Some of my favorite products

Hi!!
Long time no blog. Sorry, life has been so busy, blogging has been pushed to the back of my list. I have been getting a lot of questions lately about good gluten free products for people just starting out on this lifestyle. I spent so much time and money at the beginning to find food that tasted good, and I would love to save someone else's time and money. I will be working on this list a little bit at a time, and adding in the links to sites later. For now, just google any products if you are interested. If I don't do this a bit at a time, I will never get this out. So bear with me, and check back, hopefully I will get this all tweaked in a couple of weeks.

Best gluten free pizza:
Joan's Gluten Free Great Bakes ~(the round NY one) Thick, chewy crust, delicious. When I get this, I am so happy. It tastes the closest to real pizza that I have tasted. No one has else has done such a great job. You can also get a plain crust and do your own toppings. Something I wish restaurants would do.
Better Than Bread ~ Thin crust pizza, yummy. I don't feel deprived when I have this.

Best pancakes:
Pamela's Pancake mix. Non-gluten free children tell me how much they love my pancakes.

Best Waffles:
Van's. I love mine pan fried with butter.

Best Bagels :
Joan's Gluten Free Great Bakes ~ Get them frozen, bake them fresh. Hot. Chewy. Yummy. She even makes a dairy free one. Do your self a favor and order some of these and some pizza at the same time to save shipping costs.

Best Bread:
Rudi's ~ I just found this at my local co-op. Great sandwich bread. Like a gluten free bread, best toasted.
Abigail's ~ Bakery in Weare, NH. They have this yummy cinnamon swirl bread made with millet that my children (who can eat gluten) adore as much as I do. It is a dense bread that can stand up to overnight French toast.
Berry Delicious ~ Bakery in Plymouth, NH. She has a sandwich bread that I love as a toast bread in the morning. Great texture.

Best Pie ~
Berry Delicious ~ Bakery in Plymouth, NH. Oh my. Her pie is awesome. I buy them frozen then bake them when I am going to serve them.

Best Brownie Mix ~
Pamela's, hands down.

I will be adding more to this list and getting the links in here soon. Good luck to those who are just starting out on this diet.

Cheers,
Danielle

Thai Wraps - the easy way

My house is a little dusty..with some small construction work. Cleaning up all that dust does not make me want to spend too much time in the kitchen, but I like to have tasty food. So here goes a quick don't want to cook night recipe (I use the term recipe very loosely here..)



Lettuce to wrap stuff in
Stuff to put in the lettuce
I used red pepper, tomato, shredded carrot
and the Perdue Short Cuts...they are gluten free (yay!!)
And the best ingredient... Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce... so good, it is great on chicken as a sandwich spread..frankly it rocks.

Put all ingredients in lettuce..smother with sauce, and eat.

Cheers!

(For another version of Thai Wraps...try Gluten Free Mommy's....)

Bagels - Chewy, Crusty and Warm....

I thought I would never have a decent bagel again once I knew I had to be gluten free for the rest of my life.

I was wrong.

Joan's GF Great Bakes have resolved that issue for me. I think it is a little expensive, since the items have to arrive frozen, so you have to pay for the cooler/dry ice combo. But making my first yummy breakfast sandwich with a chewy bagel crust made it quickly worth the expense.

I love the everything bagel, cooked, warm with mustard, sauteed ham and cheddar cheese. It could be also great as a hamburger bun. And the classic combo..with decadent cream cheese. :sigh: Brings me back to the days when bagels sandwiches were the thing.

Just to mention this as well...I have tasted her new pizza crust, a friend ordered it, and I think I will be getting some of those for my freezer as well. It was chewy and tasted great.

( I have been meaning to mention this for awhile, but got too busy.)

Enjoy!

Spring.

Spring.

It's here, and I have been loving (almost every) minute if it. I have been feeling so good, and I have been doing so much. As a matter of fact, some days I am doing TOO much. And, then I pay for it for a couple of days, then I am right back out there, gardening, going for walks with my husband, and being happy.

