Utepils Brew

For my brother's birthday I decided to make a gluten free brew to celebrate one of the important guys in my life! This mix uses dry rice extract is the grain, with honey and sorghum to create a rich flavor. Gluten free home brewing is now a thing with the Honey Ale Kit from morebeer.com. Adding honey has the same effect as adding sugar, it increases the alcohol content but has no effect on the sweetness.

In Norwegian there is a word with no equivalent in English, Utepils. If you've ever had a beer on the beach then you understand the meaning of this word without needing to be Norwegian. I plan to enjoy this homemade gluten free brew at the beach with some friends at an end of summer party.

More to come on this project as we work on it!

The Gluten Free Table on the Road

Kalimera my fellow travelers! The hardest part about eating gluten free on a vacation is dealing with cross contamination so I compiled a list of tips I picked up traveling in Greece. When I decided not to eat gluten in solidarity, I realized it's so easy to accidentally gluten other people's food. It's not just the knife that someone else used to butter their "regular" toast, it's the butter container which has the crumbs from the knife that went in for a second helping to cover the rest of the toast. It's seemingly impossible to keep your food gluten free when traveling with others who eat gluten. A few tips I found on my vacation help you keep your sanity and enjoy your trip:



1. Use disposable plates and utensils when possible. That way you avoid crusted on gluten remnants as well as any contamination that may be left behind on the sponge or in the dishwasher.


2. Keep your food in a small cooler in the fridge. If you have a refrigerator, keep a cooler full of gluten free cookies and bread in there. People will really have to go out of their way to put their gluten covered mitts into your bag of gluten free chocolate chip cookies. Also, keep one or two dips and spreads you want in the cooler.


3. Have your own bottle of a beverage. Who can resist the urge of drinking out of the bottle. Certainly not you, so you can understand when others do so without thinking of the gluten they contaminate the bottle with when they put their lips on the rim. Put aside a liter of your favorite and give people a heads up that it's yours by putting it in the cooler.


4. Bring along bars and meal replacement drinks. You don't have to be a wet blanket in the instance you can't find a dish at a restaurant that looks gluten free. These will tide you over and keep you from getting too hangry.


5. Learn to change the conversation quickly from gluten at restaurants. Keep it short and sweet, don't dwell on the details. When you have a chance to find a market, head to the gluten free section. A gluten free loaf of bread comes in handy at restaurants when they serve bread before the meal or as an accompaniment to a chicken salad.


6. Use your best judgment but remember that you are the keeper of your health and others may accidentally serve you something with gluten. While it my take a long time to cope with that fact, understanding that you are ultimately responsible for taking your health into your own hands, especially abroad, will make you a happy traveler!


7. Have fun and meet lots of new people. Remember that vacation is a time to relax even though it's hard to break out of the usual routine. Hopefully these tips will keep you from screaming at your fellow travelers and binge eating that baklava that everyone else in the car is swooning over. Cheers!

EE-meh ah-ler-yee-KEE sti gloo-TEH-nee

Ee-meh ah-ler-yee-kee sti gloo-teh-nee, I think that's how you pronounce it. Hopefully people won't look at me like I'm an alien. It's bad enough I don't speak the language and can't read the alphabet. I guess I will have to rely on the kindness of Greeks to go out of their way to understand my "issue."






My grandmother's Greek cooking has influenced my cooking style to such an extent that I am hoping to enjoy the food in this country as a way of connecting her culture. Before I leave for my trip to Greece I am going to make sure I know Greek food back and forth so that I know what to avoid. After all, that is my responsibility. A lot of celiacs have this conversation: "I may not eat for two weeks. No, that's an over reaction. Sometimes I am sure that a food is gluten free but then it gets me. I can taste the gluten but its too late. That makes me never want to eat another bite of anything that doesn't come prepackaged. Maybe that's what I will do, I will buy a whole bunch of meal bars and bring them along. Or maybe a whole case of ensure. I haven't left yet but this trip is already making me exhausted." I am going to dedicated this trip to eating gluten free, though I am not gluten intolerant, to understand with and empathize with people who are gluten intolerant. I found these allergy translation cards that might be of help. I am going to order them so I have them for the trip!






I bought a bunch of mint stabilyze bars from Costco to stash in my backpack for the flight. They're a little small but since they're low glycemic they will keep me full for longer. They taste similar to the mint Genisoy bars that I used to love but with less of an overwhelming mint flavor. I will have them with me just in case I have a hard time finding gluten free food when I first arrive. When I'm on vacation I hope to challenge myself to embrace the food culture while staying away from gluten.

A Spirited Thanksgiving

The flavors of autumn lend themselves so well to spirits. In this holiday of abundance, of coming to a new world full of promise, rich flavors enhanced by wine and cider make all the difference. To celebrate a melting pot where immigrants come to a new country in the hopes of sharing its bounty we set out to make a larger than life meal, with a larger than life bird. My mother in law is bringing the turkey and I'm making the rest. A word of caution, many people still put flour in their turkeys to keep them from bursting while cooking in a bag. If someone is bringing the turkey to your thanksgiving dinner, make sure to check they have not added some flour to the skin! I'm sharing some of the recipes with you that I am making this Thanksgiving because I love this holiday.

