Gluten Free Goodness

I’ve taken time out of my grueling Olympic-watching schedule to pull the round up together.  It’s been fun, and thanks for participating!  Several new GF bloggers have joined in, like Anna and Hannah. Welcome!

On to the adoptees:

Mary Francis hopped in early with Egg Rolls (gluten free, of course), courtesy of Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked.  Even though she improvised, due to accidentally doubling the liquids, they came out perfectly.  You had me at flaky dough!

Hannah, of Hannah’s Harvest, is treating her pregant sweet tooth to yummy Oatmeal Date Chocolate Cookies from Mrs. Gf’s Blog.  The picture has me drooling!

Anna, with her new blog Gluten Free Anna, made Mary Frances’ GF Pizza. Despite having to make a last minute run for more cheese, her pizza turned out beautifully.

I adopted Ricki, of Diet, Dessert and Dogs, and went for a double header adoption and adaption.  I adopted her Spicy Cauliflower soup (yum!!!) and adapted her Maple Cookies (even yummier!). Both got rave reviews.  I even made the soup twice, due to a camera glitch.

Kimberly of Living Free, made Sally’s Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. She loved the fact that they were so easy and they disappeared quickly at her house!

Last, but certainly not least, Thomas adapted Lauren of Celiac Teen, because he’s inspired by her outlook and fashion sense! He made her zucchini bread. He made it dairy free, too. Doesn’t it look lovely?

So that’s all for this month! Check in with Seamaiden from Book of Yum for next month’s adoption details, and I hope you had as much fun as I did!

I decided to adopt Ricki, and her (not so) little dogs, too, because I like her philosophy toward real, unprocessed foods and avoiding processed sugars.  She’s creative and not afraid to go out on a limb.  All of her recipes are even dairy free and vegan! Though she uses a lot of whole grains in her cooking, not all recipes are GF, but she does have a tag for GF recipes so they’re easy to find. A requirement for adoptions is to make a recipe as-is, or pretty close. With all of my restrictions, that’s easier said than done! So for the adoption, I made Ricki’s Spicy Cauliflower Soup. But I have also been on a huge baking kick lately, so I adapted her Maple Walnut Cookies to be GF with the following changes:

• I increased the flour to 1/2 cup (actually, even 1 tsp or two more) and changed it from barley to brown rice
• I used hazelnut praline paste rather than tahini (leftover from the last Daring baker challenge) since I’m allergic to sesame
• I used just a tiny pinch of vitamin c crystals instead of the apple cider vinegar since I don’t do anything fermented
• I reduced the maple syrup to 1/4 cup, since the paste was sweetened
• I made a few without sea salt for a friend who can’t have any salt, and those turned out well, too.

I planned on using teff because I like the flavor and it’s quite a bit more nutritious than brown rice, but I’ve been on a baking binge lately and so I was out!  I might also try unroasted (light) buckwheat flour, or add in a pinch of mesquite.  Ya know, just for the sake of scientific experimentation.

They were delightful and cooked up beautifully! I will certainly make these again and play with variations.  Flax is very healthy, and I often avoid taking it because I’m not crazy about the taste.  These will give me good incentive

One thing, though…since you GF bloggers out there all seem to be getting pregnant, recommendations are to eat no more than 2 Tablespoons a day of flax seeds while pregnant.  So you can eat half a batch, but not  the whole thing!  At least not in one day.

Spicy Cauliflower soup

Summer time isn’t usually soup time, but I love soup.  It’s just so comforting and soothing, even when it’s 90 degrees out (or 93, I think, but who’s counting!).  The spices are a lovely mix.  I made it according to the recipe, but put in cauli stem instead of potato because *sigh* no potatoes for me, and used almond milk instead of soy.  I also have some in my freezer for the next rainy day!  I’m sure this will be a regular in our rotation in winter months.

Due to camera issues, I made the soup twice.  It ended up being a very good thing, because when I have a tummy ache, blended soups are the perfect thing.  The second time around, I blended in a few overripe apricots and the gave a subtle sweetness, and I added a little ground nutmeg on top.  I can’t wait to explore the different ways to enjoy Ricki’s soup!

So, check out Ricki’s blog.  Her recipes are great, and the stories are always entertaining.  And the doggies are too cute for words, too.

This post will be part of the Adopt a GF Blogger round up.  I’m hosting, which is why I wanted to make sure to post it on time!  Adopt a GF blogger is the “baby” of Seamaiden of Book of Yum.  If you want to adopt someone, you still have time!  Just email me or put it in the comments, and post by August 11th.

Adopt a GF blogger is the brainchild of Seamaiden of Book of Yum. I love it because I’m someone who is often inspired by the recipes I see on other websites, but I tend to morph them into my usual style and flavorings. This gives me the opportunity to sample someone else’s tastes and styles, which is great. And I’m happy to be the hostess of the July edition of Adopt a GF Blogger! More info is here.

I’ve always been a fan of things seasonal and tasty, and so I was happy to discover the Gluten Free Hippie’s recipe collection. It’s a combination of vegan and mostly raw dishes, although there’s a gorgeous looking cardamom grilled mango that will hopefully be in my near future! I like her approach of real, whole foods, beautiful colors, and vibrant pictures.

For “Adopt A GF Blogger”, I decided to go for the Chocolate Rose Parfait. I do love rosewater, but have never paired it with chocolate before, and now I wonder why! I wanted to garnish it with rose petals, but alas, my bushes have been petal-less since a big storm a few weeks back and are just starting to bud again. However, the raspberries really paired beautifully with the rosewater and brought a real richness of taste, and are a great way of starting off with the ingredient of the week for menu plan Monday.

The pudding was simple yet very creamy, satisfying and indulgent. It does seem that rosewater is a matter of personal taste, though. DH doesn’t like rosewater, which doesn’t make sense to me. I like it so much that I keep giving him things with rosewater and am surprised when he’s not a fan. However, his comments about the rosewater didn’t keep him from devouring his parfait, so they should be taken with a big fat grain or two of salt.

Seamaiden of Book of Yum is on her way to Japan, so I’ll be the host for July’s edition for Adopt a GF Blogger. It’s pretty simple:

1. Choose a GF blogger or someone who features GF recipes on their site.  The only hard part is choosing just one!  And this is on a first come, first serve basis.  Email me your adoption requests to cheryl(at)eharrishome(dot)com, or you can leave a comment.  Please let me know your name, the address for your blog, and the address of your desired blogger, too.
2. Make one of the recipes and blog about it between July 28 - Aug 11.
3. Don’t have a blog?  If you’d like, I can always post a page up on my site.  We’re an inclusive GF family ’round these parts.
4. Send me a link to the post and a purty pic, and a few days after the 11th, I’ll post a round-up.

For more info and history, check out the main adoption headquarters.

Let the fun begin!

1. I’m choosing Ricki, of Diet, Dessert and Dogs, because…Ricki rocks, and I can’t wait to “have” to try her recipes!
2. Mary Francis of GF Cooking School just couldn’t wait to adopt Kate, of Gluten Free Gobsmacked.
3. Terri at Faking it GF Style is adopting Tiffany at Life After Gluten.
4. Kimberly of Living Free will be be adopting for the first time, and her pick is Sally of Aprovechar
5. Thomas from the GFCF experience is adopting the lovely Lauren of Celiac Teen.
6. Hannah has adopted Mrs. GF
7. Anna, of Gluten Free Anna, will be joining us for the first time and adopting Mary Frances from Gluten Free Cooking School

and you?