25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

Montreal: A Raw Food Adventure

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We just got back from a fabulous trip to Montreal. We only spent one night, but it was so much fun. We celebrated Matt's birthday in style - strolling the streets of the Old Port, shopping on Saint Laurent, drinking fine wine and eating amazing food.

Our gluten-free culinary tour of Montreal began at a pub-like restaurant, called Cafeteria, on Saint Laurent. It was a late brunch in hopes to fuel us through our day of shopping. Unfortunately, it was over priced, underwhelming, unsatisfying and definitely not the way I wanted our adventure to start. But have no fear, the rest of our trip was sensational.

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Gluten-Free Breakfast Cereal Bowl

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Wake up to something delicious and nutritious this morning.

Breakfast is my favorite meal, and for as long as I can remember, cereal has been my breakfast of choice. The cold milk mixed with sweet, crunchy cereal and topped with fresh fruit, is pure bliss.

I love cereal so much that upon my return to the United States after living in Spain for 6 months, my first meal was cereal. A huge bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats (always with Almonds) with granola (sadly not homemade) on top. Yep, totally packed with gluten and I totally enjoyed every single bite of it.

Anyway, when I took gluten and dairy out of my diet, cereal pretty much fell by the wayside. Much to my dismay (at the time at least), my daily bowl of cereal was replaced with green smoothies, quinoa muffins, gluten-free scones, and puffed rice cakes with almond butter and apples.

Of course, now I couldn't be happier with my lifestyle and breakfast options. But that doesn't mean I haven't been missing cereal. At least until this recipe came along. I was inspired. I could now combine my healthy, amazing gluten-free breakfasts with my beloved bowl of cereal.

To put it simply, I've found the perfect bowl of gluten-free breakfast cereal.
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Cocoa-Beet Quick Bread

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Beets and Chocolate. An usually delicious combination.

Yes, it's true. I'm guilty. Another gluten-free quick bread recipe. Trust me, it's not that I'm getting stale or bored in the kitchen, it's just that I really love sweet breads (I also have a new found adoration for gluten-free muffins!). Especially for breakfast. Smothered in almond butter. Mmm.

As difficult as it is for some people to wrap their heads around living and eating gluten-free and dairy-free, it is breads like this that make me realize how lucky we actually are. As delicious and enjoyable as all those gluten-filled treats once were (and probably still are), I'm absolutely loving perfecting my own gluten-free baked goods.

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Alyssa's Favorite Raw Snacks

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A post completely dedicated to my dehydrator

I've started playing around with raw foods lately. I don't know what sparked my interest, but as I was reading all the gluten-free blogs that I follow, raw foods just kept popping up. Not often, but enough that I was interested, so I started doing some research and eventually this lead me to purchase a dehydrator.

I found two amazing sites that I have continued to go back to when I'm feeling inspired to make something raw.
  1. Choosing Raw
  2. This blog is amazing. Although Gena is not dedicated to gluten-free eats, the majority of her recipes are, and she's vegan, so everything is dairy free as well. Perfect for me! She has a mixture of raw and cooked recipes, and each one looks just as amazing as the next. Also, Gena is a full-time student, so her recipes tend to include lower budget ingredients and are usually pretty easy to put together. What could be better? If you haven't checked our her blog, I highly recommend it!

  3. Rawamzing
  4. I don't know how I stumbled upon this amazing site, but boy am I glad I did. The recipes, the photographs, the ingredients, all stunning. Susan's raw foods are absolutely mouth watering. Many of her recipes are a bit more involved than those on Choosing Raw, but the end result seems totally worth it. (I have to admit, I haven't made any of her recipes yet - they're my goal, not my reality at the moment).

These women have inspired me - along with the delicious meal that I had at Crudessence on our trip to Montreal - to try experimenting with more raw foods. I've started with the basics: dried chips, fruits, cereal and desserts (my Carrot Cake Bites & Chocolate Coconut Balls are both awesome!). So far, everything has turned out great - especially my Zucchini Chips - and I'm excited to continue to experiment and learn more about this new world of food.

