Soften Saturday: A Trip Down the Stairs

This week’s Soften Saturday is a guest post from my friend Tina, who writes at It’s A Journey…from Princesshood to Beyond.  I met Tina a few years back at the gym, where she straight up said to me one day, “I wanna know your story.  What’s your deal? How’d you get here?”  I’m guessing she eyed a fellow traveler, another gal who battled with body image, that damned scale and food.  Her writing is always thought provoking and encouraging and has the same to-the point style as her approach to me that day at the gym.  I hope Tina will be a frequent contributor to Soften Saturday, I know you’re gonna find yourself saying, “Yes!” and “Exactly!” when you read what she writes.  –Johnna

And it inspired me.  

Why do we have to praise ourselves only when we achieve super human feats? You know what I mean?   We all have end goals.   We all want to achieve great things, but what if along the journey we were all just happy because we did something small.   What if we were happy because we accomplished SOMETHING in our day.   I think we all need a few more pats on the back.

Yay me!   I made it through today without eating crap!   Yahoo!   I got up today and got going, even though I was feeling cruddy and wanted to lay around!   WOO HOO!   I parallel parked my car in the appropriate number of turns!   I’M AWESOME RIGHT NOW!  Why do I have to wait until I do something HUGE??

You know we do it for our children all the time.   We praise them for all the little things they do.    It builds them up.   It helps them develop self esteem and pride.   It’s good for them.

Vegan Bourbon Maple Bacon Jam or Maybe It’s a Relish?

Awhile back, bacon jam recipes were popping up everywhere.  A local restaurant started serving sides of it at brunch. Friends were posting pictures of their at-home attempts to make it.

Because I hate missing a food trend, here’s my addition.  Yep, I’m late to the party, but I’ve got a tasty recipe to share.  Do yourself a favor, make a batch of this and put in on top of a waffle.  Drizzle with a little extra maple syrup and indulge in one of the most interesting flavor combinations you’ll have on a waffle.  It’s smoky, sweet, bourbon-y, perfection for breakfast!  Or have it on a burger, put it on toast for a crazy variation of the classic BLT.  It’s good just about everywhere I’ve tried it, even in oatmeal. Not kidding.

Many of the variations of bacon jam you’ll find on-line are processed a bit in a blender or food processor for a smoother texture.  You’ll notice I’ve left mine a little chunkier.  I tried making it both ways and like the texture of it unprocessed.  Nothing changes in the flavor, should you choose to blend it, I just like the chunks of coconut bacon being a bit more, well…chunky.

Oh, one more thing.  You’ll need a bag of Phoney Baloney’s coconut bacon to make this.  I’m slightly obsessed with coconut bacon and put it in lots of dishes, including guacamole.  It’s good stuff, get some! Or make some.  Want a recipe to make it at home?  Holler if you do and I’ll post my version soon.

I’m linking this post up with Healthy Vegan Fridays and Wellness Weekend.  Check them out for lots of terrific recipes!

Heart Healthy Happy Hour and Wheat Belly

Each quarter the Cardio Wellness Center of St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City hosts a Heart Healthy Happy Hour.  I went to the most recent one, which included speakers Dr. James O’Keefe and Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly.

So I gotta get this off my chest before I tell you about the evening…When Wheat Belly first came out, I was asked by lots of folks what I thought about it.  Most were asking because they were wanted to go gluten-free or grain-free to lose weight.  I’ll contribute only one opinion in this post, and my opinion is this:  If you are looking for a weight loss diet, gluten-free or grain-free may not be the solution. Store bought gluten-free counterparts of gluten-full products are often higher in calories and carbohydrates.   It’s still possible to eat lots of processed crap that is labeled gluten-free.   A gluten-free donut is still a donut.  I’ve seen my share of grain-free products lately, including desserts and processed snack foods.  Eaten in moderation, they are fine, but they are still a dessert or a treat.  Whether intentional or not, Wheat Belly was promoted as a weight loss diet, one that simply required eliminating wheat.  (If you read the book, you’ll know there is more to it than that, but the damage was done in the media.)  I encourage whole, healthy foods for the majority of what we all eat and am not in total agreement with Wheat Belly.  I still think it contains valuable information and is a good read for anyone who finds they need to eliminate gluten or all grains from their diet or for anyone who is interested in learning about the agricultural revolution of wheat.

