Tag: gluten free

My Little Oasis in the Big City

I’ve been looking forward to creating a mini garden all winter – fresh herbs at my fingertips – my little oasis in the city.   We had such a great time shopping around the garden center; I had to remind myself of the small apartment we would be heading back to a number of times, otherwise I would have come home with a full yard’s worth of plants and herbs!

                                   Urban Garden

     

 

 

 

 

 

I have, of course, become a little obsessed with the herbs 🙂 , so I tried a recipe with all fresh herbs to make muffins. They turned out great and were refreshing snacks during the week at work.

Low-FODMAP Herb and Parmesan MuffinsLow-FODMAP Fresh Herb and Parmesan Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp fresh thyme

Small handful basil leaves

Greens of 3 scallions

3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan

1/2 tsp lemon zest

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

3/4 cup milk ( I use almond)

2 eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a muffin tin or place muffin liners in each cup

Finely chop the herbs and scallions

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, thyme, basil, scallions, parmesan and lemon zest

In a separate bowl, beat the olive oil, yogurt, milk and eggs until well combined

Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the wet ingredients are completely combined with the dry

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Sprinkle additional parmesan and / or herbs on top for serving.  Best served warm

 

 

 

Radishes 3 Ways – Part 2 

We generally get to the beach as soon as it’s warm enough to wear light jackets.  This year was no different – we spent the second half of spring break down the shore (how urban dictionary defines the Jersey version of traveling to the beach 🙂 ).

 

 

beach hair               

Continuing on the radish journey, I had some leftover steak from dinner at Bowery Meat Company celebrating a new job with “The Man” ; )
Bowery Meat Company Dinner

I decided to make steak tacos the following night with a radish salsa.  The radish salsa was amazing and balanced the steak perfectly!

Steak Tacos and Radish SalsaSteak Tacos and Radish Salsa

Ingredients

2 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

1 pound steak (or whatever is remaining as leftovers)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4 radishes, trimmed, chopped

4 scallions – green parts only, thinly sliced

½ jalapeño – seeds removed if desired, finely chopped

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

8 corn tortillas, warmed (or less depending on size of steak)

2 oz. Cotija cheese, crumbled

Directions

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over high heat

Season steak with salt and pepper (if required) and cook about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare if not cooked; heat through for a few minutes if re-heating leftovers

Let steak stand for 5 minutes

Meanwhile, toss radishes, scallions, jalapeno, lime juice, and remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a medium bowl

Season radish salsa with salt and pepper to taste

Heat corn tortillas in a frying pan until warmed through

Serve with crumbled cheese on top

Radish SalsaSteak tacos with radish salsa

 

Blue Hair, Don’t Care – March 2, 2017

blue hair, dont careWe had another great trip in California this school break.  Matt’s been wanting to “dye” his hair blue for some time, so I thought the few days at the beach would be a fun time for blue hair (using chalk products only! This one seemed to be the safest for kids!)

We took a trip over to Huntington Beach to walk one of the longest piers on the west coast – 1,850 feet long!  We were standing over where the surfers were catching their best waves.

Huntington Beach Pier

Huntington Beach, CA

We also did a lot of cooking!  Be on the lookout for “Radishes and Carrots 3 Ways” in one of my next posts.  We took on the challenge of roasted, raw and slaw versions of radishes and carrots – two of my favorites 🙂

Here we have a more time consuming recipe than I’m used to, but it is worth the effort for the delicious lasagna at the end, loaded with veggies!

