What I Eat - Day Fourteen

Beet Breakfast  (please forgive the slightly blurry photo)

-one large beet, previously steamed and cooled, skin removed, and sliced
-Daiya mozzarella 'cheese'
-one tsp. dried dill
-3 tbsp. raw sunflower seeds
-one tbsp. olive oil
-fresh ground pepper

*it's best to steam beets without cutting off the top or the bottom 

Lunch - Pumpkin Pasta

Ingredients
-one small baking pumpkin (I cut the skin off first, cut it in half, scoop out the insides, and then cut into small pieces)
-one orange bell pepper
-one red onion
-one teaspoon curry powder
-three cloves of garlic (put through garlic press)
-brown rice noodles from Tinkyada

Directions for Pumpkin Topping
I started by chopping up the onion and began to fry it at a medium heat.  Before it was done, I added the pumpkin pieces.   I test my pumpkin with a fork to determine if it is done.  I shoot for leaving it a little bit firm, so that the pieces don't become too mushy.  I usually add about a half cup of water, and let it reduce/evaporate as the pumpkin cooks (this prevents the pumpkin for burning or sticking to the pan).   Then I added the garlic, curry powder, and bell pepper .  When the pepper was cooked, the topping was done.

Topping
I totally forgot to put pine nuts on top of this dish before I took a photo of it.  Please use your imagination....

Directions for Noodles
I would recommend using only a small amount of noodles in comparison the vegetables in your dish.   Rice noodles tend to stick together, so you don't want too many of them.   Bring a pot of water to boiling and then add noodles (I used half a package).   Give them a good stir when they first go in the pot to ensure that none stick together, but then stir them as minimally as possible afterwards.  Take them out of the boiling water a bit before they are done (because carry-over cooking will finish the job for you).   Rinse them once.   Either serve them immediately OR put some oil on them to stop them from sticking together.   Rice noodles make TERRIBLE leftovers (they get really hard and I swear to God they don't taste as good), but I find they keep okay for a couple of days if you mix them with oil and vegetables.  

Use Those Seeds!
Save the pumpkin seeds, rinse them off, and bake them for a delicious and healthy snack.  My pumpkin had been in storage a bit too long, so I decided to pass on the seeds this time.  I'll give instructions for pumpkin seeds in a future post. 

Dinner - Roasted Cauliflower and Tofu

This is the easiest dinner I make!  I rinse and cut up a head of cauliflower.  I cut a block of firm tofu into cubes.   I heat up my oven to something above 380 degrees.   I put the cauliflower and the tofu (sprinkled with a spice mixture) in an oiled pyrex pan (I either put them in separate pans, or I put the cauliflower in first and mix it around so that it gets coated with a very small amount of oil).   Then I bake (approximately 45 minutes and/or until the tips of the cauliflower start to brown).   That's it! 

I purchased the spice mixture that I used on the tofu (pictured below) at Vested Interest here in North Bay, they have loads of gluten-free foods, including fresh baked goods!

My favourite cookies are pictured above.   These cookies are free from nuts, dairy, corn, and gluten.   I enjoy these cookies because I feel good when I eat them (and they're yummy).  Specifically, I may, or may not, be admitting to the entire world that I've eaten an entire bag in one sitting on at east one occasion without feeling anything other than fantastic.   Other gluten-free cookies (fresh and packaged) tend to make me feel sluggish or jacked up on sugar.