Honey Love and More

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Food on Fridays, Foodie Friday, and Monday Mania.

Sheryl has the Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! roundup of French-themed foods posted over at her blog, Breaking Bread. I submitted my Creme Brulee Ice Cream. All the other entries really are sensational. Check them out here. 

Speaking of honey, we spun the honey out from the frames from our beehive this past weekend. (We have one beehive here at our house. We can’t go too crazy as we’re in a subdivision with our beehive on an open part of our property, not far from the street.) Mr. GFE’s sister and her husband volunteered their equipment and workshop for our use. The process:  remove frame from super (the boxes where the bees store the honey in the frames), scrape off wax caps, place in spinner/centrifuge, spin, drain honey through fine mesh stainless steel screen into food-grade plastic bucket, and repeat … until all the frames are empty of honey. After a few hours, the results were four gallons of golden, amazing, raw honey. In our case, 48 pounds worth for our one hive. We are pleased as punch, or should I say mead? In basic terms, mead is honey wine. Did you know that honey mead is the basis for the word honeymoon? Per Wikipedia, “In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel [lit. "moon of honey"].”

Honey is a non-refined sugar. It’s allowed on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. One of my most popular recipes that uses honey is my Flourless Chocolate Banana Honey Walnut Cake—a rich, grain-free, dairy-free, and again, refined sugar-free treat. Most of my ice cream and sherbet recipes use honey, like Honey Cinnamon Grand Marnier Ice Cream (Grand Marnier is optional) and Honey Dewed Sherbet. It sweetens nicely and keeps the ice cream/sherbet soft and scoopable. More trivia for you … honey is the only food that does not spoil. If your honey should crystallize over time, just set the jar in a pan of hot water until liquefied again. Now if you really want to be impressed by the 4 gallons of honey, consider this … a honeybee produces only 1/8-th of a teaspoon in its lifetime. Such driven, phenomenal little honeybees. My late father-in-law was a grand beekeeper who taught everyone in the family how to keep bees. One year he harvested over a ton of honey. Yes, over 2,000 lbs. If you did the math from our harvest details above, you  figured out that a gallon of honey weighs 12 pounds.

You might be wondering what kind of honey ours is … maybe you have heard of or enjoy different flavors of honey—clover honey (like the sweet clover honey that is on my sidebar under Foodzie), tupelo honey, orange blossom honey, lavender honey, and the like. Most commercial beekeepers move their hives so that the bees work (i.e., gather nectar from) different types of flowers and then they extract the honey immediately, so they know that it is solely that particular varietal of honey. Our honey is actually blended honey, because we never move our hive and we extract the honey from all the frames at once, mixing it all together. Some years the resulting honey is light, some years it is dark … all dependent on the which flowers are in bloom and worked that year. In one frame, which is the individual, rectangular section in the hive where the bees store their honey (shown in photos below), you can often see both light and dark honey. A large portion of our honey is always made from the nectar of white clover and tulip poplar blooms (this tree is also known as yellow poplar or tulip tree). We also have another common tree here in Virginia  called the yellow locust. The yellow locust tree produces spectacular showy blooms (shown above) that are both beautiful and cloyingly sweet in fragrance. Bees love locust blossoms and turn the nectar into a light-colored delicious honey.

Honey even has antiseptic, antimicrobial properties and has been used in that manner throughout history, including wound care today. There are many nutritional health benefits of honey as well. Warning: Children under the age of one should not consume honey. You can read much more about honey here and here.

Interested in the magic of nature? Consider becoming  a beekeeper. Honeybees need all the help and love they can get. Besieged by two different kinds of mites for a few decades now and then affected by the still unexplained Colony Collapse Disorder, the more folks who raise bees the better. We need bees to pollinate all the vegetable plants and fruit trees to supply our real food.

Talking about honey and honeymoons reminds me of the big buzz of late in the gluten-free world … the fact that Chelsea Clinton’s wedding cake was gluten free (and vegan). Vanessa Maltin, author of Celiac Princess (plus Food and Lifestyle Editor of Delight magazine and more), reported that A Piece of Cake by Elana made Chelsea’s cake using Pamela’s Products. Read more here. UPDATE: Turns out the information shared by Vanessa Maltin was totally incorrect. A bakery by the name of La Tulipe Desserts in Westchester, NY, actually made Chelsea’s organic, gluten-free (but not vegan) wedding cake—vanilla with dark chocolate mousse. Read more here. I’m anxious to see photos, but what I’d really like is to know the nitty gritty details (oops, hopefully, the nitty, non-gritty details … none of us would want a gritty gluten-free cake). I would love to taste the cake. But, now Chelsea and Marc are on their honeymoon. I wonder if they saved a piece for me. I’m sure they froze that top layer per tradition. So maybe there’s still hope. I mean we gluten-free folks share and share alike, right?

