What’s Heidi been up to?

Lots of things. Summer vacation, then back to school, and writing.

I worked on some Bible homework that morphed into a lengthy word document, and then three blog posts for our church website. (You can read those posts here.)

I celebrated my birthday.

More Gluten Free Pasta and Product Reviews

Part four in an ongoing series—catch part one: bread, part two, and part three here.

We’re always trying new pasta around here, and today I’m going to tell you about spaghetti squash.

Gluten Free Baking Powder Biscuits

This recipe was written on lined paper and stored in our Betty Crocker Cookbook. It turns out the original was from my mom’s middle school home economics class. (We will not mention how long ago that was.) We played with the proportions of gluten-free flours before settling on the best ratio. This recipe is a basic staple. It makes a quick, versatile dough perfect for strawberry shortcake or garlic cheese biscuits. We also like to wrap the dough around hot dogs for pigs-in-blankets. The biscuits are soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. They're also egg free.

Problems Only Gluten Free People Understand Continued

In case you missed it here's Part 1.

You are annoyed at hidden sources of gluten.

Why does soy sauce have wheat in it? Why do Campbell’s soups have wheat in them, and why do people put canned soup concentrate in casseroles?

Rhubarb Crunch {Gluten Free}

Strawberries and rhubarb are in season right now, and we are enjoying rhubarb crunch. A "crunch" is very similar to a "crisp." A crunch dessert has a streusel-like layer on the bottom in addition to the streusel-like layer that would be on the top only if the dessert were a crisp. One layer means it's a crisp, sometimes called a "crumble," and two layers means it's a crunch. (And while we're on the subject on desserts that start with "C," "cobblers" are fruity desserts that have a biscuit topping, as opposed to crisps that have oats in them.) But no matter what you call it, it's a wonderful blend of flavors and textures.

Problems Only Gluten Free People Understand

You can’t eat normal bread and baked goods.
You don't need to be reminded of the odd flavors and textures.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries Restaurant Review

I’ve eaten at Five Guys multiple times, and in multiple different locations and I can confidently say the food is great, and so is the service. (Sadly, I have not had their milkshakes since they are only available at select locations.)

Basically, everything but the bun is gluten free.

Gluten free knock-off brands

Gluten free versions of popular wheat-containing foods.

Today, my mom brought home a cereal box and stuck it in front of me.

The Car Won't Start!

Wednesday, August 29^th, 2015

The day started out well enough. The whole family, (minus their dad, who was on a business trip) had been to the chiropractor and all felt much better after their visit. They had driven two vehicles so that Mom and the boys could go straight home, and the sisters could run errands. Yet that afternoon mom needed to go out-of-state for wedding reasons, plus she could stay overnight at her mom’s house and run errands in the bigger city stores.

The two sisters (including Yours Truly) went to Meijer for groceries, and managed to get in and out in good time. The girls needed to get home to fix supper and leave for church in a timely manner. They were feeling pretty good about themselves when they got in the tan van and started it up. The radio and A/C came on. They turned the A/C off and lowered the windows, to give the A/C time to catch up with the 90 degree heat.

The Car Won't Start! A True Story by Left and Write

But something wasn’t right.

More Gluten Free Products I've Tried

A while back, I shared Some of My Favorite Gluten Free Breads, and now I'd like to share some more gluten-free products I've tried.

I had way too much fun making this on PicMonkey!

We (my mom, my gf brother, and myself) had a really hard time finding decent gluten free tortillas. Some were brittle and cracked instead of rolling up nicely. Others were tough and chewy. For a bit, we even used our gf crepe recipe, minus the vanilla, as a tortilla recipe. Those tortillas had the opposite problem: they were too soft and fell apart. Finally, we discovered

Cooking Without Mom

I have an idea for a new cooking show: Cooking Without Mom.

We’ll send the mom on a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast*, and watch what happens when her family tries to conquer the kitchen without her.

Cooking Without Mom - Left and Write
Meijer's rotisserie chicken

Perhaps it should be titled Man vs Small Appliances.

Gluten-free Restaurant Pizza

I was minding my own business, browsing the internet, when a banner ad caught my attention. It announced that Pizza Hut is partnering with Udi's Gluten Free brand to make gluten-free pizzas in select locations. I actually clicked on the ad, which is something I wouldn't normally do. (Don't ask me how many times I have accidentally clicked on an ad!)


I couldn't find the exact banner ad again, but you get the idea. Basically, the fine print says if you order just cheese, or pepperoni and cheese pizza, it is certified gf, but if you want other toppings, they are from a shared kitchen so you are taking your life in your hands.

Anyways, I decided to try their pizza and compare it with the gluten-free pizza I have eaten at AJ's Heavenly Pizza. Read on for the review.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Squash Risotto

We originally found this recipe on the back of a Aidells sausage package. Ironically, we are no longer buying those sausages because we found that we like Alfresco better.
The original recipe calls for onion and white wine and Parmesan cheese, but we left those out because we didn't have some of those ingredients on hand and we wanted to make the recipe dairy free.

