Pancrepes!

Ever had pancakes? How about crepes? What about pancrepes?

No, well then you'll just have to try these. This is a homemade recipe (I'm sure you can tell). I normally make pancakes using a gf flour base that's equal thirds potato starch, tapioca starch and chickpea flour. I'm trying to cutback the bean. So, I eliminated it and made the base half potato and half tapioca, just to see what would happen.

Anyway, here's the recipe. I wrapped these immediately around a teaspoon of jelly, using the jelly to help seal them. You could use, of course, any filling.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp syrup (I used Steen's cane syrup. You could use maple or agave or honey.)
- canola oil
- 1/3 cup water
- Smuckers jelly or other filling

I heated a pan with a little oil. Mix all the ingredients well. You'll have to work through the starch well as it's tough. When hot, drop a tablespoon of batter into the pan at a time. This cooks quickly, so flip when the edges start to turn. Fill with a tsp of jelly or other filling, folding the pancrepe together or rolling.

Grind away

So, I've been experimenting again. This time with flours. My goal is to find other flours that work in the recipes I use most. I rely mostly on chickpea flour and, in some sweets, sorghum flour. I mix those in with tapioca and potato starches.

I bought some quinoa grain at $2 a pound and some amaranth grain. Mind you, quinoa flour sells for $6/1.5 lbs. Amaranth, just as much.

Anyway, I threw the grain in my coffee grinder on a fine setting and let it rip. Worked out very well. I made my pancake recipe using the quinoa flour -- turned out perfectly. The amaranth is courser and I haven't used it yet.

This opened my eyes to the world of grinding. Grinders of all types are sold. You'll want a stronger one if you plan to grind corn and nuts, etc. There's a nice comparison of grinders at the Walton Feed website.

It's yet another economical way -- in the long run -- to stick to the GFCF diet.

Asian chicken

Another real easy chicken dish. I had made too many recipes based on a seasoning mixture of chili powder, sea salt and cumin that I decided to go another route altogether. This worked nicely.

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, cut up
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp cane syrup (I use Steen's. You could sub honey, real maple syrup, Agave syrup, etc. I used Steen's because of the "dark" flavor it has that lends itself well to Asian dishes.)

OK -- heat a pan on the stove. Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Toss into pan. Heat until chicken's cooked (or precook chicken and then just heat to serve). Serve with a favorite veggie.

Chicken or beef hash

This is a dinner dish. It's easy and a neat way to introduce veggies.

Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast, cubed
- ketchup
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 potatoes, diced or cubed
- garlic
- basil
- sea salt
- 2-3 carrots, cut into sticks
- oil

Heat oil in a pan. Add potatoes and carrot. Cook for 5-10 minutes, tossing every so often. Add onion and garlic. Cook 2 minutes. Add chicken after stirring in 1 tbsp ketchup. Add basil and sea salt. Cook until chicken is done or warmed. Add any other veggies you wish, beans, peas, broccoli, etc.

Enjoy.

Carrot fluff

Easy dish and a different side to get away from potatoes and rice.

• 8 carrots


• 1/2 cup apple flesh


• 1/2 tsp sea salt


• 2 squirts honey/syrup/agave


• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch, or potato or corn


• 2 tsp baking powder

Boil chopped carrots and apple in water.

Drain. Mix in other ingredients. Mash. Puree with a hand mixer. Add water if too stiff. Reheat 1 minute. That's it.

Very tasty.

Pancakes -- Spicy chicken pancakes

OK -- so this is a variation on my PizzaBurgerPancake and Spicy Chicken recipes. Very easy.

Make the spicy fish recipe. Set aside.

Make the pancake batter. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/3 cup chickpea flour, 1/3 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch. That's the flour base. Now add 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp sea salt. Mix flour well. Add 2 tbsp canola oil and 1/3 cup water. You'll need to continue adding 1 tbsp water at a time until you reach the right "pancake" consistency. And no, you don't need xanthan gum.

