Gluten Free 101

Since finding out our son needed to be gluten free (GF) 2 years ago (and since I am to lazy to make two meals) I have had to learn how to either make our "normal" meals GF or change our menu all together. So here are a few things I have learned to make my GF cooking life a little easier.

*Chex cereal is GF!!!  Gluten Free cereal from a health food store is SO expensive $5 for a 9oz box just doesn't work when feeding 4 kids.

*Corn chex crushed make a great substitute bread crumbs

*corn starch makes a better substitute than GF flour in stews and breading chicken.

*cream soups have gluten in them...the GF ones you can find, in kid term are yucky. but it is very easy to make your own.
                          - 1/2 stick butter
                          - 14oz can chicken broth (or veggie)
                          - 1/2  to 1cup cream (depending on taste) (I use milk if I'm out of cream it will just take more cornstarch to thicken)
                           -  1-2tbl cornstarch
                           then add one can chopped mushrooms or chopped chicken depending on kind of soup you need.
                           melt butter in pan add chicken or mushrooms add chicken broth (leave a little in can to mix with cornstarch. add cream  and cornstarch mixture. cook on med heat till thick. add salt, pepper to taste. add to your favorite recipe!


*Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking  is my favorite GF cook book

* Debby's Bakery  has great flour blends

* Most any cookie or cake recipe can be changed to gluten free by adding an extra egg and maybe a little more liquid

* Schar pasta and bread is the best we have found they have different style noodles, Sunflower Market and Sprouts both carry some of the products.

* Amazon is a great place to buy GF foods and flours to make your own blends

* Target brand chili beans are the only chili beans I have found that don't have gluten in it.

* Malt and Barley Malt are gluten Maltodextren is not

* Wheat free is not the same as Gluten free so read the ingredients

*Qdoba is an easy place to eat GF most everything except the flour tortillas are GF....Taco Bell is NOT...everything except the lettuce has some sort of gluten in it.

* a product can be GF or not depending on the brand and type. ie. Kraft ranch dressing IS GF, Hidden Valley ranch IS NOT. Milky Way Darks ARE GF,  Milky Way regular are NOT.

* You can find the answer to just about any GF question on Google.