Full Circle

We joined Full Circle and got our first shipment this week. We LOVE it so far! We pick up our box at a local farm just a few miles away and the kids had so much fun. There are horses and pigs to visit, which makes it pretty exciting! They even have 15 minute riding lessons for $15 so we might try a few out in the spring. The kids couldn't wait to get home and open the box, they totally acted like it was Christmas. We've had fun enjoying all the yummy organic fruits and veggies this week! 

I highly recommend joining, there are lots of options so you can totally personalize it to meet your families needs. Check them out here. If you do happen to sign up, mention my name (Valerie Kok) as the person who referred you, I'll get a discount on my next order and I'll be forever grateful:) 

Sausage and Potato Bake

I found this recipe in a magazine and made it the other night. I altered it a little bit and it was really good. Kevin & I both agreed it's actually more of a breakfast type food than a dinner one. It'd be perfect for a brunch, and adding egg would make it even more "breakfasty". 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients:

• 1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into small pieces
• 1 small orange bell pepper, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 sweet onion, slided
• 3/4lb red potatoes, quartered (I cut them into small slices just because I wanted to make sure they cooked all the way through)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 lb ground sausage (make sure it has no fillers with gluten, I used an all natural one)

Directions:

1. Brown sausage in a skillet. 
2. In a large bowl toss all ingredients together and mix well. 
3. Spread sausage on top of potato and pepper mixture and mix in. 
4. Bake for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring once or twice while baking.

Enjoy! 

**Kevin sprinkled cheese on top of his and loved it:) 

Can't wait for it to arrive!

I ordered this book today (used my $20 Amazon gift card that I got for $10 on Living Social last week- yahoo!) and I can't wait. I've heard nothing but great things about it! I'll report back on what I think, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. 

Rocket Donuts! Yet another reason to LOVE Bellingham!

We went to Rocket Donuts this weekend in Bellingham. It is the first gluten free donut shop I've found. I called ahead and asked if they use a separate fryer for the gluten free donuts and they said yes. They were also in their own case to help eliminate cross contamination. I was very impressed. The donuts were yummy and Lauren & I were pretty excited to get to go to a donut shop with Kevin & Ben since we usually stay home when they do that sort of thing! 

They also had gluten free quiche, I didn't try it but I was excited to see it on the menu. I highly recommend stopping by Rocket Donuts if you are ever in Bellingham! 

**They also had vegan donuts for anyone reading that it is vegan. I don't think they vegan donuts were gluten free though. 

This reallly bothers me

I know this blog is supposed to be about all things gluten and dairy free, but I feel like this needs to be posted here. When I started eating gluten and dairy free I really started to notice all the fillers and chemicals that are added to so many ingredient lists. I found this to be gross and disturbing and have started to buy a lot more organic and more whole foods. But organic is expensive so I usually kind of weigh out the price difference. If the Organic is .20 cents more per lb I buy it, if it is $2.00 more per lb I don't. But after reading

this article that a friend of mine posted on Facebook yesterday: http://www.rodale.com/methyl-iodide-0

specifically this part below, I will be buying as much organic as I can. Check out the part I highlighted in yellow. How disgusting is that, and we wonder why there are so many health and reproduction issues these days? Hmm...could it be all the junk that is added to our food?

WHAT IT MEANS: One more reason to buy organic. While it is unlikely that methyl iodide injected into strawberry fields pre-planting will wind up on or in the nonorganic strawberries you buy at the store, rest assured those conventionally grown berries could be teeming with other toxic compounds. That's because many chemical farmers rely on a cocktail of pesticides to help compensate for chemically destroyed soil quality. For example, according to Pesticide Action Network's What's on my food? tool, which uses U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pesticide Data Program numbers, 55 percent of conventional strawberries contained residues of the fungicide Captan, a probable human carcinogen, according to the EPA. In total, tests turned up 54 pesticide residues on strawberries, including eight known or probable carcinogens, 24 suspected hormone disruptors, 11 neurotoxins, and 12 developmental or reproductive toxicants.


I was happy to see that Washington State does not allow methyl iodide to be used in this state, but I'm sure we have plenty of these other chemicals in use. But still, way to go Washington! 

**If you read the full article (which you should), there is a link at the end to sign a petition to stop the use of these chemicals. I signed it, you should too. 

Best Ice "Cream" EVER!!!

