Christmas Cookie Decorating - an American Tradition

Decorating dozens of sugar cookies is what most American families will be doing at Christmas time.  This is definitely a tradition we brought with us to Poland. Our Polish friend was very excited to learn what this craziness was all about. Unfortunately, since the American population in Slupsk is quite small, there are not a whole lot of cookie decorating supplies in the grocery stores. So we did our best with no cookie cutters or food coloring for the frosting. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time. So if you are in need of a gluten free/dairy free Christmas cookie recipe, this is it! Just make sure your decorations are also.

Frosted Sugar Cookies
Makes: ~3 dozen       Time: 10 min prep, 3 hrs chilling (optional), 8 min baking

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks, 250g) Salted Butter, softened (or shortening for dairy free)
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp GF Vanilla Extract*
• 1/2 tsp GF Almond Extract*
• 2-3/4 cups All-Purpose GF Flour
• 1 tbsp guar gum
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cream of tartar*

*NOTE: They do not have extracts in Poland. They instead have something called aromat which is scented but honestly tastes terrible. Real extracts are preferred. Also, cream of tartar has proven very hard for me in find in both Poland and Spain. Lucky for me, I can bring a 9 month supply of these with me each time.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 2-1/2 tbsp Salted Butter (or Shortening)
• 1-1/2 tbsp Heavy Cream (or Soy Milk)
• 3/4 tsp GF Vanilla Extract

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used a silicone baking mat)
2. Cream together the powdered sugar and butter/shortening in a mixer (or with a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
3. Stir in the flour, guar gum, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Careful not to get covered in flour if you are using your mixer still :)
4. Now that your dough is ready, you can choose the fast or slow option. If your kids (or you) can't wait 3 hours before baking/decorating, just spoon rounded tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet and press to flatten. Otherwise, chill the dough for 3 hours in the fridge. Then you will be able to roll it out (about 1/4 inch thick) between sheets of plastic wrap to cut out shapes. Dip your cookie cutters in flour so the dough doesn't stick.
5. Be careful when you are spacing out your cookies. They will grow in size so leave about 1-2 inches between each one. If the dough gets too sticky, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or even in the freezer. Cold dough is key! You could even cut out the shapes, remove the excess dough, and then pop them back in the fridge before attempting to transfer them to the baking sheet.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes until the edges are lightly brown. Baking them on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat with allow for easy removal. Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.
7. Frosting: cream all the ingredients together until smooth.
8. Wait till the cookies are cool and then frost away!

I love knowing that even though I can't have gluten and Levi can't have dairy, we can still have an awesome and delicious cookie decorating party. And I bet you wouldn't even know. Merry Christmas!!!!!!

The Knutsons 

Chicken Ranch Salad Pizza

We had this yesterday and it was AMAZING! As you can tell, I don't make the same thing very often. However, I told Levi I could eat this once a week. It was sooooo good. Especially because our diet has become even more limited since Levi got a stomach ulcer from some medicine he was taking. So tomato sauce has been off the list of allowable ingredients. That makes it kinda hard to think of pizza recipes. Especially since it has to be dairy free and gluten free. Sooooo, not only will I be posting my all time favorite gluten free pizza dough, but the link to the recipe for dairy free ranch dressing. Even if you have no food restrictions, you gotta make this. Homemade pizza is WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY better than ordering or store bought.

Pizza Dough Recipe
Makes: 1 medium pizza             Serves:2-3 (only 2 if your husband is a 200lb athlete)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup warm water (about 115 degrees F)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (or guar gum)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (I blend my own because store bought is not very healthy or is really $$$$$)

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine the warm water, honey, and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes until the mixture bubbles (this just means your yeast is alive and will actually work)
• Stir in the olive oil, xanthan gum, basil, oregano, garlic powder, and salt. Mix in the flour with a spoon until it forms a soft, smooth dough.
• Form dough into a ball and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the oil around until it is evenly coated. Put back in the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm location to rise for 20 minutes (I set mine in the microwave just so the temperature stays consistent).
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a spatula, press/spread the dough out into a circle (use a little more olive oil to make it easier to spread). Par-bake the dough for 10 minutes in the oven.
• Finally, add all the toppings you want and put it back in the oven for another 10ish minutes. If you are using cheese, bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

CHICKEN RANCH PIZZA TOPPINGS:

• dairy free ranch dressing (find the recipe here: http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2011/08/ranch-dressing-dairy-free-egg-free-corn-free-nut-free-and-soy-free/)
• spinach
• diced, cooked chicken
• diced red bell pepper
• diced green onion
• optional: shredded cheddar cheese (for those of us who can have dairy)

Seriously, make this for dinner tonight. You will LOVE it. Especially if you are dairy free and have been craving something with a creamy sauce. Do it.