Bread Pudding Stuffing with Root Vegetables (2 days prep, 1 1/3 hours active)

This recipe includes a bottle of cider to the custard to imbue it with a lovely savory flavor. Prepare but do not bake the pudding the night before to assure that the bread has time to absorb all of the liquid before cooking. Otherwise, you will find yourself with a crouton stuffing. I went light on the onion to please my friends and family who hate onion, you can add more to your liking.

1 bottle of apple cider


Celery, onions, carrots, and apples give this dish the flavors of fall.

3 eggs
1 parsnip, diced to one inch cubes
3 carrots, diced to one inch cubes
1 granny smith apple
1/2 onion
1 large loaf of gluten free bread
1 small carton of cream
4 stalks of celery
1/2 stick of butter
1 bag of presilced mushrooms
10 fresh diced sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste

One day before dice up the bread, I like to use Kinnikinnick bread since the folks at my local gluten free market recommended it for its great texture and the fact that its one of the only enriched gluten free breads. It's equivalent in size to a regular loaf of bread which makes it easier to substitute into a regular recipe. Dry the diced bread overnight so that it can readily absorb the custard and stay moist during baking.

Begin by dicing the onions and celery and tossing them in an ovenproof pan with the butter. Saute the aromatic vegetables until they reach a golden brown color. Add the carrots and parsnips and saute until coated. Move the pan into an oven and roast for 15 minutes at 350.

While the vegetables roast, prepare the wet ingredients by mixing the bottle of cider, the three eggs, and the cream. Pour the wet ingredients over the dried bread to ensure that the liquid gets absorbed.

Once the vegetables finish cooking, remove them from the oven and add salt, pepper, and the diced sage. Mix in the presliced mushrooms. Add the bread and the vegetables to a large casserole dish and gently mix them together. Let all the flavors set overnight in the refridgerator.

The next morning, remove the dish from the refridgerator and cook at 350 for 15 minutes.

My Mom's Grean Beans (15 minutes prep, 20 minutes active)

This dish is truly the easist dish in the world and everyone always loves it! My mom uses fresh grean beans but in the interest of saving time I used canned grean beans.

5 cans of green beans
4 cloves of garlic


These quick and easy green beans taste so good you won't have leftovers.

5 tablespoons flavorless oil such as vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Add the oil to a pan. While the oil heats, crush and chop the onions. Once the oil reaches the right temperature, drop the garlic in and brown them. This will happen quickly so keep an eye on it. Drain the grean beans, rinse them, and drain again thoroughly.

Fry the grean beans for fifteen minutes. Flavor them with the salt and pepper. When they take on the consistency and flavor you like, they are ready to eat!

Pecan Pumpkin Butter Sweet Pototoes (10 minuts prep, 40 minutes active)

This dish takes a becomes a cinch with a jar of gluten free pumpkin butter. Muirhead Foods makes a great one that adds so much flavor. I like to add a jar to something new every thanksgiving to see what delicious creations I can make. It adds so much flavor that you won't feel that this dish does not have any real butter!


You don't have to add any butter but I like a little bit for flavor.

1 jar of pumpkin butter
7 sweet potatos
20 pecan halves for garnish

Boil sweet potatoes with the skin on for 30 minutes. Remove the potatoes and wait until they cool down so they retain their starch and don't leave you with sweet potato soup. Skin the potatos and puree them in a food processor.

Add the pumpkin butter and stir well until evenly mixed. Place in a casserole dish and top with the pecan halves. I like to put a few pats of butter on top of the pecans to help them crisp up while they bake. You can also saute the pecan halves in butter and apple brandy for an extra kick before topping the dish.

Spiced Apple Cider (5 minutes active)



Fill the dutch oven with mulling spices and oranges and let the aromas warm your home!

Make this the day of Thanksgiving. This will scent your kitchen so that guests feel warm and welcome in your home. I use applejack brandy for an American flair, but you can substitute French calvados apple wine.


1 gallon apple juice
1 sliced orange
1/4 cup mulling spices
brandy for mixing

Bring the apple juice to a boil in a large dutch oven with the mulling spices. Add the orange slices on top. Leave the pot on the stove to keep the house smelleing great


Malbec Cranberry Sauce (10 minutes prep, 20 minutes active)

The fruits have so much pectin that this sauce has a nice thick consistency. I like to use lingonberry jam for this sauce because it goes well with my potato pancakes.  I use agave nectar since I prefer alternative and nonsynthetic sugar products, but you can use sugar if your prefer the flavor.

1 jar of lingonberry jam
2 bags of cranberries
2/3 bottle of red wine
orange zest to garnish
1 cup of agave nectar

Boil the red wine in a large pot to steam out some of the wine. Mix in the jar of lingonberry jam. Once the mixture boils, add the cranberries and boil until they burst. Mix in a cup of agave nectar. Garnish the top with some orange zest. Enjoy!

