23 Easy Gluten Free Easter Foods to Make, Thaw, Bake, or Buy

4 ingredient, naturally gluten free Easter egg nests from Allrecipes.  Photo from SarahisWright

Having 9 years of Gluten Free EASTER experience, let me brainstorm a list of gluten free Easter foods you can make so you can indulge and enjoy just as much or more than the gluten eaters out there:

Sit egg vertically to cut lid off zig zag style.  Chill filling before stuffing egg whites.Use chunks of black olive for eyes, carrot for nose.

• Make your own "cadbury" eggs with recipe here.  Get Lyle's syrup at CostPlus World Market or substitute with white corn syrup 
• Gluten Free cupcakes see photo here.  Also decorate with pastel icing or get creative with piping bags.  I use Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes.
• Deviled Egg Chicks (see photo above).  If you chill the filling, you can skip using a piping bag to stuff the egg whites.  I like to use an apple corer or small knife to make a zig zag shape on the egg whites to make it look more like a broken eggshell.  Add horseradish or apple cider vinegar to filling for a kick of flavor.  *beware of the mayonnaise!  The container of mayo must be gluten free/new and not shared by knives that have been used on gluten-containing bread or other products.  No crumb contamination! 

• Candy:  Peeps, most Cadbury candy, M&Ms, jelly beans, etc.  Beware of certain chocolates (like Lindt) that contain gluten.  There are many searchable web lists.
• Chilled Baby Shrimp pasta salad.  Just substitute gluten free pasta like tinkyada or DeBoles. 

•  Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce
• Blue Almond crackers with cheese (I like Brie)
• Crudite (veggie plate).  My mom got me a gluten free spice mix at a festival that you mix with yogurt to make a dip.  You could make dill dip with gluten free ingredients. 

•  Oven-baked Cinnamon tortilla chips with fruit salsa.  Use Rudi's gluten free tortillas or corn tortillas that are gf.  5 Star-rated recipe here  See the tropical avocado salsa I made here
•  Egg nests (4 ingredients, naturally gluten free, use Cadbury eggs to fill)
• Egg in the nest (fried egg in bread hole) (using gluten free sandwich bread)
• Mini tea sandwiches.  Use gf bread, cut with metal cookie cutter for cute shapes.  Use Hormel gluten free ham with no nitrates or Hormel turkey or Boar's Head meats and cheeses or gluten free tuna (no broths in can). I use the gold can of Bumble Bee tuna with all white tuna in water.

I MADE THIS!  For $12 I bought the watering can (Michael's craft store) and fruit and one large metal sturdy flower-shaped cookie cutter (Michael's) and I used lettuce and ribbon to garnish/decorate.  Partygoers thought I bought it for $40-$60!

Gluten free frozen French Macaron mini cookies (chocolate & vanilla) from Trader Joe's.  Thaw 30 min on counter.

Soft gluten free pretzels.  Microve a few seconds.

I love this XO Double Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

•  Chex mix (use gluten free ingredients)
• Rice Krispies bars (use gf cereal like Cocoa Pebbles, Strawberry Chex, etc.) 

•  Trader Joe's has gluten free frozen French Macarons (pic above) that I judge gluten free.  They are adorable pastel tasty bundles.  They are very difficult to make from scratch.
• Chocolate Mousse is naturally gluten free when made the traditional way
• Merengue Cookies (my mother calls it divinity).  It's mostly egg whites and sugar.  

•  Wrap chunks of gluten free  (dairy free) goat cheese or pineapple in prociutto and secure with toothpicks for their own handles.
• peanut butter blosssom cookies- just substitute for gluten free flour blend

•  Betty Crocker gluten free sugar cookies mix (I haven't tried this yet)
•  fruit kabobs or fruit "flower" arrangement.  I made mine from youtube video (see pic above)
•  Gluten free XO double chocolate chip cookies (pic of box above) I made these and they are my new favorites!  Soft, chewy texture, not crumbly at all & yum
• Whole Foods carries the microwaveable SOFT gluten free pretzels (pic above) that I dip in honey or frosting
• Gluten Free ice cream cones filled with...cupcake batter & baked or just gelato, fro yo or ice cream 

•  Chocolate-dipped fruit

*DRINKS-  I love to MUDDLE (mash up fruit, bonus if you use a mortar & pestle) drinks.  I web search for knockoff recipes of alcoholic or virgin versions of the muddled limeades, lemonades, and other spritzy springy drinks at Ruby Tuesday's and P.F. Chang's!  Think Watermelon Lime, or lemon with basil, mango lemonade, raspberry lime, pineapple cherry.

*ALSO try Gluten Free versions of other traditional Easter dishes at Linda's blog.

