First, let me tell you my criteria for the perfect Christmas breakfast.  It needs to be warm and delicious.  It needs to be easy to prepare or prepared the day before and warmed.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy standing in the kitchen by myself on Christmas morning.  I have narrowed down the possibilities to the following.

Inspired by Elana Amsterdam’s recipe in Gluten-Free Cupcakes, this recipe uses frozen blueberries and coconut flour.  They rival any blueberry muffin you have ever had.

Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine everything but the fruit, and then fold the blueberries into the mixture gently.  Put in a muffin pan with paper liners.  It makes 12.   Bake for 22 minutes or until only a few crumbs come out on a toothpick.  Eat warm.

Another contender for our Christmas morning breakfast is Cinnamon Raisin Bread.  I used to eat slices of this toasted bread for breakfast as a kid, but this version is gluten-free and SCD-friendly.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup homemade yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2-1 cup raisins, as desired

Combine the first five ingredients together.  Slowly swirl in the cinnamon and raisins so there are streaks of the spice and it is not well combined.  Put into a one quart loaf pan that has been buttered or greased with olive oil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in pan and then remove to cool on a rack until you are ready to serve.  I like mine warm with a pat of butter.

Another option is Cinnamon Coffee Cake in Lucy’s Specific Carbohydrate Diet Cookbook.  It is yummy!  It tastes similar to a cinnamon roll.  It is on page 92 of her must-have cookbook for anyone on SCD.

My final possibility is also inspired by an Elana Amsterdam recipe.  It is like a crumb cake in muffin form.  They are so good that Lane with Jake’s help made these for my birthday breakfast.

Cinnamon Crumb Muffins

1 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all the ingredients and fill half of the paper liner in a muffin tin with the batter.  Now make the topping.

3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of honey

Combine these ingredients in a bowl.  Crumble it over each muffin.  Then bake for 18 minutes.  It is ready when just a few crumbs comes off on your toothpick.  Serve these warm, too.

All of these options would be served at my house with fresh fruit, diluted juice, and/or coffee.  Whether you are eating on the SCD protocol or not, these baked goods are absolutely delicious and a great way to start your morning.  These options are gluten-free, also.

I am not sure which ones I will prepare Christmas morning.  I know my husband will ask, “Why choose?  Why not all of them?”  Well, there are several reasons, but I won’t go into all of them.  Believe me, you cannot go wrong with whichever you choose.

Steaming Bowl of Taco Soup

As I sit inside next to a roaring fire listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops gently hitting our metal roof, all I can think about is, ”What a great day for soup.”  

Seven years ago as I was trying to recover from a horrific car accident, one of my aunt’s stayed the weekend with us to help take care of me.  While there, she made this soup.  I don’t know where she got the recipe, but it is delicious.  Best of all, it is easy to make.

Aunt Do’s Taco Soup 

2 pounds of chicken breasts
2 cans each of: 
ranch style beans
kidney beans
black beans
great northern beans
corn
stewed tomatoes
package of taco seasoning
package of ranch dip
grated cheese, sliced avocadoes, and/or sour cream to garnish

Stew the chicken breasts in 12 cups of water until cooked.  I add celery, onions, garlic cloves, and carrots to the chicken to make a more flavorful broth.  Then using my hand-held blender, I puree the vegetables.

Add the stewed tomatoes and ranch style beans.  Drain the corn and other beans first and then add to the pot.  Stir in the packets of flavorings.  Simmer until hot.  Serve with grated cheese, sliced avocadoes, and/or sour cream. 

If you don’t have time to stew the chicken, then use canned chicken broth and already cooked chicken.  I do not use the ranch dip packet as it has milk.  Since the yummy goodness of the soup is not noticeably changed, I do not even try to substitute for it. 

Also if you don’t like to use packaged taco seasoning, use my recipe for it.  In an article I wrote for Welcome to the Ranch, “Homemade Taco Seasoning,” I not only gives you a great recipe, but also additional ideas for using it. 

Cornbread, biscuits, or grilled cheese sandwiches are great sides for this delicious and hearty soup.  My cookbook, the Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook, has gluten-free recipes for both the cornbread and the biscuits. 

Keep warm and dry this winter.  Enjoy this taco soup recipe.

A Tray of Gluten-Free Goodies

Traditionally before our no wheat days, on Christmas morning we woke up and ate pigs-in-a-blanket.  Since then we have enjoyed little smokies and gluten-free cinnamon rolls or muffins.  They are good, but I plan to alter our menu slightly with the discovery of these yummy little cookies.

