holidaze

Living in a ski town means that the holiday week is far from a vacation... I am on day 11 straight and am not sure when I can break that streak. And by 11 days I don't mean ski days in a row... that's work days in a row. Thankfully I got ready for the holidays early and began mixing my flour blends before the madness hit.

Good thing too because I'm really messy at flour blending....

Lately I've been keeping Artisanal Flour Blend in addition to the Featherlight. I like both for different things. The artisanal makes a great pizza dough and the featherlight is great for crepes. 

I had picked up Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking and I have to say that I really liked their pizza recipe... ok they have a few but so far I've enjoyed just one.

my gluten free, dairy free, pinapple and peperoni pizza

Did I mention that? I gave up dairy for the holidays and am feeling good. The breakout on my chin as also disappeared. I had some small amounts earlier this week and it is thinking about returning. It was a lot easier to give up gluten then dairy. It once again changed my eating habits. I've been subbing in almond and soy milk. I can't have a lot of soy milk but it's great for baking.

I also tried my hand at a frosting... it was pretty good all things considered! Thanks to Marlow for the idea and to my nautral food store for having "fake people" cream cheese!

Plus here's a few shots of the donuts we made... and need to make again... these were from

The Gluten Free Gourmet as was the frosting.

I think the poor kitchenaid is going to take issue as we got an immersion blender and I'm hoping to use that when I make my next foray into the kitchen again... someday soon when the holidaze are over....

plus I got the 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes and that's a lot to go through....

Happy Gluten Free and Mostly Dairy Free 2010!

Capella

There aren't many places I trust to work with my challenges but the suede bar at capella takes great care to work an ensure my gluten free and dairy free needs! They take all very seriously and work with me to ensure a safe dining experience. Plus they make a good marg!
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Smoothies before skiing.....

Banana, frozen tropical fruit & strawberries, apple juice, orange juice and ice......
Perfect for a quick snack before making some turns!

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Turkey day

I have been a bad blogger.... Between the holiday and my winter program starting I haven't had any non work computer time. Here's a crackberry image of my apple creation ( ok not my creation.... But a great recipe from artisanal gluten- free cooking) I also made a straight up apple pie and a dairy free pumpkin pie. My pies even managed to fool some gluten eaters and scored some compliments. I have lots of photos from our goodies.... I will download soon and even share my gluten free & dairy free homemade donuts! Just as soon as I catch up at work.....
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off season fridays

the thing about living in a town that has an incredible summer festival season and a ski season that averages 300+ inches is that when "off season" hits I am so ready for it. I love the quiet days and Fridays spend at home watching bad tv and occasionally a good video like this:

Yup, it's hard work living in a town like Telluride and it makes me appreciate a good quiet Friday night at home.

Tonight I made a quick version of the puppy chow from chex mix. Tonight I mixed up the puppy chow and used some Rice Chex and some EnviroKidz Leaping Lemurs which are peanut butter and chocolate balls. I did like the cereal but found them a bit hard. Yes, I like kids cereal more then grownup cereal- I've always had a sweet tooth.

This came from the Chex Box... more can be found here
In mirowaveable mixing bowl combine 1 cup chocolate bits or chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup butter and mirowave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 more seconds and add 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir quickly until smooth.

Add in 8 cups of your favorite gluten free cereal and fold into the mix.

In large bowl place a cuo of powdered sugar  then add part of the chocolate covered cereal. Coat well and add more powdered sugar as needed.

Spread onto wax paper to dry. Add in M&M's for some color and added sugar rush. Enjoy along with some cheesy tv on a quiet night at home.

 

whoopie! (pies) and a contest....

I needed a little Maine flavor today and made a small batch of my gluten free whoopie pies. I converted the recipe back in February and have kept it mostly the same but am now going for the dairy free version.

It's also pretty cold and wintery here in Telluride and was a great day for a slow cooker meal from Make It Fast Cook It Slow and we're almost ready to have a late dinner before Dave heads off to make snow tonight.

