New floors, Part 1 - the stairs

 You may remember this from before...

 When I decided to de-carpet my second floor, it all started with the stairs.  I stripped them, scraped them, pulled staples out of them for hours, sanded them and finally... Painted them!

The second half were about the same.  I basically had to dedicate a 3 day weekend to each flight because of staple pulling hours and paint drying time.

A word to the wise, if you paint any floor white, be prepared to clean it regularly!  I used Glidden floor and porch paint with no tint and I'm pretty pleased with the overall look and it certainly does resist scuffing and chipping or wear.

If you have a choice, they gray might be a better option if you're looking for low-upkeep cleaning.

Phase 1, Stairs Complete!

I woke up today and thought, how long has it been since I blogged? I’ll give you a little TMI…I’ve been absolutely flustered since August.  My grandpa turning 100, my grandma passing away, crazy men torturing me on a regular basis and working on a floor that was supposed to be easy peasy and turned out to be the most difficult project I could imagine…Well, I’ll admit it – something had to give and it was usually my health, then my blog.  So sad because I actually enjoy this blog a lot.

So back to it baby!

 This week I ran my bread maker.  That and my crock pot make me so happy. I mean, what is nicer than coming home to the smell of hot food?

This kind of bread mix is probably my favorite so far.

 One thing I miss from the days of gluten ignorance was dipping Macaroni Grill’s bread in EVOO and Balsamic.  This bread was a really close second to my memory of that crunchy outside, soft inside loaf.

Do you like my Halloween nails? They are supposed to look like spattered blood…any way…

I dipped it in marinara sauce with a pinch heap of parmesan in it too which makes me think this would make some nice bread sticks if one was so ambitious to roll the dough into sticks and bake them without burning them! This is probably not me…

Barfycat chased me around, as usual, to get some gluten free baked goods.  The stuff drives her nutty! I had to stand up to eat or she’d jump right up on the counter to try and steal it away from me. I gave her my plate with crumbs and she licked it clean.  Goofy cat!

She likes gluten free baked stuff better than meat or fish or anything else in the world. Weird right?

I did some fun juice too with some stripey beets. They made stripey juice!

  I roasted some too - there's nothing like roasted beets and squash on a cold evening. Comfort food :)

 I’ll post pictures of my floor in a couple days.  It’s still not done L  There’s one more room which will have to wait until the weekend of the 19^th – but rest assured I’ll get this baby done!

Lundberg Risotto

First, my most beautiful and tasty salad. Yes, that is a raw organic beet on top. I luv beets :) This one was so rich in color it stained my fingers! Underneath is a simple tuna salad made with mayo and seasoned salt. No dressing needed after that!

Then...

I came upon this little box while shopping with my mom and thought, "Why not"? It's Gluten Free, Organic and Vegan. I was really surprised when it came out looking just like the picture on the box. I made it in the microwave, of course! I bet it would have been better on the stove top though. It was creamy and filling and just like most box mixes a little salty. Would have gone great with something bland like tofu.

I'll probably get it again :) next time, I'll freshen it up a bit with chopped tomatoes and some fresh herbs.

I learned a little something

Leeks and fava beans...2 foods I've never actually seen in the raw before.  Want to know what I learned?
1. Leeks are full of dirt and must be sliced open and washed thoroughly!

 2. They are really pretty and when you slice them up they have this wonderful blend of colors:

 3. They make a great soup when you mix them with instant potatoes and about 2x the water called for + a little S&P, of course!

Then there are the fava beans.  They are ugly on the outside...

but cute on the inside.  

And they are kind of yummy too.
I only ate them plain, after I blanched them but I imagine they would be good in any kind of bean recipe you'd like to try them in.  Except maybe stews, I think if you cooked them a long time they'd just disintegrate.

 Did I pique your interest with the soup comment?  I'll share a little shortcut I have learned.
You can make any kind of potato soup with instant mashed potatoes.  Basically, just use twice the amount of liquid they call for and add whatever else you want!
I've done this with the sliced leeks (above) and it was the most elegant soup you could make.  
I've also made baked potato soup by adding cheese, chopped green onions, bacon and some sour cream (I know, dairy bomb but it was so good!).
Try it some time when you come home too pooped to cook...you could use chopped up ham (like lunch meat!) and any kind of cheese you have and have a really nice meal in about 5 minutes if you use hot water from the tap and nuke it.
Let me know how it goes.
Finally, I just had this picture of my freshly washed produce bowl and thought I'd share it.  Lovely, yes?
Have a great week!

