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Lemon-Lime Coconut Basil Ice & All That’s Nice

This post is linked to Friday Foodie Fix—Basil, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Wheatless Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Food for Fridays, and Foodie Friday.

While I gave up sodas long ago, I still miss them when eating a few things … like pizza or steamed crabs. I knew we’d be having steamed crabs the other evening and I decided to make a frozen “slushie”-type beverage as a healthier substitute. Diane had just featured her Friday Foodie Fix and the secret ingredient was basil. I remembered a recipe that I’d seen in the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine—Lemon Basil Ice made with Meyer lemons. That recipe took almost 5 hours to make—yikes! I wanted something I could whip up fairly quickly. Plus, I didn’t have any Meyer lemons available. I also wanted a beverage that had a little more slush than ice, so I decided to include some lite coconut milk versus just water.  And, I wanted to use my new Boyajian citrus oils, namely the lemon and lime oils, that I’d received as a birthday gift. The recipe below is what I came up with—a very pleasant one to sip while picking crabs or just chilling on the screened porch or deck. Children would enjoy this frozen treat, too—either as a beverage or a spoonable dessert. This recipe also fits the bill for Amy’s (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) weekly Slightly Indulgent Tuesday roundup—so, yippeeee, double word score! Or something like that …

Lemon-Lime Coconut Basil Ice (Beverage or Frozen Dessert)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

1 1/2 cups water
1 3/4 cups lite coconut milk, chilled (I used ¾ cup full-fat coconut milk and 1 cup filtered water)
¼ cup honey (or agave nectar, or other sweetener of your choice to taste)
4 drops vanilla crème liquid stevia
¼ cup fresh, chopped or sliced basil
¼ tsp lemon oil (or 1 tsp lemon zest)
¼ tsp lime oil (or 1 tsp lime zest)
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice

In a medium saucepan, heat water over med-high heat until steaming, not boiling. Add basil and let stand 15 minutes. Pour through fine mesh sieve; discard basil. Set in freezer in shallow pan for about 15. It should be thoroughly chilled but not frozen, even on the edges. (It’s not a good idea to add frozen ingredients to one’s ice cream maker.)

In large bowl or blender, add lemon oil, lime oil, lemon juice, lime juice, “basil water,” coconut milk, honey, and stevia. Use hand mixer or blender to blend.

Add to pre-frozen container of ice cream maker. Churn 15 – 30 minutes. Yes, that’s a wide gap of time. Check at 15 minutes to see if the mixture has reached your desired consistency. I really wanted a beverage to sip with my steamed crabs more than a scoopable snow cone like mix, so I was pleased with the consistency at 15 minutes for that purpose. However, I churned the mixture for the full 25 or 30 minutes, and perhaps additional freezing afterwards, might be needed for a firmer ice dessert. Again, I mainly wanted a beverage, so even at churning the full time, I let most of the ice get “melty” and then sipped it as a beverage. Very light and refreshing.

Shirley’s Notes: You can use any sweetener as I stated above, but honey always yields a softer, more scoopable frozen dessert, so I recommend using at least some honey. I used fresh lemon and lime juice; I’m sure that bottled would work, but it would not be quite as flavorful. The lemon and lime oil should not be used with plastic measuring spoons; the oil ate right through the plastic. Next time, I’ll remember to use my stainless steel measuring spoons, which are much better to use anyway. The basil flavoring in this mix is very mild. If you want a stronger basil flavor, steep basil in water for 30 minutes. Finally, if you read the ingredients of lite coconut milk, you’ll see that they are water and coconut milk (and maybe guar gum depending on the brand). The lite coconut milk costs the same amount as the full-fat coconut milk at my store. Why not just buy full-fat coconut milk and add filtered water to make your own lite coconut milk? As soon as I open a can of coconut milk, I transfer it to a glass jar immediately anyway. So now, if I want a lighter coconut milk, I just use a bigger jar and add filtered water. It works great.

~~All That’s Nice …

As usual, there’s a lot going on in the gluten-free blogosphere. Grab a cold, refreshing beverage and read and click!

