Today our household has a hectic schedule.  And, I'm having one of those days where I'd like a little extra something that only comes from a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie (and my daughter will love the surprise when she comes home from school as a special treat). This is when I'm so happy to open my freezer and find homemade gluten-free cookie dough ready to bake.

Twenty years ago I learned how to freeze cookie dough from a PBS show, and I've been relying on this old kitchen trick ever since.  Now that our family is gluten-free and dairy-free, I find this technique of being prepared essential.  Here's how I freeze gluten-free cookie dough and have homemade cookies in 15 minutes, anytime.

My daughter has been asked by her Spanish teacher to bring a Mexican dessert to class, and I'm scrambling to think of a gluten-free and dairy-free option.  After a bit of research and a quick look in my pantry and refrigerator to see what I have on hand, I've settled on Mexican chocolate truffles.  The surprise ingredient is mashed potatoes!  I know this sounds crazy, but Saveur gave me the idea with their fudge recipe, and I happen to have leftover mashed potatoes.  I've created a version with less sugar and a Mexican flair, and here's how I do it ...

One of my favorite family traditions growing up in Maine was to make pizza on Friday nights.  We liked the classic Chef Boyardee box mix that was popular in the 1970s.  I remember Mom teaching me how to spread out the sticky dough with my greased-up hands, working from the center outward.  There was always an assortment of toppings so we could make our pizza just how we liked it.  Being that it was Friday night, we had the privilege of eating on the couch in front of the TV. The only problem was that we all had to agree on the same show as we savored our slices.

Now that I have my own little family, we still make pizza on Friday nights, but it's gluten-free.  We experiment with ingredients and usually make two so we have leftovers for Saturday.  So, I'm going to grab my slice, snag my favorite spot on the couch, and be the first to choose the TV show - wait, it's not the '70s anymore and now we have Netflix, two TVs, and an iPad.  TGIF!  

Tonight's toppings are new potatoes, bacon, shallots, and rosemary, and here's how we do it...

I’ve been trying to share this easy no-bake recipe here on my blog for some time.  The problem is that each time I make these addicting peanut butter squares, we eat them before I can take a photograph.  I’ve just made a fresh batch, no one is home, and I’ve only eaten one – well maybe two.  Enjoy!

This is our festive gluten-free gingerbread house with fresh fallen snow!  Here in Northern California, we have to pretend we are snowed in.  When I look at this gingerbread house, I imagine it's my little "It Crumbles Gluten-Free Lifestyle" workshop where I write blog posts to help others and develop new gluten-free recipes.  

The last several years I've used the easy instructions from Pamela's Products.  I altered the house recipe just a bit to make it dairy-free and substituted Earth Balance Buttery Sticks for the butter and water for the milk.  Pamela's website provides the recipe, templates, and even a slide show on how to construct the house.  It's really easy and great fun.  Here's how I did it...

Our family loved being the taste testers for my peppermint stick ice cream. The idea started from a peppermint craving I was having last Christmas season when I had many leftover marshmallows from my gingerbread house and hot chocolate.

Eggs are often used as an ingredient in ice cream to enhance the richness and add a creamy texture.  I've experimented with marshmallows and a bit of gelatin instead. And, the results are delicious!  You don't even taste the coconut flavor from the coconut milk.  This is a super easy recipe and just right for the holidays (or mid summer)

This recipe was born out of leftovers, which is how so many of my meals develop.  The key is to start with well-seasoned mashed potatoes that have been waiting to be used up.  And, the surprise ingredient is...

This classic mashed potatoes recipe is made with Nutpods dairy-free creamer. Nutpods is my secret ingredient and is the key to the rich and satisfying taste.  I will be proud to serve this for the holidays. 

I've been looking for gluten-free bread crumbs that are also dairy-free.  The pickings are slim at stores, and most choices taste a bit stale with a hint of plastic.  I recently had a "light bulb moment" as I was avoiding the heel of my gluten-free loaf:  Why don't I make bread crumbs?

There are three surprise ingredients in this simple gluten-free and dairy-free carrot soup recipe.  The smidgen of curry powder deepens the low note flavors, the lemon juice brightens, and the cashew butter with it's neutral flavor adds a rich texture without cream itself.  This is a one pot meal and perfect for lunch or dinner, and it also freezes well.

