Breaded baked white fish

This fish was so delicious. We both kept going back for a little bit more.

All it is, is fish + cornmeal + seasonings:

1 c. cornmeal

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Mix that all up on a plate. Take a piece of white fish (tilapia, sea bass, cod, whatever is on sale at the grocery store) and lay it on top of the mixture, flipping it and patting the cornmeal onto each side with your hands. Place the fish on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Serve with carrots and a simple cabbage/ zucchini slaw. 

Shrimp Scampi with mussels

This is such a good, simple dish. Shrimp, mussels, garlic, wine, and parsley. A few sweet peppers for a flavor boost, and some peas because that's how I like it. Served with some GF pasta. 

Ingredients:

12 frozen mussels

1/4 lb raw shrimp

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. olive oil

3 small sweet peppers, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

white wine (I don't drink a lot of white wine so I used those little single serving bottles of pinot grigio)

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper

1/4 c. frozen peas

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. In the meantime, heat a pan to medium-high heat. Sautee the peppers and oil until they are soft and have a little char. Add in the garlic and heat that for a minute. 

At this point the pasta water should be boiling. Add your favorite GF spaghetti noodles. 

Pour the bottle of wine in the pan with the peppers and add in the mussels. Cover the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When 3-4 minutes are left, add the shrimp and leave the lid off. Stir in the red pepper flakes, parsley, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When the timer goes off, it's done. At this point I like to add frozen peas. Drain the noodles and toss them into the pan with everything else. 

Discard any mussels that did not open. 

Serves 2.

red beans and rice with sausage

We accidentally used up the green bell pepper that I had bought to use in this recipe. You know what was in the fridge? Half of a poblano pepper. Ooh, cuz. That kicks up red beans and rice real nice.

Red Beans and Rice

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 chopped poblano pepper

1 stalk of chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

cayenne pepper

rubbed sage

salt and pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can of red beans

1 link of andouille sausage, sliced at an angle

Sautee the onion, pepper, and celery in a little bit of olive oil. When the veggies are soft and charred, add in the spices, herbs, and beans. Simmer on low heat while the rice cooks, about 15 minutes.

My pan got full and I like my sausage nice and charred, so I heated that in a separate pan and added them in at the end.

Yum.

breakfast quinoa bowl

Usually I eat the same thing for breakfast. An egg, some greens, and fruit.

Last night we had some leftover quinoa that doesn't really incorporate well into the rest of the meals planned for the week, and I didn't feel like making it into a side salad, so I figured I'd work it into my breakfast. 

I made a bowl with the following:

kale, torn into small pieces

finely sliced red cabbage

quinoa

olive oil

salt and pepper

fried egg, over medium and chopped up

diced avocado

It was pretty good, and has kind of inspired me to try some other variations of quinoa for breakfast. 

Not sure how a sweet version would taste, with cinnamon, peanut butter, or fruit, like instead of oatmeal? 

Eh, I might just stick to savory.

Blake's GF chicken pot pie

I had to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights last week and I found this great gluten free section in the nearest grocery store. I always, always have to try the chicken pot pie, so when I saw Blake's gluten free pot pie (and dairy free, from what I could see on the ingredients list) in the frozen section, I grabbed it.

Not expecting it to be great, I popped it into the microwave after a long day and poured a glass of wine.

When it was done, it seemed to be all pale crust and minimal filling, which disappointed me. But, it was dinner, so I ate it with a salad.

And it was actually good! The crust was so good that I wished there was more of it. The filling was good, too. Nothing weird, no strange aftertastes, just yummy.

Would definitely buy this again.

beef quesadillas

You know what's good? These quesadillas. 

I'm all about quick and easy lately, and these happened when I had some ground beef thawed with no idea what to do.

Here's what you do:

Heat some chopped onion in a pan with the ground beef until it's brown. Add in taco seasoning. 

Spread some Kite Hill Cream Cheese (the best dairy free cream cheese I've tried) onto a corn tortilla and top with the ground beef and some sad spinach. Place another tortilla on top and cook on a hot pan until each side is crispy. 

Serve with mexican rice, black beans, and sliced avocado. Instead of sour cream I tried Forager plain yogurt. It was a little runny but the taste was good.

Popovers

Of course I find myself with a hankering for a sandwich right in the middle of a quarantine situation. I usually keep a loaf in the freezer, but I ran out a while back and never replaced it. Sure, I could go out and search for gluten free bread in this virus-y world (and may or may not find any), or I could stay safe at home and improvise.

I experimented with gluten free bread recipes back when I was first diagnosed, and after many terrible loaves made their way into the trash can, I decided not to waste my time and ingredients anymore. By that time, several brands made a decent gf bread and I was happy to give them my money.

Quarantine or not, there's no way I'm going to attempt making gluten free bread again. However, there are these popovers... they look unremarkable but are actually kind of magical.

The first time I had popovers, my sister made them for Thanksgiving years ago, and they were so good. 

No yeast, no fuss, just quick and easy and... fun.

Once you split them in half, they make the perfect little slider-sized bun. They are also phenomenal with butter and jam. 

I was skeptical after reading the recipe she used, because there's no leavener-- how do they rise?? I pulled a chair and sat in front of the oven to watch and... they do.

Popovers

1 c. gf flour mix

1/8 tsp salt

1 c. almond milk

3 eggs

Mix the salt and flour in a bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk in a separate bowl and pour it into the flour mixture. Mix well and pour the batter into a muffin* tin sprayed with cooking spray. You want to spray the entire inside of each well so that they rise evenly. Fill each well about 2/3 full.

Place into a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then decrease the heat to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes. They will drop as they cool, but that's okay.

*If you use an actual popover pan they will be taller, but a muffin pan does the job.

Makes 9 popovers.

P.S. If you think of Little Women (1949) when you hear the word, "popovers," then we can be friends forever.