Glutino Fiber Bread Vs. Udi's Whole Grain Bread

(Source:  www.glutino.com)

(Source:  www.udisglutenfree.com)

   Although Glutino has many fine gluten-free products, I am a huge fan of this Udi's bread.  I love it toasted, especially served with fried eggs.  I love it as a sandwich bread.  I love the texture.  (The Glutino Fiber Bread reminded me of the texture of a sponge and the bread was incredibly dry.  It wasn't bad toasted--with lots and lots of jam added.  :)

Check Out My Gluten-free Roll Recipe on ourbestbites.com!

I am bubbling over with excitement because Sara, who is one of the authors of Our Best Bites, highlighted my gluten-free recipe for rolls today on her website.

 http://www.ourbestbites.com/

She loved the cream cheese variation.  I hope you will check it out and try this recipe.  My 11-year-old begged me last night to make rolls more often.  Now that school has started, I think I will try to make rolls every Friday morning so they will be fresh and she can use them for cold lunch.  We have little or no gluten-free food in our school lunch program here, so if you are like me, you are making muffins or bread often to keep your child with celiac disease from going hungry at lunchtime.

After you make my rolls, try my pumpkin muffin recipe.  My two gluten-free eaters and those in our home who can eat food with gluten are all equally in love with the moist, smooth flavor of these muffins.  This recipe produces a large number of muffins because it is hard to find the smaller cans of pumpkin in the store, so I gear it to the larger can.  Just freeze the leftover muffins, if you have any.  :)

Pumpkin Muffins
8 eggs
1¾ cups cooking oil
29-ounce can pumpkin
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups brown rice flour
1½ cups tapioca flour
½ cup sorghum flour
¼ cup corn flour
½ cup potato starch
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
12-ounce package milk chocolate chips (optional)

1. This recipe is large enough to make both bread and muffins. The bread and muffins freeze well.
2. Combine eggs, oil, pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, mixing well.
3. Add brown rice flour, tapioca flour, sorghum flour, corn flour, potato starch, sugar, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix only until combined.
4. To make bread, grease pans (8½ x 4½ x 2¾ inches) and bake at 350°F for 60 minutes.
5. To make muffins, spoon into greased muffin tins, about ¾ full. Bake for 26 minutes at 400°F.

Makes 24 muffins plus 2 small loaves of bread

Tip: The following pan sizes are recommended for gluten-free bread recipes (measurements refer to the inside of the pan at the top edge): 8½ x 4½ x 2s inches or 7¼ x 3s x 2¼ inches.

Cookbook Signing at BYU Bookstore

If you can, stop by the BYU Bookstore in Provo, Utah, on Friday (August 19) for my cookbook signing.  I will be there from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. and would love to meet you.  I will be bringing gluten-free pumpkin muffin samples and would enjoy sharing with you.  :)

An Unselfish Lady...Even with Terminal Cancer

My husband and I have the honor of caring for my mother-in-law this week.  She is in the final stage of bone cancer.  It came on suddenly and by surprise, since she had conquered breast cancer last year and we thought we would have many more years with her.  She is sleeping most of the time.  We are very grateful for modern medicine, and the great help it is for her to simply push a button to administer nearly instant pain relief through a pump. 

She is eating quite small portions due to her lack of appetite, but we feel she is victorious when she eats an entire container of yogurt, some watermelon, and a bite of chicken.  I am going to make Broccoli Cheese Soup for her lunch (see recipe below).  My father-in-law was a wonderful cook, and I converted his recipe to a gluten-free version.  I hope you will enjoy it.

There is a special and sacred feeling here in her home.  She may have weeks or months left on this earth.  Even with all she is going through, she is completely unselfish.  She was concerned last night that we hadn't sent half of the watermelon home with our son and his wife.  She wanted to make sure they would have a chance to see the two strollers she had found at garage sales, and pointed out that they could choose the one that looked most comfortable for the baby.  She has been and continues to be one of the most unselfish people I have ever met. 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cups fresh or frozen chopped broccoli, or mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon gluten-free chicken bouillon powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Colby Jack cheese
2 cups chicken broth, as needed

1.  In a large pot, boil vegetables gently in water until tender.  Save the vegetable water to thin the soup as needed.
2.  In a saucepan over medium heat, stir brown rice flour into melted butter to make a thick paste. Add milk, bouillon, and pepper, stirring constantly.  After the sauce thickens, sprinkle in grated cheese.
3.  Add sauce to cooked vegetables in soup pot.  Add chicken broth and reserved vegetable water until soup reaches desired thickness.  Warm soup slowly.  Do not boil.

Serves 5 to 7

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3 eggs

4 1/2 cups gluten-free oatmeal

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup coconut 

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream sugar, brown sugar, butter, and eggs.

Step 2:  Add gluten-free oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, coconut, baking soda, and vanilla.  Mix until combined.

Step 3:  Scoop cookies onto greased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-11 minutes.  Makes 42-45 cookies.

I used white chocolate chips, but I think milk or dark chocolate chips would taste better.  The peanut butter flavor overpowers the white chocolate chips, so I had to eat some from the bag to get the full flavor and satisfy my chocolate craving.  :)  Enjoy!

Is all toothpaste gluten free?

I met a wonderful lady at my book signing last Saturday.  She shared a recipe with me for peanut butter oatmeal cookies and gave me a sample. They are delicious!  I hope to share the recipe with you in my next blog entry.

She also told me of something interesting that happened to her daughter who has celiac disease.  Her daughter had sores in her mouth when she used certain brands of toothpaste with tartar control.  They found out there was gluten in this type of toothpaste for some brands (which likely has changed since they called.)  They finally switched to Melaleuca toothpaste, and the sores went away.  I called Crest and also submitted a question on their website (see below) and they said that currently all of their toothpaste is gluten free.  They are unsure of whether some of their mouthwash is gluten free, however.

I then got curious about Colgate, so I submitted the question to their website (see below).  I am guessing it would be quite rare for their toothpaste to have gluten in it, but I was surprised that it was even a possibility. 

Does Crest toothpaste contain gluten?

Updated 03/09/2011 12:24 PM

No current Crest products contain gluten.  

http://www.crest.com/contact-crest.aspx

Does Colgate toothpaste contain gluten?

We certify that Colgate Cavity Protection Great Regular Flavor Toothpaste is gluten-free.

We do not intentionally add gluten to any of our other Colgate toothpaste varieties. Although we obtain our ingredients from reliable and trusted suppliers who maintain our high standards for safety, quality, and efficacy, we cannot guarantee that the ingredients used have not come in contact with any gluten.

http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/ContactUs/ConsumerAffairs.cvsp