AF Diet ~ Day 9, 10 & 11

I am still off, but maybe this is the norm for being on this diet... I guess I'll know in another week or so LOL

Day 9:  (Thursday, January 9, 2014)

Breakfast:  I changed it up and had Vanilla Chex, which was recommended by a friend and I LOVED them, even better than the Apple Cinnamon.  I stuck with the rice milk because I liked its flavor with the Apple Cinnamon and figured it would work just as well with the Vanilla.  It did.  New fave!!

Lunch:  For lunch, I made my "famous" turkey burgers.  One for me and one for History Boy.  I use ground turkey, rather than premade burgers because I found I liked the way the seasoning tasted when it was mixed in with the ground meat, rather than simple on it's exterior.  I mix in Tastefully Simple's garden veggie seasoning.  Usually I also season with Garlic, Garlic but I grabbed the wrong jar and used Onion, Onion instead.  Still came out yummy. I ate mine without bread and ate some raw baby carrots.

Dinner:  Tonight, I made Ronzoni Gluten Free Penne Rigati.  I used Aidell's chicken meatballs with caramelized onions along with Priano (Aldi's brand) Tomato Basil Sauce. Everything was gluten free and REALLY good.

Instructions for making this dish: I boiled a pot of water, with a dash of salt and a tbsp of olive oil on the stove.  Once water was boiling, I heated meatballs (they come precooked) in microwave to 5 minutes.  Also, while meatballs were heating, I placed pasta in boiling water and lowered heat. Once pasta was done, I removed from heat and rinsed in colander. Then I replaced them in the pot. Place meatballs AND empty jar of sauce into pot. Heat entire dish for up to five minutes, just enough to heat up the pasta sauce.  Once heated, EAT!
I made less than I usually do since Angus is out of town until tomorrow but we still have a little left over.  Maybe that will be lunch tomorrow.

Snacks: I had Gratify's Gluten Free Pretzels, Sea Salt Sticks. They tasted great but I think I cheated a little bit because I used one of my fave dips with the pretzels, Tastefully Simple's Bold & Bossy Honey Mustard Sauce. It doesn't contain any dairy or gluten but it is processed in a factory that processes milk, fish, soy and wheat so... Wish I had a way to test how much gluten was in something or to know how much of a risk there is of cross contamination...



Day 10: (Tuesday, January 10, 2014)

Breakfast: Same as yesterday and just as delicious! I also had a clementine.  My order from Fresh Direct came last night so I've got lots of gluten free goodies and fruit now.  :-) 

Lunch: We had leftovers.  I was going to make Angus beefburgers (which are 90% lean) but I realized I had beans leftover and dinner from last night so I ate beans and History Boy ate last night's food. 


Dinner: I cooked branzino fish (first time), with yellow gold potatoes, a Jacksonville Carrots variation and a small side of unsweetened applesauce. At bottom of page are the recipes (my own and made my own). History Boy LOVED the fish.  He kept wanting more but I didn't have any more.  Good thing Angus is out of town until later tonight as I wouldn't have had enough for all of us if he had been here. At dinner I also tried Coconut milk.  I am not crazy about it.  I think I am going to stick to almond and rice even though neither of those thrill me either. I also have not found that any of these mix well with Hershey's chocolate syrup.  So unless I buy the chocolate versions of any of them, I am out of luck. I do not usually like premixed chocolate milk because it tends to be overly sweet, even for this chocoholic. So I swapped my coconut milk for a glass of OJ. 


Snacks: I started eating some dried Apricots but realized after eating 2 that they has wheat flour in/on them by reading label.  I didn't think dried fruit would be like that but... *sigh* This is tougher than it looks. Raisins should be fine though, right? I also found a great cookie.  Enjoy Life's Soft Baked Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies. They are dairy/gluten/soy free!  Yay me! Only downside is only 12 come in a box (yikes!) and they run about $3.50.  

Day 11:  (Saturday, January 11, 2014)

Breakfast:  Today I tried Dr. Praeger's Sweet Potato Pancakes for breakfast.  I used my toaster to heat it up.  It probably would turn out a little better in a Toaster Oven or the oven itself. They were pretty good.  I like sweet potatoes but I don't think they will be my faves, but they are enjoyable.

Lunch:  I tried an Almond Dream non-dairy vanilla yogurt.  It is gluten and dairy free, however it doesn't taste like real yogurt.  It's not that is doesn't taste good, but if you go in expecting yogurt you will be disappointed.  It does taste good, just don't think of it as yogurt. I also tried the "ready-to-eat meal" in a box by Go Picnic Sunbutter & Crackers. 

Dinner:  Tonight, we celebrated my brother's birthday at Cheesecake factory. We were going there and they have a Gluten Free menu but when we arrived, there was a 50 minute wait (at 4:30 pm!!) so we went to Famous Dave's.  I do not advise going here if you need gluten free. There only food that fit the bill were chicken, french fries and cole slaw.  Don't get me wrong, their chicken was good, but when I think Famous Dave's, I think ribs... They also have a warning.  They do NOT have a gluten free kitchen so there is possibility of cross-contamination.

Snacks: I had a clementine after breakfast, an apple later and a piece of Dove dark chocolate.  I was very good.  I really did only eat one!

Recipes:
Marinade for Branzino 
Ingredients:
1/2 c olive oil
1/6 cup lemon juice
dash of pepper
1 tbsp Provencal seasoning (it's a fresh direct seasoning mix with Sea Salt, Ground black pepper, garlic, thyme, lavender, rosemary, shallots and other spices)

Using large mixing cup, mix ingredients together with a whisk.
Place fish in large dish (I use larger corning dish) 
Pour mixture over fish.
Marinade for 2 hours, flipping fish over after 1 hour to evenly flavor.

Grilled (Pan Cooked) Branzino
Ingredients:
2 tbsp smart balance spread (gluten/dairy free)
1 lb Branzino head/tail off and butterflied

Place spread in large fry pan/skillet
Let melt thoroughly.
Remove Branzino from marinade and place on skillet skin side up.
Throw out remaining marinade.
Cook for 3-4 minutes or until it starts to brown.
Flip fish over, cook for about 2-3 minutes until skin starts to brown around edges.
Flip again (it may start to fall apart when you try to do this it is how you know it is almost done)
Cook until it seems to be falling off skin.
Remove from heat and p[lace on plates.

I removed the skin once I removed it from heat, as I wasn't sure if I should eat it and I knew History Boy would not. Apparently it depends on your taste, some eat it and some don't.  You decide.

Jacksonville Carrots (variation)
This recipe normally calls for garlic powder, frozen apple juice and hazelnuts.  As I had none today...

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of crinkle cut carrots, or thinly sliced carrots
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce (replacing tbsp frozen apple juice concentrate)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ground parsley
1/2 tsp minced garlic (replacing 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c smart balance spread. (replacing butter)
1/4 tsp cumin (replacing 1/4 c chopped hazelnuts today)

Steam carrots until soft. 
You can grate them into fine strips if you want or just your finely sliced carrots as I did.  
In large bowl, mix carrots, honey, applesauce, and parsley. (I think they would be better with the apple juice concentrate but I didn't have any on hand)
Once mixed, season with garlic, nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. (the cumin gave it a nice flavor but I think I missed the nutty flavor hazelnut would have given it but again I didn't have any on hand)

Heat butter in medium skillet
Fry the carrot mixture in the hot butter until heated thoroughly.