Kinnikinnick Bread Crumbs and Meatloaf

Since going gluten, dairy and soy free I have been craving meat more than usual. I was eating meat about 1-2 times per week and now I am having it at least twice that. I need to sit down and make a plan because I don't want to end up eating it every day again.

So today I made meatloaf for dinner. I used my mom's classic basic meatloaf recipe and just substituted the Kinnikinnick Bread Crumbs in for the typical bread crumbs. I thought it turned out great.

I'll have to check the price on these in order to decide whether to keep buying them. Since I am not "doing" (buying or making) gluten-free bread, I can't just make my own. Maybe one day I will be there.

Costco Rotisserie Chicken is Gluten Free!

I go to Costco once every 6-8 weeks. I have a set list of things that I stock from there when we get low. Not the frozen foods or the snacks, but things like paper products and oatmeal.

This time my husband went for me and was observant enough to notice that the rotisserie chicken (yummy) is labled GF. He picked one up to supplement a very simple dinner. It appears to be soy and dairy free as well, how wonderful.

Alison's White Chili and Quick White Beans

I made a few recipes this week that I found at another gluten-free blog - Penny Thoughts.

The Quick White Beans were a great quick lunch for me one day when I needed something fast and easy that I already had all the ingredients for lying around. I used basil as the fresh herb because that is what I had.

The White Chili is really good too - it has lots of flavor even though I went easy on the jalapeno so it would not be too spicy for the kids. I did make a few minor changes based on what I had on hand and I also sneaked in the leaves from a small bunch of chard, finely chopped up in the food processor. I figured with all the cilantro it would just blend right in. Turned out great!

I'll add these to my recipe notebook!

Pamela's Ginger Cookies

Tried a new cookie today. Sure is tough to find an already made one without soy, dairy and gluten. Thought this one was pretty good.

The Chocolate Chip cookies by Pamela that I wrote about previously are out now because even though they do not contain gluten or dairy, they do contain soy.

I really need to try my hand at gluten-free baking as I have never been a big fan of ready-made items anyway. I'll have to work on getting my nerve back up

Crispy Potato Cubes

I made this recipe and substituted brown rice flour for wheat flour. I wasn't that crazy about the flavor. Since I liked the brown rice flour fine in the breading for yesterday's chicken, I think that it may have been the mix of spices. I think I will try something a little different next time.

Just to mix things up a bit, I also used this to bread some carrots and roasted them alongside the potatoes. I thought they turned out pretty good and it was nice to have something a bit different.

Kinnikinnick Bread Crumbs and Breaded Baked Chicken

I used another item from my Kinnikinnick order this week. I used the bread crumbs (mixed with some brown rice flour and spices) as a breading for baked chicken.

They worked great and it turned out really good. My son kept saying how yummy the "outside" of the chicken was. I tasted a few plain out of the package and wasn't that exciting but the package does recomment toasting them before eating. Seems like a good idea.

Banana Quinoa Muffins

I tried my hand at a little gluten-free baking this week. I have a box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes and noticed a recpe on the back for Banana Quinoa Muffins that had simple ingredients. It uses quinoa flour and quinoa flakes and no oil or margarine/butter making it dairy-free and soy-free as well.

The texture turned out really nice even though I was worried as they did not seem to rise up much. The flavor was a little strong on the quinoa I think. Not enough honey and banana flavor to mask it I guess. My kids did not like them and I have never seen a muffin they would not eat. I was pretty surprised I did not think they were that bad. I may put a little honey on the last few to finish them off though!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes, it's another goodie post.

I went digging in my oldest recipe box for this golden oldie Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe I got from my aunt in 1987. The only 3 ingredients are peanut butter, sugar and egg. Gluten, dairy and soy free! (Make sure your peanut butter doesn't contain soy. Some do. I used natural.) And easy too.

I'm sure you've seen this recipe before, it is pretty common. And with simple ingredients I could whip it out to address a nagging sweet tooth.

I think they were pretty good. A little crumbly and not a ton of depth in the flavor but it hit the spot. It was definitely better than some allergen free sweets I have purchased and a heck of a lot cheaper.

Update - these are better the next day. Not as crumbly. I like them a bit chewy - if you do too then be sure not to overbake!

Rice Milk Quandries

I like having some sort of milk-substitute around. I don't use much of it but like to have a little something to put on my cereal or granola or to use in place of milk in recipes.

