Change...

... is in the air. And I don't just mean the weather.

It's been a long time coming and has weighed on my heart over the last few weeks.  I have not posted lately because frankly I feel as though this blog hasn't changed and grown with me. I still feel torn. However, I know what direction I have been headed and I'm ready for this change and the chance to take on a new challenge. A new blank canvas with which to express myself.

This blog began well before my husband and I began The Greenwood Kitchen. Well before I began the email sign up. Well before I began marketing my snacks to local stores and through local markets. When I began this blog I thought it would be an amazing way for me to express myself and my kitchen adventures as a celiac'er. With the hopes that by sharing a part of me with others, a blogger relationship would form. Not so. Instead, after 3 years of putting time, love, and creativity into this blog I feel drained.

You see, everything feels one-sided. Like I'm talking to myself. Like I've been opening a door with each blog post filled with excitement and anticipation, only to find an empty room on the other side... with no one listening. After 3 years, this isn't what I expected.

I blame no one but myself. The one thing I've always hated in life are labels. When we label ourselves or our lives we leave very little room to grow and explore. Sometime over the course of last years market season I began to feel as though our business labeled Kyle and I as people. Vegetarian. Raw. Vegan. Celiac'er.  Labels make me cringe. Months ago we threw off all labels. We are growing and changing and we are happy about this. Yes, I still have Celiac and No I can't ignore that. However, having Celiac doesn't define who I am as a person. As owners of a raw vegan food business, Kyle and I have decided to not allow the business to define us, make us who we are, or dictate how we eat. We are not raw foodists. We are not vegans. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy raw and vegan foods. It just means we are open to eating anything we feel is real, nourishing and whole food without labeling our eating patterns.

As changes take place within our kitchen and on our plate I feel as though this blog has such a label attached to it that I have to let it go. It can't change along with us. I feel like this blog stopped belonging to me and started belonging to the business as soon as The Greenwood kitchen took form. We feel blessed to have the business in our lives and will forever keep with us all the ups and downs we faced and continue to embrace. However, we as people want to break free a bit and embrace a personal life free of labels.

For those silent readers and treasured customers of The Greenwood Kitchen...please accept a big hug and thanks for being supporters of us and our business. Rest assured that Kyle and I will always live, breathe, and consume consciously and with gratitude.



V-Day

It always creeps up on us...Valentine's Day. I'm never ready for it.

Last year we chocolate dipped our Raspberry Cream Macaroons and while we may not be offering them already dipped this year, that shouldn't stop anyone from doing some dipping themselves.

Above is a photo of Orange Ginger, Raspberry Cream, and Lemon Poppyseed all dipped in dark chocolate. These yummy flavors may not be available much longer...so pick up a bag at Martindale's, Swarthmore Co-op, or Essene Market and be sure to get your little ones involved in dipping them for all the sweethearts in your life!

Homemade Vegetable Boullion

I can't believe all this snow!! What happened to a 'mild' winter? Whew.

When we have winters like this, I tend to have a big pot of soup or stew always on hand. I go through boullion cubes like crazy!

A little more than a year ago I spotted a recipe for homemade boullion and jotted it down...then forgot about it. Before I knew it, we were suffering through our first heat wave in early May. Then last week I rediscovered the recipe! To me, thats like finding 20 bucks in a jacket you haven't worn since last season :)

So here's the recipe...I hope you give it a shot if your into homemade soup. I filled a little jar for the fridge and froze the remainder in a large container. The salt will keep it from becoming one big rock in the freezer, so you will still be able to scoop out what you need. You will need a kitchen scale, as this recipe is best followed using ounces.