Speaking of other frozen or chilled delights, this morning’s smoothie included some chilled coconut milk, water, raw cacao powder, cabbage, Romaine, pears, frozen banana, hemp seed, almond flour, and some of our freshly extracted raw honey. It tasted like a chocolate milkshake and was full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. But, you don’t have to have a shopping list of ingredients to make tasty, nutritious smoothies. Actually, I’ve found that folks can sometimes be intimidated by smoothies for that very reason. Well, that and the fact that they can’t wrap their head around drinking their veggies. I understand. It took a leap of faith for me the first time, too, and it still amazes me how much I love them, even the “greenest” ones. If you’re still not sold on smoothies (but would like to be), try starting out with a simple smoothie recipe. One that includes only bananas, water, and spinach, is very easy and delicious. It’s a great recipe for beginners. One of my support group members, Jennifer R., shared samples of this smoothie with our group and everyone liked it. This smoothie is a lovely pale green, and you don’t taste spinach … you just taste “good.” Or try this three-ingredient smoothie from Ali at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Don’t make it too complicated. You can even ease into green smoothies, by making a fruit smoothie that you love and adding in a little spinach or other greens, like kale. Yes, kale …it’s great in smoothies. You can add a little more of the green stuff each time you make a fruit smoothie and soon you’ll be completely smitten with green smoothies!

If you are still not sure about smoothies, but want a refreshing summer drink, try Amy’s Cucumber Basil Herbal Water. Alta got to try it first hand at the lovely gluten-free brunch that Amy hosted. She described it as “the most amazing refreshing drink” she’s had to date. Read more about their brunch in this post by Alta with a recipe for her Basil Chicken Pesto Salad Puffs and this one by Amy, Rustic Lemon Blueberry Scones.

Peaches are in season! One of my favorite gfe readers, Mir (Woulda Coulda Shoulda  and more), used my Crustless Apple Pie recipe to make peach pie. All you need to do is substitute peaches for the apples. Mir used Pamela’s Baking Mix as her gluten-free flour mix. Her review: “Totally delish. I am afraid to make it again, lest I just fall face-down into the pie plate.” We all want to feel that way about our pies, don’t we? Just look at Mir’s photo!

Trying to incorporate yet more fruit into your diet with summer’s bounty? How about this stunning fruit pizza that Heather (Celiac Family) made? Heather swears it’s easy to make. She took hers to a family birthday party. That would be so much better than birthday cake in my opinion. Or, how about this gorgeous fruit salad that also incorporates salad greens over at Jenn’s (Jenn Cuisine).

Jenn also has an ongoing series called Gluten-Free Substitutions that I think you will find very helpful, whether you are new to the gluten-free diet or have been eating gluten free for some time. Her latest post is installment four: Gluten-Free Substitutions: All-Purpose Flour. Previous posts were her inaugural post for the series, Gluten-Free Substitutions: An Introduction; Gluten-Free Substitutions: When No Subs Are Needed; and Gluten-Free Substitutions: Easy One-Ingredient Substitutions.

Jenn and Lauren (Celiac Teen) had what most bloggers would call a dream meet-up. In Paris. Yes! Read about their meeting and see some of Jenn’s incroyable Paris photos here. Incidentally, you can find all of Jenn’s photos from France here on Flickr. Many have an ethereal quality, which I think makes them look like paintings. I can so imagine them hanging in my home.

Still have an abundance of zucchini? I can personally attest to the deliciousness of Kim’s (Cook IT Allergy Free) Zucchini Fritters. I believe if you added some Old Bay seasoning to them, they’d almost taste like crab cakes. They are outstanding. Even Mr. GFE agreed. I topped one with a fried egg and had it for breakfast. Scrumptious.

