The First Week of Yum

I, Dana, am eating gluten free this month (January). Why? Well, I have always had a love-hate relationship with my digestive system and that sentiment has always been shared with my mother. My cousin Rachel told us about Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance. She has recently changed her diet to being gluten free, and feels better than ever. My mom then tried out the diet and felt great as well. So I decided to do it too... yep I jumped on the bandwagon. This gluten allergy is actually much more popular than many people realize... 1 in 100 people have an allergy and its often misdiagnosed or looked over. It's genetic and often found in Italians (me, yikes, why pasta eaters?!).
I was going to try the diet out in December, since my pregnancy was over and my stomach was hating me. But then I realized I'd miss out on amazing holiday goodies... so I changed that plan... start on the 1st of January! It's not a resolution, just a one month trial. So I have been cooking more and found some good recipes that I just had to share!

My first recipe was found on my amazing cousin's website, http://marimade.blogspot.com/, it was Roasted Stuffed Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes. Seen below...

But I did make some alterations... sorry Rachel! When I shopped for this recipe, the tomatoes at the store were awful! So I bowed out with those and went for brussels sprouts (for me) and carrots, with fingerling potatoes. (By the way, I absolutely love prewashed ready to cook products from Trader Joes). It all turned out fantastically and tasted amazing! Jason was scared of it at first, but after first bite he was convinced of its yumminess.

My next recipe was also incredibly fantastic! I found it on a really neat site, called The Gluten Free Mommy... http://glutenfreemommy.com/broccoli-cheese-casserole/
Here is the amazing Broccoli Cheese Casserole...
It is so yummy... I've been eating the left overs and enjoying them just as much as the fresh version! If you do make it... make sure you add the almonds, they really make the whole dish. I never thought I liked nuts, but apparently I'm learning to.

Anywho, those are my 2 fun dishes for this week :0)