Heinz Gluten-Free List Update

Last month I posted a letter I received from Heinz including their gluten-free product list. A reader pointed out to me today that Heinz Worcestershire sauce was listed as gluten free despite the fact that the label says it contains wheat. According to the label shown on the web site, wheat is part of the soy sauce that is used in the Worcestershire sauce.

I have notified Heinz of the mistake. This should be a reminder to us that we need to always read labels. Product lists are a helpful starting point, but mistakes do happen. If you printed the list for reference, please be sure to cross off the Heinz Worcestershire sauce. A gluten-free alternative is Lea & Perrins brand, also made my Heinz.

Banana Cake – What’s for Dinner Wednesday

 

Welcome! What’s for Dinner Wednesday is usually a carnival of gluten free dinner ideas. This week, we’re doing a dessert edition, but you might still find a dinner idea or two.  If you haven’t participated before, you can read the guidelines here.

First, let me apologize for some confusion last week. Many of you apparently thought having breakfast for dinner was the theme for the week. I didn’t intend it to be a theme, it was just my idea for the week, but I enjoyed everyone’s ideas. When there is a theme, I will give you at least a week’s notice, and the theme is always a suggestion, not a requirement.

Soon after I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I found a gluten free banana cake recipe on the Internet which quickly became a family favorite. You can now find the recipe here. As my repertoire of baked goods increased, I made it less often, but it remains a favorite.

Until this week, I hadn’t made it in a while, but after being away for several days, I had a few bananas that were perfect for use in a cake. The problem was that my frig was rather bare and I didn’t have any sour cream. I was determined to to make it without a trip to the store, so I began to think of substitutes.

I was out of yogurt, and thought I might be stuck until I remembered that this chocolate cake recipe uses mayonnaise. I ended up subbing the mayo for the sour cream and also making a few other changes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was as good as ever, if not better. This cake is soft and moist and has plenty of banana flavor.

Gluten-Free Banana Cake

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. mashed banana
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 c. mayonnaise (I used Kraft reduce fat w/olive oil)
• 2 c. gluten free flour mix (I used Carol’s sorghum blend)
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions

Using a mixer, cream together the butter, oil, and sugar.  Add the eggs, banana, and vanilla, mixing well. Add the mayonnaise and mix. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then add, mixing until thoroughly incorporated.

Spread the batter in a 9 x 13 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool in the pan, or turn onto a rack if desired.

This cake is good with a cream cheese or vanilla frosting. It’s also great without any. This time I used a simple vanilla glaze.

Note: I’m sure there are many ways to mash bananas, but my favorite is to put them in a small bowl and use a pastry blender to mash them.

Please add a link to your gluten free dessert (or dinner) idea.

1. Jessie (Choc-chip cookies) 2. Gina (Creme Caramel) 3. Brian (Chocolate Cake Mix) 4. Jen (Baked Potato Bar)

5. Heather (Chocolate Souffle) 6. The W.H.O.L.E. Gang- Ostrich Steak Strips Stir-fry 7. Amy (Smooth Watermelon Granita) 8. The W.H.O.L.E. Gang-DF, GF Blueberry Ice Cream & Blueberry/Blackberry Mini Pies

9. Cheryl (Rita's Ice) 10. Mikki (Chocolate dipped strawberries)

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Cookbook Giveaway Winners

The winners of the Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook are:

Kay Guest and Renee G.

Congratulations!

July 4th Gluten-Free Recipe Roundup

This week, Karina posted a great roundup of gluten-free recipes for summer picnic fun, and Carrie listed her Top ten 4th of July recipes.  With the holiday weekend just a few days away, I thought that was a good idea and put together my own gluten-free recipe roundup.

From The Gluten-Free Homemaker:

• Beef barbecue sandwich
• Warm Chicken & Potato Salad
• Hamburger buns
• Brownies
• Carmel topping
• Cheesecake
• Chocolate bundt cake

From a few other blogs:

• Pulled pork – Celiac Family
• Roasted potatoes, mushrooms & green beans – The W.H.O.L.E. Gang
• Balsamic chicken with garlic – Living Without Wheat
• Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin – Fire and Salt
• Smoked salmon Alfredo – Celiacs in the House
• Warm spinach pasta salad – Feeling Better Gluten Free
• Summer Pasta Salad – Blog Schmog
• Pigs in a blanket – Brenna Kater, the Ocean Skater
• Roasted vegetables – The Gluten-Free Gourmand
• Chocolate peanut butter cake – Fire and Salt

From the Web:

• Red, white, and blue delight – Family Fun
• Fruit flag – Family Fun
• Peanut butter and strawberry sundae – Family Fun
• Barbecue checklist (no recipe) – Family Fun
• Red, white and blue parfaits – Better Homes and Gardens
• Honey chicken kabobs – Disney Family Food
• Sensational sirloin kabobs – Disney Family Food

I’ll be taking a blogging break for a few days while my husband and I celebrate our 20th anniversary. You’ll probably hear from me again on Tuesday when I tell you about a new gluten-free web site. Enjoy the holiday!

