getting back to living

Bev in Cambria 

One week ago today, we boarded the Sapphire Princess in San Pedro Harbor and began a 7-day cruise.  Today, we get off this ship and face life again. I'm feeling more each day that it's a true possibility. That is a shift I hadn't seen coming but welcome with open arms.

I have to remind myself with regularity that living life entirely in grief simply serves no one. Living is not forgetting, and grief and remembrance are not one in the same. I'll never forget. I do intend to live.

This cruise has helped in so many ways. The ease of being cared for, the crazily enormous choice in food, the entertainment we mostly ignored, the balmy weather (at least some of the time,) the cordial, helpful staff all gave me the chance to live in a safe cocoon for a few days. Did I mention we never got off the ship? We literally went to one show onboard, avoided most activities, took lots of naps, and soaked up the sun in short bursts. No sun burns, no hangovers, no vacation exhaustion.

Every night during dinner, our head waiter brought me the menus for the next day. My job was to choose what I'd really like to eat. Theirs, he assured me, was to be sure it was prepared safely. I did loosen my dietary restrictions a bit. Gluten was totally out, as was soy, but I didn't push the fruit intolerance. I decided to play that one by ear, keeping it limited on my own. I did consume some fruit, a little lemon here, a bit of olive oil there. And my biggest indiscretion of them all, sorbet for dessert on occasion. And the night he insisted they would make gluten-free tiramisu for me, I gave in and ordered it. No, it's not remotely healthy, and I'm not even a fan of tiramisu, but I love the gesture and their concern that I not only have safe meals but some fun with food, as well.

This morning I'm on my own with my food choices. Our last meal on board will be breakfast, probably at the buffet so I can see it first, before we disembark in a few hours. Then home by way of Whole Foods, a stop at Erika's to pick up Coco, and back to our own kitchen. I'm ready to give living another shot.

can't stop thinking about breakfast

For some unknown reason, breakfast has been on my mind a lot lately. In general, I'm not really even a big breakfast fan. That is---I alwasy eat it; I just don't get excited about it. Lunch, dinner, even afternoon snacks, excite me. Breakfast not so much. That wasn't always the case, however. When I think of what I loved about breakfast in the past, my mind goes immediately to extra-crispy hash browns and Eggs Florentine, then skates on to chile verde omelets and shrimp and jalapeno burritos. At one time not so very long ago, anything drowned in hollandaise would quickly catch my eye and my imagination. Mmm, thinking large grilled shrimp, resting on a bed of hollandaise, edged by crispy hash browns and softly poached eggs.

Okay, back to reality, Pamela. Most of that no longer works for me, though the best parts still do. And one of these days, I swear, I'm going to figure out a way to enjoy the hollandaise experience dairy-free. Mayonnaise, even beautifully creamy homemade mayo, just doesn't do it for me.

Still, this is an ode to breakfast present, not a lament of breakfast past. And while I love a breakfast of meat and veggies, eggs are what I've focused on as of late. Eggs cooked lots and lots of different ways. Steak and eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, shrimp and eggs---seems to be no end of possibilities.


grass-fed beef strips, kale and beet greens make a bed for eggs to gently poach

One of my favorite things to do is to start by sauteeing whatever veggies look tempting (often meaning cleaned and ready to use) in the fridge. Often that means mushrooms, scallions or onions, broccoli, asparagus, or leafy greens. I love them all. I may or may not add meat. When all is near done, I drop an egg or two or three on top, then cover it all with a lid, letting the eggs gently poach on the veggies until softly cooked. This can be varied in so many ways; you could follow almost the same steps each day for a year and never repeat---unless, of course, you want to. Without the eggs, even, it's still a great breakfast. I could eat a version of this everyday.



soy-free egg "poached" on a bed of beef and spinach with raw sauerkraut

As I've mentioned often, we go to great lengths to get soy-free eggs. I recommend them wholeheartedly. And while we're talking tasty and healthy, a little raw sauerkraut on the side makes almost any breakfast better. Trust me on that one and give it a try.

a house divided

Maybe it was too good to last. Maybe I was asking too much. Though come to think of it, I didn't ask. He offered.

