Gluten Free Holiday Gift Guide: Books & Magazines

There is no shortage of great gluten free books and cookbooks that are worth reading. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but is made up of a few new cookbooks I’ve found that would make awesome gifts, and I had to include a couple of my favorite non cookbooks and magazines as well (in no particular order).

Just give the book, add it to a gift basket, or make one of the items in the book and give that as part of the gift, too.

Gluten Free Made Simple
by Carol Field Dahlstrom, Elizabeth Dahlstrom Burnley & Marcia Shultz Dahlstrom

Gluten-Free Made Simple is a beautiful gift-worthy cookbook. It’s heavy and colorful, full of tips, variations, nutritional information and photos on that fun, thick, glossy paper that makes such a nice gift book, in my opinion. This cookbook promises. “real food, for real people – real easy!” And it delivers. Icons helpfully indicate high protein, low fat, egg free, casein free, whole grain, or vegetarian. Many recipes include preparation photos for beginners, as well as tempting photographs of the finished dish. This book is 216 pages of over 100 easy-to-make gluten free dishes that I would be thrilled to receive as a gift! Click here to find out more about this book.

The Food Lovers Make It Paleo
by Bill Staley & Haley Mason

Another favorite gift book I’ve recently run across is The Food Lovers Make It Paleo. I’m not on the Paleo diet, and the thought of this book actually really intimidated me. It’s bigger and heavier than a college textbook – but what you get for your money is so well worth it!  This 443 heavy, glossy pages with over 500 beautiful photos. Now that I’ve read through it, I could totally eat the Paleo way if I got to eat all this! Everything sounds and looks extremely appetizing, healthy and enticing. This is the perfect book for my brother and his wife who are vegan, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, sugar free. The yummy desserts in here are sweetened with maple syrup and look amazing. When I first got this cookbook, I was intrigued by the “Infamous” Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (p. 364), and had to try them out. The ingredients are: nitrite free bacon, maple syrup, almond flour, baking soda, salt, eggs, vanilla, coconut oil and dark chocolate chips. Those flavors do combine to make some deliciously interesting cookies, believe it or not!  All the categories in the book have tons of great recipes and there’s nothing in this huge book that I wouldn’t be thrilled to eat. I seriously LOVE this cookbook and anyone who is remotely interested in this type of food – or just a culinary adventure, would love this as a gift! (FYI: This cute, healthy looking couple on the front are the authors) Click here to find out more about this book.

Cecelia’s Marketplace International Classics: Gluten-Free Mexican
by Dr. Mara Matison

Another gorgeous gift-worthy cookbook on that nice, heavy, glossy paper is Cecelia’s Marketplace International Classics: Gluten-Free Mexican from the same folks who bring you one of my all-time favorite gluten free books, Cecelia’s Marketplace Gluten Free Grocery Shopping Guide (see below). Dr. Mara Matison fills these 110 pages with many traditional and beautiful Mexican classics, with a full-page photo for each recipe. You’ll find sections for Appetizer, Soups, Sides, Sauces, Seasonings, Entrees, Desserts & Drinks. I think I’d combine this book in a basket with the Sangria ingredients (page 105), and maybe a CD of Mexican music, and it would be an awesome gift! Allergens for each recipe are clearly marked on the bottom of each page (or lack thereof, since these are super allergy friendly!) I just noticed their December bundle special – buy this book and the one below (Shopping Guide), and get the following: 1 GF Guide, 1 GF Mexican Cookbook, 2 GF Dining Out Cards, 10 Gluten-Free Safety Labels all for 20% off. Click here for details.

Cecelia’s Marketplace Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide
by Matison & Matison

This is one of my all-time favorite gluten free books. It’s not a cookbook, it’s a shopping guide. Yes, there are apps that show you what to buy gluten free at the grocery store, but this is my go-to book for what really is gluten free at the grocery store. It’s low tech, but dependable and easy to navigate what brands you can buy at your local non-specialty stores. It includes 37,000 + items – many are things you were buying before you went gluten free, and it’s nice to see that you can keep buying them. I recommend this book almost daily to someone and it’s perfect for you, if you are newly gluten free, for that grandparent who has a desire but not the know-how to host your gluten free kids, or for a for any friend who has just begun a gluten free diet. They have gluten free/dairy free and gluten free/soy free versions as well. I just noticed their December bundle special – buy this book and the one above (Mexican cookbook), and get the following: 1 GF Guide, 1 GF Mexican Cookbook, 2 GF Dining Out Cards, 10 Gluten-Free Safety Labels all for 20% off. Click here for details.

