Product Review

This past weekend was such a blur! One of my dearest friends, JJ, got married! YAY! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was such an honor to stand beside her as a bridesmaid. Here is a picture of us at the rehearsal dinner. Love you friend!

I have 2 great products to share with you today! My mom is the one who found them both for me (thanks Mom!) Both of these have also gotten rave reviews from the husband...and that's good enough for me! Hope you get to try them soon!

The first are these wonderfully yummy Rice Works Chips. I found them at Publix next to the rice cakes. They had 3 kinds (sea salt, salsa, and parmesan w/sun dried tomato). The only thing is that they are a little pricey for the amount you get (but that's true with all GF things right?) Publix had them on sale for 2 for $4.00 which isn't terribly expensive if you can make them last! We almost ate an entire bag yesterday! I think my favorite thing about these is that they aren't made from corn, but brown rice! Which is healthier for you and a nice change from the usual tortilla chips.

The second product is a blend of brown rice and quinoa that my mom found at Costco. She has been suggesting that we try it for a while now but I hadn't gotten around to making it until last night. I don't know about you but the first time I made quinoa it turned out awful. It tasted fine but the texture was pretty mushy and gross and I couldn't get past it. Plus it took forever to cook. The husband however, who will eat basically anything, wolfed it down and continued to take the leftovers for lunch the next 2 days. So, I was a bit apprehensive at trying to make quinoa again, and especially "pre-packaged only takes 90 seconds in the microwave" quinoa. But, this honestly blew my socks off...ok so I wasn't wearing socks but if I had been they would've been blown off. SO good and amazing texture. One bag was enough for the husband and I plus leftovers for him the next day. And the preparation couldn't be any easier. You tear the bag open, pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds and then serve. Love it. And it's certified organic...can't beat that! These come in a 4-pack at Costco for around $8.00. The great thing about quinoa if you've never tried it before is that it is full of protein and surprisingly filling. I served this as a side dish to Italian chicken and green beans last night for dinner. Yum!

Check back tomorrow for my granola recipe!

Something Sweet

Hey everyone!
Sorry I haven't been posting very often lately. I'm hoping to get in the habit of posting more often. I have a really great recipe for you guys to try today (or tomorrow, or the next day...but today would be best because it is SO yummy.) I made these cookies for a bridal shower recently and they got high praise...even from gluten lovers! And more importantly, my hubby liked them as well...so this recipe went straight to the "must make again" pile. Hope you enjoy them!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart)


What you need

(makes approx. 36 cookies)
 - 2 C creamy peanut butter
 - 3/4 C white sugar
 - 1/2 C agave nectar
 - 1 tsp baking power
 - 1/2 tsp salt
 - 2 eggs, lightly beaten
 - 3/4 C milk chocolate chips
 - 3/4 C butterscotch chips
 - 1 C roasted, lightly salted peanuts

(Note: If you don't have agave nectar just increase the white sugar to 1 1/2 C. You can also use only chocolate chips, I just didn't have enough so I added the butterscotch)

Directions 
 - Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, sugar, agave nectar, baking powder, salt and eggs. Stir until smooth.

 - Add in your baking chips and peanuts. Fold in until combined.

 - Scoop out dough using a Tablespoon and roll into balls.

- Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

- Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

 - Enjoy!

These really are delicious and SO easy. I was very impressed with how well they hold up especially with the absence of any kind of flour. As I mentioned before, you could easily leave out the agave nectar and butterscotch chips if you don't have it or don't prefer it. I like using agave nectar when I can because it absorbs in your body more slowly than regular sugar and therefore prevents the blood sugar peaks and drops. You can't omit the white sugar completely in this recipe though because the dough will be too runny (I learned that the hard way!)

I hope you enjoy these! Bonus: These will make your house smell like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup...mmmmm!!!

Have a great weekend! Look for my granola recipe on Tuesday!

Product Review

Hey everyone!
Happy Thursday :) Today I thought I would share a couple of gluten free product reviews with you! Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions and what I have found that works for me. Unfortunately, being gluten free means a lot of trial and error with products and recipes until you find what you like.