I was making Christmas cookies like crazy for our family and to take to different Christmas parties.  I made several delicious cookies.  As I was perusing cookbooks for ideas, I came across a recipe for Soft Molasses Cookies.  They intrigued me.  I thought they would be a less sweet option than some of my sugary sweet iced cookies.  Plus with spices like cinnamon and ginger, I thought they would be perfect for this season.

I set out to convert the recipe to a gluten-free one.  And, I succeed.  These cookies are great.  It is actually hard for me to call them cookies because they are like personal little cakes or breads.  They are not crispy or crunchy at all.  The best part is that they are easy to make.  You do not have to refrigerate the dough, use a cookie press, or roll out the dough.  Simply mix together the ingredients and drop in balls onto a cookie sheet.

Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies

Gluten-Free Molasses Cookies

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening or lard
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg
1 cup almond flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Mix sugar, sour cream, butter, shortening, molasses and egg together in a large bowl until smooth.  Combine the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and gradually combine the dry with the wet ingredients.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough in the size of a tablespoon.

Bake at 375 degrees for 9-10 minutes.  It is hard to determine if they are fully cooked by sight.  Lightly touch the cookie in its center.  If it springs back, then the cookie is done.  Place on a rack to cool.  While still warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These cookies are full of Christmas flavor.  Because of their bread-like quality, they do not keep as long as other cookies.  Make them on Christmas Eve and serve on Christmas morning with oranges and sausage with cups of hot chocolate or coffee.

Other Christmas cookie recipes of mine:  Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies and Gluten-Free Holiday Cookies.  With the latter recipe, you can make a Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle.  Instead of rolling out dough, simply roll up the dough into balls.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and roll the balls of dough into the mixture.  Slightly flatten the top of the cookie with the bottom of a glass.  Cook until lightly golden at 325 degrees.

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  It is always fun to make cookies and other goodies at Christmas time.  It is even more fun to know that the goodies taste delicious regardless of your ability to eat wheat or gluten.  No feeling of deprivation here.  Gluten-free Christmas Cookies taste great!

Good old capitalism was at work at the parade.  A few women were walking the sidewalks selling cotton candy and hot chocolate.  Hot chocolate sounded wonderful.  It was awful chilly with a slight breeze.  However, hot chocolate uses milk products from a mix.  Therefore, I did not debate whether or not to pay $1.50 per cup.

When we got home, the older kids and my husband were tending to the horses.  I decided to make hot chocolate to surprise everyone.  You can make hot chocolate from chocolate squares like I wrote about in “Great Winter Drink Recipes.”  It makes good hot chocolate, but my kids were not the biggest fans of it.  So I have still been on the search for hot chocolate that even they would love. 

I have found it.  Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Hot Chocolate is out of this world.  It comes in a canister.  Its ingredients are simple: sweet ground chocolate and cocoa.  You add 4 Tbsp of the powder to one cup of milk.  Obviously we use goat milk, but I think any alternative milk like almond or rice would also make a great cup of cocoa.  Whisk the two ingredients together in a saucepan while it is heating.  Serve when the mixture begins to steam.  Top with marshmallows or leave plain. 

We also enjoy sipping on hot tea on cold evenings as we sit by the fire.  Celestial Seasonings make a few great holiday teas.  My favorite is Candy Cane Lane.  It has a refreshing minty flavor.  They have many other holiday teas like Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, Nutcracker Sweet Black, Gingerbread Spice and Sugar Plum Spice. 

If you are more in the mood for coffee, but want to treat yourself to different flavors.  Add drops of flavored stevia.  You get a natural sweetness and an additional flavor to your standard cup of joe.  I use Vanilla Creme and English Toffee.  The latter is my favorite.  I have been using it every morning this past month.  There are many other flavors available that would be good in coffee, too. 

In addition to making a delicious warm drink, you can fill your home with a great holiday scent by following my recipe for wassail.  It is posted on the ”Great Winter Drink Recipes” article.  The aroma itself will launch you into the holiday spirit.

Any of these drinks will be sure to warm you during the cold winter months.  Choose from a great hot chocolate mix, holiday flavored teas, naturally flavored coffee, and/or fruity wassail.  They are all delicious ways to stay warm from the inside out.

For anyone with dietary restrictions, Thanksgiving can be overwhelming and intimidating. What do you fix? What is a good substitution? And since most Thanksgiving dinners are joint efforts, meaning that different households make different dishes, you have to wonder how they prepared fill in the blank?

Even despite careful planning, I watched one family member pour milk into a sweet potato recipe minutes before serving it.  The fact that many of my family cannot have cow milk did not enter her mind.  She was just following the written recipe on the card.  Well, it ruled out the sweet potato dish for four members of my family, including myself.

