Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes

Several months back...okay, maybe more than a year ago... I made cupcakes for a co-workers birthday. Since cupcakes use to kind of be my thanggg on this blog AND it was my first time baking at ACS I had to make sure I tried out a fantastic new recipe. I saw so many recipes on Pinterest that suggested substituting oil for greek yogurt or applesauce so I decided to start with the latter of the two.

Disclaimer: I did this pre-Celiac so I am not sure how this will turn out with a gluten free boxed cake mix, but I can say that it worked like a charm for regular Duncan Hines chocolate mix. You simply replace all other ingredients listed on the box with one cup of sugar free applesauce. That's it! It may sound like it wouldn't bake right, but trust me, it did. They were delicious!

In addition to the twist on the cake recipe, I really wanted to try out the new (at the time) Dunkan Hines Flavor Creations frosting. I decided to go with hazelnut since I thought it would compliment the chocolate and applesauce in the cake. I followed the mixing instructions on the packets and I have to tell you... it was awful!!! Like, I wouldn't feed it to my worst enemy, awful! The frosting was so overly sweet it hurt my teeth. I had no time to start a new batch from scratch so I worked my magic by adding cream cheese to offset the sweetness and a little milk to thin it out a bit. It still wasn't quite right so I also added some cocoa powder and a little bit of confectioners sugar. After a few minutes of mixing and tweaking, I had a decent frosting that I was comfortable sharing with colleagues. Word to the wise: don't waste your time on Frosting Creations. You'll be far better off spending a few extra minutes making your frosting from scratch.

When all was said and done, I had a great story to tell about my experiments in the kitchen and some delicious cupcakes to share at work! They looked fab, don't you think?

Homemade Pizza Night!

Who doesn't love pizza? Especially, grabbing a slice after a long night of dancing with friends...yea, that doesn't happen anymore but it certainly does during movie night at home! :) I should have known my trusty friends at Udy's would have the perfect frozen crust! Thankfully, I got my hands on a two-pack so tonight, we set out to make the perfect pie.

My favorite pizza to make is a white pie with garlic and oil as a base but tonight I wanted to mix it up. I had some left over Yolonda Pesto from last week so I slathered that on below a thick layer of shredded mozz, a few diced onions, diced red pepper, cherry tomatoes and pepperoni!

It was deeee-licious! The perfect blend of salty and sweet. And the crust was great! If I didn't know I was eating a gluten free crust, I would have just assumed it was any ordinary thing crust, which is a HUGE compliment for those of you that don't know how hard that is to come by in the gluten free world. I'll definitely be buying Udy's crusts again.

Gluten Free Shimp and White Bean Pesto

No matter how hard I try, I always reach a point where I am completely out of groceries. I don't mean that I have like 3 things in the fridge, I mean absolutely nothing except condiments. I've hit some pretty major lows in my life, but never low enough to suffer through a few squirts of cetchup as a meal. Thankfully, I rarely let my freezer or pantry run dry and tonight, that was my savior.

After a long day at work I was able to scan my kitchen and whip up gluten free pasta with shrimp, white beans and pesto! And not just any pesto -  locally made pesto from Yolanda Pesto. I believe Yolanda Pesto it is a one woman show, which is incredible and on top of that, it's the best pesto I've ever had. Every bite tastes like you just made it from freshly cut basil. MMm mm! I could put this on everything, and I probably will but for tonight, check out this recipe!

Recipe:
8 oz gfree pasta
1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved cooking water from pasta
8 to 10 shrimp, cleaned and tails removed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 can white beans
1/3 cup of Yolanda Pesto, or other pesto of your choice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Cook pasta as directed on package. Be sure to reserve the cooking water for later.
2) Heat oil in a sautee pan over medium-high heat. Toss in shrimp and cook until pink, about two minutes on each side. Just as shrimp is finishing, toss in white beans to slightly heat.
3) Turn off the heat then add the pesto and 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water. Stir until combined. If pesto is still chunky and not fully covering the pasta, add a little bit of the reserved water until desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

I will say, the color of this dish is pretty bland looking but the flavor is amazing!

Gluten Free Pancakes!

When it comes to breakfast on the weekends I tend to stick with a large cup of coffee and maybe a little fruit. But every once and a while I get a craving for something more, something soft and fluffy covered in melted butter and gooey syrup: pancakes!!!

Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made us french toast...literally, the BEST french toast on the planet. We'd have it for breakfast on the weekends and every once and a while for dessert (Yes, french toast for dessert. Try it. You won't be disappointed.) In any case, french toast was so prevalent that having pancakes for breakfast was a treat. Naturally, this treat was removed from my diet with the onset of Celiac but all that changed last weekend.