The winner of my gfe-unique giveaway—a consultation with me on living gluten free easily—is up on my Out and About page.

I just announced that I’m hosting Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger this month. Already we have 10 adoptions! Want to join in? Read more here, but I’d love it if you would. Let’s make this the biggest, best Adopt a Gluten-free Blogger event ever! How about 50 adoptions? Dream BIG!

Widely reported on the interwebs is the free offer from Jules Gluten Free on her Back to School e-book. The offer has been extended through today, Tuesday, August 17. Read more about what’s in the book here and follow links to download your copy. It’s easy and could be a very helpful resource for many.

At my support group meeting last Monday, we watched the gluten-free documentary that has everyone talking—Generation Gluten Free, created and directed by Susan Cohen. Susan and I met in the tweetlightful world that is Twitter not that long ago. Shortly thereafter, Erin (Gluten-Free Fitness) did a “two thumbs up” review of Generation Gluten Free on her blog and Tiffany also wrote a rave review over at celiac-disease.com. Ironically, I had been aware of Susan’s documentary when it first came out, even sharing the link to the trailer and  the ordering info with my group. But, somehow actually ordering the documentary had slipped through the cracks. However, I ordered it last week for viewing with my support group and, thanks to Susan, it arrived in just a couple of days. After our scrumptious gluten-free meal, we all settled in to watch this 42-minute DVD. There were lots of nods, knowing glances, and smiles as we watched the participants tell their various stories of diagnosis, eating out, recovery, participating in support groups, and more. The cost of Generation Gluten Free is $4.50 and that INCLUDES shipping and handling. Many have reported watching this documentary with family members, stating that it was an eye opening experience for their loved ones. Susan did a brilliant job with this documentary. You’ll want your own copy. Jennifer Harris also wrote an Examiner article on Generation Gluten Free. In her article, she shared that there’s a grass roots email campaign to get Susan and the documentary featured on ABC’s Good Morning America. Just email the show at gma@abctv.com and ask them to feature Susan Cohen and Generation Gluten Free. It’s such an easy way to do something to spread awareness. Tell others … we want their In Box full of requests for Susan and her documentary to be featured!

Incidentally, the online Examiner is a great source of gluten-free information. Often the information shared by the gluten-free Examiners (the gluten-free folks writing the articles) is geared to local happenings and gluten-free venues, too, which is nice. You can even subscribe to your favorite Examiner’s articles! (I’m all about email subscriptions myself. I need that little reminder in my In Box.) In addition to Jennifer Harris, some of my favorite folks who are current gluten-free Examiners are Kim Bouldin (also at Gluten Free is Life and Celiac-Disease.com), Tiffany Janes (also at Celiac-Disease.com), and Ginger Carter Miller (also at Gluten Free in Georgia … Finally). FYI: Jennifer Harris also just did this handy reference post on gluten-free lunch ideas. Update: Here’s another comprehensive lunch idea listing from Kim (Cook IT Allergy Free)—Allergen-Free Lunch Box with Brain Power.

Do you know Jenn of Cinnamon Quill? Well, she’s not just sharing her gorgeouso photos with us these days. She started a new site called Gluten Free Feed. Think along the Tastespotting site lines, but gluten free. I love it! Jenn could supply the site with all her great photos alone, but the good news is we can all submit our photos and see them featured. This site offers some real “eye candy,” folks. Be sure to check it out here.

Shauna and Danny’s long-awaited new book, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, will be released soon. You can pre-order it here.

Ricki (Diet, Dessert and Dogs) has a new e-book coming out: Desserts Without Compromise, which is an anti-candida dessert cookbook. It will be available on August 19. Yes, Thursday! Don’t forget that you can order her basic anti-candida book, The Anti-Candida Feast E-book, off her website here. It’s just $5. Can you say bargain? Update: Ricki’s ebook is out and she’s having a giveaway that ends at midnight, August 22. Check it out here. If you don’t participate in giveaways, you can order her new cookbook at the discount rate of $6.95 for a limited time.  And, her Sweet Freedom book is also still on sale via her site. Ricki is also one of the instigators of the monthly SOS Kitchen Challenges. This month’s ingredient is mint. If you’d like to participate in the challenge, read all about it here on Ricki’s site. (Hint: You’ll want to visit just to see her Mint Chip Ice Cream; no ice cream maker is needed for this recipe!)

