Soup for a sick kid

I know most people think chicken noodle soup when they are sick, but since I don’t eat noodles and my daughter prefers rice (aww, she takes after me), we do chicken and rice soup. The kidlet has been battling a fever and congestion for the last four days so Saturday I ran out and grabbed the stuff to make her favorite chicken & rice soup.

I think this kid would waste away if she didn’t like soup. Since she was about 3 years old, soup has been one of the best (and sometimes only) ways I can get her to eat vegetables . I’m starting to suspect a biological reason for this, but I’m waiting to find out about this from a doctor.

Anyway, here’s my chicken & rice soup :*

*This is not necessarily a gluten-free or dairy-free recipe. I knew I was not going to be eating it, so I wasn’t checking the ingredients in everything.  I also was trying to make it fast. Cream of chicken soup is NOT GF or dairy-free. I’m not sure about the Uncle Ben’s.  

Chicken & Rice Soup

1-2 lbs of chicken thighs, with skin.

8 cups of water

3-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp whole peppercorns

Juice of one lemon

1 box Uncle Ben’s long grain & wild rice

6 oz frozen mire poix (diced celery, onions and green peppers)

6 oz frozen sliced carrots

1 can cream of chicken soup

Place the chicken thighs in a large stock pot. Add water to the pot. Then add the seasoning packet from the box of rice (do not add the rice), garlic, lemon juice and peppercorns. Bring water to a boil.  

Reduce the heat to low and let chicken cook at a slow boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat and cover. Let stand for about 25-35 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Take the chicken out of the stock with tongs and let cool until you can remove skin.

While the chicken is cooling, strain stock with a mesh strainer. Make sure you have a bowl or pot large enough to catch all the stock. Pour the strained stock back into the stock pot. I only put about half the stock back in the pot and refrigerated the rest for future meals.

Place the stock pot over medium-high heat and add the veggies. Bring the mixture to a boil and add rice. Lower heat to a simmer.

While soup is simmering, remove skin from chicken and discard. Then remove meat from bones. Dice chicken into small pieces. Add about half the chicken in the soup and keep the rest for later meals. If you want more chicken in the soup, add all of it!

Once soup has simmered about 15 minutes, whisk in the cream of chicken soup (this could easily be replaced with a little cornstarch roux to thicken the soup as well…or even leave it out for a thinner, brothier soup).

Let the soup simmer about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately!

Serves 6-8. 

Baked Apples for Breakfast

For part of the second week and all of the third week of the Ultimate Reset, fruit is the breakfast. So for the last 6 days I've only had fruit for breakfast and it is getting old fast! It doesn't help that it's winter here in Indiana and having a cold breakfast isn't nearly as refreshing in February as it is in June. So today I decided to bake my apples. 

If I weren't on the Ultimate Reset, I probably would have added some chopped nuts and possibly some oats, but for today it was pretty simple. 

Baked Apples

3 medium apples

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp coconut oil

pinch of salt

Peel and core apples. Cut into 1-inch cubes. 

Grease the bottom of small baking dish with coconut oil - I used my brie baking dish. 

In a bowl, toss apples with cinnamon and salt until apples are evenly coated. 

Place apples in greased dish. 

Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. 

Serves one on the UR, but it could probably serve two if you are having other things with your breakfast.

I'm hungry.

I am on Day 19 of the 21-day Ultimate Reset and I have to admit, I'm hungry. I want more to eat. Not necessarily non-healthy foods, just different ones. I've been eating fruit for breakfast for the past two weeks and I am so bored with it. I WANT some hot cereal. Thursday...Thursday I will have quinoa for breakfast.

I have had some good food though - squash with tahini is delicious. Curried cauliflower is still a favorite. Roasted beets are fantastic.

But I want cashew butter on crackers. I want bean salad and avocado hummus. I want dolmas and roasted red pepper spread.  I could totally go for some colcannon with kale.

Not awful foods. I don't want a cheeseburger or donuts, but I do want some additional variety. Two more days. Hopefully by then my daughter will be better. She's been sick for the past three days and it looks like she'll be home again tomorrow - she just can't shake this fever.

Happy Anniversary to us!

It’s been a year. I have a hard time believing it’s been a year, but it really has. I’m not going to lie to you and say I didn’t eat any gluten or any dairy or whatever this year, but I would still say I have successfully cut those items out of my diet. And I really don’t want to add them back in. Occasionally I have decided I am willing to take the consequences – I had some cheesecake on my birthday (but I didn’t eat the crust), but for the most part, I usually decide feeling like junk just isn’t worth it.

I can think of three times in my life where I can draw a clearly defined line in sand saying my life changed at this time. The first was when I transferred schools between my freshman and sophomore year of college. The second was when I divorced and moved into my first apartment with my daughter and the last is when I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome. The changing of my diet was probably the biggest action item of that last major life change.

