On our last trip to Kentucky I popped in to the bookstore and there sitting on the cooking shelf was this little book Gluten Free Cooking For Dummies. I attempted to read it on the way home but it wasn't working. I was coming down with something and all my body wanted to do was sleep. So that's what I did.
When I finally sat down to read, yes it's a cookbook but there are lots of things to read before hand, I was amazed. Now I do not agree with her total thinking. I don't think gluten free is the way to be for the whole earth. I'm a firm believer in moderation unless you can't have it to begin with. I don't think if you are celiac you should moderate your gluten intake, nope sorry not going there.
The book is full of great information for the beginner. It explains the dangers of contamination without making you go out and buy a whole new kitchen. I have read messages boards where people do not let others cook in their "gluten free" pans. The truth of the matter is as long as you clean it good, you have washed away any gluten. She only suggests having seperate toasters, (I have a four sliced toaster two for my gluten bread and two for his non gluten), colander, and pasta spork (ok I don't know if that's the real name but it's what I call it). She also suggests that if you do not wash your cast iron in soap and water to have seperate for that. Other than that as long as you clean to the point you can eat out of the pan you can use it to cook gluten free in.
Now that school is out I plan on cooking more from scratch. I had attempted this once last summer and after a failure that left me in tears I gave up on it. I have spent the last year reasearching, reading, learning, and pretty much being obsessed with gluten free baking and cooking that I feel like I can try it again. Wish me luck! I'll post the results with pictures.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Yahoo Group
So my husband and I are traveling to Elizabethtown, KY, Fort Knox in a few weeks for his son's graduation from Cav Scout School. Normally when traveling we stick to places we know, large chains where nothing changes from place to place. It's in the Clan-Thompson guide or I have contacted for a list.
Here's the thing though, there's not a whole big group of them. They get boring after awhile. But that is life, I enjoy eating out and so does my husband so we eat at the places that are available.
The hitch in our getty up is we are traveling through St. Louis. I know doesn't sound like that big of a deal. Find one of your known restaurants and eat there. The thing is two of my best friends from college live there. I haven't seen them since we all left and I've never met their wives or their children. They haven't met Paul or his son. We all want to eat together and not one of our regular places. They want to show us their city and I want to eat food from their city.
The sweet people they are offered to do all the footwork for us, research places ect. I just couldn't do that to them. It's a lot of work. Well I started googling, researching myself. I came across yahoo group that is in that area for celiacs. Complete with a list of restaurants. I sent it off to them, they will mark it, send it back and life will be good.
End of the story? NOOOOOO. Oh my gosh not only do they have that nice little bit of information for locals and those traveling they have a host of other information. Did you know you that you can take the difference in the special food from the regular food off of your taxes? I sure didn't. It's there including all the steps you have to take to do it.
You have to join their group, which takes a yahoo account. I think most people have those and if not it only takes a couple of minutes to set one up. It's worth the information available. They have some great articles up too. Including one about Washington University researching gluten free wheat. WOOO HOOO!!
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/stlouisalerts/
Here's the thing though, there's not a whole big group of them. They get boring after awhile. But that is life, I enjoy eating out and so does my husband so we eat at the places that are available.
The hitch in our getty up is we are traveling through St. Louis. I know doesn't sound like that big of a deal. Find one of your known restaurants and eat there. The thing is two of my best friends from college live there. I haven't seen them since we all left and I've never met their wives or their children. They haven't met Paul or his son. We all want to eat together and not one of our regular places. They want to show us their city and I want to eat food from their city.
The sweet people they are offered to do all the footwork for us, research places ect. I just couldn't do that to them. It's a lot of work. Well I started googling, researching myself. I came across yahoo group that is in that area for celiacs. Complete with a list of restaurants. I sent it off to them, they will mark it, send it back and life will be good.
End of the story? NOOOOOO. Oh my gosh not only do they have that nice little bit of information for locals and those traveling they have a host of other information. Did you know you that you can take the difference in the special food from the regular food off of your taxes? I sure didn't. It's there including all the steps you have to take to do it.
You have to join their group, which takes a yahoo account. I think most people have those and if not it only takes a couple of minutes to set one up. It's worth the information available. They have some great articles up too. Including one about Washington University researching gluten free wheat. WOOO HOOO!!