 

I've always made my whoopie pies with butter and this version came out more dough like and made neat looking patties before the went in the oven.

They baked up well and had good volume.

I'm looking for a good frosting so for now I cheat and use a can.... which is GF but not DF so I can't eat many of these as the dairy tends to bother me.

I'm lucky to have some great baking stones that work well for my whoopie pies... if you're needed some new bakeware then you should pop over to Gluten Hates Me and see the giveaway.  She's partnered up with CSN (who carries everything from this Rachel Ray Bakeware set to this dog bed that Chaos would love and things I heart like this) Just pop over and check out the giveaway. Marlow is another gluten free blogger and has some great recipes posted.

a little protein after ski conditioning

I love pizza. I miss pizza. It's been tough find a good dough. Today I was short on time and did the chebe bag mix. It's yeast free which means that I don't have to contend with that at 9,000 feet above sea level.
I made the dough at lunch and had a quick calzone then rolled the rest and stuck it in the fridge before dinner. I got home late after my ski conditioning class down in town.

Thai chicken pizza has been my go to now since I'm having dairy issues. I'm working on my peanut sauce. Today's version came out well but needed a lot of cornstarch to thicken it.
Peanut Sauce For Thai Chicken Pizza
4 T peanut butter
1/2 cup boiling water
2 T cider vinegar
1/2 T Sugar
1/2 T GF Soy Sauce
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
cayenne to taste
1 T lemon juice
Combine and whisk well.
Add cornstarch 1 T at a time until desired thickness is obtained (I believe I was up to 4)
Spread on crust with cooked spicy chicken, carrots and onion. Fresh cilantro is best added a few minutes before done. (I didn't have fresh so suffered with dried. It's ok... I had a redbridge to help make up for it)  Bake according to crust directions...

I think next time I may modify my peanut sauce to be more like the one in my gabo gato angel hair. I first had this gabo gato when I went backpacking with my rec class 10 years ago in college. I loved it and often come back to this.... now I just use a GF pasta!

Gabo Gato Angel Hair

1/2 lb angel hair

3T Peanut Butter

3T GF Soy Sauce

1/4 Lg Onion chopped to desired size

1 GF chicken broth cube

3T + 1t oil

3T Brown Sugar

3T Vinegar

2T Sunflower seeds (optional)

Cook Pasta. While pasta is cooking mix in everything but the chicken broth cube into large mixing bowl. Mix well  to combine the peanut butter. When pasta is cooked and drained add chicken broth cube. Then add pasta to mix and combine. Sauce will thicken on standing.  Feel free to to add ins... in the photo I had added in spicy buffalo chicken. Veggies would also be good.

Two very similar sauces and I'm eager to try the pizza sauce again to make it more like the gabo gato.

cookbooks and pumpkins

Somehow these last few weeks have been spent browsing new GF cook books. I ordered Make It Fast, Cook It Slow and Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking, Dave went back east for the weekend and brought me home The Gluten Free Gourmet Makes Desert and I checked out 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes from my local library.

I worked 11 days straight and started a ski conditioning class two night a week so didn't find much time to cook. Dave's also been reading the books and we've got some great one's pick out. Today we made Barbeque Pulled Pork in the slow cooker. I have to say that my favorite part about Stephanie's recipes is that we have almost EVERYTHING already on hand. The pork came out perfect and was the hearty meal Dave needed before going out to make snow. (it was so good that we didn't take photos)

Dave has really enjoyed the recipes in Peter and Kelli's Artisanal book and we're looking forward to playing with some of these later in the week. They also have a neat flour blend that I may try since it's almost time to make up a new batch of featherlight. I really have enjoyed reading their blog and was excited to order the book.

We had a friend stay over last night (also named Dave) and I made the Dave's my gluten free crepes this morning while they watched ski movies to celebrate the 4 inches of fresh snow. These crepes are sooo yummy and a great way to eat peanut butter and jelly again. I made a double batch today so that I could have some before work tomorrow. It should help me ease into the work week!

