Let's face it life as you know will never be the same, but even the basic road trip gets complicated. Sigh, the rule of thumb we use is that 75% of pre-packaged foods are not safe. So, if you are stopping for snacks in a small C-store with already limited options, you now have really limited options. On top of that, brown fountain drinks are out of the question. Why? It's the evil caramel color, which could be wheat. So, if you are looking for a fountain drink, it's got to be clear, orange, purple, yellow, etc and therefore probably sugary. In any case, you really can't plan on having a decent selection of gluten-free snacks or drinks at any stop and those that you find will most likely be very high in either sugar, fat or both.
Even if you are in the mood for candy, you have to be very selective. Try the gluten free free candy quiz -- which of the following do you think are gluten free?
- Plain M&Ms
- Peanut M&Ms
- Pre-packaged Rice Krispies
- 3 Musketeers
- Any flavor licorice
..........and...none of the above! I left out the obvious "can't haves" that have a cookie like thing in them. What candy is GF? Snickers, Skittles, plain Hershey bar, Mounds, Almond Joy and a few others...
What else is out of the question that we used to like for snacks? Jerky is a big one....it's all the soy sauce -- generally not GF. We could make our own and use GF soy sauce -- it just hasn't happened yet.
It's summer-time and we've gone on a road-trip already and there's probably more happening. So, here's the new strategy. We took water bottles and Crystal Light singles, fruit, homemade banana bread, muffins and Skittles. These aren't the choices we would have made a few years ago and each item was chosen with a specific purpose. Water and Crystal Light because it makes for something interesting to drink without being a million calories. Fruit, especially bananas because adult celiacs probably need extra fiber in their diets. Banana bread because we had half a loaf handy and it's high fiber. The muffins are good travel items, individually portioned and all. Skittles don't melt in the hot car.
Now, when baking for your celiac at home, you can either use GF mixes, GF flours mixes or you can make your own mix. The GF mixes are the easiest to use, but the most expensive. We like Pamela's and Bob's Red Mill mixes the best. There are more and less expensive mixes, we've tried them all but those are the ones we like the best.
We usually go to mixes for cakes, cupcakes and Rob's favorite, shortbread cookies...mmmm. For banana bread we've used the recipe on the packages for either the Bob's Red Mill GF Flour or Pamela's GF Flour. Both turn out good enough so that he and Jeremy eat both loaves. The big difference between Bob & Pamela is that Bob includes bean flour in his mix and Pamela includes nut flours in hers. That means a lot if you have nut flours and the other major differences have to do with fiber content (Bob's has more) and whatever you do don't eat the batter if you are using the Bob's flours or mixes! The bean taste cooks out, but the first time you use it the smell is somewhat formidable.
Mixing your own flours is not that difficult, but at least at first, I would definitely start with the mixes. Each of the GF flours has a definite characteristic of wheat flour but no one GF flour has all of the qualities of wheat flour which is why wheat flour is the preferred flour for breads, cakes, etc.
My favorite muffin recipe includes pomegranates. Fortunately, I've watched way too much Food Network and I saw this nifty way to get the seeds out: cut the top off the pomegranate, then cut it in half. Take a bowl of water and start ripping the thing apart in the bowl of water. The seeds will sink and the waxy things float. You'll need at least 1 and 1/4 cups of seeds for this which is about 2 pomegranates -- more is better.
Pomegranate Ginger Muffins -- from Best of Sunset (I found it on About.com) -- modified so that it can be GF or made w/our milk & butter (for Ben.)
2 cups GF flour
2/3 sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup minced crystalized ginger (not powdered ginger or fresh ginger)
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 1/4 pomegranate seeds (or more)
1 cup milk or coconut milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup cooled melted butter or coconut oil
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Mix together everything except for the milk & eggs and make a well in the center. I melt the butter in a glass 2 cup measuring cup, add in the milk, egg & whisk it all together. Then you add the liquid in the center of the well. Mix in until the batter is just mixed up but just barely. It will still be lumpy.
Always use muffin liners for GF stuff -- it's another layer of protection. Fill the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 16-ish minutes. These are really tasty as-is, but if you are using them for a party, or something fancy, then a then lemon glaze will put a nice finish on them. They also freeze well.
No comments:
Post a Comment