Win a Conscious Box!!!

A little while ago I was contacted by the nice folks over at Conscious Box; they wanted to send me one of their eco-friendly boxes and give one away to a reader. I like what they stand for and what they do. How could I say no?

Just a few days later I received a lot of neat things in an adorable little box, and everything comes from companies who are Eco-conscious. You can see in the photo the majority of products are food related. I have yet to try all of them but my two favorites are the Celtic Sea Salt and the Sun Cups (chocolate sunflower seed butter cups). I'm really excited to try the Florax Ready-to-drink probiotic (I think it'll come with my next time I travel) and the Natural Vitality Calm drink (for when, well, I need a chill-pill).

If you'd like to win a 3-month subscription to Conscious Box, you have a few chances. For each thing you do, leave a comment (and valid email address!) that you've done so.

1. Like The Good Eatah on Facebook.
2. Like Conscious Box on Facebook.

The giveaway will close one week from today on Tuesday, May 7th at 11:59pm. Good luck!

Balance Bar Review and Giveaway

Sports nutrition has always fascinated me: the idea that what you put in your mouth can positively or negatively effect your performance just seems so tangible - something everything athlete can do to improve themselves. So when Balance Bar offered to send me some of their new Balance Bar Dark bars I was pretty psyched. Not only because Balance Bar has been around a long time and has a good reputation, but because this bar has a lot of good in it.

First, it's gluten-free, which can be difficult to find in a nutrition/protein bar. Second, the chocolate in it is made with cocoa that's Rainforest Alliance Certified. And third, it's made with a 40-30-30 nutrition ratio of carbs, protein and dietary fat respectively, an idea that I've heard a lot about (think: Zone diet) because it stabilizes your blood sugar and helps you feel fuller, longer. And fourth, it has 13 grams of protein in each bar, which makes it the perfect food for muscle recovery (as a general rule of thumb, the average athlete should consume .05-.07 grams of protein for each pound they weigh after an intense workout).

Balance Bar sent me their three "dark" flavors: Dark Chocolate Crunch, Dark Chocolate Coconut and Dark Chocolate Peanut. The box was sitting on my doorstep as I pulled in the driveway from a workout I had to cut short because I started feeling dizzy; it was perfect timing. I happily scarfed down the Dark Chocolate Crunch: the crunch and smooth chocolate combo was super tasty and I felt immediately better. I've sample the coconut and peanut varieties too and can't wait to "earn" them in their entirety after another workout.

WIN YOUR OWN BOX!!

Here's how you could win your own box of Balance Bar Dark. Balance Bar will send one randomly selected winner the goodies, and you've got a few ways to increase your chances (leave a separate comment for each thing you do).

1. "Like" Balance Bar on Facebook (comment below that you did that).
2. Comment below and tell me which flavor you'd most like to try.
3. "Like" The Good Eatah on Facebook (comment below that you did that).

A winner will be selected by 11:59pm on Monday, April 8th and will be notified by email (please make sure you leave a valid email address when you comment). 

Disclaimer: One winner per household, email address or home address. If you have won this prize on another blog you are ineligible to win again.

Vegetable & Cream Cheese Quiche with Almond Crust

Quiche. I always associate it with spring - maybe it's because of the eggs (Easter Egg hunts) or the vegetables (Bye winter! Hello fresh veggies!) or because they're such an "Easter Brunch" friendly food (can be served room temperature). Either way, this quiche, made with an almond flour crust, is something I'll be serving all year long.

I've long been a fan of Elana's Pantry; her almond flour and coconut flour recipes are delicious and her cookbooks are gorgeous. I love her philosophy about food and the fact that she uses her grain-free diet as a way to treat her Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. (This is especially fascinating to me because my mother has MS and I'm always looking for alternative ways to help her cope.)

If I were trying to convince anyone to try a grain-free diet (cough, cough mom), this is one dish I'd present. Elana's chocolate chip cookies are another. 

