Food on the Go

Well, it's time to start cleaning out our cupboards and eating strange recipes that we throw together with the remnants of what is on the shelves. Tonight proved to be such a meal. We have lots of grains and flours in the house, and an unusual amount of lettuce left, so we had to improvise, and it turned out spectacular (recipe down below)!

Our son is on a dairy free, gluten free diet, which is not so uncommon to hear these days. More and more people are finding themselves feeling healthier and revitalized by cutting out two of the most the over-processed food items in our nation's diet (also on that list is corn and soy!). We made this switch after noticing that our 4 year old reacts negatively both physically and in his behavior. Needless to say, to truly eat on the go takes some serious planning and sometimes some good old improvisation. I won't go into too much depth there are plenty of well seasoned DF/GF people blogging these days with some wonderful recipes and ideas. The amazing thing that has happened in our family due to this dietary restriction is that we have all begun to eat healthier. My husband and I both grew up in the Midwest eating casseroles mainly comprised of noodles, cheese, and meat. Of course, there was a vegetable on the side, and a tall glass of milk to wash all the gooey goodness down. So naturally, when we began cooking for each other, with neither of us being much of a cook at the time, we ate our family recipes. This included quesadillas (yum...but tummy-ache now!) and boxed, over processed foods. Moving to the West Coast enlightened us a bit to a new way of eating and we slowly added more freshness to the meal and began to experiment with new recipes. But when we found out our son could not have 2 of our favorite foods, bread and cheese, we barely stopped short of having what some may call a cooking nervous breakdown. Thanks to some great blogs (I love Gluten Free Girl!) and a couple cookbooks a distant acquaintance gave us, we forged forward and have proudly become adept at the new world.

So, while we are blessed to live in a part of the country that wholly invites and encourages this 'alternative' diet, we will soon find ourselves in a place that is only slowly warming itself to life without such luxuries as cheap, easy food. I, myself, have found that I prefer to eliminate dairy from my diet, and also most gluten, so for the summer I will be whole heartedly joining my son on his eating adventure...of course there may be a burger AND bun in there somewhere! The greatest challenge I believe we will find will be as we are on the road. Both of our families are in the know now about cooking gluten and dairy free. My mother has already planned to bake GF cookies for her grandson while he is visiting, isn't that what every grandma wants to do? But it will be the in-between state that I am hoping doesn't find us scrounging for food and worried that our little guy is hungry all the time. (Luckily the child will eat anything; we often find ourselves bribing him to eat his meat by promising more vegetables. Not typical for a 4 year old and I love that about him!) The key to this, lots of good lists.

What does excite me is that new places offer new possibilities for food selection. Maybe we'll run across a few wonderful farmer's markets with fresh fruits and vegetables, maybe we'll find an unexpected bakery that carries DF/GF friendly food. Either way, I am looking forward to the challenge and to eating my new salad recipe on the road. Chock full of vegetable protein, fruit, and flavor we can't go wrong filling up on it.

Salad:

Lettuce (we used butter, but I think spinach, romaine, and anything green leafy)

2 Apples, chunked

3 Carrots, sliced

3/4 C. cooked quinoa (I added salt and paprika to the water as it cooked for extra flavor)

Crushed almonds (sliced would be great too)

Lime Cilantro Salad Dressing: Thank you Betty Crocker, but you can use any version you find online.

Here's the recipe as I followed it:

1/2 C. olive oil

1/3 C. lime juice

3 T. chopped fresh cilantro (I used pre-chopped and frozen, then rewarmed)

1 1/2 t. ground cumin

1 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (she calls for 3 cloves, finely chopped)

The mix of the crunchy, salty, sweet, and tangy was amazing and actually left me feeling filled up and energized. I'll be posting new food conglomerations that we come up with or come across as the summer goes, it's always nice to freshen one's repertoire with something innovative and new.