In a post earlier this month, a family member of Kim’s shared her story on the connection regarding the Type 1 diabetes and gluten. You can read it here. I share a lot of studies and medical research with my support group, but usually don’t share that type of information too frequently here at gfe. I’m more apt to share personal stories as Kim did. So I’m grateful to all my blogging friends who do pass along that data online. In a recent email to my support group members, I shared the recent recommendation from The Endocrine Society 92nd Annual Meeting for all folks with Type 1 diabetes to be screened for celiac annually. Yes, annually. Not once, not every 5 years, but yearly. The most compelling quote from the article to me was: “Some patients develop celiac disease as long as 10 years after their diabetes diagnosis, so ongoing screening is essential, and we recommend screening once a year. Patients in whom a diagnosis of celiac disease is confirmed should be placed on a gluten-free diet and referred to a gastroenterologist.” This statement came from Phyllis Speiser, MD (chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System in New Hyde Park, New York) in an interview with Medscape. That’s right. One doesn’t get tested for celiac one time and say, that’s it, “nope, don’t have it,” and go away thinking celiac is no longer a concern. Unless one eats gluten free, the risk is always there if one has celiac genes (see MyCeliacID post for more information on levels of risk for celiac). My friend, Alison (Sure Foods Living), did a great write-up on the recommendation here, also sharing her thoughts on this topic.

I’ll be back later tomorrow with my Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger post on my main page.  I’ve already been adopted by sweet Tia, of Glugle Gluten Free; I’m so excited! You can check out Tia’s post here to see which dish of mine that she made. Tia also shared her review of another wonderful recipe from another blogger who is a mutual favorite of ours. Finally, soon, there will be a gfe-unique giveaway on my Out and About page! The four winners of the e-book giveaway are already posted here.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Winner Announced and Birthday Trifecta

July 21, 2010 · Filed Under bread, dairy free, easy, giveaway, gluten free, recipe, treats, vegan · Comment 

Please click over to my Out and About page to see the winner of the iHerb giveaway here. Also, my birthday “triple crown” giveaway, the trio, the trifecta … whatever you might call it, is finally up. Check that out here. There’s a wonderful muffin recipe there, too!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Review of Three Terrific E-Books!

Full disclosure: Purchasing The Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook or 7 Quick Start Tips for a Healthy Gluten-Free Fit Life through the affiliate links in this post or on the sidebar does pay gfe a small commission fee, which helps support this blog. Sweet Freedom also has an Amazon link, which earns this site a small commission. However, those associations did not influence my decision to feature these books or my reviews. I am sharing them because I think they fit the gfe approach and  will be of value to my readers.

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays and Food on Fridays.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. I’ll contact the winners via email with further instructions. (Please respond within 48 hours or new winners will be chosen.)

There are two winners of Diane Eblin’s (The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) The Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook. They are Tricia and Audrey. Tricia said: “I would love love love the Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook. For some reason, everyone sends me dessert recipes, but I’ve gotten into a rut with my daily meals. Everything there looks so delicious!” And, Audrey said: “The saddest part of becoming gluten free was giving up all my unusable cookbooks! More Cookbooks!”

Lisa Greer is the winner of Erin Elberson’s (Gluten-Free Fitness) 7 Quick Start Tips for a Gluten-Free Fit Life. Her comment was: “I’d love any of the books.  thanks…”

Roda is the winner of Ricki Heller’s (Diet, Dessert, and Dogs) Sweet Freedom. Her comment was: “I just started the first phase of the candida diet and I stumbled across Ricki Heller’s blog yesterday and I’m so excited to try so many of those recipes! I’m also excited to try your adaptation of those Banana Chocolate Chip muffins (eventually, when I’m allowed to eat again)! I’d really love to win a copy of Sweet Freedom!”

Congrats to all! Thanks to all who took the time to enter the giveaway and especially to Diane, Erin, and Ricki for sponsoring the giveaway of their great e-books. Remember that gfe readers will get a 20% discount on 7 Quick Start Tips for a Gluten-Free Fit Life by entering “gfe” when ordering; offer ends August 31, 2010. Both The Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook and 7 Quick Start Tips will remain on my sidebar if you’d like to order in the near future. You can order Sweet Freedom at Ricki’s site (on sale for $22.95 through August 15, 2010–including shipping/handling!) or on Amazon.

So I mentioned the other day that I’d be posting a trifecta review and giveaway some time this weekend. Well, the weekend passed a few days ago … sigh. Can you say birthday? I played and celebrated longer than I expected and it’s been great. Plus, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your birthday wishes! But, let’s get to these gfe-style giveaways now, shall we?

