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southwestern meatballs the gluten-free version

food September 29th, 2011 @ 9:00 pm

I seem to have developed an obsession with photographing the food I have been making (when I make something other than, you know, KD or spaghetti). This probably annoys some people and interests others. Either way, it’s my blog (and my facebook and my twitter) and I will post what I want to. =P Since I haven’t yet posted about the meals I made last month, I thought I would try and keep on top of the ones I will make going forward. I don’t know how extravagant I will be, due to my pain (sometimes I can’t even hold a bottle, let alone open it), but if I have a decent enough day, I might try something out.

Yesterday the store called me to let me know the October edition of Clean Eating had come in. Today, since I had to go out to the bank and cash my strike check (so I can pay my mortgage tomorrow), I thought I’d take the longer way home and pick it up.

Southwestern Meatballs – Clean Eating, October 2011 – p. 52

Since last month’s issue caught my eye because of the meal on the cover, I thought it was funny that my first trial recipe from the newest issue was also the cover photo. That was just a coincidence, I had a couple of ideas for tonight and this one won out because the ground turkey was on sale and the chicken breasts weren’t.

Just in case you’re interested in this one (and it could even be Mummy-friendly if you leave out the jalapeños!) I thought I’d share it with you. ALSO, I did a gluten-free switch on the bread crumbs and I’m all proud of myself. Heh.

Ingredients – Part 1

  • 1 lb ground turkey breast (mine was extra lean)
  • 2 large egg whites (I dropped some yolk in there which I had to scoop out =/)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tsp olive oil (which I dumped into a tbsp so I could take photos)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin (I don’t think this would be too spicy for my Mum!)
  • 1 cup frozen corn (white or yellow)
  • 1 green jalapeño pepper (which isn’t in the original recipe, but I added for fun!) (it’s between the egg & salt)

Ingredients – Part 2

  • 1 15-oz can low sodium black beans, drained & rinsed well (I used the President’s Choice Blue Menu ones)
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes (used my last 3 tomatoes, plus one from the store)
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (we just squeezed the entire lime)
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs **

(Not pictured: 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth – which I forgot to pick up, so I used water instead. No difference to me, to be honest.)

** Ah, now, see? I didn’t use whole-wheat bread crumbs. I used this:

I am a clever little devil, I am. I can’t remember if I posted this on my blog, but I did on Facebook. I was thrilled when Shawn came home one day with a this box of cereal. I love Chex (I know, it’s so bland, but I do!) and this was GF! So I thougth – why not squish some of this up and make my own “bread” crumbs? We had one box with a tiny bit of cereal left in it and it was about 1/2 cup in the end after I spent a few seconds crunching away. (It was rather cathartic to be honest.) It worked just fine!

Instructions:

  • Combine turkey, egg whites, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well (duh). Shape into meatballs. Should make 16. (What do you know? I made 16! I just counted in the photo above. Ground turkey is a LOT stickier than ground beef is. It was messy!)
  • In a large skillet, heat oil on medium high. Add meatballs and cook for 3-5 minutes, turning frequently (or hacking at them to stop sticking to the pan) until brown on all sides.
  • Add corn, beans, tomatoes, broth (water), lime juice and cumin (and jalapeño!). Mix well.
  • Reduce heat to medium, partially cover and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes (until the meatballs are cooked all the way through).
  • Stir in cilantro and serve.

Verdict? It wasn’t bad. I think this is one of those meals that I would enjoy more the next day once all the flavours had a chance to absorb. It was tasty enough, but like with a couple of the other recipes I have made, it was missing something. I think I want to add a new spice next time. And there will be a next time.

There’s enough left over for another meal for ME. Not quite enough for Shawn. If I have an appetite tomorrow I might have it. (Stress doesn’t do wonders for my eating habits.)

And for fun, here are some photos of the meals I made from the last issue.

Eggplant & Sausage Linguini – Clean Eating August/September 2011 – p. 42
(used gluten-free pasta) 

Granola – Clean Eating August/September 2011 – p.23

3-Cheese Stuffed Shells (cover recipe) – Clean Eating August/September 2011 – p. 45
(Yeah… I didn’t go gluten-free on this one. It was hard enough to find the shells!) 

Chicken with Sweet ‘n’ Sour Fennel – Clean Eating August/September 2011 – p.76

(All of the above have been edited from the original recipe either dur to allergies or taste preferences, but each one was pretty good. I am super proud of my granola!)

