-law's family farm, sauteed in butter)
-Marinated beets
-Yeast rolls
-Cranberry bread
-Cranberry sauce
-Cranberry jelly
-Fruit salad
-Pecan pie tarts
-Pumpkin pie
-Fresh whipped cream
-(And apple pie if I have time!)

This year I'm adding the recipe for squash casserole to the list (I didn't have the recipe for you last year), and I hope one day I'll have all the recipes on this menu available to you. Maybe one a year??

I'm proud to be able to share the squash casserole with you. It's a recipe from my grandmother and has been in my family for as long as I can remember. I've loved it as long as I can remember, and I love that I've passed my love for it on to my daughters. We always have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's equally good for other meals during other times, as well. The wonderful thing about this recipe is it's very simple and even the prep is mostly just cooking it on the stove with no stirring. It's also nice because you can freeze squash from your summer garden in advance for the casserole months later. You can also prepare the entire dish a few days in advance.

Squash Casserole
(Printable Recipe)
5-6 medium yellow squash (zucchini also works), sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 medium size white onion, chopped
1/4 cup plus extra seasoned bread crumbs (I just make my own and use Italian seasoning)
Light olive oil or grapeseed oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Pinch of dried oregano

Place sliced squash in large saucepan with small amount of salted water, cover and steam until tender. Drain.

In small amount of light oil in a large pan, cook chopped onion until tender. Add seasonings and squash. Chop squash until broken. Cook until most of the water has evaporated.

*At this point you can freeze it if you want, for use later.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Add 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs and stir until combined.

Place in shallow greased baking dish (I use a glass pie pan).

*At this point you can put plastic wrap on top and refrigerate it for a few days - making this an easy dish to prepare in advance.

Sprinkle more seasoned bread crumbs on top.

Bake at 400 degrees until squash is heated through and breadcrumbs are browned - usually about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving, everyone!

Easy Eggplant Cacciatore

It's a great feeling when you come up with an experimental recipe AND it doesn't take too long. Many times the experimental recipes I'm happy with are delicious, but they take longer than I anticipated or have several steps to get them "just right." This is one of those recipes that is fairly quick and you can't get much simpler as far as how to prepare it. It was a winner in our home, and will be made time and time again.

I was thinking the other day of how easy my chicken cacciatore recipe is and how much I love that it lasts for more than one meal. I wanted to do something different, though, and make it even healthier. I can do without meat for most of meals and wanted something that was very filling and would last for leftovers. I switched out the chicken for eggplant in this recipe and wasn't disappointed. It uses only three ingredients!

In the photo above, I just spread a little spinach to the side of the cacciatore. To eat it, I served over a bed of fresh spinach. The spinach wilted a little from the heat and they taste great together.

Projected time, start to finish: Under 1 hour (note if you use brown rice, this will take a little longer unless you cook it in advance)
(Printable Recipe)

2 medium eggplant
Kosher salt
3 cups cooked rice
23 ounces marinara sauce of your choice (I used a jar of Prego marinara)

Start rice to cook, unless you cooked it ahead of time. (When it's finished, let it sit.)

Wash eggplant and chop off ends. No need to peel. Slice eggplant into 1/2-inch (approximately - you don't want them too thin) rounds and then cube the rounds by slicing vertically and then horizontally. You want good-sized chunks of eggplant.

Place eggplant in large bowl and generously sprinkle with kosher salt, tossing to combine. Let sit for about 15 minutes to draw out some of the moisture.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place eggplant in a colander and rinse off the salt, shake to remove excess water then pat eggplant with paper towels to remove more moisture.

Turn eggplant onto parchment paper in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Pour marinara sauce into large pan or skillet, then add eggplant and stir to coat. Heat on medium heat until bubbling, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Fluff rice while eggplant simmers.

Add rice to eggplant, stir to combine and simmer for five more minutes.

Serve with salad or over a bed of fresh spinach (heat will wilt spinach a little bit).

