Lime Snowball Cookies. Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan.

These cookies were phenomenal! I do not think anyone would guess that they were GFCF. You can make lots of variations to this recipe, adding chopped nuts, omitting the citrus ingredients, adding mini chocolate chips, etc.

I based my recipe on this one: http://www.food.com/recipe/a-big-dose-of-lime-snowball-cookies-145013
2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour mix
1 cup coconut oil, in solid form
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
zest of one lime or lemon
8-16 drops of food-grade lime essential oil (start slow and taste as you go)

Preheat oven to 350. If the coconut oil is solid, combine all ingredients except essential oil with your hands (the heat from your hands will melt the coconut oil just right). Gradually add the essential oil and taste the dough until you like the flavor. Form walnut-sized balls of dough and baked them on parchment lined ungreased cookie sheets for 15-20 minutes or until brown around the edges. Remove from oven and dust tops of cookies with powdered sugar while still warm.

Note: If you add chopped nuts and omit the citrus, use another liquid such as dairy-free milk to replace the citrus juice.

Incredibly Fabulous Three-ingredient GFCF Vegan Chocolate Truffles

When I got tired of eating the chocolate pie (see next post) I decided to scoop some of the filling into a ball, roll it in coconut, and pop it in my mouth as a truffle. Absolutely incredible. These even passed the test of my friend who is a caterer and lover of all things dairy. She could not believe there was no dairy in these.

1 can full-fat coconut milk, chilled (I used Thai Kitchen organic)
12 oz. Trader Joe's chocolate chips
Food-grade essential oils for flavoring the chocolate, such as peppermint or orange (optional)
Shredded coconut, nuts, cocoa powder, crushed organic dye-free peppermints, etc. for rolling

Open the can of coconut milk and drain off any liquid (you can use it in a smoothie), then dump it in a saucepan with the bag of chocolate chips and melt them together until combined. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then stir in essential oils (start with just a drop, especially of peppermint) until desired flavor is reached. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Form chocolate mixture into balls and roll in desired crumbly stuff. Keep in fridge until time to serve.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The first time I made these they were fine but the truffle mixture was too soft, even after chilling. To redeem this situation, I melted 1/4 cup coconut oil and stirred it into the truffle mixture, then chilled it again before forming the truffles.

Fabulous Two-Ingredient GFCF Chocolate Pie Filling

This seems too good to be true but it was a Thanksgiving miracle yesterday. Melt 12 oz. chocolate chips in a sauce pan with 1 can chilled full-fat coconut milk, stirring until all melted and combined. Pour into prepared crust and chill for at least two hours. The texture and flavor were perfect and there was no coconut flavor.

There are many GFCF crusts out there. I just combined uncooked oatmeal, a couple tbsp. sugar, a couple handfuls of shredded coconut, dash of salt, a couple tbsp. Pamela's, and 1/2 cup coconut oil in the food processer. Then I pressed it into a pie dish and baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes . (Cool before adding filling.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some instructions say to drain off the liquid from the can of coconut milk after chilling. I didn't do this the first time and it was fine, but the second time it was too runny. To redeem this situation, I melted 1/4 cup coconut oil and stirred it into the pie filling, then chilled it again.

Lentil Soup

I adapted this recipe from the New York Times Cookbook. This is pretty plain-looking but delicious and easy and even
better the next day.

1 lb. package dried lentils
2 ½ quarts water (I just eyeball it. You might need to add more later.)
2 tbsp. oil
About 2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
5 gluten-free organic hot dogs, sliced (optional)
2 chicken bouillon cubes (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper
Salt to taste (but I don't use if I'm using bouillon & hot dogs)

In a soup pot, saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic & hot dogs in oil until onions are limp (and until hot dogs are a little browned). Add water, bouillon, lentils, & black pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently about 2 hours. (The lentil package says it only takes 45 minutes, though.)

The New York Times book suggests you puree the soup through a food mill(if you're not using hot dogs) but I usually don't.    

Jeni's Spice Mix to Make Anything Taste Like Sausage

Provencal Spice Mix - Excellent on pork chops or really anything!
From Fine Cooking's Oct/Nov '94 issue #5

Zest of 2 lemons
1/3 C thinly sliced garlic
1/3 C fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 C fresh sage leaves
1/3 C kosher salt
1/4 C freshly ground black pepper

The recipe says, "In a food processor, put in the lemon zest with the motor going, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Process briefly until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand."

Jeni says she has been making this for YEARS and didn't get a Cuisinart until last Christmas. She just always chopped everything up really fine and it worked just as well. It will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. She keeps any leftovers in the freezer and it keeps indefinitely! She pulls it out any time she wants to flavor something like sausage—be it eggs, ground turkey, etc.

