Baked Apples

BAKED APPLES

Per person:

1 large cooking apple (granny smith, Jonagold, winesap, romes--not Delicious or Golden Delicious)

1 tbsp agave nectar

1 tsp butter or dairy free margarine

Cinnamon

Core apples and cut in half. Do not peel. Place cut side up in baking pan. Dot with butte and drizzle agave nectar over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove and place on serving plate. Pour sauce from pan over apples and serve. Good with vanilla ice cream or ice cream substitute, or whipped cream/substitute.

Yasmine

GF and Allergy Holiday Tips

Holidays are more difficult when you’re gluten free. Dressing, pie crusts, holiday cookies—how do you enjoy the holiday traditions you loved as a child when you can no longer eat the same way?

Well, there are a tremendous amount of possibilities out there now, and if you check on my gluten free blog, you’ll find all sorts of sites and recommended books and magazines to help you out. I’m going to give you some tips and things to be watchful for when eating out or choosing holiday treats. It sucks, yes, to have to be aware of these things but they’re important for your health.

1. Never expect your new holiday treats to be the same texture or taste as your ‘regular’ treats. But you can get fairly close with some creativity. Gluten free brownies with peppermint frosting are incredibly tasty—and remember: they don’t always have to be the same form. Tired of trying to get the perfect apple pie crust out of gluten free mixes? You can always make it easier on yourself and make an apple crisp using crumbled gluten free cookies as a topping.

2. Before you go to parties, eat a little something so that if you get there and find nothing safe for you to eat, you don’t starve and succumb to temptation. In fact, ask your hostess if you can bring a treat to share and make it something you’re able to eat.

3. Focus on get-togethers and non-food oriented activities to create your memories. Yes, it’s wonderful to remember holiday meals together, but focus on the actual joy of being with friends and family rather than on what you had. Make sure you eat a consistent, good diet during this time so that you don’t totally sugar yourself out. And if you can’t have sugar, look for other holiday treats that you can have—the holiday goose, smoked ham, fancy cheeses, fruit salads.

4. Plan ahead for the meals—especially if you’re eating at someone’s house. If you’re invited to dinner, have no embarrassment about asking the hostess what the menu will be, and explain your food issues. I usually ask my guests what they can’t have, and what they don’t like before creating menus for dinner parties. But maybe I’m just hyperaware of the issue given my own food problems. And if you are are the hostess, please, do what I do—ask your guests. While they might be able to have gluten, maybe one has a nut allergy, or another—like me—a garlic allergy.

5. When encountering the family members who refuse to acknowledge and respect your allergies, celiac, sensitivities, be cautious for subtle sabotage. Sadly, some family members seem to think that it’s all in our minds and seek to ‘prove’ us wrong, or they only see that we’re depriving ourselves or (if we have sensitive children) our kids from goodies. They may not listen when we say “That’s going to hurt me.” So you have to watch your back. If someone hands you something to eat and is evasive about what’s in there, or if you just don’t trust your feeling about it, do NOT eat it. Thank them, say you’re full but thank you anyway, do whatever you have to but don’t eat it if you don’t know what’s there. Especially if you have full blown celiac or anaphylactic allergies.

With a little planning ahead, your holidays can be just as cheery and tasty as they were before you couldn’t eat gluten (etc.). I’ve come up for acceptable substitutes for gingerbread, and that’s with me not being able to have ginger.

Use your imagination, discuss ideas with others, and don’t let your food issues keep you from the table!

Anybody have any special holiday treats they love to make during this time of year?

Yasmine

Baked Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna" GF, EF

Made this for company and boy it went over great. It's very low glycemic, low carb, and tastes great. And it's a good replacement when you're craving pasta. Some of the measurements are 'by eye' but you'll do fine. You could add a number of things to this if you can have them: onions, garlic, black pepper...but it tastes great as it is. I can no longer try jarred spaghetti sauces--the last one left me with big blisters inside my mouth, we have no clear idea what it was.

Yasmine's Baked Spaghetti Squash

1 med-lg spaghetti squash
1 lb. ground beef, extra lean
1 lb. ground turkey
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans 15-16 oz. each diced tomatoes
2 cans 6 oz each tomato paste
1 tbsp Beef Better than Bouillon or equiv. in bouillon cubes
Appx 4 oz goat cheddar cheese, thinly sliced (you could use a cheese substitute or regular cheese if you can eat it---I can eat goat dairy but not cow)
2/3 cup grated goat or sheep romano
1 tsp dried parsley, finely powdered

Earlier in day:
Preheat oven to 350.
Put beef and turkey in crockpot on high and add olive oil. Cover.
Immediately after, cut squash in half and scoop out seeds and discard. Place squash halves cut side down in pyrex baking dish. Add 1" of water and place in pre-heated oven. Bake for 50 minutes.

When oven timer sounds, remove squash and set aside to cool.
Break up meat in little pieces and turn crockpot to low.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and bouillon. Stir well with meat and cover.
Cook on low for about 2-3 hours.

When squash cools, remove halves from pan and using fork, scrape out squash (it will be in long strands like spaghetti. Place in colander and drain for 15 minutes. Discard rinds. Refrigerate until sauce is done.

30 minutes before dinner:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Remove squash from fridge and heat in microwave thirty seconds to bring to room temperature.
In 13 X 9 pyrex baking dish, spray with cooking spray, then evenly spread squash in pan.
Cover with even layer of sauce.
Cover with slices of goat cheddar, then evenly sprinkle romano over top, then parsley.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 8-10.