Georgetown Cupcakes

Question: What do you think of when you think of Georgetown?

A) A beautiful harbor with cozy restaurants and cafes

B) A spectacular view overlooking the Potomac and the Kennedy Center?

C) Clusters of Hoyas sporting blue and gray near Georgetown University’s campus

D) The award-winning, gourmet cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes

Answer: It’s a no brainer – Georgetown Cupcakes, of course!

You can’t visit Georgetown without stopping by Georgetown Cupcakes. It would nearly be a crime. Scratch that. It would be a crime. Do you remember watching the Food Network on a late summer night and seeing the hit series DC Cupcakes? It made you salivate so much that you wanted to eat half a dozen cupcakes right then and there? Well, hopefully it rings a bell because the stars of the show are none other than the creators of Georgetown Cupcakes!

Alright, let’s get right to it. Hands down some of the best gluten-free cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. Not all the cupcakes are gluten-free, but everyday, Georgetown Cupcakes offers one freshly baked gluten-free cupcake flavor (and one vegan flavor). The gluten-free varieties include lava fudge, chocolate salted caramel, strawberry lava fudge, chocolate birthday, and peanut butter fudge. I’ve had the pleasure of trying the lava fudge, strawberry lava fudge, and peanut butter fudge – and I will vouch for them all! What excites me the most about Georgetown Cupcakes is that just because the cupcakes are gluten-free, the complexity of the flavors are not compromised. In other words, with most cupcakeries, you won’t be so lucky to find gluten-free cupcakes, and if you are lucky, cupcakeries with gluten-free options typically offer a vanilla or chocolate cupcake.You might get cream cheese icing if you’re lucky. Gluten-free flavors tend to be very standard flavors, they aren’t usually the adventurous flavors. And Georgetown Cupcakes truly defies that notion. The strawberry lava fudge has a delicious strawberry icing and a soft chocolate cake base that melt in your mouth with a gooey, rich, chocolatey “lava-like” filling just flowing out of the cupcake. It’s a work of art.

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So, how do you get your hands on these cupcakes? Well, Georgetown Cupcakes can be found in Georgetown, Bethesda, NYC, Boston, LA, and Atlanta. If you can’t make it in person, don’t fret. They deliver all across the country! I once received a dozen gluten-free cupcakes from here via mail as a surprise present to cheer me up – take my word for it, your family and friends will love you forever if you ship them some of these cupcakes!

Cheers,

Anika

Easy Garlicky Spinach Pizza

Ingredients:

  • 1 of Udi’s Gluten-Free Thin and Crispy Pizza Crusts (from the freezer section)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup of Classic Four-Cheese Alfredo Sauce
  • Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves
  • 1/2 cup of Mozzarella Cheese
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°. Leave the Pizza Crust at room temperature until it defrosts. Evenly spread 1/2 cup of Alfredo Sauce and garlic on the pizza crust. Cover the pizza crust with spinach leaves. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the spinach leaves. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until cheese is lightly browned. Enjoy!

Note: The pizza crust is roughly nine inches across.

Milk Cake (Kalakand)

Ingredients:

  • 1 small container of ricotta cheese, water strained
  • 1 can of condensed milk
  • 1 cup of Instant Nonfat Dry Milk

Combine the ricotta cheese, condensed milk, and instant nonfat dry milk in a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl. Stir well. Microwave for five minutes. If the mix starts to rise, stop every minute, open the microwave door to let the air in. After the five minutes are complete, stir the mixture again. The mixture should be thicker. Microwave for another five minutes. Again, pause if the mix is rising. Stir throughly. The mix should be even thicker now. Microwave for about 2-3 minutes more depending on the consistency. Remove from microwave and stir well. Let the mix cool for 20 minutes or until room temperature. Then transfer the mix from the mixing bowl to a rectangular dish. Refrigerate. When ready to eat, cut the milk cake into small square pieces. Store any left overs in the refrigerator.

Artichoke au Gratin

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 8 oz. pepperjack cheese
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  • 1 jar artichoke hearts (drained, chopped)
  • Optional: Chopped Jalapeño Peppers, 1 tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix mayonnaise, pepperjack cheese, Parmesan Cheese, garlic, artichoke hearts, and any additional ingredients. Microwave for five minutes. Stir well. Bake at 400° for 20 min. Serve warm.

Stockholm, Sweden

This is a beautiful city. I walked through the old cobbled streets of Gamla Stan and explored the breathtaking Drottningholm Palace and the Glorietta. Although the sights were by far the highlight of the trip, I had a great experience in terms of gluten-free foods. For breakfast, we had called the Intercontinental Grand Hotel in Stockholm (the hotel we stayed at) well ahead of time to inform them of my allergy. The hotel was excellent in providing a variety of options in the never-ending breakfast buffet. In addition to the cold meat, cheeses, fruits, eggs, potatoes, etc., they offered gluten-free corn muffins, cupcakes, rolls, scones, and breads. I was in heaven! As for meals outside of the hotel, as I do enjoy seafood, the smoked salmon (gravlax) with a dill, mustard sauce (gravlaxsas) was by far one of my favorite Swedish dishes. I also tried a variety of Swedish sausages and some lingonberry jam. Because of the easily accessible gluten-free options, I was able to enjoy the Scandinavian beauty of Stockholm, while remaining on a safe and healthy gluten-free diet!

