Yogurt Making Supplies

Recently, my friend, Lexi, has been making yogurt and frozen yogurt. I'm sure it's fabulous, like everything Lexi makes. Then, a few days after I saw Lexi's posts, another friend mentioned to me that Tuesday Morning (a discount store) had some yogurt makers in. Hmm...

Sure enough, Tuesday Morning had these marked down to just $30. However, they come with plastic jars, so like Lexi, and my other friend, I too replaced the plastic with glass gars.

These 8 oz Ball ("Quilted Crystal") Jelly Jars are the exact same size. Score! :-)

Here I was, checking out the glass jars, to make sure they fit. (You do NOT keep the lids on during the yogurt making process.)

Above: A photo of my thermometer, which you will need so you know when to add the probiotics.

Click for the link to my yogurt recipes.

♥, Kelly

Road-Trip Must-Haves :-)

Last week on our road trip to Salt Lake City and back, there were two products that were so great to have with us, that I wanted to share them with you. One is Fiona's, Strawberry Mango Quinoa Crunch, and the other is Enjoy Life, Mountain Mambo & Beach Bash, Nut Free
Tail Mixes.

Fiona, from Boulder, has a range of products, most of which are wheat free, but not gluten-free. This Strawberry Mango quinoa crunch is one of her gluten-free options, and it's so good. We had it for breakfast with almond milk. The ingredients are: Organic Quinoa, Sorghum, Organic Agave Nectar, Safflower Oil, Organic Strawberries, Mangos, Pure Lemon Oil

These trail mixes by Enjoy Life were another road-trip must-have. We snacked on them in the car while driving. So delicious. The ingredients are: Mountain Mambo: sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, raisins, apples, (dairy-free) chocolate chips, and cranberries. Beach Bash: sunflower kernels, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and apricots.

Andy preferred the Mountain Mambo, while I preferred the Beach Bash. The girls couldn't decide—they loved them both.

Happy traveling :-)

♥, Kelly

Quorn turkey roast is NOT gluten-free

We all know that when we eat packaged or processed foods that are not certified gluten-free, we are taking a chance, and may get sick. For many of us, even foods that say "gluten-free" may make us sick, since a product that contains less than 20 ppm gluten can still be called gluten-free. Note: I am one of many who are strongly against this proposition of calling less than 20 ppm gluten-free. Gluten-free should mean gluten-free.

So you may be wondering why I am bothering to tell you that something is NOT gluten-free, when that may seem obvious already. And the answer is, because there has been a lot of promoting of Quorn lately by bloggers calling Quorn gluten-free. While I hold no ill-will towards anyone, I feel like it is my duty to strongly disagree with this mistake, because Ashley threw up violently after eating Quorn.

I emailed Quorn to ask exactly how much gluten is in their product, and I was very appreciative to receive this response from them:

17 June 2010

Dear Kelly

Thanks for your enquiry.

Unfortunately, we cannot be so specific about the amount of gluten in our roast.

All we can say is that the product contains 4% of a flavouring which contains 50% dextrose from wheat.

Therefore, the amount of wheat derivative in the product - dextrose - is 2%, but as dextrose is the sugar derived from wheat, the actual amount of gluten (the protein) present in the dextrose would be very low. Our flavouring supplier has specified that the flavouring does contain gluten above the level necessary to declare a product 'gluten free', so the amount of gluten in the flavouring is greater than 200ppm

Thank you once again for your enquiry and please do not hesitate to contact us again if you require any further information or advice.

Assuring you of our best attention at all times.

Yours sincerely

Tracey Cope
Consumer Care Advisor

Even though there isn't gluten listed on the ingredients, doesn't mean something is gluten-free. Poor Ashley threw up all day after eating Quorn. Just thought you should know the truth:

Quorn is NOT gluten-free.

Sincerely, Kelly

Salt Lake City Library, Vasuvio's Organic Gourmet Cafe & Whole Foods

At the hotel pool the other night, while Andy was at the book publishing conference, the girls and I met two other little girls and their parents. They were staying here temporarily because their house smelled terribly from the oil spill here, at Liberty Park. We talked by the pool and they suggested some places we should go. One of those places was the library. The library? I love my local library, and Boulder Library is really pretty, but I don't usually tell people who are visiting to go there. But they said the Salt Lake City Library was amazing, and amazing it was. The only trouble is finding the words to express just how very incredible it is.

Here is Ashley watching the glass elevators. They are so fast and fun to watch or ride.

I really don't know what to compare the Salt Lake City Library to. I can't think of anything similar, and I don't know when I've been so impressed.

