Tag Archives: recipe

Gluten Free Piña Colada Muffins

When Dan and I moved in to our first apartment, I raided my mom’s recipe box. There were a lot of recipes I’d never seen before, and hadn’t been made in at least 21 years. One of the long-forgotten recipes was for these piña colada muffins! They quickly became a staple in our house, but we didn’t know about my gluten sensitivity. When we discovered I was gluten sensitive, these (and many other recipes) got filed away for “later.”

Then, just the other day, I decided I wanted to give them a try! Several recipes I’ve converted to gluten free taste like the gluten free flour, and I was hoping these particular muffins might have enough flavor to disguise it. They do! These muffins have the exact taste and texture we remember, but none of the gluten! Now, on to the recipe!

These muffins are packed full of flavor and have an excellent texture: not soggy and not too dry!
Click Here for Recipe!

Gluten Free Spritz Cookies – Recipe

Growing up, the holiday dessert I always looked forward to the most were the cookies we called “Christmas Tree Cookies” – the cookies were Spritz cookies that we made in a Christmas tree shape and topped with sprinkles! They’ve been my absolute favorite Christmas cookie for as long as I can remember, and I was worried about how I could make them with my new diet! I’m 100% corn free, and as gluten free as possible. Thankfully, they turned out great! Continue reading →

Sweet Potato Risotto – Recipe

Dan and I discovered this recipe years ago, and fell in love with it! I have heavily tweaked the recipe, especially now that I’m on such a strict diet, so I will post my version first and the original at the bottom of the post.

You can use either purple or orange sweet potatoes for this recipe. I actually prefer the purple sweet potatoes for this, as it makes it a more savory side dish. We usually serve this with chicken that we cook with cinnamon, oregano, and salt. The leftovers are hearty enough to eat for lunch without a side of protein if you want! Continue reading →

Kale Banana Smoothie – Recipe

This recipe came about because I had a ton of kale, which I’d never had prior to this diet, and wasn’t sure what to do with it. I wasn’t actually allowed to eat raw vegetables, (until I got my gastric emptying results back) so I couldn’t eat it in salads. Then I remembered that everyone was going “green smoothie” crazy not too long ago, so there were probably plenty of kale smoothie recipes out there!  I simply Googled “kale smoothie” and the first result I got was for this Kale Banana Smoothie recipe on AllRecipes by Rice.

I did have to modify the recipe a bit, because it wasn’t a low FODMAP recipe, but it was really easy to modify! I’ll post the recipe how I used it (below I’ll tell you what the modifications were). This recipe makes one serving.

Kale Banana Smoothie

  • 1 banana
  • 2 cups kale (either chop full kale, or just firmly pack a measuring cup with baby kale)
  • ½ cup lactose free milk
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (to taste)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve over ice and enjoy!

1/2 cup of lactose free milk
2 cups of baby kale (this is what I use as one cup)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
2 teaspoons of maple syrup
Combine everything (and one banana) in the blender
Blend until smooth!
Kale Banana Smoothie

What did I change?

The recipe originally calls for “light, unsweetened soy milk.” Soy milk is not allowed on the low FODMAP diet! (Nothing that is a product of whole soy beans is allowed.) I use Fairlife milk, which is lactose free dairy milk (recommended by the dietitian). You can use Lactaid, which is another lactose free dairy milk, or you can use nut milks, coconut milk, rice milk, or hemp milk. I use the Fairlife because it’s high protein and all of my “meals” have to be balanced: protein and carbs.

Originally, the recipe calls for flax seeds. I don’t have any flax seeds right now, but I have plenty of chia seeds (and I love them). The serving size for chia seeds is 1 tablespoon, so I was able to do an even substitution. You can add one serving of any of your favorite seeds (for flax seeds, it did say to add one tablespoon).

The maple syrup was supposed to just be one teaspoon, but I like sweeter smoothies. I thought the one teaspoon wasn’t sweet enough, so I added some more. Obviously, this is completely up to the individual. However, pure maple syrup is the only liquid sweetener allowed on the low FODMAP diet! Be sure it’s 100% pure, and you’re good to go!

Notes

This smoothie is really thick. Like, really thick! I like thick smoothies; I think that’s how they’re supposed to be. However, if you don’t like super thick smoothies, just add more of you chosen milk product until it gets to the proper consistency.

