The Daily Dietribe

A Blessing for Memorial Day Weekend

2012-05-26T11:40:00.000-04:00

I often find myself complaining about the difficulties in my life. School is so expensive, I'll never pay off my loans, I can't eat this or that, I feel fat, I don't know what I'm doing with my life! And on and on. Wah wah wah. On another day, I'll feel sorry for myself and enjoy me a pity party. But today, the sun is shining and I am fully aware of my blessings. So I offer a prayer and a blessing for the world today. May you echo this prayer in your heart, and may the energy of the blessing spread the world over.

For The World
On this day, I pray for love
Love for myself, love for the world
Love for everyone who is in pain and everyone who is in joy

On this day, I wish for peace
A peace of mind that comes from knowing we are all connected in spirit
That our sorrows are one, and our delights are one

On this day, I wish for equality
Equality for those who still don't have it
Equality for those who are fighting to be recognized

On this day, I wish for safety
Safety for those who are abused
Safety that allows you to let go without fear

On this day, I pray for our future
I pray that we will find our way
And that it will lead us into love

On this day, I pray for you
I pray for your happiness, for your health
I dream of your visions coming true
Of a peace that begins within your very core
And radiates out to encompass all you pass
I wish today for you to feel love
To know that I love you
As I love myself
And that we are all blessed

On this day, I pray for the world
And I send my love near and far
In the hopes that it might flit your way
That you might catch it
And send it back out
Building in strength with each person it touches

On this day, I pray for love.

Send out a prayer of love to the world, then turn off your computers or smart phones and go BE PRESENT. Present with yourself, present with your loved ones, present with today. Know that each moment is a chance to be ALIVE. And that is a blessing.

The Post You've Been Waiting For: How To Cure Your Constipation

2012-05-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

I planned on writing the third - and final - installment in my food journey posts today. But I got an e-mail from a reader asking me to "please blog some more on what you did to poop!!" I had to laugh. I've spent hours perfecting recipes or trying to get the perfect photo for a blog post. And yet what finally got you all commenting and e-mailing me was talking about bowel movements. Am I surprised? I guess not. After all, one of my favorite bloggers is the lovely FartyGirl, who candidly talks about her struggles with IBS. Why should you be any different? We all love recipes, and don't worry, I have a new one coming soon for Sugar-Free, Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. But we also want to feel our best. And frankly, when you're constipated, you feel like crap. Pun intended.

So here's the deal. I'm going to write honestly about how I've become regular for the first time since high school. But there's a warning. This is all way TMI. If you don't want to know so much about what I do in the bathroom, please do us both a favor and stop reading now. And if you're a close friend or family member who I probably don't want to know about this, you can also stop reading. I'll let you use your own judgment to determine if you think I would care. (Although chances are, I don't.)

Now below is a pretty photo of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Enjoy the photo and decide if you want to scroll down. Because after that, everything's fair game.

"I struggle every day with what my purpose in life is. How am I meant to make a difference? If nothing else, when all is said and done, I hope that I shall be known as the woman who taught you how to poop."

Who said that? I did. This morning, after realizing that maybe my purpose in life is just to be honest. That perhaps all of these strange health issues I deal with have simply been given to me so that I can learn how to deal with them, and then share my story with you. Or at least I like to think there's some sort of divine reason. I try to find purpose in everything; it makes the difficult parts of life much easier to handle.

Okay, I know why you're here, so I'll get to it. Here's my little disclaimer. I just wrote a long ass post about how you need to listen to your own body and not just blindly follow someone else's rules. That applies here. I'm going to list everything that has made a difference for me, but know that my body is only my body. I can't tell you that this post will be the answer to all your bathroom woes. But I can hope that it helps.

Now first, let's talk about a term that will be very important here. PTPD. Post Traumatic Poop Disorder. It was coined by my sister to describe that awful feeling after you've had a bowel movement, but you feel like you're not really done and the rest is just stuck in there. To her, it was an occasional problem. To me, it was every single day. I've had PTPD every time I've gone to the bathroom for just about the last...um...I don't know...13 years? So that's what my constipation was like. It's not that I couldn't go every day; It was just always unpleasant, always required straining like a woman giving birth and being told to PUSH, and always left me feeling unsatisfied.

This finally changed in the last month, and I can tell you that although a little PTPD still lingers here and there, I actually feel pretty normal these days. Well, at least in that area. I'm still dealing with other health issues, and I feel I have to tell you that having regular bowel movements has not stopped me from being bloated. I'm not as bloated all the time, and I feel much more comfortable, but clearly there are still many digestive issues that need to be dealt with. Yet it's all a process, and this is one more box I can check off. Daily awesome poops? Check!

Poop. Are you as tired of reading that word as I am right now? I hate saying bowel movements. It sounds so clinical. But any other word just sounds gross. We called it pooping in my house growing up, so that's what I say. One of my best friends calls it shmooing, and that's actually my favorite term, but then no one knows what you're talking about when you say you have to shmoo. And any other word either sounds silly or crass. Sigh. And so here I am, halfway through a post in which I have yet to tell you anything, and all I can think about is that I wish there was a better word for this...this "activity" that we do in the bathroom. But I suppose any word we give to it would eventually take on an icky connotation. But I digress...

Here, in no special order, is the list of factors that have finally cured me of PTPD. Most of the ideas on this list are nothing special and nothing that you haven't read before in relation to constipation. But they're here because despite being told to do most of these things over and over, I realized that it was the combination of doing EVERYTHING on this list EVERY DAY that made the difference for me. So like all else in life, there's no magical cure. You just have to do the work. Oh and by the way, doing the following activities daily might also make you happier, healthier, and probably lose weight while you're at it. No joke.

Eat vegetables at least twice a day, and make sure that one large helping consists of raw leafy greens. For years, I ate cereal or yogurt for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and then only had vegetables with my dinner. It never occurred to me (this was before I became a nutrition-loving food-blogging nut) that I wasn't eating enough vegetables. But there you have it. Simple, obvious, and the solution to so many problems in life. I've noticed that if at least one of my meals each day includes a large salad with leafy greens of some sort, I'm pretty much guaranteed a satisfying trip to the bathroom.
Eat a high fiber meal or snack every day. Eating leafy greens alone doesn't do it for me. I also need to include the following for breakfast or a snack:

I eat about 4 tablespoons of ground flax or chia seeds every day. I mix them into some combination of: baked sweet potatoes or cooked brown rice with non-dairy milk, unsweetened applesauce, gluten-free oats (raw or cooked), and/or avocado. More often than not, I stir together unsweetened applesauce, raw oats, and ground flax seeds, adding a little stevia in if I'm in the mood. If you don't eat grains, I recommend applesauce, sweet potato, or winter squash plus ground flax or chia seeds. You can add a little water or milk and mush it all together.

Avoid any foods you're sensitive to. This seems like an obvious one to me, but I think we tend to forget that it really makes a difference. Sometimes we don't know what we're sensitive to, but other times we do, and we're just pretending we don't. Ask yourself honestly if there's something you know your body doesn't like but you're eating it anyway. Then ask yourself what you would rather have. The food you should avoid or regular bowel movements? It's your decision.
Avoid sugar. Again, just ask yourself what's more important to you. Sweets or regularity? You might find you'd rather suffer from constipation than give up your desserts. And that's okay. But just be honest with yourself if that's how you feel.
Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day; more if you're working out. You'll have to pee a lot. Deal with it.
Move your body! Getting your blood flowing works miracles. Yoga, running, and even just standing in one spot and bouncing up and down all work for me.
Go to the bathroom immediately any time you feel the urge! I played soccer when I was in high school, and I always had to use the bathroom right after school. But I was too uncomfortable pooping in the public bathrooms where everyone would know what I was doing. So I always held it in during practice. Can you imagine what that did to my digestive system? It's no wonder I have problems! Now, I find a bathroom any time I need to. However, I'm still working on this because I find it almost impossible to go if I know someone is nearby. Freud would have a field day with me.
Stop straining and start breathing. This is the most important thing on this list. I'll repeat it. This is the most important thing on this list. Think about it. When you're constipated, what do you do? You sit on the toilet and strain and hold your breath. This is absolutely the last thing you should be doing (not to mention that all that straining could literally lead to a brain aneurysm). The more tense you are, the less your body is able to function properly. So sit back, relax, and do some nice belly breaths. You know, those ones where you breathe in slowly through your nose and watch your stomach fill up, then breath out equally slowly and watch your stomach go down. It's multitasking really. You get 5 minutes of daily meditation and a satisfying bathroom break at the same time. I have no doubt that this one change has made the biggest difference for me. It might feel foreign to you at first because you're so used to forcing your bowel movements. But eventually, all it will take is a few relaxing breaths and everything will just flow naturally. No more PTPD. If you can't go after some time, your body's just not ready. Try again later and don't force it.
Set up a schedule. In order to be regular, it helps to have a "regular" bathroom schedule. Set aside 15 minutes 2 or 3 times a day, and plan on sitting down on the toilet whether you have the urge to go or not. Don't force anything. Just sit and relax and breathe. If you go, great. If not, you'll try again later. I find that first thing in the morning and after dinner are the best times for me. Eventually, you won't need a schedule (or 15 minutes), but it can be helpful in the beginning.
Keep some reading material in the bathroom. We all know people who keep magazines in the bathroom, and it always seemed funny to me because it's like they're announcing to everyone that they spend a long time on the toilet. How embarrassing! But now that you've read the last bullet point, you know I've clearly spent a lot of time in the bathroom. My secret is up! So I'll tell you another secret. I keep a romance novel and/or self-help book in the drawer next to the toilet. Pulling out a good Nora Roberts or Martha Beck book immediately puts my brain in vacation mode and makes me feel relaxed. This also keeps me from getting bored and impatient, which allows me to relax more. Which allows me to breathe, which allows me to...well, you know.
Squat. Okay, go with me on this one. If you can tell you sort of have to go, but it's just not going to happen, squat down like that guy on the right side below and hang out for a while. Again, use it as an opportunity to multitask. Grab a book or watch TV for about five minutes. Or use the time to stretch your inner thighs by placing your palms together and pressing your elbows against your inner thighs. Usually if you squat long enough, you'll suddenly have a strong urge to go to the bathroom. That's when you GO!

Photo Credit: http://naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html

And that, my lovelies, is it. The most awkward post I've written. Yet. But then, I haven't told you about my natural yeast infection remedy, so who knows...it could get even worse. Even as I'm typing this, I'm contemplating just how much I should tell you because getting rid of my yeast infection resulted in an extremely awkward situation. It also still makes me laugh whenever I think about it. But do I want to tell you? Yeah, you know me. I'll end up spilling the details. It's just too good not to share.

Photo Credit: blogs.babble.com

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go shmoo.

My Food Journey, Part 2: Paleo - The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Strange

2012-05-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of listening to your body when considering dietary changes. I told you I had tried the paleo diet for a couple of months, but decided not to stick with it. I did not give you the details, so that's what I'm going to do today.

Last year, I saw marked improvements in my health from following a gluten/dairy/egg/nut/sugar-free, low-amine diet. I was only eating low-glycemic fruits, no dried fruit, and no sweeteners other than stevia. It was boring as hell, but my weight stabilized, my bloating went down, and my chronic yeast infections went away. On the other hand, many symptoms, like my headaches, fatigue, and brain fog, lingered. I was eating a mostly vegetarian diet, with lots of salads, whole grains, and beans. Cottage cheese and yogurt were my only dairy sources. I was also doing kundalini yoga regularly. Looking back, I realize now that I was healing, and may have saved myself a lot of stress and doctor's bills if I had only stuck with that path and tweaked it a bit.

But life has a way of throwing curves ainto your road. Which is not always a bad thing. The question is how you handle it. In my case, this particular curve was a chance conversation with Brittany Angell of Real Sustenance. This led to a decision to write a cookbook together. We serendipitously connected with Triumph Dining, our publisher, and a due date was set. What happened next was a feverish eight months of baking. I took time off from school, baked about ten hours a day, and rarely left my house except to go to the grocery store. On the one hand, I felt like I was living a dream. On the other hand, I completely lost my equilibrium. I stopped working out, started tasting my baked goods - which meant eating eggs, nuts, and sugar - lost touch with friends, and missed my brief chance at getting some vitamin D in the summer. I was ecstatic and miserable at the same time.

