Trick Or Treat? Gluten Free Halloween

Happy Halloween!

A lot of parents must be scrambling right about now to figure out what to do for their gluten free kiddos.

"Do we take them Trick Or Treating?

Do we take them to a movie and avoid the holiday?"


How do you explain to your hyped-up four or six year old that they can't have all of the same candy treats that all of their friends will be enjoying at local pumpkin patches and carnivals?

* * *

My three children eat a 'normal' diet, whatever that means. However, four years later I still eat strictly gluten free despite my supposedly negative HLA-DQ tests.

I *feel* better gluten free. During the handful of months that I 'broke' my gluten free diet in 2010, my health plummeted rapidly with autoimmune symptoms abounding. It didn't take long for me to realize that whether or not I have a celiac diagnosis, I have a better quality of daily life when I am gluten free.

So, I'm still a gluten free lady... and a gluten free mom.

I'm lucky though because at the age of 35 it is pretty easy for me to 'deny' myself gluten-filled treats. (It doesn't feel like deprivation at all!)

When people ask me,

"How do you DO that? Don't you miss eating normally?"

I reply quite honestly, "I love feeling well, and any food that makes me feel terrible really isn't something I miss in the slightest."

But...

It would be really different if I were a little kid.

* * *

One of my dear friends has a darling seven year old daughter that suffers from ulcerative colitis. To help heal her gut, she has been on a very intense "Specific Carbohydrate Diet" which eliminates all sugar, refined grains and starch from the diet. Her daughter has been on the diet now for over four years, and is absolutely thriving.

Halloween, birthday parties, classroom parties, spontaneous snacks - these are all really difficult for my friend to navigate for her daughter though.

For Halloween, my friend came up with something really ingenious that I thought was so great, I've been using it with my own children.

She allows her daughter to go Trick-Or-Treating with all of her friends, with the strict understanding that she will not eat the candy but rather bring it back home.

Once her little girl brings the candies home in her bucket, she and her mother make a celebration of counting them out. For every ten small candies her daughter collects, my friend gives her the choice of a small toy from a bucket of toys she has collected over the years from 99cent stores.

Her daughter is elated by the chance to earn so many toys in one evening! She loves Halloween because she still gets to enjoy the costumes and fun, without feeling left out. She still gets treasures. She just doesn't eat all of the candy.

(My friend also makes sure that she prepares all of her daughter's favorite 'desserts' such as almond flour banana bread and special yogurt... so that her tummy feels 'treated' as well.)

* * *

Even though my children do not have food allergies, I loved her idea so much that we have now implemented it now in our home for three years.

We take our three kids trick or treating and then trade them toys for their candies. I bake gluten free cookies to have on hand, with ice cream. They are thrilled about the fun, the toys and the dessert. In the end, they always forget about the candy.

Still... for those who really love Halloween candy and don't feel like trading Hot Wheels for Hershey's, here are some good resources to help gluten free families navigate their way through gluten free trick-or-treating:

National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
(thanks to Sure Foods Living)
Gluten Free Candy List 2011

WhatIsGluten.Net
2011 Gluten-Free Candy List

About.Com
Gluten Free Candy, as of October 2011

Ridiculously Sweet Carob Cookies

A lot has happened since the last time I posted a recipe. Most relevant to the readers of this blog, I learned definitively that I do not have celiac disease, thanks to a panel of DNA blood tests that revealed I do not possess ANY of the genetic markers or subunits for celiac. The genes in question would have been located on the HLA class II-complex and are called DQ2 and DQ8 (plus their subunits).

The GI doctor that worked with me summed it up like this: "Given the results of your bloodwork, you have basically zero chance of developing celiac in your lifetime. You just don't have the genes for it." This, when backed up by the fact that my full celiac blood panel testing for antibodies had already been negative, was pretty conclusive. Said the GI doc, "Gluten is difficult to digest and you may be one of the many people for whom it causes irritable bowel symptoms, but you are definitely not a celiac."

With this information, my strict diet and lifestyle over the last three years came into question. I have spent the last several months meditating on my relationship with gluten and the gluten free diet... trying to figure out what feels best to my body, what I believe in, and what I should eat.

To be perfectly honest I have experimented and wheat doesn't taste very good to me any more. I've grown so accustomed to the flavors of tapioca, sorghum, rice, etc. that I have completely lost my palate for wheat. I just don't get the satisfaction out of a flour tortilla that I used to...

