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

August 17, 2010 · Filed Under Friday Foodie Fix, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter, Slightly Indulgent, beverage, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, ice cream, recipe, sugar free, treats, vegan, vegetarian · 23 Comments 

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!

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Easy Pumpkin Squares

October 12, 2009 · Filed Under GAHIGF, Slightly Indulgent, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, sugar free · 61 Comments 

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Pumpkin “Patch” in Town

There’s frost on the pumpkin. Okay, frost is not quite yet here in my area of Virginia, but there’s definitely a chill in the air. The temperature was in the 40s last tonight. I know, I know … some of you guys have already had snow. I have one word to say on that—wow. But, whatever the weather where you are, it’s a good time to make pumpkin squares. Even if you are not a lover of everything pumpkin like I am, I can almost guarantee you will love these treats. They are light and while the pumpkin taste is lovely, non-pumpkin lovers do not always immediately recognize it as pumpkin. That can actually be a good thing. They just know these squares taste so good that they want another one. These pumpkin squares melt in your mouth and before you know it the whole batch has evaporated. Seriously. I’ve made four pans this week. I’m not kidding. There was the presentation that I gave on Tuesday night. I had to take some tasty gluten-free treats for that. Mr. GFE had promised to bring treats to handbell choir practice that same evening, so I had doubled the recipe. He said he was afraid he was going to lose a hand as he passed the squares out. I made another batch to share with family on Saturday. Then Son was home yesterday for a few hours and brought a friend. Five pounds of chicken wings and 3 ½ pounds of crab legs were consumed, so, of course, there had to be dessert. I started baking these squares when he called to say he was on his way. From those four pans of pumpkin squares, not one remains. Do you need further convincing that you should make these right now? Okay, here goes. 

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Pumpkin Squares
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

1 egg
½ cup pumpkin
½ cup oil (any kind)
1/6 cup water (don’t stress over this measurement; just fill 1/3 measuring cup halfway full … you can empty or add water as necessary until you’re right at the halfway mark)
¾ cup sugar (or honey, if you use honey, omit water)
½ tsp salt
1 cup gluten-free flour mix*
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp each ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon (or ¾ tsp pumpkin pie)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg and add other wet ingredients in a bowl (at least medium-sized); mix well. Add dry ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan. The batter will just cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the batter if you like. Bake about 25 – 30 minutes. Squares will be thin and moist. Let cool before cutting.

The original recipe called these “bars” and included frosting. These treats are too light and delicate to be called bars or need frosting. If you want to gussy them up a bit, feel free to sift confectioner’s (powdered) sugar on them. Add the confectioner’s sugar right before serving and do not cover. Because they are moist, covering them will cause the confectioner’s sugar to “melt” into the squares.

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Additional Notes: If you use fresh pumpkin, you can usually omit the water as the fresh pumpkin tends to have a higher water content. I love these made with fresh pumpkin. They are so light and luscious when made with fresh pumpkin. Look for the small “sugar” pumpkins to do some baking—not the ones that you carve into jack-0-lanterns. By the way, no xanthan or guar gum is needed in this recipe.

*The gluten-free flour mix I make consists of three parts Asian white rice flour (much more finely ground that typical white rice flour) and two parts cornstarch. I make 5 lbs of this mix at a time. I use three 1-lb bags of Asian white rice flour and two 1-lb boxes of Argo cornstarch. Mix well, but gently in a very large bowl and then transfer to airtight storage containers (like glass jars or Tupperware). I realize this gluten-free flour mix is nutritionally not the best, but I have issues with many of the healthier options like buckwheat, sorghum, etc. But, feel free to try your favorite gluten-free flour mix. If you’re not gluten free (yet), you can substitute your favorite all-purpose flour.

Adapted from a recipe by Mary Burgdorff shared on the celiac listserv and celiac.com go ahead its gluten free

This post is linked to the October roundup of Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! I always love participating in this monthly event. It’s just so much fun. The invention of creative Naomi Devlin at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried, each month features a different blogger with a theme of their choosing. This month’s host is the sweet and lovely Heather of life, gluten free. The theme is pumpkin treats. Join in the fun. Entries are due to Heather by October 29 and her post will be up at the end of the month. Read more here if you would like to submit an entry.  No matter what, do head back over to life, gluten free at the end of month to add some new pumpkin recipes to your repertoire. Check out Heather’s site while you are there, too. She has a great post on the anxiety dreams of those who are gluten free. Read it here. Please add a comment if you have such dreams. I’m curious, and I know Heather is, too.  UPDATE: Here’s the roundup of gluten-free pumpkin treats at life, gluten free.

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This post is also linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays over at Amy’s blog, Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free. Amy has this weekly roundup of recipes that are just a little bit healthier for you. These pumpkin squares are healthier by the fact that contain pumpkin, are gluten free, and are also naturally dairy free. Using oil that’s more beneficial to the body will also boost the nutritional value of these squares and make them less indulgent. Frankly, you won’t spend too much time thinking about all that because they are just that good. Oh, and Amy also has a giveaway and introduces a new blogger each week. I love that concept! Last week, I was the featured blogger. I was so honored. You can read that post here. And, did I mention that Amy also shares a fabulous recipe of her own each week?  Her weekly roundup is definitely worth a visit. Many of the terrific bloggers you already know are there with there best recipes, but the neat thing is that you’ll meet some new folks, too, sharing their healthier recipes.

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Update: This post is also linked to the Friday Foodie Fix, the weekly roundup of recipes featuring the ingredient of the week–in this case, pumpkin! Can’t wait to find more gluten-free recipes to make using this favorite ingredient. Check them out and visit The W.H.O.L.E. Gang each week for a new listing of recipes made with the secret ingredient. Join in by entering your own recipe!

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Pumpkin Patch Near Our Mountain Property

Pumpkin is great all year long in my opinion, but it’s especially appropriate in October. You can mix up a batch and bake these pumpkin squares in a short time—enjoy!

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!