Lisa's Tri-Tip

Tri-tip

2 tsp. rosemary

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Lisa served this at her son's wedding reception and it was absolutely delicious! Marinate, then bake at 350 (covered) until internal temperature reaches 160.

Beef Curry Puffs or Mini Tarts

(Click on the recipe to enlarge it.) These are really delicious. Substitute the flour for Pamela's mix and the margarine for coconut oil and a little water. The extra filling is good with rice. Update: When I made these a few days ago, my crust was tough and I know I could make it flaky with some extra care and attention but I don't want to have to put extra care and attention into it, so I got thinking about alternatives. I decided to make a biscuit dough and press it into mini muffin tins. That means very little handling of dough, no rolling, thus a lot less mess and a lot less opportunity to make it tough. These little tarts were absolutely amazing! The crust was flaky and tender and delicious!! Biscuit-style Crust for Mini Tarts: 1 cup Pamela's flour mix 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup coconut oil, in solid form 3/8 cup milk substitute with a splash of vinegar in it (I used rice milk and rice vinegar) Preheat oven to 375. Grease a mini muffin tin with coconut oil. Combine the dry ingredients and cut in the coconut oil with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Ad the milk and stir it just enough to make a dough. Press a walnut-sized glob of dough into each muffin opening, pushing it up the sides; you want it to be less than 1/4" thick. I wore thin disposable gloves to keep my hands from getting sticky. This dough was a little on the wet side (it would have stuck to a rolling pin had I tried to roll it out) and it turned out fine. Add a spoonful of filling and bake for about 12 minutes. Oh, man. I'm going to make pizza ones and pumpkin pie ones and breakfast ones and I'm going to freeze a bunch of them to pop out and heat up in the toaster oven!

Double Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-free Dairy-free)

I chose this recipe because it had five stars and lots of good reviews, and then I just substituted coconut products for the butter and milk, and Pamela's flour mix for the wheat flour. I also used 3/4 cup of Trader Joe's organic turbinado sugar in place of 1 cup white sugar. They rose up nice and high, with attractive browning and cracks in the top, and were the best blueberry muffins I have ever tasted.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/double-blueberry-muffins-recipe/index.html

1/2 cup Trader Joe's coconut oil in liquid form

3/4 cup Trader Joe's organic turbinado sugar

2 organic eggs

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 1/2 cups frozen Trader Joe's organic blueberries

2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour blend

1/2 cup Trader Joe's canned coconut milk

Demerara sugar or other large-crystal sugar for the tops (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin. Smash 3/4 cup of the blueberries with the back of a fork, then stir in coconut oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Stir in half the flour, half the milk, then the rest of the flour and milk. Fold in the remaining blueberries. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar, then bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden. Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the pan before removing. (Yeah, like I could wait!)

Vegan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (updated November 2014)

This is different from the recipe that I've shared before. The cookies are chewy and even better than any I've ever made.

1/2 cup organic coconut oil
1/2 cup Trader Joe's organic brown sugar
1/2 cup Trader Joe's organic white sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon gluten-free real vanilla extract
1 cup Pamela's gluten-free flour blend, plus 1-2 tbsp. extra
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 scant teaspoon sea salt
1 cup gluten-free oatmeal (optional)
1 cup Trader Joe's chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flax seed with water in a small bowl. Combine coconut oil and sugars in a large bowl. When flax mixture has gelled to the consistency of beaten egg (it only takes a few minutes), combine it with oil and sugars along with the vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add oatmeal, chocolate chips, and almonds. Use a cookie dough scoop, scoop one scoop of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes; don't overbake. If this looks good (not too greasy looking or runny around the edges), scoop and bake the rest. If it doesn't look good, add 1-2 tbsp. more flour and bake another test cookie. Let cookies rest on pan for one minute before transferring to cooling rack. Note: The longer you let the dough sit in the bowl before baking, the higher and less flat the cookies will be after you bake them.

Coconut Lime Cookies (gluten-free, vegan, with Lime essential oil)

1 cup Trader Joe's organic white sugar

1/2 cup Trader Joe's coconut oil, in liquid form

1 flax egg (1 tbsp. ground flax seed + 3 tbsp. water)

Juice of one organic lime

Zest of one organic lime

10 drops food-grade lime essential oil

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 1/3 cups Pamela's gluten free flour blend

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything except the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, then stir those in. Then take a bite of the dough because it is delicious! Scoop onto baking sheet and bake for about 8 -12 minutes.

You could roll these in more sugar first; they were a little on the tart side. You could also roll them in coconut.