Whew!  I feel better already.  Now, on to the evening.

The first speaker was Dr. James O’Keefe.  He is very entertaining and shared engaging stories about his life, travels and family.  He is also an equal opportunity offender, in a light hearted manner.  Early on he mentioned that vegans are missing essential animal protein necessary to rebuild our bodies and later said that bacon is virtually the worst food that there is.  Here are five tidbits I took away:

1. Don’t expect your doctor to do for you what you should be doing for yourself.

2.  People who are always learning are happier and healthier.

3.  People who have sex about four times per week with a steady partner are perceived to be 7 to 12 years younger than their actual age.

4.  Run for your life…at a comfortable pace and not too far.  Dr. O’Keefe suggested, “If you really want to do a marathon, go ahead and train up for it and do one…then cross it off your bucket list and get into exercise patterns that are more ideal for promoting overall health and longevity.”  The suggestion was no more than 60 minutes of strenuous exercise a day.

5.  You might make a living from what you get, but you make a life by what you give.

Up next was Dr. William Davis.  Here are five takeaways from his lecture:

1.  Supplements important to our diets: Probiotics (on the short-term), Vitamin D, Omega 3, Iodine and Magnesium.  He said other than the effects of wheat, one of the  health issues he sees most is Vitamin D deficiency.

2.  Wheat is in almost all processed foods and it keeps us hungry.  (The suggestion was made that food manufacturers are aware of this and are putting wheat in food to increase food sales.)

3.  Wheat bread is higher on the glycemic index scale than table sugar.

4.  Say no to gluten-free, don’t buy products labeled gluten-free. (This was in reference to processed foods labeled gluten-free. Processed food is processed food, gluten-free or not.)

5.  A big NO was given to wheatgrass or any grass that would typically be eaten by a ruminant.  These were attributed to being as bad for us as any gluten-full grain whether the grain portion of the plant was being consumed or not.

At the book signing, I got the chance to ask Dr. Davis if he thought being tested for Celiac disease before eliminating gluten was essential.  His answer:  NO.  (The picture below is us discussing this…)  He said unless a person needs to have that label for their own peace of mind or unless they need the diagnosis for insurance purposes, he didn’t recommend it.*

I learned a lot from both of the speakers and hope you found at least one interesting bit of information here.  Whether I completely agree with speakers like this or not, I always leave with some new nugget of knowledge that helps me on my journey to health.

*Dr. Davis is a medical authority, a cardiologist with a fancy degree.  I am not, I’ve got no credentials and am just a gal living with Celiac disease.  That said, I regret not getting tested prior to eliminating gluten and encourage others, as a friend, to at least get a blood test (even though it is not 100% accurate) before eliminating gluten.  There can be other health concerns with Celiac disease that I think may be overlooked without a diagnosis.  And from a genetic standpoint, it’s good to know as family members may also benefit from the diagnosis and seek their own medical care.  Please read this (specifically the last Myth in the article) and this post from Shirley of Gluten Free Easily, where she shares Dr. Guandalini’s findings that the majority of those diagnosed with Celiac disease present with extraintestinal symptoms, not the gastrointestinal symptoms many expect.  This gives me reason to hope anyone considering eliminating gluten and/or grains will get tested prior to elimination. 

Taste Guru: Gluten-Free Delivered to Your Doorstep!

Summer has arrived and I’ve got a million reasons to need a few grab-and-go snacks.  You, too?

Taste Guru to the rescue!

Like the many other box-a-month clubs that are popping up like crazy, Taste Guru is a monthly delivery right to your home.  What’s different about Taste Guru is that all of the products are gluten-free!  Every month you get 7-10 products and you’ll save at least 20% off the retail price.  They also tuck in a recipe card each month with a custom creation from the Taste Guru Chefs.  Plans start as low as $25 a month, shipping included.

To give you a better idea what’s included, last month’s box had Gratify pretzels, Flamous falafel chips, Rocky Mountain popcorn, KIND granola, Coco Cafe Latte, Canyon Oats Oatmeal Cups, Glutino Toaster Pastries and corn pasta from Le Veneziane.  Lots of goodies for not much $.

