Easy Gluten Free Living

It’s hard to believe that here in the United States Thanksgiving is just a little over a week away.  I have so much to be thankful for this year.  A loving husband, adult children that are also our friends, 3 healthy, beautiful granddaughters, ages 6, 3 and 2 months.

I thought that today I would share a recipe for a nice moist turkey without all the time it takes to roast a whole turkey. 

                                                  Tender Juicy Turkey Breasts  Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Everyone.  I just wanted to let you all know why I haven’t been around much the past few months.

September has been a time of great joy and immense sadness for our family.  Read the rest of this entry »

I had a question from Sharon about Bards Beer:

I live in Pittsburgh, and my husband has a gluten allergy. I have difficulty finding Bards that is even remotely fresh. At a “Mom and Pop Beer Warehouse” the staff was ecstatic because they were able to locate a case of Bards with a January, 2010 stamp. Unfortunately, it was July, 2010 when they made their discovery. I did buy the case anyway, because it was my husband’s birthday. His only comment was, “this is really hoppy.” I didn’t tell him it was six months old. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Mary,
I have been gluten free for 8 months. what I wish someone would have told me is: The bodies reaction concerning probiotics, the good bacteria in our bodies that are fed by wheat. I am having a harder time finding an inner balance bacteria wise. I am taking probiotics now and I am searching for something to replace the wheat (prebiotic) in my diet. Any ideas would be helpful. Also, everything I know so far I have learned on the internet, do you know what kind of dr would be helpful to the celiac or wheat intolerant?

Jodie Nielsen

Hi Jodie,

Good question.  I’m going to briefly touch on what probiotics are and then go into prebiotics. Read the rest of this entry »

I live in a small town about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so there’s not much hope of getting pizza from a pizzeria in my town.  However, my daughter and son-in-law live in the heart of the city and on Saturday my husband and I were at their house for the day.  My husband was helping our son-in-law cut a doorway into a wall for their new deck.  

 Our daughter had told me about a pizza shop in her neighborhood Read the rest of this entry »

 Hi Mary,  Newbie celiac here with a question.  Other than really not liking the gf breads from the supermarkets, the transition has been fairly easy.  I never liked bread anyway, but I do miss pita bread.  I haven’t been able to find a gf pita bread anywhere, even though my town has three major markets with gf sections and several gf bakeries.  Do you have any suggestions for a recipe or a source?  (Vegan too if possible – that would be beyon heaven.)

Phyllis

Hi Phyllis. 

I know what you mean about the storebought breads.  Believe it or not they Read the rest of this entry »

As people in the city of Pittsburgh sat in line in front of the Apple Stores anxiously awaiting their new I Phone 4, little did they know that there is a new app for your IPhone, IPad and IPod Touch that will help make gluten free shopping just that much easier.

My Grocery Master is an inovative idea that Read the rest of this entry »

Barbara asked me last week, “What do you do to make good bread?”.  Bread is probably the hardest thing to make gluten free and still taste good.  I have yet to find a good store bought loaf.  Most of it tastes like cardboard or a dried out sponge.

Barbara also asked if I’d be willing to share a recipe.  So I decided that I would share a bread recipe from my new gluten free cookbook, A Gluten Free Holiday, that will be available within the next month.

A Gluten Free Holiday E-book Cookbook is filled with recipes and tips for getting together with family and friends.  It has the kind of food that you will be able to serve your guests or take with you to pot luck dinners and no one will guess that they are eating gluten free.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe.

                              Better Than Store Bought Gluten Free Bread 

• 3   Extra Large Eggs, beaten
• 3   Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 1/2   Cups Warm Water
• 1   Cup Sweet Rice Flour
• 1   Cup Rice Bran
• 1 1/2   Cups Brown Rice Flour
• 2 1/4   Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
• 3 1/2   Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1 1/2   Teaspoons Salt
• 1/2   Cup Powdered Milk
• 2 1/4   Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sift all dry ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate large mixing bowl, mix all wet ingredients until well blended.  (I use my electric stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.)  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time while mixer is mixing and beat well, until dough is thick but not too stiff.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. 

Cover and set aside in a warm location for one hour to rise.*  Once dough rises, bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until edges are well browned.  Remove immediately from pan and brush butter or margarine on top of bread.

Yield:  1 loaf (about 12 – 16 slices)

*I heat a cup of water in my microwave oven for about 1 – 2 minutes and then place my bread dough in the warm microwave to rise.

This bread is more like a whole wheat loaf of bread, rather than a loaf of white bread.

If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think of it.

I forgot to say that you want to keep your gluten free flours in the refridgerator or freezer.  Then bring to room temperature before using.    

Actually, gluten free baking works best with all ingredients at room temperature before using.

Just in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, my husband brought home some gluten free beer.  Two different kinds to be exact.  Bards and Redbridge.  Both are made from Sorghum.

Just as some background, I like to mow the lawn.  I have a gas powered, push mower with the big wheels on the back.  We have two acres that are cleared and the rest is wooded.  When I mow the grass, it’s my time to think, reflect, and get some much needed outdoor exercise.  And when I am   finished I always love having a nice cold beer. 

Of course that was way before celiac disease.  Now I haven’t had a beer in almost 25 years.  My drink of choice since celiac has been ice cold lemon water.  (I know,  far cry from a beer, but it quenches a thirst.  So when my husband arrived with two bottles of gluten free beer, I was really excited and just a little hesitant to try it.  Would it be as good as I remembered ice cold beer tasting?

First I tried the Bards, it was really good.  I mean really good.  It tasted like real beer.  (At least what I thought I remembered real beer tasting like.)  So I said to my hubby, “Taste this and tell me what you think.”  He said, “It’s good”.

Later I tried the Redbridge, it was good too.  More like a pale ale, than a regular beer.  I used to drink a darker beer, when I drank beer, so the Redbridge seemed a little weak to me.

My preference…..Bards.  It just tasted more like a regular beer.   Even though Redbridge by Anheuser-Busch was the first ever produced, I think the guys at Bard’s Tale Beer Company have nailed it.

By the way, there are more and more restaurants adding gluten free beer to their menus.  Outback Steakhouse for one and P.F. Chang’s for another.  If they don’t serve it yet at your favorite restaurant, keep asking.  The more they realize there are a lot of us out here, the more they will be willing to provide for their gluten intolerant patrons.

If you have tried any of the other gluten free beers, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think of them.  What was your favorite and why?

And I feel I have to say this, drink responsibly, please do not drink and drive.  The life you save will very likely be an innocent sober person.

I have been suffering a bit lately from writers block.  I come up with ideas to write about and then when I start they just seem like the same old rehashed stuff.

So my question to you, my readers, today is: 

 What was the one thing you wish someone would have told you, or would have liked to know when you first became a celiac or gluten intolerant?

I would really like to hear your answers so leave your comments in the comment section or find me on facebook, and leave a comment there.

I look forward to your answers.  Thanks.