recipe: frozen grape apple slushies

Watch Rachael Ray make this quick and healthy snack:

recipe: creamy lemon dill coleslaw

What's a Memorial Day picnic without coleslaw? Here's a gluten free AND dairy free recipe from Living Without:

(serves 6-8)

1 medium green cabbage, finely shredded (about 6 cups)
½ medium red cabbage, finely shredded (about 3 cups)
4 large carrots, finely shredded
Juice and zest of one lemon or lime
⅓ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream or sour cream substitute or nondairy yogurt or mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dried dill weed or 1 tablespoon fresh dill weed
½ teaspoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons chives, chopped, optional
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Mix both cabbages and carrots in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and zest and toss.

Whisk mayonnaise, sour cream, dill, celery seeds, chives, salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Fold dressing into the cabbage, tossing to coat cabbage.

Chill one hour before serving. Pack in a tightly covered container and keep chilled with a freezer pack.

3 recipes for the greens

Links for healthy, tasty and easy recipes from MyRecipes.com:

Garlic-Mint Peas
Roasted Asparagus
Lemon Green Beans

recipe: lamb lemonato

I discovered the following (naturally gluten free) recipe on the beautiful Greek food blog Kalofagas. "[It's] simple to prepare, offers a wonderful presentation, lamb shanks are affordable and the taste vs. ease to prepare ratio makes it an easy choice for a Sunday dinner or on the occasion of entertaining guests."

(serves 6)

6 lamb shanks
1 1/2 cups of dry white wine
1/4 cup of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. fresh lemon verbena (2 t. dried)
2 T. fresh lemon thyme (2 t. dried)
1 heaping t. of dried Greek oregano
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
enough water or vegetable stock* to just cover the meat

Pre-heated 350F oven

Rinse and pat-dry your lamb shanks. Season with salt and pepper and place your Dutch oven (or other oven-safe vessel) over medium-high heat. Brown in all sides of the shanks (in batches). Reserve.

Take the the Dutch oven off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Add your wine into the vessel, place back on to the stove’s element and reduce at medium heat while scraping up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add your lamb shanks back into the vessel, along with the lemon verbena, lemon thyme and enough water or low-sodium stock to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Place the cover on your Dutch oven and throw into your pre-heated oven.

Braise your lamb shanks for about 90 minutes and check the meat for tenderness (meat should pull off the bone). Place back in the oven uncovered for another 15 minutes if you would like the liquid to reduce some more.

When the lamb is done to your liking, remove from the oven and add the lemon juice and the dried Greek oregano. Gently shake the vessel back & forth to amalgamate all the flavors. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve on a bed of roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

*Make sure vegetable stock is gluten free.

sale at vanilla spoons

Psst. There's a sale going on now at Vanilla Spoons. Nearly ALL gift baskets are 25% off--wouldn't a gluten free gift basket make a thoughtful and unique graduation present?

a new blog

Welcome to my new blog Vanilla Spoonfuls. Although I originally started Absolutely Not Martha with the purpose of plugging Vanilla Spoons, it seems to have taken on a life of its own. (And, yes, that life will continue!) So...I needed to create a new blog that would be devoted exclusively to Vanilla Spoons related news, gluten free recipes and information, and celiac issues. I'll continue to post gluten free recipes on Absolutely Not Martha's weekly links, along with the occasional gluten free related story, but the majority of the GF info will now be found here.