Blog-inspiration

The thing I love about blogs is that you get inspiration for something new every time you click into a new page. I love it!

I have found so many wonderful recipes/ideas/snacks/hints, etc about gluten free eating in the past few months -- what did people do before the internet? I feel lucky that we're gluten free at this time, and have each other & the internet to help us through the process -- it's less lonely, and you always know there are people here that just get it.

Recently I had a comment from Hannah at Gluten Free Garden, and while browing through her site (and gorgeous photos!) she had a simple recipe for Avocado Toast (see it here Gluten Free Garden)... I had a bag of avocados at home, and thought of it this morning - and made my own version. I had just used up all the goat cheese I had in the house for the lasagna I made, so I went with cream cheese. I normally love capers, but this morning it was too much - so it's just toasted pieces of multigrain Schar gluten free bread with cream cheese, sliced avocado, salt & pepper, and some fresh squeezed lemon.

YUM - delicious combo! I even made some for matt on whole wheat toast - and he LOVED it... So thanks for the idea Hannah!!

I also made Liz's stuffed cabbage last week & haven't posted yet... that one is coming - thanks Liz!

Gluten Free Apple Pie

It's my favorite time of year for food! I especially have been loving all things APPLES. We've gone through about 5 gallons of apple cider - I love it hot or cold. We have eaten 4 bags of freshly picked apples from New England, and somehow I only made one pie.

One reason for that - the crust. It intimidates me. Especially now that I'm gluten free. Before, I usually 'cheated' and got the pre-made crust. It was just so much easier - and I never had the time to wait for the dough in the fridge, you know?

Anyway - this time, I was going to try to make a crust from a mix I bought, I believe it was Gluten Free Pantry, but the amount of butter that was too be added scared me, and again, I had to wait for it, and then roll it out. Perhaps when I have a kitchen that has counter space, this will be more fun. Now, I have to re-arrange everything to have space to do that.

So I decided to run out to my local Whole Foods and see if they had any Gluten Free Bakehouse pre-made GF Pie Crusts. Luckily, they did! In my past experience with these, I found that the bottom of the pie crust always stuck to the foil pan and ripped a big hole in what was to be the top crust.  So this time I was very careful to make sure I didn't ruin it - there was no easy way around that, I just used a spatula to get the top crust on... The edges were weird, so I had to do a little bit of arranging - but it came out great!

This pie crust is GREAT. I realize that pie crust is almost entirely butter, but YUM. I do a very simple apple pie - I used Macoun  and Cortland apples for this, sliced very thinly, and I usually add one or two more apples than recipes call for. I don't really follow a recipe, but I always check out my copy of "How to Cook Everything" before I make something... but here's what I used:

Granulated sugar

Brown sugar

Cornstarch

dash of salt

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Allspice

Let me know if you want more specifics & I'll let you know. My only problem, I always wing recipes, and sometimes they don't always work out. In this case - I don't think I added enough cornstarch, and I think I could've used more sugar. Maybe next time I'll use a little all purpose flour mix or some rice flour because it was a tad runny. But who cares really? It was delicious!

I think I'll make an apple crisp next!

PS - I LOVE COOL WHIP - that's what you see added on top!

Quick, Easy, Cheap, Tasty...

Home-made chicken & vegetable fried rice.

I've been making this dish quite a bit recently. It's been getting cold, and I've been wanting warm comfort food, and I always have ingredients in the house to make this. This last time I used brown rice, but I've gotta say - it's better with white rice. Maybe I just didn't add enough soy sauce.

Anyway, here's how I make it, but I change it up every time, and I think you could add anything to this that you like....

Cooked Rice

Chicken, Beef or Shrimp

Veggies - frozen usually, or fresh - I don't like canned veggies in this, because the flavor is too overwhelming

Canned mushrooms (in unsalted water) or fresh sauteed mushrooms

Soy Sauce

1 egg

I usually cook the rice with a bit of bouillon, in a separate pan I add a bit of canola oil, and add the chicken (or whatever you add), cook that through, then add some veggies & some soy sauce to taste (I vary it each time), then add the cooked rice & a bit more soy sauce. Once that is all mixed together, make a little well in the center & add the egg, incorporate it into the rice mixture. 

That's pretty much it! It's very good - and very easy. I usually have all the ingredients in the house, so it's a good last minute option.

ps - sorry for the terrible pic!

Schar Brand

Thanks for all the well-wishes everyone! I'm already in the thick of wedding planning!

Anyway.... When I was at "A New Leaf" in Needham, I found a brand I had heard about but never tried - Schar. I decided to get their "Classic White Bread" first, see if I like it, then try some of their other products.  Overall - I really like it!

The pieces are very small (typical) but the taste is great - there is no strange gluten free taste - it's just good & doesn't take away from whatever you're eating with it. I can't remember how much this bread cost, but I know it wasn't cheap. So I'm torn, because I like the product, but don't think I can afford to keep it stocked in my pantry.

Anyway - have you tried this or any of their products? I may go back & get the pizza crust!

Why I haven't been around.....

I got engaged last weekend!!!!!!! :) :)

It was the perfect long weekend, and we were in the perfect place... it couldn't have been better, and I was SO SURPRISED!!! I'm still in shock a bit, but am so happy! 

We are so excited to start planning our wedding and want to get married somewhere in August - October 2009 - just under a year from now! I'm sure there will be a few related blog posts moving forward.

I'll get back to business next week, but for now I've just been so busy making calls, visiting, and telling "the story" over & over again... not to mention that work is incredibly busy right now! Grr -- all I want to do is stay on cloud 9 and dream about the big day!

A New Leaf - Needham, MA

I finally made it to "A New Leaf" in Needham, MA! (thanks to rochelle for reminding me it was there) - WOW, this place was STOCKED with the most gluten free food I've ever seen!

Check it out! This place is TINY and totally stocked from floor to ceiling. It was like a gluten-free dream. They had all the brands I've seen before, and lots that I had never heard of, or had only read about online. I grabbed a basket and it was overflowing within minutes. I decided to get mostly new things that I had never tried before, and got a couple things that were screaming my name (Joan's English Muffins, for example).

One of the most exciting new things I found was Conte's Gluten Free Pasta... Ever tried this before? I bought their frozen pierogies, ravioli and gnocchi.... SO EXCITING. I will warn you though, this stuff is not cheap. The 3 packages I purchased ranged in price from $7.99 - $11.99. Yowzah! 

I decided to go for the Pierogies first -- these used to be a favorite meal in college for some reason. I think they must have sold them at the shop around the corner, so I was really excited to see these -- and they tasted just like I remembered! I just added a bit of butter on top and ate up the entire bowl in about 2 seconds.

So I had actually gone to this store to find pre-made apple pie crusts, which they were sold out of - but that was OK, I bought some mixes to try... Perhaps you will see that in an upcoming post.

Finally -- the woman working at the store said that the owner wanted to help out those eating gluten free so he is offering 10% off all gluten free items in the store -- which is awesome. 

Bob's Red Mill GF Oats

Marlow was right!

I had a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats in my pantry that I opened this morning and the Oats tasted like peanuts! Actually when I was cooking them I could smell the peanut aroma. 

So, in case any of you have the same problem, it looks like Bob's Red Mill had some quality issues with their oats (a representative commented on Marlow's page).

I wonder how we can tell which bags are OK??