Gluten Free Birthday Treats

Posted on October 4, 2010 | 2 comments

What a birthday day week this has been!  It was filled with yummy sweets, surprises, and exploring the city.  I’ll give a quick run down of the heaps of goodness that happened:

Monday my coworkers and I celebrated my birthday, and another member of our team’s wedding with a whole table full of gluten free sweets.  My friend made white chocolate, almond, and gluten free pretzel cookies (?), or brittle (?) Chocolate mousse cake, and buckeyes.  I love being able to join in the fun at a work party!  Plus there were tons of extras to keep me fueled up throughout the week.

Tuesday morning, I got woken up with breakfast goodies from Tulu’s Gluten Free Bakery!  A blueberry-cranberry muffin with almond crumb topping and coffee cake!  The muffin was so moist, and I hardly ever treat myself to pastries, so it was a perfect way to start the morning.

The week was filled with more gf finds – like the pop-up food stands at Madison Square Park for their Harvest Market!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw “gluten-free crepes”… did an about-face… and had to get one!  I left not knowing what the place was actually called, but the nice guy making my crepe told me that they had a permanent location at Chelsea Market, so I deduced that it must have been Bar Suzette.  The guy also told me that they were made from rice, lentils, salt, and water – so they should taste similar to sourdough.

The only other time I went to a crepe bar (Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes in Detroit) – they told me that they had tried everything, and couldn’t come up with a way to make good crepes gluten free.  Guess they were wrong!

I got a nutella crepe – which they sprinkle a little sugar on for a little crunch.  Paired with the chewy layers of crepes, it was the perfect “snack”.

Picture of the actual crepe to come!

That night we went back to Pala Pizza for calamari and fungata pizza – which I didn’t take pictures of because my hands were too busy stuffing pizza in my face.  I didn’t like this pizza as much as the last one I got.  This one was a little dry tasting (?).  I don’t know how that’s possible because there was so much cheese on it, but once I asked the waitress for a side of marinara to dunk it in, I was all set.

So many fun times, friends, and good eats this weekend!  Even though I didn’t get to blow out any candles, I can’t think of anything else I could wish for! 🙂

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It’s happening! GF Cupcakes in Queens!

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

Queens is a bit slow to come around to having gluten free options in grocery stores and bakeries.  Mostly because most of the independently-owned shops are family operations that have been around forever, or focus on ethnic or regional specialties.

So, as excited as I was to see a new bakery pop up on Steinway, I was not expecting to see a sign in the window advertising gluten-free cupcake options!  We even joked around saying “Wouldn’t it be cool if they had some gluten free stuff?”  Well, they DO!

Who’s “they”?  Cream Bakery!

The only flavors that they had of the gluten free persuasion were vanilla with chocolate frosting, and chocolate with chocolate frosting.

I wasn’t really in the cupcake mood (I know… so sad).  But I’ll update this post when I try them!


Cream Bakery – 31-78 Steinway Street, Astoria NY 11103
718.545.3800
R Train to Steinway Street

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Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

Posted on September 5, 2010 | 1 comment

Yesterday I walked the Brooklyn Bridge for the second time – this time from Manhattan into Brooklyn.  Despite having about four times as many people as it should have on it, it was a lovely afternoon for a trek to “the Other” outer borough (Queens rules!).

At the other side, waiting for me, was The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory!  I’ve been fixated on going here since I saw Rachael Ray go there on an episode of “$40 a Day”.

On our way there we passed Grimaldi’s – and the line to get in was at least 100 people deep!  You’ll never catch me waiting in line for hours on a beautiful day for some pizza (although I guess I’ll never have that option…).

When we got to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory there was also a line, but then we saw that there was a little cart outside selling the ice cream as well (they just didn’t have sundaes or toppings).  Fine with me!

I got some Peaches and Cream and sat down by the water to enjoy.

Now, I’m going to be frank with you – this didn’t totally blow my mind.  As promised, it was very “pure” tasting, and you could tell that they used a high quality cream.  I really wanted more peach flavor though!  I get it, I get it, they just use peaches, no peach-flavored syrup or added junk to enhance the taste.  It was a bit lack-luster to me though.

