General Talk - Finally Some Time!

Life just flies by, especially when you have made the choice to no longer be just a house wife but a working house wife! Work is amazingly busy... the gent fest, 2weeks roughly for the boss's vacation time, took only a week off (only 4 of my normal working days to be honest) in which I saw my son and had a whole lot of house work to catch up on, then got slammed back into work because during my time away the main oven blew another circuit and the boss lady ended up sick. Of the 1 week I took off, they closed the store for 2 days of it *shrug*. It's their store so it is not for me to question but it really does bother me sometimes that I do end up covering everything for them for quite a number of days, mostly on my own but when it comes to me taking a few days off, they can't deal with or handle it.

Anyhow... with that said. I finally have a day where I don't have an over load of house work (thanks a lot to my cleaning lady once a week!! Hey it's why I work :P) and there are no other real plans. Before today even arrived I was already thinking of all sorts of things I can do in my kitchen. I bought beef stew ingredients, I made sure I had butter in the house and off I went. It's only noon here in Belgium and I already have baked an entire batch of Peanut Butter M&M cookies (ran out of chocolate chips it seems and since one of my recipe plans today was to make M&M cookies anyhow, I said why not, there was gonna be left overs anyhow). I even made something called Juicy Lucy Burgers and I am preparing to make that batch of M&M cookies. After those are baked off, the stew will go in the oven for a nice slow 5hr stew and from there I'm going to go and work some more on cleaning my bedroom (damn clothes really need to be gone through in order to see what I want and don't want or don't wear!).

I have been very carefully photographing all of my recipes today and keeping notes on them. The cookies turned out well so far *halo* and yes most of them made it into the bowl for later although man that was a tough one! The stew is for the long weekend I will have when I have to do a closing shift tomorrow and an alone shift all of Saturday and god only knows what after. Fish for dinner tonight!

I will post a recipe on Sunday! Sweet, savory or both? Dunno yet, we'll see what day inspires me to do!

Break Down
 ~ Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
 ~ M&M Cookies
 ~ Juicy Lucy Burgers
 ~ Slow Cook Beef Stew w/ Rice (not traditional potatoes)

Gent Fest (Gentse Feesten) - My Personal Thoughts

Now I have started this about 3x's over. Each time it just ends up being too much so I'm just going to break it down. Gent Fest is a music related fest with the customary food, drink and misc vendors at your whim so to speak.

From a gluten-free stand point, this is *NOT* something to go to simply because 90% of the 'drinks' are beer related (Belgium after all) and all the food located/sold within this event can not be considered safe for people who need to live gluten free. If you do attend, make sure you pack drinks and food because you will not find much otherwise. You will be able to find places that sell soda in bottles/cans but nothing 'special' that can be trusted.

Now, I had to work in the the middle of this. In the beginning I was really looking forward to it because it was a sure way to have lots of hours, over time pay, night pay and all of that but in the end the weather ended up being SO hot (90+ almost all week) that it made the whole experience just pure hell.

My reasons to *NOT* attend this again, working or not. Mind you this is the first time in the 12yrs that I've been living here that I've even seen it much less attended in any shape or form.

