Thank You, Conte's Pasta! Frozen Gluten Free Pierogi, Ravioli, and Gnocchi

The guy and I started to get things together to make gluten free pierogi and some ravioli, instead of veggie burgers as planned. Dairy free for me, but we were still going to use eggs yolks for the pasta. I ran to the store for a few needed items and on the way to check out, I caught something out of the corner of my eye in the frozen case. Wait. What is that? I've never seen that packaging before. Well, well, well. Gluten free pierogi, gnocchi, and 2 kinds of ravioli!? Oh yes! I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, I was so excited.

www.contespasta.com/specialty.htm

I picked up a cheese ravioli and a lovely casein free potato-onion pierogi. The pierogi are pleasantly delicate in both texture and flavor compared to the frozen gluten containing brands at the market. We found it very important to place the pasta in the pan gently, and to not let them boil, just simmer while stirring gently now and then. The rice flour, corn starch and tapioca based dough is fairly delicate with some good structure and 'tooth' from the eggs. I'm buying the gnocchi next week...ooo, I'm thrilled!

All products were $6.99 for 12 ounces, so they are about $2-3.00 more than the gluten containing frozen pastas of like style, but there are just sometimes you have to say, YES! I have also decided there's a time where a possible headache and rash from the small amount of actual egg white in each tasty bite of pierogi, means far less to me than eating the 3 or 4 pillows of familiar, comforting bliss I did not have to spend 3 hours making by hand. They will indeed be a special treat 1 or 2 x a month.

Thank you, Conte's Pasta! Please check out their website for the whole product line including frozen pizzas, lasagna, stuffed shells, use the store locator/order from the GF mall,  check out the nutritional information, and ingredients. Break out the sauerkraut. I'm eating pierogi tonight =)

Winter got you down? Eat a rainbow! Rainbow Kale Slaw (Vegan)

This recipe is adapted from Whole Foods, with only small changes. I can't afford to shop there, but I do like their recipe archives. So we adapt! It's not very often that I post a conscious adaptation. I have an endless parade of my own recipes dancing in my head. Seriously, I'm writing 12-20 recipes a week for my cookbook right now. Since I also forage and glean, a walk down the street is as interesting to me as the market. This is southern Arizona and it is citrus season. I gleaned backpack full of citrus and I have kale in my garden. So...

Rainbow Kale Slaw from Whole Foods.
1 bunch lacinato (a.k.a. dinosaur) kale, thick stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
4 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1 small head, quartered and cored)
2 navel oranges or Clementines, peeled and segmented
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 small orange)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


Method
In a large bowl, combine kale, cabbage, orange segments, onion, bell pepper and sunflower seeds.
In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, orange juice, vinegar and pepper. Pour over the kale mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

My adaptations and additions for my seasonal yeast free kitchen
NO dijon or balsamic: use apple cider vinegar and grainy brown mustard.
1 raw shredded carrot
1 raw peeled shredded beet
1 bulb of fennel, trimmed, sliced, and the fronds, chopped
If I think of them, sometimes I'll add a handful of unsweetened dried cranberries or blueberries
I usually don't eat raw bell peppers. I listen to what my body say's and eat or skip accordingling.

At a loss for words

Yesterday morning, just after 10AM, the dog and I were on a walk. He stopped in his tracks and starting barking his head off at the helicopters in the low sky, just above us. That's odd seeing so many. Hmm. Wait...those are Life-copters, there's been a really bad accident on I-10. These are the thoughts running through my head as the dog and I walk back home. We come home and all I can hear is helicopters, then sirens. I jumped online to see what kind of tanker truck turned over on the Interstate, and if there were any toxic gas warnings or anything. This has got to be huge, I've never seen so many police responding. I get side-tracked, read my email, then I see it.

Yesterday at 10:00AM Arizona standard time, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) my Congresswoman and healthcare crusader, was holding a meet and greet at the grocery store not too far from where I write these words. Gabrielle is 3rd generation Tucson, and is she is a woman of the people. She vowed to help us fight for heath-care, one week before her controversial Yes vote, during the great healthcare reform debacle of 2010. That same night, the windows in her office were smashed. Threats continued. She ran again for Congress. Last fall, I proudly reminded the people of Tucson to vote for the woman from Tucson to represent us. And we did.

As a person of the people, she regularly held Congress on the Corner...literally at a fold-up table in front of a busy grocery store... where anyone could walk up, shake her hand, and let her know what we needed addressed in Washington. I've been to similar events. Yesterday, at 10:12 AM, a 22 year old man opened fire, point blank, on the Congresswoman, and 19 other innocent people. 20 people were shot here yesterday. 6 people have died. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in very critical condition, at the very same hospital I can't get care at, ironically.

