Gluten Free-zer Friday – Almond Quinoa with Asparagus

Head over to MJ’s for Freezer Food Friday and join in on the fun!

Participating in Gluten Free-zer Friday:

1. If you would like to participate in Gluten Free-zer Friday, simply email your post link to your gluten free freezer recipe (angelas_kitchenATcomcastDOTnet) or leave a comment below and I will add you to the roundup.

2. Link back to this post on the post with the recipe you have linked.

You can use this a side dish or vegetarian main dish stuffed in peppers or roasted squash (yum).  I freeze it in single servings to use as a  savory breakfast or a quick lunch with a salad.  Instead of asparagus, try summer squash, artichokes or diced sweet potatoes.

Almond Quinoa with Asparagus

1/3 cup olive oil, divided

1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots or sweet onion

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 bay leaves

10 ounce container mushrooms, sliced

2 pounds asparagus, woody ends removed, chopped (about 4 cups)

1 1/2 pounds spinach or baby chard, washed and chopped

1/3 – 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds seeds are also nice)

3 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce

In a pan over medium-high heat, heat HALF of oil then saute shallots until transparent.  Add Garlic to pan and saute until garlic releases it’s sent.  Add quinoa to pan and stir until quinoa is coated with oil.

Reduce heat to medium.  Stirring constantly, cook quinoa until slightly golden and toasted (do not scorch).  Add broth and bay leaves to quinoa and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

While quinoa is simmering, saute mushrooms in remainder of oil until tender.  Add asparagus and saute until tender.  Add greens and stir until just wilted.  Remove from heat and set aside until quinoa is finished cooking.

When quinoa is finished cooking, stir vegetable mixture, almonds and soy sauce into the quinoa.

To freeze:  Cool quinoa mixture then pack into one or two large freezer bags, removing all air.  Seal, label and freeze.  Or make individual packets of mixture, if desired.

To serve: Thaw mixture.  Heat individual portions in small sauce pan or microwave if you use one.  For larger amount, thaw, and heat in large pot or sauce pan.  You can also stir-fry it to heat with a bit of added oil.  You can also thaw and heat filling and serve in cooked peppers or roasted squash halves.

Slow Cooker Thursday – Lentil Taco Salad/Filling

Head over to Sandra’s for Slow Cooker Thursday.

This is a great meal, because it’s economical,  packed with veggies, it doesn’t heat up your kitchen, and you are making a freezer meal for another day at the same time.  Can’t beat that!  This also makes a nice baked or sweet potato bar topping and a taco or rollup sandwich filler.

Lentil Taco Salad/Filling

(serves 12-16, enough to today’s meal and a freezer meal for the future)

7 cups gluten free vegetable or chicken broth

2 medium green sweet peppers, seeded and chopped (about 2 cups)

2 medium red sweet peppers, seeded and chopped (about 2 cups)

2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups

2 cups brown lentils, rinsed and drained)

1 cup rice

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced ½ inch thick (or a variety of mixed summer squash)

12 cups tortilla chips

8 cups crispy mixed greens

3 cups chopped tomatoes

Optional toppings:  Plain coconut yogurt or soy sour cream style topping, guacamole, sliced olives, sliced green onions, etc.

In a 6 quart slow cooker combine broth, peppers, onion, lentils, rice, garlic, chili powder and salt.  Mix well.  Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or until lentils are tender.

Stir in squash.  Cover and cook on high setting for  20-25 minutes more.  Remove half of lentil mixture to cool, label and freeze for another meal.

To serve taco salad arrange tortilla chips on 6 or 8 dinner plates. Arrange salad greens over tortilla chips.  Spoon desired amount of lentil mixture over chips and salad. Top with tomatoes and optional toppings as desired.

No menu plan Monday, just the 3-day walk training schedule…

Countdown: 4 Weeks

Your Training Schedule for This Week:

Monday	Rest
Tuesday	3 miles	Easy walking
Wednesday	45 minutes	Moderate cross-training
Thursday	6 miles	Moderate walking
Friday	45 minutes	Easy cross-training
Saturday	10 miles	Easy walking
Sunday	8 miles	Easy walking

Mayo Clinic study finds celiac disease 4 times more common than in 1950s

Mayo Clinic study finds celiac disease 4 times more common than in 1950s

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Mayo Clinic study finds celiac disease 4 times more common than in 1950s

Undiagnosed celiac disease associated with nearly quadrupled mortality

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Celiac disease, (http://www.mayoclinic.org/celiac-disease/) an immune system reaction to gluten in the diet, is over four times more common today than it was 50 years ago, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in the journal Gastroenterology (http://www.gastrojournal.org/).

The study also found that subjects who did not know they had celiac disease were nearly four times more likely than celiac-free subjects to have died during the 45 years of follow-up.

“Celiac disease has become much more common in the last 50 years, and we don’t know why,” says Joseph Murray, M.D., (http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/13032852.html) the Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist who led the study. “It now affects about one in a hundred people. We also have shown that undiagnosed or ‘silent’ celiac disease may have a significant impact on survival. The increasing prevalence, combined with the mortality impact, suggests celiac disease could be a significant public health issue.”