Looking for more refreshing summer drinks? Look no further than Stephanie’s (Gluten Free by Nature) Frozen Hot Chocolate. It’s gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but “all that” in every department that matters.

Many folks who can’t tolerate dairy products from cows say they do fine with products from goats, or at least eat them on occasion with no issues. From time to time, I am still eating some goat’s cheese and yogurt that our friends make from their goats’ milk. Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom) is hosting a giveaway package that includes Chavrie Goat Cheese. I wasn’t familiar with it before, but it looks like a great, real food product. Check out her giveaway here.  

Jenn is continuing her very helpful educational series called Gluten- Free Substitutions. The latest post is on binding agents. Read more here.

Often when I’m just about to slide down the slippery slope of poor food choices, I’ll see a tweet or Facebook mention of a new post from Melissa at Gluten Free for Good. Thank goodness! A read of almost any of her posts will galvanize you against the times when your lizard brain takes over and you want to eat things that are less than healthy, sit on your rump, etc. This recent post of Melissa’s was stellar in my opinion. I’m still thinking about it and making better choices as a result.

Sadly, I used all my basil for this recipe, but those of you with basil abundance, be sure to join Linda’s (The Gluten-Free Homemaker) Create A Pesto Challenge this month. So far some wonderful recipes—like Kim’s (Cook IT Allergy Free) Pistachio Pesto-Crusted Chicken—have been submitted.

If you have so much basil that you don’t know what to do with it all, follow Kalyn’s (Kalyn’s Kitchen) directions on freezing fresh basil. It sure would be nice to have some basil in sauces and soups in the middle of winter!  Read and see Kalyn’s guidance here.

Kim also just shared an extremely helpful post, 15 Tips on Healing the Leaky Gut. Celiac and gluten issues are leaky gut issues. Leaky gut is also known by its nicer sounding, but more cryptic, name of intestinal permeability. Dr. Alessio Fasano, who is one of the foremost experts on celiac and gluten issues also is well-known for his research on zonulin and intestinal permeability. Read more here. 

It was also Dr. Fasano who recently penned the foreword of the update of Danna Korn’s revised Gluten Free for Dummies book. In it, Dr. Fasano states that “for every celiac patient, five to seven patients are affected by gluten sensitivity.” Tiffany Janes shared this quote in her review of Danna’s book on Celiac-Disease.com. She went on to say the following: “It’s estimated that 3 million people in the U.S. have celiac (and less than 90% of people with it know they have it) so that means if there are only 5 people for every person with celiac, that’s an additional 15 million people with gluten intolerance. Add that to the 3 million with celiac and you have 18 million people in the U.S. who can’t tolerate gluten well. On the high end of the estimate – 7 for every 1 – and you have 24 million people affected.” Staggering numbers. Eye-opening numbers to many. Incidentally, the updated version of Danna’s book got an even better review from Tiffany than the original. Read more here.  As Kim shared in her post, leaky gut manifests as a lot of illnesses and symptoms. Look for a guest post here at gfe tomorrow from someone who experienced a multitude of such issues while eating gluten.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Creme Brulee Ice Cream

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Food on Friday, Foodie Friday, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

I admit it … I was going to cheat a bit on my entry for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! If you’re not familiar, Go Ahead Honey! is the longstanding gluten-free blog carnival invented by sweet and creative, Naomi Devlin, over at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried. Each month, the carnival is hosted by a different blogger, who chooses the theme. (I had the honor of hosting last summer with the theme, Make Me A Happy Camper.)  This month’s hostess is Sheryl of Breaking Bread. Her theme is Ooh, La, La, Bastille Day!—which, of course, means the entries should be recipes for French food. How was I going to cheat with my entry? Well, I made a sort of French dish the other night, but I didn’t have to go across the pond for it. It was Catfish Etouffee, a French Cajun dish that turned out very well. But, I’ll have to share it another time because it was actually after making the etouffee that true inspiration hit. Suddenly I knew what I really wanted to make—crème brulee. After all it’s my favorite dessert and it’s a classic French recipe … Julia Child and all that.

