Fried Cabbage

Think you don't like cabbage? I didn't like it much when I was growing up, and I don't like it now in most restaurants. It always seems to be soggy and tasteless if I order it when I eat out somewhere. But, I like cabbage when I cook it at home.  This dish is flavorful, inexpensive, and gluten free (though not calorie free).

Fried Cabbage

3-4 slices of bacon OR 3-4 tablespoons bacon grease OR 3-4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium head of cabbage, chopped

salt to taste

4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped.

2 cups water

Fry the bacon until crisp, set aside. Pour the bacon grease out of the pan, then measure 3-4 tablespoons of it back into it.  Add the chopped cabbage, potatoes and onion.  Toss them all around in the pan several times until they are coated with the bacon grease. Add the water, bring to a boil, then cover the pan with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer until all the water has evaporated, about 30 minutes.

 

I watch it closely near the end of cooking to make sure it doesn't stick and burn. If you have fried some bacon, crumble it on top before serving.

This may not be the most healthy cabbage you have ever eaten, but it sure will be good!

In The Mail Today

I'm sure you remember the sad, sad story of my Big White Bowl. I was really missing it, because I didn't have another bowl big enough for mixing things like that gluten free brownie mix. I bought the mix about three weeks ago--it has been sitting there in the cupboard since then.

This morning, I received a package in the mail from my sister. I have to say, I am so happy first that she thought of me, and second that she sent me this bowl. I live in a very remote area, and have been to all the stores and thrift shops in town and there was just no bowl to buy, anywhere. Now I can make those brownies, probably tomorrow. Thank you, my seester!

Goodbye To A Dear Friend

There has been so much in the news these last few days about the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. While the loss of those two celebrities may be big news, the demise of my long time friend, The Big White Bowl, will have a huge impact on my daily life.


Mine is a loss only a cook will understand. The Big White Bowl has been a part of my life for a very long time. I can't remember exactly when it came into my life, but I think it was Christmas, 1972. My first husband had a charming way of giving me small electric appliances as gifts. And while I really liked that Kenmore Stand Mixer, it was The Big White Bowl that came with it that stole my heart.

The Big White Bowl was made of glass. It was the perfect size and shape for mixing just about anything. The Big White Bowl and I made a good team, and prepared countless meals for my family together over the years. There have been hundreds of meatloaves, pancakes, corn breads, biscuits, cakes, salads, and others too numerous to mention mixed in that bowl. Sadly, I could only find one picture of it in my vast photo collection.

The Big White Bowl moved many times, and has traveled all over the country with me . During the period of my life when I was divorced and moved 15 times in 5 years, The Big White Bowl helped comfort me and my children with many batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was always lovingly wrapped and cushioned during each move, to protect it from harm. The Big White Bowl lived most of its life in Georgia, but has also lived in Florida, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and spent its last days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

When I came home from work last night, FabGrandpa announced the death of The Big White Bowl. He stood there hanging his head in shame, while he told me that he broke The Big White Bowl while he was washing the dishes. While I cried over the tragic loss, FabGrandpa went on to say it was an accident, and that we would try to find another one to replace The Big White Bowl.

I'm sorry, FabGrandpa, we may find another bowl, but none could ever take the place of The Big White Bowl.

Restocked and Ready To Go

We made it out of Wal-Mart alive and with at least some money left in the bank. Whew! It was a marathon of shopping, but we got it all done. I felt a little bit like we were on that game show, Supermarket Sweep, only not quite that fast. FabGrandpa had his list and I had mine, and we took off in different directions. Two carts full. And we had been to Frye's first. Grand total, to steal a phrase from one of my favorite bloggers, Oh Mah Holy Hell! $416.33!!!



But, for all that dough, we do have lots of potential meals. The cupboard is no longer bare. The fridge and the freezer, and the little fridge, all full. We can have some cooking fun now!


One of the reasons the total was so high this time was that we were out of every gluten free thing. I got some gluten free baking mix, gluten free cornbread mix, gluten free spaghetti, and gluten free noodles. And of course, we got some little treats again, too. MMMM, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Those garlic stuffed olives FabGrandpa loves. Stuff to make this. OOO, and stuff to make shrimp and sausage gumbo. Oh, and I found some spring roll wrappers, a new item I have been wanting to try. Don't know yet exactly what I am going to do with them. Yes. I am a fool for food.