This recipe is still a work in progress as I wasn't able to get them to puff up and crinkle down as they would if I had used butter, so you will either want to flatten them after scooping, or roll them out and cut them out with cookie cutters.

Delicious GFCF Waffles! Or Flower-Shaped Pancakes:)

I actually used ghee instead of oil in these but I'm sure you could just use oil to make them GFCF. Here is the original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-waffles/

2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour mix
1 tsp. sea salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. organic white sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups warm rice milk or other milk substitute
1/3 cup melted ghee, or oil
1 tsp. gluten free vanilla

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs with other wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cook on waffle iron until done.

Update: Today I didn't feel like dealing with cleaning the waffle iron so I made this in my quesadilla maker instead, which is was much easier to clean and made really cute flower-shaped waffles! The "petals" break off really easily.

I also used watered-down coconut milk from Trader Joe's as my milk substitute, and it worked great. You could probably try this with muffin batter, and make all kinds of variations.

Spinach Rice

This is one of the first items of what we call "Sam's Food" that my daughter started asking for when we changed his diet.

Ground beef
Cooked brown rice
Onions or onion powder
1 bag washed fresh spinach, chopped with kitchen scissors
Black pepper
Coconut Aminos or Soy Sauce

Brown the ground beef with diced onions until onions are soft. (Or brown the meat first, then rinse to get the fat off, then add olive oil to brown the onions in.) Stir in spinach and let it wilt, then stir in cooked brown rice and season with aminos or soy sauce, etc.

Coconut Oil Pie Crust

Just take your favorite pie crust recipe and substitute chilled coconut oil for shortening or butter, and Pamela's for wheat flour, and you are good to go. I used this recipe as a general guideline, and for fun, I used almond milk instead of water.

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2010/8/6/coconut-oil-pie-crust

Coconut Aminos Marinated Grilled Chicken

Coconut aminos (tastes like a slightly sweeter soy sauce and is naturopath-approved for the whole family!)

Fresh lemon juice

Garlic or garlic powder

Pink Himalayan salt

Fresh black pepper

Olive oil

Marinate chicken, then grill.

Delicious Rice Pasta Primavera

Note that although ghee is a dairy product, my daughter and I are allowed to eat it on our plan. This was absolutely delicious. It was all I could do not to top it with fresh parmesan, but I resisted and the result was that I was really able to enjoy the other flavors.

Cooked Trader Joe's organic brown rice pasta (rotini)

Canned coconut milk (optional)

Ghee

Fresh mushrooms, cut in half

Fresh baby spinach, torn

Fresh cherry tomatoes (from my garden!), cut in half

Freshly ground pink Himalayan salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Trader Joe's brown rice pasta is amazing. Its only fault is that it gets hard when cold, but if you re-heat it, it is fine. As long as you don't overcook it, to me it is just as good as wheat pasta. The batch of cooked pasta I had leftover in my fridge had some canned coconut milk mixed into it (maybe about 1/4 cup?), which I guess contributed to the deliciousness of this dish but there was no perceptible coconut flavor.

Brown the mushrooms in a saute pan in some ghee. Add the cooked pasta and stir until spinach until pasta is warm and spinach is wilted. Throw in some more ghee if desired, then the tomatoes. Season with fresh salt and pepper.

Oatmeal Quick Bread

Oatmeal does contain some gluten, although you can buy gluten-free oatmeal. Sam's diet is so strict that he is not even allowed to have oatmeal, but I think this is fine for the rest of us. I substituted Pamela's for the wheat flour, almond milk for the milk, I didn't grind up the oats super-finely, and I baked it in a medium-sized loaf pan. It didn't rise that high but it was moist and tasted good; the crust was especially yummy. I based my version on this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-whole-wheat-quick-bread/

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

1 cup Pamela's flour mix

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 tablespoons honey or organic sugar

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 cup almond milk

Preheat oven to 450. Quickly pulse oatmeal in blender to grind it a bit, leaving some larger pieces. Combine dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients; you don't have to mix it very long. Pour into greased medium-sized loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake 20-25 minutes for a loaf and less time for muffins.

Flaky Coconut Oil Biscuits (Vegan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free)

I am a really good baker and even make my own bagels, and this morning I was really missing my beloved toast with butter. I have a friend who has absolutely perfected GF yeast bread but I haven't practiced with her recipe yet, so for now I decided I'd rather not eat bread than eat store-bought GF bread. But I have had success with muffins and cookies so I decided to give biscuits a try. I just took my grandmother's wonderful recipe and made 1:1 substitutions to make this GFCF. They were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, flaky, and delicious!

2 cups Pamela's flour mix

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

2/3 cup milk substitute (I used rice milk)

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. organic sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil, chilled

Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients, cut in coconut oil until mix resembles coarse crumbs. (These pockets of chilled coconut oil are what make these flaky.) Add milk all at once and stir until dough forms loose ball. Pat together with your hands (don't overwork the dough) and pat or roll out 1/2 inch thick and cut into rounds. (Instead of rolling out the dough, I used an ice cream scoop, scooped the dough onto baking parchment, and patted it into biscuit shapes! Much faster, cleaner, and easier!) Bake 10-12 minutes.

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

I would like to try this with ghee or coconut oil instead of butter, but as of this moment, I am still eating butter although not any other dairy product.

I found this on simplyrecipes.com and made the following alterations [in brackets]. Delicious. (Especially the dough!)

3 cups flour [substitute Pamela's gluten-free flour mix]
1 cup organic granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter [try ghee or coconut oil]
1 egg, slightly beaten [flax seed egg substitute]
3 tbsp cream [unflavored coconut yogurt]
1 tsp vanilla (I use gluten-free)
[zest of one lemon]

Chill. Roll 1/4 thick and cut out cookies. Bake on ungreased sheet at 400 for 5-8 minutes just until edges are slightly brown.

The lemon zest and sour cream [coconut yogurt] made these so good!

   

Shepherd's Pie

Sam's diet doesn't include potatoes but ours does. We are just going to have to learn to love this without the cheese.

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/30-minute-shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html

Easy Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Cream Puffs

I found this recipe for easy cream puffs in the Our Best Bites cookbook and substituted coconut oil for butter and tapioca flour for wheat flour, but they were too flat, so I added in some almond flour which perked them up and made them delicious. And they look exactly like regular cream puffs. I think they were still a little on the greasy side so next time I will use a little less coconut oil and a little more flour. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/tutorial-cream-puffs/ The cream filling is coconut cream from the top of a can of Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk, chilled, and whipped with a fork with a little organic honey and some Trader Joe's Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract. I got the idea from this blog: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-frosting-shots/ The ganache is organic honey (not much) and equal parts cocoa powder and coconut oil, microwaved to melt everything together, then chilled to harden it.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

My friend, Lori, sent this to me from a chef she used to work with. Thanks, Lori!

Mineral rich Grade B Maple syrup is cheaper than Grade A because it is not as refined; thus there is more flavor. Canned coconut milk works well in this soup because it is richer, however any dairy or non-dairy milk can be substituted with equally great results. If you don't care for spice but want to retain the smoky flavor of the chipotle chili, remove the stem and all the seeds and add only the skin of the chili.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 5 Cups

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (large chunks), about 4 cups
1/2 Medium Spanish (yellow) Onion, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (large chunks)
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled
1 ½ cups of water plus more to adjust consistency if necessary
1/4 Cup plus 1 Tbsp of Grade B Maple Syrup or ¼ Cup Agave Nectar (I used less and it was still sweet)
½ Chipotle Chili in Adobo (found in Hispanic section of Grocery Store) (I used dried chipotle chili powder)
2 Tbsp Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Canned Coconut Milk
1 tsp Sea Salt and 1 tsp Black Pepper to taste plus more if desired
Green Onions, thinly sliced, to garnish

Place Sweet Potatoes, onion and garlic in 4-quart plus-size tightly lidded pot and add the water. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook until Potatoes are tender–about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly to make handling easier. Transfer to blender and add maple syrup, chipotle chili and coconut milk  and puree until smooth. Return mixture to heat and bring up to almost a boiling point. Turn off heat and add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions.

NOTE: Using 1/2 of a chili (as directed) is perfect if you don't like spicy food (gives it a 'kick' but not too much).

My note: This was too sweet for my tastes so next time I will use less syrup.

Puffy Oven German Pancake

Substitute Pamela's flour mix for the wheat flour, use an appropriate milk substitute, and use ghee instead of butter. The recipe below recommends heating an oven-proof skillet on the stove before baking the pancake, but this is how I did it as a child: Put the butter in a glass or pyrex pie pan while the oven is preheating, and this heats the pan as well, then pour the butter into the batter, and bake.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/german-oven-pancakes/319273e2-2f36-4cbf-8cce-3fede62a94b4

You can also make this in muffin tins for individual pancakes:

http://www.makeandtakes.com/pop-up-pancakes

Thai Hand Rolls

These delicious hand roll wrappers are naturally gluten-free! Traditional recipes include tofu and peanut sauce which are no-no's, but you can put vegetables and chicken, seafood, or meat and any sauce you want in them, and roll them up.

Tools for the Diet Newcomer

I enjoyed the transition to the new diet a lot more when I discovered it was an excuse to develop a SYSTEM. I love systems. Here are some tools that have helped me, especially since the rest of the family is still eating a traditional diet.