I realized that thoughts of making crème brulee have been forming in my brain for quite some time. It started subconsciously when I first tasted coconut sugar. I was so surprised by its caramel/butterscotch flavor and its slightly crunchy texture. I fell in love on my first bite, and that was before I discovered the depth of flavor it can add to desserts. So coconut sugar and its application to crème brulee were bound to reach my conscious state eventually.

To be clear, I didn’t actually want to make crème brulee itself. The amazing dessert that comes in lovely little ramekins. (It’s the dessert that can decide if a restaurant is a good one or a great one in my book.) No, I didn’t want that crème brulee. I wanted crème brulee ice cream—with that rich, creamy, caramelized brown sugar taste—and I wanted to make it without eggs. Frankly, I just don’t have the patience for ice cream recipes where you have to cook the ingredients, temper the eggs, and usually chill the results for several hours or overnight. (It’s that whole “easily” thing, you know?) And, there are always my egg-free gfe readers to consider, too.

I knew I’d add full-fat coconut milk and vanilla extract, in addition to the coconut sugar. Then I decided to add half of a vanilla bean as I had one on hand. But, I knew I needed more thickness and lusciousness to turn the ingredients into creme brulee ice cream. After I thought about the possibilities, the answer was clear … and easy, too. Condensed milk. One can readily purchase condensed milk or make one’s own—even a dairy-free version. (See notes in recipe.) I cheated and picked some up a can of condensed milk at the little, family-owned store I frequent. So I didn’t make this particular recipe dairy free.

I started measuring, mixing, caramelizing, and after about a half hour, the ice cream was finished. It was glorious. Yes, glorious. Or, c’est magnifique! And, somehow, I just knew it would be.

With the beater dripping ice cream into a large bowl and a big spoon in hand, I headed to our bedroom where Mr. GFE was relaxing. He eyed me suspiciously, as he looked up from the movie he was watching.

Me (offering a big spoonful of ice cream): Taste.

Mr. GFE (scowling, looking first at me and the large bowl, and then back at the television screen): Is that French?

Me (momentarily confused and then looking at the screen, on which “Entre Acte” was displayed): Yes, it can sort of mean intermission … between acts. Taste.

Mr. GFE: What is it?

Me (impatiently): Just taste, please. It’s crème brulee ice cream; I need your opinion.

Mr. GFE (no longer frowning, eyes bright): Uhhmmm. Is that French?

Me: Yes, crème brulee is French.

Mr. GFE: No, on the tv.

Me (looking at the television again and frowning upon seeing “Entre Acte” still displayed): Yes, I just told you that. It basically means intermission.

Mr. GFE (shrugs): Sorry. I got distracted by the ice cream. What is it again?

Me (somewhat patiently): The words on the screen or the ice cream?

Mr. GFE: The ice cream.

Me (as I am exiting the room): Crème brulee. Do you like it?

Mr. GFE did not answer. Instead, he followed me into the kitchen and grabbed a spoon to dig into the beater bowl of ice cream himself.

Mr. GFE (emphatically): That’s not ice cream. That’s custard.

Me: It’s really good, isn’t it?

Mr. GFE with his mouth full, nods.

Me: Well, yes, it does taste like frozen custard, but custard is made with eggs and this has no eggs.

(Have you noticed that we discuss semantics a lot in our house? Food semantics, to be specific. Cake or bread—here and here? Pizza or casserole?)

Mr. GFE (still eating, I’m very liberal with the amount that stays on the beater and ends up in the tasting bowl): Now, how are you going to show people how good this is?