And remember how I said Salt Lake City had "Bouleritis?" How they love (among other things) local and hand made? Well you should see the shops in the area where Ashley is standing. I think they were all sporting "local" and "hand made" signs in the windows. I peeked inside and saw lots of the same kinds of goodies that were at the farmers market.

Not to mention the art. Oh, the art, my love. Sculpture (that includes the building!), painting, photography, galleries, spaces...

Here's one such space. A below-ground courtyard and water feature off the children's library. Lovely to admire, to cool off (if you stand close to it you get wet), to read, to relax. It's even complete with two tables and chairs, each with an umbrella. There was a dragonfly sculpture on the wall behind Ashley.

Here is one of the inside sculptural spaces, also in the children's library area. Even if you don't have any children I highly recommend you walk around the children's section so you can see these awesome spaces.

Zoe, uber-stylish ;-)

If you take the elevator up to the top floor you can walk outside. There are rooftop gardens, more tables to admire the view and lounge, and a curving path that goes down to the plaza area.

Ditto that.

Zoe, sitting on one side a two-sided fountain, above another garden.

Okay, I will actually talk about food now ;-) A short walk from the Salt Lake City Library (which had a pretty good Americano at one locally roasted coffee shop, I might add) is Vasuvio's Organic Gourmet Cafe. The inside is modern but in a cozy way. We ate outside, under one of these red umbrellas.

They carry two kinds of gluten-free bread (I think, don't quote me on that). Since gluten-free bread is smaller than wheat, they give you two little sandwiches, for around $10. The girls can obviously split that easily, while Andy ate both of his.

Here is a close-up of Ashley and her GF sandwich. I actually didn't have a sandwich, but an omelette with spinach and onions. They serve eggs all day. It came with a side and I chose humus and veggies. Everything was good.

As Andy said, "Our trip ended where it began," at Whole Foods this evening (pictured above and below). I wanted to get some things for the drive back tomorrow, and I knew we could all get what we wanted at Whole Foods.

My salad, above. What can I say? It's just YUM.

We each had about a roll-sized hunk of this gluten-free Rosemary & Thyme Focaccia by Canyon Bakehouse. Canyon Bakehouse is made half an hour north of where we live in Longmont, Colorado, but this was our first time eating this Focaccia. It reminded me of a biscuit, and it's delicious. I can't wait to try it heated.

I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm happy to go home. Looking forward to coming here again for sure.

♥, Kelly

Salt Lake City Farmers Market Love

There was a sense I had about Salt Lake City, from the beginning. But I couldn't safely confirm my observation without spending some more time here. After hours today at the farmers market I am officially going to say: There is a huge chunk of Boulderitis (yes, I just made that word up) going on in Salt Lake City. ;-)

I'm going to define Boulderitis as a population of people really into health, and the environment, as well as appreciative of local and hand made. Unfortunately, I haven't spent much time in Los Angeles, but I'm guessing people there have Boulderitis as well ;-) Do you have Boulderitis? Does your town? Tell me, I'd love to visit! I'm a big fan of health, the environment, local and hand made.

The Salt Lake City farmers market today was PACKED and HUGE. Although it's open for a shorter length of time than the Boulder and Longmont farmers markets, it was bigger than both put together. I didn't take any photos of the produce and food stands, but let me tell you: There were signs that said, Organic, Raw, Sprouted, Hormone-free, etc, all over the place. Love it.

I bought a pair of hand made earrings at the place above.

There were so many jewelry, glass, ceramic, and other artists.

I thought we had hit the jackpot when I saw a "Buckwheat Pancake" sign. They were buckwheat flour, but they were also sprouted wheat. Ahh, so close ;-)

But then we saw a bike-powered raw stand. Yes, really: A guy riding a stationary bike that powered a Vita-Mix blender. HELLO. That got my attention. Vegan, gluten-free, delish. The girls each had a SOB: strawberry, orange, banana + a tablespoon of hemp protein powder. We also tasted their raw pudding made with cashews and dates. So good.

This lady made these really cute headbands. We bought two. They're washable and reversible. Not to mention so cute.

And I also bought two hand made ceramic bowls from this artist. They were being wrapped up while I was taking this picture, so I'll show you another time, but you get the idea.

