is a Certified Nutrition Educator with study in holistic nutrition. In addition, Laura is a published author, public speaker on nutrition with a special emphasis on dietary restrictions, autism diets, and eating for wellness. Co-founder of Gluten and Dairy Free and busy mother of two.
Angel food cake is not a difficult item to make gluten free. Because the bulk of success lies with the beating of the egg whites, the gentle folding, and the sugar, the flour is just a minor component. If you have the technique down, you can successfully make a gluten free angel food cake that will pass as "normal" to your non gluten free friends and family. I have made them from scratch, and I've tried several mixes. To date, the Kinnikinnick mix is my favorite for simple ease of use and cake texture upon completion. The mix is very simple to work with (add egg whites and vanilla) and oh so good!
I am going to top this one with a lemon glaze, but angel food cake is always wonderful with berries, too.
Click here for my gluten free lemon angel food cup cakes made with Better Batter Flour .
And here for a "from scratch" gluten free angel food cake recipe.
To Begin, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and follow Anna's
instructions on the Breads From Anna Piecrust mix (the only ingredients
asked for are listed above - oil, milk sub, apple cider vin optional).
Press the pie crust mix into aprox 18 mini muffin tins. You don't want
to make it thinner than this or it will crumble when you try to remove
the finished product. This is aprox 1/4 inch thick and go up to the top
of the mini muffin pans with the pie crust mix.
Bake for 4 minutes without jam filling. Then remove and scoop 1/2-1
teaspoon of sugar free jam (Polymar Strawberry naturally sweetened with
no sugar added is what I used for the batch pictured). I have tried
several organic brands with good outcome, but I have found that Smuckers
sugar free jam did not work well for this. There must be too much
gelatin in the mix because the final product is gummy and not good by
comparison.
Bake for 11 minutes longer. Let cool enough to remove from pan.
These keep well on the counter, or in the freezer! It holds
shape very well, and makes for a terrific send along snack for school,
or a more healthful dessert.Try adding fresh cut fruit or puree to the jam, or make your own.
I'm so glad to pack up my winter soups and bust out my summer smoothies. We eat fruit and vegetable smoothies daily when the weather is warm, and the weather is finally ready to cooperate. A smoothie is a great way to make sure you are getting a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. In addition, this vehicle is a fantastic place to sneak in super nutrients as needed! One of our family favorite smoothies is a mix of frozen mango, fresh spinach, fresh lemon juice, bananas, and oranges. For super boost we add Spirulina seaweed powder.
Today I am enjoying a mixture of orange, strawberry, mango, lemon, coconut water, honey, and carrots. Super Boosters For Your Smoothies Note - these work great in high powdered blenders such as VitaMix
Seaweed powder - spirulina start with 1 tsp and work up to 1 tbspn
greens - cut the "green" flavor of kale and spinach by adding fresh lemon juice and stevia
flaxseed or chia seed- fiber and omega 3! Start with 1/2 Tbspn and work up to 1 or 1.5 Tbspn
cooked vegetables - hide them in the fruit mix.
stevia and a bit of honey in place of sugars
Coconut water for electrolyte and potassium instead of overly sweet juices
So there is a nice starting point for super foods. Of course there are many more you can play with, but I like to incorporate some of these into each and every smoothie. Protein powders can be added if you are using your fruit and vegetable smoothie to replace a meal. If that is your plan, look for a healthy organic protein powder without additives. There are good choices of Whey as well as Hemp and Rice based protein powders in health markets.
When you make a smoothie, try adding some fresh vegetable and fruits to the bottom 1/3 of the blender, then fill 1/3 with frozen fruits and top with 1/3 fresh greens. Use lemon juice, stevia, and 1 Tbspn of honey to create the right sweetness for your taste buds. Add boosters of your choice and enjoy! Have more than you can finish? Try saving some in ice cube trays, freezing, then adding to the next days smoothie.
If you're planning a trip to Walt Disney World and you have diet restrictions due to allergies, I highly recommend you do this small bit of prep work before traveling.
Email the helpful people at Disney's Special Diets Dept. Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com and let them know when you are coming and what allergies you have. Typically, they will send you a list like This One, that caters toward your dietary needs.
With each trip, the listing of available gluten free dairy free options has changed, so it is important that you request the information each time you travel, rather than using old lists.
