Lunch - Caesar Salad from Arugula

Arugula makes some really wonderful food!   Their salads are amazing!  I should note, however, that I have found that I, and others, do not tolerate their gluten-free pizza crust well.   I have no idea why, but this side effect has proven to be relatively consistent.  

Dinner - BBQ'd Souvlaki, Brown Rice, Cauliflower, and Coleslaw 

A friend brought over the grilled souvlaki (they were from a pre-prepared package, but all the ingredients were ok for me).   I made brown rice with Roasted Garlic & Peppers One Step Seasoning added to the rice at the beginning of the cooking process.  I cut up a head of cauliflower and cooked it at a medium-high heat in my dutch oven with a bit of water and avocado oil, until it was soft.   

I also made some quick coleslaw.  
Ingredients:
half a small head of green cabbage, finely sliced
one apple, thinly sliced
1/3 cup currants
approx. 3 tbsp rice vinegar
one tbsp. maple syrup
salt
black pepper

Party!

I thought it would be nice to show how great my friends are about bringing treats to parties that I can have!   I think the only things I couldn't eat on this whole counter were the finger sandwiches and the nuts.  

There were some dried mangoes, dates, potato chips, grapes, and guacamole, among other things.  I'm a lucky woman! 

I just wanted to bring your attention to this amazing new food vendor in North Bay, the North Star Traveling Cafe!   You can find their food at the Saturday Farmers' Market and, although I can't eat it, I hear it is delicious!  

Breakfast - Rutabaga Fries and Chicken

Yup, this is really breakfast!  Once you start eating a balanced meal for breakfast, you'll never be able to go back to processed carbs again, you'll just feel so much better. 

The chicken comes from deHaan Family Farms in Powassan.   I met this lovely family at the North Bay Farmers' Market, and I'm loving their birds!  

I cut the peel of the rutabaga, sliced it into fries, dumped them in a pyrex lasagna pan, poured some avocado oil on top, then added a few tablespoons of this seasoning mix: 

7 tbsp. mild paprika
one tbsp. smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp. ground ancho chile powder
one tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. ground black pepper 

I mixed up all the ingredients with my hands, put the pan in a 400 degree oven, and roasted the fries until the they were soft, turning once (approximately 45 minutes).  

Lunch - Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce 
(adapted from www.cookieandkate.com/2015/peanut-dipping-sauce)

Here's a nice little video about how to use rice paper.   You can find this paper in the international sections of many local grocery stores, the package will look somewhat like this.   

Here are the ingredients of my favourite dipping sauce (just put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together).  

¾ cup creamy peanut butter OR sunflower seed butter
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup water
⅓ cup reduced sodium tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger or ½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 to 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced, to taste

I filled the rolls with avocado, lettuce, carrots, and bean sprouts.   Not much protein in this lunch, but that is just fine every once in a while.  

Dinner - Breaded Fish and Salad

I got this wonderful fish and chips (with salad in place of the chips) meal at the Hour Glass Restaurant in Sudbury, they have a great gluten-free menu! 

I've been travelling down to Toronto for work a lot lately, so I figured it was time for another travel based 'What I Eat' post.  I did a fair amount of cooking.   As you can see from the picture below, at one point I was using every burner on my stove to get ready for this trip!  

What have I got in all those pots?  Well, you can see the lovely asparagus (which one my patients brought me as a gift from their garden!!!).   I sauteed the asparagus in a little bit of margarine.   The orange pot has some broccoli steaming in it.  The frying pan has Dalew Farms ground beef, to which I added some balsamic vinegar and crushed garlic.   The stainless steel saucepan has a porridge that I made by preparing whole grain red rice with some frozen blueberries and fresh strawberries.   

Here's my cooler, all packed.   As you can see, I've got some mangoes, apples, a cucumber, rice cakes, and some freezer packs.   Beneath that there are some Daiya mozzarella style shreds, peanut putter, a package of hummus, avocados, and stainless steel containers with the meals I prepared on the stove.

Here's a picture of the breakfast porridge.  It doesn't LOOK super delicious, but it was amazing how much it smelled like candy!   I didn't need to add anything besides the red rice, the blueberries, and the strawberries, and it was delicious.

Here's me eating one of the meals on my lap during a seminar (I added a basil pesto the broccoli and beef).  Besides the obvious advantages of keeping my meals hypoallergenic and saving money, bringing my own food also means that I get to spend breaks exploring the area I've traveled to! 

I was staying in the Danforth so, of course, I had to visit the Big Carrot!   I had access to a kitchen for this meal, so I picked up some organic dinosaur kale and sauteed it with some garlic.   The fish was a pre-cooked (smoked, actually) mackerel made with salt, pepper, and mustard.   It made a nice meal!  

I ate this meal at one of my favourite restaurants with a gluten free menu, State and Main.  This is their fish taco dish, with romaine leaves substituted for the tacos.   It was so good!