Archive for April, 2009

(Naturally) Gluten Free Hummus with Balsamic Vinegar

gluten-free-hummus

We have very cool friends for neighbors.  Sherry and Ray live down the street from us.  Too far to stick your arm out the window for a cup of sugar, but close enough to wander down for one of their fabulous get togethers.  Sherry and Ray recently hosted a Snuggie Party at their abode.  Yes, a Snuggie Party.  For those of you who do not obsessively watch infomercials, the Snuggie is infamously known as “a blanket with sleeves”.  According to my son (an infomercial junkie), I also need a Hoveround electric chair, several Sham Wows, and Urine Be Gone.

We excitedly donned our Snuggies (the kids put on their pjs) and headed over to Sherry and Ray’s house for a snugtastic time (yes, I went there!).  When I realized Sherry’s delicious hummus was naturally gluten free, I quickly gobbled up most of it myself.  After a few glasses of wine and a secret Snuggie handshake, Sherry  kindly shared her hummus recipe.

snuggie-party

White Bean Hummus with Balsamic Vinegar

1 19-ounce can of White Cannelini Kidney Beans
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic (I used roasted garlic)
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Using a colander, drain and rinse beans. Add all ingredients to a food processor. Blend until hummus is smooth and creamy. Serve with veggies, corn chips, or use in place of mayo on a sandwich!

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Prime Time Gluten Free

The latest episode of my Hold The Gluten Podcast is now live!

Episode 22 “Prime Time Gluten Free” Features:

  • Recent dining experience at Joe’s Crab Shack
  • Getting comfortable in my gluten free life
  • Mention of “gluten free” during Prime Time:
  • Beverly Hills 90210 GF Bread & French Toast
  • Celebrity Apprentice GF Meal for Schwan’s
  • Real Housewives of New York Bethany Frankel’s GF muffins
  • The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s new bookThe G Free Diet Book
  • Starbucks to offer GF Valencia Orange Cake with Almonds in US stores from May 5, 2009
  • Celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) with gluten free enchiladas, nachos, & margaritas!
  • Grilling season is upon us – all Bubba Burgers are gluten free!
  • Vaccine trial is underway in Melbourne, AU for Celiac Disease
  • What do YOU think of this HTG Podcast? Leave your feedback wherever you download this podcast!

Read the blog. Listen to the podcast. Educate yourself.

Rock on Celiacs!

Click the player below to listen to the show! Subscribe to the podcast using iTunes (or whatever media player you use) at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/htgpodcast

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Seven (Slightly Odd) Things You May Not Know About Me!

Amy of Gluten Free Living, Melanie of The Gluti Girls…and a guy!, and Sophie of Flour Arrangements all tagged me for the same meme “Seven Things You May Not Know About Me”.  Hmmm, now that I think about it, Sophie’s meme was “Ten Things You May Not Know About Me”, but being as mathematically challenged as I am, we’ll round down to seven!

1) “Frisky” the pet gerbil came into my life when I was six years old.  Always the imaginative one, I tried to dress him up like the Hamburglar (you know, from McDonald’s).  Apparently I tied the Hamburglar cape too tightly and Frisky bit the living daylights out of me.  Frisky promptly went back to the pet store.

2) I ate a peanut butter sandwich EVERY DAY from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  I was not a very adventurous eater.  Well, except for #4.

3) I have naturally curly hair.  It is not a perm.  It is not a chia pet.  Nor will you find lost items you are looking for within my large hair.

4) I ate a Milk Bone dog biscuit when I was five just to see what it tasted like.  For the record, it was disgusting.

5) I have never lived “In The Valley”, but use the words “like, totally, and omigod” on a very regular basis.

6) I have been a “vegetarian” for 18 years.  Well, except for bacon.  I LOVE bacon so much I couldn’t give it up.  Therefore, bacon comes from the Bacon Tree in our house.

7)  I am a Reality TV Show junkie.  I’ve watched every season of The Real World, Rock of Love with Brett Michaels, and Real Housewives of Orange County/New York City/Atlanta.  I always take Purell bath and get my tetanus shot after viewing the wondrous nastiness!