Maura

We're back! With Garlic-Cheddar Muffins

SOOOO much has happened since my eyes have silenced my blog posts. One, my eyes are doing a little better with something the Polish doctor gave me and I'm optimistic knowing that in 2 weeks I will be home and can see a doctor who speaks English.

That said, we're coming home for Christmas! I cannot explain to you how rare it is to be able to take a week off during Christmas in the basketball world. So many of our teammates who have been playing overseas for 6+ years have only gone home once and some never have. So we are incredibly lucky and grateful that the team is letting us go home.

We have had both my parents and Levi's parents visit us in the last month. It was so wonderful to have both of them here. We always love having company and being able to share our crazy life with people. It also gives us an excuse to do touristy things :)

The team has also had a bunch of games. After the first two losses, they went on to win 7 regular season games and 2 tournament games in a row. However, they just lost their last 3 games, two of which counted toward the playoffs. So we've had some serious highs and lows. Overall, we have a really good team and I see us doing really well. We just have a few kinks to work out.

On a different note, my wonderful, 88 year-old grandmother passed away just before Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to have had so many wonderful years with her and especially thankful we were able to see her this summer. We miss her so much but are so happy to know she's finally home. All these recipes have a little bit of her in them as she always made us wonderful things and always let us help.

And as I said before, the posts stopped but the cooking certainly didn't. Not with a hungry basketball player in the house. Today's recipe will be a rare one that is NOT dairy free. All the basketball wives got together while the team was on a roadtrip and so I took this as my opportunity to make something with cheese. Honestly, cheese is one of my favorite foods and when there are so many other things you can't eat, it's hard to cut something out that you can. This is a great appetizer or even a side to soup.

Garlic-Cheddar Muffins
Makes: 9 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups almond flour (I used hazelnut flour since that's what they have here)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, firmly packed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup green onion, thinly sliced

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Line muffin tin with baking liners.
• In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and olive oil.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well with a spoon.
• Stir in cheddar cheese, garlic, and onions.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. The batter will be really thick and you will have to press it down into the liners. It will be more like cookie batter than muffin batter but I promise it works out.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Serve warm

Hopefully you enjoy these as much as I did. It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had cheese in so long :)

Maura

An update

To start, sorry for the long delay in posts! There are two reasons for the lull. First, my parents came to visit!  Second, Levi's parents are here! It has been so fun and we have been on so many adventures. More posts from that later! Third, I have severely dry eyes (or that's what I think) and have not been able to find a remedy. And the worst is looking at computer screens. Even 10 minutes gives me a headache. So writing posts is hard. Getting the right medical care is not so easy in our little town, so a 4 hour car ride is necessary to get to a good eye doctor. I'm trying something new so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can get it figured out in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, I'll do my best to post a few new recipes. There's still plenty of cooking going on, just hard to write about it. 

The season is under way...

Hello everybody!

Yes, believe it or not, this is Levi finally writing a long over due blog post ;) If you've been following our blog closely you might think that all I do out here is eat the great food that Maura cooks, but I have been pretty busy playing ball too! We've now had 8 preseason games and 2 regular season games. We've dropped our first two games but it's no time to panic. We are starting to gel more as a team and have had some great practices in preparation for our next game this coming Sunday in Radom (8-10 hour bus ride!). We hope to come out with great energy and play how we are capable of playing. I have really enjoyed getting to know my teammates more and more as the season progresses, and there will be plenty more team bonding time in the coming weeks due to our long bus rides across Poland. We always travel the day before the game and leave in the morning (depending on how far the trip is) and travel back to Slupsk through the night after the game. For the most part, Poland doesn't have great highway systems from city to city so much of the multi-hour trips are spent winding through foresty areas on bumpy roads and driving through small towns along the way. Right now everything is still really green and Poland is actually a really beautiful country. It has been really rainy and windy over the past week and temperatures are starting to drop with highs in the 50's and lows close to freezing. We had our first home game last week and our fans are awesome! Our gym gets really loud and its a fun atmosphere to play in. Maura and I are getting excited for visitors to come stay with us over the next month. First Maura's parents will come for 9 days and will get to watch one away game and one home game, and then Levi's parents will come for 11 days in November and will get to see 3 home games! We are soooo blessed and lucky to have family come, and we're excited for them to get a taste of our Polish lifestyle and overseas basketball experience too. Hopefully I'll be posting again very soon with some good news about our team's performance in our next two games, both of which are on the road. Hope everyone is doing great and talk to you all soon!

Levi

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies...with Coconut Flour!

