Product Shout-out, Better Batter GF Flour

I tried several different flours that aren't wheat and I grew tired of how expensive and gross they were. I came across Better Batter from an ad on Yahoo. I decided to give them a try and I'm thoroughly impressed!

I understand that no non-wheat flour is going to taste exactly the same as the gluten-y one I am used to. But this flour isn't gummy like the other brands and has a good texture. I recommend the AP Flour because you use it as a cup for cup substitute. I haven't given the cake mixes a try, but I definitely will in the future.

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White Chicken Tortilla Soup

Photo Credit: Erica's bloggity blog

It has been bitter cold this week. I guess I will never get used to the temperamental weather here, but the most enjoyable part of the cold is delicious soups. This White Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe has been perfect for warming us up.

No modifications needed, just check the labels of your canned goods to ensure they are not processed with wheat. I like spicy so I added some chili powder. Enjoy!

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Easy Lemon Chicken and Quinoa with Bacon-seared Brussel Sprouts

This is a new favorite in our house! The recipe doesn't call for quinoa but I made some in our rice cooker and used stock instead of water. The pan sauce you make after the chicken is done cooking (substitute flour for cornstarch) goes well over the quinoa.

You can find the recipe and detailed instructions here. Again, I substituted the flour for cornstarch and it turned out just great.

I bought a two pound bag of Brussels Sprouts at Costco for 2.99. I didn't look too closely to see that maybe they were so cheap because they were going bad. Oops! I was able to salvage about a pound of them. I didn't follow a recipe to make this, I just made it up because it sounded good. I can't think of a thing that bacon doesn't make better.

1 pound Brussels Sprouts, washed and ends trimmed.
2 slices of bacon, uncooked
1/4 cup chicken stocl
Salt and pepper to taste

After cleaning your sprouts, place the bacon in a pan over medium heat and let the fat render out. Cook the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and leave bacon grease in the pan. Add sprouts and let brown for 1-2 minutes. After the sprouts have a nice color on them, add the stock (just enough to wet the pan a little) and cover the pan. Let them steam until they turn a bright green and are fork-tender.

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Muddy Buddies

I boycotted anything to do with shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Why you may ask? I guess you couldn't say I was boycotting as it was just laziness. That and I didn't want to get trampled to death. I don't find dealing with crowds the least bit appealing. I find staying in my pajamas and having Amazon deliver my Christmas gifts to be the best kind of holiday shopping. (Plus no sales tax! Bonus!)

So far this long weekend has not been too eventful with the exception of making Muddy Buddies. (Really exciting huh?) I enjoyed a little break from school and spent it eating this divine treat and reading non-textbook books.

I think I really shed a small tear when I found out Muddy Buddies are GF. The combination of crunchy with peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar is straight heaven for me.

Here is the recipe courtesy of Chex and General Mills:


9 cups Rice Chex
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Once melted add vanilla. Pour over Rice Chex and stir evenly. In a bag, place 3/4 cup of powdered sugar in a zip-top bag. Pour in chocolate covered Chex. Place remaining 3/4 cup of powdered sugar over top and close bag. Shake vigorously to ensure all of the Chex are coated with powdered sugar. Serve!

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Dry-brined Turkey Results

It's about 8:00 pm on Thanksgiving day and the four of us (me, husband, and dogs) are full beyond belief. The sweat pants were busted out a few hours ago. I don't want to think about food for at least two days.

Thinking and writing about food are about the same, but I still feel compelled to give my two cents on the dry-brine.

Pros:

1. It was moist.
2. Relatively easy to do.
3. Everyone loved it.
4. If you like crispy skin, the skin was very crisp.
5. Less messy than a wet brine

Cons:

1. It still takes about as much time to dry-brine as it does to wet brine.
2. While the meat is juicy, not much flavor is imparted on it. I'm thinking about adding herbs along with the salt to give it more oomph.
3. We have a side-by-side refrigerator....needless to say it took up precious real estate in our fridge for a few days.


