Gluten Free Cheri

(GoGo Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies, Enjoy Life Cookies, and Pamela’s Chocolate Chip Cookies)

It snowed twice as much last night as they had predicted and our road is never plowed until about day 3. So I’m officially free to veg, watch winter movies, drink hot chocolate (I currently have a homemade almond milk white hot chocolate at my side:)) and dream up new blog posts! […]

You may have read in one of my recent posts that I’m a big Bite Beauty fan. It’s great that there are more and more makeup companies recognizing that women do care about the ingredients in the cosmetics they put on their skin!

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Hi gluten free friends!

In the past I have mentioned Sephora’s, Sephora brand BoraBora Bronzer being a favorite beauty product that doesn’t contain gluten ingredients, however it seems they have changed their policy on how they disclose their own brand’s allergens. […]

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After trying many different products, GFC has found that certain products perform miles ahead of the rest and we keep using them again and again. Only the best of the best make it into the Heather’s Top Picks category.

Pamela’s Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix –  It has the perfect combo of gluten free flours making it perfect for super light muffins, cakes and pancakes, it will save you time and maybe even money searching for all the flours separately. This is the best mix we’ve found.

Sabatasso’s Pizzeria Gluten Free Pizza Crust– the best crust we may have ever had! Thin crispy and soft. Making a homemade gluten free pizza crust is time consuming, very tricky and probably wont save you any money since this one retails at $12 for two large crusts.

Braggs All Purpose Liquid Soy Seasoning– a great alternative to wheat filled Soy Sauce, but it also works well in many different dishes for added flavour.

Sky Valley Sriracha– this is a certified organic, gluten free Sriracha that is amazing!

(This list is subject to change as we keep testing and trying out new products.)

A long while back after watching Gwyneth Paltrow with Chef Mario Batali taste their way through Spain, in, Spain on the Road Again, I clued in…this girl is a total foodie. In an interview Mario once said that Gwyneth could ‘eat most truckers under the table, any day of the week’ and I believe it! Her first cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, was full of impressive luxurious recipes. When I heard her next cookbook was gluten free, dairy free and sugar free, I was super stoked…this is exactly what the gluten free world needs; recipes that don’t suck, have an air of sophistication, and are guilt free.

Soo, is it worth the money to pick up her cookbook? I’ve had it a few months now and I say yes! This is a staple book I think for anyone’s kitchen who genuinely loves good, wholesome, global food. Even if you aren’t currently ‘detoxing’.

When you are faced with going on an elimination diet it can be daunting to know what to eat, and you most likely still want to enjoy what you eat! I enjoyed Gwyneth’s take on what can constitute a meal, for example why not try Quinoa with Kale and a fried egg for breakfast? Or try Quinoa with dried fruit and milk if you can’t tolerate oats. I also love love loved the Sweet Potato + Five Spice Muffins. I didn’t think they were going to turn out, I was practically pounding the ingredients together, the whole time thinking, “These are going to be horrible, a waste of my precious GF flour..” and then low and behold, these muffins came miraculously out of the oven looking exactly like the picture in the book. (however this is one of those recipes where you want to chose your Gluten Free baking mix carefully!) I gave a few muffins to friends and they gobbled them down with rave reviews!

There’s a great index at the front of the book explaining what your new staples should be. I think this is one of the best sections actually. I also love that she uses Korean, Thai and African staples such as Sriracha, Gochujang, Harissa Paste and Chipotle.

Salmon with Sriracha and Lime was pretty good. Grilled Korean Corn, utterly simple but so good. Two Pan Chicken with Harissa, Preserved Lemons + Green Olives, was pretty good, super crispy but don’t bother to go out of your way for the Harissa if you don’t have a Whole Foods close by, it didn’t add enough of an impact in this recipe to be worth the effort to find. The Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Chipotle+Coriander was good, loved the kick, but I think I prefer squash rather than sweet potato as a main in my soups.

Risotto with Peas + Greens minus the pound of cheese and butter. Lamb Tagine, Chinese Veggie Dumplings. These are really good ideas that celebrate food (even gluten free, dairy free food!) to make mealtimes truly ‘feel happy’ as Gwyneth puts it. I hope you like it as much as I do!

 Overall I highly recommend the book. Healthful food is beautiful presented, with creative comforting recipes that are actually worthy of being served to family and good friends.