GF Crepes from 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes
2/3 C Featherlight Flour Blend
1 T sugar
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/8 t salt
1 C milk (I used Silk Vanilla Soy)
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
Add all of the above to a blender putting liquids on bottom (this is my blender theory- I think it works better this way) Blend until smooth.
Heat your favorite pan with 1-2 tablespoons oil. I then wipe the pan out and set the paper towel aside.
Pour 1/4 cup into hot pan (water drops should dance) and spread out until thin and even. I just did a pan swirl.
Let cook until bottom is lightly browned. (I live at 9,000 feet and this takes me longer then everyone else!) Flip and cook until other side is lightly browned. Place crepe on wax paper. Add another piece of wax paper between each crepe so they don't stick. The wax paper also works well to reheat with. Take your oily paper towel and swipe in bottom of pan before pouring more batter and repeating cooking process.
I'm also trying to use less dairy (butter) and topped my crepes with a cinnamon & sugar blend or confectioners sugar or my favorite peanut butter and jelly. This last one I would do while it was almost done and still in the pan so the peanut butter melted a bit. Since Dave still eats sandwiches we have a no double dipping policy (with the exception of the crunchy since I don't eat that) to keep all jars safe from crumbs.

We also hit a pumpkin carving party this weekend. I'm very lucky to have friends who ask questions and make things safely. Cheers to Jim for making a separate chili with a Green's Discovery Gluten Free Beer, Elaine for thinking of rice crackers and to Jess and Jared for making these GF cupcakes! I made a GF apple crisp and appletinis and was a very happy camper.

noodles and off season

I've always been the type to find something new and have an instant addiction... my new meal is street noodles. The noodles first made a blog appearance when Dave was out of town and I did a small batch with sauteed spinach.

The latest version has broccoli, carrots, onion and spicy chicken. It's all stir fried with sesame oil, garlic powder and soy sauce. It's not quite PF Chang's but tastes pretty good when it's 7 hours away! It reheats well so I make a large batch to ensure lunches for the next day.

We just entered our off season which means it's the lull of tourists in between summer gondola visitors and skiers that will soon hit town. My thai food place is closing for a month at the end of this week and I'm trying to get my fill before that happens. I actually had to wear my down jacket to walk Chaos this morning and I'm off to my ski conditioning class tonight. The local physical therapy center puts it on which doesn't make a lot of sense to me since this is preventing me from becoming their client later in the season. It's been almost a year since I went wheat free and I'm curious if the class will work better this year since my body isn't fighting gluten anymore. I haven't lost a ton of weight in the last year but easily dropped a pants size when I lost the gluten bloated belly. 

Gluten free crepes

I checked out 1000 Gluten Free Recipes from the library for a while to see if I want to add it to my collection. If these crepes from page 617 taste as good as they look and smell then we have a YES! Seriously the vanilla silk soymilk just smells sooo good in any baked goodies.
I grated dark chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar and they were sweet and delish.
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Homemade carrot squash soup

yums...my soup this evening came out great.

I baked a squash by cutting it in half, placing in a baking dish cut side up, adding .25" of water, covering with tin foil and putting it in a 375 degree oven for about an hour until the knife blade slid in easily.

The rest goes as follows:

Dice a quarter of an onion and saute in bottom of pan with 1 tablespoon of evoo or butter

add 1 cup chicken or veggie stock and 1 cup of water in the same pot with 3 sliced carrots

boil carrots until desired tenderness is reached (I also wanted a thicker and creamier soup and boiled out half the liquid)

scoop out 1/2 the cooked squash and puree in a blender with some of the broth and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, salt & peper to taste then add the cooked carrots with all the remaining liquid and puree.

