We All Scream for Ice Cream!

           Is there anything better than ice cream on a hot summer day? Having one, two or even three scoops of your favorite ice cream on a sugar, cake or waffle cone! But when you are Gluten Free unfortunately you cannot have one of those delicious cones, you have to devour your ice cream in a boring cup. An ice cream cup isn’t too bad but I just like having ice cream on a cone during the summer. Well today I am here to tell you that if you’re Gluten Free you can have your ice cream and eat it on a cone too! JOY, the popular ice cream cone company makes not only one, but two kinds of Gluten Free ice cream cones. They make both cake and sugar cones. When I got home this past weekend, my mom surprised me with the sugar cones!! Whenever we get ice cream, we just bring our cones with us and the ice cream parlor is more than happy to put the ice cream on top of our Gluten Free cones! These cones are so delicious; I can’t tell the difference between a regular cone and a Gluten Free cone. I was so excited about these cones because it’s been a long time since I had ice cream on a cone! I give Joy sugar cones 5 stars out of 5 stars! I will try the cake cones soon and let everyone know how they are!

               To continue with the Gluten Free dessert theme, my best friend is working at the new Cheesecake Factory in Center City, Philadelphia. She was eager to let me know they have a separate Gluten Free menu! I already knew they had a Gluten Free menu because a Gluten Free menu at a restaurant does not get passed my Mom!! The Cheesecake Factory’s Gluten Free menu has over 50 items on it and I have never consumed a bad dish on the menu! My Mom and I were obviously excited about the Gluten Free menu but we were even more excited about the Gluten Free cheesecake on their menu. If you like chocolate than you will love the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake, so rich and creamy and don’t forget the whipped cream!! DIVINE!!  I give the Cheesecake Factory’s Gluten Free Menu 5 Stars out of 5 Stars, not only because it’s my favorite chain restaurant but because of all the diverse tasty options they serve. 

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza, Oh Yeah and Dessert!

Everyone loves pizza these days. I feel like every time I’m on social media, I see all these memes about people who love to eat pizza. So this week I decided to write about pizza because I personally love it so much. Since going Gluten Free, finding good pizza has been a huge struggle.  Not all pizzerias carry Gluten Free pizza or if they do the pizza is not good. Gluten Free pizza can taste like cardboard or a soggy cracker and I’m not joking. I even wrote a post about a Gluten Free pizza place a few years ago and I thought that pizza was delicious but I’ve found an even better pizza place. Last year while my parents were visiting me in Philly, my mom was looking online for a good Gluten Free restaurant and she found the Tomato Bistro in Manayunk. At first we ate upstairs for the longest time because it was nicer and had a few more options than the Couch Tomato Café downstairs, like Gluten Free sliders. One Saturday we were going to dine upstairs but they had a party going on so we ate downstairs instead and our taste buds exploded with great delight. The pizza was the best tasting pizza I have ever tasted. It had the right amount of sauce and cheese and the crust was nice and crispy (made fresh from a secret recipe), just how I like it. Not only do they have Gluten Free pizza but they have gluten free soups and salads with Gluten free dressings too. Every time my parents visit we get pizza there. My dad is not Gluten Free but he still likes the pizza from this place! I give this restaurant a 5 out of 5 stars because the pizza is fabulous! They also have a rewards program. I have gone so much, my next pizza is free! 

Some people have been asking for low carb desserts, so here is one I really like. I call them Vegan Chocolate Crunch Bars with peanut butter drizzle! They are low carb, vegan, soy free, no bake and even Gluten Free. These are probably one of my favorite chocolate desserts because they are tasty and easy to make!