Whatever the cause, things are changing at my house, and chaos is in the air.

I can't eat gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and a bunch of other things that escape my mind at the moment. GK seems to be able to eat anything he pleases without obvious repercussions. For the first year or so, he was completely up for clearing out our pantry and freezer and fridge of foods that might make me sick. He is a sweetheart for sure, but I still think some of his motivation came from a desire to not have to listen to me in pain half the time. Anyway, year one was pretty easy around our house. I was still struggling to determine what I could safely eat, but he was willingly eating what I cooked and forgoing sandwiches except when he went to lunch with friends. I went through the usual grain substitutions, trying lots of interesting sounding flours and adding sugar into my diet for the first time in years. I also started cooking with xanthan gum and guar gum and all sorts of yucky stuff. I was determined to find food I could eat, and that was the direction much of the gluten-free literature was sending me. It was only after months and months of trial and error, mostly error, that I put enough puzzle pieces together to rule out lots of culprits in my diet in addition to gluten and dairy.

As I added to my list of "must avoids," the Paleo approach to food, drink, and lifestyle started to become an obvious choice. Obvious for me, anyway. Like many of us, I'd gone through phases of avoiding red meat, trying on vegetarian, toying with vegan, low-fat, low carb, low protein, high protein, heavy supplement use. Still, in my heart of hearts, I'm a meat-eater, a happy carnivore. I can easily fantasize about thick rare steaks, carpaccio, lamb shanks, and lobster. I grew up eating raw lamb and frog legs. Paleo sounded perfectly fine to me. I could easily do without grains and legumes.

Uh, what was I thinking? GK would happily, very happily, forgo meat entirely. He will eat it, but he most definitely did not want, does not want, any association with a diet that revels in it. Though Paleo is certainly not all about gnawing on knuckle bones and emphasises real food, including lots of vegetables, it may elicit visions of cave men with clubs eating raw flesh. And did I mention this man practically lives for potatoes and beans? Seriously, I could serve beans twice a day, every day, and he would be thrilled. I didn't even think of all that as I talked excitedly about finally finding a grove that seemed to fit, about bloggers and cooks who used ingredients I could actually eat and shared recipes I could use without constant substitution. I also missed what should have been an even more obvious shift. I was now talking about a personal choice, a positive move toward something I wanted, not just escape from the pain of the last few years.

So as I embraced Paleo foods, GK quietly took another stand. He didn't ask me to change the foods I bought or ate. And thankfully, he's not one of those scary people who likes to slip offending foods onto your plate just to show you. No, it wasn't horrid; it was just weird. He started picking up cheeses when we shopped, stood looking longingly at the bread section before slipping a loaf of sprouted grain bread into the cart, and asked for oatmeal. The contents of my kitchen started changing.

And then came the big guns; he wouldn't eat the meals I'd cooked. He said there was too much meat or too much fat. He asked for beans and sandwiches and oatmeal with raisins. Yikes! Who was this? What happened to the man who said he didn't mind at all? The one who said he could just eat those foods when he was in a restaurant? The one who was happy to eat scrambled eggs instead of his beloved oatmeal?

We are working out the kinks in all this still. Since I cook and he cleans, I've agreed to add some meals where meat is optional, others where it plays a less significant role. Though our meals had never been meat-fests, they must have seemed that way to him. It is, of course, more complicated now, and I worry sometimes about cross-contamination, but heck, ya do what ya gotta do. I guess I should still count myself pretty lucky.

whole30 afterthoughts

They said it would change my life; who knew they meant it?

I finished my first Whole30 on November 6 of this year. I experienced no cravings, though that may be a result of making relatively few changes in my diet, and really only mild bathroom scale withdrawal, though if you've read my posts, it may sound more than mild.

