1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp almond flour or meal
seasonings or herbs as desired (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, toss together the ingredients until well blended.

Place even sized piles of mixture (size depends on how big you want the crackers) two or more inches apart on the baking sheet, flattening each pile slightly.

Put in preheated oven for 4 to 6 minutes or until melted and starting to get golden brown.

Remove and let cool undisturbed to keep their shape.

If you want to turn them into little bowls, you can place them, while still warm, over an inverted muffin tin or cups.

When cooled completely, these crackers can be used to serve dips, spreads, or as a cheesy cracker snack.

(Note: Any hard cheese will work, like Romano or Asagio. You can use softer cheeses, like cheddar, but the result will be softer as well. Almond flour or meal helps the cheese smooth out while baking, but you can actually make these with just the cheese.)

Instructions:
Cook the rice pasta according to package instructions. Drain and arrange in a large serving bowl. Add the olives, pine nuts and pesto and gently toss. Then add the cherry tomatoes, peas, parsley and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss.

Great with BBQ chicken.

It seems more and more you hear about people who have an allergy to wheat. If your child is one of those people, you know how important it is adjust their diet so they don’t have a problem. Since most store-bought goodies are made with wheat, here are some home-made wheat-free treats for lunch boxes.

Wheat-Free Brownies

These brownies are a great choice for children who love chocolate but can’t eat wheat. Ingredients include:

* 3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 5 separated eggs
* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
* 6 ounces finely ground almonds or almond flour
* Pinch of salt

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg yolks and mix thoroughly. Set this aside while you melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave-safe bowl. Allow this to cool some before adding it to the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in the almonds or almond flour.

Beat the egg whites until they become stiff but don’t allow them to dry out. Fold this into the other mixture. When the egg whites are completely incorporated, pour the mixture into a greased and floured 9” x 9” square pan. Bake these for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow them to cool before you cut them up.

Wheat-Free Macaroon Cookies

Another great treat to tuck away in the lunch box is Wheat-Free Macaroon Cookies. Here’s what you’ll need:

* 4 egg whites (save the yolks for later use)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 cups shredded coconut
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat together the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and gently combine; don’t beat them.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet. Drop the mixture onto the paper by teaspoonfuls. Bake the cookies for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for a while before you remove them from the cookie sheet. After they’ve cooled a while, remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Wheat Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Does your child love peanut butter cookies but hasn’t been able to eat them lately? These easy to make Wheatless Peanut Butter Cookies will bring a smile to your child’s face. The following ingredients are needed:

* 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup rolled oats
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup chocolate chips
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix it together. Make small or large balls of the dough. Place them on cookie sheets and then flatten them with a fork. Bake them for 20 minutes, remove from the cookie sheets, and allow them to cool.

There’s no doubt a family’s diet changes when a wheat allergy is discovered. Your child can still enjoy these and other wheat-free treats for lunch boxes. Be prepared, however – these treats are so good, you may be making them often.

Instructions:
Combine milk, rice flour, oil, vanilla, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing well and blend well until creamy. Add the apricots, date syrup and dates and toss gently. Cover the bowl with foil and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and flour a baking tray. Spread the mixture onto the tray and bake in the oven for about 7 – 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, cool slightly and place onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, then slice the date and apricot bars into squares.

Fantastic for lunchboxes!

I made the “cream cheese brownie” recipe on the package and was very happy with the flavor and texture of these brownies. The mix is a good value too because it makes a lot of brownies and is more reasonably priced than other gluten free baking mixes.

I noticed that these brownies were tastier the second day, and they also held up beautifully when I froze part of the batch to eat later. These have a permanent place on my counter, they’re officially my favorite wheat/gluten free brownie mix.

This brownie mix is available on Bob’s Red Mill’s website or amazon.com: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Brownie Mix, 21-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

This baking mix is an easy, super convenient way to whip up a batch of gluten/wheat free chocolate chip cookies. Instead of wheat, it uses garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, whole grain white sorghum flour, and fava bean flour.

