Nita, this one’s for you!  I knew it had to be in the house somewhere!

Mango Salsa 

1 c. diced tomato

1 c. diced mango

1/4 c. diced red pepper

1/4 c. red (or green) onion

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

3 T. lime juice

1 T. minced jalapeno

salt to taste

Mix together.  Great over fish tacos!

These are an easy Saturday morning breakfast…using oil simplifies the process. The bittersweet chocolate tempers the earthiness of the biscuit. I named them because the ingredients come from China, South America, Africa, North America, the Mediterranean, the South Seas, and the Middle East. Can you figure out where each ingredient is from?

1/2 cup tapioca starch (aka cassava flour)

1/2 cup amaranth flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup teff flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 bag (more or less) bittersweet choc. chips

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup extra light olive oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients, including the chocolate and almonds, together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, mix the oil and buttermilk together. Add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. If too dry, add a little more buttermilk. Turn out on waxed paper, knead 5-7 times, using the waxed paper instead of your hands. Pat out and cut into circles. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.

The combination of my love of spicy food and a year-long craving for cabbage (is that odd!?) birthed this goofy-named salad. It is a combination of cilantro and cole slaw, thus “Slaw-Rantro”. I know, it falls flat. If anyone wants to come up with a snappier name, I’d be much obliged (although I doubt my family could stop calling it by its current name, we’ve grown rather fond of it). The following recipe is not exact…I’m an eye-baller, so make yours to taste.

Slaw-Rantro

Dressing:

1/4 c. (or more) olive oil

juice of 2 limes (can substitute white vinegar)

Lowry’s seasoned salt to taste

2 garlic cloves

huge handful of cilantro

1 jalapeno, top 1/4 near stem chopped off

Blend in food processor. I think it might also work in a blender, but I’ve never tried. Pour into a bowl. Note: I always blend it first without the jalapeno and pour a little off to mix up for the kids.

Salad:

1 sm. head cabbage, shredded or chopped in food processor (I don’t wipe out the bowl after making the dressing, yum!)

1-2 green onions, sliced (optional)

Toss cabbage and green onions with dressing in the bowl.

My husband loves this salad and he normally won’t touch cole slaw. Two of my four children love it, too.

…I actually got tears in my eyes after tasting the gluten-free carrot cake at the Wildwood Cafe in Austin, Texas. Carrot cake is my absolute favorite cake in the world and, apparently, I’ve missed it.

My sister treated me Thursday to dessert at this wonderful cafe and, like a little kid in a candy shop, I stared in awe of all of the gluten-free little goodies, pastries, and breads on display before me. I think it took me about 7 minutes to decide, and then, greedily, I chose the carrot cake and a beautiful heart shaped sugar cookie dusted with pink sugar. Mmmm…

These delicacies did not come cheap. The cake, a very miniature bundt (“bundt, bundt”- is anyone else thinking My Big Fat Greek Wedding?), was pricey at $3.75, and the modest-sized cookie was $1.75, but to be fair, gluten-free ingredients are expensive in the first place. As far as I am concerned anyone who can make a rice flour carrot cake taste like a real wheat flour cake can charge whatever they want!

You never really realize your emotional connection to food until suddenly 1/3 of everything you had ever eaten suddenly becomes off-limits. I felt pretty lame about the true grief I experienced when it hit me that I would never enjoy dipping really good bread into olive oil and balsamic vinegar again, or that I would have to turn down most anything with a sauce, or pass on, gulp, the enchiladas. But, considering that we are what we eat, in more ways than one (ponder that thought next time you’re at the communion rail, and before you misinterpret what I’m saying, think sanctification, see For the Life of the World for more), it stands to reason that food evokes extremes of emotion.

So, when I tasted my former choice of birthday cake, and it was really, really good, not just a pleasant imitation like many GF goodies, I guess I got a little emotional.

I never realized how much useless brain energy I used up daily to make dinner until I started meal planning. After I began, I also realized how much money I had wasted on rotten produce forgotten in the netherlands of my fridge. I think I probably save $200 a month or more by planning my meals in advance.

But, like many things in my life, I am inconsistent in my monthly plans. One month, I’ll have a plan that I follow with spectacular results, but if I get behind another month and don’t start planning right away, I just wing it until I get it together for the next time.

I am not into New Year’s resolutions, but I do feel the need to reorganize this time of year. I found a meal planning website that I am going to try. Menus4Moms is a free monthly meal planner. One thing I like is that the planner reminds you to chop and saute a ton of onions and freeze the extras for another meal. She is always thinking ahead, something that I am prone NOT to do. She is also realistic, and will incorporate left-overs into the subsequent meals. I will, of course, have to substitute and make them gluten-free, but I am excited to let someone else do my thinking for me! I’ll let you know how it goes!

Sometimes a celiac gets a little desperate for the wonderful flavor of pizza but doesn’t want to go through the work of making her own crust.  I made this recipe up tonight and everyone, especially the kids, loved it.  The amounts I used were based on 8 medium potatoes.  This is actually my estimate, I just threw the cheese in until it looked right.

8 baking potatoes

1 1/2 c. mozarella cheese

1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese

1 can pizza sauce

dash of salt

1 bag Hormel turkey pepperonis, chopped

Bake (or microwave) potatoes.  Cut them in half and scoop out the insides and put into a bowl.  Arrange the potato skins on a foil lined tray.  Mix the mozarella, 1/2 can of pizza sauce, salt, and 3/4  of the chopped pepperonis with the potato insides.  Stir well until creamy.  You can microwave the mixture if your cheese won’t melt.  Fill the potato skins and top with parmesan cheese and the reserved pepperonis.  Broil until the pepperonis are crispy.  I suppose you could also bake them at 350 F for a thoroughly twice-baked potato, but we were all hungry!

Heat the rest of the pizza sauce for dipping.

…your mom makes you a gluten-free pumpkin pie and a gluten-free pecan pie for Thanksgiving. This was in addition to a regular pumpkin, pecan, and apple pie for everyone else. Thanks Mom. I love you, too.