Mommy, What is Celiac Disease?
by Katie Chalmers

Here’s a fun gift for your child’s teacher, pediatrician, librarian, neighbor, church worker, grandparent – or for your child. I love this little book that explains the details of celiac disease in just enough detail and with the perfect analogies to convey education and understanding of your celiac child’s condition. It’s all presented from a positive perspective and encourages embracing the new adventure following a young child’s celiac diagnosis. GREAT BOOK! Click here to read my compete review of this book or visit Katie’s Website here.

The Healthy Edge Cookbook
by Amber Thiel & April Willer

Interested in Gluten Free Weight Loss? The Healthy Edge Cookbook was just sent to me by the authors, who after losing their mother to breast cancer, embarked on getting and helping others live The Healthy Edge Lifestyle. This book is a stand-alone cookbook, but is meant to be part of the 8-week online weight-loss/get healthy/coaching program. The first 2 weeks are free. There aren’t too many gluten free weight loss programs, so this one caught my attention. (90 out of 110 recipes are gluten free and low glycemic, and the chef’s section helps you convert the remaining ones.)  With their online “transformation program,” you get a video on insulin resistance, and empowering audio, grocery and pantry lists, 14 day meal plan, fitness plan, recipes and much more. The book itself is sprinkled with before and after photos and testimonials of folks who’ve lost weight and improved their health on the program, and yes, it includes desserts, in case you’re wondering. The website claims, “The average results of an individual who completed The Health Edge lifestyle program released 9.16 pounds and 2.3 total inches in their waist and hips during the program.” It’s 157 spiral bound pages of glossy recipes and photos. Click here to find out more about the book and program. The book is on sale for the month of December.

The Healthy Edge has also created a Holiday E-book with 27 whole food based and gluten-free recipes. They are donating $2.00 of every purchase to feeding starving children. Their goal is to raise $2,000 before Christmas. Find out more here.

Gluten Free Magazines

I couldn’t do a gift-giving book guide without including my favorite magazines. Here are the ones I subscribe to and think any of these would make great gifts!

Living Without

The first great magazine that I found was Living Without, and I have continued my subscription since that first week of going gluten free. They say they are, “The magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities.” Some great monthly resources for beginners are the Gluten Free Quick-Start Guide and Casein Free Quick Start Guide located in the back of the magazine. They explain the basics of what to eat and what to steer clear of. Once you get your first copy, take this page out of your future copies and pass it along to relatives to explain the basics to them! Living Without is full of interesting articles, helpful tips, medical information and awesome allergy-friendly recipes. Many of the recipes in my gluten free collection are out of this magazine. See more here.

Gluten Free Living

Gluten-Free Living is the second Great magazine I found for GFree lifestyle information and I’ve been a subscriber for years. They publish quarterly and claim to be “Leading the way to a happy, healthy, gluten free life.” This one also has a Basic Diet page for beginners near the back called “Is it Gluten Free?” They have a new products section, tips, recipes, medical research, ask the doctor, advice and lots of informative articles. I find this magazine is more celiac focused, but it’s still helpful if you’re gluten free for other reasons. See more here.

Delight Gluten Free

The third Gluten Free magazine I subscribe to is Delight Gluten Free. It is published quarterly and claims to be “THE magazine for those with celiac disease, gluten intolerance, food allergies & sensitivities.” This magazine has recently changed ownership and has definitely taken a step up in quality and content. You’ll find gluten free celebrity interviews, tons of recipes, tips, medical answers and much more.
See more here.

Easy Eats

This is a fairly new digital only magazine. Lots of fun articles and recipes, this “magazine” is a slick and easy to navigate bi-monthly publication is accessible from your computer, ipad, iphone or Android. The magazine’s editor-in-chief is Silvana Nardone of Slivana’s Kitchen, Rachel Ray Magazine, cookbook author, blogger & former bakery owner. Several well-known gluten free chefs and bloggers contribute. Find out more here.

Check out my OTHER GIFT IDEAS here: Gluten Free Holiday Gift Guide

Note: Living Without and Cecelia’s Marketplace are current Gluten Freeville advertisers. I love them both so much, that I asked them to have a presence on my site, so that you would know about them!