In patients with celiac disease, the presence of a protein called gluten from wheat, barley or rye triggers an immune system attack, damaging the villi in the small intestine. Villi are fingerlike projections that increase the intestine’s surface area for nutrient absorption. Celiac disease symptoms may include diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, weight loss, anemia, unexplained infertility, loss of teeth or even premature or severe osteoporosis.

The Mayo Clinic research team tested blood samples gathered at Warren Air Force Base (AFB) in Wyoming between 1948 and 1954 for the antibody that people with celiac disease produce in reaction to gluten. They compared those blood test results with those from two recently collected sets from Olmsted County, Minn. One matched the ages of those from the 1948� testing at the time of the blood draw, and the other matched their birth years. Researchers found that young people today are 4.5 times more likely to have celiac disease than young people were in the 1950s, while those whose birth years matched the Warren AFB participants were four times more likely to have celiac disease.

“Celiac disease is unusual, but it’s no longer rare,” says Dr. Murray. “Something has changed in our environment to make it much more common. Until recently, the standard approach to finding celiac disease has been to wait for people to complain of symptoms and to come to the doctor for investigation. This study suggests that we may need to consider looking for celiac disease in the general population, more like we do in testing for cholesterol or blood pressure.”

Dr. Murray says the study findings highlight the need for increased awareness of celiac disease, both among physicians and patients. “Part of the problem is that celiac disease symptoms are variable and can be mistaken for other diseases that are more common, such as irritable bowel syndrome,” he says. “Some studies have suggested that for every person who has been diagnosed with celiac disease, there are likely 30 who have it but are not diagnosed. And given the nearly quadrupled mortality risk for silent celiac disease we have shown in our study, getting more patients and health professionals to consider the possibility of celiac disease is important.”

###

In addition to Dr. Murray, authors of the study, which was conducted in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Medical Follow-Up Agency, Washington, D.C., include Alberto Rubio Tapia, M.D.; Robert Kyle, M.D.; Edward Kaplan, M.D.; Dwight Johnson; William Page, Ph.D.; Frederick Erdtmann, M.D.; Tricia Brantner; W. Ray Kim, M.D.; Tara Phelps; Brian Lahr; Alan Zinsmeister, Ph.D.; and L. Joseph Melton III, M.D.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of “the needs of the patient come first.” More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.

No menu plan, just the 3-day walk training schedule…

Well, I think I need to embrace the fact that I may not be doing the 3-day walk…  4 people donating does not a walk make.  Sigh…  I am feeling a bit down about it.  However, maybe my efforts toward a garage sale will help.  We will see.

What I do know is that Elette Gamble who works at Lakewinds (the store where I hold my gluten and dairy free classes) is also planning on doing the 3-Day walk.  If I am not able to walk, maybe I can encourage some of you to donate to Elette’s fundraising.  She is celebrating her 5 years of Survival from breast cancer.  Please support her journey.  Thanks!

Countdown: 5 Weeks

Your Training Schedule for This Week:

Monday	Rest
Tuesday	5 miles	Easy walking
Wednesday	45 minutes	Moderate cross-training
Thursday	6 miles	Moderate walking
Friday	45 minutes	Easy cross-training
Saturday	18 miles	Easy walking
Sunday	15 miles	Easy walking

Gluten Freezer Friday – Chicken and Rosemary Roasted Veggies

This week I am returning to Gluten Free-zer Friday.  (finally!)  Lately, I have been using the contents of my freezer lately more than making thing to store in the freezer.  As I haven’t had a lot of interest in joining in, I will continue to put up the Gluten Freezer Friday posts less often, I think.  Maybe every couple of weeks?  Or every other week?  When I feel like it?  Eh, I’ll see how it goes.

For more freezer cooking goodness, head over to MJ’s for Freezer Food Friday and join in on the fun.

Participating in Gluten Free-zer Friday:

1. If you would like to participate in Gluten Free-zer Friday, simply email your post link to your gluten free freezer recipe (angelas_kitchenATcomcastDOTnet) or leave a comment below and I will add you to the roundup.

2. Link back to this post on the post with the recipe you have linked.

Chicken and Rosemary Roasted Veggies

(serves 6)

6 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 pound new potatoes

1 pound sweet potatoes or yams
4 carrots
4 small zucchini
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
1 bunch fresh rosemary (about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fresh leaves)
3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Clean all the veggies.  Quarter the potatoes. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch chunks. Cut the carrots and zucchini into 2 inch x 3/4 inch sticks.

In a gallon sized freezer bag, mix the olive oil, mustard, rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Add chicken and veggies to bag.  Seal bag, smoosh contents of bag around until everything is evenly coated with oil mixture.  Open a bit of the bag and squeeze out as much air as possible.  Reseal bag, label and freeze.