So as you can see, I found more pros than cons with this method. I think we will continue to do it if we are fortunate enough to cook for everyone again.

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A substitute for pumpkin pie?

I found this recipe for New York Cheesecake. It is a crust-free version, which immediately attracted me for the GF purposes. It was my husband's birthday yesterday and he loves cheesecake. I decided to make this for him for his birthday. I also decided to modify it a little bit to see if I could make a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving to maybe replace pumpkin pie. (I hate pumpkin pie. I'd rather eat chalk.)

Results? Fantastic.

Here's what I did:

Kept the recipe the same but reduced the sour cream to one cup and replaced the other cup with pumpkin. I then added a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. Follow instructions as directed. 

It wasn't overly pumpkin-y and the lemon helped cut some of the heaviness. I highly recommend it! We will definitely be having this instead of pie. Mmmmmm!

I suck and forgot to take a picture before it was devoured and desroyed. So here is a photo of the NY Cheesecake. Photo Credit: What2Cook

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Dry-Brined Turkey

I am a huge fan of Alton Brown and his show Good Eats on the Food Network. I am pretty sure I have seen every episode. I've learned so much from him. He talks a lot about the chemistry of cooking and I think he has helped make me a better chef because of his teaching style. I highly recommend watching it if you have an interest in cooking.

Each year, Food Network replays his episode on turkey. He talks about how a wet brine allows for a moist, delicious turkey. My husband's work gives each employee a fresh turkey from a local farm every year. I am so grateful for their generosity, but the downside is that they give it out the day before Thanksgiving. A wet brine takes a few days to be done properly. That said, I have never done a wet brine for that reason. I just don't have enough time.

Thankfully, Yahoo opened my eyes to a dry-brine method that can be done 1-2 days before. Definitely read the article and give it a try! (If you are feeling adventurous or are tired of dry, flavorless turkey that needs a cup of gravy to make it pallatable.)

I am excited to give it a try! I will update you with a review after Thanksgiving.

Doesn't that look delicious? Photo credit: Yahoo

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All Hail The Pioneer Woman!

On my quest to find delicious GF sides for Thanksgiving, I combed The Pioneer Woman's blog and found this recipe for Whiskey-Glazed Carrots.

Because we eat baby carrots religiously and always have whiskey on hand, I decided to give them a dry run before the big turkey day.

Deeeelicious. I used my cast iron skillet to give them that carmelized brown on the carrots. The whiskey gives it a good flavor and helps cut some of the sweetness. I think this might be a new staple at Thanksgiving!

Photo Credit: TPW

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Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Growing up, I used to babysit for a family across the street. I grew close with this family and I would often times eat dinner with them, even years after I was done babysitting their kids. One day, they made a pot roast and mashed potatoes. I kid you not, those were the best mashed potatoes I have ever had. I asked the mom if she would divulge her recipe.

"Cream cheese. Butter. Half and Half. Potatoes. Salt and Pepper. That's it."

Cream cheese?? I've died and gone to heaven.

While browsing for some GF Thanksgiving recipes, I came across The Pioneer Woman's mashed potato recipe. They are eerily almost identical. (I'm sure the recipe wasn't top secret but I almost wonder if they were in cahoots together coming up with it.)

Check out TPW's recipe and instructions. She gives great tips for making creamy (not gummy) mashed potatoes.

Photo Credit: TPW

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Switching Gears

My mother decided to gut her kitchen and completely remodel it 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. What does this mean for me? I get to cook and host Thanksgiving this year. To say I'm panicking might be an understatement. You see, I get really bad anxiety whenever I host anything. I won't dive into the reasons why I get anxious because I think a therapist needs to deal with that bag.

This is my first Thanksgiving that will be gluten-free. Thankfully, my parents and husband are really supportive and are okay not eating some of the gluten-y favorites. I'm going to miss the rolls, gravy, green bean casserole and homemade stuffing.

I'm going to be switching gears and only posting my Thanksgiving recipe trials now until the big day. I thank the universe that Pinterest was created because I have found several lovely resources for making a delicious GF Thanksgiving dinner. Cheers!