Paleo Walnut Date Truffles

To celebrate the publication of the standards for gluten-free labeling I made some yummy paleo

Here are the truffles before the cocoa coating

style truffles. They remind me of my aunt’s chocolate truffles she always kept in the refrigerator in case she had company. Except the list of ingredients does not include chocolate cake.

My Persian friends always like snacking on walnuts and dates so I was inspired to use those flavors to make my truffle. Initially, I only used those two ingredients with a handful of macaroons tossed in to give the truffles a coconut flavor but the combination had a dry consistency when it went through the food processor. I then added two tablespoons of sunflower seed butter. When I pulsed the ingredients in the blender I had a sticky mess. So I grabbed gluten free cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips from the pantry. I mixed in the chocolate chips by hand, as I remembered they used to do at Cold Stone Creamery, and then rolled the truffles around in some cocoa powder to seal in the moisture, as I remembered they did with their truffles at Bottega Louie.

The outcome, a soft and fudgy filling with a powdery coating. Tastes just like a chocolate truffle! I finished them off with a pretty gold mini cupcake wrappers and put them away in my refrigerator for guests and unexpected visitors to enjoy.

Milky! Update

A month ago I decided to stop nursing. My milk supply began to decrease and I was only pumping to relieve the pressure, not to keep up my supply. My daughter caught on to me and began rejecting formula. Where before she would take a bottle or two of formula a day, she now refused formula mixed with milk. I was in a bind! I had no milk and my daughter was not eating.

I increased my pumping to no avail. I kept getting frustrated, sitting there with barely any success. I had to do something but I didn't know what I could do. I felt like it was a hopeless cause.

That week I went on a walk around the mall and into my favorite store, Destination Maternity, where I met Jennifer. Jennifer was the first person I met in that store when I began showing my baby bump and she set me up with a great wardrobe that made me look and feel good when I was pregnant. Now, almost a year later, she introduced me to a product that changed my motherhood experience again. I had been following Tia Mowry and her gluten intolerant son Cree’s story and I found their new lactation increasing product exclusively sold at DM. I asked the store clerk Jennifer about it and she said Milky! was a new product they just got in. I figured, I had nothing to lose so I picked up a bottle.

That same day I saw a marked increase in my supply. Since then I have been using this product, which you drink twice daily. The gross flavor of other lactogenic teas is masked by a delicious strawberry flavor. This product contains natural herbs including fenugreek for increased milk production and fennel to improve milk let down. I am so happy with the results and am glad to say that Milky! Is now available through the Need products website. I recommend this product to moms who for any reasons have decreased her supply and need to get back her production. I will pick up another week supply to get back into pumping if I spend a weekend being lazy about pumping. Thanks Destination Maternity and Need Brands for creating such a great product!

Lactogenic Tea

I keep reading about this miracle fenugreek in all of the mommy forums touting its ability to improve and increase milk supply. Thinking, I don’t have the time to go and find this weird sounding thing and learn how to prepare it so that this food becomes edible.



My attitude changed when I went to the mall and into one of my favorite stores, Destination Maternity. I almost left without buying anything when I began talking to the sweet girl at the front register who helped me with my first maternity clothes purchase. As I chatted with her I noticed what looked like an energy bottle called Milky with a picture of the Sister Sister girls, Tia and Tamara Mowry. Five months ago I did some research on Tia’s quest to find a gluten-free birthday cake for her son Cree’s first birthday, so I gave it a second look.  Milky claimed to increase milk supply, which I had been struggling with over the last couple months. What did I have to lose? Nothing!

I picked up a bottle and drank it down, right there in the store. The first time I pumped after I found no change. Later that night, I found that my milk production doubled. Magic!

I decided to revisit a recipe for palak paneer that I made last week that included fenugreek (which I previously excluded because I did not know where to find it). I picked up some fenugreek at the Indian spice market in Thousand Oaks.

 

I literally bought them out!

3 Great Grain Free Smoothies

Did you know that babies actually say “wah”?  I tried feeding my little one some rice cereal this week only to find that she got extremely frustrated with me, she wanted to eat the food but could only push the mash out when I put it in her mouth. Half of the food went on her bib, but the other half made it’s way into her mouth. 

I found that having an infant is similar to playing a video game, every time you master a level you are sent to a more difficult level with new challenges. Making good baby food and having her learn to eat it is my new challenge.

I plan on making my daughter’s baby food ahead and freezing it, so I have been experimenting with smoothies to get an idea of flavors and textures. Frozen fruits and vegetables store well, not to mention they make for a nice treat on a hot summer day. So far, these are my favorite adult versions. A friend recommended the Bassomatic  but I decided to use my Magic Bullet instead. This is nice because I can drink straight out of the machine or can be poured into a pretty glass.

Creamy Kale Shake

Combine one cup of frozen (chopped) kale tightly packed, a quarter cup of milk, a tablespoon of sunflower seed butter, and a scoop of chocolate mint chip ice cream (optional) in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Kale has become the new super food, high in iron and vitamin A and C. This smoothie has a nice creamy flavor and will give you a good dose of fiber!