To serve:  Thaw contents of bag.  Place contents of bag into a lightly oiled 9 x 13 roasting pan.  Place into a 400° F heated oven.  Roast for 25 minutes then remove from oven.  Flip chicken and gently stir the vegetables.  Continue roasting until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Girl Scout Day Camp 2009 – Friday

Today is the end of Girl Scout camp.  This weekend I will update this week’s posts with how things went and photos of all the fun!

breakfast: cheerios or pancakes, toast, sausages, bacon, bananas, fruit mix, milk, apple and orange juice

a.m. snack: chocolate pudding in ice cream cones

lunch: Walking tacos (hamburger, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, doritos, sour cream, taco mild sauce)

pickles

water and whatever is left

desert:  ”must go”  (what ever dessert is left)

No cereal for us.  For breakfast I had made pancakes and sausage with fruit the other day for lunch.  I packed enough pancakes and sausage for each of us for breakfast, then served the rest for lunch.  When I made bacon for the calico bean meal, I packed some bacon into the breakfast containers also.  It’s camp let’s go wild!

I was able to find a flat bottom cake-style cone at my local gluten free store!  Yay!  They are the ones from Let’s Do… They are so great and just the right size.  I love this company’s products.  Their sprinkles (gluten free, dairy free, no artificial ingredients) make every thing fun!  We will bring ZenSoy pudding cups for the pudding.

For the walking tacos, I have more of the ground meat cooked with onions, green pepper and tomatoes, individual bags of corn chips. toffuti sour cream etc.  The camp has left over popsicles they are saving for the girl’s dessert.  Nice!

Girl Scout Day Camp 2009 – Thursday

Today at camp we are canoeing, doing archery, and having our tent sleep over.  At Girl Scout camp a sleepover always means s’mores!

a.m. snack: rice krispies bars (We are bringing our own gluten free ones)

lunch:  mini pizzas (english muffins, pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni)

“Wood ticks on a toilet seat” (apples, cored and sliced in half horizontally, top with cream cheese or peanut butter, sprinkle with raisins or chocolate chips)

fruit punch, lemonade or water

cookies  (bring our own from freezer)

Dinner: pasta, sauce, motz cheese, salad, salad dressing, french bread, milk, water, punch

evening snack:   s’mores

We have gluten and dairy free krispie bars and cookies in the freezer (already individually wrapped so we just have to grab the number we need and go).  For the pizzas, I had one mini pizza already made in the freezer.  I made a batch of our favorite pizza crust then shaped and topped two more pizzas.  With the rest of the dough I made the sub buns for Wednesdays lunch and bread sticks for tonight’s dinner.

For dinner, I made gluten free veggie spirals noodles and topped with our own sauce to heat there.  We have veggie sticks instead of salad as it is more portable.

I have homemade graham crackers in the freezer, so those are being packed with marshmallows (I send their own baggies to roast so they aren’t crossed contaminated, etc.) and small squares of gluten and dairy free chocolate.  I tell the girls they are their “S’more Kits!”

Girl Scout Day Camp 2009 – Wednesday

Today we are going fishing with the girls at camp and going over canoes safety for when we go canoeing tomorrow.  And, of course, we are going to swim!

a.m. snack:  mixed up cracker snack

lunch: sub sandwiches (meat, cheese, pickles) cookies

root beer floats

For the snack the girls and I each have a bag of gluten free pretzels packed.

When I made mini pizzas and bread sticks for tomorrow’s food, I shaped part of the dough into 6″ sub buns.  I have the buns (sliced), a couple of types of GFCF deli-style meat in a baggie for each of us and baggies of pickles packed.  The camp has packets of mayo and mustard that are naturally gluten and dairy free and they will also have water melon and baby carrots.  I had our own chocolate chip cookies in the freezer to bring.  I made the camp cookies much larger than I normally do for home, so they would be extra fun for the girls.

The camp’s root beer is naturally gluten and dairy free and the camp bought a non-dairy, gluten free “ice cream” for us.  That is great!  Now I don’t have to figure out how to transport “ice cream” in a cooler!

Girl Scout Day Camp 2009 – Tuesday

My little girl and big girl are in a group together.  Their group did the flag ceremony this morning with my big girl being the caller.

a.m. snack: fruit kabobs

Lunch:  ants on a log (celery, choc chips, peanut butter)

Girl Scout Gumbo (hamburger, cheese, vegetable soup) with Frito’s

Brownies in a box

Fruit punch, lemonade and water

For our “appetizer” our group will be having cream cheese on out celery logs due to other allergies (no peanut products for our group!) so I am bringing Toffuti Cream cheese and GFCF chocolate chips.  The camp leader isn’t doing the more usual raisins on the “ants on a log” as she finds the girls flick them into the woods attracting critters…

For the gumbo, it’s the same as I have done in the past:  ground meat cooked with onion, green pepper and tomato.  We stir in a bit of Toffutti “sour cream” after heating at camp.  Bring corn chips in individual bags.

The girls will help make the brownies in a box.  The brownies will be cooked in a box oven, so it should be fun.  We are bringing our own already made gluten and dairy free brownies to eat.  There is a great tutorial on how to make a box oven here.