Gluten Free Vanilla

A lot of recipes call for "gluten free" vanilla and this often confused me when I first started being gluten free. How could vanilla have gluten in it? My understanding is that all pure vanilla is gluten free. The imitation vanillas contain caramel coloring which may contain gluten so they are a no no, unless you know for sure that the caramel coloring is from a US source (caramel coloring made in the US does not have gluten in it).  We always stick with the pure stuff just to be safe, plus it tastes better and isn't artificial. We buy this one at Costco. It is even labeled gluten free, which always makes me love things just a little bit more:) 

Favorite Snack Bar

There are a handful of gluten & dairy free snack bars out there but this one is my all time fav. They are sweetened with honey and have simple ingredients. KIND makes lots of flavors but the almond & coconut is hands down the favorite in our house. Fred Meyer often has them on sale for 10/$10 so we always stock up. The only thing that would make these better if they were dipped in chocolate:) 

Gluten & Dairy Free Corn Chowder

I found this recipe in Parents magazine but changed it to make it dairy free & added potatoes because I like heartier soup. We had it last night and it was a hit. It is perfect for those cold fall nights, which appear to have already arrived! 

 Ingredients:

• 6 ears fresh corn
• 2 medium sized potatoes (I used red and kept the skin on)
• salt & pepper
• 6 slices bacon (make sure it is gluten free, I use Hemplers)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 1/2 cups Almond Milk (original recipe calls for 4 cups milk, I reduced it a bit to make it thicker) 
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sliced fresh scallions 

1. Boil corn in a pot of boiling water seasoned with salt & pepper. 
2. When corn is tender cut the kernels off and save 1 cup of the water it was boiled in. 
3. In a medium pot boil potatoes until al dente. Cut into small squares.
4. In large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until browned. 
5. Add onion & cook until soft.
6. Add milk, cup of corn stock water, potato squares & corn kernels and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. 
7. Whisk cornstarch in a small bowl with 2 tbsp water. Add to smooth to help soup thicken. 
8. Add salt & pepper to your liking. 
9. Garnish with scallions & fresh ground parmesan cheese (if you can have dairy!)

Makes 4-6 servings. I served the soup with Chebe gluten free breadsticks. 

Gluten Free Breakfast Bars

My amazing naturopath, Christine Bowen (http://www.bothellnaturalhealth.com/), who I LOVE sent me this recipe the other day. (When is the last time your doctor sent you a recipe out of the blue? Pretty amazing, huh?!) I made them yesterday and they came out pretty good. The only thing I'd change is the amount of agave nectar- they just weren't quite sweet enough for my taste, so I'd add more. But I drizzled some honey on mine this morning and it was delicious. What impressed me the most is that I just had one of these and a glass of orange juice for breakfast and I really was full until lunch, which is very rare for me.

Here is the recipe:

Gluten Free Breakfast Bars

1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour (I used almond meal and it worked fine)

¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt (used regular sea salt, wasn't sure what celtic sea salt was)

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup grapeseed oil (found this with the olive oil at Fred Meyer)

¼ cup agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup shredded coconut (I used the unsweetened kind to keep it sugar free, found it in the natural food section, made by Bob's Red Mill)

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup almond slivers

¼ cup raisins

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda

2. In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla

3. Stir dry ingredients into wet

4. Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins

5. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil

6. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly

7. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes

8. Serve

Makes 12-16 bars

Blackbird Bakery

Last weekend we went to Bainbridge Island for the day and stopped at Blackbird Bakery. It is a darling little small town bakery right off the main drive on Winslow Way that happens to have some gluten free baked goods! This little band was sitting out front playing and it totally fit the vibe of the place.

Lauren & I got a slice of the MOST AMAZING CAKE I've ever had. Kevin (my husband who is not gluten free) even loved it!

The gluten free lemon poppyseed muffins were so good. The kids devoured them!

they couldn't get enough!

If you ever find yourself in Bainbridge Island I highly recommend stopping by this place. The service is a bit slow & maybe not the friendliest I've ever had, but the food was fabulous. They only accept cash so be sure to bring some with. Rumor has it if you call ahead by a day or two they will make you a loaf of gluten free bread but I've never tried it.

Blackbird Bakery

210 Winslow Way East

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

206.780.1322

The Old Spaghetti Factory

On Friday we were downtown and decided to stop in the Spaghetti Factory to check out their gluten free menu. They had a decent selection and the menu was very simple yet comprehensive (listed the salad dressings that were gluten free, which was nice!).

It is a great family restaurant and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a fun, simple Italian meal with the kids.

Great Potato Salad recipe

I have never really been a fan of potato salad but I saw this recipe in the magazine "All You" and I thought I'd give it a try. I now love potato salad, at least I love this one! It is perfect for summer barbecues, not too heavy & has a little zing to it. I'm making it tonight and thought I'd share it with all of you. Enjoy!

New Potato Salad

· 3lbs new potatoes

· salt & pepper

· 1 cup mayo (make sure it is gluten free, I use Best Foods Olive Oil Mayo, it is labeled gluten free and less fat than most)

· 2 tbs dijon mustard (make sure this is gluten free too, I use Trader Joes or Annie's)

· 2 tbs red wine vinegar

· 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

· 1 shallot, minced

· 2 tbsp chopped parsley (I often leave this out just because I never seem to have it and it doesn't really make a difference.)

