Spring Meltdowns and Gluten Free Comfort Foods

This has been a funny weather year in the Northeast... we had a record breaking HEAT wave in March which caused the great meltdown of the ski resorts. We managed to pull through it and set a new record for latest snowmaking on record for Sugarloaf. Those dedicated snowmakers unfurled the hoses and made snow on March 27th. Snowmaking usually ends for the season in early February and the snow from snowmaking and Mother Nature has been known to last well into April and even into May here at Sugarloaf.  The snowmaking effort paid off and the mountain recovered in good fashion and Mother Nature even came through with more seasonable temperatures and a bit of natural snow.

I'm not gonna lie- this ski bum enjoyed a week of summer temps and even sported chacos and shorts during the heat wave.  The pups also soaked up the rays of the sun in style.

 We did ski during the great meltdown and I was well prepared with my Udi's Bagel for lunch on the ski lift.

The bright side of a spring meltdown is that you actually can eat a bagel on the lift without the fear of frostbite setting in. This is a rare mitten-less photo of my hand that would not normally occur.

This new cold spell has inspired a more winter like menu and I found myself making the first Beef Stew of the winter and it created a wonderful aroma in the house as it simmered in the crockpot all day. 

 We also found comfort in a warm Risotto with chicken....

 And in Red Curry with chicken and veggies...

I've also revisited my Peanut Sauce with Chicken and Noodles

Now the calendar and Mother Nature seem to have made peace and we're going to enjoy skiing for a few more weeks here in Maine. I'll take this kind of meltdown any day over the kind of meltdown we went through last winter.  That was much harder then melting snow and it pains me whenever anyone has to go through those types of challenges. So please join me and let's send some good thoughts to Marlow from Gluten Hates Me who is facing her own roller coaster this year.
Here's a Survival Smoothie (virtual style) for Marlow and anyone else who needs some antioxidants for some serious fighting power.

Oh Bother Smoothie
1 handful ice cubes
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (Wild Maine Blueberries preferred here at campchaos)
1 cup apple juice (or a bit more)
1 scoop Spiru-tein High Energy Meal Vanilla Flavor (make sure it's labeled gluten free!)

Toss all into a blender and hit the smoothie button until smooth. Place in favorite mug and feel the blueberries power you up. 

"Oh Bother" Gluten Free Smoothies

I love my Eeyore mug, it's over sized is the perfect fit for a powerful smoothie whenever I'm fighting off ski country germs (all winter long). The best part about ski towns is that we get visitors from all over- the worst part is that they all bring different strains of germs along with them. I wish we could just have the people but it's a package deal.

Oh Bother Smoothie
1 handful ice cubes
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (Wild Maine Blueberries preferred here at campchaos)
1 cup apple juice (or a bit more)
1 scoop Spiru-tein High Energy Meal Vanilla Flavor (make sure it's labeled gluten free!)

Toss all into a blender and hit the smoothie button until smooth. Place in favorite mug and enjoy while fighting germs.  
Note: this won't save you from getting germs from away then getting slammed with a cold but it will taste good and help you fight the cold so you can get back on the slopes without a large pocketful of cough drops and tissues. I fully expect to see you out there regardless of how you feel. It's New England and we're hard core skiers. Now, can I borrow a tissue? What you don't want it back? Never-mind, I'll just keep my germs to myself behind my scarf here.