My good friend, Diane Eblin, over at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang recently published her first e-book, The Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook. If you follow Diane’s blog, including her ongoing 30 Days to a Food Revolution event, you know she believes in eating real food and “making good food no matter what”—her trademarked motto. (She shared her personal story here at gfe earlier.) Creating a diner cookbook was a plan that Diane mentioned to me months ago, so I was so excited to see her e-book published several weeks ago. She kept watching the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with host Guy Fieri and decided there needed to be a solution for all the folks who needed to eat gluten free (and dairy free). Her Gluten-Free Diner Cookbook was born. The recipes will delight everyone, not just those with food restrictions. For example, take the Boeuf Bourguignon Burger that I made the other night. The burgers included come grated carrots, garlic, and onions, with ground bay leaf and other seasonings. Doesn’t that already sound like a really good burger?  Well, while the burgers were cooking, I made the sauce as Diane directed. The sauce perfectly completes the boeuf bourguignon effect with its bacon, mushrooms, beef stock, red wine, tomato paste, and thickener.  And, the moment the sauce actually becomes sauce, well you’ll want to bathe in it! I’m not kidding. It’s easy to make, but yet a knockout with its rich flavoring, intoxicating smell (red wine does that every time!), and thick, mahogany appearance. Mr. GFE was as pleased as I was and he can’t even say boeuf bourguignon. Lucky for you, this recipe is also on Diane’s blog. You can check it out here. I made a few minor changes, adding some tapioca flour versus arrowroot to the burger and using cornstarch with cold water for the sauce. I also used ground venison, which is what we almost always use in place of beef. (It’s equivalent to lean ground beef in its low fat profile and is very similar to organic meat in many respects.) I had no tomato paste on hand, but had a tiny bit of chili sauce, so I used that. I think it’s a very adaptable recipe that won’t disappoint. (The photo below shows two Boeuf Bourguignon Burgers.)

I made one other recipe of Diane’s from her cookbook, Bacon-Wrapped Avocado. This recipe is pure decadence. It would make a great appetizer for serving with cocktails. You cut the avocado into eight slices and wrap each with a piece of bacon and then fry just like that. This appetizer was so amazing and filling that I could only eat half of one of the slices—one of those morsels in the forefront of the photo. Since Mr. GFE is not an avocado fan, I only prepared three slices. Then I ate them over the next two days. They were just as good cold as they were hot in my opinion.

Diane’s e-book contains 48 recipes. Every single one looks and sounds delicious.  The next one on my “to make” list is Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup. I had all the ingredients, but ran out of time to make it before our weekend outing. However, this soup was one of Diane’s recipes that Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom) made and sampled over at her site. Check out her review and giveaway here. Amy’s (Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free) giveaway of Diane’s e-book is also over, but you can read her review of Diane’s ebook and see her adaptation of Diane’s Chorizo and Potato Frittata here. Now, for the really good part … I’m giving away a copy of Diane’s e-book to two gfe readers!

I mentioned Erin Elberson’s new e-book, 7 Quick Start Tips for a Gluten-Free Fit Life recently. Do you know Erin? She’s the author of the blog, Gluten-Free Fitness. We met on Twitter and haven’t stopped talking since! We’re either cheering each other, thanking each other, educating each other, or challenging each other’s ideas. All that says good friend and great resource to me! But, Erin and her e-book can be a wonderful resource for you, too. She has impressive credentials: Master’s degree in Physical Therapy and a Bachelor’s in Health Science, as well as 100% completion of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness GREAT testing (Gluten Free Resource, Awareness and Education Training) for Allied Health Professionals. However, Erin has much more to offer than her education credentials. She is so personable and down to earth when she’s sharing such great information on transitioning to eating gluten free and healthy, and staying fit. Erin covers celiac and gluten-free topics on her blog with knowledge and ease, so I was extremely honored when she asked me to do an early review of her e-book. I love the way I felt like she was talking directly to me when I read it. Truth be told, I wish I’d had her book when I first went gluten free. It’s a workbook of sorts … with lists and tips. It even includes some recipes, or as Erin calls so many of them, “not really recipes.” By that, she means dishes where you just use a concept and go from there, adapting as you like. For example, she shared my Special Turkey Breast recipe as “not really a recipe,” and made it even better by using balsamic vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar and using some different seasonings. (You can see her recipe here.) Erin’s motto is “Eat well and be well.” She has graciously donated a copy of 7 Quick Start Tips to one lucky gfe reader. If you’re one who doesn’t enter giveaways (or if later you find out that you didn’t win the giveaway, but still want Erin’s book), you can click on the link here or on the sidebar and enter coupon “gfe” at checkout to get 20% off. (Note that this coupon expires 8/31/10.)

