Introducing...the new blog!

Welcome! Welcome to my new blog where I will compile recipes, book reviews, GF/CF baking hints, and personal experiences from our allergen free journey. I'm excited to put all this information in one place, finally. :) Suggestions are always welcome!

(Image from etsy.com)

I thought this summed up things pretty well. Eating allergen free isn't usually a choice for most people (except for the self sacrificing family members!) so finding food that is good, and beautiful is all about what this sign is talking about. We're not waiting for the "storm" to pass (to get real food again), we're learning how to dance in the rain (so to speak) and find beautiful, yummy food using ingredients that are free from the ingredients we have to avoid. :)

Gluten-Free Coupon and food sites

Have found several neat websites that have great coupons and money saving ideas for gluten free and natural products.

EarthFare is a store that is not local, but many of their coupons are manufacturer coupons. Be sure to check.

Mambo Sprouts often has printable coupons that add up to significant savings.

If you use the SoDelicious coconut milk products, be sure to check out their website now. They are offering coupons! And, good ones too! $1 off.

The GFCF Pantry is a blog by a lady eating gluten/casien/soy free. It is a well put together blog with good money saving tips and other information.

The Allergy Superstore has some great products, and just had a special. Unfortunately that special seems to be gone now, but they have a clearance section where they appear to put food items that are close to their expiration date. Worth keeping an eye on.

Don't forget Amazon.com. We order our Glutino pretzels through them. Great prices, but be sure to double check with your local grocery store. I've been finding local grocery store prices on gluten free items to be more competitive lately. Yeah for that! :)

Rice-free Gluten-free Flour Blend

Apparently I was getting too comfortable with GF cooking. We had another loop thrown at us. After discovering that I also have a rice sensitivity I was faced with revamping my GF flour mix. Not an impossible task. I actually love this flour mix better than the rice one. While being frustrated by this new challenge,being forced to find an alternate no-rice flour mix was actually a blessing in disguise. This new flour mix is wonderful and doesn't have the 'moisture' issues that rice based ones do. Here are the result of those efforts.

**Most recent update(10/12) including metric measurements are below in the comments. I tweaked the cornstarch/potato starch ratio.**

**9/27/10 I've updated the recipe. What is below is the improved mix. It is continually evolving so I will post new updates as I have them. This new mix is the best yet! Oh, this is the doubled batch, but if you want to just try a little, it halves easily.**

No-Rice Gluten-Free Flour blend

2 1/2 cup Millet Flour

2 cup Sorghum Flour

2 cup Potato Starch

1 3/4 cup Tapioca Flour

1 1/2 cup Cornstarch

5 Tbs. Potato Flour

3 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum

I have successfully used this flour mix with Betty Crocker sweet muffins straight from the cookbook with no modifications (no extra water, etc.). I also made corn fritters which turned out really well. It makes excellent pie crust!

Finally, a word to the wise.....

***It's a good idea if you are GF to rotate your grains so you don't become sensitive to rice, or any other for that matter. ***

GF Corn Dogs!

Easy as pie...well, whatever that means. In this case it means something that actually works out to be as good as a "regular" wheat filled corn dog. These corn dogs actually turn out looking like "real" corndogs, actually like the picture. Could there be anything better?! :) (I don't know about you, but I'm always suspicious of GF recipe pics, and am left wondering if they really used a wheat filled pic. I was elated that this recipe actually turned out like the picture!) Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
8 hot dogs (we use Ball Park Franks — yes, they are gluten-free)
1 cup gf flour *
2/3 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 + 1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup cornstarch Peanut oil for frying
Popsicle sticks

Directions:
Insert sticks into 1 end of each hot dog. Hold the dog firmly to make sure that the stick goes into the center of the dog.Dry the hot dogs thoroughly with a paper towel. This step is very important! The hot dogs must be dry in order for the batter to stick.

In a small bowl mix together the gf flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and canola oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Transfer batter to a baking dish.Heat peanut oil in a deep fat fryer or if you don’t have one, heat about 1 inch of peanut oil in a large deep skillet. When oil is hot 375°F reduce the heat to maintain a temperature of about 350°F.

Place the cornstarch on a plate and roll the hot dogs in the cornstarch. Dust of excess cornstarch.

