Spiced Almond Popcorn Snack Mix | #CelebrateAlmonds

I’ve partnered with California Almonds to bring you this sponsored post and all opinions stated are my own.

Almonds and popcorn and seeds—oh my! These three things may just be my ultimate snacking trifecta. They are all easy to pack in my purse or bag when I'm on-the-go, as well as for when I feel a between-meals snack attack coming on. So combining the three might just be one of the smartest things I've done lately.

Tequila Sunrise

I'm happy to be joining Sharon of what the fork Food Blog and a fabulous group of bloggers to help Sharon celebrate her birthday with an amazing giveaway this month! Not only do we have an amazing giveaway for you today, we also have a delicious list of birthday cocktails, cakes and other bakes—and they're ALL gluten free!

Gluten-Free Chia Seed Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

I don't know much about gluten-free baking. It's one of those "one day I should figure this out" kind of things...I just haven't figured out which day yet. So, when Carrington Farms asked me if I'd be interested in sharing their delicious and healthy cookie recipe that also happens to be gluten-free, I thought it was something I should try out for myself first (and then share the results with you if I liked it).

Guess what? I liked it. I liked it alot, actually. I stayed pretty true to their recipe, which can be found on the back of the current packaging for their chia seeds, I did add a little salt to the recipe (as I do 99% of the time in sweet baked goods) because it enhances the flavors. Their recipe calls for optional chocolate chips, which I considered leaving out entirely since I'm not usually one to add chocolate to my peanut butter cookies...but I figured I was already adding oats and chia seeds, so why not give it a go. But I also wanted to try them without, so I added mini chocolate chips to half of the batch.

Steel Cut Oat Sausage Crumbles, plus an OATrageous Oatmeals blog tour

I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan. I don't claim the title gluten-free, or paleo, or dairy-free. But, that doesn't mean that I don't work those ways of eating into my family's everyday life. Many of our meals do fall into these categories, but we are also bacon assassins and slayers of juicy steaks. Ask my youngest child what his favorite meal is, and he'll say chicken. Just chicken. You know I couldn't do without my fresh fish and seafood. But, since we're fortunate enough not to be "forced" into a category, I prefer the term varietarian.

Until, of course, I looked up my brilliant new term and realized that somebody had already claimed the term - and they didn't include pork or beef in the definition. How you can exclude things purposefully and still claim to be a varietarian is beyond me. I'm still claiming varietarian as a diet based on variety.

But, I digress—as usual. My whole point in talking about special diets was to highlight the fact that today I'm sharing a recipe that is vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free as part of the OATrageous Oatmeals blog tour! This is the newest cookbook by the very talented (and all around awesome lady) Kathy Hester.

Salmon and Cucumber "Noodle" Salad

I rarely eat canned salmon. I've had it maybe two or three times max in my lifetime. I was never very impressed with it. Bones, skin, ummmm...if I'm buying a can, convenience is what I'm after, and picking out the bones and skin is anything but. So, I just stick with fresh (which oddly enough, I don't mind removing the skin and bones from).

And then I received a package in the mail.

My friend Bea of The Not So Cheesy Kitchen is a proud PDXer (Portlander?). Anytime I bring up salmon (which is surprisingly quite often) she reiterates her stance on Pacific Northwest Salmon being the best salmon. Especially when I tell her that I just ate Atlantic Salmon. That's what I usually seem to find in "my" Northwest (that would be Northwest Indiana).

One day, her and the fam headed to the beach...or was it the mountains...maybe it was both...and she mentioned two magical words: salmon and jerky. Together. As in, Salmon Jerky! And since she knows me (and can pick up on the needy desperation in my voice), she bought some extra and shipped it to me. It was ridiculous. Basically like hot-smoked salmon (one of my favorite things in the world), but less meaty and more chewy.

Cod on Roasted Pepper and White Beans

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the ADA in conjunction with Kitchen PLAY.  All opinions are 100% my own.

If you caught my post two weeks ago, you'll know that I am participating in the 30 Days of Family Health initiative led by The American Diabetes Association.  Each week during September, you will get a preview of some of the healthy, diabetes-friendly recipes featured in some of the books from the ADA's library.  If you missed my first post, you can see which book (and which perfectly delicious salmon recipe) that I shared right here.

The book that I want to introduce you to today is Gluten-Free Recipes for People with Diabetes, by Nancy S. Hughes.  This little book is full of gluten-free recipes, for sure - but the great thing about it is that it also contains "cook's tips" alongside many of the recipes (things like possible substitutions, cautions about products that may contain gluten, storing & make-ahead ideas), as well as diabetes-friendly grocery lists, menus, snack ideas - and meal plans for putting them all into action!

