Last weekend, we headed to our mountain property as planned. Saturday arrived bright and beautiful. There’s a point along our route, about a third of the way there, where you can see the mountains if it’s a clear day. When we reached that spot, you could see them in the distance. We exclaimed in unison, “Look!”
The views along the way were absolutely fabulous that day and I’m sharing a few here. These are some of the scenes we see repeatedly whenever we head to our property—always comfortingly familiar, yet ever changing.
We weren’t quite sure what to expect when we actually got to our place. How tall would the grass be? Would our dock still be there? Would there be any other surprises? (With property 2 hours away, there are often surprises.) We had been up for the day about a month earlier (as I shared before). On that visit, we’d discovered our small dock had broken free of its “secure” line. High waters had floated it upstream before it settled slightly askew near the neighbor’s shore. We weren’t prepared to retrieve it that day, so we’d left it as it was and kept our fingers crossed that despite more spring rain it would still be there when we returned.
My weekly checks of the website showing daily river levels indicated that the water level had risen to 8-foot levels the week before Memorial Day. (Normal summer levels are only about 2 feet.) So, we wondered about our dock. I didn’t see it immediately upon our arrival, but my husband spotted it several lots down (or more correctly up, as the Shenandoah flows north). It was lodged against some trees and debris. While I was thrilled to see it, trapped and waiting for us, inwardly, I groaned because I couldn’t see us tackling its rescue very easily.
I had already run through the possible scenario in my head on the way there … pulling the dock to shore and laboriously carrying it back through brush over uneven ground for several lots before we could return it to its proper place. But, hubby had another plan.
About halfway through mowing the grass (which wasn’t too high, thankfully), he donned his swimming trunks and waded into the cold water. When he reached the dock, he “manhandled” it enough to flip it over to allow it to float like a raft. Then he walked back, steering it, until he was able to flip it again and return it to its proper spot.
His was a simple plan really and it worked beautifully. I was proud of his ingenuity, which is really to say I was proud of his common sense skills. He really just used what the “tools” at hand—the water, the flat surface of the dock, and his muscles. He worked with what he had. He didn’t need another person (or a crew), he didn’t need some special tool, like a “come along” winch system to haul it to shore … he just needed to consider what was already available to see if he could achieve the result he wanted and needed, and then go from there.
Incidentally, we did get another great surprise! Right above our clothesline, downy woodpeckers had drilled a nice-sized hole in a fragile tree to raise a new family. Mama and Daddy worked non-stop during the day to keep them fed. The only time the babies stopped their squeaky chorus was when they were being fed or sleeping.
It was quite entertaining. When I had free time, I positioned myself in my chair with my camera. I got a few good shots, and while this is not the best one, it’s the only one that shows the mama and the babies.
We’d actually hit another bit of a snag right before leaving the house … my all-important camping list was nowhere to be found. So, we both worked from memory quietly packing up the items that we’ve come to learn we should have on hand.
My main focus is the cooler and the food box. Other than a stop for ice, I didn’t want to have to pick up any groceries along the way. I threw in some russet potatoes for baking, several apples, a few pears, two different kinds of almonds, and some cashews in the food box. Then I turned my attention to the cooler. I’d gotten two artichokes the week before—a requirement for our camping trips—so in they went. A frequent lunch while camping is all-beef hot dogs, so I added a half package of those (more than what we needed, but I’d save the “leftovers”). I had some boneless chicken breasts (a package of 3) in the freezer, so I pulled those out for our dinner.
An old favorite of mine is called marinated chicken breasts. It came from a magazine like Family Circle or Woman’s Day many years ago—not sure which, because I wrote it on a recipe card at some point and tossed the clipping. The recipe is so simple. It calls for one cup of barbecue sauce and ½ cup of Italian dressing. You just combine the two into a marinade and pour over chicken breasts, marinating for an hour or more. (Of course, ensure any pre-made products are gluten free.) Then broil or grill. I don’t buy Italian dressing any more because it’s just as easy, less expensive, and healthier to come up with one’s own concoction. This time I had leftover “dipping oil” from our support group meeting last week.
One of our younger members, Tara, had shown up beaming with some terrific gluten-free bread sticks that she’d made. Her mom suggested we make a dipping oil when they arrived. Mild olive oil mixed with pizza seasoning (oregano, basil, garlic, marjoram, red pepper, thyme, and savory) had worked just fine.
