Friday Night Foodie: Gluten Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

As I shared last week, insomnia is a fabulous excuse for trying new cooking projects, and this week was no different.  Between three and four hours of sleep provided me with a lot of extra time for studying, writing, Netflix watching, and, of course, cooking!  On deck this week: sweet potato gnocchi!  For those you who don't know, gnocchi is a pasta typically made with flour, cheese, eggs, and some form of potato. 

My first experience with this odd little pasta was at Olive Garden.  They have this amazing chicken and gnocchi soup that I could more or less make myself sick on.  A former boss would take me our team there on occasion and I would eat all the gnocchi from our soups while he would eat all the chicken…I felt it was a fair trade.  Last year I discovered that HEB sold both regular and sweet potato gnocchi.  This made me learn how to brown butter, a technique my friend Lauren taught me, and though you can eat it with any sauce you like, I've found this is my favorite way. 

Two weeks ago, I found gluten free gnocchi hiding at the bottom of the shelf and thus renewed my desire to attempt to make my own.  Home made is always better, right?  My biggest fear was shaping the pasta itself, but I decided early on to give myself a little leeway.  You start by baking three sweet potatoes (I use these because of the vitamin C).  Mine ended up taking about ten minutes per side in the microwave.

Cooking confession: I may or may not have had an Arrested Development moment where I covered the spuds in foil…did I mention I haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately?

After they cooled (ideally…I was a bit impatient and have the burnt fingers to prove it), you scoop the innards into a bowl and stir until smooth...

Add one egg

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (I didn't have this much so I just used the rest of what I did have…)

1 tsp salt

Brown rice flour.  Thanks Michelle!  The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, but I probably ended up using at least 2 1/2 cups total.  The idea is for the dough not to be too sticky.

Knead…my favorite part of baking/cooking.  

Divide into four parts (I ended up splitting these fourths because it would have been way to much for one person) and roll out.

Attempt to cut into similarly sized pieces...

Boil until they float and then drain.

 Once I drained the gnocchi, I browned the butter and sautéed with garlic and basil.  I definitely burned my hands again at this phase...

 You can top with parmesan cheese if you so desire, but as I had none left I just stuck with the salt and basil.

The good: sautéing them in brown butter added some savory to a dish made sweet by the type of potato I chose.  I also really liked the basil and garlic and kind of felt like it was cheating even though everything was fairly healthy.

The bad: I sort of failed on the shape, but with practice I'm sure I can get better.  It also suffered from a lack of parmesan - I should have checked my recipe before going to the store.

The ugly:  Again the shape!  But I still have a bunch of dough left in the fridge so more than enough left to practice.  I will definitely be trying this recipe again.

Friday Night Foodie: Baby Shower!

What do you get when you cross an insomniac with a gluten intolerant foodie who has a baby shower at the office in the morning? Late night baking whilst watching waaaaay to much TV. This week I meant to make gluten free sweet potato gnocchi but in light of said baby shower (and the aforementioned insomnia) the plan changed. I had to scour the internet because most recipes had odd ingredients that no normal person has just sitting around in their pantry (what the heck is xanthan gum?) but I finally found a somewhat simple recipe (apparently it's a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris,[2]used as a food additive and rheology modifier,[3] commonly used as a food thickening agent…what kind of rubbish foodie am I?).  From there it was relatively simple…sorry I don't have many pictures, it was getting late…

• 2 cups of gluten free flour (thanks Michelle!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup of baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

Mix dry ingredients first and then add the wet.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine needed 25) and then dust with powdered sugar.

The good: absolutely delicious flavor and not dry like every other cupcake I've ever made in my entire life.

The bad: I didn't have any frosting…but that's not on the recipe.

The different(?):  it was much thicker than normal cupcakes but I kind of liked that aspect.  It was more bread like and not quite as fluffy.  

I took it into work and was pleasantly reminded that the wife of our shop manager (who is the one the baby shower was for) is also gluten intolerant.  If I hadn't brought them she wouldn't have gotten a cupcake at all…ok, it's the small victories.  I would definitely use this recipe again.  

