More Shocking Items

Ok this upset me tonight but it also made me really think about all the crap we put in our bodies that we really do not realize.

Today I made a recipe for Egg Fo(Fuu) Young with gravy. Ok not bad in itself... eggs, shrimp, bamboo, soy sprouts, mushrooms and for seasoning some dry sherry, pepper and salt. Nothing in there to be a bother.

Now comes that gravy. It's also made from scratch and that isn't the problem. In all you'd also figure it to be a "safe" food. Chicken stock, some fish/oyster sauce, dry sherry, soy sauce and some corn starch to thicken it all.

Here comes the kicker.... the fish sauce is just that... fish stuff, the chicken stock I make from cubes so that is ok. Then me and my husband the night after making this looked at a bottle of believe it or not, BBQ sauce that I put on his dinner tonight (bare with me, this has a point). I was going to put some on mine but had enough sense to read the label before pouring it all over my chicken... sure enough it has wheat in it. Now that I kind of expected but what does BBQ sauce have to do with the above... well the whole fact is the part of the BBQ sauce that had wheat in it was the SOY SAUCE!

OMG.... so with that I took out the bottle of the soy sauce I used in the gravy and sure enough WHEAT! *GROWL*

Now I had this meal last night and I liked it so much I had some more today. Last night it was a meal so I didn't eat nearly enough to give me a problem by the next day but today it was just taking a bit here and there as my 'food thoughout the day. I didn't eat anything else and sure enough tonight I have my normal 'you ate something with wheat in it' feeling. Heavy tummy, coldish, a bit of pain in the tummy area, a bit of a problem breathing due to the heaviness.

So please.... watch EVERYTHING you put in your food. Even things as simple as soy sauce can cause problems because sure enough it has the 1 thing we're trying to stay away from!

Tired and Down

Well I guess this would be my official 'I'm tired of this diet' spot of this whole thing. I'm sure we all get it and I know I'll get over it but *growl* I hate this really at this point. The biggest time that I hate it is every week when I have to buy bread for my husband's lunches. The sweets and such aren't a problem really since I can make things to substitute them with but I REALLY miss a good piece or 2 of BREAD! Ok now I know there are gluten-free breads out there but most of them really suck around here. They don't have a bite to them, they tend to have quite a funky flavor compared to a good white/wheat bread with gluten and then to top it all off, they fall apart the minute you bite into them.

I have found a good raisin/hazelnut bread that makes some really good ham/cheese sandwiches but that I think is due to all the extra stuff in it over powering the 'off taste' of it all. I will be getting some tomorrow so here is hoping it'll make my mood better.... but I still can't help but want to sit down to an entire loaf of bread with any thing I can put on them from peanut butter to turkey slices to cheese.... but I will resist as I always do because I know that even just 1 bite of a piece of bread will put me into pain and discomfort for 3days or more straight.

I hope you all out there are doing better. Tomorrow I'll post some new recipes.

Recipe - Lemon Meringue Pie

I just made this tonight. I haven't tasted it all together but I did taste the lemon part of it and it was just to die for so I thought I'd add it as another recipe for you all :)

This recipe is a pretty intense and time consuming. It requires your to make a crust by first crushing GF cookies, then a lemon curd for the pie itself that has to be cooked and then to top it all off you need to make meringue and bake it all! So prepare yourself to spend about an hour on making this dessert but I assure you, if your a lemon lover like my husband and I, it's worth every minute spent!

GF Lemon Meringue Pie

Cookie Crust
1 3/4 cup finely crushed GF cookies (light lemon flavored work really well)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh from 2 - 3 lemons)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue Topping
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions – Crust
Make sure your cookies are crushed as fine as you can get them. Your looking to make a crust similar to a graham cracker crust but without the gluten remember.

Mix together cookie crumbs and sugar until well combined. Mix in melted butter until all of the cookie crumb mixture is moist.

Dump into a 9-inch pie plate and with hands, press it down firmly and up the sides to form a crust. Set aside for now until rest of pie is made.

Directions - Lemon Filling
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large, nonreactive saucepan.

Add egg yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups water.

Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking regularly, 8- 10 minutes, until thickened.

Remove from heat, whisk in zest, then juice, and finally butter.

Keep warm until meringue is made (if heated correctly and you know how to make meringue already this should stay warm by itself)

Meringue topping: Mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan.

Bring to a simmer, whisking continuously until thickened. Stirring all the time will prevent the eggs from cooking and turning into lumps.

Remove from heat and set aside but remember to make sure it stays warm or it will thicken completely before getting it into your crust.

Direction - Meringue
Preheat oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/2 sugar and egg whites until soft and glossy.

Add vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is VERY lightly, very airy and leaves high stiff peaks when you pull the beaters from it.

Assembly and Baking

Pour warm lemon filling into pie crust.

Distribute meringue evenly over the top, starting with the edges and working inward

Make sure it attaches to the crust or outside rim of the pie plate. This will prevent the meringue from shrinking off the sides and not covering the pie while it bakes.

Lifting with the back of the spoon, create peaks in the meringue. You can also choose to do much smaller peaks with your finger instead.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Cool completely before serving.

Recipe - Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

No I don't bake EVERY day but this is also a change from making a dessert recipe. I am sitting here while I make dinner. I made these and just took the first batch out and for being completely gluten free biscuits, they are GREAT! However, the recipe calls for 2cups GF flour and I ended up using almost 2 3/4 cups GF flour. My suggestion is start with the 2 cups and add 1/4cup at a time, stirring completely between each one to judge whether or not you need more. The mixture should be think, sticky and moist. You should be able to spoon it by large soup spoons onto a cookie sheet without it 1. dripping or 2. falling off the spoon. It should be sticky enough to stay ON the spoon with ease.

