Gluten Free Bread

Its been a while since I last posted. I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting products, but I don't like to post unless they have my attention. Udi's year after year gets props for their gluten free bread but I think its the nastiest gluten free bread available. Its only okay if you like to eat cardboard both in texture and taste. I'm talking about bread folks, not toast. Even if we were talking toast, Udi's is still really NASTY!

My attention over the last year has been on Canyon Bakehouse. My awesome mom was at Sprouts and brought 2 loafs (is that how you spell it?) for me to try, the Cinnamon Raisin and the Mountain White (of course I like to eat the Mountain White it was named after my husband... tee hee). At first I thought it was going to be like every other nasty bread that needed to be toasted, buttered and jammed before it was edible. I held my breath, but had to give it "the first bite without toasting" test. To my surprise my mouth was met with happiness! The Mountain White was fresh, moist, and had flavor. FLAVOR people, not the flavor of cardboard but a REAL bread flavor! A flavor I thought I would never taste again, daily, unless I went to La Farfalla Cafe (in Escondido, CA) daily to have Terri's delicious gluten free fantastic, wonderful, flavorful, moist, happy bread. My mouth had the same reaction with the cinnamon raisin too! Remember folks, I didn't toast these breads, there was no need they were that good.

Just for the record, I don't like slamming other companies and their products, but I have over the past several years tried other manufacturers. I just try not to post about them if I am SUPER dissatisfied.

I have tried the following...

• Kinikkinik
• Rudi's
• Dr. Schar
• GNI
• Udi's
• Food for Life
• EnerG
• Glutino

Okay back to Canyon Bakehouse! Shelf life... NO NEED to keep in the fridge or freezer. I go through a loaf a week and don't freeze or refrigerate. The moisture and fabulousness is nicely kept in that week. After a week you will need to refrigerate so it doesn't get moldy.

Last, I want to comment on breakage. You notice when you use a gluten free bread for a sandwich it breaks into small pieces. You put mayonnaise on it or mustard it crumbles? Use Canyon Bakehouse within the first week and you wont get breakage. I cant say enough good things! Go out and try it PLEASE! I live in San Diego and find it at Sprouts.

Ok one last thing... why the hell do all these celebrities support crap like Udi's? Oh... they get paid! Screw what celebrities say and listen to us small folks who blog about being gluten free. You can trust a celebrity as much as I trust my dog not to touch my egg sandwich if I put it in his bowl :)

Happy eating, learning and living! Gluten Free...

Subway tests gluten-free sandwiches

Happy days are coming to us anti-glutites! I know you read the subject! Can you believe it? I will, when I see it in my local Subway. How exciting it this for people in Texas!

Here is an excerpt from the CNN article...

Subway is testing a bun made of egg whites, corn starch and tapioca starches for customers with gluten sensitivities at 700 outlets in Dallas and East Texas. The sandwich chain is also offering a gluten-free brownie for dessert. The brownie is made of potato starch, cocoa and sugar.

“Gluten-free is something on the radar,” said Les Winograd, Subway spokesman. “There are number of people at Subway who are particularly interested in gluten-free items for their own particular digestive needs. It’s not something that’s unusual to us.”

With Subway exploring a wheat-free alternative, is this a sign that major food chains are paying more attention to gluten sensitivities such as celiac disease?

I wish I could scream from the top of the world how excited I am. I guess my blog post will have do for now!

Here is a link to the actual CNN article by Madison Park: Subway tests gluten-free sandwiches

Happy eating, learning and living! Gluten Free...

La Farfalla Cafe (Escondido CA) *****

I was in the need to dine out with just the hubby and wanted something outside the typical Outback or PF Changs dinner. I was told about this place located in Escondido called La Farfalla Café that had Gluten Free items on their menu. Of course when I hear of such things I HAVE to check it out! La Farfalla Cafe is a quaint place nestled in between some other shops on Orange Ave. It is quite small and looks to hold about 26 people for inside dining. It feels very family dinerish and home like. I personally loved the ambiance. The place was also packed and people were waiting to be seated. Seems La Farfalla has a nice following!

Meet Lacy a new GFF! Lacy, her husband and son were sitting at the table next to us. Of course the social person I am started a conversation. Lacy was just as social and we got to talking about why she was Gluten free. Unfortunately, Lacy has fibromyalgia and has found that by going Gluten Free has helped.