Two Masters

I am a multitasker.  My ability to do about eight different things at once means that I can handle with some amount of sanity the multiple requests, phone calls, and visitors that come with being both a receptionist and the Human Resources Admin for my company.  Even on a chill day I find myself answering e-mails, searching flights and clinics, sitting on hold with said clinics, juggling meetings in the conference rooms, and directing phone calls and attempting to do it with a smile (yeah, sometimes I'm an epic failure at that one).  Everyone needs something at the same time, and it is always urgent (no really, it has to be done right this second, drop everything you’re doing and make my  task priority, the fate of the universe depends on it! :P). 

Most of the time I manage to keep my head above water, but recently we moved locations to join with two other offices and, as I suspected, things got crazy.  The phones ring constantly, people need things mailed, flights booked, food ordered, copies made, kitchen stocked, supplies ordered, messages sent (no one has voice mail set up yet), new hires from all over the country processed and there are moments in my day where I truly wonder if I’m about to let the thin strings of sanity slip through my fingers or if they will plain just snap.  Nothing has shown me just how lazy I am or how little I trust the Lord to get me through stress than this job has.  Nor has anything shown me just how prideful I am. 

Last week one of my managers came to me for a mail out when the phone rang.  Being primary I am supposed to answer right away and when I did I discovered the call was for me.  I tried dealing with it as quickly as possible, asking a few of my own questions because that office can be hard to get ahold of, but when I hung up the manager told me I had been rude and should have told the caller that I would call them back.  Stunned, stressed, fed up, all I could do was stare.  For the next hour or so I worked on the project, fighting tears, praying, and wondering if working at Starbucks would really be so bad (free burned coffee, maybe?).  I was just trying to do my job…I’m so stressed…I feel like I’m drowning…

Eventually, the Lord humbled me and gave me the grace to repent and ask forgiveness from my manager.  It didn’t matter that I wasn’t trying to be rude or act as if the project was not important, what did matter was that this manager had been hurt.  No matter how much I wanted to be the victim, God has called me to “regard others as more important than [myself]” (Philippians 2:3).  He reminded me that His purpose is to redeem the world, and I can play a part in this by loving those who He made in His image.

My biggest stumbling block is who I choose to serve as a master.  Just as I struggle to be both the receptionist and the Human Resources Admin well, attempting to serve both God and myself is a path to destruction.  The sin of the garden remains imbedded in me, that desire to dictate right and wrong, the desire to essentially be god.  These two masters are mutually exclusive; I cannot serve both.  As Christ said in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” 

I think this might be one of the reasons why Paul speaks of us being “crucified with Christ” in Galatians2:20.  Before the Lord can kick us off the throne of our hearts we must die; it’s the only way we will ever give up our illegitimate claim to control.  So my prayer is that I will stop trying to serve two masters that I will stop trying to usurp my King and bow to His rule.

Do you find yourself struggling for control?

Friday Night Foodie: Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Pasta

This week was one of those weeks; a no good, very bad week.  Work felt like drowning most days (pretty sure at some point of each day I was holding back tears), I felt guilty for feeling tired because I get to leave aforementioned work at the end of the day (and how could I possibly be tired, I don't have kids), I felt lonely, rejected (stupid eharmony), unworthy, and really, just sort of like a failure.  All that to say, I am very thankful it's Friday and, thanks to the generosity of my sweet parents, I have a spa day tomorrow.

On the more positive side of things (ever struggle to be transparent, then feel like you're being too negative, then try to be positive but wind up feeling fake?  I swear I can't be the only one who struggles with this…) I did have a fairly successful recipe this week and am actually sharing it on a Friday night! Round of applause please…maybe?  No?  Ok.  This week I tried shrimp scampi with zucchini pasta.  In an attempt to avoid gluten and carbs at dinner (I ate brown rice almost every morning this week) I favored this recipe which uses zucchini as the pasta.  I need a veggie slicer, but a potato peeler worked just fine for me.  You start with four zucchini:

Peel off the skin, then shred into strips…next time I might try using my cheese grater for a different shape of "noodle"

Saute 1 head of garlic in a 1/4 cup of butter or ghee

Naked zucchini!