I heat a small nonstick pan and toss in some of the chicken with a little onion. Heat for a minute. Then pour some of the pancake batter over top, coating the chicken. Turn when the bottom side is starting to brown, just like you would with a pancake. Cook other side until starting to brown.

That's it.

So, I was asked a question the other day. The answer might be helpful to some.

The question: "Where do you buy your food?"

The answer: Lots of places.

I know, it sounds complicated already. It isn't that bad and I've kind of made it a challenge. Most of the time, it's fun.

I'm a bulk buyer. You should know that up front. I buy larger quantities than normal of foods to cut the per-unit (per pound or per gallon) price of products down. This allows me to buy healthier foods for my kids than I normally could afford. I've also researched foods to find stuff my kids really can eat without fear of getting sick.

For us, that means finding stuff free of gluten and casein, and also soy, rice, corn and a few others.

So, you see the challenge. I start with a menu -- what do my kids eat? What ingredients do I need to make them those foods (after all, with that many food issues, you can't find most of this stuff on the shelf). Where can I buy those ingredients and for how much?

I put these onto a spreadsheet and created monthly buying lists -- shopping lists. I try to maintain a steady shopping budget amount each month. If one month gets too costly, I try to move non-necessities into a month that I'm able to spend more.

The end result of this process answers the question of 'Where do I shop?' Now, I'm from Western Pennsylvania, but I'm convinced you could use this model almost anywhere. In rural areas, you'd have to rely more on mail order items -- still possible. I just bought 75 lbs. of flour from Bob's Red Mill, for example, and saved a ton from buying the same stuff four blocks away at the grocery.

Here's my list:

: East End Food Co-op -- this is a typical food co-op. You'll find them across the country. Search for one using this site - click here. Common buys: some produce, cold cereal, sea salt, baking powder (aluminum free), corn chips, rice milk by the case (20% discount), egg substitute, shampoo and soap (soy free), etc.

: Frankferd Farms -- this is a local food supplier with a focus on organics. I buy some produce, bulk rice, some bulk flour, nuts, dried fruit, carob powder (chocolate allergy), etc. Look around and you might find an organic wholesaler in your area. They often deliver long distances for big orders.

: Restaurant Depot -- this is a chain that serves the food service market. I joined after starting a very small business delivering foods from the places I shop to others. Most cities have businesses like this to serve local restaurants, etc. Find one. You'll find products in large sizes. I buy Heinz ketchup, Lays potato chips, tomato sauce, kosher hot dogs, potatoes, etc. from here, often at great discounts.

: Wal-Mart/Sams -- most of our day to day shopping is done at local community markets or Wal-Mart and Sams. Among them, I take advantage of specials on paper and plastics, cosmetics and other stuff.

: Kennedy Farm -- we buy our beef and poultry from a local farm. This farm north of Pittsburgh sells each weekend in the city. The product is not organic but I have talked with the farm and expressed our concerns regarding gluten, etc. The meat they sell is far better quality than supermarket stuff -- and believe it or not, less expensive. You can search for farms in your area at this website -- click here. Use the search engine function.

: Pacific Pectin -- this is my xanthan gum supplier. If you're going to bake gluten-free, you'll need xanthan gum. It's a binder. It's very expensive. Some places sell this for $10 a half pound. You'll buy it for half that at pacific pectin -- the wholesale supplier -- even with shipping costs. YOu have to buy at least 5 lbs. and store. This will last a long time.

: Miss Robens -- i buy some items from here, including gluten free shampoo and conditioner. also get corn-free baking powder. they also sell flours and candy.

: Bob's Red Mill -- flour, flour, flour. I buy tapioca flour, potato starch and sorghum flour here. I buy 25 lb. bags of each and have it shipped. I still pay far less then the store. I'd also buy my chickpea flour here but Frankferd Farms makes its own at a local mill.

So, there's a look at where I buy. It's a long list, but remember, with bulk buying, I'm not buying at every story each month. Some, I may only buy from twice a year.

Hope it helps.