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/stlouisalerts/
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bob's Red Mill Waffle and Biscuit Mix - Again
Ok so this time I used it to make biscuits. I wasn't that impressed as a person who can have gluten. Hubby on the other hand thought they were pretty good. You have to roll them out pretty thick because they don't raise. They did brown, but I sprayed them pretty heavy with a gluten free spray. They had a baking powder tang to them. I used them to pour chicken gravy over. We always called that chicken pot pie growing up but I know most people don't. If I cut them in half, poured the gravy on them and then let them sit for a few minutes it wasn't bad. Again the gluten free person in the house liked them, it was the gluten person that didn't.
Epicourious Does Gluten Free
I haven't tried any of the recipes yet. Life has been busy, son getting leave time at Fort Knox, (traveling with a celiac a whole new experience), flu, allergies, you name it seems like it has hit this house in the last two months. Now that we are healthy again I hope to hit this again. I've got a few ideas that I'm batting around for some gluten free stuff.
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/glutenfreerecipes_intro?mbid=rfv1w032608
Check this out, epicurious is a pretty big gourmet cooking site. They are connected to a lot of magizines. It makes me happy they are taking it seriously.
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/glutenfreerecipes_intro?mbid=rfv1w032608
Check this out, epicurious is a pretty big gourmet cooking site. They are connected to a lot of magizines. It makes me happy they are taking it seriously.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Bob's Red Mill Wheat Free Biscuit & Baking Mix
I had purchased a package of this a few weeks ago while I was at a health food store. After listening to Paul whine about how he wanted waffles I finally broke down the other night and made some. This mix reminds me a lot of Bisquick. I haven't made biscuits with it yet but the texture of the product and ingredient list is very similar.
Now about the waffles. I followed the directions on the package for pancakes because it said that the same could be used for waffles. The one thing I didn't do was add all the water. It called for 2 cups and that just sounded like a lot for no more "flour" than I had. I ended up only adding 1 and 1/3 cups of water until I got the consistancy I wanted. I then cooked them in the waffle iron just like any other waffles.
I guess I'll get the bad out of the way first. They didn't brown well. I sprayed the waffle iron but still didn't get any browning to speak of. Also I was using a teflon coated, non-stick iron and still had to spray it. I didn't on one batch and they kind of stuck. Also once they got cool they took on an eggy taste. I'm not sure why but they did. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't a taste that you usually get with waffles.
The good. THEY TASTED LIKE REAL WAFFLES! As someone who doesn't HAVE to eat gluten free foods, I usually turn my nose up and eat the real stuff. The had the same texture as a Bisquick waffle, they tasted very similar and they absorbed the butter and syrup as wheat waffle would.
I enjoyed this product and would recommend it for a waffle or pancake mix. I'll have to let you know how it works for biscuits and quick breads in another post, after I try it of course.
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
Of course you can check you local supermarkets and health food stores. I've seen Bob's products becoming more popular on the supermarket shelves lately.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ED9L3K Amazon.com, they are even offering a subscription service for gluten free products right now. $16.00 for 4 packages
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Wheat-Free-Biscuit-Baking-Mix-24oz_W0QQitemZ330212852018QQcmdZViewItem#ShippingPayment Ebay - With shipping it looked about the same price as Amazon. I would use caution when buying food stuffs from Ebay.
http://www.suzannes.com/boredmiwhbia.html Suzannes.com $4.31 each.
Now about the waffles. I followed the directions on the package for pancakes because it said that the same could be used for waffles. The one thing I didn't do was add all the water. It called for 2 cups and that just sounded like a lot for no more "flour" than I had. I ended up only adding 1 and 1/3 cups of water until I got the consistancy I wanted. I then cooked them in the waffle iron just like any other waffles.
I guess I'll get the bad out of the way first. They didn't brown well. I sprayed the waffle iron but still didn't get any browning to speak of. Also I was using a teflon coated, non-stick iron and still had to spray it. I didn't on one batch and they kind of stuck. Also once they got cool they took on an eggy taste. I'm not sure why but they did. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't a taste that you usually get with waffles.
The good. THEY TASTED LIKE REAL WAFFLES! As someone who doesn't HAVE to eat gluten free foods, I usually turn my nose up and eat the real stuff. The had the same texture as a Bisquick waffle, they tasted very similar and they absorbed the butter and syrup as wheat waffle would.