Brown Rice Breakfast Pudding

So, I might have mentioned the fact that we eat a lot of rice pudding in this house.  You know, a few times.  Here and there.  We (and by we, I mean my husband - because he makes it 95% of the time) will switch up the liquid that we use...or the sweetener.  Most often it's plain when he makes it, but sometimes if he's feeling feisty, he'll add a cinnamon stick.

When I make it, I like to add vanilla, or some citrus zest, or maybe a splash of rosewater.  With the rosewater, I like pistachios or cashews.  With anything else (or nothing else), I like to add dried fruit - Michigan cherries being my first choice.

But you know what's funny?  Strange, not ha-ha.  Until now, I have never even tried to make rice pudding using brown rice.  Whaaaa!?  I mean, why?  Nutty, chewy brown rice is my favorite, after all.  Maybe I just figured it would take too long.  You know, somewhere in the back of my brain as my hand passed over the jar of brown rice to reach the white rice nestled behind it.

It did take a little longer, but not so much longer that it mattered all that much.  And the great thing about this recipe?  It uses not only brown rice, but also rice milk, making it dairy-free for those who allergic or sensitive to it (or just don't eat it).  It's also gluten-free.  But that being said, for those rice pudding/arroz con leche lovers out there - it's still creamy and comforting!  You don't even realize that there isn't any sort of (dairy) milk in it.

Really.  Just ask my hubby who ate all of the leftovers; he had no clue that I didn't use milk in it.  I didn't not tell him because I thought he wouldn't like it that way, it just didn't cross my mind.  He was at work when I made it, so I told him there was some in the fridge - he warmed up a big bowl (and then emptied it) with nary a complaint.

Brown Rice Breakfast Pudding

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Keywords: simmer breakfast dessert gluten-free nut-free soy-free vegan rice dried fruit pudding

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 2 cups uncooked brown rice, preferably short-grain
• 4 cups unsweetened rice milk + more as needed
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 4 tablespoons brown rice syrup (or to taste)
• big pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup dried fruit (I like to use a mix of cherries, apricots, cranberries, yellow raisins, and currents - I love the colors it brings to the dish)

Instructions

Combine brown rice, rice milk, water, brown rice syrup, and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil, and then decrease the heat to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for 40 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the dried fruit and cook for 10 minutes longer.

You want it to be thick, but not stiff. If your liquid runs low during cooking, add a bit more rice milk or water. The pudding should have just enough liquid left to be "loose".

Serve with extra rice milk and brown rice syrup, if you wish.

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

notes:

You could substitute maple syrup for the brown rice syrup, if you wish.

adapted from Allergy-Friendly Food for Families

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies #glutenfree + @Cookies4Kids

All the Good Cookies
author: Gretchen Holt-Witt
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
photos: yes
hardcover | 185 pages

chapters/sections: the classic gotta-haves for a bake sale / seriously chocolate / everyone can have a cookie (allergy specific) / celebrate / make it fast / sensational cookies

fun features:  100% of author proceeds from the purchase of this book go directly back to the organization and pediatric cancer research.

I also love the fun, colorful boxes located at the end of many of the recipes in the book.  They are full of tips and hints for making your cookie fundraising event a success, from "be prepared" to "what to offer" to "cute counts" to "pricing" to "community involvement" and more!  Also, there are heartwarming, personal Cookies for Kids' Cancer stories interspersed throughout the book.

(a few of the many) recipes destined for my kitchen: speculaas / sally's potato chip sandies / chocolate pillows / everyday skinny mints / deep chocolate cherry cashew cookies / doggie cookies / poppy seed cookies / toffee-almond meringues

my thoughts/review:  There is heart, soul, love, and sunshine pouring out of every page of this beautiful little cookbook.  I cried my way through the foreword, the preface, and the introduction and smiled my way through each recipe.  I'm inspired by the whole Cookies for Kids' Cancer organization and I have plans of bake sales and fundraisers and time in the kitchen with my own kids running through my head.

This is a book that I think everybody should run out and buy immediately.  And buy a few extra to give away while you're at it.  This book is truly inspirational.

what I've tried so far:  Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies - Peanut Butter cookies have been one of my favorites since I was a kid.  I love the good, old-fashioned ones made with smooth peanut butter and given cross-hatches with a fork.  I think they were one of the first things I baked all by myself.  I wasn't sure what I was going to think about a gluten-free (flourless) version, but the photos in the book were just so enticing with peanuts peeking out and chocolate sprinkles spotting them...I just couldn't resist.  And I am SO happy that I didn't, because I LOVED them.  The kids loved them.  They are chewy just like my favorite peanut butter cookies.  And I love that I now have a fabulous gluten-free cookie in my arsenal.  I think I'd love to bring a double batch (one of my classic beloved pb cookies and one of these) to any cookie-sharing opportunity!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert gluten-free vegetarian soy-free peanut butter peanuts eggs cookie American

Ingredients (about 4 dozen)

• 1 3/4 cups natural creamy peanut butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped cocktail peanuts
• chocolate sprinkles, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat together all of the ingredients (except cocktail peanuts) in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, 3 minutes or so. Stir in the chopped peanuts.

