Gluten Free Paleo Sheperd's Pie

This was even better than it looked. It had been eons since I had had a Sheperd's Pie, and I completely had a hankering whilst on my paleo diet. A little bit of internet research, and I had sorted out my approach to making it without proper potato.

Top Layer:

The very top layer is actually cauliflower. I boiled half a head of cauliflower and then blended it in my smoothie blender (an actual blender or food processor would do much better, however I had to work with what I have).

Second Layer:

One mashed Yam. Boil. Mash. It's so easy. 

Third (Meaty) Layer:

The heart of the sheperd's pie - the meat! For my meaty layer I used:

• 1 small onion diced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 carrots diced
• 1 lbs ground turkey
• a bit of salt

Cook the onion first with the extra virgin olive oil. Then the carrot. Then the turkey. Once it's all browned, put into an over safe ceramic dish (I used my la creuset) and pour in about 1/4-1/3 cup of chicken broth . Then spread on the yam layer, and finally, the cauliflower. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then enjoy!

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi is one of those recipes that I have been making for age - even BGF (before gluten-free). In fact, it was one of the first recipes I tried to make GF. Even now, I can easily find gnocchi in my freezer section, there really isn't anything better than the homemade version. It's super easy to make, although a bit time consuming. I wanted to try a different spin on this favorite of mine, so I thought I would try to make sweet potato gnocchi. 

It starts with the potatoes. I had a 3lbs bag of sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's, minus one potato I had used to make fries. I decided to just make them all for a big batch of gnocchi. I started by skinning and cutting up the sweet potatoes. Then I boiled until cooked through and mashed them. Just like you would with normal potatoes right.

I let the mashed sweet potato cool for a while then I added the following:

• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups white rice flour (plus more for rolling)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 1 tsp-ish salt

Mix well. Don't be afraid to get in there with clean hands. Once that dough is all sorted, it's time to make it gnocchi shaped. You have so many options to go with here. I've taken tiny spoons to make dumpling shaped, rolled and cut, and rolled and cut with making a fork impression to get the lines. I chose the later this time. Rolling and cutting is certainly the fastest option, but really choose whichever suits your fancy. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and dusted with rice flour. You can stack as needed. Once you are done, freeze for an hour or two until they are sufficently frozen. Then put them all into a big freezer bag (or multiple freezer bag already rationed to serving sizes). 

To cook:

Simply boil water, oil and salt. Put the gnocchi in, and when it floats to the top it's ready (5-7 minutes) and serve with your favorite sauce. Great as a main or as a side. 

Healthy Baked Sweet Potato Fries | Paleo Friendly

Potatoes are a staple food in my diet. Basically they are the reason why being paleo didn't work for me, although I did get to enjoy yams and sweet potatoes on that diet. I just find normal potatoes have the most possibility in terms of cooking them. However, sweet potatos and yams do lend themselves nicely to my favors form of potoato - the french fry!

I like to take the 'fry' portion out though as I bake mine. It's much less calories, and instead of being a bad food they can be a healthful and delicious. 

Making them is really easy. For each portion you'd like to serve cut up one sweet potato or yam into fry shaped pieces. Then give a very light spray of extra virgin olive oil (or your preferred cooking fat), and dust with cinnamon, sea salt and a bit of nutmeg or tumeric. Then bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes (depends on how thick you cut them) flipping over half way through. Have on their own as a snack or serve as a side. They're fantastic either way!

What To Do If You've Been Glutened

Maybe you were at a restaurant, maybe at a group dinner, maybe for some reason you just did not read the ingredients list, or maybe you did the worst thing and (gasp) willingly ate gluten. And you have that moment of realization - you've been glutened. For me, I can tell about 30 minutes later when my stomach bloats an insane amount (ah the gluten baby look) and start feeling nauseous. 

While there is nothing you can do be be un-glutened, there are a few tricks I've picked up to reduce the amount of suffering afterwards.