I went to the store today and spent about 15 minutes in the non-dairy milk section looking for something that was also marked gluten-free. Whew! I almost gave up but finally found Pacific brand rice drink that was labeled GF. They had two other brands (at Fred Meyer) but neither was specifically labeled as gluten-free so I did not want to make a mistake.

I guess I could call and find out if they actually are, although I know I have seen Rice Dream labeled as gluten-free before so I wonder what has changed.

I glanced at the other non-dairy milks (besides rice drink) but did not see any other kind that was dairy-free, soy-free and gluten-free either.

Morning Snack - Peabutter and Crackers

Tried a couple of new products - and it was successful! I ordered these online from the Gluten Free Mall. If we continue to get these I'll have to shop around a bit as it came out pricey especially with the shipping fees.

Schar Table Crackers - these are big square crackers that resemble a Ritz cracker. You wouldn't know they are gluten-free. They taste good and have good texture. They are very fragile though and several were broken when they arrive, despite extra packing material around them

Peabutter - This is the only peanut butter substitute I have seen that my son could eat. He is allergic to nuts and seeds and soy. My kids and I tried this with crackers. It is really good. We all three liked it. My oldest used to eat soy butter and I hated that. This has much better flavor. It unfortunate that it is not all natural but I guess the peas need a little boost. Next I'll have to try and see if the kids like it on a sandwich. It will be nice to have a sandwich spread option for picnics this summer.

More on Brown Rice Pasta

Well we had pasta again tonight. I only had one box of the quinoa pasta that I mentioned last week, so I had to use some of the brown rice pasta that I already had in my pantry.

This happened to be Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Spirals. This was much better than the brown rice pasta I complained about last time. I love Trader Joe's and I especially love their prices but maybe I'll stick to Tinkyada for a while. I thought the texture was much better. Let's see if I can do that consistently.

I had heard Tinkyada was the best but I thought that I liked the TJ as well. I have a few more bags of the TJ in my pantry so maybe I will figure out how to make the texture better.

Peach Smoothie but not with Ricera Yogurt

The kids and I had Peach Smoothies for snack this afternoon. Well, I guess I can call it a smoothie. I am not sure what it has to have in it to constitute a smoothie but it certainly looks like one.

This one contains a little leftover pineapple juice, lots of peaches I tray froze last summer (partially thawed) and a little rice milk and water (as needed to keep the blender flowing.)

What it did not contain was Ricera Yogurt (non-dairy yogurt made from brown rice.) I opened it up and took a taste fortunately before I dumped it in my blender. It tasted and smelled terrible. Not sure if it was somehow spoiled or just bad. This was the first time I had ever bought it. I won't be buying that again.

Summer Salads

In spite of our less than stellar summer weather, I am moving forward on my summer salad plan. I made several salads over the last week so that they would be available for picnics and other outings.

Here is what I have made:

1. Roasted Potato and Tomato Salad (from Moosewood Daily Special)

2. Southwestern Corn Slaw

3. Black Bean and Corn Salad

4. Quinoa and Black Bean Salad (Not pictured)

Salad seems like a great item to investigate if you are gluten-free - there are lots of salads out there that don't even need to be adjusted, you just need to double-check all your ingredients.

Homemade Granola - Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Soy-Free

I had better luck finding Gluten-free oats yesterday at PCC so I made some granola. I am no expert so I just made my old recipe with a couple tweaks to remove the offending foods. Next time I want to try using applesauce and decreasing the oil - some people have blogged that this works for them.

Here is what I made, based on what I had on hand.

Gluten-Free Granola Recipe

Ingredients:
6 c rolled oats (certified Gluten-Free)
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c flaxmeal
1/4 c raw sunflower seeds
2 c chopped pecans
2/3 c honey
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 T rice milk
1 1/2 t vanilla

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients
2. Combine wet ingredients in small bowl. Add to oat mixture and mix thoroughly.
3. Turn into two large shallow greased baking pans or cookie sheets. Heat in 300 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until lightly toasted. Stir twice during heating.
4. Let cool for 15 minutes after removing from the oven and then stir again. Store in tightly sealed container.

Kale Chips for Snack

We had a bunch of Kale from our CSA so I made some Kale Chips one afternoon. I would not say they taste just like potato chips but they were pretty good. Made it easier to eat a fair quantity of Kale. I though the texture was nice and I am sure you can play around with the seasoning if they are too bitter.

I will make these again as it is a good idea for a healthy snack food.