Gluten Free Halloween Treats

Halloween can be fun for everyone with this selection of yummy gluten free Halloween treats.  While going gluten free can help those with celiac disease or autism, it may also assist with weight loss and general well-being.  These delicacies prove that gluten free ghouls and goblins can still have lots of fun.

For school parties and door giving, try Chocolate Cherry Fudge Drops from Simply…Gluten-Free Desserts, as adapted and reviewed by Go Dairy Free.  We’re talkin’ some serious fudge action here, but in easy cookie form. 

Do you love carrot cake, and putting a new spin on old favorites?  Dig into Carrot Macaroons by No Meat Athlete.  You’ll never give regular macaroons another glance.  Oh, and there’s chocolate drizzling involved. 

So, we have black and orange covered, what about some Frankenstein green on the table?  Try Pistachio Cheesecake from Gluten-Free is Life.  In my family, pistachio is referred to as “green medicine.”  Maybe this cheesecake could make old “Frank” a little more human.

In search of a Great Pumpkin dessert?  Not only are the Pumpkin Scones from yesterday’s post sugar free, they’re also gluten free.  Surprise!

Happy Gluten Free Halloween!
BONUS: Win a FREE copy of Confessions of a Red Hot (Veggie) Lover (Amazon, 2011).  Register at GiveAwayNow and La-La’s Home Daycare.  Both giveaways run thru November 2, 2011.

Sugar Free Halloween Sweets & BONUS

Have a healthy Halloween this year, while scaring off the sugar monster and sneaking in some veggies.  These recipes are great for anyone trying to reduce the sugar in their life, not just those on Sugar Busters® or diabetic diets.  And the flavors will keep your spirit sweet, so dig in!

Remember how the Key Lime Pie Murder’s heroine, Hannah Swensen, revealed a left-field secret ingredient (tomato soup) in a cookie recipe?  Nutty Chocolate Bites from Clean Green Simple are made from a base of adzuki beans, but they’re undetectable.  Agave nectar and Medjool dates create melt-in-your-mouth sweetness, while pecans, cocoa and optional rice milk bring on the ravin’ flavor.

Recycle your pumpkin pulp into Cookies and Candids’ Pumpkin Scones.  These scrumptious scones almost masquerade as muffins.  But beware!  Once your inner Cookie Monster discovers them, they vanish into thin air...leaving you and your guests with not-so-guilty looks on your faces.

Feed your need for Carrot Cake with this recipe from Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking, with extra carrots and nuts.  There are no artificial sweeteners in this decadent treat.  Instead, the dates and raisins make this a dessert worth sending to school, office and other Halloween parties.  Very share-worthy!

BONUS: Win a FREE copy of Confessions of a Red Hot (Veggie) Lover (Amazon, 2011).  Register at GiveAwayNow and La-La’s Home Daycare.  Both giveaways run thru November 2, 2011.

Cookbook Giveaway & Review

Win a FREE copy of Confessions of a Red Hot (Veggie) Lover, my lacto-ovo (eggs and cheese OK) e-cookbook that debuted in June on Amazon.  Lori of La-La's Home Daycare of Baton Rouge, LA, has posted a rave review on her blog.  She's also hosting the giveaway: one copy of Confessions, available worldwide.  For details, visit La-La's Home Daycare.  Good luck!

Broccoli 'Rizo Pepper Jack Pizzas

Rated KF for Kid Friendly, N for Nutritious, QE for Quick and Easy,
S for Spicy, V for Vegetarian, and Y for Yummy!

This is my first post using my own original recipe.  I did not use any specific measurements.  Simply prepare according to your own taste.  Pepper Jack and Soyrizo(R) are both spicy, so balance your flavors.


Ingredients:

Whole wheat bread, toasted
Prepared pizza sauce
Broccoli
Soyrizo(R)
Pepper Jack cheese

1. Spread Pizza sauce onto whole wheat toast.  I use about 2-3 tablespoons.

2. Add chopped fresh broccoli.

3. Add Pepper Jack cheese.

4. Add Soyrizo(R).  I used to make balls with my fingers, but discovered iced teaspoons are very handy.  You don't see this in the pic below, but I added another piece of broccoli between the Soyrizo(R) balls.  It would have made a prettier picture, but you wouldn't have seen the Soyrizo(R).  You could also add carrot shreds and other veggies here. 

