I was searching around twitter for people to follow (if you want to follow me on twitter click here) and i saw zpizza come up under a gluten free search. “Hmmmm,” I thought to myself, “there is a zpizza around the corner from my house!”

I grabbed the hubs and my dog, Charlie and we took a little stroll over to zpizza. Sure enough, gluten free pizza. Yay . I had to try it. I wasn’t sure how gluten free pizza was, and after that fiasco with our garlic bread (a few posts down) I must say I was a little nervous. Boy, did I have nothing to be nervous about. It was sooo yum! I ordered just plain cheese because I wasn’t sure if the other ingredients were gluten free. I checked when I got home though and the sausage and pepperoni are a-okay as well I am a fan. I am so, so happy I can walk to zpizza when I get that craving for pizza that you can feel deep down inside. I have to watch the carbs though, so it won’t be everyday unfortunately for me .

We watched Bobby Flay on Iron Chef Challenge butter poach a piece of fish. It looked so easy, and yummy. We thought we would try it out ourselves. Not so easy. But pretty yummy. We found some white fish at Costco (Cod to be exact) that looked very fresh. I also bought 3 bushels of spinach and followed a recipe from Food Network for Creamed Spinach.

Creamed Spinach:
Ingredients
2 pounds fresh spinach, washed and tough stems removed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh strainer, pressing with a large spoon to release as much water as possible. Finely chop and set aside.

Melt the butter in medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, just until the liquid is released. Add the cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook until the cream is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Butter Poached Cod:
1 lb. white fish (we used Cod, obviously)
1 lb. unsalted butter (we used salted and when you read my verdict you will see why I say unsalted)
lemon juice

Melt butter in saucepan, watching not to burn it. Place fish in the butter. Cook on side #1 for a few minutes (let’s say 4) and turn, cook other side. Check to see if fish is white, not clear on the inside and flakes easily with fork. Drizzle with a bit of lemon juice.

Verdict: I used a yellow onion in my spinach. Bad idea. It tasted like onion and that was it. Had I used shallots it probably would have been amazing. Boo. The fish was cooked perfectly, but super salty. We later found out when telling our friend David that we made Cod, that Cod happens to be one salty little fish. Who knew? David did. We did not. It made Eric feel better because he thought he messed up and declared himself a bad chef. I told him to go easy on himself because it was honestly cooked so amazingly well. Next time, unsalted butter, and maybe not Cod. Otherwise a B for this dish! It might be an A next time, it knows what it did wrong.

This recipe is very similar to the Butternut Squash Soup but carrots are lower in carbohydrates so it’s a better alternative and just as yummy for those following a lower-carb eating plan. Hubs will also eat carrots, so he enjoyed this soup as well. Actually, I kinda had to force it on him. He won’t eat butternut but that’s because he doesn’t know how good it is, and he is stubborn and won’t try anything new. He already knew what carrots taste like so after I begged him to taste the soup, he finally did and actually liked it! Total win .

Ingredients:
Serves about 4-5
12-14 Large Carrots (peeled, and cut into medium size pieces)
1 Yellow Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
2 cups Gluten Free Chicken Stock (I found bullion cubes that are GF so I make my own stock with those)
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cayenne (if you want your soup to be a little on the spicy side)
salt, pepper to taste
I also added a dash of nutmeg and paprika

Heat butter in a large saucepan (large enough to fit all ingredients above). Add the onion and fry until onion turns a glassy color. Add the carrots. Pour 2 cups chicken broth over carrots and onions. Add a 1/2 tsp. of curry powder and cook on medium-high heat with a lid for about 20 minutes. Once carrots are soft (check with a fork) pour carrots, onions, and broth into a blender. Blend till smooth. Transfer back into saucepan and turn heat back to medium-low. Add the heavy whipping cream a little at a time, mixing into carrot mixture. Once all the cream is mixed add the rest of the spices. Taste. Add more spices if you want! As you heat up the soup make sure to stir frequently to avoid burning! Enjoy .

Verdict: Delicious, filling, spicy but not to spicy, a little sweet, brings back fond memories of my childhood. A+ for Curried Carrot Soup. The best part, it can be made for less than $5.00!!