Recipes

For me breakfast is the hardest meal of the day. For starters, I get up at 4:00 am and I just can’t eat that early, so I normally take something with me and eat it on my way to campus. My breakfasts usually consist of a Greek yogurt or a scone that I have baked.  This is also the only meal that I get jealous of people without celiac disease, because they could eat just about anything they wanted for breakfast. We with celiac do not have the convenience of stopping at Starbucks (which we have two on campus) to grab something quick to eat.

Making eggs, or pancakes in the morning is just not an option.  It would take too long, can’t really eat it on the go, and I would take the risk of making too Read More »

Not only is this meal easy, it’s delicious and gluten free. Surprise your family one night by having them walk in the house to the smell of lasagna, coming from the slow cooker!

This dish can be ready in less than 3 hours. If you will be gone most of the day, make sure to set the slow cooker to Low.

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Lasagna

Ingredients: Read More »

This is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made and its incredibly easy and impossible to mess up and of course, gluten free.

I have been trying things out of Alicia Silverstone’s book, The Kind Diet: A simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. All of the recipes are vegan, but they also use awesome alternatives to using refined sugar all while still enjoying delicious treats. Read More »

I may have mentioned how much I love the Whole Foods Recipes app a time or two dozen on here. It’s very user friendly and has a great bank of recipes. I particularly like the Flourless Brownies because they’re made with a secret ingredient: black beans. That’s right, you use a can of unsalted black beans (that have been well rinsed and drained) instead of flour. Every once in a while I get experimental and try the beans-for-flour sub in other recipes, but lately I’ve been playing around with this one trying to make it… better. Read More »

When you are looking for an elegant dish that you can serve to both adults and kids, try this one. The recipe is courtesy of Aida Mollenkamp from her book “Keys to the Kitchen” (see the interview and blog post here).  I made it for Christmas Dinner this past holiday and everyone raved.

Now, if you notice, the recipe is far from dairy-free so it was off-limits for my daughter (however, there are dairy substitutes below). I didn’t really think it was going to be her thing, so after sauteing the chicken, I put some aside for her and proceeded with the recipe. If you know me, I’m not one to make two meals but I do accommodate her special diet by being just a little creative. I promise, it’s possible.

After reviewing Aida’s book, this one really stuck out. However, being The Family Chef, I had to put my own spin on it and make it a bit more family friendly. It’s naturally gluten-free and absolutely delicious. If you need some of your own keys in the kitchen, check out Aida’s book.

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Gluten-free Chocolate Truffle Cookies Image 2012 (c) Teri Lee Gruss

What makes these gluten-free cookies so good? They are moist and delicious and taste like brownies! But what really sets this recipe apart is the small amount of flour, sugar and butter called for, especially compared to most cookie recipes.

Based on a recipe for “Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Sea Salt” from Ghirardelli Chocolates, our recipe calls for a healthy measure of chopped walnuts and we’ve omitted the additional sea salt called for in Ghirardelli’s original recipe.

After baking be sure to let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before using a spatula to remove them to a wire rack. Place the cooled cookies in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for an extra chewy brownie-like texture and Read More »

Photo: Amy Fothergill 2011

Today, when I went to the grocery store, I was inspired by the produce. I didn’t really have a plan; I just put it all in my cart. I also grabbed a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs as my kids love this as a protein.

I think that it’s great to have a stack of recipes on hand but at the same time, so much of it is just cooking. Can you guess all of cooking methods I used in the photo? They are shredding, marinating and grilling, steaming and roasting. Each item didn’t take very long so if you can multi-task, it’s easy to put together a dinner like this. Here’s how I did it:

BBQ Chicken- I placed the chicken breasts in a glass pan and added bbq sauce. The marinating time is quick so you can leave the chicken out for 20 minutes while you prepare the other dishes. My favorite is Read More »

Yesterday I mentioned that I was trying something different. I love Elana Amsterdam‘s recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, only I make it with coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil and maple syrup (the good stuff!) in lieu of agave because I hate agave. But everything else is the same, unless I sub out a handful of the almond flour for coconut flour. This makes more of a dense, soft cookie that doesn’t spread when baked.

I’m the kind of person who usually wants something sweet after dinner, and chocolate should be involved somehow. When I don’t have a healthier alternative, I eat junk. I decided to stop buying junk earlier this year, so I make this recipe all the time.

While eating these cookies, I get ideas. Such as, what would they be like as a crust? Could I make them bigger and really thin, then shape/roll them like brandy snaps? How would they do sandwiched together with chocolate ganache or some other kind of filling? And so on.

Instead of just making more chocolate chip cookies, yesterday I decided to see if I could bake the dough as one big rectangle and make bar cookies out of it. Read More »