...so what I've come to so far, is that even if I *can* eat gluten without damaging my gut, I really don't like it all that much. I actually prefer the taste of gluten free food.

On top of which, my nearly three year old child is still suffering from chronic gut problems and I feel compelled to create dairy, soy and gluten-free meals for him every day. So cooking without gluten will remain a way of life, at least for now.

My husband and I made the hard choice last night to try to cut all cane sugar, maple sugar and fruit out of our son's diet (in addition to the dairy, soy and gluten) for the next two weeks until we can at last meet with a pediatric GI. Our child has an incredible sweet tooth, and this may be a key to his problems. So today, after wracking my brains (and the internet) to find a recipe for cookies that would be free of gluten, dairy, soy and sugar (but still somehow yummy!) I came upon a recipe by Elana's Pantry for her scrumptious Chocolate Chip Cookies.

We've heard good things about carob and its effects upon the tummy, so I decided to adapt her recipe and create some almond carob cookies. OMG!!! You cannot even believe how sweet and decadent these morsels turned out to be. My main thoughts on the recipe at this point are that the cookies don't hold together as well when they are undercooked but they burn if overcooked, so you have to hit that timing sweet spot just right... in our oven, it turned out to be 9 minutes. Also, I recommend cooling the cookies completely before removing them from the parchment paper, so that they hold together well.

Sugar lovers will NEVER believe that there is no cane sugar in these cookies... they are the sweetest things I have ever tasted. You should have seen the look of bliss on our boy's little face as he took the first bite. Unforgettable.


Ridiculously Sweet Carob Cookies

What You'll Need...

1/2 bag dry roasted & salted almonds, finely ground (or, 2.5 cups of almond flour)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (expeller pressed)
1/2 cup carob powder
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
parchment paper and a cookie sheet

How It Works...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Using cuisinart or blender, grind your dry roasted salted almonds into a fine powder. Stop blending before the oil causes it to turn to almond butter. You can use a sifter if you want it to be finer. (Or, you may purchase blanched almond flour.)

In a large bowl, add 2.5 cups of almond flour to the agave nectar, grapeseed oil, vanilla and baking soda. Mix well. Finally, stir in the carob powder and mix for 60 seconds or longer to make sure all ingredients are well combined.

This dough will really spread on the sheet so using teaspoons drop small rounds onto your lined baking sheet leaving at least 1.5 inches space between each cookie. Our rounds were about 1 inch in diameter as dough, which formed cookies that were over three inches wide.

Bake for 8-10 minutes (in our oven, 9 seemed to work the best) until cookies are firm but not burned. Remove from oven and cool entire cookie sheet on rack until completely cool. Remove cookies when cool and enjoy! Just remember, a little goes a long way! These are the sweetest cookies I've ever eaten! They're also very light and soft.

Makes 18 - 24 cookies

Green Bean Chicken

Perhaps it is not surprising that today after taking thyroid replacement hormone for the very first time I felt inspired and energetic enough to cook, photograph and write about a tasty gluten free meal for the first time in what feels like months.

Longtime readers of my blog know that I began to follow a strict gluten free diet two years ago when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease. Although there were many adjustments to make in a short time, living gluten free (and mostly dairy and sugar free) quickly became a beautiful part of my life and brought much health and joy to my family.

It only took about five to six months after going gluten free two years ago for my thyroid condition to resolve itself completely. I was also following a careful regimen of vitamin support and exercise in addition to the dietary changes, all under the supervision of a very caring and knowledgeable doctor. So I can’t guarantee that diet alone resolved my thyroid problem at the time, but I do know that I was able to get my TPO antibodies to drop from nearly 900 to 15 (normal range is <35). My TSH returned to the ideal zone, and I felt absolutely fantastic. I had well over a year of feeling absolutely amazing without medication, for which I remain so grateful. I don't think I'd felt that good since I was in high school!

Then, as I believe happens for nearly everyone at some point in their life, there came a full year of intense challenge and physical stress thanks to a high risk pregnancy and my father's death from Alzheimer's disease. After a few months of feeling pretty desperately awful postpartum I began to suspect that my symptoms went beyond typical childbirth recovery and that my thyroid problem had returned. Multiple blood tests have now confirmed that my Hashimoto’s has reactivated in full force – TPO antibodies have climbed into the thousands, I have a highly elevated TSH putting me just a breath away from full blown hypothyroidism.

