Below is a little teaser of a recipe from a soon to be released book, Gluten Free Cookies by Luane Kohnke. As many of you know, in addition to my work as a children’s author, I also conduct taste-testing and reviews of gluten-free companies and authors. You will have an opportunity to read the review of many tested recipes we will be doing out of Luane’s book over the next two months. So check back soon at the above mentioned link!

Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day, Tina

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

Makes 48 to 60 cookies

I developed this recipe for my friend Gail.  She was diagnosed with celiac disease late in life, and really missed her sweets. She told me that these cookies reminded her of the sugar cookies her grandmother made.

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda,  cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk in almond flour. Set aside.

2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Set mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and egg. Beat until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Divide dough into quarters, and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap or wax paper. Chill for 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

4. Roll dough, one quarter at a time, between sheets of wax paper, to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with heart-shaped cookie cutter, dipping cookie cutter in brown rice flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour to aid cutting.

5. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. If dough becomes too soft to reroll easily, return it to the refrigerator or place it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is firm enough to reroll. Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar, demerara sugar, or gluten-free sanding sugar.

6. Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes.

7. Transfer cookies, still on parchment, to wire racks to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe taken from Gluten-Free Cookies by Luane Kohnke
(978-1-4162-0623-1; $18.95; Pub date: March 2011; Sellers Publishing; 50+ full-color photos, Hardcover)

Author Bio:

Luane Kohnke has been an accomplished gourmet cookie baker for more than 20 years. Her love for cookie baking began when she was nine years old, living on her family’s farm in Wisconsin, and she developed an interest in gluten-free baking about 15 years ago. Luane lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.luanekohnke.com.

Tina Turbin
www.TinaTurbin.com

In addition to my work as a children’s author, I am dedicated to bringing awareness to celiac disease, which is caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, leading to damage to the small intestine and a variety of serious physical and mental symptoms.

I had the honor and pleasure of delivering a teleseminar on celiac disease with Anne Holmes, the “Boomer-in-Chief” of the NABBW, National Association of Baby Boomer Women.

Follow the link below to have a listen or download the teleseminar as an MP3:

http://attendthisevent.com/?eventid=14823489

Enjoy!

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

     As the mother of three grown children, I know how hard it can be, even with the best of intentions, to eat a healthy diet yourself and make healthy foods for the rest of the family. With just a few simple tips, you can totally change your eating habits for the better.

     It all starts with grocery shopping, for which you must make like a Boy Scout and “be prepared.” It is best to create a menu for the week with breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks determined for each day before you even make your grocery list. Choose healthy recipes that take thirty minutes or less to prepare, unless you know you’ll have more time available for cooking. There are many easy, healthy recipes available online which you can prepare in a snap. Make sure there are enough high-protein foods and snacks, which won’t leave you with low blood sugar and send you to high-fat and high-sugar snacks for a fast blood sugar boost.

      Before hitting the grocery store, eat a big, filling meal, so you won’t deviate from your shopping list by picking out items that look good just because you’re hungry. You can’t binge on foods that aren’t good for you if you don’t have them in your home, after all. This will not only result in a healthier set of groceries, but will save you money, as well!

Tina Turbin

Many of us are eating Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) whether we realize it or not.  Do you know how to tell the difference?

It turns out that you can easily tell whether the produce you purchase at the grocery store is a GMO simply by reading the PLU (price look up) code.

Here’s what you need to be aware of:

1. If the PLU is 5 digits and begins with an 8, then it a Genetically Modified Organism.

2. If the PLU is 4 digits, even if it contains a symbol at the beginning, then it is not a GMO.

Regarding your purchases of processed foods, keep in mind that according to Wikipedia, as many as 75% of ALL processed foods on American shelves contain at least one GMO.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to discern if a packaged item contains GMOs or not.  Yet another reason to avoid the entire middle section of the grocery store as much as possible. 

For wholesome, nutritious and delicious recipe ideas, be sure to visit my gluten-free recipe page.

Best,

Tina

     What exactly should you look for in a healthy, well-balanced lunch? You should make sure to include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, calcium, and lean protein. The USDA has daily recommendations for children for each of these food groups, and you should aim to provide as much as possible in each category when preparing your child’s lunch.

     Collect recipes just as you would for dinners which can deliver to your child the nutrition he needs in a variety of creative ways. You can make lunch for the whole family in large servings—for Mom, Dad, and all the kids. Not only will this ensure that you’re feeding your child a variety of tasty foods, since you’ll be eating it yourself, but you’ll also save money and time by simplifying lunch-making.

     If you’re strapped for time, get your kids to prepare their own lunches the night before (this is usually better than rushing in the morning).  Kids are actually happy to help with cooking are able to pull it off with success with some supervision. It is with this in mind that I’ve created Danny the Dragon Children’s Cookbook as part of my Danny the Dragon children’s series. 

     Give your child the daily gift of a well-balanced lunch and watch him thrive!

A recent study shows that preschoolers who were given probiotic supplements twice a day were less likely to experience fevers, coughs, and runny noses than preschoolers who weren’t taking any during flu season.  Probiotics are “good germs,” which promote a healthy balance between good and bad bacteria and between good bacteria and yeast in the digestive system. As a result, immunity is boosted.

