Whistling While I Work

Been busy as a bee lately, snapping pictures at Specialty, hiring summer staff for the theater, helping keep the office organized at FDG, and baking delicious gluten free treats every chance I get. I feel so busy sometimes that it makes my head spin but overall its been an exciting few months. I know my work schedule won’t be like this forever, maybe not even for the rest of the year so I am trying to enjoy my crazy life right now just as it is. The only thing that has really saddened me is my lack of time to write consistently on here. Squeezing in more writing time is sitting pretty high on my list of priorities right now, I won’t make a promise of when because I know myself too well to do that but I will say this, it may not be this week or even this month but a semi consistent writing schedule is on the horizon and before the end of the summer I plan to be back in the saddle or more specifically in the kitchen and behind the keyboard again.

Until then here are a few blog posts I had the pleasure of writing for Specialty Produce. If you love food (and if you are reading this I imagine you do) then you are going to swoon for this yummy webby site. It's consistently packed full of delicious tidbits like scrumptious new San Diego restaurants, farmers market finds, and recipes. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Sweet Syrah

TGI(pizza)F(usion)

The Taste of Little Italy

Lovely Lemons

Scrumptious Simplicity

xoxo

Rachel Marie

Whole Food Finds and the return of Rachel Marie

I know it’s been quite a while.

There are stories to tell, recipes to share, new products and restaurants to gush about, and lots of catching up to be done but for now let me start with something simple. A delicious trip to the grocery store.

I headed to Whole Foods for lunch today not knowing exactly what I wanted and after wandering up and down most of the isles, trying out a few lotions, and tasting a few samples of cheese and watermelon my basket was filled with a scrumptious selection of gluten free goodies.

For lunch I decided on a salad from their organic salad bar.

Spring mix
Spinach
Sunflower sprouts
Carrots
Beets
Corn
Peas
Sunflower seeds
Dried cranberries

I opted to wait till I got back to the office to eat so I could use my own yummy dressing

To drink I found a delicious new Kombucha!

Botanic #9 which has bilberry, honeysuckle and red clover.

And for my sweet tooth I picked out an Enjoy Life Chocolate bar with crispy rice.

This GF vegan chocolaty treat reminds me of a Crunch bar but better!

I also picked up a snack to have after yoga tonight.

A chocolate banana muffin from a local bakery called Muffin Physics. All their treats are wheat, dairy, soy, nut, egg, and gluten free.

Like I said earlier, there is much more deliciousness to come and soon, I promise!

xoxo

Tasty Taco Thursday

Working in the San Diego Metro area makes it so much easier for me to talk myself into meeting up with friends for dinner, drinks and other downtown evening adventures. As of late I have been devoting Thursday nights for meet ups with my brother, Chris. Last week we went to Bernardo and Melanie Bermudez’s condo for a delicious dinner al fresco.

 

Chris works in Imperial Beach and is always so kind as to pick up lots of fresh Mexican goodies whenever we are meeting up for dinner. The night of our gathering at the Bermudez’s he brought along some pollo asado, queso fresco and a bundle of freshly made corn tortillas and since I was coming straight from Specialty I brought along some fresh veggies.

 

Super Scrumptious Soft Tacos and Stuffed Peppers

Feel free to mix and match ingredients as you like. Between the four of us these just happened to be the ingredients that we had on hand and they made for a most delicious dinner.

 

Ingredients for Stuffed Peppers

Bell Peppers

Mushrooms, roughly chopped

Garlic, minced

Onion, minced

Queso fresco, crumbled

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Cut the tops off the peppers, deseed them and then set aside. In a small bowl combine the chopped mushrooms, onion, garlic, queso fresco, salt and pepper. 

Stuff each pepper with the filling and then set aside. 

 

Ingredients for Tacos

Bell Peppers, cut into bite sized pieces

Zucchini, cut onto bite sixed pieces

Corn Tortillas

Queso Fresco

Pollo Asado

Once you have all the peppers stuffed and the veggies for the tacos prepared you are ready to head out to the grill and get cooking. Arrange all of your goodies on the grill and let cook until the veggies are tender, the chicken cooked through, and the stuffed peppers piping hot.  

Once the taco filings are done warm the tortillas on the grill, fill them with the veggies and chicken, and top with a sprinkling of queso fresco.

