Happy 4th Blog-niverary to me!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

What do you know?  It’s my 4 year blogniversary!  (Okay, it was last week but I didn’t realize until now.) So we must celebrate, yes?

First is a big thank you, to all the wonderful people who have encouraged, inspired, entertained and supported me in these 4 years.  I’m not sure what I expected when I started to blog, but it’s been a fun and tasty journey!

In honor of my blogniversary, here are some of my very favorite dishes through the years:

4 desserts:

Nana Skillet Bread (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Bittersweet Chocolate Chestnut Fudge (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Chocolate Raspberry Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Bonus: E’s Favorite
Chocolate Banana Bread(GF, CF option, SF, sugar free)

4 Main meals:

Nightshade Skillet Meal (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free)

Yummy Red Lentil Dal(GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free, vegan)

Sniffle Stew(GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free option and vegan)

Coconut Curried Greens (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

4 Sides:

Quinoa Italiana (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free, vegan option) (I often have it as a main meal, too)

Grilled Herb-y Peppers (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Kale Pesto (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Roasted Cauliflower (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Bread-ish

Linda’s Bread (GF, CF, SF, sugar free)

Chickpea Crackers (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Crispy Crackers (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Carrot Muffin-Cakes (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan option)

And my 4 favorite non-recipe posts:

Self-acceptance

Choosing Joy

Things that make you say “om” Meditation Resources

My 3 Nutrition Guidelines

Which also reminds me how my blog has changed over the years. I was intent on not writing about my own views and keeping my blog food focused, but over time, it’s evolved, and sooner or later I’ll have to change the header to reflect that.  How we live is half of how we eat…and how we eat is half of how we live.

Many thanks to you all!

Posted in cheryl's musings | 6 Comments

Thankful Thursday

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I didn’t have any plans to blog tonight until I saw the InspireRD post on Thankful Thursdays.

I love her post…on playing with the image of perfection, while needing integrity and honesty.  I’ve never met a truly wise person who wasn’t afraid to be fallible and human, and yet we (I) still are attached to these masks we have!   It’s frightening to be vulnerable.  I posted last year on one of my biggest challenges and it was both tremendously important and difficult, all in one. I also enjoyed her comments the value of pausing, stepping back from the computer and taking a moment to give thanks.

I love our new home, it’s like my cocoon.  I love “our” fox, “our” cats, “our” trees (the tree photo is from 3 weeks ago).  I love the birds that sing for my morning walk and the neighbor dog that barks his encouragement.  I love how fortunate I am that I don’t have to worry about not having enough food, money or love.

I am grateful, too, that there were times in my life where all 3 were in short supply, because it taught me how to treasure them all.

E and I do “gratitudes” together each night.  It’s such a beautiful way to reconnect.  I forget to cherish the moments.  One of my favorite teachers called it being “alive and awake to being alive and awake.”  Because the beauty and joy is often in getting real, good, bad or ugly.

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Playtime–>Chocolate Cookies (Vegan & Paleo Friendly)

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I forget how much I like to bake.  There’s something magical about pulling out different ingredients, even before I have a clear sense of what I want to make, and simply seeing what emerges.  I haven’t done it in far too long!  It was always like this when I was starting out.  There were so many food restrictions, and there weren’t cookbooks that were gluten/dairy/egg/corn/soy/sugar/grain free 8 years ago.  So I saw baking as an experiment, and tended not to have a clear sense or expectation of what was ahead.  Granted, there’s a much higher rate of flops that way, but it’s also much more interesting.

Somewhere over the years I stopped experimenting as much, especially with desserts. I was supposed to be making something for someone else or a reviewing cookbooks. I was tired, our new kitchen is smaller, and months would slip by without playtime.  So it was a great surprise to wake up on Saturday wanting to make cookies!  Initially the plan was to make something simple from one of the cookbooks for DH, and I started pulling out the ingredients.  And then that familiar urge hit, and I decided we were going to wing it and go for a Cheryl original.

Quite to my surprise, these cookies were terrific.  I loved them, and so did our guests.  They’re also quite Passover friendly, if you’re inclined to give them a whirl right away!  They are crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle, and there’s something about them that feels really satisfying.

