Rudi's Fruit Spring Delight

Bringing back a Spring favorite! In 2011 I entered Rudi's Unbelievably Good Gluten Free contest and I am proud to announce our favorite family dish  made the top 10 (click HERE to view all finalists)! Below is the recipe, a perfect dish for breakfast or dessert. Click HERE to learn more about their delicious product line (bread, tortillas and pizza crust) and be on the look out for their bread at Costco (2 18oz. loafs for $6.99) you just can't beat that! Happy Monday! 

Baked on the Bright Side

Rudi’s Fruit Spring Delight!

SERVES 8

Enjoy a healthy blend of fresh fruit hiding beneath a toasted, sweetened layer of multigrain bread. For those with a sweet tooth, add a dollop of French vanilla ice cream for a savory dessert treat! 

Time to Prepare: 0 hrs 40 mins

Base
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cans (15.25 ounces each, sliced peaches, drained)
1 pint blueberries
1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Topping
1 package (3 ounces) cook and serve vanilla pudding and pie filling (not instant)
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 loaf Rudi’s Gluten Free Multigrain Sandwich Bread

Powdered sugar
Vanilla ice cream (optional)
Whip cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large mixing bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, pie filling, lemon juice and cinnamon; mix gently using large spatula. Reserve 1 cup of the fruit mixture. Pour remaining fruit mixture into large oval baking dish, mounting slightly in center.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, blend pudding mix, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and egg using large whisk. Cut crusts off bread using serrated bread knife. Dip each bread slice into egg mixture to coat lightly; arrange in overlapping circular pattern on top of fruit, leaving center open.
3. Pour any remaining egg mixture over bread. Spoon reserved fruit mixture into opening.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until edges of bread are deep golden brown. Remove from the oven to nonstick cooling rack. Let stand 10 minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Serve warm with ice cream or whip cream, if desired.

I'm Back with Gluten Free Baked Doughnut Holes!!

What a roller coaster the past few months or should I say 9 months have been! I am happy to announce that I have purchased my first condo and couldn't be more excited to call the place my own. Another part of my life I am looking forward to getting back on track is my gluten free blogging world. Over the past few months, my time has been consumed with finding a place and after a long day at work and balancing all the trials and tribulations of purchasing a home, I rarely wanted to turn my computer on at night. I would soak in the 30 minutes I had siting on the couch and stare aimlessly at the television trying to regroup for the days ahead. As hard as it was not blogging and spending my free time in the kitchen, it was a well needed break and now I am ready to get back to one of my favorite pastimes now that I have time :)

Even though I have been absent from posting,  my mind hasn't turned off and my post list has increased tremendously.  I even managed to bake a few times during some very stressful times. Ironically, baking relaxes my mind and allows me to focus on something besides all the stressful thing throughout the day. Now I am worried that there are not enough posts to keep up with. Oooo the fine balance of a blogger's life. We all love it!

So my first post since my sabbatical :) is amazing! I don't know about you, but the one thing that is constantly around me at work are doughnuts, not just average doughnuts, I am talking Krispy Kreme, gourmet and fresh doughnuts with colorful and inviting sprinkles on top. So in an effort to join the office crowd I made myself doughnut holes. Bite size little pieces of soft dough covered in a cinnamon sugar coating. So this batch didn't make it till casual Friday, but I think that says something about the recipe and my craving for these little pieces of goodness. 

I splurged and picked up the Stonewall Kitchen's Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Mix ($9.95) and am so happy I came across this amazing gluten free brand. After a long day, I opted to slack off a bit and take advantage of what is now my FAVORITE premade gluten free doughnut mix. I do not have a doughnut pan, so I decided to put my cake pop pan to use and made doughnut holes. I simply followed the recipe on the back of the box but reduced the time they were in the oven by a few minutes or until an inserted tooth pick came out clean. I was very surprised with the texture and taste given that doughnuts are typically fried, and not baked.

I was very impressed with how easy the dough was to work with and even after the doughnuts cooled did not break apart. The doughnuts were light and delicate and didn't resemble a hard, dry gluten free alternative that we are all (unfortunately) use to most of the time. The instructions suggest to roll in cinnamon sugar, but I experimented with a vanilla glaze and sprinkles (my favorite) and have to admit the cinnamon sugar knocked the sprinkles socks off! or should I say sprinkles off? You get the point.

Gluten Free Finds at Costco (Part 2)

This past weekend I made another trip to Costco and found even MORE products that are gluten free. Could you believer it? I first featured my finds here (Part 1), but I am happy to share even MORE. Wouldn't it be great if this post became a weekly feature? Costco is listening to consumers, and it is so wonderful to have OPTIONS when grocery shopping, times are changing! I have provided the link to the product website and full ingredient list (if available). What gluten free products have you come across at Costco?

