Wheatless Foodie

  These gluten free brownies are thick, rich, chewy, and so easy to make.  They're delicious with or without icing.  Adapted from a recipe posted at   What Life Dishes Out . Gluten Free Brownies 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup softened butter 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if flour blend already contains gum) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9  x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside 1 cup of the chocolate chips. In a small microwave safe container, microwave 2 cups of the chocolate chips for one minute (on high), stir, then microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30 seconds until the chocolate is nearly all melted. Continue stirring to melt the remaining chocolate.  Be carefull not to overheat the chocolate as it burns easily.  Mix together softene...

  My family used to enjoy eating at Panera. Their Autumn Soup was one of our favorites. Unfortunately, it contains dairy ingredients, and one member of my household can no longer consume dairy products in addition to avoiding gluten. Needing to avoid dairy products has changed some of our family food choices. We have been somewhat selective for years because of my inability to properly digest gluten. Making some of our family favorite foods into gluten-free AND dairy-free is an added challenge, but I think it’s so nice when we can all share the same food around the dinner table. This is my version of Autumn Soup, made with butternut squash, pumpkin, other vegetables and seasonings. And it's made without any butter, cream, or other dairy ingredients. This Autumn soup is especially good served with homemade gluten free bread . Ingredient notes: Fresh pumpkin, in my opinion, tastes better than canned.   We always have at least one small pumpkin sitting around as decoratio...

This no-bake cheesecake is perfect for summer.  The cold, creamy dessert can be topped with fresh fruit or your favorite fruit pie filling.  I usually use Kinnikinnick gluten free graham crackers, but other gluten free graham crackers would work also, as would crushed gluten free cereal. No-Bake Cheesecake (gluten free) Crust: 1 box Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Graham Crackers (220 grams) 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 sticks butter (¾ cup), melted* Crush graham crackers.  Combine ingredients and press into 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish Filling: 2 8-oz packages cream cheese (room temp) 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 8-oz containers Cool Whip Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and half the Cool Whip.  Mix in remainder of Cool Whip and spread over crust. Top with pie filling or fresh fruit.  Chill thoroughly before serving.   Printable Version   Layering the filling wi...

This gluten free macaroni and cheese is quick and easy and made entirely from pantry ingredients.  It's for those times when you didn't plan ahead and purchase cheese, or you're running low on fresh milk, or on time and energy. Or maybe you just don't feel like having to make a dish that requires cooking the pasta, draining it in a colander (then having to wash the colander), then making a cheese sauce from scratch... Gluten Free One Pot Mac & Cheese from Pantry Ingredients 4 cups water 1 pound brown rice macaroni or fusilli 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk ⅓ pound (5.3 oz) Velveeta processed cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes ⅔ cup shelf stable grated Parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground mustard pinch of ground white pepper To make this Mac & Cheese, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan or a Dutch oven.  Stir in evaporated milk and 1 pound of brown rice macaroni or fusilli.  Continue cooking pasta, stirring occasionally to keep i...

My family enjoys having soft tacos for dinner.  The guys have flour tortillas, and Laura and I eat corn tortillas to avoid gluten.  Store bought corn tortillas aren't that great, so I've been making homemade corn tortillas.  At first, I tried making them by hand, which didn't work well at all.  I also tried flattening them with the bottom of a pan, only to discover that the pan was slightly warped (raised in the center).  So I've been rolling each tortilla out with a rolling pin, which works alright but is kind of a slow process. I just purchased a tortilla press, and making those tortillas is so quick and easy! To make corn tortillas, combine 2 cups masa flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 cups water.  Mix until the dough holds together, adding a little more flour or water if necessary.  It will feel kind of like Playdoh when it's ready. Next, section the dough into 16 sections, and form each into a ball.  At this stage, I also like to ...

People who can eat anything sometimes ask, “What can you eat?”   Here’s what my family is eating this week.   Naturally, we’ll be enjoying gluten free versions of those foods that would ordinarily be made with wheat. Sunday:   Sausage and Mushroom Scramble ; gluten free pancakes made with Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix Monday: Chili and Gluten Free Cornbread Tuesday: Roast Chicken with potatoes and carrots (roasting extra chicken to use on Thursday); Orange& Hazelnut Salad (without the turkey) Wednesday: Spaghetti, garlic bread and green salad Thursday: Chicken Soft Tacos (using leftover chicken from Tuesday) Friday:   Beef Pot Pie (homemade with gluten free crust) Saturday:   Soup and Sandwiches on Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread What are you planning for this week? Cindy

This is an interesting article about the history of grains, especially wheat, and offers some insight into why so many of us may not be able to properly digest wheat gluten. Against the Grain As you'll see, the above linked article is on the maniniglutenfree blog.  I'm currently trying some of Manini's gluten free flour products, which I'll share soon. Happy reading, Cindy

Namaste Foods, the company that makes delicious foods that contain no gluten, wheat, dairy, corn, soy, potato, tree nuts, peanuts, or casein are having a product giveaway beginning December 3, 2012.  You can visit their facebook page for details and to enter: http://www.facebook.com/NamasteFoods Good luck! Cindy

  This recipe for gluten free pie crust makes a double crust. If you’re not making two pumpkin pies, you can freeze the second crust for later. To do this, roll out the crust about half way to the size you’ll need, wrap it well and freeze. Defrost in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before rolling out. I use the Libby’s recipe for the pumpkin pie filling , but with less ginger and cloves, but the pie in the photo was made with fresh pumpkin from our garden. Oh, and just to confuse things, while the following recipe for gluten free pie crust makes two crusts, the recipe for the pumpkin pie filling is for only one pie. Tip: I’ve found that gluten free pie dough rolls out better and is easier to work with if you make it at least a few hours or up to a day ahead. The extra time in the refrigerator seems to help it hold together better. Step-by-step photos of pie crust in progress can be seen in my post about Gluten Free Orchard Fruit Pie. Gluten Free Pie Crust (d...

