Romantic Flourless Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake, gluten free

Is there anything more romantic than chocolate? It's way up on my list, especially with a glass of red wine. Hubby and I love ending a cozy dinner with a glass of wine and a bit of dark chocolate.

After I made this gluten-free Flourless Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake recipe, we snuggled up with a glass of wine, a tiny slice of cake..and moaned.. It was so delicious that I think it needs a warning label!

Flourless Chocolate cakes are great for a gluten free diet. No gluten free flour mix is needed! Just be sure that your chocolate is truly gluten free. Many chocolates, including some of the best from Switzerland, are manufactured in the same facility with wheat. Hard to believe, but sadly true.

Crockpot Ragu Sunday Sauce

Traditionally in our house, we make a meat sauce that cooks for hours on the stove. It requires a fair amount of work to get it all prepped, browned, and then I have to stir it off and on for hours, so it won't burn. I love cooking, but Sunday is a nice day to relax, so I wanted to see if I could make a great #Italian Sunday meal with a lot less work...

I decided to make my Sunday Ragu Pasta sauce recipe in the crockpot and I'm flabbergasted how good it is! The sauce came out thick, dark and beautifully rich. I barely had to do a thing. No mess, no browning, no pots and pans to wash. We snuggled on the couch watching football and movies, while the house filled with mouthwatering aromas, and I didn't have to jump up once.

Pfister Faucet Review & Easy Gluten-Free English Muffin Bread

I received this product for a review but all opinions are my own.
Christmas was wonderful, exhausting, and so exciting at our house this year. I hope yours was wonderful too.

We decided with only a few weeks before the holidays to remodel the kitchen. We had a bad water leak and the cabinets were ruined. I can't imagine a worse time to do a remodel, but it was totally worth it! I love so many things about the new kitchen, especially my beautiful Pfister Stainless Steel Selia 1-Handle Pull Down kitchen faucet. I can't wait to tell you about it!

And don't miss my new super Easy Gluten-Free English Muffin Bread recipe. It's the last one of the year and it's a doozy!

This is a gorgeous faucet. Right out of the box, I was impressed with the size and how solid it feels.
It's contemporary design is the perfect compliment for my modern two toned kitchen and I love that the Pfister Pforever Warranty covers finish and function for life.
My biggest gripe with our old faucet was the fingerprints and spots. I hate fingerprints and spent half my life in the kitchen wiping that old faucet down.
I've had the new Pfister faucet for several weeks now and I am thrilled to say that I never have any spots or fingerprints. It stays beautiful with hardly any cleaning.

Sweet Rice & Almond Christmas Cookies, gluten-free, xanthan-free

I love roll out Gluten Free frosted sugar cookies and these are by far the easiest and best tasting I have ever made!  

No complicated gluten-free flour mixture or xanthan gum is needed. The simple flour mixture made perfect Christmas cookies!

I can hardly believe that I made these scrumptious gluten-free sugar cookies with only Mochiko (Sweet Rice) flour and Almond meal. It was something I wanted to try to save a few pennies and it worked great. On top of that they taste exactly like what I used to love.

I buy my sweet rice flour at the Asian grocery for only a $1.00

Spicy Truffle Cheese Sauce & Grain Free Butternut Squash Gnocchi

I'm a huge fan of cooking shows. I'm always in awe and inspired by the beautiful food professional chefs make and the techniques that they use. It's so much fun to watch them cook and then I can go do it myself!

What I love the most about watching talented chefs' work is that they describe the texture and taste of a finished product. Gnocchi is supposed to be light and fluffy and a good sauce should have a complex depth of flavor, so that's what I worked to achieve in this new healthy recipe. Luckily, using gluten-free and grain-free flours you can't overdevelop the gluten when you knead this dough, and the finished product is pretty amazing! The creatively crafted Castello Double Creme Truffle Cheese is incredible on its own but combined with some heat and herbs, it makes a sauce to die for.

The flavor of truffles in Castello Double Creme Truffle Cheese is earthy and beautiful. You will love this cheese!

Popular Low Carb Recipes- Pumpkin Pie Waffles

Living Low Carb is an important life choice for me. When you have Celiac, the last thing you want is more dietary restrictions, but I gained weight eating the high carbs in gluten-free flours and sugar, and my gut wasn't healing until I went grain-free and sugar-free.

