Kitchen Chaos

Have you tried these? Oh. My. Goodness. These are good. They taste like real, regular cookies. These are the first non-mix Pamela's product that we have tried and they are seriously good. Crispy, crunchy, full of yummy flavor. They didn't have the odd taste that so many gluten-free products have. Yum. I tried to convince my kids that they were awful so I could have them all but that didn't work. Darn it. They weren't fooled at all. They also have chocolate chip ones but I haven't tried those yet. But if they are anything like these, they are also really good. Per FTC regulations: I have no connection to Pamela's, I have never received anything from them, I bought these cookies at full price from the store.

Last night I was gonna cook but we had 2 doctor appointments that day and a 4-H meeting and I procrastinated. So we got out of 4-H at 7:30 and I had a splitting headache and . . . and . . . and Chic-fil-A was on the way home. Although they don't really advertise it, Chic-Fil-A is a great place to get safe food. Their fries and hashbrowns are gluten-free and fried in dedicated friers - not the ones the chicken are fried in. They have the chargrill chicken that is gluten-free and is good on the salads - I LOVE the chicken and fruit salad. They also do the kids meals with the chargrill (although it isn't on the menu, you have to ask). So the kids and I went in to place our order, they were not really crowded and by the time we had figured out our order, we were the only ones ordering. So I ask for the kids meals with chargrill and she asks "Do you want the sandwich, nuggets or tenders?" I tell her the kids can't have bread so she asks if they want strips, nug

To be honest, cooking is not my favorite thing to do but there have been a couple of things I wanted to try and so I did them today. For lunch we had acorn squash and polenta lasagna . Oh yes, we did. It was something I have wanted to try ever since Katrina at GlutenFree Gidget posted about it. I even mentioned it to Hubby but he looked at me like I had grown another head. He is not that adventurous with food. But I was excited because I love, love, love winter squash, Katrina used butternut which is my favorite but I had an acorn squash wanting to be used. Since we are diary-free as well as gluten-free I couldn't figure out what to so for cheese because lasagna isn't lasagna without cheese. Right? The cheese was not missed because there was a yummy faux ricotta layer. And the noodles were not missed because polenta was used instead. A nd the kids requested I make it again, and maybe even make it for dinner. And my kid who hates onions, corn meal (corn in any for

I tried some buckwheat gross groats yesterday and I must be missing something. I don't know what the problem is but they were awful, nasty, burnt smelling (and no I didn't burn them). I tried with sugar but then it was like burnt, bland cookies. I thought about dried fruit but that didn't help either. Maybe they have to be mixed with something to be good but I don't see how they could improve the taste of anything. It was kind of cool though watching them in the pot of water, sort of like those sponges encased in a gel capsule - Grow A Dinosaur sort of thing. I don't want to eat those either.

You know that loaf of bread that I made on Thursday that was so repulsively nasty? The one that was so incredibly ugly? The one that I fed to the dogs and hubby asked why I was poisoning them? I figured out what went wrong. You know how some recipes almost scream at you to use potato starch not potato flour? Well, this one didn't. Yep, I used the wrong one. Which explains why it tasted so bad because apparently potato flour has a stronger flavor. I am just glad that I wasn't able to make another loaf immediately - because I was out of potato flour otherwise I don't know when I would have figured it out. or if I ever would have. Since I have been taking notes on how much the flours weigh (to make life simpler), I know what I did. Luckily the 3 flour mix called for either corn starch or potato starch and I used corn starch otherwise the 3 flour mix would be messed up too. So I am going to make another loaf. This time I am going to use the right flours.

It is so cold that I can't write a coherent post so you get bullet points. First I need to let you know about a give-away I have going. Chantel Hobbs has written a fabulous weight-loss book called One-Day Way, while it is not gluten-free it could be by ignoring the meal plans. Click here to see more information about it. Do I hafta go and get a new toaster?If no one is toasting wheat bread anymore then shouldn't it loose all the gluten before we get that sensitive? I dreamed about bread again. That is just pitiful. The other day I went to the health food store to pick up some nutritious yeast - which they didn't have. So I picked up the brewers yeast to ask the guy working there if they tasted similar. (I don't know why I bother because he never knows the answer to my questions.) So I was walking around looking because I wanted some other items and and older lady came up and asked what I was planning on doing with the brewers yeast. Well we got to talking, we f

Yesterday was another day of dreaded errands and by the time I had finally gotten home, I had a headache. A doozy. So I wanted to throw something together with minimal effort that would taste good. So I thought of lentil soup. I love lentils, they are such a small bean that they don't need any soaking and cook in about 30 minutes. I also had a head of cabbage that needed to be used and cabbage does well in soup. I first chopped up an onion and threw it in the old stockpot with 5 slices of turkey bacon, I then got involved in something else and let the onions get a bit burned too caramelized. But with my throbbing head, I just poured some red wine vinegar over it and then lots of water (at least 8 cups but I used the sprayer on my sink so this is a guess). Then I added the lentils - about 1 cup or maybe 1/2 cups - but be careful to look them over and pick out any rocks (oops) and rinse them first (I did do that). I then chopped up a cabbage and added that. I also added a

Gluten Free Gidget is doing a great giveaway on her blog for Xagave a brand that combines the nectar of two types of agave plant for a richer smoother flavor. I just love agave, I just don't use it as much as I should. Sugar is a bit of a habit. Anyway, so if you are interested, check out this contest . Now for some questions: Did you find that your palate changed as you went gluten-free? I used to hate avocados - those green bombs of mushiness. As in like 2 months ago, I thought they were gross. Now, . . . well, let's just say I could seriously over eat these things. And I tried guacamole on top of gluten-free frito pie instead of sour cream and cheese and found I prefer it that way. How do you keep the gluten-free flours from overtaking your kitchen? I was putting them in canisters (and the ones we use a lot are still in canisters) but seriously?!? They are taking over the pantry. And the fridge. And the freezer. I thought about hanging up a chart on the inside o

I was lucky enough to win this giveaway done by Babyfro at Living Without Wheat . I am so excited about this. Now I just have to figure out some gluten & dairy free casseroles. We went to visit my Grandmother and parents over the holidays and it was the first time we have traveled while trying to completely stick to our diets. Oh boy. In some ways it was so very hard but in others it was actually easier. In my family, we bake. Cookies, cakes, pies, candies are everywhere. It is a dieter's nightmare but almost all of it was loaded with gluten and dairy and was off limits (we did have some gf-df brownies that were good but that is pretty much it as far as the sweets went). For me, there wasn't any of this "should I / shouldn't I" wishy-washy-ness. There wasn't any (or at least very little) "just one tiny piece won't hurt." I am feeling better than I have in months, I was not about to blow it on a piece of cake. Even the kids seemed