Add zucchini "noodles" and 1 lb of raw shrimp…I messed up and used cocktail shrimp…not bad but fresh would have been better.

Fresh parmesan cheese on top and voila!

Deliciousness!

The good: the taste was excellent and in spite of the butter, because zucchini and shrimp are low in calories this is a pretty healthy dish.  Plus it's sort of a way to sneak veggies into a meal.

The bad: I should have used raw shrimp.  The taste might have been better.

The ugly: my kitchen smelled very strongly of shrimp for the next twenty four hours.  I did not want to heat it up for lunch the next day, mainly because the smell put me off.  Again, this might have been due to the sort of shrimp I used, or it may just be that it wasn't quite good enough to make the left over roster.  I might try it again, but I'm not so sure.

Do you have a favorite way to "hide" veggies?

Friday Night Foodie: Another Saturday Addition

This week on Friday Night Foodie, I decided to play it super easy.  I want to challenge myself with difficult dishes, but some weeks, like last week with the pizza crust in a tub, I just kind of get lazy.  Originally I planned to try butternut squash lasagna, but then rethought the whole tomato thing…not a great food choice for someone who deals with acid reflux.  I'm trying to take steps to avoid foods that aggravate it…but it's not always easy (coffee…do not ask me to give up my coffee!).  Still, I decided a tomato based dish was not the wisest decision, and switched gears to Greek chicken.

This is just about the easiest recipe ever.  Zero challenge.  Unless of course you find handling raw chicken challenging…which I know some do.  The great thing about this recipe for me was that unlike last week's recipe, this one left me with almost four days of left overs and I discovered that it reheats really well.  One of my problems with trying not to go out for lunch at work is that I will bring lunch and then decide I'm not in the mood for it.  Whether it doesn't really reheat well, isn't quite good enough to resist trekking to I-10 for Jason's or Chili's, or because I just feel like I need to get out of the office, the quality of my left overs is the deciding factor within my lunch decision making paradigm.  This recipe won out two days in a row, so I'm calling it a success.  Here's how I made it:

You start with 1 cup of plain yogurt.

I thought for sure this was a typo.  Shouldn't I use Greek yogurt for, you know, Greek chicken?  I almost bought it, but decided to trust the recipe.

Four cloves of garlic - I <3 garlic="" my="" press.="" td="">

 My senior year of college my roommate and I used to cook most Monday nights and it almost always involved garlic.  I learned a few important things that year…one of which is that I'm a terrible garlic mincer.

Half a lemon with its zest.

1/2 a TBS of dried oregano, 1/2 tsp of cracked pepper (I didn't measure this part)

The recipe calls for a 1/4 a bunch of parsley but I didn't have any so I skipped it.  Next time I'll be sure to add it because I think it would be a nice addition to the texture.

Place chicken pieces in a bag to marinate.

 I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs so that I could cut them in half and make the left overs last longer.

Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes - really mine only took about 40 minutes.

And I forgot to use aluminum foil.  Boo.

The chicken was very moist and absolutely delicious.  I failed in restraint and ate a whole breast even though I planned to eat just a half.  I paired it with green beans and plantain chips (yes, I may have an addiction to the latter) and a glass of Wild Horse Merlot.  Editor's note from last week, it's not from Texas but rather California.  Ooops!  As I said, it heated up very well the next day and was tasty enough to keep me from breaking down and going out to eat.  I will definitely be making it again!

"Sinner" - Identity Problems and Accountability

I am a liar.  Whether it’s to make my life less uncomfortable, to spare someone’s feelings, or to make others like me more, I bend and twist the truth.  Pinocchio’s got nothing on me.

When my wireless network stops functioning I have a panic attack, launching into what I consider a logical diatribe about poor service and the company wasting my money.  I will waste hours watching certain TV shows and get frustrated if a phone call interrupts my progress.  I get headaches if I don’t drink coffee at least once a day.  I am an addict.