Vitamin C Blend

All the fruits in this recipe are frozen. Blend pineapple, mango, orange juice, and cashews. Cashews give the drinks a creamy flavor but they are optional for a lower calorie version. This drink is so tasty and perfect for a summer day.

Cookie Dough

Add two tablespoons of almond butter to six dates (pitted) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The outcome, a healthy smoothie that even the pickiest eaters will love (and it will actually be good for them too!).

I’m going back to the kitchen to come up with some new combinations. My daughter might not be ready for solid food yet but when she is, I will be ready for her.

Single? Here's Some Novel Dating Sites

Is your love life a little bland? Maybe it’s time to find a summer fling to spice things up. I discovered a few resources for people whose lifestyles revolves around food. The daytime television show The Chew, an answer to foodies who don’t want to watch The View, featured three foodie oriented websites for online dating.

Many people have been turning to the gluten free lifestyle, with a lot of negative responses. While they may or may not have a food allergy, they pay attention to the things that they put in their bodies. Singles With Food Allergies breaks down their website to all the different types of food allergies, gluten, rice, milk, and anything else you can think of. Then, the site allows people with food allergies to find like minded individuals to share in their quest to enjoy life through food. In a society where much of our food has become industrialized it is impossible to really know or understand the contents of our food, which makes finding someone who takes the time to look into ingredients difficult. Joining this great new dating site is free for a limited time.

For vegetarians there’s Veggie Date. They have specialty subsections ranging from Quaker vegetarians to Rastafari vegetarians, to cultural Humanist vegetarians. Joining this site is free!

If you’re looking for a farmer to help you get access to some delicious vegetables there is this website, that also allows “nonfarmers” to join. You might have seen this site advertised during the superbowl and wondered if it is real, I sure did. Knowing that your significant other will not wince at the thought of raising a cow that you will later put on the table may be a turn on… Like they say on their website, “City folks just don’t get it.” I’m a city girl, but someone else might. Farmers Only allows users to join for free for a limited time.

Check out these dating websites and respond on my blog for a chance to win a copy of one of my gluten free cook books. I will be giving away one book every month this summer. Just comment on any post on the blog to enter!

Book Review and Free Kindle Cookbooks!

In honor of National Celiac’s Awareness month I have decided to look back on when I started cooking gluten free foods a little more than two years ago. Converting my recipes gluten free became an obsession.  A close family member was diagnosed with celiac's disease, then I sought to alter my lifestyle so that anything I made could taste good without adding gluten. My journey towards gluten freedom began with buying an endless array of gluten free cookbooks. Now that I have some experience with gluten free cooking, I make alterations to existing recipes rather than pick up a new cookbook. However, every once in a while I come across a good gluten free cookbook with unique ideas worth purchasing.

This morning I opened up some of my mom’s old cook books.  I perused them for some of my favorite recipes.  I wondered, what cook books would my daughter thumb through, with fond memories of the meals we shared together?

Recently I obtained a copy of a great gluten free cookbook from a chef in New Zealand. I have made some of the recipes from the New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook and the food tastes great. The chef, Jim Boswell, doesn’t just take regular recipes and make them gluten free… he found recipes for dishes that contain no gluten ingredients and compiled them into one edition. This book is published by Penguin and is available here. You can also find many of his recipes free on his facebook page. I keep coming back to Mr. Boswell’s book for ideas of dishes to bring to parties.

Also, if you type in gluten free in the kindle reader section on Amazon.com you will see a host free gluten free books. You can also follow the Gluten Freely Frugal blog for a daily list of free kindle books on gluten free cooking.

Three Days of Pasta

I prepared three gluten free pasta dishes made from RP's Fresh Pasta, the best gluten free pasta I ever tasted. Using the pasta crafted by award winning Chef Peter Robertson, I prepared these dishes and no one could tell they were gluten free. Moreover, these pastas can last in the fridge for months and taste just as fresh.

Day One: Buttery Spinach Fettuccini

The spinach pasta I received from RP’s Fresh Pasta came out firm and delicious after cooking. I prepared the noodles slightly al dente. For the sauce I combined half a stick of butter and some walnut oil in a shallow saucepan to make a butter sauce. I added a stalk of green onion, minced, to the sauce and then added two splashes of Sancerre wine. After adding some salt and pepper I shared it with my family. Everyone, including those without gluten allergies, was amazed that the pasta was gluten free. These pastas were created by a pasta chef and use brown rice, tapioca flour, and potato starch to make the perfect consistency. Looking forward to day two!

Day Two: Angry Fussilli Pasta

An ode to the arrabiata, I took a sweet twist on the spicy tomato sauce. I caramelized some onions in black truffle oil. When the onions were caramelized I added some prepared tomato sauce. The “angry” addition was three tablespoons of the Tunisian chili sauce called Harissa. After the sauce cooked to my liking I poured it over one package of cooked RP’s fusilli pasta.  Spicy and delicious.

