Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The Switch Witch

Allergy UK

Mwahahaha! This Saturday is the spookiest day of the year: Halloween! Some of that candy your child receives might not be gluten-free, so what do you do? Well, the Switch Witch must come that night and magically whisk away the unsafe candy and replace it with safe candy. Check out Allergy UK on facebook, as they were the ones who posted this great idea!

"We heard a great Halloween idea today!

Introduce the 'Switch Witch' to your little one's Halloween excitement. Let them know that if they leave their collected treats out when they go to sleep, the Switch Witch will fly in on her broomstick and swap all the things they shouldn't have for an even better (and safe) pile of goodies!

The Switch Witch will bring you peace of mind whilst making their Halloween memories even more magical. The Switch Witch could even leave a toy in place of the sweeties!

Good luck Switch Witch, it will be a busier night for her than the Tooth Fairy!"
-Allergy UK

Happy trick-or-treating!
-Sema

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Easy Gluten-free Apple Pie

 
Today I wanted apple pie, but wasn't in the mood of going to the store to buy a mix/a ready-made crust. I did, however, have some tortillas laying around, so I decided to make use of what I had (Because I was in my pajamas and didn't feel like changing to go to the store. We all have those days, right?). The good thing with this recipe is that it won't leave a huge mess in your kitchen, and you can actually multitask while making it. That's why I set up the recipe so that while the apples were cooking, you could work on the tortilla :). I also made an apple pie in an apple (see recipe at the end).

Wrapped Apple Pie

Ingredients
For the outside (enough for two tortillas)
2 and a half teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice (or you can just use cinnamon)
2 and a half tablespoons of unsalted butter
Gluten-free tortillas (I used Aldi's Live G Free brand)

For the inside
2 medium sized apples-cored and chopped
Honey
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 and a half cups water

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. (For the inside) Add the chopped apples to a pan, and cover them with about 1 and a half cups water. It shouldn't cover them all the way.
3. (For the inside) Set the heat to medium, and cover the pan with a lid.
4. (For the outside) While that sits for 5-10 minutes, melt the butter in the microwave.
5. (For the outside) Add the pumpkin spice and the sugar to the melted butter.
6. (For the outside) Put your tortilla on a round pan, and using a brush, brush on the melted butter mixture to both sides of the tortilla.
7. (For the inside) Once your apples have softened for 5-10 minutes, add the cinnamon and drizzle honey on top.
8. (For the outside) Mix it together, and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
9. (For both) Now add the apple mixture to the tortilla and fold the tortilla.
10. Set it into the oven and wait for the tortilla to get a bit brown (but not burnt).


When it's done, take it out and add a little bit of the butter mixture to the exterior of the tortilla. You can add whipped cream (which I actually whipped with some pumpkin spice), and voila! you have apple pie! You can mash the leftover apples to make applesauce!

Apple Pie in an Apple

Now for this, all you need to do is carve out an apple, and add in the apple mixture from the recipe above. Cut a tortilla into really small strips, and brush on the butter mixture. Weave them on top of the apple and set them into the oven for about 5 minutes (the oven should be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit)!


Enjoy!
-Sema

Be sure to tag your apple pie with  #eatwithoutgluten so that I can see your creation!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Gluten-free Lemon Sugar Cookies

The other day I decided to make cookies from scratch. What I love about baking and cooking is that you can really be creative with what you're doing-you don't always have to bake by the rules. (Although there are certain rules that pertain to safety, so don't leave them in the oven too long or you might start a fire). The cookies turned out to be delicious, and before I knew it, they were all gone (my family pretty much ate them all)! The lemon in the cookies gave them a fresh taste without being too overpowering; it was a perfect combination.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup of softened butter
2 cups of gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Andrea's Super Fine Grind Flour Blend)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon

Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2.Combine the the butter and white sugar and mix it until you reach a smooth consistency.
3. Add all the other ingredients except for the lemon.
4. Mix it until you reach a cookie-dough type of consistency.
5. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, mixing it in as you go.
6. Take a cheese grater and create about a teaspoon of lemon zest by rubbing the peel of the lemon on the cheese grater.
7. Mix it all in and you've got yourself lemon-y cookie dough!

Now you can can let your creativity flow! I actually changed up each batch of cookies I made, making small cookies, big cookies, and even cookies with jam in the middle. That's the wonderful thing about baking your own cookies, you can do whatever you want with them.

Set your cookies in the oven to bake for about 10-15 minutes, and voila! you have delicious cookies that have the refreshing taste of lemon in them.

Enjoy!
-Sema