I have been eating an allergy imposed diet since the beginning of July. I have also been baking and cooking without many of the staple ingriedients I had used in my kitchen for years!
I have been riding the rollercoaster of self pity burying the favorite foods that will no longer be apart of my meals,and then peaking at the top with the realization that I will no longer live in the fear of, "will this food make me sick, and how quickly and for how long?"
I decided the best way to put the whole deprivation attitude to death is through substitution. For those favorites foods that are now No-Nos, I must find a similar alternative. I must either modify the recipe, or start from scratch and create a new favorite. It isn't as hard as it looks. Honestly, a lot of the foods I ate didn't contain gluten.
I made a Saturday noon lunch of marinated grilled pork chops, baby red potatoes, and fresh broccoli 2 weeks ago. As my teenage son approached the table he, with a disdain in his voice asked, "Is this a gluten free meal?" I had to chuckled when I answered, " Yes, but it was a meal that never had gluten in it!"
So wherever you or someone you know are in your journey with food allergies...hang in there....and go ahead make it a brain game! Food attitudes are really all about what you think about the food you eat!

This is a meal I had been missing. I have always been a fan of chicken strips and so to have not had any for over a month was making me feel deprived. We all know what happens eventually when one feels deprived....they over-indulge. I found this recipe in a Allergy free cookbook.

I will be posting it soon.

Any guesses on this main course?

This wasn't a half bad meal....Obviously there is a baked potato and some parsley buttered corn, but what is your guess at the other item on this plate?





This is grilled watermelon. After cutting the watermelon you soak it in a mixture of Balsamic vinegar, honey, pink peppercorns (which I could not find in our local grocery stores), and black pepper. Grill until coating is caramelized. About 10 minutes. It is suppose to mock a good steak. Guess it hasn't been long enough since I had a steak. It was good, but I didn't get the feel of a good T-Bone from it.
Next time, if there is one, I will use more honey and less vinegar. Some of the pieces had a stinging bit to them.

Betty's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

3 C. Rice Flour
3 C. Tapioca Flour
3 T. Potato Starch or Flour
3 C. Corn Starch

Yields 9 Cups. Mix all ingredients well. Store in an air tight container. Can be stored in refrigerator or freezer if you don't think you will use it fast enough for its full freshness.

Pancakes

This is a delicious breakfast that can be served with Gluten Free Syrup or a fruit preserve. I use Smuckers Seedless Raspberry Jam. I also make these pancakes ahead and refrigerate or freeze them for later use.
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Pancakes
1 C. Gluten Free flour
1 T sugar or brown sugar
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. xanthum gum
1/4 t. salt (opt)

Blend together dry ingredients in a large bowl and let
stand.

1 egg (1T flax seed + 3T water and let stand for 1 minute)
1 C + 1/2 C.rice milk ( I use vanilla flavored)
1/4 C melted butter substitute


Blend together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Mix all liquid ingredients together, adding egg substitute last so it has time to thicken

Lightly oil griddle with oil of your choice. Heat griddle to 350-400 degrees. Mix liquid ingredients with dry. Stir well adding *extra 1/2C milk as needed for consistency. Gentle pour batter onto heated griddle, pushing batter out from center. These pancakes don't spread like a regular recipe pancake so you have kind of play with it to get it spread out. Turn when edges seem puffed and dry or batter is bubbling (not bubbly) a bit.
Makes 6-8 medium size cakes.