BaxAura and General Gluten-Free Update

Last week, I went in for my BaxAura appointment, to see how I was doing. My allergies are very minimal now, thanks partly to the weather being rainy (although others are still complaining about allergies) and partly due to my homeopathics actually working. My polarity was just fine this time around, and my allergies are very minimal. She ran my bottle through the machine and told me to finish it up and I didn't need to make another appointment unless I felt the need.

So, I am dutifully finishing my bottle--3 sprays, 3 times a day.  Sometimes I forget, unlike those few weeks where I was desperate for it to work...

On to my Gluten-Free Update...
I seem to be doing pretty well with the gut healing, Gluten-free eating. Unfortunately, I ate something this weekend that did not agree with me, and it's taking a few days for my system to recuperate.  So many places to watch for Gluten when it's not all under one's control/in one's own kitchen! Aah!

Also, I have slacked off on drinking my kefir daily, AND had a few cups of coffee last week that weren't really doing me any favors. How quickly I forget...(but it *was* great coffee!)... And on top of this, spicy food is not my buddy either....my poor gut!


SO...As of this Monday, I am back on the Gluten-free thing, after my unintended "test" on Sunday. I am drinking homemade Kefir daily (which goes a long way in how I feel and how my gut deals with what I eat), and have made myself a huge pot of beef soup based on the GF Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup recipe I posted recently. Bone broth is also my friend. :) And taking digestive enzymes certainly aren't hurting anything!

Drying Mushrooms and Onions

I love the rich, earth taste of mushrooms in a homemade soup or stew. Canned mushrooms are just not the same as fresh, and sometimes fresh mushrooms aren't the easiest thing to have around all the time. So, I'm dehydrating 3 containers' worth of Baby Bella mushrooms I got on sale last week, and since I have two extra trays begging to be filled (and I'm using the electricity anyway), I also chopped up 2 onions and put them on to dry! They are also great for use in soups and such!

RECIPE: GF Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Last year, a dear friend brought over a pot of Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup, a recipe from Taste of Home's Quick Cooking. I decided to try re-vamping it and making it Gluten-Free and see how it turns out.

I think it is a success! (many thanks to my local Food Store ordering the Pacific Foods Condensed soups for me!)


GF Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
1-2 TB oil
Chopped 1/2 onion, stalk celery, clove of garlic

1 cup or so carrots and peas
1 quart homemade chicken broth or stock
1 quart water
2 teaspoons sea salt (because I don't always use a lot of salt in my homemade chicken broth)


2 cups of your GF noodle of choice (I used Tinkyada shells - the 6 1/2 cups of egg noodles in the original recipe seemed a bit much and the 2 cups of Tinkyada was plenty)

2 boxes Pacific Foods GF condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, undiluted
3 cups cubed chicken (I used most of a 28oz can of canned chicken)

1 cup Daisy full-fat Sour Cream
A sprinkling of dried parsley


In soup pan, pour in oil and saute veggies.
Add chicken stock, water, and peas and carrots and bring to a boil. 
Add noodles and cook, uncovered, until tender. Do not drain.
Add soup and chicken. Heat through.
Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream.
Sprinkle with parsley.

Enjoy!

RECIPE: Gluten-Free MuShu Beef with Cabbage and Carrots

Having a head of cabbage hanging out in my fridge, and a bunch of ground beef in my freezer, I pored through my cookbooks yesterday to come up with a new-to-us recipe that sounded good.  In my Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, there is a One-Dish Dinners section that has the recipe for Mu Shu-Style Beef & Cabbage Wraps. This was my starting point and inspiration.

GF MuShu Beef with Cabbage and Carrots
~1-2 TB oil (depending on how lean your beef is)

~1 pound ground beef
~1/2 cup of chopped onion (more or less to taste)
~1 clove chopped garlic
~1 medium head of cabbage, shredded or cut otherwise according to preference
~2 carrots, peeled and shredded
~1/4 cup GF Hoisin Sauce (more or less to taste) From what I read online, Dynasty brand is GF, as is Kame brand. Or you could make your own, but I haven't tried yet. 
~brown rice


1. Start your brown rice to cooking (quantity will depend on your family size-we currently use 1 1/2 cups brown rice:3 cups water and it takes 30-40mins depending on rice variety)
2. Pour oil into pan, along with beef, onion and garlic and brown.
3. Add shredded cabbage and carrots and cook, stirring ever so often, until tender.
4. Pour Hoisin Sauce over meat/veggie mixture and stir to combine. Heat through.
5. Serve over Brown Rice.

Here's my bowl with the rice mixed in!

Everyone but my suspicious-of-new-and-different-foods second child ate this with no complaint. Hubby even had seconds and is taking leftovers for lunch today, and there's enough for lunch for two later this week!

I think this one is a keeper.

Food Journal 9-19-11

Breakfast:
~PG Tips Loose Leaf Tea with local honey and Organic Valley Half 'n Half
~Brown Cow Vanilla Yogurt with Homemade Granola

~Water


Lunch:
~GF Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (recipe to come tomorrow!

~Coffee with demerara and Organic Valley Whole Milk
~2 GF Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

~White Tortilla Chips with Homemade Hummus
~Apple Cider

Dinner:
~MuShu Beef/Cabbage/Carrots over Brown Rice
~A couple of homemade Sweet Freezer Pickles
~Water
~1 scoop Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream