My pickles bring all the boys to the yard...or something like that!

I made pickles. Sounds hard, right? Yeah it was.
NOT!
It took like 2 minutes and they are so yummy! I think I like them better than store bought...except maybe Claussen, those are darn good.
Want the recipe?
In a jar:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 white vinegar
dash of salt
1/2 small onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 tsp dill
a little less than 1/2 cup water
1 sliced cucumber
Shake it all up, let it sit over night or longer in the fridge. I tipped it on the side for a while to make sure everything soaked up evenly. Nommy nom nom nom!
After all that hard work I also made some brownies from Betty Crocker's gf mix. I followed the high altitude directions this time and they turned out really nice. We ate them quickly...

Regular instructions are to add butter and eggs.  High altitude you add cornstarch, reduce butter, add another egg and some water. I almost felt like I was cooking from scratch. But, living in Colorado is worth the extra work.
Otherwise, spinach salads every day! Gotta keep those vitamins up.

90% vegan bc I have to get my life back

Hi Kids! 


I haven't felt like boring you with picture after picture of summer squash on skewers and salads topped with tomatoes because I've also given up dairy in an attempt to calm the raging tummy
You see, a couple of weeks ago I was invited to my grandpa's 99th birthday party and as much as I wanted to go, my body just wouldn't let me. It was like I hit a new low.
I realized that getting up every morning, barely making it to work and suffering through in pain to come home and go to bed early every night isn't living. That one day a week when I felt able to run my errands was a real accomplishment for me and somehow I felt ok with that. But now, I feel sad about that.

Maybe TMI, maybe just a candid confession: I've been really unwell lately. Like, if I have one or two days a week that I'm not in excruciating pain, having gi issues or just curled up in the fetal position from all of the above, I feel lucky. 

So, giving up dairy was kind of an accident. I felt so sick for about 2 weeks that I didn't even go to the grocery store. I lived off my Door to Door deliveries and whatever was in the pantry. Mostly quinoa and instant mashed potatoes. So, I ran out of cheese, yogurt and milk (I was making my instant potatoes with water and olive oil). Not so great tasting, but in a few days I was feeling better. My one good day came that week and I spent it with a friend visiting and laughing. A couple days later, I felt good enough to do some house cleaning above and beyond basic maintenance. Then, a third good day came and I considered going to the grocery store but I had so many other things I wanted to do, so I skipped it! I actually ended up with an entire week where I was able to accomplish things that I hadn't felt well enough to do in months but no "decent" meals to show for it.
Then, I went to the store. I had put 2 and 2 together but I got 3.5 somehow and grabbed some cheese. That night I topped my gf pepperoni pizza with it and the next day I was in pain and sick and for 3 days after that.
So, the short end of my story is that I've decided to give up dairy. Even if it was a coincidence because all other tests have shown it to be ok for me, I don't need it. It's kind of odd for humans to drink cows milk anyway.
People either scoff or are really concerned for me now that I've gone 90% vegan because they don't see how I could possibly get complete nutrition being gluten free, sugar free and meat/dairy free. I think mostly, they are afraid I'm going to put my food issues on them. Well, I'm not. Go ahead and drown in your gluten and pork, if it makes you happy. 
All I know is that raw meat gags me and there's a good chance I'm somehow intolerant to dairy. I want much more from life than the pleasure of food, so I'm willing to give it up. As for nutrition - I'll worry about that when I get my life back! The FDA/USDA might suggest a "perfect mix" for us on some funky looking "pyramid" but that doesn't mean it's what I need to get through my day. 
So, I'll get back to the food pictures, in fact there is a batch of pickles, pickling in my fridge right now. They are very pretty. 
I'm starting to feel like I'm going to end up with a blog about how to eat nothing...well, maybe just plant based foods and the odd egg or grass fed beef (I said 90%...).

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Economical me fried the bacon in a skillet, then dumped out most of the grease, fried the potatoes and onions, then the eggs. Added a tomato to cut the grease. So good! So bad! One thing I can say, I don't like eggs fried in bacon grease. There, I said it. Please don't judge me.

Sautéed and ate an entire onion and entire zucchini for lunch. Is that 2 servings of veggies or more? Who cares? It was delicious!

Sautéed some spinach with garlic, thawed out some pre-cooked frozen shrimp and viola! Dinner in 10 minutes or less. This is why I don't understand people who live on fast food because they don't have time...I didn't even have to watch those shrimp defrost - just put em in a bowl in the sink and let the cold water dribble on them for 5 minutes while I stirred the spinach. This would serve 4 people for under $10 can you do that at McDonalds?
I'm just sayin', I could save the world if they'd let me.

Cheers!

I forget where, but I got this recipe for basil cocktails on the same day that d2d brought me a big bunch of fresh basil and strawberries. It was fate.  Now, Friday nights are basil nights!!
This cocktail calls for 3 strawberries and 5 basil leaves, muddled in a 16 ounce glass. Then, you mix 1 oz of strawberry puree with 1.5 oz of strawberry flavored vodka, dump it in the other and top it off with 4 oz of lemonade.
So, as you can imagine I made this Cocoa style. Which means...Magic Bullet! I pretty much just dumped everything in a cup and zipped with the bullet and it came out GREAT! Oh yeah, and I used regular vodka. Partly because I was too lazy to go to the store and partly because I don't trust flavored alcohols to be gf. But that's just me.
Then everyone gets a fun colored top for the cup - whee it's a party!
Now, I'm going to go eat my yummy breakfast: stuffed omelet.

