No Cooking Today!

Overall, I'm not a fan of processed food.  I guess that's a good thing because it usually contains gluten anyway, but there are days when I'm just not up to cooking or grocery shopping.  Generally, my kids are pretty happy with some fresh fruit, cheese, and maybe some popcorn.  With a stomach bug making it's way through the entire family this week along with some strep throat and an ear infection, this mamma is spent.  The fridge is pretty much empty other than stuff that needs thrown out anyway.  So what is a gluten free mom to do?  I guess just pull out a few of the canned goods in the cupboards.  Today's lunch was Dinty Moore Beef Stew and fruit cups.  If you need a few shelf-stable items to keep on had for rough days or something easy to send with your kids for an alternative meal when they are away from home, then check out Hormel's List of Gluten Free items.

Gluten Free Rice Crispy Treats

At a loss for what to take to summer pitch-ins, rice crispy treats are a great gluten free option to please the kids.  We're heading to the end of the year picnic for my kid's school this afternoon, and our requested contribution is a dessert item.  Gluten Free Rice Crispy Treats to the rescue!  The gluten free version of Rice Crispy cereal is missing the malt flavor of the original, so I add a teaspoon of vanilla to the melted butter/marshmallow mixture before adding the cereal.  Just make sure that you use gluten free vanilla.  I purchase mine from Costco, and it is clearly labeled gluten free.  With this simple addition, nobody will be able to tell these are gluten free.  I typically do label my items gluten free though for pitch-ins just in case other guests need gluten free options as well.  It's also safer to pre-cut the treats, and put them in individual baggies or wrap them in plastic wrap to prevent cross-contamination as serving utensils tend to migrate from dish to dish at pitch-ins.