Gluten Free Kids

If you have kids that eat Gluten Free you know that its a challenge; it takes duel effort.

Here is a list of some great Gluten Free Snacks that are tasty & kid friendly:
- Annie's Homegrown Bunny Cookies, Cocoa & Vanilla

- Annie's Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks

- EnviroKidz Organic Crispy Rice Bars. They come in Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Berry.

- Kinnikinnick cookies, Montana's Chocolate Chip, Ginger Snaps, Graham crackers, and more..

- Gluti-No Crackers, come in a variety of flavors. Comparable to Ritz but not as buttery and flaky but still good.

The great thing about all these products is that they hold up well, so if they have to survive a couple weeks in a ZipLoc in the Diaper bag its not a problem and they still taste great.

And for those special occasions:
- Charlotte's Bakery Chocolate or Vanilla Cupcakes (they come in either a 3 or 6 pack)
(These are great for birthday parties. They freeze well, so when your child has a party to go to, just pull on out of the freezer and send them on their way.)

Tips for GF Living for Children:
Recently my children caught something nasty from a pool on vacation, but my daughter just couldn't get over it. I know that she is mildly sensitive to gluten, especially foods like shredded wheat and granola, but otherwise she doesn't usually have any difficulties. Since the disease she caught had wreaked havoc on her intestines her doctor suggested temporary Gluten and Lactose sensitive as a possible cause. I have been GF for 9 years so I have a pretty good system for survival for me, but for kids its a different story.

Tricky Food Situations You Might Not Have Thought Of:
- Snacks at friends house, even at relatives houses
- Sleep overs
- School snacks and lunch
- Field Trips
- Birthday Parties
- Fast food lunch (no more chicken nuggets from the drive thru)
- Ice Cream & Cones

Since I wasn't in the habit I didn't think through all the possible road blocks to providing a Gluten Free lifestyle for my daughter. Kids can be more skeptical and picky especially if you make they try something that is not good tasting. After being GF for a week she stayed overnight at a relatives house and even though I had told them, told her, and sent food with her, it was still easy to forget. Its like you need a badge for them to wear for the first few months that says "Feed Me only GF".

Peer Pressure:
Even after 9 years of being GF I still feel that peer pressure to eat something I shouldn't. Strange I know. People have a hard time remembering your food allergies so you need to kindly remind them. If you are going to a dinner party, remind them, or offer to bring something. And never feel obligated to eat something with gluten, even if they slaved away all day to prepare, because its you that has to live with the consequences. This is what I struggled with the most when I began my Gluten Free journey. I used to be the one willing to eat or try anything. You could say I was part of the clean up crew, but I feel so much better when everything is in sync. And your friends will remember better when you stick to your guns and refuse.

Pizza Night

The weekend is almost here so if your aching for a good pizza night here are my reviews to make sure your GF pizza experience is something to be desired.

Now for tonight I am reviewing pre-baked crusts only because, to be honest, I have yet to taste a good pre-topped pizza crust.

If you really need a suggestion for a pre-topped pizza pie Amy's Rice Crust Pizza is decent.

Pre-Baked Pizza Crusts:

Udi's
Pros- Where to start. I really enjoyed this crust. It wasn't to thin, just right, somewhere between about 1/8" & 3/16". Great flavor and texture even when it is reheated the next day. The floured exterior keeps it from getting soggy and the crust comes out crispy and chewy. Two important elements in a good pizza. Makes great cheesy bread sticks.

Cons- I wish it was all topped and ready to go in the oven so I could eat it more often.

Kinnikinnick
Pros- Its dusted with corn meal on the underside so it absorbed excess moisture making for a crispier bottom. Its got a nice taste and texture. Price is bearable.

Cons- Recently they have gone from a round to a square shape because they have automated their manufacturing line. Now it make help drive down cost over time, but it causes a few problems for consumers.
- Silly as it may be, kids don't like to feel left out and its just not the same to eat a square pizza or a strange asymmetrical triangle. Sometimes its just nice to feel normal.
- On a more serious note, because of the square shape it make it difficult for the pizza to cook evenly. It makes it difficult to thoroughly cook the center. So if you want your pizza bottom more crispy you will have to make a sacrifice and have burnt crust corners.
- Also the way the package the crust, once they are frozen sometimes them weld themselves together so when you pull it apart you lose that critical outer skin which keeps the sauce from turning the inside into pasty mush. As Alton Brown would say, "That's not good eats."

GlutiNo
Pros- Its gluten free....

Cons- The texture is spongy and unless you have some cornmeal on hand the bottom comes out soggy. I have had a package of this in my freezer for two years. I ate one, and haven't used the others since. Its not completely horrible, but when there are better options out there why bother.

Charlotte's Bakery
Pros- Since its baked local to the Wasatch Front and isn't frozen it is less likely to be crumbly. Pretty good flavor and easy to chew (which is saying something for some of the clay pigeon like crusts I've had before).

