Summer

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015 kristenannLeave a comment

Our summer began much the same way as last year’s summer, with a trip to Louisville, KY to see family. This year we ate multiple times at Annie May’s Sweet Café and were even picked up from the airport with big pretzels from there (thanks Mom!!) which were the first we have had in years and something my youngest misses very much. They only have them on Wednesdays and if you really want a lot of them you best get there early. If you find yourself there on another day there are plenty of other delicious foods to eat though~ I recommend getting a sandwich while my oldest adores the soup there and the carrot cake cupcake. My youngest had a ‘super cookie’ which he thought more than lived up to its name and in fact all the sweets we tried did not disappoint. They have a sign that says they deliver which my son got all excited about until I explained that meant deliveries around town, not to Seattle. Talk about bursting someone’s bubble.

We also went to Holiday World again and was even more impressed with their gluten-free options than last year. (Disneyland/world take notes please!) Besides the fact you can find allergy free food as well as just gluten-free food about anywhere in the park, they now set up a little stand that is completely gluten-free.

We flew on Delta and brought our own food which was good since the free snacks were cookies or pretzels. The boys used to be able to eat those cookies so that was sad, but they got over it while sipping ginger ale and eating from their over-stuffed food bags. I had packed enough for an all day delay like the one we experienced last year and since the flights went actually well we ended up with a lot of left-over food. Delta does have one gluten-free option for buying food, something snack-y and overpriced of course, but at least if you are starving you do have something to eat.

We came home to a ripped-up kitchen (husband is remodeling) and continually high 80s and 90 degree heat with no A/C so cooking has not exactly been my favorite pastime thus far this season. I tend to love the heat but after a few evenings of sweating through dinner prep even I am ready for a break in the high temperatures. The farmers market on Saturdays is booming with berries already though with the best blueberries in June I’ve ever had, and my friend just brought over fresh picked raspberries last night and those are the best I’ve ever tasted in any month so I guess the sun and heat are working for some things. I sure hope this means we’ll have an extra long berry season and not just an early one that is over as quickly as it popped up. After the trip to see family my sons were a little sick of photos but I had to take this of the Saturday Farmers Market. There are less gluten-free vendors there this year but my oldest still gets his favorite street tacos there and my youngest has discovered kettle corn. It’s worth the trip for those alone.

celiac disease · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf bread · gf foods · gluten free · gluten free bread · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · vegetarian

Lunchtime

March 3, 2015 kristenann1 Comment

Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? Even when I eat salad or soup, I always have a hearty carb to accompany it, which might take the form of rice with soup or corn tortillas to wrap up my salad, but lately most of my lunches involve Schar Classic White Rolls. These taste delicious with a sourdough flavor and a real classic bready texture that leaves no issues with unseen holes that gluten-free loaves are apt to hide. They are free of dairy and eggs too and make excellent hamburger buns although usually I just use them for regular old sandwiches. They are too big for my toaster even though I have one of those bagel toasters so I always just put them under the broiler for a few minutes each side before adding the extras, unless I’m using cheese and then that goes under the boiler too, just for the last-minute or so. My favorite sandwich does involve cheese, mozzarella to be specific, plus tomato and basil with extra greens and a little olive oil and vinegar for a caprese-inspired sandwich. Yum!

Yesterday I had this salad I’d gotten from PCC’s deli called something along the lines of ‘ravishing radishes’ with my roll and it was so delicious and healthy that I had to see if they had the recipe posted…but, unfortunately I don’t see it yet on their recipe page yet. It was full of radishes, garbanzo beans, feta, cherry tomatoes, herbs and a light vinaigrette. Definitely going to try something similar…Here’s a pic so you can too:

And here’s one with the salad on the roll:

Can’t you just taste it? So good! If you are tired of your gluten-free loaves surprising you with little holes in your slices of bread, try these rolls instead. They are guaranteed to make your lunch a fulfilling one!

baking · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf bread · gf foods · gluten free · gluten free bread · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free travel · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · kids · picky kids · vegan · vegetarian

Gluten-free Travel in Maui

November 21, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

We just took a trip to Maui, my sons and my first to Hawaii, and I was of course nervous about what we were all going to eat. The good news is that it wasn’t actually that difficult, but the bad news, I have to say, was it was food-boring. On the first night we got in late and ordered room service because it actually pointed out their gluten-free foods on the menu (Westin Ocean Villas at Ka’anapali). Their gluten-free buns were dark and awesome, though I was much more enthusiastic than my boys who prefer whiter breads. They must use teff or some other flour that isn’t in heavy rotation in the gluten-free bread circles because they were darker than I’d ever seen any gluten-free baked good, and hearty like a dark whole wheat. The next day we went to a typical grocery store and bought gluten-free pasta, corn tortillas, refried beans and a few other things plus fruit and veggies. We ended up eating those things just about every single meal of every single day of the week, hence the food-boredom. We went out to two other meals, one, a Mexican restaurant so more tortillas and beans, and then another to an open-air sports pub kind of place where the boys and I got…tacos. Thank goodness for corn tortillas but it will be a long time before I care to make anything with them again. My youngest son found a bread he adores though, so he actually ate toast, plain toast nothing on it, for part of many meals. Ener.g tapioca bread was a big hit with him and about as white as you can possibly make any bread.

