Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Rudi's to the rescue!

So, as most of you know, I've been wheat-free for 8 1/2 years.  During that time, I discovered Rudi's spelt bread, which to my taste was the best, most delicious, "closest-to-real-bread" I found.  When I started going completely gluten-free this February, I realized that the hardest thing to create without gluten is actually bread. Imagine my excitement, then, when I learned that Rudi's started making a gluten-free line of breads in July.  I got some last weekend, and it is great!!  Great texture, flavor and it holds together well.   I'm soooooo happy!  And, they sell it here in Corvallis at the Co-op (and perhaps some other places).

Also, last Saturday I went to the Gluten Free Food Fair at a store called LifeSource Natural Foods in Salem.  I had some super great onion rings made with a mix called The Celiac Maniac Batter Mix.  It is so new that he didn't even have it in the store yet, but did sell me a bag he had with him.  I went with Cynthia, a friend from work, and her roommate, Sarah.  It was fun to see all these locally-made gluten-free products, and to get to taste them, too.  I heard about this store and fair as I was searching online to see where to get Authentic Foods flours, which had been recommended in a cookbook. They sell this flour in bulk, which is super, so I'll try it out and let you know.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Even the best laid plans...

So, I'm wondering if my container labeled "gluten-free" oats is actually not correctly labeled.  The muffins taste delicious, but something I ate yesterday is irritating my intestines.  Isn't it great to have such instant feedback?

At my parent's house yesterday, we realized that Goddess dressing has wheat!  Ugh.  I never thought to check that, so that could also be the culprit.

In any case, I'll take a break from the muffins and see if that helps.  Alexander can keep eating them, which was one of the main goals for making them in the first place.  I've discovered that it is really nice to have something easy and ready to go in the mornings for our breakfast.   Muffins freeze well, so I can make up a bunch and then unfreeze them as needed.  And, they are also great for travel and camping.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Banana muffins

Hi!

I'm back to blogging.  I guess I just took the summer off.  It has been a very busy few months, so I haven't had a chance to do any posts.  But, I made some wonderful gf banana muffins today and wanted to let you know.

I wanted to make sure they were 100 % gluten free, so I took the recipe at http://half-bakedbaker.blogspot.com/2009/01/guilt-and-gulten-free-oatmeal-banana.html and used 1 c. brown rice flour and 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mills' Mighty Tasty Hot cereal instead of oat flour and added 1 Tbls. of applesauce. I used Agave syrup instead of brown sugar and I also added about two tablespoons of flax seeds and my now "signature" few tablespoons of applesauce.

They turned out great!  And, Alexander LOVES them.  He's already had part of three of them today.

Hopefully, I'll be back soon.