Amazon Prime. Totally worth it! For a yearly fee, you get free two-day shipping on any prime-eligible items. This has been a HUGE blessing as we've done this special diet.

A Second Freezer. At first, you will be spending more time cooking and it is very nice to be able to make extra food and freeze it. I keep mine stocked with organic turkey bacon, other organic meats, organic turkey lunchmeat, frozen vegetables, homemade sorbet, and fruit for smoothies. I actually have an extra refrigerator, so the freezer side has that stuff, and the fridge side is full of bags of washed organic greens and other fresh vegetables, and sometimes extra bottles of homemade water kefir.

4oz. disposable souffle cups with lids from Amazon or your local restaurant supply store. These hold one ice cream scoop of homemade sorbet.

Ice cream scoop. Doing all this cooking is a lot more fun if you have the right tools, and it is fun to buy kitchen gadgets. I love to use my ice cream scoop to fill muffin tins with cupcake or muffin batter!

Cookie-dough scoop. This is just a smaller version of an ice cream scoop, and it is great for cookie dough but also for meatballs and rice balls.

Disposable rubber gloves. I like to keep a box of these from Costco or the drugstore on hand. Make sure you get the latex-free powder-free ones (some kinds are powdered with cornstarch). It makes it a lot easier for me to mix up meatballs or rice balls or touch meat if I have gloves on.

Pamela's Gluten-Free Flour Mix. My local regular grocery store actually stocks this, but it's cheaper from amazon. I store it in the fridge after opening just because my flour tends to get bugs in it. Even though it has some sugar in it, it is naturopath-approved. I use this exactly in place of wheat flour in all my muffins, cupcakes, cookies, and sauces.

Vitamix Blender. I have thought about this for a long time and finally took the plunge. I got the cheapest one they had on Amazon which was about $400. My teenage daughter and I drink green smoothies from this every day and she ASKS me to make them for her. It is worth it to have the kale and frozen peas, etc. ground up into tiny, drinkable bits.

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This was reasonably priced and recommended by a friend and I haven't had any problems with it. It was so rewarding when we first started this diet to see my little boy enjoying the homemade sorbet I made for him from just coconut milk and pureed organic fruit. It works super fast. And now it comes in a whole bunch of cool colors! Definitely buy a pretty one. :)

Annie Chun's Brown Rice Noodles (Pad Thai): These are just made with brown rice and water and are the kind that are used in Pad Thai but it is not a Pad Thai mix. They sell them at the natural grocery store but I found them cheaper, for a while at least, on Amazon. Boil the water, plunge the dry noodles in, turn off the stove, and wait about five minutes. The trick to decent rice noodles is not to overcook them. Toss in some olive oil to keep them from sticking. What I love about international "carbs" like rice noodles and Brazilian Pan de Yuca is that many of them were intended to be gluten-free in the first place! So they are not weird imitations of something else--they are the real thing of what they are supposed to be.

Tapioca Flour/Starch. You need this to make delicious Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca). I have a recipe on this blog for Pan de Yuca that uses mashed potatoes instead of cheese. We even make mini pizza crusts with it and it is delicious. Apparently you can also use this instead of cornstarch to thicken sauces and gravies.

Countertop Electric Grill. I have a George Foreman but my friend has a Cuisinart and loves it. Marinated meat and chicken just taste better when grilled and with an autistic kid running around it is not always easy to fire up the barbie.

Celtic Gray Sea Salt. It was an exciting day when my naturopath told me that salt can be GOOD for you! I bought this on amazon and as the reviewers said, it comes kind of "wet" so I did spread it out on a dishtowel to dry, before I added it to a salt grinder which was just an empty pepper grinder from Trader Joe's.

Disposable Hot Drink Cups with Lids. I'm showing the Amazon link here but I get them from the local restaurant supply store. My teenage daughter says it is easier to drink green smoothies when she can't see them, and it's nice to be able to grab this at breakfast time and take it with me.

Thai Hand Roll Rice Paper Wrappers. These are made from rice and water and are naturally gluten-free. They come dried and you moisten them with just enough water to make them pliable, then you fill them with whatever you want and wrap them up.

Today's Trader Joe's Purchases

This is for you, Tiffany! I bought:

Lots of organic produce at fabulous prices.

Plantain chips. (They look kind of like banana chips but are not sweet and sort of potato-ey.)

Dried pineapple rings! Like fruit leather, very sweet and a little tangy!

Unsulfured organic Turkish dried apricots, for making water kefir.

Organic brown rice pasta. (Don't overcook. It tastes pretty good and is a great price.)

Pear sauce individual cups, for giving Sam his meds. Jeanette doesn't believe in applesauce or apple juice.

