Easter Candy

The Gluten Free Easter Candy Lists from MyGlutenFacts.com are out. You can check them out here:

There are separate lists for Canada and the US, as well as separate lists for Jelly Beans!

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Gluten Free Children's Summer Camp

Wow, I just found out about this Gluten Free Children's Summer Camp in Alberta! I am so excited!!! BoyBee still has quite a few years to go before he's old enough for summer camp, but I am just so happy that things like this are starting to pop up. What a great time to be gluten free! There are so many great products on the market, awareness is increasing very quickly, and gluten free summer camps are being organized. The things that I thought would be huge challenges for my gluten free child are becoming so much easier. I am grateful that he is going to be able to experience all the normal childhood experiences that other kids get to experience :)

If you have a child aged 7 - 17 registration begins this month!

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UHU stic

I'm mostly concerned about gluten in craft materials because BoyBee is still quite young (not yet 3) and random things end up in his mouth. But even when he's older I don't want him to be paranoid about anything we have in our house. This will be his safe place where he can be confident that slip ups aren't going to happen.

I recently inquired about UHU stics - those standard yellow tube glue sticks I always remember having in my house growing up. Although they're made by a German company they were very quick to respond...Here is my inquiry:

Hello, my son has celiac disease and cannot consume anything that contains gluten (wheat, rye, oats or barley) or anything that has come into contact with gluten. Since he is very young we also have to check for the presence of gluten in his craft supplies, including glue. Could you please tell me whether the UHU stic (glue stick) contains any gluten ingredients or could be cross contaminated with gluten? This information would be very helpful to me.

And their response:

thank you for your request. We can confirm, that none of our products contains gluten. We hope that we could help you with this answer. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact us again.

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A List of Favorites

I am so happy with the progress that we've made in the past two years in taste and quality of the gluten free specialty foods that are available. I have tasted a lot of terrible products but have found wonderful gluten free substitutions for pretty much everything that we used to eat. I don't feel like I am missing a thing anymore, and wanted to share with you a list of my family's favorite gluten free products. Hopefully this saves you some money on experimenting with bad products, and inspires you to try something new!

Favorite Gluten Free Specialty Foods (and more)

Cereal - Nature's Path Mesa Sunrise, Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise, Whole O's, and Corn Flakes, Chex Cinnamon, Corn, and Rice Cereals, Kellogg's Gluten Free Rice Krispies, EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs Cereal

Bagels - Udi's Cinnamon Raisin

Bread - Udi's Whole Grain, Udi's Cinnamon Raisin, Glutino Genius Bread

Bread Mixes - Pamela's Bread Mix, King Arthur Bread Mix, Judy's Magic Mixes Multi-mix

Snack Bars - Cashew Larabar, Chocolate Coconut Larabar

Protein Bar - Chocolate Peanut Butter Luna Bar

Kids Treats - Mi-del Gluten-Free Arrowroot Cookies, Annie's Homegrown Cocoa & Vanilla Bunny Cookies, Kinni-TOOS Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookie - GogoQuinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies (individually wrapped)

Cookie Mixes - King Arthur Cookie Mix, Judy's Magic Mixes Ultimate Cookie Mix (add chocolate chips)

Crackers - Crunch Master, Edward and Sons Purple Rice and Black Sesame, Glutino Original Crackers, Glutino Table Crackers

Pizza Crusts - Udi's, Kinnickinnick, O'Doughs

Snacks - Glutino Pretzels, Barkat Pretzels, Schar Cheese Bites

Pancake & Waffle Mix - Kinnikinnick

Frozen convenience items - Ian's Fish Sticks, Ian's Chicken Nuggets, Conte's Potato/Cheese/Onion Pierogis

Pasta - GogoQuinoa Spaghetti, Le Veneziane Pasta, Jovial, Tinkyada Brown Rice Macaroni and Lasagna Noodles

Mac n Cheese - Pastariso Instant Brown Rice

Sauces - Organicville Sesame Teriyaki Sauce, Organicville BBQ Sauce

Salad Dressing - Renée's Gourmet Creamy Asiago

Dip - Fontaine Santé Hummus

Cookbook - Cooking for Isaiah (we're reviewing a lot more cookbooks right now but this has provided us with an incredible base)

Do you have a favorite that's not listed here? I'd love to hear what products you enjoy. Post a comment below!

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Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

Photo courtesy of Roost.

