Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tortilla Pizza
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Newly Diagnosed-100 Day Kit
Marc and I had a wonderful night out, thanks for babysitting Heather! Dinner at Kona Grill--by the way they have allergy menus; Gluten Free and Peanut Free menus available. Then we stopped in for a drink at 75th Street Brewery. Saw an old friend I use to work with and she told me that heir five year old will be getting diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum this Monday. I forgot to mention to her to check out the Autism Speaks website for the 100 Day Kit and the Aspergers and High Functioning Autism Tool Kit for newly diagnosed families to make the best possible use of the first 100 days following diagnosis.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/family_services/100_day_kit.php
Just one example of where all of fundraising efforts go to. The 100 Day Kit is also available in Spanish.
Please take advantage of all of these great resources!! And please anyone feel free to ask me any questions on my blog. I may not know the answer but can probably point you in the right direction.
Ashley
http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/family_services/100_day_kit.php
Just one example of where all of fundraising efforts go to. The 100 Day Kit is also available in Spanish.
Please take advantage of all of these great resources!! And please anyone feel free to ask me any questions on my blog. I may not know the answer but can probably point you in the right direction.
Ashley
Friday, October 22, 2010
Product Update-Chocolate Cake Mix and Frosting
Mac's elementary schools 50th Anniversary is today, Marc and I are also Brookwood Beavers. I volunteered to bring cupcakes since I would have to bring a treat for Mac. I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with green vanilla frosting (green is the school color). I headed off to Whole Foods after work yesterday to find that they had rearranged all the aisles and products. In my confused daze to try to find all my favorite products I stumbled upon the Gluten Free aisle. I couldn't find the Whole Foods 365 brand which is my favorite GF Chocolate Cake mix. I asked a young kid that worked there and he said they had gotten rid of many products but had also got in a lot of new products. So I started my frustrated search for a new chocolate cake mix. Why do they take GREAT products away?!?!?! Anyway, I wanted to find one that was close to the 365 brand. The 365 brand calls for buttermilk, obviously we can't have buttermilk but I replace that with canned coconut milk and it is delicious and moist. Then I found Gluten Free Pantry Decadent Chocolate Cake mix and the ingredients looked similar to the 365 brand. I could make the same modifications; soy butter instead of butter, soy chocolate pudding, Egg Replacer and applesauce instead of eggs, and canned coconut milk instead of buttermilk. OK this looked like it might work!
Needles to say I new it was going to be a long day. Got up at 530am for a run, worked all day, went to the grocery store, then would have to cook dinner, do homework with the boys, put them to bed, clean up the kitchen and then it would time to make cupcakes. When I went to grab the icing mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen, which I really like both the chocolate and vanilla (just add soy stick butter) I was excited to see an already prepared frosting under the same brand. The frosting mix is pretty easy but this was even better!
Skip forward about three hours….the boys were in bed after several stern ‘Get back in bed, no talking, no touching, no spitting, no standing up or moving!’ You have to cover all the bases. I started on the cupcakes and it all looked like it was going to be pretty close to the 365 brand cake mix. The 365 brand instructions read that after adding the last ingredient -buttermilk or in our case coconut milk, to beat on high for two minutes. This really gives it a rich, thick, mousse like texture. The Gluten Free Pantry brand did not say to do this but I did anyway. I turned out just like the 365 brand! I was very pleased with this new product and recommend to anyone. Now on to the frosting… that is a different story.
I opened up the prepared icing and was disappointed to find a gluey consistency with a not so pleasant flavor. I really like the frosting mix from this same brand, Cherrybrook Kitchen, both chocolate and vanilla. Luckily I had some of that same vanilla frosting mix that I had made a while back and froze my leftovers. I defrosted overnight and worked perfectly for my Green Brookwood Beaver Frosting. Happy 50th Brookwood!
In a Nut Shell
To save you from wasting $3.99 plus tax stick to the Cherrybrook Kitchen frosting mix for now, maybe they will improve the prepared frosting at some point.
A good chocolate cake mix in replace of the Whole Foods 365 is Gluten Free Pantry. Remember after you add the coconut milk beat on high for two mintues!!