5. Microwave for 15 seconds on medium power (50).  Allow to cool a moment before eating.

 

Meatless Monday

“Don’t have a cow,” says an ad for a global movement that has upped the ante on going green and living lean.  Meatless Monday has taken its place at tables around the world, including restaurants, celebrities and entire communities, even Ivy League universities.  Mom bloggers, special interest groups, and institutional foodservice contractors are also onboard, while major media outlets avidly cover the trend.  Despite the inevitable backlash from meat producers, Meatless Monday continues to grow in momentum, asking only a once-weekly commitment for personal and planetary health.  Read on for more info and robust recipes to help your family join the movement.

Retro Chic

An American invention, Meatless Monday originated during World War I, and was used again in World War II, as a civilian conservation method proposed by the government to provide soldiers with sufficient food supplies.  It was resurrected in 2003 by civilian Sid Lerner in response to the connection between food and health.  The public health awareness campaign now spans the globe, with participating homes, restaurants, hospitals, schools and workplaces from America to Australia. 

Oh Where, Oh Where, Have Your Fat Clothes Gone?

By simply substituting lighter, vegetable-based meals for one day each week, consumers have everything to gain and nothing to lose, except weight.  Just one day a week without meat can help prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity, and contribute to a longer, healthier life, without sacrificing nutrition.  Johns Hopkins leads numerous other schools of public health in unconditionally supporting the grassroots health movement.

Riveting Rivalry

According to FarmFutures.com, the Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA), a trade group of meat producers, opposes Meatless Monday, claiming that it eliminates consumer choice and is a “radical initiative pushing an extreme animal rights and environmental agenda.”  The AAA offers information “targeted to agriculture groups, college students and other foodservice and nutrition leaders” to assist “agriculture advocates” in “combating the Meatless Monday myth.”  According to a report by Euromonitor International, consumers eating less or no meat have driven down meat sales throughout the world.

Hollywood, Joe College, Corporate America, and a Big Bunch of Babies

The stellar cast of celebrities eating 15% less meat per week includes Oprah Winfrey, Russell Simmons and Robin Roberts (Good Morning America).  Longtime vegetarian Sir Paul McCartney and his family founded Meat Free Monday, featuring news, information, recipes, a button for Brits to contact their MP, and the Meat Free Monday song download and cookbook.  Duke University students, faculty and staff join in monthly Meatless Monday potluck lunches and raffle off cookbooks.   Students at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Barnard College, Carnegie Mellon University, and Canada’s McGill University, to name a few, are enthusiastically embracing weekly meatless meals.   After successful trials, Sodexho now serves weekly vegetable-based entrees to their clientele nationwide, including schools, colleges, governments, corporations and over 900 hospitals.    And AARP, the voice of Baby Boomers, the largest and most powerful group of consumers in America, offers information and recipes for reducing consumption of meat and saturated fat on a weekly basis.

Town and Country

CNN, ABC, Food Network, the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor are but a handful of the media reporting on Meatless Monday.  BET publishes recipes from the official website.  In 2009, Ghent, Belgium, and shortly thereafter the U.K., adopted the world’s first official vegetarian days.  Aspen, CO, home of the renowned Aspen Food and Wine Classic, is now the US’ first “Meatless Monday community.”   Mondays in San Francisco are officially designated “Vegetarian Days.”   Over 21 countries, Brazil, Jamaica and Malaysia among them, now celebrate Meatless Monday.    

