Jens Gluten Free Blog

With only two weeks until Valentine’s Day I’m digging up romantic themed recipes that my family will not only appreciate eating but will also participate in creating. Of course as a certified chocoholic I look for chocolate themed recipes and I love this gluten-free chocolate candy recipe most for its simplicity.

This is the time of year when I solemnly declare that I’ve had ENOUGH of winter. Of course, it’s only January and I’m still dressing my kids in layers and layers of clothes, but at least we’re a couple of months closer to warm weather, spring training and chili dogs! While winter doesn’t seem to care what I think I’m not going to accept my frozen state sitting down – I’m going to make chili!

Celiac disease can severely limit a person’s food choices, but I always say the most important food item generally remains untouched by the celiac diagnosis: chocolate. Thank God for chocolate!

We all love cake, but there is only one kind of cake whose heavy creamy texture relentlessly visits me in my dreams night after hungry night until I finally break down screaming “all right I’ll make some! I promise!”: Cheesecake, of course! (I know, I need help.)

It’s holiday season and mom’s all over are clamoring for new holiday recipes. Particularly those overworked and under-appreciated Gluten-Free moms who have to battle with cakes that won’t hold together, cookies that don’t take the proper shape, and muffins that taste like sand. Hungry anyone?

For many, the Thanksgiving holiday means a hot roasted turkey smothered in gravy with creamy mashed potatoes and green beans with onions on the side. Perhaps there is a platter of fresh corn on the cob cooked to a perfect crunch with some cranberries decorating the perimeter of the plate. For some, the Thanksgiving holiday means taking a moment to be grateful for all we have: our families, our homes, our loved ones. But to me the Thanksgiving holiday means one thing and one thing only: The Dallas Cowboys game.

Looking for a gluten-free soup that is thick enough to be a meal? I just got this great recipe from a friend the other day. I made one quick adjustment – replaced the barley with millet – and voila! I had a great gluten-free soup that everyone loved.

With my son’s egg allergy and the lack of eggs in my house, Energ-E egg replacer is an essential ingredient. It holds most cakes and cookies together nicely. It doesn’t really work in quiches as well. It doesn’t give body to food the way eggs do, but it does serve as an excellent binding agent when eggs are not an option. When my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and I had to throw away so many basic ingredients that lined my pantry, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ener-G egg rreplacer is gluten-free. To be frank, I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t!

One of the biggest challenges of being a parent with a child that has celiac disease is coming up with gluten-free desserts that the whole family can enjoy. Often the gluten-free cakes and cookies have a different consistency that my non-celiac children complain bitterly about. Sometimes I think it’s easier to stay away from gluten-free baked goods and fall back on desserts that are naturally gluten-free.

Last week I found this great recipe for banana cream pie on the Jell-O website that I easily adapted to the gluten-free diet. It’s easy (those are the only kind I make), fun to do with kids, and a great way to get them to eat their bananas (if they don’t pick them out when you are not looking)!

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