So after all that shopping, what did we eat for dinner tonight? Tuna salad with crackers. You didn't expect me to cook after all that did you? I had to put all that shit away, you know.


My goal for the next five weeks, or until I have to go shopping again, is to blog my dinner recipe every day. Here are some of the things I am going to make this month:

Mexican Seafood Soup
Chicken Salad with Guacamole
Stuffed Cabbage
Stuffed Peppers
Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo
Italian Mushroom Stew
Eggplant Parmesean
Fried Chicken Livers (so some days are better than others)

So some days are better than others.

And just in case you want it:

Tuna Salad

2 small cans tuna, drained
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 cup mayonaise

Mix all together well. Served over romaine lettuce with cherry tomatos and crackers.

And The Verdict?...

So today I put the new oven thermometer in the oven and turned it on at 400 degrees. About twenty minutes later, the thermometer was showing 350 degrees. So THAT is why the things I have been trying to cook have not been turning out right.

After fooling around with the oven for an hour or so, I figured out that to get the oven to 400 degrees, I need to set it on 450 degrees. That should make things better as far as trying to make a cake or cookies.

And after all that, I made a gluten free pizza. The crust turned out pretty good. I baked it for 12 minutes at 400 degrees, then put the toppings on and baked for another 12 minutes. Perfect! Oh, and no picture of it because we ate it all!

Oh, Excuse Me...

It has been brought to my attention that I have not written in my blog for 4 days. FOUR DAYS! Where has the time gone? It's not like I was doing anything really important, like working, or cleaning, or even reading the long awaited mail.

It's just that I have been doing nothing. And going nowhere. You know, being a complete mush head. Lolling about on the sofa watching TV. Playing games online at POGO. Sleeping until 10:00 then taking an afternoon nap before snoozing on bed before actually going to bed.

When your life is like that there is absolutely nothing interesting about it, for you or for anyone else.

So, today, we got out of our pajamas and out of the house and went for a drive. Only I was driving so I couldn't take any pictures to prove it. I wanted to go here, but we didn't, so I have nothing to write about. Because I am sure you don't want to hear about how we drove over to Blythe, California to go to K-Mart and buy an oven thermometer:


Oh, Yeah, Baby! and it even says Martha Stewart on it. Now I'm cooking! Oh, sorry.

So, there ya go, all the drama that was the drama, and all the news to make you sorry you asked.

Kielbasa and Potato Soup, Gluten Free

I am currently reading "Sun Kissed" by Catherine Anderson. (Yeah, it is a dumb love story romance) I started reading her books this summer when I found them in the tiny library at the North Rim. One of the characters in this book was cooking for his family and was making Kielbasa and Potato Soup. There was no recipe given in the book, but it sounded so good that I decided to make some.


Here is the recipe I used:


4 large red potatoes, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of green onions, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves garic, minced
1 pkg kielbasa, cut into bite sized pieces
1 small can evaporated milk
2 cups water or chicken broth
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Cover the potatoes with water and cook until tender, drain, set aside.


Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and garlic--sautee until tender. Add the kielbasa, sautee until the meat is heated through, about 5 minutes. Mash the potatoes coarsely and add to the dutch oven. Add the seasonings and milk. Combine the tapioca flour with the water, then add to the dutch oven. Turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.


This soup was thick, like New England Clam Chowder consistency. I served it up with some gluten free crackers and some swiss cheese slices. There was none left to take pictures of.

Pumpkin And Peppers

A while back, I was invited to a potluck dinner at the campground. Someone had brought a most interesting dish that was made with sweet potatoes, red peppers, and onions. I know it sounds weird, but it really was good. So, this weekend when we went to the grocery store, they had some of those little sugar pumpkins and the first thing I thought about was that sweet potato dish. I got one of the pumpkins and used it instead of sweet potato. Do I have to tell you it was YUM!



