Don't touch my coffee!

I am desperately trying to be a morning person. Getting up in the morning to yoga, a nice breakfast, some quality time with my huney and kitties, actually having accomplished "stuff" before 11 is a Huge goal of mine. The reality is that I hit snooze about 5 times, stumble off to feed the kitties and get coffee going before climbing back into my nice, warm bed for a little more snoozing because there ain't No Way my back is touching a freezing cold yoga mat at -17 Celsius. (Yes, I know that is the temperature outside right now, but I swear my mat is channelling it in!) It would probably also be easier if I didn't stay up quite so late reading, but that's another issue all together. Needless to say, it takes me a little while to get going in the morning, and I like to take my time about it. Coffee helps.

My husband is even more ennamoured of coffee than I am. There are days when I think he would take it intravenously if he could, though having turned him on to Kicking Horse coffee (Kick Ass being our favourite) he has cut back a little, quality over quantity and all. I also truly enjoy my coffee, and giving up cream sucked. No bones about it, I will drink it black if I have to, but that doesn't mean I want to. Silk coffee creamer to the rescue!

I don't actually use much in the way of soy products. Hubby does not like tofu, and the more I learn about soy, the less inclined I am to use it extensively (personal choice there). But having something that I can use in place of cream, and I do use Silk for a lot of things besides my coffee (hello, chocolate ganache in half the time!), makes my life sooo nice.  They have flavoured ones too! Not a fan of nut flavoured things, so haven't tried the hazelnut, but the vanilla is sublime. You can't always find those though, and just went through about 10 days of withdrawl as it was on back order and everywhere I usually shop was out (gasp!) but Huzzah! Was able to pick some up yesterday. That makes for a vey happy me.

I'm still tempted to go back to bed though!

Re: Education Part 2

Today I spent a large chunk of my day running around and doing errands and other fun stuff I've been able to put off  under the guise of class and work. Ahem. I really needed to go grocery shopping. So, lists in hand, off I go (several times, in several different directions) to get what we are going to need for the next couple of days. Provided I have my lists, shopping is wonderfully relaxing and allows me to get in some thinking. This is usually prefaced by a lot of mind wandering, but some interesting things on occasion come from it, and where my mind went this morning was the Pillage and Plunder Salvage Company.

First question: where the hell did I get that name?! I have been thinking about what on earth to title this for a very long time. I had been toying with Chelle Friendly as that is what most of what I can eat gets dubbed, but not only have I found another woman who uses that format, and her stuff is cool (I'll come back to that later!), but it never really resonated. Then, one night while talking to my not-sister down south of the border, she tossed that at me in a completely different context, and something just clicked.

When you get down to it, changing over to a gluten and dairy free diet is scary. Suddenly, or not as the case may be, you are told that food is going to hurt you. Terms and vocabulary you've never heard, and in some cases can't pronounce, are suddenly the Enemy, speaking a language you have to decipher and somehow out-smart. I remember when I learned that if it has "caramel colour" on the ingredients list, that means there is gluten in there somewhere, I was stunned! Seriously? Caramel Colour??? Alright... Things you didn't even really like are now out of reach and suddenly appealing, simply because you want what you can't have. Gah...

It's also not exactly cheap to switch everything over to alternative, gluten free and dairy free products either. The flour mix that I choose to use requires 4 different flours and xantham gum; the flours (if not bought in bulk) are about $4-$5 each and the xantham gum ranges from $12-$15 depending on which brand you use! (The upside of xantham gum is that it's more like a one time expense that lasts a Very long time as you don't use much. I usually have to buy some once a year, and I do a lot of baking!!!) There are 2 people in this house; I am not trying to feed a family of 4 or 5 or 6! I think that we all know that specialty items are expensive, but occasionally buying a high ticket item because you are making a fancy dinner isn't the same as forking over $7 for a loaf of premade bread.