Add 1 cup Vanilla Silk Soymilk to the blender for a creamy, dairy free soup. Veggies should be hot enough to warm the soymilk without reheating

Enjoy!  I have a huge sweet tooth and loved the vanilla tones in the soup. I also added more brown sugar but realize that normal people may enjoy the toned  down version. The blender added a frothy element to my soup this evening and I am curious to see if it continues in my leftovers. I was going for dairy free but used butter instead of evoo when doing my onions. A small dose of butter doesn't seem to bother me- it's more a smattering of cheese. In my past life I would have loved some parm cheese to garnish with. I use vanilla soymilk as I am a chicken and needed to hide any soymilk flavor. It's really good in cereal!

The soup was labor intensive but worth it. This made enough for 3-4 portions so I'll be enjoying this vanilla veggie montage for the next few days.... like I said- Dave's out of town and this is what happens when I play chef! I'm wondering if I'll get around to eating any meat while he's gone. I had to use a small pot as normally my soups fill what ever pot size I use and I made a big effort to keep my veggie and liquid portions small.

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gluten freedom with spinach and rice noodles

Dave's gone back east for the weekend so I  have the freedom to play around with silly meals to my hearts content. He had really embraced gf cooking at home and while I enjoy his cooking I don't crave a full meat and potatos meal every night. He tends be the default chef and needs a solid meal after working on the mountain and outside all day. My office dwelling self does not need that many calories but there's no point in cooking two dinners each night so we tend to eat GF meat and starch.

I cooked some rice noodles and sauteed some spinach then stir fried them together. My lesson for this late dinner was the discovery that two cloves of garlic was too much for my simple style. I'm not really a garlic fan but since the Joy of Cooking suggested it I tried it. I felt very Julie as I reference the iconic cookbook- even if it was just the JoC instead of  MtAoFC. I did get to see the movie when it came to town and loved it. I hadn't read the book but took care of that last Friday afternoon in the sunshine with Chaos on the porch while enjoying some redbridge. I really like the rice noodles and when I reheat the leftovers tomorrow I'm going to try to add a bit more flavor to them. Tonight I had added some gluten free soy sauce and it didn't take on as much flavor as I thought it would.

I took Dave to the airport today and since we live in a small mountain town this means that this was a hour and a half drive each way. We headed down early to run a few errands and grab a late lunch. Although Dave's not glutarded it's still hard to find food in airports these days during layovers and his layover in Denver was going to be short with a long run from his puddle jumper to the big jet. We hit the pizza place with a gluten free dough option. Since I've become a lot more sensitive to everything  I had to ask about their peanut sauce and was bummed to learn that it was off limits. The waiter was great about double checking and I appreciated the extra time he put forth. They make their peanut sauce with peanut butter and SOY sauce... I didn't ask him to check the soy. I just assumed that they used the cheap stuff that is loaded with wheat like most others. I was pretty bummed since I was already planning on leaving out the cheese and was craving a thai chicken pie. I went with a pesto, chicken, onion and broccoli pie on a gluten free crust. Dave had a gooey cheese filled gluten filled pie with peperoni and sausage. I was jealous for a second until I remembered how sick that pie would make me.

Speaking of... I am officially glutarded. I can now join the club and get the t-shirt. I've been to the gastroenterologist and sent my DNA off to the lab. I have the DQ2 Alleles (DQA1*05/DQB1*02) given this and my vast array of symptoms the GI Doc confirmed that I have a big problem with gluten. He didn't think it was worth the time and energy to do an endoscopy since I haven't had  any real amount of gluten in so many months. I could go and eat gluten for two months and have the test done but this seems silly for a few reasons- I don't think I could deal with doing that much damage to myself and I don't think Dave, my friends or I could tolerate me on gluten again.... the few times I have ingested gluten were HELL. Migraines and body aches are not something I look forward to. Given all this evidence the GI handed me a small trifold pamphlet of info and welcomed me to the club. The trifold gave Dave and I a good laugh since I have consumed books and spent countless hours reseaching everything about gluten since last November!