1. Gluten Free options - NONE with exception that you can find bottled/canned soda or water
2. The music, although stage by stage was not bad, was nothing special and if anything sometimes was awful because you can hear about 3 stages at once at any given time. So if you are standing any where except right smack in front of the 1 stage you want to be hearing, you get a jumble of different musics and sounds going on... most annoying. Not to mention it's REALLY friggin' loud! Lots of noise level, lots and lots of bass sounds ect.
3. The sad part of it - 16 is the legal drinking age here. This sadden me EACH and EVERY day I worked this fest. Every night I would walk home and find myself watching 'kid' after 'kid' walking (if they could) down the street so drunk by all the booze open to them to buy at this event and just feeling sad that they are even allowed to get that way much less that they are still KIDS! They are just harming themselves. They aren't old enough to know the difference between enjoying a drink and drinking because they think it's cool or great to get drunk... THAT drunk! *shs* I mean never mind the idiot adults that know better, I feel no sorrow for them at all, they know better... but who the hell is teaching the kids right from wrong?! Well that is the only place I feel sorry for the adults, they are suppose to show them that part.
4. GARBAGE! OMG, I have not seen so much trash in all of my life. It's almost as though the whole day this thing goes on and on, although there are TONS of places to throw trash actually out, no one seems to take note and there certainly are no attendants going around helping to keep the place clean. This all happens in the few hours in the early to late morning before the whole thing is to start again.
5. Transportation.... holy man! Buses and any kind of public transportation is totally re-routed. For me, getting to work was a very very bad problem. Firstly, hello... 2nd/rd shift the entire time so that alone made it a problem because I started well after the whole day of the fest has started (earliest was 5pm) and then on top of it we had REALLY hot weather here (90+f) most of the week. Now the bad thing is with the re-route with where I live I have to take the same amount of time to either wait/take and transfer buses/trams to get about a block from right where the fest starts and then walk for 15minis to get to my work or I can just screw it and take the same amount of time including the bus/tram ride to walk from my house. I couldn't even rent a bike for this thing because that too has been cut off from being allowed to be used! Yes that is right, it's SO packed and so hard to get through all the people that they made it so you can't even ride a bike. It was just a really bad problem to get to work. Not to mention at the time that *I* had to come home, there was again 2 choices... walk (not gonna happen after a full night shift, in hot weather and at 2-4 in the morning!) or walk back to where the buses/trams drop me off and pick up a taxi... which of course costs 11euro a ride (for me at least considering I don't live far from it). You do the math, a bus pass (30euro) plus 10nights of taxis (lets round it to 110euro).... that is a LOT of money to have to put out just to get to and from work for 10days.

Ok before I get too much off of the topic... music ok if you are RIGHT at the stage you want to be at, rest of it, don't bother.

I'm off my rant now... I'll return next week with some yummy recipes I hope but if not this coming week, I will be back after mid August when I've done the holiday weeks for my bosses.

Let's Talk Fruit - Grapes

Taking a few minutes to myself now tonight. My kitchen is *almost* clean from all the dirty dishes and what is left, I can do in the morning just as well so now for a small post.

I still can't believe how many gluten free people can't get over the 'look at all the stuff I can't eat' factor instead of looking inside themselves to go past that and change their outlook to 'look at all the great stuff I CAN have!' attitude!

Again, FRUIT! There is so much of it, so many different kinds from what we consider every day fruits to really exotic ones. Today, lets talk a bit about grapes. There are so many different kinds with all sorts of varied flavors from really sweet to really bitter to everything in between. They all have massive health benefits too! The darker the grape, the better too but they all are great for you. Have you ever ended up eating a 'bunch' of grapes and felt FULL from it?? I know I have!

Did you know there is only *1* continent that does not cultivate grapes in some form? That means 99% of the world produces grapes of some sort! Damn that is a LOT of grapes! From eating versions to ones produced just for wine to ones made just for making raisins... think of the endless possibilities when it comes to this great fruit not only when it comes to eating it straight up but when drinking the wonderful juice or it's wine version or even when dried into raisins for cooking or baking!

These little pieces of fruit heaven have so many benefits to health that they are considered another 'super food'. Red wine is even considered to be part of a good diet! Within reason of course!

Benefits include...
 ~ help prevent certain oxygen-related enzymes from becoming overactive.
 ~ increase our blood levels of glutathione.
 ~ help protect cell membranes from free radical damage.
 ~ lowers levels of oxygen reactive molecules in our blood.
 ~ reduce oxidation of fat.
 ~ lower biomarkers of oxidative stress.

These are just a few scientific benefits, look up 'health benefits grapes' and read up for yourself! They are even considered to be in the berry family and we all know that ANY type of berry comes with amazing health benefits. Now on that note, remember, they are NATURALLY gluten free! Go on, wash up a bunch and nibble away, they are GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH!

General Talk - Time Just Flies :(

I have not forgotten about my long lost love of cooking, spending time in my kitchen or coming here to write in my blog but *heavy sigh* the passion and pure want might be there, the time is not.

