Here’s my latest recipe for the Food Network’s Healthy Eats Blog! This time I’m cooking up a classic with a twist. I’m always looking for low-maintenance, one-pot meals that my family loves—and that will hit the dinner table fast. This one more than satisfies with juicy chicken baked on top of flavorful tomato rice. It’s just as easy as it sounds!

What’s your family’s favorite gluten-free one-pot meal?

For the recipe and cooking tips, please go check out the Healthy Eats blog!

Here’s my latest recipe for the Food Network’s Healthy Eats Blog! This time I’m talking meatballs. Why do they have to contain gluten? When you think of what the soaked bread is technically there to do—give the meatball a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness—there are definitely easier, healthier, non-gluten ways to get there.

Even better? You have options. For this recipe, I use crushed brown rice cereal. I’ve also used crushed tortilla chips, unsweetened corn flakes and plain instant oatmeal. They all perform the same function: They absorb liquid.

The other trick is to add ingredients that release liquid. Here I’ve used kale. You can swap in any green leafy veggie or if you prefer, finely chopped mushrooms or grated zucchini. The combination will give you a meatball your grandma would be proud of.

For the recipe and more tips, please go check out the Healthy Eats blog!

Everyone appreciates getting in and out of the kitchen fast on a weeknight. Recently, I started blogging for the Food Network about it. The concept: First, I make a low-maintenance, but high-impact basic recipe—like Apple Cider Applesauce—that I can keep on hand in the fridge.

Then, throughout the week, I’m ready to get dinner done fast with my easy mix-in mains, like Pork ’n’ Applesauce Hash Brown Waffles or Caramelized Butternut Squash-Apple Soup With Bacon Croutons. For the complete recipes, check out my new Fast Fridge Fixes column over at the Food Network’s Healthy Eats blog.

Since the day my now 14-year-old son Isaiah was diagnosed with gluten intolerance four years ago, there have been many days when I have felt that I know absolutely nothing—nothing at all.

There still are.

“I look into his dark brown eyes and see my handsome teenage son. So, handsome, I could cry. I cry wondering if he’s healthy. Healthy enough.”

What does that even mean? I wonder if I should get Isaiah more invasive testing to make sure he’s healthy. I wonder if by not getting him the more invasive testing, I am making a mistake—one I can’t take back.

Professionally, I have been a magazine researcher, fact-checker and reporter. And from that perspective, I have researched the heck out of gluten intolerance, celiac disease and all of the related, possible, probable, interrelated symptoms, syndromes, illnesses, diseases and everything in between. I’m still confused.

Personally, if I think about it too much, I get even more confused and overwhelmed. I don’t think that can be healthy. Not for me—or Isaiah. We’re in this together, but as he’s turned into a teen, he’s feeling out his independence, which means he’s testing the boundaries and seeing how far he can bend the rules. Translation: He cheats and eats gluten when he’s out with his friends. After all, he’s not a little kid, anymore.

I’ve realized that I have to come to terms with the fact that:

I. HAVE. LOST. CONTROL.

I can only control what goes on under my roof, so my kitchen is gluten free. What do they say? You have to let go?

“I can only trust that Isaiah knows what’s right—and what’s right for his body.”

So what do I do with all of this? I love. I cook. I cry. Here’s everything I’ve learned so far about gluten free. In fact, what I love about this list is that these are all things that we’ve known all along.

1) Love heals all.
2) You are what you eat.
3) Homemade is always best.
4) Trust your instincts.
5) Lead with your heart and the rest will follow.
6) If something doesn’t feel right, change it.
7) You know more than you think you do.
8) Take a leap of faith.
9) Conversation is food for the soul.
10) Simple is good.

That’s why I am happy to join Diane from The W.H.O.L.E. Gang along with all of the other gluten-free bloggers who are participating in her 30 Days to Easy Gluten-Free Living. For the complete list of contributors and what they’ll be writing about, please see below.

Homemade Nutella, anyone?

Silvana’s Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Nutella Knockoff
Isaiah eats this stuff straight from the jar—with gluten-free pretzels or just a spoon. To roast the hazelnuts, preheat the oven to 325º and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cook, shaking occasionally, until toasty and fragrant, about 12 minutes, and let cool completely. The chocolate-hazelnut butter will keep for at least 1 month in the fridge.

2 cups blanched hazelnuts, roasted
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3½ tablespoons canola oil

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts, scraping down the sides, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, salt and oil; process until combined, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a sealable container and refrigerate.

Here’s the list of the 30 bloggers and the days that they’ll be sharing their easy gluten-free living tips and recipes!

Monday May 2nd    Diane from  The WHOLE Gang sharing Easy Gluten Free Grocery Shopping Tips

Tuesday May 3rd  Iris from The Daily Dietribe sharing on How to Start a Gluten Free Diet.