Because of the minor changes this program required of me, I didn't expect miracles. I mean some people are giving up sugar and dairy as they start the Whole30. Neither has been a big part of my life. In fact I have not had a taste of cheese, cream, butter or any other dairy product for well over a year. So I wasn't looking for magic; I was looking for improvement. I'm still not 100% sure of what I got, but I am completely sure it has changed my life.

Since November 6, I've been using my scale almost regularly. I think it's fun. I don't think it's meaningful. I've also had wine on a few occasions, though I absolutely refuse to drink so-so wine anymore. I'm also not sure yet what to think of the wine thing. It is not likely to become regular again. I have not added a single other food back into my diet. I've given myself permission to do that. I've reviewed the suggestions for how to do so in the Success Guide. I just haven't felt any desire to do so.

I am writing this two days after Thanksgiving, and I must add that our family Thanksgiving dinner is huge. It's also my favorite meal to help prepare. I tried to give myself permission to sample any dishes that are not off my plate for life due to allergies and such. I made the stuffing completely gluten-free, though not grain-free. I just didn't want to eat it. I didn't want the mashed potatoes. I was not remotely tempted by bread. Even pies and whipped cream did not appeal to me. I did wish for a moment that I'd been able to make a "Paleo-fied" almond flour tart or pie as I'd planned. (Had to pass on that because my oven is being temperamental at the moment.) It felt a bit odd. For dessert, by choice, I ate some beautiful hearts of celery that Kristen had included in our traditional relish tray.

I no longer ever even consider eating out, unless by unavoidable necessity, but it doesn't feel like I'm giving up a thing. Seriously, it's no sacrifice at all. I never, I mean absolutely never, buy anything prepared whether frozen, canned, or fresh. Yes, it takes a little time, but really very little. I work full-time and do all the cooking here, and I do not live in the kitchen. Some of you know me better than others, but either way, the simple fact that I blog about my relationship with food is a pretty clear indication that we're tight, food and I. I've been somewhat of a foodie since birth. I still am. But what has changed for me in the most seemingly subtle way is that even more than before, I now think of only fresh, natural,  unprocessed products of field and farm as food.

Thanks again, Whole9, I'm seriously impressed.

time to prep for the holidays

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. There's one reason, only one reason, of course: the food. Short, sweet, simple. For many years now, I have insisted, I mean seriously insisted, on hosting our family's Thanksgiving dinner. It is a combination of seriously traditional and somewhat innovative with the innovative usually coming from my siblings and children.

Our family is fun and diverse. We are also not without our distinct and sometimes unwavering positions about what holiday food should be. We have family members who are vegetarians, family members who fondly remember brown-and-serve rolls and don't think it's Thanksgiving without them, family members who love stuffing from a box or cranberry sauce from a can,  family members who like to make sauce from real cranberries and pies from real pumpkins, carnivores, omnivores, sugar-holics, health nuts, you name it. And I love it all, the cooking and trying to please part at least. I am embarrassed to say that I get excited about making food for people I love that cannot conceivably do their health any favors, but it's true. To the variety of tastes and dietary restrictions, this year I have added the complication of Paleo consciousness. What should be one pleasant meal, shared with gracious thankfulness has become what could turn out to be a political and dietary minefield.

For years our meals have had two or three of many foods that traditionally focus on meat. There's turkey gravy and vegetarian mushroom gravy. There's stuffing (dressing really) with meat, which usually has homwmade croutons, and without, which usually has Mrs. Cubbison's Corn Bread Stuffing from a box. We have a roast turkey, two sometimes, and a vegetarian wanna-be turkey. I love to roast turkeys, no smoking or deep frying or other nonsense for me. I do like turkey, but as far as I'm concerned, the primary reason for cooking a turkey is to have a basis for making gravy. If I could, I might just live on gravy. Luckily for me, or not depending on one's perspective, I'm really good at making gravy. I started making gravy as an adolescent, maybe even earlier, and have worked for years to perfect it. I make phenomenal gravy, sorry about the lack of modesty here, but I really do. It's smooth and silky and rich and flavorful. It's just not really healthy, and that's a serious issue, holidays or no.

