Gluten-Free Tea Party

My dear friend and PTA Co-Chair is having a baby boy in a couple weeks.  She didn't want a baby shower so instead my friend Heather and I decided to have a small gathering of our friends and drink some tea.  There were also Mimosas because it was the weekend and weekends are made for champs and orange juice.

Jennifer's 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in January and she was going to be attending the party with her her mother so I wanted to make sure we had things that she could eat.

I made egg salad and cucumber sandwiches.  I'm about to reveal the two secret ingredients to my world famous egg salad.  Are you ready?  After chopping up the eggs...add a small squirt of Dijon mustard and a sprinkle of sugar.  I made the cucumber sandwiches with whipped cream cheese and very thinly sliced cucumbers.   I love the UDI White Bread and it worked out great!

My friend Heather hosted the party with me and she took my Gluten-Free Theme and ran with it! She made cupcakes, they are from a mix but she added lemon extract and they were delicious! Her chocolate chip cookies were the best I've ever had!  She also found a great assortment of GF chips and other snacks for the kids.

A fruit and veggie tray provided by our friend Debbie and the party was complete!

The china we used for the party was purchased on Ebay when I was pregnant with my son.  I wanted a Tea Party Shower so badly but my gay brother in law ended up hosting my shower because I didn't have any friends and it didn't work out.  This china will always remind me of my first pregnancy and I love using it.  Perhaps I should use it more often....like on a random Tuesday.

Vacation Food

For our trip to Orlando, I brought several food items to eat for snacks and breakfast.

We liked eating something in our room to start off the day and then we'd eat an early lunch and beat the crowds.  Not that there were many crowds because the first week of November is considered off-season.

I brought cereal bars, granola bars and nuts.  Each night, we'd stop in the little store at the hotel and purchase milk for the next morning.  

While shopping for this trip, I came across some fun meal replacements at Target.  We tried the Hummus and Salami one and we loved them both.  They are $3.99 but I got them on sale for $3.50 which is a bargain compared to what the theme parks charge for breakfast!

If you're looking for a gluten-free meal, the Hummus and Crackers is the one for you.  It was also very filling.

Another thing that saved me on this trip was bringing little half and half cups for my coffee.  I can not stand the powdered chemical packets that are supposed to pass for creamer.  Having these in the hotel room made starting my day so much easier. 

Eye of Round with Horseradish Cream

I've been trying to be good and eat little to no gluten. It's been tough! I should have never had the gluten free for all that was December. Getting back on track has been a little bit easier with a couple great recipes that I've found recently.

This is a new favorite!

I recommend using a Programmable Probe Thermometer.  You can also find them at Target with the kitchen gadgets.  The original recipe said to leave in the turned off oven for 2 hours....but because I was using the thermometer, I knew my roast was ready after only 35 minutes.

Eye of Round with Horseradish Cream
adapted from My Recipes

1 package of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (4 pound) eye of round roast
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine the cream cheese, horseradish and mustard.  Stir until smooth, cover and chill.

Combine wine and butter in large bowl or a zip lock bag.  Add the roast.  Cover the bowl with a lid or saran wrap and chill for 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Remove roast from the marinade and discard the marinade. Place the roast in a foil lined 13 X 9 pan.  Combine the salt, pepper and garlic powder in bowl, then rub on the roast.

Bake uncovered at 500 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Turn the oven off and do not open the door until your roast reaches 145 degrees (for medium rare) or 160 degrees (for medium).  This can take up to 2 hours but my roast only took 35 minutes.

Thinly slice meat, reserving pan juices and serve with horseradish cream.

The One Where I Cry Over Popcorn

I went to Whole Foods this morning for my new addiction.

This amazing Caramel Corn from Rocky Mountain Popcorn is my new favorite thing!  It's gluten-free and just so tasty.  

I was disappointed to see that Whole Foods (the one in Belmar) didn't  have it and there wasn't a tag for it either.  I almost cried!  

How can you get me hooked on this little bag of heaven and then not have it anymore?  

I decided to try a few other things instead.  Reluctantly.

I just ate a couple small bowlfuls of 365 Kettle Corn and just realized that it's NOT gluten-free.  CRAP!  Well....it tastes good anyway.