Vegetable and Cream Cheese Quiche with Elana's Pantry Almond Crust

You'll need to make one recipe of Elana's savory pie crust recipe (there's a version of it here on another favorite of mine, Spunky Coconut's blog - or a version of it here on Elana's site) but you'll have to get her book to get the recipe I used. Here's what I typically do for my quiche fillings, you need:

4 eggs, whisked

2 small heads broccoli, roughly chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons cream cheese

scallions and parmesan cheese for garnish

salt, pepper, & garlic powder, to taste

Preheat your oven to 350F. In a large bowl add all of the vegetables and dollops of the cream cheese (don't try to fully blend them in with the veggies/eggs), then add the eggs, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the mixture to your prebaked crust, top with some shaved parmesan and bake for about 35 minutes (it will be ready when the middle of the quiche has a wiggle to it). Let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving, garnish with scallions and more parmesan.

Gluten-Free Spinach Wraps

My Mom finds the best gluten-free stuff. Whenever I visit her and my Dad, or when they come this way, she always has some sort of new gluten-free food to share with me. It gives you a little peek into her mindset: she's always thinking about others.

Her latest discovery were these Rudi's Gluten-Free Spinach Tortillas. I believe she got them at Market Basket in Mass; I haven't seen them here (Upstate NY) anywhere yet. You guys - they're awesome! Chewy, pliable, tasty, and they don't break apart like most gluten-free tortillas. If you want to ensure that they stay "flexible," just warm them up on a skillet for 10 seconds a side, but they really don't require it.

                    That's my version of the wraps, with hummus, spinach, cukes and tomatoes.

But, as I said, I haven't seen these anywhere around me so I wanted to recreate them so I don't have to wait for a visit from Mom to eat them. My version is based off a recipe I created in 2009 for a regular wrap, or, flatbread. I added some pureed spinach and tweaked a few things, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

I hope you'll like them too!

Gluten-Free Spinach Wraps (dairy-free, egg-free, vegan)
makes 8

1 3/4 cups superfine brown rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup pureed spinach (defrost frozen spinach and puree)
1 cup water

Whisk together the brown rice flour, cornstarch, salt and xantham gum in a bowl, then add the applesauce and spinach puree. Next add the water, a little at a time until combined. The dough should feel more "pizza dough" like and less cake batter-like.

On a floured work surface (I just use more of the brown rice flour) take two heaping tablespoons of the dough and roll out to desired size. Cook on a skillet over medium heat about 30 seconds on each side. 

Store in the refrigerator for a week, or freeze and thaw before using.

Perdue Gluten-Free Breaded Chicken Tenders

The folks at Perdue were kind enough to send me coupons to try their new Perdue gluten-free chicken tenders. The words below are solely my own.

I'm not being dramatic when I say these chicken tenders saved our family (okay, I'm being a little dramatic) but really - there was something horrid going around our little trio (or foursome, I thought I heard Henry throwing up once but couldn't find any proof... I hope I never do) for a full week.

It started with me, then it hit the A-man, and finally Little Guy. It would come and go. One day I was bed-ridden, the next it was A-man; it went on and on. Fortunately, it was staggered, otherwise our son and dog would have had the run of house (images of what could have been - Little Guy grabbing Henry by the tail, Little Guy climbing on Henry to break into the pantry, Henry eating all the dog food and Little Guy emptying every single container on the ground - are things I am sure would have happened...)

No one had the energy to cook, and most everything we thought about heating up would send us gagging, except these: glorious tenders of chicken in a light and crispy crust. Oh thank the gluten-free Gods that I got these and put them in the freezer mere days before the week-long plague. And thank goodness they only take 9 minutes in the oven (or a lot less in the microwave) to cook. (I don't think I've mentioned before how much I do love my Breville mini-convection oven, so here: I really love it and use it daily.) 

They hit the spot for all three of us and because the Little Guy is obsessed with dipping things right now, he got a trio of sauces to dip his in: ketchup, bbq sauce and maple mustard (just whisk 1 part maple syrup or maple cream to 3 parts yellow mustard - it's super tasty). We had no desire to make any sort of recipe with these; they really are delicious on their own (and less expensive than other gf breaded tenders out there.)

The gluten-free community can only win when a large, well-known company like Perdue comes out with gluten-free foods: more people will take it seriously now that a mega-company does and hopefully more companies will follow in their footsteps. They did it right too: See that "Certified Gluten Free" logo in the upper right corner of the packaging? It means exactly what it says - the food has been tested to make sure there is no gluten (technically less than 10 parts per million of gluten) in the product.