Ingredients

• ½ cup of coconut oil
• ½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 tablespoons liquid sweetener (maple syrup, agave, honey, etc.) or to taste
• pinch of fine grain sea salt
• 1-teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of crisp cereal (more cups if you want them to have less chocolate on them)

Peanut Butter Drizzle

• 2 tablespoons of all natural peanut butter (or any nut/seed
  
  butter of choice)
• 1.5-2 tablespoons of coconut oil, as needed to thin out
• 1 teaspoon of liquid sweetener
  

Directions

1. For the crunch bar: line a 9X5 inch loaf pan with two pieces of parchment paper, going each way.
2. In a pot over low heat, gently melt the coconut oil and then whisk in the rest of the crunch bar ingredients (except the rice crisp) to taste.
3.  Once mixture is smooth remove from heat and sir in the rice crisp cereal.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pan, smooth out and then freeze for 10-15 minutes, or until the chocolate is solid.
5. For the Peanut Butter Drizzle
6. 1Melt coconut oil and then whisk in the peanut butter and liquid sweetener
7. Adjust to taste if desired and scoop into a plastic bag and drizzle the PB mixture on the bars. (you could also drizzle with a spoon).
8. Return bars to freezer until PB drizzle is solid, about 5 minutes.
   
   
9. Serve right from the freezer. Bars will melt slightly at room temperature so do not keep out too long.
10. Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

These crunch bars are a great healthy dessert, but be careful, if you are like me don’t eat the whole batch!! They are that good! So make these bars for a mid afternoon snack or dessert after dinner and enjoy! Please continue to follow my Gluten Free Path! 

Bring on the BBQ's!

Who doesn’t love a good BBQ in the summer? Memorial Day is the start of the summer season and BBQ season. Gluten Free BBQ in my cause! Sometimes it is really hard to go to a BBQ because hotdogs and hamburgers haves rolls on them, some of the BBQ sauces aren’t Gluten Free, and the pasta salad is made with regular pasta. Well I am here to recommend some tasty Gluten free BBQ products that are Gluten Free approved by me!

               When eating a hotdog or hamburger, you could always have it without a bun but where’s the fun is that? I have found that Udis has the best tasting buns. They have both hotdog and hamburger buns in classic and hamburger buns in whole grain if you want a healthier option. The bun is good out of the bag, but if you’d like a tastier bun,a trick my mom and I use is to put some butter on it and toast it for a little while on the grill.

               Hotdogs and hamburgers are great BBQ foods but chicken, ribs and pulled pork are even better! But you can’t have these meats without BBQ sauce! I think I might put BBQ sauce on all the meat I eat. I found out that not every BBQ sauce is Gluten Free so you have to watch out! Some products put wheat in their recipe to thicken it and some put soy sauce in their recipes too. Since I have a love for BBQ, Stubbs and Sweet Baby Rays are my two favorite BBQ sauces. Some people think that Sweet Baby Ray’s is not Gluten free because it’s not stated on their label like Stubbs is, but they are working on getting “Gluten Free” on their label. I recommend these sauces to everyone and not only for a BBQ but for regular cooking too!

               Can’t forget about the sides at the BBQ! I love pasta salad and macaroni salad. Unfortunately they’re not Gluten Free unless you use Gluten Free pasta.  There are so many Gluten Free pastas out there and trust me; not all of them taste good. My mom and I have tried a handful of pastas and have found that Barilla has the best tasting pasta we have ever tasted. Besides the great taste, Barilla has different shapes like elbows, penne, rotini and spaghetti. They sell Barilla at local food markets like ShopRite, Acme, and Giant. If you are not close to those stores like me, I found that Trader Joe’s rice or quinoa pasta is also a great substitute for these recipes.

               Now that I have recommended substitutes for a great Gluten Free BBQ, I hope you use some of my suggestions. They are great tasting products! Have a great summer filled with great Gluten Free BBQ’s and please continue to follow my Gluten Free path!

Dinner & Dessert!

