Gluten-free Halloween Cupcakes!

As you all probably know, I love themed food! Halloween is a great time to make "spooky" snacks and at the same time indulge in them. Today, I made Halloween themed cupcakes, which were very simple to make and even more fun to decorate. All I did was buy a generic chocolate cake mix from my local grocery store. After I baked them, I decorated them with black and orange icing. At Michaels (a craft store), I found a Halloween spider cupcake kit, which came with candy eyes and cute spider legs!

Voila! It is so cute and simple to make!

Enjoy!

-Sema

Gluten-free Halloween Lollipops!

Hello everyone! Halloween is coming up, so that means: themed snacks!! I found this kit at Walmart, and I noticed that I had to supply the cookie part, so I figured I could make it gluten-free!  It was quite simple, although the bag I used to put in the candy coating did break. But that obstacle did not deter me from making these really cute gluten-free Halloween Lollipops.

Ingredients:
1Wilton Halloween Candy Melt Kit.
1 pack of gluten-free oreo-like cookies (I used KinniToos)

Procedure:
1. Add the candy melts into the provided baggy, and loosely close the end.
2. Put it in the microwave and heat it for a minute. Knead the bag. 3.Put it in for intervals of 30 seconds, and knead it until it's fully melted.
4. Cut the tip of the baggy.
5. Insert the lollipop stick into the middle of the cookie.
6. Squeeze the candy melt into the mold, about 2/3 full. (make sure you don't put in too much)
7. Smooth it out with a spoon or your finger.
8. Insert the cookie into the mold, and allow it to go up over the sides.
9. Let it sit while you finish the rest, you can either leave it out or put it in the fridge for a bit. (I just let it sit out, and it hardened just fine.)
10. Use the leftover melted candy like a glue, and put on the candy face accessories.
11. Package it, or just leave it out! I used the name tags to make it personable.

Voila! You have a gluten-free snack that wasn't even made to be gluten-free :) 

-Sema

It's a S'mores Kind of Day!

I woke up this morning to see a gloomy mist settling over everything. I immediately decided that today I needed to make something cheerful (yes, food can be cheerful)! Looking through the pantry I stumbled over a pack of gluten-free graham crackers, some chocolate, and a pack of marshmallows. Thus sparked the idea of making s'mores!

It was really easy you see,  all I needed was three ingredients. I found that I needed to slice the marshmallow in half, as it overflowed when I tried it the first time around. I paired it with coffee that contained the Coffee-Mate Hazelnut Creamer!

Ingredients
Gluten-free Graham Crackers: Do not be fooled by the packaging, they are in fact very small.
Marshmallows
A bar of chocolate

Procedure
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Break the graham crackers in half
3. Add the chocolate and HALF a marshmallow (one whole marshmallow is too much) on separate pieces of graham cracker.
4. Bake it for 3-5 minutes.
5. With a knife, put the chocolate half on the marshmallow half, and press them together to create a gooey piece of goodness.

Voila! You have s'mores on a dreary day!
Enjoy!
-Sema

Atlanta Recap: How I Dealt With My Gluten Free Diet While Traveling

So as you all probably know, I went to Atlanta, GA last week :)! Here's a recap of how I dealt with my diet traveling on a school trip:

Lunch: On our way there, we stopped by Panera Bread! I ordered the Asian Sesame Chicken salad without wonton strips, and the creamy tomato soup without croutons!

Dinner: We stopped by Mellow Mushroom in Atlanta, GA! Unfortunately, there was a slight mix-up with the toppings on my pizza, but they fixed a new one right up for me! I packaged some extra pizza to take with me as emergency food for the next day.

Breakfast the next day: I was of course in contact with the hotel when it came to my diet before we stayed at the Marriot Marquis in Atlanta. The staff was very understanding and made sure that the omelette and hashbrowns were fried in a designated pan, and that there wouldn't be any cross contamination.

After breakfast we stopped by the aquarium. It was beautiful and worth a visit if you ever plan on visiting Atlanta! My lunch was enjoyed at a restaurant close to the aquarium. The chef made sure that I got a burger that had never touched a bun. I also ordered a side salad :).

That night, before our performance, we were to get a sandwich buffet for dinner. The event manager had been notified that I was on a gf diet and that my bread had to be wrapped separately and also have my name on it, so that I could be sure it was safe for me to eat.   But bread was not wrapped up with my name on it, as promised. I also had cross contamination concerns. We notified the manager, who was very apologetic and understanding. Instead of insisting that the food was safe for me to eat he offered a delicious vegetable medley with a baked potato! It was delicious. Lesson learnt: It's always a good idea to talk to someone whenever you notice a mishap, because you don't want to get sick just because you didn't speak up!

On our way home on Sunday we stopped by Chipotle:)! All I had to do there was to ask the server to change her gloves, and voila, I could eat the same thing as my friends! Loved it!

All in all, it was a great trip. I ate out a lot and it went really well!. There was some planning ahead in all, but it was a breeze when I was actually on the trip! I of course had a lot of snacks with me, so I never went hungry either :).