I was up and at it extra early and veryyyy hungry. I've had Bob's Red Mill g-free all purpose baking flour in my Cabinet so it was time to put it to use again. In the process of cooking I realized I was out of syrup so I sent my boyfriend running to the store because what are pancakes without sweet yummy syrup! End result: peer bliss!!!

 Recipe:
1 1/3 cups gfree all purpose baking flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
1) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil. With the whisk, stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth.
2) Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Spoon about 1/3 cup pancake batter onto pan. Flip when bubbly and edges are slightly dry.
3) Cover in butter and gfree maple syrup, as desired (of course.)

Mac and Cheese!!!

Aside from buttered noodles covered in parm,  one of my fave dishes B.C. (before celiac) was Mac and cheese. MMMM mmmm!! I loved me some stringy, gooey, cheesy macaroni! It didn't take me long to find my go-to noodle substitute so I'm really not sure why it has taken me this long to make some again. The good news: I haven't lost my mac & cheese making touch! This dish might have been my best Mac ever. In addition to boatloads of cheese, I added sausage and pepperoni to give the meal some substance. Man, was it good!! Enough talking - get in the kitchen and make this!!

Recipe:
8 oz gluten free elbow noodles
10 slices of small pepperoni, I used the ones for topping pizzas
2 sausage links, casings removed 
1 cup Velveeta cheese, cubed
1/3 cup shredded cheese, I used a nacho blend but anything works great
2 oz cream cheese
dash of milk

Directions:
1) Cook pasta according to package.
2) While pasta is cooking, heat frying pan over medium high heat and cook sausage, breaking it into little bits. One almost fully cooked, toss in pepperoni to heat it through. 
3) Once pasta is complete, drain and rinse then place back in the saucepan it was cooked in. Toss in Velveeta and cream cheese, mixing until fully melted. If the cheese is too thick, add a dash of milk to loosen a bit. Add shredded cheese and meat then stir until fully combined. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Bistango - Gluten Free Italian Restaurant Review

Dinning out these days is always a gamble. I've discovered that no matter how detailed I am when explaining Celiac Disease to a waiter, they never quite understand. More often than not, I end up not feeling well after my meal. As a result, I've done my best to cut back on eating out but lets be serious... living in New York, it's unavoidable. It's also one of the greatest things about this city- any kind of food you want at any hour. Is amazing!! 

Thanks to some research by my boyfriend, I've found one of my new go-to spots: Bistango! It's located in Murray Hill, not too far from my office. The restaurant offers regular and gluten free fare. Before even ordering drinks (Green's g-free beer is what we went with), the waiter asked if either of us had any food allergies. It was very happy because I knew I was in good hands. On top of being thrilled that I'd be able to enjoy some of my Italian favorites, the service and attention to detail by the server was great.  

That evening, my boyfriend and I ordered Bistango's amazing burrata mozzarella with prosciutto and roasted red pepper. It was so creamy and delicious and went great with the g-free bread and garlic olive oil they served. For our main courses, we both ordered different g-free pasta dishes so I had a chance to try a few options. I order the short-rib bolognese (obvii) and Brad ordered sausage and pepper with spinach. Both of them were out of this world!! I, of course, topped mine with tons of fresh parm so it was even better. ;)

I honestly didn't think things could get any better, then the dessert menu came. Almost all of their desserts are g-free. I pretty much squealed and I read RED VELVET CAKE!!! Yes, I said it... gluten free red velvet!! It was soooooooo moist and delicious. I literally inhaled it. Poor Brad barely got three bites. 

We've been back several times since and have always enjoyed our meal. I give you my word that this will be one of your favorite gluten free spots too!

Burrata Mozzarella with Prosciutto and Roasted Red Peppers

G-Free Bread with Garlic Olive Oil

G-Free Penne with Short-Rib Bolognese

G-Free Red Velvet Cake!

Green's G-Free Beer

Quinoa with Red Peper and Onion

Since this summer has been sweltering hot cooking at my apartment (with no AC) has been out of the question! Thankfully, my lovely boyfriend has central air so I've spent a very large chunk of my time over there. :) One thing that an apartment shared by three guys lacks is proper kitchen gear so many nights I do my best to whip up something easy.

Tonight was no problem at all! A few nights ago, I made our FAVORITE salad so I had left over red peppers and onions. I tossed those in a pan with some oil and cooked until they were tender. Meanwhile, I boiled quinoa, which has a two to one water ratio. Once finished, I tossed the peppers and onions in with the quinoa then topped it with some salt, black pepper and Parmesan. Boom! That's one fast meal.