Friday Flashback: My Week in a [gluten free] Nutshell

A Leg Up!  
I was surprised to receive an email from one of my fabulous Zen Doodle students stating that Hobby Lobby was looking for people to teach classes like mine.  They asked her if she'd do it and she told me about it.  I literally jumped in the car and twenty minutes later, I was booked to teach every Saturday at the Dunwoody, GA, location!  I love it when women make the effort to give one another a leg up!

I teach Zen Doodle art class every Saturday at Hobby Lobby in Dunwoody, GA!

A Couple Gigs
Although I didn't submit for gigs this week, I was called and asked to work as an extra again on Vampire Diaries (I'll post pics after it airs if I don't end up on cutting room floor) and one I haven't done before, Devious Maids, for my car and myself.  Beautiful weather, chatting with fun people, interesting sets, earning cash, what's not to like?

A Windy Day
I love to fly kites.  It's one of the few fond memories I have of quality time with my father.  He'd buy kites and take us to a park.  I also enjoy flying kites at the beach.  We sent one way up high and tied it to our beach chair at Tybee Island.  I even kept a kite in my classroom and would take it out at recess on windy days.  You'd be surprised how many kids haven't flown kites.  As a parole officer, I bought a bunch of kites at a dollar store and put them in the trunk of my work car and handed them out one day to kids wandering around doing nothing, as well as children of my parolees.  We went to the park down the street Sunday and saw a couple novel activities:  kids ascending and descending on ropes in trees and people doing Live Action Role Play, beating each other with foam swords.

Kids literally hanging around at the park

Foam sword and shields.  Live Action Role Play, aka LARP

A Bit of Sweat
I looked up a local hiking group and joined them (retirees and teachers on spring break) for a five mile, two hour, often vertical like a StairMaster, hike with a rewarding view at the top of Lake Alatoona.  It's been nice weather and I also enjoyed the drive with the convertible top down.  The pollen count has since skyrocketed here, so not sure if I'll be doing that this week!  I also jogged 4 miles at the indoor track at my gym (easier on the joints) and attended my favorite Flirty Girl class that culminates in a dance routine to "Timber".  I plan to go to the intense circuit class today (last time I swam before the class so I only made it through 45 minutes) and the swim class and weights tomorrow morning.

I read the label and find these to be gluten free.  I eat them and do not get sick.  

A Plateful of Gluten Free Goodness
My latest favorite gluten free dessert (great to bring to parties, I brought them to the clothing swap) is frozen macarons at Trader Joe's.  Just thaw 30 minutes.  Remember, real French macarons are made with almond flour, and if there is no cross-contamination or wheat flour used to dust the pans, for example, they are naturally gluten free.  So is authentic chocolate mousse, although restaurants often muck it up with wheat flour or other monstrosities, ruining it for us gfreeple.  Yes, I have attempted to make real macarons myself.  Don't ask how that turned out.  When the chef on YouTube admits it took her three tries to get them right....

A Clothing Swap...and a dress with a story
A women's social group had a clothing swap.  It rained, so the turnout wasn't big (6 people with items laid out on tables at an indoor activity room at a park).  Nobody was even near my size, but I did get a couple purses.

I donate to Goodwill regularly (all my clothes came from there as a child), so I had set aside nicer quality items.   Some dresses and gowns I used to donate to The Giving of the Gowns (before I found out they don't check military IDs and all our E-6 wives told me they regularly take gowns from there- when they are intended for the youngest, lowest-earning military women and wives so they can attend the USMC Birthday Ball every November).  I also brought name-brand handbags that, if not swapped, I would attempt to place on consignment.

The Beyonce Dress

One lady was healing from a recent tummy tuck and breast lift so she took my Beyonce dress, lol!  The Beyonce dress is a sparkly, backless number that I wore to The Montford Point Marines banquet  where, unbeknownst to me, General Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, was in attendance.  He does not come every year, and it was right after we arrived in Atlanta so I'd never been before, but if I had been shown the invitation I would have realized that he was giving out belated Congressional Medals to honor the first black marines who trained at a segregated boot camp with white drill instructors at Montford Point.  It was a privilege to witness the medals being placed around the necks of these men who have lived through so much.  The Silent Drill Platoon performed (and dropped a rifle again-it's extra fun when they drop one), we met General Amos and Mrs. Amos, but I will never forget what an inappropriate frock I was wearing.  I would NEVER have worn such a flashy and ostentatious number if I had seen the invite and known what the event was really about.  I was just told it was a dinner and dancing.

Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Amos

Congressional Medal Recipients

How to Make Gluten Free Granola

Gluten Free Granola, made with honey, nuts, raisins, and Bob's Red Mill gluten free certified oats. 

