jeeto

OK, Woozie is now old enough to know how to navigate situations where he is offered gluten, so he doesn’t necessarily need it announced on his shirt anymore. But a friend sent me to Jeeto! and I had to share. I love all their graphics. He might want one of these shirts, just because it’s cool. And look at this owl!

(I love owls.) Lots of super-cute designs. They also sell “gluten-free” patches and stickers to sew on backpacks and clothes, put on containers, etc. I have some other GF stickers that I like using when Woozie goes to birthday parties, but I like this design better. The above shirt comes in pink, too, and they carry a whole line of other “allergens.” No reason not to look cool while eating healthy!

caramel apples

Woozie’s turning 5 this year and I want to have caramel apples at his party. Think I can find some pre-made that aren’t (a) full of gluten, and (b)super-expensive? Not yet! I may have to make my own…

For now, I wanted to post that, sadly, Daffy Apple caramel DOES contain gluten. Kara McGinnis sent me this prompt and friendly e-mail:

Hi Angela,
Thank you for your interest in Daffy Apple.

Unfortunately our caramel does contain flour. The exact ingredients are:
CARAMEL: Sugar, Water, Corn Syrup, Nonfat Milk, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Palm Kernel, Soybean, Cottonseed Oils), Salt, Flour, Mono & Diglycerides, Sodium Bicarbonate, Soy Lecithin, Natural and Artificial Caramel Flavor, Caramel Color, FDC Red 40
Allergen Info: Contains Milk, Wheat, Soy… could have incidental contact with peanuts.

Our crunch topping is also an oat, so would not be gluten free, but we have a peanut topping. Unfortunately at this time it does not appear as though we have a gluten-free option. I hope your son has a happy birthday!

Kara McGinnis
Administrative Assistant
Daffy Apple Corp

I did find a good, simple GF recipe for apples, here. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
Happy Fall!

**EDIT** Score! Found some! The caramel at Affy Tapple is gluten-free, as are their toppings. Yum!

sugar cookies

If you haven’t tried 1-2-3 Gluten Free’s Lindsay’s Lipsmackin’ Roll Out and Cut Sugar Cookies mix yet, I highly recommend that you do. Especially if you have kids and need to make gluten-free shaped cookies every now and then.

My first attempt at sugar cookies was a disaster. I used a recipe I got off the web, and the dough stuck to everything. When I finally got a shape onto the cookie sheet and baked it, it shattered into a million pieces. No chance of frosting or decorating. Then this last Christmas, I tried this mix, and had success! Woohoo! These are easy to mix, roll, shape, bake and decorate. Best of all – they’re delicious. Woozie’s class has a “cookie party” every year, which is, of course, full of gluten cookies – but all his friends swarmed Woozie’s plate and devoured his cookies before any of the others. Pretty cool.

What more could you want? – Except for someone else to bake, package, and sell these to you. I’ll be happy when that happens, too, but until then…

Happy Valentine’s Day!

gluten free chicken noodle soup

‘Tis the season for sniffles. The onions and garlic in this have oodles of health benefits for this flu season, and this is so easy to make without gluten – and necessary, as you can’t buy it ready-made (oops – I guess you can – but we haven’t tried that frozen version yet). Of course, you could buy the broth (GF) and add GF noodles, but why not make it yourself? Makes your house smell great, and my kids love this simple, no-salt recipe. They’ll eat it for three days straight.

1 pkg. (250g) Glutano Tagliatelle noodles
2 yellow onions
8-10 garlic cloves
bunch of leafy celery
bunch of leafy carrots
whole cut-up chicken
basil to taste

Peel and slice the onions and garlic. Cut the tops off the carrots, leave their skins on and leave the leaves on the celery after you wash it. Put vegetables in the pot with the chicken on the bottom and sprinkle with basil (I use a lot). Fill with water, cover, and bring to a boil. Let simmer, covered, for 3-6 hours.

When you’re about ready to strain the broth, put the noodles on to boil for no more than 5 minutes. I’ve found that the Glutano Tagliatelle noodles hold up well through re-heats and even freezing.

I strain the soup, but you can find directions to clarify it elsewhere. Me, I see no point in that. I take everything out of the broth, straining it into a big bowl, then returning it to the emptied pot where I put pieces of the chicken back in. I add the cooked and drained noodles, and voila! Nourishment! You may find you want to add a little salt to each bowl, but it’s not necessary.

A new recipe from Karina! Woohoo!

Go see the Goddess’ recipe for Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin: a light, vegetarian dish perfect for summer. It looks absolutely mouthwatering.

I’m actually going to try this one, even though I’ve never bought artichoke hearts in my life. I almost hope my toddlers won’t eat this, as it’ll be more for me. Wish me luck, and welcome the Goddess back!

stuffed pasta I don’t have to make from scratch!

(Ha. As if.)

Have you tried the frozen Dietary Specialties stuffed pasta?

I know my photography sucks, but this is the best I can do: the spinach ravioli we had last night for the first time. Woozie ate maybe, oh, nine of those huge ravioli. Delicious. Nutritious. Gluten-free.

Last week, I made Dietary Specialities’ stuffed shells (no pic, so sorry, and the pic on their website does NOT do them justice), which are even EASIER because you just put them in a casserole dish, pour Newman’s sauce all over them, cover and bake. And I actually liked them better than the ravioli — so did my other two kids; Woozie liked both very much.

Easy success. What might be difficult is finding them. To order from the links above, it’s $75 minimum for the frozen orders (worth it if I had a deep freezer), but I suggest calling your local stores that carry gluten-free items. I was lucky to find these at a small gluten-free specialty store near me.

seitan is evil

This cracked me up. Get it at Celiac Chicks.

English Muffin

Here’s a glowing review for Foods by George’s Gluten-Free English Muffins.

I tell you, that Foods by George is going to be popular.

I’ll be picking some of these up next time I’m at the store.

don’t laugh

All right, here is my first bento. A gluten-free brownie and three strawberries for Woozie’s end-of-year party (the other kids had doughnuts). I can say it was a success because he (1) loved the brownie, and (2) loved the box! He even happily ate the strawberries. The box came back with three green, leafy hats and a few crumbs.

I know, I know… I bought the rice and the sushi wraps and all that in a big fit of industriousness, but hey. This is all I have so far.

I do have to make a guilty confession: when other moms send their kids to preschool with gluten-filled yummies, my knee-jerk reaction is, “Ha! I’ll show them!”

And you know what? I’ll just get better at this. So you, out there, you know who you are, you better watch out. Or your kids are going to be jealous. Yes, they are. Jealous of that celiac kid with the cool bento boxes and yummier yummies.

new favorite: Foods by George

We have a little gluten-free store near our house and they just started carrying a few items from Foods by George. We tried their blueberry muffins and they’re YUMMY – as much like a bakery muffin can be, bigger and more decadent than Kinnikinnick’s muffins – and made me want to try more from them!

Their items include pizza, english muffins, corn muffins, pound cake, and more. All are shipped frozen. Go check them out.