The more gluten free baking I do, the more random ingredients I come across.  Coconut flour is kind of exotic and honestly, without Celiacs, I probably never would have used it. However, coconut flour is awesome! First, it's really absorbent so you use WAY less flour than a normal recipe. I've made a batch of cupcakes with only 1/2 cup of flour. Second, it makes the most light and fluffy baked goods ever. And it's pretty healthy! Gluten free or not, you should try some recipes with coconut flour. 

Oh, and conveniently, I am going to give you one. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies! These are so good. The fudgy cookies that are covered in powdered sugar and then when you bake them they get all cracked. I think people make them around Christmas time but I make them whenever I want. I made them for the team a couple weeks ago and they were a hit.

I've adapted this recipe slightly from the one on tropicaltraditions.com. They have all kinds of recipes using coconut flour and they also sell coconut flour that is really good quality. Their recipe creates a gluten free flour blend but since I already have an all-purpose flour, I changed it a bit.


Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Servings: 3 dozen cookies
Prep: 1 hr and 20 min

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup melted butter, coconut oil, or shortening (I used shortening)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-3/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
3-1/2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp xanthan gum (I use guar gum, it's cheaper and works the same)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar

1. Melt chocolate in bowl the microwave. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring well in between until it's all melted.
2. Whisk in oil and sugar. Then mix in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the vanilla extract. The mixture should be thick.
3. Then mix in all the dry ingredients (flours, xanthan gum, salt, & baking powder). The batter will look like brownie batter.
4. Refrigerate for an hour or more, until the batter is firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
6. Put powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take a tablespoon of the batter and roll it into a ball and then roll in the powdered sugar.
7. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies look set. Let cool for 3 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

That's it! Really make sure the dough is cold so that the rolling process is easier. You will have sticky hands but that's ok :) My batch made about 32 cookies. They are meant to be kinda small, only about 2 inches wide. They are soooooooo good! You will need to find a reason to give them away or you'll probably end up eating the whole batch...


Maura

Pita Bread

Europe doesn't really do fast food (minus the american fast food chains) but if they had to have an equivalent, kabobs would be it. Kabobs are middle eastern street food but there are about 50 kabob shops just in Slupsk and there were tons in Spain too. A kabob is not what you might initially have thought. It's not a shish kabob where you put meat/veggies on a stick and grill it. It's basically pita bread filled with meat that they have shaved off these big roasters. Everyone here loves them. Levi tried some with his teammates.

With this in mind, I wanted my own kabob. My parents and I always got gyros when I was little and I loved them. Kabobs are a lot like that. Luckily, my favorite gluten free cookbook/blog has a recipe for pita bread. I've made it before but this time I attempted to make it dairy free also. It came out great! Maybe some of the best bread I've ever made and really easy to to re-use for things other than kabobs.

Gluten/Diary Free Pita Bread

From Glutenfreeonashoestring.com

Makes:12 pitas

3 to 4½ cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, divided
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
4 tsp instant yeast
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more
2½ cups warm milk, about 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (can use a dairy substitute but whatever you use must have a little fat)

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place 3 cups of flour and the xanthan gum, along with the salt, and mix to combine well. Add the yeast and sugar, then the oil, mixing well to combine after each addition. I don't have a stand mixer so I used a hand mixer.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the milk in a slow pour. The dough should begin to come together. Continue adding the milk until it’s all in there.
• Add enough additional flour so that the dough is thick and kinda creamy looking – not dry, and not really sticky, but tacky so if you touch it some of it sticks to your finger. You can always add more flour. I added just over 1/2 cup extra to mine.
• Dump the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over a few times to coat with oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm, humid place for about an hour, or until nearly doubled in size. I put mine in the microwave (don't turn it on, just set it in there) because it keeps in at a constant temperature with no draft. It will look dimply, and will be a bit tough to handle.
• Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (if you have a silicone mat, this would be a great time to break it out). Divide the dough into 12 to 15 pieces.
• For each piece of dough, roll it into a ball and press it together, squeezing out the air. Then, with the heel of your hand, press it into a disk. Press from the inside out, taking care not to make it too thin (especially at the endges). Sprinkle flour lightly on any sticky spots. Rotate the round of dough on the floured surface, and flip it frequently. If you have added too much flour at any point, drizzle in some canola (or vegetable) oil. It's ok if you have to oil up a piece of dough and start again. They should be just a little thicker than a pancake.
• Place rounds of dough on your baking sheet so they don't touch. Bake for between 5 and 8 minutes, taking care not to allow the pita to burn. It will be darker on the underside than on the top.