Would I do it again? Heck yeah!

Was it the best thing for my health? Not so much.

My health problems came back with a vengeance: the headaches, fatigue, bloating, brain fog. I began to gain weight again, and my face felt itchy and puffy all the time. And the worst thing was that this time I couldn't hide behind the fact that I didn't know what was causing the problem. I knew exactly what it was. I knew what I was eating that I shouldn't be. I knew I was too stressed out and not exercising enough. But I didn't know what to do about it. I had no doubt that this opportunity would not come around again, and truthfully, I was willing to risk my health for it. I know that sounds awful, but it's the truth.

It was around this time that I got a bit of a wake up call. My latest blood tests revealed I was developing an autoimmune disorder (Hashimoto's Hypothyroiditis), and I knew something had to change. I thought going paleo (and probably eventually, GAPS) was the answer. Everything I was hearing had me convinced it would solve my problems. I wasn't wrong. Nor was I completely right.

On my version of the paleo diet, I was limited to fish, chicken, turkey, beef (yes, grass-fed), vegetables, fruits, sweet potatoes, and squash. No soy, grains or legumes, but for me, also no eggs or nuts. I was still trying to follow the low-amine diet, so I further limited myself to low-amine, low-glycemic fruits, like apples and pears, only certain vegetables, and no avocados. And no sugar in any form, again, other than stevia. I know to some of you this will sound extreme, and to others it will sound normal. The question is, did it work?

Well, yes. And no. Being paleo was something of a miracle. My bloating and face puffiness went away. My skin began to glow, and I felt like I was looking like myself again. The fatigue and brain fog disappeared. My carb cravings, something I have dealt with for as long as I can remember, went away completely. I still had cravings sometimes, but I was able to recognize them as emotional. Before, my cravings had been both physical and emotional, and therefore almost impossible to resist. But once the physical need to overeat went away, bingeing stopped being an issue for me. I felt like my blood sugar stabilized, and I no longer needed to eat every three hours or risk being overcome with hunger.

On the other hand, I was spending exorbitant amounts of money on quality meat. My already lame social life took even more of a nose dive. And my constipation wasn't improving, even though I was no longer feeling bloated. I was also stressed out about food, ALL THE TIME. I was quickly becoming afraid to even eat because I found my food sensitivities were getting worse. When I originally went on the gluten/dairy/egg/nut/sugar-free, low-amine diet, I thought my choices were limited, but this was worse. Then, if I ate something off my diet, I would only have a negative response if I continued to eat the food for a few days. Now, I was experiencing instant repercussions, and my choices were becoming narrower and narrower. I began having reactions to winter squash, cauliflower, turkey, stevia... Eventually, I just began to feel like I was sensitive to all food.

At around this time, I was taking a class in school on mind-body techniques for stress reduction. I had to do a presentation on self-hypnosis that involved making a recording for the class to take home. One day I had the thought that I could make my own self-hypnosis recording (which I'll post for you once I figure out how). So without thinking about what I was going to say, I just turned on the recorder on my iPhone, and began to talk. I made myself a little meditation tape for healing my gut, and here's when things got really cool.

I began to think about food sensitivities. My body was overreacting to food and causing an inflammatory response. But what if I could teach my body that food wasn't so scary? That it didn't have to protect me? So when I reacted to something I ate one day and my face started to feel hot, I went in my room and listened to my meditation. About ten minutes into the fifteen minute tape, my face cooled down. From one second to the next, the flushing just went away. This was more of a miracle to me than the paleo diet.

I began to listen to my tape every day, usually after eating, and I began to experiment with adding new foods back in. Whereas before I had had a major reaction any time I tried to bring foods back into my diet, I found that with the help of meditation, I could eat many more foods again. The next week, I went to California for my sister's wedding. While I was there, I soaked up the sun (vitamin D!) and began to jog with my sister every day. I hadn't seen the sun in months, and I hadn't exercised in an equally long time. I was also camping, so I went to bed early, and got about nine hours of sleep a night. With the combination of the sun, exercise, sleep, and the continued daily meditations, I began to feel amazing. I began eating rice, gluten-free oats, chickpeas, and avocados regularly. I even did okay with eating pecans, although I could tell my body wasn't super excited about that. At my sister's wedding, I helped myself to the bountiful gluten-free options, and had not one, but two gluten-free cupcakes. And I could tell they weren't dairy- or egg-free! And you know what? I felt great that night and even better the next morning. My world suddenly seemed so very, very bright.

And guess what else? Within a few days of eating rice and oats again, I became regular FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. You might not want to hear this, but I get excited sometimes when I'm going to the bathroom. I feel like Pinocchio proclaiming to the world that he was a real boy. "I can poop!"

I'm sorry. I just had to take a break to laugh at myself. Okay, no more talk of bowel movements. You get the point. (There might be a follow-up post for those of you who want to know more about how I've gotten rid of my constipation, but I'll warn you so you can choose to skip that post if you want!) To continue with my story, I learned that there are some foods my body still can't handle. Dairy, eggs, most nuts, and sugar are still out, as are a few other items. I tried experimenting with all of these things, and found myself with a bladder and yeast infection (and I will also tell you later how I got rid of the yeast infection naturally). It didn't matter how much I exercised, slept, meditated, or anything else. My body did not want those foods. But plenty of other foods that I had considered off-limits are now perfectly fine.

I have to thank the paleo diet because I am convinced it stabilized my blood sugar levels. It also helped me to realize that when I think I'm craving carbs, it's actually usually protein my body wants. I eat a lot more protein now than I ever did. I also eat more vegetables, and actually crave them if I've missed them for a few meals. But I also eat rice and gluten-free oats, buckwheat, tofu, and chickpeas, and so much more. And I feel grateful, every day, for the fact that I can now eat these foods. I feel like a great gift has been returned to me. I can feel that my body is healing. And food has been a huge part of that, and will continue to be my main medicine. But I overlooked the rest of the prescription for way too long.

This post could go on forever, because when it comes down to it, health is not ONE thing. There are so many factors that have contributed to my healing, and I've only pointed out a few of the major ones. I want to share them all with you, but I've written too much already, so I'll have to close this post for now and save the rest for later!

My Food Journey, Part 1: My Food Manifesto, or Why Paleo Isn't THE Answer

2012-05-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

This post could also be called, "Why The Vegan Diet Isn't THE Answer." Or "Why The Raw Food Diet Isn't THE Answer." I could also just call it, "Why You Should Stop Listening to Everyone Else and Start Listening to Yourself."

A (brief) background for those of you who haven't been reading my blog for a while. Months ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune form of hypothyroid disorder. I self-diagnosed myself with Irritable Bowel Syndrome when I was in high school, due to a constantly painful, bloated stomach and constipation. For years, I struggled with binge eating disorder. Three years ago, I switched to a gluten-free diet, a decision that has forever changed my life in the most amazing ways. Yet despite the positive effects of eating gluten-free, over the last three years, I've struggled with headaches, fatigue, and brain fog, and would have tried ANY diet if only it would help. I went raw, I went vegan, I did an elimination diet, I went sugar-free, low-amine, and more recently, I went paleo. I've considered GAPS, FODMAPs, and more.

Like many of you, I have scoured the web for answers when my doctors couldn't help. I have been so grateful to find blogs like Diet, Dessert and Dogs, Choosing Raw, Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, and The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Within those pages written by brilliant women, I have found snippets of the answers. But they were only bits and pieces, and I should have taken them as such, rather than thinking I needed to follow someone else's eating plan simply because it worked for that person.

Our bodies are all so unique, and it's taken months of working with a client of mine on weight loss for it to click in my own head. Whenever she is frustrated by seeing thin women eating junk food, I tell her, "Who cares what she's eating? This isn't about her and what she can or can't eat. This is about you. And no one else has your body, with your unique needs. So let's focus on you."

At the same time that I was telling my client this, I was doing the opposite. Three years ago, I tried eating vegan because it worked for someone else, but it didn't feel right to me. Neither did eating raw - I now realize this is partly due to the fact that I can't tolerate most nuts, and so all the nuts I was eating on that diet were contributing to my never ending headache. For five months, I avoided a number of my favorite healthy foods (like avocados and sardines) because they were high in amines. I eventually realized that while many high-amine foods - like tomatoes and bananas - bother me, there are plenty of other healthy high-amine foods I feel great eating. It took me five months to realize this because I'm an all or nothing person. If I'm on a specific eating plan, I follow it perfectly, and don't deviate. I become quite militant about it. If so-and-so says this is the answer, then this is what I'll do.

Which leads me to paleo. I have a love-hate relationship with the paleo diet. Something in it speaks to me and seems so right. Something else seems so wrong. I'm a graduate student in nutrition at Bastyr University, one of the few fully accredited nutrition programs that is considered holistic. We talk GAPS, paleo, and Sally Fallon. But we also talk whole grains, veganism, and staying on top of the most current research. I have written papers and given presentations on the paleo diet, and I can tell you that most of my professors are not fans. However, my own research into the diet has turned up many positive studies. I have seen enough preliminary research to believe that a paleo diet, when done correctly, can be extremely healthy and a good option for many health problems. One point that researchers have mentioned, however, is that these studies are all short-term. We don't yet know what happens when someone follows the paleo diet for years. And I'm not talking about personal case studies. We all know someone who's been on the diet for years and is healthier than ever. I'm talking validated, peer-reviewed research. To that end, the jury is still out. I should also mention that for every study touting the benefits of a paleo diet, there are ten more showing how a vegan diet is good for people. I'm going to say it because I feel it needs to be said. The paleo diet is not THE answer. It's AN answer, for some people. Just like a vegan diet is an answer to others. Just like the gluten-free diet was the answer for me, but isn't for everyone I meet.

Why am I saying this? Because the paleo community can be a bit...well...militant. I used that word to refer to myself earlier, and I'm using it again now even though I know I'm going to bother some people by saying that. But it's not just paleo. The gluten-free community can be that way. So can the vegan community. So can raw foodists. I think there's a tendency to get that way any time you feel that a lifestyle change has helped you. You want everyone around you to feel as good as you do, and so you shout it to the rooftops: Do what I did, and you will be as happy as I am! (When has doing what everyone else does ever made anyone happy?)

When I decided to try the paleo diet, I didn't mention it on the blog. Those of you who are Facebook friends probably knew, but if you were just reading the blog, you would never have known. After all, I was still posting recipes for baked goods, like my Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies. SO not paleo! The reason I didn't mention it here was because I didn't know if it would last. After my forays into the raw food diet and veganism, I felt it might be better to just keep quiet about this until I was sure. I also didn't feel like explaining how I was still able to post recipes using grains when I wasn't eating them myself (self-restraint, tasting and spitting, roommates who taste test for me, crying, and occasionally giving in).

Despite those occasional late-night Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookie eating fests, I was able to maintain a strictly paleo diet for a few months, and when I decided to go back to eating grains and (some) legumes, I kept equally mum about it. I didn't tell some of my paleo friends for weeks because I was afraid of hearing their judgment. I didn't want to hear how paleo was the only way I was going to get better and that I was hurting myself by eating grains. I also didn't want to explain what had finally started making me feel better, something which was not at all food related. I was so entrenched in the paleo mindset that I felt like eating rice was a guilty sin. It took me some time to come to terms with my own stupidity in blindly following a diet simply because someone said it was the way to go. I wasn't even asking myself what felt right, only doing what I was told. If you want research on why the paleo diet is right, I can find it. If you want research on why the vegan diet is right, I can find that too. But there's no research on what is right for MY body. There's no book I can read to give me the answers. And so I had to listen to someone new for a change: myself.

Here's what I found out:

My body does not like gluten, dairy, eggs, or nuts. It doesn't like tomatoes or bananas. It doesn't like sugar. And frankly, it doesn't really like baked goods, even sugar-free ones. It doesn't like quinoa either. Or most beans. Or cauliflower. Or products containing corn, although local, fresh corn seems to be fine.

