Review Safeway brand Eating Right GF Deluxe Mac & Cheese

So, let me start by saying I am always thrilled to see new GF items. This box of Safeway Eating Right GF Deluxe Mac & Cheese was more expensive than Annie's brand in my Safeway store. I only bought this because it was on sale for $3.99 each. That being said...open the box...this is what you get.

Pretty standard for a deluxe version. The macaroni noodles are a wee bit smaller than standard. That has no bearing on taste. 

Instruction state to boil the noodles 8-10 minutes. I boiled mine for about 9. Drain, return to pot, add cheese sauce and stir. 

It was really good. Computable to Annie's brand GF deluxe. 

You know me, I've got to doctor things up. I added A LOT of garlic and Italian seasoning. Perfecto. 

Bottom line, very good product. Comparable to what else is out there. However, this is what I would consider a generic brand. Therefore way overpriced. If this was say, $2.99, I would buy the shiznit out of this.  If it costs as much or more than a trusted brand like Annie's, I will buy the Annie's. Lower your price Safeway & you've got a winner. 

McMenamins Deliciousness

Before going GF, I did love me a communication breakdown burger from McMenamins.

McMenamins is a cool local Pacific NW chain of restaurants, hotels & venues. One thing I love about McMenamins is that they are a local company that supports other local companies.  They get all of their food sources from Oregon & Washington based companies. 

On a side note, we have stayed at Edgefield and it was wonderful.  We have also had my husband's union banquet there for the past few years.  It is just a cool place.  Even if you don't stay the night, go check it out for the funky artwork!

http://www.mcmenamins.com

I went into the Happy Valley/Clackamas area on at:

9757 S.E. Sunnyside Rd.

• Clackamas, OR 97015
  
  
  I was pleased as punch that the server was knowledgeable about gluten free food. I was seriously hoping I could get their delightfully delicious shoestring fries with my meal....and I could! They have a dedicated for their tater-tots & if you ask really nicely, they will put a batch of fries in there for you. Yay! They even brought me a local GF ketchup. 
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  I decided to try their GF bun. Normally I get burgers lettuce wrapped because I don't care for most GF buns. Our server told me that their buns were different so I decided to give it a try. 
  
  
  My mouth was watering when I got my meal. Beautiful!
  
  
  
  
  
  Because I was on a date with my husband and we had a lot of errands to run that day, I decided not to get my much loved communication breakdown burger.  It is delicious, but not the best for your breath.  I got the Dungeon Burger (mushroom & Swiss cheese) instead. 
  
  
  The bun was very different. It was more like ciabatta bread than a traditional bun & I really liked it! 
  
  
  
  
  
  On a non-GF note, we took my son there for his 22nd birthday. He had never been. He decided to try a beer sampler. McMenamins originally started out as just a brewery and they brew some pretty awesome beer. (They do offer a couple of GF beer and hard ciders) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  He was so impressed with the seasonal Kris Kringle that he bought one of their famous growlers. It was $4 for the refillable jug and $13 to get it filled. He can take it into any McMenamins for refills. Our server told us that every Monday they offer a discount on the bartender's choice for refills as cheap as $8 for the gallon!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  As always, please ask your server about their fryer and GF options at each location. You know what they say about assuming..
  
  
  

Thanksgiving Traeger Turkey

This is the bomb-diggity. Oh, sorry, so awesome I flashed back to the 80's. My husband smoked this puppy on our Traeger. This is the most beautiful turkey I have ever seen.

Rubbed down raw with olive oil, onion powder, granulated garlic & Penzy's Northwoods Fire seasoning. We always cook breast down so that all of the yummy juices run into the breast, not away from it.

Almost all of Penzey's seasonings are GF! You can order online at:

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysordering.html?id=LYF5VDFX

We are super lucky to have a Penzey's store locally at

11322 SE 82nd Ave
Happy Valley, OR

 

I am visual, so I love going in and looking at all of the spices.  There are SO many! Here is a link to see if you have a store nearby you. 

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html 

We put the turkey on the Traeger on smoke for 5 hours, then cranked it up to medium for just over 3 1/2 hours for a 20lb bird. Time really depends on your bird and how cold it is outside.  

Pretty much anything off a Traeger is delicious, but my husband out-did himself tonight! 

http://www.traegergrills.com/dealers 

Udi's frozen GF French baguette review

As my regular readers know, I don't eat a lot of GF bread, mostly because it disappoints me.