Well, Cherry, our Boston Terrier's, quinoa timer just went off, so I better get her some chicken from the fridge and feed her. I said it before, but I'll say it again: This hotel rocks. Having this nice kitchen makes all the difference for us... Boulderites ;-)

Mango smoothie we made in our hotel:

Can't wait to post photos and tell you all about the Salt Lake City farmers market this morning, but in the meantime here's a quick video Zoe made of me making a smoothie. XOXO, Kelly



Haha! I look so serious in that screenshot ;-)

First full day in Salt Lake City

Yesterday, as you know, we drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake City, Utah. We checked in early at our hotel, and were thrilled to see how nice it is. Our one bedroom suite has a big open kitchen and dining area with upgraded kitchen cabinets, granite counter tops, tile floor and stainless appliances. It's cute and modern and I am in love with it :-)

The kitchen is also open to the living area, creating a bit of an L-shaped layout. Across from the couch is a gas fireplace, desk area, big flat screen TV (although we haven't so much as turned it on yet), and a sliding glass door to the patio. We are on the fourth floor, facing east, so we have a nice view of downtown and the mountains.

I was crazy about Salt Lake City the minute I laid eyes on it. I love how you can see the houses going up the side of the mountains in a sea of green foliage. I love how it's sunny with blue skies and dry like it is where we live in Colorado. I love the sculptures everywhere, modern architecture, and the way the sun sets so golden and warm.

As soon as we were checked in yesterday, we took a trip to Whole Foods. First we made ourselves some salads at the salad bar and ate them outside at a table. Then we went back in and did some shopping. I was thrilled to see Udi's gluten-free bread, as well as Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free bread, both made in Colorado (go Colorado, go Colorado ;-)). We also picked up some frozen organic fruit for smoothies (I brought my Magic Bullet, my new favorite toy—Thanks Mom!) and a few other items.

I noticed driving back to the hotel that there was a Buca di Beppo. Andy and I could walk to a Buca when we were dating 10 years ago, and so we went there weekly. I have such fold memories of the place. I love its wonky style. So I said to Andy, "I heard a while back that they had a gluten-free menu now." He called the Buca here, and sure enough, they said they had a gluten-free menu. We made a reservation.

(Click to see a photo larger.)

I don't know if all Buca di Beppo's have a gluten-free menu, so I would call before you go to one, but as you can see there were some really great choices. However, the cook absentmindedly floured our chicken out of habit, and fortunately our server caught the mistake. He apologized for the wait as they made our meal over, but I couldn't have thanked him enough. That would have been a disaster.

The food was even better than I remembered. Phenomenal. If I lived here I would go to that Buca so often that they would become very used to making gluten-free ;-)

Ashley and I on the way back to the hotel.

Last night I soaked our certified GF steel cut oats (that I buy on Amazon), so I could make oatmeal for breakfast. This morning I discarded the soaking water and cooked the oats in coconut milk and fresh water. We topped each bowlful with a tablespoon of maple syrup. Delish.

Then Andy headed to the book publishing conference and the girls and I headed to Red Butte Gardens. Beautiful! Worth every penny. A bargain actually. As I told Andy about it later, he realized that when we drove to the last book publishing conference (in Tucson), the girls and I went to their gardens on our first day. I think it's becoming a tradition =)

Anyone know what these are called? I can't remember, but they look like they belong in the ocean, right? Kind of like a jellyfish.

Zoe twirling in her pink bathing suit.

We came back to the hotel suite after the gardens for some lunch. I made us smoothies, and Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches on the Udi's GF bread. Then we went to the Gateway promenade to play in the splash ground. I also took a clip of Zoe prancing around there and posted it on the Spunky Family Journal. Too cute.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings, and share it with you.

♥, Kelly

Wyoming this morning

This is where I am right now: Main Street Artisans Cafe & Gallery, in Evanston, Wyoming. We ate my Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars in the car for breakfast, after leaving the hotel at 8 this morning, and stopped here for coffee and juice.

Just before we got here, we saw these: About a hundred wind turbines. They make me so happy. Click over to the Spunky Family Journal for more pictures.

And now we're off to Salt Lake City, Utah. I can't wait to show you more photos and hopefully some good gluten-free eats, when we get there :-)

My grandmother's English Muffin Pizzas... first thing I cooked

An hour or two ago, I was on Twitter and saw people asking Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef when their posts were due. The answer is, they are due tonight. Shauna's theme for her roundup is, "First Thing I Cooked". I thought that was such a sweet concept, first foods we made, and what a nice roundup it would be. I was wishing I had seen it sooner so I could participate.

I finished-up on my laptop, closed it, and helped Zoe with a no-sew project. She is making a knotted blanked out of fleece we found on clearance that has a mermaid print. Then I started making dinner. Zoe sat at the counter island, tying her strands of fleece along the edge like fringe.