Make reservations in advance! This is important, as many restaurants will fill up by the time your trip arrives. For those with food allergies, being able to sit down and wait for the chef to prepare a safe meal is well worth a short extra wait. The sooner you know your trip dates, the better. Start booking those meals!
Browse through the many gluten free and dairy free meals, pictured here, to help you find some choices that fit your taste and needs.
Come back and share! Comment with your opinions of the different options, places, and links to your own reviews. Have fun :)
My kids brought colds home from school, and despite my frequent hand washing, a sore throat is setting in. To cut this cold off before it gets bad, I'm relying in a healthy mix of nutrition superheroes. This fight starts with breakfast.
I cooked wild Alaskan salmon with kale and one egg. This combination is wonderfully rich in omega 3, antioxidants, and nutrients. To fight off any incoming bugs, I pressed raw garlic into a small spoon of aioli and mixed it into the greens at the table. My accompaniment for this healthy kickstart is a warm glass of green tea (more antioxidants).
When I'm fighting off a new cold, this type of eating serves my body well. The garlic, alone, seems to work wonders in the first stage of onset. I add zinc, d3, and a high quality multi vitamin to help me out, further. Later today I will continue eating antioxidant and nutrient rich whole foods, and avoiding sugar. This protein rich breakfast is also great for introducing veggies into your morning meal. Be healthy!
Following the simple recipe on the back of the gluten free Bisquick box, I added 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin, and mixed into batter. I baked as directed, on a stoneware pan. The baking took an additional 7 minutes, and the end result was delightful.
I topped these with the pumpkin glaze from this earlier post.
This is quicker and easier than making scones, and the end result was very good. I think I found a replacement for the pumpkin scone!
Now my kitchen smells delightful. I have been craving this sweet treat since tasting a similar item at a gluten free bakery in Florida. I started with a recipe online, and adapted it to suit my preferences and ingredients. The result is so good. Even the anti banana bread crowd will be converted with this delightful combination.
Enjoy!
The recipe I adapted was from this blog, online. I'll post my method, as it came out beautifully, but you may like to stick with the original recipe, so check out the link!
Ingredients: add the following to a mixing bowl and mix together, by hand, as you go.
Mash 2 M-large ripe bananas with a fork
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temp
1/4 cup erythritol crystals, lakanto, or omit
3 eggs
1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract
1/3 cup packed almond flour
1 1/3 cups King Arthur gluten-free pancake mix
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
1/2 - 3/4 cup gluten free dairy free chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 F. Add mixture to bread pan that has been lightly oiled and dusted with pancake mix. Bake for 1 hour (start checking for doneness around 50 minutes).
Let cool and enjoy!
This was simple and so good. I think the erythritol can be omitted, as this was plenty sweet with the sugar in the pancake mix, the ripe bananas and the chocolate chips. I would even consider doing half pancake mix half almond flour for the next batch. Enjoy this sweet treat for dessert, as I doubt it qualifies as a healthy breakfast.
More cookies! Just in time for my holiday baking, I whipped up a new recipe for my mom. While I have cooked up loads of chocolate goodies, already, my mom is not eating any chocolate due to the caffeine. These are a sure hit for the chocolate free cookie during the holidays, or any time of year.
Ingredients:
3 cups almond flour
1/2 cup dried cherries (or fruit of choice)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
1/4 cup melted Earth Balance Butter Sticks (use coconut oil for SCD compliance)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix all ingredients together and bake, on stoneware pans, at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until cookies begin to golden.
These have a wonderful soft chewy center with a crisp outer. The flavors of almond and cherry mix so nicely with the coconut and earth balance. It's a hit! Of course you could sub out the fruit for chocolate pieces, if you are not following a specific carbohydrate plan, but trust me when I say that you won't miss the chocolate. Enjoy!
My husband bought me a subscription to Food Magazine for my birthday. While many of the recipes are not written out for the gluten free dairy free crowd, I'm not afraid to substitute! With Christmas just weeks away, I decided to test my luck by adapting their Hot Cocoa Cookies by making them into adorable little gluten free sandwich guys! So sweet.
Be warned, these are not healthy, nor or they meant to be. They are once a year holiday treats to share and enjoy! Have fun. They worked out great.