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Delicious, Easy Tomato Bisque

There is something about the weekends during fall where I crave soup constantly. One of my favorite meals is grilled cheese and tomato soup. Now that I am aware I have Celiac, my bread consumption has significantly decreased (and so has my waistline!) My condensed soup consumption is almost non-existent currently because almost all of them have wheat in them as a thickener.

I was talking to my sister about my dilemma and she referred me to a recipe she created a few years ago. Her recipe calls for flour but she told me I could omit it no problem. Well I made it and I can't believe I ate the stuff in a can for so many years. It was quick to prepare and was so delicious. I highly recommend! You can find the recipe here.

Photo credit: My sister

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Tortilla Trouble

I love Mexican food. I think it is hard to find good Mexican food in Utah, so I like to cook to my tastes. Before the dreaded Celiac diagnosis, I loved to make a chicken and cheese quesadilla for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, flour tortillas make the best quesadillas. At the GF Expo this year Udi's had a sample of their GF rice flour tortilla. It was good, but the amount of tortillas you get for the price is outrageous.

While grocery shopping last week, I found these tortillas in the refrigerated section. They are uncooked GF corn tortillas. They come in a package of 30 for around $3.00. I decided to pick up a pack and use them to make enchiladas. I'm really glad I didn't spend more than I did for them because I was severely disappointed.

Why? When you open the package an immediate odor of cheap rubber wafts up to your nose. To me, that is a big red flag. Tortillas shouldn't smell like a pair of Old Navy flip-flops. Another reason is you need to have a surgeon's hand to separate the tortillas without breaking them in 7 parts. I also thought they didn't cook evenly and still broke apart after cooking.

Sorry TortillaLand, your corn tortillas are a total fail.

I'm really frustrated with the tortilla situation. Do you have a favorite brand of tortilla that is affordable? Do you make your own? Do you have any tips to make your GF Mexican food cooking less of a headache? Suggestions are welcome, my insatiable appetite will thank you!

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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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Welcome!

Welcome to The Celiac Chef! Here's a little about me and my story:

My name is Jamie and I'm 26. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in July of 2013. I was considered to be an "asymptomatic Celiac" meaning I didn't really have textbook symptoms. The only reason my doctors found out was my liver enzymes were extremely elevated. I was referred to a liver specialist and he ran some lab work. A few days later my lab work came back with the TTG and endomysial antibody tests way higher than normal and I was referred to get an endoscopy to confirm. After the procedure, the doctor who performed my endoscopy told me to enjoy the crackers I was eating because they should be my last. She said she could visibly see evidence of Celiac disease. I had Celiac and life as I knew it was over.

Just kidding, it didn't really end. But along with many others, I went through the emotional grief of losing a longtime friend--gluten. I selfishly mourned the loss of not eating my favorite birthday cake and didn't know how I could continue living without eating my mom's dinner rolls. 

My selfishness started to pack its bags when I started reading all I could about Celiac and what could happen to me if I continued to eat gluten. I already have an autoimmune arthritis that is debilitating, I knew that I could not add any more health problems on if I could control it. I spent hours reading books, blogs, medical journals, and whatever I could get my hands on. I met with a Dietician who helped answer some questions. I was given recipes and conversion tools for transforming my favorite gluten filled recipes. Long story short: I was overwhelmed. The list of ingredients I had to avoid seemed longer than the ingredients I could eat. The hardest part for me was trying the new recipes I had encountered.

This is where The Celiac Chef comes in. I love to cook. However, I was extremely discouraged by some of the gluten-free recipes I had found. Some were delicious, some were extremely unpalatable. My sweet husband, who never says anything bad about my cooking, had to throw away the contents of his dinner plate a few times. The majority of recipes I found had no feedback on them or comments for how they could be improved. I've decided to post my successes and failures with gluten-free recipes on this blog. I will also share tips and tricks that have helped me along with resources. I hope this is as helpful for you as it is for me. As always, I love suggestions and feedback so feel free to contact me.

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