They are best right after you make them but be sure to let them cool completely before you try and cut into it. Slice each round in half, then run your knife on the inside of the bread to make a pocket. Now you can stuff it with whatever you want! We had chicken, peppers, red onions, spinach, cucumbers, and tzatziki sauce. I LOVE tzatziki sauce so I couldn't really imagine eating a pita without it. This is a really fun dinner for kids too because they can build their own.

Hopefully you enjoy middle eastern street food as much as we did!

Maura

Famous Almond Flour Scones

I've been making these scones for about a year now and pretty much everyone I serve them to either thinks they are the best scones they've ever had and/or have asked for the recipe. These are easily my favorite breakfast item and every time we travel I make a batch and bring it with me. They travel really well and will keep for 3-4 days in a sealed container or over a week in the fridge. Since tons of hotels now have breakfast included (none of which I can eat), I bring my own breakfast so we don't have to go about searching for something just for me. These scones make breakfast on a trip a huge treat instead of stressful or boring. I make extra so that Levi can have some too because he would rather eat these than the breakfast hotels serve.

I got this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks (thanks to my friend Kristen who gave it to me) called The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. There are some amazing recipes in this book but the baked goods are by far the best. The cookies are easily my favorite chocolate chip cookies, gluten or not. She also has a great online blog called elanaspantry.com. 

I have found that the recipe for these scones, as well as the other recipes in the cookbook, is very dependent on the type of almond flour you use. She recommends Honeyville Almond Flour. It's probably the best quality that I've used but you have to buy it online and its $30 for 5lbs. It lasts a while because it is really finely ground and thus you can use less. It's definitely not the cheapest option though. We were lucky enough to get an amazing blender as a wedding gift. This means I can make my own almond flour. I can buy 3lbs of whole, unsalted almonds at Costco for $9. So it's about half the price as Honeyville's. Put 2 cups of it in the blender at a time. Blend on whatever setting your blender recommends for nuts for 10 seconds. Shake the blender to move around the almonds. Repeat 2 more times. Then sift it into a bowl using a fine mesh sifter. That's it! Homemade almond flour! Another note, do NOT use Bob's Red Mill almond flour. First, it's really expensive. Second, it has too high of an oil content so the final product never comes out right unless you add a lot of extra flour.

This recipe is also really versatile. You can add tons of different ingredients and they always taste great. I've added chocolate chips, dried cranberries, gluten-free oatmeal, coconut, almonds, ..... whatever I feel like really. 

Almond Flour Scones
Makes: 8-10 large scones

2 1/2 to 3 cups Almond Flour (depending on which kind you use)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 agave nectar (or honey if you don't have any)
2 large eggs

*You can add about 1 cup of additional ingredients: chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, nuts, etc. If you add oatmeal, reduce the amount of flour.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix to combine.
• In another bowl, combine oil, agave, and eggs. Whisk to combine.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. 
• Fold in any additional ingredients.

VERY IMPORTANT: Your batter should be very thick and hold together. If you take a spoonful and it kinda "melts" off the spoon, you need more flour. Your should be able to shape it with your hands. Otherwise you will get breakfast cookies. Which are good to but not very scone-like.

• Using the 1/4 measuring cup, drop the batter onto the cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 12-17 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the scone comes out clean.
• Let cool for 20 minutes or until they are set.
• Try not to eat them all in one sitting :)

I hope you like these because I can't imagine you wouldn't. Mmmmmmmm.

Maura

Plum Crumble Bars

These were SOOOOOOO good. I made them for the team after their first exhibition game. The first game it's always hard to gauge when it is appropriate to hand out treats. So I waited a little to long so only about half the team got some. I brought 24. The team has maybe 12 players, 2 coaches, and a couple of managers and such. So maybe 20 people max. All but 2 were gone between about 6-7 players and wives. So they were epic.

I had been seeing plums everywhere in the grocery stores here. When I saw this recipe for plum crumble bars on one of my favorite websites (glutenfreeonashoestring.com) I had to make them. They tasted like little apple pies, but much more portable. They were dairy free because I found some vegetable shortening here to substitute for the butter (not healthy for you but at least Levi wouldn't get a stomach ache). I doubled the recipe and ended up having too much of the crumble topping. But I just froze it and will use it for a quick dessert some other time.