Winter was short, too short. I made a few soups and stews but having only bit of time 'down' from work was not enough to get me back into the kitchen for any extended period of time. Then April came and I started back into work again full on, starting with some part time hours and then ending up with 3/4th week hrs without expecting it really. Some really long days such as open to close shifts and now, it's even worse for the next month as I start with an 11day stretch through a festival that happens every year that our store happens to be located smack in the middle of and then just after that covering open to close shifts for a bit under 2weeks to allow the bosses to take a much needed holiday for themselves too. Yes, I am back working for the place I was 6months ago. I need them and they need me... it's a mix-matched relationship but some how in the end it works out. They understand me more, I understand them more and I am no longer feeling like a yo-yo... this is a good outcome. I hope for the best and that it stays this way.

On top of this all, there has a been a very unexpected but so very VERY welcomed surprise that came into my life this year... my son who I placed for adoption 19years ago (almost 20 now!) had come searching for me and found me. We have written emails, we even had a video chat with him and the family. And the best news is that I will get to meet him for the first time since he was born THIS August! I am counting the days! He has grown into such a wonderful man and I can't wait to meet him in person to see this with my own eyes and not through the visions of a computer screen! Dear sister, if you read this, THANK YOU! If you had not still been in the USA, I don't know if he would have ever found me.... thank you!

I still dab in the kitchen from time to time when there is time to spare... I made a Tuna Pasta Salad (this happens every summer at some point or another) the other day but that isn't much of a recipe, it's just throwing some pasta, mayo, canned tuna, frozen peas and shredded cheddar cheese together in a big bowl and letting it mellow out in the fridge. Yes it's food, yes I had to prepare it but meh... perhaps another day I will have the energy and time to get a photo or two before the cold pasta salad days are gone.

I feel as though there is just no time for anything lately. I get to cook perhaps 2 or 3 times a month now a days. I even had to hire a cleaning lady to help me in the apartment because I just couldn't keep up with it all. I get roughly 2 days a week off if that, 1 spent cleaning and 1 spent doing the other 100 things that need to happen. With all this happening and the news of my son, I have also taken on making this apartment go from the 'temp' look to the 'we live here & it's home' look. This is taking a LOT of time, energy and a lot of my patience. Soon though it will fall into place. Perhaps I will even get to order a dish washer after working all of these extra hours. This might help me a lot to get into my kitchen more if I don't always have to worry about a stack of dishes a mile high at the end of making something wonderful to eat.

I miss you my dear blog. I still have LOTS of photos and recipes to share but without making them and getting them up here, I don't remember a lot of them like I use to. I shall have to make new memories. I still surf through Stumble's 'food/cooking' channel a lot, bookmarking recipes I like or would like to try, getting annoyed when I come across things that are not even close to being related to food/cooking but marked that way anyhow and then becoming sad when I realize 'man that sounds good and I sure do want to make it and damn I bet that would be good made gluten free style but when do I get a chance to?'.

I will get back to you my dear friend and to those who are following my blog or have followed it, thank you for your patience. Life goes by so quickly when you have too much to do. Today was my first 'real' day off in quite some time and it's again been spent running to the stores, doing dishesand tidying the house from things that I let go over a long working weekend. It is now past 4pm and I still have half my kitchen worth of dishes to finish, I have prepared to make a chicken pesto pasta salad... perhaps tomorrow I will bring my camera out as I make it, at least then I have some photos of it.

Have a good rest of the summer all my wonderful gluten-free bloggers and to the rest that follow my recipes and life entries. Remember, all my recipes and entries might be gluten free but if you are not living a gluten free diet but still like to make some, you can always substitute what you use normally. Such as the pasta salad I'm about to make, you don't need to use rice pasta as I do, you can simply replace it with your normal every day mac.

Recipe - Tapioca Pudding

God, Christmas has come and gone... the new year has also come and gone, not to mention it's already week 2 of it already! At the end of last year I gave my bosses a bit more then a week vacation from it all and did opening to closing shifts for something like 11days. I'm sad to say though after all of that, I decided that all the ups and downs, all of the stress and all of the problems that came with the job, I quit after 1year of working for them.