Side Note: If you happen to share genes with me I suggest you pay attention! You and your offspring are at risk~ feel moody, poopy or funny after meals or are you tired and lethargic, grumpy or gassy~ you could be glutarded too. It's a fun club... along with a growing arsenal of books and products there's even t-shirts and stickers to help with the gluten free life. Going Gluten Free has really helped me... 

The GI Doctor did suggest that I keep a food and symptom log since a lot of foods seem to be messing with me. It's been pretty frustrating- I'm ok with losing gluten. I've accepted that and moved on but dairy including cheese... please say it ain't so! I've been avoiding it and then re-challenging. The re-challenge seems to prove that dairy and I are not friends right now. It sucks but I've been finding ways to get my fixes without causing myself dairy hell. I seem to tolerate butter in cooking but have swapped to Silk Soymilk and have avoided cheese. I can't believe it but Dave even found this "ice cream" that is gluten and dairy free. It's the first time I've had cookie dough ice cream in almost a year. I love the coconut tones in it. It's not much more then a pint of Ben & Jerry's and is so worth it.

A new brew....

Greens discovery amber ale- two daves and catching up on drama tv. Some people call it Tuesday.... But its really drama day on MTV.
Trying to discrimination on the beer's flavour and compare it to a taste from almost a year ago.... My two current beer drinkers are also trying to describe it..... Wood chuck? Mirror pond?? Still undecided on if it beats out red bridge....
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gf road trips

Traveling gluten free is still a learning process for me... I'm not quiet sure how to ask for gluten free without seeming crazy or worse not paying enough attention and having to hide my reaction to not spoil everyone's night. This is why I love GF menus... I feel like these folks have a reputation to protect and will ensure a good meal.

Last week we took a "quick" trip up to Denver (7 hours away) to visit friends and see Jason Mraz at Red Rocks.  Our friends live in Summit County and Megs had been watching the paper for some gf options. No photos to show (which proves how good it was) but we had a great breakfast at Kula's Cafe in Dillon. (Can't find a website but check them out at 119 La Bonte St Suite 208 Dillion, CO 970.513.8336... they take call in's too if you happen to be traveling on I-70) These guys rock! It may have been my excitement for my first french toast order in almost a year but this place was good! The staff was very attentive and even highlighted the GF order. I went back in to get a hot chocolate later and made sure to thank them for the attention... turns out 2 of the staff had wheat/gluten issues and understood what it meant to the gf world to take good care of people.

We also hit PF Chang's.... the 15th Street Dever location had the Gluten Free Menu on the back of the normal menu. I loved the fact that each time they brought something to our table they would say "and this is your gluten free street noodles" or "Here is your gluten free soy sauce." I had a reaction in nameless establishment and this made me feel so safe. I would have hated to have a reaction after driving for 7 hours to hit a concert. I complimented our server who then told us that this location actually used different shapped plates to help the process along. Does every location do this? Keep in mind that Telluride is 7 hours from the closest location so I really have no idea!

We hit Red Rocks for the Jason Mraz show before traveling home through the night back to Telluride. After work the next day we hit the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival for the Taj Mahal show. I'm still getting used to hitting all these festivals with no hope for gluten free beer... I had a glass of wine which just isn't the same.  Taj played under a pretty blue sky.... then when Bonnie Raitt  came on the sky opened up and town park was hit with sideways rain and downpour. After 3 years here in Telluride we've adapted well to the changing festival weather and pack down jackets and hats along with our trusty kelty sunshade... although this summer I've been calling it our rainshade!

I would love to see a gluten free beer festival in Telluride Town Park. All Gluten Free Food vendors... that's another thing I had to give up at Telluride Town Park festivals- food. There is sooo little that is safe for me to eat that I often pack food or eat ice cream (until my reccent dairy revolt!)

I used to eat my daily dose of dumplings from the Two Sisters Pantry but the dumplings and soy sauce would kill any festival fun...I'll stick to my gf telluride festival daydreams. It's a lot easier to smile through the mud and rain when I am not reacting... plus the rainshade could become realy small with 7 other people and a gluten-kate!

