Lizzie’s Gluten Free Cinco de Mayo

Annie’s post inspired me to follow up with our own version of a Cinco due Mayo menu. Gluten free of course!

For breakfast try cinnamon sugar corn tortillas…which are a huge favorite of the kids. What we do is take melted butter and mix in equal amounts of cinnamon and sugar. The amounts vary and are really just based your taste preferences. I also add a few drops of vanilla. Brush each tortilla generously while flat on a grill top and roll up to serve. Beat up a bit of heavy whipping cream sprinkled with cinnamon for dipping.

For lunch try some of our awesome nachos! We love making a nacho bar. I grab some safe corn tortilla chips and put them in a large bowl. I then put out bowls of tomatoes, onions, avacados, various cheeses, lettuce, sour cream, olives, and cilantro. I make up some black beans seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and cilantro. I’ll also grill up some chicken with onions and squeeze lime over the top. Toss out some hot sauce and hot peppers for the adults and everyone is happy and can personalize their plate.

For dinner try out our favorite and easy pick for enchiladas. Find it here. This was a winner from day one and I have found even the pickiest eaters love it!

And of course we all need a nice beverage to go with dinner. And here is where some awesome pomegranate mango margaritas come in. Start with this recipe. Then add in some fresh unsweetened pomegranate juice. Its super easy to find in just about any store. Amount will vary based on taste preferences. Experiment!! But always start with a little, you can always add more!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Product Review: Second Helping

In my quest to continuously seek out the best of the best in gluten-free companies and products, I have come across a real winner and an instant kid friendly, family favorite!  I am happy to share with you today, Second Helping!  They are a great company that provides fantastic meatballs, called Mama’s Meatballs and awesome corn dogs, called Corn Puppies!  Check out their website here.

Second Helping was nice enough to send me both of their products to try.

After checking out this great nutritional info….we could not wait to try them out!

In fact, we were so excited about these that we decided to have the Corn Puppies for lunch and incorporated Mama’s Meatballs into our dinner!

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the Corn Puppies was their plentiful size!  With two as a serving, we were feeling entirely satisfied!  Bonus is, there are 5 servings per bag!  We made these on a day my kids actually had friends over, and it was the perfect food for our play date! The turkey hot dogs inside are nice and plump and juicy.  The ratio of corn to hot dog is perfect.  Just enough corn to add that great flavor, without masking the hot dog, like I have seen from other companies.  They are incredibly easy to make, just toss in the oven ( we used our counter top convention) and let them cook while the kids are finishing up playing and lunch is all done.  There was no turning or messing with them and they came out deliciously golden brown and crunchy!  After they were cooled and served, I was surprised to see even my pickiest eater, Bear, dig right in!  After getting the approval from my youngest critics, I got the chance to sample them.  I loved that they tasted so home-made!  If I would have been served these at a friend’s house, I would have never guessed that they were frozen and store-bought.  What a great find!

After the great success with our lunch, I quickly refocused dinner to a pasta night ( gluten-free of course!) so that I had a great excuse to make Mama’s Meatballs!  I opened the package and could not believe how BIG these meatballs were!!  I knew for sure that it would be more than enough to satisfy everyone for dinner, since we tend to have some pretty large appetites. There are a bunch of easy options on how to prepare these.  Luckily, there is also a speed method.  We were really busy that day and by the time I had a chance to start dinner, I just went the quick and easy way, using pre made sauce.  Luckily, Second Helping thinks of everything!  Just a few seconds per meatball in the microwave and they were nice and hot and ready to go.  I, of course, like to pretend I am a big fancy chef, so I tossed them into the sauce before I served anyone 🙂 .  I could not resist so after I took them out of the microwave, I took a taste of one, just plain.  Oh my goodness!  The texture ( even microwaved!) was amazing!  They were meaty and juicy and packed full of flavor!  I wanted to eat the whole thing, right then and there.  A perfect blend of just the right spices.

After we sat down at the table, I watched and waited, I was so excited to get everyone’s thoughts.  My husband was very surprised, and could not believe they had once been frozen!  He remarked how fresh and great tasting they were, and I had to agree. My daughter Bee dug right in, as I figured she would and told me how much she liked the new meats.  Then we came to my son Bear.  I waited, pretty positive that I could not get lucky twice in the same day.  Getting him to eat is always an adventure.  Much to my surprise and delight, he tasted the meatballs and told me how yummy they were!!  You can only imagine how happy I was that I had finally found a company that I know my whole family enjoys!  Second Helping should get awards just for getting my son to eat!!