Wednesday May 4th  Heather from Gluten-Free Cat sharing Smoothing the GF Transition with Smoothies

Thursday May 5th  Alta from Tasty Eats at Home sharing Make Your Own Convenience Foods

Friday May 6th  Elana from Elana’s Pantry sharing Quick and Easy Gluten Free Cherry Vanilla Power Bars

Saturday May 7th  Cheryl from Gluten Free Goodness sharing Easy Meals GF Style

Sunday May 8th  Megan from Food Sensitivity Journal sharing Gluten Free Baking Undone:  Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Monday May 9th  Amy from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free sharing Magic Cookie Power Bars.

Tuesday May 10th  Ricki from Diet, Dessert and Dogs sharing Gluten Free Baking Tips

Wednesday May 11th      Ellen from Gluten-Free Diva sharing Gluten Free Travel Tips

Thursday May 12th     Kim from Cook It Allergy Free sharing Eating from your Garden for Easy Gluten-Free Living

Friday May 13th     Melissa from Gluten Free For Good sharing Gluten-Free Food Rules (recipes included)

Saturday May 14th  Brittany from Real Sustenance sharing Healthy Allergy-Free Quick Bread with easy flavor variations.

Sunday May 15th  Nicola from g-free Mom sharing Kids Lunch Boxes

Monday May 16th     Wendy from Celiacs in the House sharing Fast Food for Gluten Free Teens

Tuesday May 17th     Shirley from gluten free easily sharing Your Pantry is the Key to Living gfe

Wednesday May 18th     Nancy from  The Sensitive Pantry sharing Tips for BBQ and Picnics

Thursday May 19th    Heidi from Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom sharing Tips for Getting Kids to Embrace Whole Foods

Friday May 20th  Silvana from Silvana’s Kitchen sharing Everything I’ve Learned So Far about Gluten-Free (plus a recipe!)

Saturday May 21st  Maggie from She Let Them Eat Cake sharing Easy Gluten-Free Living With Preschoolers and a Vanilla Cupcake recipe!

Sunday May 22nd  Sea from Book of Yum sharing Gluten Free Vegetarian Burritos

Monday May 23rd     Tia from Glugle Gluten-Free

Tuesday May 24th    Alisa from Alisa Cooks and Go Dairy Free sharing Wrap it Up-Thinking Outside the Bun

Wednesday May 25th  Hallie from Daily Bites sharing Keys to Colorful Cooking

Thursday May 26th     Carol from Simply…Gluten-Free

Friday May 27th   AndreaAnna from Life as a Plate sharing Tips on Traveling on Day Trips with Kids

Saturday May 28th  Zoe from Z’s Cup of Tea

Sunday May 29th  Kelly from The Spunky Coconut

Monday May 30th  Jess from ATX Gluten-Free sharing 1 Meal 3 Ways, Jazzing up Leftovers

Tuesday May 31st  Naomi from Straight into Bed, Cakefree and Dried

Bread.

It’s such a loaded word in my house and in my family’s lives, and it has so many definitions: Comfort, Happiness, What I Used to Eat, What I Can’t Eat Anymore…

When Isaiah was first diagnosed with gluten intolerance, this is the first food he lost that really mattered. And it was one of the first foods I tried to replicate. I had successfully made other types of bread-like doughs: rolls, waffle bread, pizza, baguettes. But never a loaf of sandwich bread, which is what Isaiah wanted—and needed—for school lunch. After many failures, I had given up…until now.

A few weeks ago, I started playing around again with making sandwich bread. After about 10 loaves, I made a loaf we liked. Then, it was time to make the loaf we LOVED.

I posted a picture of my first loaf on Facebook and Twitter, and it was warmly received with dozens of smiley face emoticons and requests for the recipe. I even received a request from one of my favorite food magazines—Saveur, who had invited me to print the recipe on their website as part of their special April 2011 Sandwich Issue. Yes!

Want the recipe? Visit Saveur.com for my gluten-free bread-making story and finally, the recipe for Isaiah’s Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread, including step-by-step photos!

On September 27, 2007, just a few days away from Halloween, Isaiah was diagnosed with multiple food intolerances. He was 10 years old and the list of off-limit foods  was 25 items-long. On a scale from high to low, his IgG standard food panel looked like this:

HIGH
1) wheat gluten
2) wheat gliadin
3) whole wheat
4) spelt
5) soybeans
6) peanuts
7) milk
8) whey
9) yogurt
10) grapefruit
11) lemon
12) orange

MODERATE
13) casein
14) cottage cheese
15) egg whites
16) egg yolks
17) radish
18) zucchini

LOW
19) cheddar cheese
20) mozzarella cheese
21) red grape
22) pineapple
23) oysters
24) avocado
25) common mushroom

I wrote the list down on a big post-it note and stuck it on the fridge. I had a copy in my bag. I had a copy in the car. Our doctor advised us to focus primarily on the foods rated high.

Our path in life had changed…forever. I know many of you reading this have been exactly where we were standing. Or, maybe you’re standing there right now.

Photo Credit Unknown

Three years later: We. Are. So. Much. Better. Now.  We hope you are, too. And if your journey is just beginning, we can help you love to eat again.