But to make this an even better deal, I’ve got a special offer for you!  You can get your 1st month for only $12.00 shipping with the coupon code below. (Subsequent months include free shipping.)

I’m not a mathematician, but that’s a pretty good deal.  Less than $12 for more than $25 of gluten-free goodies delivered to your doorstep.  I think I’ll go sign up now…

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.  By clicking on links in this post and making purchases, Johnna may make a bit of money, which allows her to continue providing free content to you on this site.  Thanks for your support!

Soften Saturday: Pretty Is As Pretty Does

This week’s Soften Saturday is a guest post from Iris of The Daily Dietribe. I first knew of Iris as the co-author of The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide and have enjoyed learning about her other skills, including her health coaching and hypnotherapy offerings.  She’s a savvy gal with a great perspective on healthy body image.  I’m excited to have her guest posting here! –Johnna

Pretty is as pretty does.

 Really? So what does pretty do?

 Pretty is quiet. Pretty fits in. Pretty does what she’s told. She is smart. She gets good grades. She gets married and has children and lives in a house in the suburbs. She stands up for herself, but only just enough to let people know that she’s a strong woman. Not too strong. Just strong enough.

 Not like those feminists that hate men.

 Pretty is liked by other women. She is that girl next door that you want to be and you also want to be friends with. She is the girlfriend every guy wants because she’ll play the part perfectly.

 Pretty does not make waves.

 I have spent my life trying to be pretty. I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t hard. I had everything I needed. Nice features, long curly hair, white skin… I was quiet, demure, intelligent, well-liked. Normal.

 Inside I was a mass of quivering nerves and anxiety. My stomach hurt all the time because I was working so hard to fit in that I couldn’t express myself. I stuffed my emotions inside as surely as I stuffed food in late at night. I exercised frantically to burn the calories from late night bingeing episodes, all in the effort to maintain that I was normal. I was pretty. I was okay.

 I have always found something wrong with my body, something I could obsess over. When I looked at the women in magazines, I knew there must be something wrong with me. They had no hair on their bodies. Anywhere. They never sweat. They were much skinnier than I was. And how the heck did their breasts get so big without ever getting stretch marks? Seriously, there must be something wrong with me.

 I think I spent the majority of my teens and early twenties thinking I was different from other women, that I had to hide my flaws so no one would know just how un-pretty I actually was.

 And then I realized what a game it all was. Just a big game of advertising. Those women I saw in the pictures weren’t perfect. Or let me rephrase that. They were perfect until they were photoshopped into oblivion.

 I spent my life hiding who I was. Now I work with women to teach them how to stop hiding. Here’s what I know now: Women get stretch marks. Women sweat. Women have hair on their bodies. Women have bellies. Women are not pretty. Women are spectacular. Every single hairy, sweaty, stretch-marked, soft, muscular, amazing inch of them.

 Pretty is as pretty does. And pretty fits in. I don’t want to fit in anymore. I’d rather be spectacular.

 What about you?

You can read more from Iris here and also on Pinterest and Facebook. 

About Soften Saturdays:  Soften Saturdays features posts from me and others I admire on the topics of healthy body image, healthy living, being kind to ourselves and more.  Saturday is an especially great day to think about being soft with ourselves!

JoeJoe’s, Gluten-Free..and a collection of other Trader Joe’s gluten-free cookies

Major excitement ensued last week when a friend said someone had mentioned on Facebook that Trader Joe’s now has Gluten-Free Joe-Joe’s.  A quick phone call confirmed that indeed, Gluten-Free Joe-Joe’s had arrived earlier that very same day. Off across town I went to find these cookies…

I should explain the excitement.  See, I’m not a huge fan of Oreo-like cookies but I will eat them.  It’s my favorite fella that causes such a commotion about chocolate sandwich cookies.  Ever since his first trip to a Trader Joe’s on the West coast several years ago, he has had a Joe-Joe obsession.  “These are so much better than Oreos,” he tells me.  “See the vanilla flecks in the cream filling?” During the holidays, he has paid to have boxes of Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s shipped here.  The problem is that we try to keep our kitchen gluten-free so any Joe-Joe’s that he eats are kept in the basement, like some sort of illicit substance that must be secretly consumed under cloak of darkness.