Organic canned black beans.

Organic extra virgin olive oil.

Organic virgin coconut oil.

I didn't buy any this time but they have a huge selection of frozen fruits and vegetables, many of them organic, at great prices. They also have organic ground beef and chicken and lots of other great things that I haven't explored yet.

Grilled Marinated Chicken

A George Foreman grill can be your best friend here. I like to get the organic boneless chicken thighs or breasts from Costco, and marinate them in lemon or lime juice, sea salt (or Celtic Grey or Himalayan), black pepper, olive oil, garlic (or powder), and green onion (or powder). Make a lot and grill them all. Then cut the extra servings into bite-sized pieces and freeze in baggies for lunches. The whole family will love this!

You Can Order Applegate Organics Online!

I have an extra refrigerator in the garage that really came in handy when I changed Sam's diet--fresh produce takes up more space and it is also nice to have a freezer space just for his special food. Let's face it--it is hard to avoid processed meats, especially when you can't have cheese. My naturopath wants me to avoid giving him pork because of the toxins, even if it is organic, so we use Applegate Organic Turkey Bacon even though their Sunday (pork) Bacon is fantastic! Here are the Applegate products we use regularly. The hot dogs are just for an occasional treat--even though they are organic, I still think of them as a limited option. Applegate Organic Turkey Bacon: I keep several packages of this in the freezer at all times. I use bits of it in fried rice, in baked rice balls, wrapped around chunks of potato, or just plain. It tastes good. Applegate Organic Sliced Roasted Turkey: I keep several packages in the freezer and I send half a package in his school lunch along with rice noodles or plantain chips as a starch. Sometimes I cut it up and put it in a rice pasta salad. If I am very organized I take the whole stack of slices out of the package and cut it in half and put each half in a ziploc bag and freeze it. Most often I freeze the whole package, and when I need to use it I break the frozen block of turkey slices in half by breaking it on the edge of my kitchen countertop. Applegate Organic Hot Dogs: These are uncured and come in several varieties of meats, including grass-fed beef. Here is the link to the web site where you can order online if you live in someplace like.....OHIO?!! https://store.applegatefarms.com/A556B4/applecart2004.nsf/xpStorefront.xsp?SessionID=DI1NUOP2OG

Porcupine Meatballs

Get some organic ground beef and mix with cooked brown rice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and an egg or two (if allowed). Scoop with a cookie dough scoop onto a cookie sheet, and bake in the oven. I always keep a box of rubber gloves handy (from Costco) to use when mixing this because I don't like to touch raw meat.

Easy, Delicious, Gluten-Free Beef Chunks and Potatoes

organic beef chunks or pot roast olive oil sea salt black pepper organic onion powder organic garlic powder raw potatoes cut in chunks Preheat oven to 300. Brown the beef in a pan on the stove in some olive oil. Put it in a roasting pan, add the potatoes, add about a cup of water, and season generously. Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours or until beef is tender and falls apart and potatoes are done. The potatoes thicken the liquid and make a gravy.

Gluten-Free Molasses Spice Crinkle Cookies

This is from simplyrecipes.com. Sub Pamela's gluten-free flour. I also like to sub the butter for coconut oil, and the eggs for flax eggs (1 tbsp. ground flax + 3 tbsp. water, set for a few minutes til gel-like). When I do this I increase the amount of "eggs" by one because coconut oil has no water content and butter does. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/molasses_spice_cookies/

Almond Milk Sour Cream

My friend told me that she used almond milk sour cream (from Jimbo's) in place of dairy sour cream, in twice-baked potatoes, and no one could tell the difference! Sam doesn't eat nuts but this is a great tip for our other readers.

Rice Pilaf

We had this with our potato chip chicken and it was so good! For Sam I would omit the chicken bouillon and Mrs. Dash.

Olive oil
1.5 cups uncooked rice
1/2 onion, chopped
Mrs. Dash
3 cups water
Knorr chicken bouillon

Sauté the onion in olive oil, then add the rice and some liberal dashes of Mrs. Dash and sauté it for a bit, then add the water and a couple of spoonfuls of chicken bouillon. Bring just to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, put the lid on, and steam for 15-20 minutes. This would be great with almonds or pine nuts toasted in the olive oil. You could also sauté bits of chicken to make a one dish meal. For Mexican rice, add some chopped tomato.

Note: The strictest gluten free eaters need to make sure their bouillon is gluten-free. I don't know about Knorr.

