A "New" Flour Mix

We are trying to eat healthier here at our house. We are cutting out meat, dairy and lowering our sugar intake. At the same time we are eating more of a whole foods, plant based diet which is better for everyone including my dear daughter with Celiac. Our six year old son was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in November, so now my husband and I are even more convinced we need to eat healthier, for our children's sake. I've been searching the internet in my spare seconds of time to find vegan, gluten free recipe ideas. Wow. Not much out there, maybe I'm just not seeing it... So you can imagine my excitement when I found this recipe for muffins. Not only was the recipe do-able but the post was about creating a whole grain gluten free flour mix. I didn't even know this was possible. What? Only 30% starches and the rest is whole grain? Amazing. Go ahead and check it out. I'm really liking the site and their recipe ideas.
As far as the said muffin recipe, I made it vegan by using homemade applesauce instead of the buttermilk. They were delicious! Next time though I'm going to cut down on the sugar-they were too sweet for us. 

Traveling Gluten Free? With Kids?

My husband and I have been traveling quite a bit with four kiddos ranging from 6 years old to 5 months. One of my children has Celiac disease. How in the world do I travel in the van for multiple hours, on a tight budget, with 3 picky (ok, selective) children? One of which is strictly gluten free?

Well, I've been taking notes these past few trips and I have some ideas. I would appreciate yours also.

(To make some of these ideas cheaper, you can make it homemade or watch for the sales!)

**Quick breads (I have found my daughter to enjoy GF banana bread, cranberry bread, etc for car food than any other bread. The bread tends to stay moister for a longer period of time than does the regular GF yeast breads.) Slather with butter, peanut butter, and/or jelly.

**Jell-O jigglers (Kraft brand will specify gluten containing ingredients on their food labels) or Knox blocks. Use the jiggler/blocks recipe not the regular jello recipe- it's too soft for the car. The jigglers hold together much better for little fingers.

**Chips (check ingredients, there are chips that are naturally gluten free.)

**Make your own Lunchables. Take rice crackers (or homemade) and cut up GF deli meat and cheese into bite sized squares. My four year old daughter enjoyed this as well as my six year old and my two year old. And it takes them longer to eat it, so great temporary entertainment for the car!

**Lara bars

**Fruit (gotta love grapes! Apples, peach slices, and canned fruits are great too.)

**String cheese

** GF Granola bars

**Yogurt (great for a snack or a breakfast car food, remember to bring a spoon, though, oh, and napkins/wipes.)

**Pudding (again, Kraft brand will specify gluten containing ingredients, or make your own. And again, bring a spoon and wipes)

**How about vegetables? Carrot sticks are practical, but my four year old doesn't particularly enjoy the texture. I tried the V-8 Fusion this last trip. It was a great alternative to just juice or water. My kids liked the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor. We also tried grape tomatoes. Loved 'em! Just be careful with the choking possibility. Slice them in quarters before hand and bring a fork and a bowl.

**Pre-cooked hot dogs work for a quick dinner.

**Jerky can be "if-ey", but we make our own venison jerky. Sometimes our GF daughter likes it, sometimes not...

**Applesauce

**Luna bars

**Popcorn!

**Fruit roll-ups and fruit leather tend to be on the sticky side.

**Does your child enjoy cold leftovers? GF mac n cheese is a fav.

**How about dessert? I try to stick with fruit. Filling kids with sugar when they are stuck in a small space isn't my idea of a good time. But there is a time for chocolate or some other nice alternative. Homemade GF cookies, frosting slathered on some GF banana bread is what I did last time, skittles or starburst is GF as well as Reese's peanut butter cups.

Some tips for traveling:

Bring a cooler. Definitely a must.

Bring plastic bowls. I bring three: one for each kid.

Bring forks and spoons for each child.

Bring lots of wipes. I wipe out each bowl after eating to reduce the cross contamination issue.

Bring a sense of humor and plenty of patience.