Day Three: Roye’s Linguini

My brother decided to help me prepare this batch of linguini right before going out for NYE. I had some leftover oyster mushrooms and had read that sautéing them in butter gives them the flavor of shrimp. My brother decided to take charge and prepared the mushrooms, threw in the fungus with some pine nuts and kept them on medium heat until they browned. Then he added some garlic and salt to give it flavor. Finally, we added the al dente linguini to the sauce and sautéed it with some parmesan cheese. I plated the dish with some extra parmesan on top. Benissimo. 

Burbank's Gluten Free Market, Pam MacD's

After seeing Pam MacD’s Gluten Free Market featured in Los Angeles Magazine’s article of gluten free places to check out in Los Angeles, I decided to do just that! I had been in this Burbank store before but the sparse shelves seemed sad and empty. Since it was featured in the magazine along with two other gluten free stores I figured, maybe it was worth a second look.

I learned that Los Angeles Magazine is not the only ones giving Pam MacD’s attention. Tia Mowry dropped by to pick up some ingredients to make her son Cree a gluten free birthday cake for his first birthday. The Cake Divas in Beverly Hills were used to craft baby Cree’s amazing gluten free vanilla cake adorned with a real sized Elmo on top.

The idea behind the store:

When I paid Pam MacD’s a visit, I had a chance to speak with the proprietor Pam Macdonald and her staff. A main hope behind the store is to normalize the shopping experience for people with food allergies. This store allows people with gluten intolerance and celiac to have everything, from cakes to cookies to prepared meals. There is nothing that people with food allergies cannot find.  

Samples of some of the products to try

To assure the safety of all her products, Pam and her staff puts each one through a strict “illicit test.” Pam MacDonald explains that much of the gluten free products sold in stores are junk. The labeling laws for gluten free products in the United States fail to require a low level of gluten. Countries across Europe have stricter labeling laws because gluten intolerance and celiac disease are more prevalent. Most notably, in the United Kingdom all manufacturers have to comply with the labeling laws passed. The labeling law in the UK had a grace period which expired two weeks ago. Now all residents of the UK with gluten intolerance and celiac can enjoy products labeled gluten free without the worry that they will experience repercussions of hidden gluten in their products later on. Products certified as gluten free in the UK can contain up to 20mg of gluten per kg of a product, which is a tolerable amount for celiacs according to studies.

Megan recommends the
almond cookies 

Until the United States finalizes its gluten labeling laws, Pam provides her shoppers with some pointers for taste and safety. She said to avoid chips that can have gluten in the flavoring and other cookies and breads. When asked which bread she prefers flavorwise, she said without hesitation, Kinnikinnik. I picked up a loaf of this Canadian company and found that it is better than the Udi’s brand that I prefer. The loaf is actually a normal size and suitable for making sandwiches that look like regular sandwiches.

Gluten free gift baskets are a great
gift for the holidays 

What to look for in the future:

Pam MacD’s will make access to gluten free products all over Los Angeles more available. She plans on expanding to locations including Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, northern San Diego, and possibly southern Orange County. Also, there is talk of branding special Pam MacD’s products. Now that they have a good idea of the product mix that is tasty and safe they plan on picking it up and dropping it into the other locations across southern California.

In March Pam MacDonald will be speaking with Robyn O’Brien, the author of “The Unhealthy Truth” at the Natural Foods Expo West. Robyn received a Fulbright grant for her work and her exciting studies featured in a Ted Talks Forum. Look for her and Pam MacDonald at the convention in Anaheim. It is one of the largest conventions for natural food in the country.

Pam MacD’s is a great place for nutritionists to meet with their clients or browse through the aisles and recommend a food regimen. A comfortable lounge in the front provides a location to hang out and read current literature on celiac’s disease. The community bulletin board in the entrance of the store is also full of useful information.  

Goat Cheese and Chive Latkes

Last year, I made these gluten free latkes for a friend’s holiday party. I barely got to eat one and they all disappeared. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

I have tried a few iterations of this delicious Hanukah treat, including a zucchini strings version, and found that this is the tastiest one so far.

Goat Cheese and Chive Latkes

-          3 large potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold

-          2 large egg whites

-          ½ cup rice flour

-          ½ cup crumbled fresh goat cheese

-          2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

-          1 teaspoon salt

-          ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

-          Grapeseed oil for frying

Fry latkes until just golden brown

Grate the potatoes and rinse them until the water running through it is clear. Squeeze the potatoes dry and pat down with a kitchen towel. Put the potatoes in a large bowl and add the egg whites, rice flour, goat cheese, chives, salt and pepper.

Heat grapeseed oil in a pan on medium-high. Scoop ½ cup of the potato mixture and drop into the pan. Flatten the potato mixture with whatever you used to scoop it. Repeat spacing the cakes but filling the pan as much as possible. Fry the cakes until golden brown, three to four minutes. Flip and fry on the other side for 2-3 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pan and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato mixture. 

Sweet Broom of the Intestines

The broom of the intestines, otherwise known as shirataki noodles in the US seem to have swept the gluten free diet community. What are these “miracle noodles”?

