celiac disease

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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

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…….

Chocolate Almond Cloud Pie…Oh My!

chocolate puddingSo I had this chocolate cookie crumb pie crust I bought a couple of months ago. I wanted to use it before it got stale. What to make…. Well, I have a fantastic cookbook, all pies, nothing else. By Farm Journal, published in 1981 but it has the vibe of the 1950’s. Lots of interesting combo fruit pies and chiffon pies like you never heard of. I found this recipe for a chocolate rum pie. The premade cookie crust could sub in for a traditional pie crust which the recipe called for. I had all the ingredients except the cream. And the rum flavoring…and the pudding mix and some whole milk….but I thought it sounded tasty and worth a trip to the grocery store for all the other items.

It was! Not hard to make either. I threw it together in three easy steps. It was one of those recipes where the sum of the ingredients is far tastier than the components would lead one to believe. Everyone devoured their slice. People took slices home. My mom was eager to keep a second slice….for tomorrow. This enthusiastic audience caused me to mention it on facebook. I got all these likes and a few hungry comments. The buzz of happy responses led me to decide to share my version of chocolate rum pie. I have renamed it Chocolate Almond Cloud Pie.

The name comes from the fact that it is as light as a fluffy cloud and from my love for my older sister who died nearly a year ago. Margie’s love of pie was renown in our family and I am absolutely sure she would have adored this pie. Whip some up this weekend and woo your family with chocolaty goodness that should please everyone.

Chocolate Almond Cloud Pie

Ingredients
1 pre-made chocolate cookie crumb crust, GF
1 pkg chocolate pudding, the kind you have to cook
2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cocoa
1 cup slivered almonds, divided
1 1/3 cup heavy cream, divided
1 tbsp dark rum
4 tsp. sugar

Pour the almonds into a frying pan, no oil and toast them, stirring constantly. Alternately you could do this in the oven at a low temperature but I prefer the frying pan. Stop when they are medium brown, try not to let too many get black on the sides.

Cook the filling; put 2 cups whole milk into a medium sized and heavy sauce pan, Then add the dry pudding mix, the corn starch and the cocoa. Stir with a whisk as it heats. Once the mixture is bubbling all over the surface turn off the heat and add the rum. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until cooled. Take ½ cup heavy cream and whip. Add this to the pudding and whisk until blended. Take 3 tbsp of almonds and set aside for garnishing the pie later. Sprinkle the rest of the toasted almonds over the chocolate pie crust Gently spoon it into the pie shell on top of the toasted almonds. Chill at least 2 hours until set and cold. Whip the rest of the heavy cream in a chilled bowl, adding the sugar near the end of the whipping. Gently put dollops of it all over the pudding top. Sprinkle the reserved almonds on top. Enjoy!

Cooking for Easter, GF of course….

eggsEaster: holidays will be a major test of eating GF in and out of the house.

First off, this Easter I had company, my two sisters came to visit. A major test as they have never eaten GF and they can be a tough sell at meals sometimes. On Friday I made GF pasta for shrimp cannelloni with a saffron cream sauce which is a favorite recipe of mine, a good test choice…. I made the pasta sheets too thick to easily roll up with filling inside. It was pretty tricky to roll out in my Atlas pasta machine because of it’s sticky texture and I quit the rolling thinner process too soon. I think I will flour the dough a bit more as I run it through the tighter settings on the machine. It was pretty close in taste to wheat homemade pasta. Check off the pasta on my bucket list of things to try making GF!

I made a GF French bread Friday that was almost as good as any you could buy. You just glop the messy bowl of dough onto a French bread curved sheet and it rises and bakes to look pretty darn good! Check. One of my sisters asked for the recipe as she wants to eat less wheat. That is a major recommendation when Elaine asks for a GF recipe as she is pretty picky about her French bread! I made a meatloaf on Saturday night with GF bread crumbs inside it which were created in my blender from dried up GF bread slices. As good as ever…and not even a slice left for a sandwich today….check! We had a pear clafouti Saturday night – a sort of pear custard in a big tart pan, tasty and GF! Every scrap of it was eaten, Check! I made gravy Sunday to go with the pork tenderloin. Check. And for Sunday dessert I made a yogurt tart covered with fresh slices of orange. My crust was lauded by my mom; had ground almonds in it and almost like a shortbread cookie. I promised to make it again in May with local strawberries sliced on top….check, Check!

So I successfully fed my family three GF meals this holiday weekend and I was no more stressed out than normal visits in the past. The GF thing is getting easier. I find that if a recipe has flour in it I just use white rice flour and that is a really good substitution – gravies, white sauces, thickeners. And my go-to cook book is Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts. It has not failed me yet! What I love about the recipes is that they are the foods I grew up eating and like to make for company but now GF. If you are trying to go wheat free it is an absolute must buy. I have read that if you want to be GF as a permanent change you can’t give up bread and pasta, you just need to eat the same foods but with no wheat. This cookbook makes that eminently doable! Have a great week and try something GF if it is offered to you. You might be surprised at how good it is.

