Sensational Snickerdoodle Pie Crust

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

Enjoy Life Foods Snickerdoodle CookiesI have been a fan of Enjoy Life’s Snickerdoodle Cookies for a long time. They are like crack to me - once the box is opened I won’t stop eating until they are gone. So when I ran across their recipe for Sensational Snickerdoodle Pie Crust, I just had to try it out.

The results were delicious! We made pumpkin pies with this crust (I used lard instead of margarine) and it was the hit of the night. I may have to chain myself to the treadmill after thanksgiving, but I will probably make a bunch of these!

GFCF Snickerdoodle Cookie Pie Crust

Bet you can’t  eat just one!

Easy GFCF Bread

Friday, March 2nd, 2007

Our local grocer is in the process of remodeling. Because of this, they have lost about 1/3 of their frozen foods section - eliminating less popular items like gluten free bread. So to get bread we either need to make a 1/2 hour drive or make it ourselves. While we have a lot of experience and success in GFCF baking, my bread always turns out horrid!

Well, no more! I have finally figured out a quick, easy, and (relatively) cheap way to keep my kids sandwiches supplied with a bread like substance that I can make without fail. What is the secret to my newfound success? Flatbread. It’s no-rise, it stays together, and my kids will eat it. However, it is definitely not wonder bread - your kids will have to be willing to have bread that looks and tastes a little different. Mine think it tastes better and have had not a single complaint. Cost-wise it all depends on how thin and big around you roll them out - I’m getting about a loaf’s worth out of a 22 oz bag of sorghum flour - making the cost a bit less than most prepared GFCF bread. It’s been a major convenience improvement for us!

Review - easy GFCF dinner

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

We’ve been extremely busy this month, and have been missing the ability to have easy meals - like ordering a pizza. After a bit of work, we finally came up with an easy GFCF dinner we were able to buy at our Ian's AlphatotsIan's Sweet Potato Friesneighborhood grocery store. (Disclaimer: it’s a ‘gourmet’ grocery store for all of the rich people on the other side of the tracks…. you won’t find this stuff at Super Wal-Mart.) So without further ado - our easy four course GFCF meal:

1) Course one: Ian’s Sweet Potato Fries or Alphatots. They are both GFCF. The Sweet Potatoes have soy oil, so you’ll want to watch out for them if you are soy sensitive.

Applegate Farms Uncured Turkey Hot Dogs2) Course two: Applegate Farms Uncured Turkey Hot Dogs. I believe most of their hot dogs are GFCF and SF, but their website doesn’t make nutritional information easily accessible - so read the label before buying them (like you don’t already spend hours reading labels at the store)

3) Course three: Frozen veggies. Usually broccoli, as it’s a cruciferous veggie, high in vitamin c and antioxidants. Sometimes green beans or peas - especially if the organic ones are on sale!

4) Course four: lacto-fermented foods. We make our own sauerkraut and pickles, using the recipes from “Nourishing Traditions“. The ‘good’ bacteria help keep our intestines healthy and happy. They are pretty darn easy to make, and when we keep them handy (having a small serving at dinner) the sensitive stomachs seem to perform much better.

While this is still a lot more work than ordering a pizza, in 15-20 min we can have a hot meal - and if you keep the hot dogs, veggies and fries in the freezer it’s an easy meal that can be kept around long term, “just in case”. We’ll have this meal when an experimental dinner recipe has bombed.

Review: Sunspire Tropical Source GFCF chocolate chips

Friday, December 29th, 2006

GFCF chocolate Chips Sometimes it just seems that you need a little chocolate to get through the day - my DW is often quoted as saying “there isn’t enough chocolate in the whole world” after an especially trying day with Dorthy. When first going GFCF, chocolate was one of the things I missed the most - which is why these chocolate chips were truly a find. They are, of course loaded with sugar, and contain soy - so they are a sometimes treat for me and not an everyday staple. (GFCF soy free chips are available and I’ll review them soon, but they are a bit waxy compared to tropical Source). Sunspire has made Christmas and my birthday just a little bit nicer, with a GFCF chip that tastes even better than Hershey’s. They make candy bars as well, but I’ve only found them online by the dozen, and I don’t think I have enough willpower to ration them, so I haven’t tried them yet - once a bag of chips is opened it never lasts more than a day - even if the recipe only calls for 1/2 a cup…