Plan out each meal and have ideas for snacks- it makes the trip go so much smoother.

Do some research on restaurants in the area you are traveling. It's good to be prepared!

And lastly:

Enjoy the trip! I've been told over and over: these days with our kids are short, so enjoy them!

Happy summer to you!

How To Store Homemade Gluten Free Bread

I was just starting out on this adventure of Gluten Free shopping when I ran into someone who was more knowledgeable than I. Her husband had Celiac Disease and she was quite helpful to me and gave me quite a few hints.

One of those hints I will share with you now: How to Store Gluten Free Bread

Most of you will most likely make your own bread, either in a bread machine or with a heavy duty mixer. Or maybe even with a hand held Kitchen Aid mixer. You'll bake it and let it cool. Then because it smells so good, maybe you'll eat a slice. But then what? GF bread is always so crumbly after the first day, how do you store it?

This is what has worked the best for my family:

You'll need a gallon sized zip lock plastic bag, wax paper, a cutting board for GF bread, and a bread knife.

Slice up your GF bread. Cut out rectangles about the size of your bread slices from the wax paper. Place one of the heels of bread in your plastic bag, then a piece of your wax paper, continue to alternate with the bread and wax paper until you are done. Seal the bag. Place in freezer.
Now you have bread that is ready by the slice. Simply place in toaster or toaster oven when ready to eat.

If you want a slice of bread that is warm and moist, but have only frozen slices? Check it out and try it!:

Place slice of bread on microwave safe plate. Place a small piece of paper towel, just barely sprinkled with water. Lay it over the slice of bread and microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Turn bread over and microwave for about another 7-10 seconds. The times will vary and you may have to experiment a few times to get it right. But the end result should produce a slice of bread like it just came out of the oven! yum!

Wheat Flour Substitutions

Making GF Flour Substitutions:

All the flours listed below are substitutes for 1 Cup of all-purpose (wheat) flour:

*1 cup cornstarch
*7/8 cup buckwheat or amaranth flour
*1/2 cup arrowroot or tapioca flour plus ½ cup bean or rice flour
*7/8 cup brown rice or rice flour
*3/4 cup oat flour
*1/2 cup sorghum flour plus ½ cup brown rice flour

The last option has been Joel and I's favorite, for pancakes, bread, cake, etc. It's not too good for cookies though.

Tips for Baking with Gluten-Free Flour

By Nancy Lapid, About.com

Updated: May 12, 2009

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

See More About:

• hidden gluten

• gluten-free recipes

• gluten-free kitchen safety

• what's safe for celiacs?

To understand how to substitute gluten-free flour for wheat flour, it helps to know a bit of basic food chemistry. This explanation will be simple, so even if you're terrible at chemistry, don't be afraid to keep reading.

First, as you may know, flour is made by grinding grains, legumes, nuts, or seeds into a fine powder. (When these substances are ground into coarse powders, the result is referred to as "meal" rather than "flour.") The flours we are most familiar with are made from wheat, which is off-limits on the gluten-free diet. Flours made from barley and rye are also off-limits. Fortunately, many gluten-free flours from a variety of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are sold in stores and by mail order.

Some Basic Facts about Flour and Gluten

With gluten-free cooking and baking, it helps to know what gluten does before you try to work without it. Oddly enough, freshly milled wheat flour does not actually contain gluten. What it does contain is two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, which turn into gluten when they come in contact with liquid.

Gluten makes dough "doughy."
As soon as glutenin and gliadin are surrounded by water, the gluten molecules develop and begin to form strong, sticky, elastic bonds. These elastic bonds give dough its stretchy, "doughy" qualities. Have you ever seen pizza being made? The bakers toss the pizza dough up in the air with a circular motion to stretch it. THAT stretchy dough has a lot of gluten in it!