You know what my body likes? Gluten-free oats. Rice. Apples. Pears. Grapefruit. Chicken. Fish. Vegetables. Olives. Sardines. Grass-fed beef. Sweet potatoes. Avocados. Garbanzo beans. Peas. And so much more.

Do I follow any particular diet plan now? Aside from gluten-free, not really. I avoid dairy, eggs, nuts and sugar, but I'm not strict about it the way I am about gluten. Do I expect that how I'm eating today will be how I always eat? Nope. I used to eat dairy on a regular basis, and felt great. There was a time when I would never consider eating beef, something that I now eat at least a couple times a month. My diet changes with my life and my needs, and I'm hoping that there will come a time when I can eat many more foods than I do now. Who knows what the future holds. I could end up eating paleo again someday or vegan, or something else completely. I've learned not to be so absolutist with myself.

So here's my food manifesto, and there's only one guideline: Listen to my body, and eat what feels right, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

If you want to know the specifics about why I'm no longer eating paleo, what worked for me, what didn't, and what finally turned my health around (it wasn't food), tune in tomorrow for My Food Journey, Part 2: Paleo - The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Strange.

Are You A People Pleaser?

2012-05-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

I'm a people pleaser. Most of us are to some extent, right? That's just normal. But some of us are worse than others. Why am I looking at this as a bad thing? Because when you spend your life always trying to please everyone else, you give away so much of your own power. There are too many people walking around in this world without power, and way too many of us are women. So I'm taking my power back and giving up the people pleasing.

I'm taking The Daily Dietribe back.

Huh? Say what?

During a little recent Facebook drama, one very astute friend referenced "taking her Facebook back." She simply meant she had finally unfriended mean "friends." I don't have any mean Facebook friends, but I started taking my Facebook back by unsubscribing to all the random chatter I didn't need to be a part of. I love that I can connect to anyone I've ever met on Facebook (and many people I haven't met), but I don't need to know what's going on with my ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's sister.

Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe.

In a similar fashion, I'm unsubscribing to all the chatter of blogging. No more checking my stats. No more analyzing which types of posts get the most hits. (We all know it's the desserts...) No more late night gallon of ice cream sob fests over mean comments. Okay, I don't actually do that, but my heart does start to race a little faster.

And no more reigning myself in. The Daily Dietribe did not start as solely a recipe blog. It was a creative outlet. It was for me. And then I started getting readers...and more readers...and a book deal...and then I started feeling pretty damn important. I started to listen to voices outside of myself, to think about The Daily Dietribe as a brand, to think about advertisers and how to attract more readers. And the more readers I got, the more I tried to please. I write posts in my head all the time, ones that I never type out because it doesn't fit with my gluten-free food theme. I censor myself because the word in my head is damn but I don't want to offend anyone, so I write darn, or I change the sentence. I have the urge to call bullshit on a lot of political nonsense, but I don't say a word because I'm a liberal and I don't want to upset any conservative readers. In short, I was trying so hard to be what everyone wants (or what I thought you wanted) that I stopped being me.

I hold back a lot, and you know what? I'm bored. There, I've said it. The Daily Dietribe is boring me. I love food, and I love cooking more than most people I know. And some days, I want to wax philosophical about the beauty of a perfectly baked brownie. Other days, I want to scream, "It's just food, people! Think about something else for a change!" The Daily Dietribe, for me, has always been about being healthy. And that encompasses so much more than just food. Some days, I want to share a photo or a quote that I like. Some days I want to tell you about how I've been using self-hypnosis to reduce stress, or about how I'm getting certified as a hypnotherapist. It's all part of what makes me healthy. And some days, I want to share cake recipes.

So here's the deal. I've decided to turn The Daily Dietribe back into what it started as. And in the beginning, no one was reading. So I'm going to pretend that's still the case, although of course I hope it's not. I hope you stay, and that you'll be entertained. Perhaps you were getting a bit bored too?

Here's what you'll see from here on out: 1) More posts. It's called The Daily Dietribe, not the Bi-Weekly Dietribe. I can't promise to write daily, but I can promise myself that I'll begin putting more of my heart back into this. 2) More of me. Whatever that happens to mean on any given day. 3) Don't worry, the recipes aren't going away! If anything, you may find you get more recipes once my creative juices are no longer squashed by my own people pleasing tendencies. 4) My real thoughts on anything and everything, be it gay marriage, natural remedies for yeast infections, God, or even grammar.

If you're still reading this, there's a good chance I haven't scared you off. If you're just here for the recipes, simply read on the days I post recipes. And if you're here for more, hopefully you'll find what you're looking for, whatever that may be. And maybe you'll start to ask yourself what there is in your life that you need to take back. Maybe we'll all start taking back our power. Wouldn't that make for a beautiful world?

Until tomorrow, my pretty little chickadees.

Gluten-Free Lemon Mint Cookies (Vegan)

2012-05-15T23:22:00.000-04:00

My favorite kind of recipes are those that you can't mess up. The ones where you can just sub in whatever ingredients you have at home, and still come up with a winner. This is one of them. And it's not a new recipe. I had fresh mint and Meyer lemons from my sister's garden, and really wanted to use them in a baked good. Although I've never had lemon mint cookies, I suspected that the flavors would fit well in a simple cookie, like chocolate chip without the chocolate. So I simply took out my recipe for Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies and followed my substitution tips. It was really that easy for me. And it's really that easy for you.

I replaced the arrowroot starch with tapioca because I've discovered I don't really like the flavor of arrowroot. I replaced the mashed bananas with applesauce for a more neutral flavor. And I replaced the chocolate chunks with the zest of one large Meyer lemon, and one tablespoon of minced fresh mint. And if you're wondering why there are two different color cookies, it's because the cookie above was made with organic cane sugar. The cookie below was made with coconut palm sugar. I personally feel that the delicate flavors of lemon and mint in this cookie work better with cane than palm sugar. But if you choose to use palm sugar, you might try using extra zest and mint to turn the up the volume on those flavors.

Want to make substitutions? Just follow the substitution list on my Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe. And then let your imagination run wild. What other flavors of cookies could come out of this recipe?

Gluten-Free Lemon Mint Cookies (Vegan)
Print-Friendly Option

Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour (136 grams)
1/3 cup tapioca starch (43 grams)
2/3 cup organic cane sugar (143 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (101 grams)
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (75 grams)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 large Meyer lemon
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the applesauce, oil, vanilla, lemon zest and mint. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until completely mixed.
Separate into twelve balls and flatten each slightly on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 13 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Yield: 12 cookies

Check here for substitution ideas.

Thank you, Mom

2012-05-13T11:53:00.000-04:00

Thank you.

For being able to make me laugh, because so few people can.

For letting me know I could tell you anything.

For not keeping tabs on me in school. I know most parents think it's best to be on top of their child's schoolwork, but you just trusted me to take care of it. And so I did.

For reading to me at night, and getting me started on The Prydain Chronicles.

For giving me the best family ever.

For sitting down and drawing with us. For putting out big sheets of plastic, shaving cream, and food coloring. So much fun can be had with those three tools.

For packing a healthy lunch for me all the way through 12th grade.

For teaching me how to drive. It was not the most fun experience of my life, but I can drive, and that's what's important!

For understanding my ability to get lost anywhere, no matter how many times I've driven to the same place.

For the, "We'll pick you up anywhere, anytime, no questions asked" rule. I never needed it. But I would have called you if I did.

For dealing with pinworms. 'Nuff said.

For supporting me in so many ways, big and small, that probably only you and I will ever know.

For french braids and high ponytails. If I ever have a little girl, I'll need you to live close by so you can do her hair.

For being a liberal. Is that something you thank people for? No matter...I just did.

For making me apologize when I did something wrong. I still have a hard time saying, "I'm sorry," but at least I know when I should be saying it!

For Christmas mornings.

For making me clothes, pillows, blankets, hats, gloves... I'll set up your Etsy store whenever you're ready. :)

For telling me all about birds. I am 29 years old and can't tell a wren from a sparrow. And I have no idea what this bird is. But that wasn't for lack of trying on your part.

For cinnamon rolls, apple pies, and birthday cakes.

For letting us feed peanuts to the squirrels. Well, you know...until they started jumping on the kids and we had to stop feeding them.

For instilling in me a love of vegetables.

For sectioning my grapefruits.

For babies. Lots and lots of babies. And cats.

For working so hard to give us the life we had. Because of you, I've been able to follow the meandering, confusing path that is my bliss. Now I want you to follow yours.

You hear that sound? That's the motherboard changing.

Mother's Day Gluten-Free Frittata

2012-05-12T01:01:00.000-04:00

My older sister, Shani, and my new niece, Malia

You haven't heard from me in a while, and part of the reason for that is I've been visiting the new mama in my life. My sister just had her first baby, a healthy little love that she and the proud new papa named Malia. Our family couldn't be more ecstatic, and my attention has been one hundred percent focused on my baby niece for the past week. But I'm back in Seattle now, and have a lot to talk about in the upcoming weeks. But first, I have a recipe to share from another mama in my life, my classmate Jeanine. Jeanine has my utmost respect for being able to excel in our program while raising a new baby, and I thought she would be the perfect person to share a Mother's Day post this year. Jeanine Mills is a Master's student in Nutrition, interested in the place where nutrition science and cultural meaning intersect, and what that means for individuals. Today, she's explaining where Mother's Day came from, and what her family likes to eat on this holiday.

Jeanine Mills and her beautiful baby girl, Jadea

I have heard people say that Mother’s Day is a holiday fabricated by the greeting card companies, and is perpetuated for profit by florists, phone companies, and restaurants. So when I began researching “mother’s day traditions,” I was surprised by the holiday’s long history. Apparently, the Greeks and Romans had deities who were specific to mothering and who each had their special celebrations in the springtime. Mothering Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Lent in England and Ireland. It dates back to the preindustrial world when rural children were often sent to town to work as servants or apprentices. They were let out of their obligations on Mothering Sunday so that they could return to their “mother church” in their home town for worship and celebrations. Returning home also gave children the opportunity to visit with their families. It is said that along the way children would pick blooming wild flowers and present them to their mothers upon arrival at their homes. Mothering Sunday (also called Refreshment Sunday, Sunday of the Five Loaves, and Simnel Sunday) is associated with a particular cake called either “mothering cake” or “simnel cake”. It is traditionally a light fruit cake with marzipan in the middle and on the top. I found a gluten free recipe here but I haven’t tried it yet. Girls might make these to bring home to their mothers to enjoy, perhaps with afternoon tea, as the 40 day fast of Lent was relaxing. Each town had a signature recipe and shape for the cake; Shrewsbury’s recipe is the one that has stood the test of time and their name is now associated with the cake most often.

And so we have historical segue to our own traditions of flowers, food, and sometimes tea on Mother’s day. In some places around the world Mother’s day is still a religious holiday. And my guess is that this contributes to the tradition of Mother’s Day brunch as families would go to church first on Sunday morning and then celebrate with food afterwards. Our secular version of this holiday is more about appreciating individual mothers and as such is really a holiday that every family celebrates in their own way. The idea of breakfast in bed is, in my opinion, a better fantasy than reality. Brunch at a restaurant is lovely as Mom can order what she likes and she won’t ever get left cleaning up. Though because of the popularity of this plan, reservations are often necessary and crowded restaurants are the norm. Growing up, my Mother always said that Mother’s Day was the most important holiday of the year (no pressure, kid). And I never knew how best to celebrate it. This year will be my second Mother’s Day as a mother. My kid is still too small to contribute anything more than her sparkling personality and hugs and kisses to the day. And to be honest I don’t really expect her to fully appreciate what I do as a parent until she’s an adult. Since eating out with a toddler is more stimulating than relaxing, I have purchased all the ingredients to make a frittata for breakfast at home. This is one that I have made and enjoyed before. It is adapted from my “Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates” cookbook. After breakfast we will hopefully be packing up some picnic supplies and heading to a park where the kiddo can run around and the parents (mostly the mom) can relax, eat, and enjoy the day.

