Possibly one of the best GF Links

http://www.gfoverflow.com/m/index.php
You can search all sorts of stuff to be gluten free :-)

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Ken's mom has made this before for us and we have never successfully recreated it, until now!   It really is a yummy treat.   It's different from other Mac and Cheese recipe's as the cheese curdles and becomes little clouds of cheesy goodness!  I used brown rice macaroni noodles in the following recipe:  

2 cans evaporated milk

½ tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

2 T minced onion

10 oz cubed cheese (sharp or cheddar, sharp works best)

2 T butter

1 egg, beaten 

Put all the ingrediants in the crock pot and stir well.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hr.   Stir occasionally.   Then add in 1 ½ cups dry macaroni.   Stir and cook on LOW for 3-5 hours, however ours was done in 1 hr 15 min.  The cheese will look curdled when it’s done.   

Bread, glorious bread

So the bread journey continues. Last night I made loaf #4 and by far the most normal looking one. It doubled in size and has real nooks and crannies in it! You wouldn't be able to tell it's Gluten Free. SCORE! I think the best tasting loaf so far has been the cinnamon raisin. I am making another loaf of that this weekend. :-) The White loaf is going to be cut up for stuffing for our Christmas dinner with my family tomorrow.
Also of note, Classico's red and white sauces are gluten free. I decided to mix the vodka sauce and Alfredo together and bake with some penne, Italian cheese blend and gf bread crumbs. Mmm mmmm good! The next night we reheated it and added the AppleGate farms gf chicken nuggets with some cheese on-top for a bite sized chicken parm. I can say this was awesome. Will make again :)

Bread Machines and new goodies at Wegman's

As the cost of anything Gluten Free is borderline prohibatively expensive, I decided to start looking into a bread machine to start making my own gluten free bread as almost $6.00 a loaf makes me wanna cry.  I have almost gotten to the point where I don't even look at the prices of my gluten free items and just accept the high bill at the end.   So my friend gave me hers as she was no longer using it.  I purchased a book for gluten free bread machine recipe's (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778802388/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00)  and the first loaf turned out OK.  Yeast and I are still learning to work together.   I have another loaf in the bread maker right now following Oster's recomendation for gluten free breads in their bread machines.   The book said to do a dough cycle then a bake cycle, they said:

Thank you for contacting Oster, a brand of JardenConsumer Solutions.     

We recommend the wheat setting for gluten free bread.

We appreciate your business and are happy to help if youhave any further questions.

Sincerely,

Margarita

Jarden Consumer Solutions

www.oster.com

We are interested in your feedback regarding your emailexperience. Please click the link below to complete our online customersatisfaction survey. You will need to enter in or copy/paste the followingreference number.  1-1634342011

http://research.affina.com/snaponline/surveylogin.asp?k=128864872801

So that is the current experiment and I should know in 3 hours if it worked.    Fingers and toes crossed.

On another note, we hit Wegman's the other day and investigated their newly expanded gluten free section and they have a lot of teh same stuff as my Giant does, but some other nifty finds, like gluten free pizzelles!!! so incredibly happy :-)  They are close to what I grew up with.   (http://www.bellaluciaglutenfree.com/).  Also of note, they had Bell and Evans gluten free chicken nuggets and chicken breasts, and they are good.   It's nice to have options.  I still love the Applegate Farms nuggets, but there is room in more life for more than one brand.  :-)   

Thanksgiving and more pizza!!!

So of course this being my first Gluten Free Thanksgiving I was excited to see how well things could be adapted.   First we had two different stuffing's, as I wasn't sure how mine would turn out, I had mom make hers for the rest of the folks in case mine bombed.   But luckily, my stuffing creation was actually yummy.   I made the Three Bakers Herb Seasoned Stuffing (http://www.celiac.com/glutenfreemall/three-bakers-herb-seasoned-whole-grain-glutenfree-stuffing-cubes-p-1853.html), which I had made once before on the stove top, and it kinda disintegrated, but did it this time in the oven and for much longer then suggested to get a nice crisped edged yet tender centered stuffing.   Then I took a loaf of gluten free bread and cubed it, let it air out all day and then did our traditional stuffing preparations with it and baked it.   I then mixed the two stuffings together.  Not a bad combo!   For the gravy I used potato flour to thicken it and it was spot on.   I asked my mother to use the Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crumbs (http://www.glutenfreepalace.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KN4495&cse=googleproductsearch&utm_source=google_product_search&utm_medium=CSEs&utm_campaign=Kinnikinnick%20Gluten%20Free%20Graham%20Style%20Crumbs&gclid=CKSUopHu8rMCFdKd4Aod4U0AlQ)  she had found for me and make the pumpkin pie.  It was delicious!  One of the best I have ever had!  It was a nice time, as my parents, brother, Ken, and two of my uncles were here.   I wish we had a bigger place, I would invite more family to these events!  
We always split Thanksgiving between the morning with my family then up to Ken's for the rest of the day/weekend.   With his birthday at the end of the month we always have a birthday dinner up there and a nice time visiting.  We made it up there in time for dinner and more turkey and good stuff!  
Now, I had a goal to make it to Sabatini's (http://www.sabatinis.com/)   to try their gluten free pizza.  The crust was decent, but what won me over was they proper use of sauce! and their yummy cheese/sauce combo.  So many place skimp on the sauce on the gluten free pizza's (sorry Grotto, this is you I am talking about).  I would sooo get that again, and it took all I had not to eat the whole dang thing.   \
Next time we are up I hope to get more and to hit the Gluten Free Pantry and get some of their goodies!

Evan Williams Alcohol

I contacted them to ask about their gluten free products and here is what I got :

Thank you for contacting Heaven Hill Distilleries and for your inquiry regarding our gluten-free products.

I have attached a list of our products, including Evan Williams Apple Orchard, that are gluten-free. Some of these products constituent ingredients include corn, barley, rye or wheat, but are, in fact, gluten-free. The distillation of the constituent ingredients eliminates many of the elements which affect those with gluten intolerance. However, it is important to consult a health care professional to gauge your sensitivity.

As a family owned, independent company, Heaven Hill Distilleries takes inquiries from our customers very seriously and hope that our prompt response is evidence of this. Thank you and if I can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Slowly getting caught up

I think I have fallen a little behind here. Ok, before I left for vacation I tried some new marinades from San-J and they were delicious! The Peanut sauce and the Orange sauce were both delightful. I cut up the chicken, put it in a bag with a generous helping of the marinade and let it in there for about a half hour. Then I laid the chicken on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet and baked them at 450 till they looked done, flipping every 10 minutes. They were delicious! http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=27 I would highly recommend them.

On our way back from our Massachusetts trip we stopped in Wilkes Barre to visit with Ken's family and stopped by Sabatini's to get a T-shirt for my cousin's husband, and found out they now carry gluten free pizza! Score! And he directed us to a new gluten free store, it's a tiny one, but I got some goodies there!
http://www.sabatinis.com/ now the gluten free store he sent us too is small. Like, small. But it was packed with a lot of stuff I haven't seen elsewhere so I am happy. They don't have a website or any over the phones sales as they are a cash and carry kind of place. But I do plan to stop up on our next visit over Thanksgiving.