Gluten Free Weekly Meal Plan (May 19-23, 2014)

It's a long weekend here in Ontario, and the weather is gorgeous so we've spent the whole day outside taking care of the backyard. It's finally ready for outdoor dinners and watching the kids run around. I hope you're enjoying your Monday, whether it's a holiday Monday or a regular one.

Monday: Salade Niçoise (Recipe) I love this simple salad. Perfect for a holiday Monday!

Gluten Free Weekly Meal Plan (May 12-16, 2014)

This meal plan is a little late, but after Mother's Day and my little guy's appointment at the Hospital for Sick Children, it fell to the bottom of the list. Still, I would hate to leave you hanging for a whole week, so here's what we're eating at our house this week!

Monday: Gluten Free Tri-Colour in a Simple Sauce with Creme Fraiche and Parmesan Cheese

Get Kombucha! Bottling my Kombucha the Quick and Easy Way

A few weeks ago I received my very own Continuous Brew Kit from Get Kombucha and started brewing my very own Kombucha tea at home. Much less expensive than store bought, a continuous brew kit allows for a batch of Kombucha to be brewing at all times, and also makes it easy to brew big batches and to bottle your tea without complicated materials.

I brewed my first batch and bottled it, but it didn't effervesce (bubble) exactly the way I wanted it to, so I waited until my second batch was ready to go to write this post. The second batch was amazing- tart yet a bit sweet, with just the right amount of bubbles and no vinegary aftertaste. My husband even started drinking it! The Gold Continuous Brewing Kit that I was sent for review included 6 single serving sized bottles to put the tea in, perfect for taking them with me on the go.

Happy Mother's Day!

I am a happy mom of two wonderful little boys, and a lucky daughter of a great mom.

On Friday night, we took my mom and the grandkids ceramic painting so they could paint a piece that my mom can keep and hang on her wall.

The kids' fingerprints are the flower petals.

Tropical Fruit Salad with Honey Yogurt Dip

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend, so why not elevate a typical fruit salad with some exotic fruit and a gorgeous presentation?





This tropical-inspired fruit salad can be customized to your liking with any fruits you enjoy, but I like the mix of colours and flavours here. This is great on its own for a small gathering, or would be incredible as part of a dessert table for larger groups.

This is also a great kid-friendly recipe, providing the sweetness they crave without being full of added sugar or unhealthy ingredients. Mine polished this off within 5 minutes of taking the photos for this post. 

Gluten Free Weekly Meal Plan (May 5-9, 2014)

Good morning! I'm getting ready to head out to the Toronto Gluten Free Expo in a few minutes, and I can't wait to talk to the vendors and try out new products. If you're in the GTA and are looking for something fun to do, I highly recommend it!

Here's what we're eating this week.

Monday: Bacon, Apple, and Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash (Recipe Coming Soon)

Happy Celiac Awareness Month

Welcome to Celiac Awareness Month!

This year, I feel as though Celiac Awareness month is needed more than ever. The fascination with all things gluten free has exploded over the last year or two, making gluten free products more popular and available than ever before, but unfortunately that hasn't translated into more awareness of Celiac disease and Gluten Sensitivity. 

Instead, the gluten free "trend" or "fad" has turned gluten free living into a bit of a joke, making it easy to mock. More worrisome, it has become easy to dismiss as a food trend that doesn't require any special knowledge or handling when preparing and serving gluten free foods to consumers. 

Thank You!

I have been watching in awe over the past few weeks as one of my Pinterest boards has jumped in popularity really, really, quickly. My Gluten Free Meal Plans board is a collection of all the weekly meal plans I post on the blog, and it is currently sitting at over 5,500 followers!

This is really exciting for me, and I'm thrilled to say that Pinterest has now chosen that board as one of the boards they recommend new users to follow.

And you know what? It's all thanks to you! Everyone who has followed my boards on Pinterest, pinned photos or pins to their own boards, repinned, etc. has helped to make make my Gluten Free Meal Plans board visible to others.

April Cookbook of the Month & Giveaway Winner

Before I get to the cookbook review, I want to give a huge congratulations to Alana J., the winner of the Blender Girl cookbook! Congratulations!

I chose The Blender Girl cookbook as April's cookbook of the month, and I'm so glad I did! This book is full of fun and easy gluten free and vegan recipes that anyone can make with the help of a blender.

While most recipes are liquid in nature, including smoothies, nut milks, soups, and dressings, not everything is of the liquid variety. In many cases, the sauce is the part made in the blender, while other ingredients are prepared in different ways.

Homemade Peanut Butter (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free)

I'm a big peanut butter fan, and I like to make stir fries and other dishes using peanut butter in the sauce, or peanut butter cookies for my kids, or I use it in smoothies.

Unfortunately, most conventional peanut butter brands are full of unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients, like white or cane sugar, icing sugar, molasses, diglycerides, hydrogenated oils or preservatives.

Even brands labelled "natural" aren't always free of these ingredients, as many of them are natural. Evaporated cane sugar is still sugar, hydrogenated palm or other oils are natural ingredients, but not healthy or even necessary. Many of those ingredients turn a healthy food option into an unhealthy, sugary treat better suited as a dessert food.