There was just enough of the oil leftover to substitute for the Italian dressing in the chicken marinade, so I added it to a glass jar with Kraft’s original barbecue sauce. (While Kraft is not terribly impressive for a sauce by itself, it can be a good sauce to keep on hand and enhance via a recipe like this one. However, I did just realize it contains high fructose corn syrup—ugh. Still gluten free, but next time, I’ll probably just make my own barbecue sauce.) Once we got to our property, I cut the chicken breasts in half with my kitchen shears, placed them in a Ziploc bag, and poured most of the marinade over them (reserving some in the jar for later in the barbecuing process).
By the time we were ready to cook dinner, the breasts had marinated (and thawed at the same time) for several hours. Then I just grilled them, adding a small amount more of the sauce about the last 10 minutes of cooking. These are really some very moist and flavorful chicken breasts. In general, boneless chicken breasts can be much drier than bone-in breasts, but not when marinated this way. I’ve actually documented this easy process in my Zesty Italian Barbecue Chicken recipe.
As for my baked potatoes, apparently I didn’t stab the potatoes enough prior to wrapping them in foil and/or we didn’t have sufficiently hot coals in our fire pit. When the chicken and artichokes were ready, they were not. However, this was no biggie to me as I had other plans for them. We left them in the fire while we enjoyed our chicken and artichokes. That meal was plenty, really.
After eating, we pulled the potatoes out of the fire, let them cool, and then placed them in a container in the cooler. I had already decided they’d be part of our breakfast the next morning. I’d actually cooked three potatoes. If we’d eaten two of them for dinner, I would have still had one for breakfast. My original plan was to use them to make either hash browns or chicken hash. I was playing it by ear, depending on how much we had leftover of each.
We ended up with one and a half chicken breasts left and the three potatoes. There was also some butter I’d reserved from the mini-sauce pan that we’d used for dipping the artichoke leaves and the hearts. So the next morning, I chopped the potatoes into reasonable-sized chunks, added the “recycled” butter, a little olive oil, sea salt, and some cayenne pepper and grilled until the potatoes were getting a crispy golden brown. Then I added the leftover chicken, which I’d coarsely chopped. This chicken hash made a wonderful, hearty breakfast. It would have been even better if I’d remembered to bring an onion! (Onions were on the missing list!) The leftover chicken hash even became dinner once we returned home. Hash is a very easy, versatile dish. It can also be made with leftover bits of hamburger, steak, roast, or ham. You can add in green onions, peppers, or whatever appeals to you. Check out my Heavenly Hash Browns recipe.
Both the grilled chicken dish and the hash are examples of meals that are naturally gluten free or can be made gluten free easily—gfe! They are the food equivalent to “some assembly, but no special tools required.” Looking for similar ideas? Click here for a PDF file of 50+ meals that are gfe. (This listing will also always be located under the tabs under my heading, in this case, you should click on gfe printables.)
The grilled chicken dish would come under item #21 (or #2, for just barbecued chicken). That’s one of the areas highlighted to indicate there are just so many possibilities in that category. Hash is item #23. As shown, you don’t even have to necessarily use your own potatoes (Ore-Ida has many gluten-free options), but I promise you making hash browns or hash is very easy and economical. Anyway, I bet you’ll find some favorites on this listing.
As you’ll see noted, some of these meals will require slight adaptations to be gluten free. For example, if frying something like chicken or liver, you’ll obviously need a gluten-free breading. If making meat loaf, your ingredient that provides the filling or binding will have to be gluten-free. If you like using bread to make your meat loaf, use gluten-free bread, or try an alternative (e.g., Parmesan cheese, certified gluten-free purity protocol oats, almond flour).
Or, simply skip the filler. I’ve made my meat loaf with no “filler” many times and it’s been just fine. (I do like to make a pretty tasty topping for it though.) Some of the meal ideas on this listing have been featured here on gfe already (e.g., crustless quiche, oven-steamed shrimp, jambalaya, soups—everything soup, baked potato soup, vegetarian chili). Do a search or look by category here at gfe, and, of course, you can anticipate many more of these recipes in the future. 🙂
This printable/tip sheet, 50+ meals that are gfe, and most of the other tip sheets come back to the basic premise of using what’s available to you for food to make simple gluten-free meals and live gfe. Just as my husband demonstrated with his dock rescue effort, no special tools are really required. Simply use common sense and don’t make it harder than it is.