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | CONSUMER REPORTS: Shop smart for Gluten-free products#comments#comments

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | CONSUMER REPORTS: Shop smart for Gluten-free products#comments#comments

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I'm not often fired up after watching the news but after this pithy report that that I would eat "Gluten Free" but after made gluten free diets seem like an "option" I was livid. I never thought seeing how good I feel I can't go back... trust me watch my reactions to gluten and you would support my gluten free life and food bill as well. Witness one gluten attack of total bodyaches and severe migranes and you would understand why I can't have gluten.

Quinoa for lunch

A quick quinoa mix for lunch.... Spices, onion, peas and curry chicken to help get me through a big day at work!
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Gluten free PF Chang

Love it.....
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are things just peachy or am i going bananas?

things here at camp chaos have been busy... we celebrated dave's birthday with friends and our gluten free betty crocker cake mixes. Celebrated the famous Palisade Peaches from our farmer's market with a Peach Crisp... and a Granny Smith Apple Crisp for a bit of variety. I enjoy peaches but can't wait until it's time to pick apples! I had done some research for my crisp and devised a recipe. I have never had a problem with Oats and decided to go with my old quaker standby instead of searching for GF oats.... that was a mistake! It was a mild reaction but I still noticed and pawned the leftovers off on others.

Then last night we wandered the market trying to come up with lunch plans for the week and all I could think about were chocolate covered frozen bananas. I'm so picky that I can't buy the pre made box from the store... I have to make them. My patience wore thin as I melted chocolate (TWICE!) and I ended up with two decent looking banana pops and 6 that looked horrid but still taste ok. My melted chocolate became hard quickly and I was only able to coat two banana pops nicely before the chocolate got lumpy. I was irrationally mad about my failed banana pops.... ok i'm actually mad about other things and taking them out on my bananas.

I wasn't ever really diagnosed.

Last November when I started to realize what was causing my symptoms (the ones I realized were issues... and now looking back there are so many others that I didn't notice... who would have thought my joint pain would go away?) I quit wheat for four days and felt great. I reintroduced it and the sore throat, headaches and fugue came back. I did what anyone would do... I avoided what made me sick and eventually made it to the doctors. I "wheat loaded" right before going to the doctor so they could see what it was doing to me. However I never dreamed that it was anything but an allergy/intolerance. They took blood and ran it for a food allergy and also for celiac. My test came back as a negative for celiac but now I wonder.... was it a false negative? It was a good chunk of time that I had avoided wheat before going to the doctor. I gave up wheat then learned more about gluten and cut 99% of that out too (I'm not always careful) So many of my symptoms line up... I'm now having trouble tolerating dairy... I don't want to give that up too but I don't want to feel horrid either. Do I need to give that up or just cut back? Am I having problems because of something else?

I went back to the doctor and relayed my concerns.  I came armed with my theories and books. I told her what was going on and how I was feeling. I want to know if I am just having some "food issues" or if I have a real disease. She told me that if I am having an issue with a food then I should just give up that food... but it's not that easy. GF, wheat free, dairy free.... none of these are "easy" and while I know that my health has improved I have a need to know. Why could I eat Ben and Jerry's last month but now can't tolerate a bit of chese melted over veggies? I don't miss Milk. I've never really liked milk and didn't mind going to to a vanilla soymilk for cereal and baking. I do love ice cream.... I do love cheese... I can give those up if needed but I need to know if  I have to. She's referred me to a gastroenterologist and I'm waiting for information from them... I live in a small mountain town and nothing is close or easy to get to... for some reason I really want a true diagnosis... I need to know are things just peachy the way they are or am I going bananas?

