Award winning gluten-free, dairy-free cake??

I follow quite a few gluten-free folks on Twitter and Facebook.  While scrolling along today on the Facebook feed, I noticed an a post by Cooking for Stella.  She states that her cake is not only gluten-free, but it's dairy-free, too AND it beat out other cakes that have gluten and dairy in them! Here's the link to the article: http://cookingforstella.com/2012/05/16/stellas-favorite-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cupcakes/.

This is a recipe I will certainly be checking out very soon!

Hope you all are having a great gluten-free day!!

Caroline

Sweet tooth

Do you ever have a craving for something sweet?? I know I sure do! I will tell you that my sweet tooth was WAY worse before I changed my eating habits. I still have little cravings (my neighbor can attest to that!) every once in a while, but before it was daily. Now it's about once every couple of weeks.  And mostly, I don't want anything sweet until I see or smell something sweet. 

What is a gluten-free eater to do when they get a craving? Especially if you're dairy free, that's even a bigger challenge! Well it just so happens, I decided to get creative today and I believe I came up with two yummy, sweet and healthy treats for that sweet tooth! I will give credit to the Happy Herbivore for her AWESOME recipes. She's really the creator of what I put together today.

The first one is made from corn tortillas (but you can use any gluten-free tortilla), brown sugar, a splash of vanilla, a little water, and apples. With my iron skillet on medium heat, I poured in about 1/8 cup of water with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the splash, and I do mean a splash, of vanilla, into the pan. As everything began to melt together, I added the apples I had sliced. I mixed everything together for a few minutes, turned the heat down to low and began getting the pan ready. With a square glass Pyrex dish, I layered corn tortillas, part of the apple mixture, corn tortillas, part of the apple mixture, and finished with corn tortillas. Topping them with a little of the brown sugar mixture from the apples. (Here's something I realized when I wanted to top the corn tortillas, use a potato masher to cut up the apples if, like me, you forgot to do it BEFORE you added them to the iron skillet.)  With the oven set on 350, cook the layered apple dish for about 20 minutes. It's the perfect pair of sweetness with the apples and brown sugar! 

The next recipe was due to the iron skillet still having the brown sugar in it. I thought to myself, "Now I don't want to waste that!" With that thought, a tad more water and a sprinkle of brown sugar, I waited for the skillet to warm up. I grabbed a banana, peeled it, and sliced it right into the skillet. Moving it around with my spatula in order for the banana to soak up all of the brown sugar heaven happening, I moved the bananas to one side of the skillet and placed a Rudi's gluten-free tortilla on the other side, folded. I slowly opened the tortilla, scooted the bananas into the tortilla, and carefully turned the tortilla to the other side. I basically pick it up at the opening. Turning it is pretty easy, keeping the bananas in is the trick! But alas, after having to eat a couple of stray banana slices, I finally had my snack! I topped it with a glaze made from 1/2 powdered sugar and 2 TBSP non-dairy milk. I used about 1 TBSP as my topping. And I will say that it hit the spot!! 

Eating gluten-free doesn't have to feel like punishment when you can make treats like these!! 

Have a great gluten-free day!!

Change things up!

Sometimes our brains are so used to certain ways of doing things, that we don't even think to step outside the box. For example, there are certain foods we would consider "breakfast" foods. While, in actuality, they are only consider "breakfast" foods because, well, because we've been told they are. Why not fix something else for breakfast? I like having bean burritos. No kidding! I use corn tortillas, fat-free refried beans, and sometimes salsa. It's something I can throw together if I'm running behind. (Which is why I don't always use salsa! Can you imagine that mess???) And to throw something else your way, add a vegetable. Why not? Most of us don't get the amount our bodies need anyways. Just grab a couple of carrots while you're waiting on your coffee. 

I hope you're having a wonderful gluten-free day, wherever you are! And, as always, you're never alone in this! 

Caroline