Breast milk naturally has probiotics and there are also probiotic-fortified formulas out there for non-breastfed babies. There’s also a type of fiber called prebiotics which promotes the growth of probiotics. You can pick up powdered or liquid infant and children’s probiotics at the health food store and add these to breast milk, formula, or other liquids your child is drinking. Make sure to check the container for storage instructions. Usually, they need to be stored in the refrigerator. You can also find this nutrient in probiotic-rich foods such as yogurt and yogurt drinks as well as certain brands of baby foods.

Many studies have recently come out singing the benefits of the super-nutrient, vitamin D, which helps to activate immune cells. It’s recommended that children get 400 IU daily of vitamin D. What’s unique about this nutrient is that you can get it just by enjoying some sun; sunlight triggers production of it in your skin.

     Unfortunately, a lot of kids aren’t exposed to enough sunlight, so they’re not getting enough of this important nutrient. It’s important that you provide vitamin-D rich foods such as fortified milk and juices, cheese, eggs, and salmon in your child’s diet. A glass of milk has 100 IU of vitamin D. Unless your child is prepared to drink four glasses of milk a day, which is unlikely, it is probably a good idea to find a supplement with vitamin D in it. Similarly, for infants who are exclusively breastfed, it’s important to find a supplement with 400 IU of vitamin D, as breast milk is deficient in it.

     It all starts with some planning. It’s best to create a menu for the week with healthy recipes that take thirty minutes or less to prepare, unless you know you’ll have more time available for cooking. There are many easy, healthy recipes available online which you can prepare in a snap.

     Homemade cooking is the best way to ensure the family will be eating right. Even healthier TV dinners can be packed with sodium. When you prepare your own food, you are in control of it. You can add powerful nutrients by throwing in some wheat germ oil, rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, low-fat instead of regular cheese, or whatever you’ d like.

      When you go grocery shopping, I recommend that you leave the kids at home. If you do have to take the kids along with you while you go shop, make sure everybody eats a big, filling meal first. One of the most important steps in improving your kids’ diets is keeping the house full of healthy foods instead; remember, your kids can’t binge on junk food at home if you don’t have any.

     Prepare snacks ahead of time for the week, keeping them in high-quality storage containers. Your kids can grab from these ready-made snacks, such as celery and almond butter, when they start to get hungry. Eventually, you’ll be sure to find tons of good-for-them goodies that you’ll both approve of.

     Finally, get the kids involved in healthy cooking. Studies show that children who participate in household chores, such as cooking and making their own lunches, grow up with a better sense of self and end up more successful than less helpful or involved children. Kids of all ages will be able to find some way to help with the cooking, and they will love to be included.

The Fowler family including Tyler (7 yrs old), Parker, Isabell and Peyton (4 yr old triplets), pictured above in their Halloween costumes, are the winners of the October contest as part of the Danny the Dragon Gluten-Free “Halloween” cupcake party that was hosted by Tina Turbin in Florida.

The kids will soon receive their Danny the Dragon gift basket loaded with goodies and Danny the Dragon give-aways!

I am very pleased to also share the Fowler triplets’ story.  Their mother briefly shares what it has been like to raise 3 children with celiac:

Our Celiac Disease Journey started in May of 2007, the triplets were about to turn two and I was questioning the doctor about their small stature. Like most, the belief was that there were 3 of them, so it might just be their size, but at their two year check up we would run more tests if they had not gained any weight.  No surprise, their two year check up came and the girls had failed to put on ANY weight in the 6 month period prior to their checkup.

At that point, we decided to see the Pediatric GI here in St. Pete who immediately thought Celiac or Cystic Fibrosis. He was pretty optimistic and we were sent home wishing for an auto immune disease.  Being a mom with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Auto-immune hepatitis and Thyroid Disease (all auto immune diseases), I only began to worry about what the girls health would look like in the future. Not a promising outlook but the Celiac diagnosis was manageable and that is what we were hoping for. 

Halloween 2007 we spent the majority of the day screening at All Childrens for Celiac and Cycstic Fibrosis. The girls were poked, and encouraged to sweat for their tests, so we walked the halls of All Childrens prompting them with Candy corn. 

Long story short, the results were Celiac Disease and after their biopsy’s we learned their small intestines had been effected and they were no longer absorbing the nutrients they needed to grow.  AHHHHHHHHHHH at last a diagnosis, now to change the diet.

My husband and I left the hospital that day and went straight to the health food store in St. Pete and began our Gluten Free lifestyle.  We also have a 7 yr old soon (5 at time of diagnosis) and another son (the 3rd triplet), both who do not have Celiac, so we knew we were in for a big change. 

The transition went better than expected and within 6 months the girls blood levels had balanced off and were within normal range.  We finally saw the weight gain, and they were beginning to look like big kids, instead of a year or two younger than they actually were. 

The girls are now getting close to being on the growth charts, and are showing signs of growth all around. We still hear that they are small because they were multiples but at least now we know it is not their diets causing it. Overall you can see they are eating more of what they like and just feeling better. 

It is a big adjustment to make, but it is manageable and with the right attitude and support you can fine tune the diet so that no child is left out or feels “different” because of what they eat. My girls are sure to ask at every outing, “is it gluten free?”, and that alone puts a smile on my face.