The following THREE RECIPES (I know a bit over zealous, but I'm leaving for the weekend and want to leave you all with some yummy recipes to try) are a few of my trials!


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We're moving!!

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I have big news: the Queen of Quinoa is moving!

Make sure all your links are updated - we're going to be living at queenofquinoa.me!

I'm sorry if it seems like I've been a bit MIA lately, but I've been busy getting my new site up and running. I'm super excited about this move and can't wait to see you all over there! Please bear with me as we work out the kinks and I would love to hear what you think.

In case you missed them, here are my latest posts:


Detox Salad {gluten-free & vegan}



Balsamic Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp


Mango Cardamom Juice


24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

St. Patty's Day Straw Flags Done 3 Ways!

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Holidays (small or large) get more exciting each year as the kids get older.  I'm excited to pull out all of the leprechaun pranks and green foods.  I know I've already shown you these St. Patty's Day printables, but I thought it might be helpful if I show them in use multiple ways.The straw flags/tags could be used as just that, straw flags......or as a shirt tag exclaiming "kiss me"......or as a little banner hung next to the leprechaun's treats left in the kiddo's shoes.  Can't wait to stuff their shoes with fun green treats (ideas-- mike & ikes, sprite, limeade drink, green spearmint gum, green canister of pringles...etc. you get the jist of it).This was a quick shamrock banner made by those sparkly foam cut outs that can be found at any craft store.  I got mine at Michaels 50% off and three packages cost me all of $3.  Love deals like that! As I was hanging banners and taking pictures, this little fella snuggled in on the couch to watch me.  Too bad his name isn't "Lucky", that would be so fitting for this post.  Thus, his name is "Gus" and we love him whether he's an Irish dog or not.

{free printables} Happy Father's Day to All Those No.1 Dads!

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Jillian over at Catch My Party asked if I could create some Father's Day printables and these are what I came up with.  Head on over to see Jillian's post or download them below.Pictures above courteous of Jillian at Catch My Party.
Included in the printable set:
-2 inch cupcake toppers/party circles
-Father's Day Sign/Quote
-Cupcake wrappers
-Straw Flags/Tags
-Bottle Lables
-Folding Food Labels
-5x7 inch Folding Card
-No.1 Daddy BannerThe above picture is obviously from me-- not so professional looking, but we're ready to celebrate our No.1 daddy on this special day!

{real party} Pilot Graham's 2nd Birthday Airplane Party

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Climb aboard Fuller Airlines for one sky high party!  Our little Graham turned two (sob) and when planning his party I gave him a few choices.  I asked him if he wanted a 'balls and bubbles' party or an 'airplane' party (both themes are absolute LOVES of our little one) and as you can see he chose "pairplanes" as he calls them.  Party guests were greeted by this fun balloon wreath and sign.  The kiddos got to take home some baggage with their very own personalized luggage tags. In their baggage party favors we included, a fun scratch off coloring page, airplane kits, bubbles, pixie sticks, candy airplane, in-flight snacks (popcorn), star suckers, and blow-outs.The decor was minimal due to the fact we hosted the party after church on Sunday.All party printables were created by me and can be purchased at Embellish's Etsy shop.The lollipop suckers were custom made by Gary's Tempting Little Bites on Etsy and then I added the cut-out propellers, punched the holes and slipped them onto the sucker sticks.
don't mind the incorrect spelling on "propeller"
Guests drank "Jet Fuel" (water & Capri Suns)...... and ate their in-flight meals.  Adults had chicken croissant sandwiches, chips, potato salad, and fruit.  Kids ate PB & J, chips, pudding cups, and string cheese.  I purchased these fun plastic clam shell boxes from my local grocery store's bakery/deli.  The manager only charged me $.05 a piece. STEAL!The party was originally going to be outside, but at the last minute we pulled it inside due to the overcast weather.  Everyone had fun, nonetheless.The birthday boy had a blast throwing his "pairplanes" around our house and I loved watching every minute of him enjoying his time with friends and family.This is the best family picture we could muster.Fun was had all around and the many planes are still flying all over my house a week later.

