Tag: Gluten Free

• $36 vs. $36

  Posted at 6:54 AM by Brittany, on May 16, 2014

  I don’t spend much time in the town I live in. I grew up here, and while it has its special charm, I just don’t really care to wander the same locations I’ve wandered for 25 years. Sure, if I need to run a quick errand I will go to my local shops, but if I have the time I will go out of my way and drive to other towns. This opens the doors for new adventures.

  When I went to pick up my race packet for the last half marathon I ran, I made the mistake of leaving my house without any food. I thought I’d be home within a couple hours (only a 35 min drive each way), but I should know better. Looking back I think subconsciously I knew I wanted to explore this town away from home through its food.

  After I got my packet I did what any hungry explorer would do, I Googled vegan restaurants in the city I was located. The first to pop up was one I had been wanting to try.

  

  Vegan, gluten free, AND raw!? Deal. Please bare with these photos, all I had was my phone.

  

  I ordered the AmeRAWcan sun burger (description on the menu) and I was so obsessed with the bread! Cutting out 95% of my wheat intake means I don’t eat a lot of bread, so this was a major treat. I thought about how delicious a PB&J would be on this bread.

  

  I couldn’t possibly experience this place without trying one all of the desserts they had available. SO..I got three desserts. OOPS.

  

  Snatched from my Instagram.

  It’s not everyday you have access to raw mocha cheesecake, raw strawberry cheesecake, and raw brownie bites. Go big or go home. For the record, I did share these with my mom.

  This place was delicious, but definitely not cheap. My sandwich, two brownie bites, and two slices of cheesecake cost me $36. I didn’t mind though, my $ goes towards food and running. I’ll be going back soon for some raw nachos and raw enchiladas. Swoon.

  After my feast I found myself at the mecca of cheap, yet fantastic.

  

  Fun Fact: I don’t actually go to Trader Joe’s all that often, because I don’t like going into the one in my town. I used to work there and well, I’m weird like that? I sometimes try to suck it up, but it usually brings back funky memories so I just don’t.

  With that said, I get excited when I’m in a town away from home that has a TJ’S. As I was stuffing my medium sized bag I thought to myself, “wow, I just came in here for organic berries (which they didn’t have much of after all) how did I end up with all this stuff?” Notorious thoughts in my mind. Long story short I had a shitton of food in my overstuffed bag, and lo and behold the price tag…

  

  $36….the exact price I payed 30 minutes prior for a small sandwich, and three desserts.

  I found it ironic, and somewhat comical to compare the two. I think TJ’s wins the, “more bang for your buck” contest, but I still didn’t mind paying for my lunch. YOLO? Sorry…I promise to never say YOLO again, I hate it. Here’s more cheesecake to make up for that.

  

  Q(s):

  • Do you like going into places you used to work? No..I get 50 shades of awkward, even if I leave on good terms. 
  • Would you go out of your way to explore a different town? What else am I going to do with my days off? I need adventure, and I don’t always go far! 

  

  | 54 Comments Tagged Explore, Gluten Free, Half Marathon, New food, Raw, Run, Vegan

• Gluten & Dairy Free Carb Loading

  Posted at 6:20 AM by Brittany, on May 7, 2014

  Once upon a time I used to eat lbs of spaghetti with nearly an entire loaf of sourdough bread before a half marathon. These days, the breads don’t sit well in my gut (womp womp) which meant I had to come up with other options the day before my recent race.

  Bare with me on these photos, I lazily used my iPhone. (Except the last two.)

  Breakfast – Wheat free vegan berry muffin from TJ’s (ohh SWOON) and strawberries.

  

  70% of the way through my breakfast I decided to snap a photo.

  Lunch – A huge bed of steamed kale (which you can barely see) topped with tofu, carrots, yellow bell pepper, and half of an avocado. With a mango chili sauce and cayenne pepper.

  

  Pre Dinner Snack – Apple (no need to photograph this, if you don’t know what an apple looks like please find the closest kindergarten classroom.)

  Dinner – A medium sized sweet potato (hidden under the mix) topped with lentils, cucumber, tomato, salsa, and cayenne. Plus 2-3 servings of black bean quinoa chips.

  

  Post Dinner Snacking – Figs and almond butter, a (large) handful of chocolate chips, a few bites of fresh fruit, and a few bites of some vanilla coconut milk ice cream.

  

  So there you have it, a day full of food to power me through 13.1 miles. If you read my recap you’ll know the race didn’t quite go as planned, but I wasn’t hungry once. All problems were definitely caused my lack of pre race expulsion and lack of training.

  When I ran the Seattle Half Marathon last December, I remember getting ravenous around mile 9, I made sure that didn’t happen this time. I didn’t even need the ALT bar I brought with me. I hope I made some squirrels day by tossing it into the woods.

  

  Post race I skipped the sugar bombs I bought from the bakery and face planted a salad.

  I don’t even know who I am anymore.

  Q: What’s your go to carb loading meal?

  

  | 44 Comments Tagged Carbohydrate, Gluten Free, Half Marathon, Run, Vegan

• Chocolate Salted Almond Butter Bites

  Posted at 7:02 AM by Brittany, on April 28, 2014

  For as long as I can remember I’ve tried to watch my salt intake. I never add it to my meals, and even the slightest amount makes me feel like a swollen slug. I have to drink at least 100oz of water just to combat the tiniest intake of salt. Blech.

