Mrs Bickel's pizza crusts...

A few months back I had received several of Mrs Bickel's pizza crust to sample. Needless to say I had placed them in the freezer and they got overlooked until yesterday when I had a real hankering for pizza. Suddenly it was as if a light bulb went off in my head when I remembered them!

With all the traveling I have done the past few months visiting family,  they had just got pushed to the back of my mind...This was a big error on my part, because I have to tell you that these pizza crusts are the best gluten free crusts I have tasted to date! Wow!!!

Even though I had to dice and chop fresh ingredients, it was well worth the effort. I had received their Original crust as well as the Italian Herb, so I decided to make both as they were  the 8 inch versions.

It didn't take long for the crusts to defrost after taking them from the freezer, actually just the right amount of time to slice my tomatoes, onions, and green peppers, along with my fresh spinach leaves.
On the Original crust I added my sauce then topped with the green peppers, onions and cheese.

The Italian herb got the workings of the sliced tomatoes and fresh spinach leaves....yum! Both were equally delicious although I preferred the Original, only because I love onions almost as much as I love my chocolate :-)

The crusts are thin and baked up crisp and crunchy, not soggy like so many other gluten free crusts I have tried. OK...I admit that in my pre- gluten free days I absolutely loved the doughy, gooey crust of pizza, but life throws you a curve ball sometimes, and I am proud to say I have adapted fairly well to my gluten free lifestyle, thin crust and all....

I am really drawn to companies such as Mrs Bickel's that personally know what it is like to be gluten intolerant or who have Celiac disease themselves, because they really seem to get it right. The owner of this company is no exception as she found out at a early age that gluten was something that was to be avoided in her life. She has worked over 20 years perfecting this crust and I have to say she has done a excellent job.

If you check out their home page you will find several restaurants that carry their pizza crusts, so if you live local to one of  them I hope you will stop in and enjoy. Better yet...have your favorite restaurant owner stop by the site and order some samples to try, or order your own crusts to make at home. Yum!!! As always, their shipping is FREE...I don't know many companies now days who can say that!

I really enjoyed the pizza crusts, in fact I have a few slices left over for today's lunch in just a few minutes. So until next time....Have a great gluten free day!

Sharon

 

Pillsbury steps it up...

Thank you Pillsbury! You have once again out done yourself with your new offerings of gluten free pie and pastry crust, chocolate chip cookie dough, and thin crust pizza dough, pre-made in tubs for convenience.

 I was recently surprised that General Mills, who owns Pillsbury, has long been a friend of the gluten-free community. Its associated companies now offer more than 300 gluten-free products. Chex Cereal was its first mainstream product followed by Betty Crocker baking mixes. Today there are seven varieties of gluten-free Chex cereal. Now Pillsbury has added 3 new gluten free varieties of dough in tubs for us to enjoy.

I discovered this merely by accident when our local Giant Eagle ran an ad for these three dough's in their sale flyer. Needless to say I was off in a dash to purchase some...The sale price was a little over $3.40 and the tubs looked rather small, but I opted for the chocolate chip cookie dough and the pizza crust anyway.

The Pillsbury team had developed at least a dozen different formulas to test. Wheat flour was eliminated. The cookie dough contains rice flour. The pie crusts have rice and sorghum flour. The thin pizza crust contains tapioca starch, rice, millet and sorghum flour.

I love chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, and since I like to dunk them they had to pass the ‘dunk-able’ test, meaning it wouldn’t crumble when dunked  in milk, as well as tasting good.” I was not disappointed. The cookies browned evenly, were moist and chewy, and help up to my "dunk" test without crumbling. Although the tub looks a little small I did get over 1 1/2 dozen fresh baked cookies fresh from the oven, more than I had expected...YUM!

Very impressive Pillsbury, kudos to you....keep up the great work! Be looking for these new gluten free products in your local grocery store pronto.

Have a great gluten free week, and enjoy!

Sharon

                                                                         

Gluten Free flour tortilla recipe...

If you are like me it has been some time since you have had a decent gluten free Tortilla wrap. Most you buy in the stores are hard, and break when you try to roll them, or taste like cardboard, uck!

I have been on a long awaited search for these, and finally found a recipe that seems to work for me. These make great wraps not only for sizzling fajitas, but also to use for tuna and egg salad sandwiches as well. You are only limited by your own imagination. They would be great as a bread replacement as well. I can't wait to try them the next time I make my Cherry enchilada bake, as the corn wraps I used last time with the cherries wasn't my favorite mixture as far as taste went.

I love the fact they are made with white rice so the flavor will be milder. ...I have put the leftover wraps in the freezer for future use and am not sure how  they will freeze, I will have to keep you updated on that at a later time. Hope you enjoy!

