Is Quinoa Gluten Free?
Quinoa is called a grain substitute, but not a grain at all. It is really a seed. The good news, it is definately gluten free.
Quinoa is a light grain with a light nutty flavor. It can be found in most supermarkets in the pasta / rice sections.
Quinoa is very nutritious and can be used in place of rice. Quinoa is a complete protein and supplies all nine essential amino acids. It is high in lysine and is an excellent source of protein.
With Susanne on a spring cleaning expedition, and getting all of us fired up to get our spring cleaning done, I thought I would offer up a recipe that is easy, nutritious and delicious. Hope you enjoy this.
Quinoa with Turkey and Spinach
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Quinoa Grain
- 2 Cups Homemade Chicken Broth or (Gluten Free Store Bought)
- 1 Teaspoon ground Cumin
- 1 1/2 pounds Turkey Tenderloin
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 medium Onion diced
- 2 mild Green Chilies, stemmed, seeeded, and chopped*
- 1 Squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 2 Cups Fresh Spinach Leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
- 1 Cup Salsa (salsa by nature should be gluten free, but check label for cross-contamination possiblities)
Directions:
Adjust the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spray a cast iron Dutch oven with olive oil cooking spray, (not the kind with flour in it). Pour the quinoa into the prepared pan. Add the chicken broth and cumin and stir until the cumin is dissolved. Place the turkey into the pan. Sprinkle in the salt. Add the onions and green chilies. Layer the squash into the pan. Spread the spinach leaves over the squash. Scatter the bell pepper slices over the spinach. Spread the salsa out evenly over the top.
Cover and bake 1 hour, or until the vegetables are fork tender.
*If you prefer a little more kick to your dish use jalapeno peppers indstead of the gree chilies.
Makes 4 servings.
Prep Time: about 20 minutes
Baking Time: About 1 hour
Total Time: About 1 hour 30 minutes.
Nutritional Information: (approximate values per serving)
Calories 402; Fat 11 g; Carbohydrates 56 g; Cholesterol 86 mg; Sodium 268 mg; Protein 14 g; Fiber 7 g.
I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes.
While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Gluten Free Irish Dinner
I cannot believe that February is just about over and March is on it’s way. Although it seems that winter has had a strangle hold on parts of the United States, (and other parts of the world), I realize that spring is just around the corner.
Even though spring is almost here, my family is still enjoying warming comfort foods made in a dutch oven in the oven. I don’t know about you but when I make stews and dinners in the oven, they not only warm you on the inside, they seem to warm the whole house.
So in honor of March and St. Patricks Day, I have an Irish one pot dinner for you to try.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, halved and sliced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced thinly
- 2 lbs gluten free deli corned beef, sliced thick*
- 2 large russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 cups carrots, sliced
- 1 head of green cabbage, chopped
- 1/2 cup homemade or gluten free store bought beef broth
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions:
- Spray a cast iron Dutch oven well with non stick cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 450 Degrees.
- Separate the onion slices and layer onto the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Scatter the celery over the onions.
- Place the corned beef over the top of the onions and celery.
- Layer the potatoes over the meat.
- Scatter the carrots over the potatoes.
- Stuff as much cabbage into the pot as it can hold.
- Pour the beef broth into a measuring cup.
- Add the allspice, salt and pepper and whisk until there are no lumps.
- Pour the mixture over the top of the cabbage.
- Place the bay leaves into the pan.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Cover and bake 1 hour.
- Remove bay leaves and spoon the sauce over each serving.
Makes 4 servings.
*Raw corned beef can be used in place of the deli corned beef. If you are using deli corned beef, be sure it is sliced thick enough to keep it from becoming a crumbly mess. If you would like more sauce add more beef broth to your pan. The amount will depend on how juicy you want your dish so just add 2 tablespoons at a time until you have reached the right amount of juice.
Prep Time: approximately 20 minutes
Baking Time: 1 hour
Total Time: approximately 1 hour 20 minutes
Nutritional Information: (approximate values per serving)
Calories 298; fat 16 g; Carbohydrates 22 g; Cholesterol 16 mg; Sodium 1422 mg; Protein 17 g; Fiber 5 g.