As part of the new healing regimen involving bioidentical thyroid hormones, my doctor tested me again for food intolerances and has let me know that I now need to avoid corn and soy in addition to gluten and dairy. Also nightshade vegetables – especially tomatoes, and even bananas! Looks like I’ll be eating raw foods and baking a lot of bread from scratch as soy lecithin seems to be in just about everything we buy, including many of my favorite gluten free products.

You might think that I'd be discouraged by all this news... but actually, I feel fantastic! I'm so excited to begin again on the path to healing and so glad to know that there is a tangible cause behind all of the symptoms I've experienced for the past four months.

I’m sure it is literally too early to feel a beneficial effect from the vitamins and thyroid hormone that I ingested this morning, but somehow I had a lot more energy all day than I have experienced in a long while. For this reason, I decided to present for your dining pleasure one of our absolute favorite family recipes... Green Bean Chicken. A simple, hearty dish that will feed a family of four to six with ease! May it bring warmth to your stomach (and your heart) on this chilly December evening. As my health and energy continue to increase, I hope to be sharing more of our family favorites with you throughout the holiday season.



Green Bean Chicken

What You’ll Need...

Thinly sliced chicken breasts (approx 1 lb chicken)*
Long grain brown rice – 1.5 cups (although white rice is delicious too)
Chicken bouillon, 3 cups
3 shallots, thinly sliced
Garlic, 6-8 cloves
Several large handfuls fresh green beans (preferably organic)
Crimini mushrooms, 20 quartered or chopped into thick slices
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Optional: replace 1 cup of bouillon for the rice with tomato sauce

*We also enjoy making this recipe with one lb of chicken thighs, although it is of course fattier and so less healthy


How It Works...

Heat a large glug of olive oil in a four quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add thinly sliced shallots and sauté until they begin to caramelize. Next add chicken pieces (I cut up each thinly sliced breast into three equal portions) and sear both sides with the shallots, until the flesh is white on the outside but still pink in the middle. Add brown rice, bouillon and all whole (peeled) garlic cloves and bring to a boil. (If you are using tomato sauce with bouillon, add it now.) Once the liquid is boiling, add green beans (ends removed, remaining beans broken into 1 – 2 inch pieces) and all the quartered mushrooms. Dust with fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Stir well with a wooden spoon a few times to completely integrate chicken, rice and vegetables as they boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 45 – 55 minutes or until rice is fluffy and soft and vegetables and meat are moist and cooked through. Chicken should be so soft it falls apart at the touch of a fork when finished.

Serves 4 – 6.

Spaghetti (Squash) with Meat Sauce

This recipe represents one more small step on my never-ending quest to feed my children and husband more healthfully. As I've mentioned before, as the resident chef here I walk a fine line between "healthy" and "too healthy". When any meal falls into what my children might qualify the "too healthy" category (meaning that they don't think it tastes delicious enough to merit the high vegetable intake) they will mainly push the food around on their plate a little before asking what else we have in the refrigerator.

Luckily, a mommy really can't go wrong with spaghetti. Whenever my kids ask me what we are having for dinner and I reply, "Pasta with red sauce", their little faces illuminate as though I have just told them that Santa Claus himself is coming to share the meal. There may well be many children out there that don't enjoy spaghetti, but in my house, it is an absolute favorite.

Thanks to this incredible good will in our home toward spaghetti I felt like I could experiment a little and push the envelope... so lately I've been working on this homemade ragout using spaghetti squash in lieu of pasta.

I hadn't really cooked much with spaghetti squash before. In general, I think I've always been a little intimidated by most winter squashes. Luckily my local grocery store places a little sticker on each squash with specific directions for how to cook it using either the conventional oven or a microwave. The first time I tried my hand at making a spaghetti squash, I definitely didn't cook it for long enough and so the threads of squash were more difficult to fork out of the rind and perhaps a bit too al dente.

My main advice with this recipe would be to make sure that you cook your spaghetti squash until the threads are soft and supple, and then be sure to saute them a little longer once you have combined them with your meat and vegetable sauce. I always know when I've cooked the spaghetti squash perfectly because my children don't ask me why their "pasta" is crunchy. (I think this is one occasion when it is definitely preferable to overcook rather than undercook the spaghetti!) When served fresh, warm and perhaps dusted with a bit of Parmesan cheese, this meal makes an ideal option for a truly heart-healthy yet traditional family meal.


