Zucchini has been my ultimate veggie staple since sixth grade. Weird? Maybe. Sixth grade was a bumpy year: I was homeschooled that year because it was the *YEAR OF THE TESTS* – ie tons of medical stuff going on to figure out what the heck was wrong with me, why I had stopped growing, couldn’t gain weight, and had stomach issues constantly. Cue Celiac Diagnosis *enters stage right* – and that solved it! But before the diagnosis my mom was doing TONS of research to try and track down tests or diets or other dietary ideas that might alleviate my symptoms. We did a few months with no sugar or…
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Healthy Gluten Free Banana Pancakes
Pancakes. I have a long history with these thinnest of cakes, the ultimate breakfast food (at least here in the west). When I was going through the entire rigamarole of tests and food allergies blood draws and biopsies back in 6th grade, we tried everything under the sun in terms of diets. No, I wasn’t trying to lose any weight as an already-under-average 11 year old, but heck if we weren’t trying to figure out why I wasn’t gaining weight, and food had a lot to do with it. One “diet” we tried on for size (I think only for a couple of months but it felt like a YEAR…
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Gluten Free Almond Pancakes with Candied Sweet Potatoes and Maple Butter
These pancakes are hands down the fluffiest gluten free pancakes I have EVER made. And let me tell you, I’ve made about a million gluten free pancakes. Flash back to 6th grade when I was first diagnosed with Celiac and my mom accomplished the daunting task of 1) scouring the grocery story for anything and everything gluten free (and asking the “natural foods” section stocker to go buy a bunch of new products when she couldn’t find anything decent), 2) coming up with creative, non-gluten-containing recipes for literally everything, and 3) making me gluten free food EVERY DAY. Hats off to mom, everyone. Fast forward a year to 7th grade,…
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Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream
Anyone else always scoop finger-fulls of cream cheese frosting off the top of the carrot cake whenever it graced the desserts table at a family gathering or school district potluck or birthday party? Nah? Well then skip half of this recipe. If you did, props to you, it’s the best frosting out there (maybe, there are lots of other great ones). Carrot cake was always one of those cakes that felt homey and fancy and old fashioned and comfortable, but was sometimes a bit too cakey or spiced or drab for my taste. Which is why this version may offend some, but I promise it’s technically carrot cake (there are…