I did love a little brushetta back in the day, so when I saw these baguettes, visions of antipasto danced in my head. 

This bag was at Safeway for $5.99 and each bag has 2 baguettes. They are about 12" long and 2" in diameter. Just to let you know, they are dairy, soy and nut free also.

http://udisglutenfree.com/

I cooked 1 baguette as directed. From frozen, 400° for 10-15 minutes. I cooked mine approx 14 minutes. It was crispy, but in a good, crusty sort of way. 

Tonight I picked up some creamy garlic & herb goat cheese and vine ripened hothouse tomatoes. We usually grow our own tomatoes, but it is November...you take what you can get. 

I sliced my baguette in 1/2" slices, smothered them with goat cheese, topped with tomato and I was in heaven. I shared the baguette with my son. Ok....he had 3 pieces and I ate the rest. 

I think this was good enough to serve to my gluten loving friends and family. Next time I am picturing olive oil, mozzarella, fresh basil and tomato. I will post updated photos. I have only seen these once at Safeway, so I am going to buy a few if they still have them.

**update**

I cooked it a little less, approx 11 minutes and I liked the texture better. Then I topped them with a generous helping of pesto and goat cheese. 

Udi's frozen Gluten Free Uncured Pepperoni Pizza review

I have only tried 2 gluten free pizza crusts in the last 8 months, and both left me underwhelmed.

I saw this frozen Udi's pepperoni pizza on sale at Safeway, so I figured I would get one and save it for a rainy day. 

Last night was a rainy day (literally, I live in Oregon), so I thought I would give it a try. 

It is a small pizza and, well, it looked like a frozen pizza. I cooked it exactly as directed. 400°, directly on the rack, 6" from the bottom, for 12 minutes. This is what came out. 

Not too shabby. I picked up a piece to snap this photo to show the thickness and the pizza was limp, however the instructions say to let it sit for 5 minutes and it firmed up. 

Let me remind you, this is a frozen pizza. I did not have the expectation that it would be some amazing, life altering meal, but you know what? It was pretty darn good. 

My husband and I have an inside joke. Once we were starving and all we had to eat was a package of very stale Ritz crackers. When we ate them, it was the best damn Ritz cracker we had ever had. So, the joke it, it can be a crappy meal, but if you are deprived, it will be the best thing in the world. 

So I was unsure, was the pizza really good, or was this the best damn Ritz cracker situation? I had my gluten loving husband take a bite & he agreed, for a frozen pizza, it was pretty good!

I cook almost every night and try to limit my processed food, but I will be buying this pizza again for another rainy day. 

Royals (Gluten Free version)

This video is pretty dang awesome. 

http://youtu.be/gsz_IRd80OM

I OAT mind if I do...

I needed breadcrumbs, but I was in too big of a hurry to make them, so I decided to improvise. I got out some of my GF oats, threw them in a small food processor with granulated garlic, Italian seasoning and a pinch of salt. Then I chopped it into  the consistency of fine bread crumbs

I dipped chicken breasts in egg, then my oat breadcrumbs and they looked pretty good!

I baked them & guess what?? They tasted great and no one in my family could tell any difference. 

So, yes, you can deem me a genius if you must. I will humbly accept. 

(Yes, I realize I am probably not the first person to ever think of this, but I am still taking credit)

Happy Halloween!

Be sure to check those candy labels for gluten! Have a fantastic Halloween!


How to have a safe, gluten free Halloween! (Link)

My Halloween Costume 2013

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

 

One of these things is not like the other one

I don't eat much GF bread, mostly because it sucks. I was extremely hungry for something hearty and I came across these babies.

They looked delicious and I had a fantasy of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I've never heard of Chebe brand, but it was all fancy, expensive and I was starving....so I bought them. 

http://www.chebe.com

I cooked them exactly as directed on the package. They didn't quite come our as advertised. 

They were flat. Not sure...here is another angle..

I cooked them as directed for 30 minutes & didn't want to cook them any longer because they were so hard. 

So here is the DL (down low) The flavor is very good, but they are very thick, dense and pretty firm while still warm. You could use them as a discus after they have cooled off. 

I certainly would not buy them again. 

Winner winner chicken dinner!