Here is the epic recipe:

SHORTBREAD PLUM CRUMBLE BARS
2 cups + 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 tsp xanthan gum (I use guar gum. same result, but way cheaper)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature (or shortening for dairy free)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (in Europe, they only have granulated brown sugar but the end result is the same)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pound plums (ripe, but not very soft), rinsed and blotted dry
1 tsp cornstarch

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square pan with crisscrossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper, each overhanging two opposite sides. (This helps you take it out at the end with no sticking and no mess.) Set the pan aside.
2. In a large bowl, place 2 cups flour, the xanthan gum, sugar and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the butter, and mix to combine. The mixture should come together as a soft dough. Remove about 3/4 cup (150g) of the dough and transfer it to a medium-size bowl. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining 1/4 cup (35g) flour to the reserved dough, and mix to combine. This is the crumble topping. Place the bowl of crumble topping in the freezer to chill.
3. Scrape the remaining soft shortbread dough into the prepared square pan, and press into an even layer with well-floured hands. Set the pan aside.
4. Slice each of the plums in half, then remove and discard the pits. With a really sharp knife, carefully slice the plums into wedges, each about 1/4-inch wide, being careful not to bruise or crush the fruit. Blot the plum slices with paper towels to remove extra juice on the surface. Lay the plum slices on top of the shortbread in 4 parallel rows, from one side of the pan to the other, overlapping them slightly in each row. Sprinkle the plums evenly with the cornstarch.
5. Remove the crumble topping from the freezer and sprinkle it in an even layer on top of the plums. Press down on the topping gently but firmly.
6. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is uniformly light brown in color and seems set. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely (place in the freezer to speed the process). Carefully remove the bars from the pan by the overhung parchment paper. With a very sharp knife, slice into 16 equal pieces. The bars will be moist and will not set up rock hard because of the moisture in the plums, but will hold together when handled carefully.
7. Serve chilled or at room temperature. I preferred room temperature because they are easier to bite into. Freeze any leftovers.

I followed this recipe almost exactly. It worked out really well but the set-up is fairly time-consuming. Pitting, slicing, and placing all the plum slices along with the rest of the pre-baking steps take about an hour. Then 45 minutes of baking. So make this well ahead of when you want to serve them. I bet you could use peaches or apples with this and it would also be totally amazing. Hope you like it!

Maura

Mind the Gap

Sorry for the long delay in posts! The reason is that Levi sent me on an awesome trip to London to support his cousin in the Paralympic Games! He wasn't able to come because of all the practice and games he had :( I was there from Thursday to Sunday so it was a quick trip. I stayed with Levi's aunt and mom at an awesome hotel right in the middle of all the action. At the main entrance to the Olympic Park they built a brand new, fancy, shmancy outdoor mall. There are hundreds of stores, restaurants, cafes, ... everything. And of course it's packed because people are constantly going in and out of the Park. Our hotel was about 100 yards from the Olympic Park entrance. The reception of the hotel is on the top floor and that's where the lobby is and breakfast is served. They have an awesome balcony up there that looks right out onto the Olympic Park.

The first thing that really hits you is all the people!!! Hundreds of thousands of people going in and out of the events every day. Whenever the events were over for the night, there was a constant stream of people coming out of the park for at least 2 hours. It was crazy! Yet very organized. The city did a great job corralling people into the right lines and having tons of helpers around to answer any questions. They were everywhere around the city so you never felt like you were lost.

We didn't really have any particular plans when I got there. Levi's mom, Jil, had already been there for a week and a half and his aunt, Jana, was out all day at the events. His cousin, Roy, swam prelims and finals each day I was there. Prelims in the morning and finals at night. Jana was awesome and got us tickets to all of the finals. The first day we walked around the city a bunch. We decided to go visit the Wimbledon Stadium since neither of us had seen it. We got off on the wrong stop and made a few too many detours because we ended up getting there 5 minutes after is closed :( We still got to see the outside but we were kinda disappointed. Then we decided to go on the London Eye. We went at night so we could see all the lights. It was really cool! The funny and unexpected thing is that the London Eye is far from being like a ferris wheel. We honestly had to try really hard to even see it moving. Basically it goes so slow you almost can't even tell you're moving. So its definitely just for observing which was fine for me who happens to be slightly afraid of heights.... That ended the first day as I was pretty tired from traveling.

Since London is so giant, there were lots of places for me to find gluten free food. We went to a grocery store in the Westfield Mall area call Waitrose. They had a great section of gluten free food like bread, cereal, granola bars, candy, baking stuff, etc. I bought some yummy rolls, turkey, and cheese in case I ever needed a quick meal. Honestly, whether or not you have Celiacs, it's always cheaper when traveling to buy a loaf of bread, meat, and cheese to make sandwiches a couple days than to eat out every time. There did happen to be a couple restaurants right next to our hotel that served food for me. There was a Mexican restaurant, Wahaca, that served a lot of gluten free options. They literally took a crayon and circled all the things I could eat (about 3/4 of the menu). We ate there twice and I was fine both times. The second restaurant had items on the menu labeled GF. It was called The Real Greek and had traditional Greek food. It was really good and they served it tapas style which was fun. I had a small stomach ache afterwards but I think it was from eating rich restaurant food and not from cross contamination. Otherwise we stopped one day for lunch at a small grocery store/market that had pre-packaged salads. Those are always good when traveling because you can read all the ingredients. Another day we ate at Starbucks of all places. They had a pre-packaged tuna and potato salad that was delicious. Starbucks is pretty good about carrying items that are GF. In the states, they always have granola bars I can eat.

