Lifestyle

Pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust. Photo: Finecooking.com

People will try anything to make their favorite desserts, appetizers, snacks and meals with pumpkin during the fall, but with a gluten allergy or Celiac Disease, enjoying pumpkin pies Read More »

To take a load off of your plate for the upcoming Thanksgiving preparation, here is a game plan for a quick and easy side-dish that will absolutely delight the palates of your family and friends.

Balsamic Glazed Roasted Vegetables

Read More »

Guess what I was doing the other day?  Browsing Twitter!  Imagine that?   I was instantly drawn to these Easy Cinnamon Muffins that Jo-Lynne shared.  I knew that Jon would love them, so I pre-heated my oven and got down to work.

Jo-Lynne’s recipe is not gluten-free, so I converted it to be gluten-free using Gluten-Free Bisquick.  Since the GF Bisquick already has leavening & salt in it, I omitted the baking powder & salt in her recipe.  Hindsight says that this may have not been the wisest choice, but the end result was fantastic, so I am not too worried about it.  Adding the Read More »

Alexandra Grablewski Getty Images

Tacos! Drive thru beef and chicken, crunchy or soft may be our most familiar tacos – staples of a fast food diet. But if you’ve never had a fish taco, I content that you’ve never enjoyed the best taco of all.

From South America, across Arizona and up to Alaska, fish tacos are routinely on restaurant menus, even at airports and most home cooks have their very own favorite versions.

Fish tacos, in all their regional variations are a  culinary sensation.One you shouldn’t miss out on just because you don’t frequent these locales. They are incredibly easy to make at home.

Gluten-free tortillas are easy to find in local groceries.

This makes constructing a perfectly delicious gluten-free fish taco pretty darned easy in under 30 minutes.

The best fish tacos I have eaten are made with Alaskan halibut or mahi-mahi. Spicy coleslaw and fusion mayonnaise (spicy, often citrus flavored mayo)  are the icing on the cake, when it comes to dressing up a fish taco.

Here’s a recipe for my version of gluten-free fish tacos, just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Add a side of homemade guacamole and pico de gallo and be prepared to enjoy. Viva tacos de Read More »

Do you ever wonder where you can buy gluten-free grains and flours for a discount? Check out your local ethnic markets for terrific prices and variety.

One of the most frustrating aspects of being on a gluten-free diet is the cost of food.  Whether you are buying a prepared food or a bag of flour, the prices seem to be higher than “regular” food.

Next time you drive past an ethnic market or grocery store, stop in and see what they have to offer. Asian markets offer various rice flours.  Middle Eastern and Indian markets provide a wide variety of bean flours and alternative grains.  Read More »

The following questions and answers were developed by the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School:

Q. What is it like for a person you see who is newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease?
A. The gluten-free diet requires more preparation, taking food with you when you travel, making sure that you are safe in dining-out situations or when you are visiting with family or friends. So for some, it is very simple and straight forward and they are already experimenting with new grains like amaranth, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, and teff. But some people are Read More »

When you have a child diagnosed with a severe food allergy it can be extremely challenging to help them feel comfortable and safe in social situations.  While living with food allergies may always present challenges there are a few things you can do as a parent to help your child manage their fears and anxieties.

First and foremost…you must try and remain as calm as you can, while still watching out for them.  When you get very worked up  and anxious in front of your child, they feel this and it passes on to them.  Teach them to be cautious and what to watch out for, but Read More »

Ever get tired of cooking? Or maybe you live alone and don’t enjoy cooking for one?

One of the best lessons I’ve learned while being gluten-free is that in order to eat the best you possibly can, you’ve got to cook it yourself. You know that gluten-free doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, so you can’t count on just purchasing products to meet the nutritional needs of your body. But I think you already know that, right? (If you don’t, consider one of these options for learning more about being gluten-free AND healthy!)

Though you know you need to cook, I’ve heard the full spectrum of why people get into a rut and feel like they just can’t make cooking a priority. Whether you Read More »

Celiac Disease (CD) is not curable, but it is manageable by eating a strict gluten free diet.  That may not be enough.

Many suffering from CD still feel ill even after being faithful to a gluten free diet.  Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease which causes your body to attack and destroy the microvilli and villi in your small intestines.  These are key to the absorption of nutrients from food and are also where many enzymes used in digestion are made.  When these are destroyed, the ability to absorb nutrients decreases and can lead to malnutrition.

This is not all that happens in a damaged intestine.  Gluten can cause the tight junctions, spaces between cells lining the intestines, to be damaged or destroyed allowing larger molecules such as proteins and even microorganisms to pass into the blood stream.

Under normal circumstances, the intestinal wall only permits small particles to pass through the intestinal wall and into the blood stream. When these larger molecules make it through into the blood stream our bodies do not recognize these  larger molecules and an autoimmune response begins.  It is these autoimmune responses that may be the cause of you still feeling ill.  What needs to happen to feel well again, is to heal the gut.

Is your kitchen a gathering place?

The kitchen is a natural place for people of all ages and backgrounds to share stories and flavors.

When transitioning to eating gluten-free, cooking and meeting in the kitchen will probably change.

It means double checking each addition to a dish or scrambling to make sure there is no cross-contamination. Read More »