Cookies and Ice Cream

 The other day on my way home from work...ok it was my birthday...I decided I needed sugary goodness.

 When I got home, I checked to see which would be the least offensive points-wise...Udi's chocolate chip cookies (which I vowed never to buy again after the last package that was $6 of yuckiness but the memories of past yumminess overruled that...and I'm not necessarily glad. They aren't as good as I remember them being - recipe change, perhaps? but I digress...) or Breyer's coffee ice cream.

3 points for a teeny tiny cookie (remember I'm only getting 22 points per day here) or 4 points for 1/2 cup of ice cream. I will always choose the ice cream in the future. 1 cookie is pitiful, 1/2 cup of ice cream in a small bowl looks filling. In my opinion :)

In other news, the cheese addict in me found out that 1 Tablespoon of shredded parmesean cheese = 0 points! If you have 2 Tablespoons it's 1 point though...so I guess you can only have 1 at a time!

a small hot chick salad is 0 points - that pretty much rocks!

So, what are your cravings and make -up meals?

Hot Chick salad aka a pound of spinach

So, I read this book and I would recommend it.  It got some mixed reviews - lots of haters out there. But the general philosophy is worth checking out. Plus, it's pretty funny and uplifting. Every single girl everywhere should read it.

And of course after a day of eating nothing but cookies, ice cream and Fritos, I had to have my pound of spinach with a ton of Parmesean cheese, Balsamic Vinegar and NO EVOO!! As prescribed in the book.

It was delicious.

So, you'll notice me incorporating more of their tips into my rotation. 

Like how to build a salad (chapter 2) and 10 things that are secretly magic (page 51).

Have you read this book? I know it's old...but sometimes old advice is good advice. Let me know what you think!

Weekly Menu Plan

Zucchini Noodles & Sauce   http://cocoasglutenfreeplace.blogspot.com/2010/07/like-at-restaurant.html 

Roast Beef  http://cocoasglutenfreeplace.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-fake-it-and-im-proud-roast-ala-chez.html  and Salad 

GF Mac & Cheese  http://cocoasglutenfreeplace.blogspot.com/2012/03/most-pathetic-lunch-ever.html 

Tuna Salad Sandwich   http://cocoasglutenfreeplace.blogspot.com/2010/06/magic-tuna-heavenly-mayo.html 

Eggs and Hash Browns

Leftover Roast to fill in

Do you use dehydrated chopped onions?

I got a container of dried chopped onions a while back for a recipe that I never even tried. Since then, I've been wondering what to do with them and then...

I was making a little salmon salad from canned salmon, mayo, salt and pepper and it needed something else.

So, I put in a bunch of the onions. It was great! Since they were still dry the distracted me from the fact that there were a few little bones in that salmons till (which I hear is good for you to eat - high calcium and all). The next day (of course there were leftovers!) the onions had soaked up some of the liquid and the flavor had melded so nice!

I'd highly recommend this little recipe - then let it sit in the fridge for a while before you serve.

Good stuff!

Don't forget to put a bunch of spinach in your sandwich too. Even better!

Fake Restaurant Food

I was thinking about things GF that restaurants serve and how easy it is to do at home. So here are a few things I did.  What are your favorite restaurant meals?

Tuna spring rolls $3 per person 2 WW points per roll.

Yes I used canned tuna (it was ok). Thai Kitchen makes 2 yummy sauces - mango and sweet red chili, they go great in shot glasses for easy dipping!

I love them with carrots (shredded or baby), green onions or scallions and avocado.

$3-4 per person. Ever notice how a salad seems better at a restaurant? I think it's because they make them fancy/pretty. I've started buying pre-washed organic greens ($3 for a tub that serves generously 4, conservatively 6), baby carrots ($3 for 16 z bag), tomatoes ($3 for 4 romas) and sweet peas ($2.50 9 oz bag). 5 minute salad, baby! Add cheese, nuts, fruit etc...pretty soon you're stuffed gourmet style at a fraction of the cost and time.  0 WW points

Pizza always seems fancier at a restaurant too. I threw some baby spinach on my $8 Amy's GF cheese pizza and it was lovely (I may have toasted it a little too long though). Serves 2, 10 WW points each.

I like to think I make a good argument for not eating out. Between waiting 15 - 45 minutes for a table...10 minutes to get your drinks and another 20 to get your food, given they don't make any mistakes or take a longer time...you can easily eat at home, cheaper, cleaner and faster. The only draw back is that you have to clean up after...and that's what paper plates are for, ya?
Also, you know what you're eating for sure without having to grill a wait person or chef for ingredients. Whether you're watching food allergies, high blood pressure or your calories, it's a pain worth eliminating - in my humble opinion.
What are your tips for an easy meal?

