Picture
Pretty in Pink Gluten Free Granola ~ Easy, affordable, healthy, and delish!


Will you be my Valentine?

I made granola for you. Not just any old granola, either.

For you, only the very best gluten free healthy granola. Except, it doesn’t taste healthy. It tastes like guilty granola. It’s magic...sort of.

4 Comments
 
 
Picture
You'll never eat mayo from the jar again!
Avo Mayo
1 ripe avocado
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black peper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 Tablespoons light olive oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in the bowl of your food processor and blend until pureed. You will need to scrape down the sides several times to insure all avocado is pureed. 

When the mixture is smooth, drizzle the oil slowly into the processor while blending. Be patient - if you add the oil all at once or too fast, you will not achieve the rich creamy mayo-like texture that you're looking for.

Use immediately, or store in fridge for 3-5 days tightly covered. It may keep longer, but it never stays around my fridge long enough to find out. 
Picture
Perfect for a sandwich!
Also try my Avo Mayo in these Deviled Eggs!


Coming soon!

The announcement for my February webinar and topic is coming this week! I don't want to give it away, but if you are gluten free AND dairy free, or if you're gluten free and considering going dairy free, this webinar is for you! You won't believe what I did in the name of science and the results will SHOCK you!  Be sure to sign up for my FREE E-LETTER by CLICKING HERE to be among the first to receive these exciting details!!


Let's Connect

Comments about a specific post or recipe? 
Share it in the “comments” section below!

Questions? 
Click here to check out my ALL NEW FAQs and you might just find your answer!

If not, email me: mailbox (at) glutenfreegigi (dot) com. 

I’m always happy to hear from you, but need to ask for your understanding and patience when it comes to responding. I receive lots of email these days, which I love, but it can be challenging sometimes to respond to each one. I answer as many of your questions as possible in my How-To videos and posts so everyone can benefit. Keep watching my videos and website for my answer to YOUR question! 

Follow Along...
On Twitter and "Like" me on Facebook! 

You can also check out my boards on Pinterest and find out what I’m posting on Google+! 

These are places I like to go have fun and share what’s going on in the Gluten Free Test Kitchen and in my HOME Kitchen! 

I love following you, too! Make sure you let me know you’re out there! 

~g~

Thanks for taking time to visit! Come back for my weekly recipe and how-to video posts on Tuesdays and useful "A Side of Science" articles on Thursdays. If you don't, I'll miss you!

My mission here at GlutenFreeGigi.com is to share my experience and knowledge to make gluten free living easy and accessible for everyone. I can help you navigate your gluten free life with ease and confidence because I understand how challenging it can be! Click here to learn more about who I am and my gluten free story.

I’m super-excited to have YOU here!

The journey doesn't seem nearly as long when you share it with folks you like... I'm glad you're sharing the gluten free journey with me! 

P.S. --  Click here to sign up for my free e-Letter so you don't miss a thing!  
7 Comments
 
 
Picture
You can still find organic kale in markets & these chips will make you wonder why you didn't make them sooner!
With spring in full swing, organic kale from my garden will be a thing of the past for months. An early blast of heat from the South's furnace sealed the deal - all remaining plants will be bitter and once again, appreciated only for their aesthetic contribution to the garden.

Lucky for me, I harvested just before the heat stole my fortune! That final batch is always the best thanks to the sweetening effects of the final frost of the season. Fitting, isn't it? Nature presents you with her best and sweetest, leaving you with an it's worth the wait feeling to get you through until next winter's first harvest.

So, what did I do with that precious bundle of curly emerald greens? I did what any gal would do...I got right in the chips!
6 Comments
 
 
Picture
I thought these were beautiful and brilliant when I saw Heidi's post over at Adventures of A Gluten-Free Mom. If you have never visited her site, you must! She has a wonderful collection of recipes as well as information on living gluten-free and allergy-aware.

I haven't eaten a REAL Pop-Tart(TM) since ...well...um...let's just say it's been a while. I don't even remember them all that fondly, either. As a matter of fact, I stopped eating them long before I rid my life of gluten. But when I saw the gorgeous pastries that Heidi made and realized they were free of all my offending foods, I suddenly developed a craving for these babies. However, I didn't think I would make them so soon. I mean, I'm a busy girl, and I've got LOTS of "must-do" baking this week. There's my brother's birthday and there are 3 October Angel Cakes to bake. No time for Pop Tarts, right? Wrong.

