Jules Shepard Gluten-Free Cooking Demo

Tonight I attended a Gluten-Free Cooking demo class by Jules Shepard.  It was sponsored and organized by the State College Celiac Support Group.  The turnout was pretty good; I think there were like 30 people at the event, many familiar faces as well as many new faces.  One woman made the trip in from Pittsburgh for the demo!

Jules did a great job and showed how easy it can be to make great tasting gluten free foods.  Jules brought already made items (day before) and also showed how to make each of these items live during the demo.  This was great because we could sample each item a day after it was made... as many celiacs know, most baked goods don't taste that great the day after you make them.  Her items were all very delicious that she had made he day before.

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So you are probably asking yourself, what did she prepare / demo?  Well she demonstrated how to make bread in a bread machine, pierogies, graham (like)  crackers, and finally a two-layer birthday cake.  All of which were very good.  The graham crackers were the best gluten-free ones I had ever had, light and crisp!

It was also nice to hear her talk about how you could vary the recipes to get different results... like how to make ravioli using almost the same recipe as the pierogies(for the dough).  I also enjoyed hearing about bread machines and makes me want to bust mine out of the closet again to start making breads.

At the end of the evening, she had a raffle and the group attendees could win one of three items: cake batter, graham cracker dough, or pierogi dough.  I won the cake batter, so I will be making that tomorrow night!  I also bought one her books: Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten-Free Eating.  I definitely enjoyed the demonstration and encourage those of you that are near one of Jules' demonstration locations to attend!

Thanks to Natures Pantry for providing water and the space for the demonstration.  Thanks to Karen from the State College Celiac Support Group for initiating and organizing this event.

Gluten-Free Stuffed Pasta Shells

Some of you may have saw my tweet the other night about Casey making gluten-free stuffed shells for me and I wanted to share a photo of them.  These are really good.

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Ingredients:

• 1 box of Tinkyada Brown Rice Grand Shells Cooked


• 4 cups ricotta cheese


• 2 cups mozzarella cheese


• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese


• 3 eggs


• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley


• 3/4 tsp oregano


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp pepper


• 3 cups favorite pasta sauce

Cooking Temp and Time: 350F for 35 mins

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

So over the weekend I tried a cinnamon roll recipe from another one my gluten free cook books, Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg.  Casey was especially excited to try out this recipe since I found a forum post with photos of the process and results.

As with most recipes in the Gluten Free Kitchen, the flour combinations are extremely simple using common flours available at most local grocery stores.

Anyhow, below is a photo of the finished product.  If you get a chance try this recipe out, you won't be disappointed, and be sure to follow the instructions on the forum post. The post author showed a sweet trick (thanks to Alton Brown) to rolling the dough so that you don't have to touch it by hand.

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Unos Chicago Grill - Gluten Free Pizza

I remember reading about how Unos Chicago Grill is offering gluten free pizza.  We were all over in Altoona today, which just happens to have a Unos and it was dinner time, so we stopped.  I made sure to ask the host if they offered the GF pizza, and she said yes sir.  Score!

Casey and I shared a GF Cheese Pizza and the kids had regular personal cheese pizzas.  Unos GF cheese pizza came very quickly, almost as quick as the kids.  Unos GF Cheese Pizza was a very thin crust, much thinner than Corinado's and extremely thing compared to my gluten free pizzas I make at home.  Unos GF Cheese Pizza had decent flavor and I would most likely have it again when traveling with the family.  The price was decent too:  $10 for a 12-14 inch pizza.

So if  you are out and about on travel, and looking for a decent GF pizza, give Unos a try.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread

This past weekend I was woken up by my daughter Hailey telling me that mommy cooked a surprise for me.  When I entered the kitchen, I saw something that I haven't seen for breakfast since before Casey was diagnosed with Celiac disease... banana bread... and it looked and smelled wonderful.

Casey made the bread from a recipe on the back of a Pamela's Products Baking and Pancake Mix.  She said it was so  easy and the results were definitely the same as everything we have made with this mix, super yummy.  Below are some photos for you to enjoy.

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Gluten-Free Green Peppers and Pepperoni Pizza

I know that I have posted about my gluten free pizza before, but this time the photos are better.  Enjoy.  I think I have gotten this recipe down perfect now, I haven't made a less than perfect pizza in over 6 months.  Here are some photos of the yumminess.

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Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

Casey made these wonderful gluten-free blueberry muffins for breakfast!  These muffins are from our favorite gluten-free cookbook  (“Gluten-Free Baking Classic”).  I posted some photos so people could see how good they turn out.

