Gluten Free Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I love these cookies! I first discovered this cookie (originally by Nigella Lawson) before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and used wheat flour in my baking. Today, I sing a different tune... but turns out they are just as delicious made gluten free and much much better for my tummy :) Hope you enjoy this cookie!

Gluten Free Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour (I like Pamela's Baking Mix or Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 flour)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup certified gluten free rolled oats
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup dried cranberries (make sure GF- I use Ocean Spray)
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
¾ cup white chocolate chips (make sure GF- I use Toll House)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat. In small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and gluten free rolled oats. In medium bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until fluffy.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture, blending thoroughly. Stir in cranberries, pecans and white chocolate.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls with hands or use a small cookie scoop. Place balls on baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake in 350°F oven on middle rack until tops are pale golden brown and cookies look set. 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on tray 5 minutes; cool fully on wire rack. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Tortilla Soup

This recipe was inspired by The Modern Proper's tortilla soup. Make sure to read all your canned labels to make sure you are using gluten free products. This recipe is SO easy to make and delicious to eat. Enjoy and happy Autumn!

Gluten Free Tortilla Soup

Soup Ingredients:
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (use a rotisserie chicken if GF)
1 can (14 oz) fire roasted tomatoes
1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
1 small onion, diced
1 large zucchini, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn, drained and rinsed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt chicken broth (I use Pacific brand)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 bay leaves

Garnish: serve with whatever you like!
fresh cilantro
lime wedges
sour cream
shredded cheese
avocado slices
corn chips

Instructions:

Place all SOUP ingredients into large soup pot or dutch oven. Turn heat to high. Once soup begins to boil, turn to low heat and continue to cook until onions are translucent and zucchini is tender. About 30 minutes. Taste for salt.

Serve soup with your garnish: chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lime, dollop of sour cream, avocado slices etc...

Enjoy!

gluten free chicken tortilla soup

Roasted Maple Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes with Crisp Sage

It's 92 degrees here in CO, but I felt like cooking something that reminds me of Autumn. I will serve these amazing potatoes with a hearty spinach salad and call it a meal! 

Roasted Maple Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes with Crisp Sage 

Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbs fresh sage, sliced thin  (about 8 leaves)
1 tbs coconut oil (or oil of choice for frying the sage)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 ° F.  Lightly coat a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper
• In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and pepper
• Add the sweet potatoes and toss to coat
• Spread potatoes in an even layer onto the baking pan
• Roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned and starting to crisp
• Remove from oven and set aside
• Heat coconut oil in a small skillet over medium-high. Add sage and stir for about 10 seconds, until fragrant and crisp. remove and add to the potatoes. 
• Eat and enjoy!  

Kale salad with sharp cheddar, apples and pine nuts

I haven’t always been a fan of kale. But this salad has been my go-to lunch lately. This combination is super flavorful and healthy. Sometimes I eat it with a baked sweet potato and it’s literally the tastiest lunch... it definitely beats eating cold gluten-free macaroni and cheese and half chewed strawberries from my daughters plate!

The coolest thing is that you can put the dressing on in the morning and by lunch you have the best dressed kale and it is not soggy. Even after 24 hours it still will not be soggy. It’s a great salad for traveling, to-go lunches or just about anytime! I  generally follow the recipe from The NY Times  except I substitute the sliced almonds for pine nuts. Almonds will work well or any nuts of your choice.

Kale salad with sharp cheddar, apples and pine nuts

Ingredients:

4 cups very finely chopped or slivered curly kale or Russian kale (large stems removed)
3 tbs pine nuts (optional, toasted)
1 apple, sliced thinly or diced (I use gala or honey crisp)
2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut in 1/4-inch dice or grated
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 very small garlic clove, puréed
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Directions: 

Whisk together the lemon juice, salt, garlic and olive oil. In a large bowl, add dressing to the kale and toss well. Set aside in fridge until ready to serve (at least 15 minutes and up to 24 hrs).

When ready to eat, top salad with apples, pine nuts, cheddar cheese, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve up!

chocolate chip banana muffins

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

 

I am not going to lie, January is always my least favorite month of the year. This year has been particularly challenging. It has been dry and cold in Colorado, we've been sick for weeks on end and I am seriously sleep deprived. So I daydream of the beach. Warm sand. Sunshine. Cocktails on ice. Ahh.

To soften my January blues, I tend to bake and read (see below)!

These muffins are really for my kids. Child 1 doesn't eat much. Child 2 eats everything. So I sneak in bananas, apple sauce and almond flour to give them a nutritional boost.
Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups Pamelas Baking and Pancake Mix flour blend
1 large egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar or coconut sugar
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/8 cup applesauce or other fruit puree
1/8 cup almond flour

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and spoon into greased muffin tins or lined muffin tins (fill about 2/3 full). Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Makes about 6-7 muffins.


Also on the menu:

Soba Noodle Stir Fry from the NYTimes.  In order to make this celiac/gluten free friendly, I am using coconut aminos or tamari and using 100% buckwheat noodles. This will ensure a safe gluten free meal!

And if you need a book to read while eating your delicious gluten-free muffins, pick up The Light We Lost, by Jill Santopolo. I could not step away and found so much to relate to in the book. It's a heartbreaking love story about Gabe and Lucy who meet on Sept. 11, 2001. Their lives go in different directions for 13 years but the love in their hearts never fades.


From Penguin Books

"Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning.

Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they’ll find life’s meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts."

Okay...back to cooking and not book reviewing :)  and a big CHEERS to the last day of January!