SELMA'S PIZZA; San Clemente, CA

Yesterday we ate at Selma's. It's on Del Mar Street and pretty close to the library. I've had a lot of gluten free pizza in my day, but this is one of the best. Not doughy, but not too thin. Just perfect. I ordered simple because I was eating with my nephew and ordered a pepperoni & cheese pizza. THEN I got the BBQ chicken salad (which came with homemade gluten free BBQ ranch dressing (which I bought a huge thing of before we left because I need to have it my fridge forever now.) BJ's pizza has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and their spinach & artichoke pizza is real good, then my taste buds favored Pizza Port (also in SC) for its thickness and flavor, but now I may or may not be leaning towards Selma's.

GO TRY SELMA'S!

GF Rice Krispies!

Has something been missing from your life ever since you've started eating gluten free? Rice Krispies were definitely on my list "If I could eat gluten for just one day...". I stopped buying them for my husband because it tempted me so much. Then, two weeks ago on a Thursday, there I am casually in the cereal isle at Walmart, and BAM it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought literally, I had died and gone to heaven when I saw this glorious yellow box. I bought two (two bucks for each? steal!) and now I have a reason to go to Walmart. I have yet to see them at my local grocers like Albertsons or Ralphs so hopefully soon they'll get the gist and start putting them on the shelves. 

GF MOIST Carrot Cake

Oh boy do I love a good slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! It's really too good to be true. I searched and searched online for a recipe that had ingredients I had already had; besides the fresh carrots and cream cheese, I didn't really want to shop much. And it turned out more than fabulous! The coconut isn't inside the cake, just on the outside for looks. I doubled the recipe so I could layer the cake, then was still able to make about 14 cupcakes. See below.

Cake: 
2 cups GF All Purpose Flour (I used Namaste)
3 teasp baking powder
1 3/4 teasp baking soda
1 teasp salt
1 teasp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn oil
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 tablspmayo
2 cups grated carrots (1 small bag of baby carrots worked good)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
(1) 8.5 ounce can crushed pinapple with juice

Cream Cheese Frosting: (if frosting is too thick, add drops of milk)
1/2 cup butter softened
8 ounces cream cheese softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt & cinnamon.
3. Add sugar, corn oil, eggs & mayo
4. Stir well.
5. Sir in the carrots, nuts & pineapple.
6. Spread the greased pan & bake for 30 minutes

Baby CakesNYC in Los Angeles, CA

Since my Jan 2010 diagnosis of Celiac Disease, I have been wanting to go to this famous bakery. Although the cupcakes are to DIE FOR, there wasn't much of a variety of selections. I did however enjoy a carrot cake, red velvet, and a chocolate topper. All of these shared with my husband of course. But I could have easily eaten them all on my own! Yay for Gluten Free bakeries!

Green Loves in Los Angeles, CA

My husband and I were in LA and on our way to a Wasteland, we saw this place called Green Loves- with a HUGE banner that had the words "VEGAN..VEGETARIAN..GLUTEN-FREE.." So of course we made a quick U-Turn and parked. I mean when do we ever see a building with a big banner that says "GLUTEN FREE"? It's a nice little diner on busy Melrose street. The food was tasty, the place was clean- although I did wish the staff knew more about gluten-free and that it is in fact wheat flour that I'm allergic to. It would have made me feel comfortable before taking my first bite. But I didn't get sick! So I would def. go back.

Above is the meal I ordered- Soy Grilled Chicken (not real chicken) with wild rice, garlic, cilantro sauce, and steamed broccoli. I wished I had real chicken, but that's what I get for going to a vegetarian place, right?

I can't find a website for this place, but here is a link to directions.

GF Sugar Cookies

SO DELICIOUS guys!

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla

5 cups GF flour (I used Namaste) 

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

Instructions:

Cream the shortening, sugar and butter together. After it is light and fluffy, add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg is added to the sugar mixture. Add the vanilla and beat. Sift together 5 cups of flour with 2 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp of salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly so the flour doesn't fly everywhere.

Chill dough for 1 hour. Divide the dough into 3 or 4 balls and then roll them out, one at a time on a floured surface to the thickness you desire. I like them about 1/4" thick. Cut the cookies out with cookie cutters and lift with a flexible spatula to the cookie sheets. Bake them at 400 degrees for about 6-8 minutes, be careful not to let them brown. Cool, frost and decorate.

