Gluten free Trip to Chicago

Its been a long time since my last post but I haven't been slacking! I've been being an intern for Fantabulously Frugal NYC (Basically managing their twitter account), Being an organizer for 3 groups on meetup, Co-Organizer for 2 others, Volunteer Coordinator for Party 4 a Cause, and lately for at least the past month I've begun planning a gluten free scavenger hunt in NYC for July 31st.
So back to Chicago! I went w/my hubby to visit his long time childhood friend Nandu. He was getting commissioned from the Navy and hosting a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in the Theatre District using our Hilton Honors points. I found one great place for breakfast: Meli's Cafe. I will be posting a full youtube video of my trip to Meli's. My husband and I also ate at Hub 51 which has a gluten free menu. Everything was absolutely delicious. While Chicago definitely does not have as many gluten free and dairy free resources as NYC, it was still a great trip.
Stay tuned for more gluten free scavenger hunt info in upcoming posts!

Recent updates

I just started the tradition of getting babycakes donuts and freezing them! Why didn't I think of this before I would have saved so much $$$$! I'm doing a scavenger hunt tomorrow w/Pogo and if it goes well and we stay in the city...I might make a gluten/vegan one! Of course it would only be for the summer but it sounds fun doesn't it?

Superbowl Gluten free Nachos w/all the fixings!

It was superbowl time and lately I've been craving nachos. So I had this perfect little idea the whole day and stopped at Whole Foods to get the ingredients. I picked up Gluten free Tortilla Strips(Green Mountain Gringo), Ground meat, Daiya shredded Cheddar, lime kale/carrots/cherry tomatoes (from the Whole Foods salad bar), and Sprouts mixture(Also from the salad bar) I browned the beef, put the daiya cheddar in, then the rest of the ingredients...so yummy! Delicious! Picture above!

My gluten free fig newtons

Best Gluten free Fig Newton Type cookies

So I've been looking for months for the best gluten free fig newtons...I even tried Orgran's Wild Raspberry flavored cookies...very very bad! I've seen a few recipes for gluten free fig newtons...and just haven't had the chance to make them until TODAY! Yes it was snowing outside and instead of me going out to get a cappuccino like I really wanted...I just love the frothed milk...I need to get a frother asap so anyways I made Fig newtons with the Turkish Figs I had gotten from Nutsonline. Here's the recipe (pictures to follow):

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup Agave
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour mix (with xanthan or guar gum in the mix) I used Coconut flour for half and Jules Gluten free for the other half
  
• 10 tablespoons melted, Earth Balance
  
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar to dip glass in to press cookies
• Turkish Figs chopped up (make sure to take out stems)
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F / 190C

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone pads or lightly grease

Combine eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon juice and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add gluten-free flour and beat just until combined. Slowly drizzle melted earth balance into the mixture and beat until combined.

Drop dough by heaping rounded teaspoons on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 11/2-inch space between cookies. Dip a small drinking glass in the extra sugar and gently press down on each cookie. Making sure each cookie is flattened put the figs in the middle and put another cookie on-top. Pinch them together and va-la!

Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown and crisp. Cool.

Makes about 20 Fig Newton Gluten free cookies

Welcoming in 2011

I know I haven't written in this in months...probably should have taken pictures of all of my gluten free desserts I've made...well I made something fabulous for New Years Eve besides the really horrible spinach dip I tried making (dairy free of course) that was YUCK! But the Snowball cookies I made were a huge success. Here's the recipe:

Snowball Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups sifted Jules Gluten free flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup Earth Balance, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1-1/2 cups chopped Pecans
• 2 cups confectioners sugar to roll cookies in
• 2 tsp Ginger
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
  

Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat softened earth balance with sugar until very light and fluffy. Mix in flour mixture. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate 20 minutes until easy to handle.
2. Make balls in the palm of your hand by tablespoons. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet, and bake in a 350 degree F. oven until golden brown, being careful bottoms do not burn.
3. Place confectioners sugar in a large bowl mix in the cinnamon and ginger. Take cookies from oven and gently put into bowl. Carefully, they are hot, toss cookies in sugar until they are coated.

Enjoy!