1. boil potatoes until tender (about 15 minutes), drain and return to pot and cover with a damp towel. Let stand for 10-15 minutes, until soft.

2. in a small bowl mix mayo, mustard, & vinegar.

3. cut potatoes into quarters

4. in large bowl mix potatoes, celery, shallots & parsley.

5. Fold in mayo mixgture and season with salt and pepper.

Thank You!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that reads this blog! Since I've added a counter I've been able to see that there are actually people who read it, which absolutely thrills me! I especially want to say thank you to my 13 followers- I love you:) And to all my readers who aren't followers, if you are so inclined, I'd love for you to follow me too.

I'd also welcome any feedback you have. Things you love, things you wish were different, topics you want to see more of. Just let me know!

Thanks a million from Me & Lauren, the gluten free girls:)

Delicious Donuts!

We are huge fans of these donuts at our house. I like to keep them on hand so I can always give Lauren a little treat if everyone else is eating something she can't. There are a variety of flavors (we've had cinnamon, glazed, chocolate, & maple) and we love them all. They are lower in fat than regular donuts too because they aren't fried, so that is a bonus! We buy them in the freezer section at Whole Foods, Central Market, Fresh Vitamins, or Savory Moments. Try them, I know you'll be delighted!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

My friend Aimee shared this amazing recipe with me and it is too good not to share with everyone! I've made these for multiple friends & family and every time they get rave reviews.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS
2 Tablespoons Shortening
(I use Earth's Best)
1/4 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup of Milk @ room temperature (I tried using Almond Milk & it didn't activate the yeast so I'd stick with milk on this one)
It should be warm enough to help activate the yeast!
1 Packet Yeast (about 1 Tablespoon)
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Potato Starch
1 Cup Corn Starch
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 1/2 Teaspoons Xantham Gum
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring

FOR TABLE TOP
1 - 2 Tablespoons Sugar

FOR FILLING
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/4 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Chopped Nuts - Optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, combine shortening (or butter) and sugar. Mix well. Measure warm milk and and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve. Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft.

Take a piece of Plastic Wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square.


Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough.


Pat the dough down into a rough squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and relay it down. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Note that occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. I also occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got about a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough. Remove top piece of wrap.


Combine sugar and cinnamon. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (I leave about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in. Otherwise all the sugar spills out - oh no! )


Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. (Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge)



Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log".


Then cut into 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan.


Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla flavoring to make glaze. Stir until all lumps are dissolved. Drizzle over warm rolls if desired.

Fresh Vitamins

My friend Sarah has been telling me about this great store called Fresh Vitamins that has all sorts of great gluten free products. I finally stopped by and I was in heaven! They had a huge selection of Namaste products (one of my favs!) and so many of my favorite gluten free products all in one stop. I was in kind of a hurry so I couldn't stay for too long but I could have spent an hour in there easily. There is one in Kirkland, as well as 5 other locations in WA and a lot of locations in AZ. I highly recommend stopping by!

http://www.freshvites.com/page/home

I'm off for a weekend away so no more posts until early next week! Have a great weekend everyone:)

Chex Recipes

A friend of mine just sent me this link from the Chex cereal website. It has all sorts of yummy looking recipes that include the gluten free Chex cereals. I can't wait to try them out.

http://www.chex.com/Recipes/CategoryView.aspx?CategoryId=447&t=5

Thanks for sharing Tina!

Annie's Gluten Free Mac & Cheese is on sale...

at Target for $1.50! Not all Targets carry it, just the bigger ones. Just had to let everyone know since that is a steal! I usually pay $2.99 a box.

Thanks for the tip Casie:)

Bean Salad

This morning I was watching the Today show and they were talking about 4 foods we should all be eating more of. They said salmon, beans, spinach, & eggs. Well Lauren & I both had allergy reactions to eggs on our panels so we try not to eat too many of those. But the other 3 are all things we love but probably don't eat as much as we should. So while at Costco today I was on a mission to get more beans & salmon. I came across this and was pretty excited. This salad is labeled gluten free, comes in a glass jar so no worries about the BPA in cans, & it was low in price (about $6 I think). I opened it as soon as we got home to take a bite and I loved it! So did Kevin. I haven't tried it on the kids yet but it is pretty sweet (does have sugar in it) so I have a feeling they will like it too.

BBQ Sauce

For some reason gluten free BBQ Sauce has been one of the trickiest things for me to find. I've bought some of the specialty ones that cost $5 a bottle and just taste okay, but I've been wishing I could just find a regular brand that was just naturally gluten free. I often read the labels at the store and most have modified food starch and I just don't trust that ingredient since I got sick after eating something that contained it once. But the other day I was doing some on-line searching and I came across this lovely list! Jackpot! I was so excited. A lot of the Heinz sauces are gluten free (as well as other products they have). I ran out and bought some Jack Daniels bbq sauce and we had ourselves some yummy bbq beer chicken (with gluten free beer of course!). Here is the link to the Heinz list:

http://www.heinz.com/health--wellness/focus-foods/dietary-preferences/gluten-free.aspx

Here is a super easy recipe for bbq beer chicken:

1. Poor a bottle of beer in your crock pot (maybe two bottles depending on how much chicken you are using).
2. Poor a bottle off bbq sauce in your crock pot (or more if doing a lot of chicken)
3. Add drumsticks (about 15 or so)
4. Let simmer on low in your crock pot for 5 hours
5. Enjoy!

