Easy Gluten Free Living

Archive for the ‘Gluten Free Holidays’ Category

Today, I have a main dish entree for your Halloween party. 

These witches fingers will really “grab” your guest’s attention.  The Cajun seasoning gives these strips a bold taste while the cornflake covering helps to keep the chicken moist during baking. 

These chicken fingers are really good, but if you are making them for children leave out the cajun seasoning, as it may be too much bite. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m back today with another Halloween recipe for you.  Today’s recipe is Ghoulishly Good Banana Chunks and these treats are easy enough to have your little goblins help make them.

Ghoulishly Good Gluten-free  

Banana Chunks Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I gave you a recipe for a gluten free salad for your Easter Dinner.  Today I have a dessert recipe, and if you read all the way to the bottom, I have a freebie for you also.

 Banana-Orange Casserole Read the rest of this entry »

I’m back today with another recipe for you. 

Are you having kids at your Easter dinner this year?  If you are here is a great little salad that is perfect for all the little bunnies. 

These are cute little salads that can be placed at any child’s place setting.  They’ll get a giggle out of seeing the Easter bunny at dinner. 

This salad is naturally gluten free, so your gluten free child doesn’t have to feel different.

Enjoy!

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton Tail and Peter Salad Read the rest of this entry »

Well after much baking, cooking, and measuring, my new cookbook is finally for sale.  As you can probably figure out from the title of this post, it is called Gluten Free Get-Togethers and you can find it for sale at Easy Gluten Free Foods. 

Now let me give you a little background on how this cookbook came to be.  If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you know that I have been a Celiac since 1987.  For a very long time I “did without” all the goodies that I had loved before my diagnosis.  But then I started missing all the great party foods and lets face it,  the “Parties” too.  So I decided that I would take all the foods that I had loved before Celiac Disease and make them gluten free.

Now, I have been making the gluten free recipes in this cookbook for well over 15 years, but anyone who cooks a lot can tell you that you can get so familiar with a recipe that you stop measuring the ingredients and that’s pretty much what happened with me.  But then I went to a live internet marketing event that totally changed my life.  This cookbook is the direct result of that event. 

Now let me tell you a little about the cookbook.  I think the title says it all.  When people get together for any reason, parties, picnics, potlucks, everything revolves around the food.  But when you’re a celiac or gluten intolerant, you have to worry about everything surrounding food.

In Gluten Free Get-Togethers I show you exactly how you can be a part of the party scene again without worrying so much about things like cross contamination when attending a party, how to host a party without fear of your condiments being contaminated, and most importantly, how to host a party and have food that you can safely eat, but your guests will never guess are eating gluten free.

This cookbook has a variety of foods from appetizers to casseroles to breads, desserts, and muffins.

This was a labor of love for me and I hope you find it helpful too.  Especially right now as we head into the most food oriented time of the year.

It’s hard to believe that here in the United States Thanksgiving is just a little over a week away.  I have so much to be thankful for this year.  A loving husband, adult children that are also our friends, 3 healthy, beautiful granddaughters, ages 6, 3 and 2 months.

I thought that today I would share a recipe for a nice moist turkey without all the time it takes to roast a whole turkey. 

                                                  Tender Juicy Turkey Breasts  Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody has a favorite “something”.  So my question to you all today, “What is your all time favorite gluten free Easter candy? 

I have to say, that even before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, one of my all time favorite things in my Easter Basket was the Just Born Candy company’s Peeps. 

There is a real controversy on how to eat them.  I like them any way both fresh and “stale”.  My daughter likes them semi stale.  You know when they are still a little plyable, but a little chewy.  Now my daughter-in-law wants them totally stale.  She opens the package and lets them lie out until they are almost like a brick.

So if Peeps are your favorite candy how do you like them?  And if not what is your favorite Easter candy?

Today I would like to welcome my friend Karon Thackston of  glutenfreeproductlist.com. 

Karon is guest blogging for me today, and she has some really good information for you here.   She has some great ideas on Gluten Free Easter Baskets.  Karon has a very informative website full of  everything gluten free.  Thank you Karon for sharing your expertise on gluten free Easter baskets.

