Gluten Free With Love Cookbook

A while back, I was given a review copy of Gluten Free With Love: Hypo-allergenic Recipes for the Sensitive Family from Lee Fecteau, the husband of the author Tricia Fecteau.  There are many things I think this cookbook has to offer, and I'd like to tell you a little more about it.  You can see and order the cookbook online here.

The cookbook is set up with an introduction that tells the background of the Fecteau household's gluten free lifestyle and some of the things they have learned through trial and error in their diet.  I really think this approach--being sensitive to reactions and learning more about what one's body can handle through experience--is very intelligent, though often pooh-poohed by established medicine.  Doing this is, in fact, research.  I applaud them for working hard to learn what foods make their family well and what foods make their family sick.  If we all had the patience and dedication to do this, we'd be a much healthier species.

The book is divided into the following categories:

• Appetizers
• Breads, Muffins, etc.
• Breakfast Entrees
• Desserts
• Dinner Entrees
• Drinks
• Salad and Dressings
• Sauces and Gravies
• Sides
• Soups

It's a pretty no-frills book, with clip art photos on most pages (so unfortunately no photos of completed recipes).  I think it's got a kind of down-home charm.  And that's really a compliment, from a small-town Ohio girl like me.

The recipes are easy to read, in a large enough font, one per page.  Some recipes are very short and quick, others more involved.  I think dividing the directions for the longer recipes into more paragraphs would have made them easier to read while cooking.  Some of the recipes were so easy, at first glance they seemed a little boring.  But who says simple can't taste great?

What did I try, you ask?  Well!  My favorite recipe in the entire book was "Vermont Maple Pie" with a "Mock Graham Crust."  Check it out:

 

The book has many gluten free/dairy free recipes.  The above Maple Pie is totally gluten free and dairy free.  It was amazing.

I really appreciated that the recipes are tested and reliable.  These people really know how to cook things that are safe, in both large and small quantities.  All the recipes have nutrition information and say if they are "quick" and/or "lowcal." 

Definitely a worthwhile cookbook.  Definitely a great cookbook for families.  It's so inspiring when people share their experience and help everyone by doing so!

Rachel Ray Cookie Sheet GIVEAWAY!

Please check this out, contest open til midnight tonight!


http://glutenfreegreenie.blogspot.com/2010/01/rachel-ray-cookie-sheet-give-away-and.html

Wendy has a great gluten-free blog and has this fantastic giveaway contest going on today! 

Logging Gluten Reactions?

Does anyone do this?  Write down when you were glutened, how you think, how much it was, and then track how long the reaction lasts?

End of the year

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  I was busy trekking all over the state for gigs, so I didn't get a chance to write anything here.  But I ate a lot of individually wrapped cheese and other snack-type gluten free foods during that time!  (Also ate at Posana Cafe in Asheville, NC--which was AMAZING!--review to come).

Anyway, the end of the year is a good time to think back and remember the positive things, as well as the things we'd like to improve upon in the upcoming year.

I've been thinking a great deal lately about my approach to eating out vs. at home.  I mean, how much of each should I do?  How can I make my life easier, as well as safer?

The bottom line, unfortunately, is that you can't really guarantee yourself that you won't be glutened by outside foods unless they are prepared in a true, exclusive, gluten-free facility.  And even then... 

That reminds me of a story.  When I had the opportunity to tour the Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakehouse, they were telling our group that they test every single ingredient that comes into the facility.  It has happened that they have received gluten-containing ingredients.  Some companies won't admit if a cross-contamination has occurred, or sometimes god forbid, they aren't aware of exactly what gluten-free means. Yikes.  Anyway, it's nice those guys are looking out for us with their testing.

What you can guarantee yourself is that non-gluten containing foods, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, etc. are still great, healthy, options.  I have started to take tons of celery, carrots, and apples to work every day to munch on at my desk.  Totally normal food, no one will suspect you're different.  They'll just think you're healthy and smart.  I can live with that!

Happy New Year!  Best wishes for a great start to your year.

Keep lookin for that Gluten!

I really enjoyed the North Raleigh Celiac Support Group (CSA Chapter 108) meeting we had last night.  It was fun to see everyone (I had to miss last month), and Moonlight Bakery had some great samples for us to try.

We were talking about recipes, and some ideas about how to eat for the holidays.

Most of us have figured out how to avoid cross-contamination in our own kitchens, but it was a good reminder for all of us about eating with family and friends--to watch out for shared or swapped spoons on the buffet, turkeys that have been cooked with stuffing inside, etc.

What was news to me was that we cannot always trust "tuna fish in water" products.  Apparently, a food label that says "in water" doesn't always literally mean "water."  So there are tuna fish products that are not Gluten-Free.  The culprit, apparently, is "vegetable broth".  Can't trust broth in anything, it might contain gluten.

Turkeys.  Many contain "natural flavoring," which may contain gluten.  Best to get a fresh turkey with no additives.

Why are so many things added to our foods?  Whose great idea was that?  Has our health improved or worsened since food production has changed in this way?

What's for Breakfast?

I am not a cold cereal lover, never have been.  Sometimes I do enjoy hot cereal, but not that often.

So what can I eat that's gluten free and a great way to start my day?

One of my favorite breakfasts is fresh fruit with greek yogurt.  My cousin taught me this.  Put your fruit in a bowl, and then dollop a few spoonfuls of the yogurt on top, mix and enjoy.

What's great about greek yogurt is that it does not contain sugar, and especially doesn't contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, which I try to avoid like the plague.  So it's easy.  The ingredients are usually just milk and cultures. 

If I feel like I need a bigger breakfast, then I might add a piece of gluten free toast.  Keep it simple.

Hash Browns (scattered, smothered, covered, etc)

The other day I found myself at Waffle House with some friends, and I got really hungry for some hash browns.

We gluten free folks can't opt for the waffles, or toast or anything like that, but hash browns are made of what--potatoes, grease, salt.  Right?

I was all ready to order up one of these heart attack-size platters of hash browns, when what did I see?  I saw them slice up two sandwiches diagonally, push the currently cooking hash browns off to the side, and slap down those sandwiches, crusts to the sky, right in the middle of all the cooking hash browns.  Aaack, the Celiac Nightmare.

No way, Waffle House!  With your poisoned grill!

So, what next?

Can't live without hash browns.  Here's how to make your own, which are probably less likely to kill you (though I can't guarantee it of course!):

• Get 1 or 2 small to medium potatoes (per serving).  I like red potatoes.
• Grate the potatoes.  Stop grating when you feel like you have as much as you want to eat.  
• Spray skillet with Pam, or lightly butter or grease.  Heat skillet (medium heat).
• Add potato shreds.  Salt lightly, if desired. Cover.  
• Flip over when they start to brown.
• Remove from pan and eat when 2nd side is brown.

I found that I didn't really need much oil.  The potatoes when fresh naturally have moisture, and they cook very well.

I'd rather sit at home and grate a couple potatoes than sit at home in agony from being glutened.  How 'bout you?