Bacon Wrapped Bacon??

So, tonight's dinner came from gluten-free girl and the chef again!! On Saturday I was able to get my hands on some pork belly when we visited Whole Foods (due to a Halloween party up that way, an hour away). A pork belly is the cut of pork used to make the bacon before all the spices/marinating happens to make it bacon. I also got some good bacon while we were at it!! I really love Whole Foods and wish it were closer!

Anyway, I decided that tonight would be the night and I would roast some brussels sprouts as well. I was so excited to try this recipe, just because it is such a heart attack waiting to happen!!! I also did not have to replace anything (except for using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks instead of butter). I did most of the prep work, including braising, prior to picking up the kidlings at school. Had a lot going on after school so I needed dinner to be done fast!!

For my brussels sprouts, I sliced fresh ones in half then put them in a round stone with olive oil, smashed garlic, salt and pepper. It went in on the top rack while the bacon wrapped bellies went in on the bottom.

After about fifteen minutes, a flipping of the bellies and stirring of the brussels sprouts, I came out with this:

As you can see, both dishes are quite beautiful!! Yes, my kids do eat brussels sprouts, as long as they are fresh. These came out very good!!! The smashed garlic and roasting really brought out their flavor!

While it was very easy to make, it took a lot of waiting time for the braising. Also, because it is a heart attack waiting to happen, we will not have this very often!! LOL!!

Pizza for Dinner!

Tonight was another cook with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef. We made pizza with the recipe for crackers as the crust. It was fabulous!!

We have not had a thin crust pizza since having to go gluten-free (among other things) almost 3 years ago. The dough came together very well. It was actually a ball!!! You won't understand that if you aren't gluten free. Anyway, I was able to ROLL it out onto my preheated stones. I baked them a little longer than it said since I had toppings on them (pepperoni and cheese for the boys, olive oil, garlic, kalamata olives and Daiya for the girls. I also had tomato slices.). They baked up really well. So well, I actually want to make crackers from the recipe!!

They smelled so good we cut them without letting them cool and before I could get pics of the full pizzas. Here are remnants of the pizzas:

This is the one the daughter and I shared. Yes, I hogged all the olives!!

This is the boys. The hubby stole some olives.

These were really good pizzas. I got thumbs up all around!

Pumpkin Soup, It's What's for Dinner

I am Celiac, which means I need to avoid gluten (wheat, barley, rye and I also have to avoid oats). I also have to avoid dairy products; not the lactose, but casein. I enjoy cooking and baking. When new cookbooks come out that address my issues come out, I want them!!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win one such cookbook. It is called gluten-free girl and the chef and it is by Shauna and Daniel Ahern. I follow Shauna on Facebook as Gluten-Free Girl. She had this fantastic idea for all of us followers to make one recipe out of the book each week. This week's assignment was the Pumpkin Soup.

I roasted the pumpkins and their seeds in the morning since I needed to take the son to the doctor around lunch time. I got all of the rest of the ingredients together after the appointment. I made a few substitutions of vegetable broth, plain coconut creamer and Earth Balance Vegan sticks. But, everything else was the same. It was quite easy to make and smelled really good.

This was really good!! You blend the ingredients once they are softened so you have this great texture going on. It sticks to the spoon so you know it is going to stay with you for a while. We did eat it with the seeds as garnishment in the soup, but I think I prefer to just eat the seeds as a side. The kids liked this soup as well. It is a really good warm-you-up soup, but not as heavy as chili.I think I will add some extra nutmeg as I serve it next time. There will be a next time.