A bit of blog love...Lettuce Wraps... a la PF Chang Style

One of my favorite things about reading other blogs is being able to relate to another person's gluten free story. Each of us arrived at the gluten-free lifestyle a different way but we each stay for the same reason- to feel good and enjoy food again. Posting recipes and sharing food via the internet, blog love at it's finest.
Dave and I have been making lettuce wraps for years but the other night we dug up Heidi's recipe over at Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom and used it as a guide to make PF Chang Style Lettuce wraps. So good and a great dinner for two...

I'd like to blame my lack of blogging on spring. I'd love to say that the weather's been great so we're spending time outside with the dogs at night instead of the kitchen but that's sadly not the case as we had over a foot of snow last week Yes, it's May. Yes, I do miss spring. Yes, it's mostly melted now so I can start to pull out chacos until the next snowstorm later this week.
Dave's a snowmaker and groomer at the ski resort so we're readjusting to making dinner for two again. I'm spending a lot less time in the kitchen making and perfecting new recipes and experiments. When I dine alone, I tend to get obsessed with a new dish. Dave won't go for that as he likes variety. We're trying to move into summer mode even if Mother Nature has other ideas for us.

Moab and a bit of blog love

Each spring, when the ski lifts stop turning but the snow is still falling there seems to be a huge influx of Colorado visitors to Utah. We joined the ranks a few weekends ago and hit Moab for some sunshine and relaxation with our two goldens along the muddy Colorado River.

This time we were well prepared for glutarded travels. We were camping with a small stove and planned to make most of our meals. Dave planned campfire potatoes with gluten free bun-less hot dogs for one night and Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta with gf sausage for the other. I brought a bit of Redbridge to enjoy by the campfire at night and lunches were easy thanks to Udi's Gluten free bread that tastes good even untoasted. Breakfast would have been a snap with jars of Artisans Pancake mix, a bit of butter, a 8oz travel soy milk and egg but instead I found this online and had to try it. I've become a big fan of just googling "gluten free" with the name of my destination.  

The Love Muffin in downtown Moab makes gluten free and vegan muffins. I had a GF Banana Muffin and was pretty happy. It was a bit dry but a solid muffin overall. We went back the next day and they were out of muffins so I had eggs & potatoes, they also had a warm quinoa salad for breakfast with honey and fruit but I just wasn't feeling it.

 Back at home I've been enjoying street noodles and working on my wok skills. We also found a recreation of my beloved but oh-so-far-away PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom.

Heidi broke it down and while we haven't tried the whole process we loved learning the trick of the rice noodles. Dropping the noodles in the hot oil is every bit of fun as she describes. I tried two different rice noodles and liked the thinner mai fun noodles better. We served with some rice and enjoyed the meal.

After I learned I had a problem with gluten we bought a rice cooker and it gets used at least once a week. Dave's always been a rice fan and we had been devoute rice a roni people until I learned that a lot the the seasoning packets weren't safe. If you invest in one be sure to get one that also has a steam basket as it makes great steamed veggies as well.

my version of street noodles

One of my favorite restaurant meals is the simple street noodles from PF Chang's but since 7 hours is not a reasonable drive for take out I've been working on making them at home. We have these at least once a week and make a large batch so that I can have leftovers for a lunch or two.

This is my recreation of PF Chang's Street Noodles.

Prep:
Boil water for noodles in a pot that can also have a steamer placed on top
Cut veggies. Use at least 1/2 cup of mixed veggies plus 1/2 medium onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I like 'em all small and uniform. Take your pick- broccoli, carrots or something else fun. I saved a lot of time by getting sliced carrots the size of matchsticks from the food store. I'm kind of an OCD carrot cutter and was spending at least 20 minutes cutting them into matchsticks.
Cut chicken (thin slices) and marinate in a gluten free Asian sauce (1-2 breasts) I usually make up a bunch and freeze in packets for future meals in the marinade. San- J has a good selection of Gluten Free sauces or sometimes I just use La Choy Soy if I'm out of marinade

Cook:
Steam veggies (but not the onion or garlic) on top of boiling rice noodle water until desired tenderness then drain and set aside
Saute onions and garlic in 2 Tablespoons of toasted sesame oil (TSO)  then cook chicken.
Boil Mai Fun noodles for 4 2-3 minutes, drain then rinse with cold water. (6oz will feed 2 people and have leftovers for lunches)
Add 1-2 more tablespoons of TSO and add noodles and veggies
Add 2-3 tablespoons of gluten free soy sauce to the noodles and cook on a high heat.
More TSO and Soy Sauce may be added for more flavor. The noodles will absorb a lot a flavor and high heat is recommended.

noodles and off season

I've always been the type to find something new and have an instant addiction... my new meal is street noodles. The noodles first made a blog appearance when Dave was out of town and I did a small batch with sauteed spinach.