Mary Blackburn is the author of Gluten Free Get-Togethers and has been gluten free since 1988. She is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com, and invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Gluten Free Summer Treats
I don’t know about where you are but here in Pennsylvania it has been extremely hot the past few weeks. So I thought that I would share some of the cool treats that I like to make for my granddaughters.
They are not only refreshing, but are better for the girls than the store bought frozen treats. Besides with the Frozen Fruit Pops I control the amount of sugar.
Frozen Fruit Pops
- 1 1/2 Cups of fresh fruit (strawberries, pineapple, peaches*, or whatever your child likes)
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
In a blender, blend the fruit, sugar, honey and lemon juice with 1 cup of ice until mixture is semi chunky. Add another 1/2 cup of ice and blend until smooth.
Pour mixture into popcicle holders** and freeze until firm. About 5 hours, or over night.
*If using peaches or other fruit with a skin on it, remove skin before blending in the blender.
Frozen Pudding Pops
- 1 small package Jello brand pudding mix any flavor
- 2 Cups cold milk
Whisk ingredients until completely mixed about 2 minutes. Pour into popcicle holders.** Freeze about 5 hours or overnight.
**Run popcicle holders under warm water for a few seconds to unmold the frozen treats. If you don’t have popcicle holders you can always use bathroom size dixie cups and popcicle or craft sticks. Just freeze slightly before inserting the sticks into the center of the cups, and remember to peel the paper off first.
I use Jello brand pudding because that is the only brand I am certain is gluten free. But, as always, check ingredients before using.
I hope you and your children have fun making these and enjoy them as much as my granddaughters do.
Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Grilling-Gluten Free
As I sit here writing this, it is hard to believe that here in the United States, it is only two short weeks until Memorial Day.
It seems that for those of us in the U.S., Memorial Day is the official start to summer.
Summer has always been my favorite season. I love the warm weather, the sunny days, the swimming, playing and cooking outside. Unless it’s raining, you’ll find me outside, (and sometimes even if it’s raining. I have a black lab pup that doesn’t care about the rain).
Now if you’re talking about cooking outside, 9 times out of 10, you’re talking about grilling. I love to grill and in fact at my house I’m the grill master. 
Now being a celiac, there are a few things I need to watch out for when I’m grilling or going over to a barbecue at a friend’s house.
One thing to watch out for is cross contamination. Cross contamination can occur when glutenous foods are cooked on the grill and then gluten free food is cooked without the grill being cleaned inbetween.
It can also happen when drippings from a marinade containing gluten, drips on your gluten free food, or on the grill before you place your food on the grill. At my house, I just don’t use marinades with gluten in them. There are just so many marinades out there that are gluten free that taste spectacular, that I don’t see the reason for risking it.
However, it’s very easy to avoid cross contamination while grilling by taking just a few precautions:
Clean a section of the grill where only gluten free food will be cooked. To clean the grill, it’s just a matter of using a stiff wire brush to scrape the surface of the grill while the grill is hot, to remove any residual glutenous food particles.
If you are a guest at a barbecue and are concerned about cross contamination, ask your host if you can have your food cooked first, have a small section of the grill kept just for your gluten free food, or if you just don’t feel comfortable with those options, wrap your food in foil before you place it on the grill.
Happy Grilling.
Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Easter, A Great Holiday to be a Gluten Free Kid
Easter is a great holiday for a gluten free kid. Christmas is fun, but, no Christmas cookies for you, unless mom made them special. Thanksgiving is nice, but stuffing and pies? Not anymore.
Ahhhh, but Easter? What’s not to love? There’s ham, potatoes, and the sides, all of which are pretty much gluten free. But the best thing? It’s the one holiday you can feel like a normal kid. The main attraction… the Easter basket can look like everybody elses, even if it is gluten free.
There’s a plethora of gluten free candy just waiting to be eaten. Parents, and Grandparents, let me give you some ideas for your gluten free kid’s basket.
