NOTE - Bob Red Mill's Buckwheat Cereal NOT gluten free

I wanted to send this note out, as a client brought to my attention a change on labeling of one of our favorite products. If you look at the Bob Red Mill site, it says the Creamy Buckwheat Cereal is "No longer produced gluten free". I don't know the details of why this has changed, but I know some of you are so very sensitive to gluten, that even the smallest infraction can be problematic, so I wanted to pass this along.

Locally, we'll be looking to add a new line of gluten free buckwheat cereal at the Advance Health location within the next two weeks (or as soon as we find a safe alternate). For those of you who can have gluten, though, you can still enjoy the benefits of buckwheat in this easy to grab packaging.

Gluten Free Multi Grain Bread, Eggs, Greens, and Salsa.

Not just for breakfast, this fabulous combination makes a winning quick meal any time of day.
Ingredients:
1 slice French Meadow Bakery Gluten Free Multi Grain Bread
1 large egg
1 cup spinach - raw (it will wilt down to a much smaller amount)
2 tablespoons Newman's Black Bean and Corn salsa
1/2 tablespoon Veganaise

In a large pan over medium heat, scramble egg, warm bread, and wilt spinach all at the same time. This meals goes together quickly. Stack, and top with salsa and a bit of Veganaise or Feta cheese/sour cream/Aioli. Enjoy!

This speedy and delicious quick meal packs in over 11g of protein, 4-5g of fiber, and less than 3g of sugar. Additionally, you receive a wonderful variety of minerals and nutrients from this combination of grains, seeds, egg, and vegetables. The serving size above is actually quite small, but if served with a fresh fruit smoothie, it makes a satisfying meal. You can certainly add a second egg, more spinach, and more salsa, however.

Start your day with some protein, fiber, and vegetables and try it for a week. See if it helps you feel more balanced, focused, and less starving as the morning wears on. Many of my clients tell me that switching to a breakfast like this one is a favorite aspect of changing their dietary path to one that focuses on eating for wellness.

In the area? Stop by Advance Health, downtown to pick up some Multi Grain gluten free bread by the French Meadow Bakery. While you're there, say hello!

Almond Flour Cookies - Gluten Free, Dairy Free Specific Carbohydrate Diet Safe

Hmm...It seems my mind is on sweets as of late. Looking through here, cookies, cookies, rice pudding. I can see I need to post a decent salad recipe again soon! I just had a delicious salad, by the way, with fresh squeezed lemon juice, cucumbers, mixed greens, and tomatoes. It tasted like summer! I digress, back to cookies and almonds. I have a fresh batch of Almond Flour and I decided to make a batch of Almond Flour chocolate chip cookies. These are a nice cookie choice for those doing an SCD (specific carbohydrate diet - well, only if you skip the chocolate chips!) as there are no grain/starches added to this mix. The ingredients are rich, warm, and heavy! With all the natural fats of coconut, almonds, and the sweet honey we consider this a nice granola bar replacement. Besides that, it just tastes delicious!
Simple and natural Almond Flour Cookies. Yum.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups almond flour/meal (great source of protein)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (not SCD safe - can alternate with raisins or any dried fruit of choice)
1/2 cup second nut flour/meal or nut butter. You can put almond or peanut butter in for this step, or just grind up some pecans with a mini food processor
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut flour (great source of fiber)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil, palm shortening, ghee, or earth balance (earth balance is not SCD approved)
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon milled flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water (this equals one egg)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients and press into rounded teaspoons onto stoneware baking pan. Bake in preheated oven at 325 degrees for 12-17 minutes, or until cookies begin to turn golden (check them often so that they don't burn on the bottom). Stoneware works nicely to prevent cookies from burning on the bottom in the way that they tend to with glassware.

Enjoy!

In the area? Stop by Advance Health for your almond flour, coconut flour, and to say hello!

Rice Pudding Please

Well, we skipped our drive to Chicago this weekend due to snow predictions. So, with so much extra weekend time on our hands, we did some baking. Bella requested a favorite warm dessert, rice pudding. I was out of my usual brown rice, but I had a little jasmine, so the two of us made this sweet and incredibly filling dessert. I decided a little granola sprinkled over it in the morning would be a wonderful replacement for the texture and cool thickness of yogurt.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Rice Pudding
1/2 Cup Jasmine rice (or any pudding rice would work)
1/4 cup honey, or Monin Organic Vanilla syrup
1/4 cup raisins
1 can Thai Kitchen coconut milk
2 cups water (add additional 1 cup of water if you like a soupier rice pudding - this will be thick)
optional: sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon, 1/4 cup pistachios

Put rice, sweetener, raisins, coconut milk, and water into a baking dish (such as a glass or ceramic cake pan), leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch room for bubbling. Stir ingredients. Add optional pistachios and light dusting of nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake for 1 hour.

