Bringing Back Memories

Wednesday was just another day of Christmas break “relaxation”, A.K.A. Boresville. I don’t do well with this thing they like to call “relaxation” over extended periods of time. Cabin fever sets in pretty quickly with me. I woke up early for whatever stupid reason (I can’t manage to sleep in because I haven’t done enough activity during the day to warrant tiredness), and as per usual, one of the first things that came to mind was breakfast...

Tuesday night, we sat around the table talking about things I miss that aren’t gluten-free. One of them was English muffins. My step dad and I were gushing over Thomas’ “Nooks and Crannies” and how the topping of your choice wiggles its way into the little holes creating pockets of flavor explosion. Meanwhile, my mom was looking at us like we were nuts. We didn’t care.

I must’ve gone to bed thinking about these delectable goodies, because Wednesday morning, the Ener-G English muffins came to mind. So, I excitedly ran to the kitchen to grab the package.

I pulled them out, and being the weird food lover that I am, I smelled them. It was like a cross between sourdough and Hawaiian sweet rolls (another thing I miss). Guess what else was in this muffin- nooks and crannies. YEYAH!

Check it.

I was so excited about it I made a mad dash for the peanut butter. I toasted the muffin for the usual length of time. When I pulled them out, something interesting occurred to me. The muffins got softer in the toaster. Huh? I am not quite sure, but I think they make it a little doughy so that when you toast it, it seems fresh baked. It was strange, but I wasn’t going to question it. To my further delight, when I bit into it, it was flakey and almost biscuit-like. It was super fluffy and moist. The taste was like a very mild sourdough bread.

Muff with peanut butter and an orange.

I don’t know how they manage to keep their products so moist and also give them a long shelf-life. It’s amazing. Needless to say, I enjoyed these English muffins. With companies like Ener-G around, there is no need to go without your favorite breads and other usually gluten-filled goodies. Thomas’ still have a special place in my heart, but I think I might be able learn to love again.

After breakfast, I did the usual sprucing up of the self. It was rest day on Wednesday, so I went for a leisurely stroll with the poopers. After that I had lunch, wasted time, recorded, wasted more time, cleaned the kitchen, AND wasted more time.

Lunchtime eats: sweet potato and curry rice.

I would go out and do something, but where I live, there is nothing to do but shop, and I am on a no-money-spending kick so it’s a no-go. I guess all the time wasting made me tired, so I took a little nap.

The afternoon wasted away and the evening crept up in me. To my surprise, I received a package in the mail (I am popular these days). My fiancé and I decided that we were not getting Christmas gifts this year, so I wasn’t expecting anything. But I opened the package and got this:

Estee Lauder Sensuous. Luurve it.

Within a few minutes I found myself twirling in my room like a 5 year old in a ballerina costume smelling my new perfume. I am so lucky (and spoiled). It made my night. The night was made complete with this classic soup and sandwich combo.

Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich.

Tomorrow I am going to find something fun to do. I don’t care what, but this staying home doing nothing thing is killing me. Stay tuned.

Ener-G Sent Me a Christmas Present!

Nothing makes me happier than getting packages in the mail. Ok, a few things make me happier, but that is definitely in the top 5 list. When I got home from getting my hair done on Wednesday, I was delighted to find a big package sitting on my doorstep, just in time for Christmas.

In this contained in this rather large box was Ener-G Gluten-Free products! Ener-G was so kind as to send me some of their awesome products to try out.

Box of Goodness

In this box was a sample of:

• Seattle Brown Bread
• Tapioca Loaf
• Light Tapioca Loaf
• Corn Loaf
• Egg-free Raisin Loaf
• Macaroni
• Rice Mix
• English Muffin
• Pound Cake
• Wylde Pretzels (the only gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, egg, soy, and nut-free pretzel on the market!)  
• Ginger Cookies
• Vanilla Cookies

I don’t know about you, but mass quantities of gluten-free foods make me giddy. I decided to dive right into this pile of scrumptiousness and make my lunch. I chose to use the Seattle Brown Bread.

Nicely packaged.

When I pulled the slices apart, one of them ripped. This is understandable, considering gluten-free grains are not as elastic as wheat. For me, the smell of bread just makes me melt. This bread, did not smell as strong as I had hoped, but it was still a nice aroma. I was starving, so I used it to make a veggie sandwich. The veggie sandwich consisted of hummus, mustard, chipotle relish, sauerkraut, romaine lettuce, cilantro, and a sprinkle of hot sauce. 

Snow Peas, Giant Carrot, Veggie Sandwich.

I forgot all about the rip and chowed down on my lunch.  Ok, let me just tell you how good this bread was, rip and all. The sandwich fillings were salty and lacking in any sweetness- almost on the bitter side. The brown bread was very hearty and had sweetness to it, probably due to the raisin concentrate in it. Very interesting ingredient. Combining this bread with those fillings was GENIUS. The taste was amazing.

Another common trait of gluten-free bread is the need to be toasted. Not this bread. No toasting required. It wasn't spongy or stale. I am definitely ok with the fragility of this bread since the taste was so delicious. The bread was slightly sweet and almost nutty in flavor. It was not the least bit dry- still moist as if it had just been baked and cooled.

I really enjoyed this sandwich bread. It was not your run-of-the-mill bread, for sure. Regular sandwich bread sometimes just doesn’t cut it for me. I always appreciate bread with a little pizzazz.

Thanks to Ener-G for letting me taste their delicious product! There is much more to come!

For more information about Ener-G and where you can get some for yourself, visit http://www.ener-g.com/. Happy Eating!