Here is a great idea for a quick DIY gluten-free s’mores kit.  My daughter just went with her school to an outdoor adventure camp in the California redwoods.  I was informed at the last minute that the kids were having s’mores on one of the nights, which meant I needed to provide a gluten-free and dairy-free option for her.

The secret to delicious applesauce simply starts with good apples.  Macintosh are a New England favorite.  Gravenstein are a West Coast choice, which is what I used for this recipe from a beautiful orchard tucked away in Anderson Valley, California where the air is so crisp and fresh this time of year.

This is my dad's famous halibut, and it is the number one requested dinner from his granddaughter.  I couldn't resist snapping a shot just as the pan came out of the oven as I was trying to capture the essence to sustain me until my next visit.

The September air is calling for cranberries.  Actually, it’s my memory of the cooler September air in Maine, where I grew up, that’s calling.  Our home is now in Northern California where September proves to be hot.  But my internal seasonal clock still thinks of this time of year as being cooler.  I’m celebrating the beginning of cranberry season in New England with this delicious gluten-free and dairy-free cranberry bread.  I love the burst of tart, ruby-red cranberry and the contrast of the walnut crunch.

I’ve reconnected with a childhood friend, which feels wonderful.  We looked so much alike with blue eyes, blonde hair and fair skin speckled with freckles that people thought we were twins.  We loved making concoctions in the kitchen, and one of our favorites was corn chowder.  I recently hosted a party and had loads of leftover corn on the cob.  Messaging back and forth with my old friend reminded me of our corn chowder creation days.  This recipe is for you, dear friend!

Now that we are a gluten-free and dairy-free household, I’m reinventing the way we eat.  Breakfast is one of the hardest changes to make.  Our standards of whole-wheat toast, oatmeal (we don’t eat oats either), cream of wheat, or cereal with milk have been replaced with other options like eggs, bacon, Paleo pancakes, and smoothies.  My daughter is the best recipe taste tester, and here are her comments on this turmeric and orange smoothie: "That's delicious!  I love the hint of spice!  Is there more?!!"  With relief, I now have another successful breakfast item to put on my evolving menu.

It's wild blueberry season here in Maine, and I'm so lucky to be visiting family at this time of year.  Maine blueberries are tiny, blue gems that grow on low bushes and are bursting with iconic flavor and antioxidants.  I was brought up reading Robert McCloskey's classic story, Blueberries for Sal, and I experienced my own version of the tale where I tagged behind my mother picking blueberries on the hill and eating more than my fair share.  I remember Mom making blueberry crumble with our bounty using a cherished recipe shared by the local market owner.

Now it's time to update the blueberry crumble with a gluten-free and dairy-free version, but first I must find the old recipe.  

Smoothies are a great way to start the day, and summer is a fun time to enjoy smoothie pops for breakfast—when there is an abundance of fresh fruit, the temperature has already reached 80 degrees, and the air is heavy with humidity.  When the weather report says a heat wave is coming, make these fruit smoothie pops the night before to allow them to freeze solid overnight.

What’s a gal to do when she has carrots coming out of her ears and a compulsion to experiment in the kitchen?  My friend generously volunteers each week at the farmers’ market and brought me a magnificent bunch of carrots.  That same week carrots were in our CSA (community-supported agriculture) vegetable box.  A situation like this calls for carrot soup (I’ll wait to share that recipe early this fall) and my Paleo carrot muffins.

I usually make baked goods from scratch because I think they are tastier and are better for us.  But there are times when I want a convenient baking mix, which is difficult to find because our family doesn’t eat gluten, dairy, oats, buckwheat, or quinoa.

I’m happy to have discovered Kember’s Gluten Free, a family-owned business that produces baking mixes that are gluten-, dairy-, and soy-free, with rice flour as their main ingredient.  The company started because the mother in this family, like so many households in the gluten-free community, discovered food intolerances and has led the way for her family and others. 

I recently spent an entire day baking up a storm with the help from Kember’s Gluten Free. 

We are heading into the long days of summer, and I’m looking for ways to beat the heat.  This recipe is for those afternoons when the pool decks are too hot for bare feet.  And, here in California, the kids can no longer run through the sprinklers to cool off because our lawns of soft, green grass are now brown, brittle spikes.

