This Week's Menu - Garden Peas

It's time again for my gluten free weekly menu! I've been a little bit lax in planning the past two weeks because our schedule has been crazy (which means I SHOULD have planned! lol) Oh well... here's to a new week!

Focusing on super easy meals this week. Once again, we have a lot going on so quick meals are needed! I also want to try to squeeze in 3 trips to the gym this week -- and two of those times are going to be a with my trainer which I'm a little nervous about! She has really challenged this gym hamster!!

One of my goals for our meals this week is to incorporate a lot more vegetables. I've been focusing too much on starches and since I was sick last week I used a lot of starches to "feel better." So I'm trying to get out of that pattern of eating. One of my favorite vegetables is garden peas! I've loved them for as long as I can remember and I like them in all shapes & forms! I love fresh peas, frozen peas, canned peas... all of 'em!! I realize they are a starchy vegetable, so I need to simply be aware of my portion sizes, but this week for the Gluten Free Menu Swap, I decided to choose garden peas as my theme! :-) How do you like to eat peas?

Breakfasts This Week:

• Berry hemp protein shakes, boiled eggs, udi's granola + almond milk with a handful of pecans or walnuts, Eco-planet gluten free hot cereal

Snacks This Week: 

• Boiled eggs, "ants on a log" with peanut butter (such a great idea cheryl!), hummus with carrot chips or mary's sticks & twigs, raw almonds or pecans, granola w/ almond milk, fresh grapes or apple slices, ham/lettuce/avocado wraps

Lunches This Week: 

• Planned leftovers from dinner -or- romaine & veggie salad topped with tuna, ham, or roasted chick peas. 

Dinners this Week: 

• Monday: homemade chicken & veggie (with GARDEN PEAS!) soup from the leftover roast chicken on mom's day
• Tuesday:  GF Support group coffee break tonight, so quick tuna melts served over spinach for me, over udi's bread for Michael with fresh grapes
• Wednesday: Quick chicken & veggie stir fry w/ mushrooms, yellow squash, grape tomatoes, kale, garlic, onions, and carrots. 
• Thursday: Volunteer at Petsmart tonight, so quick meal of breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs w/ salsa & avocados, turkey bacon, black beans, fresh fruit
• Friday: Angel Food chicken tenders w/ steamed broccoli & carrots and maybe some garden peas!
• Saturday: Monthly GF Support group meeting -- dinner will be gluten free pizza topped with daiya cheese for me (regular cheese for Michael!) Yum! Can't wait to share this super easy pizza crust with you!
• Sunday: ground chicken taco salad served with black beans, tomatoes, daiya cheese, avocados, and salsa

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Other Gluten Free Weekly Menu's this week include: 

• Wendy, from Celiacs in the House who's serving up burrito bowls with grilled flank steak, grilled turkey burgers, and roasted salmon!! Sounds delicious Wendy! And I love your picture of your garden pea vines!! 
• Comfy Cook is having gluten free spiced chicken patties (recipe please?), a spinach quiche, and bruchetta topped with goat cheese (swoon!).
• Heidi from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom is making her own breakfast sausage this week along with green smoothies, thai chicken and bok choy,  and pan seared scallops with grilled tomatoes (YUM!). 
• Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness is making roasted lamb (one of my FAVORITE foods!) one night along with her newest obsession, quinoa flatbread/pizza! I've really got to try that flatbread!
• Heather of Celiac Family is having chicken kabobs with potatoes one night (my parents used to grill kabobs, I need to try them!), and having a socca pizza. I am so behind on trying easy gluten free skillet breads!
• Angela of Angela's Kitchen is using her slow cooker for sweet & sour chicken over quinoa, and is making tangy tomato beef (from her monthly freezer supply!) and serving it with a salad! She is one busy lady this week! 

You're next!

If you'd like to join us in our weekly roundup, please leave me a comment below or email me at: gingerlemongirl at gmail dot com!

I can't wait to see what you're making this week! For more information on our Menu Plan Mondays please visit our organizer Cheryl Harris at Gluten Free Goodness.

And as always, check out more great menus of all types at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

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Gluten Free Light & Lovely Angel Food Cake Recipe

I remember a few times in high school when either mom or dad brought home a store-bought angel food cake and I simply ripped off pieces of it in pure sugary bliss! Soft, airy, and simply delicious. I had honestly forgotten how much I enjoyed angel food cake.

