Quick: you can eat only one gluten meal-what would it be? My husband likes to play this game with me. Sometimes he'll ask what single gluten-licious food do I miss the most, or restaurant, pastry, fast food, etc etc etc. And I game-fully play, never tiring of listing off the food I miss. I think what I really miss the most is not having the freedom to eat whatever I want wherever I am. For example, eating at a mall food court can be a bit like Russian roulette. Its the inconvenience.
So, here would be my glorious gluten-filled meal:
Appetizer: Calamari or Zucchini sticks-really, anything breaded and deep fried
Entree: Cheese-filled pasta (tortellini or ravioli) smothered in a meat sauce and baked with cheese, side
of garlic bread
Dessert: Huge hunk of Carrot Cake (raisins, walnuts, pineapple) with thick smear of cream cheese icing
If I ever commit a heinous crime and am put on death row.....I think this would be my last meal request-that or Kentucky Fried Chicken
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Raspberry Coconut Bars
Ingrediants
Crust 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large egg, lightly beatened
1 1/2 cup quinoa flour
Filling 1 cup raspberry jam
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups flaked unsweetened coconut
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, butter and almond extract in bowl and blend well.. Add egg and mix thoroughly.
Add quinoa flour and work into a soft dough. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the baking dish.
Spread the raspberry jam over the dough.
3. In a bowl, mix eggs and coconut together and drop the mixture evenly over the jam. Place on the center
rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the coconut is lightly toasted (golden brown tinge).
4. Remove from the oven and let cool. I recommend making the day before and refrigerating as it will firm
up the bar, making it less crumbly -unless you like a crumbly bar.
Crust 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large egg, lightly beatened
1 1/2 cup quinoa flour
Filling 1 cup raspberry jam
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups flaked unsweetened coconut
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, butter and almond extract in bowl and blend well.. Add egg and mix thoroughly.
Add quinoa flour and work into a soft dough. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the baking dish.
Spread the raspberry jam over the dough.
3. In a bowl, mix eggs and coconut together and drop the mixture evenly over the jam. Place on the center
rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the coconut is lightly toasted (golden brown tinge).
4. Remove from the oven and let cool. I recommend making the day before and refrigerating as it will firm
up the bar, making it less crumbly -unless you like a crumbly bar.
Cooking/baking with quinoa flour
I recently tried baking with quinoa flour- and it was .....interesting. Quinoa flour has quite a pungent odor-very earthy; and it looks like a taupe powder-not completely appetizing. I first used the flour to thicken a chicken stew-brilliant; however, I was curious-how would it bake in a sweet treat? I decided to try and make Raspberry Coconut Bars as I am a sucker for anything with raspberry jams (hmmmmmmmmm, think shortbread cookies with raspberry jam centers).
The recipe (which I will post separately below) was quite easy to make, and took only 20 minutes to prepare. The only change I made to the recipe was to cut the recipe in half as a 9x13 pan of treats is a little too much for my husband and I to eat (or we could stuff ourselves stupid and gain 5 pounds). The quinoa flour defiantly has a presence taste-wise, which is why the recipe calls for almond extract, to mask the taste a bit. The center is gooey -to the point where the bar fell apart a bit too much. I recommend making the bar the day before and storing it in the fridge, as it will firm the bar up a bit.
My gluten friends thought the bar was okay, and commented that you could defiantly taste the quinoa flour as it had "an earthy taste" but was overall enjoyable. The only problem with asking your friends their opinions of your cooking/baking-are they being honest or trying to be kinds???
Would I make this again? I think so but with one change-I would cook the base on its own for 10 minutes (similar to a lemon bar) before adding the raspberry filling, as I think this would help firm up the bar overall. Not bad for my first attempt.....
The recipe (which I will post separately below) was quite easy to make, and took only 20 minutes to prepare. The only change I made to the recipe was to cut the recipe in half as a 9x13 pan of treats is a little too much for my husband and I to eat (or we could stuff ourselves stupid and gain 5 pounds). The quinoa flour defiantly has a presence taste-wise, which is why the recipe calls for almond extract, to mask the taste a bit. The center is gooey -to the point where the bar fell apart a bit too much. I recommend making the bar the day before and storing it in the fridge, as it will firm the bar up a bit.
My gluten friends thought the bar was okay, and commented that you could defiantly taste the quinoa flour as it had "an earthy taste" but was overall enjoyable. The only problem with asking your friends their opinions of your cooking/baking-are they being honest or trying to be kinds???
Would I make this again? I think so but with one change-I would cook the base on its own for 10 minutes (similar to a lemon bar) before adding the raspberry filling, as I think this would help firm up the bar overall. Not bad for my first attempt.....
Sunday, April 17, 2011
My Moby Dick
Like a dog with a bone, I have become fixated on finding 100% gluten-free buckwheat noodles. Literally out of no where, I have decided that I want to eat them, either in a piping hot spicy soup or a cool sweet salad (talk about going with polar opposites). Problem? So far, every package I have managed to find, in 4 stores and counting, all list wheat flour as the first ingredient.
I know the illusive gf buckwheat noodle exists; and it was my hope to venture down to Chinatown with my 9 mth old daughter strapped to my chest as we braved the crowded sidewalks full of spilling produce and shoppers not paying attention. Now the gods have conspired against me as rain and hail falls, creating a hostile environment that goes beyond "April showers bring...". And so, like Ahab, I am left with my single-minded pursuit to find my Moby Dick.....funny the things we get caught up on.
I know the illusive gf buckwheat noodle exists; and it was my hope to venture down to Chinatown with my 9 mth old daughter strapped to my chest as we braved the crowded sidewalks full of spilling produce and shoppers not paying attention. Now the gods have conspired against me as rain and hail falls, creating a hostile environment that goes beyond "April showers bring...". And so, like Ahab, I am left with my single-minded pursuit to find my Moby Dick.....funny the things we get caught up on.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What do you mean I can't eat gluten?
What the hell? That was my "PG" response when I was told, at the age of 37, that I had Celiac disease and could not eat gluten. I was overwhelmed and very ignorant on what it all meant. I thought that Celiac disease was a very obvious condition that focused primarily on the digestive system....um, nope! And I thought gluten was primarily wheat flour....bread, muffins, cakes, oh my! Wrong!
And so I began my journey to not only educate myself about being a Celiac, but also to learn a new way of eating-really, a new way of living. I could no longer wander into Starbucks and grab an apple fritter to go with my latte. Or get Chinese take-out as a treat. Or grab a whopper with fries. Or enjoy a bowl of my husband's yummy spaghetti sauce on a bed of tortellini noodles, completed by a side of garlic bread. Or a huge chunk of moist carrot cake, three layers deep with raisins, pineapple, and walnuts, crowned by a thick slather of cream cheese icing. Simple delicious things I had enjoyed all my life until I was diagnosed - and then poof! Gone. No more. Now everything had to be questioned, examined, scrutinized-how was I going to change habits I had had my entire life and be gluten-free in a gluten world?
My blog is about my new life as a Celiac as I embrace a new way of eating-both at home and eating out. It is about the rants and rave for products, companies, restaurants, and recipes as I share my gluten-free experience; however, I will also share opinions and reviews from my gluten-eating family (husband, picky 6 year old son, and infant daughter) and friends to see if the food is really as tasty as I think....or not. My experiences will run the gamut of the good, the bad, and the disgusting....but it will all be gluten-free.
And so I began my journey to not only educate myself about being a Celiac, but also to learn a new way of eating-really, a new way of living. I could no longer wander into Starbucks and grab an apple fritter to go with my latte. Or get Chinese take-out as a treat. Or grab a whopper with fries. Or enjoy a bowl of my husband's yummy spaghetti sauce on a bed of tortellini noodles, completed by a side of garlic bread. Or a huge chunk of moist carrot cake, three layers deep with raisins, pineapple, and walnuts, crowned by a thick slather of cream cheese icing. Simple delicious things I had enjoyed all my life until I was diagnosed - and then poof! Gone. No more. Now everything had to be questioned, examined, scrutinized-how was I going to change habits I had had my entire life and be gluten-free in a gluten world?
My blog is about my new life as a Celiac as I embrace a new way of eating-both at home and eating out. It is about the rants and rave for products, companies, restaurants, and recipes as I share my gluten-free experience; however, I will also share opinions and reviews from my gluten-eating family (husband, picky 6 year old son, and infant daughter) and friends to see if the food is really as tasty as I think....or not. My experiences will run the gamut of the good, the bad, and the disgusting....but it will all be gluten-free.
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