Mom Bloggers Dish It Out

OK, so you’ve decided to try a soupcon of Meatless Monday on your family and see if it flies.  Where to begin?  For starters, try Cheesy Potato Soup from Working Mom Goes Green.  Or Chickpea Stew from Red Hot Cookin’ Mama with Bleu Cheese Biscuits from Veggie Converter.  Next up?  See Mommy Cook turns to the vegetarian classic, the Moosewood Cookbook, for their Harvest Rice Salad.  GPS now stands for Grilled Portobello Sandwich from the Ups and Downs of a Yoga Mom.  Gotta go?  Grab Dietitian on the Run’s Veggie Wrap Lunch.  For dessert, choose from Baked Churros (Cooking with My Kid), Effortless Chocolate Ricotta Dessert (One Mile One Meal) or Blueberry Buttermilk Cake (Always Order Dessert).  Bon appétit!

Upcoming Events for Food Bloggers

Have questions about the care and feeding of your brand new or growing food blog?  Are you wondering how to improve your writing skills, take better pictures, make more money - and fewer mistakes - with your food blog?  The following five events are tailored to help you with exactly that and more.

Oct. 20-21 (Th. & Fr.), 2011

Hilton New York

New York, NY

Registration & fee: $204.97

BlogHer Writers ‘11

Penguin Publishing partners with BlogHer to bring you an advanced social media workshop.  Enter the doors as a writer, emerge as an author. 

Throughout the welcome reception, networking, keynote, and breakout sessions on writing and publishing, you’ll be hobnobbing with publishers, editors, agents and authors.  Attendance is limited to 200.  Total registration is $204.97 per person, and is open through the welcome reception.

Nov. 4-6 (Fr.-Sun.), 2011

Grand Hyatt Hotel

San Francisco, CA

3^rd Annual Blogger Festival (FoodBuzz)

Pack your evening gown and heels for BuzzFest.  It’s a bigger event, with programs in the morning, Taste Pavilion in the afternoon, and Gala Dinner and Blogger Awards Ceremony in the evening.  And that’s just Saturday!  You also get dinner Friday and brunch Sunday, of course. 

Be forewarned: the registration button is an email link, and last year’s program is a little over 8MB.  Just download it, if only to read more about last year’s Taste Pavilion and Gala Dinner Menu.  - Get your tongue off that screen, young lady/man!

Nov. 11-13, 2011

Doubletree Guest Suites

Santa Monica, CA

Registration: $350

2011 International Food Blogger Conference (Foodista & Zephyr Adventures)

If you rate blogging conferences by food and wine, IFBC, the original blogger con, may be tops on your list.  The event is geared toward “grassroots bloggers, cookbook authors, and restaurant marketers,” among others.  Sessions and networking focus on “food, writing and technology,” according to the site. In the past, session leaders have included “bloggers, chefs and authors” in the forefront of the field.  Right now, there’s a blogroll of attendees for Santa Monica, so you get publicity for your blog just for registering!  Seriously, check this out!

January 2012

Birmingham, AL

Registration: $150 (Oct. 28 Early bird discount: -$25)

Food Blog South 2012

From the second you see the okra, you know you’re among GRITS (Girls/Guys Raised in the South).  FBS is loaded like a baked potato, covering photography, trends, blog makeovers, branding, raking in the spinach (money, honey), and media skills.  The first 15 registrants get a chance for a blog makeover.  These folks treat y’all like family, too!  They’ve got a special room rate at the Hyatt Place downtown.  And have y’all ever heard of doing a food blogger conference as a benefit?  Of all things!  FBS will be helping out the Desert Island Supply Company.  Learn more about Food Blog South at their website, email list, Twitter and Facebook.  And yes, they’ve got a blogroll, too.  Oh, by the way, you’ve gotta check out their speaker list to believe it!

May 4-6, 2012

Southern CA

Registration: $325 (Opens January 2012, incl. meals, lodging & workshops)

Camp Blogaway

While you pack this summer away, tag your bags for the 4^th Annual Camp Blogaway, a nonstop, fun-filled, food blogger weekend in the San Bernardino Mountains.  “Food bloggers of all levels” are welcome here.  If cooking’s important to you, come on!  According to the site, activities include “breakouts, round tables, hiking, wine tasting and substantial good eats.”  The site also features a blog, lists of topics, sponsors, speakers and attendees.  More exposure for your blog!  This year covers: photography, food writing, burnout, blog makeovers, dealing with success, pitfalls and life change via food blog.  Some kick-butt presenters are gonna be in those woods next summer.  Stay posted with Camp Blogaway via their site, email, Twitter and Facebook.  

