These gluten free strawberry muffins came out amazing. Using the Stonyfield Farm Strawberry yogurt added the extra flavor *umph* that made these muffins delicious.

• 2 cups gluten free flour mix*
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Stonyfield Farm Strawberry Yogurt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and xanthan gum. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Toss strawberries into the flour mixture. Then pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Yields: 18 muffins

*Gluten free flour mix

3 parts white rice flour
3 parts brown rice flour
2 parts potato starch
1 part tapioca flour

This gluten free pasta salad is an amazing side dish for sandwiches, grilled chicken or have a bowl all by itself as a snack. The Mrs. Leepers Pasta Noodles have great flavor and texture.

Ingredients:

1. Mrs. Leepers vegetable twist pasta noodles (cooked)
2. 1 bunch of broccoli chopped
3. 2 stalks of celery chopped
4. 1 carrot chopped
5. 1 can of sliced black olives (2.25 oz)
6. 4 oz of cheddar cheese sliced in small cubes
7. 1/2 cup Marzetti’s Sweet Italian dressing (it’s unreal how good this is)
8. 1/2 cup of Good Seasons All Natural Italian salad dressing

Instructions:
Cook pasta, chop vegetables and slice cheese. Mix all ingredients in a bowl along with the salad dressing. Optional: Add sliced pepperoni.

It has been hard trying to get a chocolate chip cookie recipe together that everyone enjoys. Cookies and cake are a staple in our house and this recipe has finally brought chocolate chip cookies to the table.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 Cup Quinoa Flour
1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Shortening
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Gluten-Free Vanilla Powder (1 tsp liquid Vanilla Extract)
1 package Gluten Free Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Mix Quinoa Flour, All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Xanthan Gum and Salt.
2. In a separate large bowl blend Shortening, Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar.
3. Mix in Eggs and Vanilla to Shortening mix.
4. Slowly add Flour mix to the Shortening mix until it is well blended
5. Scoop cookies into a tablespoon sized ball and place on greased cookie sheet(s)
6. Place cookies into 375 degree oven for about 10 to 13 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe is a modification of a recipe found in Living Without.

This Peanut Butter Fingers recipe was kept in the family for ages. We made a few tweaks to make it gluten free and it is just as yummy as the non gluten free version. We also made these with Soynut butter and they tasted equally amazing.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Butter or Margerine
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 Cup of Peanut Butter or Soynut Butter
• 1 Cup of Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour Blend
• 1 Cup of Rolled Oats
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/8 tsp Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Vanilla Powder (1/4 tsp of liquid vanilla)
• Enjoy Life Foods Gluten-Free Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar.
3. Mix in eggs and peanut butter (or soynut butter)
4. Continue mixing in flour, oats, baking soda, salt and vanilla
5. Grease 9×13 pan and place mixture into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes
6. Pull from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over top
7. Place back in oven for 2-4 minutes or until chocolate chips have melted.
8. Remove from oven, allow to cool and cut into desired pieces.

One of the challenges we run into when going out to eat is finding gluten free options. Usually you will have to be satisfied with a salad, steak or chicken. This is not necessarily a bad thing but there seems to be only a tiny handful of restaurants that actually go the extra mile to make dining a pleasure when on a gluten free diet. Uno’s Chicago Grill is one of those places. Before making the move to gluten free we would frequent Uno’s because the food and atmosphere were great. Now with their gluten free menu we are continually impressed with their offerings and from our research they have the biggest gluten free menu of any chain restaurant in our area.

Uno’s offers numerous gluten free steak and chicken recipes, vegetable, rice and potato sides, and the normal salads. Uno’s then goes a couple steps further in offering gluten free pizzas (3 of them), frozen drinks and Redbridge a gluten free beer.

It is so refreshing to see restaurants accommodating dietary requirements. It is even more refreshing to see the restaurants embrace the gluten free community and cater to our needs. Ryan’s comments after eating the gluten free pepperoni pizza from Uno’s, “Mommy, I really like this pizza. I like it better than yours!”

Track down your closest Uno’s and give the gluten free menu a try. Store Locater

This Stuffed Shell recipe came out tasting amazing. Combine it with some gluten free garlic bread and you will have a very tasty meal.

Recommended Shells
1 pkg. Brown Rice Grand Shells by Tinkyada

Shell Stuffing

• 1 bunch fresh chopped spinach, cooked
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• Salt & ground black pepper
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese, Romano optional
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Sauce

• ¼ cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbs. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. parsley
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Rub the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with olive oil.