First off, I need to tell you I have followed a lot of really beautiful and sexy food blogs. (Am I allowed to say sexy on here?) There are some wonderful sites out there and they are so great for inspiration. The photos are amazing and the recipes usually follow suit. Nothing I have seen compares with Roost. Roost is such a beautiful website that it left me speechless for a while. Even now I don't have the words to describe the beauty of it. You will have to see for yourself. The photography is absolutely breathtaking.

I first came across Roost when a friend sent me a link to their recipe for Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes. The pancakes in the photos looked fantastic, and the recipe was very healthful. I knew they would be easy for BoyBee to eat...and he seems to like anything that resembles a pancake. (If you've noticed that I have a slight obsession with pancakes, that is the reason why.) I've tried a few recipes based on almond flour, and while I am quite fond of almonds I was not fond of almond flour as a base flour in baking. I think it was the following statement on Roost that hooked me:

I scoured the internet searching for alternatives and found several recipes for almond flour pancakes. So with much trial and error I have found a combination to satisfy our cravings.

It sounded like Roost had already done the experimenting for me; I figured the recipe was worth trying. The pancakes are super healthy and I knew I would be ecstatic if BoyBee would eat such a healthful pancake. These pancakes easily exceeded my expectations. BoyBee gobbled them up without me even asking him to try them, and I loved them as well. We'll certainly be making them regularly.

Today I feel grateful that we were forced to explore a gluten free life. We have learned about so many new foods, and have found such healthier options for many traditional foods that we never would have thought to try. We still have much more to discover. With so many incredibly inspiring food blogs out there I am absolutely swimming in ideas and loving it!

Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 overripe bananas

2 eggs

ghee for greasing the pan (or coconut oil or butter)

honey and berries for topping

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (including bananas).Pour wet and dry ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Heat a non-stick griddle pan or skillet and grease with ghee, coconut oil, or butter. Pour batter (if a little thick use a spoon to help flatten out the batter in the pan) into 4-inch rounds. Cook and flip until each side is done.

Remove from pan and spread with ghee, butter or coconut oil. Drizzle with honey. Top with berries and enjoy your Saturday!

Makes about 12 4-inch pancakes

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Peanut Butter Balls

Christmas and delicious food go hand in hand. I am sitting here thinking about all the wonderful food we are planning to make over the holidays and I can't wait! Dutch Pancake piled high with strawberries, bananas, blueberries and whipped cream, fresh croissants, Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa, Chocolate Molten Cakes, Hungry-man Breakfast, Roasted Chestnuts...and maybe even a cheesecake...

I love Christmas baking. A few days ago BoyBee helped me make Peanut Butter Balls. It was such a simple recipe - perfect for little hands to help with. The filling needs a bit of time to set in the fridge but the actual hands-on time required to put these together is minimal.

See if you can resist making these classic treats...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup chunky peanut butter (I use Kraft)
2 1/4 cup icing sugar
1 3/4 cup crushed rice cereal (I use Nature's Path)
1 cup chocolate chips (I use Hershey's Chipits)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (I use Crisco)

Directions:

1) Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a saucepan.

2) In a medium bowl mix together the icing sugar and crushed rice cereal. (Note: I use the Magic Bullet to crush up the rice cereal and it does a fantastic job. Be sure to leave some bigger pieces though so you still have a nice crunch.)

3) Add the butter/peanut butter mixture to the icing sugar/cereal mixture. Mix well, then place in the fridge to set. Clean up and then go relax with a good book. Come back in 30-60 minutes.

4) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll up the mixture into 1" balls and place on the baking sheet. You'll have to give each one a firm squeeze to help hold it all together. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for another 20 minutes or longer.

5) Melt together the chocolate chips and shortening in a bowl in the microwave. It usually takes just over a minute for me. Stir and put it back in if needed.

6) Using two forks roll the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Set in the fridge for at least an hour before eating.

Enjoy and share!

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

The Pumpkin Spice Latte season at Starbucks may be over but you can still enjoy delicious Pumpkin Spice Lattes all winter long. Last year I discovered a great Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe online but I quickly realized that I was wasting my money. The recipe called for a tablespoon or two of pumpkin puree and all I can find are big cans of it, so I would make a few lattes and then forget about the rest of the puree for a week or two. By the time I came across it in the fridge I am sure it was well past it's prime. So I pretty much forgot about making my own PSLs and this incredible hot chocolate became my new favorite winter drink.

Last month I came across a blog called gluten free easily and when I saw their recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lattes I knew I must subscribe to the post right away.