Bell Pepper, Asparagus and Green Bean Frittata (Print-Friendly Option)

Adapted from The Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates by Mollie Katzen

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
2 tablespoons water
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup asparagus pieces ( ½ inch pieces)*
1 cup green bean pieces ( ½ inch pieces)*
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large red or yellow bell pepper , cut into ¼ inch pieces (or ½ of each for even more color)
½ cup sliced scallions
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

*About ½ pound of asparagus trimmed and chopped will yield 1 cup, same for green beans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, water, parsley, marjoram, salt and black pepper. Set aside.
Blanch the asparagus and green beans by placing them in boiling water. Cover with a top for 2 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a 10-inch cast iron pan on medium high, and sauté the bell peppers until just tender, about 7 minutes. Add the scallions and cook another minute. Stir in the asparagus and green beans. Take off the heat.
Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes, or until set. You can tell it's set by shaking the pan. It should hold together and no longer "jiggle." Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Note: If you don't have a cast iron skillet, do step 4 in a skillet, then transfer to an oiled 9-inch baking dish.

Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101: Vegan Snack Cakes 3 Ways

2012-04-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Ready for class? Today we're going to learn how to take a recipe for Irish Coffee Brownies, and turn it into snack cakes, which can easily be converted into a coffee cake for guests. In full disclosure, I was not planning on making snack cakes. I was attempting to make a blondie, but found that with all the changes, I ended up with a flavor and texture closer to carrot cake. And that, my dear students, is exactly why I love making substitutions in baking. I learn more from making ONE recipe over and over with various substitutions than I do from making TEN recipes each once. Remember my waffle and pancake guide? I made over 24 batches following the same recipe with small changes, and my notes from that testing are still what I refer to any time I want to make substitutions in recipes. But I know that not all of you enjoy the tedious testing period as much as I do, which is why I've been sharing my results here with you.

Okay, let's get started. If you've attended any of our previous classes, you might remember me mentioning that cocoa powder and starch (tapioca, potato, arrowroot) can often be exchanged with similar results in texture. So that's where I opened with this recipe. Beginning with my Irish Coffee Brownies, I made the following substitutions to the ingredient list:

1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup ~~whiskey~~ non-dairy milk
1/4 cup ~~warm or hot coffee~~ non-dairy milk
1/4 cup ~~grapeseed oil~~ canola oil
1 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (not powder)
~~1 cup coconut palm sugar~~ 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup brown rice flour (130 grams)
1/3 cup ~~cocoa powder (26 grams)~~ tapioca starch (40 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

That's it. Five simple changes. I only had canola oil, but it works the same as grapeseed oil. I replaced the whiskey and coffee with milk (any kind works) and replaced the cocoa powder with tapioca starch (by cups, not grams). Why tapioca starch and not one of the others? I never work with cornstarch personally, so I can't vouch for that. Arrowroot is expensive, and readers have told me they end up with gummy results. And why not potato starch? Eh...I just felt like tapioca that day. It was as simple as that. There is a difference between tapioca and potato but it's very slight. I reduced the sugar from 1 cup to 1/2 cup because I wanted to make something healthier, and I was very glad I did that. With 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of raisins, the results were still very sweet, perhaps too sweet even for me.

With these five changes, I found that the cake needed to bake for 25 minutes, rather than the 35 the brownies needed. Their texture was also more like cake, less like brownies. While I'm sure the whiskey, cocoa powder and sugar had a part in this, I credit this mostly to the lack of coffee. I've noticed coffee has a tendency to make baked goods chewier. Not having tested this theory only taking out the coffee, however, it's just a guess!

So here we have Vegan Snack Cake #1. I'll include the recipe here, and then continue on below that to show you how I adapted this recipe to make it starch free.

Carrotless Carrot Snack Cake Print-Friendly Option

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (not powder)
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup brown rice flour (130 grams)
1/3 cup tapioca starch (40 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch baking dish.
Add the raisins, milk, oil, and psyllium husks to a food processor. Process until the raisins are pureed.
Add the remaining ingredients, processing completely to ensure the ingredients are all mixed together well.
Spoon the thick batter into the baking dish and spread evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Let cool completely before slicing.

Makes 16 snack cakes.

Now back to the lesson...

Okay, we've got raisins, sugar, and starch in this recipe. Delicious, but not as low-glycemic as I would like it to be. I thought about taking out the raisins and simply replacing those with carrots (I still want to try that, but haven't had a chance yet), and I thought about reducing the sugar, but in the end I decided to try something I haven't done before. I wanted to make the recipe starch free. If I wanted the texture to be similar, I would have used another flour closer to brown rice flour. I could have exchanged the tapioca starch with white rice flour or maybe millet flour, and I'm guessing the texture would have been closer to the original. But I wanted to know what would happen if I used coconut flour. Coconut flour works extremely differently from tapioca starch. Starch makes recipes light and fluffy. Coconut flour makes recipes dense and heavy. So what happens if you replace 1/3 cup of tapioca starch with 1/3 cup of coconut flour? Magic!

I made the following substitutions to my Carrotless Carrot Snack Cake ingredient list:

1/2 cup raisins
~~1/2~~ 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
~~1 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (not powder)~~
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup brown rice flour (130 grams)
1/3 cup ~~tapioca starch (40 grams)~~ coconut flour (40 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Here we have three changes. Coconut flour absorbs liquid like crazy! I knew that if I replaced the starch with coconut flour, I would need to add more milk. I also decided to take out the psyllium husks, and see if the coconut flour version would hold together without a binder. If I had left the psyllium husks in, I would have needed to add more milk, probably another 3 tablespoons. The batter for this cake was significantly thicker than the first recipe I made. In order to spread it evenly, I needed to wet my fingers with water and smooth the batter down.

The results? I loved the flavor, but felt it was a little more dense than I wanted. I decided to lighten it up a bit by using fresh apples instead of raisins. This also had the added benefit of lowering the amount of sugar, since apples contain less sugar than raisins.

For this third batch, I replaced the 1/2 cup of raisins with 1 cup of diced apples (I left the peels on for the fiber). I also increased the baking time to 30 minutes. That's all. Everything else remained the same. This is what I got.

Deliciously sweet snack cakes that reminded me of Little Debbie's Coffee Cakes that I ate as a child. All I had to do after that was add a streusel topping, increase the baking time to 35 minutes, and just to be sure, I tested the recipe out one more time with coconut oil in place of the canola oil. Worked perfectly! From Irish Coffee Brownies to Apple Streusel Coffee Cake Heaven with a stop at Carrotless Carrot Snack Cake Town on the way. You can find the recipe for the Apple Streusel Coffee Cake here.

Want more substitution ideas? Here you go! These suggestions should work for the Carrotless Carrot Cake here or the Apple Streusel Coffee Cake here. And as always, don't kill me if you try something and it doesn't work! These are my ideas based on what has worked for me in the past, but I have not personally tried every one of these substitutions. If you make a variation that you like, it's always helpful for me and others readers if you leave your adapted recipe below. Likewise, if you try something that doesn't work, that's helpful for readers too! We can all learn from each other!

Possible Substitutions:
Raisins or apples: Try 1/2 cup of any dried fruit, such as apricots, dates, or prunes. Or try 1 cup fresh diced fruit, like I did with the apples. Pears would be delicious! I might also try 1 cup grated carrots in the future.
Milk: Any type of milk is fine here. Coconut, almond, soy, rice, etc. If you decide to try using carrots, you could also sub in orange or apple juice here and see how that works.
Canola Oil: Try grapeseed oil, extra light olive oil, or coconut oil. Melted butter or Earth Balance will also work fine.
Psyllium Husks: Try 1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds. Flaxseed meal should also work, although you might want to reduce the milk by 1-2 tablespoons.
Organic Cane Sugar: You can use any granulated sugar here, including coconut palm sugar. The flavor will vary depending on the type you use.
Brown Rice Flour: Try white rice, teff, sorghum, millet, quinoa or garbanzo bean flour, or a combination of any of these. (Note: I sub by volume, not weight). I used brown rice flour here because it has the most neutral flavor and texture. Teff or white rice would be my best suggestions for using only one flour. I recommend if you want to use sorghum, millet, quinoa, or garbanzo bean flour, you do a mix because they all have strong flavors and textures that will work better in combination than on their own.
Coconut flour or tapioca starch: Read the above post :)

Phew! I don't know about you, but that seemed like a long lesson to me! I need a study break... If you're not tired out, head over to Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert and Dogs for more vegan goodness!

Have a recipe you'd like me to adapt for your dietary needs for a future Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101 post? Drop me an e-mail at iris@thedailydietribe.com with your recipe and dietary restrictions, and I'll see what I can come up with!

Little Debbie Apple Streusel Coffee Cake (The Gluten-Free, Vegan Version)

2012-04-24T02:18:00.000-04:00

These little babies went through a number of tests before they made it onto the blog. They started out looking like this:

The original recipe had the texture of a carrot cake and was amazing! But it contained tapioca starch, and I wanted to see if I could make them starch-free.

The next batch looked like this:

Tapioca starch out. Coconut flour in! Tapioca and coconut work completely differently, but I've made a recent discovery that the two can be exchanged in small amounts in some recipes, albeit with completely unique, yet equally delicious results. I'll go into further details on this in my next post!

I loved the flavor of this second batch, but at that point I started to think I could cut down on the sugar even more. You see, I don't bake with sugar very often, but I've been allowing myself to have a little fun with it lately. But since batch one and two both contained raisins in addition to the sugar, the cake was a bit sweet for me. So I decided to try apples instead. That's when I became addicted to these snack cakes. I kept taking another bite, and another, and another... They reminded me of something from my childhood, and I finally realized they tasted like the Little Debbie Coffee Cakes my mom put in my school lunch. Now, these cakes here may have sugar in them, but I googled the Little Debbie Apple Streusel Coffee Cake ingredients, and...oh my! After looking at that list of food combined with chemicals, this recipe looked downright healthy to me!

Which of course gave me all the encouragement I needed to add a teensy bit more sugar in the form of a streusel topping. And believe me, it was worth it.

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake (Gluten-Free, Vegan) (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
Streusel:
1/4 cup organic light brown sugar
3 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coffee Cake:
1 cup diced apples (no need to peel; I liked it best with a Fuji)
1/4 cup canola oil or coconut oil
3/4 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup brown rice flour (130 grams)
1/3 cup coconut flour (40 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch glass pan.
In a small bowl, stir together the streusel ingredients until well mixed (brown sugar, coconut oil, brown rice flour, and cinnamon). Set aside.
In a food processor, quickly mix the apples, oil, and milk (about 5 seconds).
Mix the sugar, rice flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt in a medium sized bowl, then pour into the food processor and process until evenly mixed.
Scoop batter (it will be thick) into the pan and press evenly. Sprinkle the streusel on top and bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 16 individual coffee cake bars

Notes: Feel free to exchange both sugars in the recipe for coconut palm sugar. The flavor and texture will be slightly different, but it will still be delicious! If you prefer to limit the sugar, just keep the streusel topping off and it becomes a snack "bar" instead of coffee cake.

Wondering what other substitutions you can make? On Thursday, I'll be posting the evolution of this recipe as part of my Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101 Series. I'll explain the many substitution options you have, as well as posting the recipe for the original carrot cake-like version, which by the way, did not have carrots in it! I'm hoping to find time between now and Thursday to make the original recipe again with carrots so I can tell you exactly how to turn it into a carrot cake.

To blog or not to blog? I've spent the last couple of weeks debating whether I could continue with the blog. As a graduate student, money is always tight, but lately it's been tighter, and I've had to decide whether I can continue to devote the amount of time and money that I do here. My love for this hobby has been conflicting with my ability to pay the bills, and it's hard for me to be okay with the amount of time I spend here when I could be working a paying gig. Yet the thought of letting go of something I love so much has been making me really sad. I've had many a conversation with God, meditated and agonized over it for hours, and finally realized that I can't give the blog up.

There's nothing I enjoy more than having someone say to me, "I can't eat x, y and z. Can you make me something?" Yes, and happily! And I love to be able to provide you with as many substitution options as possible. But as you can imagine, all of this testing takes time and money. I like to buy quality ingredients so that a) I feel good, and b) I can make these recipes healthy for you and your families. So to test a recipe this many times means many trips to the grocery store, and a lot of time spent baking, taking photos, and writing. All things that completely feed my soul...but not so much my wallet.