This recipe is my brother's- sister-in law's Brittany Devine's. I had these when I wasn't GF, they were amazing, so I was hesitant to try them GF because they might not hold up to those expectations... but man they were SO DELICIOUS!

In the cookies shown above, I used cream cheese frosting because I had some left over.

KNEADBE

All you celiacs know how hard it is to find GREAT tasting gluten free food in one place. I always end up driving to one store for my flour and another for my bread. Its so hard! My husband makes websites and he has teamed up with his marketing friend Asher and they are launching a new website called Kneadbe to bring together small bakeries and people who make gluten free food in their homes. Its like etsy for food allergies! ITS AMAZING. They are doing a kickstarter to get their project underway and we should all donate. This really would be so cool to be able to have 1 website that had all my favorite gluten free stuff! I can't wait. Check out this video, and visit their campaign!!!!!

p.s. they are selling other allergy free foods on their site too, so tell your friends who have other food sensitivities!

Zupas!

Yesterday, we biked over to the Provo Zupas. I've been here a few times and have gotten a good feel for what's gluten free and what's not there.

Can't accomodate with the panini's. That's a no brainer.

Tomato Soup- GF (most popular item on the menu)

Creme Brulee- GF

Normal ranch dress GF

Fat free ranch dressing NOT GF

Make sure to remind them to not touch the chocolate dipped strawberry with their gloves they've been using with the bread. Because then you can't eat the strawberry! And that's such a treat! You kinda have to rush ahead to tell them. 

See menu here. 

GF Flourless Cake; Gourmandise; SLC, UT

I've been going to this marvelous place (Gourmandise Bakery) for a year now, since they carry this amazing cake. It's a decadence cake, and quite the dessert. So go treat yourself.

GF flourless (easy) Peanut Butter Cookies

While at home over Christmas break, my sis Bree made the yummiest, easiest cookies ever. See below if you want in on the secrets.

Recipe: 

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup PB (not crunchy, duh)

1 large egg

Small bag of mini Reese's PB cups (cut in half)

Makes about 20 cookies.

The smaller the cookie, the better. You'll realize that later when you eat a big one that it is so rich, it will take you forever to finish just one! So small is best. Oh and don't grease the pan unless you have to.

 Heat in oven for 6-9 minutes at 350. I cut the Reeses in half before I started to cook because you want to be prepared to stick them on the cookie while they're still warm.

Let cool with tin foil over them (not in fridge) and serve when the Reese's are hardened again. I like to eat them the day after because they're not as rich. The first day, it's sorta overwhelming. But the second day is just right and they become very addicting.

Green {Brown} Smoothie

Have you guys heard about the new "brown" smoothie fad? Ya out with the green, and in with the brown! 

Okay I'm just kidding. This was our first attempt at making a "green" smoothie, and we thought it was hilarious that it turned out being more brown than any other color. But we know it's probably because of some of the strawberries we put in made it brown. It's of course equally healthy as green ones.

We were very pleased with it being our first time. The consistency was perfect! We did add a lot of fruit, but we gotta wean ourselves off from our red smoothies to green. Baby steps right? Tonight we're going to try cucumber and mango with some of the other ones below. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 baby carrots

2 white cabbage leaves

3 strawberries

1 large frozen banana

1/3 cup crushed canned pineapple

1 cup apple juice

6 ice cubes

handful of kale leaves (they were precut and cleaned)

Gluten Free Soy Sauce [breaded] Chicken

Sometimes I forget that a lot of the things I long for (like deep fried breaded chicken for instance), I can simply make at home. And usually it's A LOT easier than I think it would be. A few weeks ago, the husband was out of town and even though I had a lot to do, I planned a dinner at my place for my two high school best friends. I found a recipe for Chicken Stir-fry and the chicken was breaded! I was looking for a recipe rather than just put all the ingredients in a wok because the last time I did, I put way too much stir fry and  I felt like I was drinking soy sauce. SO I wanted to get the exact measurements. Anyways- you will be very pleased with this recipe. Also- this doesn't necessarily mean it has to be an asian meal because it has soy sauce- it's good with potatoes, rice, salad..anything.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken thighs
6 tablespoons GF flour (I used Namaste All Purpose)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 garlic powder (or just sprinkle on however much you like! so delicious!)
2 tablespoons oil
All the veggies you want! (see photo above)

4 servings

Directions:
Cut chicken into 1 inch strips (or however long you want them to be!). Place in ziplock bag. Add flour and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce and garlic powder, then add to the bag. Shake well and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Then: In a large skillet or wok, heat oil. Stir in chicken once hot.