I basically sautéed up the leftover insides of the zucchini after I made Zucc noods, a whithered tomato, some onion and tucked it into a plain egg omelet. MMMMM.

Like at a restaurant

One of my favorite things now are Suzanne's zucchini noodles. I have found them to be delightful! So, I coupled them with a steak and leftover mushrooms sautéed in red wine and olive oil. I felt like I'd just ordered a meal at a fancy restaurant.  The mingling flavors and textures were really fun!
I'm such a lazy simple cook that I don't often go to the bother of using things like spices, herbs, wine or garnish. So, when I do it feels really special. When I do it just for myself, it feels indulgent!
By the way, save the insides of the zucchini and use them in salads - so refreshing and a nice option besides cucumbers. *tips from Cocoa's kitchen*

Door To Door Organics some more

I'm kind of happy to spread the love and got a friend of mine to sign up for D2D. So, like this week, it is not only a great deal it's also a lifesaver because I just really don't want to go to the store! It's so nice to have a box show up on my door step and know that I'll not starve to death this week despite my aversion to shopping.
So, in thankfulness to the d2d people, thought I'd post a few pics of past boxes that I forgot to share:

If you think you'd like to try it too use code: happy, to get $5 off your order and tell them I sent you to share the love (I'll get a credit too). I'm finally endorsing it because their track record with me has been great. Also, I love the fact that they will pick up your old packaging and recycle it. Not only is it a hassle to try and recycle or trash it myself, but it's economical for them!

Grits!

Look what I found, leftover (never even opened!) from my F$ project!! Grits!

What a great snack, with butter and salt.  I have a feeling they will be a staple this week since I'm just not feeling like going to the grocery store.
Related to the anti-grocery week, I'm cleaning out cupboards and fridges.  I found a chunk of fresh mozzarella in the crisper - it was beginning to mold - green! So, I cut off the mold and threw it on a pan with the leftover pepperoni for a "pizza". No crust, unless you count the aluminum foil I lined the pan with...

Just broil it on high until the pepperonis sizzle and the cheese gets bubbly
And finally, the last of a jar of marinara sauce (could be a week old!) and some pasta

Now, I've got to go scratch a mosquito bite and see what else I can dig out for sustenance. See ya!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (Bob's Redmill mix)

Good morning!
Yesterday I made cinnamon raisin bread in my bread maker. If you don't have a bread maker for your gf bread- go get one NOW! Cuisinart brand - I'd recommend. 

This was cuisi's first bread and I want to be the kind of girl who can set it and forget it, but I'm not. I was checking on it and making sure it was doing it right! And, control freak that I am, I had to take a spatula and jab at the dough to make sure it all got mixed in right.
We all think it turned out good. Barfy cat had to have the first bite, naturally so I gave her a bit and she l.o.v.e.d. it. She pretty much goes nutsy for any gf baking I do. No idea why. I mean, she will beg for a gf muffin with more desperation than for steak.  It's pretty obvs God picked her out special for me.
I ate a huge chunk right out of the pan smeared with butter. It was good!  Today, I'm going to toast some and see if it lives up to my memories of cinnaraisin toast.
In all fairness, I will admit. I've never liked bread and I couldn't tell you if any gf kind is really tasty or not, because I still don't really enjoy bread. I'll eat it and I know if it's bad, but mediocre isn't going to raise flags with me.
So, I called my mom and dad and offered them some, if they'd come to my house for a visit. And sure enough, they showed up! I toasted some for them - on the stove! Yeah, I don't own a toaster and tell you the truth - it's faster and easier to just throw the bread or whatever in a non-stick skillet on the stove.  Then you can butter the first toasted side (while the other toasts) without burning your fingers! *tips from Cocoa's lazy kitchen*


I'm off to have some breakfast now :)

Finished the spinach bread - ham and cheese style. I luv that stuff! Gotta get more eggs and make another batch.
In other news, I'm currently baking some Cinnamon Raisin bread, from a Bob's Red Mill mix, in the bread maker. Will fill you in on it tomorrow!!
So, I haven't been blogging much. Partly because I'm tired of talking about food. I can't seem to figure out what I'm eating or if it is what I'm eating that keeps upsetting my system.  I'm down to 2-3 good days a week when I'm not in acute pain or worse...
So my food is boring. I eat a lot of stuff picnic style:

And I'm still getting my door to door organics delivered every week:

That means trying new recipes like Chard Chips.  Look how gorgeous this chard is! It was a shame to cook it and then eat it - would've liked to just hung it on the wall!

Somer Enchiladas

After an especially sweet breakfast of canteloupe and raspberries (drool, drool!!), I got brave and ready to fire up the oven and decided to make Suzanne's enchiladas.  It was surprisingly easy and fairly tasty, although I'd skip the tomato paste and go for something fresher...you know cuz of my boat load of tomatoes.

So, the egg crepes were much faster and easier to make this second time. I used a smaller pan and a pour-able container rather than the ladle. Much better!

Cooked the sausages and rolled them up with onions and cheese...

Baked and done!

Would I do it again? No. Why? because I'm lazy that way. I'd have just made the crepes and put them on a plate with the stuff and covered it with sauce.
Should you try this anyway? Yes! Why? Because it was a yummy dinner and presented nicely if you're cooking for a group.