Sexy green juice, part 2

This is what you get when you juice a large cucumber, 2 apples, 2 cups of spinach and 4 carrots

That was the first pass, then I shoved all the pulp back through...

And I got all this!

 So, I shoved it through again...

And got this...

 What was left was a bunch of really dry pulp that Didn't even make my paper towel wet

   Then I poured it into cute little jars and drank one every day for a week.  Brilliant!

Roasted corn salsa

 I've been getting the best organic sweet corn all summer and pretty much just grilling it all up because it brings out the sweetness and seriously, doesn't need a dab of butter or salt - you can eat it plain!  But tonight I was in the mood for something different and had a corn left over so I decided to make the lazy man's roasted corn salsa and it was great!

 I just took the corn off the cob and stirred it in some salsa until it seemed about right.  Then I topped a grilled steak with it and, I swear it was like eating at a 4 star restaurant ;0)

I also had a little coleslaw leftover. I made it with Napa cabbage and it was really a nice variation.  Napa cabbage isn't as strong tasting as others so it lent to a smoother taste.  My recipe for it was a dab here and a dash there, as usual.
I guess I used about 1/2 cup of mayo, 3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, pinches of salt and pepper, 1/2 cup raisins, 4 green onions chopped and 4-6 cups of cabbage - adding it and stirring until it was nicely coated and there was no more sauce puddling in the bottom of the bowl.
I always say cooking is easy - maybe because I make it that way...
I think that strict measurements are for baking everything else is toss and play!
I also think baking is best left to mixes...easy!  Pamela and Betty Crocker never fail me.
Have a great weekend!

Taco Tuesday

I'm kind of psyched to find a taco seasoning so I can make tacos once in a while - I seem to crave them pretty often.  So, I tried a packet of Ortega Taco seasoning and it was great!  Look at those beauties :)

I actually made them to go with my guac.  I had some fresh cilantro to use up and thought I'd try to make it Chipotle style with some onion, garlic, cilantro and a dash of lime juice.

I also found out that Santitas are gluten free - you can find a list of Lay's brand products that are gluten free here: http://www.fritolay.com/your-health/us-products-not-containing-gluten-ingredients.html  Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!
So, I think I'm instituting a taco Tuesday in my menu rotation.  Probably not every week - but every time I have a little spinach to shred up for them.  Yes...that's spinach on those tacos.  Try it - you'll like it! :)

Green Juice!

 I bought a juicer!  I'm such a hippie now :)  Let's just say my personal trainer talked me in to it and I went to the store really thirsty so I picked it up for $30 along with 2 cases of pop, 8 boxes of drink mix, 3 bottles of seltzer, 2 bottles of cranberry juice and...

So, who do you turn to when you need a juice recipe?  I turned to Kris Carr (http://crazysexylife.com/) because I figure if you're going to make a green juice it might as well be Crazy Sexy.  So, I used a little cucumber, pear and spinach...

 So, the spinach didn't produce much juice but the pear and cucumber definitely did.  This is what I got out of half a cucumber, a whole pear (including the core!) and about a cup of packed spinach leaves. 

The pulp was all over the inside of the machine - which wasn't really that hard to clean out and repack in the chute to re-juice since it was still pretty wet and there were slices of veggies left even.

 pushed it through....

and this is what was left:

 for reference it was about a heaped up tablespoonful

Of course, some ended up on the floor - but that was my repacking and flinging skills! LOL

Clean up was pretty easy, I just rinsed everything off in the sink after I scooped out the pulp.  Now, what do you do with the pulp? I've heard you can bake it in muffins or cake but I'm not really in the mood to bake - shame to throw it all away though.  Know anyone fiber-lacking?

So...I know you're wondering, how did it taste?  Really good!  How did it smell?  Like cut grass, actually.
I'd recommend drinking it with a straw :p

The last weekend of summer

I knew it was coming but somehow I just didn't believe it until this morning when I went out to the patio to drink my Almond Chai in the warm summer morning and it was only about 60 degrees! Chilly!