Thanks, Perdue!

*Check out Marlow this week as she pins with Perdue!

Rice Noodle Bowl with Crispy Tofu

Want to know my favorite thing about cooking vegetarian? You don't have to worry about disinfecting your kitchen for salmonella. Want to know another? Crispy tofu: It's crunchy, tender, and really, really delicious. (Even my chicken-wing obsessed husband, who has claimed to hate tofu proclaimed his love for it while eating this dish.)

There are many more reasons to eat vegetarian of course; I highly recommend watching "Forks over Knives." It didn't inspire us to become vegetarians, but did inspire us to add more vegetables and cut more meat out of our diet. This recipe is partly me trying to make my husband feel full with a vegetarian meal while training for a marathon and partly inspired by a place I used to frequent in my old grad school town - Xinh Xinh Cafe.

This recipe is my take on a delicious dish that seemed to always be the "special" at a beloved Vietnamese restaurant in Urbana Illinois. I have fond memories of eating here with my sis, bro-in-law and niece (watching my then-toddler niece slurp noddles remains one of the cutest things I've ever witnessed.)

The sauce I made for this dish uses Bragg Liquid Aminos - my absolute favorite soy sauce alternative. It's a whole lot lower in sodium, naturally gluten-free and has a nice, deep flavor. And, hence the name, contains those wonderful amino acids.

Here's what you need...

Gluten-Free Crispy Tofu Rice Noodle Bowl
serves four

Noodles and fixings:
1 package rice noodles
2-3 tablespoons canola oil
1 package firm tofu
1/2 cup cornstarch
julienned vegetables: cucumber, peppers, carrots
5-6 green onion, whites included
1/3 cup chopped peanuts (I love these Our Daily Eats Thai Chile Peanuts - they're locally made, to me - with this dish)


For the sauce:
1/3 cup coconut aminos
1 tablespoon gluten free fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon agave
1-2 teaspoons siracha
2 teaspoons freshly minced ginger
1/3 cup warm water



Cook the rice noodles according to package directions, set aside (you want the noodles to be room temperature or cold when serving). Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a wok. Cut tofu into desired shape (rectangles, squares, triangles - they all work) and douse in cornstarch. Add the corn-starch-coated tofu to the oil and cook until crispy, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place on a paper towel and finish cooking all tofu in small batches.

In a small dish, add all of the sauce ingredients together and whisk until fully incorporated.

When serving: layer the noodles first, then vegetables, tofu, peanuts, green onion, and pour 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce over the top. Enjoy!

(Little Guy just learned that he can climb on the dining room chairs and use chopsticks like they're drums.)

Carrot & Black Cherry Baby Jellies

The huz was telling me just yesterday (after the Little Guy threw his chicken, then potato and then asparagus on the floor during dinner) that this is payback for me always playing with my food. However, I say playing and throwing are two different things. My playing was usually artfully sculpting a pool out of mashed potatoes with gravy as the water and carrots as the diving board. Little Guy, I swear, just likes to break my heart by throwing my most time-consuming meals directly on the floor for the dog to eat.

In his defense, he's 14 months old and it has to be really awesome to watch a furry animal with big teeth gobble anything he gives him.

But I digress. This is post is about playing with a fun, wiggly, shiny food. Food I apparently loved as a kid.

Meet jigglers. Or, "baby jellies" as the recipe card my mom gave me calls them. I'm not sure the origin of the recipe; I just know my mom's been using the recipe since I was a wee-one and it's great because you can control what goes in them. There's no added sugar in these and no chemicals - it's straight up juice (of any kind really) and gelatin (which isn't for everybody). I've made them with 100% carrot juice and 100% black cherry juice and Little Guy eats more than he throws. (Score!)

This recipe is so simple, you really can't mess it up.

Carrot or Black Cherry Baby Jellies 
 gluten-free, dairy-free

8.5 oz carrot or black cherry juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

In a small saucepan, sprinkle one envelope of gelatin over juice. Let stand one minute. Stir over low heat until dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into a small glass "pan" - I used a Pyrex 3 cup glass container (a glass loaf pan will work too). Chill until firm in the refrigerator (about 2 hours) and cut until squares (or use fun cookie cutters).