 

Low-FODMAP No Noodle Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

2 medium-sized squash

1 lb. ground beef

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

2 cups raw spinach (roughly 2 large handfuls)

1 16 oz. container of ricotta

8 oz. shredded mozzarella

8 oz. shredded parmesan

2 fresh basil leaves

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup red wine

1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9×13 baking pan

Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin pieces, using the thinnest setting on a mandoline or a sharp knife (I use this one)

Sprinkle the zucchini slices with salt and set in a colander to drain in the sink

Begin preparing the meat sauce by combining the ground beef, salt and black pepper in a deep skillet over medium high heat until meat is browned.  Stir in the diced tomatoes, basil, oregano and wine.  Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and developed in flavor.  Stir frequently

While the sauce is cooking, stir together the egg and ricotta in a medium bowl until well combined

When all ingredients are prepped, begin the process of making the lasagna

Spread 1/2 the meat sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking pan.  Layer 1/2 of the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, all the spinach and then half of the mozzarella.  Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture and mozzarella.  Spread the parmesan cheese over the top and cover with foil

Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Let stand for 5 – 10 minutes to allow the lasagna to settle before serving

Enjoy 🙂

No-Noodle Vegetable Lasagna

           

 

Taking it easy – February 20, 2017

I love escaping the pace of NYC every now and then. The non-stop nature of the city keeps the cycle of have more, do more, be more constantly flowing. Southern California allows a step away from that pace. A calm retreat into beautiful things – including the nicest mall I’ve ever visited. There was even a Snoopy with a gold crown on his head!


Another great perk of our visits is getting to see my sister’s band perform. We haven’t seen them since July, and they’ve gone into high gear since then and are absolutely killing it! Check out Cillian’s Bridge website.

 

 

 

 

Matt joining the band 🙂

 

 

As it relates to food, trying new things is a way of taking it easy for me.  Especially when I have access to a kitchen double the size of mine 🙂

Blistered Shishito Peppers

Serves 2 as appetizer

Ingredients

1/2 lb. of shishito peppers – about 15 – 20 peppers

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. coarse ground sea salt

Juice of half a lemon

Directions

Heat olive oil in a wok or deep frying pan (the oil may splash as the peppers are cooking)

Add peppers and cook for 3 – 5 minutes per side or until the peppers have softened and started to blister

Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and salt

Serve while hot

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California Surprise – February 18, 2017

We traveled to Southern California on our break from school and work to relax in the warm, sunny weather with my sister. Instead we joined her for the worst storm in at least 6 years, but possibly going back to 2004! We are certainly making the most of it – cooking, shopping, creating art projects.  Matt and my sister created a planet of vegetable “good guys” and “bad guys” followed by a planet of dairy characters while we lunched at the most amazing gluten-free meal I’ve had in ages at True Food Kitchen.

Gluten-free Hummus, Gluten-free PitaAs we didn’t want to leave the house in the storm again, we made boiled lobster tail and kale and quinoa on the side for dinner.  I’ll share both recipes below. The lobster tail was a new one for us, so we had to experiment a bit; it turned out great!

Boiled lobster tail

Boiled Lobster Tail

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 lobster tails, frozen

6 cups of water

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter

Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

Bring the water to a boil, adding salt at the start

Add butter and lemon to the water as it starts to boil

Place frozen lobster tails in the water and cook for 10 – 12 minutes, until the lobster meat is whitening

Place lobster tails on a cutting board and cut down the center to peel off the shell

Serve with extra butter for dipping on the side if desired

Low-FODMAP Kale and Quinoa Side Dish

Serves 2 – 4

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale, chopped

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (always confirm this does not contain onion and garlic)

~10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp. butter

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. salt

Directions

Rinse quinoa and place in rice cooker with chicken stock and 1 tsp. of salt

Once the quinoa has been cooking for 10 minutes or so, add the butter and olive oil to a frying pan heating on medium heat

Add cherry tomatoes and 1 tsp. of salt to the frying pan

Add the kale to the frying pan and cook until the kale is softened and has halved in size in the pan

Crack an egg in the frying pan and stir until cooked into the mix

Stir in the quinoa and parmesan cheese

  kale, quinoa and egg

Serve as a side dish or on its own for a nice weekday lunch!

    

Healthy Appetite – February 6, 2017

I have a healthy appetite.  I always have, but the downside of that is that I can get really grumpy when not eating enough!  I remember the first time my family started to understand it – I was about 5 or 6 and the flower girl at my aunt’s wedding.  I remember starting to cry, and my mom ran around looking for something I could eat while we waited for photos to finish.  Carrots saved the day then, and they’ll save the day today as well!

