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! 

Dear Blog,

I'm very sorry for neglecting you this holiday season. I promised myself you would be "fun" and not a "job" so I didn't make you a priority over the holidays. I do miss you though and I even have some pictures and recipes to post on you soon. So don't give up on me blog, I do love you and will be back soon. 

xoxo

Val 

Bacon & Sage Wrapped Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe in All You magazine a few months back and finally got around to making it tonight. It was so tasty, the whole family loved it, including the kids! 

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken breasts
• 12 sage leaves
• 8 slices thick bacon (I use Hempler's all natural, it is labeled gluten free. You can buy it at Fred Meyer) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 cup gluten free chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. 
2. Place 3 sage leaves on the top of each chicken breast. 
3. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each chicken breast and lay flat in baking dish. 
4. Bake until chicken is cooked all the way through, about 40 minutes. 
5. When chicken is done, drain juices from the pan into a small saute pan. Cover chicken with foil and let rest for a few minutes. 
6. In small saute pan heat juices from the chicken, broth, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in gluten free flour until sauce has thickened ( I brought it to a quick boil while continuously stirring and it thickened in about 2 minutes). 
7. Poor sauce over chicken and serve! I served it over rice and it was delicious. 

Hope you like it as much as my family did! 

Peppermint Bark

 This has to be the easiest gluten free dessert to make!

 My kids are addicted to it and I'm having a hard time turning it down as well. 

Here is what you need: 

Ingredients: 

• 2 bags Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 bags Nestle White Chocolate Chips (both are gluten free, I linked their website in the side bar) 
• candy canes (I used 6) 

Directions: 

1. line baking sheet with wax paper
2. melt 2 bags of semi sweet chocolate chips (you can do it in microwave or over the stove)
3. spread semi sweet chocolate over the baking sheet and place in refrigerator to cool 
4. while cooling put candy canes in a Ziploc bag (I double bag it) and smash candy canes into tiny pieces
5. when semi sweet chocolate is hardened remove from fridge
6. melt white chocolate and spread on top of semi sweet chocolate
7. sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of white chocolate
8. gently press candy canes down so that they are set into chocolate
9. place in refrigerator again to cool
10. once cool use a butter knife to break up into pieces
11. Enjoy! 

Sugar Cookies from a Box!

 I bought this cookie mix awhile ago and never got around to making it. The kids and I wanted to make Christmas cookies tonight but I didn't feel like all the work so I pulled out this little gem. They were SO easy to make and tasted great. The dough it a bit gooey to roll out for cookie cut outs (but maybe if you refrigerated it it'd work?) so we just made circles and decorated them. 

 Not bad for egg, dairy, & gluten free! 

Yum! 

** I bought the Cherry Brook's Kitchen mix at PCC, I think I've also seen it at Whole Foods. 

Coconut Curried Chicken & Chickpeas

I found this recipe in a magazine a few months ago and decided to give it a try the other night. I'm not a huge curry fan but I am trying to branch out a bit, plus it's a crock pot recipe and I love those. I changed the recipe a little to suite my taste more and I actually liked it! 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 can coconut milk (I used the light kind to keep the fat content down)
•  2- 15 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed & drained

Directions:

1. Coat chicken with olive oil, curry powder, and salt. Put in crock pot. 
2. sprinkle onions and garlic on top of chicken. 
3. Pour tomatoes on top and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 
4. During last hour of cooking add in chickpeas and coconut milk. 
5. Shred chicken with forks before serving. 
6. We served it over rice and it was delicious