I really like carrot cake, but have been avoiding making it because I did not want to be disappointed. So a few months ago, I adapted Elli Krieger's recipe to make gluten free cupcakes. Boy was I happy that I did! These little beauties are moist and delightfully pleasing to the senses.  They taste and smell wonderful and topping them with the vegan buttercream frosting gives them a rich, creaminess that you would expect from the cream cheese frosting that would usually crown these in glory.  These have been approved by my chef instructors and some of my culinary classmates; which says a lot since all of them are able to eat gluten and dairy. So lets hop to it!

Gluten and Dairy Free Carrot Cupcakes
Adapted From Elli Krieger's Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/4 cup Coconut Flour
• 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch
• 1/4  Cup Potato Starch
• 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup of finely shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Culinary Tip: If you do not have a sifter, you can whisk the flours together using a dry wire whisk until everything is incorporated.  In a large bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar and eggs until well combined. Whisk in the applesauce, vanilla and carrots. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the raisins and the chopped walnuts if you choose to use them. I left the walnuts out when I made this recipe, but I added raisins because they help make the cupcakes very moist.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting
From: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Ingredients:

• ½cup nonhydrogenated shortening
• ½cup nonhydrogenated margarine
• 3½cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1½tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
  

1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Now you can frost your cupcakes and have a grand ole' time eating them.   I decorated some of mine with royal icing lilies. These cupcake are so delicious that people actually thought I was fibbing when I told them that these were gluten and dairy free.  Give them a try. I hope you like them, and have a gluten and dairy free day that is as sweet and fun as these cupcakes!

Not too long ago I posted a review of a product that I picked up at Dollar Tree called, Berries & Cherries Crunch, which is a gluten free, dairy free and vegan fiber enriched snack. Well low and behold, Berries & Cherries Crunch has a cousin named Almond Crunch!  Almond Crunch is also deliciously addictive, but differs in that it has a sweet toffee-like flavor. Like its cousin, Almond Crunch was also at Dollar Tree, in addition to being gluten free, dairy free and vegan! For those of you who are interested, you can find it online here.

If you are anything like me, and go nuts about nuts, I suggest you give these a try! 

Hello Everyone! Jules Shepard is offering her "Back to School with Jules" e-book for FREE! Go to THIS link and enter in this coupon code 2011BTSebook for some great gluten free information and recipes for children in school. Most of the recipes also offer dairy free alternatives. Even if you have children who are being home schooled this is still a great little book to read through. I am not sure how long this offer will last, so I encourage you to take advantage of it as soon as possible.  I hope this helps! Have a fabulous gluten and dairy free weekend!

      I think pizza is one of the funnest things to eat! I especially love pizza when my husband and I have movie nights at home. For times when I don't want all of the calories, I make eggplant pizzas! Eggplant pizzas are a wonderful main dish, but they can also make really cool appetizers. 

These can be made two ways. The first way is by using an eggplant brushed on both sides with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Then it is baked in the oven until it is tender, which is usually about 7-10 minutes. You can then add your favorite gluten and dairy free pizza sauce and toppings. Note: This first way is a great if you are vegetarian, vegan or have to avoid eggs. I have made them this way and they are very tasty, but if you would like to go a step further, breading the eggplant actually tastes even more like pizza, and I am here to walk you through every step! 

First, you must wash your eggplant and thinly slice it.  I used a huge eggplant and literally had three baking sheets of eggplant pizzas!  Next, you want to place the eggplant slices in a colander and sprinkle them with Kosher salt.  The reason why you do this is to "degorge" the eggplant which removes some of its moisture. Larger eggplants have more seeds and have a tendency to get rather bitter. The salt will help with this. Leave the salt on for 30 minutes, while you line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If time, you can also prepare your dredging station and toppings. After 30 minutes your eggplant slices with have water droplet on top of them like this:

Next, rinse the salt off of the eggplants and blot them with paper towels to remove the remaining moisture.

Now it is time to start the dredging process. You will need two shallow bowls or dishes. In the first dish beat together two eggs.  In the second dish combine the following with a wisk:

• 1/2 cup of brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp marjoram 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg-wash,  then the flour mixture and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  I like to use the parchment paper because it aids in making the crust crispy with out using additional fat or oil.  Once this process is complete, it will look like this:

Bake the eggplant crusts for 7-14 minutes until the crust is tender and golden brown. Like the picture below.

Now you can begin assembling your pizza!  After you spread your favorite gluten free pizza sauce on the crusts, you can top the pizzas with the toppings of your choice. I used olives, turkey pepperoni (because there is less fat), diced yellow peppers, diced red onion, and Vegan Gourmet cheese. I normally top these with fresh basil, but I did not have any. I have also made these meat free before, by using non dairy cheese, caramelized onions, artichoke hearts, olives, red bell peppers and mushrooms. They are yummy both ways. Place these in the oven and bake themfor 7-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted properly. Note:  My husband and I find that these taste best with a slightly sweeter pizza sauce. 

Now that you are done, you can plate these up, serve them next to a salad and enjoy!  They also make great leftovers to take to work or school for lunch.
I can happily say that these have even been approved by people who do not eat gluten free, which is a great sign. Have a lovely and "pizza-rific" gluten and dairy free day!

August is a great time to start devising a plan of action in regards to packing lunch. Lunch with food restrictions can be difficult, but with a little planning, you can make healthy lunches that the whole family can enjoy. 

Just a word of warning. This is going to be a long post because I want to provide as much information as I can.  The information that I am providing is not only from my experience as a person with Celiac's disease and a dairy allergy, but from my experience being a school teacher as well. Click "Read More"  below if you would like to continue.

     A really great friend of mine gave me a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.  What rocks about this magazine is that many of the recipes can be easily adapted in order to make them gluten and dairy free. Recently, the magazine has had more gluten free recipes and advertisements geared towards the gluten free community which is A ok in my book!  Here is an example of a wonderful meal that can literally be made from start to finish in under 30 minutes.  This Vegetable Pad Thai recipe is inexpensive, super versatile and super simple to make. You can easily add chicken or shrimp, but remember that in order to make it gluten free, you must use gluten free soy sauce and gluten free rice noodles. If you decide to use peanuts, make sure they are gluten free as well. As Martha Stewart would say: "This is a very good thing."

Homemade baked goods are awesome and oftentimes cheaper, but sometimes it is nice to have the prepared mixes on hand.  My husband picked up this box of Hodgeson Mill gluten free brownie mix from Albertsons for about $3.25, which is slightly cheaper than some of the other mixes out there. I must admit, that the picture on the box looks like the brownies would be dry, but after preparing them, I found that these brownies were one of the better mixes that I have tried. What I like most about these brownies, is that they are moist without being greasy or gritty. They taste great plain, but they would also be good with nuts or chocolate chips.  I pressed chopped pecans into one side of the batter before baking and left the other side plain.  

These brownies are not only easy to cut into, but they also freeze well.  I stored these between layers of parchment paper. This picture shows the beginning of the process. This is a nice mix to have on hand for a quick treat.

If you were wondering how I got such uniform brownies, I used my Wilton Combo cutter.  I purchased it on clearance from Michaels for under two dollars.

As always, have a happy gluten and or dairy free day!