It was at-home cuddle-time movie night.  My Marine helped me make homemade gluten free granola for a movie snack to layer atop peanut butter apple slices as we watched Our Idiot Brother, a movie that actually had a very realistic portrayal of a parole officer (like me!) played by one of my favorite actors, Sterling Brown, the guy who plays Roland on Army Wives!
Anyway, I looked up a regular granola recipe here. We subbed Bob's Red Mill gluten free certified oats, and added some sunflower seeds, ground flax, and pumpkin seeds (sex drive boosters, it's true- see here).  It was super quick and easy to make, smelled fantabulous and tasted great, even before baking.  This stuff had me asking, WHY did I ever buy gluten free granola???

Basic Training

GF Glutino Pretzels, Sunrise Cereal, Lundberg's Rice Cakes, KToos Cookies, Ian's Wafer Bites, Annie's Organic Fruit Snacks, Love Grown Granola, Cheetos,  EnviroKids Krispy Rice Bars, and Lara Bars (an aquired taste).

     After serving as a teacher/new teacher mentor/summer school admin for at-risk youth for 13 years,  I lost my passion.  The factors included:  unsafe school campus (we had a closed campus, but my principal would not enforce it- even after teachers were robbed at gunpoint in the teacher's lounge of another school nearby), not having a cost-of-living increase for 5 years, health benefits getting pulled, furlough days, morale way down at work (especially every March when pink slips came out- that lasted well into June when coworkers' fates were finally determined), my principal's obsession with teaching to the test (illegally emailing us what content was on the test ahead of time was the straw that broke the camel's back for me), having the lunch ladies illegally babysit kids while we tutored other kids during instructional time, and parents who were more concerned about their child's school pictures than helping them memorize their multiplication tables, refusing to get their child eye exams &glasses (even when free or income-based fee), and habitually pulling kids out of school for multi-week vacations and on Friday afternoons to avoid traffic, my classroom and personal car getting graffiti and damaged, etc.
     It just started to feel like I was someone with a Master's Degree that was being used as a basic skills tutor,  doing more and making less, spending my own money on work stuff or my own time trying to fund basic needs like scissors through donorschoose.org, paying CA's sky high taxes while the parents of my students worked "under the table", begging parents to help their own children get enough sleep or free eyeglasses, helping kids grow 2 or 3 years in their reading level, but it didn't matter because they still didn't test at grade level, with all the respect of a babysitter.  I was starting to regret refusing a job offer at age 22 to be a shoe buyer for a major retail chain starting at $80,000.  It was safe to say I was ready for a change.
     I shocked everyone who knows me and took a leave of absence, rented out my house, left my car in California, and spent ten months in Virginia/D.C. area with my new boyfriend while he was in a full-time Master's Degree program (paid for by the military, when I had to pay for mine and work full time while doing it).  He went to school half a day and didn't work, so I didn't work.   I rode my bicycle or the metro, volunteered at The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Master's degree required, you have more respect than teachers get- and you get to attend lectures and learn!- we hadn't been allowed to go to conferences or workshops in years at my job!), tutored kids at a local school, honed my cooking and crafting skills, attended gluten free groups and a dinner club, visited tons of museums, adopted cats, began a novel, moved my blog, and nurtured my relationship.  And I realized I didn't miss teaching!
     So, I started reading motivational books about changing careers while my boyfriend got his new orders- to be Commanding Officer of Recruiting Station Atlanta, a feather in his cap, but he wasn't going to Afghanistan like he wanted, and we weren't moving back to California, like we expected.
     Once settled in Atlanta, I decided to use my other degree in Sociology and thought I might become a probation officer.  I passed the Criminal Justice test, and ended up taking a job as a Parole Officer instead.  I would be using many of the skills I'd developed as a teacher- assessing and coordinating resources to meet the needs of the individual and working with a disadvantage population- but the law enforcement side (doing arrests on a daily basis, working with convicted murderers face-to-face, serving warrants at houses, carrying weapons, etc.) was going to be a new and challenging experience.
     Starting a new job, celiac has come up many times.  My first day, they threw a welcome party with donuts and my boss announced he was taking me out to lunch between jail visits, when I luckily steered us toward Chic-Fil-A and luckily didn't get cc.  The standard birthday cakes, holiday treat tables, coworkers' prodding "try this" while holding a spoon to my face, etc.  have all occurred.  And my extra challenge:  eight weeks of  cafeteria food during basic training.  Pictured above are the foods I purchased to take with me from Whole Foods and Kroger.  (Parolees clean the dorms, so everything must be kept under lock and key, and no fridges.)
     My Meal Plans:  
Breakfasts:  Sunrise Cereal or EnviroKids Krispy Rice Bar with fruit from cafeteria 
Lunches:  Lara Bar with fruit/veg from cafeteria
Dinners:  Careful considerations of rice or beef, and veg from cafeteria, supplemented by my rice cakes, pretzels, and gf bread w/peanut butter packets I bring. 
Snacks and desserts:  gluten free cookies, wafers, fruit snacks, chips, apple dipped in p.b. and granola 

