Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Squares -- Gluten free AND Sugar free!

This journey towards MORE in the gluten-LESS and sugar-LESS life encounters no greater challenge than the dessert table! Seriously, you can find gluten-free dessert recipes online all day long, but they are full of refined sugar. And you can find just as many sugar-free dessert recipes but they are all full of gluten. But trying to find a recipe for a dessert that is BOTH gluten and sugar free, yet still not only edible, but actually tastes really yummy like a dessert is supposed to taste??? Ha! For months I didn't believe that was possible! Then, while wandering around on Pinterest one day, I stumbled onto this little gem! The picture looked promising and the rave reviews were piling up by the minute so I decided I needed to give it a try right away... It was FANTASTIC!!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
3 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 cup Hershey's Sugar Free chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive, or canola, etc.)

Directions:

1. Mix the maple syrup, peanut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt in a pot on low heat until well combined, then add the rice crispies. Quickly transfer the mixture into a rectangular or square pan lined with parchment paper and put the pan in the freezer.

2. While the crispy mixture chills, make the fudge topping by melting together the chocolate chips, peanut butter and coconut oil on low-medium heat.

3. After about a dozen minutes, pour the chocolate mixture onto your crispy mixture and put back in the freezer to chill until hard - about 45 minutes. It will harden more with time.

4. Once well chilled, cut into 18 or so pieces. If the pieces are harder than you`d like, store them in the fridge afterwards, or keep them out a few minutes before eating.

My husband, (who is my pickiest food critic) was absolutely flabbergasted that these were GF and SF! It literally tastes like a Nestle Crunch bar that has been slathered in peanut butter. I am not kidding, if you have been longing for soemthing sweet that won't make your body go into a tailspin, if you thought you would never be able to have dessert again, MAKE THESE TONIGHT! And glory in the VICTORY of finding MORE in this "less" life!

Flour Power

It has come to my attention that posting my flour mix recipe under a different heading makes it harder to find. I know there is some redundancy here, but better that than not being able to find what you are looking for, right? SO here we go! Now it will be easy to find! =)


Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

3 cups Whole Oat Flour

2 cups Sweet Sorghum Flour

1 and 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour (not starch)

1 and 1/2 cups Potato Starch (not flour)

Mix well in mixer until well blended.

Yields 8 cups of flour

Happy cooking! And feel free to ask questions or leave comments!

Note: For my "local" friends here in the 'Burg, all of the above ingredients can be found in the bulk section at Sherms. If you happen to get there on a day when they are out of one or more of these, ask someone to help you find the packaged section of alternative flours, "Bob's Red Mill" has the most selection. They will know where to take you if you mention that brand.

Heaven on a Plate: Saturday Mornings just got WAFFLES!

Take a deep breath in. Hold it. . . . . . . . . . . Now let it out. That's what Saturday mornings (or any day off mornings) are supposed to feel like. Decompress, de-stress, and delight! One of our favorite "day off" traditions before we went GF/SF (gluten free/sugar free) was making (and eating) WAFFLES!

It was a sad day when my son woke up one Saturday, scuffled out into the living room in his footy jammies, and realized that his world had changed. "Mom, does not having gluten mean we can't have waffles anymore?" he asked, eyes huge with disappointment. That was tough to face.

Before I mastered my GF flour mix, I would try to make waffles using several different variations (all based on brown rice flour) and they were awful. They either fell apart and burned in the waffle iron, or they tasted disgusting. For several months, we had to settle for lumpy, crumbly, pancakes.

However, once I got MY flour mix down, I went looking for a good waffle recipe to modify. Thanks to the wonderful folks over at http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/ I found what I was looking for almost right away! I used their waffle recipe as a starting point and then did some tweaking. This is what I came up with:

Gluten Free Waffles

1 3/4 cups Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

1 Tbsp. baking powder (Argo Aluminum Free is my favorite)

1 Tbsp. sugar (raw/turbinado sugar, coconut sugar, etc.)

2 scoops Whey Protein Powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

16 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (or olive oil...I like to use half butter, half olive oil for a good balance of flavor and "healthy") 

1 1/2 c. milk (soy, cow, rice, coconut, etc)

*optional: 2 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed

Cooking Directions:

1. Mix first five ingredients together in large mixing bowl.

2. Beat the eggs together until frothy. Add the milk and stir again.

3. Slowly pour the melted butter into the egg/milk mixture. Stir constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.

4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until all of the flour is wet. You don’t have to get all of the lumps out.