The first product is Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers. They sell them in a 2 bag box at Costco for around $7.00. I love these and am so happy to have found them. I am a HUGE salty snack girl and prefer chips and pretzels over chocolate (I know I'm weird.) Since most of the things I liked before (wheat thins, cheeze-its and pretzels) are dangerous for me to have, I am always looking for GF alternatives to fill that void in my life! These are a good substitute and I eat them with hummus or a chunk of cheese on top. I'm pretty sure these are available at grocery stores as well, although I haven't seen them at my Publix.

Now, I have not done much GF baking so far, but am going to try a few recipes in the next few weeks. My other GF buddies have had to instruct me on what flours to get, and most everyone agrees that Bob's Red Mill brand is the best. I found everything I needed at Whole Foods (except the brown rice flour - I got Arrowhead instead). The flours are definitely more expensive than regular gluten filled all-purpose, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't cost an arm and a leg to buy them all! They were between $4 - $5 per bag. The most expensive thing was Xanthan Gum, but generally you only need a couple teaspoons per recipe. My sister-in-law swears by the recipes from the Gluten-Free Homemaker's blog. I haven't tried any yet but will soon now that I have all of my flours!

Bob's also makes certified GF oats, which I found at whole foods for $6.00 for a 32 oz bag. I make my own granola (I'll share that recipe tomorrow!) so the GF oats are a must for me. 

That's all I have for today! I would love to hear if you guys have GF products that you enjoy! 

Lettuce Wraps

Oh my soul these are good! Forgive me for bragging about my own recipe...but WOW. You must make these. You just must. Jon and I went to PF Changs recently (they have an entire gf menu by the way) and we got their lettuce wraps. They are salty, crunchy and full of flavor and I was determined to replicate them on my own. I found a recipe on Pinterest and tweaked it a little. I think I got pretty close! You should make them tonight...seriously do it.

What you need (serves 2-3)

 - 2 T sesame oil
 - 1/2 lb ground chicken (I used organic chicken breast and ground it myself in the food processor)
 - 1/2 md onion, minced
 - 1 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
 - 2 1/2 T gluten free soy sauce
 - 1/2 T water
 - 1 T peanut butter
 - 1/2 T honey
 - 1 T + 1 tsp rice vinegar
 - 2 tsp chili garlic sauce
 - 3 green onions, chopped
 - 1/2 can (4 oz) water chestnuts, diced
 - 1/4 C peanuts
 - Outer lettuce leaves for serving

Directions
- Heat 1 T sesame oil over high heat in a wok (mine was $7 at Ikea...awesome) or skillet

- Add chicken, onions and a dash of salt and pepper

- Cook until the chicken is nearly done, but still pink. Add garlic and stir

- In a microwave safe bowl, add the rest of the sesame oil, soy sauce (make sure it's certified gluten-free!), water, peanut butter, honey, vinegar, chili sauce and a dash of pepper. Microwave for 20 seconds and mix until smooth.

- Add sauce mixture to chicken and stir to coat. Your kitchen will smell heavenly at this point.

- Add green onions and cook 1-2 minutes

- Add water chestnuts and cook 1-2 minutes

- Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and you are ready to serve! I made some vegetable fried rice to make it a complete meal.

- Then comes the real test...the husband tries what you have made.

He fills it up...

He takes a bite...

And...it's a winner!!!

He's already asked me to make them again :) Points for the wife! 

These really were exceptionally good, and I'm usually pretty hard on myself when it comes to recipes. I will definitely be making these again! Even though I had to buy a lot of ingredients I didn't have on hand, I now have them in my pantry to use again and again for this recipe, plus it was on the table in 30 minutes. This fed the both of us for dinner, plus leftovers for me the next day. If you are planning on more than 2 people I would definitely double or triple the recipe. Also, the original recipe called for WAY more oil and diced mushrooms but I thought it was tasty without the additional oil and we both hate mushrooms so I left those out. Play around with your own ideas :)

Have a great weekend everybody!!

A Healthy Start

So, a few of you have asked me what vitamins I take and for some breakfast ideas, so I thought I would do a post on what a morning usually looks like for me!

