Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

What I really like about this recipe is that it doesn’t make you use four different flours, Xanthum gum, and other fussy ingredients.  It simply says “gluten-free baking mix”, so you can choose your favorite one.  My recommendation is for Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix, which gives an excellent texture to baked goods and is easy to work with, as the measurements are 1-to-1 with regular flour. And it’s even on sale right now through Amazon!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup real butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cup gluten-free baking mix
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, optional
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two large cookie sheets. Blend butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. In a large mixing bowl, blend remaining dry ingredients; slowly fold in sugar mixture. Spoon in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop by the teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Bake 7-10 minutes. Cool and serve. Yield: 2 dozen large cookies or 3 dozen small cookies.

Sounds yummy, right?  If you have a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that you think can beat this one, please email it to me!  I’d love to try it!

I’m so pleased to share a recipe with you today from the “Once-A-Month-Cooking: Family Favorites” book that we are giving away!  The allergy consultant for this book was Lori Baird from Eating Allergy Free.  Lori has Celiac, in addition to a host of other food allergies.  Lori demonstrates how easy this recipe is in the video below.

Here is the recipe for this amazing soup:

VEGAN CREAMY TOMATO SOUP               * Serves 4 in 45 minutes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 14.5 oz. can unsalted white beans, rinse and drain
1/4 cup onion, ,finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried tarragon crushed
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 14.5 oz. cans unsalted, diced tomatoes, undrained

Tip: If you do not have lemon on hand, use 1 teaspoon distilled vinegar or rice vinegar.

HEAT oil in large stock pot on medium high heat.

SAUTE onion with 1/8 teaspoon of salt until tender, but not brown; for 1-2 minutes.

STIR in garlic.

ADD carrots.  Sauté vegetables until tender for 1-2 minutes; stirring occasionally.

STIR in tomatoes, beans, and tarragon; bring to boil.

TURN heat to low and simmer for ½ hour; stirring occasionally.

ADD lemon juice, zest, cracked black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

PUREE until smooth.

ENJOY soup hot or cold!

Serving suggestions: Try this with a pinch of cayenne and stir in some fresh finely chopped spinach or watercress before serving.

This recipe is free from: Gluten  Wheat  Lactose  Casein  Dairy  Soy  Yeast  Corn  Egg  Nuts  Seafood and  Shellfish.  Also is low in sodium and no add sugar.

I am so excited to tell you about this new book, “Once-A-Month Cooking: Family Favorites“!  I’ve always loved the idea behind the “once-a-month” cooking and have put it into practice in a minimalist form over the years.  So, why is this cookbook so special?  It has a 2-week GLUTEN-FREE cycle of meals!  How amazing is that?

I’m super excited to let you know that I’ll be blogging all week about this book, sharing interviews with the authors, recipes, and reviews.  I’ve already tried one of the recipes and was very impressed (more on that later!).  [NOTE:  Not all of the recipes are gluten-free, but you can always make substitutions...as I'm sure you probably already do!]

In the meantime, if you would like to win a copy of this awesome, hot-off-the-press book (published September 1, 2009), sign up for this website’s email news list (top, right column).  I will be selecting one winner from the list subscribers next week!  I may even send out some bonuses…we’ll just have to see! 

Please leave your questions and comments below and let me know if you’ve used the OAMC method before and how you liked it!  Can’t wait to hear your comments!

Dear Support Group Leader,

We’d like your help to bring back the Starbucks gluten-free cake! Despite what appears to be strong support from the gluten-free community, Starbucks is discontinuing its Valencia Orange Cake. This is a tremendous blow to the gluten-free community. It’s already so hard to find good, safe gluten-free options. Having a gluten-free treat at Starbucks was an enormous win for the community. It’s sad to see it disappear such a short time later, without any real explanation.