This is about where you want to give up, if that's even an option (and I know a few people who have gone that route), or, like me, you get kinda pissed off. I don't like being told that I can't do something (and I can hear my mother trying not to choke from here) and it's actually a good way to get me motivated to try. Mostly so I can prove you wrong, which my piano teacher figured out and used quite successfully for many years so that I would pass my exams. But pissed off because I couldn't bake a cake just made me want to do it more, so I got a couple of cookbooks and started over. Literally, started allllllll over. I had to learn everything again! Nothing worked the way I remembered it. The icing on the first cake I made was pretty darn good, but that was about it. The rest of the cake, well.... the jerk from work wasn't actually wrong. It did resemble a brick in both texture and structural integrity. The first batch of pancakes that I made based on my old recipe were where I noticed that the gluten free flour absorbs more liquid than regular flour does, and fortunately I was the only one subjected to those. I think it was after maybe 2 or 3 months of playing around (different flours, different milk substitutes, even different fat sources) that I brought a batch of blueberry lemon muffins in to work and they were snatched up and gone before I got one. If you think about it, that actually speaks very highly of my coworkers, that they would be willing to taste test for me still. Mind you, they all do seem to enjoy horror movies and roller coasters, so maybe it had more to do with living on the edge, but that is neither here nor there.

So, in a way, relearning how to cook without gluten or dairy really requires you to pirate from everywhere, everything and constantly. I will Always be looking for better ways to do things, new recipes to try, new cookbooks (much to my husbands chagrin!) to test and new products that I can introduce into my repertoire. I get to discard things that don't work, or that I don't like, because if I keep looking, there are so many more things out there to replace them!  I probably would not have chosen this for myself, but since I'm on this boat, I might as well get it to go where I want, and have fun while I'm at it!

Re: Education Part 1

I am fortunate enough to work for people who consider continuing education for their staff to be extemely important, and acually go to great lengths (and expense) to see to it that we get a very good education. So, on that note, I will warn you that my brain is currently swiss cheese from attending classes for the past few days, though I have to admit, I loved it. I was That Kid, the one that couldn't wait to go back-to-school shopping every August, who couldn't wait to get new textbooks and find out what we'd be learning next. I still am.

If you were to go through my bookshelf, firstly my husband would probably look the other way if you stole something because it would delay his having to try to figure out where yet Another bookshelf was supposed to go. Secondly,  you would also note quite the disparity of subject matter. I went through a phase where I was fascinated by physics, another where I read as much as I could on global politics as pertaining to the oil and war industries (and thank all the gods that That was short lived), not to mention my uber-snot phase where I couldn't get enough of the Greek masters. However, the lions share of my collection is and has always been my cookbooks. I read them! I'm like a little kid with the pictures, I point at them and say "Look!!"! If it is a book about food, and it will teach me something, hand it over and you'd better say if you want it back!

Now, imagine my abject horror when first, I had to cut out all dairy (I am severely intollerant to caseine) but then also all gluten. Argh!! What was I supposed to do with my lovelies??  Tried and tested recipes, favourites, the baking....(insert overly dramatic hand gesturing here) I am pretty sure at some point I cried. Basically, life sucked.

At first, I readily accepted all the sympathy I was given (who wouldn't? My life had been totally turned upside down, me, who loved food that much. What the hell was I supposed to do?  I indulged my inner diva and preened a little bit, that's what). However, it didn't take very long before I actually started thinking about what  I was being asked most often: so what are you going to eat now? It took even less time for me to accept the statement "Oh, I'd kill myself!" as a challenge. Why should I kill myself? I already knew how bad fast food is, and unfortunately found myself relying on it far too often. When you consider how much I have always loved to cook, I had certainly allowed myself to slack off. Now throw in the fact that Montreal has two fantastic markets, both the Jean Talon and the Atwater which are open all year round, plus a million little fruitterie and shops, and I really had zero excuse. Okay. Pitty party over, aaaaaaaaaaand Go!

It took me a couple months to get bored of what I could cook that I was 100% sure had no gluten or dairy; a lot of soy products, fresh fruits and veggies and meats. I ate really well, but the minute you accept that kind of challenge, what are you going to eat now, you keep it in the back of your head. If you've already eaten it, you remember, and store it away for future reference, but you go looking for the next thing. You remember the dishes you used to love, and the things you'd always wanted to try, and All Those Cookbooks.

