Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Betty Crocker is baking GLUTEN FREE!

Well, Betty herself may not be baking gluten-free and certainly not all of their products, but apparently they have a new line of baking mix products out there that are gluten-free. Now, I have not gone looking for them in my local grocery store yet, but I certainly will be! I'm not sure how many grocery stores have come to realize that Betty is making and selling gluten-free products yet, but hopefully we'll see them around the stores soon!

If anyone finds the products and gives them a try, please let me know how they taste. I personally can't try the devil's food cake, chocolate chip cookies, or the brownies, since I am also sensitive to chocolate, so you won't find a review of those products from me, even if I can find them in the store. I really would like to give the yellow cake mix a try though, and if I find it and try it, I'll let you all know how it tastes!

Friday, July 10, 2009

General Mills is AWESOME!

I posted quite a while back that Rice Chex were gluten-free, but now I have just learned that we all have a wide range of "Chex Cereal" available to us! We can also choose between: Corn Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Strawberry Chex, Chocolate Chex, and Cinnamon Chex! Just be sure to check the box at the store, as the stores may be trying to get rid of their old stock (without the "Gluten-free" banner on the front of the box). How wonderful that we now have a choice of some "mainstream cereals" available!

Boring Burger Blues?

Are you getting bored with plain burgers? You can always dress it up with some cheese on top, but even that can get rather boring after a while. How about getting creative?

First off, you're going to need a bun, right? Check out The Grainless Baker. They make some really yummy hamburger buns! You can also check this site out. I haven't tried the buns, but you can order them and give them a try.

You can then get some ground beef (choose your desired fat percentage) and 1-2 TBSP of water to each pound of ground beef, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Use a 1/3 cup measure and measure out a portion for a ground beef patty. Split that portion in half, flatten half and then put some shredded cheddar cheese on top. Flatten and place the other half of the ground beef mixture onto the cheese, pinch the edges so that the cheese is INSIDE your burger. Put that burger on your grill until the internal temperature is 165F.

Some great toppings for your burger are: pickles*, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced avocado, more cheese, and don't forget that Heinz Ketchup is gluten free, as well as French's mustard!

*Vlasic Pickles are gluten free. You can go to their website, click on "About Us" and then on "Q&A" to find their statement concerning their pickles being gluten-free.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Did you know???

Starbucks has a gluten-free baked good! It's a Valencia Orange Cake and it's individually wrapped. All you need to do is go to a Starbucks location (most locations carry them, but you might want to call ahead, especially if it's a small shop in a mall that might not carry the full variety that a stand-alone store might), ask for a Gluten-free Valencia Cake, and pay them $1.95! I ordered mine with some orange herbal tea and it was fantastic! They do have almond slivers on the top, so if you have any nut allergies, you would want to stay away from them, but if you simply cannot have gluten, this is a wonderful item.

One thing that Starbucks has NOT done is market this product very well. So, if you like Starbucks and want to see them feature this item and market it properly, so they can increase their business among people with a gluten-intolerance or Celiac Disease, be sure to tell your local Starbucks that you would like to see them market the gluten-free products a little better. I even went onto Starbucks' website and sent an e-mail telling them that I thought they were doing a wonderful thing and that they should do more to promote their product and the fact that they are willing to cater to people with gluten sensitivities. I encourage anyone else who wants to try this product to go support Starbucks and give them YOUR feedback as well!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

All In One Dinner

The vague title had me intrigued. The ingredients were all things I had or could obtain fairly cheaply from the grocery store. And it sounded fairly simple to put together and cook up in the oven. I gave it a shot and the reviews were good. My family likes it. My husband said it reminded him of what you might use to stuff peppers or make stuffed cabbage. It's got a lot of substance and a lot of wonderful flavors.

Ingredients:
1 10-oz. box frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 green pepper
1 onion
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1/4 cup grated gluten-free Parmesan Cheese
3/4 tsp. gluten-free chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400-F.
2. Squeeze the spinach dry. Place it in a large bowl.
3. Chop the green pepper and onion into small pieces. Add them to the bowl.
4. Sprinkle ground beef into the bowl (raw).
5. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, rice, cheese, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and water. Stir well to blend, breaking up meat and spinach with the edge of a spoon.
6. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish (I used an 11x7 oblong) with non-stick spray or lightly grease with olive oil. Place the mixture in the casserole dish. Pack it down lightly, and smooth the surface.
7. Cover the casserole with an oven-safe lid or foil. Bake for 1 1/4 hours (temp should be at least 165-F).

**This recipe is from the "Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults" by Connie Sarros. This cook book is a wonderful addition to my kitchen. Lots of simple recipes that use ingredients that most of us keep around the house, rather than lots of unusual or expensive ingredients and complicated assembly.

Cheeseburger Pie

I've made this twice for my family. I adapted it from a recipe given to me from a friend. The first time around I had to fudge around with the proper amounts for the "bread" portion (baking mix to water ratio), but I just made it again the other night with "proper" amounts of everything and it turned out fabulous!

Ingredients:
1lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup G-F All Purpose Baking mix (I use Arrowhead Mills)
1/3 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4-1/2 cup milk (start with 1/4 and slowly add more as needed)
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400-F
2. Brown beef and onions, drain. Stir in salt.
3. Scoop into a greased pie pan (I use a small amount of olive oil).
4. Sprinkle cheese on top of beef mixture.
5. Mix eggs, milk, and baking mix (combined with xanthan gum). Consistency should be similar to pancake batter (not too runny, but still able to "pour"). Add milk in small amounts until desired consistency.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

***We serve this with diced fresh tomatoes and organic leaf spinach over the top with a little G-F ketchup on the side for dipping.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

This is a recipe that was made for my daughter and me this past weekend and most of the guests enjoyed this version instead of the store-bought angel food cake (made with wheat flour). This is slightly more dense than a store-bought non-gluten-free angel food cake, but it's still very good!

Ingredients:

*1 cup gluten-free flour (recommendation was to use 1/4 cup millet flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup white rice flour, and 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, but the one made for us was made with Pamela's G-F Baking Mix)
*1 tsp Xanthan Gum
*12 egg whites, room temperature (to maximize volume of egg whites)
*1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
*1/4 tsp salt
*1TBSP vanilla
*1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Separate egg whites in a stainless steel bowl and let them come to room temperature.
3. In a separate medium bowl, sift gluten-free flour, salt, xanthan gum, and 3/4 cup of sugar.
4. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar. Beat until the egg whites form soft peaks. Beat in the other reserved 3/4 cup of sugar about 3 TBSP at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Slowly fold in flour mixture about 1/4 cup at a time. Once the flour mixture is combined, fold in the vanilla.
6. Slowly pour the batter into a tube pan (Bundt cake pan or similar) and spread the batter evenly. Run a knife through the cake to eliminate any air bubbles.
7. Bake for 50-55 minutes until top is golden and sides begin to pull away.
8. Cool for 10 minutes. Run the edges of a knife along the pan and pull out the insert to the tube pan (if you have one). Run a knife along the bottom of the insert and invert onto a cake plate. Serve with topping of choice!

We served ours with strawberries and Reddi-Whip...very yummy!