5. Pour the batter onto a hot waffle iron. Follow the waffle iron manufacturer’s directions for cooking. For ours we use 1/2 c. batter and let the waffle’s cook until there is no more steam coming out.

Additional Notes:

1. Let your eggs and milk come to room temperature. If the eggs and milk are cold, then they will resolidify the melted butter when you mix them together.

2. These waffles are not sweet, so you can add sweet or savory toppings to them. You could also 1/4 – 1/2 cup of raisins, cheese, bacon, nuts, sliced bananas, grated coconut to the batter before cooking.

Oh My Goodness! These are seriously AMAZING! We eat 'em with 100% pure maple syrup (which works great as a sugar substitute in many recipes, too) and strawberries! My husband is happy and my family has our tradition back!

Brown Rice Flour

As promised, here is my take on brown rice flour:


When we first started this gluten free journey, every recipe I found, every store-bought pre-made item had brown rice flour as the main ingredient, and with good cause. Brown rice is relatively affordable compared to other grains, is certified gluten free (many other grains are processed in facilities that also process gluten-rich grains so cross contamination can happen. For those who have more than just a sensitivity to gluten, this can be a major problem) and holds together well when blended with other flours. There's just one problem with it...I HATE its flavor and texture in baked goods!

Honestly, there are people who aren't bothered by it, but I know for a fact that there are LOTS of people who really have a hard time with it, choking it down just so that they can have a sandwich every once in awhile. With a husband who has always had texture issues, this quickly became a real problem. I was having to buy separate loaves of regular bread for him, which was not cost effective, and when I made bread at home using the conventional brown rice based flour mixes, half of the loaf would end up in the trash (also not cost effective) because the kids and I could only stomach it when it first came out of the oven.

That is when I set out on a mission to find a BETTER flour mix.

The best resource I found to help me with my experimenting was http://www.livingwithout.com/. They have an entire section devoted to all the different flours, including how to use them, ratios for optimum moisture content, etc. Here is the link to that specific page: http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_1/gluten_free_flour-1073-1.html

After weeks of experimenting, I came up with a winner! A mix based on Oat flour turned out to be perfect for our family. The texture is great and there is no funny aftertaste like we had experienced with the brown rice flour. It works well in bread, cookies, waffles, pancakes, cakes, etc. The only hitch is that those who have serious gluten allergies need to make sure the oat flour they buy is certified gluten free. One way of getting around this is to simply grind your own oat flour in a blender that has never been in contact with gluten, using uncooked whole oats (oatmeal).

I would like to encourage everyone to visit the link above to read up on all the flours. Perhaps something different will work better for your family. Maybe, for you, quinoa flour would be better than oat. Have fun! Experiment! Bottom line, just because you can't have gluten doesn't mean you have to eat things that are barely palatable. The whole reason I started this blog was to encourage others on this journey that we truly can have a wonderful life, eating great-tasting food that doesn't make us sick. You can have MORE life in the gluten-less world.

And if you need something palatable in the meantime, while you are figuring out what will work best for your family, try my flour mix! I am re-posting it here.

Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

3 cups Whole Oat Flour

2 cups Sweet Sorghum Flour

1 and 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour (not starch)

1 and 1/2 cups Potato Starch (not flour)

Mix well in mixer until well blended.

Yields 8 cups of flour

PLEASE Pass the Pasta!

One of the most difficult aspects of going gluten free was finding a viable substitute for durum wheat pasta. Pasta is comforting, filling, and cheap.

Let's face it, I am a stay-at-home Mom, which means we live on a single income. Our grocery budget is NOT flexible. I made alot of casseroles and soups before we realized that gluten needed to go away. Most of those recipes called for pasta as a main ingredient in order to stretch our food dollars.

In our town, we have a wonderful, warehouse-type, grocery store that has an enormous health-food section. (I am soooo grateful) I scoured the aisles, looking for something that might work. I tried several varieties, such as pasta made out of quinoa, spelt (which is really just ancient, non-GMO wheat...some gluten sensitives can handle it, some can't) and other grains. I was doing my level best to avoid anything made with BROWN RICE FLOUR (more on this subject in a different blog post). But nothing I tried made the grade. Either the texture was off or the flavor was too strong.

I tried converting my casserole recipes to use rice in place of the pasta, and my long-suffering husband & kids were very brave. But it just wasn't the same.

Finally, I decided to try some pasta made with dreaded BROWN RICE FLOUR (again, more on that in a different blog post) made by a company called Tinkyada.

