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!