I enjoyed this product and would recommend it for a waffle or pancake mix. I'll have to let you know how it works for biscuits and quick breads in another post, after I try it of course.
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
Of course you can check you local supermarkets and health food stores. I've seen Bob's products becoming more popular on the supermarket shelves lately.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ED9L3K Amazon.com, they are even offering a subscription service for gluten free products right now. $16.00 for 4 packages
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Wheat-Free-Biscuit-Baking-Mix-24oz_W0QQitemZ330212852018QQcmdZViewItem#ShippingPayment Ebay - With shipping it looked about the same price as Amazon. I would use caution when buying food stuffs from Ebay.
http://www.suzannes.com/boredmiwhbia.html Suzannes.com $4.31 each.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Ruby Tuesday's
Installment one of a serious of resturants that offer gluten free food.
The first resturant that we tried once he went on back on his gluten free diet was Ruby Tuesday's. I had emailed them, no information on their website, and by the next morning had an email back outlining their foods that were safe to eat. I was impressed with their quickness, since they were one of just a few that emailed me back.
So that weekend, while on our Saturday shopping excursion we stopped in for lunch. Paul had eaten their buffolo burger about a year before and he really liked it. So he ordered it without a bun and mashed potatoes instead of fries. He's ordered that at other places and it wasn't attractive. When his plate came out it looked so nice. They made it a nice presentation. It looked like a steak and mashed pototoes instead of a hamburger without a bun.
The first resturant that we tried once he went on back on his gluten free diet was Ruby Tuesday's. I had emailed them, no information on their website, and by the next morning had an email back outlining their foods that were safe to eat. I was impressed with their quickness, since they were one of just a few that emailed me back.
So that weekend, while on our Saturday shopping excursion we stopped in for lunch. Paul had eaten their buffolo burger about a year before and he really liked it. So he ordered it without a bun and mashed potatoes instead of fries. He's ordered that at other places and it wasn't attractive. When his plate came out it looked so nice. They made it a nice presentation. It looked like a steak and mashed pototoes instead of a hamburger without a bun.
Valentine's Day
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I know I'm a little late on posting this, but I'm a busy girl and sometimes don't get here as soon or as often as I would like. We ventured out for Valentine's this year, ok we go out every year but since he's been following the gluten-free diet, eating out is an adventure.
Where did we go? We went to Outback Steakhouse. I've only eaten there twice prior to that night. Why did we go there? They have a gluten-free menu. Yes a whole menu just for the gluten-free person in your life. It was awesome. We asked for a gluten free menu when we were sat and here comes one out that looks just like mine for him. They must have alerted our waitress because she was on the ball. She asked me if I would still like bread. Not only that but there was a boo-boo, Paul's salad came out with crutons, he normally just picks those off. When she saw the crutons she took it back, got him a totally new salad without. We didn't eat dessert there, even though they have a flourless brownie sundie that the pan is dusted with sugar. I was stuffed and didn't want dessert so Paul headed over to Cold Stone Creamery. By pure accident one night I found a pdf file of their allergians. We promptly saved that file and he added it to his PDA phone.
I don't know if businesses understand the importance that little things like that can mean to a person who suffers from something like Celiac. We have found a few, and I promise to blog about each one, and they are now our regular hot spots. It sure makes life easier.
Where did we go? We went to Outback Steakhouse. I've only eaten there twice prior to that night. Why did we go there? They have a gluten-free menu. Yes a whole menu just for the gluten-free person in your life. It was awesome. We asked for a gluten free menu when we were sat and here comes one out that looks just like mine for him. They must have alerted our waitress because she was on the ball. She asked me if I would still like bread. Not only that but there was a boo-boo, Paul's salad came out with crutons, he normally just picks those off. When she saw the crutons she took it back, got him a totally new salad without. We didn't eat dessert there, even though they have a flourless brownie sundie that the pan is dusted with sugar. I was stuffed and didn't want dessert so Paul headed over to Cold Stone Creamery. By pure accident one night I found a pdf file of their allergians. We promptly saved that file and he added it to his PDA phone.