Me: With my photos, of course.

Mr. GFE (shaking his head): You can’t show them how good this is … you just can’t. They have to taste it. Where did you get the recipe?

Me (smiling): I made it up.

Mr. GFE (eating another giant spoonful, doubtfully): You made this up? Really?

Me (smiling even wider): Yep. Pretty good stuff, huh?

Mr. GFE (still eating, nodding): Yeah. Pretty good.

Me: What movie is that you’re watching? (I knew it wasn’t a high-brow French art film or anything similar, so I was curious.)

Mr. GFE: How the West Was Won

Me (my turn to be doubtful): Really? Why would How the West Was Won have displays in French?

Mr. GFE (shrugs, eats the last bite of ice cream in the bowl): I don’t know.

Enough of our bantering and “Who’s on First?” routines that go on pretty much non-stop in the gfe household. You’ll want to make this recipe, but it is not one to make when you’re home alone. Consider yourself forewarned. I had to take half of it to work today, as a way to impose some self discipline. Because as much as Mr. GFE loves it, he’s also the type to decline when I offer it to him the next night and come back a week later and ask, “May I have some more of that great ice cream?” Yeah, like it’s still going to be around a week later. Clearly, we have different genes … and jeans. He’s wearing the same size jeans (34 x 34) that he wore when we met so many years ago. After we got married and he was no longer eating bachelor cooking, he was on his way to gaining 20 pounds. He was going to have to move, uh, “up” to the next size of jeans. He refused to do it. So he stopped eating third and fourth helpings (yes, you read that correctly), and soon his jeans were fitting perfectly well again. Sigh. Now do you know why I say my marriage is a love-hate relationship?

Oh, and what did my friends at work think of this ice cream? Well, only two got to try it. Here’s what they said.

Sherry (expression of incredulity): Ooohhh! That is so good. What’s in it? It’s so creamy. I could eat that whole container.

Then when she ate some more later, she emailed me: All I can say is CREAMY DELISH GOODNESS !!!  I’m glad this is all you brought in cuz I could eat 10 gallons of it !!!!  AWSUM delicious I tell you!

Tavie: It’s really good. I think it tastes like toasted coconut, but I don’t eat crème brulee often, so I’m not a good one to say about the crème brulee flavor.

They both tasted the coconut flavor. Neither I nor Mr. GFE taste any coconut flavor, but maybe that’s because we’re used to coconut milk as a non-dairy milk substitute.

Here’s the recipe …

Crème Brulee Ice Cream (Gluten Free, Egg Free, with Dairy-Free, Vegan Option)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

just under 2 ¼ cups full-fat coconut milk, chilled
1 can condensed milk (see homemade versions—including dairy-free options—in this post from Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom)  and here at Alisa’s Go Dairy Free site)
1 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
scrapings from half a vanilla bean

Mix all together in a large bowl with hand mixer. Pour into frozen ice cream tub. Churn 25 to 30 minutes. As soon as ice cream starts churning, start making brulee sugar as shown below. (It doesn’t take long to make, but you will want to chill it as directed, which does take several minutes.)

Brulee Sugar for Swirling In

1 – 2 tbsp oil (coconut or grapeseed oil)
3 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp coconut “cream”

In a small skillet, heat oil on medium heat until warm.

Add coconut sugar. Stir constantly for a few minutes until coconut sugar is a little crunchy.

Stir in about a tablespoon of the coconut cream (the thick “cream” at the top of the can after refrigerating for a long period of time) or a little less of some full-fat coconut milk, as a binder. Stir.

Place skillet in freezer until 5 minutes before the ice cream will be finished churning. Remove skillet and break up brulee sugar, if necessary, with wooden spoon. While ice cream is still churning, using wooden spoon, knock brulee sugar pieces into ice cream maker, a little at a time. Wait until each piece “disappears” before you add the next one, so you’ll have brulee sugar “deposits” spread throughout your ice cream.

Transfer ice cream to a freezer container and freeze a bit longer if needed.