It was FANTASTIC!!! As long as I watched close to make sure I didn't over cook it, the texture was perfect, "al dente", and the flavor was just fine! My husband was so glad to be eating what looked like, felt like, and tasted like normal food for the first time in weeks! And the kids devoured it! There was one small caveat : a 16 oz. package was $3.48. The store brand pasta I had been buying was $1.89. But for me, it was worth it! Jut getting to eat like a relatively normal person was worth the extra $1.59. And again, remember that casseroles spread the food out for several days so that one little package can make your family 3 dinners! And buying this pasta in bulk is easy using some of the links i have posted.

Since that day, when my family heaved a not-so-silent sigh of relief,  every time I go grocery shopping I pick up a package or two, even if I already have some at home, simply because then I will always have it when I need it...whether that means an impromptu get together for a bbq (I can make GF Pasta salad) or remembering at the last minute that I was supposed to bring something for the church potluck in the morning (I can throw a casserole, complete with GF pasta, into my crockpot and let 'er cook all night).

For all of my local peeps in the "Burg," Sherms has a wonderful selection of Tinkyada in the "health foods" section of the store. Don't be afraid to ask someone to help you if you can't find it! =)

If you can't find Tinkyada in your area, there are several options: Amazon.com sells it in bulk packages of 6 or 12 which can really save you some money in the long run. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tinkyada+brown+rice+pasta&sprefix=tinkyada%2Caps%2C307 

The Tinkyada website also sells direct. Here is their link: http://www.tinkyada.com/ 

If you live in Oregon and would like to order in bulk, Azure Standard is a wonderful company that not only carries Tinkyada (in bulk) but many many other healthy, raw, organic, and alternative foods and they carry them in many sizes usually so you can order bulk or in smaller quantities if need be. Here is their link: http://www.azurestandard.com/  Just type in Tinkyada in their search box and it should take you where you need to go.

I sincerely hope this causes you all to leap for joy wherever you are, knowing that you can enjoy pasta again! As always, feel free to comment or check back often for more recipes and helpful tips!

Bread...the busy Mama's Lifeblood

Sandwiches. Toast. Two words that haunted me when I first started this journey. My kids and husband ate sandwiches almost everyday! You can't find a more portable meal than a sandwich. Taking a sandwich to school or work is almost an American ideal. And who hasn't had a late night craving for a crispy piece of toast, dripping with butter and jam? Eggs without toast is like sacrilege!

And try going to the store to find bread without gluten. After driving all over town to every supermarket and health food store in a 20 mile radius, you stumble upon the absolute glory of a loaf of bread with a blazing "GLUTEN FREE" label. You pick it up from the shelf and notice that it feels like a brick made out of sponge that has sat too long on the counter and shriveled up, devoid of moisture. But you are desperate! So you purchase that tiny loaf for the gut-checking price of $7.00 and you take it home, dreaming of French Toast and roast beef sandwiches. Three hours later, after gallantly trying to chew through gag-inducing texture and a ghastly aftertaste, you throw up your hands in hopelessness of ever enjoying food again.

And that, my friends, is where I come in! =) After weeks of eating nothing but salads without croutons, I went in search of an alternative. That's when I found a plethora of recipes online and began to experiment. The first 33 recipes I tried were dismal failures. Same texture and aftertaste as the store-bought loaf plus all the effort of making it myself! Then i found a lovely little site called: www.livingwithout.com. There i found an AMAZING resource! An exhaustive list of all (or most) of the gluten free flours known to man, complete with comprehensive instructions on how to use them to create a high-performance gluten free flour mix! Using their instructions, I put together a winning combination of Oat, Sorghum, Tapioca, and Potato flours/starches.


You cannot imagine how incredible it was to bite into a warm, perfect piece of bread after so many months of failure! But now you can experience it for yourself! I am posting the recipe for the flour mix as well as my go-to bread recipe that I modified from www.glutenfreecookingschool.com (which I highly recommend to anyone struggling with a gluten free menu...fabulous resource!)

For any of my local friends, all of the following ingredients can be found in the bulk section at Sherms or in the "Bob's Red Mill" flour section of the health food aisle!

Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

3 cups Whole Oat Flour (Certified gluten free. If you can't find any where you live, just grind your own out of uncooked oatmeal in your blender)

2 cups Sweet Sorghum Flour

1 and 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour (not starch)

1 and 1/2 cups Potato Starch (not flour)

Mix well in mixer until well blended.

