Continuous Thankfulness

Thursday was filled with food and, for me, a lot of thankfulness!  I learned how to make homemade string bean casserole…considering this is one of my favorite holiday dishes and I am gluten-sensitive, I was super excited to learn (recipe below).

I read a lot of my book for book club (Divergent) and realized once again how much I love reading – especially books like this one.  I didn’t want to put it down.  I am eating it up, page by page – and am super excited that there are two more books after this one!

I watched (from afar) as my boys played with their new-found neighborhood friends.  One concern of mine when moving, was that they would have a hard time leaving their old friends and finding new ones.  It is a bit silly, now that I think of it in hindsight, since both of my boys have had no problem befriending the child next to them while sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the Disney parade to pass by or N asking to learn Spanish so that they could communicate with their new spanish-speaking classmate who doesn’t really grasp English just yet.  He just wanted to be able to help her out.  Melting…

I missed my parents, who were up north spending this holiday with my older sister and her family.  Part of me wanted them here with me as usual – setting the table, watching TV, eating together, etc. BUT part of me was thankful that they were with my sister and niece and nephew who don’t have the luckiness to see my parents weekly as I do.  It was bittersweet but worth it (and not to say that I wish I was there with my family too).

I feel that I need to be grateful on more than just one day.  Do you feel the same?

In the meantime, here is my recipe for homemade green bean casserole.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, sliced super thin
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 12 oz mushrooms, take the stems off and cut in 1.2 inch pieces
• 1 cup gluten free flour (for the onions)
• 1 cup gluten free flour (for the sauce)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2.5 lb green beans, steamed with ends cut off and halved
• 1 cup chicken broth

Directions:

Combine the panko breadcrumbs with flour in a shallow dish/bowl.  Mush the thinly sliced onions in the mixture and then place them on a baking sheet.  Bake on 425 degrees for 30 minutes, turning frequently.

While the onions are “frying”, melt the butter in a cast iron skillet.  Once melted, add the mushrooms until they start to “extract” water.  Add the minced garlic and let cook for 1 minute, stirring.  Add the rest of the flour and mix, allowing to cook for another minute or so.  Add the chicken stock (organic preferably), then half and half.  Let simmer for 6 – 8 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Add 1/4 of the newly fried onion to the top, mix, then add the green beans, remainder of the onions and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.  You may need salt and pepper…I don’t cook with it but it definitely need it – to taste.