My sister recently made a batch of clear noodles with some soy sauce and splenda. She says she has been eating it all the time while she is away at school. With zero calories, it’s satisfying effects fit right into her low calorie diet. I have to give her credit for her ability to keep the calories down, but now I know her secret. These noodles are great!

I experimented with some recipes [1]and this is what I came across. Replacing the soy sauce with tamari sauce makes the dish gluten free.

Shirataki noodles are high in a soluble fiber called glucomannan[2]. The noodles come from a vegetable called a Japanese yam or kannyaku in Japanese. They have been used for centuries in Japan for weight loss and constipation. You can find these noodles at Asian markets or in the tofu aisles of most super markets for around $1.29. Make sure to choose the pure yam noodles and not the variety with tofu if you want to make a zero calorie meal.

Sweet Shirataki Noodles

-          1 cup cloud ear mushrooms

-          ¾ cup tamari sauce

-          4 tbsp brown sugar

-          1 tbsp pepper

-          7 oz shirataki noodles

-          A stalk of chives

The noodles out of the bag will have a fishy smell. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them for two minutes in cold water.

Dry fry the shirataki noodles in a frying pan. Add the tamari sauce and cloud ear mushrooms. Allow the soy sauce to evaporate as you finish dry frying the noodles. Add the sugar to the mixture and allow the crystals to melt.

Dice the chives and mix half into the noodles. The other half can be used to garnish the dish.

Easy as pie and delicious. Serve while hot. Can be reheated.

---

[1] http://www.livestrong.com/article/279267-are-shirataki-noodles-gluten-free/

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucomannan

Halloween Goodies 2012

Here are some fun Halloween treats that I made for my Halloween party.

Graveyard Brownie

Multicolored Modeling Chocolate
Bob's Red Mill gluten free brownie mix
One chocolate cookie (for headstone)
Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Black and purple decorating sugar

Sculpt a skeleton, mouse, mushrooms, and pumpkins from modeling chocolate. Place modeling chocolate in the refrigerator to harden.

Bake the brownie cake according to the package instructions. Let cool for half an hour. Frost with fudge frosting. Sprinkle black and purple sugar to make the frosting look like earth.



Remove modeling chocolate from refrigerator and assemble atop the cake to look like a grave.
Enjoy!

Scare Cakes
Gluten-free Cake Mix
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks butter
Halloween themed candy sprinkles
Halloween decorations on toothpicks

Prepare cake mix in cupcake wrappers according to baking instructions. Let cool for half an hour.

Cream cheese frosting: Add the cream cheese, sugar, and butter to a bowl. Mix until even and creamy in texture.

Using a spatula, spread the frosting over the cupcakes. Decorate with Halloween themed candies. Push the toothpicks into the top of the cupcakes for the finishing touch.











Dried Zombie Skins

This one is simple. Buy some dried sea weed and put it on a plate with a sign marked dried zombie skins. It looks cool, is easy to prepare, and people can wrap cheese and veggies inside.

Gluten Free Turkey Day

Having failed the bar exam, I am back at it again. So, no road trips on the horizon. But that does leave time for a lot of cooking. I often take out my frustration on the kitchen, which leads to less tension in my house because the result is often a nice dinner for my family.

I was responsible for much of the thanksgiving cooking this year because we went to a friend’s house and brought most of the guests over.

Thanksgiving 2011 Menu:

• Acorn squash stuffed with quinoa
• Potatoes au gratin
• Cornbread in mini thanksgiving shapes
• Sweet potato pie

Acorn squash quinoa recipe:

Ingredients:

4 acorn squashes
2 stalks of celery
1 sweet onion
1 ½ stick of butter
¾ cup of cranberries
salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

1. Dice up celery and onion. Melt one stick of butter and sauté celery and onion in a large pot. Add cranberries to the mixture once it has browned. Season to taste.
2. Add two cups of quinoa and four cups of water. Let it cook for 20 minutes or until the quinoa seeds have absorbed all of the water. Set the quinoa stuffing aside.
3. 

   

   Acorn squash is hard to slice so I
   had to enlist a helper in the kitchen

   Cut squashes in half and remove seeds. Melt ½ stick of butter in the microwave until soft.
4. Preheat your oven to 375 °F. Take butter and smooth over the surface of the squash halves. Place squash facing down on a nonstick baking sheet and let cook for 20 minutes. Flip squash to opposite side and let cook for another 15 minutes. Remove squash halves.
5. Stuff squash halves with the quinoa mixture and place back on the nonstick baking sheet. Replace squash halves in the oven for another 40 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!

Finally made it to Portland!

Be aware that wheat free is not the same as gluten free 

Finally made it to Portland! Yesterday my friend Aaron emailed me saying, “you seem to have immersed yourself in a campaign against gluten… what gives?” Well…good question. am I doing this trip? Part of me needed to get away and just let my car drive wherever it wants to, and maybe let my brain do the same. Having just taken the bar I had the need to get away from the place where I kept to a strict routine of studying twelve hours a day. Though the exam was over, I still felt that I needed to get away. Not eating gluten  has made me feel healthier, even though I may or may  not have a gluten allergy, for the simple reason that I am watching what goes into my food.