I don't know if businesses understand the importance that little things like that can mean to a person who suffers from something like Celiac. We have found a few, and I promise to blog about each one, and they are now our regular hot spots. It sure makes life easier.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Last Night's Supper
Well it seems that something for supper last night sent my husband straight into a flare. We had an egg scramble and steak fries. I made a Velveeta cheese sauce to put over it. My first guess was there was something in the Velveeta that contained gluten. So I pulled up my trusty Clan Thompson food checker and it had uncertain on Kraft items. It referred me to the Kraft website. The website didn't say it contained wheat, so I did a search for each individual item via the food checker. It came back clear. I know my butter is ok because it's pure, cream and salt. The sausage appears to be good too. I couldn't find anything in it either that would have caused it. So what do I think it is? I think he has developed an intollerence to eggs. I have read where it's not uncommon. I also have read where cheese and dairy can be a problem for the first year. So I'm back to the drawing board. I guess I try eggs by themselves and cheese by itself to see which is the stink. UGH!!
New Research and New Store
I got my 1-3 times a month e-mail from celiac.com today. Lots of good information was given out, including exciting new research dealing with a "cure" for Celiac.
We've got enyzeme reseach that could provide a pill to help with cross-contamination.
http://www.celiac.com/articles/21530/1/A-Sweet-Pill-For-Celiacs-to-Swallow-Progress-on-Enzyme-Therapy-for-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html
They are also looking at a peptide therapy that could be a "cure". I'll be honest I didn't really understand what a lot of what they were saying but it made me excited to think that there is a cure on the way. http://www.celiac.com/articles/21531/1/Durum-Wheat-Peptide-Could-Lead-To-Celiac-Disease-Treatment/Page1.html
Now if you are wanting gluten-free pizza and have a Meijer store in your area, it's on it's way. Starting April 1, they will start carrying Gluten Free Fabulous pizza. I live in Kansas and we don't have a Meijer store. I have heard though that Hy-Vee carry lots of gluten-free products and I'm planning to do my grocery shopping there this weekend.
We've got enyzeme reseach that could provide a pill to help with cross-contamination.
http://www.celiac.com/articles/21530/1/A-Sweet-Pill-For-Celiacs-to-Swallow-Progress-on-Enzyme-Therapy-for-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html
They are also looking at a peptide therapy that could be a "cure". I'll be honest I didn't really understand what a lot of what they were saying but it made me excited to think that there is a cure on the way. http://www.celiac.com/articles/21531/1/Durum-Wheat-Peptide-Could-Lead-To-Celiac-Disease-Treatment/Page1.html
Now if you are wanting gluten-free pizza and have a Meijer store in your area, it's on it's way. Starting April 1, they will start carrying Gluten Free Fabulous pizza. I live in Kansas and we don't have a Meijer store. I have heard though that Hy-Vee carry lots of gluten-free products and I'm planning to do my grocery shopping there this weekend.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A little story
When I said I do, I thought I said it only to the man I loved. I didn't realize that I was saying I do to an auto immune disorder, called celiac. It's not like he hadn't said that he had it before we walked down the isle, he just hadn't explained in detail what it meant. The first couple of years nothing major changed, he wasn't following his diet. He had flare ups, he was grouchy when those happened. When he couldn't get a flare under control he would ask me to make him some rice. Then it happened. He couldn't handle the flare ups and he wanted to go back on the diet.
Ok I thought not so bad, we didn't eat a lot of bread or pasta products. Which kind had always been a little heartbreaking for me. Pasta, Italian in general, is my favorite food. So I removed flour from my cooking. Much harder than I had ever thought it would be. I am a baker, at one point I thought I wanted to be a pastry chef, flour is a staple in those recipes. Then he started telling me about other items, soups, chips, french fries, and soy sauces that all contained the dreaded gluten. I wiped out three-fourths of my pantry. I was down to cooking fresh meats with veggies and that was it. Nothing new, nothing gourmet. Not my cup of tea. I am a gourmet girl. Homemade pasta tossed with a cream sauce filled with roasted red peppers, chicken, roasted onions and mushrooms. That's my kind of food. I was reduced to fixing roast with mashed potatoes and gravy thickened with cornstarch. I only used salt and pepper because I was afraid that anything else would have gluten in it.
