Gluten Free Zucchini Choclate Chip Bread

I just have to share this amazing Zucchini bread recipe!

I was daunted by the epic Zucchinis in the garden and how Shea NEVER eats veggies. I tweaked and experimented and deviously thought that if I could make a yummy loaf maybe he would bite.

Result? Hook, line and sinker. Perhaps putting chocolate chips in it was all it took but, hey, the kid ate zucchini! That in itself is cause for celebration!

3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup cane sugar
3 cups rice flour
3 eggs or egg replacement
1/2 cup butter (melted) or organic coconut oil
1 cup apple sauce
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
2 Tbls. baking cocoa
2 tsp Zanthan Gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg

Combine sugar, eggs and butter together then add zucchini. Mix well and set aside.

Combine all dry ingredients. Add the Zucchini mixture to the dry ingredients. Make sure it is well blended then add chocolate chips.

Spray or grease 2 loaf pans well. Half the batch in each loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let sit in loaf pans for 10 - 15 minutes then run a knife around the inside edge of pan. Gently turn over and giggle until loaf comes out on clean surface. Let cool a bit more before cutting.

Makes 2 nice big loafs. Just watch it disappear!

Kindergarten concert; this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Just taking a quick look at the really long buffet table was all the information that was needed.

It must be the end of year Kindergarten concert where a fleet of overachieving parents of 1st children (?) brought enough food for the entire school. Food is a loose description because most of it was sugary, trans-fat, preservative laden crap which looked so damn delicious it was near torture to be around it.

But first the actual concert.

Two different classrooms of Kindergartners were on stage and started off the show with a bang with "This little light of mine" which sort of seemed gospel-y and somewhat religious but I decided I just wasn't going to go there.

They took turns to sing a ditty or do a little dance. Of course, it was supremely adorable and my hat went off to the music teacher who managed all those kids and kept it fun.

How did Shea do? Well, considering most of the show had to do with singing, he didn't really participate much. Although he did clap with enthusiasm and scan the audience for us. Once he spotted us, he beamed and waved, a little intrigued by all this being up in front of everyone thing.

When he was up there next to verbally precocious kids, I loose all sense of proportion. He seems so darn behind. But, Jake says, "He is right in there in the middle; not the top, not the bottom."

The highlight was the little dance number. Starting out slow, they got into circle groups, put out their hand and made a little merry-go-round then when the chorus started they were supposed to find a wacky pose and freeze. Shea was a bit dazzled and distracted by all the antics but finally got into the swing.

They all took big bows and seemed genuinely thrilled at all the applause as I was misting up from cuteness overload.

Now, back to the table full of trashy food. I guess I am sensitive. It just seems completely counterproductive to bring sugar, sugar and more sugar to these things. Not to mention everything has wheat so Shea just gets tormented. I try and scurry and get him a plate of non-contraband; like the Rice crackers and cheese slices that I brought. But who wants that when all you see is cookies, cupcakes and brownies.

We wonder why we have an obesity problem in this country. Who wants grapes when a brownie is sitting right next to it? Ok, sure, me but not most kids.

Wish it wasn't that way. I remember a teacher putting her foot down and saying no sugary stuff for the kid's parties. Hurrah! Much grumbling from parents who think 3 desserts a day a well adjusted child makes.

NOT.

Anyway, the food storm passed and the kids whirled out of the room for recess. Taking the opportunity to twit a little bit, I was chatting with Shea's para-educator. "Will Shea be ok for 1st grade next year? I am just feeling so scared for him and am now having buyers remorse about going ahead with 1st grade."

She nodded and said, "It will be different but he is ready and it would be a real disservice to him to not let him try it because his academics are there."

Ok then, 3 more weeks of school to go then off with the old and on with the new.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Eureka! I have done it!

Apologies for gloating but for me finding a good GF recipe is reason to celebrate. And, if I happen to create one of my very own? Considering my usual lack of natural baking skills? Well, that is: time to celebrate - cubed.

I have managed to customize a pretty generic Pumpkin Bread recipe but first we need to address the pumpkin issue. I hear you saying, "Do I have a can of pumpkin handy?" NO! This will not do.