Some of My Favorite Gluten Free Breads

I've tried a lot of gluten free breads, some of which crumbled and others of which resembled cardboard, but found a few I like. My favorite store-bought bread is Canyon Bakehouse's Cinnamon Raisin bread, followed by their other flavors like seven grain, which you can sometimes find at Meijer. 2021 UPDATE: several years later and I'm still loving Canyon Bakehouse! (Udi's is OK. Past non-favorites include Rudi's and Food for Life brand bread... if you need a way to use up some dry, unappetizing bread, check out this recipe for French Toast Strata, aka Breakfast Casserole or this recipe for speedy stuffing.)

Find Me Gluten Free

Today what I'd like to share with you isn't a recipe but it still has to do with food.

Have you ever wanted to have a fast and easy way of finding gluten free restaurants in your area without playing a guessing game and Googling "Is [restaurant] gluten free?" Or "[Food place] gluten-free menu"? Some places have gluten free menus, but they don't make them easy to find on their website. Or they have a gf menu that is overpriced and not that great *cough* Garden Olive *backwards*. Enter Find Me Gluten Free (http://www.findmeglutenfree.com/)

(I snagged their logo from their home page)

The Simplest Recipe Ever {Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly}

I wish I could say I came up with this, or even tell you who did. I have heard of this recipe both by word of mouth and on the internet, but never with a source. (Darn Pinterest! After some digging, I think this is from Oh Snap! Let's Eat!)

This recipe is the simplest ever because it has only two ingredients, and no measuring.  The only other thing I can think of with few ingredients and minimal measuring might be a frozen banana smoothie. The consistency of a blended frozen banana is like soft-serve ice cream, by the way. If you like recipes that don't require measuring things, these DIY 3 Ingredient Mint Chocolate Covered Pretzels are for you. But back to the simplest recipe ever. Here are the ingredients:

Image likely from Oh Snap! Let's Eat!, via Pinterest

Crepes for tortillas

Recently, I'd had enough with round store-bought place-mats marketed as gluten free tortillas. So maybe they are not that bad, but I have braces right now and I can't chew cardboard. My mom suggested I try using some homemade gluten-free crepes for tortillas. If you Google "tortilla crepes" you'll find that tortillas are often used as dessert crepes, but I reversed that substitution, using crepes as tortillas.

The first time I tried it, the crepes were soft and bendable, but oddly sweet. Omitting the vanilla in the crepes fixed the flavor. These crepes are more oily that typical tortillas due to the coconut oil they are cooked in, but I'm not complaining. They are bendable, but I'm not gonna lie, they do sometimes crack because they are so soft, not because they are brittle.

Oat Baguette Bread {Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly}

I found this recipe for soft and chewy oat baguette bread on Stephanie's Hope For Healing blog. My mom modified it (surprise, surprise) but this time it was not to reduce the sugar, or make it gluten-free because all of Stephanie's recipes are gf, dairy free, soy free, and refined sugar free "as much as possible" according to her bio. Instead, we had to change the recipe because we could not find psyllium husk powder. What is psyllium husk powder? It is the husk of the psyllium ground into powder, silly. Actually, it makes a great thickener. My mom decided to try chia seeds instead.
We had never used chia seeds before, but we had heard them compared to flax seeds, and even used in the place of pectin in refrigerator jam! Generally, we use xanthan gum or potato starch for thickening.

chia seeds

Anyway, I'm sure you all want to know how to make this quick, non-rising, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free bread which does not have eggs, soy, nuts, or yeast either!

Gluten Free Buttermilk Waffles

I have wanted to share this protein-packed recipe for a while now, but my mom kept tweaking it. Her recipe is loosely based on Rice-Soy Waffles recipe found in The Gluten-Free Gourmet Revised Edition by Bette Hagman. (Rest assured the recipe no longer contains soy.) Do I recommend the book? Well, it's funny how I got it. When people found out I had to be gluten free, they gave me gf cookbooks, most of which I skim through and think interesting. But when I want a specific recipe for something, I usually turn to the internet, not the cupboard, for ideas.
Now I give you the tried and true formula for waffles.

Chili and Cornbread {Gluten Free}

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... everywhere is snow! When it's chilly outside, our family loves to eat chili. We recently served chili at our church, and there were no complaints. This chili appeals to the masses with its milder flavor.

Chili Ingredients:

plain chili, before anything else is added

1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (14 ounces) cans of diced tomatoes-- if, early in fall, we have any garden tomatoes on hand, we peel 'em and cut 'em and throw 'em in the pot.
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon coriander
1 cup tomato juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1 (16 ounces) can of navy or Great Northern Beans