Finding the right balance of exercise, combined with a Low-Carb diet has made all the difference in my health and energy.

Today, I'm going to show you how I eat Low Carb with some of my favorite recipes and a NEW Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Waffle recipe that we love.

I also want to tell you about something important that we all can do to initiate a change for better nutrition guidelines in America. 

Did you know, "U.S. Dietary Guidelines are intended to be used in developing educational materials and aiding policymakers in designing and carrying out nutrition-related programs, including Federal nutrition assistance and education programs."

The school lunch programs have been largely based on recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines. This may be why our children are being fed a diet high in starches, sugars and carbohydrates at school. Imagine what a difference it would make in a child's life to eat healthy food each day at school. For many children in our country, this is the only meal of the day.  

In the past 30 years, adult obesity weights have doubled, and they are projected to rise to 50 percent by 2030. Today at least 50 percent of Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Clinical studies show us that eating more sugar and starches puts people at risk for weight gain and nutrition-related health issues, such as diabetes. However this science is not acknowledged in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommendations. We can do something about this!

Incredible Low Carb, #GrainFree Bread in the Bread Machine

It's such a joy when the weather cools off and I can start baking bread again. Today my house is filled with the wonderful smells of fresh baked grain free bread and Progresso soup bubbling on the stove.

Nothing is better than dipping warm bread into a big bowl of soup. Today I made Progresso Rich & Hearty New England Clam Chowder and guess what? It's #glutenfree!

I grab my soup and bread, curl up with a book on the patio and savor the coolness of a beautiful Fall day. #FallSoupSeason is my favorite time of year! Hurry to take advantage of Progresso at Publix in-store promotions and enter my $15 Paypal Cash Giveaway below!

Just pop my new grain free bread in the bread machine or the oven, heat up your cans of Progresso New England Clam Chowder, make a big green salad and you have a perfect dinner for a chilly Fall evening.

Cook for the Cure! Gluten-Free Yellow Cupcakes w/ Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm thrilled to participate in Cook for the Cure to Support Breast Cancer Awareness by sharing my NEW Gluten-Free Yellow Cupcakes with Pink Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.

I made these cupcakes in honor and in memory of my lovely mother Audrey, who passed away from breast cancer many years ago.She was much too young and we miss her terribly.

In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent.  - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/GlobalReach.html#sthash.KM18Dgp0.dpuf

Now, we have a better chance of survival with organizations like Susan G Komen, KitchenAid and hhgregg fighting for a cure. In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent.

In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent.  - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/GlobalReach.html#sthash.KM18Dgp0.dpuf

In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent.  - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/GlobalReach.html#sthash.KM18Dgp0.dpuf

In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent.  - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/GlobalReach.html#sthash.KM18Dgp0.dpuf

Supporting these companies in this cause is supporting your loved ones health. I know you would never want a friend or family member to suffer this terrible disease.

Keep reading to see how you can help in many ways. Even just making a cupcake and posting to Twitter or Instagram  will further the research. 

Savoring Saturdays and our Top Ten Gluten-Free Pumpkin Recipes

 Happy Fall!

Fall in Florida  means we are finally cooling off a little. For me, personally, that means I can crank up the oven and start cooking more! Hooray!

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I love squash. I mostly use butternut squash for my recipes, but any squash that I can roast, smash and mix into my baking makes my day. I'm looking forward to seeing all of your new pumpkin recipes and making a few new ones of my own this year.

Until I get some squash, I think I'll go make my favorite 10 minute Microwave Sweet Potato Pies :) 

Living healthy with Savoring Saturdays #glutenfree recipes

I wore a pair of heels out to dinner the other day and got blisters, and after a week the blisters still aren't healed!Did you know that people with hypothyroidism, like me, have slow wound healing? 
I'm using honey and it's a sticky mess, but I'm getting better. Hopefully, I won't have ants in the bed before this is over.
Enjoying delicious gluten-free recipes like my favorite from last week is a great way to stay healthy too. 

