I promised my stepmom Suzy who was saddened by the thought of no cookies this christmas because of her Gluten free diet I would take the challenge up of bringing some awesome ones home with me this holiday. 

Heres my working goal list of Gluten Free Cookie Recipes:

Ginger Bread people

Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Crinkles 

Gluten Free Banana Bread from a Box

My plan was to try out some of the various types of new flower I bought and try my hand at some gluten free baking. But we ended up having a few friend's over to watch the end of the Euro cup and I never got around to it. I bought a box of pre-made mix that just required bananas and eggs so I took this route instead.

The box gives you the option of making it vegan version as well, but I went ahead and used eggs.

The flavor was fantastic, had hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. Great texture, really soft, not super sweet but still felt like more of an indulgence than plain sandwich  bread.

The calories and fat content was really good. One slice runs you about 90 calories and next to zero grams of fat.

I picked up the mix at The Green Grocer here in Chicago

Butternut Squash Enchiladas with Gluten Free Tortillas

I took my recipe from a friend of mine from graduate school. I make it at least once a month it's one of the most delicious and satisfying vegetarian meals I've ever made. It easily becomes vegan if you omit the cheese on top.

For my Gluten free version I used these store bought tortillas made by Rudis at whole foods. These are also vegan and made from healthy all sorts of healthy stuff and have a whopping 5 grams of fiber.

They worked wonderfully for the enchiladas, I was a little worried they wouldn't stand up to the sauce and the baking process but they turned out great! I highly recommend them!

Here's the recipe:

1 can of black beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 onion chopped
1 large can of red enchilada sauce
1/2 onion
1 butternut squash
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 small can of corn
1 teaspoon of chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
1 tablespoon of olive oil (vegan) or melted butter

On top if not Vegan:
1 cup of shreded cheese

Other good extras on top
Sour cream
Sliced Avocado

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Butternut Squash: Cut lengthwise, peel, scoop seeds, chop, sprinkle cinnamon and pour a 1/2 tablespoon melted butter or olive oil on top.

Put it on a foil lined tray and put in oven for 40-50 minutes

2) When squash is finished remove and let cool, lower heat to 350 degrees, and mash squash in a bowl.

3) In large sauce pan add onions and 1/2 tablespoon of oil or butter. After onions have softened add beans, corn, chili and garlic powder, tomatoes, cilantro for ten minutes on medium flame. Then add bean mixture to bowl with squash and mix well.

4) Spray large oven safe dish with non-stick cooking spray. Take tortillas and fill with bean and squash mixture, roll and repeat till dish is full.  Then pour enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle cheese. Put in oven for 30-40 minutes.

Summer Drinks

Ingredients:
Watermelon
Strawberries
Cucumber
Fresh lime
Orange rum (gluten free made from sugarcane)
Blended

Poured over ice

Perfect on this 90 degree + Saturday

Store Bought Cookies continued....

I found some A Chicago company Defloured http://deflouredbakery.com/
sold at various spots in Chicago I got their chocolate chip cookie three pack at Swim Cafe.

They were awesome a true A+, good texture, great taste, liberal amounts of chocolate chips. Definitely my favorite so far.

I had them for a snack the other day when I was working on the Barbara&barbara mural in Logan Square.

Photo by me.

Eating Out: Swim Cafe

I met my pal and stylist Joanne Morrison for breakfast today at one of my favorite lunch and breakfast spots in Chicago Swim Cafe and I also met her there because I currently have some art work on display there till July 10th.

I was worried because of my recent dietary restrictions I would be very limited since they tend to be heavy on the sandwiches in means of menu.

I was happy to find this place offers both gluten free bread and beagles to their patrons allowing me to eat almost any sandwich on the menu.

I had a delicious egg, spinach, and ricotta sandwich on a gluten free beagle with a side of fruit, it was fantastic, and the beagle had a really good flavor and texture.

However for those who are highly allergic to gluten you might want to ask them how they toast their beagles and bread because I recently read that it's recommended to even have a separate toaster for Gluten free breads.  Sadly even the small crumbs from bread made with wheat can contaminate the gluten free bread in the toaster.

Black Quinoa with mangos for dinner. A fantastic summer night, gluten free dish!

I made one of those dinners tonight that makes you feel less guilty about all the junk food you know you may consume later in the week.

Recipe via: Two Peas and Their Pod

I made it tonight it was fantastic!