I ramble on a bit in my posts to show some of you folks who are new to eating gluten free (and some of you new to cooking as well) the thought process I go through. I want to show you that you can make a great meal with few ingredients at any time. You won’t see extensive planning, lists of exotic and/or expensive ingredients, and recipes that merit the label “difficult,” here at gfe. It’s just not necessary.
Last, remember my apple pie for mom on Mother’s Day? Well, you can find the whole Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free roundup of fruit recipes for this month over at Emilia’s Gluten Free Day blog (unfortunately, this site is no longer active).
I’m actually hosting for July … something to look forward to, but I’ll wait until the appointed time to announce my theme. Thanks to the clever and generous Naomi of Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried (unfortunately, this site is now private) for this wonderful blog carnival that she’s had going for quite some time now!
Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!
Originally published May 31, 2009; updated May 21, 2021.
Matt says
Beautiful shots! It’s nice to know what it will look like up here in a month.
Shirley says
Hi, Matt–Good to hear from you again! So glad you enjoyed the shots and that they are giving you a preview for how beautiful Vermont will be soon. 🙂 As soon as you said that, many scenes from our motorcycle trip through Vermont two years ago flashed through my head. Such lovely countryside. Do you ever see moose where you are? I keep on watch for them on the back of the bike. They say if you can see one, you are too close. I wouldn’t mind seeing one after we stopped for the evening though!
Shirley
Diane-thewholegang says
I love how you come up with these great lists. So helpful. I’ve added today’s post into my post which I had already linked some of you other great info helpful for those switching to gluten free.
Sounds like a great trip for you bug loving folks. I liked the menu! Hope you get to relax there a lot this summer.
Shirley says
Hi, Diane–Thanks so much for your feedback and SUPER THANKS (does that sound super corny? LOL) for linking to this post and my some of my others/gfe tip sheets! That is really gracious of you, especially on one of your initial posts on your redesigned blog on your new platform. Your blog, The W.H.O.L.E. Gang, looks fabulous!
We’ll go as much as the weather and other obligations allow. For the latter, mostly only our vacations and weddings and funerals keep us away! 🙂
Okay, with this bug thing … how does that jive with your “going green” theme, Diane? LOL We need bugs in the circle of life. I keep promising you we are not affected by bugs at our property. Maybe I could come up with another sideline developing a bug phobia desensitization program … you could be my test case. We’ll start out with the harmless and mysterious lightning bug (or firefly to some) and move on from there. 😉 What do you think?
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
Shirley,
When do you sleep!? Wow, great post full of fun stories, wonderful photos, half naked men and great recipes. What more could you ask for.
Your property looks so beautiful and the drive there isn’t bad either. I have a question. In the 3rd photo from the top, it looks like there are rows of trees or vines maybe? Is that a vineyard or an orchard?
Sounds like you two have a pretty good thing going, Shirley. Is that long hair I see on Mr. GFE? Are you married to a hippie?
I say that with respect as my daughter’s name is Tevis and when people ask her how she got such an unusual name, she always answers, “my mom was a hippie.”
🙂
Loved this post, Shirley. Thanks for a nice journey through some lovely country!
Melissa
P.S. Gosh, I always think I’m going to do the “Go Ahead Honey” thing and something comes up and I miss it. I’ve got to get myself up to speed on that, it looks like so much fun!
Shirley says
Hi, Melissa–Your comments made me laugh heartily! 🙂 So glad that I covered all the bases!! ROFL First, you’re the one who doesn’t like to sleep if I recall … just dying to get up and greet the day. 😉 Admittedly, I am juggling a lot right now and trying to find a balance, but I’m loving it all! This is one way to share the mountain experience with those who’ll never be able to accept an invitation to visit in person.
