It's a Celiac thing - you wouldn't understand...

My friend Teela sent this to me from CNN - it is an interesting article in itself - but the comments on the bottom are priceless!

What a debate! Gluten is the devil, Celiacs are over reactors, I know you are but what am I...

In a nutshell what I took away from it is "It is a Celiac thing - you wouldn't understand."

Easy, fancy, oh so very good...

Troy has always loved Eggs Benedict and will get it at nicer restaurants when we are eating out for breakfast but we never make it at home. I wanted to do something nice for him for Father's Day so I decided to make this for him in the morning.

We had perfected Blender Hollandaise years ago when we made Bearnaise sauce for steak but I haven't made it in over 10 years. Now I know why - it is fantastic! To the point of being an invitation to an obsession... That said - I have controlled myself - somewhat. Purists would say the only way to make it is on the stove. I am not a purist. I like simple and good. I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I changed the servings from 6 to 4 - it made just enough w/a little extra left over.

In a nutshell you take egg yokes and blend it with a good Dijon mustard and a little Tabasco and lemon juice - then add hot melted butter and blend until it is all combined - easy, easy, easy. It is smooth and silky and won't break up like the traditional sauce.

Now time to put it all together. I poached three eggs, toasted three English Muffin halves and instead of Canadian bacon I used chopped bacon. Muffin on the bottom, bacon next, egg then top with Hollandaise. The picture above is the one I made on the second day. The flecks are from a whole grain Dijon I used - I think it adds a rustic look.

Drool...

We loved it so much I got up and made it for Troy again the next morning before he went out of town. Then I stopped. I could eat it every day.

Now I know what you are saying - English Muffins are not gluten free - and you are right. That said everything else is! You could serve it on a gluten free English muffin, a slice of toasted Udi's bread or Udi's bagel 1/2, do it ala Martha Steward and serve it on an artichoke base, serve it on chopped, cooked spinach etc. Or simple serve the sauce over poached eggs. It is hard to go wrong.

Once you realize how easy it is to make Hollandaise Sauce the possibilities are endless. Serve it over steamed asparagus, over grilled chicken or fish, over steamed broccoli or cauliflower - oh so many things. Try it, see if you like it.

Gluten free at The Cracker Barrel

While traveling this weekend we stopped at the Cracker Barrel. We figured we could get some eggs and maybe bacon for Gracie. When we got there we discovered they have a gluten free menu! There were several things on the menu she could have - she picked bacon and eggs :)

I have looked online I could not find an "official" gluten free menu for Cracker Barrel so I called the company. I spoke to a lovely lady named Sandra and she emailed me the following:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us here at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. We appreciate receiving your inquiry and we do understand your concern.

The following is a list of menu items that do not contain wheat, barley, or rye products as an ingredient(the modified food starch in the fried apples is from corn). However, we have an open kitchen where biscuits and dumplings are made from scratch several times daily. Many of our grill items do not contain glutens but are prepared on the same equipment as products that do. There is always a chance that cross-transference may occur.

Please inform a manager of your sensitivity when you visit one of our stores to ensure that every effort is made to prevent the accidental transfer of glutens via the handling and preparation of your meal.

Grill Items: grilled chicken tenders, hamburger steak, ribeye and sirloin steak, grilled catfish, grilled trout, grilled pork chops, country ham, city ham, bacon, eggs, pork sausage, turkey sausage

Side Items: carrots, cole slaw, corn, fried apples, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked potato, pinto beans, turnip greens

Excluding the fried chicken tender salad and chunky chicken (homemade chicken salad) salad, salads ordered without croutons would not contain glutens. See the ingredient statements below for our salad dressings choice.

The vinegars used in the salad refined distilled grain vinegars. According to the American Celiac Disease Alliance, "Distilled alcoholic beverages and vinegars are gluten-free. Distilled products do not contain any harmful gluten peptides. Research indicates that the gluten peptide is too large to carry over in the distillation process. This leaves the resultant liquid gluten-free."

Buttermilk Dressing: cultured buttermilk, soybean oil, water, egg yolk, distilled vinegar, salt, corn syrup, sugar, spices, lactic acid, xanthan gum, guar gum, onion*, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate added as preservatives, garlic*, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, calcium disodium EDTA added to protect flavor. *DEHYDRATED

Peppercorn Dressing: soybean oil, water, sour cream solids, egg yolk, distilled vinegar, salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate added as preservatives, natural flavor, calcium disodium EDTA added to protect flavor.

