On the Go

One thing I am learning about gluten, the very substance I am supposed to avoid, is that it's in everything easy. Seriously. When you're out and about and you need a quick bite, what do you reach for? A sandwich? A bagel? A slice of pizza? A roll and a slice of turkey? Right now it seems like everything quick and tasty involves gluten.

And so....more planning--a thing which I already fail to do well but perhaps with more practice? I can dream, no? Anyway, I have always been quite lackadaisical about our frequent running around days, figuring I can always munch on a scone, right? Wrong. And so I need to be prepared. Prepared with healthy, tasty, satisfying food I can pack with me and eat on the run. Some things that work: Lara bars, nuts, hard boiled eggs, Nut Thins with cheese, and recently discovered quinoa-fruit bars.

They aren't very pretty, I know. But they are satisfying, nutritious, and just sweet enough. They are sturdy but not nearly as tough as they look and I have found a ziplock bag of them to be just the thing to ward of hunger-induced panic attacks.

I found the recipe in Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood which is a fantastic book full of great ideas for making the most of this amazing little seed. I find quinoa really tasty but I haven't really done much with it past my favorite quinoa dish. This book has page after page of fantastic-looking recipes, most of which are gluten free. Oddly enough, this recipe wasn't written gluten free but I've made them so using first Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour and Gluten Free Mama's Almond Flour Blend. I found the latter flour a bit lighter and tastier but the first wasn't bad at all.

If you'd like to give these a try, my recipe is here. Let me know what you think.

Fortifying

I don't have a whole lot to say right now other than sometimes things just suck and you have to face them anyway. But it's best not do so while hungry. Earlier in the day I made salad rolls for the family dinner, but when I came home from work fairly trembling with hunger I knew I needed considerably more substance than was enfolded in the diaphanous wrappers.

A quick tour through the cupboards revealed nothing and then I remembered the quinoa tucked away for safekeeping in the freezer right next to a small packet of pine nuts. I discovered quinoa last year during a period of doctor-ordered dietary restrictions. Quinoa was the only new thing I tried that I continue to eat. I love its golden color and crunchy texture. It's outstanding from a nutritional point of view and it cooks up more quickly that just about any other whole grain.

With feta from the fridge and a dash out to the garden for parsley I came up with a simple dish that was sustaining and comforting. Just what I needed tonight. No doubt everyone needs a dish like this at some point. The recipe is here.