To make this, use a small sugar pumpkin. Cut it open and scrape out the seeds and stringy stuff. I cut mine into four pieces. Spray it with olive oil, put it on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for one hour. Let it cool enough to handle it, then scoop out the pumpkin pulp and throw away the peel.

For my pumpkin and peppers, I put some olive oil in a skillet. Sautee some red pepper strips and onion. Add in two cups of the pumpkin and cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Add salt and pepper to taste. Very easy, very yum. I served it with baked ham and broccoli. I think it is my new favorite dish. I know I will never buy canned pumpkin again.

I used the rest of the pumpkin, about 5 cups, to make a pumpkin souffle.

5 cups cooked pumpkin, mashed
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 small can evaporated milk + 1 can of water
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all together well, and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. MMMMMM.

Not Much Going On

Yes, we had days off, three of them, but we didn't go anywhere. Well, I didn't go anywhere. FabGrandpa went to Kanab, to have some more work done on the truck. This time, it got a new starter. And I think this is the last thing we will need to do for a while. At least I hope so.

(Kathy and Zach)

He got up and was ready to go around 5:00 a.m. yesterday. I got up just about the time he left, took a shower, and went back to bed. I finally got up for the day around 9:30, just in time to have a cup of coffee before he came back home.

(Shirley, John, Bob, and Gary)

Later, in the late afternoon, we had a dinner party across the street. Kathy and Ace had been gone to the South Rim for three weeks. I had been watering her plants, and a couple of others had been feeding her Kitty, so to thank us all, they made dinner. MMMM, they had potato salad, baked beans, and pork ribs. All of it was very good, and all gluten free I might add. After we all ate, we went out to the fire ring and just visited around the campfire. What a nice, relaxing, day.

(Gary and Sue)

So, since I will be on the late shift when I go back to work tomorrow, I have been cooking all day so we will be able to eat at a halfway decent hour all the rest of the week. I have baked chicken thighs, country style pork ribs, potato salad, rice, jello salad, pinto bean soup and tuna salad. for tonight, it will be stir fried chicken with garlic, french cut green beans, corn and the last of my sweet red Italian peppers. I'll serve it with some rice and a pear salad, then we'll eat the last of that chocolate cake. (John and Zach)

And while all that cooking was going on, we also defrosted the refrigerator, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed all the carpet and shook all the rugs, and just generally cleaned everything. Yeah, how exciting! But now it is done and next time we have time off, we will go somewhere and I will come back with some fabulous pictures to share. But, for now, just know we are living the good life up here on the Kaibab Plateau.

(Ace and FabGrandpa)

Chicken Corn Chowder

I found a really good deal on chicken the other day—only 89 cents a pound for leg and thigh quarters. The only catch was that you had to buy 10 pounds of it to get that price. Those of you who know me know that I live in a tiny little travel trailer and have a tiny little freezer. That 10 pounds of chicken just about filled up the freezer. So I have been cooking chicken just about every day for the last week. In order to not have the same old thing day in and day out, I have been trying new things. The chicken of the day for today may be the most yummy thing made with chicken, EVER! If you have a gluten freedie that you feed, or even if you don’t this should be on your menu soon. It tastes like love in a bowl.

Chicken and Corn Chowder

2 cups cooked chicken, diced
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
3 shallots, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 ½ cups frozen creamed corn or 3 ears fresh, scraped off the cob
2 oz evaporated milk
¼ cup sour cream
1-3 tablespoons potato flour (or regular wheat flour if you are not gluten free)

Put the chicken, broth, corn and potatoes in a dutch oven and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. In the meantime, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onion, celery, and shallots and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the onion mixture to the dutch oven. When potatoes are done, add the evaporated milk and sour cream. Add flour and stir until desired thickness is achieved.

This is very good served with buttered gluten free bread or cheese toast.

For an interesting variation, add a couple of roasted, diced poblano peppers with the onions. Yuummmm!

