More Gluten-free/dairy-free Discoveries

May 26, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

Besides the garlic bread that I’ve been making with the Trader Joe’s flatbread, I’ve also been making pizzas which my sons have declared better than delivered pizza, so that says it all. For the cheese I’ve been combining two goat cheeses together, one is that hard goat gouda from Trader Joe’s and the other is a mozzarella style that I found at Whole Foods. I combine the two b/c while the mozzarella one does indeed taste like regular mozzarella, it almost tastes too much, like mozz on steroids. The gouda has a much milder flavor and tames the other quite a bit to make a very yummy, kid friendly, cheese pizza. Here’s the empty package:

Today I used Namaste Foods’ pizza crust for the first time and the kids really love that too. I use that same brand for waffles in the mornings (almost every morning for my youngest) and it is wonderfully clean of ingredients that people commonly cannot tolerate. Here’s the package:

I needed to spread the crust a bit thinner, but this is how it came out:

The boys loved it and commented on the pizza crust specifically. I won’t rely on pizza and garlic bread for too long, but for now, during this transition period, it’s so nice to have easy to prepare foods that the kids enjoy. My youngest son has been open to trying more new foods too, just like the naturopath predicted! She said when kids stop eating foods they don’t tolerate well, their taste buds change. So far my son is eating rice again, like he used to when he was younger but stopped some time around 4 years old. He also has been eating granola which he used to turn his nose up at. Not that these additions are kale and quinoa, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. (Actually two steps!) I’ll take it.

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.

children · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant

School Lunch

February 2, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

My sons normally bring their lunches to school, unless they are having waffles and then my oldest buys his lunch, therefore I don’t normally read the menu that comes home monthly except to mark the waffle days. (Usually every Wednesday.) For lack of better reading material with my coffee this morning I actually read February’s offerings, and was struck by the little key at the bottom that reads: “**Contains Wheat” and another symbol to show what contains dairy. I went back through the menu and realized every item had a double asterisks by it~ every single thing offered contains wheat. They do have a salad bar each day so I assume a gluten-free child could live off that if they didn’t bring their lunch, but I have a hard time imagining an elementary student getting much from it. It makes me sad for the free/reduced lunch kids who might have food intolerances, and the kids who just want to buy their lunches like their friends do but can’t because they never have good options. But the real thing that I think this says is that we are a wheat nation~ people generally have no idea how much wheat they take in on a daily basis but it is so easy to eat it at every meal. I lived on wheat before realizing I had a problem with it, which I don’t think is a coincidence. A bit more variety in my diet might have saved me some headaches, fatigue, and stomach issues. I love the schools that have gardens on their property and use the food in the schools. Imagine basing lunch menus on what is growing outside the window, what is in season and fresh and healthy, then adding in the other things, such as grains and beans, and dairy. Oh and meat if you like, I always forget that. There is an organization promoting school gardens called The Edible Schoolyard Project and they are very worth checking out. Last year I asked the principal at my sons’ school if we could plant a garden and he said he was thinking about a greenhouse after the school’s construction was finished. That’d work too, but ideally I think both would be best.

gluten free

Veggie Breakfast

November 9, 2012November 9, 2012 kristenann3 Comments

Lately my boys can’t get enough of gluten free waffles for breakfast, one has peanut butter on top with syrup and the other just plain syrup. I’ve tried three different brands now as well as just putting my own mix together, but it does not seem to a matter one bit~ the boys think it all tastes the same, maybe because I always add cinnamon to the batter and use vanilla almond milk. Although it smells delicious, I’ve been preferring a sweet potato for breakfast lately, and love how eating a vegetable for breakfast makes me feel healthy and not bloated. Even my skin feels smoother when I indulge in a sweet potato first thing in the morning, which is great since my skin is not liking the change of weather much. I follow this recipe on Whole Living. It is actually from the detox diet we did last January and it was one of the meals I loved enough to keep as part of my regular diet. I usually cook three sweet potatoes in the oven at once, in the evening when we are home and not busy (about an hour on 450, wrapped in foil). Then the next morning I take one out of the fridge and just have to microwave it for a minute or so, depending on how big it is, after first slicing it, squeezing some orange on it, adding the dash of salt and a good amount of cinnamon. (I don’t use the nutmeg~ personally I like it better without it.) Then after it is warm I add the almond slivers. Of course this is good any time of day, there is just something about having a vegetable at breakfast that makes me feel like I’m starting the day off right.

gluten free · gluten free lifestyle · gluten free travel

Gluten Free Lunch in Kirkland~ Cactus

October 19, 2012 kristenannLeave a comment

A couple of days ago my dad and I were walking around Kirkland for a bit of distraction before he headed to a trade show in Seattle. After coffee we decided to get lunch there too, unwilling to leave the slightly sunnier, always adorable center of Kirkland, or “little California” as my husband calls it. After narrowing our lunch choices down to “Mexican” we wandered into Cactus right in the middle of Park Lane. The atmosphere is slightly more upscale than a family style restaurant, though it is casual and I watched a young mom having lunch with her toddler a few tables over and they looked completely at home in the setting. After we sat down I started my usual gluten-sensor skimming that counts as menu reading when the waiter informed me that they have a seperate gluten free menu, oh yes! You know you can trust a restaurant when they take time to make a separate menu for the gluten intolerants. The waiter continued to be extremely helpful, somehow knowing I was vegetarian before I even said (was it the Birkenstock clogs?) and had a great recommendation for me which I never would have thought to get on my own~ Butternut squash enchalidas with spinach and mole sauce. She did bring my dad the wrong item, but he liked it anyway and later she insisted on bringing us a dessert to share because “it was our first time there” but probably actually because of the messed up order. Whatever the reason it was a thoughtful touch and we enjoyed the food and experience thorougly. Great find in Kirkland and they have several more restaurants in Seattle.

baking · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf foods · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free foods · gluten intolerant

Gluten Free biscuits

November 15, 2010November 18, 2017 kristenannLeave a comment

Saturday I made gluten free biscuits from the Flying Apron Cookbook replacing the berries with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. As much as I love the berries, we were running low on them and my son has been drinking smoothies in the mornings lately so I saved them for him. Mothers are always sacrificing! But the cinnamon is delicious actually, so it was a good experiment. I’ve been daydreaming of what goodies I am going to make my gluten intolerant friends for Christmas. It is so nice to know other gluten intolerant people with whom to share food! It can be so lonely when you are the one and only at a meal, party, or any other gathering where food and drinks are served. Since I have never really liked meat, I was always the odd one at meals as a child, so honestly by now I should be used to it, but it still bums me out. In fact, Thanksgiving has long been my least favorite holiday, considering I’ve never liked any of that kind of Turkey-ish food, and for last few years I’ve known I can’t eat the bread-ish food (unless I make it). This year I am determined to make it a festive inclusive meal, and since we are hosting that should be relatively easy. I’m putting together the menu this week and I’ll post what I come up with. Really there are such great ideas floating around I’m sure I’ll have more than enough ideas to keep me busy!