Pumpkin Donuts- Gluten, Dairy and Refined Sugar-Free

I made my family a fun treat this morning for Halloween: Gluten-free Pumpkin Donuts! They are also dairy-free and free of refined sugar (the recipe calls for coconut palm sugar). I’m still learning how to use almond flour and some of my baked goods have turned out better than others.

Put ingredients in a food processor.

Fill up donut baking pan with the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes (or a minute or 2 longer). Be sure to let them cool for at least 5 minutes in the pan before removing them to a cooking rack. In the meantime, make the glaze. I got out my coffee grinder, which I never use, but I’m glad I have it for situations such as this! Grind up coconut palm sugar and tapioca starch into a powder as instructed.

Finish the glaze and drizzle on donuts.

Yum yum! A great fall treat!

Recipe here from simplygluten-free.com Gluten Free Pumpkin Donuts

Gluten-Free Chicken Noodle Soup

I made a really yummy chicken noodle soup today! I used leftover chicken I cooked in the crockpot yesterday. It’s chock full of veggies – carrots, celery, onion and potato.

I found some cute little tiny O-shaped gluten-free pasta that I used for the noodles.

Yum, yum, yummy for fall weather!

Here’s the recipe from food.com .
I omitted the boullion and used gluten-free noodles. I would use less thyme next time too.

Dealing With Gluten and Sugar on Halloween

I just wanted to share the list the Celiac Disease Foundation has put out for those looking for safe candies for Halloween. It’s a fun week for the kiddos and it’s important to protect those that are sensitive to gluten and other foods.

Gluten-free Halloween Candy List

Also, Children’s Medical Center in Dallas came out with 4 ideas for limiting sugar on Halloween. Many kids are sensitive to refined sugar and need to limit their intake. I think these are some great ideas that I might consider for my own kids, especially with the candies they can’t eat (chocolate, etc).

4 Ways to Enjoy a Sugar-free or Low Sugar Halloween

A Little Guilty Pleasure Time

My newfound guilty pleasure is (wait for it)… Barney Butter!

This is by far the best almond butter I’ve tasted. It’s really smooth and creamy, not grainy and gritty like others. It’s all-natural, gluten-free and peanut-free and comes in these little single serving packets! You can buy it in jars too. I just ate a packet for breakfast because I was on the go today and didn’t feel like making eggs. So yummy with an apple or banana too. The one thing about it that is a negative is that it has evaporated cane juice and I prefer unsweetened almond butter. It’s too yummy to pass up though and I don’t feel too bad about enjoying it. (There are much worse for you treats out there!) Loving the Barney Butter! My not-so-guilty guilty pleasure!

Burgers and Brownies

Ooh, look what we found at the grocery store today!

These look soooo good and are gluten-free and dairy-free! Double win! Who doesn’t love a fudgey brownie? My 3 year old son sure does! I primarily bought these to make for him. Darn you, Sugar Control Diet! 😩 Until I’m allowed sugar again, I’ll just smell them. And salivate a little. Man, I miss chocolate.

Mmm…Chocolate heaven.

I also treated myself to lunch today since I didn’t have anything good for lunch at home and we were on the run. If you’ve never been to Smashburger or there’s not one in your area, you are really missing out! I found out today you can order a burger without a bun. I created my own with lettuce, bacon, avocado and truffle mayo. Served in a bowl with a knife and fork. Yum! I tried the Veggie Frites (flash fried carrot sticks and green beans). I decided to forego the ranch dipping sauce. Soooo tasty! I tried the Mango Tea sweetened with Stevia! All on my crazy diet plan! A greasy meal, but still on my plan and so fantastic! Check it out if you have one close! They also have amazing chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, veggie burgers and salads. We love the Smash Fries too. I so wish I had taken pictures of all that tasty goodness to share with you but I didn’t feel like ripping my smartphone out of my 3 year old’s hand at the time… Getcha some Smash stat!

Squash- The Other Spaghetti

Ok, before I expound on spaghetti squash, I have to give a quick update on my weight loss! This morning, I dared to try on a pair of my old size 6 jeans from at least 4 years ago. (They’re very cute bootcut jeans from Gap and they’re still in style, thank goodness!) That’s always a major risk to take and in years and months past, I’ve been disappointed when I still haven’t been able to get my pre-baby clothes to fit. Today, however, was a new day! They fit comfortably, even loose! Yippee! Happy dance! What an amazing feeling! (So glad I kept those pants!) So, I immediately grabbed my camera to commemorate this moment: (Excuse the post-shower hair.)

Allright, allright. Moving on… Spaghetti squash! I have really enjoyed trying new recipes with spaghetti squash recently. One of my favorite ways to cook it is to boil it first, then sauté it with mushrooms, olive oil, garlic and herbs. It’s a great side dish. Or make a shrimp scampi with it. Super yummy and filling!

