A Good Jumping-Off Point: GDF for Dummies and the Curious

I wanted to share with you guys some of the links that I have found, or that friends have shared with me, that have helped me locate yummy recipes and learn how to incorporate GDF cooking into my everyday life. These resources take some of the guesswork out of cooking.  It can be difficult to come up with ideas for dinner, or any other meal, especially if you are substituting ingredients on the fly.  For any of you that have been GDF for very long, you probably have the staples stocked in your pantry and can cook most recipes this way, but for the newbies, you really have to meal plan.

Meal planning and the effort it takes, can be one of the biggest hindrances to living GDF. You really have to allow yourself some time to start getting into a groove.  There is that age old saying about a habit forming in 30 days, but I would say that this particular habit, at least for me, took about 3 months to form.  I always tell everyone who is starting off that this is not a 'lose weight fast scam'!  You will have to live like this, strictly, for months before you start to see any sort of result.  That's a deterrent for most, but your body has to purge itself of the years of damage you've done to it.  It's like you are starting out at a negative.  For me, my GDF journey started at 24 years of damage and it took some extreme measures and lots of time for my body to recoup from that damage.   This will not happen overnight!

So, if you're starting out, or even you're a veteran who's looking to expand your recipe box, these sites will give you a good place to start from.  Enjoy my GDF-ers!

If you think you might be allergic to gluten or have a sensitivity to it, here's a place you can order a kit for relatively cheap.  I don't endorse doing this all on your own, but if you can't afford a doctor's visit, this is a place to start at least: http://www.celiac.com/glutenfreemall/gluten-test-kits-c-125.html

This site has a comprehensive list of different recipes that not only cater to the gluten challenged, but also to other kinds of allergies as well.  The GDF portion of their site is referred to as GFCF (gluten free, casein free).  http://www.glutenfreeda.com/recipe-sub.asp?cat=29

This lady is a holistic doctor so I like to read her stuff and her recipes are pretty simple, which is great for me!  http://www.glutenfreediva.com/recipes/#

This one cuts out soy too, which I stay away from if at all possible but beware! The pictures on this blog will cause hunger pangs!!  http://www.myrealfoodlife.com/

Pasta, Oil, and Chicken Oh My!

I don't know if any of you are like me, but some nights I get home around 8 or 9pm and haven't yet eaten dinner.  Now, I know the cardinal rule: you aren't supposed to eat after sundown,  but let's get real.  Chances are, if it's 9pm and I haven't eaten, I'm starving, cranky, and most importantly going to eat no matter what the cardinal rule says.  Maybe one day I will get myself on a schedule and eat dinner at a regular time every night...and maybe pigs will fly.  Fingers crossed.

Anyway, as I have stated a billion times in this blog, GDF cooking is anything but quick, so what do you do when you're jonesing for food but don't want to stay up to cook?  The number 1 rule applies here: focus on what you CAN eat rather than what you CAN'T eat.  Below is a recipe I came up with for a quick meal that is yummy and will send you to bed with enough protein to fuel your early morning rise the next day.  Enjoy!

Pasta, Oil, and Chicken Oh My!

Spaghetti

I love Mrs. Leeper's corn spaghetti because it has the closest texture to actual spaghetti out of all of the options I've tried, but there is a catch.  This pasta does not cook like normal pasta.  I repeat, it does not cook like gluten-filled pastas.  You are going to want to start cooking this before you get to your sauce because it takes longer than usual to cook thoroughly. 

 Put on a pot of boiling water and add about a TBSP of olive oil (don't skip this step) to the pot. Once the pot is boiling, take out the amount of spaghetti you would normally add to the pot.  Then add about a 1/4 inch in diameter more.  (This pasta is thick but I've found you need more noodles to hold any sort of sauce.)  Break the pasta in half before dumping into your pot.

The murkiness of the water is a sign
that you're doing it right!

This will cook for a good 20 minutes or so and beware, the water will get murky, so you must check the noodles constantly.  You can't let them just sit in the pot because they clump together really easily and will take longer to cook that way (this is where the oil coms in handy).  I test several pieces of pasta before taking it out because for whatever reason, this pasta seems to cook unevenly.  Once it's finished, drain and set out.  You can drizzle oil on it or you can place it back in the pan with a little bit of water, but don't let it sit too long or the noodles will get soggy.

Sauce
3 garlic cloves
Olive Oil (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 medium sized zuchinni
1/2 small yellow onion
1 can of chicken, or 1 1/2 boiled chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste

I used a 10" cast iron skillet to make this sauce and most of these directions will be to taste, apologies in advance.  Start out with covering the bottom of the pan with oil until you're about an 1/8 " deep.  In a cast iron pan, I let that simmer just a little, until the pan gets nice and hot and the oil becomes ready to soak up all of the flavor I'm about to pour in it. 

**Cooking Tip: Never cook olive oil on anything higher than medium heat as it goes rancid at high temperatures, plus the mess of popping oil is never fun to clean!