Cookbook Review & Giveaway

This giveaway has ended.

Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook by Robert M. Landolphi is an inexpensive, easy to use book. Along with more than 100 easy and delicious recipes, it includes chapters on gluten-free basics and and a chef’s perspective on eating out. You will also find useful information at the beginning of several of the chapters.

The book offers a wide variety of recipes which use common ingredients. A few of them use premade gluten-free products such as crackers or cookies. My only caution would be to those who are also on a dairy free diet. Many of the recipes do contain dairy. Some would be easy to modify, others would be difficult.

The recipes that contain flour use varying combinations of rice flours, sorghum, and starches, but a few also use chestnut or garbanzo flour, and maybe a couple of others.

I think the only yeast bread recipe is the pecorino pizza crust or bread sticks. The remainder of the bread recipes are quick breads. I recently made the flaky buttermilk biscuits. One of my kids said, “Mom, what did you put in these? They taste like regular biscuits.” They were very good.

This picture shows the Corn, Potato, and Leek Chowder. I did modify it according to ingredients I had on hand, but not significantly. I omitted the chile powder and the light cream. It was very good with my modifications, and I’m sure it would be good without any changes.

If you click on the title, Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook, you will be taken to the Amazon page where you can look inside the book. It shows you the table of contents, some of the first pages, and the index. That will give you a good idea of the types of recipes included. For most of you, it will be worth the price of $11.55.

If you think you would like a copy of this book, the publisher is offering to giveaway two of them. To enter the giveaway, please do the following:

• Go to the Amazon link, Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook, and click the picture of the book to look inside. Go to the index and look over the recipes listed there.
• Leave a comment on this post telling me one of the recipes you would like to try.
• If your name is not linked to a blog or web site where I can contact you, leave an email address.
• One entry per person.

This giveaway will run until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, July 6 (hey, that’s my birthday!) I will contact the winners on Tuesday and they will have 24 hours to get back to me. Please check your email (including your junk folder).

Breakfast Food - What’s for Dinner Wednesday

Welcome! I hope you find some useful gluten-free dinner ideas here, and I would love for you to contribute your own. You don't have to tell us what you're actually having for dinner on Wednesday. The carnival just takes place on Wednesday. Any gluten-free dinner idea is welcome. If you haven’t participated before, you can read the guidelines here.

I haven’t been feeling great recently, so I really don’t have any good dinner ideas to share from the past week. The good news is that I think I’m over a cold and sore throat I was fighting, and I found a doctor who practices integrative medicine. I am hopeful that the medication she prescribed along with vitamins will help with some adrenal fatigue I have been experiencing.

Some of our favorite dinners are breakfast dinners. Everyone enjoys the food, and generally it’s a pretty easy, inexpensive meal to fix. For this week I thought I would list some breakfast recipes and ideas that could be enjoyed at dinner time. We like varying combinations of the following.

Gluten-Free Breakfast Food

• Belgian Waffles
• Buckwheat Pancakes
• Corn Bread
• Biscuits
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Eggs
• Sausage or Bacon
• Fruit Salad

Those are the items we have most often for a breakfast dinner, but there are plenty more options. Certain foods I prefer to have only for breakfast such as oatmeal or muffins. How about you? Do you eat breakfast for dinner sometimes? What are your favorite choices?

Next week: Let’s try a dessert edition, but as always, we’ll be happy with anything.

1. Jessie (beach food) 2. Gluten Free Portland (Trader Joe's Mini Tacos) 3. Gluten Free Taste of Home (busy day soup)

4. Amy (Meatballs with Veggie Sauce & Peas) 5. Cheryl (Sausage and Navy Beans) 6. Brenna Kater, Oceanskater (Garbanzo Flour Pancakes)

7. The W.H.O.L.E. Gang (Monthly Menu with recipe links) 8. Rachel (Breakfast Tacos) 9. Brian (Omelettes)

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Strawberry Rhubarb Topping

My family enjoyed this strawberry rhubarb pie so much that I made a second one not long after making the first. That used up the two Whole Foods pie crusts that I had bought. Instead of buying more, I decided I wanted to try making my own pie crust. I bought more strawberries and rhubarb, but they were starting to go bad and I still didn’t have time to put together a pie from scratch. That’s when I decided to make a topping.

The topping is similar to the pie filling, but uses less sugar. We ate it on ice cream, but it would also be good on cake or even biscuits.

Strawberry Rhubarb Topping

Ingredients

• 3 c. rhubarb, chopped
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 Tb. cornstarch
• 2 Tb. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. strawberries

Instructions

In a medium saucepan combine the rhubarb, 1/4 c. water and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer about 5 minutes. Combine the cornstarch and 2 Tb. water. Add to the pot while stirring. Cook about 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla and then the strawberries. 

This was delicious with Breyers vanilla ice cream.