So I answered him, “It seemed like a cool thing to do.” With celiac’s disease diagnosis on the rise, and gluten allergy awareness higher than ever before, it seemed like an interesting goal for my little adventure.

Doing a little job searching

So it goes, now I'm a little more than halfway through my trip. Here's a recap of the last couple of days:  

On Friday I drove out to San Francisco with my sister (who actually did the driving).We stopped at what seemed like a coffee shop in the trendy Knob Hill area called Sugar Café. 

Sugar Cafe at night

This spot actually turned into a lounge on us as the evening wore on, with dimmed lights and a cozy fireplace. After a bit of sipping iced green tea and a bit of napping, my sister’s friend who just moved up to the city met us at the café. 

Knob Hill Thai restaurant

From there we went to a Thai restaurant and had some yummy gluten free food. It turns out that most Thai food is a safe bet for a gluten free diet because Thai cuisine uses rice noodles and instead of soy sauce (which has gluten)nd the food was affordable! they use oyster sauce. Everything tasted delicious, the atmosphere was great, the company was the best, a the food gluten free!

Guava Jarrito and taquitos rancheros, yum!

Saturday morning we headed to brunch at the quaint Black Bear Diner with some friends. If any of you have been there you know that breakfast there feels like a cross between critter country and an upscale IHOP. Food was great, I had a farmer’s scramble which came with sweet fresh fruit. Knowing that I had a long drive the next morning I opted to stay in for the evening and prepare some gluten free bon-bons for my sister and her roommate as a thank you for showing me a great time. As I sat around reading Julie and Julia, I felt a deeper sense of respect for Julia Childs and almost wanted to try all of the recipes from her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After a couple of hours of making the bon-bons I decided against the idea.

The next day I slept in, (I only woke up at 7!) so quickly got up and got dressed. My sister woke up, half asleep, and we said goodbye as I finished up my breakfast. Then I was out the door. The drive began. The five freeway has much more impressive scenery the further up north you get. I drove straight past Ashland and stopped in the next town over. In Medford I picked up a tasty little (?) snack of taquitos rancheros, which I ate as I kept driving. And kept driving. Finally, around 4:30 pm I made it to my first real stop in Coravallis, which is where Oregon State University is located and so is my hotel. I checked in and got back on the road to Portland, this time the drive only took an hour.

Finally I made it! I was in Portland. Of course I stopped at a Starbucks. A whole city of great gluten free options and I choose Starbucks. I guess after such a long drive, being very far from home, I relished the thought of being in a comfortable and familiar place. As I sat in the small coffee shop downtown, I looked into some dinner options. Eat Pizza had a "like" from NPR on facebook and the menu sounded good so I drove a couple of miles to the restaurant.  

Exhausted, I sat down in the kitchen area on a stool by the pizza cooks. Three young guys took my order, showed me their pizza making skills, and let me take pictures of the kitchen! I ordered the buffalo chicken gluten free pizza. Wanting to stay and chat with the pizza chefs about Portland, I decided it was probably a better idea to get back to the hotel because I might pass out in the middle of my pie.

Somehow, as you can imagine, I was too tired to make it to the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest. Can’t get everything on a tight schedule, but I will come back another year to check it out! Hopefully there will be a better selection of gluten free beer by then.

On to Bend, Oregon this morning and then to Crater Lake National Park which is in central Oregon.

Halloween Bon Bons:

1. Prepare a gluten free muffin or cake mix according to instructions. I added some chocolate chips and finely diced strawberries.

2. Generously butter the pan, it will help getting the cake out later. Follow baking instructions. Three quarters of the way through flip the cake over in the pan to get it cooked throughout.

3. Cut off the crust of the cake and crumble the insides into a bowl.

Halloween bon bons :D

4. Using half of the crumbs, prepare one inch balls. Add a half of a shot of whiskey to the rest of the crumbles. Form one inch balls with the remaining crumbles.

5. Leave the balls in freezer for one hour. Take out four at a time to coat. I melted some purple molding chocolate to cover the regular balls and covered the whiskey balls with sprinkles and purple sugar.

6. Serve and enjoy!

I'll be gone till (september)

As I was packing up my car at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, I realized I was packing up my life. It might have been the early hour but I felt something momentous about putting my luggage in the trunk of my little Honda. I was embarking on a trip, on my own. A road trip all by myself. Given, I would be spending a good chunk of time with my sister, I still had quite a trip ahead of me. I knew the perfect distraction to pass the time. My favorite about part road trips has to be the music. I remember growing up we would have four or five albums in the car stereo (Backstreet boys, N*SYNC, The Strokes, Matchbox 20, and some assorted Hebrew music). I knew the lyrics to those albums backwards and forwards. I thought for a while about what music I would listen to and settled on a book of mix tapes (a.k.a. my favorite mixed c.d.s).