Day 2 we looked in the guidebook and found a walking city tour (self-guided). We started at Trafalgar Square where there happened to be a huge Paralympic watch party with a giant screen, food tents, ping pong tables, etc. We walked east along the main road and walked for a couple hours. We stopped at the Royal Courts building which was way to fancy to be a court building. Across the street is the original Twinnings Tea shop. I really like tea so I had to get some :) Then we went into the main London cathedral, St. Paul. It reminded me a lot of St. Peter's in Vatican City. Really huge... Then we walked across the London Bridge, stopped for some lunch, and headed to the Tower of London. We had to walk across the Tower Bridge of course. We stopped to ask about tours at the Tower and decided we would go the next day. Then we headed straight back to our hotel to get ready for the finals. We got there pretty early, since crowds are pretty unpredictable and we didn't wanna miss Roy's event. We stayed for all the races that night and it was amazing to watch. Roy just got out-touched for gold in the 50m Butterfly! He had an awesome race and it was really exciting. The stadium gets REALLY loud, especially when there is a British swimmer.

Something interesting I learned about the Paralympics is how everyone is grouped into different categories based on their physical condition. There are a bunch of different categories that are a combination no arms, partial legs, dwarfism, blindness, etc. It's incredible to watch these athletes. Have you ever tried to swim a length of a pool without using your legs? Your arm muscles start burning in less than 30 seconds. And they go so fast! It was amazing! Roy is in category S5. He has no hands and no feet so his limbs end just below the elbow and just below the knee. He's at the lower end of his category physically but he won 2 bronze and 2 silver metals!

Day 3 we got up early and visited with Jana for a little while before she left for her busy day. We had breakfast up on the balcony of our hotel. Then we headed to the Tower of London to do a tour. It took about an hour and then we spent maybe another hour looking at the Crown Jewels and walking around to some of the different rooms. It was fun to hear the stories from the Guard who gave us our tour. He was crackin jokes the whole time. We went from the Tower straight to the Portobella Market. It was Saturday so the market was HUGE!! We walked for several hours and never got to the end. It started with antiques then went to clothes, food, and basically everything you could think of. It was awesome and I wish I had had more room in my suitcase to bring stuff home. Then we went back to the hotel to get packed up and get ready for the last finals event. Roy was swimming in the 100m Freestyle S5 finals. It was not his strongest event but he was still hoping to metal. Not only did he metal but he got another Silver! He had an awesome last 50 meters to beat out the 3rd place swimmer.

The next day was solely a travel day for all of us. Jil & Jana back to the US and me back to Polska. My trip took a really long time. I took a bus to a plane to a taxi to a train to a taxi with a lot of waiting in between. Luckily I found Starbucks twice during all those transfers so it wasn't terrible. I also had a great chance of getting lots of good GF food from London and on the way home in Gdansk. Levi had an exhibition away game the night I came back so he wasn't there when I got home but a beautiful bouquet of flowers was waiting for me :) Not sure how I got spoiled enough to go to London without him and get flowers when I got home.

Maura

Exhibition Game #1

Yesterday was the teams first exhibition game and the first time to really play together. As Levi mentioned, they had only had a few days of basketball practice as a team before this game. They played a second division team so the competition wasn't particularly strong. Still they played really well and won 70-50. Levi had an awesome game! He started and played most of the game. He is really the main shooting guard with not a very clear backup so it seems as though he will play a lot this year :)

Since nearly everyone on the team is married or has a girlfriend, I had lots of people to sit with which was a nice change from last year! Some of them have kids too so there was lots of activity :) The stadium is pretty small, maybe 2,500 seats, and old. We've heard the fans are really loud and that's totally understandable because the seats are really close to the court and go up at a pretty steep angle so everyone is really packed in there. This game was closed to the public so it was pretty quiet. It was also closed to the media so you all get an exclusive look at the game ;)

I took a short video and just happen to record a possession where Levi scored. I'm not very good at knowing Levi's stats and he doesn't remember exact numbers but he scored somewhere around16-20 pts. He had a couple jump shots, a layup, and maybe 4 threes. He had a really good time and has really enjoyed playing with the other American point guard, Todd Abernethy. They are also Christians so we really like to spend time with them outside of basketball as well. So overall the game was successful and I brought some treats for everyone (plum crumble bars).