Vegetable Boullion

5 ounces leeks sliced
7 ounces fennel bulb chopped
7 ounces carrot chopped
5 ounces celery
2 ounces  sun-dried tomatoes
3.5 ounces shallots
3 medium garlic cloves
9 ounces fine grain sea salt
1.5 ounces fresh parsley, loosely chopped
1.5 ounces fresh cilantro, loosely chopped

Wash, chop, and weigh your vegetables. In batches, puree the vegetables in a food processor. Combine everything in a large bowl and mix in the sea salt, which will act as a natural preservative and keep the mixture loose. Store some in the fridge and the remainder in the freezer as this makes an extremely large amount of boullion. To start, use 1 tsp. of boullion for every 1 cup of water and do not add salt to your soup or stew until your recipe is complete because the boullion will add plenty of seasoning...you can always add more if needed, but can never take it away! Enjoy.

recipe adapted from 101cookbooks and  The River Cottage Preserves Handbook by Pam Corbin

Ireland winter of 2010

A traditional Irish cottage w/ thatched roof.

I love this photo! This is how I always envisioned Ireland.

The Ha' Penny Bridge, so named because at

one time the fee to cross was half a penny.

I captured this photo of a horse alongside the road heading to Galway.

It seemed intrigued by my camera's noises.

This was the view all across the countryside...sheep everywhere!

The most famous bar in Dublin: Doheny & Nesbitt.

The friendly bartender was kind enough to take our photo behind the bar.

A gorgeous clear night in Kinsale, Co. Cork.

The Cliffs of Moher, a most breathtaking view.

Guinness and Ireland go hand in hand...unless you have coeliac!

Thankfully, Bulmers is just as popular. (gluten free hard cider)

Galway Bay. We spent two days in Galway as it's the third largest city in Ireland, and as we drove into town a Christmas fair was taking place.

Dingle Peninsula: curvy roads, wandering sheep,

& waves crashing against the cliffs.

Kinsale...a food mecca!

As you can see, I had a very difficult time picking which photos to share as I came home with 336 photos on my camera alone! I chose this mix of photos because they are my favorite and show a nice overview of each place we visited and what we saw along the way. 

 I do have some information if you ever plan to travel to Ireland...

Check out Coeliac Society of Ireland , which offers a list of coeliac friendly places to eat, broken down by County.

Here are a few of my favorite places to eat in Ireland:

The Farm

Lemon

Beshoffs

Cornucopia

Busker Brownes

Fishy Fishy Cafe

Anyone interested in traveling to Ireland I would suggest:

Frommer's Ireland Day by Day

Rick Steves' Europe: Ireland

New Year's Slurpy Soup

Well, I'm sorry to say that it's been a little more than a month since my last blog and a lot has happened.  Some of our close friends and family know that we embarked on a trip to Ireland mid December, which I do plan to recap for you over the next few weeks.  I wasn't as quick to share our experiences upon our return as it was so close to the holidays and Kyle and I both battled what I can only call a superbug fueled by extreme jetlag...it lasted 11 days.

Nonetheless, I would not trade my time in Ireland for anything as it was magical, tasteful, and educational all wrapped into one.  I only wish our departure had gone a bit smoother...I mean really, who wants to end a glorious trip stuck in an airport for two days??

I wanted to share a recipe that I feel helped my body recoup when we were on the mend last week.  I plan to make a double batch next time.

4 oz. frozen spinach

1 box spaghetti (I used GF spaghetti)

4 1/2c. veggie broth

3 cups of beans (I used a mix of garbanzo, cannellini, and borlotti)

3 Tbs. olive oil or vegan margarine

1 onion, diced

3 tsp. red curry paste

1/2 tsp. ground tumeric

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3 tsp. sea salt

3 gloves crushed garlic

Toppings:

toasted croutons (in photo: homemade from stale GF bread)

plain yogurt mixed with 1/2 tsp. each: dried parsley, dried mint, garlic salt

Splash of lime juice

Soak your beans overnight to get rid of the starch.  Rinse them well before cooking them on your stovetop for about 2 hours or until slightly soft, but still keeping form.  Cook the pasta according to the directions and drain well.