• Don't panic. Easy to say, hard not to do. Stressing about the fact that it happened will not help. Identify why it happened and you will have learned a lesson.
• Hydrate. Lots of water. Flush that system out. Drink 10-12 cups a day following.
• Only healthy gluten free foods to follow. Avoid any foods that will cause any other distress to you, for me that means dairy. If anything else bothers you don't have it while you are symptomatic. 
• Eat or drink ginger. Ginger tea or gingerale will help ease your stomach. Also if you can add ginger to your meals.
• Peppermint tea. I list this just because I always want it when I don't feel good. Also I get acid reflux after being glutened, so it helps soothe my throat.
• OTC remedies. Tylenol for headaches, or Advil which is an anti-inflammatory to help headaches and joint pain. Cortisone cream for rashes. Tums for stomach upset. Immodium or Pepto for stomach upset. I've had a few people tell me to take charcoal pills to help grab the gluten and get it out but I haven't tried it yet. Typically I avoid medicines unless absolutely needed - being glutened is one of those times I will go to town. 
• Exercise. It will help you have more energy and is always just good for you. 
• Sleep and relax. Let your body heal.

Depending on the amount I have had and how much I follow all my own advise I generally will be symptomatic for at least 5 days and up to two weeks. I know some gluten bigots who are okay after 3 days. No matter how long, just stay calm and do what you need to to fell better.

Do you have any post-gluten tricks I didn't list above? Leave them in the comments.

Gluten Free Hell's Kitchen | Kyotofu

I love dessert. Like serious love. I have such as major sweet tooth, so finding good desserts is always really high on my list. This is why I am surprised Kyotofu did not hit my radar until last week. Wanting dessert, and wanting to try something different, my husband and I hit the internet and he suggested Kyotofu. I had seen it in searches before but had never investigated what it was as he's not a massive fan of Japanese food. Well, it's Japanese, specializing in Japanese dessert with about half the menu being marked gluten free. This he had no qualms about and we decided to go.

Walking in, it was obvious this was a place I should have come to long ago - they had a whole case of gluten free pastries including cookies and muffins. 

We were seated and both ordered the green tea brulee. I'm a sucker for creme brulee which made this sound amazing. The presentation was amazing (top photo). The brulee was incredible. A bit odd at first because it was very green tea-y, but as long as you're a fan of green tea you'll be into it. It was less sweet than a typical creme brulee, but had a very nice amount of sweetness that was not over the top and definitely enjoyable. The vanilla bean cream on the side was also very nice, and well complimented the brulee. To put it this way, I had no trouble cleaning off this plate. Will definitely be back, and highly recommend to those in the city. 

Do you have a favorite dessert place in the city?

Gluten Free Apple Crumble

Whenever the weather is cold, or freezing like it has been in New York lately, I always want hot desserts. One on particularly cold day, I happened to have a few apples kicking around which needed to be consumed so I decided to try making a GF apple crumble.

For the apple portion I used:

• 4 apples, skinned and cut up into pieces.
• A good dusting of cinnamon (to taste)
• 1 tbsp of honey

I simply mixed all those items together in a la creuset pan, then added about 1/4 cup of water to help the apples cook. Then in a small bowl I mixed together the ingredients for the toppings:

• 1 packet of Glutenfreeda original quick oatmeal (I didn't have GF oats, and I must say it worked well in my pinch.
• 1/4 cup raw organic cane sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a bit of nutmeg and salt

I added the topping to the apples as evenly as I could and baked for about 50 minutes at 375F. The result was delicious! I served it with a bit of whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon all over everything - though that is optional if you don't enjoy cinnamon as much as I. The leftovers also reheated nicely.

Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan & Conte's Pasta Review

What says comfort meal more than a meal that includes gluten free chicken parmensan and  spinach and cheese ravioli? Well, it screams it for carb junkies like me!

My hubby is a fan of chicken parmesan, so I decided to go all out one night: gluten free ravioli with homemade tomato sauce (which I will write about another day, it's so amazing and easy to make it truly deserves its own post), chicken parmesan, and a nice spinach salad. 

Chicken: 

The chicken is really easy to make. First, preheat your oven to 375F. Trim the yucky bits off the chicken, and cut the breasts in half (this is rich so you'll probably only want half). Then prepare your 'dipping stations':

• White rice flour (or any GF flour you have really)
• One egg, mixed
• 2-3 tbsp GF breadcrumbs (I used Kinnikinnick), 2-3 tbsp grated Parmesan, 1 tsp parsley, and a bit of tumeric just because it's good for you. It should be evenly mixed.

Then all you do is coat the chicken in flour, dip into the egg, then throuoghly coat with the breading/cheese mixture. I cooked mine in a la creuset pan, but any oven proof pan will do. 10 minutes on each side should do it (always cut in to check). For the last two minutes, top with tomato sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan until the cheese is melted.

