Happy Caturday, sweetest! This lasagna is from Connor’s birthday party last March, and the reason you’re lookin’ at it now is because…I’m about to do something I never thought I’d ever try.
I’m going to make a gluten-free lasagna.
Rather, I’m going to try to make a gluten-free lasagna.
El Hub recently found out that he might have celiac, so he’s working with his doctor and going gluten-free for a few weeks to monitor his symptoms. So for this past week when I’ve made food for all of us, I’ve been doing gluten-free meals, which is why the aforementioned lasagna’s happening.
I’m also making a separate lasagna using regular pasta to bring to one to my neighbors, too. And I might also make a third one to have as a spare… (Yes, I’m a lasagna-making ? machine.)
Saturday Surfing: Interesting tidbits I came across this week
- Favorite read —> The journey of Katie Stubblefield, who became the youngest person in the U.S. to undergo a successful face transplant. It’s a long read and difficult at times, but by the end of it you’ll appreciate your face and everything it does for you that much more. Side note: science is freaking amazing.
- Also, we live in *strange* times. Did you know that there exists an entire sub-genre of beauty videos where pets select the makeup their owners wear?
- Even though they aren’t supposed to last long at all, I still want to try a water-based fragrance. They’ve been around since ye olde Roman times (so roughly a millennium), and they’re making a comeback, driven in large part by clean beauty devotees.
- Who’s that (birthday ?) girl?! Madonna just turned 60 (WHAT), which means that her iconic biceps have been gracing us for nearly four decades. Here’s a timeline of her arms through the ages!
- This coffee ☕ is supposed to make you ??? smarter.
- Eight of the best cat toys for kitties ? who stay home alone during the day.
- Seven of Aretha Franklin’s most iconic looks. RIP, Queen of Soul. Your music ? carried me through many rough patches in my late teens and early 20s, and your legacy will live on forever.
My favorite Aretha song
Yum! I wanna make this for lunch.
On a mission to perfect the push-up
This looks super cute and relatively easy…
Hey, anyone else out there doing the gluten-free ? thing? If there are any recipes or food websites you know and love, please hook a lady up.
Have a good rest of your weekend!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
could you do zucchini for the pasta in the lasagna? as opposed to a GF noodle product
or did I miss this inyour blog
Oh my gosh, when did Hyde from That 70’s Show start doing hair for Oribe? ?
Yes, I’ve had a Queen of Soul loop in my head for days and it hasn’t bothered me one bit. I’ll take the dress she wore in look 3 of 7 (to the MLK benefit) and the one while she’s sitting at the piano in the video above, please, and can someone teach me how to do her winged liner, because that is everything.
King Arthur Flour has moved into gluten-free products in a big way, so I’m betting they have a bunch of recipes on their website, too. (And, as always, they will taste amazing and be tested to the hilt, so they should work out well for a gluten-free-baking newbie. Read the comments, too; there’s usually some great tips down there.)
Just made the Creamy Avocado Pasta salad with a veggie pasta. So good! I’m gluten sensitive and feel better eating gluten free when I can. I played around with alot of recipes before I didn’t miss real pasta lol A spiralizer is a must have. Baking I’m not so good at though.
Thanks for the “push up tutorial” video! I have been working on my push ups with my PT, and I might try the elastic band trick!
Hi Karen! Welcome to the world of Gluten free! I’m gluten intolerant. So I try to stay away from gluten. One book that is AMAZING and will explain everything you need to know about being celiac is “The G FREE diet a gluten free survival guide” it’s by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. If your husband is celiac this is your new best friend! As well as Trader Joe’s( they have a wonderful pancake mix ) trader Joe’s has so many opinions for G free peeps! Makes me so happy. And for recipes “Gluten free on a shoe string blog” is awesome! So I hoe I helped some. Any more questions feel free to ask hope this helped!
I really like the blog Nom Nom Paleo. As the name implies, it’s paleo recipes (and quite a few Whole30 ones, too), so there’s no gluten. There’s been two cookbooks published from this blog, and they’re pretty good — I actually own the most recent one, and I’m not even paleo.
Actually, the most recent recipe on the blog right now is a paleo version of Meghan Markle’s now (in)famous zucchini bolognese!
A second thumbs up for Nom Nom Paleo. Her recipes are fantastic whether you’re on a special diet or not— really excellent.
My favorite G free lasagna is from I Breathe I’m Hungry— I got it from her cookbook, but it may be on her blog too. She uses her “cream cheese wraps” for noodles. I was really skeptical because those are made from eggs and cream cheese, but it was totally excellent, and my husband thought it was my normal lasagna.
Loved that queen of soul !
R E S P E C T !
Just a little bit .
I use Barilla gluten free pasta . But We can’t use sugar or dairy either .
It’s quite a challenge !
Sorry about your hubby. You could look into iowagirleats.com. She’s a food blogger who found out she had Celiac disease years into her food blogging. Her Crock Pot sweet potato and quinoa chili is a family favorite and also my go-to dish to give to friends and family who may need with a meal or two.
For toddler-friendly food, we also like her mini corn dog muffins.
I will miss Aretha.
Thanks for all the fun videos.
What’s on your list for the Rouge sale starting Thursday? I need a new foundation for fall. It’s been a summer of nearly au naturel with Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer.
I’m also grabbing a tub of Briogeo deep conditioning mask. That stuff is the bomb to use a term from my youth.