Honey French Dressing: high fructrose corn syrup, soybean oil, corn-cider vinegar, distilled vinegar, tomato paste, salt, paprika, spices, xanthan gum, onion*, honey, invert sugar, beet juice concentrate, garlic*, natural flavor. *DEHYDRATED

Honey Mustard Dressing: soybean oil, water, high fructrose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, honey, egg yolk, mustard seed, sugar, salt, spice, white wine, natural flavor, xanthan gum, citric acid, tartartic acid, artificial color (including yellow #5), calcium disodium EDTA added to protect flavor.

1000 Island Dressing: soybean oil, water, pickles, sugar, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, high fructrose corn syrup, egg yolk, salt, spice, sodium benzoate, and potassium sorbate added as preservatives, natural and artificial flavors, onion*, bell peppers, garlic*, calcium disodium EDTA to protect flavor, xanthan gum, guar gum, polysorbate 80. *DEHYDRATED

We look forward to having the opportunity to serve you again soon.

Sincerely,

Sandra Vance
Guest Relations Representative
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc."

I appreciate that they state specifically that they make biscuits an dumplings daily and there may be an issue with cross contamination. Of course this is true for any restaurant - but it is good to be reminded. When we were there the sweet, young waitress was really helpful and understood gluten and our need to stay away from it.

We all had a great lunch and everyone got what they wanted - everyone was happy. I had the lemon pepper fish and it was perfect!

Happy traveling!

Cinnamon rolls - num, num, num...

I went to get Udi's Sandwich Bread for Gracie from Herb's & More in Decatur and discovered something glorious - Udi's Cinnamon Rolls! Oh - I had such hope...

They were frozen so I thawed one in the microwave, topped it w/the enclosed icing and served. Warm, sticky, gooey, cinnamony goodness! It tasted as Gracie has been know to say "like it is full of gluten!" They are the size of a big muffin - depending on how hungry she is she will either eat a full one or a 1/2 and save the other 1/2 for later.

We went out of town last weekend and took these with us. She had them instead of dessert at night and instead of biscuits for breakfast. They kept well thawed for the 3 days. My only suggestion would be that instead of 2 bigger icing packets there were 4 smaller ones. It was hard to travel w/an open packet.

At $6 a package of 4 they are about $1.50 each - about what you would pay for a cinnamon roll at the donut shop.

I have to give a shout out to Udi's. Not only is their food gluten free it is DELICIOUS! It taste as good as "regular" baked products w/o the horrible dry crumbliness that gluten free products often have. I hear they have bagels - I am on the lookout for those now.

Cinnamon rolls - ummmmmmm

I just "glutened" Gracie

Ugh, ick, ugh. It just makes me sick.

We have LOVED the Ian's Gluten Free Cookie Buttons. Not only did they taste good they also come in individual packages - perfect for lunches, travel etc.

Earlier in the week I made a quick stop at Sprouts to pick up some snacks. I grabbed come crackers and Ian's Cookie buttons (Chocolate Chip.) Came home - put them in her designated "Gluten Free Snack Bucket" and called it good.

This afternoon she went to get a snack, opened a package and ate a cookie. She noticed they tasted a little different (like coconut) and decided to check the ingredients - it said "Contains wheat! She screamed "It has WHEAT!" We jumped up, ran to the bathroom when she spit out what she could, washed her mouth out and brushed her teeth. I pray she doesn't get sick tonight.

I looked up the package online - they are IDENTICAL!! The graphic at least. One says "Organic" and the other says "Gluten Free" but other than that they are pretty much the same. Check for yourself above.

I called the company - left a message and took full responsibility for not reading the ingredients but am hoping they will consider changing their packaging - I left my phone number and will report back if there is anything to report. I also called Sprouts (the cookies were in the "gluten free area.") The man I spoke w/was VERY nice - said that he also had gotten confused and put the organic cookies in the GF spot because they look so much alike and said he would go to check the shelf.

I accept full responsibility for buying it w/o double checking the package. That said - what a horrible marketing job. If I want Coke I look for the familiar red bottle/can. Diet coke has a silver bottle/can. Lays Potato Chips has different colors for different flavors etc.

I will probably continue to buy the cookies - but w/a cautious eye.

I hope she doesn't get sick - and I hope no one else makes the same mistake.

Update - 7/9/10

We made it through the night - thank goodness! She dodged the bullet this time. The crazy thing about Gracie's Celiac is before she was diagnosed she would get sick about 3 days a week - but she ate gluten daily. It was hit or miss - but when it hit it was HORRIBLE! I am so thankful she is fine. She was so upset and worried - I was as well.

I got a call from Ian's this afternoon. The lady said they have had this complaint before. She did say to always look for the red "Gluten Free" banner. I asked if they were going to be having any other items that were in Organic and GF in similar packages and she said she wasn't sure - and again said to check the red banner. Um - no doubt.

