Tag: healthy

Classic Jalapeño Poppers

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These Classic Jalapeño Poppers are cheesy and creamy with a hint of spice! They are perfect as an appetizer, side dish, or for anything else you can think of!

How To Make:

  1. To begin, preheat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit.
  2. Next, take your jalapeño peppers and cut off the top stem.
  3. Slice them long ways (vertically) into either halves or fourths, depending on the size of your peppers. (remember they will shrink a tiny bit in the oven)
  4. Remove all of the seeds from the halved peppers. (If you would like them EXTRA spicy then feel free to keep a few in!)
  5. Next, in a large bowl mix together the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spices.
  6. Fill each pepper with the mixture. (I filled each one with about a tbsp.)
  7. wrap your uncooked (or cooked) bacon around each pepper, securing it with a toothpick if necessary.
  8. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place the peppers on.
  9. Bake around 12-20 min, just until the bacon is crispy, the peppers have softened, and the cream cheese mixture is a bit golden.
  10. Let cool and enjoy!

Spicy warning:

The spice level of this dish depends on your peppers. Some jalapeños are more spicy than others. It is just the luck of the draw! If you wish to make it more spicy, than feel free to keep some seeds in or add a Tbsp of hot sauce or cayenne into the cream cheese mixture before baking.

Classic Jalapeño Poppers

Serving size: 10

Prep Time: 15 min

Total Time: 20 ish min

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 Whole Jalapeños
  • 1 8oz Block of Cream Cheese
  • 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 Box of Uncooked Bacon
  • 1/2 Tbsp Garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. Slice jalapeños and remove seeds
  3. Mix cream cheese, Parmesan, and spices together
  4. Fill each jalapeño with the mixture
  5. Wrap the bacon around filled peppers and hold in place with a toothpick if necessary
  6. Bake for 12-20 min until bacon is cooked
  7. Let cool and enjoy!

Check out more recipes here…

Recipes

Healthy Egg Muffins

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It’s back-to-school time, and we all know what that means… on-the-go breakfasts!

“I don’t have time for breakfast!” Is this ringing a bell?! With everyone going back to work and school, breakfast can be put on the back burner. It is hard to find the time to make a balanced breakfast every morning, am I right? Never fear!! These egg muffins are delicious, filling, low cal, and lots of other delicious adjectives!They are the perfect meal prep breakfast and can be stored up to 5 days in the fridge or 2 weeks in the freezer!

Classic Egg Muffins

Serving: 12 muffins

Prep Time: less than 10 min

Total time: 30 min

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz liquid egg whites
  • 3 cups chopped spinach
  • 1 package of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease a muffin tin to prevent sticking
  2. Cut your cherry tomatoes into halves and start the assembly process
  3. Start by adding a mix of spinach and tomatoes to each tin until 3/4 full
  4. Next, pour in liquid egg whites until almost full and sprinkle with cheese
  5. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 min
  6. Let cool and enjoy!!

There are a million different flavor combos you could use for this recipe… here are a few of my favorites!!

Ham and cheese

Pizza (cheese, pepperoni, marinara)

Greek (ham, feta, tomatoes, olives)

Tag me @wheatisforwimps on Instagram to see all of your amazing variations!!

5 useful tips for Gluten Free Dining at restaurants

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Ok, eating out with an allergy can be a terrifying experience! You have to read every inch of the menu to find something you can eat, then you have to make sure there isn’t any cross-contamination, then you feel guilty for being “THAT” person, and lastly you have to deal with all the peer pressure and temptation of your friends eating your favorite foods that you can’t have… No Wonder You Are Here!!

Let me tell you, before I got diagnosed with Celiac Disease, my family ate out almost every night. I loved it! But after I got diagnosed, it wasn’t so fun. I didn’t know what to eat, and I didn’t want to be “THAT” person, so I ended up just getting food that I had no desire to eat. After a bit of research and a bit more experience I was able to branch out more, and eat foods that I actually loved… and this brings me to today’s post. These are my top 5 tips when eating out with Celiac Disease and gluten allergies.

Research the Menu Before You Go

If you don’t take anything else in this post to heart, please just remember this. Research before you go out to eat. Almost every restaurant will have an online menu containing all of their dishes. Familiarize yourself with this, so that when you get there you are not stressing over what to get.

