Easy Gluten Free Living

Posts Tagged ‘Gluten Free Living’

It can be tough being Gluten Intolerant, but it can be really tough being the parent of a gluten intolerant child.  Especially a school age child.  Suddenly not only do you have the regular worries about your child at school, but you have to worry about whether you can keep your child gluten-free while they are away from your watchful eye.

Although my days of being the parent of school age children are long past, Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday morning started out like every other Saturday morning.  I get up around 7:30, (since the alarm goes off at 4:30 the rest of the week, that’s sleeping in for me), get dressed, start the coffee, take the dogs out for their morning walk/run, (the 3 year old lab runs, the 10 year limps/walks).  We come back, I fire up the computer, feed the dogs, grab a cup of coffee and check my email. 

 But yesterday…

Lady T contacted me and asked me to write about Gluten Free…Mom, What’s for Dinner.   Let me tell you a little about Lady T.

Lady T empowers and coaches women  to change the world through entrepreneurship.  She provides motivational workshops, spiritual retreats and one on one coaching that helps moms grow purposeful, flourishing home businesses.  You can click here to learn more about this mompreneur expert and click here to read my highly sought after advice on being a gluten free mompreneur, or in my case a grand-mompreneur.

If you’re a stay at home mom and have been thinking about working from home or an out the door to work mom, dreaming of a work at home life.  Check and see if Lady T can help you find your dream life.

I know this isn’t my usual kind of blog post, but I was just so excited I had to share it with you all.  Come back tomarrow for my usual gluten free info.

I can’t believe that Christmas is over and we are winding down the last few days of 2009.  New Year’s Eve will be here before you know it.  So for todays Menu Monday I thought I would give you some gluten free appetizer recipes that you can use for your New Year’s Eve Party or to take with you to a party that you’ve been invited to. 

If you are going to a party instead of hosting your own you may want to check out last weeks Menu Monday, 10 Tips to a Gluten Free Holiday, if you haven’t already.

                                               Bruschetta Bites

• 1  (32 ounce) can whole tomatoes drained
• 1 Cup fresh Basil leaves, and a few more for garnish
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic peeled
• 2 large French-Syle Gluten Free Baguettes, sliced 1-inch thick (you can get these in the freezer section at Whole Foods or other specialty stores that carry gluten free breads)
• 1 1/2 pounds shreded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a food processor bowl add tomatoes, basil leaves, olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper.  Pulse until smooth, but still chunky. 

On a baking sheet , place gluten free baguette slices.  Toast in the oven until light golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle grated cheese on hot bread and put back in oven for about 45 seconds, to melt the cheese.  Remove from oven and put about 1 tablespoon of the tomatoe mixture on each piece.  Chiffonade (slice thinly) the extra basil leaves and place on top to garnish.

                                               Broccoli Cheese Party Quiches

• 1 can evaporated milk
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 2 Tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 Cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 Cups chopped frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour 12 mini muffin cups.  Whisk evaporated milk, eggs, flour salt and pepper in a medium bowl until blended.  Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture into muffin cups, filling almost to the top.  Stir mixture frequently to keep ingredients evenly mixed.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly brown.  Cool in pans for about 15 minutes.  To remove from pans, run a knife around the inside edges of the muffin cups.  Remove quiches carefully.

                                               Spinich Dip

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 container gluten free sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
• 1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix
• 1 small onion finely diced

Combine all ingredients well and refridgerate at least 2 hours.  Serve with your favorite raw vegetables or gluten free crackers or chips.

                                               Polenta Bites

• 1 Cup cornmeal
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

Grease a jelly roll pan and set aside.  In a 2 quart saucepan over high heat bring 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of butter, and salt to a boil.

Meanwhile, combine cornmeal and 1 cup cold water and stir.  Add cornmeal mixture to boiling water mixture, bring back up to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Continue to cook until mixture thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add cheese and tabasco sauce.

