PTI Beaver River

So when I decided to take a work contract north of Fort McMurray I was a little nervous.  I thought that I would have to prepare myself for a world of hurt food wise.  I have been pleasantly surprised.

I had emailed in advance my list of other food allergies and they were expecting me when I showed up to the hot food counter.   I was so excited to see that I could even eat off their regular dinner service line.  Their regular dinner service has a printed sheet out identifying which items have allergens. The allergens they track for everyone are gluten, diary, nuts, and seafood.  They even have a symbol for diabetics and such.  Because I have so many more allergies they also set aside a to-go bag for me from dinner to have at lunch the next day.  The kitchen staff are wonderful.  There are actually gluten free options for desert although most I cannot partake in yet they always have a selection of Jello.  Yay.

Anyhoo I have to get going to bed as being up north means all I have time for is eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep repeat.

Sausage!

Since I found out that I can't have gluten and diary I found it harder to get sausage.  Then when I found out I couldn't have onions it made it nearly impossible because I had to avoid everything that said "spices".  I am pleased to announce that I have found sausage and it is glorious!

I happened across it rather randomly.  I was washing my car and noticed a trailer that said sausage and meat.  I had been looking for a better meat supplier here in Claresholm and thought that I would give it a try.  I assumed that sausages were out of the question.  I went into the trailer and was surprised to see that they were ALL gluten free.  Talking to the man in charge I realized that he was actually was the man in charge of the entire operation, and he could tell me what was in each sausage because he made the spice mixtures himself.

Meadow Creek Sausage & Meat.  I highly recommend it.

My favourite so far is the chicken roasted pepper and Murray's favourite is the beef blueberry.

I'm going to visit their store today, pictures to come :)

My pantry

I thought it was about time to post what is in my pantry

Dry Items

• Quaker - Crispy Minis Rice Cakes - Original
• Want-Want - SuperSlim - Brown Rice Crisps - Original
• Nature's Path - Corn Flakes - Sweetened with Honey
• Rizopia - Rice Pasta
• Mrs Leepers Corn Pasta (macaroni)
• Rice
• Quinoa (white and red)
• Wild Rice

Canned Goods

• beets
• baby corn
• coconut milk
• sweet potatoe puree
• cream corn

Baking Items

• flax (ground)
• chia (ground)
• celemix egg replacer
• Bob's Red Mill - Gluten Free Cornbread Mix
• Glutino Chocolate Cake Mix
• quinoa flakes
• Namaste - Perfect Flour Blend
• Sunmaid Raisins
• cornstarch
• baking powder
• baking soda
• crisco

Oils & Vinegar

• canola oil
• olive oil
• sesame oil
• coconut oil
• apple cider vinegar

Other

• EnviroKids - Crispy Rice Peanut Butter cereal bars
• Tres Marias Corn Tortillas
• Daiya Cheese Style Shreds
• Nuts to You Butter - Cashew Butter
• Unsweeted Almond Breeze
• Bragg's Liquid Soy Seasoning
• Sweets from the Earth - Flourless Cashew Cookies

Moxies in Lethbridge :)

We (and by we I mean I) decided that we wanted to go swimming.  It was a sunny September day and I wanted to try out my new swimsuit before vacation in January.  We were in Claresholm and we contemplated a few places, every place that had outdoor swimming was at least an hour away.  We decided on Park Lake Provincial Park because we could then go out for supper afterwards in Lethbridge when we were done.  The ambient temperature was beautiful; I never thought that the water temperature wouldn't be beautiful.  It was so unbelievably cold.  Didn't really get to try out the swimsuit, just a quick dunk but it was fun and worth the trip.

I found Moxies by going on my phone searching for gluten free Lethbridge while we were driving into town.  I found a list and Moxies was on it.  I have to admit, I was disheartened when I first got there.  There was no gluten-free menu.  The waitress said to just pick something off the menu and we will check with the kitchen.  So I stared at the menu.  I contemplated leaving.  Every item had something in it that I couldn't eat.  After a while the waitress came back and I told her that I felt lost looking at the menu.  Then the manager came over.  I told him my sensitivities, allergies and intolerances.  Then he did something wonderful.  He started communicating with the kitchen staff over his ear piece.  We went back and forth and they came up with a wonderful meal for me, checking the ingredients with input from the kitchen and myself.  The manager also had a great grasp on what was in each dish already, I would never have guessed that their jasmine rice had onions in it.  I had a wonderful maple salmon with steamed asparagus and a side salad with oil to use as a dressing.  It was delicious.  It was safe.  I was happy.  It inspired me to start using maple on my meat.

I would recommend that Moxies to anyone with special food needs.