Pampered Chef's Garlic Press

Now, once the oil is warm, you can add your minced garlic.  Not to post a plug for Pampered Chef, but fresh garlic is the way to go.  It's so healthy for you and a great way to flavor your food naturally.  Buying minced garlic is just not the same.  Pampered Chef has a garlic press that is out of this world.  I use it literally everyday.  So, press the garlic into the oil and spread around.  Let the garlic get soaked in the oil.  While it's soaking, chop up the onion and the zuchinni into bite sizes and add to the skillet, making sure the contents are continually covered in oil.  If you have to add more oil, now is the time to do it.  Let the flavors marinate.  Once the onion has sort of carmelized, you can add the chicken, once again, making sure the oil is getting tossed over the whole mixture. 

**Cleaning Tip: If you're using a cast iron pan, at this point, you can take it off the heat and let the residual heat from the cast iron pan continue to heat the mixture.  This way the pan is cooling while you are waiting for the pasta, which makes clean up easier!

Once the chicken is finished soaking up the flavor (you can usually tell because it will start to brown around the edges), add the S&P you're ready to go!  Dress the spaghetti with the sauce and welcome to Yum-Town! 

The clean up on this is really simple, because you're only using a skillet and pot, so you can either do it right away or wait until you've finished eating.

Beat the Big-Ticket Bread Prices: GDF bread that's affordable

We've all seen the price tags on GDF products and it can take your breath (and your paycheck) away!  So as you know, this blog is dedicated to helping you find your independence from the hype of gluten-free food and still maintain a healthy GDF lifestyle.  One of the most expensive items based on the value you get, is GDF bread.  It's a joke.  The bread is small and can barely hold together peanut butter and jelly.  It's also priced (in the northeast) at about $0.75/slice!  Hello!  But what can you do about it when your other alternatives are go without or bake it yourself?  I've opted to go without since I tried my first slice almost a year ago.  The taste is sub-par and it definitely does not justify the price.

Glutino's Gluten Free Pantry
French Bread & Pizza Mix

Recently, however, I was making pizza for one of my Pampered Chef cooking shows, and I had a little bit of the mixture left over.  The box that I got from Glutino's Gluten Free Pantry, did say right on the box that I could make pizza or french bread, so I decided to throw the rest of my mix into a loaf pan.

Small pieces served with
dairy free spread are
perfect for pairing
with meals!

Now, making bread is not something I've ever done, so I wasn't expecting much.  I finished making the pizza, letting the dough for the bread rise while I was working.  It probably sat too long, but the bread rose to about 3/4 of the pan.  I stuck it in the oven and voila! It came out and although it was small (which was due to not putting very much batter in there I think), it was pretty good and because it was a mix, the price/value ratio was much more palatable.  The mixture was under $5 and it makes two French baguettes, which you could use for sandwiches, or for just eating.  In my math, that works out to about $0.20/slice, which is pretty good!

Here's the website with the recipe, but it is on the back of the box also, so you don't need to bookmark it unless you want to.  Enjoy my fellow GDF-ers!

http://www.glutino.com/blog/recipes/french-bread-rolls-bread-sticks/

After slicing and serving, make sure to freeze the remaining pieces.
I defrosted the loaf the next day by letting the pan  sit on
top of the oven while I was baking.  MMMMM!

I Love Myself GDF Cinnamon Rolls: You Deserve A Decadent Treat

Everyone gets to cheat on Valentine's Day with chocolate or candies, but not so for us GDF-ers...until now.  These cinnamon rolls are a great way to cheat on your diet without actually cheating!  They are off-the-charts  good (shamefully, I ate half the pan by myself)! They were a complete accident find - I choose to tell myself it was an act of God :).  One day while deciding to use the Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust, I saw the recipe for the rolls, on the back of the bag.  I'd never made cinnamon rolls before, so I figured I'd try.  I switched my lunch menu to something else and made the rolls that night, instead.  Admittedly, it was an arduous process but boy, am I glad I did it! I am not promising that these are fat free, actually on the contrary, these are a very guilty pleasure, but well worth the guilt trip.  They should be called SIN-amon rolls.  Ok, enough with the corny jokes, suffice to say they are Y-U-M-M-Y!!!

Here's the recipe along with some pics I snapped of my finished product.  Enjoy every decadent bite!!


Here's the link for ya'll: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=6932GLUTEN FREE 

CINNAMON ROLLS

Contributed by: Chelsea Lincoln from the Bob's Red Mill Kitchen

This recipe is easy to prepare since it uses the Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix.

Dough

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs*

1 Yeast Packet (from package)

1 cup warm Water

16 oz package GF Pizza Crust Mix 

(3-1/4 cups)as needed White Rice Flour for dusting (I just used my plain ole' all purpose GF flour)

Filling

1/4 cup Butter, melted (or dairy free spread)

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon

Directions

Dough

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Step 2. Add 1 Tbsp of the sugar to the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast packet on top of water and let sit 5 minutes. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to blend in completely.

Step 3. Add the yeast mixture to the butter/egg mixture and blend. Add in the pizza crust mix; blend two minutes. Heavily dust a 2-foot long sheet of wax paper with rice flour. Spread batter over the length of the wax paper, about 19 inches. Using warm water, wet your hands and press the batter outward to fill the sheet. Keep your hands wet. Once the batter evenly covers the wax paper, brush melted butter over the batter from edge to edge.

