A Book Review and Other Updates

Sorry to have been overloading you with all the meal plans, but I wanted to catch up on the back stock I've gathered. On to more important things.....

…..like The Flavor Bible!Holy crap, I finally ordered my very own, shiny and new copy of The Flavor Bible. I'd been searching for it's illegitimate child in the bowels of the internet and kept turning up with empty hands. I'd check every few months for it, but each time there was still nothing to be found. This, I'm telling you, is a little odd for the internet now-a-days.

Not to worry, however, as I have procured a fully legal copy through Amazon, a hardcover, at that, and am learning about new concepts and off and running with ideas on how to mix up the everyday foods that we eat around here. I'm really excited about this book and hope it'll make meal planning and dinner time a bit easier.

…..and moving to Portland!

Less than three weeks and I will be in a state I've never visited, a city I've only seen maps of, and sharing an apartment with a roommate I've never met in person. It's fair to say that most of the reasons that I'm excited to go for are also the reasons why I'm a bit anxious about going: meeting new people, getting around in a new city, going to a large campus, finding a job, etc.

I'm giving it about two weeks before I'm semi-comfortable with getting around there, but I'm hoping that I don't get lost too much in the beginning. I have a horrible sense of direction. The boyfriend and I have a running joke about the place we're going to being 8 blocks the other way that springs from early in our relationship, maybe one of our dates, when I insisted that where we were going was, you guessed, 8 blocks the other way.

…..enjoying my last few weeks in Texas!

While I'm very excited about going to Oregon, I will miss Texas – I grew up here and it will always be my home. I'm enjoying the hot weather and cool rivers while I can. Getting out in the sun and enjoying the days with the boyfriend. Visiting family soon in another part of the state, taking lots of pictures, and enjoying all the time with the boyfriend and cats as I can. I don't know how long it will be before I see them again. Hopefully not too long, but it's all up in the air and will be for a while. That's okay though, we'll see how things land and take it from there.

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The Gluten-Free Assistant Goes To Portland

     The Gluten Free Assistant is headed 2,298 miles away to Portland, Oregon.

     I have been accepted into one of Portland's universities and will be starting classes at the end of September. The big move is scheduled for August 11 – just under thirty days away! I will be taking a one way flight and renting a room until I can get a place of my own and move the rest of my family up to join me. I am very excited about the new state and new city, neither of which I have been to before. Because I am changing my area of study I will be entering as a freshman despite my previous classes. However, making the switch from accounting to community health is a great change for me and more in sync with my interests. A minor in anthropology is also on the horizon.

     My family is very much supportive of me and my mother will be coming to visit me about a week after I arrive and attend a few events at the university with me. After that, I probably won't see a familiar face for about two or three months. Not a huge deal, but I'm sure going to miss my cats that cuddle with me in bed, my own apartment, and my boyfriend among a long list of other things I'll miss about Austin.

     My rabbit is coming with me for the move, so I will not be without at least one companion until I can get to know a few people around town. I've been applying at jobs in the area as well and am expecting to get a call back from one soon. I will be renting a room until I can afford a decent place of my own that is big enough for the boyfriend and the cats to come up as well. We also need to have the cash to move up, so a couple more months of savings and I'm hoping that we'll be able to make the move then.

     I normally do not make personal posts on this blog, but this is a major step in my life and I felt it was important enough to share with you. Portland is a town that, like Austin, loves it's food and I'm hoping that passion for food will bring me great blog fodder for you guys! I should get a few more posts in before I go and hopefully be posting soon after I arrive and get set up a bit. If anyone has any favorite places Portland, let me know!

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A Blur of a Month....

      The past few weeks have been a complete blur for me. The last week and a half of January was spent moving and unpacking. Cleaning and dusting and getting settled in as quick as I could before I had to start a new job working an odd shift that puts me home close to 2 AM. I've had to rearrange my schedule a bit, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it. By nature I am a natural night owl and I do enjoy the hours. The boyfriend and I are also trying to get in shape for two races in March – the Texas Independence 5k and the Statesman 10k. I've been biking to work which gives me nearly 18 miles a week on the bike on top of grocery store runs and the like. The actual running will start sometime in the next week or so.

      I've stayed just as busy in the kitchen with new ideas and recipes to try as I have been outside of the kitchen. Even now, I'm enjoying fresh baked chocolate macadamia cookies that I made earlier this evening and the boyfriend is eating a second plate of the quinoa stuffed peppers we had for dinner. There have been so many wonderful things come out of the kitchen lately that I'm not sure where to begin it all.

      The one dish that sticks out the most from this past month has to be the fettuccini with kale and pesto sauce from earlier this week. The hardest part was making the pesto sauce – other than that it was boil, sautee and mix together. Simple and delicious! Just the way I like it.






      Another success was curried cauliflower. A few months ago the boyfriend and I picked up some amazingly tasty curry powder that has the perfect amount of heat to it – I've been overlooking it for a while now, but when I needed to use up some extra cauliflower last week it was one of the only thing I had on hand. The combination of still crisp cauliflower with spicy curry and savory rice was wonderful. The curry sauce was a simple mixture of 2 tablespoons of curry powder dissolved into 1 cup of milk. I added the cauliflower to this and let it simmer for around 5 minutes. I dumped in a mixture of 2 teaspoons of sweet rice flower mixed with a half cup of water into the simmering pan and turned the heat off. The residual heat kept the sauce cooking long enough to let it thicken up, but not get too thick.

      We also got hold of some of the hottest cayenne we have ever tasted. The first night that we had it we added one half a teaspoon to a skillet of fried potatoes and onions we were having and neither of us were able to get through our meal without a sweaty brow, runny noses and a few tears. It's lasted us quite a while and we are trying to use it up, but it's proving a little difficult. We love spicy foods, but this cayenne is almost over the top.










      Collards have been in three of our last four produce pick ups from the local farm and I've had to find new recipes to keep things interesting. I tried a gluten free collard calzone that turned out a little dry and not very appetizing. The best way I've found of cooking the collards is to just boil them for about 45 minutes or so in some spicy, salty water. The collards will absorb the flavor and this gives you time to whip up something else to go with them. My meal of choice with the collards was beans and rice, as you can see.

      Most of the meals I've made as of late have been as simple as possible. Not only does it make things easier to make, but the closer the food is to the natural state the better it is for you. Lots of avocados, fresh fruit, salads and raw food bars have been our main snack foods with one large meal and one or two smaller meals during the day. Eating this way is best for our lifestyle – it keeps us going with all the energy we expend on a daily basis.

      I am toying with a peanut sauce recipe that should be coming up in a post soon. Also coming out of the kitchen soon will be some delicious pierogies and white chili! I have found a great recipe for a cheese sauce made from nutritional yeast, but the yeast I got is laced with gluten – I got it from the bulk section of Whole Foods, but the bin was surrounded with flours of various sorts and I get hives every time I try to eat it on anything. More on that when I find a better source. Until then...

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