So now I’m going to tag seven gluten free bloggers who are ridiculously fabulous.  Have you checked out their blogs?  You won’t be disappointed!

Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl
Debbie of Gluten Free in the Country
Kerrie of Gluten Free in the Shaolin
Steve of Gluten Free Steve
Heather of Life, Gluten Free
Marlow of Gluten Hates Me

“The rules are simple. Link to your original tagger and list these rules in your post. Simply share seven facts about yourself in the post. Tag seven people at the end of your post and let them know they’ve been tagged. And have fun!”

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Gluten Free is the Bomb Diggity

The latest episode of my Hold The Gluten Podcast is now live!

Episode 21 “Gluten Free is the Bomb Diggity” Features:

  • Got cake?!  GF Carrot Cake recipe.
  • Be Free For Me website offers coupons and samples of Gluten, Dairy, Nut, Soy, & Fish Free products.
  • Conte’s Gluten Free Frozen Pasta (ravioli, stuffed shells, gnocchi, pierogis).  Also offer gluten free pizza and lasagna.  Contact Customer Service for locations: (800) 211-6607.
  • Gluten Free English Muffins at Trader Joe’s.
  • Upcoming Event: NFCA Gluten Free Cooking Spree in Washington, DC area on 05/01/2009.
  • NFCA Appetite for Awareness in Philadelphia, PA on 09/30/2009.
  • Betty Crocker GF Update: Yellow Cake Mix,  Devil’s Food Cake Mix, Chocolate Chunk Brownie Mix, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix June 1st rollout
  • Gluten Free Mama – Rachel aka GF Mama and her awesome products.
  • Gluten Free Soy Sauce: San-J Organic Tamari.  Look on the bottle for it to say “wheat free soy sauce”.
  • Gluten Free Twitter Party a HUGE success!
  • What do YOU think of this HTG Podcast? Leave your feedback wherever you download this podcast!

Read the blog. Listen to the podcast. Educate yourself.

Rock on Celiacs!

Click the player below to listen to the show! Subscribe to the podcast using iTunes (or whatever media player you use) at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/htgpodcast

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Gluten Free Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

I am the queen of multi-tasking! I can talk on the phone, prepare dinner, and wipe a bottom all in one fell swoop. Just for clarification it was my kid’s bottom, not mine. And yes, I wash my hands thoroughly before making dinner.

Note:  Sometimes I don’t posses a filter. The above paragraph is quite a lovely example!

But I digress. I am working on pulling together the contents of my next Hold The Gluten podcast (to be recorded this week, so stay tuned), but could not wait another millisecond to share my latest creation. In preparation for Easter Dinner, I wanted to experiment in making my first gluten free cake. This August will mark my four year “gluten free” anniversary, however, I have yet to delve into the cake arena. After a huge success using buttermilk in my baking, I felt mentally prepared to work on a gluten free carrot cake. I cannot stress this enough — this cake was the moistest cake I have ever eaten! I sang songs of praise about my carrot cake. I made up a dance about my carrot cake.  I ate with wild abandon not caring about calories or using a fork.  Shhh, I think the secret is the combination of buttermilk, applesauce, and grated carrots.

Tonight I finished the last of the cake. In four shorts days, I ate an entire two layer carrot cake by myself. What the heck, I was making up for lost time!

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
6 ounces of applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of two 9 inch cake pans with shortening (I used Spetrum Organic). Sift first eight ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract on low speed until combined. Slowly add sifted dry ingredients into bowl until incorporated (continue to beat on low speed). Fold in carrot, coconut, and pecans. Pour batter into greased cake pans. Bake 30 minutes (or until wooden tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean).

Cream Cheese Icing

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup butter (softened)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract. Continue mixing on low speed while slowly adding the sifted confectioners sugar.

*Note: The Cream Cheese Icing is from Janni on allrecipes.com. I changed the amount of vanilla extract, but kept all else the same (why mess with a great frosting recipe!).

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