Yes, they use more coconut sugar than I usually use…I may try cutting back next time. We shall see.

2/3 cup almond butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp stevia concentrate
Pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSPs coconut oil
2 TBSPs maple syrup, agave, liquid sweetener de jour
1 TBSP water
3-4 TBSP cacao nibs, or if you’re not avoiding sugar, mini chips or Heath bar pieces

Put the dry ingredients in a stand mixer and let it run for a minute (my coconut sugar always has lumps!)  Add in the almond butter, and mix until combined.  Add in wet ingredients and stir for a minute to let everything combine.

Make balls an inch in diameter and squash down on a Silpat or sheet lined with parchment.  Beware, they spread a little.  Put an almond or almond slivers on top.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 min.  Allow to cool, they are very soft right out of the oven but harden after 5-10 min.

This makes about 3 dozen cookies.

I will be submitting these to Ricki’s Wellness Weekends, featuring vegan yummies with healthier ingredients.

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Eat Like A Dinosaur–Review

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I love Stacy and Matthew’s (AKA Paleo Parents’) new book, “Eat Like a Dinosaur”. It’s absolutely adorable, has a nice range of recipes.  But what I like most of all is how it encourages the best sort of attitude and relationship for parents and their children to develop about food.

I know, I know, that sounds like a funny thing to say about a cookbook.  But one of the things I see is so much of our culture regarding eating as another chore to rush through on your way to xyz, rather than an opportunity to nourish, educate, and probably set habits for the next generation, too.  Even setting one meal a week to play with your children in the kitchen can be such a gift…and the kitchen is an idea place to play and learn.

Cookbooks are often elegant, but can often feel daunting or inaccessible.  Not this one! Lots of people don’t make, say, roasted veggies or bone broth because they have the sense that it needs to be a lot of exotic ingredients and that it’s too hard.  ELaD has a lot of recipes for the basics, which is so key. Most of us didn’t grow up around parents who cooked…when I went off to college, the joke was that I would miss my mom’s home microwaving.  Most of us don’t know how to cook like our grandmothers, much less many generations back, and I love how this book makes it accessible and fun.

This book has a lot of recipes, an illustrated kids book, food info, AND includes a section on how your kids can get involved with each recipe.  The pictures are too cute for words.  And did you know that apes, raccoons and otters dip their food?  Me neither.

We had the “Fool’s Gold” nuggets for dinner.  Actually, I opted for more of a chicken tenders deal, because I actually had to do chemical extraction on chicken nuggets way back in an undergrad lab class, and that was it.  (Yep, fat solvent extraction process, mortar and pestle, the whole deal.  Fascinating, but gross as anything!)

But back to yummy.  E and I both enjoyed the tenders, and they were simple to make, so they’ll definitely be in the rotation again!

Oh, and re: the Paleo debate, here’s a quick summary of my take: My Nutrition Guidelines

Disclaimer: I did receive a copy to review, and that did not influence my views.

Posted in review | 6 Comments

Wonder Bread AKA Linda’s Bread

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

This bread was initially dubbed “Wonder Bread” by a co-worker because she was astonished that it actually tastes like bread, but now there’s a double meaning–I wonder what’s taken me so long to post it!  It is more work intensive, but it’s delicious, very high fiber, much higher in protein than most and filling.  The bread picture on the header of my blog  is also of this bread.

This bread was for Linda, who was limited in the grains she could eat (only corn) and wanted something without all of the simple carbs.  Obviously, the nuts, bean flour, quinoa and flax give it a nutritional punch.  I generally don’t use corn, but I’ve tried subbing for sorghum or teff for the corn, but just haven’t been pleased with the results.  So corn it is.

I have made this for numerous classes.  One time, I had a loaf of bread with 2 containers of homemade jam, and realized after the class that no one had even opened the jam!  The bread is truly perfect as is.

