This fabulous looking gelato was emailed to me by a reader who wrote: "I was SO psyched to see Whole Foods was still carrying their delicious and inexpensive gelato year-round. I was even more thrilled to find healthy flavors like Vegan Chocolate, so I could feel a little better about the indulgence!"  After some minimal online research it seems that Whole Foods make their own line of sorbet and gelato "in house" so anyone with severe allergies should check with servers about cross-contamination. Otherwise...YUM!

Ah the ironies of the Gluten Free diet "prescription." In 2009, in  a post Gluten Minded I described my own coming to terms with the gluten free diet. And since then there has been much investigative reporting on the purpose and misconceptions of the Gluten Free diet.

This month in The Gluten-Free Quandary in Foodbusinessnews.net the article points out:

"... even the Food and Drug Administration states on its web site there is no nutritional advantage for those without celiac disease to go gluten-free and it is not meant to be a diet craze... 'Consumers are looking for ways to be healthier and gravitating to whatever they see … but it’s not always driven from a dietitian or a medical perspective'..."

And the article continues to describe the many disadvantages of adopting such a dietary restriction if, indeed it isn't necessary. It seems there is a chicken and egg mentality at play: Consumers may be incorrectly demanding these products, food giants are responding to what they perceive as a lucrative market, and interestedly, grain companies are not "properly educating consumers through effective advertising messaging may clear up consumer misunderstandings...this worked well with educating consumers that high-fructose corn syrup is just as safe as regular sugar, and now consumer concerns about HFCS have been greatly reduced."

Eden, who isn't allergic to gluten, has a cousin who has a gluten intolerance. His mother and I often discuss the difficulties of finding palatable "free-of" products to serve as conveniences and short cuts for parents managing restricted diets. And I'm ever-grateful for any new improvement or addition to the speciality products that address Eden's food allergies. Obviously food companies do provide a tremendous service for consumers with medical needs. But when I serve people my allergen-free home baked goods, I tell the whole truth: "This isn't low fat," I might clarify to a dieter..."I used a cup of olive oil..." Or, "It's dairy-free but rice milk has a lot of sugar!" Why shouldn't our food manufacturers be equally forthright and rely on their real consumer groups instead of creating this gluten free gestalt?

Often I bake the way I write: I consider all the "stuff" around me and the mix in as much as will create something interesting. I can make these muffins from scratch but happened to have an extra box of Cherrybrook Kitchen Yellow Cake Mix in the pantry (meant to buy chocolate.) So I started with that and then added an Arrowhead Mills oatmeal packet (for fiber and whole grains) and few tablespoons of hempseed that my husband eats when he's trying to be virtuous (protein, minerals and healthy fat.) I adjusted the the liquid quantities and mixed up some vanilla coconut milk, rice milk and an egg, instead of the water called for on the cake mix box (calcium protein.) And then I added a bit more olive oil than the cake recipe called for as well. Final additions were Enjoy Life Foods Chocolate Mini Chips and Cascadian Farm thawed frozen blueberries.

The whole she-bang made 18 muffins - enough for breakfast, after-school snacks and desserts all week long.

Parents never know when a little serendipity will enrich their families. As my husband points out in my favorite of his blog posts Small Things (his blog tagline is: Maximizing the serendipity around you) it's so important to be open to the small experiences of life. And I would add that in doing so, parents often find we reach our larger goals and dreams.

For example, last August I needed a website designer. So I emailed my friend Susan Danzinger of the Daily Lit (a fabulous tool for free e-reading for Busy Parents.) Susan suggested that I speak her friend Debbie Stier at Perfect Score Project, a site I've since followed with avid attention. (What parent doesn't wonder if it's truly possible to get a perfect score on the SAT's? )  And as a former teacher, Debbie's personal quest for the perfect SAT score fascinated me. So I began reading about why Debbie found Kahn Academy SAT training more helpful than some of the older, classic SAT preparatory institutes.

A few months later, when my daughter began preparing to take the ISEE exam she confronted some areas of math she needed to review. And in order to help her, so I need to do my math homework (quickly!) So I began clicking around the Kahn Academy videos. My husband and I had been familiar this site for a few years but we hadn't used it.

I was blown away by the brilliant simplicity of Kahn math videos. So often, I’ve wanted to help my children with their math but just needed a quick review for myself. Kahn Academy has provides that and it offers the snippets of other content parents often need to help their children study or just to learn more about a topic of interest.