  

  
  While I don’t use salt much in my cooking, I always use it in my baking. The amount of salt in most baked goods is less than a teaspoon, but that small pinch is powerful. When I was in high school I took a food science class, and little did I know one very small piece of information (& then some) I learned would stick with me all these years.

  

  
  Salt is known to enhance, and awaken the flavors combined in baked goods. It creates a balance that make your treats that much sweeter. For this reason alone, I never skimp on the salt when I bake/create sweets…it’s a staple in all my recipes. Chocolate and salt are commonly paired together, and this is simply because they just mesh..really well.

  I’ve always been a sucker for the chocolate, almond, and salt combo. When I worked at Trader Joe’s I would often sneak into the back room to see if any chocolate salted almonds were open and I would grab a handful (or five) to give me an extra boost around noon.

  

  You can imagine my excitement when I saw this recipe on Amanda’s blog, the second recipe from her blog that I just had to make. These truffle bites looked perfect, but they were missing one thing…salt! I also used gluten free pretzels instead of wheat.

  Chocolate Salted Almond Butter Bites 

  
  Ingredients 

  • 1 cup crushed gluten free pretzels
  • 1/2 cup creamy almond butter
  • 2 tbsp. honey
  • 1/3 cup semi sweet vegan chocolate chips
  • Sea salt

  Directions 

  1. Line a baking sheet or pan with wax paper and set aside.
  2. Pour your pretzels into a high speed blender, or food processor and pulse until you get a meal like consistency. Do this until you have enough “powdered” pretzels to make 1 cup.
  3. Once pretzels are crushed, pour them into a medium sized mixing bowl and add in your almond butter, and honey. Mix until fully combined. Once combined place your bowl into the freeze to set for about 10 minutes.
  4. After the mixture sets, form dough into small ball bites, this should make about 12 total. Place your bites onto your wax paper lined pan, and put back into the freezer to set for another 10 minutes.
  5. While you’re waiting for the bites to firm, melt your chocolate chips using a double boiler, or a microwave. I don’t own a microwave so a double boiler is what I use.
  6. Dip each bite into the melted chocolate and roll around with a fork to ensure each side is coated, remove and place onto the wax paper.
  7. After each bite is coated, immediately sprinkle sea salt on top before the chocolate sets.
  8. Place back into the freezer and let set for as long as you can refrain from eating. At least 15 minutes.

  
  The most common comment I got about these: “Wow, I love the salt on top..it goes really well with the chocolate.” Booya.  Salted chocolate paradise.

  Q: Do you use salt in your baking/treat making?

  

  | 56 Comments Tagged Dessert, Gluten Free, No Bake, Recipe, Sweets, Treat

• Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies – Gluten Free & Vegan

  Posted at 7:22 AM by Brittany, on April 23, 2014

  When I first took the plunge and adapted a vegan lifestyle, I felt inspired. Suddenly my meals and baked goods were each a new experiment, and I was revamping my old favorites to make them new. I fell completely in love with plant based foods.

  

  Fast forward two years and my baking sometimes has another label slapped onto it -gluten free. I haven’t talked about it much on the blog, because I really dislike labels, but I have adapted a 95% GF diet. Simply because I feel better without all the breads/wheat intake.

  My digestion is amazing, and I don’t feel sluggish or bloated. I say 95% because I will occasionally eat a roll, a cupcake with whole wheat flour, or if I go out to a restaurant I will eat what I am served, but when I am at home I go GF for most of my meals.

  

  I’ve been baking a lot of treats lately that don’t call for flour at all, which has made this adventure easy, but I decided it was time to revamp my all time favorite cookie recipe. I made it gluten free, and added ground coffee…because I could. Don’t let the terms “vegan” and “gluten free” fool you though, these are one of my more naughty treats.

  Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies

  

  Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose GF flour (I use Namaste Foods GF flour, it’s a cupforcup flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1.5 tablespoons fresh* ground UN-brewed coffee beans
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup xylitol (or raw sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips

  *fresh coffee has the most flavor

  

  Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. I use stone wear to bake my cookies so that I don’t have to line a baking sheet, but if you don’t have any line a cookie sheet and set aside.
  2.  Combine the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, ground coffee and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil, brown sugar and xylitol until well combined. Mix in the vanilla, and applesauce until light and creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Place cookies onto a lined cookie sheet, or large pizza stone. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
  4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.

  

  Now..keep in mind…these are gluten free. The raw cookie dough itself is not as tasty as regular floured dough, but I did still eat enough dough to feel slightly sick. What can I say, I’m a dough digger. These are fluffy, soft, and full of sugar. Perfect.

  

  I shared these treats with some civilians* and they loved them. I found that the flatter and wider the cookie, the more balanced the flavors. Shorter and taller cookies had a bit of the flour taste, so make sure you make them an even size. I am officially obsessed.

  *non vegan/GF eaters

  Q: Does the title GF/Vegan scare you…or intrigue you? 

  

  | 60 Comments Tagged Cookie, Dessert, Gluten Free, Recipe, Vegan

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