1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup ice cubes
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1-2 Tablespoon agave nectar (depending on how sweet you like your smoothie)

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and combine until smooth.  Add more water or juice if you want a thinner smoothie.

The girls said that their drinks were the best they ever had – I have a feeling it is because they made it with love:)

Make some cupcakes, take a picture and share them with the community by posting to the ACDA’s Facebook page.  Then post to your Facebook page, blog and link back to the ACDA’s page. Vote for your favorite cupcake by “liking” the photos on the Alliance Facebook page.

Plus you can win prizes!  It doesn’t get much better than that.  Make cupcakes, eat them and get a chance to win a prize.  Prizes will be awarded in categories like best presentation; most unique decorations; most years being gluten-free; and  kids categories.  The winners will receive products and coupons from several gluten-free companies.  Get out those whisks and mixing bowls.  The more likes we receive the more voices will be heard from our virtual community.  Go to 1in133 for guidelines.

I’ll be making my cupcakes this week.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with!  I hope you will share a link in the comment section here too.

Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan and New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey have introduced legislation that will require drug manufacturers to label the source of drugs’ inactive ingredients. This means we will actually know what is in our medicine and if it contains gluten.

To move the bill ahead we need bipartisan cosponsors by May 8! All five of the national Celiac organizations are united in support of this legislation.  Now you need to let your members of congress know that this is an important issue.   Gluten in medicine must be labeled so individuals and their healthcare providers can make an informed, safe choice.

Tell your State Representative to support this legislation now!

It is grilling season and you can put this on chicken, pork, beef or shrimp.  Personally, I like to put my meat in a ziploc bag and then add some sauce.  Mix it up in the bag and seal the bag.  Allow the meat to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours.  This is the perfect spicy marinade for grilling.

You can add a teaspoon or two to your veggies before stir-frying or sauteeing.  It is also nice to top the veggies with sesame seeds or slivered almonds for a lovely display before serving.

If you like spicy eggs, a dash in your morning egg scramble would be nice.  Personally, I haven’t tried this, but I bet it would work well.

Here are a few recipes from the San-J site (www.san-j.com) that you might like to try.

Schezuan Party Mix
Schezuan Prawns
Schezuan Eggplant Stirfry
Lean & Spicy Miso Turkey Burgers
Baked Szechuan Tofu with Ginger Green Beans

This recipe is gluten, dairy, soy and nut-free.  I did use eggs in this recipe.  I haven’t yet mastered the art of baking without eggs.

My contribution to the giveaway is this very yummy Apple Spice Loaf.  It is quite an ugly name for an amazingly moist and tasty cake/bread.  It is really a cake made in a loaf pan.

You can make this in three small loaf pans instead of a large pan.  I didn’t bake them this way but I assume you would bake them for 30-40 minutes.  If you do this, please comment so everyone knows how long to bake them.

Dry Ingredients
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour Blend
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons apple pie spice (pumpkin pie spice can be substituted)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups water or apple juice
1/2 cup canola or grape seed oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Additional Ingredients
2 cups  peeled Red Delicious apples, diced into 1/4″ pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with spray oil.

Peel apples and dice into 1/4″ cubes.  You will need approximately 2 cups of apple pieces.  Set aside apple pieces for use later in the recipe.

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and combine using a fork or a whisk.

Put all wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Turn speed on low speed until combined.

Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and allow the mixer to incorporate the ingredients.  Once combined, turn speed to medium and mix for an additional minute.

Remove bowl from mixer and pour 1/3 of the batter into the loaf pan.
Sprinkle half of the diced apple pieces over the batter.  Pour the second thrid of the batter over the apple pieces.  Sprinkle the remaining apple pieces over the batter and cover with the remaining batter.

Bake at 350 for approximately 80 minutes.  Depending on the apples you use and the humidity, you should start checking to see if this cake is done around 70 minutes.  Generally, my loaves have to bake for closer to 80 minutes.

