Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake in a mug!

Ok, so I had a sweet craving the other night, and not having many options, I tried this out, and it was really good! I found a recipe online for a cake in a mug kind of thing, an revamped it a little and I really liked it. One thing I have found is many gluten free desserts call for so much sugar, like this one, a whole whopping 3 TBSP! I mean that is in one serving.....and I just couldn't bring myself to use that much so I used just 1 TBSP (still feeling guilty). I grew up on homemade shortcake, and it was never super sweet so I figured it should be fine and it was. Eventually I will find some other way to substitute, but like my previous post, I am still in that "going Gluten free starvation mode" so I guess  I just haven't had the patience yet.

Above you will see in my picture (I know, not the best pic, I just shot it with my phone really fast) that I used a ramekin instead of a mug...so to each his own, they both work great. I want to mention also, this is an individual serving, but I think it can be two servings. I am usually full half way through eating it and save the rest for later.

So, here we go....grab a 12 oz mug or ramekin and a small mixing bowl:

Add to mug/ramekin:
2 TBSP coconut oil
1 TBSP sugar
and melt in microwave about 30 seconds, stir until blended

Whisk in separate mixing bowl:
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP gluten free flour mix
3/8 tsp gluten free baking powder
pinch of salt

Make a well in flour mixture and pour in:
3 1/2 TBSP Almond milk
1/8 tsp vanilla

Mix until blended, then add the oil/sugar mixture and stir until blended.
Pour a little batter into mug/ramekin (which will be pre-oiled from your sugar oil mixture!) put your strawberries on top, then top with remaining batter (see pic below)

This is when you put in the microwave for about 120 seconds. If center isn't set you can do another 10 seconds until it is done. We are talking maybe 5 minutes total for a sweet treat. 

Take it out, let it cool a tad, and enjoy!

Oh, and I did this with blueberries the other day as well.....soooo good!

Gluten Free powerballs

So, here is an oldie but goody. I just LOVE powerballs and so do my kids. School is back in session and these are perfect before, during, and after school treats! My son doesn't like to eat super early so these are great to throw in his bag for school. I'm always trying to make him take a banana or something, but these are packed full of goodness, they are great. (and great for mom who needs a pick me up here or there during the day as well!)

I used about: 1 cup Gluten Free Oats,  1/3 cup ground flax seed, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut, 3 TBSP virgin organic coconut oil, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 TBSP honey, 1/2 cup gluten free peanut butter, 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, and 1 1/2 TBSP chia seeds

Now above I put "I used about" because that's just it, there really isn't a set amount  you have to go by. You just need to have the right ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients for binding purposes. 

 Put all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Start mixing....

until well blended.....

scoop with cookie scoop onto parchment (or you can use a spoon if you don't have a scoop and roll into balls) I let them sit for about 30 minutes.

These power balls were still pretty soft and sticky, so I put some more of the flake coconut in a baggie, dropped a few balls in....

....and shook until coated.

Now see how long they last!

To Gluten or not to Gluten……

So, I have been suffering from digestion issues for many years now. Even before I became a Pastry Chef, I had been through the ringer with different test ordered by my GI doctor. Never in my life did I think I would actually consider giving up gluten…..and I would find it to be the bane of my existence.

I actually became much worse than usual this last year. In a doctor’s appointment recently my doctor suggested I try going Gluten Free for at least 2 weeks and see if it made any difference.  Now I have had doctors/nurses mention this before, but I’m like, no way, how in the world can I make that work? I’m a Pastry Chef, and not to mention, bread has been a staple in my diet my whole life.  I mean Ha really, that is just a bad joke!

Within two days of omitting gluten from my diet completely,  I noticed a difference. I had one night where gluten sneaked into one of my recipes (still learning how much gluten is in everything!) and the next day I was so sick to my stomach and just downright miserable.  I was keeping a food diary to see what helped and so I could jot down the recipes I tried and what I liked, and didn’t, or what my family liked as well. I highly recommend doing this if you try a gluten free trial. It is the only way I knew what I had eaten the day before that made me sick. It was soy sauce, by the way, I had no idea wheat was in soy sauce! I also want to mention, my mental clarity picked up, as well as my fatigue is slowly dissipating. My daily yawning quota  seems to have been cut in half!

Anyway, I write all this because I have decided to start blogging again, but it is going to be centered around Gluten Free ideas, recipes, and how to cook for a family of 5 when you have to go gluten free. That is not the easiest task by the way, when there are those family favorites, that you just can’t take away from everyone just because you can’t have them.  But it is quite a task when you are the cook, and tasting while cooking plays a huge part, so it makes it a little more difficult when you can’t taste what your cooking if it has gluten in it.

I have always looked for the healthier way to bake/cook, but this is a whole new ball game. Let me tell you, Gluten Free does not always mean “healthy” and I have learned some of the unhealthy Gluten Free foods I am allowed, so lets just say I am on a mission! If you try going gluten free, one thing I will warn is you will feel hungry all of the time, at least that is what I am experiencing right now. I have read more about it, and it is almost like your body is going through a detox from gluten.  If you have done a sugar detox, you know what it can do. Well it can kind of be like that. Some articles I have read talk about “the storm before the calm” For some people it can take a few days to recover from the detox and you can have all sorts of symptoms until you feel better, but then it is so worth it and you feel  great! I will tell you, except for the hunger and maybe being a little extra achey, I haven’t had any horrible side effects.

Now, I did read that for some people, this hunger can last up to 3 months. I have basically adapted the 6 (or so) small meals (or snacks) a day thing. I may feel like I’m starving, but then when I go to eat something, a handful of nuts, grapes, cheese,  just a simple little snack eases  off the hunger. So, although you want to eat all the time, you are not eating too much. Although, it is easy to grab the wrong thing when your starving because there are so many processed GF snacks out there (including potato chips!) So that is my goal, yummy gluten free foods that my family will love and that I won’t feel  guilty eating, and neither will you! Recipes soon to follow…..