Yields 8 cups of flour

Really Good Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

1 Tbsp. Quick Rise yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)

2 ½ cups of Andria's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix (packed tight)

1 Tbsp. xanthan gum 

1  tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 scoop whey protein powder (or the equivalent of 20g. of protein)

2 Tbsp. ground flax seed

3 eggs AT ROOM TEMPERATURE (put them in a bowl of warm water if need be to warm them up before cracking and adding)

1 ½ Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. cider vinegar

Start by combining the yeast and sugar in a small bowl (I use the smallest in my set of three nested mixing bowls). Add the water while gently stirring the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients – best way is to proof it in 200 degree oven with door open -- bubbles and foam should form if the yeast is happy. 

Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, protein powder, and ground flax seed in the largest mixing bowl and stir well.

In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.

By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Blend the dough with a mixer for 4 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough. I bake my bread using an 80 minute setting that allows for 20 minutes of kneading, 18 minutes of rise, and 42 minutes of baking. However, since I don’t use the paddle in by bread machine, I’m effectively doing a 38 minute rise and a 42 minute bake. (The advantage of not using the paddle is that you don’t end up with a hole in the bottom of your bread.)

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loaf pan. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until is is about 1 inch from the top of the pan -- again, 200 degree oven with door open works great. Then bake at 375 degrees for 55 - 60 minutes. DO NOT LET COOL IN PAN! Remove from pan immediately and place loaf on it’s END to cool until completely room temperature. DO NOT SLICE WHILE STILL WARM. Gluten free bread needs time to rest before slicing or you will have a crumbled mess. When slicing, use a serrated knife and “saw” instead of “pressing” For freshness and for a “softer” crust texture, as soon as bread is close to room temp, put in plastic bag and seal with twisty tie (or zip it if it’s a ziplock) and store overnight, but make sure to remove as much air from the bag as you can b4 sealing. 

This bread dough can be used to make many things. Scoop it into muffin tins and you have yummy gluten free yeast rolls. To make gluten free hamburger buns, you can reuse washed tuna cans or use small round pyrex dishes on a cookie sheet. Just be sure to grease liberally with olive oil first and adjust baking time.

For you busy working moms, I know it may seem daunting to tackle baking a bunch of bread goods on top of everything else that you do. May I suggest picking one day a week to tackle the baking? You can make several loaves at once and freeze what you wont use right away. This bread freezes well. I do the same thing when I make hamburger buns. I make them ahead of time and freeze them until I know I am ready to use them, then pull them out and put 'em on the grill right along side the meat!

Let me know what you think, and I would love to hear ideas on ways to improve this recipe even more! =) If you have any questions, feel free to comment! We are all in this together! 

Facing the GLUTEN-FREE giant...

So if you have wandered onto this blog, bleary-eyed from hours or days of reading everything you can get your hands on about this whole gluten-free/sugar-free thing, chances are you are feeling overwhelmed, depressed, panicked, or maybe a little bit of all three. I don't blame you. I have been there and I know exactly how you feel.

I remember bursting into tears after reading the labels on 20 different kinds of cereal at the supermarket. Every single one of them either had gluten or refined sugar, the two ingredients that I was trying to avoid. That may sound silly to most people, but when you take for granted that you will have something quick to serve your kids early in the morning before school, and then suddenly that option is removed, it can leave even the most unflappable personality, floundering. The way that we eat in America, the habits we have formed, do not lend themselves to those with special dietary needs. Pick up any random selection of items at the supermarket (excluding anything raw, such as veggies, fruits and meats) and 99% of those items will contain either gluten or refined sugar in some form or another, and most items will have both.

Having relied on cereal (we are not talking Fruit Loops and HoneySmacks here, just good, whole grain stuff like Wheaties and Cheerios) for breakfast 5 days a week, and kids who are seriously in love with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I was terrified that our new lifestyle would either starve us to death or leave us eating little more than rice cakes and cardboard. Honestly, going gluten and refined sugar free opened my eyes to a very ugly truth: as much as I tried to feed my family healthy food, all 4 of us had a serious addiction to bread and pasta.

In truth, gluten foods are NOT bad, in and of themselves, for most people, especially if they truly are made from whole-grains. But for those of us who have experienced the effects of gluten intolerance and/or allergies, they are a major problem and can even be deadly.  And Americans have had a love affair with gluten foods for quite some time. Most of my peers and even my mother and grandmother grew up with gluten foods as a staple in their pantries.

But there is hope. Right now it may seem like a MONUMENTAL task to try and eliminate these things from your diet. But with a few minor tweaks to your shopping list and some bravery on your part, I hope to share some of the things I have learned on this journey that have made all the difference for my family.