To check to see if the cake is done, insert a wooden skewer into the cake to see if it is fully cooked.  When the cake is done, the skewer will come out clean without batter stuck to it.  ** It is possible that you will have some apple on the skewer.  The batter is dark brown and the apples will look more like applesauce.

Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife and remove from the pan.  Allow to fully cool on a cooling rack before slicing. 

Gigi gave a great presentation at the Expo and hopefully she will be back at our Dallas Expo on September 8-9 at the Westin Park Central.  In the meantime, if you want to know more about food additives such as Silica, Maltodextrin, Disodium Phosphate, etc…  click here to read her article.  Scroll down to the bottom to get to this information.  She talks about this topic in a way that a “normal person” can understand – not just a food scientist.

Thanks Gigi for making a difficult topic so easy to understand and for sharing your expertise at the Expo!

I am so honored to be working with Tess Masters, aka The Blender Girl and lots of other fabulous food bloggers.  You can enter to win a free ticket to the Gluten & Allergen Free Expo as well as a Kitchenaid 7-QT Bowl-Lift Residential Stand Mixer.  The mixer is one heck of a machine!  Your gluten-free bread dough will be no match for this amazing piece of kitchen equipment.

Tess will be attending the first Nourished Gluten Free Food Bloggers Conference and the Gluten and Allergy Free Expo in Chicago this month and thought it only fitting that she celebrate “All things Gluten Free.”

She had already organized to feature the amazing 7-QT Bowl-Lift Residential Stand Mixer as the April Giveaway, and celebrate this phenomenal machine with some fabulous recipes. But, what better way to do this than to team up with some other wonderful gluten free bloggers and share a gluten free treat a day that can be made in the KitchenAid Stand Mixers. 

I am truly honored to be included with these really amazing and talented bloggers!

The result? A sensational calendar of delectable treats this month!

Each day throughout April, a new post will be listed on the Blender Girl website.  I will be adding a link to my Apple Spice Loaf Cake later in the month.   I hope you find a few new bloggers to follow and enjoy the recipes!  And good luck winning the stand mixer!!

{image_1}WOW! April is going to be an exciting month!

As I will be attending the first Nourished Gluten Free Food Bloggers Conference and the Gluten and Allergy Free Expo in Chicago this month, I thought it only fitting that I celebrate “All things Gluten Free.”

I had already organized to feature the amazing 7-QT Bowl-Lift Residential Stand Mixer as the April Giveaway, and celebrate this phenomenal machine with some fabulous recipes. But, what better way to do this than to team up with some other wonderful gluten free bloggers and share a gluten free treat a day that can be made in the KitchenAid Stand Mixers. 

So, I sent out some requests to some of my favourite gluten free bloggers and was overwhelmed by the response. Talk about a bunch of super talented, incredibly smart, creative, generous women!

The result? A sensational calendar of delectable treats this month!

I will be posting a recipe a day througout the month and updating the links on this page.

I have all of these gluten free blogs listed on my blogroll. But this list has links to all of their social media profiles, as well as the gluten free recipes they shared.

So here it is! ENJOY!

Gluten Free Baking With KitchenAid – Calendar For April 2012

Sunday April 1st

Tess Masters, The Blender Girl from Healthy Blender Recipes

Follow at @theblendergirl and Healthy Blender Recipes

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Hazelnut “Nutella” Cake

Monday April 2nd

Becky Ross from The Freedom Chef.

Follow @thefreedomchef and The Freedom Chef

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy, Vegan, Nut Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Sugar Free “Easter Egg Hunt” Chocolate Cake Pops

Tuesday April 3rd

Hallie Klecker from Daily Bites.

Follow at @hallieklecker and Daily Bites

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

Wednesday April 4th

Carol Fenster from Carol Fenster Cooks.

Follow @CarolFenster and Carol Fenster

Gluten Free Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies

Thursday April 5th

Kelly Courson from Celiac Chicks.