Ok, sorry. I was pretty proud of my bars. I'll post about them later. Here's the video.

It seems like the team plays pretty well together and all get along on and off the court. After the game, a bunch of the players & families went out to get pizza (no, they don't have GF pizza but I brought a granola bar). It was really fun to hang out with all of them. 1 Israeli player, 2 Polish players, and 3 Americans. All of them speak English so it's been fun to have more of a community this year.

So the game was fun and hopefully we'll be a winning team this year! The next exhibition game is Sunday so we'll have some more pics/videos soon.  Scratch that, the game is 2 hours away and we don't have a car yet so you'll have to check the team website for photos if they take any.

Maura

Time to talk hoops!

Hi everybody! It's Levi posting this time as I have been informed that it's my turn to write a blog post after several from Maura :) So for any of you who want to hear a little more about the basketball side of things this one's for you! So after we arrived in Slupsk on Sunday evening (Aug 12th), we didn't have much time to get used to the time change or get over the jet lag, as the team had to get up at 6:30am Monday morning for bloodwork and physicals. This was followed by evening training at "the stadium" as we call it here, which is not the stadium where we will play games, but a track and field training facility with indoor running lanes, weight room, and an outdoor track. It's tucked back in the woods in the outskirts of Slupsk and is actually a really nice facility where some Polish track and field athletes train for national competitions and the Olympics.

So for the following week we didn't do any practicing on the court, it was all running, lifting, agility drills, plyometrics, etc to get everyone in good enough shape to practice and develop a good strength and conditioning base for the year. I was pleased with the quality of the training and our strength coach does a good job. I would love to have at least been in the gym a couple times to shoot and dribble a little bit during this time, but its a long season so we have plenty of time to get our shots on target for our first regular season game on September 29th. After this week of training, we finally started to practice in the gym and I got to see how our team looked on the court for the first time. So far I am pleased to see that the work ethic and attitude of all of our guys is really good and we have no bad attitude players or selfish guys. We have a lot of guys who have played professionally for a while and I think we will understand what it takes to win and become a good team. Most of the guys on the team have a girlfriend, fiance, or wife so this will really help to have some friends for Maura to hang out with while we go on some long bus rides to away games across Poland. The practices themselves have been productive; putting in offenses and some set plays has been the focus so far because we play our first exhibition game tomorrow (Aug 30th) here in Slupsk! I'm anxious to see how we do, but I can imagine the first exhibition game could get a little sloppy because everyone's nerves will be high. But, the game is closed to the public so it shouldn't get too crazy (I've heard the fans here are some of the best in Poland and the gym gets LOUD). The gym is pretty small and seats just a couple thousand people, but the seats go straight up and surround the floor so I can imagine with the place packed it will feel like the fans are right on the court! Our team seems to be put together nicely with a couple solid guys at each position, so I think we will have a deep rotation and get good use out of the bench. Everyone's roles have yet to be set in stone after just a week of practice, but we have several guys who can shoot the ball and point guards who can push the ball quickly in transition, so expect an exciting style of play!

Our preseason schedule will make the next month of preparation go by fast with games on Aug 30th, Sept 2nd, Sept 6th, Sept 9th, and two different two game tournaments the weekends of Sept 15-16th and Sept 22-23rd. None of these games count toward the regular season record but I think this many games will get us right where we need to be to start the season off strong.

Our regular season schedule is posted below so take a look! Only the first 22 games are scheduled right now...there are 12 teams in the league and we play everyone twice (home and away) in the first round of the league. After this, the teams are ranked 1st through 12th. The top 6 teams will play each other twice more, home and away. The bottom 6 teams will also play each other twice more. After these 10 games which take place in March and April, the initial top 6 teams from round 1 will automatically make the playoffs, and the top two finishers from the bottom half of the league will be added to the mix for an 8 team traditional playoff. The playoffs consist of best of 5 series and start in May and end in mid June if we are to make the finals.

Stay tune to our blog and Maura's facebook page for more pictures of Slupsk, our apartment, the stadium where will we will play called "Gryfia", and there's sure to be lots of game pictures once we start up the season. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free to comment and ask any questions about things I forgot to mention. God bless!

-Levi



 

Dairy-Free Basil Pesto

Hi everyone!

Cooking is in full swing these days. I've already given the team their first batch of cookies, made 3 loaves of zucchini bread, homemade granola as well as some yummy dinners. I'll be posting some baking recipes soon too but for now another dinner.

