Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup dates, finely chopped

1 cup nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, or almonds), finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter, melted

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, dates, nuts, melted butter and roll into 1 inch balls.  Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler over hot water.  Coat the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate, place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and refrigerate to harden.

For more Gluten Free Christmas Cookie Recipes, please click here.

Happy Holidays!

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Bellingham Gluten Intolerance Group: Community Awareness Event

I just got back from attending an inspiring two-day event with the Bellingham Gluten Intolerance Group ~ what a fantastic group of people who are truly passionate about getting out life-changing information to anyone who needs to know more about how gluten is impacting their bodies and what to do about it.

Attendees ranged from those who have been gluten free for many years to the newly diagnosed and their supportive family members.  There were cookbooks for sale, taste-testing of gluten free foods from local vendors/restaurants, a silent auction of gluten free gift baskets, and fantastic speakers to share their knowledge and answer questions.

Having been a gluten-free advocate for two and a half years now, there was a few golden nuggets of new information for me to learn as well:

Read the rest here

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year to be thankful again….and we are particularly thankful that most of the traditional Thanksgiving foods are already gluten free, except for the stuffing and pumpkin pie (ok yes, you will have to skip the breadrolls).  Below are recipes & links for modifications to make for your own gluten free Thanksgiving:

Mum’s Gluten Free Stuffing (Serves 6)

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 lb. butter
• 9 cups crumbled gluten free bread (ie.  2 whole loaves of gluten free bread cut into pieces and then crumbled by hand.  Can either be left out a few days to become stale, or toasted in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F).
• 1/4 cup fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
• Large handful each of fresh sage and thyme, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chicken stock

Directions: Melt butter in medium pan on high heat.  Saute onion and celery until soft, not browned.  Mix cooked onion and celery in with the breadcrumbs in an extra large bowl.  Season with the fresh parsley, sage, thyme, salt & pepper.  Add the chicken stock to moisten.  From here, you can stuff the mixture into the turkey the traditional way, but for food safety sake, I recommend baking the stuffing in a casserole dish for ~30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

For more Thanksgiving tips click here.

Gluten Free Meatballs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1.25 pounds ground turkey

1/4 cup walnuts, finely choppped

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 5 to 6 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Heat broiler.  In a large bowl, combine the turkey, walnuts, onions, raisins, cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Form the mixture into golfball-size meatballs (about 16-20) and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Broil 6 minutes, then turn meatballs over, and broil 6 to 8 minutes more, until cooked through.  Makes 4 servings.

*Note: the raisins and cinnamon in this recipe leave a wonderful sweet taste in your mouth, much like a Moroccan stew.  Another option is to leave out the raisins/cinnamon and increase the walnuts to 1/2 cup.