I stumbled across this little piece of heaven a few days ago! Dairy & Gluten Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream, need I say more? Run out and buy it right now, it is completely worth the $5.50 it costs because it is creamy and delicious and tastes just like the cookie dough ice cream I've been missing this last year! 

**I found it at Top Foods in Woodinville, haven't seen this flavor anywhere else.

New Favorite Salsa

I LOVE chips and salsa and this is my new favorite salsa. It's not "new" salsa, I just rediscovered it and when I saw that it is labeled Gluten Free I had to buy it. It is now a staple in our fridge. You can find it in the refrigerated section at Fred Meyer. I love companies that label their products!!!

New Favorite Restaurant

A few nights ago Kevin & I went to Sages Restaurant in Redmond for dinner and I had the very best gluten free dinner I've EVER had at a restaurant. It was AMAZING. They had a great selection of entrees, which all looked fabulous. I chose the Gorgonzola Chicken which was TO DIE FOR! I seriously could've licked the plate. One of the owner's has Celiac so they are very aware of what it takes to make the food safely, which I think makes a huge difference. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a restaurant to eat and tell them I need to make sure it's gluten free and they start talking about how none of their meals have sugar in them or something totally random like that. For me the ultimate test to eating out is how I feel later that night. Usually I can count on a little discomfort whenever I eat in a restaurant which I usually attribute to small amounts of cross contamination. But after eating at Sages I felt 100% fabulous all night! I give Sages an A+ and plan to return soon! 

(Oh and Kevin ate off the regular menu and said it was equally as fabulous!) 

Make sure to check them out! 

http://www.sagesrestaurant.com/index.html

Honey & Walnut Salmon

I am always looking for new ways to prepare salmon, especially in the winter when the grill isn't that accessible. I found this recipe in the free Costco cookbook that they give out every Thanksgiving weekend. I made it the other night and it was delicious. I served it with potatoes just because we had rice the night before, but next time I make it I will serve it with rice or mixed greens. 

Here is how you make it: 

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 lb salmon fillet
•  sea salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp stone ground mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp finely chopped basil or tarragon (I used tarragon) 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray (or lay foil down, that is what I usually do).

1. Remove skin from salmon (if you can, I always wait until after it is cooked because it is just too hard to get off when raw I think). Cut into 4 pieces. Place on baking sheet and lightly season with salt & pepper.  
2. In a small bowl, mix mustard, honey, herb, & garlic. Spread mixture evenly on top of the salmon pieces. 
3. Sprinkle chopped walnuts evenly on top of each piece of salmon. 
4. Bake for 10- 15 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 

So interesting to me

As you know, my daughter and I are both gluten free. Besides feeling so much better the biggest change we saw in our daughter after going gluten free was her behavior. She used to throw crazy out of this world tantrums that lasted up to an hour. We're talking, hitting, screaming, banging on walls, etc. We couldn't talk her down, we couldn't comfort her, nothing helped, we had to let her ride them out. It took over 2 hours to get her to bed most nights and we dreaded it. We started questioning our parenting and also started thinking she might have a real disorder and maybe we needed to see a psychologist. Then we went gluten free and the most amazing thing happened, all her major fits went away! She is now a "normal" kid that throws "normal" fits and goes to bed easily. It's been 1 year and 2 months and we are still in awe of the change. 

Over the year we've had a handful of people not really buy into it and kind of doubt that the gluten free thing was the reason for the change. I even wondered myself at times because it seemed so crazy. Of course I researched it and started finding more and more articles about how gluten does in fact effect behavior. I even talked to Dr. Stephen Wangen about it at seminar (Author of "Healthier Without Wheat") and he said he sees this all the time in his practice. The doctor we saw at Children's also concurred. 

Anyway, in the past 2 weeks I've had two random conversations with strangers that have had this same experience. I struck up a conversation with a mom at Fred Meyer last week who was asking me for some help in the gluten free section (boy did she pick the right person to ask!) and we talked for 20 minutes. She has a 3 year old who also threw violent tantrums and as soon as she went gluten free they stopped.  Last night I met a woman at a crafting party who had the same story about a little boy she knows. I am continually amazed at these stories, even though I shouldn't be anymore. It really makes me wonder how many kids (and adults) that have behavior and mood disorders might just have a food intolerance. I'm not taking away from mental disorders because I 100% believe they exist and I completely think meds are important for some people (I'm not going all Tom Cruise, don't worry). I just wonder if we really looked more at our diets what changes we'd see. 

Just some thoughts I felt like sharing tonight. I promise I'll get back to posting recipes asap!