I am lazy.  Most of the time I label it “unsure of myself” but in reality, that's just sugar coating.  I will do the bare minimum to get by instead of doing my absolute best. 

I am mediocre.  Tied into the laziness, I will not put in the time it takes to become the best at something, whether it’s playing my guitar, writing, or work. 

I have a problem with identity.  And I’m not the only one.  In spite of constantly encouraging us to avoid labeling others our entire culture has taken the things we struggle with, the things we enjoy, the things we are passionate about, the things we are tempted by and have used them to label themselves and others.  For some reason they (really, I should stop using the term “they” and shift to “we” because I’m no innocent) are unable to separate desire from identity and this throws a huge wrench into our perception of ourselves and others and therefore complicates our already complicated relationships.

This leads to a whole slew of problems.  For me, one of the biggest is discouragement.  I know the inner workings of my mind, the lies that slip out, the laziness that slows my feet, and I berate myself.  Why can’t I have self-control?  Why can’t I stop making these mistakes?  How can I demand honesty and hard work from others when I can’t provide the same things?  How can God put up with me?

Another problem is that that we are not able to hold one another accountable for our failures.  I’m not talking about self-righteously bullying someone for making a mistake; I’m talking about humbly and lovingly confronting our friends and family with wrong actions (in Christianese that would be “sins”).  When we link our actions or passions or desires irrevocably to our identity, being confronted can no longer be a loving action, but instead is labeled as self-righteous bullying and judgement.  This confusion robs us of being able to encourage each other to strive for holiness, a command that comes straight from scripture (Hebrews 10:23-25). 

There is one solution and one solution alone for this problem and that’s to get our identity straight.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  Sin is deeply ingrained into our nature; in fact, it killed us in the garden, robbing us of our relationship with the source of life, our Creator.  But out of His great love for us (John 3:16) and devotion to His own holiness and justice (2 Corinthians 5:21) He chose to save us.  By judging sin in Christ and then raising Him from the dead, the Lord declared us sons rather than sinners (Romans 8:17).  This is our new identity, Sons, Saints, and while sin remains part of us (Romans 7) it no longer defines us, can no longer be our identity.  My prayer is that I will move this knowledge from my head to my heart, that I will stop calling myself “liar” and “lazy” and “addict” and instead remind myself that I am a “Son”.  This is the only way I will ever be able to defeat sin, the only way I will ever be sanctified.  It will always be a struggle, but as I’ve said before that makes me long for heaven, to be in the presence of my Father.

Friday Night Foodie: Gluten Free Pizza

Thanks to my good friend Sharon (again) I have, well, had, two tubs of Pillsbury gluten free pizza crust and two tubs of gluten free pie crust. 

 I haven't tried the later, but tonight will be the second time I use the pizza crust and I think it went much better this time around.  The first time I made the mistake of using a pan that was way too big and the edges burned…badly.  So this time around, I used a simple pie dish and it went much better.

Tomatos, I always end up with tomatoes on my pizza, even though I don't really like sauce.

Goat cheese makes absolutely everything better.

The pie dish worked much better than the giant cookie sheet.  I pre-baked the crust on 400 degrees for 12 minutes.  Then, I covered it with olive oil...

…basil and oregano...

...the goat cheese...

…and the tomatoes...

400 degrees for 10 minutes

I was actually very impressed with the crust.  It is a little more tough than regular pizza dough, but it was still good and is not likely to mess up my stomach.  As per usual I ended up pulling off the tomatoes and eating them by themselves…they were really good, which surprised me because I'm not very good at picking out tomatoes apparently (always, always mealy…yes, that is a word…apparently some in my boot camp find it an odd one).  It was a great way to end two rough days at work (not to mention the Wild Horse, a really great Texas wine).  If you have a gluten intolerance or Celiac's I definitely recommend it.