Rainbow Art Birthday Party

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Last month we celebrated my “baby” Joy’s 6th birthday.  How does this happen… the little (well, if 9 lbs is little) baby we brought home from the hospital not too long ago is now 6!  Joy has always been the perfect name for this fun, rambunctious, confident little girl.  She dives into life head first…and has a few stitches to prove it!

We celebrated Joy’s birthday with a colorful Arts & Crafts Birthday Party.  I chose this theme partly because I knew we’d be inviting both boys and girls, and wanted something fun and interactive that everyone would enjoy.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and everyone seemed to have a really great time!

Please enjoy Joy’s Art Party…

I designed the party invitations to fit inside a standard watercolor paint set.  Since I knew we’d be hand delivering the invitations, it was a special way to give the guests an idea of the fun we’d be having.  I bought the watercolor sets (Wal-Mart is the cheapest place I found), then removed the cardboard Crayola label inside and used that as a template for the invitation.  I designed the invitation so that I could fold it in half and the image on one side would show through the box (the “You’re invited… ” part), and the other side (which would be inside the paint box) would include the party details.  I added some pretty ribbon and a little name tag for each guest.

As I was planning the dessert/snack table, I made a set of 3 rainbow crayon art canvases to act as the backdrop, and pull in the whole theme.  I love how they turned out, and will share more details on the canvases soon.

Along the back of the table, I lined up a row of bud vases with bright gerbera daisies.

Snacks included…

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, baked in grease-proof polka dot baking cups (called ”Color Cups” from Wilton).

Fresh Fruit & Pretzels (in polka dot baking/snack cups)

Decorated Sugar Cookies (here’s my Sugar Cookie Recipe)

I had fun making simple, yet colorful crayon shaped cookies, and added a special personalized cookie to the tray as well.  The personalized cookie was hand-painted, in the same way I recently made some hand-painted Valentine’s cookies.

Simple snacks of fresh fruit (above) and pretzels (below) were served in colorful polka dot baking/treat cups (available from TomKat Studio, Shop Sweet Lulu, and Sweet Estelle’s Baking Supply)

I planned two main crafts for the kids to complete during the party.  In addition, I covered the entire party table with white paper (from the teacher supply store) and allowed the kids to draw all over the table.  The kids were able to color on the table while we waited for all the guests to arrive.  I had jars of crayons and colored pencils (as well as paintbrushes for our other craft) all along the table.

 

The first craft was a personalized mosaic canvas, which included the initial of each child’s name.  Each guest chose the color they’d like to paint the letter, and got to work…

The final craft included the painted initial, on top a mosaic covered canvas.  I’ll share all the details for this fun project in the next few days.

The second party project was for each guest to color their own “cookie canvas” (inspired by The Decorated Cookie).  I baked and iced (with royal icing) large cookies in a couple different shapes.  I prepared the cookies (and added the frame) just as I did for the Valentine’s cookies I posted HERE.  Be sure to allow at least one full day (or more) for the icing to dry before the kids are going to color them.  I provided the guests with food color markers, and they had fun being creative!

 

Certainly, the crafts the children created during the party would have been adequate favors, but before I had even settled on the party crafts I had already prepared these cute favor pails…

Small paint can pails (available from Oriental Tradding Company, or Michael’s) were filled with mini colored pencils, bubbles in a crayon shaped container, an erasser, a rainbow lollipop (from Party City), and multi color crayon “pods” I made from broken, melted crayons.

Joy’s birthday was a fun and creative day, and we really enjoyed sharing it with friends!

All photos, food, and styling by me/Joy’s mommy/Glorious Treats.