Believe it or not, a gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner can be unbelievably delicious.  Everyone will love it.  But most people automatically think gluten-free or milk-free or nut-free means feeling deprived or unsatisfied. 

If you ever watched “Everyone Loves Raymond,” there is one Thanksgiving episode that illustrates why people have this reaction.  Marie Barone decides to make a “healthy” Thanksgiving dinner.  Instead on turkey, she serves tofurkey.  A turkey-shaped mold of tofu.  Everyone hated it.  It was not what they expected.  It did not have the same flavor or texture.  It was completely different.

The secret to success is to not change your menu drastically.  One cannot go wrong when they stick with meats and vegetables.  My advice is to keep your menu simple.  When you begin making casseroles, you start running into problems when you are working around someone’s food allergies/restrictions.  Cream of anything soup has milk and usually wheat.  I know there are gluten-free alternatives, but I don’t even try.  Green beans sauteed with onions and bacon taste much better than green bean casserole any day.

Mash your peeled and boiled sweet potatoes.  Add butter or ghee if you can have it.  Stir in brown sugar.  Then place in a casserole dish.  Cover with marshmallows.  Bake until marshmallows are lightly browned.  These are delicious.

Gluten-free homemade rolls are more challenging as is a gluten-free dressing.  I have recipes for both of these items in my Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook.  Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without turkey and dressing; therefore, dressing is a must-have.  I was excited when my step-sister specifically requested that I bring the dressing.  She loved it last year.

Gluten-free does not mean cardboard-tasting food.  There are a lot of resources available for any dietary restriction.  Of course, there is my cookbook for those who cannot eat wheat or gluten.  I have several great recipes for desserts that would be helpful during the holidays.  Also, search Texas Homesteader.  I post gluten-free recipes often.  My gluten-free graham cracker crust comes to mind.  It makes a fabulous cheesecake.

Elana’s Pantry is a good site for gluten-free foods.  Ms. Amsterdam heavily relies on almond or coconut flours, which give great results.  There are many others.  Simply search the internet for a specific recipe.  And when in doubt, go the simple route when planning your Thanksgiving menu. 

Regardless of who makes what for your feast, focus on being thankful and showing gratitude to God, to your family, and even for your food allergy and/or dietary restrictions.  I firmly believe there is a reason for everything.  Be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  You will have a great Thanksgiving.

The Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook is in print.

Hoping to bring the joy of food into the lives of those who cannot eat wheat, I decided to write the Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook.  I know what it is like to receive the diagnosis of a food allergy.  It is a sad moment.  I have said it before, but you truly do go through a grieving process.  You begin thinking about all the bread, cookies, and cakes that you will no longer be able to eat.  You stress over meals, especially when you are away from home.  The holidays with all the different traditional foods like dressing, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie seem completely off-limits.

Now you can look forward to special occasions and holidays again.  It has been a labor of love.  I have spent so much time converting my family recipes into ones that my family could still eat after being diagnosed with a wheat allergy.  I grew so tired of wasting money at the supermarket buying expensive name-brand mixes and products only to find out that they were inedible.  The last time we purchased a chocolate cake mix and made it, I could not finish it.  When I cannot finish a piece of chocolate cake, then you can rest assured there is something majorly wrong with it.

At that moment, my husband really encouraged me to write my own cookbook.  He said, “People like us (with food allergies) need to know that they are not deprived.”  You can still enjoy waffles, pancakes, and biscuits for breakfast.  You can still have dinner rolls and bread.  You can still enjoy cakes, pies, brownies, and cookies.  With my combination of blanched almond flour and sorghum flour, you can enjoy the foods you thought you would never eat again.

The Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook not only includes delicious and easy to make recipes, but it includes holiday menu ideas, resources, links, and my favorite gluten-free items.  Months ago when I announced that I was working on a cookbook in “Writing an E-Cookbook,” I explained why I did not call it a gluten-free cookbook.

Most of my recipes are gluten-free.  Just a few include oats, which is a controversial grain for anyone with Celiac disease.  There are gluten-free oats available to purchase.  I do not want to argue either side; however, you know what you can tolerate.  If you cannot eat oats, then there are only a few recipes in the entire book to avoid.  If you can, then enjoy each and every recipe.

As promised, I will be sending my first 10 subscribers their e-cookbook free of charge this coming week.  Thank you for supporting me from the beginning.  For a hard copy or a downloadable e-book, click here or go to my “Fresh from the Farm Store” page.  You can also go directly to my Texas Homesteader’s Storefront on Lulu.

If you do not have a problem with wheat, then please be excited with me.  I would appreciate any support either through a kind word through my e-mail or comments or spreading the word for me.  Word of mouth has tremendous power.