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Gluten-Free Mother’s Day

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

Mother’s Day is tomorrow – have you purchased your cards or made plans yet? While it may be too late to make reservations for brunch, it isn’t too late to plan out a day that Mom won’t forget. Last year I shared some restaurant and meal ideas for Mother’s Day. This year I want to focus more on simple brunch ideas and even some non-food ways to “WOW!” Mom. MP910220988

Brunch doesn’t have to be complicated.  It can be simple to throw a few naturally gluten-free dishes together. One of the easiest ways to make brunch gluten-free is to focus on what you can make with minimal substitutions. Shirley from gluten-free Easily does this well with her Crustless Quiche Lorraine. There is no complicated crust to make, just a bit of gluten-free flour is added to the egg mixture. Fruit is a super-simple, yet impressive side dish that pairs well with egg dishes. It doesn’t take long to cut up a melon and toss in some cut strawberries, blackberries and maybe some pineapple or grapes. Feeling fancy?  Serve mimosas – all you need is orange juice and champagne.

If you plan on leaving the cooking to someone else, that is fine too. There are plenty of things you can do for Mom that don’t involve food.

  • Plan a hike
  • Plant flowers in her garden or pots
  • Purchase a gift card for a pedicure or massage
  • Take over her chores/duties for the day

Try to steer the focus away from food. I know that most of our family functions revolve around food when they should revolve around spending time with the ones we love. Most importantly, take the time to really stop and smell the roses.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful Mothers out there!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Meatball Sub With A Twist

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I had some trouble with meal planning last week. I am not sure what happened, but a couple of the meals I had on the plan were great ideas, but I ended up not having the ingredients to make them. I should not menu plan when I am tired or drinking wine. On one meal I even got so far as browning the ground turkey for our Mexican pizzas only to realize that I had no taco seasoning.  Yes, I know that I could have made my own, but my son doesn’t accept change well and I knew he would most likely not eat the meal if I changed the seasoning up. I opted for plan B – add marinara sauce and have an Italian meal.

I had some Schar par-baked sub rolls in my pantry, so I figured that would be a hit with my son. Normally one would put meatballs on a sub roll, but I had already browned the ground turkey, so I improvised. The meat sauce was very thick, so it made the perfect filling, almost like a Sloppy Joe filling, for the roll.

Looking back, I am not sure why I haven’t done this in the past. The meal was fast to make, tasted good, and was a hit with the kids.  It was definitely a win all the way around!  The best thing about using ground meat in place of meatballs is that it allows the sandwich to keep its shape without splitting open!  You still get all of the flavors of the meatball sub without the broken roll and upset child (or adult like me).

IMG_1244Gluten-Free Meatball Sub with a Twist

  • 1 lb ground turkey, bison or beef, browned
  • 1 jar Prego three cheese marinara
  • Schar par-baked sub rolls  (they come 2 to a package, but are individually wrapped)
  • Mozzarella cheese

1.  Bake par-baked roll according to package directions.

2.  Fill with meat sauce and tope with mozzarella.

3.  Broil until cheese is melted – not too long!

4.  Enjoy.

I love keeping leftover meat sauce in the refrigerator to make more sandwiches, pasta, etc.  It will keep for a few days, so no worries if you don’t go through it all the first night.  It will even freeze well, so consider making single-serve portions if you live alone.

Schar products can be found in grocery stores across the US, internationally, or online.

Review: Udi’s Gluten-Free Frozen Pizza

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

A couple of months back my mom and step dad were able to find and sample the new Udi’s frozen pizzas. I have been unable to find them in the Columbus area until our brand new Earth Fare store opened this week.  Earth Fare not only carries all three varieties of the Udi’s pizzas, but they had coupons for them as well!  The price of the pizzas were $7.49 each and then an additional $.75 off with the coupon.

IMG_1228I purchased the uncured pepperoni for Jon and the margherita pizza for me.  I have to say that I felt a little mislead by the size of the pizza box, as the actual pizza inside is much smaller.  The nutritional label says there are 2 servings, but I was able to eat the whole thing and a large salad.  I don’t mind the size, it was just misleading.  In addition to being gluten-free, the pizza is also free of soy.

INGREDIENTS: gluten-free PIZZA CRUST (FILTERED WATER, TAPIOCA STARCH, BROWN RICE FLOUR, EGG WHITES, RICE FLOUR, RESISTANT CORN STARCH, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, VEGETABLE OIL (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: SUNFLOWER, SAFFLOWER, NON-GMO CANOLA OIL), RICE BRAN, SUGARCANE FIBER, CANE SYRUP, GUM (XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM ALGINATE, GUAR GUM), SALT, KONJAC, YEAST (YEAST, POTATO STARCH), ENZYME (CALCIUM SULFATE, ENZYMES)), SAUCE (TOMATOES, FILTERED WATER, TOMATO PASTE, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, SUGAR, SALT, SPICES, GARLIC, CITRIC ACID), FRESH MOZZARELLA CHEESE (CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK, ENZYMES, SALT), DICED TOMATOES, PARMESAN CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, RENNET), BASIL, HERB BLEND (BASIL, PARSLEY, MARJORAM, SAGE, THYME, ROSEMARY AND SPICES).
CONTAINS EGG, MILK.