I have a couple of issues going with trying to work on healthier gravy, not the least of which is that I really like the gravy I have been making, just the way it is. I like it, but actually, I can no longer eat it the way I've made it for years, not even a taste. Traditionally, I've used milk, cream, wheat flour, and a dash or two of soy sauce and Worchestire for color, in addition to turkey stock and pan drippings from the just-roasted turkey. Last year I substituted sweet rice flour for the wheat flour and made it without milk (sigh.) Sweet rice flour is wonderful for straight across substitutions in gravy and sauces. It is, however, a grain, a highly processed grain at that. This year, no grains will be on my plate at least, and I selfishly would like to eat some of the things I look forward to on Thanksgiving. I'm working on a couple of possibilities, one a simple reduction and the other using coconut flour. Lots of gravy expected around our house in the next week or two. We will see which wins this year.

Either way, this year the turkey gravy as well as the vegetarian mushroom gravy will be made at least a day ahead. I have realized how easy it is to do many dishes ahead and have them ready in the freezer or refrigerator for reheating on Thanksgiving Day. And forget about trying to perfectly time potatoes for mashing while you're juggling a hot turkey and too many guests hanging out in the kitchen.  I'll go into detail in a day or two about mashed potatoes (and mashed cauliflower) prepared ahead and perfectly, painlessly reheated in a crock pot.

the whole30, day twenty-nine

Years ago in a series of self-actualization trainings, again and again, I heard something like "Expectations are the seeds of dissatisfaction." I am paraphrasing, but that was the message. I think about that from time to time, and today I'm obsessing over it.

Today, Day 29 of my 30 days on the Whole30, does not fit my expectations. I didn't have a clear mental picture, of course, but I can promise you I did not for a single minute think I would be on day 3 of a killer sinus infection, complete with splitting headache, swollen face, and sleepless nights. Not for one single second did I picture this. I'm considering this a healing crisis; I do hope I'm right. Healing or not, I don't like it, and I am definitely dissatisfied at the moment. What I'd like instead is a warm glow of contentment and that sense of pride and honor that comes with completing a meaningful task. Any idea where I could order that?

Until this passes (oh! please let that be immediate!) there will be no thoughts of celebrating a completion. My plan right now is to tighten this up instead. Writing that, I almost had to laugh. What do I tighten? I prepare everything, I mean EVERYTHING, I eat. With the glaring exception of my bacon fiasco, I am not using anything processed. Virtually everything in my house is organic. I'm waiting to check out the clarified butter rule until next time around because I know I have some issues with dairy. (I did put several packs of pastured butter in my freezer to be ready, since it's seasonal.) My meat, beef and lamb, is grass-fed even though that wasn't a requirement here. Maybe I'll cut out eggs entirely; I've already cut way back. I'm almost at a loss. I am not at a dead-end, though. So many things feel so much better with the Whole30, and I will not give up. I'm wondering though, will Monday be Day 31 or Day 1 all over again?

Still, I'm left thinking about that training and my expectations. Somehow I can't quite put my finger on what I want to take from all of this right now. Maybe it's the headache. Maybe it's the sleeplessness. Maybe it's our weather with highs about 15 degrees less than the lows of two days ago.

Yet in the back of my mind I know, today is Day 29 and headache and sinus infection will soon be history (or so I hope.)

whole30, day twenty

Day 20! I can hardly believe it. Two thirds of the way through my 30 days, or at least I will be at day's end.

I have found eating this way much less restrictive than I'd expected. The only times it's really been a concern is when I'm very tired or very hungry. The combination is awful. My only defense in those cases is to have food ready and waiting. When I've neglected that, it's a real problem, though. My recommendation for anyone on this program or contemplating it is that you stay prepared. I could also add don't get tired or hungry, but that is harder to manage, I imagine.