There are many reasons this recipe has me hooked:

1. It's for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
2. It is delicious with or without espresso (kid-friendly!).
3. It is so much healthier than the Starbucks version (actual pumpkin, natural sweetener of your choice).
4. It is very inexpensive compared to the Starbucks version.
5. There is no waste. This recipe has two parts to it...First you make pumpkin butter, which lasts much longer in the fridge than pumpkin puree, and then you just use it as needed. Apparently it's supposed to stay good for about 6 months in the fridge but I know that in my house it will always be used up long before then.
6. It's multi-purpose. The pumpkin butter can be used for all sorts of things! Spread it on your biscuits, waffles, crackers, mix it in with plain yogurt.
7. You can use whichever type of milk you prefer - regular, almond, rice, soy, lactose free...and you can customize it by the cup.
8. It makes a great gift, and with Christmas coming up this is going to come in really handy. Fill a mason jar, tie a little ribbon around it, and attach a small card with directions. Perfect little Christmas gift idea for someone who already has everything or who is difficult to buy for.
9. Oh yeah...it's gluten free!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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Morris National

I'm still catching up with some companies who produce Halloween candies to find out if they are gluten free or not. I recently received this response from Morris National - it's the Just For Fun candy necklaces, bracelets and watches I was really wondering about, but the rest is good for future reference as well.

Here is what they said:

Here's a list of gluten free items:

• Marshies Pink and White marshmallows 200g bags
• Marshies Neapolitan Twists marshmallows 200g
• Sour Tongue Tinglers 1kg bag, 300 ct tub, 60 ct tub
• Sour Tongue Tinglers Bombs 150ct
• Marshies Hallow Mallow Marshmallows 300ct
• Gummy Zone Hot Dogs 60ct
• Gummy Zone Mini Burgers 60ct
• Gummy Zone Sour Mini Burgers 60ct
• Just For Fun candy necklaces, bracelets and watches
• Tangy Zangy Cubes

All of the above are free of gluten (wheat, rye, oats and barley) and free from gluten cross-contamination.

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King Arthur Flour's Gluten-Free Cookie Mix

I love to bake, and found the thought of giving it up heart-breaking when we went gluten free. I couldn't stand the thought of BoyBee missing out on baking sessions with me as he grew up - I loved baking with my Mom when I was little. After going gluten free I tried recipe after recipe and nothing was turning out. After many trials I began to concede - if the result was edible I considered it a success. It was not so easy to convince PapaBee of these successes. At one point things started to turn around; I found a couple of really great recipes that rivaled their gluten-containing counterparts, and some were actually BETTER than the originals! I have been on a mission ever since to find the best recipes and I hope that through this blog I can save you some of the disappointment by passing along only the best.

Now BoyBee loves baking with me. He is constantly pulling up a chair to the kitchen counter and saying "Cook! Cook!". He helps with almost every part of the process...measuring, pouring, passing me eggs, mixing etc. It is a great opportunity to practice skills like counting and following directions. Sometimes it is not always practical to spend the time to measure out 15 ingredients for a cookie recipe, so we sometimes use store-bought mixes.

The best mix I have found is King Arthur Flour's Gluten-Free Cookie Mix. YOU CAN EAT THE DOUGH!!! I learned early on not to taste gluten free cookie dough - it is usually terrible before it is baked. I think it is the xanthan gum. So I'm not sure why I even thought to taste this dough (maybe it's just a reflex that I hadn't gotten rid of yet), but it was great (no xanthan gum)! It tasted just like "real" cookie dough. I am in love. The cookies were wonderful as well, chewy and delicious.

You can buy King Arthur products throughout the United States and they also ship to Canada. Keep an eye out for the red maple leaf on their website for products that are easy to ship to Canada (there is a flat rate shipping fee and no need to deal with Customs).

Thank you King Arthur for making a product that will allow BoyBee to have one more "normal" experience as he grows up. You don't know how much that means to me.

Update: I just received a discount "stamp" from King Arthur Flour that my readers and I can all use...

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Brown Butter and Roasted Apple Madeleines

Ever since Aran at Cannelle et Vanille posted a recipe for Brown Butter and Roasted Apple Madeleines last month I have been obsessed with making them. It took me a few weeks to get all of my ducks in a row, but it was worth the wait. PapaBee and I decided earlier this year that since we couldn't have gluten in the house we would at least make an effort to keep food interesting, especially if it meant buying neat gadgets. So without further thought I went out and found a madeleine tray and started phoning around looking for gluten free hazelnut flour. The madeleine tray was easy to find at a kitchen specialty store; the hazelnut flour was a bigger challenge. Luckily I had been getting ready to place an order for NutsOnline (excellent source for good quality, gluten free nuts, dried fruit and other goodies) and noticed that they carried the hazelnut flour. Yipee! It only took a few days to receive the order and I was ready to start baking!