Also, how is the Material Girl 60? I’m always surprised to hear her age because we’re only 12 years apart. I’m 48. She seems like she should be a lot older than me. Even though she always looks damn fine.
I’m gluten intolerant. Non-ceoliac, but I have the gene 🙁 The biggest challenge with gluten free food is the sugar content. But it is possible to find relatively tasty meal options without gluten and a ton of sugar. Minimalist Baker has some good recipes. Another one is “georgeats”, an Australian recipe developer weigh great ideas. Deliciously Ella also has some nice recipes.
If your husband likes rice-based dishes, there are some amazing Risotto recipes around. Rummo or Dove’s Farms make great gluten free pasta. Good luck!
I have Celiac and I feel the hardest thing is the lack of convenience. I can’t just go out on a whim to any restaurant and order whatever I want. I have to research the place online or call and ask about gluten free options. You can make most recipes gluten free with substitutions, just prepare to become a label-reading ninja!
Sorry to hear about your husband- must be uncomfortable; I thought I was sensitive to gluten-turned out to be DAIRY!!!! He might want to do the elimination diet ( I think that’s what it’s called) where you add foods one be one to find out what triggers the symptoms; best of luck
One of my besties has been gf for a couple of years and another has been for about a year. Lots of gluten sensitivities. 🙁 I really like this recipe for eggplant lasagna that El Hub might also like because it’s meaty. https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/i-lost-my-noodles-low-carb-south-beach-eggplant-lasagna-83464
It’s quite labor intensive and you’ll need to check your tomato products to be sure they’re gluten free (which you’ll be doing anyway). I buy the blocks of mozzarella and shred myself. The pre-shredded cheese is coated to prevent clumping but I read that Kraft and Sargento say their coating is gf. I prefer to shred myself, though. 🙂 Good luck to El Hub – there are so many good gf options available now, and he does eat meat, so hopefully it won’t be too hard for him. PS I really like the Riceworks Firecracker chips if he’s looking for a carb satisfying snack. 🙂
Hi Karen. I was diagnosed with celiac about 20 years ago. If it turns out El Hubs is celiac, I have some heart-felt advice: (1) Be prepared for some mourning on his part, maybe even on yours. (2) Jeanne at the blog, The Art of Gluten Free Baking has her own recipe for a proprietary flour blend that I mix up in large batches and keep in the refrigerator. It measures 1:1 for regular flour in recipes. You DON’T need special GF cookbooks or recipes if you blend your own flour and it’s cheaper in the long run than the special GF flour mixes out there (and some of them are grainy and pretty awful). (3) Flour Craft in San Anselmo is a fantastic GF bakery, as is Mariposa in Oakland and the SF Ferry Building. (4) You’ll need to buy new bakeware if it’s at all pitted or scratched, and probably a new toaster, too. Gluten is tenacious. You can’t keep a GF kitchen and share cutting boards, the toaster, baking sheets, etc. Same with sponges and scrubbers. (5) Check his lip balms, hair products, etc. for hydrolyzed wheat protein and wheat germ oil. (6) Ground Breaker IPA is the best GF beer I’ve found. Everyone agrees that it’s a really good IPA, despite being GF. Glutenberg is pretty good, too. (7) Gluten-removed beers, like the Omission line, are NOT GF and can make some people really sick, me included. This is because they’re batch tested, meaning they may combine several batches together for a average gluten content. This is great unless you get a bottle from the batch at the high-end of the scale. BTW, this has been an issue with GF Cheerios, too. (8) PF Chang’s may be Corporate Americanized Chinese food, but they have a GF menu and are very careful about avoiding cross contamination. They even use special plates for GF customers. Most Chinese food isn’t safe. (9) Stay with foods he already likes and is familiar with. You don’t need special GF snacks if he usually eats tortilla chips, most of which are already GF… true for Fritos, too, if that’s the way he rolls. Glutino pretzel sticks are great. (10) TJ’s has some solid GF products — the white bread is good toasted and there is GF fresh pasta in the cooler case near the cheese as well as those cauliflower gnocci. However, Whole Foods is a gold mine as are the Safeway super stores. Most importantly, remember that if he is Celiac, this isn’t a choice for him. It will change the way he thinks about pizza nights, holidays, and other gatherings. Avoid taking advice from people who are choosing GF because they think it’s a healthier choice. It’s not. In fact people with Celiac have increased chances of diabetes because GF flours have a higher glycemic index than whole grain flours. Now… let’s get science-y because I know you are. Distilled liquors are widely accepted as GF in Europe. The problem is they’re not GF and will still make some people sick. This should be obvious because if they were 100% pure they wouldn’t have any flavor. Tito’s vodka is GF, as is Prarie vodka, rums, 100% agave tequilas, and some others, but you’ll have to do your reading. I have had multiple bartenders patiently explain to me that ALL distilled alcohol is GF because their liquor sales rep told them it was. When Kaiser puts a bar and bartender in the GI dept, I’ll listen. After going on a GF diet, it takes about 3-4 months for the intestines to heal and for people to start feeling “normal”. Some people who think they are lactose intolerant find they’re not after their intestinal villi heal. While I sincerely hope that El Hubs is not Celiac, it’s not the end of the world, and by staying on a GF diet he will greatly reduce his changes of GI tract cancers, inflammation, and other related issues. Finally, if he’s Celiac, you might want to have CC tested, too. It’s genetic.