10 Gluten Free Breakfasts for Mother's Day

Do you make your mom breakfast in bed on Mother's Day?  My mother wisely opted for a late brunch at the dinner table, probably to avoid me and my siblings from covering her room in syrup once a year.  But, we still played it up.  My sister and I would set the table with bouquets of freshly picked buttercups and pale roses from the backyard.  The boys were in charge of positioning our presents and Hoops & Yoyo cards (Her very favorite) so she would see them as soon as she walked in. Dad woke her up.  And, of course, we presented her with with tons and tons of girly breakfast food.  No bacon and sausage on Mom's big day... Instead omelets, waffles, muffins, and fruit salads were served.  Delicacy ruled the day.

How do you celebrate Mother's Day? Flowers, brunch, breakfast in bed, homemade cards, e-cards, phone calls, skype? However you celebrate your Mom, here are a few gluten free ideas for you to make your mother. Hope you spoil her!

Oatmeal Pancakes

Lemonberry Baked Oatmeal

Banana Coffee Cake

Wineberry Muffins (The gf substitutions are noted in the text prior to the actual recipe.)

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no knead whole wheat bread

I know. I know.  This is a gluten free blog.  Why in the world am I posting a whole WHEAT bread recipe? Well, the truth is my husband isn’t gluten free and I make him sandwiches for lunch all work week long.  I’m also guessing that a few of you have non-GF family members or aren’t GF at all… And, seriously, this recipe turned out so amazing that I can’t help but share it.

I’ve been a little frustrated by the bread options at our grocery store for a while.  I can only find one brand that does not pump their bread up full of corn syrup and that brand still has 20+ ingredients listed on the package.  (Basic bread recipes only have 4 ingredients: water, yeast, salt, and flour.) So, when I spotted this recipe on Cooking for Seven, I decided to try it.  Usually bread recipes end disastrously for me, but to my surprise, these loaves turned out beautifully and the process was really simple.  I substituted half whole wheat flour and added a teaspoon of sugar to my yeast for good measure (since my history with yeast isn’t so great.)  It made two loaves. I froze one and used the other all week. Plus, if I make our bread, we only spend $0.40 a week on bread rather than $4.00, a 90% savings.  Simpler, cheaper, and healthier…  I’d say that made the three hours I spent in the kitchen last weekend worth it. 

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strawberry-lemon muffins

Happy Easter! I hope this holiday weekend finds you happily tucked away with family and friends.  Jason and I were chatting before work yesterday and we realized this is one of our last big holidays without a baby.  While we plan to take advantage of it by sleeping in and eating an enormous breakfast before church, we also got really excited.  Next year, we will be able to read our sweet baby the story of the Resurrection, fill a little Easter basket with treats, and head over to grandma's for an egg hunt.

Traditions can be so lovely. Back in Texas, my Great Aunt Wanda has hosted an egg hunt at her home for over fifty years.  My childhood is filled with memories of trotting through blue bonnets to find as many eggs as possible before my cousins found them.  She also has scrapbooks dating back to the 1950s of our family celebrating Easter together.  Our family is so large now and we've lived on the east coast for so long, that there are many faces I don't recognize and many that I do.  The grandmother I never met decked out in a fifties Easter dress.  My grandpa laughing with his brothers.  My mom, hair cropped short in true tomboy style, sporting ragged oxfords and a frilly dress. My siblings and I trying to sit still long enough for a picture to be taken. I hope that we can recreate something like this in Virginia and that in fifty years, my grandkids will flip through scrapbooks of our family. 

One thing is sure though, these muffins will be an Easter tradition.  Made with olive oil, these treats are light, fluffy and really don't taste like olive oil at all.  Rather, the tart lemon compliments sweet strawberries wonderfully.  They will be perfect spring treat for brunch tomorrow.  I think I'll serve them alongside some hash, scrambled eggs, and a pot of french-pressed coffee. 

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