It has taken me over 2 years to get to where I feel confident enough to try to convert over just about any recipe so that I get to eat it too, though that doesn't mean it's going to work! I have had my share of flops (one of the guys I worked with suggested we use the first chocolate cake I ever attempted to replace some of the bricks in the building we worked at, and I have as yet to successfully make cinnamon buns, but those are stories for other times) and my husband and I have a pact that any experiment that is Not a success goes in the garbage, even if it means going out for dinner. However, I am having more fun playing with this than I would have every imagined! Quite possibly, the biggest compliment I now get is when people ask me what my lunch is, I tell them and they ask "You can eat that?". Most excellent.

Quick little post...

I Miss Oatmeal!!!

I love breakfasts: pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs (in all their wonderful forms), rolls, fruit... Whatever can be had for breakfast, I truly enjoy it. But, I must confess, I have always had a love for oatmeal. *sigh*... For a time, we thought that I could process kamut and spelt, which was great, as there are so many more options available, especially for breakfast (with breads and flakes and such), but my body let us know rather definitively that That had to stop.

Fine; but I still love my breakfasts, and hot breakfast on a cold, Montreal winter morning is something I will actually haul my backside out of bed for.

It's not quite the same, but I am developing an appreciation for (wait for it) cream of rice. Especially when topped with coconut cream, slivered almonds, dried cherries or cranberries and just a little brown sugar.

Maybe it isn't quite heaven, but it'll do for now!

Favourite (modified) Flour Mix

If you do anything long enough, you very often find better, faster, easier and/or cheaper ways to do it. When you add to that my cook book addiction, you can also learn new things that make you want to modify the way you are currently doing them. Now, sometimes you should not try to reinvent the wheel (and that is all I'm going to say about chickpea flour, cringe) but every now and again, it is totally worth it. A while back, a friend of mine introduced me to an amazing cookbook called "Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood" by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming (insert chorus of celestial beings singing here). So. Good!! First off, I love quinoa as it's something that isn't rice, and secondly, the book itself has some wicked good recipes (and I will preview a couple soonish). The reason I bring it up here, however, is that it introduced me to quinoa flour. It's a denser flour that has a higher fat and protein content to it. I have also found it helps my baked goods hold up a bit better, and cuts down on the "grittiness" of the rice/potato/tapioca flour. Total win.

So This is now my favourite all 'round flour blend:

• 5 Cups White Rice flour
• 1 Cup Quinoa flour
• 3 Cups Tapioca flour
• 1 and 1/2 Cups Potato Starch
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Xantham Gum

Whisk everything together in a BIG bowl and store in an airtight container. *NOTE This makes a lot!!! I usually mix up half batches as the recipe is very easy to split, and is quick to put together.

If there is anything you would like to see me post up about, please let me know!! I would love the feed back and also to hear from you = )

Mexican Hot Chocolate on a cold night.

I am fortunate enough to work with a very good friend who happens to have the same schedule as me on Friday, the afternoon to close shift. By 9 or 10 pm, more often than not we will find ourselves looking forward to a dinner we didn't have to cook and something to drink to help us change gears for the weekend. It's amazing how a shot (or two) of tequila can help to make that really annoying client seem a little more innocuous. The best part is that since we have both been doing this thing called life a while, we have moved past the "Tequila Makes her Cothes Fall Off" stage (look it up; it's a country song by Joe Nichols!) and onto the Good Stuff tequila stage; you know, the one where you actually sip it 'cause it tastes good.  Last night was one of those nights, so after work we headed over to Mesa 14 (www.mesa14.com).