Follow @celiacchick and Celiac Chicks

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Peanut Butter Love Bars

Friday April 6th

Elizabeth Kaplan from The Pure Pantry.

Follow @thepurepantry and The Pure Pantry

Recipe: Gluten Free Berry Cheesecake Tartlets

Saturday April 7th

Valentina Kenny from Cooking On The Weekends.

Follow @cookingweekends and Cooking On The Weekends

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

Sarah M Boudreau-Romano from The Allergist Mom

Follow @TheAllergistMom and The Allergist Mom

Recipe: Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

Sunday April 8th

Lexie Croft from Lexie’s Kitchen.

Follow @lexieskitchen and Lexie’s Kitchen

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Egg Free Scones

Monday April 9th

Alisa Fleming from Go Dairy Free

Follow @alisacooks and Go Dairy Free

Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Tuesday April 10th

Ricki Heller from Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

Follow @rickiheller and Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Recipe: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Soy Free Chocolate Frosting

Wednesday April 11th

Colette Martin from Learning To Eat Allergy Free.

Follow @colettefmartin and Allergen-Free Baker

Recipe: Gluten Free Vegan Nut Free, Soy Free Avocado Chickpea Quickbread

Thursday April 12th

Lisa Cantkier from Gluten Free Find.

Follow @glutenfreefind and GlutenFreeFind.com

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Berry-Full Cupcakes

Friday April 13th

Cybele Pascal from Cybele Pascal – The Allergy-Friendly Cook.

Follow @cybelepascal and Cybele Pascal

Recipe: Gluten Free Pita Breads

Saturday April 14th

Beth Hillson from Gluten-Free Makeovers.

Follow @Beth_Hillson and Gluten Free Makeovers

Recipe: Gluten Free Vanilla Blueberry Bundt Cake

Sunday April 15th

Karen Morgan from BlackBird Bakery.

Follow @blackbirdbakes and BlackBird Bakery

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Carrot Cake

Monday April 16th

Alta Mantsch from Tasty Eats At Home.

Follow @tastyeatsathome and Tasty Eats At Home

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Lemon Earl Grey Cookies

Tuesday April 17th

Maggie Savage from She Let Then Eat Cake.

Follow @MaggieSavage and She Let Them Eat Cake

Recipe: Gluten Free Vegan Crackers

Wednesday April 18th

Amie Valpone from The Healthy Apple.

Follow @TheHealthyApple and The Healthy Apple

Recipe: Gluten Free Vegan Sweet Zucchini Balsamic Scones

Patrice Pollack from A Health Foodie.

Follow @PatricePollack and A Health Foodie

Recipe: Gluten Free Zucchini Millet Bread

Thursday April 19th

Jeanine Friesen from The Baking Beauties.

Follow @bakingbeauties and The Baking Beauties

Recipe: Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Friday April 20th

Carla Spacher from Gluten Free Recipe Box

Follow @gfrecipebox and Gluten Free Carla

Recipe: Baked or Grilled Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Saturday April 21st

Carrie Forbes from Ginger Lemon Girl.

Follow @gingerlemongirl and GingerLemonGirl.com

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sunday April 22nd

Heather from Gluten Free Cat.

Follow @glutenfreecat and Gluten Free Cat

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Banana Pecan Pancakes

Monday April 23rd

Kim Lutz from Welcoming Kitchen.

Follow @welcomekitchen and Welcoming Kitchen

Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Egg Free Apple Coffee Cake

Tuesday April 24th

Amy Green from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

Follow @amys_SSGF and Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free

Recipe: Gluten Free Bread

Wednesday April 25th

Linda Etherton from Gluten Free Homemaker.

Follow @gfhomemaker and The Gluten-Free Homemaker

Recipe: Gluten Free Almond Cranberry Muffins

Lisa Natcharian from Allergy Free Vintage Cookery.