I think I even made it once or twice in my gluten filled years and it's a really beautiful cake to make. Angel Food cake is allowed to be messy. It doesn't have to be perfect. It seems a bit scarred with patches of crust scattered all over the cake and the pan. No frosting is needed. Maybe a sprinkling of powdered sugar for company... but this golden crusted gem of a cake doesn't need to be dressed up. Another fun thing about gluten free angel food cake? No gums are needed. The protein in the whipped egg whites is all you need for stability and great texture.

There are endless variations you could make with angel food cake. If you'd like it to be chocolate add a few tablespoons of cacao powder to the dry ingredients. For a lemon cake, add the zest of 1 large lemon.  If you want the cake to simply be studded with chocolate, fold in 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips right before pouring into the pan. It's so easy. Please make this gluten free cake. Tell me how you made it. Tell me that you loved it!

Gluten Free Light & Lovely Angel Food Cake
Adapted from this recipe by Natalie of Gluten Free Mommy
Free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, corn, potato, and gums
Printer-friendly recipe

1/2 cup brown rice flour (75 gm, 2 5/8 oz.)
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (57 gm, 2 oz.)
12 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
**For a reduced sugar cake use: 
1/2 cup sugar (99 gm, 3 1/2 oz.)
3 teaspoons powdered stevia (NuNaturals is my favorite brand) -- add to dry ingredients!
**For a regular cake use: 
1 cup sugar (198 gm, 7 oz.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an angel food tube pan with non-stick cooking spray, or oil and then dust it with brown rice flour. To prevent further sticking at the bottom of the pan, you could line it with cut pieces of parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together brown rice flour, arrowroot starch, and powdered stevia (if you are using it). In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip egg whites until they are foamy (see notes below). Add in the cream of tartar and continue to mix until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar a little at a time until stiff peaks form and the egg whites will look slightly glossy. Stop the mixer and remove the whisk attachment. Using a hand whisk slowly fold in the vanilla. Continuing to use the hand whisk, slowly fold in the flour mixture about 1/4 cup at a time. Slowly pour the cake batter into the greased and dusted tube pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, the sides of the cake will also pull away from the pan. Allow the cake to cool for 10-20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn out onto a cake plate. Serve plain, with whipped cream or ice-cream, and since it's strawberry season... make sure to place a few slices strawberries on top! :-) Enjoy!

Carrie's Kitchen Notes:

• Whipping Egg Whites: If you are not familiar with whipping egg whites and what each "stage" looks like, here is a good guide: http://www.baking911.com/howto/egg_whites_beat.htm. Scroll to the bottom to see pictures of the foamy stage, soft peak stage, firm peak stage, etc... 
• Brown rice flour/arrowroot starch: This cake is so adaptable you can use any whole grain you like. SO if you can't have rice, use sorghum, millet, or whatever pleases your palate! Simply make sure to use the same weight of flour. As with the brown rice flour, you can use whatever starch you prefer, EXCEPT potato starch. Potato starch is quite heavy so I would recommend either corn starch, tapioca starch, or even sweet rice flour. ADDITION: A reader wrote in and said she has never had any issues using potato starch in gluten free angel food cake. In my personal experience I've found potato starch to be a very heavy starch for baking purposes (and I do mean the starch not potato flour). Use your own judgement though, if it works for you that's fantastic!
• Sugar: I made this lovely cake with less than half the sugar used in the original recipe and it still tastes quite sweet to me, especially with the addition of powdered stevia. Feel free to add additional sugar if you want a really sweet cake, or lessen it further. You do want a little sugar in the cake because it helps with the caramelization/ browning of the crust. I am not sure how well alternative sugars would work in this cake. 
• Eggs: Sorry, you have to use egg whites... they are the base of this cake!
• Variations: See notes in the post above for possible variations on this simple vanilla cake! There are so many wonderful flavors you could use! I'd love to know what you come up with! My favorites would be adding lemon zest, using almond extract, mini-chocolate chips, or even a lightly spiced angel food cake with cinnamon and nutmeg! 
• Folding Techniques: When you're adding in the flours & the vanilla extract (or any flavor variation ingredients) use a whisk to SLOWLY fold in the ingredients. You whipped the eggs whites so they would have a wonderful texture & rise in the cake. You don't want to defeat all that hard work you did! If you quickly hand whisk/ fold in the last ingredients you can easily deflate your egg whites... and end up having a cake that doesn't rise well. So please take your time! Enjoy the process. And go make this cake!! 