SO SIMPLE and so delicious! Keep the fat on the chicken for the flavor. I don't have a picture of it but I'm sure you can imagine what chicken looks like when it's used with these ingredients. If you want to do stir fry, you just use more oil and add whatever veggies you want (peppers, brocolli, snap peas..) and stir fry those before the chicken. Then add them back to the chicken once the chicken is fully cooked.

GF Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake

You guys, these cupcakes are too good to be true. Serious. MOIST is the key word (even though most people hate reading and saying this word, I had to say it because it's the best word to describe the texture.) I've made them 3 times now and each time, I have never been anything but satisfied. I've paid a lot of money for GF cupcakes and never have felt that any amount of money was worth it. You know how sometimes living on an allergy diet will make you suddenly impulsive when it comes to things that typically are not gluten free? Ya not store-bought cupcakes. You gotta just make these and if they make more than you wanted, just stick them in your freezer and take them out when you want a treat. You'll never want to eat anyone else's cupcakes again! So beware. It's a big commitment.

SERVINGS

16 Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1 package Bob's Red Mill gluten-free chocolate cake mix

2/3 cup applesauce (you can make you own, if you wish)

1/3 cup milk (this works with soy or rice milk too)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (however, we were out, and used apple cider vinegar)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup hot water (110°)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

PREPARATIONS

1.Preparing for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°. Bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners (I don't line them just because they won't be messy to eat later.)

2. Making the batter. In the bowl of the stand mixer, start beating the butter until it is creamy. Add the cake mix, the applesauce, the milk, the lemon juice, and the eggs. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down the sides when necessary. Raise the speed to low-medium and let it run for another moment. Add the hot water and the vanilla extract. Run the mixer for one more minute, scraping down the sides.

3. Baking the cupcakes. Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the cupcakes or your oven. Allow them to cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and let them sit for another 20 minutes before eating.

Cream Cheese Frosting anyone? Yes please!

Ingredients: 

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick of butter, softened

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I never sift and it turns out awesome!)

1/8 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. With a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter.

2. Add salt & vanilla

3. Slowly pour in powdered sugar. Mix until the frosting is creamy; be careful not to overmix.

I got the cupcake recipe from here.

GF Homemade Granola

My sister Kim made this when we went over to their place on a Sunday night. She called ahead of time asking for rice chex (in place of the rice krispies), GF flour, and GF oats. Here is the recipe.. We made Acai bowls with them, which area always a treat. And it's so nice when family and friends can accomodate you- they start to notice that it's really easy to cook GF or just substitute different ingredients.

Granola Bars


1/2c butter
1/3c brown sugar
1/3c honey (I do half honey & half molasses)
1/4c (she used Namaste)flour
1/2t vanilla
1/4t cinnamon
2c rice chex cereal- smash up
2c GF oats
1c dried fruits (and/or cho chips,butterscotch chips, etc – I used dried
apricots & craisins)
1/2c chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray &
set aside.

Melt butter in a large pot over low heat. When melted whisk in sugar,
honey, flour, vanilla & cinnamon. Remove from heat and add the remaining
ingredients. Mix well.

Transfer the mixture into the baking pan. Using a sheet of wax paper & flat
hand press the granola firmly & evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Bake for 20 min until golden brown. Allow the granola to cool for 1 hour
in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into
bars (or smash). Makes 16 to 24 bars.

Sunflower Market, Orem UT

I know I said a while ago how Sunflower Market in Orem, Utah was no help to me during the beginnings of my GF diet. Or really ever. I was there a couple months ago when I saw this entire section of gluten free stuff. Now this is the kind of stuff that you buy if you're in a hurry, or new at the diet, this is the place to shop..this little kiosk. It's all so expensive and once you get better at the diet, you'll realize you don't need to buy this kind of stuff.

It's right next to the meat section.