I’m doing the Ultimate Reset again. Although I’ve stayed true to my new style of eating for the last several months, I’ve also found new gluten-free, vegan foods and some of them are not the best for me so it was time to reset again. I’m on day five right now – I haven’t weighed myself or taken measurements, but it hasn’t seemed as physically taxing for me. Maybe its because I’ve really committed to drinking the full gallon of water a day the program suggests – even for me that is a lot!

However, it has been more emotional this time. I cried through the sermon at church yesterday and feel another cry coming on. Yesterday the sermon was about divorce which was upsetting to me and today I’m trying to work through some career stuff that has been challenging me for a long time.

I’ll keep you updated on how it goes. I’m sorry I haven’t posted a lot of recipes lately, but the last two weeks I put in a ton of hours at work so I haven’t been getting too creative in the kitchen. Tonight is a reset meal – brown rice with black beans, corn, salsa and guacamole – no real recipe to it, just mix it all together! I’m looking forward to it. 

Are you ready for some Christmas?

Have you missed me? I’ve been working a lot of overtime at work. I feel like I’m in meetings at least half the time at work so I have to find the time to get my regular work done in those few blocks of time without meetings! Thankfully I got all my shopping done the week I was off after Thanksgiving.

My most exciting meal in the past couple weeks was rouladen – rolls of roast beef stuffed with mustard, onions and pickles. I would like to make it with roasted peppers instead of pickles sometime…or maybe with some horseradish. It was pretty good though. I’ve also used the crockpot a lot the past couple weeks – turkey breast with pomegranate molasses glaze, curried butternut squash with spinach and today chicken & rice soup. 

I’ve also been working on some new desserts. My current favorite – cooling right now on the stove – is Upside-Down Pumpkin Pie. It’s gluten free and vegan of course. 

Upside-Down Pumpkin Pie 

Filling:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

¾ cup white granulated sugar

¼ cup gf flour

½ cup dairy-free sour cream, such as Tofutti

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust:

1 ½ cups gluten-free pancake mix, such as Bob’s Red Mill

½ cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup coconut oil (melted)

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, combine filling ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are combined and smooth. Pour mixture into a 9x9 dish.

In another bowl, combine pancake mix, pecans and brown sugar. Mix well. Slowly pour in coconut oil and stir. Mixture should be crumbly. Sprinkle crumb mixture over top of pumpkin.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Allow dessert to cool before serving. This would be great with your favorite vanilla dairy-free ice cream or whipped coconut cream.

Staycation is over

I had all week off last week…you’d think that would mean I would have time to blog more often. You’d be wrong. 

I did spend some extra time in the kitchen, but I also got Christmas shopping done, got caught up on laundry and dishes, and spent a lot of time at the gym. 

The one new meal I’m proud of that will make another appearance in the future is my Thai chicken & rice soup. I made it in the crockpot on Wednesday and even my picky eater was happy to eat it. 

Thai Chicken & Rice Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups chicken broth

1 sweet red bell pepper, diced

½ onion, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 can coconut milk

1-2 Tbsp thai red curry paste

1 cup white rice

1 ½ cups water

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 bunch broccoli

Place chicken, broth, bell pepper, onion and garlic in crockpot. 

Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours (if chicken is frozen, add another hour). 

Add coconut milk and red curry paste and stir well. Add 1 Tbsp initially. 

Cover and cook another hour. 

Cut broccoli florets into pieces that are the size you want for soup. 

Add broccoli, cilantro and mushrooms into crockpot. Replace cover. Cook for about 30 minutes. 

While the broccoli cooks, steam the rice in water using your favorite rice steaming method. I have a NordicWare microwave steamer I like. 

When rice is ready, stir into crockpot. 

Taste soup. Add salt or more red curry paste if you would like. 

Serve hot. 

 

Yields about 6 servings.

Dining out Review: P.F. Chang's

My favorite restaurants tend to be locally-owned, but sometimes I like chain restaurants as well. I've found that some restaurants are good about offering allergen information. Some you have to ask for it…sometimes the serving team is prepared; other times, the servers don’t seem to have any idea what’s going on. 

My best experience so far at a chain restaurant has been P.F. Chang’s. I went last week with family and first of all, the gluten-free dishes are all listed in a special area of the menu, but not a separate menu, so you don’t have to ask for anything special. However, I did let my server know when we were seated. 

As soon as I told him I was gluten-free, he told me what on the table I could eat and what I couldn’t. He brought me GF sauces right away and at the end of the meal, he also pointed out the GF dessert options without me having to mention it again. I was impressed with the attentiveness and would happily recommend P. F. Chang’s as a gluten-free option. 

I am curious if Pei Wei, the “faster” restaurant option owned by the same company, does the same in their locations.Let me know if you have any input on this - I haven't tried the Pei Wei in our area yet.