The last thing I want at work is to snap at someone because I’m “hangry”, so I try to make healthy snacks to bring for the day.  Check out the FODMAP-friendly Carrot and Ginger Muffin recipe below! This recipe calls for greek yogurt, if some dairy isn’t part of your low-FODMAP diet, you can substitute coconut milk or cream.

Also – don’t forget to follow me on Instagram if you’re not already (@FODMom).  You can find great low-FODMAP and gluten-free eats in NYC as well as great recipes 🙂

Low-FODMAP Carrot and Ginger Muffins Recipe

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour (I used King Arthur for the first time and liked it)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cups peeled and grated carrots (about 3 – 4 medium size carrots)

1 in finely chopped ginger root

1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 maple syrup

2 eggs

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp white sugar for sprinkling on top of the muffins before baking

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Grease muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or coconut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg.  Mix well, ensuring no lumps remain in the flour mix.

Add the grated carrots and chopped walnuts to the flour mix and stir to combine.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and maple syrup; beat together with electric beaters.  Add the eggs and beat well until the consistency is smooth and thick.  Add the yogurt and vanilla, mixing well to combine.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, combining until smooth (aside from walnut and carrot pieces).

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle the white sugar on top.  Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and cooked through the center.

Allow muffins to cool before serving.

Enjoy 🙂

 

Continuing the celebration – January 20, 2017

The past few weeks have been so hectic that I haven’t been able to get back at it and post the rest of the New Year’s Eve dinner menu! I’ve been traveling, we have been doing a TON of projects at home and the time has just been flying by. Here are a few things that have been keeping us busy:

View from the plane on the way to London – certainly makes the lengthy flight better 🙂

                    

Some of our DIY coaster creations!!  We had a blast with this project, and I can see us doing more of this in the future – those clay ones take some practice to perfect!

Now on to the delicious FODMAP-friendly Shrimp Pad Thai recipe.  For those of you with an intolerance for cabbage, you can either leave that out or substitute thinly sliced peppers or another vegetable. The beauty of this dish is that it is easy and quick to prepare and chocked full of vitamins and minerals. For those of you who are no-carb, you might want to try Shirataki “Miracle” Noodles; they are in the refrigerated section and offer zero carbs, zero fat, and gluten-free.

FODMAP-friendly Shrimp Pad Thai Recipe Click Here

 

 

 

 

Welcome the new year – January 2, 2017

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and spent time with family and friends. I had time with both and enjoyed some quiet time in the city as well.  Below is a snap of my favorite mulled wine from Jamie Oliver; friends of mine make this every year at our Christmas gathering, and I love it!

A few pics from city wandering and a trip to the Whitney to check out some art.

As for New Year’s Eve itself, it looks like one of two options for me – attempting to make a difficult, new recipe or ordering gluten-free Domino’s :).  This year was the new dish option, and I am so glad I did that!  I made gluten-free, low-FODMAP Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls and gluten-free, low-FODMAP Shrimp Pad Thai.  I’ll share the Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls today; look out for the Pad Thai later this week.

Gluten-Free, Low-FODMAP Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls

Makes 10 – 15 rolls

Ingredients

   

Spring Roll

1 large carrot

4 -5 scallions, green end only

1 inch ginger, chopped finely

3 garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups red cabbage

1/4 lb. pork

1/4 lb. cooked, de-shelled, de-veined shrimp

1 tbsp. canola oil

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp. gluten-free soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Rice paper wrappers / spring roll skin

10 -12 basil leaves

Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. chopped ginger

1 chili pepper

Directions

Spring Roll Filling

Shred carrots, chop scallions and ginger and slice garlic cloves in half.

Heat wok or frying pan over medium hear.  Add canola oil and warm through.  Add scallions, ginger and garlic to the oil and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.

Add the pork to the frying pan and cook through completely.

Remove the garlic from the frying pan, and add carrots and cabbage to the mix.  Cook for several minutes until the cabbage wilts and carrots soften.