After mixing the salad, I put some mini pizzas into the broiler, and like a flash I was a child again. It wasn't the act of putting the tray into a broiler that sparked the memory, but the image before my eyes: Mini pizzas. Only they had another name to me as a child: English muffin pizzas. Yum.

When I was a child, I had a single mom. She worked as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines. While she was away on trips my brother and I lived at our grandmother's house. My grandmother—who we called "Sitti" (pronounced "city")—was a big fan of the English muffin pizzas. Did you eat those too? We cut the English muffins in half and topped them with sauce and mozzarella that Sitti bought in slices.

Maybe it was the sliced cheese that really reminded me of those pizzas, because the cheese I used tonight came individually sliced too. I used sliced 100% goats milk cheese that I bought at Costco last week. In fact, it was the sliced goat cheese that inspired me to make mini pizzas in the first place :-) I can't even recall using sliced cheese for anything other than mini pizzas (like a sandwich), although we must have.

Zoe and Ashley didn't help me make these pizzas this time, but I'm sure they will in the near future. When they do, I wonder if the mini pizzas will be a childhood memory of their's too.

♥, Kelly

Mini Pizzas:

Toast gluten-free bread. I used Udi's Gluten-Free bread.

Place the toast on a cookie sheet for your broiler.

Top with:

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed and organic)

a sprinkle of garlic powder

thin sliced vine-ripened tomatoes

a sprinkle of sea salt and a crank of pepper over the tomatoes

bacon or pepperoni if you want (I like Applegate Farms)

100% goats milk cheese or dairy-free cheese (like Daiya)

Broil.

Note: Goats milk is much more similar to human milk than milk from cows, and easier to digest. Goats milk contains only trace amounts of the allergenic Alpha S1 casein protein. Our family tolerates goat milk without trouble, but I suggest you consult your naturopath doctor or nutritionist.

Related reading:

Food Archaeology: Dairy

Gluten-Free Restaurants in Boulder & Longmont, Colorado

At Red Frog Coffee with owner & friend, Emily.

People often ask me where we eat when we go out in Longmont, and recently someone even said they were coming in from out of town, and were looking for suggestions. Below are some of the places we go. There are many more places around here that offer gluten-free, but I didn't feel comfortable recommending a restaurant that we haven't personally been to. If you live nearby and are really happy with a place not on this list, please tell us in the comments. =)

So here are the restaurants which we have tried and love:

Beau Jo's

Gluten-free pizza!

Berry Best Smoothies

We get smoothies & they have a fridge & freezer full of GF goodies.

Chipotle

We get the Burrito Bowl.

Fan's in Niwot

No GF menu at this Chinese restaurant, but tell them you are GF & they will have someone who knows what can be made GF talk to you. I like the Cashew Four Treasures made with all veggies, no tofu, no meat.

Le Peep in Longmont

The Longmont location has GF pancakes, waffles, and Udi's GF bread.

The Rib House

Umm... ribs!

Longmont & Boulder Farmers Markets

—Mama Mari's Pupusas (one of my absolute favorites)

—Amazing Corn Tamales (one of my husband's absolute favorites)

(Each at both location last I checked)

Noodles & Company

Only the Pad Thai is guaranteed GF.

Outback

We bring our own bread for burgers & get a potato.

Mod Market

Tasty GF flatbread pizza. Also good salads & soup.

Pei Wei

GF menu includes Spring Rolls (my favorite).

P.F.Chang's

Love the lettuce wraps.

Red Frog Coffee

Organic & fair trade coffee (out of this world) plus Outrageous Cakes, plus veggie or bean pockets that are gluten & dairy free! Soooo good! And smoothies, and coconut caramels...

Sun Rose Cafe

The most amazing GF sandwiches you will ever taste. Seriously. Not somewhere I would take a vegetarian though.

Udi's Cafe

Yummy. Note: We have only been to the Udi's Cafe in Stapelton, when we go to the Denver Nature & Science Museum or The Denver Zoo, but there are other locations. Have you been to another of their locations? Let us know in the comments!

Vic's

Such a good Americano, & they have Outrageous Cakes too.

♥, Kelly

PS I fear I am leaving out a place we love, so I will update this if I think of any!

Salad with Creamy Honey Dijon gluten-free, dairy-free

What's the weather like where you are? And while we're at it—where are you? Here in the Longmont, Colorado we have been having hot then not so hot, as usual. ;-) Around here they say, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it'll change. And so it's been for a week or two now: 90 degrees, then 75 degrees, back to 90 degrees, then... you get the picture. Today was one of those 90 degree days, and I don't know about you, my friends, but when it's that hot outside I do NOT want to turn on my oven.

