Bad meat at Publix :(

Today I am so glad I bought all that chicken from Zaycon. This is the third and last time I have been burned buying meat at Publix. First time it was packs of nasty chicken breasts, brought home and every single package smelled like rotten trash. Then it was the pork spareribs fiasco. We had guests coming over for chinese spareribs. I bought a huge rack, the next morning it smelled horrible in the fridge. Brought it back, was given a second rack. Got it home and it too stunk. I threw away the meat and gave up. I wrote to publix through their website, but sadly got no response.

Zaycon Chicken

This is my first time buying meat in bulk. My first time ordering from Zaycon Foods, first time getting fresh chicken. I had nothing in my new chest freezer, and had no clue how to use the new foodsaver machine I bought in anticipation of the bulk chicken order from Zaycon!

So first I have to say it was super easy picking up my order. There was a refridgerated truck in the parking lot at the given address, I gave them my name and bam - they put plastic down and put the box o' chicken in my car and I was off. Did you know that fresh chicken actually has a pleasant odor to it? I have always bought my chicken from a local grocery store, and even if you use it right away - when you first open the package it has a little smell of death on it. You know what I'm talking about! The fresh chicken smelled... well, nice! I was floored. The chicken breasts you get from Zaycon are collosus and I mean HUGE. I am totally impressed with the quality of meat I received and will definitely be ordering from them again!!

It took me two and a half hours to trim and bag all the meat, but keep in mind I was a newbie to using my food saver. I put the bags of chicken on cookie sheets and in my freezer, so I could work with one bag at a time and not spoil the rest. It was awkward because I didn't find my rhythm until the last bag. I washed my hands at every turn until my hands were stinging, so I looked at it logically. I ended up trimming an entire bag, throwing away the fat (there wasn't a lot!), washing hands, and putting a breast and a half in each foodsaver bag. I figure with six of us eating that is plenty - that's how big the chicken breasts are! I went through two 10ft foodsaver rolls, but it took me awhile to get the size of the bags right. I also had to let the sealer cool off a few times - but overall I'm very pleased with the little machine I bought. I got the 2400 series, and it just rocks. Of course, I have yet to look in the freezer to make sure everything I did yesterday is still sealed... but I have high hopes!!


Overall I am extremely pleased and I saved a ton of money!! I paid $1.79lb for the boneless skinless chicken breasts, and around my parts if the chicken isn't on sale it's $4.99lb. Substantial savings for us :)

Gluten Free Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs

These came out super tasty - but a fair warning they need to be cooked either on a grill or on foil. They get sticky!

Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
pineapple chunks
veggies of your choice - we think peppers would be awesome, add what you think would work!
teriyaki sauce recipe
skewers

Alternate meat, veggies and pineapple on the skewers. Grill or bake until almost cooked through, and brush with teriyaki sauce. Finish cooking and pour more sauce over them to serve! Super easy and yuuuummmy!

Gluten Free Smoothies

Lately I have been into making my own smoothies at home. Most are tasty, but I have had a disaster once or twice. Most recently I bought a maradol papaya - they are huge! They aren't sweet or gooey like the payapa's I'm used to, they're firm and not sweet at all. I grabbed a mango to go with it, and blended the papaya, mango, and some ice. It was ... savory I guess? Not quite what I expected, so I added some honey. Now THAT was a money shot - they were just awesome!! I usually put fruit with vanilla frozen yogurt into the blender and so it's like a fruity milkshake - this was something new for me. Yum!

Gluten Free Thai dish

Yes, I officially call this "Redneck Thai". I have no clue what originally made us put hot dogs instead of chicken in, but it came out just gold. The saltiness of the dogs goes so well with the peanuty yumminess of the sauce, and the noodles are just awesome! Ok, noodles are awesome compared to other gluten free noodles available in my local stores. It's slim pickins. It's officially called Thai Peanut Noodle Kit, but once we put the dogs in it we felt completely redneck, and out came the name. No, it's not the healthiest dish in the world but seriously once you're forced into eating gluten free (thank you celiac disease) sometimes you just have to indulge. Everything can't be all fresh fruit and vegetables!! I used to totally indulge myself and eat two huge bowls of Sugar Smacks cereal, since going gluten free Redneck Thai is my two bowl indulgence. A few times a year. Someday I'll figure out how to make gluten free Sugar Smacks then it's watch out world... and my waistline!

A Big Shout Out To Udi's!