I love the health benefits of tea and lemon. Julie from Sweet and Spicy Monkey has come up with the most delicious Hibiscus Lemon Tea from Sweet and Spicy Monkey recipe. I whipped some up and it's great hot or cold. I really think you will like it. Stay healthy and take care everyone. xo

 30+ Gluten-Free Bundt Cakes from Elle 

Gluten-Free Chicken Milanese from me

Fizzy Ginger Lemonade from Raia  

Easy Gluten-Free Lasagna Casserole from Brianna

A Wealth of Rosh Hashanah Gluten-Free Cakes, Gluten-Free Challah Bread

Welcome back to Savoring Saturdays and Happy Sweet New Year to our Jewish friends!

This week we have a huge roundup of amazing gluten-free Rosh Hashanah recipes to share with you. 

I'm drooling over the Gluten-Free Honey Apple Cakes, Cinnamon Apple scones, laced with apples and honey and the Fig & Chocolate Flourless Cake. 

We also have a brand NEW roundup of the Top 15 Gluten-Free Challah bread recipes from gfe-glutenfreeeasily.  You don't want to miss it!

Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I know you will enjoy  how these talented cooks took traditional Rosh Hashanah recipes and made them gluten-free! 

Grain-Free Homemade Pasta with Mezzetta Pasta Sauce, gluten-free, nut-free

Years ago, I traveled to Italy and had the best time of my life visiting, Florence, Rome, and Venice. I loved everything about Italy, the history, the architecture, the food, the espresso and the people. It's just wonderful there and I hope to go back some day.

One of my favorite memories of the trip is how at the restaurants we would sit at long tables with the locals and the waiters would pass family style plates of antipasto, pasta, and many other beautiful dishes for everyone to share. I will never forget how fun that was and how good the food tasted.

When I heard how Mezzetta Napa Valley Homemade pasta sauce is made it reminded me of my time in Italy and the wonderful homemade food I enjoyed. I couldn't wait to try this new gluten-free pasta sauce!

I found Mezzetta's pasta sauce at my local grocery store, brought it home and cracked it open. Immediately you see the olive oil on the surface and the thick chunks of tomato. I ate a big spoonful right out of the jar. Even cold it was delicious!

My go to Italian meal is always pasta, but lately I'm eating grain free and I haven't had a good plate of pasta for ages.
Mezzetta pasta sauce inspired me to make my new Homemade Grain-Free Pasta. I wanted to make a grain-free, great tasting egg noodle that has the strength to simmer in the pasta sauce and it worked! The new pasta and the sauce made the perfect family meal. My family loved it! 

Savoring Saturdays, Summer Berry Gluten-Free Desserts and more

Welcome back to Savoring Saturdays! 

End of the summer means berry picking! I loved picking berries as a kid and I still adore anything made with berries in it. 

If you're a berry lover like I am, Elle's roundup of 50 Summer Berry Gluten-Free Desserts will give you lots of great ways to use those beautiful berries.

If you overindulged a bit this summer like I did, I'm sharing my Skinny Banana Yogurt Pudding with Chia that's low in calories and big on taste. It's the perfect way to cut back on high-calorie breakfasts or late-night snacks. I've made it many times with berries instead of banana and it's awesome.

My favorite recipe from last week is Sandi's Gluten-Free Raspberry Zucchini Loaf. It's dairy-free, vegan, refined sugar-free! The loaf reminds me of my old favorite, raspberries muffins, but this looks much healthier. I can't wait to try it out. 

Did you have fun this summer? We had a great time with friends and family visiting. It was a crazy hot, rainy summer, but I'm always sad to see it go!

Here's what we have been up to:

1.  50 Summer Berry Gluten Free Desserts from Elle
2.  Skinny Banana Yogurt Pudding w/Chia from me
3.  Easy Cream Cheese Frosting from Brianna
4.  On the Goodness of Summer from Raia (incl. baby pics!)

Skinny Banana Yogurt Pudding, single serving, gluten free, sugar free

Do you have trouble making healthy breakfast or late night snack choices? My sweet tooth sabotages my healthy good intentions daily with thoughts of granola, cookies, cereal or in my pre-Gluten-Free days, it was Banana Pudding.
Hubby loved my Banana Pudding and we made it often before I went gluten-free. So good with vanilla wafers, pudding and meringue, but time-consuming, not to mention full of sugar and fat!  
Now,  I make myself happy with this luscious gluten-free and sugar-free Skinny Banana Yogurt Pudding that's ready in minutes, has less than 300 calories and it's crazy delicious...