Linda’s bread

1/2 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon agave nectar /honey
1 1/2 Tablespoon of yeast

2.5 oz brazil nuts or hazelnuts (about 1/2 cup of whole nuts or 3/4 cup ground)

1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup corn flour
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup cornstarch
½ cup amaranth or navy bean flour
2.5 teaspoons xanthan gum

2 eggs
1 Tablespoon oil
1 Tablespoon agave / honey
1 cup apple juice
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
pinch of salt

1 tsp sesame for sprinkling on top

Put lukewarm water in a 2 cup glass measuring cup with agave and yeast.  Set aside 15-20 min

Pulse brazil nuts in a food processor until they are starting to clump together (about 2 minutes) but are not nut butter.  Scrape down the sides, add quinoa and grind a minute more.  Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time, each time running the food processor for a minute, until the quinoa flakes are mostly ground down.  Put flour in a stand mixer.

Add in eggs, oil, agave and 1/2 cup of apple juice.  Mix on low, slowly adding in remaining apple juice and the yeast mixture.  Beat batter on high for 5 minutes, add in sesame seeds.  Line a 9X5 pan with parchment and mist sides with oil.  Pour in the batter (this batter will not look like any normal bread batter.  no worries, I promise).  Put in a warm place for 35-30 min until it rises just to the top of the loaf pan.  Sprinkle on seeds.

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, then cover with foil once browning and rotate the loaf for even browning if you have a temperamental oven like mine.  Keep baking for another 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Remove to a cooling rack.  Allow to sit 15 min, then remove the bread (with the parchment) and lay it on its side until cool enough to handle.

This bread keeps well and freezes well.  Will wonders never cease?

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Congrats to me!

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I’ve been chosen as the “Emerging Dietetic Leader of the Year” for the Virginia Dietetics Association for 2012.  I’m really honored for this recognition, and very touched.

I’ve had the rare opportunity to pretty much have exactly the job I want.  I thoroughly appreciate my clients and my job, I know I’m making a difference, I’m able to balance it with taking great care of myself, and I get paid for doing what I love!  What more could I ask for?  Oh yeah, certain insurance companies getting their act together.  Ah well.

All and all, life is good, and I’m very grateful.

So many people have mentored me and supported me along this journey, encouraged me, and helped me pick myself up after the occasional faceplant. I am tremendously grateful to all of them.

Just to mention a few: an acupuncturist/chiropractor who encouraged me to dream not just what seemed possible, but my perfect job, and my former supervisor and gifted photographer, Doris Kuehn who gave me my logo as a birthday present. And I am particularly grateful to my best friend and biggest supporter, DH (AKA Erik Harris).  He was there from designing website to helping out at my first class, and encouraging me on each time it seemed like too big of a dream.

And, of course, these two, who have “mmrrrr”ed their encouragement.  Or at least, they have when they are awake.

Posted in cheryl's musings | 4 Comments

Vanilla Almond & Coconut Vanilla Marshmallows

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

Irony: noun \ˈī-rə-nē also ˈī(-ə)r-nē\ : Posting on My 3 Nutrition Guidelines and the value of limiting processed sugar and then following it with a post on homemade marshmallows

I love making candy.  I don’t know why.  I don’t really eat candy (well, at least not regular sugar based candy, although I do indulge in some of the healthier kinds, like my Bittersweet chocolate fudge or chocolate covered Pom seeds), but I confess, making the “real stuff” is a blast!  I indulge my inner-candy maker a few times a year.  I made Candy Cane Marshmallows for Christmas and DH got very pouty because I brought them to work after he’d had only a few.  So I promised another batch, and it’s taken me until now to honor it!

The recipe I used is a modified form of this from Martha Stewart, heavily weighing on the substitutions from the comment sections and making good use of some vanilla bean, with  almond a coconut varieties, and dipping the feet in bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolate.  I know, I know, excessive-much.

It’s certainly fun to do if you’re still hankering for a St. Patty’s day adventure…

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My 3 Nutrition Guidelines

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

In the past, I’ve posted on why I love helping people eat well.  So honor of National RD day, here are my 3 key nutrition rules…

So many people ask about diets.  Should I be on a gluten-free diet?  How about Paleo? Vegan? How about SCD, GAPS, Ornish?  Wait, how about the blood type diet? You get the idea.

My answer for all is, it depends, aside from people with Celiac or allergies, where there is more of a clear-cut answer.  All diets seem to try to sell us on the idea that it’s the one and only viable option, and that just isn’t so.

