A Fridge Well Stocked

It's a thing of beauty! Fresh lettuce, cheese from the foreign market, apples, cucumbers, carrots, onions, tomatoes, enough eggs to last, well... a week, rice, kimchi, dried mangoes, yogurt, fish, and ridiculously delicious left over home-cooked Mexican food.  We have a very happy fridge.  :) And to think I was afraid of going hungry and tasteless after switching to a gluten-free diet.  I'm soooo glad I was wrong!  (The Cafri in the bottom  right is Jeff's cooking beer - not gluten free!  I had a Strong Bow Hard Cider out for myself though - safe for celiacs and quite tasty!)  ...And let's not forget the freezer stocked with chicken, shrimp, broccoli, blueberries, kiwis, and leftover blueberry and flax seed pancakes.  

Mexican Food (Courtesy of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Corn Tortilla Mix and Jeff's Amazing Kitchen Skills)

Mexican Food!!!  Yum!!!  I haven't had Mexican food in months.  And to be able to enjoy restaurant-worthy carnitas and cheese quesadillas without any concern of gluten cross-contamination was pure delight!  Jeff is absolutely spoiling me with his cooking while I'm at work.  He spent three hours simmering the pork until it literally fell apart when he touched it with a wooden spoon.  Incredible.  He flavored the pork, and a Mexican-themed veggie stew (not pictured), in a mixture of orange juice, lemon juice, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder, sage, and onions.  The salsa he made incorporated those same seasonings, poured over chunky comatoes (tomatoes with a twist?!  I'm not entirely sure... he found these green and red splotched tomato things at the supermarket) and onions.  The last piece of this heavenly meal was what inspired it all in the first place - the corn tortilla mixture I ordered off of Iherb.com that was guaranteed gluten free and delicious.  Jeff followed the directions and they turned out wonderfully!  So wonderfully that I might have snuck and extra one in between my yogurt and eggs this morning.  Even plain they're delicious! Packing leftovers for lunch is becoming more and more difficult, as I just want to eat it all the second I see it!

Kimchi Chicken and a Chickpea Salad (Gluten Free and Eating Like Royalty)

Jeff made one of those meals where you any one part of it could have been the main course.  For starters, we had a chickpea and veggie salad, full of carrots, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, onions, raisins, sesame leaves, and red lettuce, which we tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper!  This was followed by beautifully tender chicken stewed in kimchi (yum!) and topped with buttery, garlic mushrooms.  We finished it off with a glass of wine, and I found myself wanting more of everything right away!  I resisted, however, and enjoyed the even tastier leftovers for lunch the next day.  Our cooking adventures have graduated a bit from simple stir-fry methods and have begun to take on more distinct flavors and courses.  Jeff's love of cooking and my interest in recipes have blended together well to make for delicious masterpieces each night of the week.

Locusts and Spiders Galore!

Yummy! ;)  These bugs gave me quite a shiver when I first spotted them.  Especially since I noticed the ginormous spiders after running through one of their webs.  These spiders were plentiful and in plain view all along a nature walk Jeff and I took at an energy conservation museum (or something to that effect).  As for the locust skin, we found that during our Buddhist temple-stay.  Even though the actual bug was long gone, and all we came across was it's outer shell, I was happy to take a quick picture and then promptly put a fair amount of distance between me and the tree it was attached to.  The tropical, humid heat of Korea brings out all kinds of creepy crawlers!

Kimbop (The New Gluten-Free PB&J ... or Not)

A Korean might get a bit ruffled that I call this kimbop, as it's not made with all of the traditional ingredients, but I'm going to call it kimbop, nonetheless.  In hopes of finding a gluten-free alternative to the convenience and deliciousness of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I've done some experimenting with this sushi-roll-type snack.  I made two different rolls.  The first a veggie mixture, which included carrots, cucumbers, scrambled eggs mixed with garlic, sesame leaves, sesame seed, kimchi, and salt, all rolled up in white rice and dried seaweed and brushed with sesame oil.  It was... ok.  I'll eat it again, but I certainly wouldn't brag about it.  It tasted fresh and a bit empty.  When I get kimbop at a local restaurant, I typically get the kind mixed with tuna fish (and in addition to the ingredients I used, there's usually a really crunchy radish stuck in the middle that gives it an extra boost of crispiness).  I didn't have any tuna fish or radishes handy this time, though I will make sure to include them in the next roll I make.  Roll number two (not pictured) was the same rice and seaweed wrapping around peanut butter and chopped up green apple slices.  It was good, but honestly, I think I'd still prefer just an apple and peanut butter. All in all, it was a good, creative attempt, but the end result was not what I was looking for.  The kimbop rolls take a bit of effort to put together in terms of prepping the veggies and such, so it's still no where near as convenient as your standard pb&j.  Also, they don't travel as well.  The seaweed gets a bit soggy while being toted around in your backpack on a hot, humid day.  But, I will try again.  It's an option, and hopefully with a little more experimentation, I will adjust the recipe enough, or find some other snack to pack, for those days with long train rides, or unknown food options at whatever destination I find myself in.

A Basket Full of Groceries

I have to say, a trip home from the store is so much more fresh and inspired now that I have to be intentional about what I eat.  It's a bit of a blessing in disguise.  I've wanted to eat better (less sugar, less processed foods) for a while, but never had the motivation til now.  I was struck by how yummy my bicycle basket looked after a quick visit to the grocery store: green apples, raisins, rice, and a bottle of wine.  (Also, I'm struck by how tasty raisins are again!  Now that I'm not overloaded with high fructose corn syrup and sugar in all of my snacks, the sweet flavor of raisins is really prominent and exciting again.)

Getting Back on Track

In the process of discovering my possible gluten intolerance, blood tests showed that I am severely lacking in iron and vitamin B12.  Thankfully, I was able to find both of these in pill form that are guaranteed gluten-free on Iherb.com! 

I could see a huge improvement within the first three days of taking my B12 tablets.   As for the iron, I was less aware of it's benefit until I stopped taking it for about two weeks.  My legs got tired, my energy was drained, and my muscles were sore even though I hadn't worked out.  

I gladly take my B12 every day that I manage to remember it!  My iron pills, however, I am less inclined to take.  You see, as much as I need it, I can't help but feel that iron is a b****.  I suppose it's not the iron itself, but the pill that it comes in, as it is full of tummy-problem-inducing chemicals.  I bought the highest-quality, "gentlest" brand I could find, but nonetheless.  I'm not a huge fan.  

So... I am starting a little experiment with flax seed powder.  A friend of mine gave me her leftover flax seeds before leaving Korea, but for the life of me, I could not crush them up into a digestible powder.  I broke down about a week ago and bought it already in powder form, and decided to do away with the seeds that had been given to me.  As of yesterday, I have begun to slowly introduce it into my diet.  I'm determined to feel like a normal human, yet!

So far, I have sprinkled the powder onto my eggs, and mixed it into my morning yogurt.  It adds a wonderful nutty flavor.  And, personally, I think it would make for a good breading on a meat or fish dish.  Something I might have to experiment with!

My new and improved breakfast yogurt!