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Update:  Entered the above photo in and this post into the Simply...Gluten Free Photo Contest.

Enjoyed Our Visitors

Kyra, nephew Paulie, and my mom left yesterday after visiting since last Tuesday.  It was so nice seeing them, especially baby Paulie.  This was the first time I had saw him in person since he was born 5 months ago.  He is such a pleasant little man, not fussy at all, and so happy.  Thanks Kyra for making the trip with the little guy.

Kyra and my mom spent a lot of time here at our house, but they also visited with GG and took Hailey out and about with them.  My dad stopped over on Thursday to see Paulie.

While our guests were here I made sure to keep their bellies full with yummy food.  I cooked breakfast, but I mostly took care of the dinners (Gluten-Free of course).  Some of the things I cooked included homemade pizza, an apple pork tenderloin dinner, rosemary balsamic chicken kabobs w/ mac n cheese, and apple crisp for desert.  Below are a few of the photos.

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All in all, I think Kyra, Paulie, and mom had a great time and we sure hope they come visit again soon.

Links/recipies for the foods shown above are listed here:

• Pork Tenderloin with Apples


• Gluten Free Mac and Cheese


• Gluten Free Apple Crisp (Book: Gluten Free Baking Classics)


• Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Kabobs (Wegmans prepared or by their marinade)

Gluten-Free Chicken Cheese Steaks

One of my favorite meals to make for Casey is GF Chicken Cheese Steaks.



I used the recipe from my favorite gluten-free cookbook (“Gluten-Free Baking Classic”) to make the roll.  I thought I would post the photo for now just so people could see what the recipe from this book actually looks like when baked.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Breakfast

A favorite in our house are belgian waffles made using Pamela's Products Baking and Pancake Mix.  I have been using this mix ever since Casey first got diagnosed with Celiac disease.  It makes wonderful waffles as you can see in the image below.  

 

Gluten-Free Belgian Waffle

Casey asked me for blueberry pancakes yesterday and I figured I would give Pamela's mix a try and see how the pancakes would turn out.  The batter was just like real pancake batter, the batter baked up just like real pancake batter, and most importantly, they sure tasted like real pancakes!  Enjoy the photos and be sure to try out this mix for your gluten-free loved ones.

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Plans

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year for thanksgiving Casey and I will be serving the following for our family Thanksgiving Dinner.

• Roasted Brined Turkey - Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Grand Champion Free-Range Fresh Turkey


• Cornbread Stuffing based on two great recipes: gluten-free cornbread and Betty Crocker's stuffing


• Mashed Potatoes


• Mashed Sweet Potatoes


• Gravy


• Sweet Corn


• Green Beans


• Wegman's Cranberry Sauce


• Homemade Pumpkin Pie with gluten-free cookie crust.

Update: The food turned out great!  The turkey was super juicy and everyone left with their belly's full.

Gluten-Free Chicken Alfredo and French Bread

Tonight Casey requested her favorite pasta dish, Chicken Roasted Garlic Alfredo w/ broccoli.  Casey also requested some kind of bread to accompany the pasta dish.  Hmm, I pulled out my favorite gluten-free cookbook (“Gluten-Free Baking Classic”) and made the French Bread recipe.  This took awhile (10 mins prep time and 25-30 mins cook time.  This was my first time making this recipe.  I didn't let the bread rise as much as the recipe called for, but that sure didn't affect the end result, yummy.  

Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese

Tonight I made Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese for the family.  Spoiler: unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished product.  I use Betty Crocker's recipe and convert it to a gluten-free recipe using the following substitutions:

• regular pasta - Instead use a gluten-free pasta of your choice (I prefer Dr. Schar's Gluten-Free Penne pasta, available at Wegmans, Celiac.com).


• regular all-purpose flour - Instead use a general gluten-free mix (I actually use the brown rice flour mix from "Gluten-Free Baking Classic" ).

The other substitution that I make is to use half sharp cheddar cheese and half Monterey Jack. This recipe when converted over to a gluten-free version tastes just as good as the original.  Give it a try and enjoy it.

Gluten-Free Pizza

Tonight was pizza night at our place (gluten-free of course).  I make my pizza crust using a recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classic" 1st Edition by Annalise G. Roberts.  If you don't own this book, get it.  This is by far the best pizza recipe that I have come across.  I have tried many and this one just comes the closest to the real thing.  The aroma that this dough gives off when making it is also wonderful.