Enjoy!

My photo of beauty today isn't the best quality, but it was the best I could get of this mockingbird. Because I wasn't trying to sleep, the chatter didn't bother me. It was running all around in the front yard making all sorts of racket and looking quite cute.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Super Strawberry Green Smoothie

I came up with this concoction for breakfast this morning and enjoyed it to the last drop. I hope you do, too.

Projected time, start to finish: Under 5 minutes
(Printable Recipe)

 6 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
1 peeled banana
2 large handfuls (about 2 cups) fresh spinach
1/8 cup alfalfa sprouts (optional)
1/2 to 1 tsp. spirulina powder
2 to 3 tbsp. hemp protein powder

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Enjoy!

And for my photo today, I took a walk around the park this morning and mostly looked up. I saw several sparrows twittering around a hole in a branch, nearly at the top of the tree. I zoomed in on my lens to get  a better look, and realized that a mama sparrow was making her nest in the hole. In the photos below, the daddy sparrow is guarding the hole. I didn't get a shot quick enough of the mama flying back into the hole, but I did get a couple of her peeking out. I'm glad I was looking up this morning.

I hope you find beauty today.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Cheese Baked Eggplant with Warm Red Quinoa (and a sunset)

Yesterday was an incredibly busy and hard day with one thing after another. After another. After another. And a disaster caught before it did too much damage. (Thankfully, but still a headache!) I hadn't thought at all about dinner and didn't want it to be another breakfast-for-supper night because that would mean I was eating more acidic than I wanted to for another meal in a row more than I wanted to.

I scanned the pantry and refrigerator and came up with this incredibly easy meal. It was so easy and quick I didn't even jot down ingredients, and don't have much in the way of measurements for you. I didn't even spend time setting up a photo. What I can tell you is that it was good. The whole family liked it. And I felt good about eating it. Easily make it vegan and dairy-free by switching out the mozzarella with vegan cheese.

And after I got it all prepped and cooking, I ran outside a few times to catch yet another gorgeous sunset in our sky. I'm so thankful to live in a place with beautiful sunsets! If you enjoyed yesterday's post sharing my daughter's sunset photos as well as my own, I don't think the volume of sunset photos in this post will disappoint you. Enjoy the beauty, and find some in your day today!

Projected time start to finish: About 1 hour

(Printable recipe)

Eggplant:

2 small to medium eggplant

Kosher salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Approximately 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (use vegan for vegan or dairy-free)

Italian seasoning

Quinoa:

Scant 2 cups uncooked red quinoa, rinsed thoroughly

Water

Pinch of kosher salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Half a lemon

Garlic granules or powder

Wash eggplant and chop off ends. Slice lengthwise in 1/4-inch pieces. Place on two baking sheets and sprinkle salt over top of slices. Let sit about 15-20 minutes to draw out some of the moisture.

While eggplant is sitting, rinse red quinoa thoroughly a few times in cold water. In a medium to large saucepan, add quinoa and about 2 1/2 cups water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until almost all the water is absorbed. Turn off heat.

While quinoa is cooking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Rinse eggplant and firmly pat dry with paper towels or clean lint-free dish towels to remove excess moisture. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush each side of eggplant with olive oil and place on parchment paper. Bake (top rack for gas oven) for about 15-20 minutes.

While eggplant is baking, toss shredded cheese together with a few dashes of Italian seasoning. Don't overdo it - you want just enough to give a light taste but not overwhelm.

Remove eggplant from oven and turn each slice to the other side. Sprinkle seasoned cheese over each slice and return to oven for about 10-15 minutes.

While eggplant is cooking, return to quinoa and toss with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. Add a dash or two of garlic granules or powder to taste (start with a small amount). There should already be enough salt in it, but add more if you need to.

Serve eggplant together with quinoa.

Enjoy!

