Chinese Food Pt. 1: The Lazy Susan & Peking Duck Dinner

Usually when I have been on a tour with a group of people, we had menus when we went out to eat meals included with the trip.  These usually had also been at crappy restaurants where the food made me feel bloated and gain ten pounds in three weeks (thank you Planet Hollywood and Applebees.  This misfortune happened before I had any sense and reason when it came to eating).  But when in China, do as the Chinese.

The Chinese seem to like to share their meals.  Four people would get together, order four different meals, but everyone ate a bit of what everyone else ordered.  Which, I think, is a better attitude than looking at each order as my dish.  It is called "sharing a meal" after all!

I present to you: the Lazy Susan

The meal depicted in the above picture is not the one I am highlighting in this post.  But that same day, for dinner, we went to one of the best Peking duck restaurants in Beijing (apparently).  So I felt it was appropriate to wear a bird dress with a feather necklace.

Because surfing duck is awesome.  Dress: H&M, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Purse: Cooperative, Shoes: Converse, Bracelet: Found in my house

I wish I could exactly tell you, dear reader, what the food was.  But as far as I know, my favorite part was the blood-soaked tofu and rice pancake roll-up with the duck and cucumber and onion slices.  It was really good, but people in my group did not enjoy it.  I have no idea why that could have been.  Then again, I will eat most food as long as I am not in immediate danger of getting sick.

The duck roll-up is on the right.  This disaster used to look like:

Look at this awesome plating, you guys

So that was the first meal I had in China after being delayed in Detroit for almost a day.  I took pictures of all my meals, but some I will not show-case as they do sometimes include wheat products (I was getting such bad stomach problems from eating most things that I gave up and started eating everything.  Also, this blog focuses on wheat-free options for people, so my diet deviations will not be featured.  Unless someone asks).

More posts to come in the upcoming days!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Off to China!

Source: Joege Avalon

So tonight I am flying over to Asia (as I mentioned on my other blog).  I am so excited to try new foods, but I also pose a new challenge: trying to eat wheat free in a place that is not America, the land where everything is labeled, regardless of common sense (e.g., "steamed asparagus is vegan" [you don't say?!]).  But I will take pictures and probably do a multi-part post about all the food.

Oh, and what I wore.  Gluten-Free: Food is Still Magic is going to have a fashionista spin to it, inspired by a conversation I had with friends last night at the Sidewalk Cafe.  I will brainstorm about that a bit for the next two weeks, but I hope it will work out well and still reflect my personality.

But enough about that.  I still have packing and family brunch to do (my dad is making slow-cooked beef with corn and cucumbers.  YUM) so now, I go.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Unironic Love of the Grilled Cheese

I not-so-secretly and secretly love the grilled cheese sandwich.  It is quite perfect and very versatile.  I was greatly disheartened yesterday when I thought my sprout, red pepper hummus, and turkey sandwich fell a little flat.  So today, I wanted to do something on the warmer side.  I made myself a grilled cheese beanwich.

Grilled Cheese Bean-wich
1 slice of Kraft American cheese singles
2 spoonfuls (I used about two tablespoons) of refried black beans
1 teaspoon of butter
1 spritz of cooking spray
2 slices of gluten-free multigrain (my favorite is Udi's)

First, toast the bread if you pulled it out of the freezer at 8 AM like I did.  Then smear the butter on the "outside" of the bread.  On both side on the "inside," smear the refried beans, a tablespoon on each side.  Then heat up a pan and spritz with cooking spray.  Smash the two pieces together with the Kraft single in between and put it in the pan butter-side down.  I like to wait until my cheese "wilts" a little before flipping it. Then put in lunch box and promptly go to work so you're not late, but still have deliciousness.

I guess you can cut it in half and dip it in salsa or sour cream, which is definitely something I will try when I have a little more time to myself.

Experiments in My New Kitchen

Dinner

I felt so pro after plating this, you guyz.