Add the shrimp and heat through.

     

Add rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar per measurements above.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for several minutes until the flavors come together and some of the sauce is absorbed into the vegetables and meat.

Set the filling aside while making the dipping sauce and preparing the spring roll skin.

Dipping Sauce

Slice chili thinly, removing seeds if desired to cut back on the heat. Place in a small mixing bowl.

Add remaining ingredients into the bowl and whisk together until fully combined.

Spring Roll

This may take some trial and error to get the feel of the spring roll skin.  I would encourage making 2 spring rolls at a time to ensure the paper maintains its form.

Slowly dip a spring roll skin into hot water, covering the entire surface. The spring roll skin should begin to soften and become pliable.

Place on a cotton dish towel for ~30 seconds.

Slowly peel the spring roll skin from the dish towel and bring to your serving plate for creation of the roll.

Place 1 – 2 basil leaves (depending on size) in the lower part of the spring roll skin.

Add about 1 1/2 tbsp. of the filling into the spring roll skin, on top of the basil leaves.

Roll the skin, folding in the sides as you go.

Serve with dipping sauce.  Enjoy!  Let me know how you like it 🙂

 

Fall is for Pumpkins – December 8, 2016

I’ve been loving this fall.  Absolutely loving it – trying to experience everything I can and take something away from every encounter.  Last week at work, we brought in an outside trainer to facilitate a course for our team on running programs and managing stakeholders.  It’s a topic with which we are all comfortable, but the instructor shared different perspectives and brought some interesting insights.  He asked us to consider when we do our best thinking and decision making, to which most of us answered “sleep”, “when I’m not thinking about it”, etc.  He asked us to consider walking and the benefits of clearing your head and getting “inspiration”.  Here is a short article on the topic as well.

So that was my big takeaway from last week, and today I decided to take that advice.  I walked home from the gym today over the Brooklyn bridge, and it was such a great experience – even in the freezing cold 🙂

                   

 

Enough about self-help and on to the cooking!  I’ve been trying to come up with a pumpkin muffin recipe that represents the true flavors of a spiced pumpkin pie while maintaining a moist feel in the center.  I think this one does it, but I would love to hear your thoughts!

Low-FODMAP Pumpkin Muffins Recipe Here 

Pumpkins are low fat, highly nutritious and provide a huge amount of Vitamin A which is good for your eyes, skin and circulatory system.

 

 

Me enjoying a cocktail last weekend at Prime Meats in my neighborhood 🙂

The Search for BBQ – June 6, 2016

I love BBQ – tender meat, tasty sauce, eating with your hands; it doesn’t get better than that! BUT it is nearly impossible to have BBQ sauce out that isn’t full of our favorites – onion and garlic :(. I’ve been experimenting with a few recipes at home in the slow cooker.  I’ll share one below, and you can expect to find more as I continue exploring!

Before I share my recipe, though, I thought I would let Matt debut his chef skills.  He’s been obsessed with Man vs. Child, Chopped Junior and Master Chef Junior this past year.  He somehow pulled together something edible – despite starting with hot sauce, yogurt and cheese on the counter!  We ended up with banana, blueberries, nutella and yogurt.

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FODMAP-friendly BBQ Pulled Chicken

Ingredients – BBQ Sauce

  • 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp tobasco
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic-infused ollive oil
  • 1/2 cup grated carrots
  • Splash of water

Directions – BBQ Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and heat on medium-high heat. Simmer until the mixture thickens, adding additional water to keep from becoming too thick if needed.  Continue to cook for 10 or so minutes, until the sauce is well combined to a good consistency.

Add 2 full chicken breasts, cut in half and the BBQ sauce to the slow cooker.  Add a splash of water or FODMAP-friendly chicken stock if you need more liquid in the slow cooker.  Heat for 4 1/2 hours on low, removing at 4 hours to discard bones and skin and shred the chicken.

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And then of course, I enjoyed it over salad for lunch – sneaking out of the office to enjoy the sunshine 🙂

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