Gluten-Free Girl’s baguettes

I’m currently in the air at 35,00 feet flying from Austin to Detroit. I had the honor this past weekend to speak about how to Eat Clean at the Prevention R3 Summit, and am on my way to speak at Brand Camp 2014.

It’s difficult not to be inspired by all the brilliant people in these two worlds––health and tech––putting all their energy and talents into making the planet a better place to live.

In the health world we are already lightyears ahead of where we were when I was growing up. Instead of talking about fat, calories and carbs, this weekend I was on stage with a farm-to-table chef and a RD talking about the pleasures of eating Real Food and how there really is no benefit in depriving yourself of foods you love.

At Brand Camp I’ll tell the story of how I was able to use free online tools (thank you WordPress, Twitter and Facebook for supporting this starving grad student) to share my passion for eating well and change thousands of lives for the better. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

Today I want to introduce you to my friend Shauna Ahern, aka Gluten-Free Girl, who is working on a project that embodies the progress that has been made in both of these realms.

Gluten-free may seem like the latest health fad, but for those with Celiac disease and real wheat intolerance gluten-free isn’t optional. Shauna has Celiac disease, but hasn’t let it stop her from enjoying food and baking for her beautiful family.

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maple zucchini nut muffins

I typically don’t condone eating muffins for breakfast since they’re usually just a minuscule step up from a cupcake. Even the wannabe bran muffin is loaded with sugar and unhealthy oils, and will leave you feeling drained and hungry with lunch still hours away. But the illustrious muffin is a convenient food for busy mornings when you just need something to grab, so I set out to create a Foodist-approved muffin recipe.

The winner of my muffin escapades in the kitchen were these Maple Zucchini Nut Muffins. They’re the perfect balance of hearty and healthy. My zucchini muffins are free of refined sugars and flours (the gluten-free crowd will love ‘em!) and are loaded with protein and healthy fat from the nuts, oats, flax, eggs and organic butter.

Best part—counts as eating veggies for breakfast!
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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Lots of fascinating food news this week. If 380 MILLION poison eggs doesn’t convince you to stop eating the industrial kind, I don’t know what will. There’s also some interesting new data on red meat and heart disease, as well as an inspiring story of doctors prescribing farmers market vegetables.

Another quick note: I tweeted yesterday about this cool farmers market backpack (yes I want one) and Betabrand wrote back saying my readers get $15 off anything on the site. Pretty awesome. Use the code: tomato

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on the new Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Choosing healthier protein-rich foods instead of red and processed meats may reduce heart disease risk in women <<Atkins defenders often argue that there is no evidence linking meat consumption to heart disease, saying that cholesterol levels aren’t a good measure. In this study the endpoint is heart attacks, not cholesterol. Worth thinking about. (American Heart Association)
• 20 Salads Worse Than a Whopper <<I still don’t think you should eat Whoppers (there are way better burgers), but don’t assume that salads are gonna help you lose weight. (Men’s Health)
• A ‘habitual offender’ unleashes nearly half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs <<BS of the week. You know those 380 million poison eggs that have already sickened 50,000 people? Well they guy who makes them has a history of not caring about you or your family. Be outraged. (Grist)
• Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders) <<How freaking cool is this?!?! (New York Times)
• Add diet soda to the list of things to avoid while pregnant <<Maybe Diet Coke isn’t as harmless as you think. (Los Angeles Times)
• Baking Ingredients and Substitutions <<I don’t bake often, but I do like to swap out sugar and occasionally other ingredients when I do. But sacrificing taste is completely unacceptable to me. This is an incredibly informative post from a world renowned pastry chef. (David Lebovitz)
• B Vitamins and the Aging Brain Examined <<I love the brain. I love nutrition. I found this interesting. (ScienceDaily)
• Tomatoes, Eggs and Sweet Habaneros <<Tomatoes for breakfast? Hell yes! (Local Lemons)
• Egg Cage Match! Local Cage Free Vs. Conventional Eggs <<Speaking of good eggs and bad eggs, here’s a fun video explaining the difference. (Big Wheel Provisions)

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