Thank you Udi's for the most wonderful thing - hot dog buns!! I now eat hamburgers and hot dogs just like everyone else does, on a bun! I just grab one from the freezer, heat it up in the microwave and it's just heaven. Heaven! I'm so glad these are available in our area, since Big Kid will now have to eat gluten free with me. He would be upset if he could never again have a burger on a bun :) Udi's you make gluten free life so much easier! We also enjoy Udi's gluten free bread loaves and chocolate muffins, omg are they amazing. WOOHOO! GO UDI'S!

The end of a long hard day of homeschooling

This is Diesel, resting after a long day of laying on our books while we homeschooled :) We have one cat who is the typical cat, he loves us but acts like a prince. Diesel is just a fool. He's more like a dog than a cat, and is completely loyal to Big Kid. He cries when Big Kid sleeps at a friend's house, and lays next to him just about every day, all day. I use Diesel as an excuse to never have to put up with owning a dog!!

Red Velvet and Yellow Cake Gluten Free Cupcakes

I must first admit I use Paula Deen's recipe for the red velvet cake, and just substitute The Gluten Free Pantry's All Purpose Flour when she calls for all purpose flour. I didn't make the frosting, since I was crunched for time I used Betty Crocker's whipped cream frosting. It was white and tasty, fit the bill perfectly. Yes, it's gluten free. I used my favorite go-to awesome recipe from Chef Talk - this recipe - for vanilla cake, and just added blue food coloring until it looked good and blue. The layers looked awesome when they came out of the oven, I had no idea they would color the papers too! They looked so fun frosted with red white and blue sprinkles! And as always, both cake recipes were just amazingly moist and tasty.

I personally find it really easy to pour my cake batter into disposable icing bags and just clip the tip, and squirt exactly how much batter I want into each cupcake liner. Less mess, less frustration especially when you are using bright red batter! I don't use the bags for icing, for some reason I always blow a side out when I use them for frosting. Maybe it's the way I squeeze the frosting out, or how I hold the bag in my hand. When the side pops frosting goes everywhere ... and it only has to happen a few times before you use a different bag! I am in love with my stained old Wilton white frosting bag, and now I have so many frosting tips I really should learn how to use them all!! Someday, when my children are grown I'll need something to do to keep me occupied. I'll learn how to use frosting tips then :)

Patriotic Toenails

Yes, I am a redneck. My husband laughed and told me I can no longer call myself a "yankee" with the paint job I just put on my toes! I am by no means a professional stylist and I promise I don't have the talent it takes (ok or the patience) to paint straight little white lines. Here's the secret - you know how after your kids take all the stickers off a sheet of stickers, there is a sheet of sticky paper that the stickers were cut out of? I cut that into tiny little strips then stuck the strips onto my nails. To make the X blue I cut the four corners off the sticker sheet and stuck them on my nail - painted two coats of blue, and took them off. I used the same white strips on both nails, and just cut the strip into tiny little squares to make the stars. Not perfect, but I did at least get 13 stars on the confederate X to represent the 13 colonies! I could not however fit 50 little stars into the American Flag nail. Still, pretty spiffy for a half an hour and some sticker leftovers! I painted them with two coats of topcoat once I was done. They'll last at least through the weekend, we're having a Fourth of July bash :) Yeehaw!

My son has celiac disease

:( Unfortunately I have passed this lovely disease onto my oldest son. He's 13. I think I am taking it harder than he is. When I told him he simply hugged me and told me he doesn't blame me. He then asked if we could make custard and creme filled donuts at home! Priorities I guess ha!

I have been dealing with celiac disease and the gluten free diet since July 2006. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it yet I'm going to the doctor in a few days to find out if I am anemic. Apparently I don't have a "great" handle on the diet! I certainly don't want my son to become anemic, so I may make an attempt to find a dietitian who actually knows about celiac disease. The one I went to when I was diagnosed couldn't get past the "no wheat" part, and kept telling me to eat toast and oatmeal to help my body recover from the years of diarrhea. Um, no thank you. I have a hard time giving some health professionals enough credit. For six years I was told I had HIV, then when the tests came back negative I was told I had IBS and was sent on my merry way. For six years. I knew the doctors were morons, IBS does not make you have the symptoms I had. I assumed I had cancer and they just couldn't find it, even with all the colonoscopies they did. I bled a lot, it really was horrifying. Now I know it was my body busily killing the villi in my small intestine! Who knew?!

All of that said I guess I should just be really, really thankful that my son didn't have to go through what I did before finding out we were celiacs! And yes, I'm willing to give dietitians another go, maybe I'll find someone who wows me. I still can't believe I have passed celiac down to my child :(