The latest version has broccoli, carrots, onion and spicy chicken. It's all stir fried with sesame oil, garlic powder and soy sauce. It's not quite PF Chang's but tastes pretty good when it's 7 hours away! It reheats well so I make a large batch to ensure lunches for the next day.

We just entered our off season which means it's the lull of tourists in between summer gondola visitors and skiers that will soon hit town. My thai food place is closing for a month at the end of this week and I'm trying to get my fill before that happens. I actually had to wear my down jacket to walk Chaos this morning and I'm off to my ski conditioning class tonight. The local physical therapy center puts it on which doesn't make a lot of sense to me since this is preventing me from becoming their client later in the season. It's been almost a year since I went wheat free and I'm curious if the class will work better this year since my body isn't fighting gluten anymore. I haven't lost a ton of weight in the last year but easily dropped a pants size when I lost the gluten bloated belly. 

gluten freedom with spinach and rice noodles

Dave's gone back east for the weekend so I  have the freedom to play around with silly meals to my hearts content. He had really embraced gf cooking at home and while I enjoy his cooking I don't crave a full meat and potatos meal every night. He tends be the default chef and needs a solid meal after working on the mountain and outside all day. My office dwelling self does not need that many calories but there's no point in cooking two dinners each night so we tend to eat GF meat and starch.

I cooked some rice noodles and sauteed some spinach then stir fried them together. My lesson for this late dinner was the discovery that two cloves of garlic was too much for my simple style. I'm not really a garlic fan but since the Joy of Cooking suggested it I tried it. I felt very Julie as I reference the iconic cookbook- even if it was just the JoC instead of  MtAoFC. I did get to see the movie when it came to town and loved it. I hadn't read the book but took care of that last Friday afternoon in the sunshine with Chaos on the porch while enjoying some redbridge. I really like the rice noodles and when I reheat the leftovers tomorrow I'm going to try to add a bit more flavor to them. Tonight I had added some gluten free soy sauce and it didn't take on as much flavor as I thought it would.

I took Dave to the airport today and since we live in a small mountain town this means that this was a hour and a half drive each way. We headed down early to run a few errands and grab a late lunch. Although Dave's not glutarded it's still hard to find food in airports these days during layovers and his layover in Denver was going to be short with a long run from his puddle jumper to the big jet. We hit the pizza place with a gluten free dough option. Since I've become a lot more sensitive to everything  I had to ask about their peanut sauce and was bummed to learn that it was off limits. The waiter was great about double checking and I appreciated the extra time he put forth. They make their peanut sauce with peanut butter and SOY sauce... I didn't ask him to check the soy. I just assumed that they used the cheap stuff that is loaded with wheat like most others. I was pretty bummed since I was already planning on leaving out the cheese and was craving a thai chicken pie. I went with a pesto, chicken, onion and broccoli pie on a gluten free crust. Dave had a gooey cheese filled gluten filled pie with peperoni and sausage. I was jealous for a second until I remembered how sick that pie would make me.

Speaking of... I am officially glutarded. I can now join the club and get the t-shirt. I've been to the gastroenterologist and sent my DNA off to the lab. I have the DQ2 Alleles (DQA1*05/DQB1*02) given this and my vast array of symptoms the GI Doc confirmed that I have a big problem with gluten. He didn't think it was worth the time and energy to do an endoscopy since I haven't had  any real amount of gluten in so many months. I could go and eat gluten for two months and have the test done but this seems silly for a few reasons- I don't think I could deal with doing that much damage to myself and I don't think Dave, my friends or I could tolerate me on gluten again.... the few times I have ingested gluten were HELL. Migraines and body aches are not something I look forward to. Given all this evidence the GI handed me a small trifold pamphlet of info and welcomed me to the club. The trifold gave Dave and I a good laugh since I have consumed books and spent countless hours reseaching everything about gluten since last November!

Side Note: If you happen to share genes with me I suggest you pay attention! You and your offspring are at risk~ feel moody, poopy or funny after meals or are you tired and lethargic, grumpy or gassy~ you could be glutarded too. It's a fun club... along with a growing arsenal of books and products there's even t-shirts and stickers to help with the gluten free life. Going Gluten Free has really helped me... 

The GI Doctor did suggest that I keep a food and symptom log since a lot of foods seem to be messing with me. It's been pretty frustrating- I'm ok with losing gluten. I've accepted that and moved on but dairy including cheese... please say it ain't so! I've been avoiding it and then re-challenging. The re-challenge seems to prove that dairy and I are not friends right now. It sucks but I've been finding ways to get my fixes without causing myself dairy hell. I seem to tolerate butter in cooking but have swapped to Silk Soymilk and have avoided cheese. I can't believe it but Dave even found this "ice cream" that is gluten and dairy free. It's the first time I've had cookie dough ice cream in almost a year. I love the coconut tones in it. It's not much more then a pint of Ben & Jerry's and is so worth it.