This was a fairly simple meal and my family loved it. I made rosemary chicken, mashed cauliflower and sautéed spinach. This is a naturally gluten free and low carb meal. 

First, I took boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them in a gallon zip bag. I added enough olive oil to lightly coat them. Seal bag & mix around to get them all coated. 

Next, I took several sprigs of rosemary from our garden and used my kitchen scissors to snip leaves off into the bag. I used quite a bit of rosemary. Seal bag & rub the rosemary around on the chicken. After that, I took the chicken out & sprinkled both sides with GF lemon pepper seasoning. 

Tonight I used our much loved Traeger (smoker) to cook the chicken. I cooked it on high, about 15 minutes on each side. The chicken was very moist and flavorful. 

You could also grill it or bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your breasts. 

We also had mashed cauliflower. While the chicken was cooking I steamed some organic cauliflower. I used 2 small heads for 4 people. I steamed it till it was very soft. Some people boil their cauliflower before mashing it, however that can make you lose a lot of the valuable nutrients of cauliflower. 

Here is the deal about mashed cauliflower. It's cauliflower, not potatoes. So don't expect them to taste like potatoes. 

There are a lot of recipes out there for mashed cauliflower. For mine, I took the still hot cauliflower and used a hand masher to mash it up. I added salt pepper & granulated garlic to taste. While still hot, I added in about 4oz light cream cheese. I used a hand mixer to blend it. You could also use a food prossesor. 

I am thinking next time I will use garlic, Parmesan cheese & Italian seasoning. Yum!

My super quick and easy vegetable is sautéed spinach. Spinach cooks down a ton. I used two large bags of spinach

I heated up a tablespoon of coconut oil on med/high (7-8)  in a large skillet. I added two heaping tablespoons of jarred minced garlic. Then, add 1/2 of a bag of spinach. Stir often to wilt the spinach. Then that is cooked, continue to add 1/2 bag of spinach at a time, then cook down. I usually add a bit more coconut oil when I start adding the second bag of spinach. When I have cooked down all of the spinach, sprinkle a bit of lemon juice and stir in. All in all, it only takes about 6-7 minutes to cook down the spinach. 

Voila, tasty dinner and not a ton of effort! 

Free font to help people with dyslexia read better

I have a child with dyslexia and was interested to come across this free font called OpenDylexic.  The font is bottom heavy to keep your brain from rotating them around.  It also differentiates between l (lowercase L) and 1 (the number one) better than most fonts.

My research shows pretty good user reviews.  I tested it with my son & he loved it. This is what I showed him.  This would be appropriate for middle school-adult. (Answer at bottom of post)

I created this test for younger kids, approxiamently 1st-2nd grade: (answer at bottom of post)

Here is a link to information about the font:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/07/open-dyslexic-free-font-dyslexia-abelardo-gonzalez_n_1946372.html

A link to download the font for free:
http://www.dafont.com/open-dyslexic.font

And instructions on how to download it onto your MAC:
http://www.fontspring.com/support/installing/how-do-i-install-fonts-on-my-mac

How to install font onto Windows PC:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Install-or-uninstall-fonts

Installing fonts into other operating systems:
http://www.dafont.com/faq.php

Answer to reading example.
 Example 1, OpenDyslexic is the 2nd font.
Example 2, OpenDyslexic is the 3rd font.

Super easy taco salad! Family pleaser!

This is SOOOO easy and a family favorite.  I used to throw everything together in a giant bowl, but now I just let everyone build their own....even easier for me!

Today I used seasoned lean ground meat (we actually use elk, which is super lean), bag of iceberg salad, low fat shredded cheese, sliced olives, a can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed) and of course my secret dressing.  Are you ready for it? Light sour cream mixed with salsa.  I do about 50/50, but you can use less salsa for a milder dressing.  We also crumble baked cheddar flavored chips over the top (check label for GF!)

On other occasions we have used onions, jalapenos, guac, tomatoes...whatever.  This is also a good, easy way to do a taco night!

As a time saver, once a month or so, I cook up about 4 lbs of ground meat that I season with taco seasoning.  I divide by the pound into zip bags and freeze.  So this time, I stuck it in the fridge to thaw overnight.  No need to heat it, as it is a salad.

The chips we used tonight are the Baked Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles.  Frito Lay's website has these listed as gluten free.