          Ingredients

2 c. Gluten-free all purpose flour (or 2 c. White rice flour)
2 tsp. Xanthan gum or Guar gum
1 tsp. Gluten-free baking powder
2 tsp. Brown sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1 c. Warm water

Directions


1) Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients thoroughly.

2) Add the cup of warm water to the bowl and mix the dry ingredients into the water with your hand until its an even mixture.

3) Separate the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place all but one of the dough balls back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap until you're ready to work with them.

4) Sprinkle a clean, flat surface with a bit of buckwheat flour and then roll your dough ball into a roughly circular shape and get as thin as possible.

5) Throw the tortilla onto a hot griddle (I use a cast iron griddle on medium heat with just a smidgen of olive oil) and let it cook approximately 1-2 minutes or until it has started puffing up and the bottom side is developing those lovely brown spots. Flip the tortilla and cook the other side until is toasty as well.

6) Slide the cooked tortilla onto a covered plate to stay warm and repeat from step 4 until you've cooked all 8 tortillas. I generally roll one tortilla out while another is cooking, so that there is always a tortilla on the griddle.

7) Serve these warm with your favorite filling, or heat up later and use as a roll up for quick sandwiches.!
Happy gluten free day!
Sharon

Gluten...Gluten Free???

Gluten...Gluten free, that is the question I have to ask myself. I just returned from Pennsylvania once again from a trip to visit family. It was the grand "Twins" High School graduation, and something I definitely didn't want to miss. I have been back and forth to Pennsylvania a total of six times in the past month and a half, and I feel like I have been living out of my car, along with my sick feline Angel.  She is definitely not enjoying all this traveling in the car lately :-(  , and she sulks.

My dilemma this trip is that I was definitely NOT prepared, and the schedule was so quick paced that fast foods made up most of my meals. We have a favorite hot dog shop in my old stomping grounds named "The Brighton Hot Dog Shop" ...they have been around for as long as I can remember, even as a teenager. Their chili hot dogs are out of this world, along with their famous fries!

After the graduation ceremony this is the spot where everyone decided to meet. Nothing on their menu is even remotely gluten free, but being that I hadn't eaten since around 11 AM and it was now 9:30 in the evening, I decided I would just have to bite the bullet and indulge...

The very next day my choices was almost as bad. Although at breakfast I was on back on track, the rest of the day pretty much went the same as the previous evening....Huge mistake! When will I ever learn???

Since I am the only one who is eating gluten free in the family (my husband has shifted gears ever so slightly) they just don't seem to understand its importance, although with all the physical "symptoms" many of them have, they should be living a gluten free lifestyle as well.

I am now back home and can finally get back on track, although I am pretty sure it is going to take awhile for all that gluten to get out of my system, and for the physical symptoms from indulging in gluten laden foods to go away. Possibly this trip I have learnt my lesson, as even the arthritic symptoms in my hands have seemed to resurface, OUCH! And my body is screaming at me for loading it with foods it has a hard time tolerating. What was I thinking, putting into my body what it considers to be poison????

Some out there might think I am a little off for my eating style, some might even think it is another crazy fad, but for myself I know it is a much needed way of life. Next time I will definitely be prepared, and at this moment I am working on a emergency traveling kit to better stay on track.

If anyone has any ideas on traveling gluten free please feel free to post a comment to share...We all need a little help now and then!

As always...have a great gluten free week!
Sharon 

Pumpkin Cake review...

Hi all. The past week has been pretty much gloom and doom here in Ohio with all the rain and wind we have had lately. I just returned home this past Friday from a week long trip visiting family in Pa., and I will be leaving once again tomorrow for just a few days to attend the grand "Twins" graduation ceremony.

It seems that I have done so much traveling lately that all I want to do is to stay home for awhile now. On days like today, when I feel my stress level begin to escalate while getting ready for the trip,  I did what soothes me the most....and that is BAKE!

I had a Pumpkin cake mix in my pantry from my friends at Taste of Gluten Free so I decided to take a few minutes to relax my mind, and settle myself down.  Besides... I need SUGAR when I am stressed!

The cake turned out delicious as I knew it would.  All products I have tried from this company so far have been quite delicious. The cake was light, fluffy and moist. I once again was not disappointed. The cake makes 9 servings with only 8g of sugar per slice, not a bad way to satisfy a sweet tooth...

I am anxious to try their chocolate and vanilla cake mixes as well since I am currently taking a cake decorating class. If I am going to make my cakes look pretty, I darn well want them to taste delicious too!

Well I am off to finish packing...and enjoy another piece of pumpkin cake :-)

Have a great gluten free day!
Sharon