My Favorite GF Flour Blend

One of the first things that every newly diagnosed Celiac wants to find is the all-purpose gluten free flour blend that works for them. It seems like everyone has their favorite, and this is mine.

I've been through every type of gluten free flour and back, and this is what I've successfully used for years now.

When developing it, I had a few requirements:
1. Each flour had to be mild-tasting so that it wouldn't alter the taste of the final result.
2. Each flour had to be easy to find.
3. Each flour had to be inexpensive (relative to other GF flours)
4. The whole blend had to be as whole-grain as possible, without yielding a dense end product.

The blend that I've settled on, and have been very happy with, is this:

1 bag of Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour
1 bag of Bob's Red Mill Sweet Sorghum Flour
1 bag of Bob's Red Mill Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon Xanthan Gum

This all gets dumped into a container and shaken around to mix.

I've successfully used this mix as a substitute for wheat flour in many recipes, as well as other gluten-free recipes that call for other types of flour. Whatever it calls for, I just use my blend.

Gluten Free Cornbread

My husband ate about half of this in one sitting. While I served it with chili, it doesn't matter.

This recipe is adapted from Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes. Although I've changed her recipe a little by substituting buttermilk for the milk + vinegar, and I use my own flour blend, I don't feel it's different enough to post it on the internet.

However, I do think it's good enough to tell everyone about.
So, if you see this book, pick it up and check out the cornbread recipe.

On the Menu: Fish & Squash

On the menu tonight: Fish & squash.

This is really quick. It was done in the time it would take to order a pizza and have it delivered, but way healthier. Bonus: lunch leftovers, which are kind of a necessity when you're eating a gluten free diet, and on a budget.

There are basically three components to every dinner I make: meat, veggie, sometimes a starch, and a salad. [I haven't really ventured into meatless territory because I'm still getting used to cooking for a husband that likes his meaty protein. I do, too, but I'd also like to mix it up every once in a while.]
I like to make fish when I don't want to spend much time in the kitchen, because it cooks very quickly on the stovetop.

• The fish was bought from the fish counter at the grocery store, already seasoned. On sale, it was cheaper than frozen, and I don't have to worry about how to season it. Cooked in a pan according to the package directions.
• Veggies- Fresh zucchini and yellow squash, cut up kinda thin. After the fish was cooked, I added a bit of rosemary olive oil to the pan, and tossed in the veggies with a sprinkle of salt & pepper. These veggies also cook up quickly, so they were done by the time the fish was down to eating temperature. Next time I'd like to grate a little bit of fresh parmesan on top. 
• A little note about parmesan cheese: Invest in a chunk of the real stuff, and grate it off the chunk as you need it. It's infinitely better than that nasty powdered stuff, and it keeps for a while in the fridge.
• Salad- we're eating salads with every dinner now in an effort to eat more vegetables. This particular salad consists of a bagged spring medley, plus pieces of kale and shredded carrot. (We're digging caesar dressing lately.)

Roasted cabbage

So part of the New Year's tradition is to eat cabbage, as it's supposed to bring money in the new year. I'm not one to shun a superstition that might bring some extra cash flow.

So even though I'd never cooked cabbage before, I bought a head.

I've heard of roasting brussels sprouts before, and since cabbage is just a large brussels sprout, I figured roasting would be pretty good. I was right.

Roasted Cabbage.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage. Slice into wedges and lay on a cookie sheet, careful not to disturb the layers.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes on each side.

The inside gets tender while the outside leaves get crispy. Mmm.

Serve with black eyed peas and, possibly, sauteed shrimp.

Surprisingly Vegan Waffles

I received this waffle mix as part of a gluten free subscription pack my mom got me for my birthday. I usually make waffles from scratch and would never buy a packaged mix, but I figured since these were here I'd give them a try. Plus, I'm out of flour.

Overall, these are terrible. Not surprisingly.

From the moment I opened the package, I was skeptical. It comes in a vacuum-packed bag, which turns the mix into a crumbly brick. So, I transferred it to a ziplock bag and smashed out all the lumps. Or, so I thought. When I measured the mix into the bowl and added the water, I had to stir out quite a few more lumps. And yes, the package was well within the "use by" date.

The instructions tell you to wait for 5 minutes while the batter thickens, so I did that. Except it was less like thickend and more like snotty. The batter definitely took on a thicker, yet slimy-ish texture.

Still, I pressed on and poured it onto the waffle iron. The first batch apparently didn't cook long enough, because the outside was browned while the inside was still goopy and raw.

The second batch cooked enough and I let it cool before breaking it open. Still, they had that telltale rubbery texture indicative of a bad gluten free product. Not something I would ever look forward to eating.

At this point, I'm getting really tired of shitty gluten free products. I've wasted so much money on products that I think will be great, only to be disappointed. I want to tell companies not to market something unless people will actually want to eat it-- Quit exploiting our desire for gluten free normalcy with your false hopes! Don't just jump on the gluten free bandwagon to taunt those of us whose lives depend on it!

At the same time, I'm also glad that I have a good waffle recipe to use. So while the rest of this waffle mix will hit the trash soon after I hit Publish, I can still continue to enjoy edible gluten free waffles.

Really good smashed red potatoes

We ate these two nights ago at my father-in-law's house.
They were so good, we made them again tonight.

Smashed Red Potatoes:

Place 6 red potatoes, skins on, in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until they are fork-tender.
Drain the water, and place the potatoes on a cookie sheet. Smash them with a potato masher (or a fork).
Drizzle with olive oil and several cloves of minced garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. You may need more than you think.
Broil until the tops begin to brown. They'll get a delicious salty garlicy crust on them.

Fantastic. A new staple at our house.

Deviled Eggs

It wasn't until we were halfway to my sister's house on Thanksgiving day that my husband revealed that he was expecting deviled eggs.

Most of us have similar Thanksgiving menu items, with the exception here and there. Apparently deviled eggs is something that he thought everyone made, while the dish has never been a staple at our feasts.

Thankfully, deviled eggs can be made quickly, with ingredients that are likely already on hand. At least, that was the case at my sister's house.

For 1 dozen deviled eggs:

Boil 6 eggs: Place eggs in pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

Peel the eggs and cut in half, putting the yolks in a separate bowl.

To yolks, add: 1/4 c. mayo, 2 T. relish, sprinkles of salt & pepper. Mix all together, mashing the yolks. I like to put everything all into a plastic ziplock bag and squish it all together.

Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, or cut a hole in the corner of the bag and pipe it in.

Top with half an olive and a sprinkle of paprika.

Store in fridge and serve chilled.