The Cooking Light Gluten-Free Cookbook: Simple Food Solutions for Everyday Meals

             I think everyone has had a moment when all they want is a home cooked meal.  They’re tired of restaurants, and even something premade from the store isn’t appealing.  That’s because there is nothing like a home cooked meal.  The time and effort it takes to put a meal together makes everything taste better.  That personal touch somehow makes everything more flavorful than if it were bought somewhere.  If you have a food allergy, this extra effort is especially appreciated.  It’s not always easy to cook around an allergy.  When someone makes something you can eat, no matter how it tastes, it’s always wonderful.  It shows how much that person cares, and proves that the only thing better than a home cooked meal is someone making one for you.

                The Cooking Light Gluten-Free Cookbook: Simple Food Solutions for Everyday Meals is a great book to find recipes that can be cooked at home and are gluten-free.  It contains recipes for every meal of the day and includes an informational section about how to live a gluten-free life.  The recipes stretch across different cultures and a lot of them are naturally gluten-free.  This is great because shopping is so much easier when you don’t have to stand in the aisles reading packages.  Other recipes include notes about certain ingredients, suggesting you investigate them before purchasing.  An example of this is sausage.  Not all sausage is gluten-free.  The book recommends you look into products, such as sausage, to make sure the one you’re thinking of buying is gluten-free before purchasing.  Another thing the book mentions is whether or not a recipe is dairy-free.  As a person who comes from a family where both gluten and dairy are a concern, this is a very good thing.

                If you’re not sure about buying yet another cookbook, check this one out from the library.  It’s a great way to experience cookbooks without having to purchase them right away.  Then once you’re ready to buy The Cooking Light Gluten-Free Cookbook, you can order it from Boswell Book Company, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

Outpost’s Flourless Chocolate Cake

            In a matter of hours it will be Valentine’s Day.  This makes you think of cards, flowers, and chocolate.  The cards and flowers can be bought or, in the case of cards, made to suit your personal taste.  But let’s talk about chocolate.  There are many kinds: white, milk, semi-sweet, and dark, along with combinations of the chocolates.  Then, of course, chocolate comes in many shapes and sizes from the simple bar to the pointed kiss shape made famous by Hershey.

                The chocolate I want to talk about is a decadent chocolate confection that can be purchased at Outpost Natural Foods.  It is the Flourless Chocolate Cake.  Not only is this cake rich and has a deep chocolate taste, it is gluten-free.  Yes, gluten-free.  You can buy a slice at Outpost stores (as it is not labeled as gluten-free, be sure to ask so you get the right one), or you can make it yourself.

                Make it myself?  Yes.  In the winter issue of Graze, Outpost’s magazine, this cake is the secret recipe with the emphasis that it is gluten-free.  So treat yourself or share this delicious cake for Valentine’s Day. 

Sun Cups

                When I first came upon Sun Cups I immediately thought of my friend who can’t have nuts.  Before her nut allergy developed she loved peanut butter cups.  Since Sun Cups are nut free, I thought these would be a great substitute for her.  Then I saw they were also gluten free and I decided to give them a try myself.  

                There are four flavors of Sun Cups: Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate Caramel, and Dark Chocolate Mint.  The Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate are the ones that resemble peanut butter cups most closely because they are made with a sunflower seed spread.  I tried the Dark Chocolate version and while I can say they did not taste exactly like a peanut butter cup, I think they are a really good substitute.  The Milk Chocolate Caramel and the Dark Chocolate Mint do not have the sunflower seed spread, but they are both still nut and gluten free. 

                Originally I found Sun Cups at Woodman’s. Since then I have also found them at Outpost Natural Foods. Larger amounts can be purchased on the Sun Cups website, suncups.com.

Edwardo’s Gluten Free Thin Crust Pizza

             We have just had the most wonderful time of the year.  With the holidays we got an array of special dishes we don’t eat any other time.  All of them are delicious and we love eating them, but sometimes we want something simple after all that rich food.  Pizza comes to mind as a great alternative.  Most people can order out or open their freezer door and find a pizza with ease.  That is not the case for everyone. 

               We have tasted a very good frozen gluten-free pizza by Edwardo’s. Their Gluten Free Thin Crust Pizza had a crisp crust with a good sauce and cheese. We had the Spinach, but BBQ Chicken, Cheese, and Sausage & Pepperoni are available as well. Our pizza was purchased at Woodman’s.

Pizza at Papa Murphy's

                Pizza.  It truly is one of my favorite foods.  Despite my love of pizza, I had never been to Papa Murphy’s before.  I had driven past different locations, but I had never been inside one of their establishments.  Then someone told my mom they had gluten-free pizza.  After we heard this, we knew we had to give Papa Murphy’s a try.           

                Before we could try Papa Murphy’s gluten-free pizza we had to research the crust to make sure I could eat it with my allergy.  I was very happy to discover they were using pizza crusts from Udi’s.  They are a great gluten-free company and I knew that with their crusts I would be okay.

                My mom and I decided we would get one of the vegetable pizzas on the gluten-free crust.  Since I had never been to Papa Murphy’s before I did not know what to expect.  I must say the pizza was good.  It probably would have been even better if we had fully read the directions on how to bake it.  That’s something to note.  When getting a pizza from Papa Murphy’s, make sure to read ALL the instructions before baking in order to get the pizza just as you like it. 

                As great as it is that Papa Murphy’s has gluten-free pizza crust, there are some things to be aware of. First, the gluten-free pizzas are prepared in the exact same space as the regular crust pizzas. There isn’t any separation between the two which does create a risk for cross-contamination. Also, it is possible that not every location will have the gluten-free pizza crusts. I suggest calling ahead to make sure that particular establishment has them. Questions about the gluten-free pizza crusts and how they are handled are available on the Papa Murphy’s website, www.papamurphys.com.