Never Living Without » gluten free

Gluten Free Creamy Potato Soup

Brenda — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:46:27 +0000

I was cleaning out my chest freezer when I realized I had saved two ham bones. They were all wrapped up just waiting to be used. I usually cook a ham and then save the bone for another meal. Well, it just happened to be really chilly outside so I decided I was going to make myself some creamy potato soup. Now this was a first for me but I make pea soup all of the time so I figured it couldn’t be that hard. It turned out perfect. Chunks of ham and potato, who could ask for more. I called this soup creamy potato but there isn’t any dairy in my recipe. The potatoes boiled down and made this wonderfully thick soup.

Potato Soup

2 ham bones
6 cups GF chicken stock
4 potatoes peeled and diced
1 large onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 tsp salt
6 twists on the pepper grind

Start by cooking your ham bone in the broth for at least 30 minutes.
Remove the bone from pan and cut up the left over meat into bite size pieces. Add ham pieces back into soup.
Add the rest of your ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.
If soup seems too thin add 2 tbl of tapioca starch to thicken. Serve with a fresh piece of hot bread.

10 minute Gluten Free Peanut Butter Layer Bars

Brenda — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:10:09 +0000

These bars are so simple. They take about 10 minutes to whip up. They taste like a homemade Reeses!

Peanut Butter Layer Bars

Peanut Butter Layer:

2 cups cookies crumbs finely ground (I use GF gingersnaps or arrowroot cookies)
2 sticks of butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)

Chocolate layer:

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tbl peanut butter

Mix together butter, crumbs, sugar, and peanut butter until blended. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 pan.
Pour chips into microwave safe bowl and add the peanut butter. Microwave for 1 minute and stir. Spread over 1st layer and chill for at least 1 hour.

Warning: You will be lucky if these bars last more than a day. They are very addictive!

Gluten Free Drunken Noodles

Brenda — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:58:09 +0000

I love Thai and Chinese food but I will only order steamed chicken and vegetables when I eat at our local restaurants. I did have one restaurant prepare an order of Drunken Noodles and I fell in love with the flavor. Unfortunately, that restaurant is two hours away from where I live and I don’t get a chance to go there that often. I developed this recipe that is very close. My daughters actually request this. They love the spice!

Drunken Noodles

1/2- 16 oz box of Notta Pasta Wide Rice Noodles
1 lb of either venison, beef, buffalo, chicken or pork
1/8 cup Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce
1/3 cup GF soy sauce or Tamari
4 tbl minced garlic
1 large onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups frozen green beans, thawed
2 tbl lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar

Marinate meat in garlic pepper sauce and soy sauce for at least 2 hours.
Saute meat with the marinate. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until slightly brown. Add garlic, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots. Cook for 2 minutes on medium high heat.
Add drained noodles, beans and brown sugar. Cook until noodles are tender. Do not over cook. Serve immediately.
If noodles don’t have enough spice feel free to add more garlic chili pepper sauce. Just be careful because a little goes a long way.

Cook’s note: Noodles are great reheated the next day if you have any left.

photo credit: love?janine

Gluten Free No Bake Cookies

Brenda — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:57:22 +0000

Who doesn’t love no-bake cookies? Before the introduction of GF oats I couldn’t eat these, they always gave me a stomach ache. Now, I can make them as often as I want to. I always make mine with old fashioned oats. I love the chewy texture and those following the GF diet need as much fiber as possible because it tends to be low on the daily fiber requirements.

No-bake Cookies

2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
3 cups GF oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, margarine, milk, and salt to a boil for 1 minute.
Add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well.
Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool.

Cooks Note: Sometimes I use my instant oatmeal mix in place of the plain oats. With the cinnamon it gives the cookies a slightly Mexican hot chocolate taste which my family loves.

World’s Best Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits

Brenda — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:54:49 +0000

This weekend I made an even better version than my last. The new ones were even more chewy and did not crumble as easily. They could be cut in half and loaded up with homemade strawberry jam or honey. Making these brought back memories of when I could eat them from KFC or McDonald’s. Next time I am going to make them into breakfast sandwiches loaded with sausage, eggs and cheese. YUM! Unfortunately, they went so fast that I didn’t even get a chance to take a photo.

GF Buttermilk Biscuits

2 1/2 cups sorghum flour mix
4 teaspoons guar gum
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cups cold butter, diced into small chunks
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Place the first six ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until blended.
Sprinkle the butter cubes evenly over the flour mixture, cover, and pulse until the mixture become crumbly.
Pour the buttermilk evenly over the mixture. Pulse until the dough becomes a moist clump. Make sure all of the flour mixture from the bottom is mixed properly.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop up 18 biscuits and place on cookie sheet. Dip a glass cup into flour and press the biscuits down slightly.
Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush tops of biscuits with butter. Enjoy!

Sorghum flour mix: 2 parts sorghum flour to 1 part tapioca flour

Homemade Gluten Free Sausage Gravy

Brenda — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:53:26 +0000

After making a batch of GF biscuits yesterday. I decided I didn’t want to eat soggy biscuits with jam on them today. Instead, I took out a package of our homemade breakfast sausage and decided to whip up a batch of gravy. This was the first time I had made this recipe since going GF. I also was trying to make it a bit on the healthy side.

We all know there is nothing healthy about a good sausage gravy.

Give this recipe a whirl and let me know what you think.