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Hot Smoked Salmon Fishcakes with Tomato Salsa

Hot Smoked Salmon Fishcakes with Tomato Salsa

A delicious hot & spicy alternative to cod fishcakes.

Serves 4 main course, 8 as a starter  

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients

600g hot smoked salmon

300g mash (King Edwards or maris pipers)

2 spring onions

juice of 1 lemon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

seasoned flour for coating

olive oil for frying

extra olive oil for drizzling

tomato salsa

250g cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

1/2 small red onion, peeled and finely diced

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely diced

1 small red chilli, sliced diagonally and seeded

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp Chardonnay or white wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1.  For the salsa, mix all the ingredients together, cover and place in the fridge while you make the fishcakes.

2.  Put the mash into a large mixing bowl add the flaked salmon and spring onions. Squeeze the lemon juice into the mix.  Mix together until the fish is well mixed through. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

3.  Divide the mixture equally into eight and shape into cricket balls, using the palm of your hand gently flatten them to make cake shapes. Sift the flour onto a large bowl or plate. Roll the fishcakes in the flour until evenly coated. Lift and pat gently to remove excess flour.

4.  Heat a medium frying pan to hot. Add the olive oil and heat, swirling it around a little to coat the bottom of the pan. Carefully slide 4 fishcakes into the pan. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 5 minutes until a nice brown crust has formed.  Carefully turn the cakes over and fry for another five minutes. Lift out of the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

To serve, place a dollop of salsa in the centre of each plate, place a fishcake on top and drizzle round a little olive oil.

For all your kitchen & cooking needs please visit http://www.recipe-shop.co.uk

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Wild Honey & Vanilla Bean Lemon Curd.

Wild Honey & Vanilla Bean Lemon Curd.



Ingredients:



5 large organic egg yolks1 large organic egg

2/3 cup fresh organic lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely grated organic lemon zest

1/3 cup wild flower honey/vegan sweetener (or more if you like it sweeter)

4 tablespoons coconut oil (solidified) or butter

pinch of salt

1 or 2 Vanilla

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Expanding Your Heart: A short yoga routine to do with your kids.

Open your heart this Valentines Day! Try these heart opening asanas with your kids. Don't worry if you can't do them perfectly... the real heart opener is the time spent with your loved ones. Enjoy.

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Duck Duck Chicken

This is so easy and so quick for those times when you have no time to cook.

You'll get glazed chicken and lots of sauce.

Just Duck Sauce and Dijon Mustard.

Salt and pepper one cut-up chicken and place in a 9x13 pan.

Mix duck sauce with a good dollop of Dijon mustard.

You don't need to measure.

Spread it over the chicken.

 Bake for 1 hour.

 Serve over rice.

 I had leftover rice from earlier in the week. Extra easy with good planning.

Duck Duck Chicken

1 cut-up chicken

salt & pepper

about 1 C duck sauce

about 2 T dijon mustard

Combine the duck sauce and the mustard.

Spread over the seasoned chicken.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Links: EKat's Kitchen

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The BEST Eggs Benedict

The BEST Eggs Benedict

This has to be the one of my favourite breakfast dishes! 

Serves 4 halves

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 large free range eggs

2 english muffins

1 batch of hot hollandaise sauce (see recipe for the BEST Hollandaise Sauce)

4 slices of Parma ham or Serrano Ham

Method

1.  Bring a deep sauce pan of water to the boil and add the vinegar.  Break the eggs into 4 separate ramekins.  Split the muffins and toast and place on warm plates.

2.  Swirl the water in the pan and slide in the egg.  It will produce a neat round shape.  Cook for 2-3 minutes and then remove with a slotted spoon.

3.  Repeat this with the other eggs one at a time, re-swirling the water as you slide in the eggs. 

4.  Spread some of the hollandaise sauce on the muffin, scrunch a slice of ham on top then top with an egg.  Spoon over the hollandaise and serve at once.

Cooks Tips

v  The Hollandaise can be prepared prior to poaching the eggs and warmed before serving.

For all your kitchen & cooking needs please visit http://www.recipe-shop.co.uk

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