Cold and Blustery

It was a cold and blustery day here in Southern California. Of course, it was probably the same for most everyone in the United States. It's the kind of day that makes you want to eat something warm and filling. Speaking of warm and filling, how about some grits?
I know what your thinking, "I thought this was a corn-free blog?"
Well, it is!
Goodness people. . .  you must learn to control yourselves!

Typically a food served in the south, I have never had grits before. Then I found Bob's Red Mill Millet Grits at my local health food store. Millet Grits are a whole grain and contain 20% Iron per serving.

These grits cooked up really easily, I added Rice Cheddar Cheese, salt, and pepper. They tasted great like chunky cheesy mashed potatoes-ish. I would definitely recommend them as a side dish, not really as a breakfast cereal. They are a little too chunky. Now I don't really know what people in the south put in grits, maybe some of you southerners can enlighten me. I think these would taste great with some Rice Jack Cheese and diced green chiles. Yum.

Do any of you out there watch Oprah or Dr. Oz? I bet you do. Well, you might have seen an episode Oprah did on Blue Zones. A Blue Zone is a region of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years. Well, I happen to live 15 minutes from the only Blue Zone in the US. Oh yeah! This gives me the unique oppurtunity to shop at some pretty amazing health food stores. My most favorite store is Loma Linda Market in Loma Linda, Ca. Dr. Oz actually visited this obscure little university store when he came to visit Loma Linda. If you live anywhere near by you should absolutely check it out. It's amazing. They have a large gluten-free section, as well as a huge bulk flour section. LLM has the best prices I've seen for the Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills products.

I would also recommend Clarks Nutrition and Natural Foods Market, they have locations in Loma Linda, Rancho Mirage, and Riverside. Clarks has a great selection of organic frozen berries, gluten free baked goods, gluten free flours, raw foods, herbs, and dairy-free butters, cheeses, and yogurts.

So these are a couple of my favorite resources. Next time I post I'll let you in on my favorite online resources.

You know what I love more then anything else? Ribs! Specifically, baby back ribs! Oh they are soooooo delicious. Juicy and tender. Succulent and crunchy. And the best part is that ribs are naturally gluten-free, corn-free, and soy-free. But you must make sure that the BBQ sauce you use is corn-free and gluten-free like Bullseye BBQ sauce. Anyhow here is what you do for perfect ribs.

Prepare your ribs with a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bake at 250 degrees for an hour and a half.
Spread with BBQ sauce and bake for half an hour more at 400 degrees.
They will be PERFECT! Like these:

Don't they look juicy!