I was thinking of making a salad with my friend, Lexi's, French Dressing, until I realized I didn't have some of the ingredients. Bummer. Well, I'm putting those things on my shopping list, but in the mean time I had to figure out—what dressing ingredients DID I have? Ended up I was able to make my Creamy Honey Dijon Dressing.

For the salad itself I chopped cabbage, lettuce, celery, scallions, roasted chicken breast, carrots, celery and cucumber. A few cranks of pepper and dinner is served. :-)

♥, Kelly

Easy Broccoli Casserole, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free

I've been wanting to develop an egg-free and grain-free casserole lately. Now before you say, "But there's corn in there!" I know. Corn is a grain. I happened to get some fresh corn in the husk in my Door to Door Organics box today, so I added it to this casserole. In the future I plan to use sauteed celery and onions in place of the fresh corn. Either way, it's excellent.

The girls are usually not fans of casserole, but this they loved. Zoe thought it was so cool that, "It's Greeeen!" =) If you prefer you could leave out the spinach and it wouldn't be green.

♥, Kelly

Easy egg-free Broccoli Casserole:

can also be made grain-free

Blend:

1.5 cups cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

3/4 cup coconut milk

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder (use less if making the casserole with sauteed onions)

1 tbsp Chia Seed meal

1 cup fresh spinach

Combine:

blended liquids

3 cups cooked quinoa

4 cups raw broccoli

1 cup raw corn OR sauteed onions and celery

Pour into large rectangular baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Grocery Shopping Guide

People often ask me where I shop for groceries, which is why I put the links on the right hand side of my blog under, "Can't find my ingredients..."

However, I've had a few people also ask me, but what do you buy from one store, and what do you buy from another? Good question. =) Here are my shopping lists for each store:

Vitamin Cottage (local organic health food store in CO), Door to Door Organics, & the farmers markets:

produce that I can't get organic at Costco

Costco, organic:

rice

quinoa

chicken

frozen green beans

frozen cherries

apples

spinach

carrots

eggs

butter to make ghee

chicken broth

apple sauce

Costco, not organic:

MaraNatha almond butter

pineapple

San Pellegrino water

Izze Sparkling juice

Above: The Dirty Dozen, The Clean Fifteen

iHerb (these are all links):

Chia Seeds

Hemp Seeds

Raw Cacao Powder

buckwheat groats

liquid stevia

Guar Gum

liquid Evening Primrose Oil, because Ashley needs tons of Omega 6 (surprisingly)

Goji Berries, for pie, smoothies, & ice cream (soak for 10 minutes before using)

Azure Standard Co-op (I buy these in bulk, prices may change):

almond meal flour, 5 pounds for $27

apple cider vinegar, organic, $4.40 for 32 oz

baking soda, aluminum-free, 1 pound for $1.60, 5 pounds for $3.25

blanched almonds, 5 pounds for $23.85

cashew pieces, 5 pounds for $14.85

coconut flour, organic, 4 bags for $21

coconut milk, organic, Thai Kitchen, 12 cans for $18

lemon juice, organic, $3.90 for 16 oz, or $42.35 for a case of 12

medjool dates, organic (best I've ever had), 5 pounds for $29.95

navy beans, dry organic, 4 bags for $15.90

quinoa flakes, organic, 2 pounds for $6.50

raspberry leaf tea, organic, 6 boxes for $22.50

raspberry spread, fruit-sweetened (no added sugar), Crofter's organic, 12 jars for $31.30

shredded unsweetened coconut, organic, 5 pounds for $10.30

Sunbutter, organic, 6 for $33.45

tapioca flour, $2.20 for one or $24 for 12

Tinkyada organic brown rice spaghetti, 10 pounds for $30.65

vanilla extract, organic, 4 oz for $8.30

walnuts, organic, 3 pounds for $13.75

Coconut Sugar: my favorite coconut sugar on Amazon

Coconut Oil:
Click for the link to my Coconut Oil, green label, organic virgin coconut oil, 1 gallon for $68.50 (it's often on sale).

When filling in your account info you will come to "How did you hear of us?" Choose "Referred by a friend" from the drop down window. Adding my User ID 463260 when you make your purchase will get you a free book, Virgin Coconut Oil: How it has changed people's lives and how it can change yours! I use their coconut oil in everything I make.

I will keep updating these lists as I remember more. =)

♥, Kelly