Spaghetti (Squash) with Meat Sauce

What You'll Need:

1 spaghetti squash
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 handfuls mushrooms, minced
3-4 small zucchini squash, minced
1/4 cup red Zinfandel
15 oz diced tomatoes
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
Italian seasoning
garlic powder


How It Works:

With a cleaver or strong long-bladed knife, cut spaghetti squash in half width-wise. Place one-half of squash with cut end down in about 1/2 inch of water, in a glass dish. Cover with well with plastic wrap (so that plastic is well affixed to sides of the glass dish, creating a sort of air pocket all around the base of the squash). Microwave on high for about 12-14 minutes or until you can easily remove squash "spaghetti" strands from the rind with the tines of a fork. Repeat all steps with 2nd half of spaghetti squash. Pour squash spaghetti into a large bowl, cover it and set aside.

Meanwhile...

Pour grapeseed oil into the base of a large, deep saucepan and heat at a medium-high temperature. When oil is warm but not smoking, add ground beef and break up any chunks with a large wooden spoon. Stir beef while cooking, seasoning with salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste. (I use about 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and 1/2 tsp garlic powder... but you should make it to suit your personal enjoyment and/or any health restrictions you may have.)

When meat has browned, remove it from the pan and place to the side in a separate bowl. Return your deep saucepan (with the same oil) to the stovetop burner and add minced onions. Saute for about two minutes, stirring constantly and then add garlic. Saute for another minute. When garlic smells fragrant (but has not burned), add the minced mushrooms and zucchini. (You may decide to add another glug of grapeseed oil at this point.) Combine everything well with your wooden spoon and then saute the vegetable mixture covered for 3-5 minutes. (Covering will release the moisture in the mushrooms and zucchini without drying them out.) Remove the cover, check your mixture. Stir, reduce temperature a bit and allow to continue sauteing over medium-low heat if the veggies seem too moist or raw.

When your vegetables have finished their dance in the saute pan, re-add the browned ground beef and combine well using the wooden spoon. Next add your diced tomatoes and stir them gently. Cook for the entire sauce for 2 minutes, and then add the zinfandel. Reduce heat to low, stir well, and allow to simmer uncovered. Simmer for a minimum of 10-15 minutes on low. Feel free to simmer longer, the flavor only gets more delicious with increased simmering.

As the time nears when you are ready to serve, add about 3/4 of your squash "spaghetti" strands into your meat sauce and combine everything on the stove over low heat for a few minutes to re-warm the squash strands and fuse all of the flavors together. (You may also prefer to serve the squash pasta as a "bed" with the sauce spooned gently onto its top.) If you enjoy cheese, try grating a bit of Parmesan cheese over the top of each plate before serving.


Serves 6. Just as delicious on the second day, makes great leftovers!

Betty Crocker's Cream Cheese Cookies

I grew up in the 1970s and '80s as the youngest of five children. Thanks to the spread in our ages, many of my siblings were already out of the house by the time I was a kid riding bikes, trading stickers and singing in the local elementary school pageant.

I loved listening to stories about my siblings and their adventures in the world, and longed to be as old as they were. I missed having them around. Being a youngest child with such a large age spread was a lot like being an only child - the house where I grew up was pretty quiet - and I looked forward more than anything to the holiday season when everyone would congregate back together in our parents' house to enjoy games, music, movies, laughter and lots (and lots, and lots) of food. And then there was the dessert... have I mentioned the dessert?

So many gorgeous, fabulous, decadent desserts graced our holiday table throughout the years. Of course we experimented with new recipes but certain sweet treats showed up annually by popular demand. These included sugar cookies, almond crescents (which would be fun to try making gluten free!) and our very favorite of all, Betty Crocker's cream cheese cookies.

My mom made most desserts from scratch and usually without a lot of sugar. In retrospect, that may have been part of the tantalizing allure of these fabled cream cheese cookies. Since they were made with yellow cake mix, the sugar had been pre-added by the cake company and mom couldn't tone it down or cut the proportions in half. The sweet result? A definite addiction to cream cheese cookies by all members of our family - most especially my dad :-)

Holiday meals and family gatherings have been a little more challenging to navigate since I first went gluten free two years ago. Food, usually such a uniting factor for my family, has been a sensitive topic. I get asked what people should cook, whether I will be able to eat the food they are bringing, and if not - why not.

