When I'm not Eating Cupcakes

As I was writing about cupcakes the other day I realized that according to my blog I only eat cupcakes, burgers, and lasagna.  While this is generally true, when I'm not eating cupcakes and burgers I do try to eat relatively well and exercise a few times a week.  Today I walked 6.5 miles and then made the delicious lunch above.  It is super easy to make and naturally gluten free.  That's sauteed kale, a small sweet potato that I cooked in the microwave for 4 minutes, half an avocado, two fried eggs, a little bit of cheese, and salt and pepper.  Now I will try not to eat a cupcake and/or a burger for the rest of the day.  No promises.

A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey - ebook review

Last Monday I got an email from Sibel Hodge asking if I'd like to review her cookbook: A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey.  My first thought was "heck yes".  My second thought was "...what is Turkish food?"  I didn't have to wonder for long because within a few hours I had a copy of Sibel's ebook.

Sibel has dual Turkish Cypriot and British nationality.  She started cooking gluten free for her husband who has Celiac.  I really enjoyed this little anecdote in her introduction about getting to know her husband:

‘I’m coeliac,’ he admitted sheepishly, just after I’d invited him round for dinner early on in our relationship.

‘Coeliac?’ I gave him an odd look, thinking he was trying to prepare me for some bizarre sexual quirk that sounded a bit dodgy.

Well, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, I can tell you, when he explained to me he had a disease that meant he was unable to eat gluten, not someone who wanted to dress up in lederhosen and be slapped with stinging nettles. Then I thought, unable to eat gluten? That must be really horrible, but how difficult can it be to cater for that? Well, not as easy as I first thought…

A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey is filled with funny little notes as well as a lot of great recipes.  It is broken into Meze, Soup, Salad, Egg Dishes, Pasta, Vegetable Dishes, Meat Dishes, Seafood, Dessert, Bread, and Drinks.  I like it because most of the recipes are naturally gluten free.

I couldn't decide on just one dish, so I made a Turkish feast (shout out to my boyfriend who eats everything I cook, even when I clearly have no idea what I'm doing).  I started with a yogurt and cucumber dip served with fresh veggies and individual corn bread.  I love yogurt dip as a dip, but also on main dishes like chicken and rice.  I'm so happy that now I know how to make it on my own.  The individual corn bread reminded me more of corn fritters than of what I would traditionally call corn bread.  But hey, who doesn't like a corn fritter?

I made two main dishes: Aubergine Bake and Chicken Casserole.  Aubergine is what we call eggplant in the US. According to Sibel, eggplants are eaten daily in one form or another in Turkey and North Cyprus.  I haven't cooked with eggplant in awhile so it seemed like a good opportunity.  Both of these recipes call for mozzarella melted on top.  How can you go wrong with melted cheese on top?  The answer is, you can't.

Other recipes I'd like to try include: Hummus, Sexy Cabbage, Bean Salad, and Beetroot Salad.

Overall I like this cookbook.  Sibel is funny and it's nice to have recipes on hand from a different type of cuisine.  A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey is available on Amazon for $4.99 and will be available in paperback soon.

All Inclusive Resorts - Gluten Free

This was the view from our room.  It's ok to be jealous.

I just got back from a week in Jamaica.  It's relatively warm in New York City this winter, but compared to the 85 degree days and 75 degree nights of island life, I'm sitting here wrapped in blankets and pouting profusely.  Gone from Saturday to Saturday, it's a good thing I had today to pull myself together before heading back to work tomorrow.

Last year my man friend and I went to Mexico.  It was my first vacation gluten free and I was kind of nervous about it.  I quickly realized that with so many options available at a resort buffet, eating gluten free was easy.  I had a similar experience this year, which is why this post is about eating at all inclusive resorts, rather than Jamaica.

Whether the resort is big or small, they are feeding so many people that there will always be gluten free options.  I don't mean gluten free pasta or bread. That you certainly won't find.  But there will always be a plethora of fruits and vegetables, along with fish, meat, and rice.  This covers lunch and dinner, and for breakfast there are always eggs, potatoes, fruit, and yogurt.

This trip I didn't knowingly eat any gluten or take nearly as many chances as last time.  I still let a few things slide that I wasn't positive on like jerk chicken and curry goat (the sauces being the potential problem), but I didn't get sick once.  I can't speak on cross contamination, and while I'm pretty sensitive and was fine the entire time, this might be a cause for concern for some.  However, the staff at these places are usually pretty great, and if you want to take the time to ask, I highly recommend it.

All in all, with all the food options at all inclusive resorts, eating gluten free is easy.  You might not always get what you want to eat, but at least you aren't going to starve.  Have some lunch and go drink a pina colada on the beach.  No problem.

Relish

*I have learned that Relish is now closed.* - March 2013

I found Relish on the Gluten Free Travel Site and made a point of going when I was in Allentown, PA.  They have so many gluten free options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that I was sad I only had the time to go once.

For such a casual place, the menu is pretty impressive.  For breakfast they have pancakes, french toast, waffles, omelets, and eggs benedict.  For lunch they have numerous salads and sandwiches.  At dinner they add on some appetizers and entrees.

I was bound and determined to get the mac and cheese, and seeing as it was only a side dish, I got the Thai Cobb Salad to go along with it.  The salad had mango, coconut, peanuts, snow peas, and carrots on a bed of lettuce.  It was different and fun.  The macaroni and cheese, unfortunately, wasn't as good as I was hoping for.  It consisted of globby gluten free pasta with some cheese on it.  I was expecting more of a bechamel cheese sauce, but I guess I was just hoping for my mom's mac and cheese and that's not really fair.  For dessert I got some amazing cheesecake to go from Moondance Desserts.

Despite not loving the mac and cheese, there are so many other things at Relish I want to try: blueberry pancakes, eggs benedict, asian pear salad, fresh grilled chicken wrap, southern pulled pork sandwich, pizza, mini potato pancakes, crab cakes, mozzarella sticks, tropical tilapia, pork chops, gluten free ravioli, and pretty much everything else.  I can't wait until my next meeting in the Allentown area.  I'll definitely be stopping by Relish again.

How to Hard Boil an Egg

When I was first diagnosed with Celiac my mom promptly ordered me three gluten free cookbooks off Amazon.  They were in my hands and filled with post it notes within a few days.  In Jacqueline Mallorca's The Wheat-Free Cook there is a page in which all she has is a brief description of how to hard boil eggs.  I remember looking at that page and realizing that, at age 25, I had no idea how to hard boil an egg.  I'm so glad I know how to now, and I wanted to make sure you know how to too.

In Jacqueline's own words, here's all you have to do:

Perfectly Cooked Hard-Boiled Eggs
Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil.  Cover the pan, remove from the heat, and let stand for 12 minutes.  The yolks as well as the whites will be firm all the way through, and just right.

That's it.  When the eggs are done I drain the hot water, run some cold water over them, drain that, and then put them right in the fridge.  Cooking up a few on Sunday night makes for a very easy weekday breakfast.  I grab two on my way out the door and eat them at my desk with salt and pepper.  They keep for 3-5 days.

What's everyone else eating for breakfast?  You are eating breakfast, aren't you?