Meatloaf

This is my standard meatloaf recipe, made many times, so it's tried and true! I've been meaning to post it on here for ages (so the picture is from a couple months ago). I put it into the weight watchers recipe builder and it comes out to 6 points per serving. 

Meatloaf
Yeild: 12 servings

2 eggs

1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cups gluten free bread crumbs
1 onion
1 small carrot
2 lbs ground beef or ground pork (or a mixture)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbs prepared mustard

Directions:

1. Beat eggs in large bowl, add milk, salt, pepper and crumbs.
2. Add onions, carrots, and beef. Mix well and shape into meatloaf pan.
3. Combine brown sugar, ketchup and mustard, spread over loaf.
4. Bake in oven at 360 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Meatloaf

Battle of the Bulge

I just returned from a week at an amazing all-inclusive resort in Cancun. I have to say, in terms of wanting to lose weight, there's nothing more motivating than spending a week in your bathing suit surrounded by skinny, beautiful people! Ugh. About halfway through the trip I decided that I'd join weight watchers as soon as I got home.

I've been gluten free for over a year now. When I first went gluten free the thought of dieting at the same time as learning this new way of eating was just too much for me. So I decided to focus on the gluten first. I didn't mean to let a whole year go by before getting serious about battling my bulge. 

My biggest problem is actually is my love for wine. Sweet, beautiful, wonderful wine oh how I love thee. Every night.  So I had to come to grips this week with the fact that if I want to be serious about losing weight, I'm going to have to cut down on the wine consumption. 

I'm on day 3 of weight watchers, I'm doing the online version - and so far so good!  I'll start posting some of the photos and recipes with the points as I go along. Last night I made a big batch of turkey chili! 

Excellence Playa Mujeres

Broccoli Chicken Divan (using cream soup)

Broccoli Chicken Divan

Broccoli Chicken Divan

Yield:  6 servings

1 lb cooked, cubed chicken breast (about 3 cups)

1.5 lbs steamed, fresh broccoli (about 6 cups)

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I found a store brand that has no gluten)

1/5 cup milk

1 tsp mustard

salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded aged cheddar 

1 cup breadcrumbs *see note below

* For these breadcrumbs, I lightly toast 2 slices Udi's GF bread then whirl in my mini chopper along with a few shakes of parmesan cheese and about 1 Tbs butter until it's a fine crumbly mixture.

Directions:

1. Arrange chicken and broccoli in a 9"x13"baking dish and top with cheddar cheese.
2. Whisk together the cream of chicken soup, milk, mustard and salt & pepper.
3. Pour the the soup mixture over top of the broccoli, chicken and cheese and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (make sure crumbs don't get to brown).

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Coconut Cookies

Long title huh?  Well, I wanted to make sure all the key ingredients were listed! Oh and I didn't even have room to mention that these are a breakfast cookie. Not that they have to be breakfast cookies, they can be anytime cookies, but I was specifically trying to make these a low fat and healthy muffin alternative. 

I'm not brave enough to venture into baking with gluten free flours yet (mostly because I hate baking), so instead of a breakfast muffin, I decided to go with a flourless cookie instead.

This recipe is still a work-in-progress. I've made these twice so far, adjusting the ingredients slightly each time and plan to change things just a little more next time too by substituting coconut oil for the butter. The recipe is great as is, but just a tad crumbly.

These pictures are from the first batch I made...

Before Baking

Fresh out of the Oven

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Coconut Cookies

 

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Coconut Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies

1.5 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

2 Tbs brown sugar

2 Tbs raisins

2 Tbs coconut

2 Tbs chocolate chips

1 egg

1 Tbs honey

2 Tbs butter, melted (update: I used coconut oil with good results!)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a mini food processor. Pulse to combine and lightly grind up the oatmeal. 
2. Transfer the dry mixture to a mixing bowl, then add the raisins, coconut and chocolate chips.
3. In the mini food processor, combine the egg, honey, butter and vanilla, then pour into the dry mixture and stir to combine.
4. Measure heaping Tbs of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. (you should get 15 cookies)
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Gluten Free Sweet & Sour Pork

Here's my gluten free sweet & sour pork recipe. I've been using this recipe for years (like 15+ years!), but I've tinkered with it so many times that it would be interesting to go back to the original recipe now to see how different it is. Actually, the original recipe was for sweet and sour chicken, but I've used chicken/pork interchangeably over the years and both work great!

I prep everything before cooking so that it comes together easily.

I sprinkled some pepper, ginger and garlic powder onto the pork while it browned (not in instructions).

Everything cooking up nicely. Isn't it pretty!? :)

This is after adding the sauce, pineapple and water chestnuts.

And VOILA! The Sweet & Sour Pork served on Rice.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Yield:  6 servings

1 pork tenderloin, cubed or sliced
1 cup carrots, sliced into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 onion, sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce
1/4 cup cold water (or chicken broth)

3 Tbs firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp ground ginger  
1 14 oz can pineapple tidbits (including juice)
1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts

Directions:

1. Spray cooking spray in a large pot or wok and cook pork over medium-high heat, until lightly browned. Add carrots, peppers, onion and garlic and continue cooking until crisp-tender.
2. In a bowl, combine vinegar, soy sauce, cold water, brown sugar, cornstarch and ginger. Pour over pork mixture and stir in pineapple tidbits (including juice) and water chestnuts.
3. Cook until boiling, about 2 minutes. After it comes to a boil I usually take it off the burner, cover it and let it sit for a few minutes before serving. Serve over rice.

Carnival Cruise - Gluten Free Review

And finally - Gluten Free review of my Carnival Cruise... 

Our 7-night Carnival cruise aboard the Splendor was a success! We all had a great time and the kids loved Camp Carnival. 

I was excited to see how the gluten free experience would be. The first night we wend to the main dining room and I informed our server that I'm gluten free, so he sent over the restaurant hostess to speak with me. She was very accommodating and told me what my options were for dinner that first night. From then on she came to the table every evening to take my gluten free order for the next night. 

I meant to take pictures of everything, but I can't tell you how many times I finished eating and then smacked my head with my hand as I realized I forgot to take a picture of my meal *again*, ugh. So here are a few photos that I did remember to snap:

Gazpacho

French Onion Soup

Stuffed Mushrooms

Yukon Gold Potato Cream Soup

Assorted Seafood Newberg Style

Steak with Vegetables

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Not sure what this was but it tasted like white chocolate mousse

Cherries Jubilee

 

Gluten Free Bread

 Everything was really good. The gluten free bread grew on me. The first night I took a bite of it and went YUCK! But they kept bringing it to me every night so I just kept trying it and I honestly liked it more and more. The best way to describe it is like warm biscuits. So I just slathered on the butter and ended up kind of missing it by the time I got home from the cruise.

I started off being really careful when I'd eat breakfast and lunch up at the buffet, but by halfway through the week I quit worrying about it. Like I've mentioned before, I do not have celiac disease, the main reason I east gluten free is because it really helps with my tummy issues (IBS). I still used common sense with the food choices I made, but I just stopped worrying about hidden gluten. And I was fine and didn't have any ill-effects.