Author Archives: jodi stewart

Go Gluten Free in 8 Easy Steps

Posted in Getting Started, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, Tips by

go gluten free in 8 easy steps. tips from know gluten.me

1. Say goodbye

You feel terrible anyway, have one more meal of your favorite gluten free foods. (disclaimer, adults and mature teens only. This step is NOT for young kids. You want to avoid any thoughts that they’re going to “miss out”. Never ever ever make gluten filled food look special to a gluten free kid. With kids, proceed directly to step 2)

2. Buy yourself something nice

Seriously. Go to your grocery store’s gluten free aisle and get some Glutino cookies and a couple of boxes of gluten free cake mix. If your store doesn’t have a gluten free section, you can order lots of good stuff online. (You should be able to find something, we even found gluten free cake mix in Thailand. Africa was a little bit tougher.)

If your young child is the one going gluten free, try and make this a special event with lots of “wow! Brownies! I love brownies!”

3.Stock up your survival kit

While you’re at the grocery store, buy as many replacements for gluten things you can find. Uldi’s, Schar and DS make excellent bread, try a few brands of gluten free pasta, pick up some gluten free Rice Chex (or Chocolate Chex, I won’t tell.)

You may eventually stop using these, but for right now get the things you’d grab for quick meals. This will keep you from staring for hours into the fridge wondering what to eat.

Add a couple of bags of rice flour and coconut flour to your cart. When you’re ready to start making quick, easy things from scratch, these will come in handy.

Chocolate chip banana muffins from knowgluten.me

With rice flour you’ll be able to make quick easy treats like these Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

4. Get your own stuff

Get a new toaster for the gluten free people in your home. (I’ll be doing a whole post on sharing a kitchen with gluten eaters, but you need to know this now. You need your own toaster.)

If you got that cake mix, you’re also going to need your own cake pan or muffin tin and your own electric mixer.

5. Label Everything GLUTEN FREE

You can label your toaster, mixer and muffin tin with nail polish.
Label all spreads (like peanut butter) that could possibly become contaminated. Make sure you label both the jar and the lid. You can’t share anymore. If possible, put your stuff in a different cupboard or on a different shelf.

6. Make a list of quick meals you can eat

No joke. Write it down:
Fruit, carrot sticks, cheese and gluten free crackers, gluten free toast, baked eggs and Brie, Bush’s Vegetarian Baked Beans, left-over chicken…
Make the list as long as possible. Put it in the kitchen somewhere.

7. Grieve

You’ve just had a major life change. It’s going to be hard sometimes. We’ve all had the total meltdown in the grocery store. Crying because we can’t eat anything. It’s normal. It goes away. Once you learn a few simple recipes and get a few favorite treats, you’ll start to feel normal again.

8. Heal

You’re going to start feeling so much better. Most people notice headaches and brain fog going away in a few day, body aches in a couple of weeks. Digestive problems could take a little longer, especially if you’re celiac, but they’ll get better too.

I think I’ve covered the basics. If you’ve gone gluten free and you have any tips to make the transition to more smoothly, could you leave them in the comments section to help future readers?

Chicken and Vegetable Stir fry (or Salad) with Cilantro Cheese Salsa

Posted in Recipes, Entrees, Salads, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, grain free by

Thinking back to those first days of going gluten free, long before gluten free bread was readily available in grocery stores, I tried to replicate my gluten filled lunch by spreading peanut butter and jam on plain rice cakes. I usually ended up throwing them out and eating nachos.

I'm not sure when I figured out that if I made a little extra, I could have leftovers for lunch, but I'm so glad I did.

This dish is almost a reheat and serve dish (though it's fantastic cold as a salad). It's yesterday's Grilled Chicken and Vegetables reheated in a skillet (or not) and topped with a very simple dressing. This makes enough for a large spoonful each. If you like things really saucy, double the recipe.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir fry (or salad) With Cilantro Cheese Salsa

This is the first lunch in our series, click to find more great recipes! 4 Simple Gluten Free Dinners and Elegant Leftover Lunches

Cilantro-Cheese Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or to taste up to 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

  1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients.
  2. Add as desired to grilled vegetables.

 

Grilled Chicken and Vegetables – Gluten Free, Grain Free

Posted in Entrees, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, grain free by

Grilled chicken and vegetables is one of our favorite dinners. It’s fast and easy to prepare, you can stand outside in the sunshine when you cook it, there’s no huge mess in the kitchen to clean up, and it tastes great! I make extra so we can enjoy the leftovers for lunch in a Chicken and vegetable stir fry with cilantro cheese salsa. Our family eats about 1/2 a chicken breast at dinner each. If you have bigger or smaller appetites, feel free to adjust the amounts in this recipe to fit your family or add another side like baked potatoes or a salad. Chicken and vegetables are both naturally gluten free, so no label reading needed here. Make sure you check your seasoning. I’m loving the Louisiana brand Cajun Seasoning, but if you like things a little less spicy (and this is too spicy for my 3 year old), go ahead and just use garlic salt or salt and pepper.

