Don't add the mayonnaise

Last night I made this casserole that I have made before. Its really tasty, when you remember to omit the mayo that the original recipe calls for. Lord only knows why they call for mayo in it, because it does not help the flavor at all! It's way better without. Of course I was not thinking last night when following the recipe and I added the mayo(or the vegan version of mayo) So here is this tasty quick casserole minus the mayo part...

Chicken Veggie & Rice Casserole

1 cooked chicken cut up. (I usually cook up about 2 chicken breasts)
3 cups cooked rice
2 stalks of celery( if you want) cut into 1/4in pieces
2 carrots cut or shredded(up to you)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup broccoli florets (if you want)
2 16oz cans french style green beans
4oz mushrooms (if you want) Can you tell you can pretty much add or subtract any veggie you want?
1 10.5oz can of cream of celery soup
(For the gluten free version  I just mixed up some(like 1/2ish) organic chicken broth and a little corn starch
to thicken things a bit)
1cup(give or take) parmesan cheese(non dairy or otherwise)
1/2 a stick of butter (or vegan butter)

Preheat the oven to 375F
Cut your cooked chicken up into cubes & set aside.
Saute the onion and veggies in the butter until tender.
Once veggies are done mix them, chicken, rice, soup(or soup substitute) together
fold in green beans and add any spices you feel it needs.

place in a 13x9" pan or whatever size it will fit into and bake 30-40 min until bubbly.

I warn you this makes ALOT of food...so you might wanna cut things back if you aren't going to feed an army, or all of your friends like I usually do.

And there you go....yummy veggie filled casserole...just remember...
Don't add the mayo!

xoxox

 

I have a freezer full of food I can't eat...

Today, this gluten free diet pissed me off. I looked in my freezer and to my horror there was NOTHING short of frozen ham lunch meat that I could eat. I mean everything right down to my meatless burgers had gluten in them! I was sad...and mad...
I also realized that perhaps the reason I had a headache today was because I ate some vegan "sausage" that also after I read the ingredients in more detail also had gluten in them. I didn't think to re-read the ingredients because I had bought them prior to going gluten free and I sort of assumed that they would not have gluten in them. Needless to say, I have felt icky and had a headache all day and didn't know why. So after much pouting about my freezer full of food I could not eat, I settled for lentil soup...
Then I made gluten free chocolate chip cookies. They are a win...I followed this recipe and it worked great!

So in conclusion; I am still mad that I have a freezer full of food I can't use...and mad that I unintentionally had gluten and feel icky for it, but I learned that gluten free cookies can be AWESOME.

Next I will be posting about my experience with gluten free bread. I tried one bagged mix and it came out pretty good. At least better tasting than the stupid pre made rice bread. *gag* that stuff was just gross.
So there you have it.

xoxox

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am going gluten free

Okay, this is sort of not on the topic of fast healthy food and more on the topic of my new journey in the food department of life. I have been dealing with some major allergy issues the past few months. I've always had allergies and been super sensitive to stuff, but noticed it getting worse over the summer. I did some digging and discovered it could have to do with an allergy to Casein one of the proteins in dairy. Most of my issues happened after I ate something with dairy. So I, to my great sadness began a non dairy diet. (I really love cheese and yogurt) but since moving down to Florida and becoming busy with school I've noticed that while cutting out dairy has helped quite a bit with my issues it hasn't fully removed all my symptoms, so I did some more sleuthing and talking and found that maybe I might need to cut glutens out of my diet. O__O WHAT?! You mean cut out even more of my favorite foods?! Well I decided to try it because I would rather feel better...So yesterday I went out and pretty much restocked my kitchen (let me just say that not having a Whole Foods here in Daytona sucks) I had to go to 3 different stores to get the stuff I needed and boy did it cost me an arm and a leg!
Tonight I had my first gluten free dinner, pretty good. So far no major allergies or anything. I am hoping this will help with my headaches and the other various issues I have had that seem to relate to gluten intolerance. When I go back home in December I am going to have my Dr test me for both the casein allergy and gluten sensitivity, but in the mean time it's just the process of elimination to figure it out.

That brings me to my next point. While this blog is suppose to be geared to healthy living for the busy student type, it's going to probably shift for a while to healthy eating and learning to adjust to a gluten free life. Obviously I want to keep it focused on the easy meals and budget friendly because I am still a busy student...Just be aware that its gluten and dairy free from here! Also I plan to post my adventures to learning how to bake and cook my favorites gluten free now. It's a new journey one of many I am facing this year...when it rains it pours eh?

Big love everyone...and here are my frist gluten free baking/meal making experiences.

 Thank Jesus (or whomever you want) for Betty Crocker and their cake mix! I am impressed. The cupcakes I made with this turned out wonderful!

I made a batch of my normal frosting. It's a Wilton recipe and I think, not only is it perfect for cake frosting etc. but it is just the right amount of sweet for me. I hate overly sugary tasting frostings so if you want that recipe let me know. *nom nom*

Now for dinner tonight.
This was a SUPER fast meal to whip up and the only thing I had to worry about being gluten free was the tortila I used.
So in a bowl mix:
2(ish) Tablespoons of olive oil
2(ish) Tablespoons of lemon juice
then add 2 to 3 cans of tunafish. I only used 2...
now for the fun part! You can pretty much add anything
that tickles your fancy.
I chopped up some tomato and red onion
added parsley a little salt and garlic powder.
Then the recipe calls for pita bread so you can fill the pocket with your
tuna mixture, but I could not find gluten free pita bread so I used my
tortila bread, added a little lettuce and ta da fast, tummy healthy dinner!

Enjoy!
:)