Yummy yum yam

O. M. Goodness. This is my new favorite quick and easy meal/side-dish.

Throw together some cubed sweet potatoes, canned corn, canned black beans, diced red bell pepper, onion, olive oil, cilantro, cumin and coriander in a skillet and cook on medium high heat. Stir often. Dish is done when potatoes are golden brown.

Or cheat with Alexia brand 'Saute Sweet' from the freezer section.

All natural, gluten free, easy.
Win. Win. Win.

My Prudence Broke

The recession has resulted in serious financial fallout for many. No news there.

Other sources of involuntary fat trimming are divorce and medical illness. All of which are difficult situations to endure in and of themselves. Add in the inability to eat or provide food for little mouths and the stress becomes unbearable, which , then leads to poor (or even worse) eating habits, which is known to cause medical illness, poor stress management and depression, likely exacerbating the situation and initiating the downward spiral toward poverty.

While your average Food Prude is capable of cutting back a little and still maintaining a mostly healthy diet when money is tight, destitute celiacs face more of a challenge.

For example, a struggling single parent with celiac children is not able to utilize the special school lunch program, which offers children a balanced lunch for cents on the dollar, because these programs do not offer gluten free foods.

Nor is it possible for low income celiacs to simply choose generic foods, or sale items in all categories.

Many of you already know these details, but for the sake of the many non celiacs reading this post, let's point out a few of the extrordinary expenses associated with the gluten free diet.

1. Bread: Gluten Free, $6.49 makes 4 sandwiches. A 'regular' loaf costing, on average $3.50 and yielding roughly 11 sandwiches.

2. Pretzels: Gluten Free, $6.99 14.1 oz. bag. Glutinous pretzels, $3.29 for 16 oz bag.

3. Pancake Mix: Gluten Free, $5.69 on average with 10 servings. Bisquick mix $2.75, 28 servings.

So what's a destitute celiac to do? Compromise nutrition seems to be the only solution, hence the broken prudence. While fruits and vegetables are always a good source of naturally gluten free food, it is not enough to round out a diet and supplement those that cannot use knives or cook regularly (the wide and ever growing population of short celiacs)

I am opening up this blog to public comments and asking for tips and suggestions for gluten free diets on the cheap.

Follow along as I divulge the details of our families compromise through tough times.

Grilled Mahi Mahi

I like to try to have some variety of fish at least once a week. Up this week is Mahi Mahi, one of the less fishy tasting varieties. A quick stop at Allrecipes.com led me to this great recipe that I tweaked a bit.

• 5 pounds skinned, deboned mahi mahi, cut into chunks
•  1 tsp rehydrated dried garlic chips
• 1/2 cup butter, diced
• 2 T dried minced onion
• 4 T lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Moscato (white wine)
• 1 1/2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (rotel)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces shredded pepperjack cheese

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. Place mahi mahi in an aluminum foil pan, and toss with the garlic to coat. Distribute butter evenly throughout pan. Spread onions over fish. Pour the lemon juice, wine, and diced tomatoes with green chile peppers over the fish. Season with salt and pepper. Tightly cover pan with aluminum foil.
3. Place pan on the grill grate, and cook fish 35 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.

Serve with whole grain rice and green vegetables.  Leftovers make for great lunches!!For the original recipe, visit Allrecipes.com.


Mahi Mahi passes the food prude's standards:

Nutritional Facts

A cooked, three-ounce piece of Mahi Mahi contains 119 calories, 25.5 grams of protein, zero grams of carbohydrates, one gram of total fat and zero grams of fiber, according to MotherNature.com.

Sources of Nutrients

Mahi Mahi is an Excellent course of Selenium (40mcg), Niacin (10mg) and Vitamin B6 (0.88mg), meaning that one cooked, three-ounce piece of Mahi Mahi provides 20 percent or more of the Recommended Daily Value of those nutrients, based on guidelines set by the United States Department of Agriculture, according to MotherNature.com. The same sized serving of Mahi Mahi is also a good source of potassium (484mg), meaning it provides between 10 and 20 percent of the USDA Recommended Daily Value.

Read more: Nutritional Data on Mahi Mahi | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5873152_nutritional-data-mahi-mahi.html#ixzz1FPDF9DZg