Vegan Quesadillas

Recently I've been experimenting with going dairy-free. Long story short: I react VERY poorly to carrageenan so that didn't last long. Anyway, it was pretty hard. For me, cheese was one of the most disappointing offerings of the dairy-free market. But then I found the Daiya Havarti Garlic & Jalapeño Wedge. It tasted way better than the other cheeses I had tried and melted fantastically (where others failed). I knew instantly what to make with it. And this is what I came up with. The avocado balances the spiciness of the "cheese" really well making the simplicity of the ingredients work. It's quick, easy, and really yummy.

Grilled Pesto Shrimp

So rather than a recipe, today I present more of an idea, or an inspiration to base a dish on: pesto shrimp. It's really, really easy and very un-fussy but the flavor is fantastic. It's great because if you use pre-made pesto and frozen shrimp, this can be whipped up last minute if need be and served in a variety of ways.

Breakfast Smoothie

I have a love-hate relationship with breakfast. I don't really like cereal, or eggs, or yogurt. But I like really bad breakfast food, like hash-browns and bacon-egg-n-cheeserz (a breakfast sandwich of my childhood). So that kind of made me stop eating breakfast. But recently I concocted an awesome breakfast smoothie that's not awful for me. It started with mocha powder, ice and milk. Then came almond milk instead. Then PB2 (powdered peanut butter) and frozen bananas. Suddenly I had an awesome breakfast smoothie that I really liked and wasn't half bad nutritionally.

GF Essential: Waffles

The M.V.P. award for gluten-free living for the month of July goes to waffles. Yes, waffles. Why? Because waffles are so versatile. Waffles couldn't care less how you eat them, or store them, or re-heat them. They take it all in stride. I realized waffles had some versatility soon after I went gluten-free, but it took me a while to realize just how valuable a good waffle is.