At long last my bread has arrived

So bread was kinda getting me down. All the gluten free bread I have tried have ranged from not incredibly edible to downright nasty. I thought there was no hope.

THERE IS HOPE MY FRIENDS!

I looked at Kinnikinnick gluten free food online, but they didn't list any retailers within hours of me. There white bread looked nice though so I was thinking that I might order some one day. Then I spotted it at Fred Meyer. I hadn't seen it before because it was in the frozen section of the natural foods and I am not big on tofu and other things they keep in there. I was so excited that I bought some right away. It was almost $7 and that would be the most I have spent on bread so far, but when I tried it, it was well worth every penny. It's still a bit dense like most gluten free breads, but the flavor is amazing and toasted you can't even tell the difference. At this point I am not big on sandwiches anymore, but I have the urge to make a whole loaf of toast and jam. Well....I better get on that.

Watch out

Lays has recently changed the ingredients of thier BBQ flavor Lays potato chips. The new ingredient is barley malt flour. They are no longer gluten free. Contact Frito-Lay at http://www.fritolay.com/about-us/contact-us.html and tell them what you think about thier new ingredient.

WOW

That's all I have to say about WOW Baking Company cookies.

My friend is a door to door salesman. He was out working a few weeks ago and ran into the guy who either runs the bakery or sells thier products, I don't know which. But, he gave my friend a few cookies to try and he immediately thought of me. Because they are GF of course.

Snickerdoodle- This cookie is fantastic. Moist, tasty, better that the original. They do fall apart a bit. Not like they are crumbly (they are very moist), but just like they don't stick together as well as a typical cookie. This is not conducive to a happy 2 year old. If you have a 2 year old who is neurotic and will have a major meltdown should his food break while being eaten, then by all means break them up first. Snickerdoodle is new and not available on thier website yet though you can find it in stores.

Chocolate chip- This may be the best chocolate chip cookie you have ever tasted. My 7 year old tells me that this is way better than a "regular" cookie and could I please just buy these all the time? Very moist. It tastes like it just came out of the oven. Yummy.

Peanut butter- I haven't tried this one personally. I guess they didn't have any when I went shopping. My boss who has CD also told me that these are great. I believe her. I want one now.

Ginger molasses- This cookie is great if you like ginger. I really don't. I try to be objective though and it is a good cookie. It just has a very distinct ginger flavor. If you love ginger then this is definately the cookie for you. Way more flavor than your typical mainstream ginger cookie.

Brownies- I have yet to try the brownies, but I don't doubt that they are great. If you have tried them, let me know.

You can order cookies from http://www.wowbaking.com/

Soon they will have frozen cookie dough available online too. Visit thier website and you can get a free cookie. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my Birthday. In honor of me I decided to post my favorite ice cream cake recipe. Enjoy!

You will need:

2 pkgs. GF brownie mix (for 9x9 inch pan or 1 pkg. that makes a 9x13 inch pan)

Ingredients to prepare brownies from package instructions

1 quart Gold Medal Ribbon ice cream from Baskin Robbins (or sub your favorite ice cream)

1 lb. bulk caramel

1/2 cup milk

Pkg. of 3 disposable 9x9 inch square foil pans

Prepare brownie mix as directed on package and bake in two foil pans. If you are using a 9x13 inch recipe, seperate evenly into two pans and reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees and check sooner than directed. When brownies are done place them directly into the freezer.

Let ice cream soften on the counter for 15 minutes, then spread into the remaining foil pan evenly. Freeze. When everything is frozen remove from pans and make a sandwich with ice cream in the middle of the two brownies. The foil pans are easy to bend or cut with scissors so everything comes out without breaking. The foil pans are essential! Once it is stacked, put it back in the freezer. Using a double boiler (or in my case a pan full of boiling water with a stainless steel bowl on top) melt caramels. Once they start to melt slowly stir in the 1/2 c. milk. Mix until smooth. Drizzle over your ice cream cake. Now you have the best tasting ice cream cake ever.

We made this long before we went gluten free, but I am excited to say that it tastes the same with gluten free brownie mix and it is easier to eat. With regular brownies you have to let it soften on the counter before you cam eat it. The GF brownies don't seem to freeze as hard so you can eat it directly from the freezer. YUM!