Summer brings us an abundance of fresh fruit.  Most of this fruit is consumed raw, but sometimes we buy more that we are able to eat while it's still fresh.  This Orchard Fruit Pie is a good way to use up excess fruit and is a delicous gluten free dessert.  Here's how it's made: For the crust, combine the dry ingredients.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Mix together the egg, 1 tablespoon of the water, and the vinegar.  Work into the flour/butter mixture, adding an additional 1 tablespoon of water if needed for the dough to hold together. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured silicone baking sheet or on parchment. Place pie dough in a 9-inch pie plate, trim off the excess (or roll under for a thicker edge) and crimp. Place the pie crust into the refrigerator to chill. For the filling, combine the sugar and cornstarch, then stir the mixture into the fruit. This pie contains cherries, blueberries, and nectarines. Make the...

I just tried Domino's Pizza with gluten free crust.  It was soooooo good!  I ordered pizza for my family via the Domino's website, and the gluten free pizza crust is one of the crust options when ordering.  As soon as I clicked on the gluten free crust option, this disclaimer popped up letting me know that my gluten free pizza would be prepared in the same kitchen where the regular pizza was being prepared, meaning there would be a chance for cross-contamination. Since I'm willing to trust that the chance of contamination is small, and this isn't a serious allergy situation, I'm OK with that.  I know there are people with Celiac that must adhere to absolutely no gluten whatsoever in there diet.  I've found that I'm OK with "under 20 ppm", so I took my chances. So far, so good. And the pizza was excellent.  The gluten free crust is thin and crispy, but without being overly dry or cracker-like.  Most of Domino's pizza's can be made o...

The vegetable garden is producing lots of lettuce these days, which means lots of salads.  This Strawberry Almond Salad is one of my current favorites.  I love the slight bitterness of the salad greens with the sweet, fruity strawberries, crunchy almond slices, and tart balsamic vinaigrette. Strawberry Almond Salad Fresh salad greens sliced fresh strawberries sliced almonds Balsamic Vinaigrette: one part balsamic vinegar, three parts oil of your choice, salt and pepper to taste. Arrange salad ingredients on plate, or toss in a bowl.  Whisk together dressing just before serving and drizzle over salad.  Lightly toss salad with dressing. Printable Version Enjoy! Cindy For more gluten free and/or allergy-friendly recipes, visit Made from Scratch Monday  at Living With Food Allergies and Celiac Disease .

I made the most delicious, chewy, fudgy brownies last night.  I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site.  The recipe is from What Life Dishes Out . The original recipe makes enough for an 8 x 8 pan of brownies.  If I'm going to make brownies from scratch, I want more that an 8 x 8 inch pan of brownies for my trouble, so I increased the recipe by 50% and used a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  And I wasn't paying attention to the part about only melting half of the chocolate chips into the batter, so this version is extra chocolaty. Also, I'm listing the directions I actually used because I wasn't paying attention.  (Give me a break, I was tired!)  Please see the original recipe at What Life Dishes Out for the proper mixing instructions. Gluten Free Brownies 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup softened butter 3  eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup gluten-free all pur...

Oven Fried Fish (gluten free) 1 pound fresh fish ½ cup cornstarch 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning 1 ½ cups crushed gluten free crackers, cereal and/or breadcrumbs 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil for coating pan vegetable oil spray Preheat oven to 400 °F Spread vegetable oil over pan. Rinse fish pieces and dry on paper towels. Dredge fish in cornstarch and shake off excess. Combine mayonnaise and Old Bay seasoning in a bowl. Add fish to bowl with seasoned mayonnaise and toss to coat fish. Press fish into gluten free crumbs and place on lightly oiled pan. Lightly spray fish with oil and place in oven. Cook fish to an internal temperature of 140 °F. printable version For more yummy ideas, visit the Hearth and Sour Blog Hop .

Manischewitz makes a variety of food products, and I'll admit, I've never really looked at them.  In my mind, they've always been associated with dietary restrictions that aren't a part of my life, not having been raised in a Jewish home.  Apparently, I've been missing out! I was recently asked if I would be interested in trying some of the gluten-free products that have been added to Manischewitz's line of Health and Wellness Foods.  Whaaat?!!!  Manischewitz makes gluten free foods? Guiltless Gourmet Crunches roasted chashew crunch snacks are gluten free, vegan, and contain no GMO ingredients.  The information sheet I received with the product claims that they are "deliciously addictive".  I completely agree!  They are just sweet enough without being too sweet, they are loaded with roasted cashews, and they are sooooo good.  Guiltless Gourmet Crunches are Kosher for Passover and year round. The other product I tried was the Manischew...

I made these gluten free cookies for Fred to take into work this week.  The original recipe from McCormick was not a gluten free recipe, and contained cinnamon and chile pepper.  I might try them some time with the spices, but I really just wanted some good, rich chocolate cookies, and these were delicious.  They're not for everybody, though.  They have a rich, dark chocolate flavor and aren't super sweet on their own, so anyone who doesn't like dark chocolate might not like them. Adding the icing sweetened them up a bit, as did the pretty red sugar. I didn't keep track of the amount of ingredients I added when making the icing (sorry).  I made it with shortening, powdered sugar, almond milk, and clear vanilla flavoring.  It probably has about 3/4 cup shortening to each pound of powdered sugar and just enough almond milk (or you could use the milk of your choice) to get the consistency you like.  Add vanilla to taste (about 1 - 2 teaspoons per pou...