I never set out to make money as a blogger. If I had, I would be pretty disappointed in myself right now! I just wanted to share my experiences and recipes, and hoped some of you would enjoy them. In full disclosure, I can tell you that I make a small amount every month through my advertising with Foodbuzz (about $25/month), but that doesn't exactly make up for the number of hours I spend blogging when I could be working. As you probably know, I also just published two cookbooks, and that was a wonderful experience. But I can honestly say I did it because I loved the idea, not because I expected to make a lot of money, nor have I (made money that is). Just like with the blog, I did it because I love the idea of sharing my knowledge with all of you out there.

This is all a long and winding way for me to say, there is now a donate button on my sidebar, right above the waffle picture. You are welcome to completely ignore it. The fact that I have readers at all makes me ridiculously happy! But if you use my recipes or find my substitution tips to be helpful, and you want to help me continue to make recipes like this one, I would be grateful. Either way, say hello every once in a while. A nice comment also puts a smile on my face.

Guest Post at Celiacs in the House, and Upcoming Events!

2012-04-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

Wendy of Celiacs in the House has been hosting a fun series titled, In My Gluten-Free Kitchen. Today, I'm sharing my kitchen and how I handled writing a cookbook without driving my four other housemates crazy.

Check out my post at Celiacs in the House.

In other news, for readers in the Seattle area, I have two things to share with you:

1. I'll now be teaching private therapeutic cooking classes at Greenlake Nutrition on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can learn more about nutrition counseling, workshops, and cooking classes at their website here. For some people, health insurance can be used in these classes!

2. The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) is hosting their annual Health and Wellness Experience on Saturday, June 16th. Brittany Angell and I will be teaching a gluten-free baking class (and passing out samples from our baking guides). As a kick-off to the Health and Wellness Experience on June 16th, GIG is partnering with the Seattle Mariners on Friday night June 15^th to host Gluten-Free Awareness Night. Before the game, they're having a gluten-free tailgate party at the ballpark which will be attended by GIG leaders from around the country. I'll be there with Brittany and Amie Valpone (of The Healthy Apple). Come network with fellow food bloggers and gluten-free group leaders, enjoy a gluten-free tailgate party and watch the players warm up in the adjacent bull pen. Then enjoy the game in GIG group seating. The tailgate party is from 5 – 7p.m. Game time is 7:10pm. Cost to attend both the party and the game is $65. Call the GIG office at (253) 833-6655 to make your reservation. Space is limited! Hope to see you there!

If you missed my interview with actress, Jennifer Esposito, check out yesterday's post to hear what she's doing to spread awareness of and correct information on the gluten-free diet!

An Interview with Jennifer Esposito, My Kitchen, and the Wide OpenSky

2012-04-11T10:30:00.001-04:00

What do these three have in common? On the surface, very little. But when you dig a little deeper, so very much!

My kitchen is where I do my gluten-free baking, creating recipes to share with you all in my cookbooks with Brittany, and here on the blog. On Friday, I'll be sharing a behind-the-scenes look at my kitchen at Celiacs in the House. But today, I have something else to share with you. The kitchen is also where Jennifer Esposito does her gluten-free baking. You didn't know she was gluten-free, did you? I've always known her as that sexy actress with the great hair on Spin City. I had no idea she had Celiac Disease. But Jennifer was diagnosed in 2009, the same year I went gluten-free. After years of struggling, feeling ill, being told by doctors it was all in her head (sounds familiar, right?), she finally got a correct diagnosis of Celiac Disease. That day marked the beginning of a new life for Jennifer, but one that didn't come easily. Sent out the door with little information or support, she did what we've all had to do. She scoured the internet, went on forums to chat with other sufferers, and in the end, had to learn a lot on her own.

Today, Jennifer is in a different place. She's become healthier and become an advocate for others in the same situation. Not wanting anyone to feel alone the way she did, she has started Jennifer's Way, a blog devoted to sharing her honest story, delicious recipes, and great gluten-free finds. She also has a cookbook in the works (I can't wait to get it!), a gluten-free all-purpose mix and pancake mix coming out, and plans to open a gluten-free bakery in New York City. Plus, she's going to have her own store on OpenSky. According to OpenSky, it's "a social network for shopping that empowers users to connect with the best people in food, style, health and design for exclusive information, advice and insider product recommendations. It’s boutique-like shopping in a Facebook-like environment. The site’s 100+ experts include: Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, Cynthia Rowley, Liz Lange, Tom Colicchio, Molly Sims, Kelly Rutherford, Mariel Hemingway, Tony Horton, Padma Lakshmi, Michael Ruhlman and Holly Robinson Peete." I had heard of OpenSky through other bloggers, but this was the first time I really checked it out. It was so much fun, I already opened an account! Jennifer's store will be dedicated to the gluten-free lifestyle, with new items appearing every week or two to keep the selection fresh. She'll be sharing photos, videos, and recipes to give us an inside view into why each item is her favorite and how she uses it. I've already connected with Jennifer's store on OpenSky. Have you?

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jennifer yesterday about her experiences being gluten-free and all the exciting projects ahead of her this year. Here's what she had to say:

What type of products will we be seeing in your OpenSky store?

There will be an array of different things, but everything will be geared toward the gluten-free lifestyle. I want to share proper information about what it means to be healthy. There will be recipes and baking products, including my own mixes that I'm developing, and those will be ready soon.

What makes your mixes stand out from other products on the market now?

My all-purpose baking mix can be exchanged cup for cup with wheat flour, and I'm also going to have a pancake mix. There are so many products out there that are not really healthy; All gluten-free products are not created equal. I wanted mine to be different. They're loaded with protein and fiber, and are much more nutritious than what I was able to find when I first had to go gluten-free.

Gluten-free is definitely a buzz word these days, and many big companies are jumping on the bandwagon. How do you feel about the gluten-free diet becoming so popular?

It's upsetting because people are starting to look at this as a trend, which it most definitely is not. It's necessary for people like me who have Celiac Disease, or people with autoimmune disorders or autism. On my blog, I have a "2 week gluten-free challenge" and so many people have contacted me to let me know how much better they felt being gluten-free. I believe everyone can benefit from being gluten-free, but I think it should be taken seriously and not seen as a fad.

You were diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2009 after years of being sick with no answer. What's the most important lesson you've learned from that experience?

Listen to your gut. There were so many times that I knew something was wrong, even since I was a child. I absolutely knew, and I went from doctor to doctor, and I can say this. If you're doctor isn't willing to test you, or even if you get a negative test and still feel something's wrong, go to another doctor. Find a doctor who will listen to you.

Do you avoid any foods other than gluten?

Yes. I still felt horrible for about a year after giving up gluten. First, I went through a painful detox period, but I also didn't know that other foods could be a problem. I had such horrible joint pain from eating dairy that it was hard to sleep at night. Now, I also avoid dairy, soy, corn, and processed sugars.

What types of recipes will we see in your upcoming cookbook?
A little of everything. I wanted to share recipes for the things I really missed, like bread and cookies. But I also include meals that I eat every day that are naturally gluten-free. I want people to realize that they if they eat unprocessed foods, like fruits and vegetables from the garden, it will be much easier to eat gluten-free.

Were you interested in cooking and baking before becoming gluten-free?

Yes, I used to crawl up on the cabinets and bake pancakes when I was six. It was devastating when I got the diagnosis of Celiac Disease because holidays were such a big deal in my family. Learning to navigate holiday meals and social events was very paralyzing at first.

How long did it take for you to embrace the gluten-free lifestyle?

Honestly, there are days I still don't embrace it. It stinks sometimes. I was watching a friend eat an apple turnover this morning and wanted to grab it out of his hands! But that's why I do what I do, because I refuse to feel deprived. Baking makes me feel like I have control over this disease.

How has your life changed since becoming gluten-free?

It changed a lot of my life and relationships. I really do feel like a different person. I feel much more grounded, more in control of my life. I really feel for people who are walking around feeling sick, not knowing it's because of the food they're eating.

Check out Jennifer's gluten-free shop on OpenSky, and her blog to read more about her story and find some amazing recipes! And thank you to Jennifer for sharing her story in the way that best helps all of us...openly and honestly, admitting that even she has hard days where watching other people eat drives her crazy! I know we've all been there, and it's refreshing to hear her say it!

If you could eat anything in the world right now, what would it be?

2012-04-09T20:15:00.000-04:00

Stop for a moment, and close your eyes. Imagine you can eat anything you want right now. A magic delivery boy will show up at your door and drop it off the second you decide what you want. No cost, just a thank you and send him on his way. The only catch? You have to pick something that will leave you feeling completely satisfied after one serving.

Did you just change your mind about what you wanted?

Lately I've been playing this little game when I find myself having a generic craving. You know the kind...when you want something, but you're not sure what. And you just keep grazing, hoping that urge will eventually be satisfied. So I close my eyes, and imagine various foods, mentally throwing each one out until I find what I'm looking for.

Often, I assume that what I want is carbs. It used to be when I got into this kind of itchy mood, I would automatically want to reach for my comfort foods: mac & cheese, pizza, cinnamon rolls, cookies. Carbs, fat, and sugar all put together into one giant food coma. But I never really felt satisfied. I would eat more and more, waiting for that off button to ding, but it never did. Or at least not until I was uncomfortably full.

It never occurred to me that I would have been perfectly satisfied with something else.

Sometimes when I play this game, I realize what I really want is chicken. Sometimes, I realize it's pancakes. And sometimes it really is a cookie, and that's okay too. I'm happy to give my body what it wants, as long as that's really all it's asking for.

And sometimes, I go through a list of foods, only to realize nothing will satisfy me. I can't think of a single food that I'll be able to eat without overindulging. Occasionally, I'll admit, I just go with that and make a conscious decision to overindulge. Not binge. But just eat more than I need to. It happens and it's not the end of the world. Other times, I leave the kitchen and go find what it is I really want. That's when I play the game again, replacing the word "eat" with "do."

So go ahead. Close your eyes and ask yourself, if you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do?

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Scallion Pancakes

2012-04-06T21:35:00.000-04:00

When I was writing The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides with Brittany Angell, my own health unfortunately fell by the wayside. I was often so exhausted after ten hours days of baking that I had no energy to cook for myself. This made for a lot of nights of eating canned split pea soup and Applegate Farms hot dogs. I really wished I could hire a personal chef!

Now that my life has settled down a bit, I'm focusing on healthy cooking again. I've still been baking because I enjoy writing my "Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101" series so much. But more often, I'm making simple meals. Chicken with vegetables. Rice and beans. Salads. This is what I've been craving.

And Buckwheat Scallion Pancakes. I used to love scallion pancakes, but even as a kid, I remember them making me feel a bit sick after. Not that that ever stopped me from eating them. Today, I'm getting much better at listening to what my body really wants. Sometimes I still eat food that doesn't make me feel so great, but more often I find I want to eat the food that nourishes me. So I decided to make a healthy version of scallion pancakes that I could make fast and easy. Raw buckwheat groats (which you can usually find in the bulk bins at health food stores) need to be soaked overnight, but once you're ready to make these babies, it takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. It's really that simple.

Buckwheat Scallion Pancakes (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 cup raw buckwheat groats, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup water
Pinch sea salt (optional)
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil, or ghee

Directions:

Rinse and drain your buckwheat groats, then blend in a food processor until a paste forms.
Add water, and salt if using, and blend until it's the consistency of thick pancake batter. Stir in scallions. I don't use salt in my pancakes because I like to serve them with a salty dipping sauce. But if you're not serving them with anything else, go ahead and add a dash of salt.
Heat a skillet over medium-low, making sure the skillet is nice and hot before adding your oil. Allow the oil to heat up (this assures your pancakes won't stick), then add a large scoop of batter, spreading it with the back of a spoon until it's about 4-5 inches in diameter. Your pancakes will be about 1/2 - 1 inch thick. Allow to cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook another 3 minutes on the second side.
Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 4 5-inch pancakes.

