I yam what I yam

I have been enlightened!  Yams are not sweet potatoes.  Sweet potatoes are not yams.  All my life I've been walking around using the terms interchangeably, but they are actually different vegetables!  What I did know is that I didn't like sweet potatoes.  My mom loves them and every Thanksgiving she asks me if I like sweet potatoes.  What?  Ick!  No!  So because of my strong dislike for potatoes that are sweet, I've never even considered preparing them and really didn't even notice their "humble" existence in the produce section.  

I recently came across a cookbook by Susan O'Brien called The Gluten-Free Vegan.  I have been eating less meat, but assumed that being GF and vegan (can't have dairy and  really shouldn't be eating eggs anyway) would make the simple task of eating even more difficult so I was thrilled to find this gem of culinary creations.  There are a ton of great recipes!   This is where the yams come in.  I threw caution to the wind and decided to give yams a try (although they are apparently not even closely related, yams and sweet potatoes both have a sweet flavor).   I headed to my local Fry's for *gasp* sweet potatoes or yams or whatever and was thoroughly confused.  Yams.  Sweet potatoes.  Next to each other?  I thought they were the same thing?  So I bought whatever they had labeled as yams and a few other things I didn't have on hand and got to work.  If you don't rush right out and buy yams right now, you'll be sorry!  This dish is GREAT!  Here it is:

J&J's Favorite Yam and Black Bean Burritos

2 large yams (I bought 2, but only ended up using 1.)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 tbsp. seeded and chopped red bell pepper

1 small jalapeno, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped (I'm allergic, didn't use it.)

1 cup diced tomato

1 cup tomato salsa

1 tsp. chile powder

1 tsp. ground cumin (mmmmm...cumin.)

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed (I used dry beans that I soaked and cooked myself.  Sooooo much better!  You can make a huge batch and freeze them for later!)

2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (eh, didn't make the cut.)

2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. black pepper

8 rice or hemp tortillas (hahahahahahaha!  We all know that rice tortillas are a joke!  I used corn.)

There are two ways you can prepare the yams for this recipe: prick the yams all over with  a fork, bake in the oven at 400 degrees until soft, but not mushy (this is what I did); or prick them with a fork and microwave until soft, 5 to 6 minutes on high.

While the yams bake ( I waited until they were done, it took at least an hour in the oven), heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute the onion in the olive oil until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the red bell pepper and jalapeno and continue sauteing for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the pepper becomes soft.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Peel the yams, cut into cubes, and add to the vegetable mixture.  Add the tomatoes, salsa, spices, black beans, cilantro and lime juice.  Heat through.  Season to taste with any additional salt or black pepper.  Heat your choice of tortillas and dig in! (I also added avocado on top!)

These mini burritos/tacos have such an interesting spicy/sweet flavor!  So yummy!  I have more respect for yams now, but sweet potatoes can still suck it!  Enjoy!

allrecipes.com

Since having Taryn, I've received many meals from friends and family. A friend of mine who was admittedly nervous about finding gluten/dairy free recipes made me my favorite meal thus far. She used allrecipes.com for her inspiration. She served us Lime Chicken Soft Tacos simply using corn tortillas and tofutti sour cream in place of their gluten/dairy filled counterparts. She also used cilantro instead of oregano. These soft tacos were super tasty. She made us No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars for dessert using Earth Balance instead of butter and dairy free chocolate chips. These cookie bars were delicious! I ate way too many. Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lime-Chicken-Soft-Tacos/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Bake-Chocolate-Oat-Bars/Detail.aspx

Gluten Free Basics

Store bought items:
Pamela's mixes are the best (breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, etc)
Glutino's pizza crust
Glutino's pretzels (are the bomb)
Udi's gluten free bread
Kinnikinnick buns (hot dog and hamburger)
Trader Joe's Gluten free spaghetti, penne and rotini
Trader Joe's brown rice tortillas
Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes are good
Chebe mixes are good (pizza dough is good, but has to be baked beforehand)

Eating out:
We've been doing this now for a few years and have found a few safe places to eat that everyone in our family can enjoy. Chinese food places and mexican food places and generally safe (just ask lots of questions and use substitutions if necessary, ie ask for a corn tortilla instead of a flour one)

PF Changs and Outback Steakhouse have gluten free menus
Olive Garden now has a gluten free pasta option
In and Out (Order your hamburger protein style and they wrap it in lettuce for you. Their fries are also gluten free (most places' fries are not))
Cookies From Home now has a line of cookies and brownies that are gluten free
Picazzo's (A pizza place) has a gluten free pizza crust and dessert (I think a cookie). You can also buy pizza dough from them.

Cookbooks and Recipes:
Most cookbooks are stupid because they say things like, "Use your favorite gluten free flour mix." That's not helpful. However my favorite gluten free flour mix happens to be equal parts tapioca starch, brown rice flour and sorghum flour. I use this mix when I'm changing a glutenful recipe and substituting. I find Sunflower has pretty good prices on these flours if you buy them from the bins and bag them yourself. Also, buying a wheat grinder or vitamix is helpful. We use our grinder to make our own brown rice flour all of the time. It's cheaper that way. You will need Xanthan Gum for all of your baking so just suck it up and buy it. Without it nothing has the right consistency.