I can not stress the importance of checking your ingredients for gluten.  The taco seasoning we safely use is McCormick.

This took me about 5 minutes to throw together (mostly just open packages) and mix the dressing.  Doing the build your own feeds more people also.  I've easily fed 7-9 people with this amount of food.

Super easy (Gluten Free) meatballs

My version uses gluten free ingredients, but you could easily use regular ingredients also.

1 1/4 pounds ground meat (I used ground elk)
2 teaspoons Gluten Free Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Italian Gluten Free bread crumbs (see recipe here)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic finely chopped (I use jarred)

1/4 cup finely diced onion (I find it easiest to use a small food processor)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  I just used my hands to mix.  Roll meat into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place on greased cookie sheet (I used GF olive oil spray) Bake at 350° 10 to 12 minutes, until no longer pink

They freeze really well.  I am craving some meatballs in homemade GF Teriyaki sauce!  Yum! You could also spice them up with crushed red pepper.  Maybe add GF BBQ sauce.  Lots of options here!

By the way, I did freeze a batch of 20 meatballs.  I just reheated in the microwave at 50% power till thawed, then added them to the sauce to heat through.  This time, I added them to a corn/rice pasta and garlic Alfredo.  YUMMY!

Review Pamela's gluten free chocolate cake mix

I've had this cake mix for a while, so I decided to give it a try. I may have out-chocolated myself. I bought this mix at New Seasons. 

It is a rich dark chocolate, which is my favorite. I followed the directions on the package and added about a cup of mini chocolate chips. Yum. I had a can of milk chocolate whipped frosting. All of my ingredients are gluten free of course. 

I used my brownie pan to make square cupcakes, just for fun :-)  I didn't really try to make the frosting pretty. Sorry! 

They are very moist and delicious! Super duper rich & chocolatey...not for the faint of heart. I recommend this cake mix. I didn't frost all of them, because I am going to freeze them. I will post an update about how well they freeze. 

I would love to make these again with some homemade peanutbutter frosting. 

Homemade no-sew dog bed

I have two pretty adorable and incredibly spoiled chihuahuas. Their last bed was destroyed by a very upset puppy tummy, so they just had a small blanket in their sleeping area.

Here are the princesses. The black one is Pixie Stick & the white one is Xena Warrior Princess. 

I wanted to get them a couple of new beds that were machine washable, but I am cheap, so I decided to explore my options. I have tons & tons of fabric, but my sewing machine isn't working, so I decided to do a no-sew dog bed. Pretty simple & I just made it while I was watching TV. 

Not every fabric would work for this project because of fraying. I used cotton  jersey knit or you could use fleece. 

I guesstimated on size for the first one. They are both about 3 lbs, so they don't need a very big bed. 

Princesses need leopard print, right? Lay it out & cut two pieces, back to back, to the same size. 

Go all around the edges & cut fringes. I made them about an inch wide. You could probably cut the fringes 2" long. I did mine a little bit longer because I have long acrylic nails that made it trickier to tie the knots. 

In the corners, cut out about a 3" square of fabric. Then you simply tie the fringes together. Make sure you leave part open to stuff the bed. 

I didn't have any filling or batting, so I took two of my husband's old t-shirts, folded them & placed them inside. Then you simply tie it shut. 

This was my first attempt. It turned out pretty well. 

Pixie immediately claimed it as her own!

Once you tie it together, it bunches up, so this ended up smaller than I wanted. Even if they have 2 beds, Xena insists on sleeping as close as possible to Pixie. 

They are tiny enough that they both fit on this one, but I thought Pixie would appreciate more space, so I made another one. For the stuffing for the next one, I cut up pieces of fleece that I didn't care for.

When I quilt, I don't use batting. I go to the thrift store and buy old blankets & use those for batting. I prefer blankets for inside of quits because its cheaper, I like to recycle, they won't come apart and they make the quilt warmer than batting. 

Of course, you could just go buy batting or filling too :-)

I also made a bigger leopard one & I may make a couple more, so can have alternates for their sleeping area, living room, etc.

Plus when you have these two cuties "helping" you, why not spend your time hanging out with them? 

Xena thinks the fabric on my lap looks comfy. Makes it kind of hard to tie it though. 

Pixie looking at me adoringly while I work.

Xena making herself comfy in my fabric.