I try in general just to enjoy whatever part of the meal that I can without putting anyone to extra trouble. This is rarely a problem as there are usually many tasty sides and vegetables that I can enjoy, and quite often the main course for holiday meals turns out to be fish. In a lasagna year, I bring along gluten free pasta or some kind of meat that has not been marinated.

The only real sense of loss that I have experienced in the last few years during the holidays has centered around the dessert table - so gorgeously piled with cakes, pies and cookies. None of which I can eat.

Which is why I absolutely FREAKED OUT when I read a few days ago that Betty Crocker is now making a gluten free yellow cake mix that can be purchased in major food chain stores all over the country. I was so excited that I did a happy dance AND called my mother to tell her that once again, I will be able to enjoy her famous cream cheese cookies at Christmas.

Of course I couldn't wait that long, since the holidays are still months away. I searched around my town until I found a grocery store that carried the magical goodies (Betty Crocker is also vending Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie mix, Brownie mix and Chocolate Cake mix). As soon as my husband returned home from work I handed him our three children and set forth to claim my Betty Crocker destiny.


So here it is... the famous Betty Crocker recipe for cream cheese cookies that my family has used for the last thirty years or so. I won't lie, the gluten free version doesn't taste exactly the same as they did when made with regular white flour - but they are still light, fluffy, moist and delicious. Your gluten free family will love them! Happy Holidays to you all three months early :-) and thank you Betty Crocker! for bringing gluten free goodness to the shelves of 'regular' grocery stores everywhere.


Betty Crocker's Cream Cheese Cookies

What You'll Need...

1/4 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese (or 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cream cheese)
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 pkg Betty Crocker yellow cake mix

*Optional
1/2 C shredded coconut or nuts


How It Works...

Cream butter and cheese. Blend in egg yolk and vanilla. Add cake mix (1/2 at a time). Mix well. If you're using a mixer, add the last part of the cake mix by hand. (If you decide to opt for the coconut and/or nuts, now is the time to add those too.) Chill dough 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees.


Either use a cookie press/ ungreased sheet/ 6-9 minutes or drop by scant tea onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes or until delicately brown.

Makes about 24 two-inch cookies.

Fabulous French Toast

Lately, my children have inspired me to be a pretty crafty chef. Today's recipe will show you how to sneak eggs into the gluten free breakfast of a cranky two year old. That said, your adult family members and guests will love it too!

Kids seem to go through phases with eating. My elder child loved tomatoes as a baby and suddenly one day decided that he would no longer eat them. Same thing with carrots... once his favorite food, now looked upon with disdain. And I've already told you about the problems we're having with bell peppers.

Our two year old started eating scrambled eggs about six months ago and couldn't get enough of them. Whenever my husband or I would ask what we should make for breakfast, the answer was always "Eggs!" Over the last two weeks though, he has begun to play a game with us when it comes to eggs. We ask what he wants for breakfast, he replies "Eggs!" but when we cook eggs for him he refuses to eat them. Worse, he will actually scoop up a cooked egg off of his plate in his grubby little hand, carry it over to my plate, plop it down (covered in crayon shavings, mind you) and say, "This is for you, mommy!" Did I mention his hysterical giggling? We are certain that he has no allergic reaction whatsoever to eggs, so it seems to be far more of a I'M-TWO-AND-I'M-IN-CHARGE type of thing. He likes to refuse to eat his breakfast to see who will blink first.

Healthy kids need more than bread and sugar for breakfast... so I decided to look beyond cereal, fruit, juices and bagels to find an alternative. The solution was so simple, I'm amazed I hadn't thought to make it years ago with my first child.

French Toast!

Yes, the same fabulous fluffy toast that your mother or grandmother might have made you when you were small... but healthier and even more delicious. This meal is a win-win: your children will get protein, choline and B12 from the hidden egg while you (wink, smile) avoid the frustration of an early morning tantrum. As my son said just this morning, "Eggs are yucky mommy! French toast is yummy!"

Preparation is simple and fast - you will be able to start from scratch and have it on the table in less than 10 minutes. What more could a tired mommy with demanding (but picky) little eaters ask for? Oh yeah, that someone would make me a piece! :-)


Fabulous French Toast

What You'll Need...

4 slices of gluten free bread*
1/4 vanilla rice milk
1 egg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 tbsp butter

*I recommend the frozen variety that you can find in many health food stores or ordered direct from companies such as Kinnikinnick. For this recipe I typically use the Whole Foods Brand Gluten Free Sandwich Bread which is sweet and thick.


How It Works...

