As you may know, I recently gave up gluten, corn, soy, nuts, chicken, avocados bananas, celery, figs, kiwis, seeds, chips, flax and humus under doctor direction to help my auto-immune, blood and stomach problems. If it helps with well, feeling better and weight issues too, that would just be icing on the cake for me!

I attended a seminar by Dr. Aukerman last week with my friend Judi to learn more about gluten and how it is in what seems like all of the food and especially grains that we eat.

I drew this sketch during the seminar (yes, I actually did excel in school) indicating we had jumped down the very long and seemingly endless rabbit hole. Judi added we were in the fiery pit of Hell:

She has never been more right, as a matter of fact. All for the greater good, right?

I began my adventures in gluten-free shopping yesterday (and, I admit I’m not going to be able to shop at regular grocery stores anymore most likely except for meat, dairy and produce) and it was entirely more stressful than it needed to be. There is gluten in just about everything. Again, there is gluten in just about everything. Throw in no nuts, corn or soy (especially when you are trying to make a stir-fry and you’ve got some digging to do).

None of these pre-made sauces:

No chicken broths (because of the chicken and gluten) or vegetable broths (because of the gluten):

I made a roast on Tuesday night and couldn’t figure out for the life of me what I ate to upset my stomach to the extent that it was. Gluten in the beef broth I put in the slow-cooker. I had no idea.

Asian cooking is my favorite. Little did I know this new way of eating was about to effect that. Majorly.

And, I even stocked up on some gluten-free cookbooks over the weekend.

The stir-fry recipes contain chicken, corn, soy and broth as in The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods by Bette Hagman (Why aren’t they specifying gluten-free soy sauce as well as broth?!):

Thank you gluten-free girl and the chef by shauna james ahern & daniel ahern – a love story and 100 recipes. You may have saved my Asian cooking so far now that I have discovered your gluten-free stock recipe that I can make using beef, vegetables or pork:

But still, if every shopping trip is going to go like this…I wish someone would just make a pill I could take that has all the nutritional elements I need (or don’t need) and take that 4-6 times a day and be done with it.

I already stocked up on vitamins – D, B75, Zinc, Magnesium, Cinnamon, Fish Oil, Calcium and who knows what else:

I sent Judi this text from the parking lot, nearly in tears:

Don’t tell me if there is gluten in Cadbury Eggs. I can’t say no to them, seeing as this made it home with me from the store:

Although, I did leave these limited-edition Pringles there. Has anyone tried them? Are they good? It was very temping, but the egg wins every time.

(And no, I did not put Tabasco on my egg as the picture may suggest, but don’t think that has never crossed my mind before!)

So, there I was with all the ingredients for a fabulous stir-fry and no sauce whatsoever. It was one of my running friends that helped me out with the simplest of suggestions:

Thank you, Dawn!

I still have some experimenting to do, but here is my gluten-free stir-fry sauce. Was it good? My idea of good is apparently sugary sauces filled with gluten. It certainly wasn’t famous. This will take some getting used to. It was not bad at all, though, just different than what I am used to and thinner than what you buy in the store. My husband said it was good, but maybe he was tired of all the tears?

Gluten (and soy and nut and corn)-Free Stir Fry Sauce

1 cup 100% Pineapple Juice (not from concentrate)

2 tsp minced garlic (or to taste)

Chinese Five Spice (to taste, you can also add extra ginger if you want)

A splash of Thai Fish Oil (I read it can be used as a substitute for soy sauce in Asian cooking)

A few drops of Rice Vinegar (or to taste)

1/2 tablespoon Brown Sugar (or to taste, not packed)

2 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes (or to taste)

It looked like this when it was done (I did not need the whole cup of sauce either):

I also literally added two drops of sesame oil to the veggies when cooking them to give them some flavor. It is very strong. Sesame is a seed so I would use this sparingly if you are eating like I am.

All I can say is, there are not any leftovers today!

Do you have any gluten-free sauce recipes you would like to share? Tell me in the comments!

Until the next mile marker,

Please don’t mistake this post for that one time when I thought I was a cool food blogger. ~~I assure you, I am not. My husband actually thinks I am weird if I start taking pictures of food wherever we go so~~ I don’t think I could make it as one!

It’s no secret that one of my favorite things to make is stir-fry. I like it because it is versatile, quick, inexpensive and you can make it as healthy (or not-so-healthy) as you like. The possibilities are really endless when it comes to stir-fry. In fact, all stir-fry means is to fry very quickly over high heat in a pan or a work. I love using my work, but before I had that, I used a regular frying pan, which works just fine.

Sara’s Famous Stir-Fry

(I say famous because it’s famous in our house, at least!)

Makes 4-6 servings; Nutritional information is dependent on your specific ingredients.

Ingredients:

Oil (Olive, Canola, Safflower, etc.)
Garlic
Onion
Vegetables (the possibilities are endless!)
Protein (Egg, Fish, Beef, Chicken, Tofu, etc.)
Rice

Step 1:

Saute oil (I used canola oil last night) with garlic and onions (these chives were the first harvest from our garden!) until they are fragrant and garlic is lightly toasted.

Step 2:

Add vegetables. Fresh is the best, but I have used frozen vegetables if I am in a pinch or something is out of season. My stir-fry has mushrooms, yellow and orange carrots, broccoli, green beans, red peppers, green peppers, yellow peppers, peas and red onions. Cook the vegetables until slightly soft, but not mushy, anywhere from 10-15 minutes depending on the vegetables.

Step 3:

Add the sauce or seasonings or your choice. Last night I used Szechuan Spicy Stir Fry Sauce, which is one of our favorites. It is only about 25 calories per tablespoon. I add about 2 tablespoons directly to the vegetables. I use my eye as judgement. I don’t want to coat the vegetables so much that you can’t see their true colors.

Step 4:

I add my protein to the stir-fry afterwards. This works best because sometimes my husband and I want different proteins or sometimes I am not in the mood for meat. If you are cooking shrimp, chicken, beef, etc. I cook it thoroughly separately with a small amount of it’s own sauce and then add it to the vegetables and toss everything together for 2-3 minutes. We have even grilled meet (and vegetables too!) and added it to the stir-fry. Last night I chose to add an egg to my stir-fry, which I “fried” in just a touch of oil.

Step 5:

Serve with the rice of your choice (cooked ahead of time according to directions). Last night, we ate ours with our favorite, which is Jasmine Rice. For a healthier alternative, I usually cook brown rice for myself.

Step 6:

Enjoy!

Of course, I added some hot sauce to my bowl. The yellow carrots were delicious, I will be cooking with them more often now.

As you can see, there is nothing genius or even special about my stir-fry, and that is why I love it so much – you can do what you wish! Make different creations with a variety of meats, vegetables, spices and sauces. There is truly no limit to the possibilities.

Tell Me:

What is your favorite way to make stir-fry? If you take a picture and send it to me, I will be sure to feature it on my Facebook page! Send your famous creations to sara@wordstorunby.com.

Until the next mile marker,