In a pinch, perhaps we can let is slide, but the fresh stuff is so much better. And, it isn't too hard once you figure out the best method. Trust me on this, I have tried a few different methods this season and will share only the successes.

Use sugar pumpkins or those old fashioned Cinderella pumpkins as they have a very high sugar count.

Slice in quarters, remove seeds and that stringy stuff. In large pot, place a streamer rack and a little water and stack the pumpkin pieces meat side down. Steam for a good 10 minutes or until the pumpkin meat is soft to a knife. Let cool.

Scoop out pumpkin (avoid the outer skin) meat into large saucepan. Add some water to the pumpkin meat and put a lid on it. It will continue to steam and break down into mush. Make sure it does not burn and keep adding liquid as needed. (I used the water that was left from the steaming as it was all orange and pumpkiny. Had to be good for something, right?)

When the pumpkin has broken down, use a potato masher to further smooth the mixture. Puree with immersion blender for very smooth consistancy. Let cool. Freezes well.

Now you are ready to bake!

Shelley's Garden Fresh Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup rice/soy/hemp milk
2/3 cup apple sauce
1/3 Virgin Coconut oil, melted
4 eggs - I know it is a lot of eggs but it makes 2 loaves!
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cup GF All purpose flour
1 1/2 cup Brown Rice flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In mixing bowl combine apple sauce, milk, eggs and pumpkin. In separate bowl add dry ingredients. Pour melted Coconut oil into liquid and everything to dry ingredients. Mix well.

Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350F for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Tooth pick should come out clean. Let them cool a bit before trying to get them out of the pan.

I was shocked at the light and fluffiness of this bread. More like cake really. I guess it must be all the eggs but it does not have any of the weird heavy, denseness of the usually GF baked goods.

We are quickly eating one loaf but I wrap the 2nd in a good foil envelope and pop it in the freezer. Freezes well then thaw at room temp.

Excellent!

Gluten-free Donuts!!!????

Do you hear the celestial choir singing? No? Well, that is probably because you haven't tried Kinnikinnick Foods Gluten Free, Wheat free, Dairy free, Soy free Donuts yet?

I had heard rumors of these but had never spotted them in my local grocery store until today. Shea happened to be with me so I made the case to him.

Me: Hey look, Shea! Donuts! Do you want to try them?

Shea: Yeah!!! Donuts!!!

Me: Ok then.

He insisted on carrying the box around during the rest of our shopping and kept say, "I love donuts." So, I figured we might as well try these babies out right away.

Sure enough. They are something else! In a very good way.

We got the Cinnamon Sugar today but they had vanilla glazed as well. I have heard additional rumors of a chocolate glazed but they did not have those today.

They come frozen, 6 to a box. Simply pop one into the microwave for about 20 seconds and eat. I always try the Gluten Free products myself just so I have an idea of what I am dishing up for Shea. And, I have got to tell you these donuts are serious yum. They are light with good texture and excellent taste. I would give them a solid "A".

Shea polished off two, boom -boom, in one sitting. They do have eggs in them so we will have to see how that effects Shea.

I am always delighted when I find a new food Shea can eat, that he wants to eat.

Kinnikinnick Donuts, welcome home.

What is Shea eating?

Dinner time is tough. Shea really isn't interested in much meat and has always been a carbo-boy. Well, all that went south with the gluten free diet. One of the hardest things is bread and pasta.

Most gluten free bread is just plain weird but we found a pretty good one. Food for Life Rice Almond Bread. The texture is pretty darn close, is fruit juice sweetened and does taste pretty darn good. Give it a little toasting which improves the texture greatly and then try smearing it with a little Kettle Almond Butter. Pretty yummy and you got yourself a pretty "normal" snack. Kettle has a whole line of nut butters; Cashew, Hazelnut, Almond and, of course, Peanut.