The only difference is I topped it all on a bed full of red leaf lettuce and kale.

Photo by me.

Store Bought Cookies

My experience with store bought gluten free cookies.

So far, not so good, I'm thinking I may have to test the waters of baking gluten free cookies to really value the fat and calorie content I'm using to have one. I purchased all of these cookies at Whole Foods, regular grocery stores didn't have much to choose from, if anything to choose from.

Let's start with my first try, Jovial vanilla cream filled cookies: D+

Really these were the most tasteless, dry cookies I've ever experienced.

I've had Saltine crackers with more flavor!  The cookie had a strange after taste that reminded me of dried prunes. The chocolate cookie was really almost inedible I only gave it a D+ because my Grammy Hall said she "thought they were OK", and that the vanilla cream had an OK flavor but I honestly wouldn't waste my calories on these literal bad boys.  They did have a reasonably low calorie count 160 for two cookies but the fat count was still 7grams that could be better spent on anything else.

Second I tried  Nana's gluten-free lemon cookies: C-

I was really surprised after trying this chalky tart cookie how many good reviews it had on the internet. It did get a slightly higher grade than the last cookies because it was a lot more moist, and had a sweeter flavor that comes from the company using natural fruit juices. But damn this is one dense cookie, and honestly almost too tart, kinda sour, and believe it or not the flavor was too intense. The cookie is also Vegan and I remember a lot of Vegan baked goods being quite dense.

Lemon cookies and cake are some of my favorites, and usually I appreciate them for how delicate the flavor is, there was nothing delicate about this cookie. And I just could not get over the texture and aftertaste, it was really chalky. I couldn't even eat more than a few bites. The company makes a variety of items so I might give the brand another try but again I'd save my 180 calories and 7 grams of fat for half a cookie for another day and another cookie.

My last try was the best experience with store bought cookies was from a women who makes some of the best gluten filled cookies in the USA.
Carol's Cookies: Gluten Free Double Chocolate B+

It had a lot of the best qualities I love about cookies made with wheat flower, good texture, moist, chewy, and a good flavor.  It was definitely a very rich cookie which is a good thing if you just want a quick fix of chocolate and sugar a nibble will satisfy you, it also might last you a few servings.  It was the only cookie of the three, where I actually ate the whole thing, and would buy it again.

Also, the website recommends warming the cookies up in the microwave. I believe this cookie would be fantastic warmed up, and then eaten with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Now that's what I call calories that you can feel proud of.

Stomach problems have been part of my life since a young child.  I recently visited a doctor who was suspect that I might have a sensitivity to Gluten and asked me to cut it out of my diet for a few weeks to see if I feel better.

The more I talk to people and research gluten allergies I find myself amazed the amount of people who live gluten free or reduced lives.

I have eaten gluten filled products abundantly since I was young, who hasn't?  Some of my favorites are chocked full of gluten i.e. cereal, bread, pizza, cookies, cupcakes, it goes on and on.

This week I actually began my experiment with removing gluten from my diet. Removing foods from my diet is not a new venture to me, I have experimented with meat free, dairy free, and completely animal byproduct free diets in the past.

So it's been about four days into it and I have already found myself breaking the rules, feeling really hungry and being to lazy to do anything about it, and feeling depressed that gluten free products just can't replace the way gluten filled ones taste.

I realize If this experiment brings little relief to my stomach issues I will return to the eating the foods I was before but perhaps with a little less vigor.

The more research I do the less appetizing the little protein looks. My doctor told me that products like bread and cereal actually have 4 times the amount of gluten they use too, and the fact gluten is hidden in everything, really anything processed has a chance of being contaminated by gluten.  And because its everywhere (even in some glues used for envelopes) and used in more and more people are finding they have trouble digesting it.


I secretly hope that my issues with gluten are not as serious as celiac disease, and that occasionally I can have a piece of pizza or piece of cake on my birthday.  But for the next few weeks I will document my experiment and challenges of a gluten free diet.

Benefits of a Gluten free diet are pretty awesome, some I found online are:

Of course for those allergic or sensitive:
less stomach pain or cramps
being more "regular" or less "regular"
less bone and joint pain
less headaches
more energy

For the general public:
Weight Loss
Avoidance of processed and fast food
Avoidance of fried foods
The replacement of veggies and fruit for may snack foods