Now, let me answer your questions in order. First, good eyes on the third photo … they are Christmas trees. 🙂 They are just one product/service offered by a lovely “little” local farm business. The family sells fresh vegetables during the summer from their house (outside the photo), pumpkins in the fall (the pumpkin patch is to the left of the little building in the pic, extending from there to the road), and the Christmas trees in November and December. The pumpkins are our favorites because they are right there by the road growing for months, so we can see them as we go by. They put a couple of canoes out (since it’s canoe country) with scarecrows in them with pumpkin heads to advertise. 🙂
I really laughed about Mr. GFE. I’ve thought of trying to come up with a cryptic, clever moniker for my hubby (as so many other bloggers use for their SOs), but nothing came to mind. Thanks for helping me with that! One less thing on my “to do” list! I actually just ran into him in the grocery store. When somebody starts rubbing my shoulders from behind, it better be my husband! LOL Oh, sorry, Mr. GFE. 😉 So I told him about your comment. He got quite a kick out of it! Yes, he’s an old hippie, though he looks pretty good for an old man, excluding the hair. It’s not that I mind long hair … I just nag him a bit about letting it get too scraggly. LOL And, hey, I don’t mind that you were a hippie 😉 and I like your daughter’s name. I’m wondering if it’s pronounced with a short e (as one would expect) or a long e … ?
Thanks so much for your positive feedback, Melissa—it always makes my day! Did you check out the Go Ahead Honey entries for May? There are some luscious ones! I bet you can come up with a “manly” entry for Carol’s hosting this month. There’s nothing hard about it at all. Just write the post and send the link to Carol. 🙂
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
Christmas trees? I never would have guessed. Wow, I thought Christmas trees came from Oregon. 🙂
Great pic of Mr. GFE! He doesn’t look like an “old” hippie to me. Just a good guy, pulling the dock back home to sit on and “watch the clouds roll away.”
I loved this post, Shirley! Oh, and the chicken looked good, too. Geez, I almost forgot (actually, I did) about the food. That’s what you get for being multi-subject blogger.
Melissa
xo
Shirley says
Melissa–Really? Or are you teasing me? We have quite a few Christmas tree farms in Virginia. (Some good friends of ours have a Christmas tree farm in Missouri. They also raise bees. 🙂 ) We’ve only bought one Christmas tree in our life and we got that on the spur of the moment returning from a trip to PA. It was very cold and started snowing lightly as we were loading the 9-1/2 foot tree on top my SUV. Very movie worthy! LOL
You’re right. Mr. GFE is a good guy and not too old! 😉 The dock serves many great purposes … sunset viewing is one of them, but it’s really great for pulling up to in the canoe as well. Don’t know if you noticed, but it’s made from “recycled” material. Mr. GFE had helped our neighbors build their deck several years ago and when they replaced it with a sunroom recently, he helped them disassemble it. Then we built the new dock. The bottom part is made of the stair treads he actually cut for them. We think that’s why it didn’t float too far away and got hung up. It might just be our dock design from now on!
LOL on the mult-subject blogging … Mr. GFE didn’t believe that I didn’t get the good fishing part into this post. LOL Thanks again, Melissa! You’re such an awesome gfe cheerleader!
Shirley
Diane-thewholegang says
Alright, some bugs are ok. As long as they don’t touch me we’re good. If it’s a spider keep it very far away from me.
Shirley says
Diane–Thanks for the clarification! Although my pet granddaddy long legs is upset by your remark. 😉 Just teasing …
Shirley
Jessie says
Ha ha! I have to laugh with you all. I HAVE had a pet praying mantis before and yet I haven’t any problem smashing mosquitoes! 🙂 Love the hippies and regulars alike…. Mr and Mrs GFE I’ve got to link to this helpful post!
Shirley says
Hi, Jessie–A pet praying mantis! You are hard core, girl! They are rather fascinating with their sort of prehistoric look … I also like walking sticks.
Thanks so much for the sweet feedback! Mr. GFE is wondering if he gets any pay now that he has a “name” … I told him, nope, he’s still an extra. LOL
Shirley
noble pig says
What a great post to what is happening in your neck of the woods. The clouds are amazing and thank gawd the dock was an east retreival!
Shirley says
noble pig–Thanks, Cathy! We knew it was a spectacular day, but we didn’t fully appreciate the clouds ourselves until we looked at the photos later. Yeah, yippee on the dock! We purposely went small last year. We’ve had some much larger docks and they require moving every year or tend to float away no matter how much you secure them. That size is all we need and now we also know its benefits for retrieval. 🙂
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
Shirley,
It just never dawned on me that VA was a Christmas tree state. Interesting information comes out of GFE stories, that’s for sure!