Look Ma! I made bread!

Welcome to installment 2 of Cocoa's slide show instructions :0)

Step 1. Put the ingredients in the bread machine pan.

Step 2. Put pan in machine - don't push down too hard or it will get permanently stuck and you will have to pry it out with tools - which is not the manufacturer's intent.

Step 3. Choose option 9, if you have my machine. It lives under the cupboard so I had to use a mirror to get some light on it for the picture.  

Step 4. Close the lid. Don't forget to press "Start"...yes, I went to check on it an hour later and was stupefied.

Step 5. Store in airtight container.

When I make this bread I remember how much I miss Macaroni's Grill bread, then I remember it's not the bread I missed from Macaroni's - it's the dipping and go drizzle some evoo and balsamic in a plate with a dash of S&P and I'm happy again.

  What do you miss?

"I fake it homemade and I'm proud" roast ala Chez Cocoa

$12.49/ pound. That is how much my roast cost. Then I put 

in in a pan and served it, see?

Ok, so maybe I cut it out of the wrapper first and let all the bloody juice puddle around it.

Kind of hard to imagine it's fully cooked and this is what the deli slices up for you, eh?

Slicing it up makes it "cook" faster.

Tenting it with foil helps the "gravy"

Good alone or smothered in BBQ sauce.  
Also featured instructions on how to procure said roast here: http://cocoasglutenfreeplace.blogspot.com/2012/04/look-i-made-roastand-fab-gf-find.html
Have a nice weekend!

Alternate uses for an apple slicer

I've never actually owned a toaster...and it wasn't really until recently that I decided to make toast for myself (as an adult). But, I've found it's actually much easier in a non-stick skillet than it ever was in a toaster. Curious?

 It's easy - heat the pan on High until it's hot (30 secs or less), turn down heat to medium and put in your bread. Put the apple slicer (or other weight like a plate or large round jar) on top and when it stops steaming, flip and do the other side.  Why a weight you ask? Well, you can toast without it but the light weight makes it toast evenly rather tan just getting the parts that naturally touch the pan (like the middle).

Perfect toast! No pushing it down twice and ending up with burned fritters.

Also, have you ever noticed GF bread smells way worse than wheat bread when it burns? :(

This salad brought to you by...

 Lunch...I struggle with lunches at work because I can't bring anything that may need refrigeration or re-heated because the fridge is always over flowing and the kitchen is an absolute disaster by 10AM. I swear, people live here...there are honest to God bags of groceries in the fridges and every morning there is a group of people whipping up breakfast in the kitchen. Everything from toast and pancakes to scrambled eggs. So by about 10 AM the counter is covered in toast crumbs, the fridge has been totally rearranged and the microwave has had several explosions in it...

If you know me at all, you know I'm not going anywhere near that!

So this is one of my go-to lunch ideas. A simple container filled with chopped veggies, fruit, cheese and of course, a Shot Glass...with dressing in it!

The dressing is sometimes from a bottle but most often a drizzle of evoo and a glug of balsamic - which doesn't require chilling at all. The shot glass is tall enough to not spill as long as I don't toss my container around too much and fits nicely in the dishwasher in those little spaces you never quite know how to fit something in to. 

 Plus, you know, it's fun to have a shot of Jameson in my lunch to ease into the afternoon   ;0)

What do you have for lunch? I'm always looking to mix it up!

What do you think of Rice Cereal?

 I keep a box of Cream of Rice cereal in the cupboard but I hardly ever cook it...I have mixed feelings that stem from the fact that if you try to make it in the microwave it will boil over, no matter how careful you are, plus...cooking! I don't dig cooking in the morning.

Weekends are different though. I can cook breakfast like a mad woman - mostly because breakfast on Saturday is always after 11:00 AM.

 I went nutty today and made 4 servings, in an attempt to have prepared breakfast for the next couple days. Since it's a nightmare in the micro I made it on the stove in the biggest pan I had, just in case it was prone to boiling over. It wasn't...because the directions are different...which I found out afterwards when I decided to read the instructions! Ha ha. Boil the water then add the rice...but it works if you do it all at once. Evidence:

Big pan, little blob of cereal, but 4 days of breakfast - so Yay!

It is surprisingly filling and I found that it really doesn't require as much syrup as say...grits or oatmeal, to taste sweet enough. Probably because rice itself is fairly sweet.

So, I'm on the fence about it. I kind of prefer my instant packet of grits for simplicity but there is just something nice about a soft bowl of warm goo in the morning.

What do you think?