I find I get most of my recipes on blogs and in a great magazine called Living Without. I highly recommend getting a subscription to that magazine. You can pick it up at Whole Foods or Sunflower to check it out before buying it. I also have a lot of luck with Vegetarian Magazines as most recipes are gluten free.

My favorite gluten free blogs are:
http://glutenfreetogether.blogspot.com (This is actually my friend's blog and she, myself and another girlfriend of mine share gluten free advice and recipes on it.)
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
http://www.thehealthycookingcoach.com/ (I've taken a class from this woman and have her dessert cookbook. Her stuff is delicious. She's local too and offers classes often.)

Here are links to my favorite, most used Gluten free recipes...
Brownies http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/05/brownies-gluten-free.html
Chocolate Chip Cookies http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Gluten Free Bread http://iamglutenfree.blogspot.com/2006/04/homemade-gluten-free-bread.html

Ryan’s Favorite Gluten Free Pancake Mix (we adapted this ourselves from one of Becky's recipes)

1 C brown rice flour
3T tapioca flour
1/3 C potato starch
1T sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2t salt
½ t xanthan gum

Mix a large batch of dry ingredients and keep in a canister. When ready to make pancakes use:

1 C dry pancake mix
1 egg
1 ½ T oil
Milk until smooth

Thanksgiving

I'm in full Thanksgiving mode, although I know April could give a flying... Anyway. I'm in search of a couple of great recipes which I deftly avoided last year:

Pie Crust

Dinner Roll

Eek. I know. A bazillion recipes to choose from so I was wondering if anyone had any tried and true on the back burner. For rolls, I was looking at this recipe which sounds comparable to the "butt rolls" served at my in-laws. As far as pie crust goes, I'm overwhelmed. I'm seriously considering buying a premade shell unless someone wants to scare me off from that. Little D wants a strawberry pie (out of season, of course, he was not interested in any of the many fall selections I offered) and I'm making a pumpkin pie so I don't want to kill myself baking. Plus I'm hangin' with one of my favorite ladies on the Wednesday before.

For anyone looking for something yummy, I made this Pumpkin Cake from the Gluten Free Goddess for Little C's birthday and it was decidedly un-GF tasting and super delicious. For my CF sisters, I'm not up on my dairy-free frostings, so I'll let you handle that issue if you wish.

Help a sister out?

Curried Sweet Potato Pancakes with Quinoa and Grilled Asparagus

Unappealing iPhone photo of a delicious meal

Since we're poor, I can't waste any food right now. But that doesn't mean we should eat crap, right? Well, sometimes it does. But not this time! The other night I was feeling sick to my stomach. I just couldn't eat rice pasta with marinara sauce again, but I had nothing in the fridge and one more day until Hubs got paid. What to do? I pulled out the perishables that were soon to perish: green onions, sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, asparagus. Then I pulled out my trusty iPhone and got to work.

Found this recipe for Sweet Potato Pancakes and altered it thusly:

Potato cakes:

1 8-ounce red-skinned sweet potato (yam)

1 8-ounce russet potato

4 green onions

2 large eggs, beaten to blend

1 tablespoon all purpose GF flour

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For potato cakes:

Heat oven to 300°F. Peel both potatoes and coarsely grate into medium bowl. Chop the white part of green onions finely and discard rest or reserve for garnish. Place grated potatoes and green onion in clean cloth and squeeze out excess liquid. Place potatoes and onion in large bowl. Add eggs, flour, curry powder, and sea salt; mix to incorporate evenly.

Line baking sheet with paper towel. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Measure scant 1/4 cupful of mixture, shape into ball, and add to skillet. Using spatula, gently flatten ball to 1/3-inch-thick, 3-inch-diameter pancake. Repeat, forming 3 more pancakes. Fry until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to prepared baking sheet; keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining mixture for total of 8 pancakes.

The recipe also includes a recipe for mango chutney and recommends using plain greek yogurt as well. I had neither with the first try and it was yummy enough for me to make again. It was even better the second time with the yogurt and some pre-made chutney from TJs that is not certified GF.

I served it with some asparagus that I coated in olive oil and sea salt and grilled on the old Foreman grill for about 8 minutes, and some quinoa that I cooked with vegetable stock (no water!).

This is destined to become a regular in our rotation.

Special Stuff

Almond Flour:

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com

Honeyville Grain is having a sale. Sorry it's ending tomorrow! 15% off if you enter the coupon code, "FALL". This is where I get my almond flour. It very fine and great for baking, better than any I've tried in the stores. It's a BIG BAG. You'd probably have to freeze half and refrigerate the other half.

Bakery Goodies:

www.gfcountrystore.com

Free samples of seasonal cupcakes at the Gluten Free Country Store in Gilbert.

Saturday, October 16 10am-2pm.

Vacationing and Eating Out

My family is going to California in two weeks and I'm starting to get nervous about food because we are going with lots of family that can eat anything. I know Disneyland has a food allergy guide (but where do I get it?), and I know I am pretty safe with Mexican food and Chinese food. I've also had success with Olive Garden's new gluten free pasta. But, what else is there? Any ideas? Or any knowledge about places in the Anaheim, CA area where we can eat sans problems (dairy and gluten allergies)?