- Hersheys Milk Chocolate Bunnies
- Hersheys Special Dark and Milk Chocolate eggs
- Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bunny
- Double Bubble Bubble Gum
- Starburst Fruit Chews
- Wonka Giant Pixy Stix
- Snickers Bars
- Swedish Fish
- Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee bars, small size
- Laffy Taffy
- Tootsie Roll Industries, posts that all their candies are gluten free
- Ferrara Pan Candy Company
- Skittles
- M & M’s, all brands except the krispy kind
- All Just Born Brand candies are gluten free. That includes my favorite, their Peep Brand marshmellow candies, (all varieties), Mike & Ikes, Teenie Beanie Jelly Beans and more.
- And my very favorite jelly beans in the whole world, Jelly Belly jelly beans. Wooo Hooo!
- Dove brand Milk Chocolate eggs, (although mom, these are so good you may want to keep them for yourself)
I like to give my granddaughters little presents in their Easter baskets. So some non-candy items that are gluten free are:
- Crayola Brand Crayons, this includes their markers, washable markers, 3D markers, chalk, oil pastels, model magic, colored pencils, glue paint and Silly Putty. Crayola Dough is not gluten free.
- All Palmer Paints are gluten free
- All Ross products except the finger paints.
- And Books are always a good addition. Start your children off with a love of books at an early age, to help them have a more successful school career.
I hope that gave you some new ideas, and helped to make your Easter Basket shopping a little easier.
(Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.)
A Gluten Free Valentines Day Dinner
Valentines Day is this weekend and going out to dinner can be a real hassle when you have celiac disease. That’s why this week I have a very nice gluten free dinner for you that is delicious, elegant, thrifty, and won’t keep you in the kitchen all evening instead of with your valentine.
Let me know how you like it, and I hope you enjoy it.
Lemon Crusted Pork with Chive Potatoes
For the pork chops:
- 1 Tablespoon white wine
- 1 Tablespoon French’s Worcestershire Sauce (it’s gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Heinz Dijon Mustard (also gluten free)
- 4 boneless pork chops 3/4 to 1 inch thick*
- 1 teaspoon Mrs Dash Lemon-Pepper Seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons Butter or gluten free margarine
- Fresh Chives
Stir together the wine, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and dijon mustard. Set aside. Trim any fat from the pork chops. Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning on both sides of all 4 pork chops. Melt butter or margarine in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook pork chops in hot margarine for 3 to 5 minutes per side, turning once, until slightly pink in the center and juices run clear.
Remove pork from skillet but keep it warm. Remove skillet from heat.
Add wine sauce to skillet and stir until well blended. Pour over meat and sprinkle with snipped chives.
*Money saving tip: You can use a nice pork loin roast and slice it into chops. That is what I do for this recipe.
For the Chive Potatoes:
- 8 to 10 new potatoes or about 2 pounds of all purpose cut into small chunks
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 4 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine, melted
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Chives, snipped
Place potatoes and water in a microwave safe bowl, covered. Cook on 100% power (high) about 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Drain, drizzle melted butter over potatoes and gently stir in the snipped chives.
Serve with a nice tossed salad and a green vegetable.
Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Gluten Free Kid Foods
Has your family gone gluten free because your child was diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance? Going gluten free is hard enough as an adult but for a child it can seem almost devastating.
No more macaroni and cheese, or Dairy Queen. What about chicken nuggets? While it’s true that you won’t be able to run through a MacDonalds drive thru and grab some chicken nuggets for the kids, I have a recipe for you today that creates some pretty good ones. On top of that they are made in the oven so they’re healthy and good enough for non gluten free company as well.
I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Oven Fried Chicken Nuggets
- 2 large whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 Cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 Cups Gluten Free corn flake crumbs**
- 1 Jelly Roll Baking Sheet
- 1 oven-proof Wire Cooling Rack
Place cooling rack inside of the jelly roll baking sheet and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Cut chicken into bite-sized, about 1 1/2 inch, pieces. Combine flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a flat pan. In a second pan, beat eggs and water together, and in a third pan place the 2 cups of corn flake crumbs.