Ok, now the pasta. This has been somewhat of an epic adventure as I have tried every single rice pasta available in hopes of finding one Shea will eat. Basically, I think many of them would be just fine for an adult who likes red sauce and can rationalize the texture difference. But, that just doesn't work as well for a kid especially one who will only eat noodles with butter and a little Parmesan. You know, pretty naked, which leaves the texture difference too glaring to ignore.

Our best luck has been with Corn pasta. A company in Seattle called Ritrovo imports it from Italy and it is quite delicious. The kind we tried was the Riccioli although I see that they have a penne and fusilli as well. The texture holds up very well and the bright yellow color seems to help when it only has butter and parm on it. They also do a Rice Gigli which when cooked looks like little jelly fish or something equally disgusting. They taste good but just look a little too odd for a kid to get excited about.

Last week at the PCC, I found a Quinoa & Corn spaghetti that I am really looking forward to trying. It is made by Ancient Harvest Quinoa. I have high hopes, will try it out and report back. If we could find a spaghetti noodle that got the thumbs up from Shea that would be big help for dinner.

Once again I am greatly impressed and amazed at all the terrific gluten-free products out there or quite recently hitting the market. I have not done any real market research on this but I would bet that Gluten-free products have to be one the real growth markets in the packaged food industry. One way to keep these good products coming is for us consumers to try them, and if you like them, by all means buy them and chat them up. If you find something you like, share the information. And, as always, just send me an e-mail, I would love to welcome any guest bloggers with their own product reviews or interesting recipes to share.

Bon appetite!

Hello Zucchini Bread!

We hit pay-dirt today!

On our usual Friday trip to the big city for speech therapy, Shea and I almost always stop off in my old stomping ground and hit my favorite grocery store, West Seattle PCC (Puget Consumer's Coop) on California Ave.

I do love and sadly miss this grocery store. They have wonderful organic, local produce, in-house butchers, excellent selection of everything and nice cashiers. But I really love their in-house deli and bakery. I always get a grilled panini sandwich and a whole juice for lunch while I do some of our normal shopping. Plus, since we have identified Shea's food allergies I always comb through the entire store for new interesting Gluten Free products to try.

Well, the gold star this time goes to the PCC in-house kitchen! They have started making gluten-free/wheat-free mini-loaves of Zucchini Bread that is really more like cake. We tried it today and it is a home run. Both kids gobbled it up for dessert and begged for more. It is very moist and fluffy and quite sweet; this is definitely a dessert.

It is always a gamble to try some of these gluten-free products. If Shea won't eat it then it is wasted. No problem with this one though; the loaf is gone already. Wish I bought two. They also were offering a Pound Cake that we did not try but I certainly will next time. They also had a Pumpkin bread but it wasn't Wheat/Gluten free.

I was impressed. I will look for and buy it again. Good on you, PCC! Way to make the trip to the city worth it every week!

Gluten-Free Product Review: Nana's Cookie Bars

I want to thank Dave G. for submitting this excellent Gluten-Free Product Review! Sounds good! How did I miss these? Thanks, Dave XOX

Nana’s Cookie Bars

A gluten free snack

This is a preliminary assessment of the snack product, Nana’s Cookie Bars, which this author has studied extensively in a laboratory that also doubles as a kitchen. The reason for this research it that Nana’s Cookie Bars would seem to be as nearly addictive as a non-addictive snack product could possibly be. What follows is an in-depth analysis of the precise nature of this addictive quality. Why exactly are Nana’s Cookie Bars so good?

Preliminary conclusions: beats me.

As of this writing, Nana’s Cookie Bars have become something far more than a mere staple of my gluten-free diet. They are a food group unto themselves. They are as essential to my continued happiness as loud music and women with tattoos in the smalls of their backs. They are as indispensable to my existence as the air I breathe and the water I occasionally bathe in, and I anticipate that soon they may have their own place in the periodic table of elements.

The technicians behind Nana’s Cookie Bars have created three flavors, Berry Vanilla, Chocolate Munch, and the irresistible Nana Banana--the specific item this author is sadly dependent upon. Nana’s Cookie Bars are soft and crumbly, and may end up on the floor if placed in small hands. This author would recommend unwrapping the bars and rolling bite-sized balls to be stored in sandwich bags for toddler consumption.