We all had such a great time with Second Helping and their products, I know they are going to become a staple in my house.  I love that they are quick and easy, especially with how busy and fast paced my days seem to get.  I love that everyone in my family enjoys them, since that is something that rarely, if ever, happens. I love that you can order their products and have them shipped to you, so there is no need to worry about whether or not your local stores carry them ( although some do!!).  I love that I can have pride in these foods, that I know exactly what I am feeding my family.  Most of all, I love, that for that day at least, we really felt like we were eating “like everyone else”.  While I always tell my kids there is nothing wrong with being different, no one can argue against the fact that it IS nice to feel “normal” every once and awhile, and I am so thankful to find a company that allows me to do that.

I would love for you guys to check them out on Facebook and Twitter and give them your support!

**Disclaimer** Second Helping provided me with free products in exchange for my honest opinions of those products.  I was not financially compensated in any way, nor were my opinions swayed or altered for any purpose.  These opinions are all my own.

Homemade Pancake Syrup

My girls are on spring break this week, and this morning we had nowhere that we had to be, so I decided to make pancakes. A treat we don’t have very often, because of time contraints of getting both girls off to school and getting myself ready for work. The pancakes and sausage were done cooking, and I was setting the table when I checked the pantry and realized we had no syrup. I jumped on the internet and found a few syrup recipes, but didn’t have all the ingredients. I decided to wing it. Here is what I did… I used 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1 1/4 cup of water. I put it all in a pan and cooked it on medium until it started to boil, stirring constantly. I boiled it for about 6-7 minutes.

When it was done it was thinner than syrup, so maybe I should have let it cool some or maybe cooked it longer. However, in a pinch this definitely worked, and it was pretty good. If nothing else it’s good for a sugar rush. 🙂

ENJOY!

Gluten Free Auntie Annes Copy Cat Recipe

I noticed earlier today on our twitter feed that someone had said they would LOVE to have an Auntie Anne pretzel, but couldn’t because they are now gluten free.  This got me thinking and so I scoured a million and a half pages of copy cat recipes.  I finally came across this one and made them earlier today and I LOVED them.  So I had to share.  This was on a fellow blog… click here for the recipe.  Hope you enjoy!

Spring allergies: Seven natural remedies

The are saying that this coming allergy season is going to be brutal.  CBS News did a report about 7 natural remedies.  You can see the video and the article here.

Homemade Mosquito Repellent

I know, I know, it is only 30 degrees out right now, but I promise you that eventually our weather will warm up and the mosquitoes will be out in full force.  I found a great homemade recipe for mosquito repellent made with vanilla, lavender, and lemon juice!  Here is the link!

Store bought vs. Homemade

A neighbor loves to bake and will bring us homemade foods and goodies every now and then.  Today she brought us a small plate of chocolate chip cookies.  Of course my girls were thrilled about getting a surprise of cookies.  They looked so yummy.  Katrina remembered our warnings about not taking food from anyone, and asked our neighbor if the cookies were safe?  The neighbor said, “of course they are safe.  They are just chocolate chip cookies.”  I didn’t want her to think I was being ungrateful, but asked her what type of chocolate chips she used to make the cookies.  She said that she believed they were Nestle Tollhouse Morsels.  I explained that Katrina could not have them then, because the last time I checked Nestle Tollhouse Morsels had a warning about being made on the same equipment as peanuts.  She was really surprised, felt awful, went home, dug in the garbage, and found the bag with for the morsels.  She called me a few minutes later and said that yes, the bag does have a warning saying that they were made on the same equipment.  Then she began apologizing profusely.  She knows about Bean’s allergy, and felt awful that she did not check the ingredients.  I kept telling her to not worry about it.  It was an honest and completely normal mistake.  I don’t necessarily like to cook, but like to bake on occasion.  Luckily I have purchased morsels before, and have checked the bags to make sure which ones were safe for Katrina, otherwise I would have not thought about the morsels being safe or not either.  She said she never would have realized that something as simple as chocolate chips could contain peanuts.

I also recall hearing about a mom who made peanut butter cookies first, then rinsed the bowl and utensils and then made sugar cookies using the same bowl and utensils.  Due to the cross contamination, it caused the child who ate the sugar cookies to have a reaction.  There are so many “little” things that people who do not have food allergies just do not consider.

Although I love homemade things, store bought foods are so much easier and safer for children with food allergies.  It specifies it on the label if it does or does not contain the allergen, if it may contain the allergen, and if it was even processed on the same equipment or in the same facility as the allergen.  Problem solved.  No questions to ask and nothing to worry or wonder about.