This recipe was found at Gluten Freeda

GF Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

2 to 2-3/4 cups gf flour
2-1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk together 2 cups gf flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add pieces of butter and cut into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives, until the largest pieces are the size of peas and the rest about the texture of cornmeal. Add finely grated cheddar cheese and mix until incorporated into flour mixture.

Add milk, beaten eggs and oil all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until dry ingredients are well moistened. The batter should be moist and sticky, if not add extra flour 1/4cup at a time, mixing completely between each time to judge the if you need more flour or not. The batter should stick to the spoon and not fall off as you transfer it to your baking sheet. Spoon large spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing biscuits about 2 inches apart. Bake about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Serve immediately or if you are like me, place them in a warming biscuit basket until they are all completely baked and then serve with your dinner while they are still warm.

Do You Like Pizza?

I guess another one that comes to mind is those that love pizza and are now thinking, 'Do I really have to give up pizza?!'. Well yes and no really.

Yes but strictly to store/frozen bought or restaurant style pizza. Most of these will be made with white flour which contains gluten and that is what your trying to avoid. I do not know about the USA but here in Belgium, there are no pre-made pizza frozen or fresh that are gluten free.

No is because there is in NO reason that you can't settle down to enjoy a pizza that you make yourself! All the toppings you like, pizza sauce, olives, mushrooms, peppers, sausage and more! Even all the cheese you like. The only thing is to make sure that any items you want to add to your pizza are gluten free... some of the ingredients you will have to look closer at are any of the sausage you put on (even the raw butcher style Italian sausage to make sure they don't put bread crumbs in it for filler and the pepporoni since it's a pre-made sausage) and the cheese because there are some out there that add thickening agents to them and 99% of the time it's gluten based. Also be careful of the sauces... most tomato/pizza/spaghetti sauces don't have gluten in them but a lot of the cream based or cheese based sauces do. Just do some label reading before you add the ingredient to your pizza base.

Please remember when putting your ingredients on that when making home made pizza, any raw meats that you wish to put on it, such as Italian sausage from the butcher, MUST be fried/cooked before putting it on your pizza. Home made pizza with freshly made crusts will not cook long enough to cook raw meat. Either that or you will try to cook it long enough that the sausage might be cooked but the rest of the pizza will be burnt. Just use some common sense.

Now, I'm sure you are all asking 'What about the crust... isn't it made with white flour?'. In this case no. There are several pre-made gluten free crusts out there that you can buy but none of them will match up to making your own! Below are a couple of recipes that you can follow. The first one is a 'rising' version that does not need hours to allow the yeast in it to raise but does need about 20mins to 30mins and the second one is a no time to raise type. I'm sure one or the other will make your pizza party night a weekly occurrence!

The first recipe is from my all trusted recipe site http://www.glutenfreeda.com but I do not remember where I found the second one.

'Let Rise' GF Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3/4 cup warm water (105-115°F)
1 Tablespoon sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
2 cups gf flour
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1-1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
Extra olive oil for forming dough

Directions

In a small bowl combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Stir and proof for about 5 minutes or until foamy.

Mix gf flour and salt in work-bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a paddle.

Add 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil to proofed yeast. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and mix on medium speed for 6-7 minutes. The dough should be soft enough to cling to the sides of the bowl. If it is too stiff, add warm water, 2 tablespoons at a time until dough softens.

Turn dough out onto a greased pizza pan. Drizzle dough with olive oil and rub your hands with a little olive oil. Press dough into an even layered circle, creating a little lip around outer edges. If it starts to stick to your hands rub your hands with a little more olive oil.

Cover pizza crust with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F Bake pizza crust for 7 minutes. Remove from oven (keep oven on).

Place your toppings on and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots. Let cool briefly, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve

'No Rise' GF Pizza Dough

Ingredients

1/2 teasp Dried Yeast Granules
240ml/8fl.oz. Warm Water
1 teasp Sugar
100g/4oz Rice Flour
75g/3oz Cornflour
1 tbsp Potato Flour
1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 teasp Salt
Extra oil for greasing

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in half of the warm water, add sugar and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C, 425F, Gas Mark 7 and lightly oil a large pizza pan. Prepare the toppings for the pizza.

Place the remaining dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the yeast mixture and mix well, adding the remaining water a little at a time until it is the consistency of a very thick batter.

Pour the dough into the centre of the prepared pizza pan and spread around evenly. Bake at the top of the oven for 5 minutes until lightly set.

Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 190C, 375F, Gas Mark 5.

Add the toppings of your choice to the pizza. Return to the oven and continue to bake for a further 15-20 minutes.

Good-Bye Pasta?!?!

Not on your LIFE! I know it seems as though you have to give up your most loved foods because you have to leave out all the pastas, breads, pastries and so forth but you couldn't be farther from the truth!

This thought was the first thought that went through my mind.... 'But pasta is one of my most favorite foods!! Now I have to give it up?!'. Well as said before, you don't need to give up some of your favorite foods, you just need to know what to buy or how to make them!

I've tried a few different 'gluten free' pastas and have found 1 that I can make almost any warm pasta dish from and happy that I can. It's spaghetti made from corn flour instead of wheat flour. It's a bit thicker then your normal spaghetti but in no means tastes any different, specially if your adding sauces and more to it.

I've also tried spiral rice pasta but did not like the over all 'different' taste to it. I am still in search for a decent shaped pasta that I can make cold dishes from like Tuna Pasta Salad or the like. But for a hot dish, I highly suggest the spaghetti pasta made from corn!