We Eat Gluten Free

Okay...for the most part our family eats gluten free.  When my hubby was diagnosed almost 6 years ago with Celiac Disease I decided that we would all go gluten free to keep things simple (not completely since I still buy bread and do some baking with wheat flour for the kids).


Since then I have been asked numerous times about advice when it comes to eating gluten free and what kinds of products you can eat...etc....  Now I am no expert and my husbands situation is a little different than most because he feels no different symptoms than what he is used to living with having colitis.  What makes this hard is that if he were to have wheat he wouldn't feel any different where someone else might get sick and know the effects right away.  We eat gluten free because even though he doesn't notice any differences, it keeps his small intestine working properly so that he can absorb nutrients and I've been told help keep cancer away...so it's worth it!!


When I started cooking for our family it was very overwhelming.  I didn't know where to look or what to cook so I asked lots of questions from my friend and tried to read anything I could find on the subject.  A lot of the items I cooked did not taste good...it was a change and we were not used to it.  It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what we liked and didn't like, which I am happy to share with everyone but just remember that it is personal preference for a lot of things.  So something we enjoy you may not.  My goal with gluten free is to ALWAYS find things that taste "normal."  I like to try and see if I can find or make something that nobody would be able to tell is gluten free.


So here it goes....  (If you have questions or notice things that might not be correct ask...I am constantly learning and ingredients change).

• Some of the places I get things you'll have to try and find places close to you...I'll share where I get things anyway and if you live in my area you will know. And maybe the grocery stores near you can even order things in for you??

  There are a lot of different flours out there when you start actually baking, but I've found that brown rice flour, rice flour and sweet rice flour are easy to substitute a lot of things. You can't just trade out flour the same way, so it does take some practice...and you also have to freeze your flour once it's opened (I've always done this, but other people don't so you'll have to decide what you want to do). I have a million different flours in my freezer and have kind of figured out the ones we like and the ones we don't like. The best places to get flour (I have found) is Save-on Foods, Sobeys and Planet Organic.  Yes, I am driving to 3 different stores sometimes, but to get the best mix of flours and ones we like you have to.  I find Planet Organic great...especially when I need to buy bigger amounts of flour (this is also where I get sweet rice flour). So if I knew that I needed more of the specialty flours I would make a trip to Planet Organic, but if I just need rice flour or brown rice flour I can easily find it at any local grocery store.  I like the kinnikinnick all purpose flour mix the best. It's way better than Bob's Red Mill....(I find Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour to have a weird taste).  My mom also recently made banana bread from the xo baking co. all purpose flour and it was great too!  So you just need to try a couple to find one you personally like.  I also will follow a recipe from a cookbook to make my own mix, but for ease any of these mixes will do the job.  Almond flour is a good flour to use in baking too, but you still have to use other flours as well. And then xantham gum and guar gum are basically the same and can be traded out for each other. You don't really need both so just choose one cause they're expensive.

  udi's gf bread tastes totally normal...at least the most normal we've found. For some reason gf breads usually only taste somewhat okay when you toast them...otherwise they get kind of gritty, but Cody has no problem with this bread. We do of course keep it frozen, but I can make him sandwiches with it and it's good. Just to be clear...when I buy Udi Bread I keep it in the freezer and then when I use it to make sandwiches I ALWAYS toast it. Any of the bread gets a gritty texture if it's left out, so I only take out what I need right in the moment.  And that even goes for most of my gf baking.  I never leave it out on the counter or in the pantry...it always either gets put in the fridge or freezer.

  Another product we love is the kinni-kwik bread & bun mix (from Save-on...it's a kinnikinnick product). I mix it up and pour it...yes...you pour this bread mix since it's quite runny (think thicker pancake batter) into a mini muffin tin and then cut up a gf grimm's hotdog and make them into little corn dogs. Everyone loves them (not only gf eaters) and they're so simple. My sister in law who lives in a small town loved them so much (and she is not gf) that she has their grocery store order in the mix and she buys it all the time. Her whole family loves them.  Another version I make is a little pizza bun.  I'll fill the muffin cups and add pizza sauce, cut up grimm's ham or whatever kind of meat I have on hand and sprinkle cheese on top and bake.  Easy.