So…eating out…I happened to go to two different Panara Breads this past week. At the counter of the first one we happened to be waited on by the manager. I asked her for the GF menu. She said they had none. She said “What do you want to have?” This was a bit hard to respond to when she just told me she couldn’t give me even a paper with GF menu items on it. I said how about the Mediterranean Salmon Salad thinking this would be GF. She went and got a big ring binder. She paged through it and read off the long list of ingredients in the salad. She would not let me read it for myself! So… as I thought, it was GF, and therefore I enjoyed the salad down to the last sliver of almond! I averted my eyes as my man ate his baguette along with his boring chicken Caesar. He was openly envious of my lush salad full of a variety of tasty ingredients, all GF.

A few days later my family went to a different Panara for lunch on Easter Saturday. I asked again for the GF menu. I was told there was none. This server did not offer any suggestions or get out the big binder! I went for my fall back position and got another Mediterranean Salmon Salad. I found they had used the romaine they use in the regular Caesar so it wasn’t nearly as tasty as the one I had earlier the same week.

The thing that gets me is I could swear I read on line that Panara has a “secret GF menu” that you can ask for! It is so secret even the managers don’t know about it! How tough would it be to type up a two page menu showing how certain things could be GF; leave off the croutons, baguette gone, etc. And really, I have a few excellent GF bread recipes I could share with their research chefs. Panara could lead the industry by putting GF on their main menu; just set aside a couple of pans for GF and make a few loaves a day! Easy peasy. Would be a winner for Panara and their customers who surely have family members trying to eat less wheat. Listening Panara??
Have a great healthy eating week!! I know I will….

Originally published in early April 2013.

Wheat, Wheat, Where Aren’t Thou?

ImageWheat, wheat everywhere I look, I find wheat in my food shopping expeditions. It is not that much fun to keep on ranting but I can’t seem to escape this one ingredient! Wheat was in my Heinz 57 sauce, now given away. And worse yet, it is in my Turkey Hill, light recipe, Skinny Minty ice cream. It is in all cookie dough ice creams. As I said before, wheat is in Campbell’s tomato soup, and pretty much all their soups as well as many Progresso soups! I did find a Progresso cream of mushroom soup that is GF which is such a great find for cooking and just eating as soup. I wonder why Campbell’s can’t thicken soups with corn starch or rice flour?

It was in my bottle of soy sauce, so I had to throw it outand get some new GF soy sauce by San-J. And yes, it is in my white vinegar. Upon some research the celiac.com site says distilled vinegar is safe for those who want to be GF. Still…in the comments underneath I found a number of people who have celiac who say distilled or white vinegar makes them ill. So I think I will keep my white vinegar for cleaning only purposes. Other vinegars are all safe except one; malt vinegar which I already gave away. I am hoping to still eat most pickles. Of course, they have some sort of vinegar in all of them so I will see what eating dill spears does for my tummy.

Wheat is ubiquitous. Meaning it seems to creep into most processed foods. As I walk through the grocery store whole aisles seem off limits. I have to look very hard for cold or hot cereals that I can eat. Chex cereal brand come to mind as a great choice, just stay away from the bran or whole grain versions. Corn flakes has wheat in it unless you get an organic brand; just a tad pricy and rather hard to crunch on. Still it made a dandy fried chicken coating. Oatmeal should be safe but unfortunately so many mills that process oats also process wheat which can contaminate it…. Breaded foods in the freezer aisle must be passed up too!

I can’t much go down the snack/pretzel aisle nor the cracker and cookie aisle. They are all too, too depressing. No more fig newtons, pretzels or a host of snack bars. The list goes on and on. Premade frozen foods are all off limits as are canned premade stuff or mixes. All seem to have forms of wheat in them which rule them out for me. Of course, the bread and bakery areas are a total loss as are bread crumbs, hot dogs and all pastas. Rice mixed with pasta in the little box is a no no and I can’t even make matzo ball soup. You don’t have to be Jewish to love that and I am sad over the loss of something so comforting.

No more couscous or any of my favorite pasta shapes and no more homemade pastas when I eat out. Worse yet, no ravioli, pot stickers or perogies. Disaster!Still, people tell me there are far more GF pasta choices than there were ten years ago. So far I like brown rice pastas far more than white rice pasta. I want to try the corn blend spaghetti next.

Wheat is in my vodka. Time to give it away. And in some liquors – there is a yummy Irish cream one that I tried last weekend and then found out I can’t enjoy ever again…. It was in my Josh Early chocolates and in the Victoria’s chocolates I got this Saturday as an early Easter gift! Both of which I deem major bummers.

I have to think about what I eat so much more these days. I can’t just grab a frozen meal for lunch and head off to work. I have to plan ahead for what I have in terms of meals particularly breads. I have found myself baking GF bread at ten pm as there was nothing in my house for lunch the next day. I now love that I can keep a few slices of GF bread in my freezer so I am always prepared for a quick meal. Can’t buy Hot Pockets, not until they make a GF version! All my favorite frozen meals are all off limits too for now. I am hoping more big companies jump on the gluten free bandwagon and make versions I can eat. One can hope anyway….

Peace and think of me when you are chowing down on some cheese and potato perogies…..boo hoo hoo!

Originally published March 25, 2013.