When I moved back home I spent a couple of weeks reorganizing my room, well, it was more like a couple of months. Every time I moved my furniture I would find something I hadn’t seen in years. But the best find was definitely my c.d. collection. Yes compact discs will be an obsolete technology in the near future but those songs are a patchwork of history, each album related to a different period in my life. I listened to mixed c.d.’s boys I liked made me and those I made for myself, each time revisiting those relationships. Most of all, I loved the mixed c.d.s my sister made me (she has always been the cooler sister).

Driving down the 101 south at the break of dawn, I needed something to pick me up. The first c.d. I popped in my stereo began with Wyclef Jean’s Gone ‘till November. A little bit of Alicia Keys, a little bit of T.I… what a great mix! Thanks sis, you know exactly what I love. Before I knew it, five hours had passed and I was already in Santa Snella where I stopped to grab a bite. Yes, I had Pea Soup Andersons again, what can I say, I love me some pea soup!

I made it to Davis in record time, but the drive made me pretty exhausted. My sister showed me around but it didn’t take very long. I planned to head out to Sacramento today but another drive sounded exhausting. Just lazying around the city today… picked up some groceries for a yummy gluten free dinner from an amazing grocery store called “Nugget” that carries organic and health food products within a modest price range.  Looking forward to going to San Francisco tomorrow and the farmer’s market in town on Saturday! Then, Portland, Bend, and maybe Redding! Somehow I have to get back to Los Angeles by September 27, since I promised my mom I would be back for our family dinner that night. So my little adventure begins…

West Coast Itinerary Set

Planning a road trip is a little more complicated than just getting into my car and driving off, I am slowly finding out. Having just come from Missouri, I need to change my plates. But before I change my plates, I have to get my (new) car smog checked. Then the check engine light comes on. Then I go to the DMV and lo and behold, the VIN on my lease does not match my registration.

Well, working on the VIN issue may take a while but at least it turned out the check engine symbol was really a maintenance light telling me it’s time for my first oil change. Honda is quite the efficient company. Too bad they couldn’t get my lease right!

Anyways, back to the fun stuff!

First part of the road trip set: LA  Santa Cruz  Davis  San Francisco  Ashland  Portland

Having a ginormous merengue and perusing some travel books at Champagne Bakery and Cafe, where I worked in high school

Looking forward to seeing some beautiful places and grabbing some delicious treats along the way!

86 the Gluten and the Cheese



Small g free snack at the Reagan Library that kept me going.

My employed friends all had a day off Monday, but no plans for the long weekend... that means impromptu day trips!

First was a trip to the Reagan Library Friday (that was a trip I made by myself), then there was the Malibu day with a couple of girlfriends, and finally, there was Solvang and the famous Pea Soup Andersons!

With all these events planned, I figured that this weekend would be an opportunity to test the waters with the gluten free road trip.


Damn, those tortilla chips had gluten. Going to restaurants is tough because you never know what they’re going to serve you. I took a daytrip with my friend Jane yesterday to the Danish town of Solvang to try the pea soup at Pea Soup Andersen's Restaurant and ordered one of the things on the menu I know usually is "g free," nachos! I asked them to 86 the cheese and to put avocado’s instead. My eyes beaming with pride when the delicious nachos came out, I showed my friend how easy it was to order a gluten free dish! Of course, I doused them with hot sauce and salsa.

But, to my dismay, the nachos were not made of corn, but of flour! What was I to do. I just ate around the nachos. Eating around the gluten may be an option for those with a minor gluten allergy, but not for someone with celiacs.

For someone with celiacs a mistake like that means eating what you ordered and suffering from a stomach ache all night. Or, even worse for someone who recently only found out they have a gluten allergy, having to explain to the waitress to take the food back because they have a "disease" that does not allow them to eat wheat.

To avoid this situation entirely, be sure to ask for a gluten free menu. Most chains will have a special separate menu listing the items that do not have gluten or list the modifications that can be made so that the dishes could be gluten free. Good examples are Chili’s, P.F. Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Outback Steakhouse, … (the list goes on).

Vacationers who don’t want to worry about finding a gluten free restaurant can go to a supermarket or Costco before heading out for the day and grab lots of food, stick it in a cooler, and set out for the day. Yesterday, a couple of my friends came to visit and I took them on a tour of Malibu… you know, all the beach spots that locals love. Though I was watching my gluten intake before, it was the first day I really tried to eliminate every trace of gluten from my diet. So, we went to Costco and grabbed some margarita mix, a couple platters of sushi, asparagus hummus dip, some potato chips, and any other g free snacks we found. Armed with all of our supplies, we headed to Leo Carillo to start our lazy beach day. It was packed with windsurfers surfers because of the big waves, making the view even more amazing (there were at least fifteen at any given time!). I had so much fun on my beach day escape from the real world with two of my favorite girlfriends!

My lazy weekend turned out a great success. I got my fill of beach time in and a nice bronze tan (or as close to bronze as I could get). Oh, and the pea soup was delicious!

Great find: Aebleskiver pan to make gluten free treats at home!

Tune in next week and I’ll have my official travel plans for the west coast leg of the trip