Gluten-free Holidays: Spring

Holidays are often tricky to navigate when you or someone in your family has to stick to a gluten-free diet.  In my house, two of us eat gluten-free and we're always trying to create some semblance of "normalcy" during holidays.  With Passover and Easter on the horizon, I thought I would pass along a few resources for celebrating, gluten-free style.

At GlutenFreeMatzo.com (pictured left), they provide a host of traditional Passover foods in gluten-free form.  This site was quite a find!  There is a helpful recipe section and they even sell a gluten-free Passover cookbook.  In addition, they offer gluten-free noodles, horseradish, honey and macaroons. All items are Kosher.  I especially like the gluten-free matzo.  Next, I have to try the macaroons (oh wait, I gave those up.  See - The Power of Sugar). If only they sold those little chocolate ring jell candies I adored as a child! I contacted the company for some information and to grab a box of matzo for my son and they were very helpful, courteous, generous and kind.  A great company all around.

Now, on to Easter....oh, Easter.  As a child who grew up in a house with Easter and Passover and now, an adult who is raising a family that celebrates both Easter and Passover, it is always so hard to get that Easter basket during Passover and have to wait until Passover is over to eat any of the goods inside.  Man, did I look forward to the chocolate bunny, Cadbury eggs, jelly beans and the Peeps.  Now that I have a little one, the Easter basket gets even more challenging by trying to make it gluten-free and low in sugar.  This year, since my son and I are also on the GAPS diet, I will be making homemade Easter treats - I'll let you know how that goes.  In the meantime, Indie Candy  is a great site to try if you need to make Easter an allergen free holiday.  Now, if I could only find some organic, gluten-free, low sugar Peeps!

Do you have special dietary needs?  How does it affect your holiday shopping?  Any recipes to share?  Leave a comment below.  Join the discussion!

A Gluten-free Treat For You!

Fettle Vegan's - Samoa Macaroon

I thought I'd share a post from my Healthy Plate blog on a gluten-free treat that my fellow friends with thyroid challenges could enjoy.  Here ya go!

I am always on the look out for awesome recipes and treats I can make my family given all the food sensitivities in this household.  As a holistic health coach, I have studied over 100 dietary theories and utilize many of them in my practice.  So, when I go looking for recipes, I look everywhere - Epicurious, Food Network, Traditional Foods blogs, Gluten-free blogs, Paleo/Primal Blogs and Vegetarian/Vegan blogs.  There are so many great recipes floating around out there and all of them can be adapted to suit your needs.

Today, I really needed a treat and one that was gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free because that's how we role in my family.  For this reason, I started my search on some vegan websites (since their recipes don't include animal products like eggs and butter).

I found just what I was looking for at Fettle Vegan.  It's a great website on vegan living.  I really enjoyed my time there trolling the site.  I chose their take on the Girl Scout's famous Samoa cookies.  I had to tweak the recipe a bit for my needs (they weren't gluten-free).  Check out their recipe, use mine below for a gluten-free/low-sugar start or create your own!

Samoa Cookie Macaroons (mostly copied directly from Fettle Vegan

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded or flaked coconut, unsweetened
1/2 cup coconut oil ***Coconut oil should NOT be melted. (FV recipe: 1/4 cup coconut oil)
1/2 cup coconut flour (FV recipe: whole wheat flour, or you could try almond flour)
1 1/2 tbsp raw honey (FV recipe: 1/3 cup maple sugar.  This was way too much sugar for my family + you've read my "Sugar Addiction" post below so you know my challenges...)
3/4 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt (FV recipe: 1/2 tsp finely ground pink sea salt)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup of cold water (FV recipe: 2-4 teaspoons of cold water)
1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsweetened dark or other vegan chocolate

Directions:

1. Combine coconut, coconut oil, flour, honey, salt, almond and vanilla extracts.  
2. You want to have to fork the mixture together until the solid coconut oil has been completely smooshed up and combined with everything else. It takes about 2 minutes of dedicated forking.
3. Add water, starting with two teaspoons, and mix until mixture comes together and becomes sticky.
4. Once combined, use your hands to form the mixture into (about) 1 inch balls.
5. Once your macaroons are formed, set them on a paper lined cookie sheet in a cool place. The fridge will work beautifully here.
6. While the macaroons are chillin', melt about 2 ounces of chocolate. Use a double boiler (I don't believe in the microwave.  Not even for chocolate.)
7. Once chocolate is fully melted, remove macaroons from cooling area. Dip a fork in the chocolate and drizzle chocolate over the top (to keep the sugar low, minimize how much you drizzle or leave it out altogether.)
8. Once a little chocolate has been added, place macaroons back onto lined cookie sheet and let sit for about 20-40 minutes, allowing chocolate to set. This process can be sped up by placing the entire cookie sheet into the refrigerator until the chocolate cools completely. 

Enjoy!

As you can see, I had a great starting point and easily tweaked the recipe with substitutions to fit our needs.  They turned out delicious!  I only wonder if the "forking" could have been made easier by using a potato masher instead.  If you try this recipe out and use the potato masher, let me know how it worked out by commenting below.  Thanks!

What do you think of this recipe?  Join the discussion!