We’ve put together a petition to let Starbucks know how much we miss the gluten-free cake and to let them know we’d love to see it back in our local Starbucks! Please share this petition with your support group members and ask them to sign it. The petition is located here:  http://www.triumphdining.com/blog/petition-to-starbucks-bring-back-the-gluten-free-cake/. We have 1,900 signatures so far – our goal is 5,000. We chose the goal of 5,000 because it’s a number we think Starbucks would sit up and pay attention to. When we reach our goal, we will present the petition to Starbucks corporate headquarters.

Please join us in our quest to get more options for gluten-free people around the country. I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for reading this.

Sincerely,

Ross Cohen

Triumph Dining

124 E Broad St

Falls Church, VA 22046

E-mail: ross@triumphdining.com

Phone: 1-800-558-2906

Coming to a store near you this summer–

I’ve gotta’ tell you….I’m really excited about this!  Not just that we will have another product to choose from to eat safely, but that gluten-free products are making it to mainstream companies!  It’s an exciting time to be Celiac (yeah, I know that sounded weird).

I haven’t found these products on the shelves in the Grand Rapids area, yet, but you can order them from Amazon.  Links for your convenience:

• Brownies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Devil’s Food Cake
• Yellow Cake

You can find out more on the new Gluten-Free Betty Crocker website, but all GF mixes are made in a dedicated facility and they are Kosher.  Kudos to Betty Crocker for making life easier for those eating Gluten-Free!!!

Gluten Free Sampling
Featuring Local Bakery — Midge’s Muffins
Thursday June 25 — 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Robin will be in the Tasting Kitchen offering samples of her delicious gluten free muffins.

1 c. oil
3 1/2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 c. GF All purpose flour mix
1 3/4 tsp. xanthum gum
2/3 c. water
2 c. pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda

2 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. softened butter
4-6 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

• Do not make too thin or most of the glaze will end up on the cake plate.

Let cake cool for about 30 – 45 minutes before removing from pan then drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Thanks, Rachelle, for sharing this family favorite!

If you missed the April meeting, you missed a real treat!  Bridget brought in some homemade Morning Glory Muffins that were absolutely AMAZING!  She’s been nice enough to share the recipe with us!  Enjoy!

Thanks Bridget!

Look at what I found at Meijer today!  –>

I was so excited, I could hardly stand it!  According to Sure Foods Living…

I spoke with General Mills customer service today to confirm that Corn Chex, Cinnamon Chex, Strawberry Chex, and Honey Nut Chex have also been re-formulated to be gluten-free. The General Mills representative said that if any of their cereals are gluten-free it will be clearly marked on the front and side of the box and that some cereals may be rolled out in only some parts of the country at first. UPDATE: Gluten-free versions of Chex will officially be available on June 1st. Thanks to The Gluten-Free Homemaker for this detail!

I’m really excited to try the other GF flavors when they hit the stores!  I think when I went GF 2 1/2 years ago, there was just Rice, Corn, and Wheat Chex.  They also had a Frosted Mini Chex, which was really good…but, alas…I degress.

Also, according to Gluten Free Philly…

Other General Mills cereals that are GF-friendly include Honey Kix and Chocolate Lucky Charms.

I’ve been eating Trix on occasion, but I didn’t know about these others.  Way to Go, General Mills!  The Gluten-free Community applauds you!

Another big announcement that I just found out about from Starbucks…

Starting May 5 we will be launching the Gluten-free Orange Valencia Cake with Almonds….This product was inspired by the passionate responses we heard from you on My Starbucks Idea.  [I voted in this!]

The Orange Valencia Cake is a delicious moist citrus cake bursting with Valencia oranges and topped with crunchy almonds.  Not only is it gluten-free, it is also prepared with 7 simple ingredients: Whole Eggs, Valencia Orange Pulp, Almonds, Sugar, Orange Peel, Gluten Free Baking Powder, and Orange Oil.  Plus it delivers 30% of your daily value of vitamin C.

Keep on the look out for it in the pastry case with a sign that says “gluten-free.”  A single cake will be displayed unwrapped so you can see it clearly, but don’t worry.   They all come individually packaged to prevent cross contamination.

Way to Go Starbucks for listening to your customers and being sensitive to the needs of your gluten-free fans!