You might think that Mexican food wouldn't exactly translate well to a gluten and dairy free lifestyle, but it actually can. You're right, I'm not going to be getting loads of cheese or sour cream on anything when I go out to eat, but a lot of hispanic food is corn based, and in terms of flavours, green salsa, pico de gallo and lime certainly hold their own! I would also like to reiterate here that I am not celiac; I don't have to worry nearly as much about cross contamination or the like as some people I know. If that is you, then this might not be the best option for you. If you are not so severly intollerant, however, this is a Great Mexican restaurant to try! Lots of options, with a friendly staff who have never had any problems with my special requests, and you can actually get a good meal without having to shell out a fortune either. The best part of my meal yesterday was that I was able to order direct from the menu wihout having to have it modified in any way, tough we did check. Tacos al Pastor, three open faced bbq pork with pineapple corn tortillas with cilantro (web site lists it as being served with flour tortillas and at a different price) that were so good! My friend had the fish tacos (comes with cheese) and my husband had home made pork chorizo tacos (which I didn't try as we weren't sure if there were any bread crumbs in it or no). Unfortunately, it was all so tasty that this is the only photo I got:

Oops.

When we got home, we were both Very cold (-16 I think it was) but as it was too late for coffee, we decided that the perfect finish to a very nice meal would be a cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate. = )

I actually make this up in batches and give it away as gifts over the holidays, but that is because I am a lucky girl wth friends who appreciate spicy! This is a recipe that I modified from one Alton Brown has posted up on Food Network, but it keeps well and tastes wonderful:

• 1 cup Icing sugar
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/4 cup "Milk" powder - I am lucky enough to be able to find powdered soy milk, but you could easily use powdered coconut milk as well
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon to 3 tablespoons of your desired spice - Cinnamon, Espelette, Ancho Chili or Cayenne pepper, according to your taste preference

Sift then mix everything together in a bowl and transfer to a sealed container to be kept in a cool, dark place. (This is actually a half recipe, so feel free to double it!)

Alton's recipe says to fill your coffee mug about a quarter full with the mix, but that is really thick. I will usually use a Big mug and put about 3 heaping table spoons in then fill with hot water and top with just a little bit of almond milk or Silk coffee creamer.

Oh yeah, and mini marshmallows!!

Mug Shots!

Mug Shots!

Wow... Get married, move, adopt a new kitten and it's a year later! Hehe.. Oops! Fortunately, I have a number of Very good friends with hob nailed boots more than willing to kick me in the keester to get me moving again. I love every single one of them, too. *grin*

Since in a way this is starting all over again, I got to thinking about where this all started for me. Which, of course, means cake. When you love cooking and baking as much as I do and are faced with the prospect of not getting cake anymore, you have a couple of options: you can curl up into a fetal ball and try to console yourself with the realisation that you will finally get into those skinny jeans, or you can say "oh, hell no!" and figure out a way to eat your cake too. However, being only 2 people in a household, and with both of us liking sweets, having an entire cake around isn't always a good idea. I was complaining about this to my not-sister in Texas, and she gave me her recipe for coffee cup cake. Quite literally, it is a single portion of chocolate cake that you mix up in a coffee mug and then cook in the microwave. Yes, it is as dangerous as you think...

Now, this is not the cake that you would get from an award winning baker, and I seriously doubt that you will find it on Top Chef: Master Bakers or anything of that ilk, but this is actually one of the most versatile and handy desserts I've got on my roster! Not many ingredients on hand? No problem. Surprise guests or no time? No sweat. Midnight sweet craving? You're diet is toast. And as there wasn't much dairy or flour in it to begin with, it converted over really well. The biggest problem with it? You will need a Very large coffee mug to accomodate this, and it feeds 2 Very easily (I usually use a cereal bowl). Unless of course you want to eat an entire cake with little guilt; it is decdently doable.

Allow me to present to you the first in our series of Mug Shots - The Basic Chocolate. I was thinking that since this is so versatile, and lends itself to modifications quite well, to do a series of them. Once a month (maybe twice?) to present a different variation. Now if I can just figure out how to present it like a kitschy pulp detective novel, that would be even better! Enjoy = )

• 1/4 cup of GF Flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons Cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Almond/Rice/Soy milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Dash of vanilla and salt

Whisk everything together in your mug (bowl) till smooth and then microwave till puffed (the top will look a little moist), approximately 2 mins.  (Careful! It is very hot.)

I still don't fit into my skinny jeans!