Here are some more of the sunset photos from last night, in order of the sunset progression. When I first saw the sun setting last night, I thought it was a beautiful sky but it didn't really indicate that it was going to be a spectacular sky later. Sometimes you can tell, sometimes you can't. I was in awe more and more each time I looked out the window and stepped outside. It was just the kind of beautiful ending I needed to such a crazy day. Thankful!

It was one of those sunsets that just filled the sky, even from the side there were beautiful aqua and pink colors.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

(Potato) Kale Soup and Cookbook Review

If you're looking for a comforting soup that you can feel good about eating, you're in for a treat. This soup is not only healthy, it's really quite delicious - and my entire family agrees even with the green color. Both children have asked for seconds when we've eaten it.

(2/28/2012: As a side note, I'm linking this post up to the very cool #Soupapalooza event hosted by Dine and Dish and TidyMom. See the bottom of this post for details and how you can join in, too. There are some really awesome prizes!)

The recipe is just very slightly adapted from the "Kale Soup" recipe in Barbara Kafka's new cookbook "The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food without Gluten and Lactose." Barbara Kafka not only has celiac disease herself, but she is the author of several other cookbooks and is the recipient of the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

I was contacted with a request to review this book and I'm pleased to say that I've so far tried two recipes from it and the whole family has loved each one. I love that all the recipes are free of both gluten and dairy. While I am lactose-intolerant myself in the form of milk, cream and ice cream in their pure forms (I can cook/bake with them and I can eat a little with a Lactaid), I am able to eat cheese, a little yogurt and butter without problems. However, I know several people who aren't able to eat gluten or dairy, or have children who aren't. This would be a great cookbook for them.

Recipes in this book are broken into the following categories: Breakfast; Hors D'oevuvre & First Courses; Pasta & Risotto; Glorious Soup; The Wide World of Salads; Fish & Seafood; Chicken & Other Birds; Beef; Perfect Pig; Lamb; Other Meats; Vegetable Main Courses; Sides; Desserts; Sauces; Basic Recipes (seasonings, stocks, etc.); as well as a pretty comprehensive section covering starches and information on the different types available in this diet.

While the dessert section doesn't include much in the way of baked goods, the recipes look delicious and I look forward to trying them. I especially loved the soup section, which includes a large variety of different kinds of soups. There are a total of 300 recipes in the book, and I think there are plenty to suit any individual's tastes. I don't eat pork because I believe I've developed an allergy to it (didn't really like it before, anyway), or even fix it for my family (my husband cooks up some bacon for himself and the girls on occasion), but I'm sure the rest of my family would like several of the pork recipes offered in this book.

Projected start to finish time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
(Printable Recipe)

1 1/2 pounds kale, washed, stemmed and roughly chopped (about 6 cups)
Approximately 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
*4 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken stock
*4 1/2 cups gluten-free vegetable broth (*use all vegetable broth to make vegan)
4-5 good sized red potatoes, scrubbed with peel on and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste, if desired

Place chopped kale into food processor (work in batches if you have one with 7-cup or smaller capacity) and process until almost pureed. (I probably got it really close to pureed when I made this.)

Move to large saucepan, add oil (she recommends 1/3 cup in original recipe but I found it worked fine to use less - add more if needed) and cook over medium heat for about 25-30 minutes or until the kale has become soft and dark.

While kale is cooking, pour chicken stock into another large saucepan and add potatoes. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes can be easily pierced, about 10 to 12 minutes. (She uses peeled Idaho potatoes in original recipe, but I prefer to use red with the peel on when I'm able.)

If you have an immersion blender, you may want to use it for this next step. I have one, but it's not the greatest so I didn't use it for this recipe. If not, I recommend the blender. I tried this in the food processor first in about 1/4 of the processor bowl (and I have a large processor) and it splattered everywhere and was hot. So, work in batches and add the stock and potatoes to the blender (don't fill too high with hot liquid!) and blend until mixture is smooth and uniform.

Add blended stock and potatoes to to cooked kale and whisk together. Salt to taste, and add just a little black pepper if desired.