Problem Solved

One of my favorite hobbies is collecting recipes and cookbooks. For most of my life, I have done this, and collected book after book. However, when Jim and I sold our house and all our stuff and moved into the travel trailer, the weight of books turned them into a heavy luxury I could no longer afford. With a GVWR of just 9,500 pounds, it became more important to have things like underwear, pots and pans, and a laptop than a couple of boxes of books. So, I picked out about 6 books with which I could not part, and sold the rest. My very most favorite cookbooks are:

A Taste Of Georgia

Eat Smart For A Healthy Heart

The FrugaI Gourmet

I started checking cookbooks out of the libraries in the towns we visited, and making copies of recipes I liked and thought I might someday try. But, then, I started accumulating this gigantic pile of paper. What to do?

I bought a scanner, and started scanning the recipes and saving them on my computer. But, the scanner only made a picture of the page. In other words, if I wanted to change the recipe in any way, I could of course print it out, write notes on it, and scan it in again. What a pain. And a jpeg file is huge—it takes up a lot of room on a hard drive. I had to have a better way. Especially now that I am eating a gluten free diet, I like to take the recipes I find, and use them as a starting point to change them around to make them gluten free.

The other day I was sitting there thinking about this problem and came up with a solution for it. I searched the internet for a freeware OCR program, and found one called TopOCR. I downloaded it, and installed it on my laptop. It is not that hard to use, and does exactly what I wanted it to do. It did take a little patience to figure out because the help files are not that informative, but it only took me about 30 minutes to get it installed and working.

I scanned my first OCR pages from a cookbook today and saved them in text format. Now, when I want to change them in any way, all I have to do is type the changes in the document. I wonder why I didn’t think of this a couple of years ago?

I am going to be experimenting with making gravy, using tapioca flour to begin with. I am really missing gravy now that it is cold outside. I hope to be able to post some gravy recipes soon. If anybody out there who is eating gluten free has any ideas about making gravy, I sure would like to hear about them.

Stew Day

A couple of years ago when I was anticipating a visit from my vegetarian daughter, I was looking for a good vegatarian recipe to make for dinner. The recipe I found for Italian Mushroom Stew looked very good, and believe me, it is very yum! I have altered the original recipe a bit, because Jim and I are not vegetarians, and we do like the flavor that a little bit meat adds to this dish. If you don't eat meat, just leave out the sausage, the mushrooms will have a flavor all their own. This is of course, gluten free.

8 oz white button mushrooms, slice half, finely dice the other half
8 oz portabella mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup diced celery
4-5 cloves garlic, minced (I use a whole head of garlic, but we love garlic)
1 Italian sauage, remove the casing and crumble up (about 1/4 lb)
2 16 oz cans stewed or diced tomatoes
1 can water
1/2 lb. fresh or frozen greenbeans, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 tsp. dried basil (I use more, use your discretion)
1 tsp. dried italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sautee the mushrooms, onion, celery, and garlic until the onions are clear. Add the Italian sausage, and cook until the sausage is browned. Add all the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for an hour. Serve over rice or pasta.

To go with this delish stew tonight, I made some bread sticks from a prepackaged mix from Chebe. They were ok, but could have been better if I cooked them just a bit longer. With this mix, you add two tablespoons of oil, 2 eggs, and 1 cup of cheese, and then knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth. It reminded me of making sausage balls with Bisquick back when I still ate wheat, so I am thinking I might try making some sausage balls next time just to see how they turn out. Hmmmm...

Bean Soup Weather, Again

The weather here in Pennsylvania has been cool for almost a week now. Today is supposed to be 85, but it is already after one o’clock and it is still only 72 degrees out there. I am loving it, but hope it does warm back up as I really don’t want to have COLD weather yet.

Yesterday I did another version of bean soup, so here it is for you all to enjoy:

1 lb dried white beans (I used cannellini beans)
1 good-sized hunk of salt pork, preferably with some lean in it
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the beans for a couple of hours, until they are soft. Add:

1 pkg Bird’s Eye Sugar Snap Stir Fry (sugar snap peas, carrots, onions, mushrooms)
1 large yellow squash, cut up
2 large fresh tomatoes, cut up (peel and seed if you want to, I didn’t)
1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried basil ( I really like basil)
1 tsp dried oregano

Cook for about an hour longer. This was really good, although I can’t take full credit for the recipe, as there was a recipe for minestrone on the bean package, which I followed very loosely. I just happened to have that package of frozen vegetables in the freezer, and since it had most of the vegetables called for in the original recipe, I dumped them in. My husband, Jim, really like it, too, but he asked for cornbread to go with it. I just doesn’t seem like a cornbread kind of soup to me.