20 people were shot here yesterday by a kid, one year older than my Kid. A 9 year old girl born on September 11, 2001, and 5 adults have died. We are at a loss here in beautiful somewhat progressive Tucson. We are a community that cares for one another. We are an oasis of reason in an otherwise hostile place. I feel for the loss of lives, for Tucson, and our voice. How did this happen? And why did it happen? Did people think we were lying when we said repeatedly it was getting out of control here in economically dying Arizona? That anyone over 18 can buy a gun, with no permit or wait time, and can then carry that gun wherever they want? That we can't get used to seeing hand-guns on people at Safeway or at the movies? That community mental health-care services have been cut? That a dangerous line has been crossed by hatred and racism? 20 people were shot here yesterday. 6 people have died. For what? Gifford's support of health-care reform? Being the first Jewish congresswoman here? For listening and helping the ranchers caught in the crossfire at the border? For having an astronaut husband? For being on Sarah Palin's 'Target List'? For her kindness? For her dedication to Tucson? Why?

20 people were shot here yesterday. 6 have died. I'm at a loss for words.

Living in the moment

With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


‎"To a happy person, the formula for happiness is quite simple: Regardless of what happened early this morning, last week, or last year—or what may happen later this evening, tomorrow, or three years from now—now is where happiness lies." ~Richard Carlson


While I do enjoy a good plan and a stroll down memory lane as much as the next person, I truly strive to live in the moment. What that means to me is staying focused on today, and not letting ghosts of the past or future rule my life. What if? When? I can not answer either of those. Today is the day. Now. Present. We can't change what we've done or have not done, nor can we predict the future. We can only focus on today, the present moment, it's challenges and celebrations. How do I stay focused on the now? By living it. Everyday I wake up, say good morning to the world, and I read today's news. This what's happening today. This is today's weather. This is today's topic of thought. This is what I am making for dinner tonight. If I get stuck in a loop of past or future thinking, I turn the music on and dance. I let my mind focus on what's in front of me. I deal with the laundry or dish stack. Today's chores. Today's needs to be met. Today's recipe that needs to leave my brain. Today. Now. Presently.

There is no better tomorrow. There is only today. Why wait for tomorrow when you have a today, right in front of you? Why wait for Spring? This Winter thing is quite fantastic in it's own right. Today is beautiful to me, despite my post holiday flare-up. Today is beautiful because it is the only December 31, 2010 I will ever live. Today is only one single day of 365 chances to start anew. 365 days to live fully. 365 days to take a wrong turn and find a new road. 365 days of loving. 365 days to make a difference. 365 days to heal some guts. 365 days of weather changes. 365 days of choices to make. Whew! How can I focus on day number 1, when I haven't finished day number 365? I can't, or actually, I won't. I won't live January 1, 2011 until tomorrow. I won't push for January 2, or July 2, or December 21, 2012, until they happen. I choose to live in the moment. I choose to be here now...

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

I'm baking away and making candy. The cold rain could almost be snow if I wished hard enough, but the adobe is warm from the oven, our little tree is sparkling, and I'm listening to Ella Fitzgerald. There's gingerbread cookies ready to come out, so have yourself a merry little Christmas, and I'll be back soon!

PEACE BEGINS IN THE KITCHEN WEEK 12/20-12/26

Here were are again. This time last year I was newly gluten free and still eating dairy and yeast. So much has changed in a year, what I eat only being a tiny part. This week is full of old and new traditions, allot of planning, candy making, and baking. The guy has to work on Christmas Day. We have no choice in this, it's just the way the cookies are crumbling this year. Last year we had our big dinner on Christmas Eve and we are again this year. I am cooking at a shelter while he works, then we will get together with some of his coworkers for a potluck meal Christmas Day night.

To keep my personal spiritual priorities on track this week, I am cooking for peace. When we eat the foods of the people we are being programed to call enemy or forced to choose a side for or against, it changes us by reminding us they are people, not just points on a map. Food, children, family traditions everywhere, count, as much as yours do to you. These are people. This is their food. This is the the world we share. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.


MONDAY
Prayer for peace in Korea
Bulgogi, rice, stir fried garden greens and kimchi


TUESDAY
Prayer for peace in the Middle East
Garnet yams w/ red lentils and cardamom, flat bread, picked vegetables


WEDNESDAY
Prayer for peace in Israel and Palestine
Latkes, roast beast, cucumber salad, flat bread
Save leftover beast for Sunday/freeze


THURSDAY
Prayer for world peace
Global leftover fiesta!