Now we have one more Learning Tool in our home that could lead us to other places. (I'm considering learning more about Black Holes.) By opening ourselves to these smaller experiences, to the serendipity of various interactions, my family will travel and grow without leaving our home.

For my Fantasy Friday, this is a Black Bean Chipolte Burger courtesy of goop. You can find the recipe here: http://assets.goop.com/161/black-bean-chipotle-burgers.pdf  It's dairy, soy, and nut free. I love the addition of avocado on top and pumpkin seeds in the burger. Pumpkin seeds are a less common allergen than sesame seeds and safe in my family. And I do love goop...

A few days ago I wrote a piece on Psychology Today about recent trends towards eating "clean" and nutritious and organic food -- A wonderful sentiment! But sometimes parents can get overwhelmed and overburdened by that goal.

Today I received my goop newsletter filled with "Healthy Recipes" which seem remarkably simple and doable. I have a feeling that some (like the Butternut Squash Fries)  are about to become Fantasy Foods...

It's a cliche ... but I believe that laughing can make almost anyone (and especially parents) feel better about almost anything. That's why I like to read laugh-out-loud writing at the end of trying days. And lately, between winter weather, an upcoming publishing date and my children's school responsibilities, it seems my whole family can become over-wrought.

My favorite humor memoir to date is Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me. I know - might be old news but I have to recommend it anyway. Another favorite title from a few years back is Mennonite in a little Black Dress. This book was such a surprise because the author, Rhoda Janzen, isn't a famous comedian or comedic writer. (She is a poet Ph.D) But what both these women have in common is that they make fun of themselves more than anything. I love that.

Of course, some memoirists don't have funny things to write about and some of us can only enjoy (and envy) the talents of humorous authors. But all of us can take a turn taking ourselves less seriously. And when my kids are feeling anxious about homework or friendship, seeing me lighten up about my worries helps them do the same.

I grew up eating carrot sticks but raw carrots can make Eden's throat itch (oral allergy.) This carrot soup is dairy, gluten and fat free (though miso-based so it is not soy free.) From www.smittenkitchen.com - I could work around the miso with chicken stock. Looks so warming for a January night.

Sophie-Safe Cooking is a most welcome addition to resources for Food Allergy families. It has an online and a print component.

The Sophie-Safe Food Guide is an online resource providing a database where users register and then create up to four allergy profiles choosing from over 300 allergens. Users can also create “Include” profiles with ingredients that you want in your food. That done, you can then search for new foods to buy and create grocery lists. Users will even receive a FAAN alert if there is a food on your list being recalled.

Sophie-Safe Cooking, by Emily Hendrix (the book) - Once you have a handle on safe foods and ingredients you can use the cookbook supplement, a collection of recipes that are “Free of Milk, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, and Shellfish.”

I’ve been reading and experimenting with allergen-free recipes since Eden’s diagnosis in 2003. I was surprised by the appeal and the results of the recipes in this book. The dishes and baked goods are simple – bordering on Mark Bitman minimalist in style, yet quite flavorful. Emily uses one or two key seasoning notes, a child-friendly approach that can be adjusted, and she keeps her cooking times and techniques manageable for already over-challenged parents. Her dishes are family-friendly (potato corn chowder, stuffed green peppers) but Emily doesn’t overdo the child "friendly" aspects. In other words, vegetables aren’t disguised and baked goods (like Oatmeal Muffins) provide a delicious home baked taste plus nutrition. I made plan to make them a weekly staple. Emily doesn't waste time with recipes involving melted chocolate and marshmallows that parents can generally concoct on their own.

Years into this life of managing food allergies, I highly recommend Sophie Safe Cooking to families cooking for Food Allergies as well as other restricted diets.

This recipe is called Gluten Free Fast Pho and it is sourced from "Simply ...gluten-free!" Why is it a Fantasy Food? First, I have post-holiday food fatigue and crave warm but fresh, light tastes. I love the idea that this could be made safe for my whole family and give us a meal in-one-dish. The only tricky parts will be that I've concluded some asian noodles, gluten-free or not, might be contaminated on factory lines. Eden had a bad reaction to Soba noodles that I once made, that were made in China. Whereas he never reacted to Soba noodles made in the U.S.