I decided to bake up a batch of these and found they were excellent. The texture was chewy and the flavor delicious. They won’t taste like the cookies made with wheat you may be used to, but they’re good nonetheless.

Just a note: Skip letting the kids lick the bowl on this one. The bean flours give the batter a very “beany” flavor, although you don’t notice it when the cookies are baked. Also, these didn’t taste as nice when they were frozen and defrosted, which was a bit disappointing.

Bob’s gluten free products are some of the more reasonably priced mixes and I recommend them, especially if you or your child is sensitive to wheat and you don’t want to waste a lot of time and money experimenting with gluten free baking, which can be really tricky to master.

You can get these baking mixes at a small discount by buying them in bulk from amazon.com: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)

If you or someone in your family has a wheat allergy or intolerance, you know how challenging it can be having to learn how to bake from scratch without wheat. Wheat free and gluten free mixes like this one from Bob’s Red Mill can be very convenient, especially when you’re just learning how to replace wheat with other grains.

Bob’s Red Mill products are more reasonably priced than some other gluten/wheat free mixes, which gives them a real thumbs up in my book. When I saw this mix in my local grocery store (it was a large chain not a small health food store), I cooked up a batch of cornbread to go along with my beans. I was very pleased with the flavor.

The finished product was a little “wetter” than the cornbread I’m accustomed to, but I’ll have to experiment to see if perhaps using a wider or a different pan yields different results. Also, the cornbread is a little sweet which is fine if that’s how you’re used to eating cornbread. I’m from the South and we don’t eat our cornbread sweet, but I still liked the taste.

The next day I made the leftovers into cornbread dressing, which was also very tasty although again a little on the moist side. Overall it’s a very good product for the price, and very convenient to use too. The Bob’s Red Mill website is a nice source of wheat and gluten free recipes so you can expand your repertoire of wheat/gluten free baking.

Bob’s Red Mill flours and baking mixes are available at amazon.com and you get a small discount since you’re buying them in bulk:

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread Mix, 20-Ounce Bags (Pack of  4)

What You Need:

1 1/4 c almond flour

1 c sucanat or rapadura

1 egg

½ tsp. almond extract

1/4 c butter, room temperature

How to Make It:

Place the flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Toss to incorporate together. Add the egg and almond extract.

Mix well to insure all the dry ingredients are moistened well. Mix in the butter unto a dough consistency forms.

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Using your hands form 24 balls with the dough. Place the dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Use the back of a spoon to flatten the balls into circles.

Bake 7 minutes or until the bottoms are a light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

These cookies are great because you can use the basic recipe but change the flavor.  Use different flavors of extract such as peppermint or banana for a different taste every time. 

1 cup brown rice flour or GF blend
1 cup almond flour
2 T cornstarch
1 T grated lemon zest
1 1/2 t aluminum free baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
3/4 c rapadura or sucanat
2/3 c plain yogurt or buttermilk
1/4 c coconut or olive oil or melted butter
2 organic eggs
1/2 t almond extract
1 1/2 c frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan with olive oil cooking spray or butter.

Mix almond flour, GF flour, cornstarch, lemon zest, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. In separate bowl mix egg, oil, buttermilk or yogurt, sugar and almond extract. Fold wet and dry ingredients together. Stir in blueberries gently.

Pour batter into pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes (if making muffins, bake 20 minutes). Cool 5 minutes then turn onto wire rack to cool completely.

1 cup brown rice flour or GF baking blend
1 cup almond flour
2 T cornstarch
1 T grated lemon zest
1 1/2 t aluminum free baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
3/4 c rapadura or sucanat
2/3 c plain yogurt or buttermilk
1/4 c coconut or olive oil or melted butter
2 organic eggs
1/2 t almond extract
1 1/2 c frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan with olive oil cooking spray or butter.

Mix almond flour, GF flour, cornstarch, lemon zest, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. In separate bowl mix egg, oil, buttermilk or yogurt, sugar and almond extract. Fold wet and dry ingredients together. Stir in blueberries gently.

Pour batter into pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes (if making muffins, bake 20 minutes). Cool 5 minutes then turn onto wire rack to cool completely.