Gluten-free Breakfasts

By Cheryl Harris, MPH, RD

With back-to-school right around the corner, it’s time to think about breakfasts.  We’ve all heard it—breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and gets us off to a good start.  We need energy to study, work, and play!  Many studies have shown improvements in concentration and learning for children who eat breakfast, and starting the day with a healthy breakfast helps adults, too.  As a dietitian, I look for breakfasts that are high in fiber, have some protein, and contain limited sugar.  There are great options from both the regular grocery store and specialty products.

Some mainstream breakfast options are naturally gluten-free, like most kinds of Chex (not wheat Chex, of course!), most kinds of yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit, even plain grits!  Sprinkle in a spoon or two of ground flax seed to get in a little extra fiber.  Or, get creative with eggs: scrambled eggs, omelets, huevos rancheros, or even hard-boiled for an inexpensive, high protein on-the-go breakfast.   Smoothies are also a great way to get in some additional fruit in your diet, and most kids enjoy them, too.  Many kinds of breakfast meats, like sausage or bacon are also gluten-free.

As far as cold cereals go, nutritionally, Crunchy Flax, Whole O’s and Mesa Sunrise are among the best options because all are great sources of whole grains and fiber. And, of course, there are more and more gluten-free versions of the typical standards. EnviroKidz has some for children of all ages, like Gorilla Munch and Koala Kids, and these are in most local supermarkets.  And, of course, more stores sell gluten-free bagels, muffins, scones, or other sweet breakfast treats.

Looking ahead to chilly mornings, hot cereals are a great way to start the day with fiber and whole grains.  Most gluten-free grains cook up nicely as hot cereals. My personal favorite is millet, but kasha (buckwheat), quinoa flakes, amaranth, teff, etc. work well, too.  It’s easy to make a big pot and have them all week long.  Bob’s Red Mill has a few nice options, like Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. Don’t forget about certified gluten-free oatmeal, which can be found at specialty stores or online.

You can also think beyond usual breakfast foods for a change of pace.  Soups or any kind of leftovers work well, and you’re only limited by your imagination!

Back-to-School Resources from Around the Web

American Celiac Disease Alliance has a fabulous section on back-to-school, with sample menus, doctor’s letters, info on 504 plans and more.

Celiac About.com has a really nice compilation on back-to-school tips.

Celiac Sprue Association has a detailed section on back-to-school with tips for parents, teachers, students and more.

Classes:

Living and Loving a Gluten-Free Diet

Saturday, Oct 16th, 2010
11:00-12:30

•    Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and the importance of proper testing
•    All you ever wanted to know about label reading
•    Foods to avoid, cross contamination and hidden gluten
•    Sorting out the facts from common myths

This is great for people who are familiar with some of the basics but still have some questions.  It’s also a great opportunity to educate family and friends so they can support you better!

For more information, see http://www.harriswholehealth.com/services

Local Events:

DC Celiacs

Next Meeting Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010, 2:00–4:00 pm

Meeting Topic: Educating for Life.
Speaker: John Libonati, Glutenfreeworks.com

Vendor: Everybody Eats ( www.everybodyeats-inc.com )

Location: Bethesda Central Library
7400 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814
240-777-0970, (TTY: 301-657-0840)
Meeting room is to the left just after you enter the library doors, right before the parking kiosk.

Parking is available at the library.
Remember to enter your parking space number in the machine in the entryway, to avoid getting a ticket!
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Apps/Libraries/branchinfo/be.asp

Harris Whole Health offers individual sessions, family sessions and group classes to help people eat healthier and feel better!  Cheryl works with people to feel and look their best with a range of specialties, including Celiac Disease, food allergies, pregnancy, breastfeeding, vegetarian and vegan diets, preventing diseases and “whole foods” eating.  Let’s get you on your way to achieving your goals. For an appointment with Cheryl Harris, Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist, please click here to email or call 571-271-8742.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

DH’s cake: (top) a genoise with raspberry filling and chocolate liquor ganache

Cathy’s cake:(below) Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate frosting

And last but not least, peeps!  Actually, peep-ish meringues.  The inspiration was 
Heather’s duckies.  The birthday girl had inquired if it was possible to make natural peeps, and I had to think about it.  The answer, BTW, I believe is no.  I tried using the veggie food dyes, and the meringue peeps totally…de-peeped…into puddles.  I ended up caving on using the food dyes from the grocery store (you know, the ones with blue dye # whatever) and those worked well, as you can see!

So needless to say, there are an abundance of treats at the Casa de Harris.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Kim of Gluten Free is Life is the winner of the bottle of Salba.  Yay Kim!

I’m enjoying the journey through 100 Best GF Recipes by Carol Fenster.  I’ve made the cornbread and devil’s food cake cupcakes, and just made the crumb cake.  I couldn’t resist topping it with homemade raspberry jam right before the end, as you can see…  It was a great treat at brunch.

I still plan to make the butter cake and the molasses bread, but those will have to wait until next week.  And someone commented on the last post and said she hadn’t tried Cooking Free.  That is one of my favorite GF cookbooks, and is perfect for someone who is vegan or has other food restrictions.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

The theme for this week’s menu plan is Wendy’s 50th birthday, which is quite a milestone.  Wendy is also our kind host over at Celiacs in the House.  I’ve had the privilege of helping Wendy re-shape her diet and health for her birthday, and sharing my perspective on Wendy’s process. I know she’ll keep many of the healthy habits she’s absorbing as she moves forward!

