What's For Breakfast: Gluten Free Holiday Edition

It is practically inevitable to have guests during the holidays! Having guests means that you must make extra food-and breakfast can often be a chore. I currently have two lovely Norwegian exchange students visiting for the weekend, and we had fabulous Scandinavian breakfasts. Here's what you do.

1. Set the table the night before, that way you don't have to even think about plates and forks in the morning.

2. Take the deli meats and vegetables out of the packaging and set them on a plate, it gives it a classier look.

3. Light some candles. Candles=classy.

4. Get egg cups. I mean, what's cuter than a little cup that holds your soft/hard boiled egg.

5. Charger plates add a splash of color to your place setting.

6. Add wine glasses to your breakfast table. It's more fun to drink milk and juice out of it! Bonus-add a cloth napkin.

7. Add a variety of cheeses to the table, as it allows people to choose which cheese they'd like. (We also had a variety of deli meats: turkey pastrami and roasted turkey breast.)

8. Have a starter-even at breakfast. We served oatmeal (gluten-free of course.)

9. Make sure your bread is separate from the other bread. As my guests aren't gluten-free, their bread was in a separate bowl than mine. Fun fact-my bread is actually a gluten-free crisp bread from Norway! So, if you're ever in Norway, pick some up, it's DELICIOUS. (Plus you don't need a toaster.)

Sprucing up your breakfast table really makes your guests feel welcomed and gives you bonus points as a host!

Enjoy!
-Sema

Easy Gluten-free Nacho Dinner

The holidays are a time of shopping-frenzies, so time may be limited when it comes to cooking! That's why quick-fix dinners are the way to go :)! The other day I made nachos, adding a little twist to the usual nachos and cheese dinner. I don't exactly know how much of each ingredient I used in the dish, because I ended up just using whatever I had laying around! The good thing with nachos is that you can as much of an ingredient as you want.

Ingredients
Black olives (I chopped up some from a pan.)
Gluten-free tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Chopped onions
Chopped lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped garlic
Sour cream
Optional: fry some ground beef in a pan, you can add some taco seasoning if you'd like.

Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Bake the tortilla chips and the cheese until the cheese has melted.
3. Add all the other ingredients on top.

Voila!
You have an easy dinner that is more than just nachos and cheese!

Enjoy!
-Sema

Gluten-free Banana Nut Muffins

 

One of my favorite treats of all time is the banana nut muffin. And the good thing about it is that it's super easy to make! I used a gluten-free yellow cake mix (mine was a generic brand), and added one and a half banana and a handful of walnuts. It really made the yellow cake mix taste so much better with these ingredients! To garnish, I added some powdered sugar. I also sprinkled a few of the muffins with walnuts before I put them in the oven (I did them in two batches).

It made it eclectic, but at the same time it made it seem like I made a bunch of different muffins instead of just one kind :). All I needed to do was follow the directions on the packet! Sometimes it's just easier to get a mix instead of making it from scratch (I was in a time crunch at the time). Fortunately, ready-made gluten-free mixes are available in most mainstream grocery stores these days!

The next time you head to the store make sure you grab a ready made gluten-free cake mix and try it out! If you want step by step instructions then check out my banana nut bread recipe.

Enjoy!
-Sema

Easy Gluten-free Squash Soup!

'Tis the season for squash and soup, so therefor I have a delicious squash soup recipe for you guys (a special thanks to my dad for it)! I mean, what's better than a bowl of soup on a cold day? The awesome part about this recipe is that you don't need that many ingredients in it!

Ingredients
 2 cups milk
1 can light coconut milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
4 cups squash

Procedure
1. In a pot, cover the squash completely with water.
2. Boil the squash until it's tender.
3. Add the coconut milk, curry powder, and milk.
4. Mix the ingredients together with a hand blender.
5. Heat it on the stove until it's boiling. Once it has boiled, turn it off.

Add one spoon of sour cream and a little bit cilantro, and voila, you have a delicious squash soup!!

Check out my guest post on CeliacCorner, "Living as a Teen with Celiac Disease":)!
I am also Delight Magazine's gluten-free blogger of the week!

Enjoy!

-Sema