Shirley’s Notes: When making the brulee sugar, I recommend only using grapeseed oil (which is flavorless) or coconut oil, as a second choice, when making the brulee sugar. Other oils may be too strong and negatively impact the crème brulee flavor. After scraping vanilla bean, don’t discard it. You can add it to a container of granulated sugar to make vanilla sugar, add it to hot chocolate, add it to your homemade bottle of vanilla extract, etc. (The latter is what I did. My homemade vanilla extract that I made last year for Christmas is getting low. Soon, I’ll be adding even more vanilla beans and vodka to the bottle.)  If using non-dairy condensed milk, this recipe will also be vegan. Personally, I’d use full-fat coconut milk when making my own dairy-free condensed milk.

Original recipe by Shirley Braden

Only spoon a few bites’ worth (un petite peu, if you will) into a bowl. See the amount in my grandmother’s creamer in the top photo. (I love using non-traditional, sentimental dishes for small bowls of treats.) That amount is almost too much, but once you’ve spooned it into your serving dish, you will eat it. You just won’t be able to help yourself. I don’t know if you’ll agree that it tastes like creme brulee, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find this ice cream to be tres bonne!

Other gfe ice cream recipes (some made with dairy; some dairy free) that you might enjoy:

Chocolate POMerdoodle Ice Cream

Peach Sorbet

Honeydewed Sherbet

Honey Cinnamon Grand Marnier Ice Cream

Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Maple-Nut Sundae (with Vanilla Ice Cream)

POMerdoodle Ice Cream

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

Be sure to check back at Sheryl’s over at Breaking Bread in a few days for the complete Go Ahead Honey roundup. It’s always a treat to see what everyone has created!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

iHerb $50 Shopping Spree

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Valerie, who blogs gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and usually vegan over at City Life Eats! Thanks to all who entered the giveaway. I enjoyed reading your wish lists and comments. Another gfe birthday celebration giveaway is up here.

I’m a lucky girl … in so many ways. In my Cavemen Cookies review, I mentioned that I’d first sampled the product after winning a giveaway at Gluten Free Food Rocks. I’ve won several other giveaways, too. But, honestly, it’s not that I’m extraordinarily lucky in giveaways, it’s just that someone has to win and sometimes the odds are simply in one’s favor. If you take the time to enter (usually leaving a comment is sufficient for an entry), you will win giveaways. There’s no doubt that giveaways are controversial in the blogging world and while I won’t wade too deep into that discussion, I’ll just say that as a reader I find them to be a great way to try out new products or obtain valuable services. As a blogger who hosts occasional giveaways, my intention is to offer you the same opportunity. Of course, the giveaways that I’ve entered and offered have been for gfe products and services. So I was thrilled when I won a $50 shopping spree to iHerb over at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free where my good friend, Amy, “resides.”  iHerb features so many real food, real ingredient products. I had so much fun deciding what I’d get with my $50. My order included chia seed, hemp seed, brown rice flour, millet flour, raw cacao powder, and two bags of flax seed meal. I even received a free bottle of D3 supplements. And, guess what … there’s still some left of most of these products. (Don’t worry … the food products are staying fresh in my refrigerator.)

Now as a new iHerb affiliate, I get to offer a $50 shopping spree here at gfe! (Note: This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.) I decided to become an affiliate because iHerb has so many products I believe in. Plus, I admire the company. For one thing, their service is top notch. If you order before 1:00 pm, your order goes out that very same day, and arrives in just a few days. And, if you are in the U.S. and your order is $40 or over, there’s no shipping charge. I’d rather not pay shipping, so that’s important to me. iHerb offers many quality products, including organic and natural choices. Full disclaimer: As an affiliate, I do get a small percentage of sales (very small, which incidentally does not increase the price of your order; affiliate sales never do). But, it’s still nice when you can recommend a company that you’d recommend to a friend any time. I’ve recommended iHerb to my support group members ever since I tried its products (long before this affiliation), and the members who have ordered have been very pleased. I also like that you can take $5 off your first order when you use a valid affiliate coupon code. Just enter my coupon code, LUT179, when placing your order.

