Holiday Recipes for the New Year

It is now Fall and a season of holidays will be starting soon with Rosh Hashanah, and then Yom Kippur, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and Kwanza. It may be time for you to do some cooking and baking. These are some recipes adapted for gluten free cooking. Please feel free to submit some of your favorite GF recipes for holidays and daily living.

HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Many of the following recipes come from The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook and are adapted for gluten free cooking. Please contact me if you need names of companies for gf products.

Hungarian Plum* Cake (Apple or Peach)
½ c. butter
½ tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
½ tsp. lemon extract (GF)
1 cup white rice flour
10 fresh or canned plum halves
1 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter and ½ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. (Love that food processor.) Add flour, baking powder, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and lemon extract. Mix well. Pour into a well greased pan (8X8). Press plum haves into batter. Sprinkle mixture of ½ cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon over the top. Bake at 375 or 30 minutes. (Check after 20 minutes to determine the rest of the baking time.)

*Hungarian Apple Cake: Substitute 3 sliced tart apples for plums
*Hungarian Peach cake: Substitute 10 halves of fresh or canned peaches for plums.

Banana Upside–Down Cake (A change from Apple Cake)
2 T. butter
2 eggs, beaten
½ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. GF vanilla
3 medium bananas, cut in quarters
1 1/2 c. white rice flour
½ c, raisins
2 tsp. GF baking powder
Walnut halves – Enough to cover bottom of baking dish
½ tsp salt (amount used to taste)
1/3 cup milk (liquid of your choice-Water or juice- to make it non-dairy)
½ c. shortening (butter or oil of your choice)
2/3 c. sugar

Melt butter. Add brown sugar and blend well. Pat into bottom of 8” square pan. Arrange bananas, raisins and nuts over butter/sugar and pat down. Cream sugar and shortening, add beaten eggs and vanilla and beat well. (I use a food processor. Easy and effective.) Add flour baking powder salt and liquid and blend well until batter is smooth. Pour batter over bananas. Bake 350 until done, about 45-55 min. (Check after 35 minutes to determine remaining time. ) Turn out upside down.

Chicken Soup
4-5 lbs. of Chicken parts
Fresh dill
3 quarts of cold water
1 large or 2 small onions cut in quarters
1-2 carrots
2 stalks celery
½ tsp pepper

Place chicken parts in cold water and bring to a boil. Skim top and then add seasoning and vegetables. Simmer for 3 hours. Strain, chill and remove top fat. Some people like to add the cooked vegetables and chicken cut in small pieces back into the soup broth. Make it to your taste and enjoy!

Meatless Vegetable Soup (Increase or decrease vegetable amounts to your choice.)
1 large onion, minced
2 tsp. chopped parsley
4 T. Butter, olive or vegetable oil
1 cup diced potatoes
1 carrot diced
6 cups boiling water
½ cup peas
1 tsp. sugar
½ cup string beans diced
2 tsp. salt
1 stalk celery
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/c whole kernel corn (Organic, if possible. Read the label for ingredients.)

Saute onion in butter or oil until transparent. Add remaining vegetables, except potatoes and cool 10 minutes stirring constantly. Add potatoes, water, seasonings and tomatoes. Simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serves 6-8 (maybe 4 hungry ones.)

Kasha ( From A Good Appentite, NY Times, September 24, 2008, Melissa Clark)
3 cups kasha (buckwheat groats)
2 T olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion
6 cups GF chicken or vegetable broth, or water
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
½ tsp pepper

In a large saucepan toast kasha over medium heat, stirring constantly until it darkens and starts to smell nutty, about 2-3 minutes. Add oil, heat for a few seconds, then add oinion and sauté about 3 minutes. Pout in broth or water and bring to a simmer. Cover pot, turn heat to low and cook until kasha is tender, about 10-12 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Makes 10-12 servings.

GF Skin Care & More!

Like our featured Gluten Free makeup companies, many great GF skin care products can be found through smaller, independent businesses. The following companies offer products safe for Celiacs.

SKIN CARE

Gluten-Free Savonnerie
Gluten-Free Savonnerie’s entire line of bar soaps, liquid soaps, hair, and skin products are gluten free! Founder Christine Muir began the business with her husband shortly after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2001. Since then they’ve been dedicated to bringing attention to the disease and helping create specially-formulated products.
Shop online here

Dakota Free
Dakota Free products are manufactured by Potter’s Hand, Inc., a family-owned business. Dakota Free has a “full disclosure” policy with their products, so you know everything that goes into them. They offer facial cleansers, masks, soaps, lip balms, and more.
Shop online here

Monavé
Monavé, a company we covered in our GF makeup post, also has a great selection of GF skin care products. The only product that is not GF is the Unscented Emollient. Still concerned? Email the owner and President, Debbie Bilezikian (debbie@monave.com), and she’ll be happy to tell you how to make some of your own simple, GF skincare products!