Toss the chicken pieces in the flour, then dip them into the egg mixture, (be sure they are well covered in egg), then into the corn flake crumbs. Arrange chicken pieces on the cooling rack baking sheet. Being sure that they don’t touch each other. Bake at 350 degrees, for 30 to 45 minutes until juices run clear and coating is crispy.
The key to these being crispy is baking them on the wire cooling rack. It allows the heat and air to circulate all around the chicken and the juices to drip into the pan instead of the chicken getting soggy in the juices.
This recipe can also be used on a whole broiler/fryer chicken for the whole family.
*Instead of Bob’s Red Mill Flour, you can substitute the generic All Purpose Baking Flour recipe that follows.
**Corn Chex cereal can be used as a more economical substitution for the gluten free corn flake crumbs. Just make them into crumbs in a food processor or blender.
All Purpose Baking Flour
- 1/2 Cup White Rice Flour
- 1/4 Cup tapioca flour/starch
- 1/4 Cup cornstarch or potato starch
Sift well together and store unused portion in an airtight container in the freezer.
You can make as much of this as needed, just keep the proportions the same.
Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.
Is There Life After Gluten-Free?
Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with Celiac Disease? Perhaps your child. Finding out that you are intolerant to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and some oats, can be a very scary situation to find yourself in.
Suddenly, you’re told that everything that has been a comfort food for you, is in reality killing you. Now you must find foods that are okay for you to eat. Not necessarily an easy assignment.
You look in your kitchen, hmmm, bread is out, pasta…out, pizza..no. Is there any food in your kitchen safe for you to eat? Yes, but it’s going to take some looking around to find it.
The following is a list of Gluten Free Products that you might find already on your pantry shelves or in your refrigerator. Since manufacturers can change their ingredient list in any product at any time, always check the labels everytime. Just to be safe.
- Meat: Poultry, Fish, Canned Salmon, Canned Chicken, Canned Tuna, 100% ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken.
- Prego Spaghetti Sauce
- Joan of Arc Kidney Beans
- Canned Tomatoes / Dei Fratelli Seasoned Diced Tomatoes
- Hormel Pepperoni and Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
- Any and all fresh fruits and vegetables
- Canned Fruits and vegetables
- Frozen Vegetables (Not packaged with sauces)
- Potatoes both white and sweet
- Pure Rice – Brown, white, basmati, (Not Rice a Roni or such, it has wheat pasta mixed in)
- Corn Tortilla Shells / Corn Taco Shells
- Ortega Brand Taco Seasoning mix
- Rice Cakes Plain (not the flavored ones)
- Salsa
- Cereals – Chex Brand, Corn, Rice, (or any with the Gluten Free Label) Cream of Rice, Grits
- Eggs
- Milk – Cow, Soy, Rice, Goat
- Real Cheese (such as mozzerella, cheddar), Velveeta Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese (plain), Cheese Whiz
- Sour Cream (not light or reduced calorie, they sometimes have fillers)
- Butter
- I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter brand Margarine (there may be others but this is the only one I know for sure)
- Yoplait Yogurt (check ingredient label not all flavors are gluten free)
- Cracker Barrel Cheese
- Kaukauna Cheese
- Beans and Bean Flour
- Nut Flour
- Potato Chips (plain not flavored)
- Salted or Plain Nuts and Seeds (as long as they are not seasoned)
- Heinz Ketchup
- Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
- All Vinegars except Malt Vinegar
- Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (in the United States)
- French’s Mustard & Guldens Spicy Brown Mustard
- Pickles
- Pickle Relish
- Be Wary of Soy Sauce there are some gluten free brands but you need to check labels.
These are just a few of the foods that can be found right off the grocers shelves.
Is there life after gluten free? I’m here to tell you definitely yes. And the food can be just as good if not better, because it won’t make you sick.
(Mary Blackburn has been gluten free since 1988 and is the owner of http://www.easyglutenfreeliving.com. She invites you to visit her site for more gluten free living tips and recipes. While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for The Gluten Free Gazette, her bi-weekly newsletter filled with articles and answers to your questions about gluten, gluten free living and celiac disease.)