Spruce Up Your Coffee

Missing those super yummy flavored coffee's, lattes and frappuccinos from Starbucks and other coffee spots?  (If you are enjoying them.  Stop, cuz they are not gluten-free.  Remember Carmel coloring equals gluten symptoms such as hair loss.  If you know my blog, you know that I always blog about caramel coloring (not to be confused with actual candy caramel).  Caramel coloring is one of those hidden gluten ingredients.  Steer clear.)  If you are following the rules of the gluten-free diet then most likely you are missing those fabulous drinking treats.

So I have some solutions.

Cardamom Pods

Recently I bought Cardamom Pods from the market.  They come in a soft shell that you can break open.  Inside lies a few little seeds from the cardamom pod.  These seeds are known to be used in baking but are also great in coffee as the back of the package states.  Add those seeds to your coffee, and just let them sit or dissolve (though they never truly dissolve), but they provide a tasty dessert treat taste into your coffee.  Think Snicker doodle cookie.  Then add your Splenda and milk as usual.  If you ran out of milk and are in a bind?  Use frozen yogurt, or a frozen yogurt pop or ice cream.  It works when you need it to.  It is sooo good, I use one pod per one coffee every morning.  The best!  And it's naturally gluten-free.

Miss the mint in your coffee?, similar to the Starbucks Chocolate Mint Latte?  Add a Spanglers GF candy cane into your coffee.  Use half or the whole thing, and let that be your stirrer.  It tastes soooo good and does not overpower the coffee!  You can do what I did, and stock up on packages of Spanglers Candy Canes (the peppermint version, though they have others) from their website, it was so cheap, and so many came in the mail.  Thank you Spanglers, the only GF candy cane I know of.  (As for the rule in candy cane eating...the ingredients on the package may never mention gluten, but the candy cane making process uses flour.  Flour is used to prevent the sticky candy cane from getting stuck in its clear wrapper during the manufacturing process, so the cane is coated in flour before going into the wrapper.  Just think you or your child is licking wheat directly off the candy cane, and therefore ingesting gluten.  Some people never realize.  I realized because after eating quite a few off my tree a few years ago, my hair started getting thin and falling out and I wasn't feeling right.  I knew I was eating gluten.  After ruling everything out?  All that was left that was different in my diet was the candy cane.  I couldn't figure it out, until i did candy cane research.  Low and behold.  Spanglers is the only candy cane I know that doesn't use flour in their process).  To buy Spangler's Candy Canes click HERE.  (As for Spanglers other candies, you can count on those too!  Gluten-free for all and to all a good night!).

Enjoy! xoxo Julie

www.goodiegoodiegluten-free.blogspot.com