Going Gluten-Free

Gluten Free Pizza

I'm a huge fan of Against the Grain Pizza (and bagels, and baguettes), especially their pesto pizza.  And while they do offer a plain crust you can use to create your own custom pizza, sometimes I want to make a pizza from scratch.

When I'm in the mood to start from scratch (or from a mix, actually) I reach for chebe brand pizza crust mix.  

I like to prepare the mix as directed on the package and then flatten it out on a piece of parchment paper while I heat up my pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven.  I add everything to the pizza, then slide it, and the parchment paper, onto the hot stone.  I used to have a pizza peal I used for this, but now I use a rimless baking sheet, which works just as well.  Using this method, the pizza only takes about 10 minutes to bake and the crust comes out nice and crispy.  

Do you ahve a favorite gluten free pizza?  We are always looking for new pizza options!

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

I tried yet another recipe from Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays -- this time it was the sugar cookies.  This recipe, like the others I tried, was simple, required no weird ingredients and turned out beautifully.  I really can't recommend this book enough!  (I bought the book myself and make no money from sales -- in fact, my link goes to the author's website where she will get all the benefit of your purchase.)

And the cookie cutters we used are from IKEA.  They alwasy have cute, inexpensive cookie cutters.

Gluten Free Spritz

I am a baker.  I love baking and my biggest fear when my daughter and I were diagnosed with Celiac Disease was that I would no longer be able to bake -- or bake anything that tasted good.  After a few years without wheat flour, I can honestly say that I have overcome my fear and find gluten free baking to be almost (almost -- there are still some tricky bits) trouble free.

My mother-in-law makes Spritz cookies at Christmastime, so my husband was craving them.  Since they are run through a cookie press, I knew the dough would have to be just right, so I was very excited to see a recipe for them in Jeanne Sauvage's new cookbook -- Gluten-free Baking for the Holidays.  It's a lovely book and I highly recommend it!  The cookies were delicious and had just the right texture.

I even made the chocolate sandwich variation she shows in the book and they were easy and delicious.

(Oh yeah, the trees are being decorated with purple sugar -- ha!  That's how we roll here.  Or more to the point, that's the only colored sugar I happened to have in the cabinet when the spirit moved us to make these.)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

We haven't had pumpkin pie in a couple of years and my daughter really wanted it for Thanksgiving, so I whipped one up this afternoon.  It was so easy with a pre-made gluten free crust from Whole Foods.  As a bonus, the pie crusts came two to a package, so I think I'll make a pecan pie -- my all time favorite! -- next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Product Review -- Surf Sweets Spooky Spiders

If you have a child with Celiac Disease, you know how difficult certain holidays can be.  Halloween is especially difficult, so it's nice to find treats that you can give to your child that are tasty but free from all the bad stuff.

Surf Sweet gummies are gluten, dairy and nut free, made with natural colors and flavors, contain no HFCS or GMOs, and are 90% organic.  Of course they contain sugars, so I would still call them a special treat -- but they are definitely on the healthy end of the spectrum.

Best of all, my daughter loves them!  This means they are a treat that makes both of us happy.  As you can see, they are well formed and quite colorful.  Each package contains four flavors -- blueberry, cherry, lime & tangerine.  

Full disclosure:  Surf Sweets sent me some Spooky Spider gummies to sample and review.    

Product Review -- Glutino Parmesan Garlic Bagel Chips

Last week was a good week at Fruitful Yield -- so many new gluten free products to try!  These Glutino Parmesan and Garlic Bagel Chips were another find.  We were big fans of bagel chips before going gluten free, so I was very interested in trying these.

These bagel chips definitely have the texture right -- crispy and crunchy and lightly toasted.  I brought them out while we were playing board games last weekend and everyone kept reaching in to the box for more.  I did find them to be a little sweeter than I like -- a problem with many gluten free products -- but I liked them well enough to keep snacking.  I'm sure these will make it into our snack rotation.

 

Product Review -- Freedom Foods Maple Crunch Cereal

If you are gluten free, like us, your choices are somewhat limited in prepared foods.  And while I do like to make most of the things we eat, I draw the line at breakfast cereals.  So I was happy to see some new items on the shelves of our local Fruitful Yield -- one being a new (to us) line of cereals from Freedom Foods.

I picked up a box of the Maple Crunch variety and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised.  It certainly does have a nice crunch and holds up well to milk, and the maple flavor is nice too.  While this is no health food, it does have a bit of fiber and the sugar is not too bad coming in at about 7 gr per serving.  Plus their cereals are non-GMO, which is becoming increasingly important to me as I try to cut all genetically modified foods from our pantry.

Oh, and did I mention that they are from Australia?  I don't know why, but I think that's kind of cool.

I'll definitely be purchasing this cereal again, and I look forward to trying a couple of other varieties that I spied on the shelves of Fruitful Yield.

Have you seen any no gluten free products lately?  I'd love to hear about them!

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

I made gluten free Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and I have to say, it went pretty well.  Of course we will all be going to my mom's on the actual Turkey day, but since there is a lot of gluten involved in the traditional meal, Maddie and I will be unable to truly stuff ourselves.

For our mini Thanksgiving I made a half turkey breast, stuffing (made with gluten free bread), mashed potatoes, gravy and fresh cranberry sauce.  The turkey cooked in about 1 1/2 hours and was quite moist for being just white meat, and the stuffing was reminiscent of my mom's stuffing, although not as good.

As for the cranberry sauce -- make your own if you have 10 minutes to spare.  Really, that's all it takes and I think it's quite a bit beter than that canned stuff.  Here's what you do... get a bag of cranberries, boil a cup of water + a cup of sugar.  Add the cranberries, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  The cranberries will pop, so may I suggest one of those spatter screens.

One bag of cranberries resulted in this much sauce -- enough for our mini gluten free Thanksgiving, a small jar for the freezer and another jar to take to my mom's for Thanksgiving.

Oh, and remember that lemon curd I made?  I made some mini gluten free scones and we ate them this past weekend too.  Super yummy!

Pinterest -- Gluten Free Recipe File

Do you know about Pinterest?  It's a great way to save recipes from around the web.  I have already created a gluten free board with some great recipes.  Check it out!

New Online Gluten Free Magazine -- Easy Eats

There's a new online magazine for all of us with Celiac Disease -- Easy Eats.  And while I had a bit of trouble with the first recipe I made from the magazine -- read all about it over at my blog -- I'm still recommending it becasue the donuts I made, while quite a mess, were delicious.