Last, I’m also a fan of Ricki Heller’s. Ricki blogs at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs. And, yes, her blog is as creative and fun as her name. Heck, I even like her own name. It’s got spunk, and so does Ricki. She’s been trying fervently for some time to get on The Ellen Show to share her e-book, Sweet Freedom. (Note: Ricki’s book is also available on her blog or on Amazon as a paperback.) As the title states, it’s a cookbook about living refined sugar free. But, Ricki’s book and blog are about more than that. She also lives vegan. Ellen DeGeneres also is vegan and sugar free, so that’s a large reason for Ricki campaigning to appear on Ellen. See the YouTube video she sent to Ellen here. (Believe me, it’s totally worth watching!) I think Ricki would be absolutely hysterical on Ellen and a promotion of healthy eating is always welcome.

Now, big caveat … Sweet Freedom is not a gluten-free cookbook, although Ricki points out that about a third of the recipes are naturally gluten free (some not requiring flour at all) and two are designed to be gluten free—gluten-free brownies and coconut mini-loaves (or cupcakes). Ricki has been gluten free since she began following the anti-candida diet, but when writing Sweet Freedom, she was not. Ricki used a lot of spelt and barley in these recipes. I’ve written about spelt before. Spelt is not safe for anyone who has celiac, gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity, or even a wheat allergy. This is not just my personal opinion;  you can read more here. Many who eat spelt cite no reaction, but remember that lack of a recognizable reaction to a food or ingredients does not mean that a food is safe. One can actually have a reaction, but one that is different from a typical gluten reaction—different enough, in fact, that it is not recognized as such (as in Allison’s story). Or, one can truly not have a visible reaction for a long time, but then develop a very serious illness. The fact is that spelt is a species of wheat. According to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, foods that contain spelt or kamut cannot carry “wheat-free” or “wheat-alternative” labels. Finally, my friend, Alison (Sure Foods Living), also tackled the spelt topic a while back.

But, all that said, Sweet Freedom is a cookbook that one can easily use for gluten-free recipes and one lucky reader will get the e-book version! Replacing the flour with gluten-free flours (and possibly adding xanthan gum, if needed) is an easy thing to do. That’s what I did. When I found a recipe that sounded good, I made it by simply replacing the spelt flour with gluten-free flours. I scrolled through Ricki’s entire ebook, but it was her first recipe that appealed to me most at the time—Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. These muffins, as I made them, are somewhat heartier with mostly millet and almond flours, but yet are still tender. I used honey instead of agave as that’s what we always have the largest supply of at our house, and I like the taste of honey in recipes made with nut flours. With the banana and the honey, even a little nibble with no chocolate chips is sufficiently sweet. Of course, a full bite yields the wonderful melding of banana and chocolate. Remember I told you that Ricki’s recipes are vegan. So, there are no eggs in these delicious muffins, but who can tell? I couldn’t, because the flax meal and water added to the recipe take the place of the eggs beautifully. I like these muffins far better than my usual banana muffin recipe. Son also gave them a big thumbs up. In fact, he grabbed two thirds of the batch as he was heading out the door to our mountain property for camping. The plan was to have them for breakfast the next morning, but honestly, I doubt that they lasted the night … or even the 2-hour trip to get there. They are that good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free)
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

1 cup mashed, ripe banana (about three bananas)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
2 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup gluten-free flour mix
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin tin for 10 muffins.

In large bowl, mix bananas, honey, oil, ground flax seed, water, and vanilla extract. Let sit for 2 minutes.

Then add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix a bit (without overmixing). Stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Test for doneness.

Adapted from Ricki Heller, Sweet Freedom

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment telling me which of these e-books you would be interested in. Other ways to enter: Post a message on Facebook. Share the giveaway on your blog. Or, tweet. For all of these, leave a separate comment. That’s a potential of four entries, but only one entry is needed to win. I’m so thankful to Diane, Erin, and Ricki for sharing their awesome e-books and look forward to announcing the winners after the giveaway ends on Wednesday, July 28, at midnight (Eastern)!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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About Me

Shirley BradenGluten free since June 2003, I lead a celiac/gluten intolerance group in Virginia. My passion is educating folks on gluten issues and showing how eating gluten free can be easy if you focus on “real” foods versus processed and specialty foods.

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GFE's Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, but rather a volunteer sharing my experiences. Consult your physician for medical guidance. To the best of my knowledge, all ingredients/products that I use are gluten-free (even if I do not indicate that each and every time I mention them; e.g., if I refer to "soy sauce," it's a gluten-free soy sauce). However, I take no responsibility for the accuracy of that information. Always read labels and verify the gluten-free status of any ingredients/products to your own comfort level.

Not just gf, but gfe!