In my pre-coeliac days, canapés were a doddle. Even on a budget. The day before a party I would buy the cheapest bread from the supermarket, cut out as many circles of bread as I could get out of each slice, dip them in olive oil and press them into pattie tins or mini muffin tins and bake. I would end up with hundreds of little crisp toasts that kept overnight in a sealed box ready to be topped with an array of fresh toppings throughout the evening.
These days, that isn’t an option! Gluten free bread is too expensive to buy, too small to get more than 2 circles out of (with a lot of wastage), and frequently too crumbly to use. Home made is better – but that is an awful lot of bread to make, slice and cut. Just not practical – especially when you have no fridge or kitchen space – or time – for advanced prep because you are running a supperclub!
So this week I was left wondering what I could use as canapé bases for our Christmas Party that would be a) gluten free b) economical c) effective and these are my top three suggestions:
In the spirit of the giving season, Gluten Free Works is excited to bring to your attention a special fundraiser we are helping promote this week for a great gluten-free cause!
This week only, your gift of just $2 will provide $4 toward scholarships for children to attend a gluten-free summer camp hosted by the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF) next summer in Southern California.
Gluten-Free Saver has partnered with Van’s Natural Foods to raise money to send children to next summer’s CDF-sponsored summer camp. The summer camp will be held in San Bernardino in Southern California from July 30 to August 3, 2012, and it’s open to all 7-15 year old gluten intolerant and gluten-sensitive children – not just those diagnosed with celiac disease. (more…)
Candy canes can make any cake or cupcake turn into a magical winter treat. All you need to do is take some gluten-free candy canes (click here to see my favorite brand) and crush them up. Sprinkle them on top of your favorite frosted treat and you will end up with a beautiful creation that looks like it is from a bakery.
Some of my favorite ways to use the candy canes:
1. Make a vanilla cake from your favorite mix. Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the batter. Bake and allow to cool. Frost with frosting (I like the Betty Crocker canned frostings). Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. (more…)
What’s the problem with how traditional caramel corn is made? The primary ingredients are usually corn syrup and refined white sugar (not at all beneficial to our health or mood). Also, you often have to fight to keep the caramel corn on the baking sheets as you stir it during baking. All these problems have been solved with this new recipe. Natural sweeteners replace the corn syrup and white sugar and the mixture is baked in a casserole dish. Easy and yummy! I’m also always amazed by how large a batch is made with such a small amount of ingredients.
Pop ½ cup of popcorn (produces 2-3 quarts of popcorn)
3 Tbsp. coconut oil/butter
1/3 cup honey and/or maple syrup (more…)
Fruit Cake seems to be one of those things that you either love, or you hate. Personally I also find them really hard to bake and not have them dry out, so this year was a double challenge to make the perfect gluten free fruit cake without it drying out. Like most recipes it’s a personal taste on what you’d like to add, obviously if you have a nut allergy you can exclude those. If you like your cake frosted with frosting you can also do that too.
It’s a season of love, joy, peace. . . and stress? For those us with restricted diets, the holidays can be a struggle, especially when we are sharing meals with those who don’t adhere to the same eating style as we do. So how do we survive the holidays without sacrificing good times or our well-being?
It’s sad, but true, that many people who follow a specific diet (out of need or choice) opt to “check out” of holiday gatherings. Relationships are of such central importance in our lives, however, that we really shouldn’t let our dietary choices limit our interactions with others. I’m happy to share that our family has successfully hosted holiday meals in our home for years and we’ve attended family gatherings and (more…)
It’s that time of year again… when you allow yourself to bake with real butter… and lots of it! At first I was planning to make this recipe with margarine (since that’s what I had), but my mom adamantly informed me that shortbread is made with REAL BUTTER, and anything less is sacrilege. It’s Christmas after all, right? But what if I would rather not gain ten pounds over the holidays? Apparently buttlerless shortbread cookies are not an option. And I’m not sure that eating less of them is an option either… these things seem to call your name from the freezer. (more…)
We asked people on on the Glutenfreeworks Twitter account how they felt about whether finding out earlier about their gluten sensitivity or celiac disease would have affected their lives.
Here is what they said.
Do you think your life would have been different if you had known about gluten at an early age???
@Glutenfreeworks incredibly. My senior year of high school probably wouldn’t be going so poorly if I had…. (more…)
Welcome to Monday, December 12, 2011. Only 13 days until Christmas! For all of you out there (this includes me) who haven’t finished your shopping, it is time to get busy! Right now I am out running 8-10 miles to help motivate myself to knock out the rest of my shopping later on today. Not sure yet if that will include in person or online shopping – it depends on how I feel.
With Hannah home sick with the stomach flu, I had plenty of time to catch up on all things online. I found some great gluten-free tidbits and plan to share one of them now with you guys! Are you ready? Ta-da….
Kinnikinnick is now offering some new mixes just in time for the holiday season. These mixes include: (more…)
It is well documented that only a small minority of those with celiac disease are successfully diagnosed in a medical setting.
Gluten sensitivity, which we based on medical research and proposed in Recognizing Celiac Disease in 2007, has only recently been accepted as a true medical condition. So we decided to hold an informal survey to see just how people are becoming gluten-free? How are they finding out that gluten sensitivity or celiac disease are the cause of their health problems and are doctors diagnosing them or are they figuring it out on their own?
We posted this question to our GlutenFreeWorks Facebook friends and here are their answers. Were YOU diagnosed by a doctor? Leave your comments below!(more…)
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