Stinkin' New Years

So, New Years can be awesome: the idea of a fresh start, setting goals, hopes of a new phase of life…but New Years can also be a HUGE, ENORMOUS let down.  For the single, part of the let down is the death of that tingling little hope of a Midnight kiss to ring in the new year, for the mother it could be the mixed joy of a night with little ones and a children hang over the next morning, for the empty-nester it could be simply leaving youth behind…Not to mention the fact that most resolutions last at most a month.  The latter leaves the failed resolver with guilt and the accomplished one very self-pleased and likely obnoxious.

My particular New Years Eve was redeemed only by seeing an old friend and enjoying time with a few new ones.  I went to a party for the first time ever (aside from a house party) and found it somewhat wanting.  Maybe if I'd known more people it would have been better, but the one resolution it did leave me with was that next year I'm going to have my own party with games, good food, close friends, and champagne.  I spent my fist day in 2014 as I often do a normal Saturday; working out, taking a walk (or maybe three), watching too much TV, and rather longing for a bit of company.

I find resolutions somewhat dangerous, for the reasons mentioned above, but I'm also convicted by 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 "Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."  However, rather than attempting to make a list of resolutions and risk either failure or self-righteousness, I prefer to set for myself a list of prayers, asking my Shepherd to lead me and the Holy Spirit to enable me to do His will.  

So without further adieu, here is a short of list of what I am asking the Lord to help me with this year:

1. A joyful attitude that is above and beyond my situation (James 1:2-4)
2. Patience, especially at work and in traffic (Ephesians 4:2)
3. Love (which maybe I should have mentioned first) for everyone…there is a distinct lack of love in my heart, as is evidence by my impatience and unkindness (1 Corinthians 13:13)
4. Direction and sober judgment - a bit more selfish I suppose, but I am praying for direction guided by wisdom (Psalm 51:6)  
5. Purity in thought (2 Corinthians 10:5)

There are more, of course, but these are that which I have had on my mind for a while.  Are you making a list for the new year?

Friday Night Foodie: Christmas Style

Ok, so I'm a day late again, but I've been sick so I'm excusing myself and I hope you will too.  My recipe for this week is not very exciting because I'm pretty sure I've shared the pie recipe I use before, but I tried a new crust this time so I hope you enjoy it.

I tried to make pie for the two major holidays around the end of the year and since my mom loves cherry and my dad apple, I always change it up.  This year, I made apple for Thanksgiving (not sure why since my dad didn't get home until the Saturday after but it still tasted good!) and cherry for Christmas.  The purist in me would prefer to use fresh cherries with butter, sugar, and flour but my mom prefers the canned kind (not sure we're related).

I make most of my crusts with lard and only use butter if I'm out of it.  Unlike Thanksgiving, we were prepared at Christmas.  When you make pie crust, be absolutely certain you have a cold surface, cold lard (or butter), and cold flour.  If any of these ingredients are room temperature the crust will not turn out right.  I tried making a quiche on a card table once and the whole thing ended up rubbery rather than flakey…blah!  You also need super cold water, which you'll add by the tablespoon until the dough is just right.

I left my recipe at my parents house in Fulshear, so I'm going to have to share the ingredients etc. later, but for now, I'll show you what I did with the top crust.  I hate doing the same thing twice, even though I need to practice my lattice work, and so, as I usually do, I did a google search for different crust designs.  Here is the one that suited my fancy Christmas day:

See, how pretty.

You roll out the dough, cut long strips, and then twist each strip starting in the center and curling out until you reach the edge of the pie.  Obviously, whoever did the above crust has some kind of pie fairy who makes them brilliant at making pie crust because mine didn't really turn out quite the same...

Pre-oven

Because it was Christmas, I didn't think leaves would be quite right so I used a Christmas tree instead.  I think the leaves looked better and next time I might try to find something like holly, but it still worked I think.  I totally ate the tree myself (yes I ate the regular flour pie and yes, I thoroughly regretted it…I believe the correct terminology is: severe intestinal disturbance :P).  I brushed the top with melted butter  which makes it turn golden brown and improves the flavor in my opinion.

Post oven

I need a lot more practice with my pie crusts but I think this one turned out fairly well!  Do you have a favorite Christmas dessert?