I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't open up the pages of my cooking mags I got each month without crying. I craved pizza. I craved sandwiches. I craved pastas. I wanted to fix those things and have my husband enjoy them with me. I didn't want to wait until he was working late or fix two meals each night. I wanted to bake again. I wanted cookies to line my counters. I wanted to bake cakes again. I didn't want to be gluten free anymore. If anything was going to end this short marriage, 3 years now, it was going to be his diet I thought.
I started researching, I found gluten free all purpose flour on Amazon, I bought a case. It arrived, I made cookies they weren't bad. Ok, I thought I can do this. I made gravy, it worked. I made noodles, they weren't bad either. Oh boy, oh boy I can start baking again. I made bread. Scratch that I made hockey pucks and a door stop. You see, I had just subsituted his flour for my wheat flour. No one told me I couldn't do that. I made my grandmother's bread recipe. I kneaded, raised, punched down, raised again. I then formed it into hamburger buns and into a loaf of bread. I let it raise one last time and then baked it. When it came out of the oven it was hard, white, and just flat out nasty. I was broken again.
I gave up on baking and started looking for other items. I found a love for Amazon.com simply because I could find gluten free items. I bought spaghetti, cookie mixes, brownie mixes, bread mixes, macaroni. The downfall, you have to buy a case at a time. Some is better than others. What I needed was someone to tell me, this is good and this is why I like it. Or better yet, this sucked and this is why it sucked. So that is how this blog was born. From a woman who thought a gluten free diet might end her marriage to the man of her dreams. It's from a woman who loves to be in the kitchen. It's from a woman who is still learning how to do this thing. I'm no expert. I might fail. Ok, I will fail. I just hope my failures will let others know they aren't the only ones.
Ok I thought not so bad, we didn't eat a lot of bread or pasta products. Which kind had always been a little heartbreaking for me. Pasta, Italian in general, is my favorite food. So I removed flour from my cooking. Much harder than I had ever thought it would be. I am a baker, at one point I thought I wanted to be a pastry chef, flour is a staple in those recipes. Then he started telling me about other items, soups, chips, french fries, and soy sauces that all contained the dreaded gluten. I wiped out three-fourths of my pantry. I was down to cooking fresh meats with veggies and that was it. Nothing new, nothing gourmet. Not my cup of tea. I am a gourmet girl. Homemade pasta tossed with a cream sauce filled with roasted red peppers, chicken, roasted onions and mushrooms. That's my kind of food. I was reduced to fixing roast with mashed potatoes and gravy thickened with cornstarch. I only used salt and pepper because I was afraid that anything else would have gluten in it.
I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't open up the pages of my cooking mags I got each month without crying. I craved pizza. I craved sandwiches. I craved pastas. I wanted to fix those things and have my husband enjoy them with me. I didn't want to wait until he was working late or fix two meals each night. I wanted to bake again. I wanted cookies to line my counters. I wanted to bake cakes again. I didn't want to be gluten free anymore. If anything was going to end this short marriage, 3 years now, it was going to be his diet I thought.
I started researching, I found gluten free all purpose flour on Amazon, I bought a case. It arrived, I made cookies they weren't bad. Ok, I thought I can do this. I made gravy, it worked. I made noodles, they weren't bad either. Oh boy, oh boy I can start baking again. I made bread. Scratch that I made hockey pucks and a door stop. You see, I had just subsituted his flour for my wheat flour. No one told me I couldn't do that. I made my grandmother's bread recipe. I kneaded, raised, punched down, raised again. I then formed it into hamburger buns and into a loaf of bread. I let it raise one last time and then baked it. When it came out of the oven it was hard, white, and just flat out nasty. I was broken again.
I gave up on baking and started looking for other items. I found a love for Amazon.com simply because I could find gluten free items. I bought spaghetti, cookie mixes, brownie mixes, bread mixes, macaroni. The downfall, you have to buy a case at a time. Some is better than others. What I needed was someone to tell me, this is good and this is why I like it. Or better yet, this sucked and this is why it sucked. So that is how this blog was born. From a woman who thought a gluten free diet might end her marriage to the man of her dreams. It's from a woman who loves to be in the kitchen. It's from a woman who is still learning how to do this thing. I'm no expert. I might fail. Ok, I will fail. I just hope my failures will let others know they aren't the only ones.
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