Potato Chip Chicken for my Gluten-Free Girls

In case my naturopath is reading this :) Sam doesn't eat potato chips. But the rest of us do.  Boneless chicken Trader Joe's or Kettle, etc. black pepper or jalapeno potato chips Buttermilk, milk, sour cream, or non-dairy milk Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pound the chicken sort of flat. Smash the potato chips. Dip chicken in white substance of choice, then in potato chip crumbs, then bake on greased baking sheet for 25-35 minutes.

Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

These gluten-free banana muffins were awesome! My daughter, who says she doesn't usually like banana baked goods, loved these! I used Pamela's flour mix instead of wheat flour, coconut oil instead of butter, and chocolate chips in some of them instead of nuts. I also reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup organic sugar. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_nut_muffins/

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

These were really, really good. They are the best thing I have been able to make gluten-free and gave me the confidence that this diet really is possible. My GF daughters were so pleased! I did not use ginger or nuts, used oil instead of butter, and substituted Pamela's Gluten Free flour mix for the wheat flour, 1:1. I put chocolate chips in some of them at the request of one of my daughters. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pumpkin_ginger_nut_muffins/

Gluten-Free Anadama Bread

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Gluten-Free-Anadama-Bread This was my first successful loaf of gluten free yeast bread!! It was WAY better than the bread from the GF bakery. I followed the directions exactly, using Pamela's as my GF flour blend.  As it was baking it rose really high, beautifully, but it collapsed by the time it was done. I think the cooling time in the oven was supposed to keep this from happening but something went wrong. I also scored the top to make it look pretty so that might have been a factor. I will probably make this again but use more molasses and salt next time. I also won't dust the pan with flour--it doesn't look or taste good to have flour along the crust. Note that the recipe requires a loaf pan that is 8"x4", which is not a mini loaf but smaller than what I consider to be a regular loaf pan.

Vegan Pan de Yuca

http://veganandawesome.tumblr.com/ I used this recipe and rolled the balls out thin for small single-serving pizzas. Spray or brush with olive oil, bake on parchment paper at 500 for 6 minutes, then turn over and bake for 3-4 minutes, put toppings on and bake just long enough to melt the cheese. 2 1/2 cups of tapioca flour 2 cups of potatoes or yucca (your choice), cooked, and mashed Salt, to taste (1 tsp) 1/2 cup of water 1/3 cup of vegetable oil 1 tablespoon of baking powder My pizza-loving GF daughter loved this. I just microwaved chunks of potato in some water in a Pyrex container, mashed them into the water, stirred in the other ingredients with a little more water. I didn't measure the water precisely.

Great Rice Pasta!

I just made a stir fry with Annie Chun's rice noodles and they were fantastic. They are not gritty/gummy like other rice pastas I've had. You just submerge them for a few minutes in hot water and they are done. There was no distinctive Asian flavor to them and I think they would pass perfectly well for wheat pasta if you put spaghetti sauce on them. These were the very thin ones, like angel hair, but I'm looking forward to trying the pad thai width next. I got these at Jimbo's but I think they are cheaper on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Annie-Chuns-Noodle-Maifun-8-Ounce/dp/B0048IAIQ6/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1351653474&sr=1-2&keywords=brown+rice+noodles

We Made Pizza Crust With Pan de Yuca Dough!

You can easily make this recipe dairy-free. I have another recipe on this blog that is; we happened to use Laylita's recipe (see link below). We pressed a ball of dough in a tortilla press (but you could just roll or press it thin), put toppings on it, and baked it for about 6 minutes at 500 degrees. I don't think anyone would know this was not wheat crust. I just put sauce and meat on it, no cheese. Hooray for tapioca flour! http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/01/14/pan-de-yuca-pan-queso/

BEST GFCF Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think I finally did it! First, I used this recipe  http://joythebaker.com/2012/08/dark-chocolate-pistachio-smoked-sea-salt-cookies/  but substituted the same amount of Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix for the wheat flour, and the cookies were perfect. Step two was to substitute the butter for coconut oil, and they were still great! If you are gluten-free, make sure to use GF vanilla or leave it out. Note: I still like them with butter a lot better--they puff up and crinkle down beautifully. 1/2 cup (1 stick)  unsalted butter, at room temperature OR 1/2 cup coconut oil 1/2 cup granulated sugar (Trader Joe's Organic makes huge difference!) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar  (Trader Joe's Organic makes huge difference!) 1 flax egg (1 tbsp. ground flax + 3 tbsp. warm water) or 1 beaten egg 1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract (or omit) 1 1/4 cups Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (if you like hits of salt) or sea salt 1/2 to 1 1/2 cups Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips Mix ins as desired (oatmeal, coconut, nuts, etc.) You know what to do. :) If coconut oil was liquid, chill dough in the fridge for a while. Scoop onto parchment-lined cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes at 350. Don't overbake.