I can’t believe I am blogging about food. I never thought I’d see the day. So I’ll stop now and go finish reading the October Clean Eating magazine to see what else I’ll be making (next up – some sort of spicy Jerk Chicken with spinach because we don’t have “turnip greens” here!)

food   ,   2 comments - (Comments are closed)  

spicy!

health or lack thereof, the anomaly that is me September 29th, 2011 @ 1:19 pm

Mum, this has flavour, keep away!

In my family, salt is THE spice. Pepper used to show up now and then, but since most of my family thought it was too hot, it didn’t really do much other than season my mashed potatoes (mixed with peas) when we had big, family dinners. I grew up in a meat & potatoes family where everything was bland. Most of my life anything that might have had a hint of flavour would be too hot and make me sick. Then, everything made  me sick, no matter if bland or flavoured.

I struggled with food a lot. It just didn’t want to stay in my body. Tests and medicine and specialists, surrounded me. When I had to live with my in-laws for a year (after the fire) they would even make me my own spaghetti sauce in a tiny pot next to theirs. Mine didn’t have chili flakes in it. Or onions.

I grew up dreaming of ways I could remove my entire digestive tract and still keep living. This was my goal.

Then, waaaaay back in November 2007, my mum dragged me to some naturopath, mystery appointment that I was highly sceptical of. Just what was this BodyTalk thing? Why should I trust it? Well, I didn’t at first. I mean, that first appointment made me very curious and it was only while waiting for the next one that I realized that problems I should have been having were few and far between. When we had our next appointment in June 2008 I started seeing my practitioner every month. By November 2008 I realized that I hadn’t been sick, or in the hospital for a year with my normal ailments. Something was going on, I wasn’t sure what, but I wasn’t complaining. I have been seeing Mira on a monthly basis for three years now. Wow. Four years this November from that initial session.

I don’t know why it works. It just does. I have always been extra sensitive to things, so maybe that’s the reason it works on me. Plus, it’s just really calming and relaxing to see her for an hour or so each month. Mira is a fantastically, wonderful woman who loves what she does and cares about her patients.

Anyhow… with all the mojo that’s been going on through BodyTalk something has happened to me that I never thought would happen.

I can eat spicy food.

(Heck, just being able to eat FOOD is awesome.)

It’s a wonderful feeling. I have been slowly trying out new foods over the last year and a bit. I now get my Thai food medium spicy (the full-out one just hurts my mouth too much and that’s not fun at all), I can now eat jalapeño peppers in foods. I can ask for hot peppers on my Quiznos subs. My new favourite pizza is one from Boston Pizza called The Pepper. It’s like a taco on a pizza that comes with guacamole and sour cream to dip it in. It’s delicious! And it’s not spicy to me at all! It just has FLAVOUR.

Sure I have this mystery autoimmune pain thing that is very debilitating, but I have to remember how extra debilitating the stomach issues were. I’d be in so much pain I was certain some internal organ had exploded and I was bleeding internally and dying a horrible death.

And now? I can eat food that has flavour. Taste. Food is finally exciting! I still don’t like to cook, but I have been more interested in trying new things. Last month I bought my first issues of Clean Eating magazine, I had totally meant to write about it and tell you all about the new foods I was making, but then September got in the way of anything remotely happy (though I did get my driver’s license finally) and I didn’t write about it.

But that photo up there on the right? That’s chicken, cooked in chili powder and garlic, with JALAPEÑOS, people! The entire meal (save the avocado/sour cream thing) was full of delicious spice and flavour. Sure, we used the mildest form of hot pepper there was. I don’t like the feel of the hot, I just like the flavour (though this taught me I should just buy the pickled peppers, because they didn’t really taste much different than green pepper except they made my lip numb).

I have put cayenne pepper in the meals, chili flakes, pepper flakes, curry (though that’s not really spicy). I have tried hot sauce, I have started eating different foods that I normally would have be scared of.

The only time I have any digestive issues now is when I am super stressed and anxious. This is one of those times, but it’s nowhere near the intensity that it used to be before I started going to BodyTalk and now I know why I’m getting sick when I eat. I also know there are foods I just can’t eat because they don’t agree with me (onions, for example. I get violently ill when I eat them any time).

It’s nice to have food options now. It makes for easier meal decisions, healthier ones. I don’t only have to live off of white bread and mashed potatoes.

If you want to know more about BodyTalk (it’s unconventional but awesome), you can go here. (You’ll have to click the About when you get there, though, since it won’t link directly.)

health or lack thereof, the anomaly that is me   ,   4 comments - (Comments are closed)