Fishing part?! My son’s a fly-fishing guide. I love fishing stories, although I have no desire to actually catch anything myself. I’ll eat it though.
🙂
Okay, I need to get on home and pay attention to my own neck of the woods, but I love visiting you!
Melissa
Shirley says
Melissa–We fish when floating back from our canoe paddle against the flow. Yep, we paddle against the rapids through certain “cuts” and then float with the rapids on the way back. It tends to freak out the folks who are renting canoes for the day. We’ve been asked many times, “hey, aren’t you guys going the wrong way?” LOL These are also the same folks that are paddling like their lives depended on it, even though pretty much all you have to do is paddle to steer now and then, since the river takes you on your merry way fairly rapidly. 😉
We “catch and release” most of the time. I took some pics of the beauties (smallmouth bass, blue gill, sunfish, rock bass), but none were blog worthy. What a cool job your son has! I know he sees some beautiful country. We do have fly fishing guides on our river some, right at our rapid actually sometimes. There are other fish, too, like huge catfish. Mr. GFE has stories about scuba diving off our property in a few of the deep holes (10 – 15 feet deep).
Hope you didn’t leave your neck of the woods too long and all is well there! 🙂
Shirley
Jennifer says
Great pictures, Shirley!
Hey, I could use some help… on your 20+ reasons to be tested you listed dental issues as #12. That was one of the multiple symptoms of my son, which lead us to test him as well. I was at the dentist today and talked to him about the gluten sensitivity and tooth discoloration/enamel defects. Dr. Whitley would be interested in more information (like from what book or source it is from). If you could help me out, I would really appreciate it! I go back to the dentist tomorrow for my two boys, so I can bring the information then. It would be really wonderful if dentists could recommend testing for those that have enamel issues.
Thanks so much! Off to play outside with my 4 year old 🙂
Shirley says
Hi, Jennifer–Glad you enjoyed the photos! I couldn’t include them all, so I’ll have to weave them in now and then. Of course, I’ll always be taking them so sharing them all will always be an issue. 😉
I’ll email you several links so you can print out some info and share with your dentist. However, dental enamel defects are cited in most authoratative sources on celiac. For example, Celiac Disease, A Hidden Epidemic, by Dr. Peter Green and Rory Jones, lists dental enamel defects as a secondary symptom and a symptom in folks with “silent celiac disease.” (As the book states, celiac wasn’t so silent for many after all, usually the symptoms are recognized in hindsight.) About a page is devoted later on to dental enamel defects as one of the symptoms of celiac. Here are two excerpts:
“Several studies from Europe indicte that celiac patients have a higher incidence of dental enamel defects than nonceliacs.” “They consist of imperfections in teeth affecting the enamel, or outer surface of the tooth. They may manifest as white or brown spots on the tooth, or in severe forms, ridges, and malformed teeth. The defects are symmetrical and bilateral (found on both sides).”
I was also interested in the info shared in Dr. Green and Jones’ book about Dr. Theologos Malahias, a dentist studying the defects. He shares that “the mouth is the mirror of your health,” and also points out that canker sores (aphthous ulcers) are also a symptom of gluten issues.
Dr. Stephen Wangen of the IBS Treatment Center lists dental defects as one of the musculoskeletal symptoms of non-celiac gluten intolerance in a large Powerpoint presentation at his site. (He gave this presentation to GIG in 2008.)
Okay, logging off to email you more! Hope you had fun with your four-year old! 😉
Shirley
Nance says
Holy crap, I just want the potatoes–minus the chicken–in the recycled butter. Those sound terrific. I’m a potato junkie, and that description made me nuts.
Shirley says
Hey, Nance–LOL Just for you, I uploaded the potato photos to Flickr, so you’ll see them for now in the sidebar as gfe’s recent photos. However, they don’t do the dish justice and some do include chicken (I know … it gets in the way of your wonderful potatoes!), but they’ll give you an idea and make you salivate a little more. 😉 Potatoes cooked in the fire are the best in our opinion!
