Posts Tagged ‘Gluten-free diet’

03
Dec
2013

Homemade Turtles (Gluten Free)

categories: Sweets
So these turtles are not something that I’d normally put on my blog. They are gluten free, but are not dairy free or sugar free. They are however, absolutely delicious (even though I can’t eat them anymore), and my daughter and I will continue to make them every year at Christmas. If you want my dairy free version try Chocolate Caramel Cups , which are also quite delicious.
I have been making this recipe for probably fifteen years. A friend of mine told me about it, so I don’t know if its in any recipe book anywhere. In her version, she uses one whole pecan for each turtle. I found that to be very expensive, so I use what ever chopped up nuts that I find on sale.You start with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Not the pop top kind, but the one you have to use a can opener on. You boil the can for three hours. Yes you boil the whole can, not opened, in a pot of water, keep adding more water if you need to. After the three hours you put the can on the counter(still unopened) until the next morning. This will become your caramel.The next day, you melt about two cups of semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. You can use about a third milk chocolate chips, but I wouldn’t go more than that because they won’t harden.
You roll out parchment paper on your counter and put little dollops of chocolate down and smooth it into circles with the back of a spoon. This is the base for your turtle.
Make lines of them. We usually do about 100 but it will depend on how big you want them. We do them about the size of a normal store bought one.
Canned Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts
Turtles-Sandi's Allergy Free Recipes
Then using two small spoons, put small amounts of your caramel on top of your chocolate rounds.
Then put your nuts on top.
Turtles- Sandi's Allergy Free Recipes

Melt some more chocolate and drizzle it over your chocolates. These store well in the fridge and freezer.

09
May
2013

Simple Sloppy Joes (Gluten Free)

categories: Dinners- Ground Beef

Now that I have my buns tasting great, it’s back to being able to pick up sandwiches such as Sloppy Joes!!

Simple Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes (Gluten Free)

1 lb. extra lean ground beef, chicken or turkey
1 medium onion-chopped
1/2 medium green pepper-chopped
2 cloves garlic-minced
1-7oz. can tomato paste
7oz. water
1 tsp. celery seed
2 tsp. dry mustard powder
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. palm sugar ( or desired granular sugar)
sea salt and pepper to taste

In frying pan over medium heat brown meat and drain fat; add onion and green pepper and saute until vegetables are soft; add garlic.
Then add tomato paste, one can of water, and rest of ingredients. Let simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on my Hamburger Buns or desired buns… Makes four servings.
100_2749
Shared On: Gluten Free Fridays, Whole Foods Friday, Food Friendly Friday, Gluten Free Round Up, Tasteful Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays,
11
Apr
2013

What To Do When You Find Out You Have Food Allergies

categories: A Little About Me

Getting Started When You Have Food Allergies

I have had countless emails and Facebook messages asking how to get started, etc. I have replied to them, but I’m guessing there are more people wondering how to get started. You can read “Welcome To My World”, to see my first post. If you already know what you are doing when it comes to being gluten or allergy free, just ignore this post… I’ll have a new recipe on in a couple days.

Here is the starting program:

  • All my recipes can be substituted with regular milk and regular sugar if you are only gluten free. You can also use regular vinegars and oils.
  • Gluten is basically the “glue” that holds regular flour together. Take out the gluten and you need another glue to keep baked goods from crumbing. That is why you will need xanthan gum. It is available in packages in health food stores and in the Bulk Barn.
  • There are pre-made gluten free flour mixes out there. They are available at health food stores, the Bulk Barn, and major grocery stores.
  • To make my gluten free flour mix, I get my flours in bulk at the Bulk Barn. They would also be available in health food stores as well as bigger grocery stores. I mix a big batch together and store it in a
    • plastic container so that I always have some ready when I want to bake.
    • I use coconut palm sugar. I buy also buy it in bulk at the Bulk Barn. You can use regular white or brown sugar in its place if you are not concerned about sugar.
    • I usually buy quinoa at Costco, but it is also available at the Bulk Barn and grocery stores, but its much more expensive.
    • Crackers that I like (Mary’s Organic and CrunchMaster) I buy at Costco. Other pre-made products are now readily available at most bigger grocery stores.
    • There are corn tortillas that are very inexpensive and there are also brown rice tortillas available in the specialty freezer section at bigger grocery stores.
    • I bake quite a bit, and make sure that I always have goodies and muffins in the freezer for lunches and snacks. It makes my life easier to know exactly what is in a product instead of worrying about the ingredient labels. My shopping trips took me hours at the beginning.
      • There is rice, corn and buckwheat pasta available but much of the time I use alternatives as well such as, spaghetti squash and zucchini ribbons.. I also go into the oriental section of the store and get their rice noodles. Its still made from rice and is gluten free but is less expensive and tastes better than rice pasta. Be creative.
      • Regular soy sauce has wheat in it. Bragg’s soy sauce is gluten free.
      • If you can’t have soy at all you can use Coconut Aminos.(Still gives a stir fry a salty flavour)
      Having food allergies takes more planning. There are many alternatives to eat without completely giving up the old foods you were used to, just by changing things a little bit. Don’t panic or get too overwhelmed.
      I hope this helped. If you have more questions please either leave me a comment or send me a private message.
      Have a wonderful day!!
      Sandi
Related articles