Happy Halloween!

I admit, Halloween is my least favorite holiday. The only redeeming quality about it is the copious amounts of candy.

I thought it would be appropriate to post today about candy. As always, you should be reading labels but it is always nice to have a list.

About.com has a pretty comprehensive list of what is and isn't safe and breaks it down by manufacturer. Check it out here.

What is your favorite GF sweet or candy? Let me know! I hope everyone has a safe and sweet day.

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2013 Gluten Free Expo

This post is a little late but this year I had the opportunity to go to the 2013 Gluten Free Expo. I had never been to any kind of expo before this one. It was very overwhelming and an experience for sure. I'd like to break down what I thought the pros and cons were in case anyone was curious to attend next year.

Pros:
1. It is pretty cheap to get in. My ticket was $8 and it came with a swag bag at the door.
2. More samples than you know what to do with.
3. Tons of money saving coupons.
4. They served a GF breakfast that was included with your ticket cost.

Cons:
1. Not that many vendors. I walked through the entire expo in about 20 minutes.
2. Way too many people with narrow aisles.
3. There were a lot of vendors that had nothing to do with being GF.

Would I go again next year? Probably not. I definitely got my money's worth but dealing with crowds for a few samples isn't my cup of tea.

For more information on the expo check out their website here.

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Restaurant Kudos: The Old Spaghetti Factory

I'm going to go a different direction with today's post because I feel it is important to highlight restaurants that are Celiac friendly. I enjoy eating at restaurants but you have to be extremely careful because of cross-contamination.

I have had the hardest time finding a GF pasta that doesn't have the texture or consistency of paste. My husband and I have always enjoyed eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I learned of their GF menu before I was diagnosed. After the diagnosis, we decided to give them a try. After talking with the server, they dedicate a special area of their kitchen that is dedicated to gluten-free products only. The water they boil the pasta is never shared with regular pasta. Their delicious house creamy pesto dressing is also gluten-free.

Before diagnosis, I would ALWAYS get the browned butter and mizithra cheese spaghetti. Lucky for me, they offer the same dish with a GF pasta. The pasta is divine. I let my husband try it and he was so impressed. You really can't find anything wrong with it. The texture is excellent and the pasta holds up well. It is a rotini style pasta but it still works well with the butter and mizithra.

My kudos to The Old Spaghetti Factory for their dedication to be mindful of gluten but still provide a delicious, quality meal. Do you have a favorite restaurant that is Celiac friendly and delicious? If so, leave a comment and let me know! The Old Spaghetti Factory does have nation-wide locations so if you live outside of Utah you can still give them a try.

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Sweet Quinoa Breakfast

I'm sure I may sound like a broken record, but I was so sad to not be able to eat my favorite cereals after learning I had Celiac. Rice Chex is GF and great, but variety is essential.

Do you remember how last week I recommended you cook more quinoa when you make the chili recipe? This recipe is the reason why. I used to love Cream of Wheat, but alas it isn't GF. I also enjoy oatmeal, but truly GF oats seem like a rarity. The quinoa breakfast reminds me of the two breakfast favorites, but without the worry of consuming gluten.

Tips, tricks, suggestions and thoughts:

1. This is very delicious with vanilla almond milk. I buy the kind that is only 30 calories a cup and doesn't have a ton of sugar.
2. Cinnamon and nutmeg, two spices that are fabulous with this.
3. I don't recommend red quinoa with this. It has a different, tougher texture to me. Just your general brown quinoa works fabulous with this.
4. Worried about sugar consumption? I used nectresse and it was sweet but not overpowering. Along with a tart fruit like blueberries or raspberries, perfect!

Cooking the quinoa in big batches allows you to make this breakfast relatively quickly. I enjoy this for mornings I don't have the time to cook my usual eggs. Enjoy!

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Quinoa Chili

Eating gluten-free isn't cheap. Eating healthy isn't cheap. Nothing is cheap anymore, sadly. Because I am currently not working, I am trying to find ways to make our grocery budget stretch. A lot of the advice I read on the internet to save money with groceries is to cut down your meat consumption. So I make it a goal to make a couple meatless meals each week. I made a delicious meatless quinoa chili recipe I found online. The recipe is easy and there is enough for leftovers. (I only have to cook for two, so it is pretty easy to have leftovers.)

Some ideas and tricks for making this recipe top-notch:

1. You need to pre-cook your quinoa. I mixed red and regular brown quinoa and I liked the textural difference of the two. Make more quinoa than you need to make a delicious breakfast type oatmeal with it. Recipe to follow shortly.
2. This recipe requires a lot of canned foods. If you are against using canned foods, this probably isn't the recipe for you. If you want to spend the time cooking your black and kidney beans that is great, more power to you. It is all in your personal preference.
3. I didn't use coriander and it tasted just fine.
4. This can be made in the crock pot. Make sure to add a little stock or water to ensure the consistency stays right.