I find it’s easiest to grill vegetables if I cut them first. I cut zucchinis into four long wedges each and I seed the peppers and cut them in half across and lengthwise so I end up with four pieces for each pepper.

grilled chicken and vegetables - gluten free, grain free, from know gluten.me

This is the first in our series, click to find more great recipes! 4 Simple Gluten Free Dinners and Elegant Leftover Lunches

Grilled chicken and vegetables

Ingredients:

For each person eating:

  • 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast cut in two pieces
  • 1 medium sized zucchini
  • 1/2 bell pepper
  • Louisiana brand Cajun Seasoning or garlic salt (or your favorite gltuen free seasoning for chicken.)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat gas grill to 400.
  2. Sprinkle chicken with Cajun Seasoning or garlic salt, set aside.
  3. Cut zucchini in 4 long wedges each, pepper in quarters.
  4. Dip your fingers in the olive oil and rub on cut vegetables to lightly coat.
  5. Place chicken on lower grill and vegetables on the upper grill.
  6. Close grill and cook on medium-low until chicken is browned on the bottom and no longer pink on top.
  7. Flip and cook until the other side of the chicken is done.
  8. Remove chicken and wrap in foil or place in warm oven to keep warm.
  9. If the vegetables are not yet tender, move to the lower rack and cook, watching carefully, until they’re done. (The skin on the pepper may blacken a bit, that’s okay.)

Serve everyone half the portion you prepared for them. Set aside the rest and I’ll show you how to make an amazing lunch with them tomorrow.

This post is linked up with
Poor and Gluten Free’s Waste Not Want Not Wednesday
Domestic Diva’s Allergy Free Wednesday
Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays

4 Simple Gluten Free Dinners, and Elegant Leftover Lunches

Posted in Entrees, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, grain free, Quick and Easy, Salads by

4 simple gluten free dinners and elegant leftover lunches

Giving up a major part of your diet can make preparing meals a little intimidating. Even with a list of gluten free foods, you may be wondering how to put it all together. For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing the dinners that I cook here, and the lunches that I make from the leftovers. Not “reheat in the microwave” lunches. I’m too picky for that. If I give up a food, I want the food I can eat to be as amazing as possible. The dishes below will all be linked up with recipes within a few days.

Four Simple Gluten Free Dinners and Elegant Leftover Lunches

 

Chicken and Vegetable Stir fry (or salad) With Cilantro Cheese Salsa

Dinner 1: Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

Lunch 1: Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry (or salad) with Cilantro Cheese Salsa

 

Dinner 2: Baked Tilapia on a Bed of Sweet onions, and Garden Salad (this is a great one for busy nights!)

Lunch 2: Tilapia Lettuce Wraps with Green Apple Dressing

 

Dinner 3: Roast Chicken with Apple and Sweet Onion Stuffing and Steamed Broccoli.

Lunch 3: Chicken and Broccoli Egg Bakes.

 

Dinner 4: Pan Fried Salmon and Onions Over Creamy Garlic Herb Spaghetti Squash

Lunch 4: Salmon salad with Sweet Rice Vinegar Dressing and Capers.

chicken and broccoli egg bake from know gluten

 

Looking for even more simple gluten free dinners?

Salmon and Sweet Potatoes with Cucumber Peach Relish
Super Easy Baked Chicken Breast in the Crockpot

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins – Gluten Free

Posted in Cakes, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, muffins and quick breads by

When I was about 25 or so, I was out of town and I took my twins and my young foster sister to McDonalds. It was chaos. Three little kids, a busy Sunday morning, and of course this Mcd's had no play place so the kids had nothing to do except sit beside me and bicker. Here I was, 25 years old, with three kids, in the middle of the storm. Kids fighting, milk spilling, when an older man leaned down to me, smiled and said, “Happy Mother's Day, Mama.”

Little girl sitting at a messy counter, baking.

Motherhood

Mother's Day. We don't really celebrate it. It somehow doesn't seem right to recognize mothers en masse. Your mother is special. She deserves special recognition. Right here, I could write you an essay on Motherhood and what it means to love a child, whether you gave birth to her or not, but instead, I'm going to give you something you can give your mom or that special lady in your life who loves you like a mom. Chocolate.

 

Recipe options: If your mom has special health needs, you're fine to use an egg replacement, vegetable oil instead of butter and another sweetener. The muffins will still tastes amazing.