On Mondays and Thursdays, I have be out of the house by 7:15 so I like something fast and easy. I have never been much of a breakfast person (unless it's made for me) so I often skip it. Recently though, I started trying to eat regularly each morning and I can't believe the increased amount of energy that I have during the day! Usually I'll eat a banana and yogurt, or granola (I make my own) with almond milk. Last week though, I decided to make smoothie packs for the freezer (got the idea from Pinterest) so that I could have something to take with me on the go. I've made 2 so far and LOVE them! Such a great way to make sure you get some fruit in the morning! Here's how I made them:

Ingredients (for 8 - 9 packs) 
- 32 oz container yogurt (I got greek yogurt but you could use whatever you like)
- Frozen fruit (try buying 3 one pound bags of whatever you like. I got a 6 lb bag at Costco so I could double the amount of packs)
- 4-5 Bananas, peeled

Directions
- Divide the yogurt into a muffin tin and freeze until solid. (I was able to get nine 1/2 cup servings from a 32 oz container)

- Divide your fruit into 8-9 quart size freezer bags. (about 1/2 cup per bag. This is the fruit I got at Costco. I was able to double the amount of freezer packs.)

- Cut 4 bananas in half and place one half into each freezer bag.

- Place one frozen yogurt cup into each freezer bag and seal.

That's it! All you have to do is store the bags in your freezer until you're in the mood for a smoothie!

Serving Day
When you want to blend a pack up, just make sure you have some sort of liquid on hand. To make it a "green" smoothie I like to add the Green Monster Naked juice blend. It has all sorts of vegetables and fruit blended in it and it doesn't taste "green" at all...it's so good. Orange juice, almond milk or regular milk would work too!

Vitamins
Every morning I take the following vitamins:
- Omega 3 (good for brain function, cardiovascular health, inflammation and skin/nails)
- Co-Q 10 (this is especially good for gluten free diets since the main ways to get this enzyme is through grains and fish. It's good for fatigue, immune system, and helps fight heart disease)
- Vitamin D3 (This one is SO important. My dad, who is a physician here: Everything Well has found that the majority of Americans have extremely low and insufficient vitamin D levels, and we aren't able to get the amount we need just from laying out in the sun. It's good for so many things including maintaining your calcium balance, cell differentiation, immune system and blood pressure regulation.)
- Buffered C (we all know that Vitamin C is good for us right?!?!)
- Echinacea (my immune system has always been pretty bad, and this herb is used to support a healthy immune system. Can't hurt right?)

At night I usually take 3 mg of Melatonin to help me get to sleep.

I also do B12 injections twice a week. I love them and can always tell when I skip a week. They give me so much energy!

When I feel a cold or sore throat coming on I ALWAYS take Reacted Zinc and Vitamin D3. I swear they make it go away by the next day. Also, I LOVE "Throat Coat" organic tea by Traditional Medicinals (available at Publix). My vocal chords are always happier after a few cups of it!

That's it for today! I have a great recipe to share with you tomorrow!

Monday Night = Spaghetti

Every Monday night we have spaghetti for dinner. Since I work later than Jon on Monday's and Thursday's I wanted to have something easy to throw together when I get home. Since spaghetti is one of those "go to" meals and my husband loves it, I declared Monday night spaghetti night. Being gluten free hasn't changed this at all and we both really enjoy the gluten free spaghetti alternative just as much as regular pasta.

Once a month I'll make my own spaghetti sauce and then freeze it so I always have some on hand. While the bottled sauce isn't crazy expensive, I like to know exactly what is in it and I can control the quality of the ingredients I use. Sometimes I'll make it in my crockpot too and just let it go for 6-8 hours. It always comes out delicious and freezes really well!

Here's how to make it:

What you need (I forgot to take a picture of everything before I got started...silly me)
- One 28 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes would work fine too if you don't like chunks of tomato in your sauce)
- One 15 oz can tomato sauce
- One 12.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I like the ones with italian herbs)
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes (we like spicy spaghetti sauce, but you could leave this out)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (if you don't like balsamic you can leave this out)
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (or whatever seasonings you like)
- Salt and Pepper to taste (I usually use 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

Other optional add ins:
- ground beef, turkey or sausage (make sure it's cooked separately first)
- mushrooms
- bell peppers
- zucchini

You can't really mess up this sauce as long as you have the tomato elements. Experiment with what you and your family likes until you find one that's perfect! We like simple sauce and since we've cut WAY back on our meat intake we usually leave that out too.