Next time I’ll get something with chocolate – chocolate has never let me down.

Then, I see that there’s a food stand selling vegetarian tacos for $3!

Hot dog!

A girl can’t be expected to walk through an art museum without the proper fuel, right?

Corn tortillas, beans, salsa, cheese, spicy sour cream sauce, and a lime on top.

Best $3 I've ever spent

Off to the Brooklyn Museum!

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Frozen Lara Bars? Genius!

Posted on August 30, 2010 | 1 comment

 

Look for the polka dots!

 

Have you seen the new Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip Brownie, Carrot Cake, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavors of Lara Bars?  

Ever since I saw them on another blog (which one is escaping me now) – I was on the look out for these in my local Whole Foods and health stores, but for weeks they evaded me.  I couldn’t even find them online!  

Then, just when I thought hope was lost, I found them at Sunac (26th Street and 6th Avenue).  I scooped up a cookie dough and a brownie (they still don’t have in the peanut butter ones, sigh.)  

So chock-full of chocolate, and only FOUR ingredients!  Makes a girl almost feel like it could be a little tiny bit good for you? 

THEN – I saw the genius idea to FREEZE them!  Why didn’t I think of that? 

So I put one in the freezer at work and ate it while walking to the subway on my way home on Friday.  Nothing better to put a nice cherry on top of a work week 🙂

Next up – freezing it and mushing it up into some vanilla ice cream.  

Also, finding the peanut butter ones!

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Tu-lu’s Bakery and BBQ Salmon

Posted on August 25, 2010 | 2 comments

I made this meal about a month ago, but I’m planning on recreating it this weekend so I thought I’d revisit it.  Pretty soon we’ll be bringing out the fall squashes and apples, so I want to make one more true summer meal.  

I’m definitely going to have to go back to Tu-lu’s Gluten Free Bakery in the East Village.  Last time I was there I got a jalapeno cornbread muffin (pictured below), and a white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookie.  The cornbread was pretty good, but didn’t blow my mind.  Once I slathered some butter on it, it tasted much better.  The cookie was above par though – really chewy and sweet.  They also have a ton of gluten free cupcake options at Tu-lus, that I’m going to put on my list for my next visit.  

I think that working at a gluten free bakery would be on my list of dream jobs.  Get up early, bake away in the morning, display all of your creations, then sit in a quiet, sweet-smelling room all day selling to “your people”.  The woman at Tu-lu’s looked so serene and happy in her quiet little shop (although I’m sure she would have preferred it to be bustling with customers).  

Back to the meal… last time I picked up a carton of coleslaw from Whole Foods, and then made some barbeque salmon with Naturally Delicious barbeque sauce.  I think I might just do the exact same this weekend.  

Note the sweet tea vodka and lemonade in the background.  Jeremiah Weed sweet tea vodka has been my go-to drink this summer – so refreshing and flavorful that it barely needs a mixer.  Someone will have to pry it out of my arms before fall hits so I don’t get sick of it.

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Gluten free at weddings

Posted on August 3, 2010 | 4 comments

My meal card - a bit bootleg

Last weekend I attended my fourth wedding of the summer, and was really impressed with the gluten-awareness level!  They knew I was coming, so that helped – but they were prepared with a fully gluten free meal for me.  And it wasn’t just a plate full of steamed vegetables, it was a full-blown, cream-filled, crabmeat-topped delicious meal!

So much butter, so little time

There was a virtual ocean full of crab meat soaked in butter on top of this salmon, which made up for the fact that I could only have a few appetizers.  The broccoli and mashed potatoes were pretty generic, but if you loaded some of the crab meat heaven on top it stepped it up a notch.

Dessert is usually a let down at weddings as well.  Can’t have the cake – which just sits there and taunts you with its sugary yumminess all night.  And most other desserts are of the cheesecake/torte variety, which are also a no-no.

But – this wedding had chocolate-covered strawberries!  And they were dipped to look like mini brides and grooms, so they were adorable.  I was so happy when they brought them out I ate two whole bride-and-groom couples.

