Easy Gluten Free Living

Posts Tagged ‘Gluten Free’

I received an update from Allison of the Celiac Awareness Tour, so I thought I’d pass it along to all of you.

 

 

Hi, Mary: We love this site and appreciate you getting the word out about our Tour. We’re heading to Philadelphia this weekend, April 28th at Crowne Plaza Valley Forge in King of Prussia, PA. Tickets are available at celiacawarenesstourphilly.eventbrite.com I wanted to get you an updated schedule–we had a date change for Columbus and we’ve added Detroit, so I was hoping you could edit your post for us?

2012 Celiac Awareness Tour Schedule
Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

April 28, 2012 Philadelphia, PA Crowne Plaza Valley Forge, King of Prussia, PA
May 12, 2012 Columbus, OH Aladdin Shrine Center
September 8, 2012 Detroit, MI TBA
September 22, 2012 Cincinnati, OH Cintas Center (Xavier University)
October 13, 2012 Chicago, IL Crowne Plaza, Rosemont, IL
November 17, 2012 Cleveland, OH Embassy Suites, Independence, OH

It’s always difficult to read an unhappy comment from someone who attended–because we know most of our gluten-free attendees have a very positive experience. All we can do is continue to work hard to bring together great speakers and chefs, delicious gluten-free products and the gluten-free community for a great day of entertainment, excitement and entertainment!
THANK YOU! Alison

If any of you go, let all the rest of us how it was. 

So it is time once again for Girl Scout cookies.  One of the things we Celiacs really miss, are Girl Scout cookies,  (or is it just me ).  Today I’m going to share with you a recipe for a Gluten Free Thin Mint cookie that is in my cookbook, Gluten-Free Get-Togethers.

I first made this recipe back in December 2009.  You can see the original blog post here.

I will be making some other Girl Scout cookie recipes (Tagalongs, and Samoas), this weekend and will be posting about them next week.

If you try these cookies let me know what you think of them.

Gluten Free Mock Thin Mints

1 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder + some extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon Rumsford Baking Powder
6 Tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg  brought to room temp.
1/2 teaspoon gluten free Vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter & sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer.  While still mixing add in the egg and vanilla.  Set mixer on low speed and slowly add flour mixture,  so as not to have it pouf out at you.  Mix on medium high speed until all ingredients are incorporated.

Dough will be very soft so cover bowl with plastic wrap and refriderate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  With a teaspoon,  scoop up a teaspoon size piece of dough and roll in your hands to form a ball.  Place on the cookie sheets 2 inches apart.   

Dip the bottom of a glass into the extra cocoa powder and flatten dough balls into 1 1/2? rounds (about 1/4? thick).

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly firm to the touch, rotating cookie sheets half way through baking time.

Transfer cookies immediately to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Replace parchment paper on cookie sheets.

                                  Chocolate Coating for Cookies

One – 12 ounce bag semi sweet morsels
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 Tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a double boiler or a heat proof  bowl,  set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, combine the chocolate morsels, peppermint extract, salt, and the sweetened condensed milk .  Heat,  stirring occasionally until smooth.

When cookies are completely cool, hold each cookie with a finger and thumb and frost with chocolate mixture.  I use the tines of a fork instead of a knife, so as not to get too much chocolate on each cookie.  Coat both top and bottom.  Place frosted cookie on parchment covered cookie sheet and repeat until all cookies are coated.

Place in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened, at least 1 hour.

Cookies can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an air tight container between layers of parchment paper.

Mary

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 »

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 »

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.

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 »

If Mom is a coffee lover this dessert will blow her away.  Top her dessert cup with a spoon of whipped topping and sprinkle the topping with chocolate sprinkles.

Full of Cream Coffee Dessert Read the rest of this entry »