Negative remarks, addendums, and caveats:

To date, Nana’s Cookie Bars have advertised no merchandise or special offers that might allow the buyer to achieve some small savings by including with a purchase a sufficient number of box tops or “proof of purchase seals.” Nevertheless, in anticipation of such an offer I am currently bagging, boxing, and storing all Nana’s Cookie Bar boxes I acquire as a result of my addiction.

Food diary

I started another food diary for Shea today. We did this before, when we found out about the allergies. For 3 days, you write down everything he eats, any comments and what the...um...output is like.

He has been on the Gluten, etc. free diet for about 6 months now and over all things have been going very well. His attention span and focus is much better and he is attempting to talk more but still has articulation issues.

We are over the initial shock and have actually gotten used to this new life. But, he just doesn't seem to be able to regulate. He is constipated one day and then has exploding diapers the next.

How is the poor little chap going to figure out potting training with that sort of upheaval?

I want to go in and see our Naturopath again, give her the food diary and see if she has any input or suggestions.

What are we missing?

Food allergy update: what's Shea eating?

Just a reminder; Shea is allergic to Wheat/Gluten, soy, spelt, rye, barley, eggs, dairy/whey, peanuts. When we did the food allergy test we received back a printout that showed low, med and high sensitivity depicted on a bar graph. For example eggs, milk and wheat were literally off the chart. But, I noticed something interesting; because he was allergic to whey, cheeses were showing low reaction due to most of the whey being removed in the cheese making process

Hmm... Interesting and a real blessing for us. Cheese is one of Shea's main protein sources and it was nearly impossible for us to completely exclude it from his diet. So, Shea eats cheese, in all forms, but mainly just by the slice. The same goes for cottage cheese and yogurt which both fallow on the reaction graph.

I expect he is still having some reaction to the dairy but since he seems so much better than before I really don't care. Although, we do need to deal with constipation concerns on occasion because of all the cheese.

We counter it with lots and lots of apple sauce and apple juice. Unfortunately he won't even think of trying any other kind of juice or fruit so that is pretty limiting. We also regularly have Hemp Milk which is really high in fiber, protein and Omega 3 & 6. Shea really likes the chocolate and it really helps.

Lately he has been branching out. Not always and not usually for me. But, Jake can get him to try pretty much anything that is on his plate. He has spent mealtime eyeing it but if I ask him he won't even think about it but if Jake holds the spoon he usually will.

We manage to get him to chow through pretty respectable piles of mashed or baked potatoes. Tonight he had some white rice. He likes corn chips and will eat corn bread. My kingdom for a good gluten free corn bread recipe.

Breakfast is a lot easier. He loves EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp and no one would blame him. It is lite and crispy choco-rice cereal. Pretty darn good, I've tried them. He can work through 3 or 4 bowls on a good morning.

And, we found these excellent muffins: Flax4Life Flax Muffins - Chunky Chocolate Chip made here locally in Belling ham, WA. I know, I know, do you see a chocolate theme reoccurring? Well, it is my kid, after all. Not only are these darn good muffins but they are packed with 3200 mg. Omega 3 per muffin and have 10 grams of fiber. They also have 104 mg of Lignen which I have never heard about before but apparently supports both breast and prostate health! These muffins are such a winner that Molly even likes them and I have begun to ration them. But, when I visited the Flax4Life website, I noticed they do mailorder with free shipping! So, I think I may just get that case of 24 and see how long they last.

One of the hardest things was finding a real good pancake recipe. Not just an ok one, he just won't eat it. But, a real good one where he clears his plate, asks for another (with words even) and chows that one down too. Pancakes mean "the weekend" around our house and it was going to be a bummer if I couldn't find one that we all liked.

Well, I found it. Tip of the hat goes to the Naturopath who did the allergy test and delivered the staggering news. While I was still stunned and barely coherent, she pushed a cook book into my hands called The Whole Life Nutrituion Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS. CN. I know it doesn't sound very appetizing but it is a very good cookbook with over 200 gluten free, dairy free and egg free recipes.

