Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I interrupt my normal schedule of posting to instead share a recipe with you.  This was on our table this morning. Breakfast for dinner, perhaps?

Buckwheat heart-shaped pancakes

¾ cup buckwheat

¾ cup flour (regular or gluten-free)

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup milk

2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla (I added this in)

¼ cup melted butter

diced strawberries (optional)

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.  In a small bowl, whisk wet ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mix until well blended.  Add strawberries.  Pour by ¼ cup onto greased, hot griddle or frying pan, in the shape of a heart.  Cook 2-4 minutes, until brown on edges and bubbling, and flip, repeating on other side.

Serve with syrup or powdered sugar, and enjoy!

(Original, non-heart shaped, non-strawberry recipe comes from a great, very family-friendly book, Gluten-Free Made Simple).

Day Three hundred and eighty

Breakfast: Gluten-free bagel (these are working out nicely) and scrambled eggs.

Lunch: Mac and cheese (I tried the GF Gourmet's recipe, not bad) with pureed cauliflower added (Sneaky Chef).

The beginning of the holiday season- Christmas cookies.  These ones with the chocolate on the end are "Chip and dip cookies" (recipe from my friend Christie), the Hershey kiss cookies are PB Blossoms, and the cinnamon frosting cookies are from the same cookbook as the PB Blossoms.

School lunch: Ants on a log (celery with PB and raisins), hard-boiled eggs, crackers, sliced apple, and a babybel cheese.

Day Three hundred and seventy-nine

Pink breakfast: Bob's Red Mill hot (gluten-free) cereal with strawberries and a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

School lunch: Cottage cheese, popcorn with almonds, a blueberry lunchpail muffin (from the freezer; recipe: Eat Clean Diet for Families and Kids), celery, and prunes.

Day Three hundred and seventy-eight

Dinner: Chicken fingers.  My husband made these- they were a combination of gluten-free breadcrumbs and honey, a concoction of his own creation.  I made a spinach-artichoke dip (recipe to be posted, I promise) with baked tortilla chops and applesauce. Kind of a weird-ish meal, but that's how it came together. 

Lunch for tomorrow: Rolled deli turkey, crackers with a babybel cheese, a cutie orange, red pepper, and cucumber slices.

My older daughter's gingerbread house. She made it at school, but was so proud of it that it got included here.  I found gluten-free graham crackers, which was not an easy task.  I'll probably try making them next time.

Day Three hundred and seventy-seven

Chinese food night!

Dinner: Chicken and broccoli (recipe: Gluten-Free Gourmet) over rice (with cauliflower puree, ala Double Delicious), with lo mein (made with brown rice spaghetti; recipe: Gluten-Free on a Shoestring).

Day Three hundred and seventy-six

Breakfast: Egg and cheese on english muffins, with orange slices.

Day Three hundred and seventy-five

I did a tiny bit of cooking ahead this morning.  Since I tend to plan out meals in advance, I've been trying to get into the habit of baking ahead as well.  Once I'm already baking, and have the ingredients out, flour all over the place, I figure I may as well make at least one or two things I'll need next. In this instance, I made rolls for tomorrow's breakfast while I was baking this morning's breakfast. Tomorrow, I can skip a step, and don't have to bake and clean-up.

Breakfast: Pumpkin bread (You Won't Believe its Gluten Free) with almonds and blueberries.

English muffins, for tomorrow's breakfast (recipe: You Won't Believe it's Gluten Free).

Lunch: Turkey and cheese in a brown rice wrap (with pumpkin puree melted into the cheese), celery, and apple slices.

Dinner: Gluten-free chicken nuggets, white rice (with cauliflower puree, ala Double Delicious), applesauce, and broccoli. Can you tell my husband planned this meal? I can.  ;)  But after having made breakfast and lunch, I was happy to let him handle dinner.

Day Three hundred and seventy-four

Dinner was last night's lefotvers, which was I said yesterday, we did not love; I sweetened the deal with this Chocolate pound cake (recipe: You Won't Believe it's Gluten-Free).  YUM. 