Yesterday, I ran across my favorite recipe yet: Deconstructed Spaghetti Squash Carbonara. Oh my goodness, y’all. I’m not even joking. I felt like I was eating an indulgent bowl of pasta. BTW, pasta is one of my favorite foods. I swear someone in my family tree has to have been part Italian. So, it’s been pretty tough not being allowed pasta on my diet. This is my solution! It is Paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free too! Just look at this:

Bacon, shallots, garlic, and topped with another food I LOVE- a poached egg! Yowza! I must pass along this recipe from Popular Paleo:
Deconstructed Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

Paleo Pancakes

I’ve begun exploring the Paleo diet lifestyle. I have a few friends who follow the diet plan and I have gotten a few cookbooks on my Kindle recently. I think it may be a good transition/way of eating after I finish my strict Sugar Control diet. We’ve already been eating mainly gluten-free and dairy-free for my kids’ health. I have a little experience cooking the Paleo way.

I have been eating eggs for breakfast every morning for the past 4 weeks. I’m almost at a state of rebellion. I try to change them up and add things to them to make it interesting, but I’ve about had it with huevos. I downloaded some new Paleo e-books and came across a Paleo Pancakes recipe. It’s only 3 ingredients: 2 bananas, almond butter and an egg. Super simple and I can have all 3 ingredients! Yippee!

First, you put them all in a blender.

Blend it up to create a smooth batter.

Next, heat a little coconut oil in a skillet and pour the batter in.

Repeat this until the batter is used up. The recipe yielded 4 pancakes for me, which I shared with my 3 year old son.

I was amazed that they turned out surprisingly like regular pancakes! Food science is interesting to me. Whoever decided that adding these 3 ingredients together would create a pancake-like consistency- way smarter than me. They were sweet, didn’t need butter and syrup (you could top it with those or fruit if you like). I felt like I was being indulgent and getting a treat! My son cleaned his plate too. It was a much needed respite from my omelet breakfasts!

Paleo Pancakes

1 Tbsp. almond butter
2 ripe bananas
1 egg

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Heat coconut oil in griddle. Pour batter on griddle and brown each side. (Don’t turn too quickly or the pancake will fall apart.) Repeat with remaining batter.

Recipe from “Paleo for Beginners” by Sarah Sparrow

Paleo Halloween Treats

Well, it’s the month of Halloween and you know what that means- candy and junk galore! This always present a challenge for me since my kids struggle with food allergies and sensitivities. They don’t eat a ton of sugar but I want them to be able to participate in all the trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. It’s certainly not fun when all your buddies get to dive in to their buckets of sweets and you can’t eat most of it. It’s literally taking candy from a baby. 😢

So, I ran across this book on Amazon.com this weekend. The Paleo Kid’s Halloween

I’m loving looking through the recipes and am determined to make some of these for my 2 boys to enjoy this Halloween. I want them to have just as much fun as their friends and not feel deprived or left out. I’ll be sharing the finished products with you once I make them. Pumped for trick-or-treating this year! P.S. – the e-book is FREE right now!! I got it for my Kindle. 😉

Egg-Free Food Finds

One of my sons currently has a food sensitivity to whole eggs. He can have egg whites but not the yolk. It took me a while to find alternatives to the foods he had been eating, which were already gluten free and dairy free. I want to share with you what I did find, which he loves to eat (because there are plenty of alternative foods that he won’t eat)! I have a very picky eater.

This first one I give credit to my mother-in-law for finding: Perdue Simply Smart Gluten-Free Chicken Strips

My son (and even my husband who doesn’t eat gluten-free) loves them! They’re a quick and easy meal when you have as many evening sports practices as we do and need something fast! A great alternative to fast food chicken that is not gluten-free. These are dairy-free and egg-free as well!

Next, we love Glutino Pretzels!

So yummy! Gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free as well. They come in small twists or sticks. These are easy to send in lunches or to school for a snack. I crushed them up once and breaded chicken strips with them using this recipe from a previous post: Gluten-Free Cracker Chicken
They were even better than using the rice crackers!

My last find is Ener-G Wheat-Free Crackers

As you can see in the pic it is free from just about everything! Egg-free crackers were the hardest to come across. My son eats them with peanut butter or makes turkey sandwiches (like Lunchables).

Side note: Unfortunately the pretzels and crackers both contain soy. I try to avoid as much soy as possible for my 2 boys (since it’s estrogen which they don’t need). Sometimes you can’t get everything you want in alternative allergy-free foods. I do my best trying to balance our circumstances, special diet needs and picky palates. I try to limit soy-containing products and feed them natural, fresh food as often as possible. Busy lives dictate the need for quick foods sometimes though and Mommy gets worn out cooking 24/7! If you’re experiencing the same struggles, just do your best and don’t feed the “mommy guilt”! (: