Gluten Free in Fredericksburg, Texas

Happy New Year everyone! My hubby and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country! We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast called Hoffman Haus just off Main Street. Their chef did a wonderful job preparing gluten-free and grain-free breakfasts for us both mornings. I'm so excited to share our gluten-free finds with you!

We dined at Navajo Grill on our first night in Fredericksburg. The staff was very knowledgeable about gluten; they even made a note on our reservation and knew not to serve us bread! Hubby and I ordered the same meal - we both started with the Butternut Squash Soup, and then had the filet with mashed potatoes and zucchini. For dessert, we had the Chocolate Fix, which was a completely flourless cake with pecan crust; what a treat to get gluten-free dessert at a restaurant! Everything was completely grain-free AND delicious. I do not have a picture of the food, because we were both so busy enjoying the experience that documenting with photos was the last thing from either of our minds. Don't worry, we realized this later and all of the other meals have photos! :)

The next day, we had lunch at this adorable cafe called Beat the Wheat (cutest name ever!!!). It is a completely gluten-free kitchen! This was exciting. Not only are they gluten-free, but there is NO corn in their baked goods. Double exciting. Hubby chose chicken salad sandwich, and I chose the turkey panini. (Note: the bread is not grain-free; it does contain rice, which I eat on rare occasions.) We also got a snickerdoodle cookie to share, but I do not have a pic of that as we gobbled it down before the camera had a chance. The triple exciting news about Beat the Wheat? They ship! For information, visit their website.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Turkey Panini

After our awesome experience at Beat the Wheat, we decided to tour several of the area wineries. We had a great time tasting the different Texas wines. 

Here is a list of the wineries we visited:

• Grape Creek Vineyard - very professional and knowledgeable; great first tasting
• Becker Vineyards - our favorite wines, crowded but beautiful, very friendly and kind staff
• Woodrose Winery - best tasting experience, each tasting is brought to your table, kind and welcoming staff
• William Chris Vineyards - eco-friendly methods used! My hubby's favorite of the day (Artist's blend) was here
• Chisholm Trail Winery - beautiful drive! West of Fredericksburg, off the beaten path

For dinner, we ate at the adorable Sunset Grill. Our waitress was so sweet and helpful with my food allergies. She made sure to check with the chef on anything she was unsure about. I have to admit, I had rice again at this restaurant. The hubby and I both got sushi, and it was very yummy. While I did not get sick, I do know that rice is something my system can only handle every now and then. The restaurant did an excellent job of making sure everything was gluten-free and corn-free. I started with this delicious, completely grain-free salad:

Next, the hubby and I both had sushi (with no soy sauce - it contains wheat!):

his

hers

 And lastly, we finished with homemade ice cream - no corn syrup! Hooray!

peppermint - for me

Peanut Butter - for my hubby

Lastly, I'd like to share a little more about our great bed and breakfast. Our room was beautiful, and the location was so convenient to restaurants and shopping. Our breakfasts both mornings were delicious and completely grain-free. The first morning we had crustless spinach quiche (no pic, sorry), and the second morning we had mushroom omelets. I highly recommend the Hoffman Haus! It's a great place for gluten-free travelers.

They deliver breakfast in a picnic basket!

We had a wonderful time in Fredericksburg; it was the perfect place to celebrate our first anniversary.

Sugar Cookies

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love the excitement and anticipation, the brisk, cool air, the Christmas carols playing everywhere, the decorations, and all of the Christmas cheer! I decorate my Christmas Tree on the day after Thanksgiving, with the Mariah Carey Christmas album blaring (who doesn't love singing "All I Want for Christmas is You" at the top of their lungs?). My favorite Christmas album, though, is Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God," which tells the story of advent through song. I love the opening phrase of the album:

"Gather 'round, ye children, come

Listen to the old, old story

Of the power of death undone

by an Infant born of Glory.

Son of God, Son of Man"

My family loves celebrating together with sweet treats, singing, laughter, and the joy of the true meaning of Christmas. One of our "sweet treat" traditions are Christmas tree sugar cookies from my Aunt Kathy. I don't know what she does to those cookies, but they are AMAZING. So this year, I decided to make a gluten-free version of these delicious cookies so I won't miss out on all the Christmas tree cookie fun. These gluten-free sugar cookies are dairy free and refined sugar free. They taste great with or without frosting! And the best part is, they taste so close to my Aunt's classic cookie that my cousins might not know the difference!

Sugar Cookies
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder (make your own!)
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 egg
1 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (make your own!)

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, egg, coconut sugar, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
3. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is incorporated.
4. Form the dough into a disc, and wrap in wax paper, and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Place dough between two sheets of wax paper. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness, and cut with cookie cutters. (You will not need to flour the dough if you roll between wax paper.)
7. Carefully transfer cut dough to parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 7 - 9 minutes, being careful not to over bake.
9. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.
10. Cool completely before serving or frosting.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Sugar Cookie Frosting
This frosting is taken from All Recipes. I used Almond Milk and India Tree natural food coloring,  so it is dairy free! I highly recommend using natural food coloring over regular food coloring, which contains harmful chemicals. I also used Spectrum Organic Shortening, which is dairy free and soy free! Instead of soy oil, it is made with palm oil.

4 cups powdered sugar (make sure to buy organic for corn-free)
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring, if desired

Cream shortening, powdered sugar, and shortening until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Stir in vanilla extract. Color the frosting in smaller batches.
Frost cookies with a thin layer of frosting.

Autumn Chopped Salad & Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

I have a new obsession: Pinterest. It is so much fun! It was on Pinterest that I found this beautiful salad with pears, cranberries, pecans, and feta, and knew I had to try it. The recipe calls for two dressings - poppy seed and balsamic vinaigrette. Since I don't use store bought dressings because of their mysterious ingredients, I decided to come up with my own poppy seed dressing for this yummy looking salad. I have since made this salad twice - in one week! Instead of using both dressings, I used just the poppy seed dressing, and it was great.

Click here to go to the Autumn Chopped Salad. 

Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

2/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp dry ground mustard

2 green onions, white parts removed

1/4 cup +  1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

1. Combine vinegar, dry ground mustard, green onions, agave nectar, and salt in a blender and blend on high until combined.

2. Reduce speed to medium, and very slowly drizzle in olive oil. 

3. Once combined, turn blender off and stir in poppy seeds.

4. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls

I hope you and your family had a very happy and relaxing Thanksgiving, full of gratitude and blessings!

I first saw these pumpkin truffles on the Whole Foods recipe site. These little pumpkin bites are originally called truffles, but I think they taste more like cake balls. The Whole Foods recipe calls for graham cracker crumbs and gingersnap cookie crumbs, but the idea of pumpkin truffles sounded so good that I knew I would have to make some gluten-free adjustments. My family (even the gluten-eating ones!) loved these gluten-free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls, which I brought to our Thanksgiving celebration.

Tips:
-Double check ingredient list on cream cheese - almost all conventional cream cheese brands contain high fructose corn syrup, and even some organic brands have wacky ingredients
-The original recipe calls for orange zest, but I left that out. If you try this recipe with the zest, please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out!
-I used my cookie scoop to form the balls, and they were way too big. I recommend using 1/2 tablespoon of dough per ball, or aiming to make them each 1 inch in diameter.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls (based on Whole Foods Market's recipe)
1 10 oz package of white chocolate chunks
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch ginger
pinch salt
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp coconut oil

1. Melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips (either in a double boiler or in the microwave), stirring frequently and being careful to not burn.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the melted chocolate, pumpkin puree, almond flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cream cheese. Stir until thoroughly combined - about 3 minutes. Mixture should be smooth.
3. Cover and chill until firm enough to form into balls, at least 3 hours.
4. Line a tray or glass baking dish with parchment paper. Form balls with the dough 1 inch in diameter (about 1/2 tablespoon of dough), and place on parchment paper. Freeze overnight.
5. After balls have frozen, melt remaining white chocolate chunks (about 2 cups) and coconut oil (either in a double boiler or in the microwave). Working quickly, drop the frozen balls, one at a time, into the melted chocolate, carefully coating entirely in a thin layer of chocolate. Remove any excess chocolate from balls before transferring back to the parchment paper. Repeat with remaining pumpkin balls.
6. Chill for at least one hour, then serve and enjoy!

Roasted Carrot Salad

I am so excited to share this recipe with you! My hubby and I have been getting carrots in our produce share from Rawfully Organic Co-Op every week for almost two months now. While carrots are great, and I enjoy carrots, we had so many carrots in our fridge that I didn't know what to do! We couldn't seem to eat (or smoothie) them fast enough. So last week, I decided it was time to find a recipe that featured carrots - and lots of them. After some quick googling, I came upon this amazing roasted carrot salad. Oh my goodness. It is delicious AND easy AND gluten free! The only change I made was to substitute feta cheese for blue cheese, which is sometimes aged on bread and therefore not safe for people with gluten intolerance. Feta was a great substitute!

Here is a link to the original recipe: Roasted Carrot Salad: Allrecipes.com

I will be making this again soon - and I can't wait! Who knew that carrots, almonds, feta, cranberries, and arugula would all taste good together?!? I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!