Needles to say I new it was going to be a long day. Got up at 530am for a run, worked all day, went to the grocery store, then would have to cook dinner, do homework with the boys, put them to bed, clean up the kitchen and then it would time to make cupcakes. When I went to grab the icing mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen, which I really like both the chocolate and vanilla (just add soy stick butter) I was excited to see an already prepared frosting under the same brand. The frosting mix is pretty easy but this was even better!
Skip forward about three hours….the boys were in bed after several stern ‘Get back in bed, no talking, no touching, no spitting, no standing up or moving!’ You have to cover all the bases. I started on the cupcakes and it all looked like it was going to be pretty close to the 365 brand cake mix. The 365 brand instructions read that after adding the last ingredient -buttermilk or in our case coconut milk, to beat on high for two minutes. This really gives it a rich, thick, mousse like texture. The Gluten Free Pantry brand did not say to do this but I did anyway. I turned out just like the 365 brand! I was very pleased with this new product and recommend to anyone. Now on to the frosting… that is a different story.
I opened up the prepared icing and was disappointed to find a gluey consistency with a not so pleasant flavor. I really like the frosting mix from this same brand, Cherrybrook Kitchen, both chocolate and vanilla. Luckily I had some of that same vanilla frosting mix that I had made a while back and froze my leftovers. I defrosted overnight and worked perfectly for my Green Brookwood Beaver Frosting. Happy 50th Brookwood!
In a Nut Shell
To save you from wasting $3.99 plus tax stick to the Cherrybrook Kitchen frosting mix for now, maybe they will improve the prepared frosting at some point.
A good chocolate cake mix in replace of the Whole Foods 365 is Gluten Free Pantry. Remember after you add the coconut milk beat on high for two mintues!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Restaurants-Going out to Dinner Gluten Free Casein Free
We all like to go out to dinner and have someone else cook and clean up. You still can living Gluten and Casein Free! You need to do some research, don't be afraid to ask questions, speak with the Chef or Manager and know your products.
Many restaurants now offer Gluten Free Items and/or have a Gluten Free Menu. Larger chain restaurants usually have an 'Allergy' tab on their website with several different menus; Gluten Free, Peanut Free etc. We all like to support our local business-larger local restaurant groups and your small Mom and Pop eatery just around the corner. If they do not have a website or any food allergy information it would be a good idea to call ahead and speak with a manager. A good time to call is between two and four in the afternoon; after the lunch rush and before dinner.
Products to Question
Many times gluten and casein are in products you would never even suspect. Feel free to ask someone in charge with anything you think is questionable. If it is a scratch or pre-made product the supervisor should be able to check what are in the ingredients. Here are some products to look out for when you are dining out.
Appetizers-For example, we were out to dinner and assumed the Fried Calamari dusted in corn meal was only corn meal. After we ordered we asked the server to double check. It ended up to be a mixture of flour and corn meal and it also had an egg and milk wash for battering.
Salads-Something really simple that I usually forget is to ask the server to leave the croutons off! Sometimes there are some many it is hard to pick them all out.
French Fries can have a coating on them to make them crispier and/or give them a texture. Many times this contains gluten.
Salad dressing can contain casein even if it is not a 'creamy dressing'.
Soups can contain flour to make the roux-thicken the soup. For example, you may not expect the Chicken Tortilla Soup to contain gluten and/or casein. There are some out there that don't but always double check.
Seasoning can contain gluten. This is kind of a tough one so you can always just ask for your hamburger to be seasoned with salt and pepper.
Soy sauce has wheat in it and many times products are marinated in soy sauce. One of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants no longer in town marinates its steak and chicken in soy sauce. Who would ever think that a Mexican restaurant was using soy sauce?
Vegetarian items can use gluten as a binder. I had a pre-made black bean burger and discovered it had wheat in the ingredients.
Meats can use gluten and casein as a binder. I had ordered a Pot Roast dish, asked a few questions and found out it was pre-cooked product. They checked the ingredients for me and to my disappointment it contained wheat.
Tortillas-Check that they are corn tortillas not flour.
Obvious words to look out for are breaded, battered, fried, sauteed, sauce, creamy, cheesy.