There are a few surprise ingredients that make these gluten-free and dairy-free fudge pops decadent.

My all-time favorite sandwich as a child was PB & J.  Early in the morning before my one-hour bus ride to school, I'd slap together my sandwich using mom's homemade wholewheat bread and jam stuck together with thick peanut butter. My mom shutters now at the irony of making wholewheat bread and thinking it was the most nutritious for our family.  Who knew way back then that the gluten was making us sick?!

PB & J is still one of my favorites, and my daughter has inherited the taste.  So, last week I set out to develop a gluten-free and dairy-free recipe.

Our family celebrates Easter which is right around the corner.  I've been making marshmallows for a few weeks, trying out different ingredients and techniques.  I wanted to avoid corn syrup so I experimented with honey, but the color and texture were off.  And, I tried the classic technique heating the sugar, using a candy thermometer, and adding the hot syrup to whipped egg whites but thought there could be a simpler way.  Then, I discovered a recipe on food.com (crypixie83).  My hats off to the originator because this is the easiest marshmallow recipe.  I've tweaked my recipe a tiny bit.  Here's how to make sweet marshmallows with a pillowy loft suited for Peter Rabbit.

My dear friend and neighbor, who has some Irish in her, asked me what I was posting on my blog for St. Patrick's Day.  I've always loved Irish soda bread with the tender crumb and ting flavor of baking soda that reminds me of simplicity.  So, I spent the weekend in my kitchen developing this gluten-free and dairy-free recipe and am so pleased with the results.  This one is for you, Jen!

Here is one of our family's favorite gluten-free staple dinners.  These Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps are super easy to make, fun to eat, and simply delicious.  They even make the Paleo list...

I'm always looking for easy, healthy, and creative snacks.  Pumpkin seeds are a good source of plant protein, iron, zinc, potassium, and magnesium.  And, they have that "oh so satisfying" crunch that I love.  My family couldn't stop eating them!

Fudge!  This gluten-free and dairy-free recipe is easy and makes a mouthwatering, rich chocolate treat.  It is absolutely addictive with the sea salt-chocolate combination and should definitely be shared–maybe a yummy gift for a special valentine? ...

It’s cold and flu season here in California, and I’m ready.  We actually haven’t been that sick in the few years since we’ve been gluten-free.  My daughter made that assessment herself the other day.  She was remembering, before she was gluten-free and dairy-free, when she’d be the first to get sick in school with each and every little bug.  And now...

These days life is sailing by faster than I can catch my breath, and I'm tired of running out of vanilla extract.  I'm developing recipes for my gluten-free and dairy-free cookbook, and there is never enough vanilla.  

Look at what the kids made today...tiny donuts for Santa's elves that are so small they fit in an Altoids tin!  They are gluten-free & dairy-free, and we got the idea from the American Girl magazine.  It's so easy, cute, and fun!  Here is how we did it...

Do you think Santa is gluten-free?  My daughter wonders about this.  She always leaves Santa a full plate of lavishly decorated and lovingly selected cookies.  This is our third gluten-free Christmas, and Santa doesn't seem to mind.  

Just in time for the holidays!  This easy recipe is a great way to eat your vitamins. It’s delicious, and the crunch factor is most satisfying.  Kale chips have been around the block, but it was only recently that I experimented with baking kale.  Where have I been?

It's the day before Halloween, and I realize in the eleventh hour there is a school party tomorrow.  I'm an advocate for the kids with food allergies and sensitivities. (I always pause when I write or read "food sensitivity" because the symptoms caused by the food can be intense and deserve a stronger word than "sensitive"). In our school there are many foods that kids can't eat.  So, my goal is zero gluten, dairy, soy, and nuts.

A quick search on Pinterest for ideas, and I'm ready to make Meringue Ghosts for a fun twist.  I'm off to the kitchen to develop my recipe based on past experience and what I have in the pantry today, which might be a problem as I'm out of regular white sugar...

I'm finding that planning ahead when one is gluten and dairy free is really important. We were invited to our friend's house last minute on a Sunday afternoon for tea so we could plan an upcoming weekend trip our families were looking forward to. Great, but what would I take for a little something to go with the tea?  Our household totes our own food these days to be confident there will be something we can eat.  I rely on one of the best old kitchen tricks - already prepared homemade cookie dough.  Here's how I do it...