There are quite a few steps involved in making these delicious madeleines, including making your own roasted apple puree. (No, you cannot just use applesauce. Once you make it you will understand why.) After your puree is ready, butter browned, and ingredients all mixed up, the batter must be tightly covered and refrigerated for 2 hours before baking. So don't expect to be able to spend a couple of hours on these and produce the finished product. This is a labour of love. There is no rushing these nuggets of goodness along.

I love many things about Cannelle et Vanille's blog, but what really get me is the purity...Aran has managed to turn gluten free eating into pure gourmet. When you make one of her recipes the goal is not to get dinner on the table in 15 minutes, the goal is to slow down and enjoy the process. A lot of gourmet cooking (gluten free or not) is not very healthful. Cannelle et Vanille is the whole package - healthful, pure foods that taste incredible. What more could you ask for?

Go ahead and try these madeleines. They are so versatile, a delightful snack with tea, an easy breakfast on your way out the door, a bedtime snack...and perfect for little hands and mouths who are still learning eating skills.

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The BEST Gluten-free Halloween Candy List for 2011

I just came across a fantastic gluten free Halloween candy list, self-proclaimed as the BEST gluten free candy list. I tend to agree. MyGlutenFacts.com is a website focusing on providing detailed information about products in Canada and the USA and indicates whether a product is made on a cleaned production line, a dedicated GF production line, or a dedicated GF factory. Their information is updated every 90 days. These guys are really on top of it, saving the rest of us a TON of work!

Here are links to their 2011 gluten free Halloween candy lists:

Canadian Halloween Candy List
USA Halloween Candy List

A huge thank you goes out to MyGlutenFacts.com!

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Socca Pizza

Last night I made a recipe from Amy Green's cookbook Simply Sugar & Gluten Free. I don't actually own the book (yet) but was inspired by a recent post by sheletthemeatcake.com to make Amy's Socca Pizza (scroll down, it's at the bottom of the post).

I made it with my own favorite toppings...Crème fraiche, blanched baby spinach, shredded mozzarella, and gobs of ricotta cheese. (This pizza also works well with traditional tomato sauce instead of the crème fraiche.) So delicious.

It was so simple to make the socca, and it tasted great. This is the easiest way I have found to make homemade gluten free pizza, and it is healthful as well! I found the crust to be a little too thick for my liking, but then again my pan may have been a bit smaller than what is called for. I'll definitely be making this again, with a thinner crust. This pizza is a great way to get your children to eat their legumes :)

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Halloween Candy

You may have noticed that I have been placing a strong emphasis on posting labeling policies for confectionary companies. With Halloween coming up I want to have a strong awareness of which products will be safe for BoyBee. I've purchased quite a variety of gluten free candy - it has actually been fun to shop for this year. Companies are getting much better with their labeling policies and they are also producing more gluten free products. If I find Halloween candy in the store that is labeled "gluten free" it is an automatic sale for me.

The plan this year is to go trick or treating and bring our loot home to sort through with BoyBee, explaining to him as we go which products are safe for him and which ones will hurt his belly. We'll give away the gluten candy to the later trick or treaters to get it out of the house, and we'll replace it with an assortment of safe candy that I've stocked up on. It should be a good learning experience for BoyBee.

For my gluten free Halloween candy list I am not going to provide you with specific products. Instead I am going to point you to the relevant posts for various confectionary companies so you can check the packages yourself as manufacturing processes are not always the same in different locals. I've covered a large portion of the market. I hope you find it useful.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Allan
Frito Lay
Hershey's
Kraft (Cadbury, Maynard's)
Nestle
Sunkist
Tootsie

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Art Supplies

Last month Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom posted a current list of gluten free art supplies. I am so relived to see this. We have been focussing our efforts on food and toiletries up until recently, and that has been enough to keep us on our toes. We knew that Crayola crayons and markers are gluten free, and we've made our own play dough, but BoyBee will soon be old enough to start creating some more advanced artwork.

Thank you for posting!

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School Letter

Celiac Family recently posted an excellent letter to send to your child's school to help explain their dietary restrictions. You can check it out here.

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