As a part of my gluten free experiment, I decided I was going to try my delicious carrot cake recipe without wheat! Stephen and I made this and took it to my parents house for Mother’s Day on the weekend. It was really awesome…even my dad enjoyed it!

Carrot Cake (vegan without icing)

1 cup quinoa flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

2/3 cup flax/chia meal blend (or half and half separate if you can’t find it)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup agave

1 cup agave (to replace sugar and brown sugar)

3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (instead of oil)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans (for the top)

Now as for the icing… I was never a really big fan of cream cheese icing… so I had mine served with plain greek yogurt (healthier choice). But for those who prefer the traditional icing (and don’t mind the calories).. go for it!

1 pkg  cream cheese, softened (250g)

1/4 cup butter or butter substitute ( I use Earth Balance Spread)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup icing sugar (you probably won’t find this organic)

Directions:

Mix all the wet ingredients into one bowl and the dry into another then gently fold them together and place in a square pan (greased with Coconut Oil (instead of butter)) and bake at 350 for 45 mins or until a tester comes out clean.

Top with whatever your heart desires!! I love berries, nuts and apple butter, but there really is no limit here 

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My friend Jen, a holistic nutritionist, showed me this one…. WOW so good. I can’t get over how yummy it is, moreso how easy it is to make! I really love indian food, so this allows me to get my fix without all the hidden fats!

Ingredients:

1 organic cauliflower

 1-2 tbsp coconut oil

salt & pepper

 1 tsp curry powder (or more if you LOVE curry like me)

Chili flakes if you like it hot

How to make it:

 -Pick up an organic cauliflower, wash and cut it into little tiny pieces

-Heat up about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a big frying pan or wok

-Saute the cauliflower, coating it evenly with the oil

-Season with lots of ground pepper, a pinch of salt and curry powder then pop the entire pan into the oven for 8-10 mins on 350.

-Et voila!

-This is wonderful as a side dish or just add a protein source like some chickpeas or lentils and you have something a little more substantial.

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I have been following a gluten free lifestyle for one full week now! Avoiding gluten, that sneaky devil, has proven to be quite an adventure. It truly requires your full attention at all times when it comes to eating, those with sensitivities have to be mindful of each and every bite they put in their mouth. After just one week, I have a pretty good idea of how much effort it really takes to remove gluten and still eat a well balanced diet… its not easy!

Mindful eats

As previously mentioned, during the week, have been filling up on my delicious Green Zebra delivery meals, but come the weekend I am left to fend or myself.

On Friday I had a wonderful dinner with Hayleigh at Fresh. This is the perfect place to venture for someone who has a lot of dietary specifics. They even have a secondary gluten free menu and lots of ways to customize your meals in order to meet your dietary needs, whatever they may be. I wasn’t able to order many of my regular items from their menu, but of course like everything at Fresh it was amazing and it was good to try new things! Being Friday, Hayl and I decided to indulge a little and ordered some sweet potato fries (cooked in the same fryer as gluten, which may be problematic for those who are severely sensitive,) this was fine until I went to go for the ketchup and had to stop myself to really think about what is in ketchup. I could recall all of the major ingredients like tomatoes, liquid sugar etc, but I wasn’t certain it was gluten free. Condiments are one of the major things you have to look out for, gluten, makes its way into a lot of sauces, marinades and the like, so always read your labels! We were very curious so we pulled out our phones and pulled it up on Google, turns out Heinz ketchup is gluten free, which I was happy about because the sweet potatoes just wouldn’t have been the same without.

Hayl mentioned that there is a gluten free app for iphones which would be a great resource for those just starting off.

Saturday I ventured out of the city for a little escape with some friends, I had tried my best to plan ahead by packing snacks and gluten free choices, because I knew my choices would be pretty limited. Since there wasn’t too much in the fridge when we arrived, we decided to head into town to get lunch and groceries for the rest of the weekend. Being with a group of guys, they decided to go to Montana’s because there weren’t too many other options. Knowing my fate before even setting foot in the door, I went in to peruse their menu a little. Reading between the lines it read: GLUTEN, MEAT and more GLUTEN ha! I had a good laugh and ended up ordering a rather bland iceberg lettuce (nutritionally void) salad. Oh well, I guess I cannot expect a steak house chain to even begin to cater to gluten free, vegetarians… it is kind of a oxymoron. I went home and made myself a little quinoa salad to make up for what my Montana’s experience was lacking.

Broiled Bananas

We really stepped our game up with dinner however… it was pretty impressive. Josh and Christine who had been following my posts and blog, were kind enough to bring up some gluten free appetizers- Beanitos and dip- delicious, I must say! Busy in the kitchen, we cooked up lots of goodies such as fiddleheads, asparagus, broccoli, tomato, avocado, quinoa and scallops (for those who chose to eat them). For dessert they also brought bananas so that we could make my Broiled Banana recipe- This made me so very happy! It was SO delicious and SO nutritious and… oh yeah, gluten free!