 

We also made salads with field greens, cucumbers, mushrooms and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and balsamic.

 Everything was delish! Bernardo and Melanie’s condo has a wonderful outdoor sitting area that not only has a grill but a lovely arrangement of couches, chairs and a fire pit perfect for relaxing with friends long into the evening.

  

Many thanks to the Bermudez's for having us over for such a delicious dinner! In addition to being fabulous hosts Bernardo and Melanie are both talented artists as well. Melanie is a fabulous painter and web developer and Bernardo is an amazing singer.

The Return of the Sandwich

Quesadillas have been my go to dinner dish lately. Tortilla + any number of veggie, fruit, spice, and cheese combinations = a most delicious dinner. Another delicious way to enjoy the afore mentioned ingredients is nestled between two slices of gluten free bread. As much as I love spending the day making fresh baked bread sometimes there is just not enough time in the day for all of that kneading, rising and baking. Luckily there are some fairly good gluten free breads on the market these days, such as:

Glutino

Food For Life

Ener-G

The key with store bought gluten free breads is serving them warm, preferably toasted which is perfectly peachy because one of the most delicious types of sandwiches are grilled paninis.

GF Grilled Paninis

Ingredients

A few slices of your favorite gluten free bread

Earth balance, butter or olive oil  (for non stick and browning purposes)

Thinly sliced veggies and cheese (soy, rice or moo cow)

       Here are a few of my favorite combinations:

Thinly sliced bell peppers + tomatoes + basil +minced garlic + mozzarella cheese 

Thinly sliced bell peppers + minced garlic  + spinach + pepper jack or mozzarella cheese 

 

Gather up your ingredients, chop up your veggies, and grab a large pan and cast iron skillet if you have one.

Butter one side of each slice of bread while your large skillet warms over medium high heat. Place the bread in the hot pan butter side down and top one of the slices with the cheese and veggies. Top this with another slice of bread to complete the sandwich and let cook on medium heat until the underside is browned. Carefully flip the sandwich and then if you have one, press a cast iron skillet gently atop it. 

 

If you don’t have a cast iron skillet you can simply press down firmly on the sandwich using a spatula. Let this cook for another few minutes or until bread is browned and the cheese is all melty. 

Delicious!

I am eager to try and recreate one of my favorite sandwiches from my last visit to Amsterdam, thickly sliced dry salami + mature cheddar + butter = yummers!

For the Love of Lunch

Since I took up work at Specialty my days of running home for an hour long homemade lunch break have pretty much come to an end. Switching from a 2 mile commute to a 26 mile one has a tendency to do that. Instead of running home for lunch I now snack on cheese and crackers, trail mix, and fresh fruit from the warehouse.  Once a week I also go out for a yummy lunch, one of my favorite lunch spots lately has been Natures Express in Hillcrest.

 

Formerly known as Kung Food, Natures Express serves up a most delicious selection of vegan, raw and gluten free deliciousness. (Thanx to Kate for being my lunch date and being so gracious as to model with the Nature's Express Sign!)

   

Food is laid out cafeteria style with little labels listing the ingredients and whether or not the selection is raw and or gluten free.

 

Their selections change from day to day, personally I like to try a little of whatever new gluten free dishes they have on display. I do have a few favorites though that I always keep an eye out for like the spicy lentils, peanut tofu salad, and their mashed potatoes and gravy.  Now typically I am not much of a mashed potatoes and gravy girl but I l-o-v-e these spuds!  

 

Back when they were Kung Food they charged by weight, now they charge by the plate offering a small and a large plate that you can eat there or take to go. I typically go with the smallest plate because I always like to save room for one of their delicious raw desserts.

 

Cookies, chocolate mouse, and my personal favorite… the coconut cream pie and chocolate cream pie.

To be honest while the coconut pie is delicious and beautiful I must admit the chocolate is my favorite of the two. This rich, chocolaty slice of goodness is not only raw but completely gluten free! They also have a vegan + gluten free frozen yogurt that I am very much looking forward to trying on the next warm sunshiny day I happen to be dining there.

 

In addition to inside and outside sit down dining they also have a drive thru with lots of vegan fast food items like burgers, hot dogs and sweet potato fries. I don’t think there is much in the way of gluten free dining options at the drive thru but I have yet to investigate it. After my next visit I promise to return with a full report on any gluten free discoveries I might find.