So a Gluten-Free Joe-Joe could be a great solution.  He could eat cookies with wild abandon in the kitchen, I wouldn’t have to worry about cross contamination.  But how would these stack up?

Well, they certainly aren’t the same as regular, gluten-full Joe-Joe’s but they are a good sandwich cookie.  The vanilla bean specks are present in the filling.  The big difference for me is that the gluten-free version contains eggs.  While I do eat eggs, I’d much prefer not to eat eggs that come from chickens I’ve not met.  (I know, I’ve got issues, but I really like the idea of only eating eggs from hens that are happy.)  The regular version of Joe-Joe’s is free of both dairy and eggs, the gluten-free version is only dairy-free.  The cookies are crispy and they get paste-y in your mouth just like any chocolate sandwich cookie.  As for comparing them to other gluten-free sandwich cookies, they are just as good as any I’ve tried and at $4 a box, a pretty good deal.

Sometimes it’s possible to figure out who is manufacturing products sold at Trader Joe’s.  The gluten-free JoeJoes are manufactured in Canada but the ingredient list doesn’t match up with any of the gluten-free sandwich cookie brands I could locate in my area.  If you’ve got a guess as to who is making them, I’d love to hear it!

Here’s a quick snap of the ingredient label:

While at Trader Joe’s to buy the gluten-free JoeJoes, I bought a selection of gluten-free cookies from their current offerings.  They have a good sized collection of gluten-free cookies!

First up, a tried-and-true favorite for me. Gluten-Free Gingersnaps.  I’ve seen these at Trader Joe’s as long as I’ve been shopping there.  Crunchy with just the right amount of ginger.  I like using these for pumpkin cheesecake crust.

Next, a cookie I had never tried before: Iced Lemon Rounds.  I found these in the bakery area, where loaves of bread are kept.  There are seven soft cookies in the clamshell case.  These contain milk and eggs.  The flours used in the cookies include brown rice flour, potato starch, white rice flour and almond flour.  They are lemon-y without having an excess of pucker power.

Up next, the Soft-Baked Snickerdoodles.  This cookie is free of the top 8  allergens.  It reminds me of the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodle.  Hmmm….  There are 12 little cookies in the box and they are very soft.  For someone concerned with how a gluten-free product is manufactured, these cookies would be high on my recommended list.  While none of the cookies offered at Trader Joe’s claim to be made in a gluten-free environment or are certified gluten-free, this cookie is the one that I would guess could be made in a gluten-free facility.*

Last on my cookie adventure is the Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie.  These come 14 to a package and they are exactly as described, crispy and crunchy.  Not for everyone, they contain dairy, eggs and soy.  These had disappeared from my local Trader Joe’s for awhile but reappeared recently.

I did buy one more gluten-free item while at Trader Joe’s, the gluten-free Chocolate Chip Brownies.  They come two to a package and like the Iced Lemon Rounds, are found near loaves of bread.  They contain milk, eggs and soy.  The package does clearly say though that they are made in a wheat, peanut and tree nut free facility.  I didn’t eat this, my favorite fella did.  He said they were soft on the inside with a bit of that crunchy exterior he likes in a brownie.  I’ve got nothing else on this except that they looked good and were intact in the packaging.  When I first went gluten-free, it was pretty typical to see crumbles of what was once a cookie or a brownie on store shelves.  These brownies were in one piece, as were the other cookies sampled for this post.

So there you have it, a look at the new Gluten-Free Joe-Joe’s and other gluten-free cookies from Trader Joe’s.  I’m excited to hear what y’all think of these, too.

*Trader Joe’s labels many products with a “g” symbol, indicating no gluten ingredients were used.  I have only located one product in their stores that contains information on the label regarding whether or not the manufacturing facility is gluten-free.  That would be the gluten-free Chocolate Chip Brownies.  Please take this into consideration when indulging in any products, at Trader Joe’s or otherwise.  Just because a product is labeled gluten-free does not mean that it has not been subject to cross contamination.  I hope one day there will be labeling standards so we know that a product is indeed gluten-free and has been tested so we know for certain it is safe to eat. 

Spiralizer Round-Up, Recipes To Use Your Noodler!