In a large stir-fry pan, brown the onion and garlic in the olive oil.  Add all the spices listed above, which will turn the dish a beautiful golden color.  Add the cooked beans and toss together for a minute over low-medium heat before adding the veggie broth.  I would suggest using veggie broth and not just water for the added flavor.  Turn the heat off and add the pasta last.  Sprinkle with a bit more sea salt to enhance the flavor of the spices if needed.  Scoop into a bowl and top with croutons, a dollop of spiced yogurt to tame the heat, and a splash of lime juice.  Serve with a fork and spoon.  This tasty dish lasted quite a few days and the flavor grew deeper with each day.  I highly recommend giving this one a try!

* recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks, who adapted it from Greg and Lucy Malouf

Part II: The Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast was like nothing I have ever seen...mountains towering above sea water was something new for me. The scenery was just beautiful.

We rented a car and began our coastal experience in the town of Astoria, my favorite of all the towns we visited along Highway 101.

We stayed the night in the old, charmingly restored Commodore Hotel.

The night we arrived it was pouring down rain, and a sweet librarian directed us to the best place to stay warm and grab a bite to eat. The Bridgewater Bistro had the most amazing gluten free menu and I can imagine a glorious view of the bay on a clear day. The next morning we were greeted with beautiful blue skies, so we headed up, up, and furthur up to the Astoria Column before heading furthur down the coast.  A quick note...The Blue Scorcher Bakery and Cafe makes the most amazing raw vegan chocolates...and the Astoria Co-op is a tranquil little place to grab a quick lunch.

We made occasional stops along Highway 101 to soak up the view and check out the towns of Cannon Beach, Manzanita and Newport. All places I would have loved to explore more, given the time. We stopped over in Florence to visit the Sea Lions then had some great gluten free food at Nature's Corner Cafe. Overall, we were very pleased with the great weather, friendly people and accommodations made for my food allergy.

Part I : Portland, Oregon

We had an amazing time in Oregon this November, and I hope this blog acts like a guide if you ever decide to visit Portland. We have so many photos that it is very difficult to decide which ones to share with you!

We averaged 3 coffees each per day, just to provide you with the BEST places to catch a cup of joe...our favorite places were Stumptown Coffee , Coffeehouse Northwest , Coffee Plant (offers gluten free baked goods) and Barista.

Food in general seems to be Portland's specialty. I was not once deprived due to my allergy...check out some of our favorite places: Iorio Restaurant  (fresh made gluten free pasta), Hawthorne Fish House (nearly the entire menu is gluten free!) , Chez Machin (gluten free crepes) , Pastini Pastaria (gluten free Tiramisu) , Pizzicato (amazing gluten free pizza) , Deschutes Brewery (I had my first gluten free beer made from Sorghum) , Cacao (a very cool chocolate shop!).

Portland is home to the largest farmer's market in the country, open 11 months out of the year, I give these vendors credit!  It took us a little over two hours to make our way through the maze of vendors. Some booths that caught our interest: Wandering Aengus , Jacobs Creamery (handcrafted artisian cheeses) , Boyco Foods (offered organic raw honey from various regions in Oregon) , Petunia's Pies and Pastries (gluten free and vegan!) , Oregon Kombucha ,  New Cascadia Traditional .

We stumbled upon the coolest thing taking place in Southwest Portland one afternoon...a live etsy.com is the best way to describe it. If you are an etsy fan, you can understand my excitement!  Little Winter, A Handmade Market was a gathering place for local artistic producers to show and sell what they craft. We wandered around, made some friends, and had a wonderful time admiring others passions. Check it out: Sulu-Design , Secret Pocket , My house Party , Twigs and Honey , The Herb Shoppe .

The Rose Gardens in Portland should not be missed...The Japanese Garden and Pittock Mansion are two attractions that offer some amazing views and a great dose of history. Two visits to Powell's Books, the nation's largest independently owned book store,  didn't do it justice...I could have spent an entire week perusing my favorite authors!  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and if you ever get the chance to visit Portland check out the Ace Hotel and Hotel Modera for affordable lodging.