Sausage Gravy

1 lb of sausage

2 tbl of butter

2 tbl of GF flour

1 can of fat free evaporated milk

1 cup of chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Brown your sausage until nice and crispy. Add the butter and swirl in the flour. Once mixed, add the milk and chicken broth. Let boil for 5 minutes and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened. Add salt and pepper before serving. Pour on you biscuits and enjoy!

General Mills-no Gluten Free list but very helpful

Brenda — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:51:23 +0000

I recently purchased a can of Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup. I read the ingredient list and did not see any hints of gluten except the MSG. I called Progresso which happens to also be General Mills and I wanted to confirm that this soup is ideed GF. I was told at this time they do not publish a GF list because of constant formula changes but if the soup contains any gluten not just wheat that it would be listed. Such as, if the MSG was made from any gluten source it would list the gluten after it. I was also told the only reason they do not write gluten free on the label is because they don’t test the final product.

Some might think this would warrant them not to use this product.

I will not hesitate to eat this soup! Before the laws were changed we were all forced to read labels. In order for a company to label their food GF it must either be naturally GF (such as eggs, they would all be GF) or they must test the end product. I have a feeling many companies cannot afford to switch to testing all of it’s products so we must still rely on reading labels and calling the company. Progresso will be sending me some recipes to use and they also asked if they come out with new GF lists (or other relevant such items) if they could send me new information. Unfortunately, they can only send via snail mail but at least they are willing to send something.

The woman I spoke to also started to tell me about the Betty Crocker GF mixes that they carry. I absolutely love the convenience of buying them in a regular store. She is sending me some recipes specifically for their GF mixes. They don’t offer any coupons that they can send in the mail but they do offer a newsletter where you can print coupons. Give it a try! If you click the link on the left side of that page it will bring you to a sample newsletter. I personally love all of the recipes and coupons!

I almost forgot. I was told that all of their soups are going to be reformulated without MSG. The process will take some time but they are starting to recreate their soups without it. That is a bonus because so many people are sensitive to MSG (myself included).

So in the end I would recommend calling General Mills for any of your GF questions!

photo credit: Special*Dark

Harris Teeter: Great Convenient Shopping

Brenda — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:49:51 +0000

My sister and her two year old daughter have just been diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease. I have been pushing my entire family to get tested because they all have stomach problems. My sister was told she could not be tested while she was pregnant so when one of her daughters started to show signs they both went in. She does have three other children that will also need to be tested.

She is starting to feel the overwhelming stress that many of us feel when we were first diagnosed.

I want this transition to be as easy as possible. While researching local stores for her we remembered that when I visited two years ago we went shopping at a Harris Teeter store. Just out of curiosity I went to their website. To my delight, I found they have a system where you can enter your desired items online into a list and pick them up at your local store. I searched through their groceries and found many GF items. This was a long process but once you have the list made it couldn’t be easier. I created a username and password for her and now she has access to an entire list of GF products at a store she can go to at her convenience. I don’t have a Harris Teeter anywhere near me but this is a great resource for her living in North Carolina.

Gluten Free, is it the New Fad Diet?

Brenda — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:45:21 +0000

I know there is a lot of criticism circulating the GF world about this being a fad diet. We all know that is not true! Recent publications are making readers think that following the gluten free diet can be used for weight loss. Some might lose weight initially but I would never consider it a fad diet or quick fix for losing weight. There is a percentage of us who experience weight gain because our bodies are finally absorbing nutrients again. Lucky us!

Either way those of us who will be following this diet for the rest of our lives will reap the benefit of this fad. More and more mainstream manufacturers are creating a gluten free version of easy made products. Thank you to Betty Crocker and General Mills, just to name a few!

DFW NBC – Buzz Word: Watch the video and let me know what you think.

Video from VodPod

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Gluten Free Listfull Tuesday

Brenda — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:11 +0000

Here is the other half of the soup list. There are more soups out there but these are the ones I have either seen in a local store or have actually tried myself. I personally love the Imagine soups but currently I am still working on the list of their GF soups. If you are lucky enough to find Amy’s Organic soups at a local store then make sure you give them a try. Her vegetable lentil soup is amazing.

Pacific Soups

Broths

Organic Chicken Broth

Organic Chicken Broth Low Sodium

Free Range Chicken Broth

Organic Vegetable Broth

Organic Vegetable Broth Low Sodium

Organic Beef Broth

Beef Broth

Organic Mushroom Broth

Creamy Soups

Organic Creamy Tomato

Organic Creamy Tomato Low Sodium

Organic Creamy Butternut Squash

Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Low Sodium

Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato

Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Low Sodium

Organic French Onion

Creamy Roasted Carrot

Cashew Carrot Ginger

Buttery Sweet Corn

Curried Red Lentil

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Tuscan White Bean

Hearty Artisan Soups

Organic Spicy Chicken Fajita

Organic Spicy Black Bean with Chicken Sausage

Organic Savory White Bean with Smoked Bacon

Organic Split Pea with Ham & Swiss Cheese

Organic Savory Chicken & Wild Rice

Amy’s

Amy’s Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable Soup

Amy’s Light In Sodium Lentil Soup

Amy’s Organic Cream of Tomato Soup

Amy’s Black Bean Vegetable

Amy’s Black Vegetable Lentil Soup

Amy’s Organic Tuscan Bean and Rice Soup

Amy’s Organic Chili with Vegetables

Amy’s Chunky Tomato Bisque Soup