vegan

nightshade-free black bean guacamole

Posted on Apr 25, 2013

Hav­ing to give up one of my favorite cuisines, Mex­i­can food, has been ridicu­lously dif­fi­cult. I love moles and salsa, chili rel­leno and grilled pep­pers, but they don’t love me. Turns out, they don’t love my daugh­ter either. So, I … more →




mexican bowls

Posted on Mar 3, 2013

This is a per­fect lunch or din­ner with left­over pot roast. In fact, I make a pot roast just for this pur­pose. Inspired from my favorite “fast” food restau­rant, Chipo­tle, this was my once a week treat. Now that night­shades … more →




udi’s pizza crusts

Posted on Feb 16, 2013

A nice addi­tion to their array of gluten-free prod­ucts, Udi’s pizza crusts offer a quick din­ner option for those nights you really don’t feel like cook­ing. They are two to a pack­age at about $5.00, so $2.50 per unit. A fam­ily … more →




happy v-day

Posted on Feb 13, 2013

A few good­ies to make for your favorite Valen­tines on this day of splurg­ing. Valen­tine Bon­bons Choco­late Almond Bark Straw­berry Banana Cake Melissa’s Choco­late Peanut Butter Cups     




gluten-free green beans gremolata

Posted on Jan 21, 2013

I per­son­ally could eat green beans every day. Steamed, roasted, blanched and sauteed with olive oil… My hus­band finally asked for a new pre­sen­ta­tion. When I saw Ina Garten’s vaca­tion to Napa show on the Food Net­work, I knew I’d … more →




kid margarita

Posted on Oct 21, 2012

An oldie, but a goodie! This is a reprint because of a com­puter quirk. This is a refresh­ing ver­sion of lemon-limeade and a nice option for any­one who doesn’t drink alco­hol. Active time: 1 minute Yield: 1 8oz serv­ing 6 oz. … more →




greens and butternut squash salad

Posted on Oct 16, 2012

I just had this salad at Waters, our won­der­ful local cafe, where we cel­e­brated my sister-in-law Randy’s birth­day. I am dupli­cat­ing it here because it was deli­cious! This recipe calls for goat cheese — omit if you are dairy intol­er­ant. … more →




Balsamic Vinaigrette

Posted on Oct 12, 2012

This is a very sim­ple dress­ing to put together, with a nice acidic bal­ance. I use a mini proces­sor, in which case, I need to thin the dress­ing with a tea­spoon or two of water. If you sim­ply shake it … more →




gluten-free pumpkin ginger scones

Posted on Oct 12, 2012

I know…more pump­kin. But I’ve devo­tee, so I eat a lot of it in the fall. Here’s my offer­ing for a deli­cious pump­kin scone with tons of gin­ger. If you like less gin­ger, sim­ply cut back. The fla­vor here is … more →




gluten-free pumpkin spice cookies

Posted on Sep 29, 2012

I love fall — every­thing about it. On the west coast, we have a fairly nar­row cor­ri­dor of color com­pared to the rest of the coun­try, but as a native, I can always find a fall day in length­en­ing shad­ows … more →




gluten-free vegan almond spread

Posted on Sep 23, 2012

Good for the brain and good for the heart, almonds are also a great way to reg­u­late cho­les­terol. When I want some­thing fluffy and creamy to dip my veg­gies or rice crack­ers in, this is a great option, and a … more →




new product — best gf pasta to date!

Posted on Sep 19, 2012

We’ve tried lots of brands of gluten-free pasta, but bionaturae’s line of organic, gluten-free pasta is the one most highly favored by the two gluten addicts in my home. Made in Italy, their gf pasta comes in four forms: spaghetti, elbow, … more →




Omission — hands down the best gluten-free beer

Posted on Sep 1, 2012

When I first found out I had gluten issues, I resolved to have a stiff upper lip. I could give up sour­dough bread and my favorite pasta. I could even give up pie and real choco­late chip cook­ies, but when … more →




mango strawberry sunrise

Posted on Apr 17, 2012

I use my lit­tle magic bul­let for this, which gives me a per­fect sin­gle serv­ing. This dou­bles eas­ily to pro­vide four lit­tle serv­ings for break­fast or an after­noon snack. Hav­ing frozen fruit in the freezer makes this a snap! On … more →




dandelion greens

Posted on Mar 28, 2012

I’ve always had a curios­ity about the greens I watched my father eat his whole life. My mother steamed or sautéd them with but­ter, salt and pep­per and I would watch him eat a plate­ful, grate­ful that I was not … more →




