Its been a week!

My posts have been few and far between lately! This past week I had some more, rather unpleasant, tests on my insides. They leave me with a lack of appetite and no desire to cook - or get off the couch for that matter. I still have no positive diagnosis of celiacs disease but all signs point to gluten-free being the way to go.

So this weekend I made some muffins for Jason to take on a roadtrip to Calgary. They were loaded with gluten so I couldn't try one which kind of bothers me! He says they were good but perhaps he was just being nice? Regardless, they smelled nice. The main reason I chose these muffins was because we ran out of sugar:

Apple Whole-Wheat Muffins
1 1/2cups whole wheat flour
1/2cup all purpose flour
2 1/2tsp baking powder
3/4tsp salt
1 egg beaten
3/4cup milk
1/3cup vegetable oil
1/3cup honey
1 cup chopped apples

In the actual instructions, you mix the dry and wet in seperate bowls and then together. I just put the dry in the mixer... then all the wet. It seemed to work. The apples get folded in to finish it off. This recipe makes 12 muffins that need to be baked at 400F for 18-20 minutes.

On Saturday we went to a wedding so I figured I should make something to eat before I left. 

I'm not sure that I've fully grasped the whole polenta thing yet but I'm working on it. This time I fried the medallions in a little bit of olive oil until crispy and baked them in the oven with tomatoes, feta and basil on top. This dish is a work in progress and it's getting better and better....

This was tonights dinner. As I mentioned, Jason had a race in Calgary and he's just getting over a cold so I figured I'd make him something substantial. I'm also trying out some different gluten-free side dish options as we are hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner here on Monday. The menu consisted of Feta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast, Pineapple Sweet Potatoes & Brown Rice, Tomato & Basil. Here's the recipes (click on the name to see the originals, although I'm horrible at following recipes!):

Feta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

4 ea Chicken Breasts (I made 2)
3/4 c Feta cheese crumbled (That's alot of feta.. I didn't measure but I'm sure it was no where near that)
1 t Dried oregano or to taste (I didn't add this. I'm bad at reading recipes!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c Chicken stock
1/2 ea Lemon juice
1 tb Butter
(I mixed chopped fresh spinach in with my feta)

Instructions

1. Make stuffung by combine feta and oregano (spinach) in a bowl.
2. Create pocket in the thick end of the breast, without going through the other side. Stuff cheese evenly into the pockets. Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides
3. Heat pan at medium low before adding oil, so that the oil heats right away but does not start smoking.
4. Turn heat up to medium high and sear chicken for 6 - 7 minutes per side. Do not stir or touch until nicely browned to ensure they don't stick to the pan. Turn heat down to medium heat, cover and cook for an addition 5 - 8 minutes until chicken is cooked throughout.
5. Remove chicken from pan. Add chicken stock to pan and losen brown bit from pan to disolve into liquid. Add juice of 1/2 a lemon to pan and simmer for a minute or two. Turn head to low or off an swirl butter into sauce until disolved.
Serve chicken sliced to show off stuffing, and topped with sauce.

Pineapple Sweet Potatoes

6 sweet potatoes (I used half of 1)
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (1/3 of can)
1 cup packed brown sugar (A tablespoon perhaps?)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves (I only had whole cloves so I just picked them out before I served it)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter one 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl to cool. Peel and quarter.
In a sauce pan, combine pineapple, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Bring to boil and reduce heat.
Arrange potatoes in a single layer in baking dish. Pour sauce over potatoes and bake for 45 minutes.

Brown Rice, Tomatoes & Basil

1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup champagne vinegar or 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar (I had to shake out the empty sugar container so I probably didn't get this much)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 lb ripe tomato, large-diced
1 cup packed basil leaves, chopped (This would have tasted great but I only had dried!)
2 1/4 cups water


1. Bring water to boil, and add the rice and 1 tsp of the salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer the rice to a bowl.

2. Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining tsp of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour over the rice. Add the tomatoes and basil. Mix well and check the seasonings. Serve at room temperature.