Gluten helps dough rise.
Two other factors that affect the development of gluten are (1) the amount of water that's added to the flour (the more water, the more gluten, and the chewier the dough), and (2) the amount of mixing or kneading. Kneading helps the bonded gluten molecules form into long elastic strands or sheets. That's why dough can rise when yeast has been added. The yeast gives off gasses, the gasses are trapped by the sheets of gluten molecules, and the dough rises.

Different purposes call for different flours.
Different types of wheat flours have different amounts of gluten development. Bread flour develops a lot of gluten, while cake flour is relatively low in gluten because cakes should be less chewy than pizzas and breads. (Cake flour still has enough gluten to keep baked goods from crumbling.) In contrast, pie crusts -- which should be tender and flaky -- have much less gluten than either breads or cakes. Instead, pie crust doughs have a lot of shortening and only a small amount of liquid, and they are mixed only enough to combine the ingredients.

Substituting Gluten-Free Flour for Wheat Flour in Baked Goods

Gluten gives important properties to regular dough, so if you simply eliminate it without compensating for it in some way, you'll have disappointing results. Here are tips for successful baking with gluten-free flours. Chef Richard Coppedge, professor in Baking and Pastry Arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, was gracious enough to review these with me.

1. Buy or make a gluten-free flour mix.
If you just need to coat something in flour before you saute it, you can get away with a single-grain gluten-free flour. But for baking, gluten-free flours work better when used in combination. (For thickening sauces and gravies, use cornstarch or potato starch rather than gluten-free flour.) Start with a gluten-free flour mix that can be substituted one-for-one for wheat flour in recipes. Many commercial ones are available, or you can buy the individual flours (you might need to order them by mail) and make your own mix. (Note: If you have a favorite gluten-free flour blend, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and share your opinion.)

2. Bake breads and rolls in containers with walls.
Without gluten, bread loafs and rolls don't hold their shape. Bake bread in loaf pans or Bundt pans, and use muffin tins for rolls.

3. Add gums to your gluten-free flour.
The sticky effect created by gluten can be simulated to a certain extent by adding gums, for instance, guar gum or xantham gum. These gums are only added to recipes in small amounts (such as 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour) and are already included in some of the commercial gluten-free flour mixes.

4. Add some protein when you use gluten-free flour.
Chef Coppedge explains that because gluten is a protein, it can help to add some protein to baking recipes when you're substituting gluten-free flours for wheat flour. For instance, he suggests, try replacing half a cup of water in your recipe with egg or liquid egg whites.

5. Read gluten-free cookbooks and blogs for new ideas.
Many great gluten-free cookbooks are available. Four classic ones with lots of recipes for baked goods are:

• The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat, by Bette Hagman

• The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, by Bette Hagman

• Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Dessert Cookbook, by Connie Sarros

• Cooking Free: 200 Flavorful Recipes for People with Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivities, by Carol Lee Fenster

6. Try some old favorites.
Don't be afraid to experiment with your favorite old recipes. (If you have trouble, try asking for help in our forum.)

7. Remember to protect against cross-contamination with gluten. For example, don’t prepare gluten-free foods on the same surface used to prepare foods with gluten unless it's been thoroughly cleaned. Make sure your utensils have been thoroughly cleaned after preparing gluten-containing foods. Even better, have separate sets of utensils for gluten-free food preparation. Always use different sifters for gluten-free and regular flours. For more information, see our article on how to avoid cross-contamination.

8. Store gluten-free flour in the refrigerator or freezer.
This advice is particularly important if you buy your flours in bulk. If you store your flours in the freezer, let them come to room temperature before you use them.

Flours to Avoid
Beware of the following flours. They have ambiguous names but contain gluten and must be avoided.
All-purpose flour	Plain flour
Bulgar flour	Sauce flour
Bread flour	Self-rising flour
Brown flour	Semolina flour
Cake flour	Spelt flour
Durham flour	Triticale flour
Granary flour	Wheaten cornflour
Graham flour	Wholemeal flour
Kamut flour