Cons- Its a bit too sweet and it seems no amount of time under intense heat is able to make it crispy. It goes from soft to burnt. It doesn't have the chewiness to it that is desired of most pizza, it is more just soft....(which is commendable at least.)

Summary:

The winner is Udi's with Kinnikinnick as the runner up.

Story:
Once upon a time the options for gluten free pizza were almost no existent so when a recipe came along calling for bean flour I took the chance to make a gluten free pizza to share with family and friends. But we should have ended the party early because pizza + beans = don't equal a good time. Beware of the bean flour.....The End.

Cooking Suggestions:

Last but not least here are some cooking suggestions and tips.

For a crispier crust:
Place cookie sheet by itself in oven to preheat. Next take a piece of tin foil lightly coat with cooking spray and place pizza on top. Once oven has pre-heated quickly pull out cooking sheet and place tinfoil and pizza on top and place it back in the oven. This will help to "sear" the bottom of the pizza like you would for searing steak.

Cheesy Bread:
Growing up there was this place called the Pizza House and their cheesy bread sticks were to die for. They came with a side of special dipping pizza sauce. Then the owner was deported back to England and it was no more than a memory. So now instead of pizza every time I have more of a "deconstructed type" of cheesy bread sticks with sauce on the side.

First coat your pizza crust with a thin layer of butter. Sprinkle on garlic powder, onion powder, salt (a little more on the salty side but remember the cheese will also add some salt), a titch of pepper, and some Italian Seasoning. Next on goes the parmesan cheese then a combination of white pizza cheeses. Preferably a blend containing mozzarella and asiago.

Place in the oven and baked till golden and bubbly. Heat sauce separately. Then dip and enjoy.

Travel + Gluten Free = Rough Times, but not any more....

Just a few short weeks after I was diagnosed with Celiac I took a trip to Disney World with a club from school. It was challenging to say the least to find filling and satisfying food options on the go. The GF bread I brought with me went moldy with in a matter of days in the humidity and to sum it up I was miserable.

Now years later I had a much better experience when I ventured down to Siesta Key, Florida. Just a few miles from my condo was Island Bakery a Gluten Free bakery and cafe. I can't quite explain the elation I felt every time I entered and could order pizza, sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and muffins that were absolutely delicious and all gluten free. They even have chicken pot pies as well as fruit pies available, not to mention the chocolate layered torte. It was strange for me to order a sandwich and be able to eat the bread too. I could enjoy ordering anything I wanted off the menu and didn't have to worry about how I would be feeling later.

Check and Re-Check

Have you ever bought a food that was conveniently marked "gluten free" on the label in the back only to purchase it the next time and notice that it is no longer gluten free?

If a food isn't made specifically to be Gluten Free then there is so guarantee that every batch of product produced will be gluten free. The ingredients and suppliers or even the factory where it is produced can change, altering the gluten content of the product.

This happend to me recently with the Veggie Crisps sold at Costco. The first several times I bought this product they were marked gluten free but recently their gluten content has changed. I might not have noticed it on the label but my stomach noticed and now I will be sure to check and re-check.

Udi's Bread My Love

Words cannot express the joy I feel when I can pull GF bread out of the freezer and get a soft, airy, springy, delicious, make you eat every last crumb kind of bread.

I had seen the Udi's website a while back but just recently found the bread available at the local health food store. It lived up to its promise and beyond. I am seriously considering a road trip to their bakery/cafe in Denver so I can enjoy the goodness in its freshest form.

Check it out here:
http://www.udisglutenfree.com/

Fish and Chips

I was introduced by an aquaintance to these battered fish fillets. They are yummy and get nice and crispy in the oven. I usually don't have fish often because it takes so much work to make the tempura batter and have to fry them myself so this is so nice to be able to pop them in the oven.

This is the website. http://www.star-fish.com/

Gluten Free Southern Style Biscuits

Oh soooo delicious biscuits. The technique is key.

The original recipe comes from Alton Brown at http://www.foodnetwork.com/ under "Alton Brown Southern Style Biscuits". There is a video on there you can watch to see exactly how they make them. The only thing different is that I have swapped out the flours and added xantham gum.

1C Cornstarch
1C GF Flour (6 parts Rice Flour, 2 parts Potato Starch, 1 part Tapioca Flour)
4t Baking Powder
1/4t Baking Soda
3/4 t Salt
1t Xantham Gum
2T Butter
2T Shortening
1C Buttermilk chilled (or I used 1C 1% milk with 2t cider vinegar)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs(Somewhere between pea size and cornmeal as long as its evenly distributed). (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto Rice floured surface, dust top with flour carefully pat into a 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on aluminum baking sheet so that they just touch. Don't use a non stick pan because it will cause the bottoms to burn. I used cooking spray to keep them from sticking.

This is important so they help each other rise. Don't squish them together but just have the edges touching. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes"