This weekend was filled with some fascinating food and cooking adventures. On Saturday the kids and I were visiting my grandma, and she suggested we order a pizza. I cringed a little because I have been seriously good (well, pretty good) about not eating any dairy this last week. Then I remembered hearing about a pizza place that had gluten free pizza crusts, and my mind began to formulate a plan...
I ordered a ridiculously expensive pizza with gluten free crust, mushrooms, black olives and no cheese. My grandma was all for it, as she is lactose intolerant and usually gets sick when she has pizza. (Don't ask why she eats it or doesn't take her little pill or something first.) So the pizzas came and there was one for the boys made with cheese and half pepperoni. Our pizza looked like a disaster, a $20 disaster. But I handed out the pieces and gave it a try.
Surprisingly, the crust was really good. It was made with rice flour, which I know can sometimes be gritty, but it wasn't this time. There were way too many black olives, and not nearly enough mushrooms, but other than that it was actually pretty good. The best part of it was that Grace could finally eat pizza.
She was hesitant at first. "I can't eat this," she said. "There's cheese. And sauce." I assured her that there was no cheese. And since I have been sneaking her tomato foods lately with no adverse results, I thought maybe she'd outgrown her tomato intolerance. So she dug in. First she picked off the toppings and ate them, then she ate the rest. She ate leftovers the next day. I can't tell you how exciting it was for me to see her enjoy a pizza with the rest of us. But next time I will make her one at home for a lot less money.
My grandma noted that her stomach felt a lot better after eating this pizza, and I noticed that I didn't have that heavy, full feeling I usually get. It really felt awesome. Who needs cheese anyway??
Yesterday I didn't have a lot to do around here so I opened up my favorite cookbook, "Vegan with a Vengeance" and set to work. You HAVE to buy this cookbook. Right now. Here, I'll even give you the link. Right here.
I had several ripe bananas sitting around and decided to make some banana bread that was vegan and gluten free. Thanks to my discovery of spelt flour, life has been fun for Grace at home. I found a recipe on The Post Punk Kitchen submitted by Isa herself for some banana bread and I can't even say enough about this stuff. I know I say this a lot but OH MY GOD. I'm pretty sure I made some kind of moaning noise when I bit into this stuff. I used applesauce instead of the margarine and used less sugar, so it was almost healthy. I think I ate a few too many pieces of it yesterday. And Gracie LOVED it. Thank you Isa!
Isa Chandra Moskowitz wrote that cookbook up above too. I recently bought some kale to give it a try and she has a recipe in the book for garlicky kale with tahini dressing. I have yet to try the kale, but I made the dressing and I know that I will never use another dressing again as long as I live. Tahini, a sesame seed paste, has a lot of calcium and protein in it. I had never made my own dressing before, and it was awesome. I could put this stuff on anything. Tonight I will try the kale, which is also high in calcium, vitamins and minerals. Who needs milk, right?
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