Yummy Dinner, Yummy Leftovers

It was soo good that the picture had to go first.  I decided that I needed to eat up the things in my fridge.  I am trying to prevent throwing out any food or leftovers.

I had carrots, zuchini, mushrooms, daiya cheddar style shreds in the fridge, thick rice noodles in the pantry and steak in the freezer.

Boiled the carrots in the microwave (they were a bit dry).
Zuchini with some coconut oil on the BBQ
Mushrooms with some coconut oil, sage and parsley in foil on the BBQ
Steak with parsley and rosemary on the BBQ (can you tell I like the BBQ?)
The thick rice noodles are from superstore in the asian section, first time I had used the thick ones and I like them.

Cheese sauce.  I had to start twice cuz the first one didn't work.  Working with almond milk and gluten-free flour is challenging.  It got clumpy the first time, and the cheese style shreds thicken the sauce as well.  So lesson learnt.  Melt 3 tbsp of crisco, stir in 3 tsp corn starch and 3 tsp potatoe flour, add almond milk really slowly to avoid clumping, like 1/4 c at a time, I think I used 3 cups, when sauce is a little runny stir in 2 c of cheese style shreds, then wait for it to melt on low, it will take a while, stir a lot, maybe add some more almond milk, let it sit for a while.  I added lavender and salt.

Week full of soup

Even though it's only 2 soups, it has lasted me most of the week.

Soup # 1 - Chicken Soup
So Monday afternoon I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold.  Since there was no way I could have come into contact with onions, it must have been the real thing.  So I went home and made myself some chicken soup and went to bed at 9 pm.

• brown rice
• wild rice
• quinoa (black and white)
• chicken cut into pieces 
• carrots
• spices: turmeric, cayenne, pepper and salt (if I remember right)
• I also used some frozen chicken stock (likely had carrots, celery, chicken bones, parsley, thyme, oregano)

Note: do not keep the soup at boiling for very long or the wild rice will explode, should cook for at least 35 min to cook all the rice and quinoa

Chicken Soup

It seemed to do the trick, I didn't get a cold and the leftovers sure are yummy!

Soup # 2 - Savory Pumpkin Bacon Soup
Tuesday I came home from a frigid game of soccer and decided that I wanted pumpkin soup with bacon and cheese.

• cook bacon and cut into pieces, remove from pan
• 1 can pureed pumpkin
• soy milk to get right consistency (this was pretty thick, kinda like a stew)
• whatever veggies I had on hand (zucchini, mushroom, snap peas)
• spices to taste (sage, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, pepper, salt)
• bacon
• stir in "cheese" (I used Daiya cheddar style shreds)

Pumpkin Soup (before cheese)

Looks a bit like reconstituted crap but is actually quite savory.

A week or so of food

Well I had some good things to eat this week and thought I'd share them with you all.

Monday August 29 - Red snapper in foil on the BBQ, mixed veggie stir fry and rice.

Monday August 29

Thursday September 1 - Lunch - horrible experience at Saigon Y2K downtown followed by sushi at Sakana Grill to at least get something to eat.

Thursday September 1 - Tacos with a side of kale chips and BBQ corn. (I did a post the next day about how to make this).  This lasted me for two suppers and two lunches.  All yummy.

Thursday September 1

Saturday September 3 - Grilled chicken, stirfried chard and green peppers, corn, rice with spinach parsley and almonds.

Saturday Sept 3

Sunday September 4 - Breakfast - Nature's Path Corn Flakes, apple sauce, cut up apples and peaches, topped with cinnamon.  (I didn't have my almond milk on me but didn't really need it.)

Sunday September 4 Breakfast

Sunday September 4 - lunch - Stir fried chard, zucchini and sugar snap peas with grilled beef and leftover rice.

Sunday September 4 - lunch

Sunday September 4 - dinner - Xan Mongolian BBQ!!! :)

Monday September 5 - Cereal and fruit for breakfast, sushi for lunch, leftover tacos for supper.

Tuesday September 6 - lunch - So because of the long weekend I forgot to get my lunch ready.  This is what I was able to piece together at Community Natural Foods near work.  Yellow peppers, corn tortillas, baba gannouj, apples and carrots.  Also had flourless cashew cookies (Sweets from the Earth) and some chocolate for desert.  Not a bad vegetarian spread.

Tuesday September 6 - lunch

Tuesday September 7 - supper - After soccer I was so hungry I couldn't wait to take a photo before starting to eat!  Beef and salad.  Dressing was avocado with Bragg's Soy Seasoning and to make it more like dressing I added coconut oil and basil.  Not a bad combo.

Tuesday Sept 6