Category: Breads

Mmmmm… Johnny Cake.

Hey everybody, this is my second post and well I have been forgetting to post lately and well… *YAWN*… Wow that was a surprising ‘well’.   Its the end of Spring Break and I was up late some of the nights but never mind about that.

Today my mom gave me a awesome bread, I asked what it was and all my mom said was it is called Johnny Cake or to some people known as Corn Bread. She served it like a square of fudge with butter a Maple Syrup and it was the best bread/cake I have ever had! Then she started telling me that my Grandpa, he always used to have it for a after school snack and when he eats it now he feels like a kid again. I thought it was kind of funny, later this night when I got back from going out with my Grandma there was only 1 piece left of Johnny Cake. I went up to my mom and said, “someone has been eating the Johnny cake!” All she replied with was ” Really? I never noticed,” I kinda knew she was being sarcastic.

Uh oh, its time for me to go to bed now.

Bye. :)

Steeped in Flavorful Helpfulness

Steeps is a great Tea Shop on 17th ave sw.  The last time I was there I was THRILLED by the Simple Simon Gluten Free Lemon Crumble and their Apple one looked divine!  I stepped into their shop yesterday with hopeful salivations.

Denied.

Simple Simon, as it was explained to me, is currently reconsidering his Gluten Free line and is questioning it’s viability.   This saddens me. I spent a few stolen moments with the operator on some quick resources to fill that hole in her suppliers.  (Sugar and Spice in Airdrie being the first to fall off my lips.  Her Banana Bread is appearing in more and more shops and is well deserving of it’s price!  MMMMMMMM)

I recognize that it is difficult for coffee/tea shops to carry gluten free options as their shelf life and cost make them a challenge and a huge potential in overhead/write-off costs.  As a business owner it is a huge struggle to be able to offer a product to a portion of your customers.

Why only a portion?  Because sadly Gluten Free Goods has obtained a stigma of also being Flavor Free Goods.  This has been rightfully earned as the Pioneers of Gluten Free Products just battled to find something that could be eaten and often had to sacrifice taste to make it so.  ( Yes, wheat is still a very nummy thing and does bring out flavors.)  The Pioneers, companies such as Celimix and Kinnikinnick, have done a great job at bringing basic foods and mixes back into every day homes.  Regrettably, they are still NOT comparable to a piece of Cheese Cake Cafe’s seven layer chocolate cakes!

So how can a business bring in MARKETABLE and Reasonably Priced goods into their businesses when private homes even struggle?  I would initially pass on some suggestions that I also offer to friends and families:

1) Keep a Loaf of Wheat Free Bread in the Freezer.  What would I recommend with PRICE and TASTE in consideration?  Kinnikinnick’s tapioca bread or brown bread ( which is currently being used by Chianti’s Restaurant in NE Calgary with their vinegar and oil! mmmmmm) work well as a lightly toasted sandwich.  Pastrami on their brown bread….ooooo now that is good.

2) Healthier Luncheon Meats  – Deli meats are sneaky but grocers are getting wise to the market!  More and more everyday meats are being swapped out for products that don’t use wheat filler. Black Forest Hams, pastrami’s and Roast Turkey meats are just a few that are available in completely Celiac friendly forms and for insignificant price differences IF any!

3) Fresh Veggies are Gluten Free ( duh right?).  A good rule of thumb I heard was ” If it came straight from mother nature it doesn’t need a Food Information Table on It”.  Oranges contain 100% oranges.   Carrots contain 100% Carrots.   A wonderful thing to offer is to swap out a side dish of unknown content with some simple cut veggies and/or fruit.  The offer is often seen as very considerate and openly welcomed.

4) Watch what it’s cooked WITH!!!!   Please use a separate toaster for our breads though!  A walmart $20 special is fine.  Clearly labeled NO WHEAT!!!!!  Even crumbs are enough to set off an allergy.  Are chicken fingers deep fried in the same oil as your french fries?  Is the sandwich press used for wheat breads and rice?  Consider a smaller “home use” deep fat frier for special orders or parchment paper for presses and baking sheets.

5) ASK US!    We are so used to dealing with the what we can and what we can’t that we are pretty good at being creative.  Any chance that we can enjoy a meal out with friends in a public setting AND get to eat along with them and we are THRILLED.  What does this mean? Bigger tips and willing to pay the extra few bucks! NOT to mention fabulous word of mouth!