Serve with gluten-free crackers if desired.

This recipe made enough for our family of four to make two meals out of it.

Enjoy!

Note about book review: I was given a free copy of this cookbook for review. The opinion of this book, however, is entirely mine.

I'll also share today's photo of beauty in this post:

One of our little male house finches, enjoying a meal in our dining room window feeder.

Find beauty in your day today!

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

**More #Soupapalooza information (see second paragraph above): Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset

Spiced Quinoa Millet Hot Cereal

I'm obsessed. This breakfast became an instant second to my favorite breakfast - baked oatmeal, and may even at some point be tied in first place. And it's SO. Simple. Period.

When I read the lovely Angharad's post on her warm spiced breakfast quinoa last month, it was on my mind until I made it for myself. (If you aren't familiar with her blog, Eating for England, you really should be.) I love quinoa and I love millet, but had never put the two of them together. And before this, I'd only eaten whole quinoa in savory dishes and salads.

But after reading Angharad's description of the cereal, I thought perhaps - maybe, just maybe - I might have a hot cereal I could not only manage to eat but also actually love. You see, I love baked oatmeal and oats that aren't slimy (aka bake the slime out). I love grits (grew up eating them with salt and a pool of butter) but only if they aren't sweet. I can't stand mushy, slimy or clumpy hot cereals. Or cold. I don't even eat my cold cereal with milk because it will get soggy and mushy.

I have no idea how or when I developed such a picky attitude toward breakfast cereals, and I've tried hard not to let my kids on to this lest they become my copycats, but I can't help it. It's who I am. I watch my family eat their hot cereals and wish I could join them in that comfort food.

And now I can.

Because this hot cereal is not slimy. It's not clumpy. It's not mushy. It has crunch. It has comfort. It's delicious. And it's alkaline. (If you omit the yogurt.)

As I stated in my juice post last month, I'm trying to eat more alkaline lately. I'm not giving up all acidic foods, but I'm trying to make sure I'm balancing them out with plenty of greens and alkaline foods.

This recipe is basically the same as Angharad's mentioned above, but I don't add add extra water or milk in mine because of my breakfast cereal issues. Add them if you want. It is so easy to make. I like to make it in the evening and then refrigerate it in an airtight container (after cool - if it's still hot I just stick the pot in the fridge til morning). Scoop some into a bowl, warm it up and spice (or not) and sweeten as desired directly in the bowl. You're done.

I like to flavor mine with a little ground ginger and cinnamon with some maple syrup (like she suggests in her recipe), then sometimes top it with a little vanilla yogurt. It's also fantastic with no spices and just maple syrup.

The flavor combinations in this cereal are limitless. For these photos, I added baked apple slices with a little vanilla yogurt and cinnamon sprinkles. Try it with bananas. Berries and cream. Go tropical with some pineapple and coconut, maybe some macadamia nuts. Try pecans. Almonds. Make it savory. Take this cereal to whatever flavor you want, just make it.

Healthy, alkaline, filling. High in protein, fiber, iron and more. You can't lose!

Projected cook time: 20-25 minutes; Projected prep time: Under 5 minutes
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup whole quinoa (it's easier if you get a brand like Bob's Red Mill that pre-rinses the bitter off)
1 cup millet
4 1/2 cups water
Pinch of kosher salt or sea salt
Spices, as desired (see above for suggestions)
Maple syrup or preferred sweetener, sweeten to taste (two spoonfuls is usually sufficient with the maple syrup)
Yogurt (optional)
Butter, if desired

Rinse grains off first if you don't have a brand that pre-rinsed the quinoa. Place quinoa, millet, water and salt in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the water is absorbed (takes about 20-25 minutes).

Serve hot or let cool in pan and then place in an airtight container and refrigerate until use. Spice, sweeten and fruit it up as desired (see suggestions in paragraph above recipe).

Enjoy!

And I'll also share my photo of beauty I found here in this post. I loved the color of this dove against the white bark of the tree:

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html