That's why my posts have come to a screeching halt.

I am eight months gluten free, and for the most part it is great. I am used to thinking about what I eat and I am now safe at home. But I do miss the freedom of eating out, at friend's houses, and I miss bread, real crusty bread.

Yesterday, my husband and I walked to downtown from our home, a nice walk, about 3 miles. It was a gorgeous spring day. One of the magical ones. We stopped at a little cafe downtown to get a cappuccino and walk a bit more before returning home.

As we were waiting, suddenly I felt dizzy, and overwhelmed. I glanced at the menu on the wall....panini sandwiches, salads with crusty bread, and the peasant lunch..soup, salad and crusty bread. How delicious it all sounded!!! I was dizzy with desire...and yes...sad. I looked at the menu with my husband, and whispered wistfully, " Sometimes I can't believe I can never eat this again...I miss it..."

Now I must tell you, I have never cheated, nor will I. I don't get tempted per se, but I WANT, knowing I can never have.

There is not sad ending to this little story, we left the shop, and went down to our town's cheese shop. We sampled cheeses and bought some for that night. Nothing like cheese, really good cheese, to cheer a girl up.

Why did I share this? I am not quite sure. Maybe other people feel this way too, and it's always nice to know you aren't alone. Maybe to explain why I have not been here. And maybe, to show people who are just starting out, who think they will never feel any better, that they will. It will be great.

I didn't think it would ever come when I read about other people. And it did. You just wait.

And here is one of my favorite quickie products....my children adore this rice. They dance when I serve it. Check the label..always. The Garlic Basil is a little spicy. My young children prefer, and love, the Coconut Ginger.

A Taste of Thai Rice...YUM!

Mochi

I know that I never heard of mochi until I started a gluten free diet. Here is a definition from the Grainaissance website:

"Mochi is a nutritious bake-and-serve rice snack made from whole grain brown rice. Mochi is all-natural and without additives, preservatives or colorings. It's also wheat-free and gluten-free. Mochi can be eaten in a variety of ways. Just cut into 1-1/2" squares and bake in a pre-heated 450° F oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch

them puff up before your eyes!"

Here is a picture of it after it's done:

It is chewy and moist on the inside, and crunchy outside. It comes in a hard brick in the refrigerated section of your health food store. You simply cut and bake.

Try it, and see if you like it too.

Easy Feta Cheese and Chicken Salad

By the way, I am going on vacation for a few days, so I won't be posting until next Wednesday. I will let you know If I find any good gluten free resources on the road.

I recently found out that Perdue Short Cuts are gluten free. Click here to see the list. Here was another night I did not want to cook. Can you guess the ingredients?? :grin:

Spring Lettuce Mix
Any fresh vegetable you have on hand and like on salad
feta cheese
dressing of your choice

Mix all ingredients. Eat.

Have a wonderful day!

Pizza

So, you are so tired of cooking. You don't want to lift another finger to cook, and you wish you could order out for pizza? I have had a week myself, and was just done. I cooked so many things that failed, were horrible, and I had to throw out.

I saw this in the freezer section and thought I would grab it for an easy night. One caveat, you have to take it out the night before. It was good. I enjoyed it, and I will use it again.

This is the pizza I made with it below, I will tell you the toppings I used, go out get some and give yourself a night off.

(P.S. The cheese on this pizza is not dairy free, but since the crust is, I labeled this post dairy free. )

I topped this pizza with crushed tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, garlic, roasted red peppers, ricotta cheese, mozerella, oregano, and red pepper for spice.

I use jarred roasted red peppers, but did saute the garlic and mushrooms for a few minutes before putting it on the pizza. I like crispy crusts, so although the directions said 15 min. at 350, after the 15 min. were up, I jacked the heat up to 450, and cooked it for about 5 to 7 minutes more. next time I will cook this at a higher temperature.

Grab some wine, beer, or other favorite beverage and relax, you've earned it.