Popeye Would Be Proud

In an effort to tone up my body, I am focusing on a high-protein, low(er)-carb diet. For my mornings, this means eggs. Lots. of. eggs. And while I make lovely eggs, there's only so many times you can make a recipe without getting bored. I decided something with spinach would be nice, so I scoured the internet for a recipe that involved spinach and scrambled eggs. I found a recipe entitled Scrambled Eggs with Spinach on About.com that I quite enjoy, though I did modify it to use the ingredients I had in my kitchen already. Also, I quartered the recipe so that it made only one serving. Here it is:

12oz package of baby spinach leaves
2tbs olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced (I used garlic powder)
4tbs heavy cream (I used 2% milk)
8 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste (I used red pepper for a little kick)
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves (I omitted these)
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Coarsely chop spinach leaves. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet and cook onion and garlic until crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped spinach and cook, stirring often, until spinach is tender, about 5-7 minutes.

In small bowl, beat cream with eggs, salt, pepper, and thyme until foamy (the milk did not get foamy). Add the egg mixture to the skillet, stirring to allow the eggs to scramble with the spinach, about 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Makes 4 servings

Having less food, I chose a small skillet, and the cooking times were lower. The recipe was delicious, though I think the garlic made the flavor a little darker than I was anticipating this morning. The new recipe was a nice change in my morning routine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Ma! The Meatloaf!

Sometimes a girl needs her comfort food. Sometimes that comfort food is meatloaf. This week was one of those times for me. I recently acquired a copy of The Gluten Free Bible, which is an amazing resource for gluten free cooking. It has tons of recipes of varying cuisine with a wide range of ingredients that are reasonably accessible. One of these recipes is for Southwestern meatloaf, and it sparked a serious craving. Aaron and I cooked it last night, though with some modifications. Here is the recipe and my critique.

1lb ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup shopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 can (4oz) chopped mild green chiles, drained
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (I used a peppercorn medley grinder)
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce, divided
2 tbs ketchup (I used Sweet Baby Rays Chipotle Barbecue sauce)

1) Preheat over to 350F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2) Combine beef, onion, cornmeal, cilantro, chiles, egg, cumin, salt, pepper, and half of tomato sauce in large bowl; mix well. Combine remaining tomato sauce and ketchup in small bowl.
3) Shape meat mixture into 6x9-inch oval in prepared baking pan. Top with tomato sauce mixture. Bake 55 minutes or until cooked through (160F).
4) Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Makes 4 servings

This is a pretty good recipe! I like the twist on a traditional favorite. I substituted the pepper because that is the pepper we had. I think I would prefer the original black pepper, as some of the peppercorn bits were still too firm and messed up the texture. I substituted the barbecue sauce for the ketchup because I loathe ketchup. It gave it a nice punch of flavor that I quite enjoyed! The recipe was straightforward, easy to follow, and yielded nice results. The only minor complaint I have is that the meatloaf came out a little dry. I think this is because of the cornmeal. Next time I may try GF breadcrumbs. The recipe also needs a bit more salt. To combat this, I topped it with some fresh barbecue sauce, which worked beautifully.

I served the meatloaf with some Southwest corn from Birds Eye. While the recipe claims to feed four, we had quite a lot of food, and I think it could easily feed more, providing no one wants seconds. We have a substantial amount of left-over food to eat now!

GF in Milton, FL

For those of you (and I'm sure there's a lot) who don't know about Milton, it's a city in the far west part of the Florida panhandle, just east of Pensacola. It's a small city, and most businesses close painfully early, but it has some lovely rivers in which to canoe, great camping, amazing restaurants, and a fantastic bike trail. It also happens to be my hometown. A few weeks ago, I had to visit Milton, FL for a funeral. Aside from the obviously bad situation, I was excited to see my family, because I had been missing them! The dietary downside, however, is that Milton is a small country town with delicious, traditional Southern food. This means gluten, and lots of it! If you DON'T have a gluten allergy, you must go to Kwikburger. The fried chicken is amazing, they have great cornbread, and the pies are fantastic. La Hacienda is some of the best Mexican food I've ever eaten. The Catfish House is an amazing place to go for good seafood, and you can't leave without a stop to the Milton Bakery, which frankly, puts other bakeries to shame. HOWEVER, since all of those places are full of gluten, I had to find some alternatives to my old favorites. Sad! Though to be fair, the Catfish House does have grilled fish and a few sides that are available, but cross contamination can be an issue there. On a previous trip, I discovered that I could eat at a place called the Blackwater Bistro, which is a lovely place to have a nice, more upscale dinner in town. They were pleasant and knowledgeable, and I felt very safe eating there. This trip, I mostly ate at my dad's house, because he is an amazing cook, and I knew I'd be safe. I brought a few GF items with me from Orlando, because I knew they'd be tricky to find in Milton. For the most part though, between Winn Dixie and Publix, I can find quite a few gluten free items to meet my needs. The GF selection in Milton grocery stores compared to Orlando grocery stores of the same chains, however, is quite unimpressive. Knowing my preference for a pescatarian diet, my dad made delicious vegetables, including pan fried okra, and a lemon herb tilapia that was quite tasty. Eating my dad's food is always a treat! On the occasions that I could not eat at home, however, I managed to find some decent options. In the neighboring town of Pace, FL, there is a Chili's, which of course, has a pretty large GF menu. I met a friend there and ate dinner the second night of my trip. Also, I knew that Wendy's had gluten free food, but I hadn't been brave enough to venture a try here in Orlando, especially not at the one at Chickasaw Trail and Lake Underhill. I wouldn't trust them with regular food. Knowing that fast food in Milton is vastly superior to fast food in other places (it's true, investigate it yourself!), I thought I'd give Wendy's a try. To my surprise, Wendy's does not only have a GF free menu, they have a HUGE GF menu. I had a baja salad and a small frosty on maybe three different occasions while on my trip! The employees of that location were very helpful and diligent with my food allergy, often vocalizing the steps they were taking to keep my food safe. I was impressed! The other place I ate out while in Milton was Ace's Fillin' Station, which is another traditional Southern restaurant. I ate there for breakfast, and they were extremely helpful with my food allergy, bringing items to the table so I could check labels and running back and forth to the kitchen to check information. After I thanked the server for being so helpful, she replied with a smile, "Of course, Honey. I don't want you to get sick. An ambulance in front of a restaurant is always bad for business." Good Southern humor for you! I felt confident that I could eat there safely. There was only one questionable item, and it was my fault for not checking it. Oops! I ended up being OK, though. :) I also found out about some other gluten friendly restaurants in Pensacola, FL, which is about 20-30 minutes from Milton, including some chains like Chili's, Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, and Red Robin. So, Celiacs can relax when visiting the Pensacola area. They will take care of you!