     So far, I like most parts of the job.  I enjoy helping my parolees.  Once we build a rapport, they somewhat enjoy my phone calls/visits and we laugh.  They seem surprised and enjoy that I treat them like a person more than a convict.  They made a mistake and paid a debt to society, but shouldn't let their life be defined by that mistake.  It's almost all tied to drug and alcohol abuse, which is the major need area to address.
     I hate doing urine screens.  I hate working in a stark office, with bathroom stalls falling apart, with parolees cleaning it instead of professional cleaners.  (I've always wanted to work in a nice, clean office with lovely reception areas, but I hate being tethered to a desk and I'd NEVER work in a cubicle!)  I love how a day can be going along, somewhat peaceful or boring, just calls and computers, and suddenly I find out I have an absconder that got caught and I need to interview her/him in jail, or a K-9 comes to check a car, or we arrest people in our office for violations of parole, or someone runs away in hand cuffs.  Like teaching, every day is different.
     I am sad when my parolees test positive for drugs, and happier than you would imagine when they find jobs!  And, I enjoy shooting (targets, not so sure about anything else), learning, and visiting the jails and prisons.  I grew up in a bad neighborhood, below the poverty line, to a teen mom, and I beat the odds and got a scholarship, a ticket out.  I grew up with neighbors and relatives who had run-ins with the law, have always read and studied about it.  My grandfather, my inspiration, ran a community center, wore holey shoes, and brought strangers home to our Thanksgivings.  I hope I can touch lives the way he did, and that I succeed at this new adventure.  Wish me luck! 

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie - very buttery, thin, and CRISPY!

Pretty good with milk.  Too crispy to be my favorite.  In California, Trader Joe's had my FAVORITE store-bought gluten free cookie (even 'regular' folks would eat 'em)-double chocolate cookie: texture and flavor expertly created- I liken it to a brownie/cookie hybrid-a touch of a crispy outside with chewy, chocolately innards.  It used to be my PMS favorite.  Sadly, the TJ's in GA does not stock them.

Gluten Free Snacks for Work: Avoid being the Carrie CrankyPants of your Office

Sadly, I often work through my lunch at work.  When I get that hunger slump/grouchy, low blood sugar feeling, here's what gluten free goodies I bite off, in lieu of my coworkers' heads:

I like Justin's butters to spread on crackers or dip Glutino gluten free pretzels into.  I buy at Super Target or health store.

DeMet's turtles make a sweet gluten free treat.  I buy at drug store or Super Target.

These crispy rice bars are ONLY good when soft.  I ONLY like the peanut choc drizzle flavor.I buy at Super Target.

I like all flavors of the bunny fruit snacks.  I get them at Super Target. This is not my hand.

I buy these at Super Target or Whole Foods.  I spread with p.b., cheese,  or tuna.   They do not compare to a "regular" cracker, but are an acceptable gluten free topping-holder or chili-topping.

I prefer this Love Grow granola. (Udi's scrapes my gums in my mouth.  I hate Bakery on Main- it's not crunchy enough and gets stale too quickly.)  I buy LoveGrown at Kroger.

Tasty, but a bit hard to chew.  Beware- they can get hard, even though they are sealed in indiv. wrappers.

Lara bars are an ACQUIRED taste.  I used to only like Apple and Pecan.  Now I love this cookie dough kind and banana nut bread.

Nice, savory snack.  Worked great when I smelled someone cooking bacon in the toaster oven at work.

Gluten free heaven, but due to cost, I usually by the PLAIN and dip in my own chocolate or p.b.

Guiltlessly gluten free.  Some people don't eat Quaker since products are made on "shared" equipment.

Funny enough, I didn't like the first flavor I tried at a gf food faire- it was vegetable and chicken noodle.  Later, I had a coupon and was SURPRISED to LOVE the chili with angus beef, the chicken chili, and REALLY surprised I liked clam chowder  and Thai curry chicken soup, since I didn't eat those flavors prior to being gluten free!  These FROZEN gluten free soups taste BETTER THAN CANNED soups- better seasoning, fresher, ONLY 250 CALORIES and lots of MEAT!

I add Love Joy granola to my yogurt.  This is the yogurt my boyfriend prefers, and it is good.   I stock up when Kroger has them on sale for $1.