Scents include:

• Grapefruit:  Uplifting and mood-elevating, known to help decrease stress
• Pomegranate Bamboo:  Calming and soothing, helps to alleviate anxiety and nervous tensiion
• Lilac:  Promotes peace and harmony, clarity and concentration
• Green Tea & Cucumber:  Energetic and revitalizing, promotes a sense of well-being
• Lavender:  Relaxing, calming, and balancing, known to reduce stress
• Lemon Verbena:  Improves concentration, focus, and clarity

Wrapped in a giftable package and affordably priced at 3 for $6, pick up Canus Soaps for the favorite person in your life!

Aromatic Moroccan Quiche

Custard: 

• 1 cup milk: skim, 2%, or whole
• small handful dried mushroomes: shitake, bolete, or morel mushrooms – they weigh almost nothing
• 3 oz hard cheese, grated: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Comte, or Gruyère
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp  Ras El Hanout seasoning
• 1/2 tsp smoked, Spanish paprika

Filling

• 1 oz soft cheese, diced:  feta, brie, Camembert, or blue
• 2 Tbsp frozen peas
• 1 small shallot, finely diced

 1.       Preheat oven to 300 ° F. 

2.       While the oven is preheating, prepare the custard.  Warm one cup of milk to approximately 100°F by microwaving for 1 minute or gently heating in a sauce pan.  Use your favorite milk; skim or whole works fine.

3.       Add small handful of dried shitake, bolete, or morel mushrooms to the warm milk and let soak for 10-15 minutes. 

4.       Grate 3 oz. hard, aged cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, Comte, or Gruyère.

5.       Remove the dried mushrooms from the milk and gently squeeze the excess milk from the mushrooms back into the milk.

6.       Place mushrooms in the baking dishes of your choice:  Four 6-ounce ramekins for appetizers, two twelve-ounce round pans (as pictured), or an 8-inch round soufflé dish.

7.       Combine milk, 3 eggs, and grated cheese along with 1 tsp. Ras El Hanout seasoning and ½ tsp. smoked Spanish paprika.  (Add ½ tsp. salt if you’re not using a salty cheese)

8.       Add your favorite fillings to baking dish(es), such as an ounce of diced, soft cheese such as feta, brie, Camembert, or blue; 2 Tbs. frozen peas; or 1 small shallot, finely diced.

9.       Pour custard over the fillings in the baking dish, no more than ¾ full – it will puff up.  Place in oven for approximately 30 minutes.  Fully cooked, the quiche should be just tender, moist, and jiggly.  Serve warm or at room temperature

Yield:  2 to 4 servings.

Soft Preztels with Maninis Gluten-Free Flour

This recipe will yield 10-15 pretzels depending on how large you make yours.  Kaylin kept these pretzels simple and just sprinkled with salt but you could do lots of different toppings like cinnamon & sugar, garlic, poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Manini’s Multi-Purpose gluten-free flour mix
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg white whipped with 1 tsp water
• 2 tbsp baking soda for boiling water bath
• Kosher salt

What to do:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. When it reaches temperature turn it off.

Place flour, yeast, brown sugar and sea salt in bread machine and turn on dough cycle to begin mixing.

Slowly stream in water and use a spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. You should get a nice dough ball to form. Once the ball has formed turn your bread machine off.

Pour 2 tsp vegetable oil into a mixing bowl. Remove your dough ball from the bread machine and roll it in the oil, coating all sides. Cover with waxed paper and place in warm oven to rise for about an hour. Dough will almost double in size.

Remove dough from the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pull off pieces of dough about 2″ in size and roll into ropes 10-12″ long. Fold ends of rope over to form a pretzel shape. Pinch to seal pretzel where it crosses over so it doesn’t fall apart during the water bath.

Next, take a large pan and add about 4″ of water and 2 tbsp baking soda. Place on stove and bring to a boil. When the water comes to a rolling boil, place the pretzels in the water, about 4 at a time.