Drop by heaping 2 teaspoon (or scant tablespoon) scoops onto prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch or so between each cookie. If you want to use the chocolate sprinkles, scatter some over the top of each scoop of dough.

Slide into preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn a light golden, rotating pan(s) halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

from Cookies for Kids' Cancer: All the Good Cookies

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about the author: When Gretchen Holt-Witt found out that her 2 ½ year-old son Liam had pediatric cancer, she was shocked to find out that the disease - which claims the lives of more children in the US than asthma, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis and Muscular Dystrophy ...combined - had received an appallingly low amount of attention and funds for research. All types of pediatric cancers collectively receive less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s multi-billion dollar budget and an equally small amount of research dollars from pharmaceutical companies. It’s simply not on the radar of our government, private industry or the general public.

So Gretchen decided to take action and instigate hope with something simple and sweet.... one of Liam’s favorite activities, baking cookies, became Gretchen’s solution. She started with rounding up friends and family to bake and sell 96,000 cookies during the holidays in 2007 - which with 250+ volunteers, she accomplished, raising $420,000 which was granted to a new therapy for pediatric cancer.

Fast-forward to today, what began as an idea to help fund one promising new research project in 2007 has grown into a movement to change the face of pediatric cancer. In just over 4 years Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has funded DOZENS of pediatric cancer research projects by raising more than 6 million dollars from thousands of grassroots events held all over the country – all 50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK and Germany.

Sadly, Gretchen’s son Liam passed away at age 6½ in January of 2011. The funds raised from that first bake sale in 2007 were funneled to developing a treatment that would have helped her son. But the treatment only became available late 2011, months after Liam died. Which just goes to show how real this is - how CFKC is funding real treatments that have the potential to save real lives. And that is what keeps the CFKC team and Gretchen going. After all, it only takes $100,000 to get something going.

further info: website | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | blog | purchase



I received a free copy of this cookbook from the publisher.  All thoughts stated in this post are 100% my own.  This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Arizona Sunset Enchilada Soup Mix from @FrontierSoups {product review}

I have 88 soup recipes in my index.  While that is a good amount, when I went to count, I thought I'd have more.  Because we eat a lot of soup in this house.  But then I realized that the majority of the soups we eat either a) is something I've already blogged about and is a favorite, therefore gets made quite often *cough...tortilla soup...cough* or b) is something I've just thrown together without measuring or writing down.  I mean, refrigerator soup or pantry soup is definitely a regular occurrence.

That being said, 88 isn't too shabby.  So yes, I am a soup addict, in case you didn't already know.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a new soup mix from a great line of all-natural, healthy mixes from Frontier Soups.  The mix I tried is their featured mix for the month, Arizona Sunset Enchilada Soup Mix.  Contained in their fun little package is a combination of dehydrated navy beans, sweet potato, onion, red and green bell pepper, corn, masa (corn flour), chili powder, and epazote.  There is no added salt, preservatives or MSG, and the mix is gluten-free.

You can whip up a delicious pot of soup in 30 minutes by adding chicken broth, cooked chicken, salsa verde , shredded cheese, and a bit of sour cream to serve, if you like.  I do like.  What do I love about this mix from Frontier Soups?  Where do I start!?  First and foremost are the all-natural ingredients which I can count on my fingers and see clearly through their transparent packaging.  But the ease with which I can whip up a batch of flavorful soup comes in a very close second.

Now is a great time for you to give this mix a try, as well, as Frontier Soups is featuring it this month and has it on sale.

But this isn't my first experience with Frontier Soups.  You may remember that Whole Grains sampling box I shared a while back?  Well, it contained a package of Frontier Soups Montana High Plains Wheat Berry Chili mix which I absolutely, positively devoured!  I made it with ground turkey, but there is also a vegetarian option.  And I was extremely excited to see packages of this mix in a local store recently.  Needless to say I have a package or two sitting in my pantry "as we speak".

If you check out the Frontier Soups website, you'll find many vegetarian, whole grain, hearty, and even gluten-free options. I know I have a bunch in mind for my next order!

I received a free package of Frontier Soups Arizona Sunset Enchilada Soup Mix.  I was under no obligation to give a positive review, and I received no compensation for this post.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.