FRIDAY
Chinese roast chicken, buckwheat scallion pancakes, chow fun noodles, and Chinese-American appetizers


SATURDAY
Pot-luck: Carnitas, tortillas, salsa verde, bitter greens and clementine salad, gluten free desserts


SUNDAY
Garden greens topped with roast beast, candied walnuts, raw chopped veggies and perhaps a goat cheese crumble or 2


BAKING
Yeast free flat bread, cookies, yf/gf cinnamon buns, gingerbread, and lots of candy making. I'm making the guy homemade peanut butter cups as a gift :)

My Basic Gluten Free Whole Foods Pantry List

Pantry stocking and cooking from it is a real skill to learn. We have had weeks with a $20.00 food budget in this past year, more often than I want to remember. If we were a typical American couple, that wouldn't even buy our lattes. Thanks to goodness, we are NOT a typical American couple, and I can feed us 2-3x a day for $20.00 a week, IF I have a stocked pantry. I know visions of canned goods and boxes are dancing in your head when I say, stocked pantry, but my pantry only holds at the most...cans of curry paste and coconut milk. Everything else is real foods, stored in jars or buckets, or my fridge and freezer. A visitor said it best. "I know there is allot of food here, but is there anything that doesn't require 2 days planning and soaking? I just don't know who to cook this stuff and I need food now." After I walked him through a 3 minute rice noodle dish, I went through the whole pantry with him.


I buy pantry items whenever they are on sale or I have an extra few dollars. I know what we have and I carry my shopping list everywhere, because you never know when a conventional grocery store is going to screw up the pricing and quinoa will be a dollar, or I will be able to buy a case of coconut milk for $10.00. I buy as much as I can in bulk, and I buy my spices in whole form when possible, and by the ounce. There may be a few missing items from week to week, but I stay flexible and plan a back up to every menu planned. If I am unwell, the Guy has my back up menu using the pantry. It took 5 months to grow this pantry, and I have maintained it for a year. I will never, ever go back to shopping week to week for basics. With this, a $20.00 week is a tight- needs to be very planned-wild salmon-less breakfast week, not the end of the world. So, just looking at my basic list, I see dozens of meals at the ready with minimal planning or purchasing needed to round it out or fluff it up, depending on our needs or those of our guests. (You'll notice tomatoes, yeast, and cheese are missing now)


If I was more computer inclined there would lines drawn to ingredients and a color coded recipe for each line...sorry, just barely can turn this thing on, soooo. Off the top of my brain, there are vegan onion soup, Tom Yum, carrot ginger, Pho, and Asian noodle soups, right there in the pantry. I can make a nut sauce in 2 minutes to compliment any combination of vegetables, noodles or whole grains. Nut and rice milk. There are pot pies, sweet pie crust, cookies and crackers. There are veggie nori and spring rolls. Lentil soup or dal. Breads, rotti, tortillas, pizza, pancakes, and waffles. Chai. Smoothies. Green drinks. Pilaf to pastas. Slaws and salads and sprouts... and their dressings. There are many tasty, nutritious options.... and I haven't bought anything else yet. When it begins to flow like this, eating seasonally and eating whole foods becomes simple. All it really took was some planning and thoughtful bulk purchases...and away we went. If you are not gluten free, the same principles apply here, just stock according your needs.

This is it. Year round, it doesn't change...just the seasonal produce, and the level of meat supply. 


THE FRESH PANTRY
Onions
Garlic and shallots
Ginger
Carrots
Celery
Yams and a few potatoes

Broccoli and or cauliflower

Bok choy or napa cabbage

Green cabbage

Greens: chard, kale, collards, etc.

Lettuces

Fresh herbs: I grow cilantro, dill, parsley, and oregano all year long.
Fresh lemons and limes
Apples
Fresh seasonal vegetables and fruit


THE STORED PANTRY
Whole grains (a variety of brown rice, quinoa, wild rice, and buckwheat, or other special guest, and all of their lovely gluten free flours)
Masa
Corn meal
Dry legumes (black beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans, mung beans, red lentils, French green lentils)
Rice noodles: both Italian pastas and Asian style
Rice paper rolls
Rice flour tortillas
Frozen fruit: berries and tasty bits.
Frozen vegetables for quick soups and other dishes.
Frozen basil cubes
Apple cider vinegar
Ume plum vinegar
Whole grainy mustard
Sea salt
Black peppercorns
Spices (cumin seeds, oregano, coriander seeds, star anise, cinnamon sticks and powder, thyme, dried turmeric, dried ginger, bay, zattar, cardamom, paprika, dried mustard, black mustard seeds, crushed red pepper, graram masala, herbes de provence)
Dried chilies
Coconut, olive, grapeseed, and sesame oil
Earth Balance for baking and table use
Baking powder and soda
Xanthan gum for baking
Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Coconut milk
Red curry paste
Green curry paste
Pure vanilla extract
Nuts and seeds: walnuts, cashews, almonds, popcorn kernels, sunflower and hemp seeds
Nut and seed butters and flours
Dried fruit
Dairy free chocolate chips or chunks
Kombu and other sea foods: dulse, agar agar, kelp.
Sweeteners - Raw agave nectar, local honey, grade B maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, and organic cane sugar
Cultured vegetables, kimchi and sauerkraut
Homemade vegetable and chicken stock
Herbs for tea
Black tea
Organic Sumatran coffee beans; naturally low acid, yum.


THE MEATY PANTRY
Ground bison and turkey
Bison, beef, or pork for stews
Chicken parts and pieces
Wild salmon, as the budget allows.
Tofu
Tempeh

1 pound of a sausage or bacon type treat