Month: April 2014

Wheaty Snacks Abounding…What is a GF Girl to Do?

Image      So here I am, 12 weeks GF. Every day I have to actually think about how I will eat, meaning plan meals. I can’t just grab a HotPocket and a yogurt and run out the door. I have to plan my lunches so I have a decent GF lunch. And in the scheme of things, this doubles the stress of getting ready for work on days when I have no leftovers from the night before to take for lunch. So…I am forced to plan or accept whatever I might find at the lunchroom where ever I am that day. And elementary schools are not known for their healthful and GF fare!

Worse yet, the faculty rooms are often a place of temptation. Big plastic jars of pretzels, tins of chocolate chip cookies, donut boxes crammed full of sweet sticky wheaty donuts. Oh MY! Lunches and celebrations abound in the workplace. Some days I have to just turn around and leave as I can’t stay in the same room with the smell of those yummies. It is okay sometimes but other moments I can’t be in that space with those things I used to eat but no longer can. I take a GF muffin or breakfast cookie to school every day so I have a safe snack choice.

Volunteering can be a really positive thing in one’s life. I volunteer at my local library- this time every week is very enjoyable. But even there the specter of temptation rears its ugly head! During the 20th Birthday Celebration there are goodies to enjoy. Not for me! I urge others to eat them. Get them gone so I won’t keep staring at their tastiness….

Church gatherings are full of wheaty treats. I have been to events where a long, long table of baked goods beckoned to me. Not one thing I could consume. I am resolved that I must bake GF goodies for such events if I want a treat. So that will be my solution: more baking but GF from now on. Frankly GF cookies are so good no one will even know they are GF!

Visiting friends is another source of temptation. Of course, their countertops are the location of boxes of crackers, cookies and other wheat filled treats that are off limits for me. I think I will need to bring a GF treat in my purse so I can eat that when the lure of the treats causes a dangerous crack in my resolve….

There is a family wedding this weekend that I am looking forward to and I got in touch with the bride to find out what I could eat at her reception. Most of the meal looks safe for me. I will cross my fingers that the food is not contaminated by any wheat flour. But, no wedding cupcakes for me! I am bringing a GF vanilla cupcate of my own to celebrate this special day for Lisa and Mike.

I am planning a trip to visit friends and family up in New England. We normally eat some meals out and have a big family dinner party. This year it is a bit different in that the planning must include discussions on what I can eat and where I can eat it. A favorite restaurant we used to go to does not have a GF menu so it was passed by in our planning. I will be making some bread to take up with me and I plan to bring a baggie of GF baked snacks so I have something safe to gobble up when hunger strikes at 3 am!

Don’t get me wrong, traveling GF is not scary or impossible but it does seem that planning will help me avoid bad situations like that 3 am brownie craving and nothing I can eat in the house. Plus I am hoping my sisters do not leave wheaty treats about to tempt me but never fear: I will be ready with my bag of GF treats to satisfy any hunger pangs and late night cravings. Planning is everything when you are GF….

Now, I am going to eat a totally yummy GF vanilla cupcake, frankly even better than my cupcakes used to be. And so much safer for my tummy!

Originally published May 17, 2013.  Update coming this weekend!!Image

Aside

Crackers, Snacks and Other GF Treats

I wanted to check in with others who eat wheat free and see what some of you like. I do a lot of my own baking but others who eat GF take a slightly different path. They buy most of their GF breads, crackers, cookies, cakes, muffins, etc. So I thought I would share a couple of favorites of mine and see what you all like to buy for snacks.   Image

My new favorite snack is Snyders of Hanover’s Mini Pretzels, they are also dairy and egg free. Somehow Snyders is able to make a small but mighty pretzel that reminds me strongly of their wheat/gluten pretzels. I was really pleased as my
first pretzel purchase of some “twig” pretzels found them to be rather odd and uneven in flavor. Some were yummy and some just this side of inedible! But these mini pretzels are quite tasty so check them out. Giant carries them in the GF aisle.

Another tasty treat are Van’s “Lots of Everything” crispy baked crackers. I got them at Frys Better Foods and they are awesome if tiny! Full of flavor and crunch they will hold their own against any wheaty cracker you can buy! They were great with some extra sharp cheese…or maybe as a snack for kids in the car or at gatherings like a church service.

A few weeks ago I bought some Glutino Cheddar flavor GF Crackers. They are round and look quite like a Ritz. The flavor is mostly of cheese and the texture is rather tough compared to the tender flaky buttery delight of a Ritz. Okay with something on it but not that great alone. I will continue to search for my Ritz replacement.

So what do you buy to snack on? GF of course? Share, please do, so I can try more things without as much trepidation. To know that someone finds something tasty is really a big help when snacks cost far more than what one is used to paying. I look forward to your suggestions with much anticipation!

First published in April 2013.  Stay tuned for an update later this week.Image

Gluten Free Pizza Take Two!

ImageSince the pizza post last year I have eaten at that same pizza place a couple more times.  It isn’t bad at all if you tell them to make it well done.  It tastes even better when you also sprinkle it with oregano/basil and garlic powder.  I also like some red pepper flakes on top.  Still, not a delicious pizza.

The best tasting GF pizza, so far, is one I make myself.  It is out of my favorite GF cookbook, G-F Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts. It has some millet flour in it which keeps it from shrinking as much and adds some flavor/texture.  I love that I can actually make it the night before, store it well wrapped overnight and then just top it and bake to melt the cheese and blend the toppings.  The recipe says you can make several and freeze them half baked.  Great idea!!