More Gluten-Free Scallion Pancake Recipes:
Chinese Scallion Pancakes at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs
Low-Amine Scallion Pancakes with Dipping Sauce at Low-Amine Recipes
Scallion Pancakes at Renegade Kitchen

Mirror, Mirror off the Wall

2012-04-01T16:42:00.000-04:00

You know those drinking games where you take a shot every time someone says a particular word or phrase? What would happen if you played that game with yourself, and took a shot every time you looked in the mirror? Every time you determined your self-worth by what you saw in that oh-so-important looking glass? How drunk would you be by the end of the day?

I don't ask to judge, but rather to point out that flaw in myself. Like a bathroom scale, the mirror can hold the power to make or break your day, to make you feel like a star or wonder what is wrong with you. No matter how I feel when I wake up in the morning, that cunning mirror has the ability to tell me I am wrong. Oh, you thought you were having a good day, it mocks? Oh no no, I am the one who decides that. Step right up and allow me to judge your worth. And dutifully, I bare all and turn from side to side, asking for a price tag to be stamped upon my body. When this is over, I step into the shower, at times energized and proud, at other times demoralized and ashamed. It is silly, really, this power I have given to a piece of glass.

When I read about a woman who had decided to go without mirrors for a year, I was intrigued and thought it was a wonderful idea. This was a few months ago, and as I recall, I looked at her blog, decided to put a towel over my mirror, and promptly took it down within a day. It was never my intention to go as far as she did, but I thought it would be nice to be mirrorless for a little while. My resolve lasted about as long as it took me to take a shower and need the mirror to see how my curly hair looked when it dried. Needless to say, I forgot about the mirror challenge and went about my life.

Two weeks ago, I went to Santa Barbara for the week to camp with my family before my sister's wedding. I spent a week basking in the sunlight (hello, vitamin D!), jogging by the ocean, and just relaxing. It was glorious. And something interesting started to happen. Something, dare I say it, transformative?

There were mirrors in a few of the bathrooms, and I found myself initially using those stalls. After all, I wanted to see how I looked and make sure I was presentable. But after a few days, I started to noticed something. I went for a jog every morning with my sister, and when I came back, I would feel refreshed and strong. Knowing that I could run four miles had me feeling pretty damn sexy. And then I went in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Hmm. Sometimes the mirror confirmed my feelings and sometimes it told me I didn't look as good as I thought. But I quickly began to realize it didn't matter.

After a couple of days, I began to choose the bathrooms without a mirror. It came in a moment of clarity, as the most obvious of realizations often do. I looked the same to the outside world no matter what I saw in the mirror. They simply saw me, and most likely with much less judgment than I gave to myself. So the only reason to look in the mirror was to give power to something outside of myself. I realized I had a choice. I could base my beliefs about my appearance on what I happened to see at any given moment in a piece of glass. Or I could just ask myself how I felt. And I realized that my feelings of beauty, or lack thereof, had more to do with my actions during the day. Had I worked out? Had I eaten food that made me feel good? Had I smiled and been happy with my friends and family? Luckily for me, I was on vacation, and so the answer every day was, yes. Of course, being back in Seattle now, there are days that I sit in front of a computer for hours, or days when I am grumpy and snap at my housemates. Those are the days I don't feel so beautiful. But on those days, I do something different now. Instead of looking in the mirror and critiquing every flaw, I do something that makes me feel beautiful. I get outside and go for a run (on those rare days when it's not raining), I go to the gym, or call an old friend and chat. I meditate or bake, knowing that I will not feel the need to subject myself to the mirror's fickle rating scale if I dare to eat a cookie. I find ways to be beautiful, rather than lamenting my lack of porcelain air-brushed perfection.

And I'll tell you what the first thing I did when I arrived home was: I took down my mirror. And I haven't missed it one bit.

Gluten-Free Irish Coffee Brownies (Vegan)

2012-03-14T08:32:00.003-04:00

I know that healthy eating is my thing. But I'm not even going to try to tell you that these brownies are healthy. Far from it. They're moist and chewy, and every bite is filled to bursting with layers of sweetness. Made with a unique list of ingredients that includes Irish whiskey, coffee, raisins, and cocoa powder, the flavors all blend together in a symphony that just melts in your mouth. I guarantee you will not be able to resist them.

Did I mention sugar? Oh yes...the magical ingredient. Of course, you can use any granulated sugar you want in these, and I've made them more than once, with both coconut palm sugar and cane sugar. They're delicious either way! And I use a full cup, which for me, is quite a lot in one recipe. But I'm not skimping here. Oh no. It's St. Patrick's Day, and the Irish in me comes out for this holiday. My last name is Higgins, after all!

Care for a shot of Jameson's with your brownie?

Gluten-Free, Vegan Irish Coffee Brownies (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup whiskey
1/4 cup warm or hot coffee
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (not powder)
1 cup sugar (coconut palm or any granulated sugar)
1 cup brown rice flour (130 grams)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (26 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch baking dish.
Add the raisins, whiskey, coffee, oil, and psyllium husks to a food processor. Process until the raisins are pureed.
Add the remaining ingredients, processing completely to ensure the ingredients are all mixed together well.
Spoon the thick batter into the baking dish and spread evenly.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Let cool completely before slicing.

Makes 16 brownies.

Okay, now my favorite part! Let's talk substitutions! Below, I'm going to list some ideas for as many of the ingredients as I can. Based on my kitchen intuition, this is what I think would work. But note that these are just guesses designed to help you have as much freedom in the kitchen as possible. I haven't tested every one of these substitutions, so if you try something and don't love the results, please don't come at me with a pitchfork or mean words. I'm just one lone blogger dancing in the kitchen. I can't do it all.

Raisins: You can use any dried fruit with a similar consistency, such as dates, prunes, or apricots.
Whiskey: Try rum, liqueur, milk (dairy or non-dairy) or even water here.
Coffee: You can replace this with milk, but I have noticed that coffee tends to make the brownies somewhat chewier, so the texture (and of course flavor) may be affected.
Grapeseed oil: Use any oil you prefer here. Canola oil, extra light olive oil, or melted coconut oil will all work.
Whole Psyllium Husks: Ground chia seeds work fine here.
Sugar: Coconut palm sugar or any granulated sugar - except for brown sugar - will work well.
Brown Rice Flour: Go ahead and use any of the following flours or a combination: white rice, sorghum, quinoa, garbanzo bean, millet, buckwheat or teff. Keep in mind the flavor and texture will change depending on the flour you use. Do not use almond flour or coconut flour.
Cocoa Powder: You can use carob powder to make carob brownies. Or you can try using a starch (tapioca, potato, arrowroot, or cornstarch) and they'll just be Irish Coffee Blondies. I haven't tried this yet, although I plan to in the future, so you can be safe and wait for me to test it out, or be brave and give it a shot. Coffee blondies sound a little bit strange to me though, so I would probably switch out the coffee for milk if I were doing this. If you sub out the cocoa powder for a starch, you'll want to replace the baking soda with an equal amount of baking powder.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy baking! I'll be in California getting ready for my sister's wedding on St. Patrick's day, so I'm sending you the Irish love in advance.

Chocolate Glazed Apricot Brownie Bites (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free)

2012-03-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

I've been teasing my Facebook fans with these little goodies for months. But I couldn't share the recipe because they're from The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 2, my cookbook with co-author Brittany Angell. Well, Book 1 is out, and book 2 is being sent to the printer as we speak. And since Book 2 is a little bit behind, I've decided to give you all a treat with one of my favorite recipes from the buckwheat chapter: Chocolate Glazed Apricot Brownie Bites.

I'm sharing our recipe over at The Balanced Platter, my favorite new blog for healthy eating tips. Co-founders Maggie Savage and Amy Green invited me to share some of my own tips on healthier baking, "healthifying" I like to call it! So stop by, say hello to Maggie and Amy, and get in the kitchen to make these brownie bites immediately! Your friends and family will thank you!

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides Giveaway Extravaganza Winners

2012-03-03T02:24:00.000-05:00

This is my least favorite part of giveaways. I hate picking winners because I want to be able to give something to everyone. This is why there's a pretty picture of brownies above. I can at least give you all something fun to look at!

In no particular order, here are the winners. Because there are multiple people who entered with the same name, I'm going to put the names down here, but e-mail you if you won. So if your name is something relatively common (like Stephanie), you'll have to wait for an e-mail to make sure you're the Stephanie I picked. Sorry, that's a tease, but I couldn't figure out a better way to do it!

Signed Copy of Book 2: Barbara B
Wholesome Sweeteners Gift Pack: Kboorky
Nuts.com Gift Pack: Blessednannab
Dakota Prairie Gift Pack: Laurelvb
Simply Organic Gift Pack: Kathleen Conner
Triumph Dining Gift Pack: Knoll
Big Tree Farms Gift Pack: Ufg8trj
Navitas Naturals Gift Pack: Stephanie
Cassava: Eatrecyclerepeat, Cara, Kaitlyn, Vicki W, Jonathan
NuNaturals Gift Pack: Shelly Richardson, Ellen, Desi, Jeremyndelila

So what's coming up in the month of March?
Tomorrow, I'm working on some whole-grain rolls that will hopefully be up on the blog soon. I'm attempting a recipe that can easily be made with or without yeast. And for St. Patrick's Day I have a recipe so yummy I had to ask my housemates to hide the leftovers from me! Hint: it's in the photo above!

Later this month my baby sister is getting married! This means I'll be away from the computer and my kitchen for a week, so whole-grain rolls and St. Patrick's Day Brownies may be all you'll see from me in March. But hopefully you'll all have copies of The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides to keep you busy in the kitchen (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

Be sure to stop by Real Sustenance to see if you won over there!

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides Giveaway: Final Day To Enter!

2012-03-01T03:00:00.002-05:00

Lemon Squares: From the Sweet White Rice Flour chapter of book 2

Today is the big day! My brand new cookbooks, The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides, are officially available and will begin shipping out today. My co-author, Brittany Angell, and I spent nine months learning everything we could about gluten-free baking so that we could save you time and money in the kitchen. With these books as your guide, you will no longer have to wonder which flours can be exchanged for each other, how to adapt recipes to be vegan, or how to work without xanthan gum. All these answers and more can be found in our guides, along with over 100 recipes between the two books.

To celebrate we are giving away our favorite products. We want you to have only the best of the best ingredients when you are making our recipes. On Tuesday we gave away gift baskets from Navitas Naturals and Big Tree Farms. That giveaway is still open, so be sure to go enter there! Yesterday we gave away gift baskets from Triumph Dining, NuNaturals, and Simply Organic. That giveaway will also be open until midnight tonight so enter now if you haven't already! And today, you can enter here to win one of four possible prizes!

Chocolate Glazed Apricot Brownie Bites: From the Buckwheat Flour chapter of Book 2

What are we giving away today?

Wholesome Sweeteners Gift Pack:

Our guides go into extensive detail about various types of unrefined sugars, and how we use them in our baking. Wholesome Sweeteners Agave Nectar and Sucanat were both products that we recommended to our readers, and we know you'll enjoy this gift basket they will be sending to one of you!

Nuts.com Gift Pack:

Brittany learned about Nuts.com when she first began getting into grain-free baking. They are an amazing resource for gluten-free flours, and we were lucky enough to be able to test out their flours during our photo shoot. Today they are giving away two gift packs. Brittany will be giving away flours on her blog that correspond to the flours in book 1, and I will be giving away flours from book 2! So that means you can enter here to win a gift package filled with sorghum, buckwheat, teff, rice, and potato flour, PLUS tapioca starch, potato starch, and organic chia energy squares! To win the gift basket for book 1, comment over at Brittany's blog!

Dakota Prairie Gift Pack:

Dakota Prairie has a dedicated gluten-free facility that produces finely milled flours. We loved working with their flours in our recipes, and found that their rice flour produced baked goods with a wonderfully light texture. Like with Nuts.com, Dakota Prairie wants to help you get started with baking all of our recipes, so they are giving away two gift packs, one corresponding to each book. You can leave a comment here to win flours from book 2: sorghum, sweet white rice, buckwheat, teff, rice, and potato flour, PLUS potato starch, arrowroot starch, and tapioca starch. Leave a comment at Brittany's blog to win the flours from book 1.