The smoothie isn’t very cold, which is why it says to serve over ice. You could also blend ice into the smoothie if you would like. I did a little of both last time, and I really liked it! I would say, the ice is a must. However, if you don’t mind room temperature smoothies, then you don’t have to use the ice I suppose… 😛 I will not be joining you for smoothies, ever, however!

Easy, Healthy Lunch Wraps – Recipe

The lunch wraps are delicious, nutritious, and super simple to make! They’re also free from most allergens, which makes them even better. Great for spoonies, or anyone that is in a rush!

Today is probably the first day in over a year that I have actually made my own lunch! Usually, I just heat up leftovers and/or drink an Ensure. Sometimes I get crazy and add a few snack foods with my Ensure 😉 I know I need to eat, but it’s hard to come up with lunch foods that I like, are easy to make, and don’t kill my stomach… it’s even HARDER if I am actually following my rotation diet: yeast, beans, cheese, chocolate can only be eaten every three days (ie: I eat yeast Monday, I can’t eat it again until Thursday). Then, my best friend made these wraps for us during a girl day, and I’m hooked! This particular recipe is completely free from all my allergens. It can very easily be modified to fit your personal diet as well.

lunch-wraps-title

Ingredients
() denote exactly which type I used for my own wrap

  • tortilla (Mission flour tortillas, large/burrito size)
  • salad dressing (Kraft ranch dressing)
  • lunch meat (Oscar Meyer rotisserie chicken, deli meat*)
  • salad mix, or other leafy greens (50/50 spring mix and spinach)
  • tomatoes (Nature Sweet sunbursts and cherubs)
  1. Lay the tortilla on a plate. If the tortilla is stiff, heat it up a little until flexible (I do 15-20 seconds in the  microwave).
  2. Spread a thin layer of the ranch dressing on the tortilla. The specific amount is up to your personal taste!
  3. Put down a layer of the lunch meat. I did a single overlapping layer, to keep it from overpowering the wrap. You can add more or less to taste.step one (1).jpg
  4. Put some of the salad mix on top of the lunch meat. Don’t use too much or it’ll prevent you from being able to taste all the rest of the tasty stuff (I used a little too much for the wrap I made while taking the photos). Lots of salad containers say they are pre-washed and ready to eat, but I like to rinse mine first, just to be safe. Try to distribute the leaves evenly so you have the same amount of salad in each bite!step-three-1
  5. Wash and slice the tomatoes. For the pictured wrap, I used 4 of the sunbursts and 5 of the cherubs. Since the sunbursts are quite large, I quartered them. However, the cherubs were smaller, so I only halved them. Make sure you use a serrated knife, or you’ll just crush the tomatoes and loose all the delicious stuff! You just want to get them to bite size, they’re easier to eat that way.
  6. Evenly distribute the tomatoes over the salad mix.step-four-1
  7. If you have accidentally put a ton of salad on your wrap, you can add more ranch dressing. (And if you love ranch, you might want to add a drizzle as well! Haha)
  8. Wrap up the tortilla and enjoy!

wrapped up 1.jpg

*While looking at the ingredients to write this post, I realized I’d forgotten to check the lunch meat prior to purchasing it! This particular lunch meat does contain “yeast extract,” unfortunately. For this to fully follow my elimination diet, I will need to use a different lunch meat… oops!

As I said earlier, this recipe is fantastic if you’re low on energy and/or time! It’s also a great way to get in a serving of vegetables (the tomatoes are nutritionally a vegetable, even though they’re technically a fruit), which I know a lot of us struggle with on a daily basis. I eat these with a side of fruit, making it a fully balanced meal. Yummy!

My best friend adds onions, bacon bits, and cheese into her wrap. Customizing your wrap is half the fun!

What ingredients did you put in your wrap?

Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes – Recipe

I got this recipe from my mom. I’m not sure if she created it, or if it was passed down from her family, but now it is my recipe too! These have always been my favorite sweet potatoes, and a dish I look forward to every holiday meal. The following recipe is specifically from my adventure with the purple sweet potato, so it has a few extra steps. I’ll put the orange sweet potato changes at the bottom of the post.

purple sweet potato finished

Continue reading →