Buckwheat Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup hemp, rice, almond or soy milk
1 organic egg (we use Ener G egg replacement)
2 Tbls. melted virgin coconut oil, melted
1 Tbls. maple syrup or Agave nectar

Whip it all up and make pancakes. Somehow these cakes are light and fluffy, have a wonderful slight coconut taste but are not too sweet. The texture is the excellent thing. Most gluten free baked goods seem very flat (to me) so the fluffiness of these is a real hit. Add butter and real maple syrup and you got yourself a weekend morning to be proud of.

Gluten-Free Bakery Review: The Flying Apron

festivas is upon us and the goodies are beginning to surface. I, the next month and half we will honor 5 birthdays, Thanksgiving, Gingerbread house making and Christmas.

We are notorious for particularly enormous sweet tooths (teeth) in our family. My mom takes the cake; literally, as the supreme duchess of dessert. So, each event is generously lavished with excellent sweets.

So, think of poor Shea; last time we just let him eat the normal (wheat) birthday cake. Oh sure, we steered him toward the frosting. As if that was somehow better for him. But, of course, we saw his pre-diet pallor and behaviors crop right back up again.

Now, we are a bit more seasoned; we have been on the wheat/gluten/egg/soy/whey/peanut/rye/barley/spelt free diet for almost 5 months and try real hard not to "fall off the wagon".

I have been wanting to check out The Flying Apron bakery in Fremont, (3510 Fremont Ave. N. Seattle, WA 206-442-1115) for quite a while. They neighborhood is very groovy and fun and they are apparently now quite famous for their excellent variety of wheat/gluten free and many vegan goodies. They popped up prominently during my first feverish googling after we found out about Shea's food allergies. Since then I have read and heard many wonderful things.

Now seemed like a real good time to try them out with Shea in tow. We sampled a wide array of treats, everything looked yummy. The bakery is very cute, warm and inviting and the staff was friendly. We got muffins, cookies, some little chocolate cakes, a loaf of apple bread and a small blackberry pie. My personal favorite were the chocolate chip cookies (big surprise) and the Apricot Thumbprints but there was a lot to choose from. They also do fancy cakes too and seem to be doing a lively business.

I was disappointed for one reason but it wasn't their fault. I have been searching for a good loaf of bread. To be honest, wheat and gluten free breads have a pretty weird texture understandable considering gluten is the thing that makes bread really fluffy and wonderful. Breads without gluten tend to be very dense. So, I am always looking for a loaf of bread that Shea will eat. I consider a personal mission.

I was looking forward to trying their "house bread" but they were out on this Friday mid-afternoon which may very well be a good sign. If you check their website, they offer "mail order" so I might just order a loaf to give it a try.

All in all it was a successful excursion and I would highly recommend it to folks who are dealing with the wheat and other allergies. I would definitely come back and will probably get Shea's birthday cake from The Flying Apron Bakery next time around.

Fall is time for comfort food.

For me, comfort food is roast organic chicken and mashed potatoes. It makes me happy just writing about it. Thank goodness mashed potatoes is an easy recipe to make gluten and dairy free and the kids actually will eat it.

Boil up 1 -1 1/2 organic spuds per person depending on how much you LOVE them. Leave the skins on; remember that is where the real nutrition is. Boil until soft.

Drain liquid but reserve about a cup for mashing.

Add several big dollops of butter straight onto the hot spuds. Add splash of Rice or Hemp milk and start mashing. For years, I would mash potatoes with a fork which is quite a work out and then I finally graduated to a real masher. Fast, efficient; the right tool for the job. I wouldn't live without one now.

Continue to mash, add a splash of potato liquid. Add splash of chicken or veggie stock, if available. I get those little 6 oz. containers just for this purpose. Keep mashing and adding liquid until it is the texture and smoothness that you desire. Salt & Pepper to taste.

I dish out with an ice cream scoop so that our mashed spuds are perfectly proportioned mounds. Maybe it reminds me of school lunch from when I was young but if feels right somehow and the kids get a kick out of it.

Yum, yum. Have another scoop. It's good for you!