Easy Gluten Free Living

Archive for the ‘Gluten Free’ Category

It’s been a little quiet on this blog for the past 2 months, I know.  Right after Halloween I picked up what ever germs my 2 granddaughters had and I’ve been fighting something ever since.

The week before Christmas, I came down with the flu.  I would not wish this on my worst enemy.  Fever, headache, body aches, and just plain miserable.  My poor husband!  I’m hardly ever sick, so I don’t make a very good patient, especially when I have so much to do.

Then New Years weekend, New Years Day to be exact, I started getting a sore throat.  By Monday morning, my throat was so sore I could hardly swallow.  My tonsils were swollen and were a lovely shade of bright red with white spots.

My doctor took a culture for strep and gave me a script for Amoxicillan.  After 2 days on the Amoxicillan, my throat was starting to feel better. 

Needless to say I have been eating a lot of chicken soup lately.    I thought I’d share one of my recipes with you for a twist on good old chicken and noodle or chicken and rice soup.  I hope you like it.

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Soup

(I call it Thanksgiving Soup because the sage in there really makes the soup smell like Thanksgiving stuffing when it’s cooking.)

1/2 cup gluten-free wild rice, (not the kind with pasta included) cooked according to package directions
2 tsp olive oil
3 celery stalks, chopped small
1 onion, diced small
1 tsp dried sage
6 cups homemade or gluten-free store bought turkey or chicken stock
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cut small
1/4 chopped parsley
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

In a large soup pot over medium heat, put olive oil, celery, onions, and sage, cooking until celery and onions are softened, about 4 or 5 minutes.
Pour in the stock, add the cabbage, stir and turn heat down to low, cover pot loosely, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cabbage is soft.
Add the turkey, cooked wild rice, and parsley, and simmer very slowly (without bubbles), uncovered, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar, taste and adjust seasonings, adding more balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper as desired.

The nice thing about this soup is that it is also low carb for all you people on a low carb diet.

                                                               Today brings us to Friday, and our fifth Halloween recipe.  This recipe is for your adult Halloween party, although if you have kids that like deviled eggs, these eyes may just disappear before yours.  

 These devilled eggs are gruesome looking but really taste great and they will be the hit of the party.  For the best bloodshot effect serve them within 2 hours of preparation.

Bloodshot Ghoul Eyes

 What You Need:

• 3 Cup of hot water
• 2 Tablespoon red food coloring
• 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar
• 6 hard boiled eggs, cracked but not peeled
• 1/3 Cup of Kraft mayonnaise (it’s gluten-free)
• 1/4 Cup of green onions, chopped fine
• 2 Tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 2 teaspoon gluten-free Dijon style mustard
• 12 ripe olives, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ketchup Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Here is another recipe for you to use at your Halloween Get-Together.  If you’re looking for a recipe for a scary punch you can find the recipe for Icy Spiders in my Punch here. 

There are other Halloween recipes on this site, just go to the recipes page above and look for Halloween.

Halloween Mini Rounds 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 »

I really can’t believe that we are almost to the end of October and Halloween is just next week. 

Are you planning any Halloween parties or going to any parties?  My hubby and I will be hosting our two, 4 year old granddaughters next Saturday night for a sleepover at Granny and Granddad’s house. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I have the recipe for you that my mother-in-law gave to me when I was dating my husband.  He had a severe topical allergic reaction to milk and eggs at the time.  If he touched them he would swell up with hives.  If he ate them, his throat would swell up. 

When my oldest granddaughter, Courtney was diagnosed as lactose intolerant, one of the things she missed was ice cream.  So I dug out my old dairy free ice cream recipe and made it for her while she was visiting this summer.

 If you’re wondering if she liked it, check out these pictures of her after she tasted it.

 So here is the recipe.  I hope you like it as much as she did.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Ice Cream

• 1 1/2 teaspoons Knox Gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 3 cups Coffee Rich (found in the freezer section)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Soften gelatin in cold water.  Heat 1 cup coffee rich to scalding.  Add sugar, salt, and gelatin stirring til disolved.  Add 2 remaining cups  of coffee rich and vanilla.  Allow to cool.

Pour into ice cream maker for 30 minutes, then freeze.  Or place in the freezer and stir occationally til frozen.

Let me know what you think of it.

So yesterday I talked about sending children back to school and ways to help keep them gluten-free.

Today I want to talk about Art class.  You’re probably thinking, What does art class have to do with keeping my child gluten-free?.   I’m about to tell you.

Gluten can be found in:

• Paint
• Glue
• Modeling Clay (Play-Doh) but not just Play-Doh
• And more

I planned on going through a whole list of products that are safe for your gluten-free child, but I found a very complete and informative list over at this website.

Heidi over at Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom has a very thorough list of  gluten-free art supplies.  She also has a printable list that you can print out and take with you shopping or give to your childs teacher.

I would even suggest you print it out and put a copy into that information packet I talked about yesterday.

I hope this helps all you worried moms.  Leave me a comment below if you appreciated this information.

I got an email from a newsletter reader over the weekend.  I thought it might be of interest to other readers of my blog.  So here’s her question and my answer:

Hi Mary,

 

I just found your website and am pretty excited! I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and have been reading and hearing a lot of things about gluten possibly exacerbating the symptoms of fibromyalgia. 

 

My question is that I love, Love, LOVE crackers – saltine crackers – plain, with cheese, spiced up with oil and spices, just to sit and snack on them makes me happy.  I looked for a gluten free saltine cracker recipe (to make crackers from scratch) on your website and just wondered if you have one or know where I could find one?

 

Thank you so much!           

 

Carolyn Woodie says:

May 16, 2011 at 9:48 am

I went to purchase Ortega taco mix based on your list and noticed in the ingredient list that it has maltodextrin in it. I’m new to this GF, but I thought that we could not have maltodextrin. Am I wrong?

Wow Carolyn, you opened up a can of worms. 

Read the rest of this entry »