Thursday, August 25, 2011

Gluten Free Snacks for Last Days of Summer & Back to School


The last days of summer are here... instead of mourning them my family chooses to celebrate them with nostalgic gluten free S'mores around our backyard fire pit.  We use Kinnikinnick's tasty gluten free Graham Style Crackers as the perfect delivery system for ooey-gooey toasted marshmallows and melty chocolate bars.  Our goal is to have as many S'more sessions as possible before Autumn arrives!


Speaking of Autumn... it is hard to believe it is almost time to start packing school lunches again, isn't it?  The challenge in my house is providing a variation of gluten free snacks that are both healthy and appealing to my kids.  I hit the "snack jackpot" with gluten free Beanfields Chips!  Made from beans instead of corn Beanfields tasty chips come in four flavors and pack a high-fiber, GMO-free punch!  Our favorite flavor is Pico De Gallo... YUM


Pretzels used to be a favorite lunchbox snack prior to my household going gluten free, but we choose not to purchase the astronomically high priced gluten free pretzels available in the specialty stores.  When Snyder's of Hanover came out with affordable and delicious gluten free pretzel sticks we were thrilled; pretzels were back in my family's lunch box!  Snyder's of Hanover's offers pretzel sticks that are certified gluten free and taste exactly like "regular" pretzels!  Look for Snyder's of Hanover gluten free pretzel sticks in family sized bags and handy 100 calorie snack size packages.

What are your favorite end of summer and back to school snacks?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was not compensated for this review. I received the item/items featured in this post for review purposes courtesy of the product company and/or its PR or publishing company. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions I have expressed are solely my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Cookbook Review: Gluten Free in Five Minutes


Here's a novel idea... being able to whip up a single slice of bread, a single English muffin or a single pancake - all gluten free and made in the microwave!  If you are scratching your head in confusion at this point I don't blame you; I did the same thing when I heard that a new cookbook entitled Gluten Free in Five Minutes offered these mind boggling possibilities (and more)!

Gluten Free in Five Minutes author Roben Ryberg believes that no one should be deprived of homemade gluten free baked goods even if they are busy or simply don't like to bake; her solution was to conjure up super simple recipes - each using only a single gluten free flour - that could be prepared and cooked in the microwave in under 5 minutes.  I like to think of Roben's recipes as "gluten free on demand."

It is no secret that the microwave and baking are not always a great combination, so my kids and I were very interested to test these recipes for ourselves.  We tried the English muffins, flat bread, pancake, blueberry muffin, hollandaise sauce and chocolate cake recipes.  Although it is impossible for baked goods to brown in the microwave all were tasty and moist!

The English muffins didn't taste like traditional English Muffins, but they had good flavor and performed beautifully as a base for our Eggs Benedict breakfast - we also used Roben's amazing recipe for speedy microwave hollandaise sauce and we were blown away at how delicious it was!

For the flat bread I thought it could use some color and texture that the microwave could not provide - the simple solution was to quickly brown it in a bit of olive oil in a hot cast iron skillet.  I topped my flat bread with Greek salad and folded it over to create a sandwich; it was absolutely delectable!

I am really happy to own Roben Ryberg's new Gluten Free in Five Minutes cookbook!  My kids and I are having a blast discovering all of the quick and fun recipes inside and plan to use it for years to come... this unique cookbook is a keeper!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I was not compensated for this review. I received the item/items featured in this post for review purposes courtesy of the product company and/or its PR or publishing company. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions I have expressed are solely my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 
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