Strawberry Pie

The Day After Pi Day

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How are you doing? Are you anxious and worried. Me too.  I thought I would do a post with some of the things that I hope will help me through this uncertain time.

  1. Routines! As a Professional Organizer routines are my life blood.  I felt very ungrounded the last few days, even weeks with all the swirling news and prep anxiety.  Creating routines can help normalize some of what we are all about to go through.  Take some time to think about the things you want to do and how your energy flows through out the day.  Be flexible with yourself until you get into a flow with your new routines.
  2. Move.  Make sure to get exercise.  There are great free Youtube videos, my favorite is Yoga by Adrienne.  My feline Benji’s are always there to take up room on my yoga mat.  I will be upping my step goal from 10K to 12K and plan on at least two walks a day.
  3. Listen to a great podcast.  Today I listened to one of my favorites, Happier with Gretchen Rubin.  Here special bonus really had some great tips for being happier during this time and I plan on sharing my “19 for COVID-19” tomorrow.
  4. Get outside and take a “green break”.  Even though it is still mostly brown and gray here in Chicago (and white last night), the trees are starting to bud and the bulbs are popping up! I can’t wait to see the happy yellow daffodils everywhere.
  5. Use technology to your advantage.  I must admit that I am a luddite often when it comes to technology.  But I plan on using this time to hone my video conferencing skills and facetiming someone daily.
  6. Hygge to the rescue. I have fallen by the wayside of inviting hygge into my everyday.  I have incorporated it into some of my daily routines but reminding myself that I am not watching tv while eating to enjoy my food more and feel cozy will help me to feel like I am taking care of myself.

I am trying to keep most things in my life the same.  I will cook and bake.  I will start to get my garden ready. I will share some great gluten-free and allergy-free foods, and I will work on some of those things that I keep pushing aside.

Yesterday was Pi day and I made Strawberry Pie for dessert.  Simple traditions are sometimes the best things.

 

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BFree Pizza Crust from Aldi – Product Review (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Peanut-Free, Tree Nut-Free, and Nightshade-Free)

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I was happy to finally find the BFree pizza at a local Aldi.  Before I went nightshade-free their potato rolls were one of my favorite gluten-free breads.  So I naturally thought when I did find this pizza crust everyone loved, it would contain potatoes and I would not be able to eat it.  I was wrong.  It is free of night shades.

BFree Pizza Crust Ingredients

There are two pizza crusts per package. One I used to make a traditional pepperoni pizza using Boar’s Head pepperoni and tomato sauce with spices. The other I drizzled with olive oil and added chopped garlic to before topping both with Aldi’s vegan white cheese shreds.

My kids said the nightshade containing pizza was good, and I enjoyed the nightshade-free pizza.  The crust is somewhat dry and not as crispy as I would like, but next time I think I will precook it some before adding the toppings.

I think these crusts were a special buy since I have not seen them in a while but I hope Aldi brings them back with the rest of the gluten-free things for May when they have gluten-free awareness month.

Have you had any good gluten-free finds lately?

Homemade Fried Rice (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Peanut-Free, Tree Nut-Free, and Nightshade-Free)

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I know I post mostly sweets on this blog.  I feel that it is easier to get a snacks or meal made by someone else that is free of all the things I avoid, but cookies and other sweets are not as easy to find.  My allergic child can have nightshades so I do buy store bought gluten-free treats.  I just can’t eat them since most contain potato starch.

I like making this with leftover chicken and rice.  Making it a fast meal during the week. When I first started making this I would replace the sesame oil with olive.  It was good without it so those avoiding sesame replace it with the oil of your choice. I have come to realize one of the things I like about this is the sesame oil.

I use frozen veggies I get at Aldi and often add other veggies that I have in the fridge or freezer.  I like to add corn and green beans. In the pictures you will see that I was out of carrots when I made this batch of fried rice. This recipe can easily be doubled and reheats well for leftovers the next day. You can also replace the protein with another, or leave it out and add even more vegetables. Also if you want to replace the rice with a riced vegetable that works too.

Chicken Fried Rice

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Chicken Fried Rice
Cygnet Organizing LLC http://www.cygnetorganizing.com

Ingredients

  • 4 cups cooked rice
  • 1/2 pound chicken (cooked or raw cut into 1 inch chunks)
  • 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
  • 1 cup chopped white onion
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 eggs whisked
  • 3 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos

Directions

  1. If needing to cook chicken, add chicken and some oil (olive is fine) to a pan and heat on medium high until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan to a paper towel lined plate.
  2. Lower heat to medium.
  3. Add more oil (sesame or olive) to pan and sauce onions until transparent.  
  4. Add frozen veggies and heat till thawed.
  5. Add garlic and stir.
  6. Add the eggs to the veggies in the pan and stir till the eggs are cooked.  (If you want large pieces of egg make scrambled eggs in a separate pan and add at the end.)
  7. Add in the rice, chicken and coconut aminos and mix.  More coconut aminos and sesame oil can be added to increase flavor.
  8. Enjoy!