Bring your own
Now I am not saying bring your whole meal to a restaurant, that would be rude. But bring those items that will make your meal enjoyable. For my son Mac I will bring his soy cheese, GFCF flour tortillas and Vegan ranch dip. Mac can't have ketchup or salsa so when we get him a burger patty or the basket of tortilla chips are placed in front of us Mac can enjoy them too!
Preparation of Menu Items
Don't be afraid to ask if the vegetables can be steamed instead of sauteed, or to leave the lemon butter off of your grilled salmon or to substitute a salad with your burger instead of the coated French Fries.
You will soon be more aware of what questions you need to ask and the products to look out for. This is just a start to your expanding knowledge of Living & Loving Gluten & Casein Free!
Cheers! Ashley
Many restaurants now offer Gluten Free Items and/or have a Gluten Free Menu. Larger chain restaurants usually have an 'Allergy' tab on their website with several different menus; Gluten Free, Peanut Free etc. We all like to support our local business-larger local restaurant groups and your small Mom and Pop eatery just around the corner. If they do not have a website or any food allergy information it would be a good idea to call ahead and speak with a manager. A good time to call is between two and four in the afternoon; after the lunch rush and before dinner.
Products to Question
Many times gluten and casein are in products you would never even suspect. Feel free to ask someone in charge with anything you think is questionable. If it is a scratch or pre-made product the supervisor should be able to check what are in the ingredients. Here are some products to look out for when you are dining out.
Appetizers-For example, we were out to dinner and assumed the Fried Calamari dusted in corn meal was only corn meal. After we ordered we asked the server to double check. It ended up to be a mixture of flour and corn meal and it also had an egg and milk wash for battering.
Salads-Something really simple that I usually forget is to ask the server to leave the croutons off! Sometimes there are some many it is hard to pick them all out.
French Fries can have a coating on them to make them crispier and/or give them a texture. Many times this contains gluten.
Salad dressing can contain casein even if it is not a 'creamy dressing'.
Soups can contain flour to make the roux-thicken the soup. For example, you may not expect the Chicken Tortilla Soup to contain gluten and/or casein. There are some out there that don't but always double check.
Seasoning can contain gluten. This is kind of a tough one so you can always just ask for your hamburger to be seasoned with salt and pepper.
Soy sauce has wheat in it and many times products are marinated in soy sauce. One of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants no longer in town marinates its steak and chicken in soy sauce. Who would ever think that a Mexican restaurant was using soy sauce?
Vegetarian items can use gluten as a binder. I had a pre-made black bean burger and discovered it had wheat in the ingredients.
Meats can use gluten and casein as a binder. I had ordered a Pot Roast dish, asked a few questions and found out it was pre-cooked product. They checked the ingredients for me and to my disappointment it contained wheat.
Tortillas-Check that they are corn tortillas not flour.
Obvious words to look out for are breaded, battered, fried, sauteed, sauce, creamy, cheesy.
Bring your own
Now I am not saying bring your whole meal to a restaurant, that would be rude. But bring those items that will make your meal enjoyable. For my son Mac I will bring his soy cheese, GFCF flour tortillas and Vegan ranch dip. Mac can't have ketchup or salsa so when we get him a burger patty or the basket of tortilla chips are placed in front of us Mac can enjoy them too!
Preparation of Menu Items
Don't be afraid to ask if the vegetables can be steamed instead of sauteed, or to leave the lemon butter off of your grilled salmon or to substitute a salad with your burger instead of the coated French Fries.
You will soon be more aware of what questions you need to ask and the products to look out for. This is just a start to your expanding knowledge of Living & Loving Gluten & Casein Free!
Cheers! Ashley
Sunday, October 10, 2010
GFCF egg free Banana bread
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg replacer
1 T applesauce
2 T canned coconut milk
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 cup GF flour
½ cup sorghum flour
2 t baking powder
1 ¼ t cinnamon
1 t xanthum gum
½ t salt
3 bananas, mashed
Preheat oven to 350 mix oil, brown sugar, egg replacer, applesauce, coconut milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining ingredients. Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan, pour in batter (will be sticky and thick) sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
*Tip-The egg replacer, applesauce and coconut milk are all modifications for eggs.
*Tip-Sorghum flour is a sweet flour with hearty protein. You can replace about 20-25% of regular flour with Sorghum for delicious baked treats.
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