In boiling water cook the shells, drain and transfer to cold water. Follow the directions on the package for cooking.

For the sauce, melt ¼ cup butter over medium heat. Mix 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 tbs. of cornstarch, add, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add ½ tsp. of garlic powder, ½ tsp. of parsley, and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.

In a bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, salt and pepper, spinach, parmesan, and spice. After filling each shell with filling, gently set them in the baking dish, cut sides up. Spread sauce over all and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top. Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Sue dug up this crepe recipe from a blog called kill.the.gluten. The two women bloggers deal with Celiac disease each in their own way and they have devised a number of great gluten free recipes.

Being huge fans of “breakfast for dinner” we jumped right into the recipe pouring crepe after crepe and wrapping sliced bananas inside. We whipped up some whipped cream and put a dollop on each crepe. Needless to say we and both our boys devoured all the crepes in no time. I kind of wished we cooked up some bacon or sausage which would have made the meal complete.

Great Rice Flour for many of your baking recipes: Authentic Foods Bette’s Featherlite Gluten-Free Rice Flour Blend

One thing I am a sucker for is dessert. There are meals where I just want to get the main course finished so I can jump into dessert. The credit for this dessert goes to two great companies that produce gluten free products with amazing flavor and quality.

Brownie: The Gluten-Free Pantry Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix

The brownies came out amazing and you would not know they were gluten free. I’m actually eating my second helping as I write this. The batch we made is chewy and rich in chocolate flavor.

Ice Cream: Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla Ice Cream

Not only is the vanilla ice cream gluten-free but it is also nut-free (another of my son’s allergies). When we made the move to gluten free we did a little research testing ice creams. In my opinion, Edy’s is one of the top brands on the market. Other Slow Churned flavors that are gluten-free and nut-free include: Chocolate, Caramel Delight, Coffee, Mint Chocolate Chip and Strawberry. Always check the label before making your decision because product ingredients sometimes change. The ice cream is made in equipment that is also used to process peanut products.

A great mid-morning or afternoon snack these Gluten Free Granola Bars really hit the spot. It really is a great combination of ingredients that gives you a healthy dose of energy between meals. We used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, oats and farina which are staples for almost all of our baking.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Rolled Oats
• 1 1/2 Cups Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour
• 1/4 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Creamy Brown Rice Farina
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2/3 Cup Applesauce
• 1 Cup of Apple Juice
• 1/4 Cup of Canola Oil
• 1 tsp of Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup of Raisins
• 3/4 Cup of Enjoy Life Foods Gluten-Free Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375
2. Mix dry ingredients together (oats, brown rice farina, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt)
3. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients (applesauce, apple juice, oil and vanilla)
4. Mix both the dry and wet ingredients while adding the raisins
5. Pour into a greased 9″ by 13″ cake pan
6. Place pan in oven for about 30 minutes
7. Take out of oven and place on a cooling rack
8. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (in a microwave safe dish) and pour over granola bars in pan
9. Cut the bars and enjoy. *Goes great with ice cream.

Sue put this spaghetti Alfredo with meatballs dish together last night. The recipes and ingredients came from a few different resources but once joined the meal had great flavor and was very filling.

Pasta: Tinkyada Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti

These noodles are thick and very hearty with a flavor that is second to none. Follow the directions on the pack and be sure to work out any clumps before straining.

Alfredo: Mayacamas Alfredo Sauce Mix

I’ll admit that I was a little reluctant to try Alfredo sauce from a packet. Spending much of my career as a cook in a number of restaurants I only ever had homemade Alfredo. This sauce from Mayacamas has incredible flavor and compliments the pasta perfectly.

Meatballs: Karina’s Kitchen Spaghetti and Meatballs

The general idea of the meatball recipe came from Karina’s Kitchen. I’m sure you could follow this recipe to the ‘t’ and it would be great but we made some modifications for our needs. We used only ground beef, substituted more molasses in place of the ketchup and we used powdered seasonings in place of the fresh cut onions and garlic. You can experiment with ingredients and quantities to fit your cooking style or mood. Our meatballs came out sweet (molasses) but complimented the Alfredo and pasta very well.

Finishing Touches:
We topped the dish off with sauted green beans with garlic and fresh grated Locatelli cheese (get it from your local Italian food shop).