Little Miss Muffett...Not!

Sticking with the fairy tale theme, I'm moving on to Little Miss Muffett for breakfast.  A lot of celiacs struggle with good breakfast ideas...obviously--ask the average Americans what they eat for breakfast and 95% of the time it's going to be: cereal, waffles, pancakes, toast, bagel, muffins, biscuits, etc...
You're probably hoping that I'm not about to promote curds and whey.  It does sound gross.  Some scientists actually hypothesize that it was not the spider that truly scared Miss Muffett away, but the curds and whey itself.
Haha, but seriously, did you know that Ricotta and Cottage are made from curds and whey?

Cottage Cheese is the curd and Ricotta is made from the whey when all the curds are removed.    So combine these two and technically, you've got curds and whey...right?

"Way Out" Curds and Whey:

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Ricotta Cheese
2 Tablespoons Cottage Cheese
Lettuce
Fresh Oregano--a few leaves
Fresh Basil--a few leaves
Cherry Tomatoes (or diced)
Sunflower seeds 1 Tablespoon
Bacon (Optional)
Portobello Mushroom--a few slices (optional)
1 teaspoon Romano or Parmesan Cheese
Fresh/dried Garlic--a pinch
Pepper--a pinch

Directions:
Layer a serving bowl with lettuce.  Scoop the cheeses on top--mix around a bit.  Add the other ingredients to suit your tastes.  Eat.  Fall in love with your food.

Sometimes I eat something that was so delicious that my glutton side takes over and demands "MORE!"  So...I decided to relent in a not so naughty way and share a few scoops of my Pepa's sweet pecans (organic!) with my family.  ....And sip on some Bolthouse Farm Mocha--sooo smooth and yummy.

Gluten Free Eggplant Parmesan--Super Simple and Quick

These are some of my baby eggplants. I couldn't wait to pick them. I love eggplants and mine are taking too long to grow.  Since I don't have time to wait around for them (I'm moving in a few weeks) I decided to pluck off several and make the quickest-ever version of eggplant parmesan.  I have a much longer recipe, with many ingredients and lots of labor intensive stuff...
But this recipe is fast and easy.  It's from Clara's Great Depression Cooking.  I love Clara (I know, it sounds like I'm in a lovey mood).   I've adopted her simpler recipe in times when I just really needed to get some eggplant into my system quick--because I have odd cravings for eggplants.

Clara is 92--maybe 93 now--and she is so sweet and wise.  She has a great blog and lots of cooking shows at YouTube.   Even my children enjoy watching them with me.

Here is Clara to demonstrate her budget savy method of preparing this dish:





The basic idea is to slice your eggplants.  Heat a half inch of olive oil in a hot skillet.  Layer the eggplant slices into the pan and cook on each side, until they're 'rosey red'.  Then remove to a plate and cover with a bit of your favorite pasta sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  I also add mozzarella to mine.



A quick and easy pasta sauce recipe:
1 can of tomato paste
2 cups of water
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp. oregano

Puree in a blender, pour into a microwavable dish and heat for five minutes (covered!  Or you'll have a lovely mess).