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EZ GFCF | A Gluten Free Recipes Blog

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If you are GFCF and looking for gluten free recipes, reviews and engaging discussion, then this blog is for you! We have posted a wide variety of gluten free recipes and information since 2006 for people struggling with Celiac, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, other health concerns and food allergies. Thankfully, there's been great progress with gfcf food selection and ingredient listings since this blog's first posts. Please join us!

11.05.2008

Gluten free "Rice Krispies" treats - Glennys product review

gluten free rice krispies treats
I came across this treat in the store the other day. It's expensive -- I think about $5 a box. But, it was a nice surprise for my kids and will be an every-so-often treat for them. I'm going to try and replicate this recipe. If I do, I'll post it here.

 
The treat -- a gluten free marshmallow treat similar to Rice Krispies Treats -- is made by "glenny's." And, it's gluten-free and casein-free. 

Note that the box says there's the possibility of trace amounts of tree nuts.

These are very good and really provide a nice option to give kids their own gluten free rice krispies treat. And, the kids love the colorful wrappers.

I've noted the Glenny's website is not very thorough or up to date and the Facebook page is dated as well.


10.23.2008

Allergy book for kids

As if there aren't enough challenges finding and making foods for your children on a gluten-free, casein-free diet. Toss in a few added food allergies or intolerances and life can be difficult, at the least. And then, there's trying to explain to your child why he or she cannot eat the same foods that most of the other kids enjoy. Pizza. Ice cream. Grilled cheese. Oreos. Etc. I'm trying to explain this to my young daughters now. Through a friend, I've found a great book that helps young children understand and accept the food issues they face. It's called "One of the Gang" and it's authored by Gina Clowes. You can find this on Amazon by clicking here. If you're having difficulty explaining this to your kids or find they are having a difficult time accepting their issues, this book might help.

10.14.2008

GFCF pumpernickel bread

For some reason, my kids don't like light-colored bread. They'll go for dark-colored breads every time. There's a GFCF bread on the market that's made from a red rice that they like, but it has yeast in it and my youngest can't tolerate yeast very well. So, I set out to make my own yeast-free GFCF pumpernickel bread. I did it. Here's the recipe. This makes two loaves. I froze one and I'm using the other. I'm gonna tinker with this recipe more, so I'll update the blog if I can improve it. Ingredients 2 flax eggs ( see my recipe) 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup GF molasses 1.5 cups water 1 tbsp baking powder 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice 2 cups corn starch 1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch 1/4 cup corn meal 1.5 cups sorghum flour 1/2 cup flax seed meal (ground flax) 1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder 4 tsp xanthan gum 1 tsp salt Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get out two larger mixing bowls. Make the flax eggs in the microwave and let those sit for 5 mins. Meanwhile, in one bowl, add the water, oil, vinegar, molasses and juice. Stir. In another bowl, add all of the dry

ingredients. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the flax egg. Mix on a low speed until combined. Note -- this will be thicker than pancake or cake batter. If it really seems too dry, add a little water. I greased two bread pans with Spectrum organic shortening and I split the dough between them. I flattened the dough using a wet spatula. I baked in the oven for about 50 mins. After 45 mins, I checked every 5 mins. until a toothpick came out of the center clean. That's it. Let cool after baked, put on a rack to cool. I might tinker with the flour mixtures. Sorghum works well, but I'm sure you could use buckwheat flour, for example, or brown rice too. I might try brown rice mixed with sorghum next time. I might add some potato starch instead of all corn starch to moisten the bread. I'll let you know. Also, there's golden and dark flax. I just used ground golden flax because that's what I had in the house. The dark flax obviously would go better with the dark color of the bread. I grind it up in a coffee grinder. I use the carob powder because one of my girls cannot handle the cocoa. So, I hope you enjoy this bread. My youngest loves it with GF salami and mustard.