Did you catch the amazing deal Amazon has going for my favorite Spiralizer?  When I last checked, you could still snag one for $22.49, the cheapest I’ve ever seen it! Last week I saw Chef Amber Shea mention this steal of a deal and then Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily mentioned it and well…I figured you all jumped on it because a recommendation from these gals is good as gold. This kitchen gadget is a must-have, especially at this price!

So you bought one and now you’re wondering, “What do I do with it?”  Besides the typical zucchini noodles with marinara, I gotta tell you this gadget will help you make a gazillion new dishes.  Zucchini, sweet potato, carrots, beets, eggplant, they all work well in this cutter I fondly refer to as The Noodler. Plus it’s fun to use, kids love it!

My absolute favorite dish to use The Noodler with is my Japchae. Click through to the post to see what folks are saying about this dish, it’s a BIG favorite of lots of folks.

The Noodler comes with three blades.  The one I see used least often is the flat blade, which makes lovely ribbons.  Heather from Gluten-Free Cat makes this beautiful Green Ribbon Salad.

One of my summer favorites is Lemon Almond Pesto over spiralized zucchini noodles.  This one is from my own kitchen but I hope you’ll soon find it in your kitchen!

This great Summer dish comes from Karina at Gluten-Free Goddess.  Her Raw Zucchini Pasta in a Vegan Curry Cashew Cream Sauce sounds perfect and it’s beautiful!

Another from my kitchen, Pumpkin Alfredo with Sweet Potato Noodles.  I usually eat this raw, but also like it warm with the noodles sauteed for just a few minutes to soften them a bit.

For those who are enamored with Sunbutter, Lauren from Oatmeal with a Fork shares Spicy Sunbutter NoodlesThis dish is on my menu this week.  If you aren’t a Sunbutter fan, just sub PB or almond butter. Super versatile!

From The Urban Poser, a visually stunning dish, Raw Noodles & Veggies with Raw Asian Pesto Sauce.

From Rawmazing, Avocado Kale Pesto with Zucchini Noodles.  So creamy!

From Averie Cooks, a delightful Raw Pasta Salad with Creamy Lemon Herb Dressing.  Averie says this dish came together in 5 minutes.  Perfect for busy days when you still crave a light and healthy meal!

Whew!  What a gorgeous collection of spiralized dishes. Make sure you click through to visit each of the contributors.  Their recipes will be a sure-fire way to put your new Noodler to work.

I would love to hear what you are making with your spiral cutter.  Drop me a note below and I’ll do my best to share links to recipes on my Facebook page.  Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes, reinvented

Last week I was talking with my friend Loren from Fahrmeier Farms about a cooking class she was teaching.  After looking over everything she was teaching, it hit me that every single dish was gluten-free.

Funny how that works…when I first went gluten-free, I had a tendency to look for boxes of food or food-like products at the store that were labeled gluten-free.  It took me quite awhile to stop and look at how much of what I already ate was gluten-free naturally.  No modifications necessary, just whole foods, often simple dishes.

The one dish Loren offered in class that wasn’t gluten-free was her famous carrot cake.  I offered to modify it, in case anyone attending her class wanted a gluten-free version to make at home.  But you know how things work in my kitchen…I couldn’t stop at just gluten-free. I also made it dairy-free, refined sugar-free and nut-free.  I think it’s technically grain-free but am not an expert in that area, so someone chime in and let me know. I wanted to make it as friendly for folks with dietary intolerances as possible.  Plus it’s great  fun to have a challenge like this in the kitchen.

So here ya go…Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Sunflower Cream Frosting, a classic reinvented.  Enjoy!

Pssst!  Wanna know more about those cooking classes I mentioned Loren teaching?  She’s got more farm-fresh classes coming up this Summer at A Thyme for Everything in Lee’s Summit, MO.  Click here for more info.  Classes are always fun AND informative at A Thyme for Everything and Loren knows her stuff, all the way from growing the food to cooking it.