Conte's Pasta (Product Review):

I've enjoyed Conte's Pasta several times since finding it first at G-Free NYC, and subsequently buying at Westerly. I always have their spinach and cheese ravioli - I haven't tried any other of their products, but am a massive fan of this one. 

When I went gluten free I sorely missed stuffed pasta. Sure, I make gnocchi for myself and I do enjoy that, but I've never ventured to make ravioli or tortellini or anything like that, so I was really excited when I found Conte's. If you haven't tried it yet I definitely recommend their ravioli. 

Healthy Paleo Breakfast Idea

I had remade my favorite flatbread recipe with the intention of using it to make wraps, but one morning the mood struck me to make a crepe. Crepes are such as nice breakfast, and super easy if you have the flatbread already prepared.

All I did was swipe on 1 tbsp of chocolate almond butter, cut up one banana, and sprinkled with 1 tsp of coconut flakes. Wanting to have it warm I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and enjoyed. I must say I was really happy with the result, and have made it a few more times (last time with apple and cinnamon! So delicious!

What's your favorite quick breakfast dish?

Gluten Free Paleo Empanadas

As part of my dabbling with the paleo diet I decided I would attempt to make empanadas, primarily because I had a wicked empanada craving and the ones I eat are corn based. Empanadas have become one of my favorite foods since discovering them about a year ago. 

Using this recipe as inspiration I started off by making the dough. Being quite stingy with my almond flour I decided to makes some substitutions. I don't highly recommend as the dough was a bit difficult to work with, but did taste nice at the end of the process:

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp xanthum gum
• 3 large eggs + 2tbsp egg whites
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil

SImply put all ingredients into bowl and mix with stand or hand mixer. I had to get in there and give it a good knead as well until it was just a big ball. I wrapped it up in saran wrap and refrigerated while I prepared the filling. 

Cook the vegetables first

Speaking of the filling, I used:

• One small onion diced finely
• 4 carrots diced
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 3 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 lbs extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup organic tomato sauce
• 1 tsp parley
• 1 tsp chipotle pepper



Then spices, beef & tomato sauce

• salt and pepper to taste

Cook the above over a medium-high heat. I cooked the vegetables first (about 7 minutes), then added the ground beef, spices and tomato sauce. Once the beef is browned, reduce heat to medium and make sure it is cooked well (about 15 minutes or so).

Now it's time for the painfully annoying assembly. Preheat your oven to 400F at this point. I had to tweak my dough recipe at this point (revisions already listed above). I wanted nice clean lines so I used a 3 1/2 inch diameter circle cookie cutter to cut my dough once rolled out. I also used a lot of flour when rolling as it really did love sticking to my counter. My first few were atrocious and more resembled murdered empanadas (see left), however I got the hang of it after a few and ended up redoing my first few.

Once they're all assembled brush the tops with either egg whites or a beaten egg. Then bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes until they are nice and browned. 

My yield was 16 empanadas, which stored nicely in both the fridge and freezer. To reheat, just put into 400F oven for about 8-10 minutes (de-thaw first if frozen). Nice on their own, or with a massive salad for a meal.

Gluten Free Upper East Side | Lumi

Have you ever gone somewhere you really wanted to like but just really didn't like it? You know, where the place is cute, there is a dedicated gluten free menu which good options, the food is good, but the service is just so astonishingly bad you know you'll never bring yourself to go back? 

Yep, that was Lumi for me.

I went last weekend as a belated Valentine's Dinner with my hubby. The restaurant itself is quite lovely, nice big windows so you can people watch as you dine. Nice decor, feels a bit posh. However, at half eight on a Friday night it was half dead (a terrible sign on this island). Upon seating we were brought water right away, promptly after receiving menus our waiter was back to take a drink order (I hadn't even gotten to look at the menu yet), but it was down hill from there.

Buffalo Caprese with my hubby's mojito and
my cocobrise

We ordered drinks, which were good (I had the cocobrise pictured left). To start we ordered the insalate caprese to share. Unfortunately they had taken my utensils away when clearing extra place settings at our table. We asked for utensils none came. We asked our waiter. He was very apologetic and said he would get some right away. Then loitered at the bar for a few minutes before he did. No harm though I suppose as it was a cold dish. But still annoying. 