Cooking For the Daughter-In-Law

We got up late on Tuesday morning. While we were having our coffee we were discussing whether or not to call Sarah, our daughter-in-law and ask if she wanted company, when the phone rang and it was her. She had been to her doctor appointment and wanted to tell me all about it. Our little Owen is due in about 58 days now. So, we decided to get in the truck and drive down.

On the way, we stopped at a farm market and picked up new potatoes, green beans, squash, peaches, and blackberries. Those blackberries were as big as my thumb!

When we arrived at their house, Michael was in the yard playing with his friends. As soon as he saw our truck, he raced across the yard to greet us. I heard him telling his friends "It's my grandparents!" That made me feel really good, like a real grandmother. And when Sarah saw the bags of groceries, she said to me, "As soon as I hung up the phone, I thought to myself, yeah, she's gonna cook dinner for me, yum!"

That night, I cooked dinner, except for the pork chops, which my son, Seth, did on the grill. We had green beans with new potatoes, fried yellow squash with onions, fresh creamed corn, and a peach-blackberry crisp based loosely on a recipe from Karina's Kitchen at the Gluten Free Goddess blog. Everything I cooked that night was gluten free, but I did not tell my family that it was because I did not want any bias in their opinion of the meal. They all raved about the food,most especially about the crisp, which they insisted on calling a pie. It was all good.

I used white rice flour to coat the squash before frying, which is the first time I have done that. The squash turned out very crispy and golden brown, and seemed to me to be better than when I used wheat flour for all those years of cooking it. I used rolled oats and rice flour for topping of the crisp. The only negative comment I had was that it was too chewy. Oh, well, if that is the only thing then it wasn't too bad.

We only got to stay for one night, then had to come home as we had not really planned on going down there. But we did make plans to go back in two weeks. So, that was our days off this week.

Amazon Grocery Gluten Free Section

Yes, this is a commercial, so if you get offended by commercials, please tune out now. :)


Since we live fulltime in a travel trailer, I have been worried that I would not be able to find my favorite gluten free items in the next town we end up in, so I have been doing some serious web surfing trying to find gluten free items at affordable prices. Well, today, I found the Amazon Grocery Gluten Free Section. They have a big selection of everything gluten free. Yes, you have to order multiple packages from them, but they do offer good prices and some things have free shipping.

One example I can give you is their xanthan gum. The local health food store here sells a 6 oz. package for $11.95. The Amazon Grocery sells 8 oz. packages for $8.16 with FREE shipping. I would be very likely to try to find someone to co-op with at those prices.

OK, end of commercial. Thank you for your time.

Blueberry Cornbread

Being a girl from the south, I grew up eating cornbread. The cornbread I always made before I started eating gluten-free was made with this recipe:

1 cup self rising corn meal mix
1 cup self rising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
enough buttermilk or 2% milk to make a thick, pourable batter.

Mix well and pour into an iron skillet that has been on an eye on top of the stove heating up the oil, so that when you pour in the batter it sizzles. Bake in a 420 degree oven until golden brown.

I loved that cake like corn bread, so much that at times I made it every night for dinner, and ate a piece with butter and white Karo syrup for desert.

Now that I can not eat the wheat flour, I have had to rethink the recipe. Tonight I decided to make some cornbread with some fresh blueberries in it because I had too many blueberries in the refrigerator.

Here is the new and improved, gluten-free corn bread:

1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup white rice flour
1/8 cup powdered buttermilk
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon xanthan gum
1/8 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% milk or water
1 cup fresh blueberries

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add egg and liquid, and stir until mixed well. Stir in blueberries. Pour into iron skillet that has been heating up on top of the stove with some olive oil in it, then bake in a 425 degree oven about 30 minutes, until browned on top. Serve with butter.

This version was pretty good. I think next time I will add a little salt to the batter, though, and see how that works.