  Pamela's products are really good. We have used the waffle mix and it was really really good!

  Our favorite brownies are the Gluten Free Pantry ones (if I'm using a mix), but I've also heard the namaste mix is really good too. I haven't tried them yet, but I need to.  I personally like homemade versions the best, but these are great for a quick dessert.

  We are still on the search for a good pizza crust. So far I haven't found anything as good as real pizza crust. But the frozen premade kinnikinnick pizza crusts are the best I've found so far...not totally the same, but they taste good. Or Udi makes a good one too...which you will find in the frozed section of the grocery store.  If you are ever in Vernon, BC there is a pizza place that makes gf pizza and it is really good! The best we've had anywhere!!

  All the Tinkyada pasta tastes completely normal which is nice! Even if I was making lasagna I wouldn't cook the pasta first like it says I just make sure sauce covers the whole noodle and add a little extra sauce. But honestly this pasta tastes really good. It's the only pasta I buy now. Our whole family just eats gf pasta instead of making two different kinds of noodles. You'll just have to decide what to do for your family since gf is more expensive.

  And I also have a gf pinboard on pinterest. The recipes I've tried from there have all been good. Anything I've made I comment underneath, so you'll know if I've made it yet or not!

  And remember...you have to be very careful eating gf cause even a crumb can make you feel the same as if you ate a piece of bread. That means no sharing butter...jam...pb...anything like that. Everything has to be separate. It's a lot of work, but you just kind of get into a system! I label all the gf items in the fridge so we don't accidentally share.

  I use the the betty crocker cake mixes to replace mixes in my normal recipes. They're usually around $6...so more expensive, but they taste good and are easy for quick desserts.

  At superstore the reduced fat cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup are gf. Just read the label...they use corn starch. So make sure it's the reduced fat kind.

  You can also buy corn tortillas that we use for tacos...or the hard shells are usually gf just check the ingredients first!

  Thai kitchen has Rice noodle bowls that are gf...found in the asian isle of any grocery store. There are a few different kinds to pick from and that's Cody's version of itchiban. I sometimes will add some frozen mixed vegetable (I'll cook them first).

  Most Kraft salad dressings are gf...except cesar...again it's just always important to read the labels.

  Watch out for malt, barly, rye, and of course wheat, spelt....

  Campbells Tomatoe & Basil soup is gf

  Kraft bbq sauce is gf (there are other kinds too that will say right on it if its gf)

  VH Soy Sauce is gf

  This lady in our ward said that she eats Quaker Oats no problem, but you just can't eat more than a cup a day.  Hearing this made me soooo happy since there are some great recipes that use oat flour (which I grind myself).  Don't buy generic oats though...stick with Quaker or a gf certified oats package.

  Avoid...Food Starch, Hydrolized Plant Protein and spices when reading food labels

  McCormicks spices are gf

  Some things like corn pops and captain crunch that don't have wheat in them are still not gf since they are produced in factories that make things with wheat so you just have to be careful with things like that.  Always always always read labels and be aware of what else may be processed in the same facotry.

  Someone else also said you have to watch shampoo and lotions, and lip glosses but we've never worried too much about those things.  

  Honestly most of it is learning to cook from scratch which I didn't do very good before.  

  The great thing too is there are endless fruits and veggies that you can eat!  

  
  

  I know this turned into a random post...full of little pieces of advice, but there's just so much to share.  Hopefully I've helped you in some way.  And if you have more advice please share!!  I love helping out!

  
  

  
  

  K :)

  
  

  p.s. I'll share some favorite blogs, websites and recipes soon!

  
  

It's what we eat....

Okay...first of all...you guys are way to sweet with your comments on the picture of me and Maguire.  Seriously.  I was just out with my 2 besties and we were talking about our wrinkles!  Getting older is not fun, but you have sure made me feel good :)  So thank you!


Lately I have been eating horrible.  Eating junk food that I never eat.  Chips have never been my thing and honestly I usually only eat them when there is some kind of yummy dip or in a taco salad...that kind of thing, but lately I have found myself snacking on chips.  What is up with that????  And with all the junk I've been eating means I haven't been feeling very good.  When I was pregnant I had a really hard time with food and ever since I've been really careful what I eat (for the most part).

