Adventures with Celiac continues II

I think this week I actually got my Celiac groove on! I picked much simpler recipes to make for dinner, with the emphasis on it not taking 1.5 to 2 hours to prepare.

Sunday
GF Pizza Crust - I tried a new recipe. This one was listed in the 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes Cookbook. I never had to use a food processor before when making pizza dough, but I followed the instructions and it turned out. In fact, we all found the pizza to be very tasty. Usually there is easily a piece or two left for Ian to take to lunch bunch at school the next day. This evening, we were all wanting 2nds and 3rds. It was that good. Yay! Now the next time I make the dough, I can make a much bigger batch and freeze it for subsequent pizza and game nights. It will be a breeze to roll out the pre-made dough and get it in the oven.

Monday
Chicken Parmesan - this was yummy and so easy to make. It helps that Wegmans sells gluten-free bread crumbs.

Tuesday
Jeff had a Happy Hour for work and once I got done feeding the kids a nutritious dinner, I got to indulge in my favorite single girl dinner - popcorn!

Wednesday
Black Bean Enchiladas with rice - Another winner! And the recipe had me making the enchilada sauce from scratch too. It was very tasty. Easy to prepare in advance and just put in the oven 20 minutes before we sat down to eat.

Thursday
Baked Aloha Pineapple Chicken - My time management on getting this recipe done was off by 2 hours. While I cooked it, Jeff fed the kids dinner, played with them a bit, gave them their baths, read them stories, put them to bed and then we ate this dish. It was easy to make, but took forever to cook. I LOVED it! Jeff, however, was not a fan. It's a shame too, because he had to wait so long to eat that night. :)

Friday
Ian's religious school was having a special Shabbat dinner and family-friendly service. Because of the late start time, Jeff took Ian and I stayed home with Sam. I ate an Amy's gluten-free frozen meal for dinner.

Saturday
Ian had his first sleep-over and I wanted to make a dinner that I knew would be a winner with Ian and his friend. I did spaghetti, salad and bread. I used regular spaghetti for everyone and boiled a small batch of gluten-free pasta for me. And, in an act of self-control, I stayed away from the bread.

Sometime during the week, Jeff came up with the idea that the slow cooker may be the way to go for making dinner a few of the nights each week. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this myself. I guess there is a reason I keep him around. :) I did a quick Google search and found some awesome Slow Cooker Gluten-Free recipes listed online. Next week I'll be making a minestrone soup and a chicken with rice & vegetables in the slow cooker. Plus, as luck would have it, I had a friend email a Thai Chicken recipe that goes in the slow cooker and only contained gluten-free ingredients.

I think I am getting a handle on cooking gluten-free. There are many benefits to eating this way and it is causing me to really stop and think what we are putting in our bodies. I just hope my enthusiasm continues.