Simple Sopa!

I remember the first time I had sopa. I was half awake, hungover, and stretched out on my friend's couch. No, it was not a pretty picture but Janessa was whizzing around in the kitchen making her favorite Spanish dish. I instantly awoke to the smells of onions and garlic sauteing on her teeny tiny city stove. It was the first time I had sopa and I promise, it cured my hangover instantly with its deliciousness. Last night was my first night trying to make the dish. It didn't come out like Janessa's but it still tasted pretty damn good.

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add a can of diced tomatoes and 1/4 a cup of tomato sauce. Add a ton of your favorite cheese! Mix all together with your choice of gluten-free pasta or brown rice. PS- My sister made a similar dish when she was living in Costa Rica and she would add avocado to her sopa. Give it a shot and enjoy!

Simple Linguine

This recipe is ridiculously easy to make. I used the Notta Pasta's linguine and added my own tomato sauce. The sauce is just:

One can of diced tomatoes

One small can of tomato paste

Onion

Garlic

Fresh basil

Salt and Pepper


Saute the garlic and onion. Add in the can of diced tomatoes then the pasta. Add the fresh garlic last. Combine the pasta and sauce and add your choice of cheese. I used feta because it's delicious.

Linguine

One of the hardest foods for me to not eat on this diet is pasta. I love pasta. I'll shout my love for pasta from the rooftop. Being a veggie head, I fill up on carbs like pasta and bread pretty much everyday. Not anymore! Boo hiss. Until I started to seek out gluten-free alternatives for my carb loving ways. I found this brand of gluten-free pasta called Notta Pasta. Not so bad. You have to make sure you don't overcook these noodles though. Trust me.

Banana Peanut Butter Dairy-Free Smoothie

Here's another breakfast idea for you, kids. It's also a nice, nutritious snack, as well. I usually make this recipe but I also switch it up with different types of fruit or milk. I recently started making smoothies with either rice or almond milk. I'll put other recipes up using rice and almond milk soon.

1 cup soy, rice, or almond milk

1/2 banana

1 tablespoon peanut butter

2 ice cubes

Throw all ingredients in the blender, puree, and enjoy!!

Post Script- If you're an ESU student; or close to a Wawa, buy one banana, grab a packet of honey, and you're almost set! I'm on a mission to find soy milk at Wawa. I'll report back shortly!

A Gluten-Free Breakfast

Okay, I'm keeping it a little simple here. I will put up my recipe for gluten-free potato pancakes later in the week. My boyfriend and I want to keep working on it before we share the deliciousness to the world. So, I had to give up a lot of delicious, flavorful (sugar!!) cereals due to my "illness." What I'm eating now is puffed rice cereal with vanilla soy milk. Let me tell you something about puffed rice cereal, it's not that good. I like to add some almonds or fresh fruit to it so it's not like eating cardboard. Alright, it's that bad but it's no Trix. I'm uploading a picture of the brand I eat. Enjoy!

First on the menu!

Gluten-Free, Diary-Free Zucchini Bread

My mom gave me this recipe, but instead of using regular flour I substituted it for an all purpose gluten-free variety. I use Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour for almost everything now. It's good stuff. The only downfall with gluten-free staples in your cabinet is they're expensive! Going on, the recipe originally called for 3 eggs, but I used 3 1/2 tablespoons of apple sauce as a replacer. So here's everything else.

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs beaten (or a little more than 3 tablespoons of apple sauce if you don't get down with eggs)

1 3/4 cups zucchini (do not drain)

2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon



Post Script- Tastes better than it looks it in picture. It makes for a tasty, little snack.

Hello! My name is Caitlin and I'm a beginner at living gluten-free. This blog is dedicated to my new found diet and all the experimental cooking I will be doing. In addition, I'm a vegetarian and will be posting vegetarian recipes as well.

A little bit of history. I've always had problems with my stomach and never knew the reason why. I thought it was a diary intolerance (which I also have and try not to eat all the time) so I cut dairy out of my diet and the problem still remained. My best friend, who has Celiac disease, insisted I cut gluten out of my diet to see if it was the culprit. Low and behold, I felt better. I'm bummed about my recent discovery, as I love all things gluten (i.e bread, pasta, pretzels, and everything else delicious) but determined to still eat scrumptiously. So, now I'm in the process of learning about this diet, its restrictions, and how to make gluten-free food. Please join me on this journey to finding food which tastes as good everything on the menu at Olive Garden (I kid, kid! cause that's gross.) I warn you now, some things may not come out delicious but I will eat it anyway. Another warning, my camera is older than your mother and I'm not a photographer.