The guidelines that I do think that EVERYONE should follow:

  • Real, unprocessed foods: veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, etc…
  • Minimizing sweeteners
  • Mindful enjoyment of food!

I have yet to meet someone who feels wonderfully eating a lot of processed foods, or someone who simply needs more Twinkies to enhance their health.  And mindfulness is a beautiful way of enjoying food more, and builds in a natural regulation of fullness, too.  I think that these guidelines have to a cornerstone of any healthy way of eating.  The rest (i.e. whether it contains fish, or beans, or grains, or whatever) is just details.  My job is to help make it tasty, easy, balanced, affordable and doable.

As far as all the diets out there, what foods make us feel good differs.  I, for one, feel absolutely awful on a vegan diet.  Because of environmental and animal welfare concerns, I have tried and my body is adamantly against it!  I feel better without grains, and was grain and bean-free for years.  But after leaving them out for years, I realized beans don’t bother me, and I enjoy them tremendously, hence they’re back.  That’s not for everyone.  I do have clients that have arthritis flares when they eat meat, or who experience great improvements in heart function on an Ornish-style, whole-grain diet and I respect that, too.

Disclaimer: anyone who knows me knows I’m biased toward a gluten-free diet.  Given that most of the people I see have Celiac, gluten sensitivity, IBS or other autoimmune disorders, this bias is logical.

So let’s keep it simple…there’s not one answer.  Listen to your body, feed it good food, learn to respect the messages you’re getting, and savor your food!

Posted in cheryl's musings | 6 Comments

Wendy of Celiacs in the House: Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I can’t believe I’ve never adopted Wendy of Celiacs in the House.  Wendy is such a wonderful Celiac advocate and a perfect example of the power of a passionate advocate!  I was fortunate to get to know her a bit during her 30 days to 50 challenge, and I’m enjoying her new projects, in the form of her In My Gluten Free Kitchen series (hop on over!) and ongoing resources on eating safely in college.

Then why oh why haven’t I adopted her sooner?  It’s hard to find recipes that fit the quirks of my dietary restrictions.  But oh my, I found a winner.  I absolutely adore her Ginger Pear Compote.  It’s just like apple pie filling, just pear, and somehow better.  Loved the ginger, but I think I’d make it without, too.  I loved it warm, but found that it was even better cold.  My MIL has a pear tree.  When we see her I end up with pear overload.  Now I have something to use up all those goodies!

It’s funny, the more years I’m gluten-free, the more I appreciate the simple recipes and flavor combinations.  I’ve actually come to prefer them and somehow they taste better to me.

I’ve also got her Almost Raw Cranberry Chocolate Chip balls bookmarked for future kitchen experimentation.

Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger is hosted by Sea of Book of Yum, and I’m sure she’ll be posting a round up soon!

 

Posted in adopt a gf blogger | 3 Comments

Menu Plan Monday March 5th

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Cheryl Harris

I’m glad to be back to menu planning, because things go much more smoothly this way.  Otherwise, I go to the store and end up having to go back the next day because I didn’t have things figured out.  So I hope this will be a time saver.

I’ve also just posted my March GF newsletter on Passover foods…head on over and check it out! You can now subscribe to my newsletters by RSS or email, and they’ve finally (finally!) in blogging format.

The last few weeks have been a blur, because DH was pretty sick and my schedule has been erratic.  I did get the opportunity to post one of my favorites, Macadamia Maple Butter.  I also made Ricki’s Marry Me Brownies which I totally adore!

I wasn’t sure what we’d have this week, and then I saw the theme as chosen by Heather of Celiac Family: potatoes.  I love potato!  And so clearly that means we have to have beef stew, which is one of my favorites.  The great irony is that I love beef flavored veggies, and my husband loves veggie flavored beef, so we both largely get what we want.

DH is out of town most of the week, so I get to have simple foods and leftovers, which is often my favorite.

Monday:
Beef Stew

Tues:
Leftovers!

Weds:
Simply Yum Quinoa

Thursday
Baby greens with herbs and salmon

Friday:
Leftovers

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