Keeping Your Houseguests Happy

I moved into an apartment all on my own last year. This helped me to finally get my antibodies down to normal "non-Celiac" levels. Well, I still live in Manhattan and have had a number of houseguests come visit the big Apple. When I was living in a "mixed" (gluten and non-gluten) kitchen, I would get gluten bread and cereal for my visitors. Now I want to keep my kitchen the gluten free haven that I have come to enjoy.

When one of my best friends came to visit from London last week, I wanted to make sure he had some breakfast options. (I knew he would be eating out for the rest of his meals.)

Apples, orange juice, string cheese, milk and eggs already stocked my fridge. To supplement those offerings I decided to get some gluten free cereal for him to snack on. While I was home at Christmas, I tried the Apple Cinnamon O’s from Glutino and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were. For Gareth, I picked up some Honey Nut O’s also from Glutino. They are light and sweet, with a great crunch even in milk. They passed the gluten-eater test; the box was finished in three days.

Not only do they taste great, they are surprisingly affordable. Regular name-brand cereals tend to cost $3-5/box. This box of gluten free cereal cost only $2.99. What a nice change from the usual “gluten free markup.”

I love to show my gluten eating friends and family how delicious it can be to eat gluten free.

Festive Frittata!

I had my first frittata when I was in Sicily, after graduating from college. The family I was staying with made a delicious version with ham and parmesan cheese as a main course for dinner.

I didn’t make my own version until this year. I started experimenting with frittatas as a brunch dish after a Saturday workout. With the eggs as the basis you can create any version just by playing with the other ingredients. You can serve it with your favorite salsa or gluten free toast. Let your imagination (or your leftovers) inspire you!

Festive Gluten Free Frittata
Serves 4

8 eggs beaten lightly or 2 cups egg whites/egg substitute
2 roasted red peppers, broken into pieces
3/4 cup cauliflower, broken into small florets
3/4 cup broccoli, broken into small florets
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
½ shredded cheddar and mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Lightly spray oil in a large frying pan with an oven-safe handle. Par-cook the vegetables by sautéing them for 2-3 minutes on med-high heat. Add the eggs or egg substitute to the pan and reduce heat to low. Stir and add the salt and freshly ground pepper. Keep cooking until the eggs are set but the bottom and edges are not too brown.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove, sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let sit for 2 minutes, cut and serve.

Be sure that the handle of the pan you use is oven safe. The other thing to be careful of is to always use a hot pad to hold the handle after pulling the pan out of the oven. (It sounds like a hard mistake to make, but after it’s been sitting on the stove you tend to forget how hot the handle still is.)