 

This recipe is dedicated to my mom.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins – gluten free

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2-3 bananas
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 1T baking powder
  • 1T vanilla
  • 1/2 – 1 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Directions:

  1. In a blender or magic bullet, coming the bananas, butter and eggs.
  2. Blend until smooth and pour into a large bowl.
  3. Add remaining ingredients, except for chocolate chips.
  4. Beat until smooth. (I use an electric mixer for this)
  5. Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Fill lined muffin tins almost to the top (this makes about 15 for me)
  7. Bake at 400F for about 12 minutes or until the tops are light gold and spring back when touched.

Looking for more quick and easy quick breads and muffins? Check out these:

Gluten Free, Grain Free Raisin “Bran” Muffins
Gluten Free, Grain Free Pumpkin Muffins
Fast, Easy, Coconut Flour Cupcakes
Gluten Free Pumpkin Gingerbread with Lemon Curd
Basic Gluten Free Banana Bread

This recipe is linked up with:

Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays for the first time! Stop over and check it out. Lots of great gluten free recipes!

Click the link below for a printable recipe:
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins – Gluten Free

 

Spicy Black Bean, Pumpkin Soup Gluten Free, Vegan

Posted in Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, Soups, Vegetarian by

Let’s be honest, nothing is more impressive than telling someone you made soup from scratch. There’s a sort of mystique around soups, especially creamy soups. Maybe it’s because we’re so used to buying them in a can that we’ve started to believe that only big companies can really get it right.

Homemade soups are a staple in our house. My family members follow a number of different diets and a homemade gluten-free, vegan soup that’s perfect for the slow carb diet, meets everyone’s needs.

This soup is soup, but it can be more than soup. It’s thick and rich and tastes like an amazing curry sauce. I find it’s best to serve with platters of cooked meat, cooked vegetables and baked potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes so that people can add things in to make their own curry. (Super way to use up leftovers from your crockpot chicken or roasted winter vegetables!)

Spicy Black Bean, Pumpkin Soup, Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Spicy Black Bean, Pumpkin Soup Gluten Free, Vegan

Click the link below for a printable recipe

Spicy Black Bean, Pumpkin Soup Gluten Free, Vegan

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 yellow bell peppers sliced
  • 1 med onion sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can pumpkin
  • 1.5 cans water
  • Red curry powder to taste, up to 3T
  • Salt to taste
  • Olive oil for sautéing


Directions:

  1. Heat oil in 3qt sauce pan
  2. Add onions, sauté until caramelized. Add peppers and garlic.
  3. Sauté until soft.
  4. Add water and beans.
  5. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer 10 mins.
  6. Add pumpkin.
  7. Blend until smooth.
  8. Add curry and salt to taste.

Looking for more soup recipes? Try:
Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Red Pepper Hummus Soup
Gluten Free, Vegan, Very Easy Broccoli Soup
Carrot and Lentil Soup
Gluten Free Kitchen Scrap Soup Stock
Tomorrow’s Lunch Gluten Free Yellow Soup

Need more vegetarian recipes? Try:
Roasted Winter Vegetables, Vegan, Gluten Free
Gluten Free Mung Bean Pancakes
Gluten Free, Vegan Football Fritters

Can’t get enough pumpkin? How about:
Gluten Free, Grain Free Raisin Bran Muffins
Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pumpkin Smoothie
Gluten Free, Grain Free Pumpkin Muffins
Gluten Free Pumpkin Gingerbread with Lemon Curd

Gluten Free, Grain Free Raisin “Bran” Muffins

Posted in Breakfast, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, muffins and quick breads, Recipes by

I mentioned the other day that my husband is a wonderful guy. He really is. He's the kind of guy who will come home after 14 straight days of 12 hour shifts and say, “wow! You look beautiful! What can I do to help around here?” And though I sometimes respond with “here take this baby I need to change out of these pajamas” something less wonderful, it's a great day when I can say “Everything's done, sit down, I made you muffins. Yesterday was a great day. I made muffins.

 

These are a twist on the gluten free, grain free pumpkin muffins I posted the other day. They're a little dryer and the pumpkin isn't as noticeable. (Hence, no pumpkin in the name).

 

I ate mine with a maple cream cheese spread. Not paleo, but tasty enough that I've included the recipe below.

Gluten free, grain free raisin bran muffins

 

Gluten Free, Grain Free Raisin “Bran” Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup Flax meal
  • 1/2 cup browned butter, cooled
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2-1 cup Raisins

 

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients except raisins in a bowl.
  2. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.
  3. Stir in raisins.
  4. Spoon by 1/4 cups into a lined muffin tin.
  5. Bake at 325F for 20-25 mins or until the tops spring back when touched (may even take 30 mins)

 

Maple cream cheese spread (not paleo, but gluten-free and darned tasty)

Ingredients:

  • 3T cream cheese, softened
  • 2tsp maple syrup.