American Key Food Products Cassava Flour (5 bags = 5 winners!):

Cassava flour was a new product for Brittany and I. Early on in our baking process, we spoke with Carter Foss from American Key Food Products, and he told us about his amazing new product. After trying a bite of his cassava flour cupcakes at The Gluten- and Allergen-Free Expo in Dallas last year, I knew we had to include this flour in our books. Because we know it will be new for most of you as well, AKFP is sending 5 winners each their own bag of cassava flour so you can try the recipes in the book right away!

One copy of The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide Part 2!
I will be signing this copy from the first printing and sending it to one winner! Some of my favorite recipes from this book are:
Lemon Squares (Sweet White Rice Flour Chapter)
Chocolate Glazed Apricot Brownie Bites (Buckwheat Chapter)
Vegan, Yeast-Free Sandwich Bread (Sorghum Flour Chapter)
Pizza Roll-Ups and Whole-Grain Dinner Rolls (Teff Flour Chapter)
Mini Pizza Pockets (Potato Flour Chapter)

To win a copy of book 1 signed by Brittany Angell, stop by her blog and leave a comment.

How to enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
All of these giveaways are open to addresses in the continental U.S. only. There will be eight winners for this giveaway (winners posted on Friday), and five winners for the same giveaway on Brittany's site today as well! You have until midnight today so start getting those entries in! Here are all the ways you can enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and you MUST leave an e-mail address or way for me to contact you.

Leave a comment telling me which gift pack you would like to win.
Visit one of the sponsoring companies and tell me something you like about them (they are truly awesome companies).
Post about the giveaway on your Facebook page and/or like my FB page (2 possible entries).
Tweet about this giveaway and/or follow me on twitter (2 possible entries).
Help us promote the book launch by pinning our book covers onto Pinterest from the book information page that can be found here (2 points for this one).

All of the winners from this week's giveaways will be posted tomorrow! Good luck, and thank you all for your support over the years. I'm only about a month away from my three year blogiversary!

Even More Giveaways!

2012-02-29T03:00:00.085-05:00

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes (Beautiful photography by Matt Calabrese at Calabrese Studio)

Are you getting excited yet? Have you ordered your copies of The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides? I know you want to make these Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes for breakfast...

Okay, okay, I'll stop trying to sell you, and get to the fun part! Giveaway Day #2 begins with three wonderful gift packages!

What are we giving away today?

Simply Organic Gift Pack:
I love Simply Organic pure vanilla extract, and was so happy when they offered to send one lucky winner a package of their almond extract, lemon flavor, orange flavor, peppermint flavor, vanilla extract, and Ugandan vanilla extract. In all honesty, I wish I could win this giveaway myself! This giveaway is open to addresses in the continental U.S. only.

NuNaturals Gift Pack:
Brittany and I decided early on not to do stevia-based recipes in these books, but we do give lots of tips on how to adapt recipes to use stevia, as well as our favorite brands. And NuNaturals is it! As you know, I love using stevia in my cooking and baking, and I will definitely be adapting some of my cookbook recipes into stevia recipes for the blog further down the line. NuNaturals is giving away not one, but four gift packs that will include: one box of NuStevia Packets, and one bottle of NuNaturals Vanilla Liquid Stevia. This giveaway is open to addresses in the continental U.S. only.

Triumph Dining Gift Packs:
Trimph Dining is our publisher. And we absolutely loved working with the team there! But before we ever spoke with them, I was already a huge fan of their gluten-free guides. Today, they're giving away a gift pack of their Gluten-Free Grocery and Restaurant Guides. These are essential for anyone who needs help in navigating shopping and eating out gluten-free. This giveaway is open to addresses in the continental U.S. only.

How to enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
There will be six winners for this giveaway (winners posted on Friday), and six winners for the same giveaway on Brittany's site today as well! You have until midnight on Thursday so start getting those entries in! Here are all the ways you can enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and you MUST leave an e-mail address or way for me to contact you.

Leave a comment telling me which gift pack you would like to win.
Visit Simply Organic, NuNaturals and/or Triumph Dining and tell me something you like about them (they are truly awesome companies).
Like my Facebook page and/or post about the giveaway on Facebook. (2 possible entries)
Follow me on twitter and/or tweet about this giveaway. (2 possible entries)
Blog about the giveaway.

If you haven't already, head to Brittany's blog to enter there as well! There will be twelve winners in all. And come back tomorrow for our final giveaway! We have three gifts for you, each more exciting than the last!

Giveaways Galore!

2012-02-28T03:00:00.003-05:00

Cranberry Orange Cake (Amazing photography from Matt Calabrese at Calabrese Studio)

On Thursday, The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides will officially be available and in the mail to anyone who has purchased them! Needless to say, I am beyond excited! The project that began in May is finally coming to fruition and I cannot wait for you all to see the final results. Mostly, I am excited because now I can share with you everything my co-author, Brittany, and I learned over 9+ months of nonstop baking. Plus, I really want you to try my Pizza Roll-Up recipe. And Brittany's famous Cinnamon Rolls. And our Lemon Squares. And that Cranberry Orange Cake above. And the list goes on...

But today, I want to get you as excited as Brittany and I are. So we're having fun this week by giving away some of our favorite products. For the next three days, Brittany and I will be giving away daily gift baskets from companies that we love! All of the gift baskets have been donated from the companies themselves, so be sure to send them lots of love for sharing their goodies with us all! And these companies were chosen for one reason: We use their products regularly. You'll notice in our books that when we talk about different ingredients, we also let you know which companies we prefer. We know that when it comes to baking, quality of ingredients is extremely important, and we want you to have only the best when you try our recipes!

What are we giving away today?

Big Tree Farms Gift Pack:
Big Tree Farms is sending one lucky winner one 8.5 ounce bag each of Ginger, Turmeric, and Cinnamon Flavored Coconut Palm Sugar plus a jar of Korintje Cinnamon Honey. I use their coconut palm sugar all the time in my baking, and I love that they have flavored versions! This giveaway is open to continental U.S. addresses only.

Navitas Naturals Gift Pack:
Navitas Naturals is giving away a great sampler that includes flax seeds, chia seeds, palm sugar, and organic sweet cacao nibs. Many of our xanthan/guar gum free recipes use flax or chia seeds, so this gift pack will definitely be a must-have for your gluten-free kitchen! This giveaway is open to addresses in the continental U.S. and Canada.

How to enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
There will be two winners for this giveaway (winners posted on Friday), and two winners for the same giveaway on Brittany's site today as well! You have until midnight on Thursday so start getting those entries in! Here are all the ways you can enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and you MUST leave an e-mail address or way for me to contact you.

Leave a comment telling me which gift pack you would like to win.
Visit Navitas Naturals and Big Tree Farms, and tell me something you like about them (they are truly awesome companies).
Like my Facebook page and/or post about the giveaway on Facebook. (2 possible entries)
Follow me on twitter and/or tweet about this giveaway. (2 possible entries)
Blog about the giveaway.

If you haven't already, head to Brittany's blog to enter there as well! There will be 4 winners in all. And come back tomorrow to see what we're giving away next!

Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101: Vegan Banana Bread and the Top 5 Ingredients to Have in Your Gluten-Free Pantry

2012-02-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

Whenever I write a post in this series, I leave you all with an invitation to send me a recipe you'd like to have me convert in some way. A few weeks ago, I got a request from a lovely woman named Yolanda to make banana bread. Yolanda's two-year old son was recently diagnosed with Autism, and she has started him on the gluten- and casein-free diet. Finding recipes the whole family can enjoy has been very important to her, and she knows they all love banana bread. So Yolanda sent me a link to this recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread, and I've been working on this recipe ever since. What I came up with is a sweet treat suitable for a snack or dessert (too much sugar for breakfast, in my opinion, although probably less than in most sugary cereals). While Yolanda's son does okay with eggs, I decided to make a vegan version for today's post. But it's equally easy to make this loaf with or without eggs, so I'll put in directions for both.

Now before I tell you how I converted this banana bread, Yolanda also asked me to share my thoughts on which flours she should stock in her pantry. I'm including part of her e-mail because I think we can all relate to this initial fear of gluten-free baking:

"I haven't baked anything yet 'cause I'm a chicken, and not to mention my brain goes to mush trying to figure out the best flours to use when it comes to GFCF baking. So maybe you can give some suggestions on which flours would be good to keep on hand. The only flour I use right now is brown rice flour when I fry foods sometimes. I'm open to learning all that I can!"

So, Yolanda, here's my answer. And what I would keep in mind is that this list is completely subjective. It's based on my own flavor and texture preferences, and my way of baking. Another gluten-free baker would give you a completely different response. Just as two painters may know the same color theory but create extremely different paintings, so can two bakers take the same basic knowledge and use it in completely unique ways. I'm basing my suggestions here not just on my favorite flavors and textures, but also on which flours I can use to create healthy recipes. I love the flavor and texture that sweet white rice flour imparts, but it's not exactly the healthiest option. And following a gluten- and casein-free diet is not just about taking out those two offenders. In my mind, it's also about substituting them with healthy options that will nourish your body and restore you to a healthier place. So keeping that in mind, here are my top 5 gluten-free pantry ingredients:

Sorghum Flour - Sorghum is very basic. It has a mild flavor that is reminiscent of sourdough, but overall is relatively bland. This makes it a perfect background flour for many different types of recipes. I've used it in cakes, cookies, breads, you name it. It's easily swapped in recipes calling for quinoa, garbanzo, millet, white or brown rice flour, and if I could only keep a few flours on hand, sorghum would definitely be one of them.
Blanched Almond Flour - High in protein and heart-healthy fats, almond flour is a must for anyone who can have nuts. Recipes baked with almond flour have a sweet flavor that will allow you to get away with using less sugar. In many cases, you can use almond flour alone without having to add any other flours or a starch. This makes for very simple recipes, which I love. I've also found that I can get a fluffy texture using almond flour that is really difficult to do with other gluten-free flours. In fact, my almond flour recipes (like my yeast-free English Muffins) are often the most popular with my non gluten-free friends. Almond flour is expensive, but I think it's worth it to keep your fridge stocked. It is generally more affordable to order in bulk online from companies like Honeyville or Nuts.com.
Teff Flour - Before I started my baking guides, I had never used teff. Now it is one of my favorite flours, and I bake with it all the time. It is very light, which means you can create recipes that will rise well without eggs. And I absolutely love the flavor, which has a hint of sweetness that I find unrivaled in most other gluten-free flours. I have found that it is one of the more difficult flours to find in stores, so I often purchase mine online from companies like Nuts.com and Bob's Red Mill.
Potato or Tapioca Starch - While I would love to bake without starches, I find it very hard when baking egg-free. It can be done, but converting a recipe to gluten-free is really simple when you have a starch to work with. Potato and tapioca starch work very similarly, so try them both and then use whichever one you prefer. I generally keep both on hand. Arrowroot starch is also a good option, but is more expensive than the other two, so I don't use it often.
Flax seed meal, chia seed meal, or whole psyllium husks - While not technically flours, I have found all three of these ingredients to be integral in my baking. For years I used xanthan or guar gum as binders. But once I started hearing about using these ingredients instead, I gave it a try, and am now hooked. This is a great way to get more fiber into your diet, and I personally prefer the texture of many of my baked goods made with flax, chia, or psyllium husks to those made with gums.
All-Purpose Mix - I'm cheating by adding a sixth ingredient. I rarely use all-purpose flours. It doesn't give me enough control over the flavors and textures I want. But if you're a new baker or don't want to be bothered with mixing flours, all-purpose mixes can be really helpful. I've only used Bob's Red Mill myself, and I like it just fine. But this is one of those cases where you really have to try a few and see what you like best. AP mixes can often (but not always) be used in recipes that call for a variety of flours. Just tally up the total cups of flours and starches, and use that quantity of an AP mix. This does not generally work for recipes that call for coconut or almond flour, since they work quite differently than other gluten-free flours.