Go With Supportive Friends or Family

Tip number 2 is to go out to eat with supportive friends, family, or both! It is inevitable when you go out to eat with an allergy or intolerance of any kind, that you will need more attention. You may need to ask questions, speak to managers, or wait longer for your food, and that is OK! Go with a group of people who understand this, and who will not get irritated when this happens, but instead be patient and try to help!!

Let Your Waiter/Waitress Know

Listen, I know it can be intimidating to speak up and let them know, especially when you are new to the whole thing, but you NEED to do it. I cannot tell you how many times I have been to scared to speak up, only to find out after I had ordered that the restaurant had a specialized gluten free menu! Celiac Disease and gluten allergies are becoming more common everyday. You would be pleasantly surprised by how much servers actually know about gluten allergies. Let them know!! They might be able to prevent you from accidentally ingesting it, which we all know is a big win!

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

Most people with allergies, intolerances, or Celiac Disease refuse to ask questions they may have. They think it will make things more difficult for the server, or they don’t want to be singled out among their friends, but this isn’t true! Answering questions is what the staff is there for! If you are not 100% sure that something is gluten free, then please ask. I would rather ask and know for sure, then get glutened and spend the rest of the night hurting. Also if you followed Tip #2, then your friends will not care, they will be more than happy to let you take your time, because they know how important this is.

Keep Calm and Enjoy!!

Eating out is always stressful with Celiac Disease, but you just have to remember to stay calm and enjoy yourself. Going to a restaurant is supposed to be a fun! Don’t let this stop you from going out with your friends and having a great time!!

For my favorite gluten free fast food restaurant options with celiac disease check out my other blog posthttps://wheatisforwimps.com/2020/06/25/gluten-free-options-at-fast-food-chains/

10 foods you didn’t know contained gluten

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Over 3 million Americans claim to follow a gluten free diet. While only 25% have a medical reason to avoid gluten, like having celiac disease or IBS, the majority choose to avoid it for personal reasons. With the increase on low-carb diets like Atkins, Keto, and Paleo, and the recent health studies shaming it, avoiding gluten is becoming an increasingly popular idea.

While everyone knows that gluten is primarily in breads and pastries, there are a few hidden sources found in products you would otherwise think to be safe. Please watch out for the following…

Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com

1. Malt Milkshakes

I’m sure everyone has had a malted milkshake before, but did you know that malt powder is directly derived from barely, which is a common gluten containing grain. So next time be careful when you see the word “Malt.”

2. Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is one that most people don’t realize it contains gluten until you fully read the label. All soy sauces (and sauces made with soy sauce) contain wheat. They use wheat during the brewing process, therefore taking away the GF label.

3. Canned soup

Canned soup is another widely unknown source of gluten. They add wheat flour to make the soup thicker and creamier, so read the ingredient label carefully. (Cream of ___, Tomato, Chicken and Noodle, ETC.) all contain gluten, so just make sure to pick up a gluten free version next time at the store.

4 – 5. Meatballs and Meatloaf

Most packaged, store-bought, and restaurant made Meatballs/Meatloaf contain gluten. The standard recipe for creating meatballs usually call for taking bread crumbs, or something similar, and combining it with the meat. The same goes for meatloaf, most people add crackers to it. So, just remember to look at the label or ask the chef if there are any sort of special add in ingredients!

6. Gravy

Gravy is literally made by whisking milk into flour! So unless you use a GF flour, there is no getting around this one!

7. Salad Dressings

Again, flour is commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and other recipes, so just be sure to read the salad dressing labels or ask the chefs before. My general rule for dressings is (Creamy, thick = Not safe) (vinagrettes, clear = usually OK)

8 – 9. Gummy Bears and Licorice

Believe it or not, most candy companies add wheat to their gummies or licorice. The gelatin they use is usually derived from wheat, and the candy companies add it to hold their licorice together! (Twizzlers and Haribo are usually not GF)

10. Fries

First note: fries are naturally gluten free, but they are almost always cross- contaminated (fried in the same oil as wheat containing foods). Therefore fries you can bake at home are always gluten free, but fries at a restaurant are normally not. Just be sure to ask where they are fried! ( Chick-Fil-A frys it separately, so it is GF ), but ( McDonalds put gluten containing flavoring on their fries, so they are NOT GF )