Healthier variations: I always recommend using brown rice over a white rice. This pudding is delicious with brown rice, too, but it does take quite a bit longer to cook. I find that I can leave it in the oven for up to 3 hours when I use brown rice. Also, when using brown rice for this dish, you'll need to use 3-4 cups of water in addition to the coconut milk. The benefit of the long cooking time is a caramelizing that takes place on the top of the brown rice version of this pudding as you remove it from the oven.

If you want to omit the sweetener, I recommend you just add more fiber rich fruit and cut back or remove the honey/vanilla syrup. The coconut milk and rice have a rich and wonderful flavor on their own, and when you add raisins and pistachios to this mix, you may find that the sweetener isn't required. I think this is especially true if you plan to top it with a sweetened granola. I had some of the gluten free Bakery On Main granola in my pantry and this is a VERY sweet granola. When adding that to the filling and rich rice pudding, I felt quite full and my sweet tooth well satisfied.

Is your rice pudding too thick the next day? Just add more water, rice milk, almond milk, or coconut water and mix it back in.

Easy Cake $3 gluten free microwave cake. Seriously.

So, this is not health food. As a nutrition educator, I can't recommend this as a food item to help your health for the fact that it is loaded with sugar. Combine that with it being cooked in the microwave and I REALLY can't claim any nutritional value going on here, but what I CAN claim is that this is the cutest little packaging idea I have seen in a long time! It is so cute, I had to get one for the girls.

For $3, and cooking it in the microwave, I was not expecting much. Well, truth be told, I was expecting a warm bowl of mush, but we were all surprised when the little yellow cake rose up in it's bowl and actually COOKED in there. Who knew? The texture was warm, thick and spongy. Somewhere between a vanilla pancake and a sponge cake. It did fill up to the height on the package, and it came with a lump of white chocolate (we opted not to use this, as the chocolate contains dairy, but for those who can eat dairy, you can create the dripping frosting effect seen in the photo).

The girls topped this little cake with fruit and gobbled it down. I thought that one of these cakes was plenty for 2 people, and would have been ample for 3, when served with fruit (although, some cake lovers may disagree with me on those serving sizes).

It's very fun, very cute, easy enough for a child to put together, and the flavor was good. For a treat, I think we'll pick up the chocolate one next week.

In the area? These little cakes are available at Advance Health in Cedar Rapids. I imagine they will start popping up in other stores, soon!

Upcoming Class - What's on the Menu. Gluten free and dairy free whole foods for breakfast.

The first class in the series, "Your Inner Natural Chef" is right around the corner as February flies by. I hope you'll join us on March 18th as we make and taste the following fabulous breakfast foods, guaranteed to add a variety of nutrients to your breakfast repertoire:

• Grandma's Granola (modified to create the perfect gluten free granola)
• Hot Breakfast Cereals - with added fiber, nutrients, and flavor!
• Almond Flour Pancakes
• Chia Seed Coconut Cream Topping
• Fruit Salads - with a twist
• Fabulous Fish Preparation - in the morning?
• Spinach Egg Pie
• Eggs and Greens

As always, all ingredients used in class, and all recipes within the handouts, will be free of gluten, dairy, and soy. So, what are you waiting for? Join in the fun. Click here for details on how to save your seat for this event.

Indigo Nights Organic Fudge Bar - Raw Foods and Gluten Free

I am getting spoiled with new products to try, courtesy of my new part time position at Advance Health and the sudden ease of accessibly to so many wonderful choices....but before I go too far off on a tangent, let me do a quick rave for the Indigo Nights all natural Organic Fudge Bar by Everything Raw. It's gluten free and dairy free (of course) and oh so dark chocolate, yet sweet. The dates and agave give this plenty of sweetness, while the cocoa nibs and powder deliver that warm chocolate flavor that I love. If I had this bar and a Cocoa Mole Lara Bar side by side, it would be hard to choose which would win. Maybe the Lara Bar would trump for sweetness, but if I was really wanting some dark chocolate, I think the Indigo Nights bar would prevail.

Like the Lara Bar, these deliver some protein and fiber and a LOT of natural sugar from the dates! With that in mind, I treat these as candy bars and not "food" bars (meaning, I would not eat one of these for a quick lunch).

For those looking for a gluten free, dairy free "fudge" that is healthier and free of refined white sugars, I think you'll really enjoy these raw food bar choices. I look forward to testing some other products offered by Everything Raw, soon.