As I've often mentioned, my approach to any program is to look closely at the foods that fit, find the ones I  LOVE from that list, and remove or hide everything else. I can usually open my refrigerator and find at least a few choices of food I like that likes me. Without that to fall back on, I'd be a goner, I'm afraid. That's not to say my fridge is filled with lobster and foie gras. My favorite vegetables, avocados, eggs, cooked chicken or beef or fish get me through the day. I like to keep a few home made composed salads on hand, too. Beet salad is a favorite. This time of year, I also have apples and pomegranates, though I don't eat much fruit. Onions, garlic, sweet potatoes keep well at room temp and make all sorts of dishes possible on a whim. I also like to have frozen shrimp and canned tuna to drop on a salad on occasion. We are big fans of sardines, as well. Having a few cans in the pantry can make dinner a snap. That's what I eat, and, of course, everyone will have their own favorites. Mine will make some turn away in disgust.

Whether you're doing this program or another or are chosing foods at will, I do hope you'll avoid those that don't excite you. There are enough really good foods, whatever the diet or budget, that none of us should be chocking down foods and flavors we truly can't stand for the sake of health or dress size.

whole30, day seventeen

I'm feeling better with each passing day. I like this, most definitely. I would love some ideas if anyone has them for converting other members of the household. Okay, maybe not converting but getting a little more cooperation. I know each of us makes our own decisions; I just don't like it.

In the area of things I can control, I'm still working on getting the hang of making menu plans. I'm sure it would be easier; I just don't know if it will ever be me. Yesterday, I grilled extra meats, including a rack of lamb from my sister. That's as close as I've gotten to meal plans, but at least I have a beautiful piece of meat ready and waiting for the opportunity to be dinner. My breakfast today came from yesterday's mixed grill, as well. I nibbled on chicken wings at my desk this morning. Not very professional, for sure, but it was at least before my students were scheduled to be there.

I cannot imagine an eating plan that could be easier or feel better than what I'm doing right now. Other than having to forgo stepping on the scale, I'm really not lacking in anything I want, even wine is becoming a complete non-issue. Love this.

changes in the pantry

One obvious aspect of dietary changes, whether they be voluntary or required, is that they come with necessary changes not only in what we put in our mouths, but what we bring into our homes. For those of us who cook, a thoughtfully stocked pantry, refrigerator, and freezer if possible make life in the kitchen a whole lot easier. The biggest issue to start is to remove any foods that no longer fit, and sometimes this is extremely challenging. As we discussed a few months ago, the hardest things to remove are often those that will tempt us most if left there.

When I realized gluten and dairy had to go, we did some major purging. It was hard at the time but certainly helped as weeks went on and the pantry seemed safer. Now, almost a year later, as I look at my pantry and freezer shelves, I see them filled with foods we no longer eat: beans, rice, "gluten-free" grains and mixes. This next and necessary step may even be a bit harder than the first. What now needs to go and in a big way are many of the groceries we bought fairly recently, convinced that they were the solution, not the problem. I'm getting seriously raised eyebrows when the subject of removing some of these comes up. It's a little difficult to explain why all the specialty grains I just had to order are now relegated to the "bad" zone. It's difficult, and it's embarrassing. I can't explain why I thought these foods were just fine a few months ago and now am afraid to eat them. I also cannot with any certainty claim that the same fate won't befall the newly crowned favored foods. It's still a struggle and in some ways it still feels like a shot in the dark. It's more than that, though. With each misstep, I feel a little more convinced that I'm on the right road. So we are at it again, removing anything this time that is not 100% whole, real food. Beans and grains are going, too, though an argument could be made for their claim to a food label, the risks outweigh the rest.

