January 2020 has already been a success and a test of my word for the year.
I had three words for 2019, Connection, Comfort and Confidence. I needed all of them last year as I tried to do more professionally, put myself out there as an expert in living a life with multiple food allergies and Celiac disease, and feel comfortable in my life doing those things.
My word for this year is Refresh. There are many ways I feel like I am going through the motions in my business and in my life. There are somethings I need to go back to the drawing board on, some I need to take a step back and start again, and some I need to radically mend and shock myself with action. I need a refresh.
I think both of refreshing a computer when it is stuck and refreshing a room with a new coat of paint. I am also refreshing some of my go to recipes and reaching outside my comfort zone to expand my food knowledge and ways of cooking to support both my own eating and for those I am coaching.
I’m always looking to add more fresh fruits, veggies and greens to my menus. I feel fuller throughout the day when I add a salad to my lunch. I like making salad like Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad or some other “planned/recipe” salad. One of the reason’s I am not making salads from greens is that it is hard to find a dressing that is free of all the ingredients we avoid.
One of my #2020goals is to make dressing twice a month. There are a few I already make and like but want to add more to my rotation. I love this Strawberry Basil dressing. It is easy to make and during the summer I can use the basil from my garden. It will keep for just a few days in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. My trick in the winter is to make it with frozen strawberries. Not as flavorful as fresh picked in June but still a great dressing for greens.
One of my food preparation tips is to make extra chicken whenever you are baking chicken. And then make chicken salad. Every week I try to make a sandwich salad (ham, chicken, tuna). Often I eat these on a bed of garden greens instead of bread. I have so much lettuce growing right now and am on the second sewing of mustard greens in my garden so I have been eating a ton of greens. I have chard that I need to harvest and am looking for ideas of what to do with it since this is the first year I have had a good harvest of chard.
When I saw cherries on sale at my favorite fruit stand I knew this would be this weeks sandwich salad. If you really like citrus add some orange zest to this recipe, but I feel it is overpowering and you loose the cherries. I used two types of chives (regular and garlic) instead of onions, but you could use whatever allium you have on hand.
I often make sandwich salads. The kind of salad you put on a sandwich, tuna salad, ham salad, and chicken salad. It helps to have something prepped to have for lunch or a snack for when days get busy. I like this salad by itself, with some salad greens from the garden, or on a slice of gluten-free bread.
If you are nightshade-free make sure to check your mayonnaise. I make my own mayonnaise using sunflower oil, eggs, and lemon juice. If you are using store bought lok for one without paprika.
When traveling our safe food is Sushi. It can easily accommodate for our Celiac needs and food allergy avoidances. Following are the two restaurants we visited while in the Denver area.
After hiking Dinosaur Trail we headed to the city of Golden. The town is cute and has lots of shops and restaurants. We ate at the new Okinawa. It had some great options and I was excited there was a roll with fruit and greens I could have.
Golden roll from Okinawa Sushi (minus the sauce)
Lots of Avocado Rolls
Our waitress was knowledgable and helpful and we had a wonderful lunch.
The next day after hiking around Red Rock we ate at Motomaki in Lakewood. Motomaki is Sushi Burrito’s and Bowls. It is much like a Chipotle where you choose what goes in your Burrito or Bowl. There menu is clearly marked with the gluten-free ingredients and the employees were happy to answer questions we had about any ingredients. The sushi burrito was good and the bowl looked tasty.
Sushi Burrito from Motomaki
Sushi Bowl from Motomaki
I would return to either of these places to eat. Thank you to both these Sushi restaurants for making our allergy travels safe.
I try to make a sandwich spread each week. One that I love is ham salad.
Finding a ham that is free from maltodextrin is hard to find. There is one at Aldi that is Gluten-Free and Maltodextrin-Free (also free of dairy, soy and nuts). I like to use it for this sandwich spread.
It is also hard to find mayonnaise that is free from paprika. I usually make my own mayonnaise and hope to get a video up soon of that recipe.
I like to have this with thickly sliced cucumbers that I use to scoop up the ham salad. In the above photo my lunch consisted of ham salad, chopped kale, cucumbers, and mustard greens from my garden.
I like anything that has dill. My garden is overflowing with dill that reseeds itself year after year. The first time I saw this salad I thought “a whole cup of dill! – must be good!”
I still have the problem that no one else in my house is a fan of turkey. Thus no leftovers, because no turkey dinners.
One of my other favorite green things is celery! I love the leaves and the insides. In fact I grow it in my garden just to have the leaves for salads.
I like to buy a turkey breast and cook it in a crockpot on low for about 8 hours with white wine, veggies, and some fresh herbs. Sometimes I will use two legs. Make sure to keep the bones to make stock!
This salad is pretty and would be good to take for a holiday potluck. I like it for lunch with or without greens and sprouts.
Cygnet Organizing 