Make your plans now for these awesome food blogger opportunities.  Doctors, nurses and teachers take continuing education to bring you and your children the best, most current knowledge and wisdom their professions have to offer, through networking and workshops.  Shouldn’t you do the same for yourself, your blog and readers? 

Useful Food News

From improving web sites for parents to community fundraisers to free food for schoolchildren, these bloggers are very busy making a difference.  You can help, too.  Read on.

New Site Functions and Interactivity

Busy foodie parents, your life just got easier and more fun.  Nicole at A Family That Eats Together has reoriented her site to your family’s needs.  Her new theme is kid-friendly recipes that are time and energy efficient, packed with flavor, and anything but the same old thing.  To this end, she has added features including “Weekly Meal Planner,” which will be her own meal plan for the week.  Recipes now have links above them, including “Add to Plan,” which allows readers to create their own meal plan, and “Add to List,” which will create their shopping list.  This particular feature is very exciting, because it also prepares the list by readers’ stores of choice, and conveniently sends the list to their smart phones.  Visit her site for more features, to share your recipes, and join in the foodie family dialogue.

For those who love a good cooking show, Clare at Calm Mind Busy Body offers YouTube videos on her site.  Just click the button in the right margin for demos of Stovetop Pineapple Broccoli Mini Pizzas, Portobello Mushroom Burgers, Zucchini Fritters, Lowfat Blueberry Pancakes, Smoothies and Shakes, Homemade Chewy Apple Dog Treats, and more.

Oct. 1, 2011: Texas Wildfire Recovery Fundraiser

Ren at Edible Aria shares the link and info on Austin Bakes for Bastrop, including photo and video of the 2011 Texas wildfire catastrophe.  The Oct. 1st one-day bake sale with seven locations is a grassroots effort by the Austin Community Foundation to help those organizations directly impacting those affected by the the worst wildfire in the state’s history.  For donors too distant to attend, there is an online giving link.

Oct. 1-2, 2011: California Childhood Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Fundraiser

To prevent childhood obesity and its running buddy, Type 2 diabetes, Susan at Food Blogga encourages everyone to support Heart of the Harvest, an Oct. 1-2 fundraiser for Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center in National City, outside of San Diego, CA.  Olivewood provides low-income families, especially children, with opportunities to raise healthy foods, and training to prepare them in tasty, beneficial ways.  The fun includes dinner by A-list San Diego chefs, music and art under the stars one day, and fun, games and food demos the next.  Tickets are only $15 if you’re over 12yo, and you can buy them online.

US: Starting Sept. 26, 2011 (weekly for 6 weeks): Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms

Dina at Just Another New Blog and Del Monte are also teaming up via “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” to improve children’s access to, and education about, fresh, healthy foods.  Every Monday, beginning today and for six weeks more, parents can vote for all the K-12 teachers (who register with the program) of their choice.  The top ten teachers get $1,000 cash for their classrooms, plus fresh fruit for snacks.  In addition, weekly winners will receive a Del Monte Field Fresh Day for their entire school!  And three readers (anyone who enters) will win $25 gift certificates to be awarded at Just Another New Blog.  So go call your teachers!

You can make a difference.  Whether you vote for teachers, or support a fundraiser to improve the nutrition of underprivileged children, or to re-build a torched Texas community.  If you haven’t enough money to spare, you can spread the word about these worthy activities.  Give back to yourself and your family by taking advantage of the organization tools and fun offered by thoughtful food bloggers.

Have a great week!

Autumn Weekend Menu

Isn’t fall fun?  The golden colors of leaves, gourds and the harvest moon; the adventure of walking through corn mazes; picking out pumpkins to carve; and cheering for your favorite football team all make for happy memories with family and friends.  This menu maximizes your ingredients, with cranberries and walnuts doing double duty in the salad and muffins, and the salad and bread both easy and cheesy.  