Friday Night Foodie: Christmas Wreaths

Last year for office Christmas gifts I went fancy, cross stitching nearly a month in advance, putting together mason jars with individualized cross stitched designs for specific people…this year, well, Christmas sort of creeped up on me.  Sure, I got my family their gifts well in advance (thank you online shopping) but my office peeps…well, I sort of slacked a little.  Enter Christmas Cornflake Wreaths to the rescue!  I couldn't taste test them (believe it or not, even Cornflakes have gluten in them) so I hope they taste ok, but they sure were cute…even if they ended up looking like blobs rather than wreaths =P

Six cups of cornflakes.

1/3 cup of butter melted with 4 cups of mini marshmallows and 1 tsp of green food coloring

Mix with cornflakes

Attempt to make super cute wreaths (adorned with red hot hollies) but kind of sort of end up with blobs...

Merry Christmas!

The Discomfort and Dirt of the Season...

"That flight's been canceled."

Here it comes, what always happens when I start to stress out, the emotional reaction that makes me feel like a five year old not getting their way.  I've been fighting it for years, ever since being called a "cry baby" in pre-school, but I've never been able to get a handle on my overactive tear ducts.

"So…what can I do?"

What the heck could I do?  Three days in Memphis was great, but allergies are starting to take their toll and my yearly sinus infection seems imminent…my office is moving but because we haven't gotten the phones moved I might have to be at the old building the next day…if I can't make it there someone else will have to go sit alone and redirect phone calls…I'm cold, tired, and just want to be home…

This isn't fair!  

Flights are delayed, canceled, full all because of a fire at the Houston airport.  Come on, people, get it together!  Oddly enough when I had left the Houston airport Thursday night a fire had gone off for a good five minutes with everyone staring at each other, giggling nervously, but refusing to move towards the fire exits.  I stand in the tiny Memphis airport wondering if the two events are related and if so, why they couldn't figure all this out before I had to get on a flight to Houston.  Clearly my schedule is the most important.

"Um, go ahead and sit down and I'll try and squeeze you on this flight, it's full but there's always a chance."

I trudge back with the slightest glimmer of hope, and try to remind myself of the blessings God had already given me that weekend.  Friday morning I'd woken up unable to find my wallet.  Being the genius that I am, I had been keeping my social in one of the pockets, so I knew I was in big trouble.  I had no money, no license, nothing, but had managed to keep mostly calm and trust that God would take care of it.  Sunday afternoon I went to check the pockets of my suitcase one last time…just to see…you never know…Sure enough I found my wallet, and even though my credit and debit card were now basically worthless, my driver's license and social were safe.  It felt like a miracle because I swear I checked that pocket 98 times…yet there it was.  If God could return my wallet to me, getting to Houston surely wasn't a problem…

Still, panic threatened, along with the "me-monster" that didn't want to sleep another night in somebody else's bed.

"Ticket please."

My new flight left at the exact same time as my original one and I arrived in Houston at the exact same time I was supposed to.  Crazy grace.  God would have been more than justified if I hadn't been able to get home when I wanted to, but He mercifully got me home right on schedule.

His Son's entrance into the world wasn't quite as smooth…

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all [a]the inhabited earth. 2 [b]This was the first census taken while [c]Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  (Luke 2:1-7)

I was "threatened" with not being able to sleep in my own bed...Jesus left paradise to come into this world in a manger…a slobbery haystack were barn animals eat.

I demanded things to go my way…Mary gave birth on the floor of a stable.  

I think Jesus' birth characterizes His time here on earth; He deserved glory and honor, the sit with kings and rulers and principalities, to be wrapped in royal garments rather than swaddling clothes…yet he chose to live in poverty and to die as if a criminal…all for the sake of His kingdom, of which we are allowed to be a part.

I'm hoping to celebrate this Christmas with this at the center of my mind, that this time is not about comfort and warm fuzzies but about the fulfillment of a promise, the advancement of the Kingdom, and that all this comes amidst the discomfort and dirt of this life.