Happiness and Peace Come in Big Bowls

The employees of The Division of Medicaid, where I used to work over seven years ago, made a cookbook.  One of the recipes was for Monster Cookies.  It has oatmeal in it and no flour of any kind.  I knew right away this was something I could eat that was yummy!  The reason they are Monster Cookies is because it is a monster of a recipe.  I cut the recipe in half, yet it still calls for 9 cups of oatmeal. Yes. No kidding. Go to the dollar store and buy a huge plastic bowl to mix this up in.  I bought two. One I use for making Monster Cookies and the other one I keep in my bathroom to soak my feet in!  Both bowls bring me happiness.  But let us get on with Monster Cookies.  Following is the recipe:

Stuffed Stuff!

Stuffed bell peppers and zucchini are healthy, hearty, and makes my taste buds happy!  If you have a recipe or method of preparing stuffed bell peppers and/or zucchini, use it!  Just leave out the bread, breadcrumbs, crumbled crackers, or what have you. Leave it out or substitute in corn flake crumbs or crunched up wavey potato chips.  I buy Kellogg's Cornflake Crumbs. They come in a box, already made into crumbs!  Bake as you normally would.  I use browned ground beef, chopped onions, cooked basmati rice, celery salt, garlic, S&P, a little tomato sauce.  Mix it together and spoon into peppers and zucchini. Sprinkle some cornflake crumbs on top with a little butter.  Yummmm.

I love deviled eggs!

I love deviled eggs!  They are so quick and easy to make.  The recipe I use is in the Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner, by Jill Connor Browne.  Refer to Mal's Deviled Eggs, page 198.
This book is top-notch for enjoyable bust-a-gut humor and fatten-you-right-up recipes!
If you are trying to eat heart healthy, do use low-fat mayonnaise. Do not use non-fat mayonnaise, as it has more calories than low-fat. Low-fat has better flavor, as well.

A Little History About Gluten Free Living

I have been blogging about quilting for just over a year. I have been gluten intolerant for about ten years.  I have finally decided to add some tips and recipes for gluten free living.  Gluten free has come a HUGE way in ten years, baby!.  When I was finally diagnosed (by me, much to the irritation of my doctor, who had to tell me I was correct), there was hardly any gluten free food on the market.  There were some gluten free flours, and that was about it. You had to make everything from scratch and there was no making gluten free french toast or Oreo cookies from scratch. The first gluten free crackers I purchased, I had to purchase on-line and pay for shipping.  Those "Mary's Gone Crackers" were pretty good, but they were $9.00 a box, purchased of the web.  I figured out how to make gluten free cornbread. I never cared for cornbread, but was easier to make and I wanted some biscuits, gosh darn it!  I remember how upset I was when I found out that corn dogs had wheat flour in the corn breading.

But hey! Today, all kinds of companies make gluten free convenience foods.  Bye-bye Oreo's, hello Kinni-toos! Yum! A lot of food is naturally gluten free, like fruits, veggies, nuts, meat, corn chips, chocolate.  I for one have a couple additional intolerances at the same time, as is common for people who have gluten intolerance.  I also am lactose intolerant.  I must say, though, I get irritated by these cookies and things that have no eggs, no peanuts, no milk, no sugar, as well as no wheat or gluten.  I can eat sugar and peanuts!  What is in those things besides air?

I am not eating any cookies, or bread, etc., at this time, simply because I am doing the South Beach Diet.  So all that shrimp, cheese, veggies, and that healthy stuff are naturally gluten free.  Also, the South Beach folks are coming out with a new diet book:  Gluten Free South Beach Diet

It is due to be released any day now.  So, let us quit feeling sorry for ourselves and put down the mashed potatos, french fries, and hash browns and get back into shape.  Let us do it for our hearts! I am walking every day and attempting to get heart healthy. Plus, I want to look and feel fab again!  No gluten free apple pie in very fairly near future.