GF Enchilada Casserole

By Irene

Just like those with IC (ahem..Miranda!) those of us who eat GF run into some major issues when trying to enjoy a good ol' tortilla. Should we risk the "crunchy" knowing that they are commonly more wheat and less corn? Go with those soft corn tortillas that rip when you fill them with anything warm, or just eat something along the lines of a rice-bowl or a taco-flavored salad?

This recipe is my solution to the tortilla conundrum. It's warm, gooey, cheesey and crunchy and will leave you wondering what non-GF eaters are thinking!

Ingredients:

2- cans of enchilada sauce
1- can black beans (low sodium is best)
1- can vegetarian refried beans
1- large bag of "fiesta" blend cheese
1- package (you will need about 12) small corn tortillas
1- small package yellow rice (publix brand is the lowest in sodium by far!)

*sour cream for garnish is optional and good!

Directions:

Cook the yellow rice first. When it's just about done (it can be left a tiny bit underdone) start layering the tortillas into a square baking pan. I put 4 on the bottom, let them slightly overlap and crawl up the edges of the dish for support (all this food will need some support!)

Spread about half the can of refried beans onto the torillas. Add a layer of rice, sprinkle with cheese (if you are me sprinkle means make it rain cheese) and pour on some sauce.

Put down another layer of tortillas. Add the can of black beans. Add cheese. Add another layer of rice (this should be about it for the rice). Add sauce.

Again, tortillas. The rest of the refried beans. Rest of sauce (if you think you're adding too much sauce, you might be right. You don't necessarily need to use both cans, but then again, enchilada sauce is delicious.)

Now for the crunch. Add a top layer of tortillas. Sprinkle (downpour) with chese. Bake on 350 for approx. 35 mins. Enjoy! And forget why anyone would not be GF! Hooray!

Tea Time!

I've been taking pictures of my favorite GF bread-products lately, and was ready to compile the photos with some reviews (don't worry, this will come soon), when I was suddenly overtaken by the harvest spirit. This is my first autumn living GF, and over the past few days I've noticed a trend: everything smells like cinnamon-y baked goods that I know I can't have! The obvious answer to this temptation was to find a great GF cake or scone, but walking down the aisles of the grocery store, a different idea came to me.

Sometimes I find myself in the mood to bake an entire GF cake for myself while others eat handier sweets, but today wasn't one of those days. Today I didn't want to use 400 ingredients and spend $50 on something not so healthy, so I opted for something simper-- fall-time tea.

If you're in the mood for something sweet, nutty and spicy, a great cup of tea can be an instant fix. It's a healthier, more afforable option that can satisfy a flavor craving without the gluten or the hassle. I suggest looking for black teas that can be mixed with milk ( I use almond ) and honey.

Tonight I enjoyed a caramel-vanilla black tea with vanilla flavored almond milk and some delicious local honey harvested in the fall**. Honestly, I wouldn't have traded my yummy, steamy treat for any old cinnamon bun, GF or not!

Sometimes it's fun to come up with exact replicas of treats made with GF ingredients, but finding a simpler, healthier solution can also be just as much of a treat!

**As a note, the honey I mentioned is a sampler of local honey harvested in each of the four seasons. Each has a unique taste and appearance and it's fun to use them seasonally. Eat the honey from the season coming up and protect yourself from seasonal allergies. Mine was given to me by my dad from a local farmer's market, but local honey can easily be found with a little bit of research.

Sweet Potato!

By Irene


A few days ago I found a delightful surprise in my mailbox-- the most recent edition of my favorite magazine-- Real Simple. I love this magazine because it's not just about food, health, fashion or how to hide craft supplies in a small office space. It's about all of these different things, each of which I am interested in.

This was the first Fall edition, and as always, the cover was beautiful. I felt very ahead of the curve because the East Free Trio has been posting a lot about alternative pizza lately, and Real Simple had a great pizza review. They even had a category for best GF (haven't tried this
pre-made choice yet) and a few that both Miranda and Jaclyn could eat.

As I browsed through the magazine, I saw that they had a nice little feature on sweet potatoes, which I LOVE and I was instantly inspired to make a fun meal using these in-season gems. I decided to use the cover of RS as inspiration for my little meal and chose a "colors of fall" theme. Side note: I also made the choice to make "cheap" my secondary theme.

So, I bought some sweet potatoes for under a dollar a pound and headed home. Sweet potatoes, I learned, are high in lots of healthy nutrients, like Vitamins A and C, Manganese, Copper, Fiber, B6, Iron and Potassium and are fairly low in calories. And, they are also different than yams.


I looked for color in my pantry and found a bag of rice-mix I bought at a local Chamberlin's by the pound that had lots of colored lentils and black-eyed peas in it and settled on a festive frozen veggie mix in the freezer.


