Did you know that holidays happen every single week? Okay...maybe they aren't quite that frequent, but creating your own special day certainly isn't against the rules. It is especially encouraged if you have been on your best behavior as far as good diet and exercise go.
Everyone knows that you have to enjoy a splurge every now and then, so maybe "Tasty Treat Thursday" or "Sweet Saturday" should find a place on the calendar. A sweet reward every now and then can help you stay on the road to success. But what if even having a treat only occasionally was terribly detrimental to your health?
For some particular folks, eating healthy is difficult and very limited. More and more people these days are realizing that they have a gluten intolerance, also known as Celiac's disease, or even gluten sensitivity. Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, barley and rye.
It can also be used as an added ingredient in certain processed foods. Though there are numerous products appearing on the market every day that are labeled "GF" (gluten-free), it can still be difficult to find pleasing choices--especially for desserts, which so commonly consist of wheat flour. Brownies, cake, cookies...so many items are off-limits when you're avoiding gluten.
(Not quite sure if you might suffer from gluten sensitivity or possibly intolerance? Read about some of the signs.)
Fortunately, a few delicious dessert options do exist. One particular dessert spot in Tallahassee, Lucy and Leo's Cupcakery serves up some tasty and fun little cakes daily, and on Mondays and Thursdays, they have gluten free options available!
Though you might be somewhat hesitant to try a gluten-free cupcake because it sounds like some sort of foreign mystery, rest assured that they taste just as good as "the real thing." For most gluten-free baking, the troubling protein is removed by substituting the traditional flour for a different type--maybe tapioca, or rice flour, in order to eliminate the source's ingredient entirely.
Today's Lucy and Leo's GF cupcake choices included a peanut butter banana bread cake with chocolate chips and vanilla frosting, (this also just happened to be vegan!) and vanilla cupcakes with either strawberries or blueberries inside and on top of a cushion of tangy lemon-flavored frosting. The cakes were just as moist as L&L's regular ones and in a blind taste test, most people probably wouldn't be able to pick out the GF selections from the rest.
The masterminds behind these cupcakes have put a great deal of effort and care into creating these special cupcakes for their fans who cannot consume gluten-containing products. It is obvious from the appearance, texture and of course, the delectable taste!
One couldn't imagine a better "Tasty Treat Thursday" for a gluten-free dieter than to sit down with a delicious Lucy and Leo's cupcake and a tall glass of (soy, almond, coconut or regular cow's) milk as a reward for sticking to a normal routine of healthy fare all week long.
Visit Lucy and Leo's Cupcakery off Thomasville Road in Midtown on Mondays and Thursday from 10-5 or 6 p.m. (closing time depends on when they sell out!) to sample the GF goodies for yourself.
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