This week I have made an extra effort to get back to eating better so I thought I would share some of the things we've been eating lately.

Let's start with breakfast!  It is the most important meal....

Pumpkin Granola is our favorite!  I eat it almost every morning and the kids even love it!  One of our favorite ways to eat it is mixing it with yogurt and blueberries...yummy!!

I've made my own granola too by following this recipe.  It was sooooo easy and really good!  I actually toasted mine a little too long...oops!



Lunchtime

Okay this week it's been wraps.  I bought the greek salad from Costco, but instead of using it as a Greek Salad I've been using it in wraps!  You don't have to worry about all the cutting and chopping...super simple!  I just added some lettuce and spread my own cream cheese mixture (cream cheese and sundried tomato spice mix) on the tortilla.  Since the kiddies don't necessarily like all the veggies in their wraps I made small little sushi wraps (if I called it sushi Ryker had no problem eating it) that just consisted of the tortilla and the cream cheese mixture!


Supper...

The Santa Fe Chicken Salad from Earls has to be my very favorite!  Love it!!!  So when I came across this recipe I had to try it.  Now it's no Earl's, but it was still really good.  Salads are my favorite!

On Monday night I made Island Spice Pork Tenderloin and my hubby said it was his favorite!!  It was really really yummy!!  I'll be making this again for sure.

One of my hubby's favorite things is steak.  We recently tried this recipe and it was really good...molasses chili!!

Another favorite of mine is sweet potato fries...love love them.  I made this recipe last night and the whole family loved them, but we also love this recipe my friend shared on her blog.


Baking!

For Ryker's half birthday we made this cake.  This was our first time.  I had made a similar cake back in April, but it used ground almonds instead of the beans and I liked that version way better.  But...this wasn't bad...really....

Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies!!  Need I saw more??!!  They were amazing.



Just a few recipes.


Getting back on the healthy eating kick and feeling a bit better :)


K

Recipes

Still scrapbooking these pictures :)

I have a big stack sitting on my table, so they are easy to grab when I have a couple of minutes to be in my room.  But I'm not going to talk again about keeping things simple...blah..blah..blah....  I go off on that enough.  No tonight I'm sitting in bed watching a movie and eating pull apart lemon coffee cake...seriously yummy!!  I actually got the recipe after "pinning" it on pinterest.  haha!!  I've made an effort to actually try new recipes this year and pinterest has been a great source.  There are countless yummy pictures with links to recipe upon recipe....


I thought I'd share some of my favorite recipes I've discovered over the past year.  Now some will be gluten free since we generally eat that way, but not all of them.  I'll make sure to mark the gf ones so you can skip over them if you're not interested.


I'll start with some favorite chicken recipes...

Blackened Chicken...thanks Martha for this recipe!!  It's seriously one of our very favorites!  Be prepared cause it is spicy...Cody also likes this seasoning mix on steak.  We love to Bar-B-Que.

Spicy Honey Chicken...I have to say that this site has a ton of great recipes...it's definitely a favorite cooking site for me!  And this chicken recipe is by far one of my very favorites.  I love the chicken the next day cold and cut up in a salad!!

Chicken Tacos...I loved these, but probably wouldn't fry the shells next time.  Less oil smell and I always feel like it's too heavy.  Fryed food just doesn't mix well with me.  But these were really really good!!  And p.s.  I've tried a few recipes from her site and loved them...another great place to check for new supper ideas.


Other supper options

Baked Potato Soup...I love soup.  It's comfort food for me!

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork...this is such a simple crockpot meal.  My family loves it and everyone who tries it for the first time usually asks for the recipe.  I think I would eat this every week if my husband would let me.  There's so many different ways to eat it...salad...wrap...on a bun...taco.  It's really good.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls (pao de queijo)...these are gf and so yummy!  They're like a little hollow cheese muffin really.  The whole family loved these!  I think we ate them with soup if I can remember right.  hmm...now I'm trying to remember what we ate these with.  haha!