 

Directions:

  1. Combine cream cheese and maple syrup.
  2. Enjoy.

 

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pumpkin Smoothie

Posted in Breakfast, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips, Quick and Easy, Recipes by

Three year olds seem to have a sixth sense. When you've had little sleep and have a lot to do, they absolutely need your undivided attention all day. Welcome to my morning. So far I've played princesses and blocks, starred in a play with lots of sword fighting and a bear in which everyone dies at the end, and made three year old's breakfast. Laundry, dishes, and my breakfast lunch are on the back burner for now. (I'm sneaking in this quick post while we peruse the PBS kids website). Luckily I've got half a can of pumpkin in the fridge from the grain free pumpkin muffins I made yesterday and that means Pumpkin Smoothies!! I love smoothies, they're quick to make, healthy and let me “eat” breakfast on the move. They're an absolute must for me because I often don't have time to prepare a gluten free meal for myself.

 

I find that the best liquid for a pumpkin smoothie is freshly juiced carrot and ginger juice, but if you don't have a juicer you can use your favorite milk or other liquid (sweetened almond milk would be good).

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pumpkin Smoothie

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of carrot and ginger juice or your own favorite liquid for smoothies
  • 1 small handful frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 of a banana
  • 3 T canned pumpkin
  • 2 T flax meal
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Sprinkle of nutmeg
  • Optional: honey or maple syrup to sweeten.

 

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients except nutmeg into a magic bullet or blender.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Pour into a glass.
  4. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

 

Gluten Free, Grain Free Pumpkin Muffins

Posted in Breakfast, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips by

Sooo, pumpkin was on sale at Walmart this week. Fifty cents a can. I may have bought some. So, this is Pumpkin Week at Know Gluten! Yay!

 

First, a fast easy grain free muffin that actually tastes and feels like a muffin. Even my wonderful husband who has the option of gluten-filled muffins liked them. (And actually liked them. He really is wonderful and will smile around mouthfuls of my most horrific disasters, but you can tell if someone really likes something.)

 

I was so happy about these. No grains, no refined sugar, lots of protien, vitamin A from the pumpkin, and super good. The 3 year old had them for supper.

 

I found the base for this recipe at Wellness Mama, tweaked it ever so slightly, and here are my results. I liked these best with Nutella, but they're also great with maple butter. (Just sweeten softened butter with a little bit of maple syrup.)

 

A little note about baking these, at 8 minutes I was sure I was going to have to throw them out and that I'd be scraping gooey muffin stuff out of my pretty muffin cups. The tops seems to brown much more quickly than the insides were cooking. But, thankfully, they turned out beautifully. Soft, moist and pumpkiny.

 

Grain Free, Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/3 cup of maple syrup
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup browned butter, cooled

 

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixture.
  2. Spoon into muffin tins.
  3. Bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.
  4. Cool completely before eating.

 

Fast Easy Baked Eggs with Brie

Posted in Breakfast, Entrees, Gluten Free Recipes and Tips by

When I was surviving my first set of three year olds (my now 16 year old twins) I lived on nachos. Layer chips, salsa and cheese on a plate, microwave and eat as quickly as possible between emergencies. Now, 13 years later and on 3 year old number 4, my between emergency tastes have grown a bit more sophisticated. I still often need something really quick and easy to put together and something that I can potentially microwave, but I'd rather have something that doesn't give me that carb and sodium bloat (that my 26 year old self was somehow able to avoid) and I'd rather eat Brie. I'm sortof tired of cheese-from-a-bag.

This is a quick and easy gluten free dish so you don't really need a recipe or directions, but I'll provide them anyway for those that scan instead of read (I'm so guilty of that). And even though it's a great quick snack, it's fancy and pretty enough to serve at brunch.

Baked Eggs and Brie

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg per person
  • 1 wedge of Brie per person
  • Optional: 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
  • Optional: 1 Tablespoon salsa
  • Cooking spray
  • Sea salt to taste

 

Directions:

  1. Lightly spray silicon baking cups, small ramekins or muffin tins with baking spray (Pam Spray).
  2. Crack one egg in each cup.
  3. Lightly salt to taste.
  4. Lay wedge of Brie over each egg.
  5. If desired, spoon 1T of heavy cream over each egg.
  6. Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes or until eggs are set. (Some people like their eggs a bit softer, I like mine almost hard boiled)
  7. If desired, spoon salsa over egg before eating.
  8. Eat quickly, standing at the counter, with a spoon before someone needs something else.

 

Note: This egg can also be microwaved, but since microwave cooking strengths vary, I'd try cooking it for 1 minute at a time until you figure out how long it will take in yours.