WAY too much fun with a new book!

So, I have a confession to make. Ready? I love cookbooks!! My bookshelf is full of wonderful, awesome, amazing cookbooks and I'm always on the lookout for more. The newest one is: Gluten-free in 5 minutes by Roben Ryberg. Found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Five-Minutes-Recipes-Muffins/dp/0738214620/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317700684&sr=1-1

Yesterday alone I made Gingerbread, Zucchini Bread and a Lemon Cake. I've also made an Italian bread, and a Pineapple-upside down cake and a few other things. Everything is made in the microwave and has ingredients that you would typically find in a gluten-free kitchen. Each recipe makes a small portion, so there's enough for 2 smaller portions or one larger portion.

When I made the Gingerbread I figured I would eat half and save half, however, it was so delicious that I just kept eating it.

Pumpkin Carrot Cranberry muffins

When I saw this recipe on Gluten Free on a Shoestring, I knew I had to make them! I substituted fruit-sweetened cranberries for the raisins (Eden is the brand I prefer and the only one I've found that has fruit-sweetened). I also substituted Coconut Crystals for the Brown Sugar. They were easy to put together and so worth the effort. One other thing I really liked was it only uses a half of a can of pumpkin, so you can make them again :-) Well, that and the fact that it makes more than 12 muffins.

http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/pumpkin-carrot-cupcakes/

Snack attack!

One of the challenges with a Special Diet is the snack food area. I am often very envious of my friends who can just walk into a store and "grab a snack". In my quest to have some decent and healthy snacks and sides to some of my meals, I have begun searching for snack foods. The criteria? Healthy, no corn, gluten free, no sugar (you'd be surprised at how many chips/snacks have sugar added), relatively inexpensive, and delicious.

Here are some of my favourites:

LOVE these! They now come in 4-5 different flavours. They can be found at Costco in some states, Whole Foods and Amazon.com.

Great way to get your veggies. Check ingredients on the different brands as some have sugar added.

Just found these and I must say, they are quite good. They are crunchier than I thought they'd be, but good for dipping.

These are also a relatively new find. I have found them only at local stores, but I'm sure they're available elsewhere. Search "Beanfields".

Food Festival...

Today I went to one of our local Food Festivals. It was a lot of fun and the day was blissfully warm and sunny. One of the nice things about the Festival is that it's held right across the street from the Farmers Market. After strolling through the market and gathering up a few things, Asian pears, strawberries, carrots and tomatoes, I was able to leave it all at the Veggie Check-in area, where it was placed in a refrigerated truck. What a fabulous idea!!

I stood in line to get my food tickets and bought $10 worth because I was so excited to get a burger (sans bun and condiments) from the Mobile Cafe, that was until I got there and discovered to my dismay, that they weren't serving burgers today, but Sopes-made from corn :-( Fine, I thought, 'surely there's something else I can have'. I set off to wander the food booths and found...well, nothing I could eat. Yep, big disappointing food moment. They had pizza being baked/cooked in a stone pizza oven, which was gorgeous, and very popular. They had lots of stuff with cheese on it, pre-made salad fixin's with vinegar dressings that were already on the salad, and pies. While some of the pies were Gluten-free, they were neither dairy-free or sugar-free. Hurumph! I was getting very hungry and a little frustrated, since I had planned on having lunch down there. I went back to the ticket booth and explained the problem. Fortunately, they were very nice about it and I was able to sell my tickets to the next person in line.

On the walk home I stopped into a restaurant that serves delicious, non-dairy shakes and got myself a Strawberry Shake. While it wasn't quite a delicious burger, it did hit the spot and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking it on the warm walk.

A mobile pizza oven. It was very popular.

And there was a petting zoo! How cute are these guys?!

A Deli-style sandwich with vinegar-free mayo

Oh. My. Goodness. For over 8 years I have not been able to have store bought mayonnaise, but instead have had to make my own. It's always been enough, yet, never quite right, until....I made this sandwich. Let me tell you, this was the Deli-style sandwich I remembered from before my diet change. It was a perfect mayonnaise! They perfect everything! GF toasted bread, fresh lettuce and tomato from the Farmer's Market, and my homemade mayonnaise. Best sandwich EVER!

Here's the vinegar-free mayonnaise recipe: *Note that the results seem to vary, depending on the weather.

1 egg
1/2 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Olive Oil (although, I usually end up using less)

1. Place the egg and Lemon Juice in a bowl and give a quick whirl with an immersion blender. You can also   use a min food processor. 

2. Add the Olive Oil and blend until it thickens and becomes Mayonnaise-like. When using the immersion blender it can happen fairly quickly, while the mini food processor can take a while longer.

Store in fridge in a container with a tight fitting lid.
Use in 3-4 days.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in 2 minutes!

 This recipe came to me in an email. It has simple ingredients, that most gluten-free kitchens already possess. As a matter of fact, the only thing I needed to get from the store was the pineapple. These were really fun to make! I made one batch and was so excited that I quickly made another batch right away. The whole process, including "cooking" them in the microwave takes about 10 minutes.

Sorry, there are no pictures for you on this one. I took many, but none of them really represented them well.



http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes/pineapple_upside_down-2628-1.html

 I made this Mayo-free Chicken Salad for my clients, which was delicious. Just a note on this, the olive oil in the dressing will not be smooth and runny if it is stored in the refrigerator. It is better to separate the dressing and leave it out to get to room temperature, or heat it quickly in the microwave, in order for it to flow like a dressing should.

http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2011/06/the-best-mayo-free-chicken-salad/