Soften Saturdays: Words of Wisdom from Fit Mama

This week’s Soften Saturday is a guest post from Erin, aka Fit Mama.  Follow her on Facebook for frequent doses of wisdom and tips on embracing your awesomeness.  Cuz you are already awesome.  Believe it!  –Johnna

Your scale is an asshole

Newsflash: you are living with an asshole.  He might be found in your bathroom or perhaps he is hiding, sneaking around in a closet collecting dust and waiting for you to stumble upon him again.  He doesn’t even bother to get to know you and what kind of person you are.  He doesn’t notice the awesome things you do every day.  The one thing he presumes to know about you isn’t even accurate.  With one simple action he makes you feel like dirt.  He announces your worth in a number and when it’s higher than expected can make you feel completely diminished.

I’m talking about your scale, but if you can grab that abstract in there and think of it as an actual person—I imagine (and sincerely hope) you would never, ever let anyone treat you this way.  So why take that from a household appliance?  You take shit like that from your toaster oven?  Your blender hurt your feelings lately?  Been hiding from and avoiding your electric toothbrush?  Of course not.

The number on your scale has nothing to do with your worth.

And while we all know others can and do judge you on your appearance, the people who matter truly do not.  There is not one single person in my life who I love because of (or in spite of) their weight.  And I know some remarkably fabulous people.  Seriously.

But let’s take a look at what your scale actually knows.  Well- give or take a good 10lbs (depending on the accuracy of your scale) it tells you how much your body weighs.  Kinda.  But there are a number of things that it doesn’t factor in that also show up, including;

*how recently you had a bowel movement

*how hydrated you are

*if and in which direction you are leaning

*the time of day

*if you’ve been sweating

*which shoes you are wearing

…and a number of other ridiculous factors.  Most importantly it doesn’t discriminate between lean muscle mass and body fat percentage.  Point blank- it doesn’t even know what’s up.

Now obviously if the scale reads over 200lbs you probably aren’t “really” weighing 150.  You know that.  But when the number can change 5lbs in one day it is just not the best way to gage progress.  My personal suggestion can be found here, but whether you step on the scale ever again or not—please don’t ever look to that piece of crap asshole to tell you anything about who you are.

It is possible to have a healthy relationship with this appliance but when little girls (and grown women) everywhere look to it to tell them how good or bad to feel about who they are we have a serious problem.  Our values system is completely screwed up in this way.  But yours doesn’t have to be.  And you sure don’t have to pass that on.

So try my ribbon method.  Use your scale. Try to lose weight for whatever reason suits you.  But if you hear nothing else I ever say hear this;

You are an important and worthy person. And not one bit of what makes you so shows up in any numbers, anywhere.  Not your credit score, not your drivers license number, not your shoe size and not your weight.

And the biggest secret of all is; once you get that down you are already much, much healthier than most.

LOVE, Mama

You can read more from Fit Mama here and also on Pinterest and Facebook. 

About Soften Saturdays:  Soften Saturdays features posts from me and others I admire on the topics of healthy body image, healthy living, being kind to ourselves and more.  Saturday is an especially great day to think about being soft with ourselves!

I Ate Here: Ginger Sue’s, Liberty, MO

It’s easy to share my dining out adventures when I’m traveling, but I often forget to share the local gems.  There’s a lot of terrific food to be had in the locally owned spots I go to often.  Ginger Sue’s is one such spot!

Located just off of the historic square in the town I call home, Liberty, Missouri, Ginger Sue’s is a bruncheonette. Open for breakfast and lunch only, it’s a great spot to grab a quick meal or linger with friends on a lazy weekend.   It’s on a one-way street, park at the door or up the hill on the square.  Peek in the windows of the nearby shops, take a walk through the historic districts after your meal.  Nothing fancy, just slightly-small town America with delicious food and friendly folks in a casual setting.

The menu at Ginger Sue’s is not labeled gluten-free but I have had no trouble ordering there.  If a server doesn’t know, they run to the kitchen to find out what I can and can’t have.  If I’ve been stumped with finding something that sounds good, servers have made suggestions for me that work well.  Not once has a server rolled their eyes at me or called me a picky eater.

So what do I usually eat?  The Farmer’s Omelette with carrots, broccoli, parsley, mushrooms, green onion, tomato and goat cheese.  If my body isn’t digging goat cheese, they are always happy to omit it from my order.  Sometimes I have potatoes with my omelette, sometimes I substitute the apple slaw.  I’d really suggest you try the apple slaw,  it’s crunchy goodness with a healthy slant and no thick, mayonnaise based dressing either.