She also said they are discontinuing the "Organic" Cookie buttons and are just going to be making the Gluten free ones - that said the organic ones will still be on the shelf for a while.

She also said they were going to be making a 7 oz. version of the cookie buttons that would be out soon.

So - lesson learned - the hard way. I will be double checking next time before putting items in my basket.

Update 7/10/10

Well - apparently it took some time. Yesterday afternoon Gracie had a bad case of sour stomach that lasted all night. About 2 am she woke us up saying she thought she was going to throw up (she didn't.) Thankfully she went back to sleep and was ok in the morning. She was pretty uncomfortable until it passed.

I am glad it wasn't worse than that - we all were.

My oh my - this looks good! Fluffernutter Cookies

While "Stumbling" I came across "Picky Palate" - a really cool cooking blog. Most of her recipes are original and look really good!

What popped up was Fluffernutter Cookies! All the goodness, none of the gluten, easy and only 3 ingredients! Peanut butter, Marshmallow Creme (Kraft is GF) and an egg!

They sound awesome. They look awesome and I don't care that Gracie doesn't like peanut butter cookies and Sam can't have them - I think I will try it anyway! Ok - maybe I will try it w/Almond butter.

Ummmm - Cinnamon rolls!

This morning I made biscuits for Troy, Sam and I and Gracie had her usual cereal. I was in the other room getting ready and I heard SOBBING coming from the kitchen. Sam was eating his biscuits - which is our usual Sunday breakfast - and all the sudden Gracie had "missed" biscuits. She cried for a while - it broke my heart.

A while back I purchased some Chebe Cinnamon Roll Mix - I thought tonight would be the perfect night to try it.

It was really easy to make - egg, oil (I used melted butter), 3 Tbsp apple sauce and some milk. I only had blueberry/pomegranate apple sauce and it gave the mix an interesting color. The package had several recipes on the back - I chose the "spiral" way because it just looked easier. In a nutshell I made thin "ropes" out of the dough then placed it on a plate w/some brown sugar. I pressed a little brown sugar against the rope then coiled it together where the sugar was in the middle. I put a small dot of butter on top and placed it on the baking sheet and baked according to the package directions - it took the full 30 minutes.

The end results looked like - well... you be the judge! :) However it was DELICIOUS!! The butter caramelized the sugar on the bottom which added to its yumminess. The top was an interesting color - it didn't' really "brown" but since the dough already had a brown color it wasn't unappealing. It had a crisp texture on the outside and a chewy texture on the inside - similar to the Chebe Cheese Bread.

Some tips: My friend Jennifer said she made the rolls but the outside burned before the inside cooked. Because of this I made my "ropes" thin and the rolls small. It made about 20 rolls this way. I used my Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer w/the dough hook attachment - I use it for the cheese bread as well. I had to add a small amount of water (2-3 Tbsp) to get the dough to come together in a ball - it was sort of crumbly before that. Use two hands to roll the rope - pulling apart as your roll - it is "springy" and will try to pull back together.

I am glad I made it! Gracie was happy and satisfied. She had a dessert for tonight and a breakfast for tomorrow. She may always miss "real" biscuits but at least she knows there is still yummy baked goods to be had.

Glutino Pretzles

We went to Central Market last night and as always we looked around to see what we could find that might be new. When Gracie was first diagnosed we tried the Glutino Pretzels - but we tried the braided ones - she didn't like them. I always hoped she might try them again but was never interested. Well... last night she decided she would. The helpful "Foodie" opened a bag of pretzel sticks and said that kids usually prefer these to the braided type. She LOVED them!

We ended up getting a big bag and when she woke up this morning she wanted to have some. We decided they would be really good with peanut butter (her staple protein.) I tried them and they were really good! If they were not so expensive I would get them as a snack for everyone - however at $5 a bag they are a Gracie treat alone.

Have I told you we LOVE cheese bread??

These are mine --->

This is the "Professional" bread :)
Well we do! We love it enough we bought a case of Chebe Bread Mix to keep on hand - I always double the batch to freeze individual servings - just pop in the oven and we can have cheese bread whenever we want.

Well... while stumbling on "Stumbleupon" I came across the blog "Simple Recipes." They have a really interesting "Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread" recipe that you make in a blender. Fascinating! I like that you can make it ahead and keep it in the fridge for a few days - cheese bread all week!

I have everything at home needed to make this - I just might try it tonight (or maybe tomorrow...)

5/3/10

Well I tried it! The Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread recipe. It was really easy to make. Just dump it all in the blender, pulse then pour. They were really good - could have used a bit more salt but a satisfying crispiness on the outside and a nice, soft, cheesiness on the inside - not to mention - they were HOLLOW! Way cool and completely unexpected. Something the hollowness does is make them light and airy - it also gives you an excuse to eat several!