all fruit breakfast smoothie

Posted on Mar 1, 2012

Con­tain­ing all acid and sub-acid fruits, this smoothie is a great way to cleanse your body first thing in the morn­ing.  A com­plete food with a per­fect bal­ance of pro­tein and starches which are already bro­ken down into amino acids … more →




gluten-free raspberry bon bons

Posted on Nov 30, 2011

Choco­late and raspberries…what’s not to love? This is a fun project to do with kids. Candy molds are an inex­pen­sive pur­chase (I got mine at Michaels), and with the bon bon molds, you can fill them with any­thing you like. … more →




sweet potato casserole

Posted on Nov 13, 2011

There is no other meal I can think of, where we hold tighter to our sacro­sanct tra­di­tions than Thanks­giv­ing. For every per­son who par­takes, I find there are one or two dishes that must be on the table for the … more →




lisa’s greens and quinoa salad

Posted on Oct 23, 2011

My niece, Lisa came up with this won­der­ful salad. Bright­ened with pis­ta­chios and cran­ber­ries, the quinoa pro­vides a nice punch of pro­tein. This a won­der­ful side for a Frit­tata brunch or along­side a nour­ish­ing But­ter­nut Squash Soup. It’s great served … more →




gluten-free pumpkin bon bons

Posted on Oct 9, 2011

I love any­thing pumpkin…bread, pancakes…watch for pump­kin soup later this month. So nat­u­rally, I fig­ured it would pair well with choco­late. This is a fun project to do with kids. Candy molds are an inex­pen­sive pur­chase (I got mine at … more →




butternut squash soup

Posted on Sep 30, 2011

I know fall is here when I find but­ter­nut squash at my local stores. I always mar­vel at how sim­ple this recipe is. Every once in a while, I try to mon­key around with it by adding green apple, or … more →




cilantro vinaigrette

Posted on Sep 25, 2011

Cilantro. An herb peo­ple are rarely ambiva­lent about. I hap­pen to love it. Being a Cal­i­forn­ian, I sup­pose I have a nat­ural predilec­tion for it. This is an adap­ta­tion of the sauce for Fish Tacos. Prep time: 5 min­utes Total … more →




simple syrup

Posted on Aug 9, 2011

This is a won­der­ful base for any drink the requires sweet­ness, alco­holic and non. Won­der­ful for Sum­mer Lemon­ade as well as White San­gria, it comes together quickly, and the ratios are always the same. Prep time: 2 min­utes Total time: 10 … more →




floating ice ring

Posted on Aug 9, 2011

I love using these when I do a punch because it’s beau­ti­ful in it’s own right, and it keeps the punch crisp and cool. Prep time: 5–10 min­utes Total time: 8 hours Yield: 1 ice ring Spe­cial equip­ment: 1-piece bundt ring 1 … more →




summer lemonade

Posted on Jul 26, 2011

The best lemon­ade always start with a sim­ple syrup. It takes longer, but it’s smooth, with­out the grit­ti­ness of undis­solved sugar. When we received two laun­dry bas­kets full of lemons from a friend, we juiced them all and froze the … more →




blueberry smoothie

Posted on Jul 14, 2011

Using a Magic Bul­let makes this one serv­ing smoothie a snap. If you want to dou­ble it, use the blender. Full of antiox­i­dants, this smoothie can get you going first thing in the morn­ing or pro­vide a pick-me-up for a … more →




perfect corn

Posted on Jul 12, 2011

There’s few things bet­ter than a fresh ear of corn in sum­mer. But how many times have we suf­fered through an over-cooked ear with wilted ker­nels? Here’s a fool-proof way to make corn that pops as you bite into it. … more →




melissa’s chocolate peanut butter cups

Posted on Jun 26, 2011

A busy mother of three, Melissa devised this fin­ger lick­ing treat which mar­ries two of life’s per­fect fla­vors: choco­late and peanut but­ter. Gluten and dairy free, but chem­i­cal and preser­v­a­tive free as well, your kids will love these. Adults too, … more →




maiah’s chocolate zucchini cake

Posted on Jun 26, 2011

Maiah sub­mit­ted this as an adap­ta­tion from a fam­ily recipe. Those of you who have a veg­etable gar­den can tes­tify that there is just so much zuc­chini you can eat or give to your neigh­bors! I love that this cake … more →