The Un-Gluten Guy (My Gluten Free Recipes & GF Adventures)

When visiting family in Florida my mom went shopping in anticipation of our arrival.  She picked up anything she could find that was GF in hopes that we would have things to munch on during our stay.  Thanks, mom. One of the items she found was  Aleia's Cookies.   She picked up a bag of their almond horn cookies and a bag of the peanut butter cookies.  Needless to say she had to go back to the store because she devoured the bag of almond cookies and she does not have any food restrictions (they do not taste GF). Aleia's was created by Kim Snow who received her training at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) located in Hyde Park, NY.  They produce cookies, bread, bread crumbs, stuffing, croutons and panko flakes in a dedicated GF bakery. If her name is Kim why is it called Aleia's?  It is named after her grandmother - Angelina. The peanut butter cookies are good, they even have that nice fork-print on top.  Not too hard, but not sof...

The shish kebab.  Its fun to say, easy to make and fun to eat.  We have no problem getting the kids to eat shrimp, chicken and meat along with many vegetables. The kebab is orignally a middle eastern dish and usually is lamb and cooked over a flame.  But you can skewer just about anything and cook it over a flame, gas grill or even in the oven. The big mistake most people make is trying to make a combo skewer with vegetables and meat.  You are going to undercook things like chicken (that's dangerous) or you are going to overcook everything else. So arange your skewers with like items and afterward you can serve from the skwere so you get a bit of everything.   This night we made chicken, shrimp, steak, tomatoes and a veg skwer with zuchinnin, onion and bell pepper. You can simple season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Add some dipping sauces for fun.  If you have time make a marinade or use a store bought marinade to add flavor. We...

I try to test out most new things because you never know what you might find.  Although home cookin from scratch is great, sometimes you do not always have the time. This past weekend (right before I got the flu that everyone across the US had) I was making my GF Buttermilk fried chicken.  That is a story for a different day.  What goes best with fried chicken? Biscuits. I remembered that we saw a box of GF Bisquick  at the store a few weeks ago and it was living in our cabinet.  It is made by Betty Crocker in a Gluten Free Facility and contains: Rice Flour, Sugar, baking soda and powder, potato starch, salt and xanthan gum.  They state that it may contain soy ingredients. They have recipes for pancakes, waffles, biscuits, pizza crust and more on the box. We made a batch of biscuits which included the Bisquick mix, shortening, milk and eggs.  It looks crumbly and lumpy and then softened.  Into the oven they went.  Browned up nicely...

This was find #2 when we were visiting family in Florida and this was a big hit, even with family members that do not have to eat GF.  My mother found it at a small natural food store near her house but you can order direct from the company. Absolutely Gluten Free  is a company out of Spring Valley, New York that produces, according to their website, gluten free and additive free snacks and aims to change the perception of gluten free food.  I think they met their goal. We tried the everything and onion flavor crackers and flatbread.  They also have a plain version and cracked pepper.  The crackers are small squares and the flatbread is a long piece, essentially three squares in length. Plain they are just fine but also good with a dip.  Try cream cheese or hummus.  I haven't tried this yet but they would work as a good GF bread crumb if you crumbled them up. Looking for a GF cracker?  Look no further.  These are "Absolutely" g...

Happy New Year!! We just got back from visiting family in Florida and did not want to do anything crazy so we had a great family New Years at home.  We have been to The Melting Pot restaurants a few times and they do a great GF menu.  When I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner she replied "FONDUE!" No fancy step by step recipes for this one.  It was a fly by the seat of your pants dinner and it tasted great. First Course - Protein Steak, Chicken and Shrimp Fondue.  I put two pots on the stove.  In the first pot went chicken broth with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.  In the second pot I put beef broth with a sprig of rosemary, garlic powder and onion powder.  Brought the pots to a boil and lowered to a simmer. I had cut up some NY strip and chicken breast and we defrosted some shrimp.  Be super careful with raw chicken and make sure to clean the area well when you are done.  Be sure that the chicken is ...