Sneaky Smoothies

Now that summer is in full swing, that blender is looking mighty good with all its icy smoothie potential.  My son loves smoothies at home.  Smoothies can be healthy or not depending on what you put in them.  For me, they're an excellent way to sneak nutritious fruit and vegetables into our diet without really noticing, because many veggies are completely unrecognizable in a fruit smoothie.  My favorite starters are frozen strawberries and apple juice, and I get more creative from there.  This morning, I felt green, leafy vegetables were in order, but who wants a salad for breakfast?  Not I.

Sneaky Smoothie

1-1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1 cup apple juice
handful fresh leaf spinach
1/8 cup grenadine (or 2 tsp fructose, or a tablespoon of agave nectar for a healthier alternative, or blackstrap molasses for an iron boost, or just skip the sugar)

Blend on slow speed for about 20-30 seconds, pour into a glass and love it.

So many combinations make delicious smoothies: mangos, papayas, peaches, blueberries.  If you can find it in the frozen fruit or fresh produce area, try putting it in a smoothie.  As the old adage says: "Try it; you'll like it." I've used celery before, too, a natural diuretic, which is great the day after a salty boiled crawfish binge. ;)

Addendum to "No Breads..."

I forgot to mention that I did use a large pinch of xantham gum in the dry ingredients.  This helps keep the whole thing from crumbling apart since we don't have the sticky gluten to do that for us.  Sorry about that.

AM

No Breads for the Sickies

The title is just a dorky twist on "no rest for the wicked," but it sums up how I feel sometimes.  Good-tasting bread that is celiac friendly is not easy to come by, or to make.  I had a hankering for some bread today, so I peeked in the fridge to see what I had to work with.  As it happened, I had brown rice flour and potato starch but no corn flour or anything else.  Well, this is a blog about using what you've got, so here it went.

DISCLAIMER: I didn't actually measure ANYTHING. (note to self: start measuring stuff)
I used about 2 cups of brown rice flour and another 1/2 cup of potato starch.  I threw in about 5 teaspoons of baking  powder, at least 2 tablespoons of powdered egg white, maybe 3 teaspoons of salt, and stirred that all together to make sure it was evenly mixed.  Then I added 1/2 cup canola oil and 3/4 cup of almond milk (unsweetened) and about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.  I mixed it until it was all wet but thick (like peanut butter), then added water until it was the consistency of thick cake batter.  I spread some oil in the bread loaf pan and poured in the batter, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl.  I put it in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and baked it for close to an hour.  While it baked, the center puffed up like a sweet bread, and I checked several times for a dry center.  When I began to smell the bread from another room, I covered it loosely with foil to keep the top from burning.

I was hoping the vinegar would give it a little sourdough type taste, but it really didn't make any difference.  Maybe next time I'll use more.

It turned out to be pretty tasty.  I'm getting used to chunky, thick bread, since that's the best one can hope for on a gluten-free diet, but at least the flavor is getting better.  On a stormy summer day like today, a good piece of bread with a little butter tastes good.

Bon appetit.