It was ok though and I thought I'd share the Chai concentrate I found the other day that goes great with Almond milk. I don't know about you but the milk has enough sweetness in it that when I mix it with the full sweet chai it gets to be a little too syrupy for me. But, this is actually just right!

So, as I was sitting there I noticed how I'd neglected my "garden", if you can call it that, all summer. It was really overgrown and I was suddenly inspired to clean it up.

Even the door mat was looking a little hairy...Yes, that's a bite mark, not just a random hole in the mat ;)

So, I fueled up with some Italian scrambled eggs and Udi's gf toast so that I wouldn't pass out doing what looked to be many hours of hard labor.

They were really easy to make. First, I took a non-stick skillet and dropped the bread in (frozen) and put a bowl on top to make sure it would toast evenly. Flipped them to toast the other sides and then go to the eggs.

I basically chopped up some onion and tomato, minced a clove of garlic and threw them in the pan after a light spray of Pam. After they were looking a little cooked I dropped 2 organic, cage free eggs in and scrambled them up with a dash of basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

I'll admit - I get the cage free eggs because it makes me sad to hear about the chickens being abused and cramped in those horrible factory farms but, I get the organic, vegetarian because they don't make me ill. I used to have serious health issues if I ate more than 2 eggs per week but with the organics I can eat eggs everyday and just be fine fine fine.

 So...how's the patio look now?

I know it's not perfect and that little dirt patch is pretty pathetic, no? At least I know that when spring comes next year and I get the inspiration to build my raised garden bed, I won't have to hack down a bunch of wandering bushes and weeds or dig through a bunch of muck, leftover from the snow and decomposing plants.

Yes, I'm planning to build myself a nice little garden right there so I can grow some of my own little organic delicacies :) remind me come spring, will ya?

I managed to work around the house well until dinner time and George decided to grill up a nice steak and I sauteed some crazy Italian veggies (I was in the mood for Italian, what can I say?)

You can probably tell what's in it but, it was basically a splash of EVOO in a pan, one thinly sliced zucchini, tomato, leek, and some leftover grilled corn. Oh yeah and a couple sliced up radishes.

Please don't judge me on the BBQ sauce - the bottle dumped out really fast!

You know how that happens, right? Shake...shake...dribble dribble...shake...Woooosh!!

Gluten Free Wraps

Have you ever tried your sandwich salad in Napa cabbage leaves? This was new for me and I loved it! I made canned salmon into salad about the same way you'd do with tuna or chicken and dabbed it into the soft outer leaves of a napa cabbage - no leaks :) Plus, Napa cabbage is very mild tasting - not as musky as green or red cabbage so it makes a lovely wrap.

You know how I'm all about eating gluten free in a really logical, natural way? You don't have to go spend a lot of money on gluten free prepared wraps and breads. Nor do you have to spend your life mixing flours and baking to get the right consistency. Just grab a cheap head of cabbage or leaf lettuce and wrap your sandwich innards up!

I do it with roast beef and mustard in collard greens or red leaf lettuce. You can make little hummus wraps like below, which are super cute and you could stick toothpicks in them and serve them at a party even!
It's totally simple. Just run a sharp knife down the spine of the collard leaf to remove the stem - it will slide along easy! Then drop a dab of hummus on whichever side is the least pretty.
Roll it up and you have a vegan, gluten free treat that anyone would like :)
Cute, right? See why I love collard greens? I get some every time Door to Door has them because they are so versatile and make a nice packable lunch for me too.
Well, darlings I have been up since the crack of dawn thanks to Alarmcat who thinks it is her job to get me out of bed and off to work every morning, Saturdays included. It's just too bad that she doesn't realize that my wake up call was set for 7:00 AM not 6:00 AM :( Every day, I tell ya...every day.

I'm going to go get some stuff done. I'm working on a little more of my remodel and taking down my fairy lights. Then, I'll need to start shopping for new lighting options in my office to replace them. It's amazing how much I get done on weekends now that I'm in a FLYLady cleaning routine.

Tah tah for now!