GFCF Lunchbox Idea

Protein: Crispy fish nuggets (from homemade using the GFCF chicken nuggets method) with ketchup

Vegetable: Carrots

Carbohydrate/Fruit: Nature’s Path Gluten Free Whole O’s and dried cranberries

Fruit: Apple slices

GFCF Lunchbox Idea

Protein: Applegate Turkey Hot Dog slices

Carbohydrate: Brown rice pasta (with a drizzle of olive oil, splash of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and salt)

Veggie: Green peas (from frozen)

Fruit: Apple slices

Treat: Pumpkin muffin (from homemade)

Let’s Talk Vitamin B12

A noncommittal meat-eater for most of my life, I have been on the receiving end of the Vitamin B12 speech more times than I can count. In my vegan youth, I ate fortified grain cereals for my daily dose. As a vegetarian a few years later, I fell back on cheese, yogurt and milk. Fast forward to today and I am the master chef in a gluten-free, dairy-free household. A chef who, inconveniently, feels a bit woozy every time I touch uncooked meat. But that’s another story for another day. Today, we are talking about getting enough Vitamin B12 on the GFCF diet. And while we do believe in taking supplements, we believe even more in the ability of natural foods to promote healing and maintain health. So we did some research and discovered what all the Vitamin B12 fuss is about.  

Kid Friendly Recipes – GFCF Nutella

During a recent trip to Costco, there was a sample table set up with Nutella. As usual, the first thing I did was pick up the jar to read the ingredient list. I held my breath for a moment, only to be disappointed by the milk and whey protein on the label. I smiled at the sample gal and before I could politely decline, she launched into a lengthy sales pitch about how Nutella is actually better for you than other nut butters. Gluten and casein aside, you just can’t say that anything with sugar and palm oil as the first two ingredients can possibly be better for our bodies than something with, say, only peanuts. Or only almonds. Or only cashews. That said, Nutella is very tasty as an occasional indulgence, so we went in search of a homemade GFCF version. And, oh, did we ever find one. As promised in last week’s Let’s Talk Copper post, below is a no-fail, perfectly indulgent and delicious GFCF Nutella recipe. Enjoy!  

GFCF Lunchbox Idea

Protein: Applegate Farms Roasted Turkey with Rice Vegan Cheese on Udi’s Whole Grain Bread

Veggie: Steamed broccoli (from frozen)

Fruit: Clementine slices

Treat/Protein: Mrs. May’s Sesame Strips (from Costco)

Product Review: Earth Balance Mindful Mayo + Cole Slaw Dressing Recipe

I understand that it might seem strange to write a product review about mayonnaise. But if you know how rare it is to find a mayonnaise free of any soy ingredients, you understand why I want to shout it from the rooftops. Probably the best thing I’ve ever done with mayonnaise is make a cole slaw dressing out of it; cole slaw that my GFCF daughter decided she loved more than anything just before we omitted soy ingredients from our diet. When a mother sees her child eating cabbage with such wild abandon, she will go to the ends of the earth to find the mayonnaise required to keep this dream alive.  

GFCF Lunchbox Idea

Protein: Applegate Farms Turkey Hot Dog with ketchup

Carbohydrate: Udi’s Hot Dog Bun

Vegetable: Peas (from frozen)

Fruit: Clementine slices

Treat: Boulder Canyon Chips (kettle-cooked, plain)

Let’s Talk Copper

I can honestly say I have never pondered the nutritional value of copper before, but a recent homemade Nutella recipe had me reading the label on a bag of hazelnuts. As it happens, hazelnuts are an excellent source of copper, but why does it matter? Since my GFCF daughter was helping to make the Nutella, we figured this was a mystery we could solve together. Low and behold, copper is a bit of a heavyweight in the mineral world.

Our Favorite GFCF Packaged Foods

While many people were preparing to party down on New Year’s Eve, GFCF Lunchbox was in the throes of pantry organization. Not glamorous, admittedly, but since our #1 goal for 2012 is an organized life, we thought it best to start a day early. Aside from the embarrassing amount of clutter, we were most struck by the array of GFCF packaged foods that had been opened, tasted, and never touched again. We were horrified to see the money that had been wasted on items that looked great on the cover of the box, but ended up a total disappointment.

GFCF Lunchbox Idea

Protein/Carbohydrate: Peanut butter and banana sandwich on Rudi’s Gluten Free Bakery Multigrain Sandwich Bread

Protein: Edamame

Carbohydrate: Glutino’s GF Pretzel Sticks

Fruit/Treat: Dole Mandarin Oranges in 100% juice