Directions:
- Heat 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil) in a dutch oven or large stockpot over medium heat
- Add in your chopped onions and cook 1-2 minutes
- Sprinkle in 1 tsp sugar. This will help caramelize the onions a bit and sweeten them. YUM.
- Add in the minced garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes

See all that beautiful caramel color on the bottom?

- Add the red pepper flakes, if using them, and cook 1-2 minutes

- If you're adding other elements like vegetables or meat, add it in now and allow it to cook out a bit
- Add all the tomato elements, (whole, diced and sauce) making sure to scrape the bottom part of the pot as you stir. Don't waste that flavor!
- Add the balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning and salt and pepper

- Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it bubble gently, stirring occasionally. I let mine go for 3 hours.

- After the sauce has simmered, remove from heat and let it cool. Separate into freezer bags (I used 3 quart sized bags) and lay flat in freezer.

- When you are ready to serve let it thaw in the fridge overnight and just heat up in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Here's the spaghetti noodles we use. It is a quinoa and corn blend so the noodles are more yellow than regular pasta, but the texture and taste is wonderful! I get them at Publix and one box will last us 2 spaghetti nights.

- Top the cooked noodles with sauce, fresh grated parmesan cheese and a bit of parsley. Enjoy!

Welcome!

Hey everyone! Welcome to my blog! I'm new in both the blogging and gluten-free world so I'm excited to share what I'm learning with you all! My goal with this blog is to share recipes, products, stories and other things about my gluten-free life. Whether you are gluten-free yourself, know of someone who is or are just exploring what it's about, I hope that I can provide you with good information!

I thought I would start by sharing my gluten-free story with you. I had been aware for a while that I may have a "gluten issue" since both my mom and brother had recently discovered their own intolerance for it. My brother found out the hardest way possible, ending up in the hospital for a few days before being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. This came as quite a shock to all of us and was very unexpected. Since Crohn's is hereditary that should've given me the motivation to get tested right away, but at that point I loved bread and pasta WAY too much to give it up. I held to the "ignorance is bliss" philosophy.

A few months later I started noticing random sharp stomach pains sometimes as often as twice a day. But they weren't consistent and weren't so bad that I thought it was anything serious. But they continued. More consistently and more severe. I immediately suspected a gluten issue, but because the pains didn't happen right after I ate and because I felt fine otherwise, I dismissed it. My husband and I after watching Food Inc. and Forks over Knives (highly recommended by the way), had decided to cut way back on our meat intake (a HUGE decision for my husband who is a meat and potatoes kind of guy) and to try to buy organic as much as possible. I thought that maybe this would help - cutting out overly processed food and eating whole foods seemed like a perfect cure. While we both felt great about what we were eating now, my stomach pain continued. Finally in December, I decided it would be best to find out. Sure enough, my results confirmed my suspicions. No more gluten for me!!

After telling my husband the news, he did not hesitate to commit to adopting the same restrictions for himself (he's the best). We immediately did a pantry and fridge clean-out, not wanting to be tempted to eat  anything on the naughty list. I started looking up recipes and baking mixes and blogs and websites...and soon after got VERY overwhelmed. We decided to take things slow and to ease into this new lifestyle as much as possible. For the rest of December we kept things simple (I ate lots of rice!) and it wasn't until last month that I really began to dive headfirst into the gluten-free realm.

I can't even begin to tell you how much better I feel. Within a week of cutting out gluten my stomach pain went away completely, I haven't had any heartburn (which started around the same time as my stomach pains), I have more energy and my usual every day headaches have disappeared. Amazing! All I can say is I wish I had done this sooner. Darn my stubbornness and love of pasta and bread!

While living gluten-free can be overwhelming at first and very tricky at times (eating out isn't easy), I am already reaping the benefits of it one month later. I encourage you to try it, even if it's not medically necessary. Eating this way naturally eliminates LOTS of things that aren't that great for you anyway, and who doesn't love that! Try it. It's worth it!