Gluten Free Mom

Gluten Free Pasta in a Skillet

My oldest daughter has her own website at Gluten Free Kid.net.  It has been a great way for her to express how she feels about celiac disease and to connect with other celiac kids around the country. 

She is always more than thrilled when she hears from some other kid who has celiac disease - don't we all feel better when we know someone else out there who is going through the same thing we are?

I particularly like her page where she journals how having celiac disease has affected her life - it is a small peek into the world of celiac child. 

Sometimes it makes me cry, other times it makes me infinitely proud of her and her ability to handle living gluten free.

Anyway, I found it amusing last night when another girl emailed my daughter and asked what her favorite kind of food was.

The answer from the child who cannot eat wheat-based pasta, bread or pizza, was Italian food!!

I guess this goes to prove that Living Gluten Free will not stop you from Living the Life you Choose, even if that means eating Italian food.

This in turn prompted a request to make a family favorite~Gluten Free Pasta in a Skillet.

If you cannot have dairy, then this is basically just spaghetti.  If you can eat dairy, then you are sure to enjoy this fancied up version of spaghetti.

No, I am not sure that this would technically qualify as Italian food - but we live in Seattle, not Italy.

Gluten Free Pasta in a Skillet

• 7 ounces GF penne or macaroni pasta (Bi-Aglut Pasta is our favorite)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 T minced onion
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 T  GF Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins is GF)
• 1 14 ounce jar of GF spaghetti sauce (we like Amy's)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Mix together the hamburger, minced onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce and cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked.

Stir in the spaghetti sauce and water and season with salt and pepper to taste.  (We also add garlic salt but we really like our garlic).

Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream and cheese.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce.   (If you cannot have dairy, set aside your pasta at this step or stop here).

Top it all off with the sour cream and cheese mixture. Cover and cook at a simmer for 7 minutes until thoroughly heated. 

Serve with Caesar Salad.

Cooking Gluten Free Pasta

We have returned home again after another weekend of skiing. 

If you are following this blog at all, then you've come to realize that my family loves to ski-

Well, at least most of us . . .

My almost 12 year old is a "snowboarder" now and could not believe that I had never heard of "riding a rail." 

As an inspiration to you all, you should know that this is also the child in our family who has celiac disease and only four years ago spent an entire day in the sick unit at the Whistler Ski Resort because of stomach aches!! 

So after spending the day skiing, I came back, made some hot tea and dug into some inspirational literary material . . . aka, my newest Gluten Free Cookbook, Wheat Free Recipes & Menus by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

In addition to finding some great recipes, I learned this tip to add to your arsenal of tricks and trades for successful gluten free cooking:

Have you ever noticed how the gluten free pasta sticks together when you boil it?  In particular, the spaghetti seems to come out more in clumps of 5 - 10 pieces of spaghetti?

Dr. Fenster may have the answer.  She explains that gluten free pasta is starchier than regular pasta because of the lower protein content.  This, in turn, causes the stickiness of gluten free pasta. 

The solution - use more water.  She recommends using one quart water for each pound of pasta and keeping the water at a strong boil so that the bubbles in the water move the pasta around.

Illusions are the truths we live by until we know better~Nancy Gibbs

I'd love to add your tips if you have any to share.

 

Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce

As a follow up to the Super Bowl Party Mix,

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is GF.  You can follow this link to their website

I also just reconfirmed it over the phone with customer service.

They are mailing me a copy of their GF products which I will scan, upload to a file and post as soon as I receive it.

This a wonderful sauce that adds great flavor to any gluten free dish.  I rarely brown hamburger without adding a tablespoon or so of this sauce. 

Gluten Free Super Bowl Party Mix

I have heard a rumor that an important football game is around the corner . . . .

Living in Seattle, our big screen TV is finally off on Sundays,

But for those of you who will be watching the game,

Here is our recipe for Super Bowl Party Mix.

This is not rocket science here, we simply converted the Chex Party Mix recipe to make it gluten free.

But if you were thinking of doing it yourself, maybe the following will save you some trouble:

Gluten Free Party Mix

• 6 T butter (or Earth Balance for CF)
• 3 1/3 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t garlic salt
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 4 1/2 cups Rice Cereal (Health Valley Rice Crunch-Ems Cereal is GF)
• 4 1/2 cups Corn Cereal (Health Valley Corn Crunch-Ems Cereal is GF)
• 1 cup unsalted cashews
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup GF pretzels (Ener-G or Glutino both have GF pretzels)
• 1 cup Cheeto's (optional)
• 1 cup Lundberg Farms Honey Dijon Rice Chips

Heat oven to 250 degrees.  Melt butter in an oval roaster pan in the oven.

 

Add the seasonings and mix well.

Stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated.

Bake one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

 

For a CF version, leave out the Cheeto's.

All of my recipes are indexed at Gluten Free Mom.com.

Wonderful Quinoa

I am sorry,

I feel like I have been gone forever,

First, was a wonderful weekend spent skiing at Stevens Pass,

Then my husband left for a week in Japan,

then the cold and flu season hit Seattle and with three kids, can you guess who got sick,

me of course.

I am pretty sure it was the gluten and dairy free get-well cake that my daughter made me that helped me get better!!  (The very first cake she has made by herself.)

Back to the present (and the future), if your New Years Resolution is to try something new, or lose weight, or eat healthier and you have not yet tried Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), then now is the time.

Quinoa is a gluten free grain that comes from the Andes Mountains of South America.

It is one of the healthiest grains containing more protein than any other grain -

The protein in Quinoa is high in in the amino acids lysine, methionine and cystine.

It is extremely easy to prepare for a quick, filling and healthy side dish or meal.

On first sight, you might think "my kids will never eat this", but once prepared it actually taste much like rice.

You can easily substitute Quinoa in any recipe that contains rice. 

Prepare it in your rice cooker (an appliance I highly recommend for any gluten free kitchen - it will make life easier and you will use it over and over) by adding two parts water to one part Quinoa.

 

On the stove top, place 2 cups water water and 1 cup Quinoa in a 1 1/2 quart sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all of the water is absorbed - about 15 minutes.

Quinoa with Green Apples

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 Granny Smith Apple diced
• 2 green onions sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 1 cup cooked chicken (optional)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• gluten free soy sauce to taste

Prepare the Quinoa as above.  Once cooked, toss with the above ingredients and season with gluten free soy sauce to taste. 

Experiment with new ingredients you have in your kitchen.

We often combine Quinoa with whatever we happen to find in the kitchen as a quick and easy side dish - it is great with red onions and dried cranberries.

Feeling a little more ambitious, then try this:

Roasted Potatoes with Quinoa

Great as a side for any meat dish, for my vegetarian it is filling enough to eat as a meal. 

• 1/4 olive oil
• 1 pound red potatoes, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic peeled
• 3/4 cup Quinoa
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T fresh rosemary (or 1 t dried rosemary) optional
• 1/2 cup green onions
• grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a casserole or roasting pan.

Put the potatoes and garlic in large pot of salted water and heat on high.  When the water begins to boil, add the Quinoa.  Continue to boil for 5 minutes. 

Drain the Quinoa, garlic and potatoes in a strainer, but leave them a little wet.

Spread in the prepared pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and stir in the rosemary.

Roast for 15 minutes.

Stir and roast for an additional 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Roast longer for a crisper potato.

Toss with the green onions and add more salt if needed.

Optional - for the extra finish, top with grated cheddar cheese and return to the oven until melted, another 5 minutes or so.  Still need more, spread a little sour cream over the top before serving.

Our favorite recipes are indexed on Gluten Free Mom.com. 

Send me yours!!