Savoring Saturdays, Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Bars and more!

Welcome back to Savoring Saturdays! 

We're gearing up for some bad weather from Tropical Storm Erika and I'm busy planning easy meals if the power goes out. 

I bought gluten-free ham, sausages, sandwich and salad makings and I'll be making a few pizza's that are great even cold. Like my favorite Low Carb Crust with Chicken and Roasted Veggies.

Along with meals, I made up a few desserts. I especially like these Chocolate Coconut Bars that are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and grain-free and our Reader's favorite- Smokey and Sweet Peanut Slaw that looks perfect for serving with my ham or spicy sausages.

We stocked up on lots of water and batteries, gas for the generator and if we do lose power? I guess the first meal will be ice cream!  

On to the party! Come link up or just enjoy the recipes!

Here's my favorite from last week:

Chocolate Coconut Bars from Raia's Recipes  These are just what I needed to make me feel better! I'm munching one now :)

Flourless Cherry & Pineapple Dump Cake and keeping fit with Perfectly Simple Nutrition Bars

My sister and I want to stay healthy so we started working out twice a week, often in 90+- degree weather!  Even with our busy schedules, we meet up at a local coffee shop, enjoy a latte, and a healthy snack before we head out to walk the beach for several miles.
It's a great time for both of us, but often, there is little time to enjoy – let alone find – the right healthy snack. Especially for me, as most coffee shops don't carry gluten-free snacks.
Today I brought ZonePerfect's Perfectly Simple nutrition bars to share. They are high in protein, 200 calories or less, and gluten-free… they’re the perfect blend of simple, wholesome ingredients in one tasty, on the go snack.

At home, I try to make healthy desserts that my family will love too! Scroll down to see my new Flourless Cherry & Pineapple Dump Cake recipe. It's gluten-free, lower in carbs and delicious!

I found the Perfectly Simple Nutrition Bars at my local Target store. The flavors are all of my favorites and I love that they have 11 grams of protein in each bar.

Gluten Free BLT Pizza with Yogurt Pizza Sauce and Fun Freschetta Family Pizza Nights

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #GFreePizzaNight  #CollectiveBias

Every Friday night is gluten free Pizza night at our house. Hubby and I really enjoy making pizza together and adding our own favorite toppings, but it is a lot of work and takes a good amount of time to make the dough, prepare all of the toppings and get it baked. By the time it's done I'm starving and the dog is laying on the kitchen rug drooling. He's a big fan of pizza too.

That's why when Freschetta asked me to try out their pizza I was intrigued. Could a frozen gluten-free pizza be as good as homemade?

I was thrilled to find that my local Publix on Eau Gallie carries all of the Freschetta Gluten Free Pizzas on Aisle 14. Grab a Freschetta $1.50 off coupon available from 8/16-9/06 before you go!

Freschetta® Gluten Free Pizza is available in two great gluten-free flavors and two convenient sizes, so families can keep the freezer stocked with items to simplify the challenges of following a gluten-free diet.

I bought each flavor and now I can't wait to try them out.

On the first night, hubby and I enjoyed making a BLT Pizza with the Freschetta® Gluten Free 4 Cheese Medley Pizza, that is covered edge-to-edge with 100-percent real mozzarella, Asiago, Fontina and Parmesan cheeses! 

Skinny Gluten-Free Broccoli Salad and Savoring Saturdays

Broccoli Salad is my all time favorite! I drool over it at the deli, but there's no way to know what they put in it! Chances are there's gluten in there somewhere so I have to walk on by. Unfortunately, most broccoli salad dressings are full of fat and sugar too. My new Skinny Gluten-Free Broccoli Salad is much healthier for us and it's so good that I've been eating it as a meal!

I lightened up the dressing and cut way back on the sugar! You will never miss the fat and calories.

I can honestly say, as a Broccoli salad lover, that it tastes just as good as the original recipe, and maybe even better!  Are you a broccoli lover too?