Yesterday there was time, because I made time. And let me be as forthcoming as possible. It was not because I have toaster pastry-starved children drooling over the colorful boxes of the sugar-crusted grocery store variety of this treat. It was not because I want to be the perfect mother and go above and beyond the parental call of duty to make a nutritionally superior snack for my dear children. No,  I made these "not Pop Tarts", as I like to call them, for me, me, me. 

Quite simply, I was hungry. Starving, actually. It was after 2pm, and all I had eaten the entire day was a Glutino Strawberry Breakfast Bar (thank YOU Glutino for the samples at Atlanta Gluten-free Vendor Fair last month!). And that was prior to 8am. Why such a gap in between feedings? Invasive dental procedure #5 (in just under 4 weeks) occurred at 9:30am. Consider yourself fortunate that this is a blog about delicious food and NOT about the other aspects of my life because I could go on and on about the dental at this point (ag-o-ny!).

But back to the not Pop Tarts. They came into existence in my kitchen because I was hungry, and I felt that I deserved to have whatever I thought I could eat at that point. The first thing to "pop" into my head was that striking picture from Heidi's site. I had to make them. And am I ever glad I did! They are spectacular little treats, and so easy to put together! I hope you'll try them, and I hope you'll visit Heidi's site to see hers - they are MUCH more attractive than mine, but hey...it was a fun distraction and a nice treat in the midst of my pain, and my kiddos benefitted, too (yes! you know I shared!!).

I did change things a bit. I did not use a packaged gluten-free flour mix - I'm not much on mixes - I just prefer to make my own mixes and blends and experiment (usually a guarantee for multiple attempts, but that's ok by me). And I added a little honey to my dough. I did not use shortening at all, mainly because I didn't have any in the house. I haven't bought shortening in ...years?...ever? As you can imagine, I did have plenty of Earth Balance Soy-Free buttery spread around, so I used it for all the fat in the recipe. I concocted a filling of my own (see Honey Apple Filling recipe at the end of this post) for half the tarts and used a seedless organic blackberry all fruit conserve for the other half.

I followed Heidi's link for method and baking time with great results, but I'll include my info here as well.

Gluten-Dairy-Egg-Soy-Nut-Free Not Pop Tarts
3 1/2 c. gluten-free flour blend*see below
6 ounces Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 c. ice water (and possibly an additional tablespoon or 2, if dough is too dry)
Rice milk for tops of tarts before baking
sprinkles, sugars, or frosting of your choice
Fillings of your choice

Oven: 350
Cookie sheet, lightly greased

Cut Earth Balance into flour until small crumbs form. Drizzle honey over top, and add the water. Gently stir until mixture comes together into a soft dough. Roll dough between sheets of wax paper or parchment until approximately 1/8 -inch thickness (or just over). Peel off top sheet, cut dough (I used a pizza cutter) into sections that are approximately 4x7-inches (you will be folding these over after filling) and transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet. To tranfer dough and keep it from falling apart, I simply flipped the bottom wax paper sheet (with dough on it) onto the cookie sheet (dough side down, wax paper side up) after making my cuts and discarding the rough edges, then I peeled away the wax paper. To fill the tarts, I placed a tablespoon or 2 (eyeball this, don't over-fill) of the filling on one half of the dough rectangle and spread it slightly (but not to edges). I used a small spatula to lift one edge of the dough in order to fold it over. Crimp edges with a fork to seal, brush tops lightly with rice milk and decorate with sugars or sprinkles (if you're using them), then bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until edges become slightly golden (overbaking = tough pastry). After the tarts cool slightly, drizzle with glaze (made from a bit of confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract, and enough milk to achieve "drizzle" consistency) if you wish.

I definitely recommend that you check out Heidi's site and the original recipe link that she provides, and also that you give these tarts a try. And I love the filling ideas from Smitten Kitchen (not gluten-free recipes, but a site that I love and so will you!).

*Here's the flour blend that I used for this recipe:
2 parts white rice flour
1 part EACH: sweet sorghum flour, millet flour, potato starch
Whisk until thoroughly blended.
Note: I think I'd like to try these with a blend that has more sorghum and less rice flour. I love the sorghum, especially in baked goods!

And my Honey-Apple filling:
1/2 c. honey (I used a dark, floral honey from a local producer)
1 c. organic unsweetened applesauce
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 -1/2 t. mace
pinch sea salt
1 T. potato starch
1 t. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occassionally. When mixture begins to boil, stir so that it does not stick and allow to just come to a full boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. The mixture will be thick and spreadable.
Picture



This recipe is linked to Mom's Crazy Cooking: This Week's Cravings - Kid Friendly Recipes - Check it out!
4 Comments