As a new affiliate and a blogger offering a $50 shopping spree, I was offered a $50 spree myself. I keep a running list of specialty items I can’t find at my own basic grocery store, so filling my virtual shopping cart was not hard. This time there was grapeseed oil, which I’ve come to appreciate for its health benefits, flavorless taste, and high heating point, plus palm sugar (also known as coconut sugar, or coconut sap, which Kelly discussed here), date sugar, and yacon syrup.

As I shared in my 30 Days to My Own Food Revolution post, I’m trying to eat dairy free (with one exception so far-—more in a minute) and refined sugar free. The grapeseed oil helps with the dairy-free commitment. Instead of using butter in baking or frying, a little grapeseed oil can be used. Elana (Elana’s Pantry) uses grapeseed oil in a lot of her baking, including her now famous gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies, which so many of us inhaled (as demurely as possible!) at BlogHer Food ’09. If you want your oil or shortening to add flavor, grapeseed oil may not be the best choice, but my doctor recommends three types of fat/oil for baking and cooking: organic butter, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil. Yes, she recommends living gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but she believes organic butter is part of a healthy diet unless one is completely dairy/casein intolerant. (So, I admit that I’ve still been eating some organic butter and some European butter.)

As far as the non-refined sugars, I’ve already baked with the palm sugar several times. I used palm sugar to make Cherry Upside-Down Cake and another version of that same cake, using both cherries and blueberries. I even made a version of my Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies using a combination of palm sugar and dark brown sugar, instead of granulated sugar and brown sugar, and the cookies were better than ever. I really don’t know why I waited so long to try palm sugar … I’m thrilled with this product! Palm sugar has a caramel flavor and sort of a ground coffee texture. I really like it. A lot. I’m not sure it can be used in all of my sweetening applications, but I’m going to give it a try as often as possible. Incidentally, the terms palm sugar and coconut sugar, and even palm coconut sugar are often used interchangeably. But, there are differences, as is explained here. For my eating and baking purposes, I’m not sure that the difference matters. The main thing is that I’m eating a non-refined, lower glycemic sugar (I feel better if I use lower glycemic), which provides a final product that tastes good. Finally, an FYI, technically, palm or coconut sugars are saps. Kelly shared that information in this post over at The Spunky Coconut. Be sure to see what she has to say because she also shares the “green” benefits of eating coconut sugar, as well as other nutritional benefits.

As far as the rest of my recent order, I haven’t tried the date sugar or the yacon syrup yet, but I’ll report back when I do.

Those are just a few examples of the products that iHerb offers. You may enter the giveaway following the guidelines below. Please remember that this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents, and note that the first requirement listed below is a strict one. You must be registered on iHerb’s sit to participate in this giveaway. That’s not a bad thing though; iHerb will not fill your In Box with unsolicited emails like many companies do. Oh, and the giveaway will end next Tuesday, July 20, at midnight, EST.

1. Register at iHerb website (required).
2. Leave a comment telling me what you are interested in ordering from iHerb. Are you like me? Do you have a “wish” list at the ready?
3. Subscribe to my feed either via RSS or e-mail, and leave a comment.
4. “Like” my Facebook page and leave a comment.
3. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment.
5.  Tweet about the giveaway, and leave a comment saying that you did.
7. Post a message on your Facebook page about the giveaway, and leave a comment saying that you did.
8. Post about the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment saying that you did, with your link.
9. Follow iHerb on Twitter (iHerb has great, informative tweets!), and leave a comment.

Hey, you may just get a chance to go on your own $50 shopping spree. A shopping spree that involves food, but is online and free—now that’s definitely one of my favorite ways to shop! I’ll be celebrating my upcoming birthday all week long (at least!) so look for more giveaways, information posts, and, of course, recipes. For those who want to conceive and/or have had gynecological/obstetric issues, you may want to check out this post on the gluten connection and enter to win a scholarship to Donielle Baker’s Fertility E-Course.  

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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