Salad Dressing

Salad dressing labels are always so tricky to read. They are full of fillers and often have a few of those "iffy" ingredients in them like modified food starch. I try to stay away from store bought dressings as much as possible. A few years ago I got this recipe from one of my students moms and it a favorite at our house:

• 1/2 cup olive oil (or any oil of your choice really)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp brown sugar (you can also use agave nectar)
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (make sure it is g/f mustard, I use Annie's or Trader Joe's brand)

Mix together well and toss on salad of your choice. We usually use some combination of:

mixed greens, tomatoes, red onion slices, mandarin oranges, & avocados. Last night we drizzled it on top of spinach, strawberries, & avocado slices and it was a hit!

I've also altered it by changing up the vinegars. If you use a white wine vinegar it is a lighter taste. We often leave the garlic out too because garlic isn't my best friend! However you chose to make it, it will not disappoint!

Gluten Free Living

I was just searching some ingredients on line to find out if they were gluten free or not and I came across this great site. It is actually a site for this magazine "Gluten Free Living" which I'm sure is great, but very pricey. But the website had some great information, including this list of ingredients. Check it out:

http://www.glutenfreeliving.com/ingredient.php

If anyone gets this magazine let me know if it is worth the pricey subscription!

Annie's Chocolate & Vanilla Bunnies

One of the things Lauren has missed the most since going gluten free is cheddar bunnies. I haven't been able to find anything similar to substitute, until now! Annie's just came out with gluten free bunny cookies. They are really good and both of my kids love them. They are pretty pricey at about $4.50 a box so we don't buy them a lot but it is fun to know they are out there. I found them at Central Market & PCC.

I wrote Annie's to tell them thank you for making gluten free cookies and ask them if they might consider making gluten free cheddar bunnies as well. A week letter I got two coupon books in the mail that had a bunch of $1.00 off coupons on mac 'n cheese, fruit snacks, & bunny cookies. So if you have a minute to write them (and if you feel like it, request gf cheddar bunnies!) you just might get a coupon book too!

http://www.annies.com/

Cold Stone!

I LOVE Cold Stone. We rarely eat it these days because of the dairy. However, they do have some items that are dairy & gluten free. Here is a list of all their products and the allergens they contain. Since they scrape everything on the stones it is REALLY important to ask them to make sure to clean the stone really well to be sure it has no traces of gluten on it. I've always found them to be very willing to do this for me. Enjoy!

http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/assets/pdf/nutrition/allergen_chart_072110.pdf

Soy-Marinated Pork Chops

I found this recipe in the magazine All You and it has quickly become a family favorite. Thought I'd share:)

• 4 boneless pork chops (about 6 oz each)
• 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce (I buy San J, they sell it at PCC & Whole Foods)
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil (I use omega 3 vegetable oil just because I didn't want to have to buy sesame oil)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 scallions, white & light green parts, chopped

1. Place pork chops, soy sauce, vinegar, & oil in a ziploc bag and seal. Turn bag several times and marinate in refigerator for at least 15 minutes (sometimes I do it for an hour or so).
2. Remove pork chops from bag and discard extra marinade. Heat on a grill or grill pan until cooked through.
3. Move pork chops to platter and serve over rice. Sprinkle cilantro & scallions on top.
4. We usually serve with snap peas, but any veggie will do:)
5. Enjoy!

Meza Hummus

This our favorite hummus. We eat it daily. My two year old prefers to eat it out of bowl with a spoon! When I first bought it I called the company to make sure it was gluten free and they were very helpful and assured me that it is. It is fabulous with carrots, cucumbers, rice crackers, or alone:) And at less than $5.00 for this big thing it is a bargain! You can find it at Costco.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

We had this last night for dessert and it was really good! Very creamy and satisfying. It is gluten and dairy free and you can get it at most grocery stores. We bought it at Top Foods in Woodinville. It is a bit pricey at about $5.00 a tub but it was quite yummy, if you like coconut!

http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/purely_decadent_Coconut_Milk.html

WOW!

There are a lot of gluten free cookies on the market and many of them aren't so great. But these ones...they live up to their name of WOW! They are so good. Chewy, great texture, and amazing taste. You will say WOW! They do have dairy & eggs so we don't eat them a lot, but they are a fun treat every now and then. The oatmeal is our favorite. I've tried snicker doodle & chocolate chip and they were pretty tasty as well. Fred Meyer has the best price on them at about $1.80 each I think. I saw them at PCC last week and they were almost $3.00 each! Wherever you get them, you'll love 'em:)

http://www.wowbaking.com/products/