September 2015: KIND Healthy Grains Bars

“Things that are bad always taste good”

I’m sure many of us have experienced this phenomenon in our daily eating habits: foods that taste good are not good for you. However, that is not the case for KIND Healthy Grains Granola Bars. These wonderful square bars are packed with 5 super grains and 18 to 22g of whole grains. The traditional KIND Healthy Grains Bars come in five flavors: Oats & Honey, Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, and Vanilla Blueberry. Having tried all of the varieties, I can say they are all delicious. They are a lighter alternative to KIND Bars as they are granola-based and not nut-based; each KIND Healthy Grain Bar is 150 calories or under compared to KIND Bars that are 190+ calories. There are also two coffee-infuse KIND Healthy Grains Bars: Caramel Macchiato and Dark Chocolate Mocha. I haven’t yet been able to get my hands on these flavors, but as a coffee lover and KIND Bar enthusiast, I imagine these will be my new favorites! Finally, KIND Healthy Grains has popped bars with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt varieties. This is next on my to-buy list; I imagine they would taste like flavored popcorn, which is enough to convince me to try these bars. For anyone with dietary restrictions, these bars are the perfect snack! And even if you don’t have any dietary restrictions, these bars are little squares of deliciousness and sweetness that aren’t just “a good snack considering they are gluten-free”. Hope my fellow northeasters are surviving Jonas!

Cheers,

Anika

August 2015: Cheerios

Hello, it’s me.

Attempting to channel my inner Adele… anyways, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I do apologize for my rather lengthy hiatus. Fall of senior years is never what you expect; you never know exactly what you’re in for uni you’re in it. But I’m back and I’m back for good. I’m going to try to make up for lost time over these next few weeks… and before we know it, it’ll be the New Year!

Moving on, I don’t know if this resonates with any of you, but before I was diagnosed with Celiac, Cheerios was one of my childhood favorites. It’s a classic cereal. I can’t quite articulate why I chose that adjective but it just feels right. Originally made from whole grain oats that were contaminated by wheat, rye, and barley grains (remember, oat in and of itself is gluten-free, however is often times contaminated in production by gluten-containing ingredients), Cheerios has now officially GLUTEN-FREE having removed these contaminants. I was almost leaping with joy when I heard this news! For those of you who have been eating gluten-free Cheerios for a little awhile like me, you know why I’m raving about this. For those of you who are just learning about this, this warrants a trip to the grocery store.

My brother attests to the fact that the taste has not changed– its the same old, great Cheerios just gluten-free so we, gluten-free foodies, can enjoy too! I personally enjoy the taste of original Cheerios– it certainly beats Glutino’s Apple Cinnamon Rings and all other wannabe Cheerios. However, I do like to jazz up my Cherrios: topped with Craisins in vanilla almond milk is a delicious way to start the day. You can also top with  bananas, blueberries, strawberries, chopped pecans, walnuts, and brown sugar. Or add your Cheerios to your favorite yogurt. Or even make a trail mix with Cheerios, raisins, cashews, and chocolate pieces. Pick up a box in the local grocery store and share in the comments how you are eating your (gluten-free) Cheerios! Welcome back to your childhood!

Cheers,

Anika

Pecan Pie

theglutenfreeyou's avatarThe Gluten-Free You

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups pecans
  • 1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust (we always use GlutenFree Bakehouse Pie Shells)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Stir the corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Mix in the pecans. Pour this mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 60-65 minutes. Remove pie before it blackens. When tapping the center of the pie lightly, the center should spring back up if the pie is done. Cool for about 2 hours and store in the refrigerator.

Recipe modified from karosyrup.com.

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July 2015: Chex Honey Nut Granola Mix

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” -Buddha

Each day is a new day. A chance to meet someone new or try something new. An opportunity to tackle a problem or accomplish a goal. A new beginning to make a change. To make the most of each precious day, you need to start off your day right. And we’ve all read the magazine articles, seen it all over the internet, and heard it from our friends and family: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And lucky for us, the most important meal is also the trickiest meal for those of us who steer clear from gluten.

I have always struggled to find good gluten-free breakfast options. Let me rephrase that, I have always struggled to find healthy and tasty gluten-free breakfast options. Yes, there are some decent cinnamon and chocolate gluten-free donuts in the freezer aisle, but as far as truly delicious cereals and granolas that are good for you? Oh, please! That is until just a few weeks ago I discovered Chex Honey Nut Granola– I’ve been eating it every morning since with 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk. This granola has a great nutty texture with Chex squares, almonds, and nut clusters and just a bit of honey to sweeten it up, making a truly a satisfying breakfast. I was immediately reminded of my childhood eating Honey Bunches of Oats every morning– something I have not been able to indulge in since I was diagnosed with Celiac. I do like the Chocolate and Cinnamon Chex cereals as well, however, this is by far the best gluten-free granola I’ve had! And no cholesterol and only 1 gram of saturated fat! And if you’re not a fan of the Honey Nut Chex cereal (like me), do try this granola, you won’t regret it! There’s also a Mixed Berry Almond variety of this granola that I haven’t been able to get my hands on, but do comment and let me know if you have!

What are your favorite gluten-free granolas and cereal? Comment below!

Cheers,

Anika

Scientists Develop Pill That Could Let Celiacs Eat Gluten

Hello friends! My summer hiatus has gone far too long– look out for a string for blog posts this upcoming week.

Let’s start with some very exciting news! I found a very interesting article on IFL Science about the development of a pill for people with celiac disease similar to the Lactaid pills for those who are lactose intolerant. Fingers crossed that product will be on the shelves in just a few years!

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Scientists Develop Pill That Could Let Celiacs Eat Gluten

Scientists create a pill that would reduce the damage to the guts from eating gluten in Celiacs

iflscience.com | By Justine Alford