Home made potato chips and avocado ranch dip...okay...I make home made potato chips alot.  And honestly we love love them.  But the last time I made them when my sister was here I made the avocado ranch dip and it was beyond yummy.  It was so good.  I have an avocado ripening right now that will be perfect for this tomorrow!  Another pinterest recipe :)

Best Ever Potato Salad...that's a big thing to claim, but it's true!  Anyone who says they don't normally like potato salad always always says they love this.  I've made it a few times this past month and every time I had people asking for the recipe.  Thanks again pinterest!


And I love dips!!!

Black eyed pea dip...I loved this, but my hubby doesn't love beans and things like that so he just said it was okay.  Just being honest with you.  I personally thought it was great...and the kids both ate lots so that says something.

Pesto Artichoke Dip...I wanted to make this again the other night, but I couldn't get the lid off the glass jar.  I had bought the really big glass jar of artichoke hearts from Costco...the lid is stuck on good.  And yes, maybe I am a little weak...haha!!


Baking

gf Cinnamon Buns...I can not even begin to tell you how happy I was to come across this recipe.  It is amazing how 'normal' they taste.  I know that sounds kind of bad, but we have a hard time finding baking that tastes somewhat normal when comparing it to items made with wheat flour.  It can be hard when you start mixing flours since you rarely just use one.  This recipe takes some time, but it is worth it once in awhile :)

Strawberry Coconut Cake...of course I adapted this recipe to be gf and it turned out really yummy!!  It was a pretty pink color and tasted great!  A perfect summer cake.

and then of course I mentioned the Pull-Apart Lemon Coffee Cake...which I would say is more like a cinnamon bun kind of thing, just rectangular and comes apart in sheets.  I can't stop eating it.  I love lemon stuff though, but I'm sure you could use cinnamon and sugar instead and it would be just as yummy.


I really need to get to bed though...I'm starting to get hungry and it's midnight.  Not a good thing :)


K

They were yummy!!

I was at anthro a few weeks ago and came across this book!  If you remember this post from way back when I wanted to perfect the macaron...haha!  Silly me...didn't know what I was getting myself into.  But after purchasing my new book and following the recipe exactly, I made these...

They were soooooo yummy!!  Now I just need to start experimenting with other flavors and colors.  The possibilities are endless I tell ya!

And bonus...they're gluten free so the whole family can eat them!  haha!

K :)

evaluating

So today I'm evaluating my goals.  Every once in awhile it's a good thing...otherwise I forget completely about the things I've been wanting to improve on.  It happens.  

I'm doing good in some areas...like finding time to read.  I finally finished reading little bee...which was a good read...and instead of looking through my pile of books to read under my bed I made a trip to Chapters Monday night.  I love buying books.  If only I could read as fast as I'm buying...haha!  

Project Life is coming along...I'm just not very patient at getting my pictures in.  I want it done now.  But I have a year ahead of me.  It's coming though.  The album is all put together and I absolutely love it!  I have it in our living room and keep flipping through the one week that is completed.  :)

I've managed to get a few pictures of myself.  As long as there are a couple it's an improvement from last year.  haha!

Yesterday I finished a little table that I had started back in the summer.  I'll have to share some pictures when it find a home :)

And the big area I need help in is the exercising.  I'm having such a hard time fitting this into my schedule.  I know the gym is out for me, but there has to be something I'm willing to spend time doing at home.  Anyone that has workout equipment at home...is there something you think was worth spending money on?  Like a treadmill or eliptical?  I'm not sure I want to spend money on something like that, but I keep throwing the idea around.  I kind of think I'd use it for the first month or two and then fall back into my routine of not doing anything.  Okay.  Maybe this week I need to evaluate my time and see where I can fit it in.  I think I need to cut some laying around out and fill it with exercise.  hmm....

Today the boys and I made cinnamon buns...gluten free style :)  They are just getting ready to go in the oven and I'm hoping they taste good.  I don't know why I keep attempting to bake gf when Cody doesn't seem to really like the result.  haha!  The boys and I always end up eating the baking and Cody won't touch it.  I try.  :)

I hear a little boy bouncing in his crib, so I should run get him before he pulls everything off the walls like yesterday!  I just can't keep up with these boys...it's seriously been one of those weeks.  That's a whole other post though.....

K :)