My pasta, it was actually really good.

For my main I had rich spaghetti with spicy sausage and peas. It sounds odd as I've never had pasta with peas but it was actually really nice. However, once I was done eating, it sat in front of me for 15 minutes before I finally was able to flag someone to pack up the rest for me. Then they didn't actually bring it to me. When we had a waiter bring the bill we had to ask for it. Complete fail. We would have had dessert but their gluten free dessert options are really limited, and at that point I decided I would rather go elsewhere for a treat than order something I didn't really fancy and suffer slow/spotty service any longer. 

If you are on the Upper East Side, this is an option. I would order a deliver from here as the food itself was good. But if you choose to go and dine, just be prepared for the spotty service, and know that even as a gluten bigot you have many other good options in the city.

Paleo Sunday Brunch

As much fun as it is to go out for brunch, making it at home can be just as lovely. Of course cooking at home has the added benefit of you fully controlling your ingredients and caloric intake (ftw).

A big of a back story - I have never successfully made an omelet using a frying pan. I can make them in those microwave containers - but not properly.  However, coming in from the gym last weekend, my husband who typically makes brunch was in the shower and I was absolutely starving so I decided to give omelet making another go. I love conquering tasks I fail at - and this time the results were fantastic!

Bacon:

I cooked Trader Joe's Apple Smoke Bacon (uncured). It is mine and my husband's favorite store bought. In fact whenever I go to TJ's I buy an embarrassing amount. I cooked it in the oven at 375F for 10 minutes on each side.

Omelets:

I started off by preparing what I wanted in my omelet - avocado and onion. I also took the opportunity to slice up a cucumber. Then in a small mixing bowl I mixed four eggs (I was making two omelets) with a few tablespoons of unsweetened coconut milk, salt and pepper using my hand mixer. I mixed it really really well (get that air in there), while I preheated my two mall frying pans on the cooker over a low-medium heat. I then poured half the batter in one, half into the other. As they cooked I lifted the edges slightly and tilted the pan so the uncooked part could get to the bottom to cook. Once cooked, I added my filling in and folded in half and continued to cook for a few more minutes on each side.

For once my results were fantastic. I'm not a massive egg fan but I really enjoyed the omelet. It also met the husband stamp of approval as he ate all of his (my last attempt he had refused to eat). 

What's your favorite make at home brunch?

Update | Breaking Paleo

A couple weeks ago I wrote about kicking off Paleo February. I've gotten to discover some new recipes (yay!) and learn a least a little bit about the Paleo diet. I love that it has led me to organic grass fed meat (so much better for you and the environment). I also received a compliment on my skin, I've lost a couple of pounds and at one point thought I was getting a cold but successfully fended it off without actually getting sick, so I think it has had an actual impact on my overall well being and health.

However, I track everything I eat using My Fitness Pal (amazing app - totally recommend), and in the couple of weeks I've gone paleo my carb intake has been really low - and I've felt it. My energy just isn't what it needs to be / typically is. To state the obvious, I could increase my vegetable intake to inflate this, but I know I will end up increasing my fruit intake (and sugar) instead. If I didn't miss potatoes so much I really would make more of an effort of maintaining a strict paleo diet, but I don't think that it is the best fit for me. I will still play with paleo recipes and make paleo meals (I still have a few posts about what I made so stay tuned for those).

That said, I do think that this is a really healthful way of eating, and it does not exclude all cheese and chocolate which are massive wins in my books. There are so many option with paleo, and I do agree with the science behind it. I've met people who absolutely love being paleo as it makes them feel amazing which was really my driver to try it out. 

Anytime you're making decisions regarding the parameters of what you will and won't eat be it gluten, meat, dairy, sugar, etc I think the best thing to do is find what works for you. If you force a 'diet' and you don't enjoy it, you'll never stick to it and it won't make you happy.

I think my next step will really to be making clean eating more of a regular thing - I felt really good during my Janurary detox and immediately noticed a difference I ate bad fats and sugar again. I also think going dairy free will need to be a permanent decision for me as I've noticed that to be the biggest differentiator. I'm trying to decide if I should do vegan March (very on the fence at this point) and what my more permanent solution to healthy and clean eating will be. One thing I know for sure is I don't want to fall back into ordering takeaways all the time.