Roll the hot dogs in the batter. This part is a little tricky…you may need to use a spoon or knife to smooth the batter on and even it out over the hot dog. Carefully place the battered hot dog into the hot oil. Fry the corn dogs in the hot oil until lightly browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes total. Remove the corn dogs from the oil and drain on paper towels.

GF Pierogies!

Yes, did you know they are really easy to make?! Yep! If you have left over mashed potatoes from dinner, they're even easier because half the work is already done. I made this recipe the other day and was really impressed with how close they were to real pierogies. My only suggestion is to use a noodle roller instead of using a rolling pin. The dough gets thicker as it cooks, and it is pretty hard (though not impossible) to get the dough as thin as they say to get it (1/8"). If you're craving pierogies, or just miss them, you won't be disappointed with this recipe!

Click on the pierogie picture above to go to the link!

Here's the recipe:

Pierogies

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour
1/3 cup Cornstarch
2 Tb Potato Starch
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tb Xanthan Gum
2 large Eggs
1 Tb Vegetable Oil

Combine flours, salt, and xanthan gum. Beat eggs lightly and add oil. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir. This will feel much like pastry dough. Work together into a firm ball. Knead a minute or two.

The recipe in the book and online give further instructions depending on the different kinds of pastas you could make. For the purpose of making pierogi, you'll want to work with small handfuls of dough. Roll it out, with just the minimum amount of flour necessary to keep it from sticking. Too much flour will toughen the dough and keep it from being as sticky as it needs to be. Roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch. Use a biscuit cutter or glass or jar lip to cut circles about 4 inches in diameter. Keep rolling dough until you've made as many circles as it will yield.Use your fingertips to wet the edges of each circle. Let the water sit for few minutes, making a nice, sticky edge. (By the time you get to the last circle, the first one should be just sticky enough. Spoon some filling into the center of each circle. Fold the circle in half, pinching and crimping the edges until they are sealed tight.Any that you are cooking right away, set aside. Any that you will be freezing, place on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until they are dry. Once they're no longer sticky you can put them in freezer bags.

To cook, place pierogi in a large pot of salted boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes (and hope you sealed them tightly enough!). Remove with a slotted spoon. Serve with hot melted butter.

Cheaper GF flour ingredients

Eating GF isn't cheap, but there are ways to cut the budget.  One way is to mix your own GF flour blend.  Recently I read that in doing this you risk buying bags of ingredients that may actually have a high gluten content (stinkin' cross contamination).  The suggestion was to purchase a ready made product.  I choose to mix my own flour blend, but by experience I have learned to only purchase ingredients labeled gluten free tested (got burned by one labeled a "gluten free grain"....um duh).  I admit though, I buy regular cornstarch off the shelf.

The most recent cost savings way to get Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour mix components is to go through Amazon.  Amazingly, buying from Vitacost through Amazon saved nearly $1/bag with a bonus of free shipping if you purchased $49(double check to see if that promotion is still available to be sure).  Search for your item and choose one, then look to the right of the screen where it shows other vendors.  Vitacost should be listed as another vendor.  Compare the price. :)


Here are some ways to get GF flour ingredients super cheap, usually around $1.09/lb (generally in 12 oz packages).

(text pasted with liberties from highlighted website forum)

These flours are commonly available from local Asian grocery stores:

Chinese Grocery Store (usually labels include the english translation)

• white rice flour
• sweet rice flour (labeled glutinous rice flour-though it contains NO gluten)
• tapioca flour
• corn starch
• potato starch (NOTE:potato starch and potato flour are NOT the same!)

Indian Grocery Store (along with their Hindi names)

• millet flour ...is Bajri (pearl millet)
• sorghum flour...is Jowar or Juwar
• Buckwheat flour ...is Kuttu
• Chickpea flour ...is Chana or Besan
• Potato ...is Aloo
• ***FYI: "Atta" when alone describes wheat flour***

I can find cornstarch at a local orchard that sells bulk foods for $0.79/lb, which is cheaper than store brand at the grocery store. But the Chinese grocery sells it by the bag too so if you're already there buying other flours, the cost of gas may not justify making a special trip for one ingredient.

Diagnosing Celiac/Gluten Intolerance

Just read today that anyone who has a family member with any autoimmune disease (grandmother, aunt, sister/brother, cousin, etc), should be tested for Celiac. Because it runs in families, and is an autoimmune disease as well.

Excellent sheet with a list of Celiac symptoms and questions for a doctor if you're suspicious that gluten could be causing you problems.