Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Rye Bread

Now that I have been gluten free for almost 2 years, I have realized that bread for me will never be what it once was. But.......that doesn't mean I can't try my best on baking things that taste and feel almost like the real thing.

One of my favorite sandwiches is turkey, roast beef, cheese and 1000 island dressing on marble rye bread. The word "gluten" has prevented me from having this wonderful grilled sandwich no more. Over the weekend I baked my 2nd loaf of rye bread (I tried the marble thing....that didn't quite work out). Tasty is an understatement for what I had for dinner last night. I was in heaven! The bread grilled to perfection, the cheese melted and oozed over the turkey and roast beef, and I made my own dressing for dipping. I'm still in awe on how wonderful that tasted and I can't wait to have another. Thank you Festival Foods for having the gluten free meats in your deli department, they were wonderful, full of flavor and will be purchased again.

I'll post pictures in the next day or so of the bread, or should I say what's left. My boyfriend also had 2 of these tasty sandwiches, so there isn't much left. And I used Meister's flour, which I have posted on my blog before. The recipe actually came from the Living Without magazine web site, I'll get the link and attach:

http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes/octnov09-mockrye-bread.html

It calls for rye flavor powder which I did order and used. I ordered that from Authentic Foods and had it delivered with in 5 business days.
(GLUTEN-FREE RYE FLAVOR POWDER Gluten-free rye flavor powder is available from Authentic Foods (authenticfoods.com).)

I actually cut the recipe in half, which is something I do when making things like this for the first time. I hate wasting flour, so this way I don't feel as bad if the recipe doesn't quite turn out.

For anyone reading this missing rye bread, take my advice and try this out. Now I can't wait to make it again but for Friday fish fry! My next challenge, sour dough. I'm already doing research on it.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Meister's Gluten Free Mixtures

Anyone looking for a good gluten free flour mix to use cup for cup as regular flour, check this out. I found this web site a while back and purchased the bread and flour mix. Below is a picture of the bread made from package. It even came with a package of yeast to use. It was very easy to make and made great french toast. I'll definitely buy this again. The flour mix was wonderful as well.....I think I have found my flour for all baking/cooking now.


http://www.meistersgf.com/

Crab Rangoons




Once again I was craving something that if ordered at a restaurant, is completely off limits. The wonderful and crispy Crab Rangoon. I was on a mission about a month ago to make these at home and after some time searching all over the internet, I finally found what I needed. First I found a recipe for wonton wrappers from this site (they have a search field for recipes, type wonton wrapper and it should come up):

Then on the same site I found a recipe for the Rangoons (follow same instruction as noted above for the search field on their web site).
These were great and I plan on ordering some of their flour this week. I used a different flour blend when I made these from a company called Meister's. So far this is the best flour I have found for baking/cooking.








Tiramisu




Last year for Christmas my dad bought me a gluten free cookbook. I've made a few things from it, but last night I think I topped myself. Gluten Free Tiramisu! The book he got me is called 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

Here is a link to Barnes and Noble to see a snapshot of it.


Anyway...I tried the first piece this morning for breakfast (I couldn't wait) and wow am I in heaven! I haven't had Tiramisu in over 2 years and well I'm happy to say this is now my favorite thing I've made so far. The recipe called for lady fingers of course, but they included a recipe for those, along with home made whipped cream. If anyone is interested in this recipe please let me know, it's sort of long but I am more than happy to pass it along to anyone craving this wonderful Italian desert.








Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Russian Delights store in Appleton

Well a few people mentioned the Russian Delights store to me in Appleton, WI...so I finally had a chance to check it out. There are quite a few things to pick from that is Gluten Free and it's all made right there in the back. The frozen pizza was perfect, and the chicken Pierogi was excellent (which is a cross between a ravioi and a dumpling). I also purchased a personal sized apple pie, but I'm holding out for a chilly day to pop that in the oven. Considering the other items were great, I'm sure that will be as well.

I would attach their website to this post, but I can't seem to find it online at the moment. So I'll include their address and phone number for now.

Russian Delights
2171 W. Wisconsin Street
Appleton, WI 54914
920.882.0003

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Found Gluten Free Ravioli


Once again I found a new product while shopping....I picked up the Ravioi's from the Free Market in Appleton, WI. I'll attach the companies web site and I also took a picture of how big these are. I was surprised on the size, and they were quite good. A few did pop open while cooking, but what can you do about that.

http://contespasta.com/products_home.htm

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Betty Crocker has GF products!




So there I was at Pick-n-Save doing my normal shopping....that is reading the labels on everything before putting them in my basket...when I came to the GF area. I always browse that small area of the store hoping something new is on the shelf. Well to my surprise, there it was...4 different boxes of GF mixes! I was so excited I took pictures on my phone and emailed them to my boyfriend. Thank goodness it was 10:00 at night and no one else was in the aisle with me....I probably looked like a complete idiot. Anyway, I'll attach the link for Betty Crocker's web site below. Now I haven't tried them out yet, but I did get the devils food cake and the cookie mix. Hopefully tonight I'll have time to at least make the cookies......updates to follow on that.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/gluten-free/gluten-free.htm

So I made the cookies last night and they are pretty good. I'll attach some pictures so you can all see the end product. They cooked great but I think next time I'll try and split the butter in half and use a half a stick of butter and a half a stick of butter flavored crisco. I have done that in the past and usually have better results with the cookies as far as them not being so flat.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Great recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

It's finally strawberry season around here, and who doesn't love good old fashioned Strawberry Shortcake. I did some searching online the other day and found this great recipe. Let me add that they are terrific! The recipe below made a full batch of muffins, and the girls at work couldn't tell that they were gluten free. In fact, there is no flour in these at all and they are quick and easy to make.