School lunch: Leftover pasta and spinach, animal crackers, cucumber slices, cutie orange, babybel cheese.

Day Three hundred and seventy-three

Dinner: Pizza (I'll take any excuse to use the fresh basil sitting on my windowsill!) with grapes and steamed vegetables.  Pizza crust is my current favorite- one called "Pat's Thin Yeast Crust" from The GFG. 

School lunch: PBJ on crackers, animal crackers with a babybel cheese, a cutie orange, and cucumber slices.  Looking at this is making me hungry- oh- it's lunch time.  ;)

Day Three hundred and seventy-two

Pancake morning: Blueberry, strawberry, and chocolate chip (recipe: You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free).

School lunch: Cottage cheese, rice crackers, cucumbers and carrots, watermelon.

Dinner (Did not realize it had fogged up the lens!):  Baked spinach and cheese with brown rice penne (crockpot; Recipe: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow).  We normally love everything that comes out of this cookbook, but I have to admit, none of us cared for this one.  It was pretty bland- not a meal I'd recommend.

Day Three hundred and seventy-one

Granola bars (recipe: The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids).  I wrapped each in plastic wrap so my daughter could take them to school for snack.

School lunch: PBJ on a brown rice wrap, mini butterscotch brownie, babybel cheese, apple, carrots.  This lunch is clearly the work of my husband.  :)

Day Three hundred and seventy

Lunch: Crunchy quesadilla (brown rice wrap, sliced turkey, cheese- with pureed pumpkin spread on the wrap, it melts right into the cheese), baby spinach, and apple.

Quesadilla sticks (the above quesadilla sliced into strips with a pizza cutter), perfect for little hands.

Lotion.  Every once in a while I make a batch.

Day Three hundred and sixty-nine

School lunch: Sliced hard-boiled egg, baby spinach, edamame crackers, mozzarella, sliced apple and peanut butter.

Day Three hundred and sixty-eight

I can tell as soon as I look at the picture that my husband was in charge of dinner this night.  Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, corn, and oranges.

Day Three hundred and sixty-seven

Breakfast: Mighy tasty hot cereal (Bob's Red Mill) with chunks of apples and cinnamon.

School lunch: Rolled-up deli turkey, tortilla chips, babybel cheese, baby spinach, and grapes.

Not-school lunch: Turkey and cheese in a brown rice wrap (with pumpkin puree spread on the wrap, to be disguised in the melted cheese) with baby spinach and orange slices.

Day Three hundred and sixty-six

School lunch for the day: Fresh mozzarella cheese, edamame crackers, cut-up apples, carrots, and cashews.

Dinner: Turkey meatloaf (with green puree ala Sneaky Chef), mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and grapes.

Day Three hundred and sixty-five: ONE YEAR!!!

Technically, the one year anniversary of this blog occurred about two months ago.  I never stopped taking pictures, but I didn't post for those two months while we were sorting out some health issues.  I'm catching up now, and here's our meal for the 365th day of our photo journal. Thanks for coming along on our journey.

Breakfast: Popovers. These are really incredible- so moist and fluffy inside with a great crunch outside (recipe: Gluten-Free on a Shoestring).

Dinner: One of my all-time favorites: Salsa chicken and black bean soup (crockpot; Recipe: Make it Fast Cook it Slow).  Topped with sour cream and cheddar, this is a complete meal.  We had it w/a salad on the side.

Dessert: Grannie's old-fashioned butterscotch bars (recipe: Family Circle).  I'd pulled this out of a magazine over two years ago but had never made it before.  I converted it to gluten-free, which was as simple as substituting the artisan gluten-free flour blend and adding a smidgen more liquid. 

Day Two hundred and sixty-four

Dinner: Brown rice penne mac and cheese (crockpot; Make it Fast, Cook it Slow), chicken spinach sausage, mixed vegetables, and blueberries.