Pop-On-Over for my Sunday Popovers *wink wink*

As of late, I have made Sundays my sacrosanct baking and experimenting day. As I am sure you are dying to hear my Sunday routine, I will not disappoint: I get up, work out, shower, do my laundry and clean, the snuggle into some comfy clothes, grab a glass of wine (only after 2pm of course...) and a Sex and the City season, and start baking! Unfortunately not all of my delictable baking results are allergy friendly so I have to rely on the satisfied and grateful expression of family and friends for some. Even so, I have tried to make it a habit of including at least one yummy gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free treat for me, since I worked so hard.

This past Sunday, my allergy friendly treat came from a new favorite (and quite fancy, I might add) cook book I picked up at Anthropologie: Blackbird Bakery Gluten Free by Karen Morgan. Not only do I feel like the coolest, most sophisticated baker when I use this cookbook, I feel like the most sophisticated, coolest eater when I am enjoying them. The chewy, soft, scrumptious Popovers, with a few changes for replacing the dairy and soy ingredients, left me satisfied and ready to take on a new work week! Well, almost ready, I did a little shoe browsing to soften the blow...as Carrie Bradshaw says, "I decided, the only way to break free was to move from one addiction, to an even bigger one.....shoes."

Allergy Friendly Popovers Recipe

When I runaway, I'm bringing this with me

I often say that I am and will run away from dullsville novi/Michigan to go somewhere way awesome; then I remember the amazing dairy/soy/gluten-free pizza at Amici's. If you've read any of my previous posts on this excellente ristorante you know the affinity I have for the atmosphere and food. My new discovery? Red Apple Martinis! Quite literally a "wooohooo!" in my mouth. If I run away, I'm going to need a lot of to-go cups...

Best Store Finds in A2!

Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Chexs?!?!?! Yesssssss

That's right, all you out there missing and constantly craving/glaring at those who have Apple Cinnamon Cherrios, Chex has come out with a gluten free apple cinnamon cereal! I just about bounced off my exercise ball at work today (my desk buddy Kris can attest to this) when I saw the email from GlutenFreely.com and knew I wasn't the only allergy compromised lover of Apple Cinnamon Cherrios out there. So breathe easier and celebrate cereal lovers, I'll let you know when I try it, you do the same!

Btw here's a coupon link :)

http://shop.glutenfreely.com/dp/B0087E9S2M?utm_source=gf_newsletter&utm_medium=email

Back in the Swing of Things! (new allergies in tow)

And we're back! After a crazy senior year, move, and a complicated allergy test I'm back with new and exciting recipes and suggestions to pass along!

First things first: new allergies. After a very itchy allergist visit, endoscopy and visit with my tummy doc we've added quite a few new allergies to the list, including peppers, soy (hence the title change), beans, & strawberries among others. Once I threw myself a very successful pity party, I set out to find new yummy recipes and places to satisfy my seemingly endless cravings.

Taking one step at a time, it seems only fitting to jump exactly one year since my last post: memorial day.

This memorial day took a bit of a different form this year. Our traditional family get together (aka my day to create an allergy-free feast) was on Sunday. For my spread, I took notes from a few different vegan magazines and added my own twists. One of my. personal favs was a cucumber salad with Dijon dressing; let's call it French-Ish Cucumber Salad. The cucumbers are thinly sliced, giving them a light satisfying crunch and the tangy Dijon dressing coats the tongue, providing the perfect spice to the cool cucumbers...oh so beuno! In terms of chips, I bought some Veggie Straws to snack on like everyone else, it's only fair ;) . For dessert, I bought myself raspberry sorbet and made a balsamic fig dressing to give it that little extra something. Needless to say, I went to bed quite fluffy and satisfied!

On the actual memorial day, Jenni and I decided to go big and headed out to Ann Arbor for restaurant hopping. We started at Cafe Felix with a few Mimosas...sooooooo gooood! We then went to our personal favorite pomme frites location: Jolly Pumpkin. We indulged in warm marinated olives, Blackbird martinis, rosemary pomme frites (or French fries for the non-French speakers), and grilled romaine salads. For those who share my soy allergy, avoid the aioli that comes with the fries and salad dressing, those with dairy allergies get the salad sans potato croutons, sadly it has cheese baked in. After dinner we headed back to end the day at Cafe Felix, which has 1/2 off martinis on Monday's 7pm-11pm; Hollar! I sipped a John Daley and watched the sun set, perfect way to end a perfect day :)

Memorial Day: A Day of Remembrance, Reflection, and Gluten/Dairy Free Macaroni Salad

Traditionally, Memorial Day is a day of not only epic parades, but also massive feasting with friends and family. I'm sure everyone comes up with a similar image in their head when they hear Memorial Day: BBQ's, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, and pie with ice cream. Even given my many tummy troubles, I am still one such person who pictures the day as such.

So this year when my mom brought up the annual Memorial Day/Brothers' Birthday Party BBQ at our house, I decided to take matters into my own hands and to create a scrumptious dish (and hoard it) for myself. I figured that would ease the blow of the massive rolls covered in butter, fudgey birthday cake, and creamy brownie ice cream that would be dished out.

In my search I turned to my favorite and always delicious Cooking For Isaiah cookbook to see what Silvana had in terms of BBQ food. I marked pages with traditional potato salad and leafy green salads when I came across the Macaroni Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives*...my mouth immediately started watering plus it looked like it would appear to be "real" food so I could really feel like one of the group ; )

It was relatively easy to make, took only a handful of ingredients, and was amazingly refreshing and delicious. Although the original plan was to hoard it all to myself, I graciously doubled the recipe and scooped a big serving into a tubaware for only me : )

*Macaroni Salad Recipe

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Banana Cookies for Only 7 Calories?! Yes : )

It is no secret, I love love love my bananas. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, you name it, I'll add a banana to it. So when two of my bananas went too bad/bruised to eat, I was not simply going to toss them away; that would just be silliness. Instead, I decided to combine three of my favorite things: bananas, cinnamon, and cookies : )

After much searching through  various banana cookie recipes, I decided to combine a few with a gluten/dairy free twist. I started by replacing the regular all-purpose flour with the Silvana's gluten free flour  mix from the Cooking For Isaiah cookbook. After those came out moist and gooey and overall amazing, I decided to move towards an even healthier version by replacing the eggs and butter. For the butter I tried two different versions: oil and applesauce. In the end the applesauce came out the most moist and had the least amount of calories. I replaced the egg with organic, cage free egg whites. My final adjustment came when I replaced the sugar. Not generally pleased with the flavor and texture that Splenda and its imitators in terms of a sugar replacement in baking, I decided to try a natural version that didn't contain tummy upsetting chemicals. This little adjustment not only kept the flavor similar to the original, but helped dramatically decrease those nasty calories.

In the end, I was able to make some of the most delicious gluten free, dairy free, almost vegan banana cookie poppers* that were only SEVEN calories and practically no fat per teaspoon+ cookie...in my mind, this equals success : )

*Gluten Free Diary Free Banana Poppers