As I promised to recommend great Gluten Free restaurants, here they are!  I have been living in Philadelphia for over 6 years and searched the Internet for Gluten Free restaurants and I found a few good ones! The restaurant that is one of my favorites is called Giorgio OnPine. The restaurant’s appetizers, entrees and pizzas can be made Gluten Free by substituting Gluten Free pasta or dough and they even have Gluten Free bread! I have been to Giorgio’s a hand full of times and tried at least one dish from their selection of appetizers, entrées, pastas, pizzas and even desserts. I have never been disappointed! Another great thing about Giorgio’s is that it is a BYOB! So bring your favorite bottle of wine and enjoy your Gluten Free meal. I give this restaurant 5 stars out of 5 stars for having countless Gluten Free options and those options are outstanding!

               After a great dinner everyone needs to eat dessert. So this week I decided to bake something for you because I love to bake. My love of baking comes from my wonderful mom (picture of her on the left with me). She has been baking ever since I can remember; I have always been her little helper! But now when I visit her I let her do all the work, but this time I did all the work by myself! =) I decided to make clean banana muffins. When I bake, I try to stay away from diary and use natural sugars, so here is the recipe:

• 1 large egg
•  1 ½ cup (3 large) very ripe bananas
•   ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
•   ¼ cup of maple syrup or raw honey
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking power
• ½ tsp baking soda
•  ¼ tsp salt
•  1 1/2 cup gluten free Cup for Cup flour (you might need a little more)
• Cooking spray for pan (I use Trader Joe’s coconut stray)

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray non-stick muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl lightly beat egg. Add bananas and mash well.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the flour and whisk to combine.
4. Now add flour and gently stir until well incorporated. Do not over mix because muffins will be tough.
5. Fill each tin almost full with batter and bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
6.  Let muffins cool for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

 I get some of my recipes from the Internet, friends, and my mom or try myself. I have to experiment with substituting flours, sugars and fats so not all of my recipes come out like I want them to. When using Gluten Free flour instead of regular flour, you always need to add a little more or the mixture might be too wet and not bake thoroughly.  Practice makes perfect so stick with it! Please enjoy and pass along my Gluten Free recipes and continue to follow my Gluten Free Path!!

I'm Back and Better Than Ever!

I took a little break from blogging for a little while but don't worry, I'm back with some great products, baking recipes and more! Everything you read and see on my blog are products I have tried and made myself and they taste amazing! I will rate everything I eat or bake on a star scale of 1 to 5 stars with 1 star being the worst and 5 being the best. This way you will know what's really good or not so good. This will help you decide whether or not to buy this product. I am not going to lie, sometimes I can be a picky eater and tend to stay away from foods I do not like. But just for you,  I am willing to try many gluten free products because you never know they might taste really good! 

Gluten Free Snacks!

I went to my friends house for dinner the other day and her mom knows I am Gluten Free so she got me some Gluten Free crackers for and appetizer to go with the different cheeses. I can tell you that I am not a huge fan of Gluten Free crackers because they are usually dry, not crunchy and very bland in taste. But these crackers were something special because they were so crunchy, and were full of taste! You could tell that I really like them because I ended up eating the whole bag, oops! Milton’s Craft Bakers made the cracker. I went on their website and found out that they have 3 other flavors and they even make Gluten Free cookies in 3 flavors too! They sell these crackers at Costco, BJ’s, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Walmart and Target.  I would rate these crackers a 4 out of 5 stars. I gave them a 4 and not a 5 because they were very thin and broke when I wanted to dip them into a dip. But I would recommend these crackers to anyone that is looking for a great snack or to serve with cheese at a party!

 

Mmmmmm Dessert!

If anyone knows me, they know I have the biggest sweet tooth, especially for dessert. No matter how full I am from dinner, I will always make room for dessert! I like to make my own desserts from scratch, but when I don’t have a lot of time, I bake desserts that come in a box. This weekend I decided to makes a brownie mix from Traders Joe’s. They were so good that my cousin ate half of them and thanked me for making regular brownies for him, funny thing was they were Gluten Free! I give these brownies 5 stars out of 5 stars because  they tasted awesome and were easy to make!

I hope everyone tries these products because they are that good! Look out for my next blog post; it will have more products and even a restaurant! Please continue to follow my Gluten Free path!