Then, just when I thought I was getting a bit tired on the dance floor, they brought out a CANDY BAR.  I rarely have candy like gummy bears – but they gave me a quick boost to keep cutting a rug.  I wish that they had actual candy bars in the candy bar, but that wouldn’t have been as pretty as the green and pink morsels they offered.

If/when I ever get married I’m going to try to get Udi’s to sponsor it – the amount of gluten free food will be staggering.  I’ve gotten so many ideas of what to do and what not to do from my wedding tour this summer.  But for now – at least I didn’t have to eat steamed veggies 🙂

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Krispy Kale and Parmesan Chips

Posted on July 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Kale was only 66 cents at the grocery store today!  So i decided to make a little appeteaser of parmesan paprika kale chips.  They were selling for $7.50  bag at Whole Foods, so I figured that I could make them just as good and for a fraction of the cost!  And I did!

Parmesan Paprika Kale Chips


1 bunch of kale

splash of apple cider vinegar

2 T olive oil

1 t. salt

1/2 t. paprika

3 T. parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Rinse and dry kale and pull apart into 2-3 inch pieces.  

3.  Combine vinegar, olive oil, paprika, and salt and pour over the kale pieces.  

4.  Mix thoroughly and pour onto baking sheet (I sprayed mine first, but I don’t think it’s necessary). 

5.  Bake for 10 minutes

6.  Take out of oven and flip over, sprinkle cheese on top. 

7.  Bake another 10 minutes, or until crispy.  

These were a great snack.  Crispy, chewy, salty, and good for you!

Plus, very easy and gluten free… of course 🙂

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Chelsea Clinton: a girl after my own heart

Posted on July 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

Chelsea Clinton will be serving gluten free cake at her wedding!

Who knew that Chels herself has a gluten allergy?  Pretty neat!

Maybe it will look like my favorite cake ever…

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Overpriced drink times two

Posted on July 26, 2010 | 2 comments

I caved.  After my Saturday $6 Jamba Juice, I paid three dollars for this pomegranate Borba water!  But it looked so refreshing and I’d just finished my run – plus it said it would purify my pores and “allow your body to help skin regenerate its natural support system and improve clarity.”  

Did I think it would work?  Not at all.  But… it came with it’s OWN LITTLE CUP!  It was too cute to pass up.  

But I’m glad I went for this impulse purchase because it was delicious!  Not at all like Vitamin Water (puke) or Gatorade (vom).  It was fresh and satisfying, and didn’t make my tongue feel weird like those *other* drinks. 

I’m not going to make this a regular beverage – but it sure is a tasty treat!

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Pasta and Painting

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Today I went into the city and picked up some art supplies at Sam Flax.  Then I treked over to Whole Foods and picked up ingredients for dinner.  While I was there I stopped at the in-store Jamba Juice.  Most deliciously over-priced beverages on the planet – except possibly Frappucinos, or those chocolate drinks from Godiva.  

Then I got to work painting, trying to channel my inner child/artist.  Here’s what I came up with!

Grow Together

 

Not exactly the next Picasso, but I’m pretty proud of myself.  

On to the pasta:

Ricotta Pasta with Tomatoes and Herbs 


*Makes one serving

1/2 cup pasta (I used elbow rice pasta because it’s what I had on hand)

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

2 T. parmesan cheese

2 small tomatoes or 1 large

1/2 cup herbs (I used Italian parsley and basil)

salt and pepper

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente (about 12 minutes for gf pasta).  

While pasta is cooking, cut up tomatoes into chunks, and dice the herbs. 

Drain pasta, except for about 3 T. of pasta water.  Pour pasta and water into serving bowl. 

Add ricotta and parmesan to the pasta and stir until you have a creamy sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Toss in tomatoes and herbs (you could add chicken here if you wanted as well).

Sprinkle a bit more parmesan cheese on top, and enjoy!

This really was the perfect summer meal.  I used basil fresh from my “garden” (a pot in my kitchen with about four sprigs of basil, that’s near death).  It was so quick and simple, I might just have it again tomorrow 🙂

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