Leave in the water for about 60 seconds and then remove with a slotted spoon. (Turn after about 30 seconds if both sides of the pretzel are not submersed) Place pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment and sprinkled with corn meal. Brush pretzels with egg white and sprinkle on Kosher salt. Place in center of oven and bake 10 minutes or until golden. Enjoy!

Relatively speaking.

Breakfast – Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats with Vanilla Almond Milk and Blueberries

Lunch – Lemon Quinoa and Raw Kale w/ Tahini Garlic Sauce – both from Whole Foods’ Prepared Foods section

Dinner – Grilled Sockeye Salmon with an Asparagus, Mushroom, and Onion stir-fry plus Strawberries for dessert

Snack – Sunflower Seeds

All great meals, never felt deprived, wasn’t ever really hungry or denying cravings.  I had a lot of energy all day – definitely due, in some part, to the quinoa at lunch.  Did you know that quinoa has the highest protein content of all of the grains?  It’s true.  The local sockeye salmon I had for dinner was so fresh and so delicious, I didn’t even miss the pasta I usually mix with it.  So far, this gluten-loving girl is getting along quite well in her new wheat-free world. Incidentally, I’ve also  managed to stay away from dairy. It wasn’t necessarily part of my plan – it just seemed to happen that way.

Yeah, I’m totally rocking this wheat-free world.

And so, as we welcome 2012, I intend on making some changes in my life.   For the next month, I will try to definitely omit wheat and processed foods from my diet.  Also, I figure who couldn’t use a few more fruits and veggies in their diet, right? S o that’s it.  No wheat.  No crap.  How hard could it be?  Right?  Right?!

Yeah, right.  Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of gluten-loving girl in a wheat-free world!

In the meantime, check out this great post from Denise Breyley, our Local Forager.  Denise loves her some Mt Townsend Creamery cheeses…and so do I!

http://www.thelocalforager.com/dairy/holiday-cheer-cheese-from-mt-townsend-creamery/

Grilled Salmon with Basil Lemon Butter

Serves 2

Ingredients

Basil Lemon Butter

-Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

-Juice and zest from one lemon

-8 leaves fresh basil

-8 ounces unsalted European-style butter, softened

Salmon

-Vegetable oil for cooking

-2 (6 to 8 ounce) Sockeye salmon fillets

Method

To make the compound butter, place butter in a mixing bowl. Layer basil leaves on top of one another and roll tightly, like a cigar. Thinly slice, creating slivers of basil. Place basil in the bowl. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and incorporate all ingredients using a potato masher, pastry blender or a spatula. Add salt to taste. Place butter on one end of a 10-inch square piece of parchment paper. Roll butter in the paper, creating a cylinder, about 5 inches long. Twist the ends and freeze for about an hour before using.

For the salmon, heat a grill or grill pan over medium high heat. Brush salmon on both sides with oil. Sear skin side down 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer. The general rule for coking fish fillets is 10 minutes per inch of fish, but in the case of wild salmon you definitely do not want to overcook the fish and medium to medium rare is preferred by most wild salmon connoisseurs.

Remove salmon from grill and take butter out of the freezer. Thinly slice one or two medallions of compound butter right though the parchment paper. Peel away the parchment paper and top salmon with the butter. Garnish with basil or lemon wedges to the plate, if desired.

Chicken Sausage Jambalaya

Serves 12

This one-pot meal is great for feeding a crowd of friends.  And seriously, this recipe makes a ton of food – it is easily cut in half if you aren’t feeding as many mouths. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons safflower oil, divided
2 (12-ounce) packages pre-cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage, sliced diagonally
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 (1-pound) bag frozen okra
1 (1-pound) bag frozen Whole Catch® Tail-On, Peeled & Deveined, 41/50 Cooked Shrimp
Hot sauce for serving

Method

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Add remaining oil, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, rice, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring now and then. Add frozen okra and reserved sausage. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add frozen shrimp and continue cooking until heated through. Taste and season with more salt or cayenne if desired. Serve with hot sauce.

This recipe is so perfect for fish tacos!  Season & bake up the tilapia as directed, then tuck into warm corn tortillas with cabbage and an avocado slaw!  Super delicious week day meal!