The pizza after baking – note, this is a normal-size dinner plate.

IMG_1261Not quite as pretty as the picture on the box, but still tasted good.  I liked the combination of flavors in this pizza, but I think I prefer the plain Udi’s pizza crust topped with my own toppings.  I am not sure if they use the same crust for the frozen pizzas, but it didn’t taste like it.  It is possible that being frozen topped with sauce and cheese could have had an effect on the crust as well.  I do think it is great to have these options available in stores for times when a quick, simple meal is needed.  These are great for when your children visit a friend or relative and they need a safe meal.

Udi’s frozen pizzas can be found at most Whole Foods store locations.  Like I said, I found mine at Earth Fare, but please call to check your local Earth Fare before making a trip just for this pizza.  If you haven’t subscribed to Udi’s newsletter yet, you can do so here and get a $1.00 off coupon after you sign up.

Recipe: Spicy Thai Gluten-Free Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I was in the mood for comfort food last night. I wasn’t feeling well and it was chilly outside, so I began to browse my pantry for something that screamed “comfort”.  I found a bag of stone ground grits from Trader Joe’s that I purchased a while back and had been meaning to make.  What is more comforting than a creamy bowl of grits?

The instructions on the back of the package say to cook the grits with milk, but I wanted to use some Thai peanut sauce for the chicken and vegetables I was cooking, so I thought that coconut milk would be a better option.  The combination ended up being one of my favorites!

This entire meal took less than 30 minutes to make.  I used a rotisserie chicken (Meijer Lemon-Herb is gluten-free), but any chicken breast will do.

IMG_1215Spicy Thai Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry

  • Chopped vegetables – I used carrots, snow peas, mushrooms and spinach
  • 3-4 ounces per serving of chopped chicken breast
  • 2 TBSP San-J Thai spicy peanut sauce

1.  Saute vegetables in a small amount of olive oil or cooking spray.  Don’t worry about seasoning them with salt or pepper, the sauce has plenty of seasoning.

2.  Add in chicken to warm and San-J sauce.  Cook on low for a couple of minutes to warm through.

3.  Serve over coconut grits (recipe below).

*Ingredients are for one, but can be multiplied for as many as you like

Creamy Coconut Grits

  • 1 can lite coconut milk (I used Trader Joe’s)
  • Water (enough so that when combined with 1 can of coconut milk the liquid equals 2 cups)
  • 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s stone ground grits
  • dash of sea salt
  • fresh ground pepper

1.  Heat 1 1/2 cups of the 2 cups of liquid  and dash of sea salt to boiling.

2.  Slowly stir in grits and return to boiling.

3.  Reduce heat to low, cover & stir occasionally for 15 – 20 minutes.

4.  Add remaining liquid and stir until all liquid is absorbed – roughly 5-10 minutes.

5.  Serve!

*Makes 3-4 servings of grits.

Notes: Use leftover grits for breakfast with hot cinnamon apples & a dash of maple syrup!  In addition to being gluten-free, this recipe is also dairy-free!

I can definitely see making this a staple in our house!  The creamy grits were the perfect compliment to the spicy stir-fry!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pizza

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

I know the title sounds odd. Who puts sweet potatoes on pizza? The girl trying to get rid of the leftovers in her refrigerator, that is who!  The pizza I made last night on a whim was one of the best I have had in a long time!

Lately, I have been using Udi’s gluten-free pizza crusts.  Though they don’t have to be kept in the freezer, it is best to do so if you won’t be using them in a couple of days.  I always try to keep some on hand for nights when nothing else sounds good or I need to make dinner in a hurry.

As I made room in our refrigerator yesterday for the food we are preparing for a cookout this weekend, I noted the items that needed to be tossed or eaten as soon as possible.  On the list were 1/2 of a sweet potato leftover from the other night, mushrooms, a jar of marinara sauce, and some feta cheese.  The sweet potato pizza was born.

IMG_1124Sweet Potato Pizza (serves 1-2)

  • 1 Udi’s gluten-free pizza crust
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup marinara or pizza sauce
  • Sauteed mushrooms
  • 1/2 – 1 baked sweet potato
  • 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1/8 cup crumbled feta cheese

1.  Preheat oven according to the directions on the pizza crust package.

2.  Assemble pizza and bake 10 – 12 minutes, or longer to lightly brown crust and melt the cheese.

3.  Slice and enjoy!

When creating off-the-wall pizzas, sometimes you get a combination that is just so-so, and sometimes you hit a home run.  This, my friends, was a home run!  I can’t believe how well the flavors complemented each other!  I can definitely see making this again in the near future.

What is the oddest combination of toppings you have put on a pizza?