That being said I still carry Wheat Free soy sauce in my purse for Sushi impulses and recognize that sometimes those dreaded green salads are the only options! I still appreciate family, friends AND restaurants who are willing to make that extra strep to help encourage me to come back again… and bring friends!

June? July? and Holy Carp AUGUST!

I drafted this post in June… Now it is the end of July and I am wondering what the heck has happened to the summer already!   Have I really gotten that wrapped up in life that I forgot my online world?   The answer is a gleeful  YES!

This summer has begun with some amazing gluten free finds.  The bakery in Cochrane has become a regular excuse for motorcycle jaunts and the saddle bag on the bike has officially been dubbed the Bread Basket.   If you haven't made the trip yet… DO!

The best compliment I can think of was watching a 10 year old boy sink his nose into the middle of a slice of their bread and inhale deeply.  "  It's BREAD!!!!"  He proceeded to munch on the morsel from the inside out.  Was hard to give him heck…  it's what I did with my first slice of this bread.

 

So here we are at the end of July.   Warm sweet evenings after rich sinful days remind me of Grandma's fresh bread.   The indulgent middle was ALWAYS the best part..

Millet – Clear as Mud

“Millet is gluten-free. It is not Grain Free!”

Just to not confuse new people to the disease and diet.”

Millet, common name for several species of the grass family (see Grasses), and for their small-seeded grain.

Millet is highly nutritious, non-glutinous and like buckwheat and quinoa, is not an acid forming food so is soothing and easy to digest. In fact, it is considered to be one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains available and … usually contains less protein than wheat or rye and more protein than rice.


Fundamental Flour Facts has a lot of info on this topic.

Still, much confusion seems to swirl around the word flour… The Concise Oxford Dictionary offers “any fine powder” as one of the definitions of the word “flour”.

Wheat is a cultivated grass, just like corn and rice.  … it became imperative to divide flours into categories: gluten containing grass flours, gluten free grass flours and flours from other plants. I have been able to further sub divide the flours from other plants into ground nut flours, seed flours, legume flours and root or vegetable flours.

This is some of the information I have amassed through extensive reading and careful research. If it contains any inaccuracies, omissions, or errors please bring it to my attention, so I can correct the information. I am not a specialist of any kind, just one woman searching for a way to better understand the foods I eat, so that I can recover my health.


The Grass Family of Plants:…

Gluten Free Grasses or grains:

  • Corn / Maize Flour or Meal
  • Millet Flour
  • Rice Flour – all varieties, white & brown
  • Glutinous Rice Flour ( also know as sticky rice or Mochi )
  • Wild Rice Flour ( the seeds can be cooked whole or ground into a dark flour )
  • Sorghum Flour
  • Teff Flour – dark and ivory
  • Sugar Cane
  • Bamboo
  • Job’s Tears / Hato Mugi / Coixseed / Adlay / Adlai ( barley like in appearance, grain that is gluten free and can be ground into flour)

Please check out her site for MUCH MUCH more information!

Summary?  Use with care!  Determine if it is GRAINS you are allergic to, modified grains ( the genetically altered ones we use so commonly today) OR if it’s the glutens themselves (aka Celiac).  If it makes you ill… DO NOT EAT IT.

Knorr Soup Lunch

I miss soups! While I really enjoy traditional Campbells soups and their economic addition to cooking for a family, I now venture to find affordable alternatives.

Knorr has caught on.  Not only can you get some of their soups in ready to serve sizes for a hungry man or two ladies for lunch, you can also get pouches for approx $2.50 each.  Two of these and some Red Mills Pizza Dough makes a great lunch for my family of 5. 

That brings a family meal in at approx $10. Reasonable!

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Items that you might not recognize on the ingredients list.  To Wikipedia!

maltodextrin - can be derived from any starch. In the US, this starch is usually rice, corn or potato; elsewhere, such as in Europe, it is commonly wheat. This is important for coeliacs, since the wheat-derived maltodextrin can contain traces of gluten. There have been recent reports of coeliac reaction to maltodextrin in the United States.[citation needed] This might be a consequence of the shift of corn to ethanol production and its replacement with wheat in the formulation.

Other authorities on gluten maintain the source does not matter because maltodextrin is such a highly processed ingredient that the protein is removed, rendering it gluten free. If wheat is used to make maltodextrin, it will appear on the label. Even so, the maltodextrin will be gluten free.

note: Soups may contain milk ingredients

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