In a medium sized bowl combine rice milk, egg and cinnamon and whisk it lightly with a fork. Are you using frozen bread? If so, toast it now so that when you are ready to soak the bread slices, they will be warm and firm. (If not using frozen bread, skip that step.)

When your bread is ready, soak it for 30 seconds per side in the egg mixture until it has absorbed the liquid but not become overly sodden.

Remove each slice after it has soaked on each side and place aside on a plate or tray until you are ready to fry it.

Melt about half of your butter in a medium sized saucepan over low-medium temperature. When the butter is warm but not smoking, add the first slice (more than one is fine if the pan is wide enough) and fry it for approximately 2 minutes on each side. Should excess egg accumulate on the sides of your toast, it is easy to gently "trim" off with your spatula before serving.

Delicious! May be served with jam, sprinkled sugar, maple syrup, apple sauce or your own favorite breakfast topping. I personally love this recipe so much I usually eat my slices just as they are, without any extras.


Serves 4. Yum!

P.S. You can make this recipe dairy/casein free by substituting canola oil or vegetable oil for the butter.

Simple Pasta with Red Sauce (...and sneaky bell peppers!)

With three children under the age of five to take care of, I don't have a lot of time these days to experiment with new recipes. Not to mention, money is a little tighter with so many mouths to feed. When it's time to make dinner, I need to know that my kids are going to both like and eat their food. Yet I also want to make sure that they are getting the nutrition they need. Which means that as much as they would love to subsist on nuggets, fries, macaroni and ice cream, it just isn't possible. They need vegetables.

One of my favorite vegetables to cook with is the bell pepper (both red and green). My husband and I use them all of the time, and they remain a staple item on our weekly grocery list. We try to buy organic (thanks to the high level of pesticide residue on regular peppers) but when we can't I just give the regular ones a good scrubbing with a fruit and vegetable rinse. Bell peppers are an amazing superfood. Not only are they a great source of vitamins B6 and C, plus folic acid and beta carotene, but they are chock full of antioxidants.

However, try telling this to a four year old child. Or actually, don't bother. If yours is anything like mine, you might as well avoid this tantrum: "BUT I DON'T LIKE PEPPERS! I HATE PEPPERS! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME EAT PEPPERS!" I'm not going to lie, my children have gone so far as to throw their peppers right off of the plate and out the door.

So why not avoid the argument altogether? Here is our family recipe for a simple pasta with red sauce where the bell peppers are so tiny, your kids (or picky partners) won't even notice them!


Simple Pasta with Red Sauce
(...and sneaky Bell Peppers)


What You'll Need...

2 large ripe tomatoes
1 medium green bell pepper, finely minced
1 medium yellow onion, finely minced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 shallot, finely minced
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
Penzeys Tuscan Sunset seasoning*
15 oz tomato sauce
grapeseed oil
1/2 pkg gluten free penne
salt

*If you can't get the Penzeys, their Tuscan Sunset is a mix of: sweet basil, Turkish oregano, Aleppo pepper, garlic, thyme, fennel, black pepper and anise seed


How It Works...


Boil the gluten free penne in a large pot of salted water, following directions on the package. While this is happening...

Mince up your bell pepper, onion, garlic and shallot. If you have a Cuisinart mini-chopper this can cut your prep time considerably, but if not just use a sharp knife and mince away! Combine them in a bowl close at hand.

In a large, deep saucepan pour a good sized glug of grapeseed oil and heat at medium temperature. When the oil is hot but not smoking, use your clean bare hands to squish two large ripe tomatoes over the pan and then add their juice and flesh to the warm oil. Next add the minced vegetable mixture and saute over low heat until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chili and garlic powders, a liberal sprinkling of Penzeys and the bay leaves. Stir and saute for about 1 additional minute. Finally, pour in the tomato sauce, and reduce heat.

Simmer the sauce on low for about 8-10 minutes and then remove from heat and allow to sit for a few minutes. It will thicken slightly. When your penne has finished boiling, drain it and then add it into the sauce pan full of red sauce. Stir gently with a large wooden spoon until all pasta is well coated with the thickened red sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (if necessary... I don't add extra salt or pepper to ours.) Serve to your family or guests while still warm.

P.S. I made this pasta with red sauce again last week and not only did my kids not notice the green bell peppers, they asked for seconds and thirds :-) HeeHee!


Serves 4-6 and makes a fabulous comfort food.
Yum!