tamale pie! yum!

We all know I'm a crap cook. But I made something in the crock pot last night that was actually DELICIOUS! It's from Crockpot365- but you could easily adapt it to the oven as well, in a glass baking dish.

Tamale Pie
topping
3/4 cup cornmeal
1-1/4 cup flour (or GF baking mix)
1 cup milk (I used water)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder (unless you're using gluten-free mix, then omit)

filling
1 can drained/rinsed black beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can drained corn
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup cheese

Spray Crockpot w/ cooking spray. Dump in filling, stir. Mix cornbread in separate bowl, pour evenly over top.
Cook on Low 4-7 hours, High 2-4 hours (Mine was done at about 2.5 hours on high).

Of course, I mixed things up: I left out the onions (yuck!), substituted tomato paste b/c I had that on hand, doubled the spices, and added more cheese. (of course!) I also made this gluten-free by using Pamela's baking mix and skiping the baking powder. I also thought there was WAY too much cornbread vs. filling in this- it might be the GF mix I used- so I added a sweet potato after the fact. That's from a recipe on Karina's GF Kitchen, where she makes sweet potato enchiladas. You could easily add the sweet potato before hand- just peel and cube mix in w/ the filling. That's also a great way to get kids to eat their veggies, and they are super cheap right now going into Thanksgiving.

new blog love

I've taken several days off from blogging daily since I finished my 101 Things goal to post daily for the month of October. It was a great exercise, but difficult to come up with something useful every single day, especially as my day job was busy, I was training for my marathon, and was trying to get those baby blankets finished (result: still only ONE done). I'll try to post more often, instead of once every quarter like I was!!

Blogging daily has also forced me to find new and different blogs in an effort to find inspiration and new craft projects. I've realized that a lot of crafty projects by crafty people are created out of necessity- a need for a themed baby blanket, a need for a certain knit hat, a need for a child's costume. I don't have children (Bristow would eat anything I made anyway!), so it's hard for me to craft original projects because there are very few things I need around the house that I can make. Except clothes, but the baby blanket project taught me I'm a crap seamstress (I wrote "crap sewer" first, but thing it looks like soo-er, not so-er. ha!).

I've stumbled upon a few different blogs lately:
One Pearl Button- I think I found her through CraftZine but now I can't find the link
-Sweater Cloche and Gloves- she remakes the cutest things with old sweaters. I want to start knitting and sewing more now!

Zakka Life- I've found this previously a few times, but am loving some of her older projects (or, okay, ALL of her projects). I'm sad we don't have cute Japanese stuff in my town.
-Christmas Star Wreath
-Christmas Card Luminaries, which would be great for using up the hundreds of leftover xmas cards I have from last year's projects
-Vase made out of recycled bottles

Crockpot 365- I've been reading a lot of coupon clipping sites lately, and one of them linked to her. She's gluten-free AND is making a new slow cook recipe every day. Insane! But she has some delicious ones I want to try!!
-Like this Autumn Sausage Rice Casserole. Must have. NOW.

I blog gluten-free

Three years ago, I went to an allergist to see if I was allergic to anything. I knew I was mildly allergic to cats, but never had any other allergies growing up. They did the skin prick test and OMG the itching. I was diagnosed with a severe allergy to raw eggs, and mild to moderate allergies to everything else except ham, peas, and dogs. I was prescribed several allergy medicines, took the shots, everything. But the reason I went in in the first place- inexplicable hives- never went away.


One year ago, I went into my osteopathic/holistic doctor for a checkup. I mentioned that my stomach was always upset, I had these hives, I felt like crap, and I couldn't lose weight. He looked at me, paused, and said (duh) you're gluten intolerant! Stop eating wheat, you'll feel better instantly. He gave me a 30 day trial, and sure enough, I felt better the next day. I lost about eight pounds the first week, and my stomach issues and hives went away. I happened to see my allergist shortly after, and he said there was no way I was allergic to wheat, it didn't come up in the tests. Whatever, doc, but it's working.

Giving up wheat has not been nearly as hard as I imagined. It was tough at first- giving up Christmas then Girl Scout cookies, skipping beer and pizza after work, living on rice for the first few months. But it's actually really easy. I found a few good food blogs and resources, and I learned quickly what to avoid on labels. I cheat a little, of course. Beer doesn't bother me nearly as much as liquor does, a cookie here and there only makes me feel like crap for a day, and once every six months I have some pizza.

When my best friend was diagnosed gluten-intolerant about six months before me, I had barely even heard of gluten. I had no idea what contained wheat; I'm a crappy cook so I didn't know what kind of ingredients went into the things I was eating. IT seemed unfathomable to have to give it up- it's everywhere! But since then, it's gotten easier, and more and more people understand what I mean when I say I don't eat wheat. Yesterday, I was at a wedding and didn't get a slice of cake. My friends at my table asked if I was just being good (I'm also training for a marathon), or if I didn't like cake. I simply said, I don't eat wheat, and they all understood. It's surprising how many people are celiacs or have a gluten-intolerance now.

Some of my staple foods:
-candy. I had an immediate craving for chocolate after I went GF (gluten-free). It was a little out of control, even. A poster on the gluten-free forums mentioned that he had a similar problem, but magnesium supplements helped curb it.
-rice cakes with peanut butter
-brown rice
-corn chips and salsa
-fresh fruits and veggies to snack on
-Luna or Lara bars

Favorite blogs
-Karina's Kitchen
-Celiac.com
-Gluten-Free Forums