Spread cooked cornmeal mixture into prepared jelly roll pan evenly to about 1/2 inch thick.  Refrigerate, uncovered for at least 30 minutes.

After the polenta is cool, cut in to bitesized shapes, about 2 1/2 inch in diameter.  In a large skillet over medium heat, heat remaining butter and oil.  Add polenta shapes and cook 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.  Serve with Spicy Salsa.  (Recipe follows)

                                              Spicy Salsa

• 1 Cup Fresh ripe tomatoes diced
• 3 tablespoons minced onions
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours to blend the flavors.  (Makes about 1 Cup)

                                             Cheese Ball

• 1 (16 ounce) tub Philadelphia cream cheese, (not the bricks of cheese)
• 2 (8 ounce) tubs Kaukauna extra sharp cheddar cheese  (check the ingredient list, besides Kraft Cracker Barrel in the tub which has become next to impossible to find this is the only brand I know of that is all cheese)

Set these out to soften for about 2 hours.  In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and the extra sharp cheddar cheese with an electric mixer.  Refrigerate until firm, place on a platter or cheese plate and form into a ball.  Sprinkle with parsley flakes and serve with your favorite gluten free crackers.

Both of my granddaughters love this cheese so much they eat it on everything.

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  Please let me know how you and your guests liked them. 

Have a safe and Happy New Year and may your 2010 bring you all that you hope for.

Mary Blackburn

Living Gluten Free

I’m sitting here at my computer, listening to Christmas music, and looking at all the snow we got yesterday, a little over 7 inches.  I know, a small amount compared to what some of the further eastern areas received. 

My labrador retriever, Charlie, loves this weather.  He just wants to go outside and play in the snow.  Charlie isn’t 2 years old yet, so if you know anything about labs, you know that they don’t reach maturity until after the age of 2.

My husband is wrapping presents for me, since I am so far behind.  I have had a cold for about 2 weeks now and I think it has developed into a sinus infection.  I’ve had a temperature ranging between 99.2 and 103.4 for the past 3 days, along with a screaming sinus headache.  So I haven’t gotten anything done as far as my baking, or present wrapping done that I was planning on doing yesterday.

So I was just wondering how ready the rest of you are for the holidays?  Is it just me or did they seem to come earlier this year?  Thankfully, this is my off year.  You see, we celebrate Christmas with my side of the family on Christmas Day and my husband, Jim’s side of the family on New Years. 

Every other year the celebrations are at our house.  So this is our off year, we will be travelling to Westmoreland County to my sister’s house Christmas day and then off to the eastern part of Pennsylvania to Gettysburg to my sister-in-law’s farm New Years Day, (weather permitting).

How do you celebrate the holidays at your house?  Tomorrow I’ll be back with some idea’s and tips on traveling and making sure you have some gluten free foods to eat at someone else’s house.

Mary Blackburn

Living Gluten Free

,

The Virtual Cookie Exchange was a smashing success.  I have recipes squirting out of my ears.   Of course some of them will have to be re-worked to make them gluten free, so you will see them at a later date on this blog. 

So I am off today to bake Christmas cookies with my daughter and granddaughter.  My granddaughter is 2 1/2 and at the age where she loves to bake with Granny (that’s me)

This is a picture of Eilidh, helping me with a recipe for a  Gluten Free pumpkin roll that I was working on for my Holiday Cookbook, the day after Thanksgiving.  (Just in case you’re wondering, Eilidh was born in Scotland.  Her name is Scottish Gaelic and pronounced (Long A-Lee.)  I love cooking and baking, and doing both with my granddaughters just makes it more fun.  Today we are not making a gluten free cookie because these are for my daughters’ cookie exchange at work.

We tried a cookie from the cookie exchange.  They were Russian Tea Balls, from Kathie at The Creation of Possum Manor.  This was the first time I had ever made these kind of cookies.  They turned out really well and according to my daughter tasted really good.