Gluten Free Product Review | Feel Good Foods

Interesting fact about me: I am a massive fan of all asian cuisine. Unfortunately so much of it contains gluten (even if only a result of the soy sauce), so I rarely get to enjoy my favorites. One of my absolute favorites was gyoza/pot stickers. I could eat copious quantities of these, so I was pretty depressed when I went GF that I no longer got to.

That is until I discovered Feel Good Foods. I first found them in G-Free NYC, and now purchase at Westerly Natural Food Market. I have purchased only two of their products, but I have purchased them repeatedly. 

First, the pork dumplings. These are the same as gyoza/pot stickers. They are very easy to make, fool proof really, and taste spot on the their gluten containing brethren.  If you loved gyoza previously you must give these a go. These are a great side dish for a nice stir fry.

Second, the vegetable egg rolls. To preface this, back in m gluten days I absolutely despised the oven ready variety you could buy in store and basically would never eat them. However, these once are actually quite nice and don't have that over processed taste you can find with the pre-made variety. Very exciting. I like to cook these as a side to an asian inspired meal, I've also made them when ordering in GF Chinese where egg rolls were not an option from the restaurant. 

Happy Valentine's Day | Paleo Cupcakes

With pearls. I think they look so lovely!

Purchased at Sur La Table

Okay, well maybe not entirely paleo, but the base and most of the frosting is! Last weekend I had a wander around Sur La Table as there is one close to where I live and I completely had cabin fever otherwise. I needed a cutting board, and a bit of scope creep later I had a bag full o' goodies, including this adorable Paris inspired cupcake liners I thought would be precious for Valentine's Day cupcakes. Plus my husband and I have an upcoming trip to Paris so I thought it was quite fitting as well. 

So obviously I just needed to make cupcakes. I was going to make one of my usual recipes, but decided instead to find a paleo recipe using coconut flour which I did here. They looked so lovely in the photographs and the recipe sounded good so I used it as the basis and made it my own:

• 1/2 rounded cup coconut flour
• 4 lg eggs
• 4 tbsp egg whites
• 1/3 cup organic raw cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lavendar extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

As with all my favorite recipes, dump ingredients into a bowl and mix well with hand mixer. Put the cups into your muffin pan, and then fill using an ice cream scoop (an even scoop without excess yielded me 12 cupcakes). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so. Let cool completely.

Icing / Frosting (Paleo!):

I found this recipe for paleo cream cheese frosting (yah I just said paleo cream cheese frosting). I made half the recipe and subbed 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp lavendar extract for the vanilla. I will not leave you in suspense it was delicious.

Fondant (not paleo):

I really wanted to make this batch my fanciest batch of cupcakes yet, so I decided to try making fondant to use on top. I found this recipe for uncooked fondant and decided to make it. I halved the recipe as I really just wanted to make a few hearts to place on top. 

Decorative:

I bought an WIlton's icing color in rose to make half my icing and my fondant bright pink. Mind yourself with this stuff, it will dye your hands and you will need to do some good scrubbing to get it out. I also used Wilton's white sugar pearl sprinkles on half my cupcakes. Note on both of these: neither contains gluten ingredients but do bare the possibility of being made on the same equipment as item that contain wheat, so use with caution if you're intolerant or celiac (I've not had a problem with either, doesn't mean you won't or I won't in future). Omit these things if you  want to keep them paleo.

The fondant I colored and cut some pieces into hearts. The remainder is in my fridge until I figure out what to do with it. The other half I dyed the icing and then carefully decorated with pearls. See below for cupcake-food-porn shots. 

Right after icing, pre-pearls

The complete set

I didn't have a cutter for the hearts so I free handed with a very
sharp knife. Not bad for my first go at fondant I'd say!

Hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day. Are you making any treats for the occassion?

Gluten Free Paleo Meal | Curry Chicken

During the winter months I always crave certain foods - one of them being curry. It is such a nice comfort food, and the smell of the spices cooking is absolutely divine. As a massive plus it is gluten free and paleo naturally. 

Instead of ordering in a chicken curry, I taken making my own. I don't have a proper recipe for it, but use about the following quantities:

• 1/2 onion chopped up
• 2-3 tsp /2-3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 lbs chicken breast chopped into smaller pieces as photographed.
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 3 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• Optional: 2 cups spinach, 1/2 bell pepper

Over a medium heat, cooked onions with oil until they are almost clear. Add garlic, curry paste and curry powder and cook for about 30-60 seconds before adding in coconut milk. Stir. Add remaining spices and chicken, cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until chicken is cooked 20-30 minutes. If you are adding peppers and spinach, add these half way through cooking (about 10 minutes).