Photo Credit for pictures 1-4 Whitney Lane Photography

There used to be few things I enjoyed more than going out with friends for wood oven pizza and beer on Sunday nights. I spent the first two years after being diagnosed with Celiacs Disease buying pizza crusts from various gluten free bakeries, and trying very hard to make my own decent Gluten Free pizza crust that measured up to what I was accustomed to. I bought all kinds of exotic flours to come up with the miracle formula that would somehow bind everything together to form a thin, bendy yet crispy on the edges crust…I am pleased to tell you I have currently halted all efforts…(should I come up with a clever homemade recipe in the meantime, I will be sure tell you all;)), however, I recently discovered the best Gluten Free pizza crust I have ever tried to date, and it is…..drum-roll please….. Sabatasso’s Pizzeria GF Pizza. It sells at Costco in the frozen section, it’s great price, good size, THIN, soft and crispy.

It’s so nice to have something I can quickly doctor up a bit and then pop in the oven for a super fast, yet delicious meal. I love playing around with different toppings and I thought I would share one of my favorites so far. You must try this crust, you won’t be disappointed.

Gluten Free Fig, Carmelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza

You will need:

4-5 Dried Figs sliced thinly ( I like the organic unsulphered dried figs at Costco )

2 White Onions Sliced

4 slices GF prosciutto

Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese(or whatever cheese you like to add to pizza)

Butter

Carmelized onions add so much flavor and the leftover onions can be added to a sundried tomato omelette, or whatever you like, to add great carmel-y flavour. To make them you need to put a generous knob of butter in a pan over medium-low heat, add the onions, (lower the heat as they progress) stir them for 45 minutes or until they have turned brown and really sweetened up. I sometimes add a tbsp of brown sugar to encourage the process.

Add your prosciutto however you like to the frozen pizza crust, top with carmelized onions, figs, and crumbled Boursin cheese. Bake according to instructions.

I’ve learned to always carry a snack with me. Inevitably there are going to be those moments where you are out and about..chillin with a friend, shopping, maybe taking the metro downtown, having a grand ol time. And then.. wham!  You are suddenly struck with monster hunger pangs with not a gluten free snack in sight. It’s happened to me a thousand times, and although I never would give in and eat something I knew I would pay for later, the first year going gluten free did include some grizzly bear sized blood sugar crashes…say what..?!

I quickly figured out that it pays to have a snack in my bag or stowed in the car… 

There are some great pre-packaged Gluten Free granola bars out there. I love “Kind Dark Chocolate Cherry Bars” and “Lara’s new Banana Bread Nut Bar”, (seriously, it tastes just like banana bread … marvelous!) But hey, why not try making your own? It will save you lotsa money, and they are soooo good. I’ve made these many times, each time with different ingredients..

The recipe is adapted from A Beautiful Mess, I’ve added Crispy Rice Cereal for crunch, peanut butter for even more awesome flavor, pecans (my favorite nut BTW) and dried cherries, (I’m inclined to think cherries are most decadent of dried fruit), you add what you like. These taste amazing; amazing as in, my mom cried when she ran out of her personal stash!

(I used milk chocolate on these since I was out of dark, but dark is better:))

Gluten Free Bars

2 cups quick cooking gluten free oats

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup pecans

1/4 cup chia seeds

8 chopped up dried cherries (or whatever dried fruit/nut/seed you prefer)

¼ cup gluten free crispy rice cereal

1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract

¼ cup peanut butter

1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces

Parchment Paper (a must with these)

Combine the oats, almonds, coconut, pecans , chia seeds, cherries, crispy rice and olive oil. Stir so that everything gets coated in the oil. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

In a pot over medium heat stir together the butter, sugar, honey and vanilla extract until the butter melts. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat, stir in peanut butter. In a bowl combine the granola and butter mixture so that all the granola gets coated. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper. Press the granola mix into the pan. Bake at 300°F for 25-28 minutes. Next melt the chocolate, I like to cheat and microwave it in 30 second increments stirring after each 30 seconds., but you can also melt it with a double boiler. Carefully cut into bars, pop them in the freezer to set a bit, pour chocolate on top and freeze again for a bit.

Your first year of going “gluten free” isn’t easy but these “tasty” little bars will definitely help make the adjustment just that little bit sweeter!