Living gluten free can be hard for adults, but if you have kids with Celiac disease, the challenge is even greater. With so many things they can’t enjoy with their friends, you might feel like the Wicked Witch of the West for saying “no” so often. Christmas cookies are out. S’mores are off limits. Boisterous birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese’s are a no-no. Even the kid-food staple, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carries a serious risk if not carefully prepared using only gluten free ingredients.

 Easter, the Gluten Free Holiday

 There is one holiday that lets you be Super Mom, though – Easter. Do you remember the baskets the Easter bunny used to bring when you were little? They were probably full of chocolate rabbits, Tootsie Rolls, and Marshmallow Peeps. You didn’t know it at the time, but those sweet treats are all gluten free. In fact, so are lots of popular candies, which makes Easter a very happy holiday for your gluten intolerant children.

 A gluten free Easter basket can be stuffed with all these favorites: Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Marshmallow Peeps, Junior Mints, Sugar Babies, Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls, Baby Ruth, Bit-O-Honey, Goobers, and Raisinets. Aside from the obvious sweet choices, don’t forget that a well-planned Easter basket can contain other items as well. Small toys, books, and other gifts are a fun addition.

 However, if you purchase from a mainstream store, remember that even gluten free candies are at risk for cross contamination if they are produced in factories which also make foods containing wheat, rye, or barley. In the United States, food manufacturers are required to indicate the possibility of cross contamination on the label, so be sure to take the time to carefully check each item before including it in your child’s basket. You can also contact the candy manufacturers if you have questions.

 Gluten Free Easter Baskets without All the Work

 Easter is just around the corner. This year it falls on April 4, 2010.  If you don’t have the time to build your own gluten free Easter basket, or if you’re planning on giving the basket as a gift and would rather stick with “certified” gluten free products, then purchasing a premade basket is the best choice. You’ll find a lot of options on the Internet, but use caution. Just because an item is gluten free doesn’t make it a good choice.

 Many manufacturers have tried to redesign traditional favorites into gluten free alternatives by substituting ingredients. Sometimes the results are delicious, but often what you end up with is not only expensive, but nearly inedible. No gluten free Easter basket is going to be well-received if the treats don’t taste good. The safest and least time-consuming alternative is to shop sites that only offer top-rated gluten free products. You’ll save yourself, and your little ones, a lot of disappointment on Easter morning.

 No time to create gluten free Easter baskets? Not sure what to include?  GlutenFreeProductList.com ONLY offers gluten free baskets and candy with 3, 4 or 5 star ratings. Shop with confidence today.

It’s hard to believe that Easter is only a little over 5 weeks away.  Here in Southwestern Pennsylvania we are preparing for another major snow storm that is already hammering the eastern part of the state and due to hit us later this afternoon and evening.  But with Easter this close I thought I would give parents of children with celiac disease some ideas for Easter Baskets.

First let me just say that all Jelly Belly jelly beans are gluten free.  YAY!  I love jelly beans. 

• All Just Born Brand candies are gluten free.  That includes their Peep brand marshmellow candies, (all varieties), Mike & Ike, Teenie Beanie Jelly Beans and more.
• M & M’s, all brands except the krispy kind
• Skittles
• Tootsie Roll Industries, posts that all their candies are gluten free
• as does Ferrara Pan Candy Company
• Laffy Taffy
• Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee small size bars
• Swedish Fish
• Snickers Bars fun size and minis
• Wonka Giant Pixy Stix
• Starburst Fruit Chews
• and Double Bubble Bubble Gum
• Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bunny
• Hershey’s milk chocolate eggs
• Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate eggs
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bunnies

If you just don’t feel like going through the whole list of gluten free candy, my friend Karon Thackston has done all the work for you by coming up with Gluten Free Easter Baskets .  Be sure to check them out.

If you don’t want to give your kids too much candy, there is always crayons, or other school supplies.

• Crayola Brand Crayons are gluten free this includes their markers, washable markers, 3D markers, chalk, oil pastels, model magic, colored pencils, glue paint and Silly Putty.  However, Crayola Dough is not gluten free.
• All Palmer Paints are gluten free
• All Ross products except the finger paints.

I hope that I have given you some ideas for your childs Easter Basket and that you have a very Happy Easter.