Sorry, guys, not too much to report this week. Though it’s been a cooking-heavy week full of delicious, non-inflammatory food as the Great Cleanse of 2012 continues, not much of it was photographed, as my main focus is on some technical behind-the-scenes stuff right now as I transfer this blog over to WordPress and move everything over to our own domain.
Back on track next week, I promise, when I’ll be cooking up a big mushroom lasagna for a weekend down in Bend to see Yonder Mountain String Band with a house full of friends.
In the meantime, I will take you on another gluten-free cracker adventure, this one bearing a surprisingly happy ending.
I recently gave in and admitted that no, in fact, I just can’t handle the woodsiness of amaranth hot cereal while I’m in this gluten-free phase of things. I would opt for a fresh fruit smoothie, or the gluten-free granola from New Seasons with almond milk, any day.
So, faced with a glut of leftover amaranth grains, I decided to try out another go at gluten-free crackers. To start with, I sprouted the amaranth for three days by soaking it in water, draining it in a jar with a mesh top, and then rinsing it daily so the grains stayed moist.
- Then last night, I gave it a final rinse, and tossed it in the blender with the following:
- a handful of sesame seeds
- some rehydrated wakame seaweed
- a dash of coconut aminos
- garlic powder
- Italian seasoning herbs
- and enough rice flour to thicken it up into a nice wet paste
I spread it all out on a tinfoil-lined baking sheet…
Scored it, sprinkled some finishing salt on top…
And baked it at 200 degrees for about an hour and a half, checking it every 20 minutes and taking it out right when the thickest pieces were no longer pliable.
The verdict? “Not too bad…considering.”
Grocery Time!
New Seasons 4/8
Erewhon brown rice cocoa crispies: $4.49
Theo chocolate bar: $3.59 — no soy lecithin or dairy! Too good to be true!
hazelnuts: $6.89 — I grind these up in my morning smoothies
medjool dates: $2.45 — I had a grand plan to make gluten-free dessert bars out of these, but ended up just eating them whole
brown rice flour: $3.79
chickpeas: $2.97
red quinoa: $6.23
white quinoa: $4.11
salmon lox: $5.29 — my indulgence for this week! Gotta have some salty treat to keep me happy during my cleanse…
cucumbers: $3.96
red kale: $2.49
radish bunch: $1.49
mixed greens: $3.50
red onion: $0.91
bananas: $1.92
whole free range chicken: $10.47
olives: $5.79
TOTAL: $70.34
REMAINING FOR MONTH: $12.44
***MOVED FROM “DINING/DRINKING” TO “GROCERY” BUDGET FOR 2 WEEKS OF MY CLEANSE: $70.00***
REMAINING FOR MONTH: $82.44
A new look for the blog, next week!
How did the rest of my Project: Food Budget-ers do?