I had brought with me pumpkin seed butter by Omega Nutrition and my other son spread that on all his toast and Udi’s bagels which I had brought with us. That pumpkin seed butter is really good~ it tastes closer to peanut butter than sunflower seed butter does, and less salty. If you have a nut-free child, or are nut-free yourself, I definitely recommend trying it if you haven’t already.

I suppose people don’t go to Maui in November for the food, but it made it a little easier to go from 80+ degree weather to 30 degree weather when we were so bored with our meal times. It is nice to be home with our warm kitchen, even if the weather outside is back to the typical Fall drizzle and there are no oceans nearby. It was good to see that so many gluten-free things could be found in a regular grocery store though~ I suppose traveling anywhere in the U.S. would be fairly easy at this point, as long as you had your own toaster and stove-top to use.

Thanksgiving is next week already and all the recipes I’ve seen going around all look so tempting! I think I’m going to stick with a few side dishes I know though while my husband deals with the turkey. So far this is the plan:

Marinated goat cheese appetizer (Café Flora cookbook) with crostini and rice crackers

Gluten-free, vegan corn bread muffins

Rolls from Wildflour

Roasted Winter Vegetables from Whole Living

Husband will make (or buy!) Turkey and Mashed Potatoes and probably cranberry sauce which no one ever actually eats at our house

Some kind of pie with (non-dairy) ice cream

(Please ignore my ‘creative’ capitalization.)

What’s on your menu?

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Redmond Market

July 23, 2014 kristenann2 Comments

Aren’t these flowers just the prettiest? I got them at the Redmond Farmers Market last Saturday and they are still going strong in our front windows. These aren’t what I went to the Redmond Market intending to buy, but I couldn’t help myself, especially since they had such an inviting price ($5). The Redmond Market, located right next to the Redmond Town Center, is a Saturday tradition from May-October and the gluten-free options there are abundant. If you are hungry you can order a gluten-free crepe (made where the other crepes are so do be careful)at Anita’s crepes or enjoy a tamale just down the way at Hermosa Mexican Foods’ booth which is my son’s favorite thing about the market by far. Wildflour Gluten Free bakery has a booth there and when I get there early enough I buy two of their baguettes, but they sell out fast! Many of their items are dairy free but not all, and most have eggs in them, but all are gluten-free and there is a nice variety at her booth. It is delicious fun to buy a pint of fresh berries and sit down with a baguette and snack while watching some live music that rotates through there all summer. Another gluten-free bakery that has a booth there is Fancy Free bakery which touts a much longer list of ‘free-of’ ingredients~ no peanuts, eggs, dairy, etc, so pretty much anyone could find a treat there, and they will not be disappointed. I bought sourdough bread there and it is truly sour-ly awesome. I heard two other vendors discussing with near rapture the lemon bars they bought there but when I went to check them out myself I was too late…definitely getting to the market earlier next Saturday. There are of course plenty of produce farmers, jewelry makers, planted pots venders, much more there, but I personally adore the fact that there are so many gluten-free finds. I just wish it lasted all year-long, but I guess that just makes it all the more special. Now if only I could wake up and get going on Saturdays earlier to fully take advantage of it…Hm, maybe by August I’ll get that part down. At least I managed to get flowers last week. They are lovely.

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Seattle Gluten-Free bakery

May 19, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

The other day I had the rare opportunity to wake up in downtown Seattle and look around for a breakfast place. It happened to be mother’s day so it was busier than usual, but we found a place to sit and eat some breakfast foods, which honestly were nothing special. I didn’t mind the mediocre hash browns though because I had a mission for the day to find this gluten-free bakery near Pike Place Market that I had read about called Coffee & Specialty Bakery. It is a tiny little hole in the wall which we walked right by at first and we had to backtrack to find it. I’m so glad we did. It smelled like a real bakery in there and I bought the boys and myself croissants, something we haven’t had in ages. I didn’t ask if they were dairy free but they sure didn’t taste it, so I’m guessing they were made with butter, but it was worth every bite. I have no idea what flours they use but if I hadn’t known it was from a gluten-free bakery I would have sworn it was a traditional croissant. The reviews of the place speak a lot to the friendliness of the owners and it’s all true. If my sons had been with me I’m quite sure they would have been compelled to hug them because they were both so sweet and smiley. I’ll definitely be heading back there any time I am in Seattle from now on.

dairy free · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · gf bread · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerant · picky kids