They are great people and need good help, I hope they get the help that is so very much needed but I have given them so much of myself, my time and my family's time that I just needed to say enough. I've already begun changing things around here at home with spending time with my mother the first weekend I quit, I've *FINALLY* gotten to washing every dish that was dirty in my kitchen and now this week I have treated myself (and my home) to one of those wonderful new kitchen robot/helper machines. The only thing this one is missing is a food processor attachment. But that is for another entry! Today I bring to you another happy recipe.

This is for vanilla flavored tapioca pudding. I remember this kind of pudding from the days of my childhood. The creamy richness to it while every bite held these tiny little bubble type pieces. I loved it and I missed it. I miss other puddings too but I will get around to trying some more later such as butterscotch just to name the next one on my list.

Tip - If you want to make a lighter/fluffier version of this instead of the rich version below then you will simply want to altar your egg addition a bit. Instead of adding the whole egg at once, separate the egg yolks from the whites. Add the yolks in the way mentioned below and cook the mixture through. When finished cooking, beat the egg whites into soft peaks and fold them into your pudding mixture softly but off of the heat. The heat from the mixture itself is hot enough to cook the eggs whites but not so hot that it will remove the air from them that will cause your pudding to now be quite light compared to the original version.

Ingredients

 ♥ 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
 ♥ 3 cups reduced/low fat milk (lactose free works just fine too)

 ♥ 2 eggs

 ♥ 1/2 cup granulated sugar

 ♥ 1 tsp vanilla extract

 ♥ 1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Tapioca - What is this?? Not a lot of people, especially first time gluten free people seem to understand what all the different starches are out there. This beauty will often present itself in a pearl format from really tiny to rather large (from the size shown in this recipe to pea sized and even sometimes larger). While you can also buy this as a flour base, the pearl form is mostly found. I'm not going to go into where it's from or what plant ect but it is gluten free, just remember to read your labels to ensure the brand you are buying is not made in a factory or has the chance to contain gluten.

Directions

This recipe is fairly simply but a bit time consuming as you will have to be around the stove top for the entire time or your risk the chance of scorching or even burning the mixture due to the amount of milk used in it. So I say this, have patience... it's well worth it when you have this wonderful pot of warm rich thick pudding to eat as the end result!

In a medium sized pot, mix together tapioca pearls and milk over a low heat. With a whisk always at hand, make sure you stir this mixture as often as you can. In the very beginning this is not needed as you begin to slowly heat the mixture but as you start to get heat into it, you will need to make sure that you are always moving the milk at the bottom of the pan in order to avoid the scorching or burning that can happen all too often milk. If you choose to add the salt, this is the stage to do it also but I do not see the need for salt in most things so I don't add it at all. Cook the mixture while stirring as much as your wrist allows you to until you see the little pearls of tapioca start to float and thicken the mix.

When you have this mixture at a very very slow boil, beat both eggs in a separate heat resistant bowl. Add about a 1/2 cup of the hot milk/tapioca mixture to the eggs VERY slowly while whisking the eggs the entire time. This process is tempering the eggs in order to avoid them from scrambling or curdling. Use the same process to add the now hot egg/milk/tapioca mixture back to the rest of the milk/tapioca mixture. Bring it back to it's VERY slow boil and now keep a constant stir going on. Make sure you get all the way to the bottom.

As the eggs begin to cook, they will thicken this mixture massively. This is at the point you decide how thick you want it. The thicker you want, the longer you will want to cook it but I suggest about 5-7minutes makes it just about right. When you are done with the cooking process, whisk in your vanilla extract.

Let the mixture cool at least 15 minutes off any kind of heat before serving as it is an extremely hot mixture now and takes quite some time to cool. You can put it in dishes to make this process go faster how ever too.

Hubby and I like to add a sprinkling of cinnamon to our finished dishes. Warm tapioca is to die for when it's a cold, wet or even snowy evening but just the same a properly chilled cup with some whipped cream on the top will make any hot overly sunny day seem just a tad cooler as well!