Follow on Facebook at Allergy Free Vintage Cookery

Recipe: Gluten Free Autumn Spice Truffle Bites

Thursday April 26th

Jennifer Ward from Be Free Bakers.

Follow @befreebakers and Be Free Bakers

Recipe: Gluten Free Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Friday April 27th

Megan Lust from The Gluten Free Vegan.

Follow @meganthegfvegan and The Gluten Free Vegan in Saskatoon

Recipe: Gluten Free Vegan Pizza Buns

Saturday April 28th

Kalinda Piper from Wheat Free Meat Free.

Follow @kalindap

Recipe: Gluten Free Rosemary Garlic Crackers

Sunday April 29th

Jennifer Cafferty from Gluten Free Life with Jen

Follow @jenglutenfree and GFreeLife Jen

Recipe: Gluten Free Apple Spice Loaf

Monday April 30th

Silvana Nardone from Silvana’s Kitchen.

Follow @SilvanaNardone and Silvana Nardone

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Lifetime Achievement Award

Female Executive of the Year

At 132 pages, this eBook, available for immediate digital download, is packed full of recipes, tips & tricks, dairy & egg substitutes and alternative sweeteners.

Recipes are categorized in:

• Breakfasts and Smoothies
• Bread and Bread Variations
• Sides, Sauces and Salads
• Entrees
• Italian Specialties
• Desserts

You won’t be disappointed  with these gluten and allergen-free recipes.  From traditional favorites to festive holiday meals, this cookbook has it all.  All of the recipes are gluten free.  Most are dairy free. And many are allergen free. All recipes are labeled by allergen.

After your purchase, you will receive an email with a link to download the eBook file.

To download your e-book, click here. The cost is $9.99.

If you would like to purchase a hard copy of the book, they will be available at the Gluten & Allergen Free Expos.  You can see future Expo locations at www.gfafexpo.com.   We will also have DVDs of the cooking classes available at the Expo.

You can still sign up for the April classes at www.gfafexpo.com.  This years’ classes include an Asian/Italian Class, a Bread Class, a Baking Class and a Healthy Living Class.  As always, all classes include a recipe book, cooking demonstrations, samples of the recipes and a Q&A session with the presenters.  Click here to purchase tickets.

If you haven’t been able to make it to our classes and you can’t get to Chicago this April, we will have DVD’s available with cooking sessions from previous events.  The DVDs will be available for download in a few weeks. If you will be at the Chicago Expo, you can purchase the DVDs at the Expo Store.

In the future, we will be offering a cooking stage as part of the vendor fair.  More details will be available as we feature this stage for the first time at the Dallas Gluten & Allergen Free Expo on September 8-9.

I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has made these classes possible for the last five years.  To bring you these classes it has taken hundreds of hours of preparation from our presenters, volunteers and staff and I want to thank each and every one of you.

Thanks to everyone that has helped make the Expo such a special place to visit for the weekend.  I look forward to seeing you in April at the Westin Lombard for our 5th Anniversary Expo and the best event yet!

Thinking of attending classes this year? Here is what we are making.  Everything is gluten and dairy free!

Italian & Asian Adventures Class:
Bruschetta Appetizer
Pasta with Homemade Meat Sauce
Tiramisu
Stir Fried Noodles with Spinach and Beef
Barbequed Pork Fried Rice
Gingery Pork Potstickers

Healthy Living Class:
Very Berry Smoothies
Top of the Morning Muffins
Chewy Oat and Fruit Bars
Grilled Citrus Asparagus
Chicken Rosamarino
Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Butternut Squash and Pinenuts

Blissful Baking Class:
Triple Coconut Cream Pie
Truffle Fudge Brownies
Orange Infused Angel Food Cake
Pistachio Mango Gelato
Pizzelles & Ice Cream Cones

Bread & Beyond Class:
Soft Pretzels
Cheesy Bread Stick Twists
Sunflower Flax Bread
Bagels
Baguettes
Rosemary Focaccia