The meal went a little bit like this:


First, I washed and peeled the sweet potatoes. Not sure why I had to wash before peeling, but it just seemed right.




Next, I cut them up into little chunks and put them in a bowl. I thought I was using a big enough bowl, but apparently I wasn't. Since my move I haven't been able to locate my favorite giant salad bowl that I use for mixing large amounts of stuff, so I shoved them all into this normal-sized mixing bowl. Then I coated them with olive oil, a tiny bit of salt, pepper and probably too much brown sugar (if you believe there is such a thing), and stirred untl they were well-coated and I had made a big enough mess.



The sight of the oily, peppery brown sugar at the bottom of the bowl was a sign this would be a wonderful evening. All this time the oven had been pre-heating to 400 and now it was time to pop the puppies in for about 50 minutes.

Next, I got down to business with the rice-mix. I bought it without instructions for cooking or seasoning, so I made it in the standard fashion with one cup of rice and 1.5 cups water. I boiled it and then simmered it for about 25 mins until the water was absorbed and the rice was fluffy. I added olive oil for flavor.

Once the SP had about 25 mins remaining, I took them out to stir the now gooey, aromatic sauce around. I replaced the two minutes on the timer that it took me to stir. They smelled so wonderful I was tempted to eat them half-raw. But I kept on cooking.

Finally, when the SP had about 10 minutes remaining and the rice was off the heat with the lid still on, I opened up those always useful frozen veggies. I heated some olive oil on medium heat and stir-fried them with dried red bell pepper and paprika and black pepper.




Once the veggies were done the meal was ready! It smelled, looked and tasted wonderful (although the rice turned brown when I cooked it) and I felt like my Real Simple inspiration was shining through. The SP were sweet and yummy, the veggies full of flavor and the rice was hearty and satisfying! Here is the result:

Take a cue from me and enjoy the colors of food no matter what your inspiration. My next post will be coming soon...plan on a run down of low-sodium and GF key-ingredients.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of a Good Pizza Pie!

By Irene

It was just about a year ago that I decided to go gluten free. I had been suffering for months with random ailments that together didn't make any sense and was at my wits end. As I was sitting in my living room exhausted after twelve hours of sleep and sore with aches and pains, I flipped the station to my stand-by, the Food Network. Some sort of cooking competition in which the contestants were asked to prepare a meal for a gluten-free client was on and as the client began to describe the woes of gluten intolerance, my ears perked. This was me! Exactly in that moment! As she spoke of the sore joints and grogginess I was sore and groggy!

After doing some internet research (as always) I called up my boyfriend and declared that I was going gluten-free. His reply basically summed up what was to become my struggle: "Okay," he said, "but we have so much fun cooking together. And what about pizza?" I craved bread for the first week (and everyone of my facebook friends knew it), and then I got over it. Sadly, the lament for pizza didn't go away. I think that most everyone who lives GF would agree that the standard for GF pizza remains pretty low.

I've been to pizzerias with GF owners that exude passion but serve up crust that's somehow both soggy and hard as a rock. I've tried mealy frozen crusts that cost me well over $15 for a meal for two after basic ingredients and I've experimented with most everything far and in-between. What I wanted was a soft, fluffy, hearty crust that would support both sauce and cheese and fill me up without breaking the bank. Recently the pizza gods have smiled down on me and I feel that I've made a few breakthroughs. This post is designed to provide you with my newest findings and open up a discussion on what REALLY works and what simply doesn't. Feel free to email us at eatfreetrio@gmail.com with your opinions!


Best Make at Home Crust:

Chebe Bread Pizza Crust found here
and in bulk on Amazon here

This amazing little product is very affordable and can easily be made vegan (just use egg replacer and almond milk!) or dairy free (almond milk works well). It has delicious Italian seasonings in it and sustains a whole load of toppings. To stay vegan or dairy free, try almond cheese shredded or thin sliced. it got the seal of approval from my boyfriend, who loves delivery pizza and he declared it the best GF so far.

Pictured below is the Chebe crust with Ragu pizza sauce, mozzarella, half roasted red peppers and half black olives all sprinkled with minced garlic and olive oil.


Best Take-out or Restaurant Pizza:

Mellow Mushroom!

Mellow Mushroom just started serving GF pizza and so far theirs flies high above the competition. Eating in a pizzeria used to be torture for me- watching diners indulge in cheesy gooey pizza while I ate a salad or crunchy GF alternative wasn't exactly my idea of fun. Thanks to MM I can go enjoy the experience and not feel left out at all. The only downfall is that as of now there is only one size provided (I'm guessing that they order pre-made crusts) and it's just big enough to share a meal with my boyfriend. If one of us has a really hungry day, we have to splurge on an appetizer to feel full.

Pizza is delicious and can be healthy, and I believe that the opportunity to enjoy a good pie is a natural born right. So go ahead, eat some pizza, and let me know what you think :)