Shortcake Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup corn starch
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions
· preheat oven to 375
· grease muffin pan (i also dusted them with rice flour)
· cream the butter and sugar together
· add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy
· separately mix the corn starch and baking powder together
· slowly add the dry mix to the butter mix or the corn starch will fly out every where
· fill muffin pans about half way full
· bake for 15 minutes or till golden brown
· remove from the muffin pan and let cool on drying rack

Thursday, June 18, 2009

My list of great Gluten Free products

In the year or so that I've been GF free now, I've experimented with different recipes, name brands of food, and where to shop. Some are great, while others not so much...so I'm going to make a list of web sites below sharing where I've found great products-name brands of GF items etc.....

I have purchased flour from this site, it's great! And let me add....Jules is so nice. I have emailed her several times regarding recipes and she always gets back to me. I highly recommend her flour blend, it's worth every penny and can be used cup for cup like you would regular flour.
http://www.nearlynormalcooking.com/httpdocs/index.htm

This is a great place to order the best cake, muffin and pancake mixes. Their chocolate cupcake mixes taste like they are made with regular flour, and the pancakes are delicious! If you are missing fluffy pancakes, get these! So far everything I've ordered from them tastes great and my Gf friends can't tell the difference.
http://www.reallygreatfoods.com/

If you're a local Wisconsinite then this might be a good site to check out. This is the web site for the Silly Yak Bakery, I've ordered their bread and it's very good. Toasts well, and the Cinnamon Bread was great for making french toast. Ordering was easy, just called them up, and my bread was waiting for me just a few days later.
http://www.freshglutenfree.net/

Looking for some good pasta? This pasta brand is great! I've even used their pasta shells in cold salad recipes that I have missed over time. (sold locally at Pick-n-Save, Festival Foods, Copps)
http://tinkyada.com/

This is another great brand of pasta and bread too. Quite a few of their items are sold at local grocery stores (Pick-n-Save, Festival Foods, Copps) so it's easy to find. The table crackers are also pretty good, but are brittle and break easy while trying to put cheese spreads on them.
http://www.schar.com/us/

Grandma Ferdons has some great Gf products, but so far I've only seen their items sold at Festival Foods and the Free Market in Appleton, WI. Their premade frozen pizza crusts are great, and the donut holes are good with a little sugar on them. If you're in the mood for a sweet treat, the carrot cake is wonderful.
http://www.grandmaferdons.com/

The Free Market is a small grocery store located in Appelton WI that has lots of GF products, and almost every time I'm there, a new product is available.
http://www.thefreemrkt.com/

Located in sunny California, I found this site one day while just doing random searches....I ordered pizza crust, brownies, crutons, coffee cake, and bagels from them. All were great and I think the coffee cake was gone the day it arrived! I only wish they were closer to home, why can't we have more bakery's closer home!
http://www.mariposabaking.com/

These are all organic, gluten free frozen dinners and I personally contacted Festival Foods to get these in their stores. And I'm happy to say that I've seen them sold at 3 of their store locations on the Fox Valley area. A little on the pricey side.....but they are great dinners with great flavor.
http://www.theorganicbistro.com/

Another great site to check out is Amy's Kitchen. My personal favorite is probably the mac-n-cheese..........I miss the old favorite out of the box, and there frozen dinner hits the spot. (sold locally at Pick-n-Save, Festival Foods, Copps)
http://www.amyskitchen.com/

There are lots of items to pick from on this site......and I just recently got a box of the graham crackers for making smores while camping. They are great and I was pleasantly surprised when I tried them.
http://consumer.kinnikinnick.com/

If you're looking for a box of cookies to pick up, their chocolate chip cookies are great, and are sold locally at Pick-n-Save, Festival Foods, Copps. I've also made the brownies which were very good. They have quite a few mixes to pick from and the baking/pancake mix can be used like flour. You do need to add your own xanthan gum though.
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/

There are lots of options with this GF company. Pretzels, crackers, cookies, even bread sticks. The Chocolate Wafers remind me of Kit Kats, very good-light, crispy and don't forget the chocolate!
http://www.glutino.com/

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

My first Post-Why am I doing this?

Where to start....well, I decided to try this blog thing to help anyone who is or needs to be gluten free. I've been gluten free since Feb. 15th 2008. I remember that day specifically because it was on my 32nd birthday that I decided enough was enough. The doctors tested me for Celiac, it came back negative but after 4 years of being sick, they recommended I try it. The day I stopped eating gluten was hard, but I started feeling better immediately. No more stomach cramps, and everything else that went with it. So here I am over a year later feeling better than I have in a really long time and every day is an adventure when it comes to eating. I love to bake and cook and have realized that just because I can't have gluten, doesn't mean I can't have good tasting food. I love to eat and refuse to give up taste. I'm going to do my best to post what I have learned or where to shop/eat to help anyone that might see this.

Life is good, enjoy every bite!