You can find the recipe here. This is a perfect fall dinner!

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Delicious Crock-Pot Bean Dip

Football season. It's my favorite time of the year. Pizza, beer, and wings.

I can't really have 2 out of 3 of those things without jumping through a million hoops. There is a pizza place in my city called The Pie that has a good GF pizza, but there is an issue of possible cross-contamination. I have yet to try my own GF pizza dough, but when I do I will be the first to tell you my success/failure. I've tried one GF beer called Red Bridge. It's good, but expensive. The upside of all this? I've lost weight from not eating pizza and drinking beer like I used to. I make my own wings (much cheaper this way) and I enjoy them with a hearty bleu cheese sauce.

Having Celiac Disease has forced me to be more creative about my game day food choices. My trusty friend Pinterest has been a savior. I made this fantastic bean dip in my crock-pot and it was a big hit with my husband and family. Have you ever made your own re-fried beans? I have and I'm hooked. I'll share that in another post. Most canned re-fried beans I've seen in the store don't have gluten in them so I'm sure you are safe. I like the re-fried beans in the crock pot because I can manipulate the flavor, it's much cheaper and I have leftovers to freeze and use later.

This dip is so easy to put together and how can you go wrong with cream cheese? This is my new go-to dip for parties and gatherings. Enjoy!

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Cashew Chicken and Rice

When I was first diagnosed I didn't get too upset because I could still eat my favorite food, sushi. I knew I couldn't have tempura fried rolls but again I wasn't too upset because I really love nigiri or sashimi. There is something about eating fresh fish that doesn't have a fishy taste. Then after learning that most brands of soy sauce have gluten in them, I was so disheartened. Why? I don't make my own sushi. I wasn't about to start either or forego eating sushi without my beloved dipping concoction of wasabi and soy sauce. I did some research online and found a few companies that offer gluten free soy sauce. I tried this brand and I really like it. You can get it on Amazon for a good deal. Plus it is lower sodium so that's a bonus! Another added bonus? They come in little travel squeeze packs so you can go out to eat and not look like a weirdo with a giant bottle of soy sauce.

I decided to make a Chinese dish with the soy sauce and used this recipe I've cooked before with regular soy sauce.

Conclusion:

1. You can't taste a difference between non-GF soy and regular soy.
2. Please make this with green onions. It helps give the dish some complexity, I think. Without them the main flavors are salty soy and a little sweetness from cashews. Not much dimension and the onions give it a little bite.
3. Double the sauce recipe. With the recipe as it is, there isn't enough sauce to help give your rice some flavor. And that just makes me a sad panda.
4. I recommend using chicken thighs. They have more flavor and I think give the dish a nice oomph. Chicken breasts are fine but I think they can be too dry and chewy.

So while this isn't a true GF recipe and is just a recipe with a swap, I still enjoyed it. It helps fill that Chinese food craving I get every so often. This is also a great weeknight dinner as it can be made under 30 minutes or less, depending on what kind of rice you use.

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Skillet Chicken Divan by Betty Crocker

Oh, Betty! Is there anything you haven't done? I came across a plethora of gluten-free recipes on BC's website. The first one I tried was the skillet Chicken Divan because I had all the ingredients on hand and needed to cook a quick dinner.

This recipe is easy but I have a few suggestions to make it even better and maybe easier.

1. Make sure you use Minute or quick cooking rice for this recipe as it suggests. I've made this recipe twice and both times I used the slow cooking rice because I never buy the quick cooking kind. I'm willing to buy the Minute kind because using the slow cooking kind is a bad idea. It takes too long for the rice to cook and the water isn't sufficient for absorption, even with the pan covered. This resulted with the rice on the bottom getting burnt a little. Whoops.
2. Use chicken stock instead of the water suggested. Without the stock/broth it just isn't as flavorful.
3. I used sharp cheddar cheese and it was fantastic. I think it went really well with the Dijon in the recipe.

You can find the recipe here.

Photo credit: Betty Crocker

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Delicious Chile Verde

I love chile verde. Burritos smothered with it are hugely popular where I live. Unfortunately, most of the places use a roux to thicken their chile verde. I wanted to find a recipe where I didn't need to use a roux because I was scared to use another starch besides AP flour. My sister found this recipe on Pinterest and I decided I must try it after reading the ingredient list. I did not use pork tenderloin, I just used a pork roast and it was just fine.

The most labor intensive part of the recipe was getting the skins off the peppers after roasting them. Other than that, I threw it all in the crock pot on a rainy Sunday afternoon and let it slow cook for about 8 hours. This is a very tasty recipe and was thick enough without a roux! This recipe replaces my craving for the gluten-y filled version at the Mexican restaurants in my area.

I forgot to take a picture so I took this off the Subee's Kitchen blog. Photo credit: Subee's Kitchen

I give it two thumbs up. Easy, tasty and g-free, what more could I ask for?

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