For more of my family favorite gluten free and dairy free Christmas Cookie creations, Click Here .
Gluten Free Dairy Free Hot Cocoa Cookies Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cups Bob Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks Earth Balance butter, softened
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup erythritol crystals (or sugar, or Lakanto)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
marshmallow cream for stuffing (or frosting of choice)
Mix Earth Balance and sugar plus erythritol crystals for 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and mix into butter and sugar. In second bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Add this dry mixture to the moist mixture, 1/3 at a time, until mixed. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll out. (I left mine in the refrigerator for approximately 3 hours.). Sprinkle Bob Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour onto clean countertop and flatten out to approximately 1/8" thickness (I made mine a little thicker, for easier handling). Cut cookies with small cookie cutters and place them onto stoneware baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes, or until done. If you are not using stoneware, start checking your cookies at 12 minutes. Remove from pan, let cool, then add frosting filling.
I plan to freeze mine, and this will be a first for me in using and freezing marshmallow cream. I will let you know how they turn out, post freezer. For now, though, the results are in. Very delightful, cute cookies. Also, the dough worked well for modeling, and my eldest made a cute cat that came out of the oven beautifully. Have fun with your new gluten free recipe.
Because let's face it...I'm thankful in September, too. The weather has finally dipped down into fall temperatures and suddenly, I'm craving turkey. Well, to be completely honest, I was craving the STUFFING and GRAVY, but usually those accompany the turkey meal.
So, I wake up and toss together a feast for our Saturday (and plenty of left overs to feed us all week!)
The turkey: I don't do anything fancy. I just follow directions, keep it covered for most of the cooking time, and so far I haven't had any bad turkeys. I do tend to pick 20lb + birds, and then I invite as many people as I can to help us eat that much food!
The stuffing: This time, I whipped up a batch of Breads From Anna dairy free, gluten free, soy free bread mix. I truly love Anna's mixes. Now that I am feeling the fall, I will begin baking again! So, the bread...you can add all your stuffing spices to your bread (Or buy Anna's herb mix), but I wanted some plain slices, so I didn't do that. Instead, I chopped up the loaf (all but four slices) into large cubes.
In a pan on the stove, I sauteed some earth balance butter with
1 chopped small onion
5 chopped stalks of celery
1 tsp sage (ground)
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
1/4 cup chicken stock - gluten free
I cooked these on low heat, covered, until tender. Add this to the
cubed gluten free bread and mix around with hands.
Add more chicken stock to moisten. (aprox 1/2 - 3/4 cup)
This time I stuffed the bird, which added at least an hour to the cook time. If you have time, go for it, but if you find yourself impatient (as I typically am) cook the stuffing on the stovetop or bake it side by side with the bird (keep the stuffing covered).
If you like your turkey golden, take the lid off for the last 30-45 minutes of cooking.
The green beans: in a pan on the stove sautee at low heat
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
4-5 cups green beans
You can start these early, while the turkey is cooking, and just cook them low and slow. Turn heat off when they are finished, and let them sit, covered, on the stove. Warm a bit just before serving if needed.
The mashed potatoes: Not too much to say about this. Cook potatoes in boiling water, peel them if you like, or leave the cleaned skins on if you like. Mash them up well and add rice milk, salt, and earth balance butter to taste.
The gravy: As SOON as your turkey is done, carefully remove it form the pan and get started on gravy. In a small dish mix together
1/4 cup corn starch or rice flour (white)
1/4 cup water
Put your turkey roaster pan over the stove burners on medium heat (this is assuming your pan is meant to be put over open flame!). Add some of the cornstarch mixture and whisk your turkey juices until they begin to thicken. Add more cornstarch/water mixture as needed. You want to bring this to a boil in order to thicken quickly and easily. As soon as it is to your liking, pour it into your gravy boat and go eat!
Carving the turkey: I highly recommend you watch this short video on how to carve the turkey. It's very effective and easy, plus it makes clean up a breeze!
Now, enjoy and look forward to many wonderful foods you can create with the leftovers!
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One of our family favorite smoothies is a mix of frozen mango, fresh spinach, fresh lemon juice, bananas, and oranges. For super boost we add Spirulina seaweed powder.
e bird (keep the stuffing covered).
