A hungry girl kind of day

I haven't had too many full nights of sleep this week. Between surgery, a sick animal, and a brain on high alert, there have been many late nights and not enough sleep. In spite of that, there have been some high points. Getting to spend time with friends, play Battlestar Gallactica and the Top Chef game, and discovering fun things on TV including Hungry Girl!

I found this show on On Demand while trying to make myself tired one night. It was all about pasta and pasta swaps with less calories and less fat. And I love myself some comfort food, and I certainly love it when it has a whole lot less calories and fat!

Hungry Girlfredo

Lunch was corn pasta with hungry girlfredo sauce. The pasta was 196 calories, and then the sauce was a combination of one wedge of light Laughing Cow swiss cheese, 1/4 cup fat free sour cream, and 2 tbls of reduced fat parmesan. Overall, the meal had 315 calories and 5 grams of fat. And it was surprisingly delicious.

Dinner was a pasta swap where the "pasta" was a 1/2 bag of broccoli coleslaw (found  in the produce section). You cook it up in a pan and then,  I added 1/4 of a can of Amy's GF tomato bisque. It was quite good actually. Soft enough, but still a little crisy. I think I might like it better than pasta (*gasp*). And-- the whole meal was 115 calories and 2 grams of fat. :)

I also went out today and bought myself one of the old school air popcorn poppers. I remember it being quite a useful thing in college and now I don't have to worry about getting it everywhere when I cook it on the stove or having to read all the microwave bags to figure out which ones have less preservatives.

I think I will be returning to Hungry girl quite soon!

Simple Soup

"I have a recipe for you, it's so easy, all you do is...", began  Amy (thebargainhunterextraordinaire.blogspot.com )as I was preparing to leave to drive home on Saturday. So, I kept the recipe in my mind until I got home, and I never wrote it down. What's great about it though, is that it IS so easy, you don't have to write it down! But if you do want it written down, here it is:



1 Acorn Squash
1 can butter beans ( I couldn't find that so I used Great Northern beans)
garlic powder
1/2 onion (or onion powder)
1 cup milk ( I used plain almond milk)

I cut the acorn squash in half and scooped out the seeds and pulp. I put the 2 sides face down in a glass casserole dish with some water. Put it in the microwave for 12 minutes until the squash gets soft and you can scoop it right out of the shell. Scoop it into a pan, dump in the can of beans (liquid and all), put in some garlic powder and the onion, and milk and let it simmer on medium heat until onions are soft and flavors get more complex. I stirred it occasionally to check for burning. Then you blend the soup up ( I used my hand blender but I'm sure you can stick it in a regular blender too), and eat! Creamy, yummy, filling.

Thanks girl!

What a treat!

I remember back in 2007 when I first discovered that I was gluten-intolerant several well meaning friends letting me know that PF Changs has a delicious gluten-free menu. Now, this didn't mean a whole lot to me at the time because I wasn't quite aware of just how many things have gluten in them. It took some strange, achy jointed 3 month long flulike symptoms in 2009 due to hidden gluten inside my favorite Chai to make me understand the power of that one little protein composite and it's ill effects on my system. Butternuts, an amazing local restaurant with interesting and varied home-grown gluten free options closed at the same time, leaving GF options at restaurants still available but limited, and often boring. I was beginning to think that complex flavored, delicious gluten free meals were only available at restaurants like wd-50 and Arrows and in my own kitchen.

Until...yesterday. :)

At the end of a long week, it was with a happy heart that I headed off to visit one of my favorite people in Boston. Amy and I braved the wind and cold and visited the Museum of Science. After our trip we went to the Mall next door and I saw a PF Changs. I remember Deanna and Michelle mentioning their gluten-free menu so I was interested to see if it was all they said it was. I wasn't disappointed. I ate Chang's Spicy Chicken and it was so good. I want to drive to another soon to see if that beef and broccoli is equally so. And I have heard quite a few good things about their lettuce wraps. So if anyone wants to take a little drive to a restaurant with 28 gluten-free options at a fairly reasonable price, I am so in!

Cardamom Creations



Cardamom Spice Cake with Chai "Buttercream" Frosting

 Have you ever wondered what spice it is that makes chai taste so delicious? Usually we can identify the clove or the cinnamon, but it's cardamom that really makes chai so great. It is equally as great inside a gluten-free & vegan spice cake.

Last time I attempted something out of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book I ended up with a thick brick of bread. This time however, I was much more successful. They make their cake a three layer cake, while mine is only two layers due to my only having two round baking tins. The rest of the batter went into cupcake tins, which allowed me not only to have SO much fun playing with my frosting gun while decorating the cake but the cupcakes too! I shaved some unsweetened bakers chocolate on top to make it prettier. The frosting was a chai "buttercream" frosting made with coconut oil, organic powdered cane sugar, chai, cloves & cardamom. Very rich, and very delicious.

It was fun to make a cake just for the sake of making one. I think that the next cake I'll try out of Flying Apron's will be their Coconut Heaven cake.

What good is cake if you can't share it? I was afraid that the snow would ruin my weekend plans, but I was pleasantly surprised. My brother and sister-in-law came to visit with the boys. Kathleen enjoyed the cake, and I was happy to have her to share it with.