A quiet St. Patty's Day in

Every year on St. Patty's day I like to eat corned beef with cabbage and potatoes. This year I already had this meal for a Jewish holiday called Purim. (Which, by the way Meg, was delicious!) So this year I decided that I would do a variation on the classic corned beef dinner and have a Reuben and fries all the same ingredients in a slightly different configuration. 

Well going forward I quickly realized that I didn't have the time money for corned beef. So I took a different route and came up with a new recipe.

The Fresh and Fast Non-Reuben

2-3 slices of Pastrami
1 slice Provolone cheese
Fresh Pickles (see recipe below)
Matchstick Carrots
Homemade thousand island dressing

Fry the pastrami in a skillet on med heat. After the meat is hot place the cheese on top. Then assemble the other ingredient on the sandwich to your liking.

This delicious sandwich I am calling the Non-Reuben because it has a lot of the same qualities and flavor of a Reuben using only one of the same ingredients.
I hope you enjoy!

Fresh Pickles:
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Bay Leaf
2 cloves of cracked garlic
1-2 Persian Cucumbers (thinly sliced)

Combine and refrigerate for 20 minutes to 24 hours.

GF Mug Cake

Last night, I was overcome with a sweet attack.  But, as is usually the case I didn't have any kind of chocolate or sweets handy, something I do on p.  What I did have handy was some of my GF flour mix and a few other basic baking ingredients.  However, I didn't have the time or desire to bake a whole batch of brownies, not to mention that I didn't have any eggs.  Then I remembered how last year on Mother's day we helped the kids make mug cakes.  The phenomenon of mug cakes was something that I honestly had not been introduced to until that moment.  But last night I thought to myself, "Why can't I make a GF version of that?"

For all those who have eaten a mug cake you know that they aren't by any stretch of the imagination a gourmet option, but the point of mug cakes is to satiate a sweets craving in five minutes or less using just what you have around the house.  And, that is exactly what this new recipe I created did for me.

So here is the recipe for all my GFers out there who like me have the occasional sweet tooth that just has to be fed.

4 Tbsp of GF Flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Packet of Instant Hot Chocolate
2 Tbsp Butter
1/2 cup milk or Almond Milk

Combine all ingredients in a large microwavable mug and microwave on high power for 2-3 minutes.

Days off = Cooking Days

I love my days off. As much as I enjoy my job, and I truly do, the beauty of a day off is that I have the time to do what I really love... COOK!

Today's menu started with GF waffles. My roommate and I awoke to the sound of thunderstorms outside our window--which was a great way to wake up because thunderstorms are one of my favorite displays in all creation, not to mention that my little porch garden desperately was waiting for that rain.

At any rate, nothing says comfort food more than a great rainy morning on your day off. So, I determined that some super strong coffee and waffles with a peach compote seemed to be the perfect recipe. (Yes--cheesy pun fully intended!)

After breakfast, the culinary bar was set pretty high, and I had some catching up to do on my day that was supposed to be rather productive. I got lost in a project, as is usually the case, before I knew it I was famished and the clock tolled one.  I, of course, decided all but too late that I wanted to make some "real food" for lunch. This limited my options to something that is able to be cooked from frozen.  Meaning on thing--fish!

As some one who randomly makes a peach compote to accompany he spur of the moment waffles, I clearly do not like to leave my culinary adventures to be half-assed.  So, you can imagine that f I was going to bake fish then I had to roast some vegetables along with it. Having the ingredients for ratatouille provided by my lovely mother (this is a little foreshadowing for my next episode of Big World, Tiny Kitchen). I realized that I needed to use some of these veggies up.  The mother of invention (at least when it comes to inventing in the kitchen) is utilizing your current resources, there are several things that I would perhaps have done differently had I different ingredients on hand, however I did not have those ingredients in my kitchen today. So without further adieu, my recipe which came forth from my utilitarian mentality. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Broiled Veggies with Lemon Basil Tuna Steaks:

2 frozen white albacore tuna steaks
1 bag of TJs frozen pearl onions
1 large Zucchini (thinly sliced)
1 large yellow summer squash (thinly sliced)
2 small white eggplants (thinly sliced)
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp Pampered Chef Citrus Basil Rub
1 Tbsp TJs 21-season salute
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp olive oil
and 1/2 tsp my secret ingredient

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place frozen tuna steaks and frozen onions on a cooking sheet. Add pampered chef rub on fish then add salt, red pepper flakes, 21-season salute, and half of the olive oil on fish and onions. Bake for 15 minutes (cooking time may vary based on size of fish steaks.

Then pull out baking sheet and add veggies in top. Then pour remaining olive oil on top and sprinkle secret ingredient-finely ground black lava salt (optional). Broil to finish cooking fish and to cook veggies.

Enjoy with chilled white wine of your choice!