Baked Southwestern Tilapia

Serves 4

Turn on the oven, whisk together a few spices and dinner is ready before you know it. Feel free to adjust the heat level of the seasonings to your liking. Try this also with cod, halibut or trout. Serve with a simple grain pilaf and steamed greens.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 lime, cut into wedges

Method

Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small bowl, mix garlic powder, chili powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Sprinkle evenly over both sides of tilapia.

Coat a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Arrange tilapia in a single layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle tilapia with the remaining tablespoon of oil and bake until golden brown and flesh begins to flake, 7 to 9 minutes. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

Small Bites, Big Impact

The Whole Deal value guide is in its second year of bringing together some great “small bite” recipes that check out at less than 50 cents per piece. Make them the basis for a cocktail party or holiday gathering and you can host the whole gang without compromising your fiscal integrity. Here’s the year’s newest crop, plus last year’s favorites:

• Black-Eyed Pea Pâté with Pickled Onions on Flatbread Crackers
• Celery Bites with Roasted Red Pepper Cream
• Creamy Cucumber Chive Cups
• Date and Olive Oil Wine Crackers
• Five-Spice Cranberry Glazed Chicken Wings
• Ham and Pineapple Pops
• Mini Brie and Arugula Sandwiches with Apple Mustard
• Pimentón Roasted Chickpeas
• Pineapple White Chocolate Chunk Macaroons
• Two-Bite Shrimp Pancakes with Satsuma Tangerine Relish
• Spinach, Mushroom, and Swiss Crustless Quiche Squares

2009 Favorites

• Blue Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Dates
• Brie with Cardamom-Scented Clementine Chutney
• Chocolate-Covered Matzo Bark
• Cranberry Cheddar Sausage Bites
• Ham and Roasted Pear Crostini
• Mini Potato-Carrot Pancakes with Festive Sour Cream
• Pita Chips with Sweet Potato Mash and Smoked Almonds
• Seafood Cucumber Stacks with Lemon Cream and Chives
• Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Plan Well, Shop Wisely

Create a Menu. In addition to our excellent small bites, browse hundreds of budget-friendly recipes. Choose your dishes, then use our handy shopping lists feature to create a complete checklist in mere moments.

Buy Only What You Need. Use our Servings Calculator to help determine how much you need per person. Also do a thorough inventory of what you already have on your shelves so you don’t make unnecessary purchases.

Go for 365 Everyday Value®. Our excellent house brand helps you save on entertaining basics and pantry staples. From crackers and mixers to nuts and napkins, it’s the best and broadest selection of natural and organic products at the best possible prices.

Shop the Sales. More than 1000 items are on sale in our store right now. Look for the sale signs and save! Also, sign up for our Whole Foods Market News e-newsletter for notification of the best specials.

Take Advantage of Our Good Nature. Our Team Members are there for you, and they know the answers to more questions than you might think! Let them help you make holiday shopping easy and affordable.

Have “What Can I Bring?” Suggestions Ready. Guests almost always ask what they can bring, and usually enjoy contributing. Make a short list of items or dishes that would be helpful to have supplied so that you can offer your generous, talented guests a suggestion.

More Great Ways to Party for Less

Beat the Bar Tab. Instead of offering a full bar, choose a cocktail (or invent your own) and make it your seasonal signature. Offer that, plus beer and a few non-alcoholic drinks like seltzer, sparkling cider and natural sodas.

Make Décor do Double Duty. Decorate your table with winter squash, fresh herbs, citrus, apples, pears, pomegranates and nuts, then use them in recipes later. Here are even more décor ideas for sprucing up the holidays.

You Don’t Need Fancy Serving Dishes. Small wall mirrors (cleaned, of course!) make elegant platters for hors d’oeuvres and crudités. Wooden cutting boards are practical for serving everything from meats and cheeses to cookies and pies. Line mixing bowls with lettuce or radicchio leaves and mound vegetable side dishes and salads into them. Clean ceramic planters or window boxes filled with ice are excellent for chilling beverages.

Don’t Forget the Music! Nothing sets the mood like a great play list, and it’s basically free when you use your own music collection