TOOTHPASTE/DENTAL PRODUCTS

Finding GF toothpaste and dental products can be a bit trickier. After all, who buys toothpaste off the internet? Many companies cannot guarantee GF products, because although they do not generally add gluten to products, the raw materials they receive from supplies may contain gluten. Luckily, some brand-name dental products are 100% gluten free. The following information has been verified by company representatives at GF Delights’ request.

Colgate: All products 100% GF

Crest: GF products: Crest Whitestrips, Crest Night Effects, Crest toothpaste varieties, and Gleem toothpaste; **Crest Pro-Health Rinse and Crest Whitening Rinse may have trace amounts of gluten**

Glide: All floss is 100% GF

Tom’s of Maine: All dental products 100% GF; (the vast majority of Tom’s of Maine products are also GF, with only two exceptions: the Natural Moisturizing Hand Soap liquids and the Natural Moisturizing Body Wash)

Do you know of or have experience with a great GF product or company? Let us know by commenting below, or email us at
info@gfdelights.com.

Gorgeously Gluten Free!

Here at GF Delights, bringing you information on how to live easier (and tastier) with celiac disease is our first priority! But as many celiacs know, food choices are not the only things affected by gluten sensitivity. Many people who cannot digest gluten find that cosmetics and other toiletries containing gluten also cause problems. While gluten cannot be absorbed through the skin (a common misconception), products with gluten can enter the digestive track through the mouth via chapstick, lip gloss—even mouthwash! For this reason, spouses and partners of those with celiac disease often choose gluten free products to better protect their significant others.

But where to find these products? If you are a person who has been committed to brand names for years, finding GF options can be particularly difficult. By and large, the rule is the smaller the company, the greater the chance for GF offerings. Additionally, smaller companies will often hand-pack the products themselves, leaving little room for contamination—a greater risk when packing machines are used.

Today we bring you two exceptional companies devoted to GF cosmetics: Afterglow Mineral Cosmetics and Monavé Cosmetics.

Afterglow Cosmetics
www.afterglowcosmetics.com

Afterglow boasts an impressive line of cosmetics—all of which are 100% gluten free! Having grown up with a celiac mother and sister, founder Kristin Adams intimately knows the importance of such products. While the cosmetics are not made in a strictly-GF facility, sterilized steel equipment is used in their manufacture and all products are hand-filled in a clean room free of any contamination threat.

Products include mineral foundation, blush, bronzer, and eye shadow in powder form, as well as pencil eye and lip liners, lipstick and mascara. Afterglow’s products are organic whenever possible, and are all made in the U.S. The cosmetics are also free of chemicals frequently found to cause allergic skin reactions, including paraben and bismuth oxychloride.

Lists of all ingredients for every product are available here.

Best of all? Afterglow offers a 30-day money back, satisfaction guarantee! Personal, free phone consultation is also available (please call 866.630.4569), as well as Live Chats with their Beauty Advisors to find the best makeup for your needs!

Visit their website for user-friendly online shopping, or find Afterglow products (selection not guaranteed) at the establishments below:

Begin Within Wellness Spa
151 Hoffman Road
Barto, PA 19504
610.754.1747

The Grove Approach
7040 Sherrod Hill Road
Edinboro, PA 16412
814.734.4240

Monavé
www.monave.com

Our second impressive company is Monavé (modern, natural, versatile), based out of Maryland. President Deborah Bilezikian has been selling her hand-blended mineral makeup for years. Manufacturing is done without animal testing and local products are used. ALL cosmetics products are gluten free as of July 2008, as Monavé has started using rice-based Vitamin E instead of the traditional wheat germ Vitamin E. If you order online, however, be sure to specify your need for products with the rice-based Vitamin E.

Products include loose powder, cream, and “mousse” foundation, as well as blushes, bronzers, illuminizers, lip tints, lip crayons, gloss, loose glitter and body shimmer. They also have a newsletter than can be subscribed to online, as well as cosmetic samples that can be purchased for as low as $10.

Some East Coast, independent vendors of Monavé products:

Renew Organic Day Spa
842 W. 36th Street
Hampden, MD
410.400.2745

Shades and Hues Hair Studio
Suite 8726-A, 121 Liberty Road
Randallstown, MD 21133

Mermaid II
1074 Glenwood Blvd.
Schenectady, NY 12308
518.377.8710

Merriweather’s
39 LaGrange Ave.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845.454.5566

Remember, the best way to ensure you’re getting 100% gluten-free product is to be proactive! Read labels, contact sellers, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Those devoted to your health and satisfaction will always be happy to help you!

Stay tuned for further posts from GF Delights concerning GF shampoos, lotions, and more!