Celiac Disease Diet - Gluten Free

Favorite Fruit Smoothie Recipes?

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Sat, 19 May 2012 19:44:31 +0000

Would any of you be willing to share some of your favorite fruit smoothie recipes? I need to get away from the processed gluten-free cereals I’ve been having for breakfast every morning! I’m a newbie at smoothie making though.

Thanks!

Edit: Sorry if this is in the wrong spot!

Friday’s Finds ~ Second-hand Scores

Jeanine — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:30 +0000

This past week there were not nearly as many garage sales as last week, but still a decent number. I’m sad to say that after spending a few hours going around, stopping at nearly all of them, I didn’t find anything that REALLY called my name. There was one antique plate for $3 that I really liked, or the old Coco-Cola crate for $10, but they just didn’t feel ‘right’. So, I came home empty handed. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to share with you guys today. Here are a few more of my second-hand finds … Continue reading →

I Used gluten-free Flour, Why Am I Still Feeling Icky?

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:13:36 +0000

Before going gluten-free, I was big into home cooking and baking. So when I decided to get the gluten out, I found Bob’s gluten-free all purpose flour to use in my recipes. I bought some xanthan gum to add in and starting making my muffins, cookies, and all that other stuff.
I felt pretty good about my new found baking skills, things were coming out very nicely, but I found that right after I ate a muffin or cookie, I was getting some gastro distress right away! Burping/slight heartburn, bloated feeling, that slightly flushed and puffy feeling you get from food problems. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but it seems to be true in several of the recipes I’ve made. What else could be causing these reactions now that the gluten is gone?

The latest one was a blueberry muffin. It included egg, xanthan, baking powder, sugar, all the usual suspects. I have never had problems with any other food besides wheat, so this reaction has really surprised me!

I’ve often wondered if I have a problem with refined sugar, and I’ve heard that some people have problems with xanthan.

Anyone have any ideas?

I Used gluten-free Flour, Why Am I Still Feeling Icky?

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:13:36 +0000

I’ve often wondered if I have a problem with refined sugar, and I’ve heard that some people have problems with xanthan.

Anyone have any ideas?

I Used To Make Cakes…now What?

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:36:48 +0000

I started making cakes last year. I found I really enjoyed the decorating aspect, especially modeling chocolate. I found I might have a real talent for it (lots to learn and practice though) but I am not an enthusiastic or patient baker. In fact, discovering I have celiac a few months ago has been freeing because I no longer have the pressure to make cakes for people who were asking. For my sister’s graduation I bought a costco cake(for the BBQ guests) and some gluten free cupcakes (she is also celiac) and used gluten free fondant decorations to personalize them. It was very enjoyable so I think I may skip the baking aspect altogether and not miss it but I want to keep decorating.

My question is, I have frosting tips, modeling tools, cutters, cutting boards and candy molds. I tossed the modeling sponges already and gave away my baking pans because they had a rolled edge I didn’t trust. Can I wash these other things well enough to be gluten safe? Or do I need to start over with my collection? I wouldn’t be entirely unhappy with doing that but my husband might… I am moving so it will all be packed at least 3 months until we find a new house, does that help?

Thank you

I Used To Make Cakes…now What?

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:36:48 +0000

Thank you

Baked Goods Fall After Baking

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:56:45 +0000

I got some fabulous looking gluten-free, whole-food, vegan baked good recipes from a friend of a friend. The few I have tried rise so nicely in the oven, yet fall when removed to cool, leaving tasty, but small and dense cakes and cupcakes. Any suggestions? Most are made with oat (gluten-free), garbanzo bean, and coconut flours. They have baking powder and an acid (mostly apple puree).

Any thoughts?

I was never a baker before, so have little experience on the non-gluten-free side.

Baked Goods Fall After Baking

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:56:45 +0000

Any thoughts?

I was never a baker before, so have little experience on the non-gluten-free side.

“Why Didn’t I Think of That?” Wednesday

Jeanine — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:51 +0000

There have been many great finds over on Pinterest this week. And some of them make you just stop and think “why didn’t I think of that”? I will feature some of those pins here, linking to the Pinterest pin. I keep playing around with the format here a bit. I’m not wanting to step on any toes by including the pics here, and I want you to be able to pin the original pins, so I will be linking directly to the pins that I have on my “Why Didn’t I Think of That?” board. Feel free to head … Continue reading →

My Mango Dilemma

Gluten-Free Recipes - Baking & Cooking Tips — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:53:29 +0000

As of this morning, I still had three qt. sized bags of sliced mangos from last season in the freezer. I have three mangos on the kitchen counter in a paper bag with an apple in there because my sister showed up with them this weekend. I have a neighbor who has promised me more mangos than I can possibly use, it’s a bumper crop this year and she has two mature trees. There’s another neighbor who has a tree and is always happy to share because she’s allergic to the sap.

I decided to try making a mango cream pie with a meringue crust, thinking it was about time I fired that KitchenAide up!

After perusing several recipes, I found the one! It called for unflavored gelatin. I know I used to have that but after a search of the kitchen cupboards, had none. I probably gave it away when I went gluten-free, so figured maybe that was all good. How long can gelatin be good for? DP said he was pretty sure it doesn’t go bad, and did a double search.

We walked to our nearby grocery store and they don’t carry gelatin at all!! Fresh Market. (I wish it was still an IGA store.) So I walked another block to a Walgreens. They had flavored Jello, in both the traditional brand, their brand, diet, but no unflavored gelatin. No Knox for me!

I walked home, pulled out an old BH&G cookbook and found a recipe for banana cream pie. It said to microwave a mixture of 2 cups milk and 1/2 a cup of cornstarch for 5 minutes, then add part of the three egg yolks which you previously beat, then mix it altogether (sugar, salt, vanilla, all the usual stuff found in custard.) I thought that recipe was a gift for all the crap I’d been through. (I hate shopping, and we have this horrid little dog that went with us, I love her but she’s truly a horrid wench. (Almost as bad as me, ya’ll should be sending my dp sympathy cardds for having to live with her and me.)

Two hours after cooking and refrigerating the custard, I checked on it. It was the consistency of a light custard sauce. I noticed navy bean sized white lumps in it and decided I’d nuked corn balls in my lovely mango (finely chopped and drained through a sieve) pie filling.

I threw the whole mess in the blender, whirled away, and reheated all of it on a low heat, but let it come to a boil, stirring almost constantly. (I was washing all those dirty dishes in interum.) I just checked the mango custard. It’s solid.

My dillema is that if I try to fill the pie with it tomorrow, it won’t fit the shell. (Custard is in a 2 qt. bowl, pie shell is in a 9″ pie crust. I guess I’ll make the traditional chocolate pie tomorrow and share mango custard and chocolate meringue pie with the neighbors? (Pay it forward, right?)

Oh, I substituted orange liquour for the vanilla in both the meringue and custard recipes, just seemed like the right thing to do. I did go on a bit, sorry alot.

The other dilemma is…what the heck am I going to do with all those mangos?