Fall Weather = Good Food

September 25, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

I’m officially out of my food-funk, thanks to the Fall weather which opens up the door to a whole new pantry of foods. Soups can be found stewing every Sunday once again, while old favorites like pumpkin scones bake in the oven. My oldest keeps bringing up food that summer had me out of the habit of making, like croutons, kale chips, and carrot cake muffins. Great ideas! My youngest is still enamored with garlic bread sticks made with Trader Joe’s flatbreads, and considering how often I go there and find nothing but a gaping hole, I can only assume he’s not the only one. In fact, each time I buy 7 or 8 packages (because I put them in the freezer too) the cashiers inevitably ask what I do with them, and then they always share what they do with them; one uses them for Panini’s, another toasts them, and they all love them. Here they are again:

Just be sure to leave 7 or 8 for me in the case, because I’ll be needing them again soon. In fact, they just might be my next crouton base. Back to the kitchen!

baking · celiac disease · gf foods · gluten free · Gluten free eating

Gluten Free Biscuits

March 27, 2013March 27, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

These biscuits taste as traditional as a gravy-dipped southern morning. Thank the wonderful cooks at Jovial for this recipe, and try their Einkhorn versions too. I used gluten-free oat flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour and tapioca starch, but feel free to experiment, or just use up what is in your pantry. These are made with kefir which is chock full of those oh so very important probiotics, so once you use some in this recipe, you can add the rest of the bottle to smoothies, mix it with flavoring like cinnamon or chocolate (or both!) or drink it straight. The only thing about these biscuits is I find them hard to cut in half without a lot of crumbling action, which also means they are a bit hard to toast. The broiler works best, but they are also just good straight out of the fridge where I am storing them. Here’s the link: Jovial’s recipe for biscuits.

celiac disease · Food allergies · gf foods · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten intolerant · Uncategorized

Gluten-Free Blueberry Cinnamon Scones, Ginger Cookies, and Soup

February 20, 2013 kristenann2 Comments

These blueberry cinnamon scones are, more or less, from the Flying Apron’s cookbook. I used different flours (gluten-free oats, sorghum, and brown rice) and added cinnamon sugar to the tops. My youngest and pickiest child who normally only likes scones with a hearty dose of icing really loves these. They have a nice texture and density~ lighter than you might expect considering how thick they are. I did see this recipe on another site but cannot tell if that site has permission to share it, so I am not going to provide the link, though if you really want to make these scones and don’t have the book, you can find the recipe online. The Ginger Wheels from the same book on the other hand, might be a bit harder to find, but the book is worth the money just for these cookies, if you ask my children anyway. They are like molasses cookies with a zing of ginger, can be used for gingerbread men or nade just as wheels for easy, year round use. I’d post a photo but my kids scarf them down way too quickly for a photo op. If you really want the recipe, comment with your email address and I’ll send it to you. Here’s a gluten-free soup recipe which I can link to from here and it is a weeknight wonder. My husband is not a big chicken fan, but he loves this Tortilla Soup from PCC’s recipe page. I’ve only recently started eating chicken broth and tiny bits of chicken in soup and have to say this is the only recipe with chicken I like at all. (I’ve just never liked chicken~ I’ve tried, but it’s not my thing.) Since you add tortillas on top when serving, I just might get a spoonful or two into my youngest! No guarantees, but I’m going to try. I did add a leek to this soup because soup is just always better with leeks, and really it could handle more veggies in it (a chopped carrot or a chopped celery stalk, or both would make it even healthier.) It isn’t that spicy so you can dial-up the heat with more of that jalapeno it calls for, and I imagine black beans instead of chicken in a veggie broth would make a tasty vegan version. Keep the recipe in mind for your next taco night at home~ it’s sure to please.

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Making the Best of Things…

December 20, 2012December 20, 2012 kristenann3 Comments

Twice now I’ve tried to make my dear friends some yummy bakery items for Christmas, and both times I’ve ended up with crumbly messes. They are fine tasting crumbles, but not exactly what I had in mind for a Christmas gift. My friends are a family of four who are gluten, dairy, and egg free, so the recipes are not exactly run-of-the-mill, open box and add water types, but still I am using Flying Apron recipes which I use all the time so I do not know what the trouble is. The first time I tried to make chocolate cupcakes which rose beautifully and then collapsed in on themselves in such a miserable fashion I threw them away before they had even cooled. The second time I was making gingerbread cookies which broke apart as I took them off the cookie sheets. During this fiasco I happened to be talking to another friend who was hearing my distress through the phone and said, “Just stick them in a jar, get a spoon and deliver it as ice cream topping.” Brilliant! It wasn’t what I had intended but they do eat soy ice cream and the gingerbread did taste really good, so why not?! That saved me from trying a third recipe with ever decreasing confidence and I was sincerely happy not to waste all that food again. During this stressful time of year it is especially wise to keep an open mind and be flexible~ something I tend to forget in the Holiday craziness. Thank goodness for friends.