The Quiet! 10/10/2011
Up before the sun rises. It is so quiet. The only sound is the occasional crow of the rooster. The land is shrouded in coolness, as it awaits the rising orb from the east to bring it light and warmth, to chase the coolness away. This is the time of day when nothing else matters. The time of day that is pure and pristine. Just like the fallen snow that is untouched by humans. From the trees in the yard, the morning songsters are awakening, as their morning songs break the silence. As I connect deeply to the feeling of this time of day, I sigh, my spirit is at peace! Nature is at her best, and to be a part of this awesome miracle is a blessing! I know that whatever happens today, I will be able to meet it head on. As I will carry this feeling with me as I go about my day!! Morning Blessings To All! G Add Comment Breakfast: Tropical Rice. Basically with this recipe you replace the water you are cooking the rice in with pineapple juice and crushed pineapple. Add slivered almonds and cook on low heat or you can even put this in a slow cooker. I cooked mine on top of the stove as I don't have time in the morning to wait on a slow cooker!! I really liked this rice, it was delicious and yes I will use this recipe again!! Dinner: Vegetable Frittata This recipe is like an open faced omelet. Saute' garlic, chopped fresh vegetables of your choice. Add in the eggs, lifting the sides so the uncooked eggs can come in contact with the pan. When the eggs are just about done, but not quite dry yet, place the eggs in the broiler and let brown for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle cheese of your choice over the top and slice into wedges.. this was tasty enough, and a great alternative to the boring omelet!! Supper: Sweet Shrimp. Mix mustard seeds, cinnamon, lemon juice, honey, apple cider vinegar, dry mustard, fresh dill, red onion, and olive oil together. Chill tightly covered in a jar. Two hours before serving mix with cooked shrimp and let set in fridge. This is really good served over rice or potatoes for a meal. On this one I would think more of making this if I were entertaining friends, instead of an evening meal! But it is really good, and I will use this recipe again! One thing I liked about this 5 day diet is that the food was simple to fix and wasn't to time consuming. Would I use these recipes for everyday? Probably not. The simple fact is, when you are on a gluten free diet, you soon tire of rice and eggs, chicken and fish. Yes they are healthy foods and good for your tummy, but I think she could have been a little more creative on her menus. Some of these recipes I will use again and again and some of them never again!! One thing I did get out of this is the use of corn tortillas. Store bought gluten free bread is horrible! I have my own gluten free sourdough recipe and it is awesome, but I don't always have time to make it. So...using corn tortillas, I can now have wraps with alot of goodies on the inside, that actually satisfies my graving for bread! All in all this was a good menu for 5 days. It taught me that yes, I can have good tasting meals, I just need to get a little more creative with my cooking!!!!! Day 4, Gluten Free Menu 07/25/2011
Breakfast: Potato Omelet. Cook finely chopped potatoes and finely chopped onions in butter or nondairy alternative. When the potatoes are tender, beat together eggs, milk, salt, pepper and any other herbs or spices that you like.. Poor the eggs over the potatoes, cook without stirring until the mixture begins to lift. Lift the edges of the omelet and tilt the pan so any uncooked eggs run underneath to come in contact with the hot pan. Cook until the eggs are dry. You can also serve this with gluten free salsa if you like!! Very good tasting! Dinner: Nutty Rice This recipe you can put in the slow cooker and walk away and leave it. You can also add any leftover chicken or fish to it if you want to. You blend raw nuts and water in a food processor. Pour that mixture in your slow cooker. Stir in chicken stock, uncooked brown rice, salt and turmeric. Slow cook for 1 1/2 or 2 hours. This was ok, but it wasn't something I will probably ever make again! Supper: Black Bean Quesadillas Black beans, chunky salsa, corn kernels, gluten free taco seasoning, a mixture of your favorite cheeses and corn tortillas. I really like this recipe it was very good tasting. One thing you have to remember tho is , everyones symptoms are different with Celiac Disease. I have found that some of the ingredients in these recipes, still upset my system a little bit. If you are sensitive to spicy foods, such as the salsa or maybe even the beans. I am finding out some of the foods I am sensitive to. This will really help in maintaining my health!! Day 3. 07/24/2011
Breakfast: On the menu for today's breakfast is just a simple fluffy omelet. But the difference is to seperate the egg yolks from the whites, beat the yolks slightly and set them aside. Beat the egg whites adding a little water until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg yolks into the egg whites. Heat the butter in a large oven proof skillet, pour the egg mixture in the middle, spreading it a little higher on the sides. Cook on the stove top on low heat for 8-10 minutes, until it is fluffy and is lightly browned on the bottom. Put into 350 oven for another 8-10 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Loosen the sides with a knife and fold the higher, larger side over the smaller side. If you want to add cheese or other ingredients, add them before you fold it over!!! Very tasty!! Dinner: Fresh Grilled Fish. Your favorite fish fillet. Coat with olive oil and place on grill. Season with salt, pepper and any other seasoning that you like. Cook on grill until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. This is so easy, anyone can do it. I have had fish like this alot of times and will again, it is delicious!! Supper: Lemon-Oregano Herb-Rubbed Chicken Breasts The rub you use for this chicken is garlic, lemon pepper, olive oil, oregano, and any other herb or spice that you prefer to use on chicken. She makes a good point in this recipe, that you can rub this on the chicken and then freeze. In that way, you can just thaw out the chicken and it is ready to grill or bake. She also adds to this recipe vegetables as carrots, squash, oninons and peppers that you can grill or stir fry in the olive oil. This is a very simple chicken recipe. My only complaint with this, is that she just had a chicken recipe on day 2. I was hoping with just 5 days there would be more of a variety!!! It is really easy to fix and yes it is really good!! Day 2 of Gluten Free Menu 07/23/2011