Filling

Step 1. Combine the cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle mixture over the batter from edge to edge. Pick up the short end of the wax paper and begin carefully rolling the batter over itself like you would a jelly roll. Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch pieces and gently place the disks into the 8 x 8 inch greased pan. It is okay to crowd them.

Step 2. Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cool until the butter stops bubbling then flip out onto a plate. Make 8 cinnamon rolls.Notes

*To replace the eggs, combine 2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp of water; mix and let stand 5 minutes.

I squeezed as many of these rolls as I could in my pan!

You Can Do It! A pep talk for all you gluten/dairy free wannabes.

The thing I hear the most when I tell people that I'm gluten/dairy free is, "Oh I tried that and couldn't do it," or "I just love bread too much to ever do that!"  I just smile and nod because I remember being in that same place.  My sisters would do all of these fad diets and I would sort of do them, more like entertain the idea, really, but never follow through.  I liked what I was eating too much.

I am a pretty determined person, don't get me wrong.  Once I've made my mind up about something, that's it, I'm sticking with it.  It's just making up my mind about something that is the problem for me.  The unique thing about this experience for me, is that I was pushed to do it.  Doctor's orders.  So I didn't have time to decide if this was something I could fit into my life.  GDF became my life before I even knew what it was.  If I would have had the time to deliberate, I honestly don't believe I would have made this decision.  Going sans-gluten requires a lot of prep work and sacrifice.  Thank God I didn't know that when I embarked on my journey!

I remember sitting in my doctor's office for my first appointment, receiving all of this information about how my life was going to change.  My doctor could tell I was starting to get overwhelmed.  (I don't hide my feelings from my face very well!)  He stopped and leaned over the desk and looked at me.  He said, "Look, basically it'll be like this: you're going to stop eating bread and we're going to watch what happens to your body, together.  You'll cry about bread and pasta and milk and cheese for a while.  Then you'll get up one morning and look into the mirror and like what you see.  At that point, you'll lose the desire to eat bread, pasta, milk or cheese, because you'll like what you see more than you like any of that."

I have lived by those words and let me tell you what, he was right!  I woke up one day, 4 months into a gdf lifestyle, happy to look in the mirror again.  I woke up one day not afraid to get on the scale.  I woke up one day and my body felt right, like it never has before.  He was right.  The whole reason I'm telling you this story is so that you have something to hang on to, too.  If you are gluten/dairy free or are trying to go gluten/dairy free, you've probably realized that it's difficult.  But difficult is not impossible, it's just difficult.

If you're reading this blog, than you already have more to start with than I did!  You have more knowledge and information at your hands and that means you have less of an excuse than ever!  Not to sound cliche, but if I can do it, I'm telling you, you can too.  Don't make up reasons why you can't, because in reality, they're just reasons why you won't.  The willpower is inside you and if you want to wake up and be healthy one morning like I did, you'll figure it out.

I hope this story helps all of you who are on the fence.  I'm with you and am a living testimony to the fact that gdf living can change your life and your health, forever!

Vegan Sour Cream: To Try It Or Not To Try It

For whatever reason, gluten free food is not and has never been that scary to me.  Dairy free food on the other hand, is a different story.  So, when it came to cooking, I mostly avoided vegan options.  I just couldn't imagine that anything that has to do with milk can be manufactured, or at least manufactured well, anyway. However, at an event I was hosting, I needed a dip for fruit and I came across this recipe that looked yummy, so into the health food store I went.  As I approached the vegan aisle, I had visions of myself turning and running away, throwing my groceries and pushing people out of the way to get out of the store.  But alas, I needed the sour cream so I pushed through my anxiety and purchased the product.  I gave little consideration to which brand I should choose and just selected quickly before I changed my mind.

 Fortunately, the brand I chose, Tofutti's, turned out to be a raving success in the dip.  I served it to people at the event without telling them it was vegan and no one even knew the difference!

The texture and taste of the sour cream is so similar to regular sour cream, it's hard to tell the difference!

I have since used the sour cream on other things like tacos, fajitas, and as chip dip.  It's become a staple in my kitchen and I'm happy to report that I am now over my fear of vegan food!  Enjoy!

Hello Mashed Potatoes!

This is a short blog today but a really fun tip!  Most people make their mashed potatoes with milk and butter and they are yummy!  However, seeing as the those two are not on the safe list of items to eat, most of us GDF-ers have just nixed mashies because let's face it, water just doesn't do what milk can.  But wait!  There is hope!

Mashies with chicken broth, salt and pepper - yummy!!

Instead of making your mashed potatoes taste like straight up starch with water, or dealing with the unpleasant side effects of 'cheating' by adding milk, try it with chicken broth.  Now, not every brand of chicken broth is gluten free, so you have to do your homework, but replacing milk with chicken broth is a really great way to avoid nasty potatoes.  The broth makes the potatoes smooth while also adding a chicken flavor to them, circumventing the need for butter.  If you still want butter with your mashies, then add some clarified or dairy free spread and you're good to go.

This product is gluten free and works great!

Texture: check!

Taste: check!

GDF: double check!

Enjoy!