Shirley
Ali (Whole Life Nutrition) says
What lovely photos of your property! You guys are so lucky to have something like that on a river – it looks so peaceful and relaxing.
Hey, I don’t think I have ever cooked a potato in a fire pit before – that is a great idea!
And “Mr. GFE” looks like a hansome fellow! Fun to see photos of your fam!
I linked to you in my last post, sorry I should have emailed, I have just been swamped with stuff going on. These last 2 weeks of school are full of activites for the girls!
-Ali 🙂
Shirley says
Ali–Thank you! We are very lucky to have our property. It is a little piece of heaven as Mr. GFE says. Oh, and I’ll give him your compliment … you guys are inflating his ego!
Special thanks for linking to my chicken nuggets recipes (made with crushed gf potato chips or gf corn flakes) as a resource for your latest post on breading. An excellent post, which I know many will find very helpful! Really, there are so many options with gf breading. There’s no reason we have to settle for packaged gf bread crumbs, which many not taste that great and can be expensive.
Oh, I remember those last few weeks of school, especially when I was teaching … of course, I felt differently about the last few days as a teacher versus as a parent. 😉 Hope all goes well! I’m sure the girls are excited at the thoughts of summer, but a bit sad to be parting from their friends and teachers.
Shirley
Kay says
Hi Shirley,
Boy do I envy your scenic views! Of the water and the mountains! Thanks for sharing photos! Indiana is pretty flat. We get excited about a hill.
Now that the chickens are here, I’m giving myself a couple of weeks off from hard labor. Just gardening and mowing for now.
My favorite naturally gluten free meal is roast pork, baked apples, green beans and potatoes with lots of sweet onion. I make big portions and microwave later.
Shirley says
Hi there, Kay!–Thank you for the nice words on the photos of our scenic views! Any time of year, our spot on the river is very beautiful and much of the views along the way are always a treat for the eyes as well.
LOL on Indiana and being thrilled by a hil. I don’t think I’ve ever been in Indiana, not even in the Indy airport. (Airports are how I can say I’ve “been” to some states. LOL) Our friends in MO say the same thing about how flat it is, but they live on a bit of a hill. 🙂
Looking forward to more chicken and egg stories, but glad you can take a bit of a break … well, if you call gardening and mowing a break. 😉 You are a hard worker, Kay!
Thanks so much for answering my question on your favorite gfe meal! 🙂 It’s terribly hard to beat roast pork and your side dishes are some of the best in the naturally gf category. Thanks also for mentioning how you make it work for you as a one person … so many folks forget how easy it is to do that.
Shirley
Gluten Free Steve says
What beautiful photos – it’d be hard to visit there and then come back to reality!
Shirley says
Hi, Steve–Good to see you and thanks! Yes, when Sunday evening rolls around in the mtns, often we don’t want to leave. We often comment that our property looks its very best when we’ve packed up the truck and are ready to head home. The combination of the late afternoon sun and the newly mowed/pruned grounds and the cleaned “kitchen area” and picnic tables make it all look so appealing. But, we say good-bye and head back home. We’d planned to go this weekend, but the river is high and the property throroughly drenched after several days of downpours. Hopefully, next weekend …
Shirley
Jennifer says
Shirley, thanks for all your help! I did print out some things for Dr. Whitley and they put it on his desk. I knew in advance he wasn’t going to be there, but wanted to get the info to him while I was at his office.
I look foward to our meeting later this month!! My son is happy that he can come too (if that’s okay with you).
have a wonderful Monday!
Shirley says
Hey, Jennifer–Happy to be of assistance! Hope Dr. Whitley reads and does more research on his own.
The meeting should be a terrific one with our telecon with Alisa Fleming, owner/author of the Go Dairy Free site (and book of the same name) and the One Frugal Foodie blog. Of course, your son can join us. It was my idea, remember? 😉 It’s important for kids to be in an environment where they can eat safely without worrying and I know he’ll have a great time with the girls. When we get to the telecon part, they can either play outside in the treehouse, on the swing, etc. or inside with board games or on the computers (although I don’t know that he’ll want to go to the American Girl site like they usually do LOL). Anyway, looking forward to seeing you and meeting your son! I’ll try to be sure to remember to make some kid-friendly dishes. 🙂
Shirley