Now I Know

I have been gluten free since about the middle of April. Since then, I have been very faithfully GF, something I was very proud of because I felt so much better. But, my grandchildren, Sarah and Michael, came to spend a few days with me. The last day they were here, I made them some french toast, and I ate two pieces of it with them. Just because it smelled so good, and because I just wanted to.

So, I have been wondering which of the many symptoms I had would come back fastest if I "cheated", if I ate something made from wheat flour. Now I know. My legs and feet hurt so bad I could hardly walk for two days. Not just a little sore, but an ache down in my bones that required several doses of pain releivers (over the counter). I don't think I will be doing that again any time soon. Oh, yeah, and my face broke out in pimples, too. Yuck.

A New Yummy Gluten Free Pizza Recipe

I have been tryng out different pizza dough recipes for a couple weeks now, trying to find one Jim and I can both eat and like. Here is the one I tried today. It was really good, so good that Jim was bragging to the people we work with that I made a de-lish-ous homemade pizza for lunch. He said it is a keeper recipe.

For the crust:

1 packet rapid rise dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp. Brown sugar
2/3 cup white rice flour
½ cup tapioca flour
2 tsp. Xanthan gum
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar

Add the yeast and brown sugar to the water, and stir to disolve the yeast. Set aside. Measure all the dry ingredients and put in a medium size bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, and yeast water. Stir with a fork until a ball forms. The dough will be soft. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about double in size. Stir down the dough. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray foil with olive oil. Spread dough with the back of spoon til very thin, making sure you close up any tears or holes in the dough.

For the topping:

1 jar of Classico Pesto sauce, or homemade pesto sauce
black olives
2 or 3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
pepperoni or cooked Italian sausage
1 cup shredded mozzeralla cheese

Spread the pesto on the pizza dough. Add Italian sausage or pepperoni on top of the pesto. Slice tomatoes very thin, and add on top of the meat. Slice the black olives on top of tomatoes. Sprinkle cheese over all. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Let the pizza rest for abut 5 minutes before slicing.

This was very good. The bottom of the crust was a nice golden brown, and the whole crust was crispy and chewy, just the way I like pizza dough. I am going to try this again next week , but use the dough to make some bread sticks. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Gluten Free Bruschetta

Isn’t it strange what we start to crave when we know we can’t have it? The latest thing I have been about to die for is Bruchetta. You know, the classic Italian dish that starts out with Italian bread, toasted and buttered, then spread with a combination of chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil? So, that was my cooking project for today. I took the pizza dough recipe from Meesh’s blog, cooked it without any pizza toppings on it. Then I put on my bruschetta salad, and Oh My God! Was it ever good.

Here is the recipe for the topping:

6 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
12 small “balls” of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut up
several sprigs of fresh basil, chopped
¼ to ½ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, if you can control yourself. Spread over cooked pizza crust that has been cut into bread sticks.

YUM! This stuff makes a complete meal for me when I have a tossed green salad with it.

Making Meals Ahead, This Week's Menu

Last weeks experiment with cooking several meals at a time was a huge success. So much so that I did it again this morning.

Today’s menu was ham, baked sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, gluten free spaghetti, rice, and green beans. I cut the ham in half, and cooked half of it. I sliced half of that, and put it in a zip lock bag for sandwiches. I used the rest of the cooked ham for a homemade ham salad. The uncooked half of the ham will be used for cooking some beans tomorrow, for a macaroni and cheese with ham dish that I make (gluten free elbows of course) and for sandwiches and omelettes later in the week. I will probably use the sweet potatoes to make a casserole tomorrow. Here is my recipe for Ham Salad:

3 cups ground cooked ham
2 boiled eggs
1/3 cup sweet pickel relish
2 tablespoons mustard
1 onion, chopped
½ cup mayonaise

Mix all ingredients well. Serve wth crackers, chips, or celery sticks, or as sandwiches.

It takes a lot of work for a couple of hours one morning a week, but it sure does make my life easier during the week. Althought it takes us all week to eat a ham, and it means that we eat it every day that week, we do love ham. It is also very versatile, and easy to cook, and easy to make a gluten free diet work with it. But, next week we’ll have chicken.