As I mentioned in my blog on Monday, I want to make my blog fun as well as informative, so starting in January Thursdays will be Product Review Thursday.  Since I babbled away today about baking cookies with my girls, I will be reviewing a Gluten Free Hamburger Helper type product tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Mary Blackburn

Living Gluten Free

I thought that I would start blogging more frequently, but I didn’t know just what I would be blogging about. 

Those of you that know me personally, know that I rarely run out of things to say, but I want my blog to be informative and fun.  So I decided that I would have a couple of theme days every week and encourage you to join in.

This will start in full after the holidays.  If you’re like me right now, the holidays aren’t just creeping up on you, they are flying at you with the speed of a freight train.  I can’t believe Christmas is just 10 days away.  I still have shopping to do.  

I have baking to do also.  Because we had a night of freezing rain Saturday night into Sunday morning, church services were cancelled, interstate 376, commonly called here in Pittsburgh, The Parkway, was closed.  That hasn’t happened since the snow storm of 1993. 

 So I thought it would be a perfect day to do some  baking. I made Gluten Free Mock Thin Mints.  If you have a Girl Scout in the family, then you know what Thin Mint cookies are.  I think that was one of the things I missed most after going gluten free.

I will be posting the recipe here later today.  The reason I will be posting later is because my friend Susanne Myers, The Hillbilly Housewife came up with a great idea. 

Since alot of us are work at home moms, she came up with the idea to have a Virtual Cookie Exchange.  So if you are looking for some great cookie recipes check out the Virtual Cookie Exchange.  I think this will be alot of fun.

Feel free to post your favorite cookie recipes in the comments section below.  I look forward to a lot of great recipes.

Also, if you would like some more information on Celiac Disease, be sure to check out my Squidoo Lens.

Mary Blackburn

Living Gluten Free

Having Celiac Disease or a gluten intollerance as an adult is inconvenient, but when you have a gluten free child, Read the rest of this entry »

By now it is Thanksgiving 1987 and I am down to 100 pounds and beginning to feel so weak that I Read the rest of this entry »

The year was 1987, I was a happily married 28 year old mother of 2 children, a son 9 and a daughter 8.  I had just become my daughter’s Girl Scout co-leader and we were off on our first camping trip to Girl Scout Camp, Henry Kaufmann, in the beautiful Laurel Mountains of Western Pennsylvania.

It was to be a 3 night 4 day trip, Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Easy Gluten Free Living, a website for Celiacs, by a celiac.  In case you stumbled upon this website by accident, let me explain to you what a celiac is.

A celiac is a person with an intollerance to gluten, protein found in just about every grain except, corn, rice and depending on who you listen to some gluten-free oats, (those processed only in a plant that does not process glutenous grains).  The reason I say depending on who you listen to follows.  I pulled this right off of the Celiac Sprue Association’s website:

“Inconclusive information exists concerning the inclusion of oats in the gluten-free diet.  Some clinical studies indicate that uncontaminated oats may be tolerated by some people with CD.  Other studies indicate that some people with CD have an immune response to oats (avenin).  Currently, there is no way to identify which people with CD may tolerate oats.  Therefore caution is advised when considering the use of uncontaminated oats in a gluten-free diet.”*

When I was diagnosed 22 years ago, I was told no wheat, barley, rye, or oats, period.  So I have basically stuck to that instruction, until recently.  However, I haven’t injested enough oats as of yet to make a decision for myself.  I’ll let you know here if I find that I am having a reaction to the “Gluten-Free Oats”.

This website will be a place for information about Celiac Disease and how to keep you or your loved one happy and healthy on a gluten free diet.

I named this site Easy Gluten Free Living because once you get over the shock and denial of being intollerant, (or as most people say “allergic”) to gluten you will find that it really isn’t that bad, just a bit inconvienient.

I hope that you will find this website informative, helpful and inspiring.  In the days and weeks to come I will be giving you meal/menu ideas to help with mealtime.

Come back often and please feel free to comment or ask questions.

Mary Blackburn

Living Gluten Free