General Talk - Winter Is Almost Here

Geee's... time is just like gone. Time... what is time?? I have none of it lately! I can't believe it's the last day of the 2nd week of December already! Just another week or so and it's officially winter and just a couple days past that it's Christmas.

What do you have planned for your Christmas meal this year? Share with us! My blog might not be very well known yet but I hope that will change and your comments will make it better! I would love to hear from those of you that are living the gluten free life and those of you that must live it such as myself.

This Christmas we have decided to join my parents at their place for dinner this year. We're going to go over early, 9 or 10 in the morning so that we have lots of time for yummy cooking while the 'boys' go about setting up a new wifi router for my father as his Christmas present this year.

We're planning on going traditional and since we don't celebrate Thanks-giving out here, we opted for a turkey for a change. Hubby doesn't care too much for ham or pork type meats at all and it's way too salty for my mother so we decided a turkey would be the way to go and lots of left overs for both families.

I'm going to go about making a home-made stuffing recipe with gluten free white bread, sage and onions. Lots to stuff the bird and lots to make another pot to bake off after the bird. We're going to make home-made garlic mashed potatoes and don't forget the home-made cranberry sauce! And to top it all off perhaps we'll attempt making a from scratch pumpkin pie but I some how think with the rest of the dinner, we'll end up with something easier like pumpkin spice bars or something more cake-ish. I don't know if we'll have enough energy or want to try attempting a home-made pie crust and then figuring out home-made pumpkin filling using real pumpkin and not canned as we simply do not have that out here.

I intend to bring my camera with so that we can take photos of our adventure since the cooking part is really going to be my mother and mine while the boys are off playing with their computers and electronics... besides I can't help but think sometimes to the days that I won't have her around any more and I want to capture some of these moments while I can. Christmas is certainly the way to go.

So, to cap it all up... here are some of the recipes that will come with Christmas this year... remember when you see something mentioned as a dish I'll be making and I've finally had the time to post about it, I'll come through and post a link to it.

Traditional Stuffed Turkey

Sage & Onion Stuffing/Dressing

Home-made Cranberry Sauce

Fresh Steamed Baby Carrots

Home-made Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Pumpkin Spice Cake/Bars w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Today sometime I will be attempting to come back and post a recipe too. It's been way too long since I got any time to do this and I really have lots of photos and recipes on stock to put up. Just need the time and today with the cold, rain and wind, it would be a good day to do so

General Talk - Where Does The Time Go??

My god... it's been forever since I was here. I almost forgot I even had this blog running with how busy my life has gotten over the last few months. Tonight sparked my memory though because when showing some one that I work with photos off my phone when it showed me all of the 400+ photos I have uploaded already to my wonderful gluten free food blog.

Summer... it's come and gone already and I feel that I have, at least this year, gotten a lot more done then I have in the last 10yrs worth of summers. No one to take care of like my MIL or such, still in the same apartment, finally have a beloved new car (got it July 4th, 2012 of all dates), I'm coming up on just short of being in Belgium for 11 full years, I have had a steady job for the last 8months, my health is getting better, I'm losing weight but still I have not cooked, baked or even attempted any thing in my kitchen in months. My main meals have consisted of 'poor mans omelets' and sandwiches.

The summer months have been warm and very sunny here this year. So much in fact that for the first time since moving here I've actually got a small tan going that is darker then my husband's! Usually it's him out so much in the sun that he will be 2 or 3 shades darker then this pale skinned American lady. Not so this year LOL

So I don't really know when I'll be back to post a recipe but I do know I still have photos and recipes on stock to share. Not much in the way of spring/summer things I don't think but at least they are still very yummy (or I wouldn't post them) and sure to appeal when the months start turning more into fall weather then summer.

Bare with me while I find my footing but I think this week Thursday I'll be able to bring a new recipe since I should have the day off but one never knows until one actually arrives on the day, in my case. Some times someone calls in sick and I need to fill in so never know.