So that leaves us with a pretty empty pantry? Well, not really. So much is left, though none of it in the form of ready-to-eat dishes. We have lots and lots of ingredients. Things like coconut oil and milk, a wide variety of herbs and spices, almond flour, grape leaves, organic tomatoes and paste, olives and their oil, chiles, stocks and broths, tuna, salmon, sadines, anchovies, some types of nuts. For a specific list of recommended brands, check Elana Amsterdam's books or her blog, Elana's Pantry. Several Paleo authors and bloggers have lists as well. While I'm usually quite happy to talk specifics, I'm feeling a bit uneasy about it these days. It almost seems like one day I want to say a certain product is great, and the next I want it banished from my kitchen. It reminds me a bit of the stairways at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books; it just seems like everything keeps changing.

one gluten-free year down, now what?

The first day without gluten I felt so much better I couldn't believe it. No stabbing pains leaving me doubled over at my desk, no gasping as spasms began while I sat quietly reading. The second and third days were pretty good, too. Then I would notice after two sips of coffee with cream, the pain would resurface. Really? No cream either? I'd known for years that I don't handle dairy products well, but I was still hoping. I'm a slow learner. It's been up and down from there with more and more foods leaving my "hopefully safe" list and crossing to the other side.

The last 12 months or so have been interesting, exciting, a bit scary, and, sadly for me, not as fully definitive as I would have hoped. I have, over time, removed not only gluten and dairy products---all of them---from my cooking and dining, but also soy, corn, anything artificial, sugars, most nuts and seeds, the rest of the grains, virtually all legumes, anything processed, and it still is not clear what I can eat. I have not posted a lot about eating and cooking lately because I've been seriously wrestling with this issue. Is anything out there safe?

Most recently I've moved toward the Paleo or primal camp, reading everything I can get my hands on. It's primary food sources are those I can usually eat, which is always a plus. Like most any concept held by a variety of people, this health philosophy has a miriad of divergent views. The must do's and must not's are sometimes contradictory. The reading is fun, even though at times I consider hair-pulling and screaming. So this, too, will take some experimentation. I wonder how others handle this. So many seem to do it so well. I would love to hear from any of you who are dealing with or have overcome this struggle. I am not good at lists, but possibly a serious food journal, maybe life journal, might be a helpful tool. Silly as it may sound, I sometimes forget that I don't tolerate specific foods well.

The adventure continues, of course. It seems odd to look back and know that I have not consciously put a single gram of wheat, barley, rye, or their relatives in my mouth in over a year. They don't sound like food to me anymore. That is a help for sure. I no longer complain that anything, really anything, I eat I must prepare. It's just a given. There's no going back, of course, and, hopefully, by next year I'll have it down to an artform. Gotta keep hoping.

who needs wheat?

Sometimes now when I look at older recipes, both mine and those of others, I am dumbfounded at how often we add gluten when it doesn't even add to the dish, certainly not substantially. The same holds true with dairy and soy, though I'm still holding fast to my right to whine where heavy cream and luscious cheeses are concerned. I'm thinking of this today partly because I'm reviewing dozens of my own chicken dishes and partly, too, because I recently read a comment from a newly diagnosed young mother who is cooking separate meals for her family and looking for better options.

When I look at my old notes---I don't often write recipes per se, at least not for my own use---I notice wheat flour and bread crumbs in most dishes. Few, if any, of these need the wheat. It was just always our go to grain. It was just there. It almost feels quaint now and a little foolish that I never questioned it. It would not have occurred to me that breading didn't have to be wheat or that gravy didn't have to start wit a wheat flour roux. Of course, I was familiar with corn meal or arrowroot or corn starch for these uses, but they never seemed adequate, and I never thought of any as good substitutes. Still, that was then, this is now, and I'm delighted to see that wheat is almost always replaceable with something, often something better.