Thankfully, the list of off-limit foods is shorter. Every six months, I have Isaiah’s blood tested. Mostly, to see if his body is healing. Happily, it is. Not only can I see it in Isaiah’s face, mood and energy, but I can see it in his blood.

And now, Isaiah can have dairy again. That’s huge. I’ve learned that when you’re first diagnosed with gluten and dairy intolerances, your intestinal lining is so raw that anything acidic can aggravate it. That makes sense. Once Isaiah’s body had started to heal, he was able to slowly reintroduce dairy.

Have you had your blood tested since the first time?

Now, the ONE thing he can’t eat is gluten. We’ve already moved past that anyway. It’s how we live -and love.

Happy Valentine’s Day to my handsome, strong son, Isaiah.

This is just our story. But there are so many amazing and inspiring stories.

Like my friend Sloane Miller, aka Allergic Girl, who shares her beautiful story in her upcoming book, Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies. Check out her book trailer (a fun take on dating with food allergies!).

Please share your story with us and you could win a copy of Sloane’s Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies.

Three words: Teenagers. Never. Lie.

I was opening three boxes of the newly-formulated Enjoy Life gluten-free, dairy-free, allergen-free cookies when Isaiah and three of his best friends walked in the door. The usual happened: backpacks hit the floor, the fridge door flung open and then they turned and asked, “What’s for snack?” I offered up the Enjoy Life cookies (specifically the Snickerdoodle, Double Chocolate Brownie and Lively Lemon flavors) and within seconds (and I mean seconds!), I had to scramble my way into the huddle and claim what was rightly mine -one of each.

Clearly, the favorite was Snickerdoodle. The cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top is nicely addicting. The Double Chocolate Brownie came in a close second and then, the Lively Lemon. So what did they like about the cookies? The soft, slightly chewy texture and full flavor.  They never even knew they were eating gluten- and dairy-free cookies.

If you’re looking for the “Now Even Tastier” formula, you can tell the difference by looking at the package design:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

8 Lessons from a NYC Snow Day

1) Get out early, before the snow gets plowed away.
2) Go with the flow, especially with little kids in tow. Even if that means you don′t leave the house before 2 p.m. There are no rules, after all, so go ahead and disregard lesson #1.
3) Don′t bother digging out your car. How often do alternate side parking rules get suspended? Public transportation is safer, anyway.
4) Wet socks are part of the experience. We can change them when we get home.
5) Plenty of warm, cozy food is exactly what′s needed: the more decadent, the better.
6) It′s okay to be in a post-snow day food coma until bedtime. Just submit.
7) Be present in the moment because each one is irreplaceable and when you really think about it, there are only so many.
8) Best friends are best friends for a reason: They are the B-E-S-T!
BONUS) Write a post because the pictures of Chiara are super cute, my super snow angel!

I’d love to hear some of yours. Will you please share your life lessons, snow or shine?

While this is not my usual kind of post, it′s the time of year when most of us tend to feel sluggish and a little wisdom bestowed upon me by my Buddhist doctor can make all the difference.

You know when you just feel off? You have the power to change that. Years ago, I wasn′t feeling like my true self and a friend recommended I go see her Buddhist doctor. That′s exactly what I did and the doctor diagnosed me with what he called a “slight food poisoning.” This was not your classic food poisoning where the symptoms  were obvious, but rather something much more subtle: It turns out my body needed a digestive break.

Here, in his broken English, is the list of foods he asked me to avoid for two weeks:
1. Bread
2. Cheese
3. Cookies
4. Ice cream
5. Coffee
6. Tropicana
7. Vinegar
8. Yeast
9. Mushrooms
10. Alcohol

Here′s my not lost-in-translation food list based on his above:
1. Gluten
2. Dairy
3. Added sugar
4. Processed foods
5. Caffeine
6. Citrus
7. Fermented foods
8. Yeast
9. Mushrooms
10. Alcohol

So what did I eat? As a self-proclaimed sugar- and chocoholic (there’s a reason I once owned a bakery!), this was no simple task. Taking the easy way out, I went back to basics with clean whole foods. I had pressed the reset button and my body thanked me later with  restored vitality.

Hungry for more? Try these digestion-friendly recipes:

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Quick Vegetable Minestrone
Sautéed Kale from my friend Elana Amsterdam of Elana’s Pantry
Saffron Tomato Sauce with Chicken and Spaghetti Squash from my friend Amy Green of  Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free

NOTE: I am not a nutritionist or doctor. Please consult yours if you have any medical issues before trying this diet.

With all of us busy getting our big Thanksgiving meals ready, we can sometimes forget to look around us at those who might not be sitting down to a hot plate full of food and a circle of loving family and friends.

I′m joining my friend Jennie of In Jennie′s Kitchen to encourage us all to take a small step that will make a big difference in someone′s life by donating to your favorite organization.  Today, I made a donation to the Food Bank for New York City. For every $1 we donate, 5 meals are provided to New Yorkers in need.

And this holiday season, our donations will be matched. What could be better than to know that our donations will now reach twice as many people? Please donate with me today and help join the fight against hunger in America.