I met Dreena through Maggie and Ricki. I must say I am so very grateful!

Shortly after Nate was born and I started eating a very heavy plant-based diet. Not completely plant based, mind you. But I could just sense that my body needed lots of fresh, whole foods after giving birth to get itself back in shape.

There is a huge transition in diet and cravings after giving birth, and Let Them Eat Vegan! helped me make that transition beautifully.

The first thing you notice when you read Dreena’s book is that she’s the kind of lady you’d love to have coffee with. She’s witty, fun, and she’s easy to relate to. You get the strong sense that you’d be fast friends with her.  You want to bring her into your kitchen. It just adds to the deliciousness of her food.

Let’s talk about her Panfried Falafel Patties for a minute. Who needs cookies when you can eat these? Really! When I told Dreena on Twitter that I’d been making batch after batch, she asked if I was dipping them in her Smoky Spiced Tahini Sauce and I replied that, yea, the sauce is delicious but I’d just been pulling them out of the refrigerator and eating them. No sauce necessary.

In true Dreena style, she replied, “Now that’s some falafel lovin’!” And, yep, I do love her falafels. In fact, I’ve made them more times than I can count and I’ve never gotten a photo of the finished product. (Guilty as charged.)

When you make her falafel, you must – and I mean must – make her Quinoa Tabbouleh. I used to live in Columbus, Ohio and frequented The North Market. There was a little middle eastern restaurant that served the best tabbouleh I’ve ever had. Since going gluten-free, I’ve tried to replicate it several times but just couldn’t get it quite right. Well, Dreena did. It’s got the perfect balance of acid, veggies, parsley and quinoa.
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Read the rest of Dreena’s Falafels (and a FABULOUS cookbook give-away!)

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us

For those of you still sorting through recipes to plan your Mother’s Day menu, I thought I’d share a quiche that has been a big hit at our house.

I actually started toying with this recipe back in January. My intention was to serve it as a meat-free, dairy-free option for Nate’s first birthday party. His party was in Ohio and we landed just 24 hours before the guests were scheduled to arrive. I barely had time to get the grocery shopping and the cupcakes baked. So, the quiche didn’t make it on the table. Thank goodness I had lots of help with the rest of the food from my sisters, aunt, and mom.

I’ve made this dish several times since. Like most quiches, you can make it the day before and serve it cold, at room temp, or warm. The pie crust can be mixed up and refrigerated for several days before baking. It’s an easy-peasy dish fancy enough for entertaining.

Some ideas for dishes you can serve with this quiche include:

• a green salad with Blueberry Pomegranate  Vinaigrette
• Simple Berry Salad
• Lavender-Infused Lemonade
• Cucumber Basil Herbal Water
• Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

You can also find more Spring Brunch recipes here and here.

And, if you haven’t downloaded your FREE copy of A Gluten-Free Mother’s Day do it now! There are 8 recipes with menu suggestions, each developed by moms. For more details about the book, read this post.
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© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

This is hands-down the best gluten-free pizza crust I’ve ever had.

No joke.

The crust tastes so much like the pizza I remember from my childhood that I actually started craving soda when I eating. It’s just that good. When you take a bite of crust, you get that pizzeria chewy, bready bite.

It’s so good that deep down inside I wish I would have come up with the recipe. I didn’t though. My good friend, Karen, from Blackbird Bakery created a Gluten-Free Bread Blend, which is what I used to make the crust. Her pizza crust recipe is on the back of the package and it’s quite simple.
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Read the rest of Grilled Chicken, Asparagus, and Mushroom Pizza with Blackbird Bakery Pizza Crust

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us

If you browse my recipe page, you’ll see that we don’t often have pasta for dinner. I just forget that it’s an option when planning meals. But, I needed a little inspiration when I was putting together last week’s meal plan and I happened across a gorgeous Spinach Penne Pasta in Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. It’s one of my favorite books for quick, simple, and tasty seasonal dinners.

So, that’s how pasta got on the menu. I had to rework the recipe for several reasons. First, it used lots of dairy. Second, it wasn’t gluten-free. And finally, I love fresh wilted spinach with garlic and decided to change how the spinach was prepared.

When Joe walked in the door from work that night, the first thing he said was, “Honey, what’s for dinner? The house smells great!” That’s one of my favorite things to hear, especially because this dish is completely plant based.
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© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us

I used to teach elementary school. One summer, I decided to undertake summer school. Generally, you’re in a new setting with new kids that have an entirely different set of circumstances that the kiddos you typically teach.

It was only a few days into summer school when I noticed some of my students eating food out of the trash can that other kids had thrown away. It took every bit of strength I had to hold back my tears. I cried as soon as my students left that day and drove straight to the grocery store to buy snacks to hand out during the day. It was just a temporary band-aid. Summer school would end and the kids wouldn’t have breakfast in the cafeteria anymore nor would I be able to give them snacks.

Some of the kids got bags of food on Friday to take home for the weekend. If food didn’t go home with them, it was likely they wouldn’t have a meal until Monday morning when the school doors opened again.

Now, as a mom, it’s even more heartbreaking to think about kids not having enough to eat. I couldn’t imagine what it feels like knowing that your child is hungry, that since this basic need isn’t met it’s almost impossible for him to learn, grow, and develop as he’s supposed to.

No child should be hungry.

What can we do?
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Read the rest of Beans, Greens, & Rice for Food Bloggers Against Hunger

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us