For many, many dishes, sweet rice flour makes a beautiful sauce or gravy. It can even be used as you would wheat flour to make a roux with oil, pan drippings, or butter if you can use it. If you haven't tried sweet rice flour, you're in for a pleasant surprise. It is milled from short-grained, sticky rice, so it's more glutinous than that from long grained rice, making perfect as a thickener.

One way to use sweet rice flour when preparing crock pot dishes that adds a good deal of flavor is to dredge the meat in the flour and then brown it in small batches. Chicken pieces are especially good this way. Though they can be tossed into the crock pot raw with good results, coating the pieces in rice flour and browning first by sauteeing them on the stove in oil is worth the extra effort. When using whole chickens, sprinkling the rice flour over them before placing in the crock pot also works well. Whole chickens will usually brown nicely on their own in the crock pot.

With almost any recipe, you can mix the spices, herbs, salt, and pepper with the rice flour first and then use this mix to coat your chicken pieces before browning. Any unused seasoned flour should be added to the crock pot to flavor and thicken the dish.

Chicken Chile Verde is quick and easy in the crock pot. This dish can be made more or less firey by adjusting the quantity of hot peppers. Remember to check them when your cutting them if using fresh jalapeno or serrano  peppers. The heat varies so much from one to another that some may taste like bell peppers and others set your mouth on fire. I usually cut off the stem and touch the stem end, the part headed for the compost bucket, to my tongue. Do NOT do this if you are particularly sensitive to to hot and spicy foods. If you're really in a hurry, skip the browning step and layer all ingredients in crock pot. Browning adds to the flavor, but the dish is still very good without it. This recipe can easily be doubled. Note, too, that by leaving out the rice flour, which is in the dish to thicken primarily, this fits into a Paleo plan.

• 1 onion, sliced or diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cans, about 8 ounces, of mild whole or diced chiles
• 1 15 ounce can tomatillos, drain most of the liquid
• 2 to 4 serrano or jalapeno chiles, or a few tablespoons canned
• 4 ounces chicken broth
• 2 ounces sweet rice flour
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 to 3 tablespoons oil
• 8 chicken thighs, cut in eighths (boneless, skinless thighs make it easier)

1. Mix rice flour with dried herbs, salt & pepper. Add chicken pieces and mix well to coat.
2. Brown onions and chicken pieces in a small amount of oil.
3. Place chiles, garlic, and tomatillos in crock pot with any leftover flour mixture. Add browned chicken and onions.
4. Pour broth evenly over top.
5. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
6. Check seasoning, add more salt and pepper if desired.

This is great served with rice, gluten-free tortillas, noodles, mashed cauliflower, or spaghetti squash.
Add a garnish of avocado slices, finely sliced green onions, and sour cream (if dairy works for you.)

More crock pot recipes to come.

temperatures rising

It's finally getting hot here, not nearly as hot as it will get this summer, but hot. So why I am I thinking about chili and soups and braised dishes of all sorts? This makes no sense. We need salads, lots of salads; I have wonderfully fresh, organic greens of all sorts in the fridge, and yet cold food does not sound appealing this week. Go figure.

It's not just me, either. GK still wants hot oatmeal for breakfast, so I make enough for several meals, and he reheats whatever he wants each day. My breakfasts, as is often the case, don't look like breakfast at all. In another life, it might have been cold pizza---okay, rewarmed pizza, it needed to ooze a bit. Now, breakfast is leftover steak or chili or sauteed squash with onions. Occasionally, I throw an egg on the top, only occasionally. Yesterday I nibbled on strips of rare steak at my desk all morning. The day before it seared ahi, again at my desk. Of course, this I have to do between students. Not everyone is so excited about almost raw flesh. Today, I'm thinking last night's stuffed squash will make a nice breakfast.

Speaking of the stuffed squash, my intention was to post pics and a recipe right away. I have, unfortunately, gotten a bit lazy. I'm blaming it on the heat. I'll get the recipe up this week. Just remember, if you decide to try this, it will heat up the kitchen and you a bit. But then that's what air conditioning is for.