Okay, so now that you know which ingredients I like to use, I would love for you to leave a comment for Yolanda letting her know what your must-haves are in your gluten-free pantry.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now on to banana bread! I started with this simple recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. Muffins and quick breads are probably the easiest recipes to convert to gluten-free, so you can use many of these tips for any similar recipes.

This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of flour. For this, I decided to start with 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix. While I like to use my own flours, I think it's also helpful for readers to know when they can use an AP mix. I prefer to substitute by volume (cups) rather than weight (grams).
This recipe calls for 1/3 cup melted butter. I used 1/3 cup canola oil, although any mild flavored oil would work. Melted coconut oil would be my ideal (healthiest) ingredient here, but because it's not particularly affordable, I save it for special occasions.
This recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar. That seemed like an unnecessarily large amount of sugar on top of the bananas, so I cut it down to 1/4 cup. However, to replace some of the bulk of sugar, I added in 1/4 cup of chia seed meal. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone here because the chia would replace some of the sugar and also make xanthan or guar gum unnecessary. Chia seeds expand in liquid, helping to create a nice rise while simultaneously binding ingredients together.
This recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda. I noticed in the comments for the original recipe that a few people mentioned it did not rise as nicely as they had hoped, so I decided to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder for a little added oomph. Gluten-free baked goods also have a more difficult time rising, so extra baking powder is generally a good bet.
I reduced the 1/3 cup sugar called for in the "swirl" to 1/4 cup. It's not a big difference, but any chance to reduce sugar is always a good thing. This is a very sweet bread so some of you may prefer to leave that sugar swirl out altogether.
I kept all of these ingredients as originally written: 3 overripe bananas, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, dash of salt (1/8 teaspoon)

My first batch rose beautifully and tasted amazing. My only complaint was that I had baked it a bit too long (55 minutes), so it was not as moist as I would have liked. For my second attempt, I wanted to make my own mix of flours and take out the egg. Here's how I did it:

To replace 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix, I used my 1:1:1 method (equal parts one flour + one flour + one starch). As mentioned above, I love teff, so I used 1/2 cup teff + 1/2 cup teff + 1/2 cup tapioca starch.
To replace the egg, I added 1 more tablespoon of chia seed meal and 3 tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk with 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. To help the bread rise without the egg, I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.
I baked this version for five minutes less.

The result was a moist quick bread that I absolutely loved. My friends thought the teff gave it a hint of molasses that they were unused to but enjoyed. The combination of sugar and bananas made for a heady treat, while the high fiber content of the bread kept me full for hours (and yes, I actually did eat this bread even though it's not on my list of approved foods right now). You can tell from the photos that the egg-free version did not rise as high as the egg version did, but the flavor and texture were comparable, and in fact, the egg-free version was slightly moister.

Banana Bread (Print-Friendly Option)

Moist and chewy with sweet pockets of banana, your whole family will love this bread. For some fun additions, try adding in chopped walnuts, raisins, or chocolate chips. Quick breads are forgiving, so a number of substitution options are included below.

Ingredients:
For the Swirl:
1/4 cup sugar (50 grams)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the Bread:
1 cup teff flour (155 grams)
1/2 cup tapioca starch (60 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3 medium overripe bananas, mashed (296 grams)
1/3 cup canola oil (71 grams)
1/4 cup sugar (50 grams)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds (36 grams)
3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (40 grams)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan.
Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Whisk teff flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
Place bananas, oil, sugar, chia seed meal, almond milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand beater, starting on low then increasing to medium speed, until ingredients are completely mixed. The bananas can still have small chunks, but should be mixed in well.
Beat or stir in flour until completely mixed. You can also do steps 4 and 5 in a food processor. Fold in cinnamon and sugar.
Scoop batter into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

Possible substitutions:
Sugar: Use any granulated sugar here. Coconut palm sugar would work just fine.
Flour: Replace the teff and tapioca with 1 1/2 cups of an all-purpose mix. Or replace the 1 cup of teff with a combination of any of these two flours: quinoa, garbanzo, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, white rice or brown rice flour.
Bananas: Try using a fruit puree, such as applesauce or pureed pears. I suspect that you might end up needing to use a little less than the 296 grams of bananas called for, but not having tried it with this recipe, that's just a hunch.
Canola Oil: Use melted coconut oil or butter, grapeseed oil, or extra light olive oil.
Almond Milk: Any type of milk is fine here.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Lemon juice can be used or just leave it out if you don't have either. I've made it without, and the recipe turned out fine.
Chia Seeds: This is a tough one. Flax seed meal or whole psyllium husks would be the best choice, but the amount of each would be different. I suspect that you may need a little more flax seed meal or a little less whole psyllium husks, but I really can't give you any definite suggestions here other than to play around. If you can have chia seeds, play it safe and just use those.

To make this with eggs, only use 1/4 cup of ground chia seeds. Take out the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Add 1 large egg with the rest of the wet ingredients.

Enjoy Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101? Have a recipe you'd like me to convert or a topic you want me to cover? Leave a comment or e-mail me at iris (at) thedailydietribe.com.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Millet Burgers

2012-02-14T12:23:00.002-05:00

I have very special plans tonight. Fancy schmancy plans, if you will. I have the perfect dress all picked out, I'll get my hair and makeup done, and oh yes, there will be a carriage ride through Central Park. It will be fabulous. I'll be the envy of every other woman in the land.

Okay, I'm lying. I'm going to my weekly Toastmaster's meeting to keep working on my ~~itty bitty~~ big fear of public speaking. But if I weren't, I would totally find a horse and carriage, and make this a special Valentine's Day. Just me, myself, my teddy bear, and the horse.

What? Jamie (my bear) is a very suitable date. Except he would probably rather stay home with Buttercup (my other bear). So it might just be me and the horse. Which I'm totally fine with.

And yes, Jamie is named after a certain James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, and I bought him in Scotland. (Just had to throw that in for those of you who know what I mean!)

After my fancy carriage ride, I'd make myself some millet burgers. This is of course part of my fantasy because I can't actually eat millet burgers right now while I'm on a grain-free diet. But I developed this recipe a while ago and never shared it with you, so I thought you might enjoy it today. While we're all eating chocolates (or wishing we were), here's a healthy dinner recipe to add to your arsenal. It's pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. And perfect for Valentine's Day. Or any day really.

Millet Burgers (Print-Friendly Option)

The millet in these burgers lends a sweet overtone, while the parsley gives it a fresh note. Enjoy with your favorite burger toppings. I love making my own avocado dressing and serving it over a bed of greens.

Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked lentils
½ cup uncooked millet
1 carrot, chopped
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
Sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil

Directions:

Bring millet and 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook with top on until water is fully cooked down (20-30 minutes).
In a separate pot, bring lentils and 1 cup of water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until water is fully cooked down (about 15 minutes).
While lentils and millet are simmering, chop the carrot. Place the carrot, parsley, cilantro, and sunflower seeds in a food processor.
Once lentils are done cooking, add to food processor. Pulse a few times, until mixture is lumpy but not completely pureed. Once millet is done cooking, stir lentil mixture into the millet. Add sea salt to taste. Form carefully into 6 patties (I'm told this is a bit of an art form, but mind held together well).
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add ghee or coconut oil, and cook burgers until browned, a few minutes per side. Serve hot.

Makes 6 burgers

Sending you a very Happy Valentine's Day, filled with virtual chocolates and carriage rides galore!

Individual Chocolate Cakes for Two: A Gluten-Free, Vegan Valentine's Day Treat

2012-02-10T01:15:00.002-05:00

Let's talk Valentine's Day. I think there are generally two camps, right? The, "Valentine's Day was made up by Hallmark to sell cards," grumble, grumble, grumble camp. And the, "I love hearts and kisses and baking chocolate treats for my sweet," camp. The two are, of course, rather fluid, as one may desert one group for the other depending on relationship status. And then there are the staunch devotees, who will stick with one side no matter what his or her Facebook status may say.

Personally, I'm a wishy washy kind o' gal when it comes to this holiday. I like wearing red and pink, and I'll take any excuse to dress up (even if I'm only going to class). You already know I love baking, so I don't really need an excuse to make chocolate cake, but I'll take one anyway. But whether I'm single or coupled up, have a fancy date or a date with Sex and the City (or, dare I say, am sitting in the library doing homework), I approach Valentine's Day with just about the same amount of excitement. Which is to say, somewhat more than on President's Day but much less than Halloween, and nowhere near Christmas. It is simply a day in between the winter holidays and spring, but a day when I get to daydream and doodle hearts on my paper.

Oh yes. And bake.

Individual Chocolate Cakes for Two (Print-Friendly Option)

Is there anything better than a rich, dense chocolate cake? How about one that is high in fiber and antioxidants? Apricots are a good source of fiber, vitamin A, and iron, and both apricots and chocolate have antioxidant superpowers. You can also use your favorite granulated sugar in this recipe, so go ahead and swap the cane sugar for coconut palm sugar if you like.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup dried apricots* (126 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons full fat canned coconut milk, room temperature (90 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (94 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar - or any granulated sugar (72 grams)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sorghum flour (63 grams)

1/4 cup tapioca starch (30 grams)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20 grams)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

*You can use dried prunes, raisins or dates, but keep in mind the flavor will vary depending on which fruit you choose.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 large muffin tins.

2. Place the apricots, coconut milk, applesauce, sugar and vanilla in a food processor. Process until apricots are pureed.

3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour into the food processor and process until completely mixed.

4. Scoop into muffin tins. The batter will be enough to fill both tins. Wet your fingers and smooth the tops of the muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle just comes out clean.

5. Let cool for a few minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Eat plain or top with your favorite frosting.

Makes 2 large muffins.

Because so many people are sensitive to chocolate, my original Valentine's Day goal was to come up with a recipe that could easily be made as a chocolate cake or a vanilla cake. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed with this one. While absolutely decadent, this chocolate cake is dense, halfway between a cake and a muffin really. For chocolate, that worked just fine. But when I made the vanilla version, it was very much a muffin, not a cake. And to be perfectly honest, it just wasn't up to my standards. It was a little too dense, and way too sweet. That being said, I thought I would let you know what I did so you can play around with it yourself if you so desire. And it's pretty simple:

To make a vanilla version of this cake, I replaced the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder with an extra 1/4 cup (30 grams) of tapioca starch. I left out the baking soda, and kept everything else the same. But like I said, I wasn't completely satisfied with the results (which didn't stop me from eating them all). So if you can't have chocolate and want to try this recipe, consider this a starting off point, and be ready to do some experimenting. Laurel, I hear your kitchen calling you...

For readers in the Seattle area thinking about going gluten-free or new to the gluten-free lifestyle, here's a great (free!) talk being given Monday morning by some of my classmates:

Going Gluten-Free
Monday, February 13
10 - 11 a.m.
Bastyr Center for Natural Health
3670 Stone Way N., Seattle, WA 98103
Free and open to the public

Join Bastyr University nutrition students, along with clinical supervisor Kelly Morrow, MS, RD, CD, for an engaging discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of consuming gluten. They'll explain the difference between a gluten allergy and a gluten intolerance; explore many different grains, both with and without gluten; and offer recipes and resources to help you and your family live a happy, healthy lifestyle without (or with less) gluten.

10 Gluten-Free and Vegan Super Bowl Recipes plus Best of Triumph Dining Awards

2012-02-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Living in my grad student, tv-less bubble, my only inkling that the Super Bowl was near was from recent posts on Facebook. So while I will readily admit I have no intention of watching this year, I'll happily share some what I would be making were I to have a party. When entertaining guests, I like to have options that are vegan as well as gluten-free. That way, I'm including as many of my guests as I can. Here are my top ten vegan party pleasers, including yesterday's Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars.

In more exciting news (at least for me), Triumph Dining is hosting their first ever Best of Gluten-Free Awards! And as a thank you for voting, they're giving away a bunch of prizes, including 25 copies of The Essential Guide to Gluten-Free Baking! Seriously, 25! That's a lot of chances to win! If you were trying to decide whether to purchase a copy, here's your chance to win one... And you can also vote for your favorite products, restaurants, and bloggers (including me) while you're at it!

Happy weekend and for those of you watching the Super Bowl, enjoy!