So, Started off with the Soup of the day which was the Coconut lemongrass with Chicken. The taste was very simple and VERY refreshing. Cilantro topped the soup which had mushrooms, lemongrass and chicken. YUM! My husband, one who doesn't like coconut, even tried it and ate half. We also talked another couple sitting a couple tables away into trying it. Pleased to say they loved it too!

The bread that came to the table was made fresh and was really moist. It didn't fall apart unlike other gluten free breads. I would love to buy a loaf and take it home.

If I had a chance to order again I think I would have ordered another entree and not one so simple. The entree I ordered was a Pesto Pasta off the menu that came with a salad. The only reason I should of tried something different is that I can make Pesto Pasta at home. I should of picked something I wouldn't ever make at home... there's always next time.

The Pasta came with a side salad which was really good! it had mixed greens, carrots and cucumbers. I would of hoped for some tomatoes as well. Anyways, I had the Italian dressing and it was absolutely fabulous! I wanted to drink it. LITERALLY! The dressing was that good. Very Italian if I might add. it had everything you would think and Italian dressing would have... wouldn't change a thing there!

DESSERT! You cant forget dessert! The gluten free cream puffs where heaven!!! The hubby couldn't believe they were Gluten Free. The custard was perfect! The texture was perfect! THEY WERE HEAVEN! I found that these puffs were an experiment by the Chef there. Well two thumbs up! Maybe try an eclair your next experiment.

The main reason I went to La Farfalla Cafe was to try the carrot cake. This was another taste of heaven! The cream cheese frosting was perfect! Texture, being Gluten Free everything is about texture and it was just like I remember! Soft, cinnamon, sweet.

Me Enjoying my soup. Hubby, watching me enjoy my soup!

Gluten Not Included...

Hey Anti-Glutites in SAN DIEGO! We finally have a Gluten-Free bakery that's a dedicated Gluten-Free facility called "Gluten Not Included"! I learned of this today through an email from my friend Lorraine at work.

  

Well, for those of you who know me when I hear of something Gluten-Free I cant sit around long. The excitement was killing me to check out this new Gluten-Free Bakery. When I got there they had the following...

• Plain White Bread

• Cinnamon Raison Bread

• Bread Sticks

• Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Cinnamon Rolls

• Brownies

• Croutons

• Bread Crumbs

• Pizza Crust

While there, I was given a sample of the Cinnamon Raison Bread. Okay, 2 samples! It was fabulous! It has a fluffy texture, not too much cinnamon and just the right amount of raisons. I purchased the Cinnamon Raison Bread, White Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Bread Sticks.

  

When I got back to work I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of the Cinnamon Raison Bread and than had another 3 pieces of it while I shared with my Anti-Glutite co-workers. Oh, and ate the Chocolate Chip Cookies as well.

 

The Chocolate Chip cookies were wonderful. They were rich and gooey with huge chunks of chocolate. The cookies were so rich I could only eat half. Aaaaand then the other half about 5 minutes later! I was wishing a cup of milk would just appear in front of me. Ohhhhh... Cookies and milk! I will be back for more of those and some brownies too (which I didn't purchase this time).

  

I learned that Gluten Not Included is going to be selling sandwiches, salads and other things here in the near future. Please go to their website for details or even better, GO VISIT THEM IN ESCONDIDO!.

  

http://www.gnibakery.com/

Gluten-Free Bread

Everywhere I look in regards to Gluten-Free bread it states to toast your bread to make it taste better. News flash... toasting the bread doesn't make it taste any better. Try microwaving your bread for 15 seconds. This makes it so much better like bread right out of the oven. Add some butter and that's even better. If you want to make a sandwich, microwave it and then add all your sandwich goodies. Microwaving softens the bread just enough so it doesnt taste or feel stale.

Dead Banana's

What do you do with dead banana's? You make Banana Bread! Well I went on a search for a recipe that sounded good. I found 2 online and found one in a cook book I purchased. I decided to use the recipe in the cook book "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" by Bette Hagman. The only beef I have with this book is it doesn't tell you how much of each flour to use for each recipe. You have to make the "Flour Mix Formulas" near the beginning of the book. It's lame, but I did it!

So here is my finished product. I baked it 3 minutes less than what the recipe called for and I think it was baked too long. It didn't have much flavor either. Maybe that's because its Gluten-Free?!? I have no clue. My husband says I am being to hard on myself and that it tastes fine. I personally think it needs to be sweeter and moister. I have to say I ate half the loaf =o)