My grandmother grew a variety of squash in her garden, and there was always plenty of butternut.  This year I managed to raise a large, oblong, butternut-colored squash in my own garden.  So Grandma-Inspired Roasted Butternut Squash Soup by The Food Duo caught my attention.  This takes a classic roasted squash, changes up a couple ingredients for a savory flavor profile, then runs it through the blender.  Sugar-free, with a little cumin, allspice, sage and black pepper.  A great treat for folks living with diabetes and hypoglycemia, and SugarBusters diet followers.  You’ll swear you’re sinning.

  

Crisp apples and Bosc or Anjou pears cross the Romaine field and collide with crunchy cashews and tart cranberries, while shredded Swiss waves her pompoms in Winter Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing by My Kitchen Addictions.  Dijon mustard and onion steal the halftime show in the Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing.  The leftovers will be a touchdown in your lunch box on Monday.  Splenda can go in for the sugar, and walnuts can go in for the cashews.

The result of a Sargento cheese tasting challenge, Game Day Cheesy Chorizo Bread is adapted by Are You Hungry from the company's original recipe.  Needless to say, there’s plenty of cheese involved.  It starts with pizza dough conveniently made in your bread machine.  (If it’s handier for you, you could roll out that can of biscuit dough in the fridge.)  Then it takes a spicy Mexican turn, with chorizo, onions and pepper jack cheese.  This could go vegetarian simply by substituting Soyrizo for the chorizo.  Roll it into a dough log, bake and slice for fluffy pinwheels of spicy, crusty, gooey goodness.   

Cranberry Tangerine Muffins by Get Natured, while originally designed as a breakfast recipe, can also make a sensational, seasonal dessert for kids of all ages.  Flaxseed and whole wheat flour combine with walnuts or pecans for more complex nut notes.  This recipe will make your baked goods championship team.  Another great lunchbox item.

Give your reliable winning lineup of raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg a twist, while keeping it simple with Noodle Kugel with Raisins by Food Adventures of a Comfort Cook.  Stir the basics in with the noodles and cold butter, pour, cover and bake for 30 minutes.  You could even add a healthy field goal with No Yolks or whole wheat noodles.  This reminds me of my aunt’s leftover pie crust crisps with its simple genius.

Have a happy, healthy weekend!

What’s for Dessert?

Need something sweet for a snack or to finish a great meal?  How about pudding, pie or cake?  Make that Healthy Rice Pudding, Caramelized Fig Pie, Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes, Tea Time Rock Cakes and Tiramisu, to be exact.

If you have some leftover brown rice and a few raisins left in the box, try Noble Pig’s  Healthy Rice Pudding.  Its nearly zero prep time is the exact opposite of its nutritional value.  For a great between meal snack, you can’t go wrong.  Adapt as needed for serving to groups.

Got 20 fresh figs?  Indulge yourself in a slice of Caramelized Fig Pie, adapted by Sweet Salty Spicy from the cookbook La Cuisine des Filles.  As soon as it’s gone, you’ll immediately crave more.  To feed your new addiction, barter with family, friends or neighbors for their fresh or canned figs.

Here’s a classic flavor for those on special diets to share at parties, events and dinners.  Savoring Today offers lactose-free and gluten-free recipes for Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes.  This is a delicious and easy first foray into the world of lactose-free and gluten-free recipes.

Love scones?  Then you’ll adore Tea Time Rock Cakes by Lavender and Lovage.  No, rock cakes does not mean hard pastries.  They’re actually somewhere along the spectrum of scones at one end and cake at the other - cousins, you might say.  They’re also a tasty way to use your dried fruits.

Last but certainly not least, Italian restaurants do not have to be your sole source for a Tiramisu fix.  If you  moan every time you watch the movie No Reservations, Spiceopolis has the recipe for you.  Originally from Cook’s Illustrated magazine, this recipe will help you turn out a professional result worthy of sharing at the holidays or any occasion. 

Everyone can find a favorite among these delectable desserts.  Allow for second batches of these sumptuous sweets for your own home, so you’re sure to taste the fruits of your labors.