Very different from the Chebe Bread mix we use. If you look at the picture of the breads in the Pampered Chef Mini Muffin Tin you can see the one muffin that was turned over has a little hole in it. Several came out this way. I can see a number of things to do with this - fill with herbed cream cheese, chicken salad, ham salad... the possibilities are endless! They are like cream puffs - but cheesy.

It could have used a little salt - I would add a couple of shakes from the shaker next time. Gracie prefers the Chebe Bread but also likes these. This will be something easy to whip up in a flash for dinner.

I made them last night and made a few then stuck the rest of the batter in the fridge. Today I pulled it out, gave it a quick pulse then cooked the rest. Really easy!

What I love about them is they are GOOD! What Gracie loves about them is they are bread - really good bread. Often she will eat them in the morning with her eggs while we have our biscuits. She is happy, we are happy and all is right with the world.

(In the voice of the narrator from Sponge Bob)

"20 seconds later..."

I had JUST pressed "send" when Troy and Gracie came in and said "We figured out what to do with the hole in the bottom! Squeeze Cheese!" Or as it is officially called "Kraft Easy Cheese" - the day glow cheese in a can (which is also gluten free!) They stuck the nozzle in and squeezed the day glow goodness inside. Heaven - or something like it... It was really good - not as good as the fancy herbed cheese stuff in my imagination :)

It is Potluck and Picnic time!

It is always hard to find things to take to picnics and potlucks that EVERYONE will enjoy but also that is gluten free. I came across a Jello recipe and thought "Jello!!" There are so many recipes that use Jello that are already GF and many others that can be easily altered to make them GF (instead of graham cracker crumbs use GF cookie crumbs...)

I posted a while ago about the Jello Cake we used to make back in the day and "Teela's Jello Salad." Here are a BUNCH of recipes from Jello website. Try something new and report back!

I just "Stumbled Upon" this one! One ingredient ice cream!

Troy has been a big fan of "StumbleUpon." You click on what you are interested in, push the "stumble" button and it will take you to random sites. This is how I found the cake below and how I found this delightful ice cream idea!!

One ingredient ice cream. That's right - ONE INGREDIENT! The recipe is on "The Kitchen" site. In a nutshell freeze bananas, blend and voila! Creamy ice cream. Dairy free, gluten free, sugar free... Nothing but bananas.

I think I will have to try this one.

Update 4/21/10

We tried the "ice cream" and it was GREAT! Surprisingly so.

I had three bananas that were "just turning." They were not brown but they were perfectly spotted which means sweet and delicious. I sliced them and put the in the freezer. Tonight I put them in my little "Oscar" - or small food processor - and beat the heck out of them! At first they were sort of crumbly and hard - almost like chopped nuts. Gracie and I tried it at this point and she thought they had the taste and texture of banana split Dippin Dots. I thought it was really good but thought Sam would probably prefer they be sweeter so I added about a teaspoon of honey and a few drops of good vanilla - then I beat the heck out of it again! My poor little Oscar! It had never worked so hard. It started to make a "hot" smell - a little concerning. Next time I will "chop them" until they are the chopped nut consistency then let it sit for a minute just so it can soften a bit - but not too much.

When it started moving from the chopped nut consistency to a smoother one it started "balling" up like bread dough might - then it let go and started getting a whipped consistency similar to semi frozen Cool Whip. It turns to a soft serve consistency. I assume you could put it in a container and freeze it solid.

It was yummy! Gracie LOVED it, Troy thought it would be good as a base for sundaes and Sam thought it was "OK" and added chocolate syrup (he is NOT a fruit eater :) I tried a little chocolate on mine and it took on a banana split flavor. We will be doing this again.

Of course many ice creams is gluten free but it is rarely this good, this healthy and dairy free!

PS: Needless to say the picture on top is mine!

The Master Baker - Gluten Free Cake

A friend had this on her Facebook page - I thought it was AWESOME! It uses pecans as the base instead of flour and egg whites to give it lift. Sadly Gracie doesn't like nuts in things but I think I might try this for myself some day.

Gesine Bullock Prado (Sandra Bullock's sister) is a baker, blogger and cookbook author. She shows how to make her Mom's cake - changing the name from (find out yourself :) to The Helga Cake! It looks fantastic. It is Gluten Free. What is not to love??

Even if I don't make the cake I am going to HAVE to try the icing - that looks fantastic. I love finding different - and yummy - things for Celiacs to have that are "normal" without the nastiness of gritty gluten free flours and ingredients we can't pronounce. Enjoy!