Labor day

What does it mean when your redbridge label is upside down?
We are enjoying the weekend and set up camp for the afternoon beside the alpine lake and let the dogs swim while we enjoyed the fire.
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a new pizza crust

Marlow from Gluten Hates Me posted this potato pizza recipe a while back and tonight I tried it. WOW. ok that was my reaction. Dave liked it and I loved it. One of my favorite pizza's ever was a California Pizza Kitchen creation that was a rosemary chicken potato pie and tonight I attempted to recreate those flavors all blended together.


Tonight I used Marlow's potato crust and added some fresh snipped rosemary to both the crust and the toppings. We did a parm and montz cheese blend with buffalo chicken. I'm even excited to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

betty's gluten free cookies

I miss a good cookie... Bob's Red Mill does a nice mix but the cookies have a crumbly texture and taste almost good for you. Betty's came out a little crumbly but had more of a cookie flavor.

I would definitely purchase Betty's Gluten Free Cookie mix again but may try baking gf cookies from scratch next time. Out of the three Betty Mixes I found at my local foodstore the yellow cake was my favorite followed by the brownies then the cookies. Cheers to Betty on a job well done for all the mixes!

Gluten free farmers market cake

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My favorite booth at the farmer's market is not the artisan cheese or the organic veggies but Cinda's baked goodies. She makes normal goodies then she has a special selection of gluten free goodies. I had her cupcakes the first week, then a peanut butter cookie and now I have fallen in love with her chocolate cake.
Not long after quitting wheat I went to the local chocolate shop. Patty told me to go see Cinda a the Window at Chair 7. I didn't and am now regretting not checking this out before. Cinda bakes lovely goodies and the best part is I can have "just one" and not have to slave over a batch of cupcakes. Her frosting is a whipped delight as well. I saw my friend today while carrying my gluten free cake... she tasted it and was amazed. I love this response from gluten eating friends. It affirms that my taste buds can still be trusted. Cinda beats Betty Crocker any day as it's all from scratch. (However I LOVE that Betty has brought the gluten free "issue" mainstream.)

I have to admit that I glutened myself a few weeks ago. I had a moment of weakness while at an outdoor movie and had waffle fries from what I know is a very contaminated fryer. The cheesy waffle fries tasted soooo good and were warm on a cool night but within minutes my gut reacted. This was the first time that I "cheated" on purpose and it reaffirmed my need to eat wheat free and aim for gluten free. I paid dearly for those fries and was in a fog the whole next day.

Whoa. Betty!

Gluten free brownies......
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Backpackers pantry

Gotta love a company that marks gluten as an allergen. This is much better then your average quick meal and very tasty.
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Yummy!

The yellow cake was moist an d like the yellow cake I remember from Betty! It even passed the test for 4 gluten eating friends.
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Betty's in the house!

Work in progress...... Details later!
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its here!!

Hidden in my local city market!
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not-so-gluten-free books

my collection of gluten free books became not-so-gluten-free tonight when dave upset his gluten filled fat tire on my stack.... does this mean that I can not longer use these as a gf resource? This is why dave should also drink redbridge.

we have family in town and made an assortment of pizza this evening... two small gf chebe crusts and some glutenous pies that were off limits to me. For my gf selections we made a pesto with fresh cheese, peperoni, and basil then a thai pie with peanut sauce, carrots, cilantro and a spicy chicken. Even two year old Moyer enjoyed the Thai pie and the homemade peanut sauce so I thought I'd share the recipe.
Pizza has always been a staple for me and I used to love Thai Pies but after going wheat free learned that the peanut sauce was off limits to me. I've been playing around with homemade peanut sauces to ensure safety and happiness.

Peanut Sauce for Thai Pie
as always i made sure all of these were gluten free...
6 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup boiling water
4 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
garlic- I used 2 teaspoons dry powder
cayenne pepper to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2-4 tablespoons cornstarch
Mix peanut butter and water until well combined. Add all but cornstarch. Slowly mix cornstarch until desired thickness is obtained. this may be done after sauce is chilled to ensure that it doesn't become too thick. Refrigerate and it will keep for over a week.

I'd share pictures of the pizzas but after a long day they didn't last for a photo!