9.30.2008

GFCF Rice Chex


So, hello everyone. I've been lax in posting for a while, but I'm still here. I realize I'm likely very behind on this one, but I didn't find out that General Mills made its Rice Chex cereal gluten-free. I popped in the supermarket today to check. They did. So, if your kids like cereal, this is a great option that you can grab in a bind. However, I noticed it's priced higher than the Health Valley Rice Crunch Ems I normally buy for my kids. So, which should I buy? With health value in mind, I'm sure the Health Valley is better, with no preservatives, etc. Pricewise, the Health Valley is less expensive and thru my food co-op, I can buy it in cases at a 20% discount. But, there's also some value in supporting a mainstream company -- General Mills -- that's willing to offer a gluten-free product on my supermarket shelf. Hmmm. Maybe, I'll buy one of each.

8.10.2008

Bad GFCF pizza crust


I love to talk and write about the GFCF foods I love. Here's one I really didn't care for -- and I'll tell you why. This is the Nature's Hilights Brown Rice Pizza Crust. This looked great in the freezer section at Whole Foods and I thought I'd give it a try for ~$5/2 crusts. 

I usually make my own, but this was worth a shot. Here's the problem, the crusts are very chewy after they're cooked and they only become tougher and chewier -- like jerky -- upon cooling. It's actually just bad. I would not recommend this to anyone. For now, I'll keep baking my own crusts.

8.07.2008

GF/CF/SF Rice Cheese

OK -- so I've had a few comment about the kind of rice cheese I'm using. This is gluten free, casein free and soy free. I understand it might be tricky finding this stuff, but I assure you it exists. To prove it, I'm including a photo of the packaging. It clearly states gf, cf and sf. And, the ingredients indicate the same.

I buy this at a local Whole Foods and also at a local food co-op. I notice two things about this particular item that might help you find it.

First, it's not the brick of cheese, it's just the slices.

Second, this packaging also has a lot of Spanish on it. I've seen other sliced Galaxy cheeses that contain either soy or casein. This one is different.

I hope that helps and I hope you can find it.

7.30.2008

GF/CF/SF Toasted cheese sandwiches


Here's another great classic you now can make, thanks to Galaxy cheese slices, which are gluten-free, casein-free and soy-free. Note again, as in previous posts, that the Galaxy cheese chunks are not casein free, just the slices. So, head out to a Whole Foods or your local food co-op and find the following: -- Galaxy cheese slices, either American, Cheddar or Pepper Jack flavors. -- Ener-G gluten free bread (I buy the brown rice, yeast-free bread. There's others.) -- Whatever type of margarine or oil you use that's dairy-free. Some use Fleischmann's Light spreadable margarine, or ghee, or oil. I use canola oil. -- Sea salt. You know how to make this. It's easy. I'll note a couple of tricks that I found helpful. And, of course, you can use any type of gluten-free bread. I just happen to be using the Ener-G bread right now. Other times, I'll make my own. OK, get a frying pan out and pre-heat on medium-high. Let it get hot. This is crucial to get the nice toasted bread markings. While it's heating, get out two bread slices and put a slice of cheese in the middle. I add a small pinch of sea salt. The cheese is low-salt and this adds a bit of flavor. When the pan's hot, add the oil or margarine. If oil, just a tsp will do. Not too much. Now, place the sandwich in the pan. You should hear a slight sizzle. Brown on one side. This only takes a minute or so. Then turn over and brown the other side. You'll probably notice the cheese really isn't melted. So, turn off the pan. Put the toasted sandwich on a plate. Microwave this for 15 secs (try 10 secs in yours first -- in mine, it's 15 secs). This will melt the cheese AND keep the toasty bread. There you go. Toasted cheese. And now that you know how to make this, you obviously can make a nice ham and cheese sandwich or even a turkey and cheese sandwich. Buy your gluten-free lunch-meat and add a slice to the cheese sandwich before toasting. Very tasty. The cheese is a bit pricy, but to me, it's well worth it. I can't stand the soy cheeses. They're aweful. And most other cheeses have some form of casein in there. This is the best I've found. I plan to make a pizza using this cheese sometime next week -- also with a new GF crust I found. I'll let you know how that goes.