So give this easy recipe a whirl and see what you think.  It is relatively easy, just be sure to take the time to flatten the top of the dough when you spread it in the pizza pan.  If you get a hill in the center your sauce will slide down it! Not so good. 

This is better than the stuff pizza parlors sell.  They tend to buy it completely made, sealed up and just pop it in their oven.  Not a fresh pizza.  Take the time to whip this up.  A stand mixer makes it happen fast and painlessly. Your family who eats GF with you will like its crunchy crust and fresh taste.  And you can personalize it with the toppings of your preference to replicate pizzas you always enjoyed before going wheat free.

GF Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour mix

½ cup millet flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp dry yeast granules

1 tsp olive oil

¾ cup warm water, maybe up to a tbsp more (110 degrees F)

Directions:

Spray pizza pan with cooking spray, lightly sprinkle cornmeal over entire pan.  (You could skip this if you are not a cornmeal fan.)

Mix all dry ingredients in your stand mixer bowl.  Pour wet ingredients in there, mix until just blended, scrape down bowl.  Beat at high speed for two minutes. 

Spoon dough onto prepared pizza pan.  Use a metal cake spatula to move it around and make it smooth. Try not to get the center any thicker than the edges.  Push dough so it gets all the way to the  very edge of the pan.  Cover with a light cotton cloth and let rise in a warm place 30-40 minutes until doubled in height.  I warm my smaller oven to about 105 degrees and put it in there.

Sauce

I use an 8 ounce can of spaghetti sauce and add olive oil, some minced garlic, dried basil and oregano and cook 5-8 minutes, covered. Let cool a bit before using.

Baking

Move oven rack to lower third of oven.  I have a pizza oven so I use that (great bottom heat for a super crisp crust!) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.   Bake it for 15-16 minutes.  Remove from oven.  [This is the moment when you can let it cool and freeze it or chill in fridge if using the very next day. Be sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.] If using now, flip over and put tomato sauce, then toppings and cheese of choice.  I like both mott and parmesan cheese on mine! Bake ten more minutes more or less until it is bubbly and browning.  Be sure the bottom is browned.

Cool a minute and cut with your pizza cutter. Enjoy!

FYI: Don’t freeze the shell for more than three weeks. 

 

Brown Rice Flour Recipe

Ingredients

– 1 c brown rice flour

– 1/3 c potato starch (not potato flour)

– 3 tbsp tapioca flour

Directions

Mix all the flours in a big jar or bag.

Pizza Pizza…Take One

So, I have been craving pizza for almost two months. Just didn’t fit into my meal schedule. But I had to chow down on a slice or two and soon. This past Saturday we went for a walk on the rail train and then ordered some take out GF pizza. It was from a pizza parlor here in Hellertown that has a sign in their window. That would be how I knew GF pizza was available there. I had called earlier to see how long it would take; they told me 15 to 20 minutes which seemed short to me for a fresh GF crust… So I was a tad skeptical…still we ordered – just one size; half plain and half with mushrooms. We both love shrooms but a plain pizza is the acid test, as it were.

I need to digress and say that I am very particular about my pizza. I have found one place in the Lehigh Valley that makes exceptional pizza; Martellucci’s in Bethlehem on Easton Avenue. My mouth waters when I think of their pizza!! Yet, up in the Poconos; in East Stroudsburg on Crystal Avenue is Tony’s Pizza, the best thin crust pizza outside of NYC to my mind… Pizza crust so good I never save any for the dog. He is kinda ticked about that as he loves pizza crust. So that was what I was hoping for but I think I knew there was no way this GF pizza could measure up to either of those stellar pizzas…..

So anyhew, I went in to pick it up and happened to speak briefly with the owner. He told me he had tried to make his own GF pizza dough; made many failed efforts and finally gave up. The solution is that he buys the shells frozen and ready to top and bake. He gives you a free plastic pizza cutter to keep from contaminating the pizza with his cutters for which I was very thankful and impressed by.

Not so impressed with the pie we got. First of all it was quite underdone. The cheese was barely melted, pale white and flaccid. The sauce underneath was thick and unflavored with basil or oregano much less any garlic or the like. The mushrooms were fine if undistinguished. And the crust seemed to have a middle layor of somewhat raw dough, ick!

It came on its own heavy duty aluminum foil baking pan which reassured me that it was not coated with wheat flour on the bottom. We ate a slice, made disappointed faces, and then I had the brilliant idea to fix it up and bake it a bit more. So I sprinkled it with basil and oregano, and some red pepper flakes. I put on a few pepperoni slices to punch it up and put the plate and pie in the oven for a few minutes. The resulting pie was much improved. I should note that the crust is a bit like a bar pizza; thin and cracker-like.

So, Mr. Pizza shop owner; punch up that sauce with herbs and some good olive oil, spread it thin and bake the pie until the cheese starts to brown a tad; golden at least. If those minor changes can be made it isn’t half bad – I would get it again for sure!

Now, to learn how to make my own GF crust and top with cheese and shrooms. It would not be made like I used to make my crust; no stretching and rolling…but, still… a fresh crust pizza that I can safely enjoy! A lovely dream to bring to life in my GF lifestyle.

Originally posted April 8, 2013.

Stay tuned for part two which is my update on ImageGF pizza for me…….