Ginger Sue’s is located at 12 West Kansas in Liberty, MO. 816.407.7707.  There is a second location at 20 NE Sycamore in Lee’s Summit, MO.

Eat With: Minimal caution.  Ask lots of questions, the servers have always been great to answer them and are quick to ask for answers from the kitchen if needed.

Johnna’s I Ate Here series is not intended as a restaurant review, rather a summary of Johnna’s experience dining out.  You may or may not have a similar experience.  Menu prices, items and ingredients featured were current at the time of writing.  Please read the menu carefully and ask your server for assistance in ordering if you have dietary restrictions. It’s a good idea to call ahead and let the restaurant know of your food needs. 

Super Simple Potato Salad (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan option)

Yesterday  I had a quick conversation with a fella in the grocery store checkout lane.  He apologized to me because the checker was having someone run over to the deli area and get him a new container of potato salad as his had broken open.

I said no need to apologize, I wasn’t in a hurry.  He then told me that he didn’t even really like the deli potato salad, it wasn’t like what his grandmother made, but it’s just too hard to make it yourself.

While I didn’t stage a Grocery Cart Ambush Makeover, I did tell him I understand the allure of convenience foods. I said with a laugh that I try not to eat anything I can’t pronounce.  Here are the ingredients in the tub of potato salad at the grocery store:

Red Skin Potatoes, Mayonnaise (Soybean Oil, Water, Egg Yolk, Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Spices, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Calcium Disodium Edta (Protect Quality)), Sour Cream (Cultured Cream, Skim Milk, Modified Food Starch, Whey Powder, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Sodium Citrate, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Carrageenan), Celery , Water, Onion, Contains 2% Or Less of Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Cultured Buttermilk, Monosodium Glutamate, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Modified Food Starch, Spices, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Less Than 2% of Artificial Flavor, Lactic Acid), Salt, Dill, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (Preservatives).

While I do succumb to the convenience of store bought foods occasionally, I think I’ll skip the potato salad and make my own. I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna pass on the HFCS, whey powder and MSG in my potato salad.  And hopefully many of those other ingredients that I have no idea what are.   Plus I don’t think it’s that hard to make your own. Here’s my Super Simple version…

Cheesy Broccoli Bacon Quiche:Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Vegetarian!

We have these lovely backyard hens who entertain us, annoy one of our dogs to no end and occasionally lay tasty eggs for us.

Lately, that “occasionally” part has been thrown out the window.  With the arrival of Spring (finally!), they have been working overtime. Each of our hens has laid one egg a day for a couple of weeks now.  It’s nice to have a surplus of eggs to cook with for a change.

Quiche is a quick and easy go-to meal once you figure out gluten-free pie crust.  My basic recipe is included below.  I make this recipe, which makes enough for two 8″ or 9″ crusts.  I split the dough in half and flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.  Each disk is one crust and I pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw until it is roll-able.  Or if you prefer, you can roll them into crusts and freeze them in pie pans.  During the holidays, I make several crusts at once and freeze them in the single-use pie pans available at the grocery store.  That way I don’t have to worry about getting a pie pan back when I gift a pie!

I roll my pie crust out between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper.  That way there is no need to add additional flour to the rolling surface.  Another nice thing about gluten-free pie crust, it’s easier to roll and re-roll than regular gluten-full pie crust.  There’s no chance of over-rolling and super activating the gluten, resulting in a tough crust.  Gluten-free pie crust is a great teaching tool for new pie makers for exactly that reason!

So pie crust is covered, now on to the ingredients.  Many quiche recipes call for heavy cream.  Because I don’t consume much dairy, heavy cream has been a challenge to me.  My favorite substitute is this:  2 parts non-dairy unsweetened milk and 1 part non-dairy plain yogurt.  For example, if a recipe calls for 3/4 cups heavy cream, I use 1/2 cup non-dairy milk and 1/4 cup non-dairy yogurt.  Works like a charm!

I’ve used Daiya non-dairy cheese and Phoney Baloney’s coconut bacon in this quiche.  If you are a dairy cheese eater and oinkilicious bacon eater, I’d love to hear from you if you try this recipe with those versions of the ingredients.