I typically serve with rice, but to make paleo I actually enjoyed with a side of yam fries the other day. An interesting pairing to say the least.

Gluten Free Paleo Treat | Pumpkin Donuts with Chocolate Drizzle

Since I had left over pumpkin from making pumpkin muffins the other day I decided to make some gluten free / paleo pumpkin donuts on Friday night as I was staying in from the storm. The fact that it was cold and nothing heats my apartment up quite like using the oven happened to be a greatly appreciated bonus. 

Using this recipe as inspiration, I decided to make the base portion and top as I saw fit.

The recipe is easy, simply put all ingredients into a bowl and mix:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree from can
• 2 eggs (I used cold ones - living on the edge I know)
• 2 tbsp of your favorite fat, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 3 tbsp maple syrup (honey would work too)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• Pinch of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger 
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

I put my dough into a plastic bag to facilitate putting it cleanly into the greased donut pan, however this dough is quite thick and my ziploc bags kept exploding until finally I decided to double bag it. The fact that it took 2 exploding for me to figure this out is another story. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. 

Once I removed them I cooled the pan upside down on my cooling rack for about 10 minutes. About 3 of them fell out of the pan without being provoked (aside from being upside down). I let cool entirely, then I melted some chocolate chips and drizzled the chocolate on top.

The results were fantastic, the donuts are properly doughy and soft like a donut should be! I enjoyed one right away with a cup of coconut milk hot chocolate (using carob). It was a perfect comfort food on a snowy night indoors, and a recipe that can really be enjoyed whenever you want to!

Paleo Stuffed Red Peppers

For some reason I love meal items that have their own 'packaging.' Wraps, perogies, and as above stuffed red peppers.

While I typically enjoy stuffed peppers with either ground beef or turkey, my favorite vegetables, parmesan cheese and rice, my current paleo diet challenge does omit rice. I didn't think it would be the same without some sort of filler, so I did some internet research and identified cauliflower as an alternate. 

My paleo version consistent of ground turkey, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin, tomato sauce, and half a head of cauliflower. I cooked that in a pan, filled red pepper halves, and then baked in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. The great thing about this recipe is you get to choose how much and of what you include. They are nice reheated the next day as well if you have left overs.

If you want to be really fancy you could just cut the tops off of the peppers, I just find they are a bit hard to eat that way. You can also jazz up your presentation a bit by using more than one color of bell pepper.

I usually serve a really big salad on the side. This time I decided to grill some asparagus while the peppers cooked.

Gluten Free Snack | GF Chex Mix

Just to put it out there right away, I am a massive fan of Chex Mix. Snacks that have diversity and garlic are always going to win me over. Obviously as a celiac I can't just go and buy GF Chex mix, so luckily for me it is quite simple to make. 

You'll need:

The ingredients

• 7 cups Gluten Free Chex (Rice or Corn)
• 2 cups of Nature's Path Whole O's gluten free cereal
• 2 cups of Glutino pretzels (sticks or twists)
• 1-1.5 cups of unsalted peanuts
• 2-3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 5-6 tbsp extravirgin olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

To I usually start, preheat your oven to 250F. Get a big bow and add the peanuts, worcestershire sauce and olive oil into a large bowl. I do this because I don't like putting the wet ingredients on top of the others which could get soggy. 

Next, I add the Whole O's and pretzels. I prefer the twist pretzels, but my husband prefers the sticks. So I am a nice wife most of the time and use the sticks to make him happy.

Finally, I add the Chex and the seasoning (garlic powder, onion salt, and sea salt). Once all ingredients are in the bowl it will be quite full, so mindfully stir. The more time you take to mix everything together the more even the sauce and seasonings will be. The last time I made it I took a good five minutes to stir.

Once you are happy with the amount of stirring, or you are just tired of it, dump everything onto the biggest cookie sheet you have. Spread evenly. Then bake for an hour, giving it a good stir once every 15 minutes. Resist or endulge in bites each time you take it out for a stir. 

Then enjoy! I serve in 1/2 cup portions as it's not the healthiest snack (although it is not unhealthy either), though I usually give my husband a bit more. 

Hers and His portions