I've been wanting to make a gazpacho for a really long time.  It's a really easy way to use up a lot of vegetables in a short amount of time.  And since it was "I wish I could sit in my underwear in front of an air conditioner" hot two days ago, this chilled soup is perfect.  I used V8 juice, a tomato, a zucchini, half of this monstrous cucumber I found, parsley (thought it was cilantro, my bad), one celery stalk, one jalapeño, one clove of garlic, and a quarter of this ridiculously large onion.  The flavors balanced perfectly, especially with the mistake of using parsley instead of cilantro.  Because of that, you couldn't really taste the spiciness of the jalapeño, which honestly, disappointed me a little bit.  On top, I put brown rice and slices of chicken and garnished it with parsley (that part was intentional).

I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog, which is quite fantastic as she photographs every step and her show is quite charming.  Yet, I am quite jealous that all she does (it seems) is cook, blog, and take pictures.  I want that to be my life rather than working a 9-4 and trying to balance friends and work.

Breakfast

Does this almost look like it could be in anime somehow

Yesterday, Andrea, a housemate, was going to a dinner party and wanted to bring something from home.  I suggested cupcakes because cupcakes are gooey, yummy, and make the heart sing after eating them.  But I also really wanted breakfast food, so I decided, LET'S MAKE SCONES.  Which involves cupcakes.  Because most things in the Babycakes' book involves other things, like cookies and cupcakes.  There ninja-shaped cookie cutters, so we made ninja-scones.  I drew a circle of blueberries and caramelized bananas for some nutrition and color.  The almond milk was a perfect addition to a sweet breakfast.

So these are two things that I've been up to that do not involve ANY wheat or gluten.  Tonight, I am making mojitos and some kind of 1920s-esque hors d'oeuvres for my 1920's party.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Babycake's Marbled Spice Donuts

Last week, my friend Rachel (who graduated today, congratulations to her) came over because we needed to hang out before she went to Japan.  What we usually wind up doing is baking.  So we decided to make these soft and flavorful donuts courtesy of Babycakes Covers the Classics.  I highly recommend this book because the recipes are conscious and much more detailed than in the first book.  But it was a lot of fun and here is the finished product:

I made them into the shape of a smiley face.  Deal with it.

Home-Made Gluten-Free Pizza

I know I have not posted in ages, but school got the best of me.  I am back from the dead and alive as ever.  I learned over Spring Break that I have a wheat intolerance, rather than gluten, but I am still totally viable in eating (and cooking) gluten-free!

So over the semester, me and my boyfriend bought Bob's Red Mill Pizza dough mix and decided to be cute and make dinner.  We bought the mix, followed the instructions and put onions, garlic, and mozzarella on it, making the meal totally vegetarian-friendly as well.

So it isn't exactly round, but it was yummy.  So whatever.

That's our creation!  Unfortunately, the pizza stuck to the parchment paper which sucked a bit because peeling off parchment paper is the worst, but overall, it tasted it exactly like regular pizza, so our tummies were pretty happy.

This is Dylan eating pizza in my dorm kitchen.

I will try to do some other baking piece once I get more materials.  I really want to make the Babycakes donuts, but I don't have the right flours.  But I will post as soon as I do something else!

Hamilton Blender

Sorry for not posting for a while!  I have been super busy with school work and whatnot.  To give myself more time in the morning, I have discovered the beauty that is the blending of fruit.  Literally, it is the best idea I have had all semester so far, maybe even this year.  I bought my Hamilton blender at Walmart for 20 dollars and it does magic.

So far, I have made two smoothies for myself using fruit lying around my house.  The first was a watermelon, kefir, and ginger smoothie, which had a really nice mixture of flavor and texture.  I prefer kefir because it is too thick to drink in the morning, but quite frankly is not thick enough to eat as a yogurt.  The second smoothie I made was a pear, banana, nutmeg, and rice milk smoothie.  I wish I got Bosc pears more often; they are my favorite type.  The green ones are too tough and also leave a bit of allergy on my lips.

These smoothies make a quick and nutritious breakfast.  Just this morning, I got two servings of fruit and not in a whole lot of calories, for those of you who are health-conscious.  I'll probably be making more, so keep an eye out!