In honor of Wendy’s birthday, I’ll be making her kale berry smoothie.  I must confess, I have a Vitamix.  And I love my Vitamix.  But I rarely make myself smoothies, and so I’ll give this a roll this week.

Also, I have a newsletter up on gluten in medications on my website. Enjoy!

And, Amy of Simply Gluten and Sugar free has an amazing Sears Chef giveaway on her site…

Monday:
Lentil stew with kale and garden fresh veggies

Tues:
Lemony Quinoa Mint Salad with tomatoes

Weds:
Kale smoothie in the AM
Turkey cutlets breaded in millet and broccoli

Thursday:
Roasted rosemary salmon and peppers

Friday:
Leftovers

Baked goods:
I am trying to make meringue peeps based on Heather’s inspirational recipe, but they keep falling when I add in the veggie dye food coloring. They don’t look anywhere as cute as Heather’s!

From my garden:
kale
tomatoes
peppers
garlic (picked a month or so ago)
carrots (yes, I know, hence the happy rabbit)
gobs of herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lemongrass, parsley

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

And, of course, me being me, I needed to adapt to a gluten-free concoction.  I decided to compromise and make a Cheryl friendly filling (gluten-free, sugar free, vegan) and a gluten-free cake.  But, regretfully, as you can see above, it didn’t work as planned.

All was going well…I made my Chocolate Fudge Frosting/Filling with hazelnut butter rather than macadamia which is DELISH (as I sit her licking the remainder out of the bowl), and I opted for Kate’s Easy Sponge Cake, which rolls up.  Since she used a 18X13, I halved the recipe for a 9X13 cake.

I’m not sure where it all went wrong, but I did use a silpat instead of parchment, and I did bring the eggs to room temp in warmer water than usual, so any of those factors may have accounted for the gooey, sticky, uneven mess masquerading as a cake.   I cooked longer than the directions stated and still couldn’t get it to work, and the final texture reminded me of a baking experiment gone bad as a teen.  Regretfully, I didn’t realize how icky the bottom was until I frosted it so I wasted a bunch of frosting.  And needless to say, I couldn’t move on without a cake to use…

I assume it’s my mistake and do look forward to making it again.  I’d ask Kate for pointers but she is a proud new momma of SUCH a cutie pie (go over and send warm wishes!

If anyone has advice/pointers, I’d appreciate it.  And do check out more successful versions of this month’s DB adventure!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

I hope to post a menu plan later.  My DH has been having (presumably) gallbladder attacks, and we’re hanging tight and eating super boring food until we can get all of this taken care of.  Come to think of it, that’s not the most appealing way to “talk up” my menu plan, now is it!

As someone who has had medical issues for…let’s just say a long time…this has been a very humbling experience for me.  I don’t like when I’m sick, of course, but seeing someone I love hurt and feeling powerless to help is much more of a challenge.

So here’s to hoping that insurance approvals move along, appointments fall in place, schedules and the stars align and we move to a healthy solution.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

The first thing I (re) learned this Monday is that when I work late, the whole week gets off to a hectic start (especially when I have to be up early for a Tues morning meeting!) Which makes menu planning and life planning even more important.

Wendy is our lovely hostess this week with the theme of favorite cookbooks. Now, I rarely use cookbooks because that’s not how my brain works, but I love reading them for inspiration. And one of my favorites is Sweet Freedom, by Ricki of Diet, dessert and dogs. It’s vegan, sugar free, and above all, delish! Not ALL recipes are GF, but most are.

So onto a super quick brief meal plan:

Monday:
roasted rosemary salmon with roasted peppers

Tues:
Southwestern quinoa black bean salad

Weds:
coconut curried beef with roasted cauliflower

Thursday:
yummy red lentil dal

Friday:
leftovers!

Baked good:
hmm…I will be making something for my Saturday class, Living and Loving a GF diet, but darned if I know what!

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

see http://www.gfgoodness.com/2010/02/28/a-menu-plan-give-away/ to enter and for details.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

I have a post up on gluten free Passover foods, which is a great way to broaden your GF selection, and at least near us they’re in the store.

Monday:
Turkey with red pepper sauce and broccoli

Tues:
Tuna in lettuce cups with apple

Weds:
Beef stew with roasted cauliflower

Thurs:
avocado and lemony quinoa

Friday:
leftovers

Baked goods: um…should be a crazy week, so I really don’t know.

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

As you can see, DH’s cat is a clingy little dude. His greatest wish is for DH to sprout a kangaroo pouch so that he can snuggle 24/7 and hitch a ride everywhere.

Here’s a quick menu plan. Our hostess is the GFCF cookbook and this is her first time hosting, so please go over and give her a big welcome! Our theme this week is leftover ham, but I can’t eat ham, so I can’t partake in that part! However, lamb is one of my favorites that we only have once or twice a year, and it sound somewhat like ham, so maybe that counts? =)

Monday:
Sauteed peppers, onions, herbs and an avocado

Tues:
Something from my freezer…

Weds:
Lentil Dal and roasted cauliflower

Thursday:
Roasted garlic leg of lamb with kale and Kalamata olives

Friday:
Leftovers, most likely

Baked goods:
pumpkin bread

chocolate raspberry cake (made with butternut squash)

©2010 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.