Chicken Soup with Rice and Zucchini

I made my regular homemade chicken soup the other night but decided to use rice instead of noodles to make it gluten-free. My younger daughter who has very specific tastes LOVED it; in fact she has been eating it for three days straight and even wanted it for breakfast this morning. Trader Joe's Organic bone-in chicken (reasonably priced and flavorful!) Coarsely chopped celery Coarsely chopped onion Gluten-free chicken bouillon (check for forbidden ingredients) Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Handfuls of raw white rice (you can use leftover cooked but this absorbed the broth and tasted so good) Chopped fresh zucchini and/or other vegetables Simmer the chicken, celery, and onion in water until done. Strain everything out, pick the chicken off the bones, separate the fat from the broth. Put the broth back in the pot and season with bouillon, salt, and pepper, and throw in some handfuls of rice and simmer until it's cooked. A few minutes before serving add the zucchini and cooked chicken (save half the chicken for another recipe). Don't overcook the zucchini. Note: If you have time and the desire, you can blend (using a regular or hand-blender) the mushy onion and celery from the broth and put it in the soup.

Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Banana Bread

http://comfybelly.com/2008/12/banana-bread/# I used this recipe and left out the honey altogether. I also ordered the chocolate chips from amazon that she recommends. I didn't taste sweet at all so if you want it sweet and can have stevia or honey, use it. I just ate it with some butter and honey on top. Reports from my tasters were that the texture was perfect. The next time I make this I am going to include the pulp that was leftover from juicing, blended in the blender.

Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread!

Run, don't walk, to your local health food or Latino grocery store and pick up some tapioca flour (yucca flour) so you can make this amazingly easy, light, and delicious GLUTEN-FREE popover-like bread! You mix it in the blender and can leave the batter in the fridge all week to make as much or as little as you want. To make it dairy-free I substituted Rice Dream organic rice milk instead of cow's milk, and herbs (onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and dried dill) instead of cheese. I also increased the salt to 1.5 teaspoons. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_brazilian_cheese_bread/#

Easy Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Cream Puffs

I found this recipe for easy cream puffs in my Our Best Bites cookbook and substituted coconut oil for butter and tapioca flour for wheat flour, but they were too flat, so I added in some almond flour which perked them up and made them delicious. And they look exactly like regular cream puffs. I think they were still a little on the greasy side so next time I will use a little less coconut oil and a little more flour. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/tutorial-cream-puffs/ The cream filling is coconut cream from the top of a can of Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk, chilled, and whipped with a fork with a little organic honey and some Trader Joe's Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract. I got the idea from this blog: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-frosting-shots/ The ganache is organic honey (not much) and equal parts cocoa powder and coconut oil, microwaved to melt everything together, then chilled to harden it.

Turkey Quinoa Nuggets!

The other day Sam's teacher asked me if I would make something for his school lunch that "looked like chicken nuggets." Apparently Sam is always trying to swipe the other kids' chicken nuggets. Here is what I came up with, and Sam devoured them! The photo is showing them with the bottom-side up, which is more browned and appetizing-looking. I used pumpkin to give them that "chicken nugget" color, and I baked them on a cookie sheet on parchment paper. Half a box of quinoa, cooked 1 pound organic ground turkey Garlic powder Onion powder Black pepper Sea salt Flax seed (1/2 cup?) mixed with 1/2 cup (?) water 1/2 can organic pumpkin (for color) 1/2 to 1 cup finely shredded organic unsweetened coconut 1/2 cup (?) coconut oil Mix everything together with your hands which are wearing disposable gloves. Scoop onto cookie sheet using a cookie dough scoop, and flatten and shape with your gloved hands (if you want to impress the teacher and make them in nugget shapes. I wasn't about to make them into dinosaur shapes, however.....) Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Chicken Curry Pasta

I was making a creamed pasta casserole for the rest of the family and wanted to make something similar for Sam, and he absolutely loved this! 1 package organic brown rice pasta (rotini) Boneless organic chicken thighs Olive oil and/or coconut oil Chopped onion Chopped vegetables (I used carrots and zucchini) Organic cinnamon 1 can organic coconut milk (preferably not "lite") Cook the pasta and set aside. Saute the chicken and onions in oil. When the chicken is partly cooked, cut it into small pieces with kitchen scissors and add the vegetables until everything is cooked. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and stir in the coconut milk and the cooked pasta. I usually make a large batch of something like this and freeze individual servings in Chinese food containers (see older post).

Persimmon Coconut Ice Cream

This stuff is absolutely amazing. Combine very ripe, soft persimmons from Oakes Knoll Farm and 1 can of organic coconut milk and freeze in your ice cream maker.

Benefits of Coconut Oil

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS