Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

Here is the family Thanksgiving. We traveled to my parents home in Northfield. It was small group of very funny people, my parents, my brothers, my dad's parents, my mother-in-law, and my brother's roommate who happens to have the same name as my husband, it got to be confusing. My grandfather decided to call them Brendan 1 and Brendan 2, which obviously cleared up all confusion.  

In the intrest of full disclosure I don't really care for the Thanksgiving meal. Mostly because I don't like turkey straight and the texture of food is really important to me. So, I don't like bananas and mashed potatoes. As you can see my plate is fairly bare but at the end of the meal I didn't need to unbutton my pants unlike others. I have a salad with cranberries, walnuts and vinaigrette. A rice dish with celery. Turkey. My mom makes this dish with Knox gelatin, apples and celery - it's kind of strange but a big hit with the family. Of course of my gluten-free dinner rolls!

I was really nervous this year because it was my first gluten-free Thanksgiving and there isn't much gluten-free food for this meal. Let's see, the bread, the gravy, the stuffing, those are the big ones that come to mind. Since I don't like a lot of Thanksgiving foods I relied heavily on filling up on bread. That was not looking like it was going to be an option. Luckily, I found a gluten-free roll recipe from The Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef. I made them on Thursday morning - it was a little stressful. I really liked them and so did everyone else. The secret is all the butter. They reminded me of biscuits. It has the crumbly texture to them and the same density as biscuits. They were easy to make. I had never made rolls or bread of any kind and I thought this was a piece of cake. I modified the recipe a little bit because I didn't have all the flour that was listed. However if you can convert a recipe from volume to weight such as grams or ounces you can easily mix and match the flours that you use. Below is a picture of the rolls I made. 

 

Has anyone else noticed that gluten-free breads don't seem to have a dramatic rise to them? I kept waiting for dough to look twice the size but it never happened. I kept waiting but after 90 minutes I had to give up and put them in the oven because I was going to be late for dinner. 

 

 

Best part of all the dessert! I have to say that my grandma rocks because she made me Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Brownies! Yea! She also made the pies but they weren't gluten-free but I was told they were delicious as usual. I never met another family that has to have banana cream pie for Thanksgiving. 

Even though I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving I had day with my family and the food was good. Now I can start getting worried about Christmas.

Cinnamon and Raisin Gluten Free Bread

How does French Meadow do it? This bread is another find in the bakery section at Lund's. Cinnamon raisin gluten-free bread and it was good. I would buy this again. I really like that it's only half a loaf so it's much easier for me to eat it before it goes bad. You can eat out of the bag or toast it. I think all bread is better toasted and with peanut butter. For my peanut allergy friends, butter or cream cheese would also be good - that doesn't help lactose intolerant friends unless you don't have a peanut allergy. I used to love getting cinnamon raisin bagel with plain cream cheese. Is that weird? If you're looking for a flavored bread, check out French Meadow.
I guess French Meadow used to sell direct from their website but they are working with other retail locations to see their products. They have a store locator on their site and a coupon page.

What's a Ring Ting?

I was at Lund's and they have a small display of gluten-free products in the bakery section that I check out on a regular basis. Their bakery had made Ring Tings. I bought them, they were covered in chocolate I figured they can't be bad.

They weren't that good right away. They grew on me. It comes 6 in a box and I paid almost $10 for them I was not about to throw them away. Major downfall about gluten-free food, you spend a lot of money to try something and half the time it's only okay. I was determined to eat all 6, and not in one sitting. Over the course of the week I ate them all. By the end I decided I would be willing to buy them again.

I really like the chocolate coving that Lund's makes and the creamy filling. I'm a sucker for creamy filling. It was the cake that was getting me down. It was dry and crumbly. If you make sure every bit has the chocolate covering or the filling with the cake than your fine. Plus they're the right size for one person.

Buca di Beppo has a Gluten Free Menu?

You heard me right. Buca's has a gluten free menu. I was shocked. We had never been there before and kind of wanted to check it out but I was hesitant because I thought for sure the only thing I would be able to get was a salad. It's not that I don't like salads, I'm irritated by the fact that salads are my only option going out to eat. I want to choose to eat a salad not be forced to.

Buca's reminds me of a lot of chain restaurants. There wasn't anything amazing about the food. It was fine, I wouldn't be opposed to going again. It appears to be a great place to go with a large family. We were only 3 and had enough food left over for a week. The walls are covered with photos of famous Italians, the only one I remember is Sofia Loren.

We slipt the apple gorgonzola salad. It had romain lettuce, granny smith apples, crasins, walnuts with a hint of cinnamon, gorgonzola cheese, and dressing - not clear on the dressing, it was kind of creamy but gluten free.

I ordered the chicken limon. I was shocked when I got my food because I was told that the gluten free menu items came in small portions. This is what I got - 3 chicken breasts! I thought this place is crazy to think that this is an appropriate size for one person. The server clarified and said that the kitchen messed up and gave me a full serving. This is chicken breast with a lemon sauce and capers. It was good and it was good reheated.

They unfortunately don't have any gluten free desserts listed on the menu but they have vanilla and chocolate gelato. Here's my chocolate gelato with the largest spoon known to man. I could barely fit in my mouth.

They love to celebrate at Buca's so go there when you need to celebrate, you'll get a lot of food for a lot of people. I had a good time. It's worth checking out my gluten-free friends.

Quinoa Noodles to the Rescue

Yea for quinoa noodles! Maybe other people can tell the difference between quinoa and wheat noodles but I can't. Than again it's been a year since I have had wheat noodles.

We had spaghetti night with Ancient Harvest quinoa noodles, marinara sauce and ground turkey. I had to watch the noodles so they don't all stick together. You can't cook them too long or they become one big noodle, similar to rice noodles.

I'm happy knowing that I can make noodle dishes without sacrificing taste.

French Meadow Chocolate Chip Cookies

We tried the French Meadow Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are in the freezer section and you have to bake them. They are super easy to make, you take them out of the package, place them on the cookie sheet, bake and volia instant cookies.

As for the taste - they were okay. For being instant cookies they were good. They were on par with gluten free cookies that I have bought at the grocery store bakery and better than a gas station gluten free cookie. I prefer to eat them with a glass of milk. I love the ease of making them. Usually when I make cookies it takes a lot of my time, mixing the dough and baking the cookies.

The difference between these cookies and homemade gluten free cookies is the same difference between store bought 'normal' cookies and homemade 'normal' cookies.

Is the government trying to force us to eat cheese?

A friend shared this on facebook. This makes me sad and yet I'm not surprised. We're continually slammed with mixed messages about everything. Eat a lot of dairy, wait dairy is filled with saturated fat, but we have to support our dairy farmers but we have an obesity epidemic, but we need more calcium, my head is going to explode.

While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales by Michael Moss at New York Times

My Breakfast Sandwich

Deciding what to make for dinner is one of the hardest decisions to make. Especially since after I make a decision I have to do it again the next day. I wake up wondering what to do about dinner. I have years of having to make dinner decisions. Let's not even talk about the actual numbers. I had thought not having a job would help motivate me to want to make dinner. I have time to actually make good food. I'm not walking in the door at 6pm super hungry. I have time now - and still no desire to make food.

Due to my lack of planning this is the sandwich we made for dinner. Eggs, Bacon, Butter and Bread. Nothing special but delicious. You could easily add some cheese and it could be like your real food version of an Egg McMuffin.

We scrambled the eggs but another version would be my own version of over easy. Crack one egg in a small frying pan. Let it sit for a few minutes until the whites start to look pretty solid. Than I break apart the yoke a bite and let it mix more with the white. I flip and let it cook. I prefer this to traditional eggs over easy because non cooked yokes are gross. I never understood my mom and her sunny side up eggs.

Again the sandwich is pretty easy. 1 egg, 2 strips of bacon, gluten-free toast, and butter. I just drooled a little thinking about this sandwich.

Nature's Hilights Brown Rice Pizza Crust

We tried Nature's Hilights Brown Rice Pizza Crust the other day. Not bad. I prefer this to Udi's frozen crust. It's more crispy which I think helps a crust that's not made out of wheat flour. I did find it odd that it gets sticky in your mouth, I guess it's because of the brown rice. It reminded me of a caramelized candy because it kind of gets stuck in your teeth. If can't make your own pizza crust I highly recommend this one. I've heard that gluten-free pizza should be baked on a pizza stone. I don't have a pizza stone and most of my pizzas turn out okay - but if any one wants to send me one feel free. Sadly I have not found a website for Nature's Hilights to direct you to more information or where it's avaliable. I purchased mine at the Mississippi Market on W 7th St. in St. Paul. I've seen it at Whole Foods as well.

This is the crust before I started. I brushed on some olive oil in hopes of making it even more crispy. I put in in the oven for about 5 minutes at 500 degress. Than I add the toppings. See below. I baked the pizza with the toppings at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes or until I think the crust is brown enough and the cheese is melted.