Overall, I am really enjoying this experiment so far and I am learning lots even about my own diet patterns. When eating out of the house, I have noticed that I eat bread when I don’t really need it, but simply eat it because it is there.  In the future, I will be more mindful of this habit and I will try to replace it with a healthier choice. Eating gluten free is great because it really limits the amount of processed foods that you eat. While there are delicious gluten free goodies available at select restaurants and health food outlets, they come around a lot less often depending on where you dine. Having a restricted diet also makes you really appreciate the healthy alternatives to conventional snacks and treats even more. I was so pleasantly surprised by the thoughtfulness of my friends, they were very encouraging and respected my gluten free commitment. It sure did make it easier.

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Day 3…So far so good!

I have been eating gluten free now for the past few days as a part of my gluten free experiment. But I will attribute most of my ease to  my food delivery from my new favourite, Green Zebra Kitchen. Dan and Gregg the owners of Green Zebra in Toronto provide super tasty, organic,  gluten free, vegan and locally sourced meals, weekly. This is my second week trying their delivery system and I LOVE IT! It is by far the healthiest, most sustainable and wholesome option for me at this stage in my life. Before Green Zebra, I was going out to all the restaurants around my work everyday for lunch and spending at least 15$ on one of the very few nutritious and vegetarian options (which got very monotonous after a while). Not only is it some of the healthiest food that is available with delivery, it is SO affordable! I would much rather spend my money on the food, knowing it is simply the best! Work and yoga keep me super busy so it is hard to find the time to cook every night, so it is very nice to not have to worry about cooking or sourcing out the foods my body deserves!

I love that it gets delivered every Monday evening in cute little dishes for the week ahead. Before work everyday I just portion some out in a glass tupperware and I am out the door. Makes it so easy to eat properly with such a busy schedule, in fact, I don’t know what I did without it! They deliver everywhere in the downtown area so it is super handy.

All of their meals are wholesome, nutritious and delicious! You can pick and choose which meal choices you want, the quantity and they also have a wide variety of sides and treats. Make sure you try the Red Pepper, Pomegranate & Walnut Dip, it is to die for! The menu changes every week and I am already looking forward to seeing whats up for next week…

Check out their website and menu for next week… be sure to get your order in my Friday nights at 5pm! www.greenzebrakitchen.com

Green Zebra Kitchen Delivery

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I was on the treadmill a few days ago and it struck me like a lightening bolt- I need to try a gluten free diet! So starting Tuesday, May 1st, I will eat gluten free foods for an entire month! Why would I do this if I am not sensitive to gluten? The food industry puts gluten in just about everything these days as a filler. The over abundance of gluten in our diets is slowly but surely affecting the masses. So many of us are diagnosed with celiac disease everyday and are left stunned, looking around like “now what?”. It is a massive lifestyle adjustment and we need to arm ourselves with knowledge about the foods we eat (or in this case, can’t eat).  Personally, I want to get a better feel for it and this experiment will deepen my understanding of the challenges that people with celiac disease and gluten intolerances encounter on a daily basis. By doing this, it will allow me to better connect with my clients who require strict gluten free diets, blogging through my journey will provide me the opportunity to do what I do best, share and create awareness!

I just went to my favourite health food store around the corner from my work and stocked up on lots of gluten free snacks! Unknowingly, I already eat lots of gluten free products, the only thing that I regularly indulge on that isn’t appropriate for this diet is spelt or kamut bread (yum, for those who can tolerate it)!

Gluten Free Goodies

Follow my gluten free experiment on Facebook & Twitter, stay tuned for lots more tips on how to life a healthy, happy, gluten free life!

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Quinoa with Oats

A very healthy alternative for pasta or rice, besides chickpeas is a whole grain called, QUINOA (“keen”-“wa”). It is well known for its great profile of amino acids and is a complete protein! And yes, you guessed it, is also a great source of FIBRE! Making this substitution is especially beneficial for vegetarians, helping them to reach their daily protein requirements without having to think about complementary proteins.

Quinoa is found in the organic section at the grocery store or at any bulk or health food store. It has the same cooking instructions as rice or cous- cous, it does look a little different but please don’t let it scare you! Quinoa is bland alone but is perfect in place of rice, pasta or cous cous in any meal.

Quinoa is a superior food, it is so versatile and can be used to substitute for so many carbohydrate choices. Quinoa is a fantastic wheat-and gluten-free choice, probably the least allergenic of all the grains. Try this recipe that I found in Tosca Reno’s “The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook”.

Quinoa with Oats: Pg: 89

1 cup quinoa, soaked for 2 hours

1cup steel-cut oats

¼ tsp sea salt

3 cups water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup raisins

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan with a lid, place soaked quinoa, steel-cut oats, sea salt and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in other ingredients and let sit for several minutes. Serve hot.

* Try this with unsweetened applesauce

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