I don't like beer anyway

So, my husband is a beer drinker. He loves all kinds of beer. I call him a beer snob. He just loves it so much. Beer is the only thing allowed in my house that has gluten in it. I try to be a good wife. I can't take away his beer. I'm not sure if he really thinks it's worth it considering the fact that I chase him around telling him where to set his beer, not to knock it over, throw it away in here, wash your hands, etc. I mentioned that I have O.C.D. right?

So when I found out that there is a gluten free beer I told him he should try it. It's called Bard's Tale and it is made with Sorghum instead of Barley. We went and bought some today. He tried it and said it was okay, but not really his style. Okay, well I had to try it too. I don't like beer, I think it tastes gross. I always have. It's just not my thing. But I had to try it, right. They made it for me, right? (Yes, the world revolves around me.)

So I taste it and......uh.....YUM!

Me: Wow, this is good!
Hubby: Yeah? I thought it was okay.
Me: It doesn't have that gross...um...beer taste.
Hubby: It doesn't have the barley flavor.
Me: Yeah that. That's why it's good.
Hubby: It doesn't really taste like beer.
Me: I'm okay with that.
Hubby: It was $11.50 for a six pack.
Me: Yeah, I'm okay with that too.

So, while the guys at Bard's Tale may not have gotten my husband to convert, I think you will still find it in my fridge because they made a beer drinker out of me.

http://www.bardsbeer.com/

Yay for Sunny Valley Wheat Free

So, Sunny Valley Wheat Free is a gluten free bakery in Maple Valley, WA. Everything in the whole bakery is gluten free! They also cater to a lot of other food allergies. We made a trip there on Saturday and I was in Heaven. My son and I got doughnuts. With sprinkles! The doughnuts are great. They are more like a cake doughnut and kinda reminded me of Angel Food cake, but not as spongy. Tasted great though. We tried some different breads. I got Ola's Egg Free Loaf. It is yummy. Best gluten free bread I ever ate. And I don't eat gluten free bread. Because it's gross. But this is good. My husband is a poor unsuspecting victim of my dietary restrictions. Lucky for him they had Cheddar Jalepeno Sourdough bread. That's like his 3 favorite things in one. This bread is a bit denser than the egg free loaf, but tastes great. I also bought a blackberry torte which was delicious. I couldn't tell a difference between this torte and a glutenous one....except for maybe that this one was better.

There are so many great things at this bakery. You can get all kinds of bread, doughnuts, cookies, chocolate eclairs, tortes, quiche, pizzas, pizza crusts, ravioli, and many other things. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

http://www.sunnyvalleywheatfree.com/

Allow me to introduce myself

My name is Alia. I am 28 years old, a wife, and a mother of two. My kids are, Tanner who is 2 1/2 and Winter who is 7. Adam is my wonderful husband and the love of my life. I have Celiac Disease and Dermatitis Herpetiformis. I believe that my son also has Celiac Disease. We have gone completely gluten free in our house and are adjusting pretty well. I actually just found out I have Celiac, but have been researching it for quite some time. This is my story:

Four years ago I went to the doctor for a horrible itchy rash. She had no idea what it was, so she brought in another doc. They then decided to bring in a medical dictionary and that is where they figured that the only thing it could be was Dermatitis Herpetiformis. So they told me I needed a blood test for Celiac Disease. That came back positive so they told me I needed to go to a G.I. doc to have an intestinal biopsy. The G.I. talked to me for maybe 5 minutes, never laid a hand on me and then told me I didn't have Celiac Disease and sent me on my way. Well, obviously I was thrilled not to have it. I didn't know much about it and I didn't want to. I have learned a lot about it since then, but the one thing I didn't learn until a month ago is that if you have a positive biopsy for D.H. and a positive blood test, then you don't need an intestinal biopsy. That is a positive diagnosis in itself. And two doctors missed it. Had no clue. So, four years later I have had to diagnose myself and it explains everything that has ever been wrong with me. All these years of doctors thinking I'm crazy, not listening to me, telling me nothing's wrong. Yep, there's something wrong alright. At least I can fix it without them.

So, that's my Celiac story. Did you notice the O.C.D. part of the blog title? Yep, that's because I have O.C.D. Um, yeah, having C.D. definately makes it worse. But that's good news for you because I constantly research, call companies, dig deeper, and find anything I can to make my life easier and share that info with you so your life can be easier too! Stay tuned......