Since everything here is about 50% cheaper than the US, it helps me not feel guilty when I buy lots of ingredients that sometimes can be expensive. Thus I decided to buy some fresh herb plants. Basil, thyme, and rosemary. Honestly they are the less expensive way to buy fresh herbs so I think everybody should have a fresh herb garden. Mine have been doing really well, particularly the basil. Making pesto was really the only way to remedy this problem. And I love pesto. But the problem with typical pesto was the parmesean. So I did some internet searching and found a dairy free pesto recipe. I found a great recipe but was equally excited about the website it was on: www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com. This mom cooks all kinds of things without common allergens. Her son is gluten and dairy free so that's pretty helpful for me :) I'm trying the dairy free ranch dressing today! Anyway, here is the pesto recipe. I tweeked it just a bit based on what I have...

Dairy-Free Basil Pesto

2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves, packed

1/3 cup Walnuts

3 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-1/2 tsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice

3/4 tsp Sea Salt

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the basil leaves with the walnuts, lemon juice and sea salt. Pulse a few times until mixture is reduced in volume and the mixture is well incorporated.
2. Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.
3. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the blender or food processor is running, stop to scrap down the sides with a spatula.
4. Taste.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed. Mine needed more salt.
5. Add to any style of Gluten Free pasta (here I found the Sam Mills brand), toss, and top with chicken!

Because cheese might be my favorite food, I added some parmesean to mine :) This was delicious so go buy a basil plant, haha.

Maura

All you basketball fans, don't worry we'll have lots of things to post about that when the season starts. Only 2 days till the first exhibition game! We have the schedule finally so I'll post that too.

Kielbasa Casserole!

The first thing you'll notice about Polish grocery stores is all the sausage! Kielbasa (polish sausage) is EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately most brands are not gluten free. However, after reading just about every sausage label in the store, we discovered one! It doesn't specifically say it is gluten free but it did list the allergens and gluten was not one of them. So we sort of gambled with this one but I ate this casserole 3 different times (dinner and two leftover lunches) and never felt a thing. Like I mentioned before the brand is Nowak and we found it in Slupsk at E.Leclerc.

I found this recipe online on the Taste of Home website after Levi mentioned we should make more casseroles. It is officially termed Three-Cheese Kielbasa Bake. Obviously this is not a dairy free recipe but Levi was ok taking a few lactase pills :) 

Here's how delicious it looked...

Sometimes I make something and I'm entirely unsure if it will be good or not. Not this time. I knew right when I put it in the oven it was gonna be so good. We had one of Levi's teammates over (a 6'-10" basketball center) and there were plenty of leftovers so this is a great meal to have with company. I'm sure kids would love this too!

Ok, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

12 z uncooked fusilli2 pounds kielbasa, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced
2 medium carrots, grated
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce - I use homemade which is about 3 1/4 cups
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 carton (15 oz) ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups (8 oz) part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Cook fusilli according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage in oil over medium heat; drain. Add the onions, zucchini, carrots and garlic; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Drain pasta.
3. In each of two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes, layer half of the pasta and meat sauce. Combine egg and ricotta cheese; spoon half over sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheddar and mozzarella. Repeat. Top with green onions.
4. Cool one casserole; cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
5. To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

I made just 1 casserole so I split all these quantities in half. That was enough to feed 6-8 hungry people. I will say this recipe is fairly labor intensive. Not hard, just a lot of prep-work. Make sure to have all your ingredients cut, shredded, chopped, beaten, etc. ahead of time and it will be a lot easier. It also originally said to layer everything 4 times! I felt like this was a little overkill and two was enough to distribute all the ingredients well.

I don't think people in Poland really eat this but it was a good way for us to ease into Polish food :) I hope you like it!

Maura

Ustka - trip to the Baltic Sea

Levi had the morning off from practice, and since the hot days of summer in Poland are few and far between,  we decided to see what a Polish beach was like.  A 20 minute train ride from Slupsk is Ustka. It's a cute little coastal town that's pretty touristy in summer. The beach is soft, white sand and absolutely PACKED with people! We experienced this same thing in Mallorca in August as this is the month many Europeans are on vacation.

It was about 82 degrees outside but the water was about 55 degrees. We jumped in but it felt more like the type of water Levi uses to ice his legs after practice. We walked around a little and glanced at all the souvenirs people were selling.  Levi found a delicious lunch of kielbasa and potatoes.  I brought a sandwich since hoping a little town like this will have food for me is a bad idea. Most kielbasa (typical Polish sausage) has gluten in it (or traces of it). However, we did successfully find some gluten free kielbasa! The brand is Nowak and we found it at a store called E.Leclerc. I'll be posting a recipe soon that I made with it :)

 

The town is cute but there's really not much to do unless you wanna lay on the beach or go shopping. So we stayed a few hours and headed home. A small but fun adventure :)

Maura & Levi