So, remember how I ate at Friendly's and knew I'd feel crappy a few days later? Try feeling crappy for about five days. I'm finally getting my regular appetite back and not feeling like I've got a heavy, pukey feeling in my stomach. Not to mention cramping like I think I'm going to have to race to the bathroom, only to discover nothing happens! How frustrating. I guess my body really got mad at me for cheating a second time, and this was the only way it could tell me so. Hmm, I guess I'm really going to have to stick harder to my guns and REALLY avoid gluten.
On a lighter note, I wanted to share another recipe that I really enjoy and is very tasteful and gluten-free *of course!!*. It's for homemade hash browns, and I think that they are rockin'! I started making them several years ago but recently added some spice just to make them a bit tastier. You can use anywhere from two to four potatoes, anything from P.E.I. to Yukon Gold to regular baking potatoes, it doesn't really matter. Peel the potatoes, and then using a grater (I have a tower grater with four sizes, I use the large one that can also grate cheese into sizes that you'd put on tacos, etc.), grate the potatoes onto something like a paper plate. Heat a pan on medium (I use five out of ten on my stove top) and melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Scatter some chives and onion powder (I really like the onion powder, so I use a lot-I'm sure real chopped onions would taste great too!!) into the melting butter and spread it around the bottom of the pan *I prefer non-stick*. Transfer the grated potatoes onto the surface of the pan, then put a tablespoon or two more of pieces of butter on top of the potatoes. Add to that exposed surface some more chives and onion powder (or onions, or whatever spice you'd like to try) and cover the pan. I like to make a lot of potatoes, so I use four potatoes with a large frying pan, and it is approximately half an inch thick of grated potato. I usually cook the potatoes for about eight to ten minutes before I cut them into four sections with a spatula. One section by one, I lift up the potatoes, put a little more butter on the pan where I removed that section, and then flip it over. I'm a fan of Paula Dean's major use of butter, cream, and all things delicious and deadly in the food world, so I really use a lot of butter in this recipe. I'm sure they'd be very good without as much butter, and you could probably use vegetable oil as a healthier substitute. I cook the grated potatoes on the second side for another five to ten minutes, depending on how browned I want them to be. The thinner they are in the pan, the more that the potatoes will crisp up. Since I make a lot and have them pretty thickly in the pan, the parts that are directly on the pan are crispy but the parts on the inside are more soft. I must say, they are quite delicious!
On to recipes that I haven't invented but am utilizing, I purchased some more gluten-free Betty Crocker products today at my local grocery store. They are finally there (new products take longer to bring in to sell, apparently) and are actually a dollar or two cheaper than at the Price Chopper. I made the Betty Crocker Gluten-free brownie recipe and added some chopped walnuts (a brownie isn't a brownie unless it has nuts!) and it came out really well! The cook time for an 8" by 8" pan was something like 28-31 minutes at 350, though I believe I cooked mine for approximately 35-38 minutes. When I checked them with a toothpick at 28 minutes the bottom was still wet, and the same at 31 minutes. I'm not sure if it's just my oven or not, but they weren't at all burnt from staying in there for so long. I think that they taste very much, if not almost exactly, like the regular brownie mix.
Another recipe I made in the past few days was a pancake and waffle mix that I bought at Whole Foods Market. It is called Brown Rice Gluten-Free Pancake and Waffle Mix, from the brand Gluten-Free Pantry. It says that you use half the actual mix in the bag to make the recipe, but I found it to be quite runny and not at all thick. I decided to use a little bit more of the powder mix when I made them, so when I finish the mix off I'm planning on using less of the liquid ingredients. I believe I can cut back in the water category. The pancakes came out pretty well, though they are not as naturally tasty as the ones I'm used to, so the next time I made them I'm planning on using maple syrup on them (Vermont Maid is my syrup of choice, and as I discovered when I purchased it today, it is GLUTEN-FREE!).
I've got some flour from the Whole Foods Brand 365 that I could use to try and make the pancake recipe I used to use, but I'm not sure if it will come out well or not. With other flours, that substitution hasn't really worked out. For instance, one brand the pancakes rose up a few inches in the pan, and didn't fully cook in the middle because they expanded so much. Another one, Bob's Red Mill's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour, had a bean taste to it. I'm definitely going to avoid anything with bean flour from now on, as I think I've mentioned before. It really is the worst taste in the world, and it doesn't go away for a while.
While perusing the Whole Foods Market website in an effort to find a location near my college (closest one-four hours away, gasp!), I discovered that they have a nice gluten-free section. It can be accessed at
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/gluten-free.php. There are several links on the right-hand side of the page that talk about different gluten-free subjects. There are even off-site links listed underneath those! I think it's really great that they are so helpful to those of us that are gluten-intolerant/-allergic.
At the Whole Foods Market, I bought a couple frozen dinner meals. One was a macaroni and cheese, which I had a few nights ago. It was delicious! I was very surprised and pleased. It didn't have that same cheese taste I'm used to from Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but it was a healthier, more natural cheese taste. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name, but it was purchased in the freezer section and was specifically gluten-free. Another meal I purchased was from the Glutino brand, and was a salmon dinner with broccoli and cranberry pilaf. It was also very good, and I ate it on my lunch break from work just the other day. I'm glad to see there are frozen meals that are easy to heat up and eat, though like all the other gluten-free products I've discovered they were a bit more expensive. Approximately $5.50 to $6.50 each. Yikes! Though it is probably just as expensive to try and make your own meals sometimes!
Well, this was a long post, but I think I was making up for not adding anything for a few days. As always, if you have ANY questions, comments, or criticisms, I'm up to hear them!!
Until next time,
Gluten, Not Glutton