 (FYI- I have not tried all of the below items, but merely want to spread the word and share products I have come across. As always, I recommend reading the entire ingredient list before purchasing in order to be 100% certain there are no hidden traces of gluten)

Full Circle Broccoli Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breast $4.79/lb.

 Full Ingredient List- Chicken: chicken breast with rib meat, water, sugar, salt, sodium phosphate. Filling: broccoli, cheddar cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto), wild rice (wild rice, water), white rice (white rice, water), natural cheese flavor (whey, maltodextrin, buttermilk, natural cheddar cheese flavor [natural cheddar cheese flavor {cheese, butter, high lactose whey powder, lactic acid, acetic acid, starter cultures, smoke flavor, garlic oil, enzymes)], salt), corn starch, black pepper, spice rub topping: salt, brown sugar, chile powder, granulated garlic, white pepper, paprika, celery seed, onion powder, ground ginger, mustard, dill, sage, thyme, majoram, rosemary.

Basus Inc Moog Choey 32 oz. $8.49 
(a tasty lentil based entrée which combined mung and garbanzo beans.)

Frankly Fresh Stuffed Grape Leaves 32 oz. $9.99
Full Ingredient List- rice, onion, tomatoes, parsley, red bell pepper, tomato paste, grape leaves, canola oil, water, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, salt, lemon juice, garlic powder, citric acid, dill, mint, black pepper.

Meal Mart Turkey Breast Oven Roasted $5.99/lb.

Perfect Foods Bar Variety Pack $19.99 for 12 bars Click HERE for Ingredients and Nutrition Facts for each 

Go Picnic Ready to Eat Meals 4 pack- $9.97 Hummus & Cracker and Turkey Stick & Crunch

Lara Bars Variety Pack $15.79 for 18 bars (Blueberry Muffin, Cashew Cookie & Peanut Butter Cookie)

Mrs. Mays Naturals Trio Bar Variety $15.29 for 20 bars ( Acai Strawberry, Pomegranate Blueberry & Goji Cranberry)

Skotidakis Greek Yogurt Dip- Dill & Cucumber 24 oz. $6.59

Full Ingredient List- Yogurt (pasteurized cow’s and goat’s milk, active bacterial cultures bifidobacterium lactis and L. acidophilius), dill pickles (cucumbers, vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, polysorbate 80, seasonings), garlic, canola oil, dill, salt

Celiac Awareness Tour

The Celiac Awareness Tour, presented by Rudi's Gluten Free and Enjoy Life, is headed to SAN DIEGO this weekend! The tour promotes celiac disease awareness and gluten free food and beverage products. Some of my favorite San Diego based gluten free companies will be there including, 2Good2B, Keil's Food Store and The Sustainable Pantry! Join fellow San Diego celiacs for 2 days filled with chef demos, gluten-free sampling, raffles, entertainment, education and MORE!!!

San Diego's Speakers & Chefs include & will cover the following topics:

• Kimberly P. Newton, M.D.- Assistant Professor Department of Pediatrics, Director of the Pediatric Celiac Disease Clinic, Interim Medical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplant, Director of Clinical Operations, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition •  Rady Children’s Hospital/UC San Diego 
• Topic: Pediatric Celiac Disease: Gluten-Free For Growth 

• Brian Gansmann, Author of the best selling book “Defeat Wheat: Your Guide to Eliminating Gluten and Losing Weight”.
• Topic: Defeat Wheat

• Susan Algert, PhD, R.D. University of California Cooperative Extension •  Nutrition, Family, and Consumer Sciences Advisor. 
• Topic: Understanding the Gluten-Free Diet

• Karen Fine- Fine Cooks..Everything Gluten Free • San Diego, CA
• Topic: How We Eat Without Wheat (for children ages 1 and up!) 

• Chef Peter Klarman- Chef of the Future • Louisville, KY
• Dish: Magic Quinoa  

• Clea Shannon- Live Inspired Today • San Diego, CA
• Dish: Hip, Simple, Fabulous – Feel Your Best with Gluten-Free Meals in Minutes

• Chef Chris Decker-Decker Brothers Gourmet • San Diego, CA
• Dish: Gluten-Free Irish Potato Soup

• Chef Katherine Emmenegger- Executive Chef, Great News! Cookware and Cooking School • Pacific Beach, CA
• Dish: Gluten-Free Cooking with Chef Katherine Emmenegger

Click HERE to access the event's website and learn more about this exciting event coming to our town! Print out the below flyer and receive $2 off admission at the door! Hope to see you there!