Day 2.. Breakfast....Eggs, bacon and or hashbrowns. I am lucky in that I have my own fresh eggs from my hens. I also have turkey bacon which is really good tasting and not as greasy or fatty as pork bacon. I am really rushed in the mornings, and don't have time to peel and shred potatoes, so I found Ore Ida, Gluten Free Hashbrowns!! They are really tasty, and so easy to fix!! One thing I need to add about this diet..I am not snacking in between meals. If I feel like I am getting hungry in between meals, I am drinking a bottle of water or maybe a glass of iced tea!! That seems to keep my stomach satisfied until it is actually meal time!! Dinner: Lemon Chicken. The trick to this chicken is to let it marinate in a covered dish for as long as possible for cooking. The marinate consists of lemon juice, honey, white wine,(I used N.C. Blackberry Wine), garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. The recipe calls for either, broiling, sauteed or microwaved. But I baked it. It was juicy, nice and tender and it was delicious!! I will be making this chicken again!! Thumbs up!! Supper: Fish Stew. This stew is Mexican inspired. You fix this just like stew but after your stew of veggies are done, you arrange the fish chunks around the stew, and microwave it. That is one thing I don't like about this book, she wants to microwave everything, and I don't care for that!! Anyway instead of microwaving, I will probably bake. After the fish and the stew are done, you spoon it over brown rice...It tasted ok, but I just can't associate fish with stew, something my brain doesn't want to wrap around!! Altho, it was ok to eat, I will probably not fix this again!!  If you prefer a packaged brand of hashbrowns, this is the tastiest one! If you are like me and mornings are really hectic, then you will probably won't be able to take the time to peel and shred potatoes. These are frozen, you can take them right out of the package and place them in a skillet with olive oil and in a couple of minutes you will have really yummy, brown hashbrowns!!  One thing I have learned over the past few years...If it doesn't say Gluten Free then it isn't. Oh it might not have ingredients in it that has gluten in it, but.....was it contaminated at the factory? These are the things you have to watch out for. If it says Gluten Free, then you can be sure it was processed by itself in a factory that doesn't process anything with gluten in it. It is amazing when you start reading labels how many companies are now labeling their products Gluten Free!! That sure makes it alot easier to stay on your gluten free diet!!! Gluten Free 07/22/2011
I have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease for 6 years now. A Gluten Free diet isn't the easiest to follow, but I have been trudging along! In the past few months I feel as tho my Gluten Free diet isn't working. Do I fudge? I don't plan to, but I know at times I am getting gluten. So....I just bought a book called The First Year, Celiac Disease and living Gluten-Free. Written by Jules E. Dowler Shepard. In this book she has explained alot of up to date information about Celiac Disease. I am simply appalled at some of the things I have read in this book. After reading this book, I realize that I am not living a Gluten Free life. I thought I was, but I am actually ingesting gluten from hidden sources. Also in this book is a 5 day menu for eating gluten free to get you started. Day one for breakfast the menu suggests grits, or cream of rice cereal with maple syrup and fresh fruit. Well that was easy enough, and it was delicious. Now for the lunch I just fixed for myself, the book suggests Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas. They were very easy to make, using corn tortillas browned on both sides, with spinach, brown rice, onions, mushrooms, salsa, parmesean, pepper jack and feta cheeses. This recipe didn't take hardly any time at all, the most time was used waiting on the rice to cook! I am going to follow this 5 day gluten free diet, and see how I feel at the end of 5 days. And then I think I can better prepare my own meals, to keep it safe for me to eat. The biggest problem I have is that I am so busy that I hate to take the time out to actually cook for lunch. In order to get healthy with this disease and stay healthy, I know my lifestyle will have to change. And hey, once I get into the habit of actually taking the time to cook my meals instead of skipping or eating something that may or may not be contaminated, I know I will feel alot better!!! So here is to 5 days of being totally gluten free!!!  Shrimp Quiche with Vegetables. This was on the menu for supper. It was so easy to make. And to tell you the truth, I have never made a quiche before,,,,So simple and so tasty!! One good thing about making this dish is that you don't have to worry about making a crust. Gluten Free crusts are a little tricky to make! The end of day one, following this diet. The food was real easy to make and I didn't have to spend alot of time in the kitchen!! Post Title. 07/21/2011
Young Pine!  I found this young pine tree in the timber underneath a grove of pines. This little tree was trying to survive under the canopy, but he wasn't getting any sunlight at all. I found him last fall, and I carefully dug him up and put him in one of my half barrels by the back door. I didn't pay to much attention to him over the winter. This spring with all the rain we have received this guy has grown about six inches!! I'm not kidding!! He is now nestled snuggly amongst the basil, purple cone flower and chocolate mint! He is happy there, and continues to grow, even in this heat. Talking about perseverence!! What an inspiration! Everyday when I see this little pine I am reminded that even when the odds are stacked against your favor, you can still stretch and grow!!! First Post! 07/18/2011
Welcome everyone to the new and improved Native Acres! We have a lot of awesome things planned for this website, blog and even perhaps a sister site! So check back, and watch the changes as they appear!! I will be here every day, if you have comments or suggestions. I look forward to talking to you! ~Gail~ | AuthorI live in the country, in Modesto, Illinois, next to the awesome timber that I love so much. I try to live the ways of my ancestors and keep their traditions alive. I am connected deeply to the earth and live by the seasons and the moon phases ArchivesCategories |
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