August 24, 2007

Week day lunches

It's been awhile since I've written anything, but there hasn't been much to blog. Bonsoy is no longer gluten free which I didn't notice for a month. Not good. The coffee lady at my local cafe had a long discussion with me about when we think they changed the recipe because she's noticed the milk acting differently in some technical coffee making way. I love my local cafe MOKA GIGI on Sydney Rd, Brunswick. Go there for a great coffee and food (mostly gluteny) and a GF cookie! I confess to resorting to a GF melting moment for breakfast twice this week.

I've been eating a lot of pizza. Making pizza bases is amazingly quick with a mix and I'm ashamed to have been ordering it for so long! The Basco mix is great, especially when cooked in a dinner roll sized ball. It's more like a scone than a roll, but who cares when it's tasty? It loses points in having egg whites rather than whole eggs in the recipe though.
The Freeform mix from Safeway is beating Basco at the moment. I haven't made it into rolls yet because the boy has been helping me eat the pizzas which are tasty and use whole eggs which is SO much more convenient than having to use up or throw out egg yolks!
The next trial one is going to be Orgran's but I've not liked things by them before so I'm hesitant but they have a big advantage that they don't use anything but the mix and water and maybe some yeast for taste as suggested.

Today I'm talking about lunches though, not pizzas (though both the Basco and Freeform pizza bases microwave respectably). I'm lucky in my office. We actually have a convention microwave, a boiling water tap and fridge. So I could bake if I wanted to even! Not that I really feel like baking while at work usually.
I'm also very slack in the mornings. I generally give myself 2 minutes to grab food stuffs (including breakfast) before I'm at the door. Breakfast and lunch and usually eaten at my desk (just because, not because I'm busy!). I have a drawer full of snacks and lovelovelove the option of choosing a snack from my drawer full of options rather than pouting because the vending machine isn't gluten free.

Staple items for breakfasts is instant hot chocolate, tinned rice pudding and GF muesli bars.
Lunch though, lunch needs to be more substantial and a muesli bar can only sometimes be accepted.

Cooking with hot water and a fridge
Rice vermicelli is my latest brainwave. I eat it at home a lot. You just soak it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, drain, stir through (as much as possible) some sort of GF sauce and ta da! food. At work I drain it using BBQ tongs (the boys often BBQ for lunch) or with a fork if I'm feeling dangerous (much more spillage and noodles down the drain in this instance). It's also easier to soak in one bowl and transfer to another when it's done.
Rice vermicelli comes in individual serves, especially if you look in an asian grocery, and is CHEAP the 100g serves are 60 cents in my local supermarket but are even cheaper in my local asian grocer.

Sauces - I lovelovelove Sacla pasta sauces. They're found in the pasta sauce section of the supermarket next to the pestos which they sort of are, but they come in flavours other than sun dried tomato or basil. This week I had olive and tomato, but my favourite is the eggplant and mushroom. They need to be refrigerated after opening.

Add a microwave
Additions: I had an extra minute this morning so I sliced up a couple of mushroom into a container. Made my vermicelli and sauce as normal then nuked them with the mushrooms for a couple of minutes. Delicious! Add some smoked chicken or other verson of precooked meat and you've got protein as well.

Leftovers are great for lunch. I always thought that I wouldn't want to eat what I'd had the night before, but I've never once been sick of the dish. Especially when it's been lasagne. Mmmm. Reheat and you're set.

There are instant pouches of rice these days that cook in a couple of minutes in a microwave. Many are gluten free, which is great, though check thoroughly as many are not!
There are also instant microwavable indian dishes in the Indian food section of many supermarkets. Not awful! And since India is not known for it's wheat, most are gluten free. Combine with rice and dig in!
Drawback: Most of these rice pouches and indian meals do not serve only one. Bring lunch for a friend! Jazz it up with some pappadums since these are also microwavable! Easiest DIY chip like thing ever.

Dessert
Steamed puddings are pretty good and decadent for an end of week treat, particularly when someone's handing out poisonous birthday cake. They keep quite a while and don't need refrigerating. I found mine (Healtheries brand) in the healthfood section of Safeway though some places may put them in the dessert aisle with the "normal" people pudding.

Mug Cake. Yes, that is it's name, and that's what it is. It's a cake you make in a mug. The drawback is you'll need an egg. The plus side is you otherwise only need a mug, the mix and a microwave. These are great. They taste like an uber fluffy cupcake. I found them in my gluten days in an asian grocery and then my friend found them in the normal supermarket in the cake aisle, in English, with gluten free on the pack!

Rice pudding. Heinz makes a small, serves 1, flavoured rice pudding that is gluten free. I like the chocolate one, the vanilla is also good, but I have not been game to try the banana. Keeps well, doesn't need a fridge, a good dessert or an acceptable breakfast (wholegrains are okay, right?)

August 8, 2007

Review: Healtheries Simple Macaroni and Cheese

I was in a pathetic mood the other night. I wanted comfort food. I whined at The Philsopher for a hamburger and chips, something, anything, some comfort food that would make me feel happier. And now I'd have the added benefit of maybe not feeling better but at least falling asleep for around 13 hours so I wouldn't notice feeling bad.

Luckily The Philosopher was very against this plan. He'd had enough of my cranky, bratly behaviour on the gluten challenge and is extremely keen to avoid further instances of it. Which is good because before then he didn't think my allergy was that bad but now he's more militant about it than I am!

Mac and cheese is comforting and the Simple pack was less than $3. The cheese sauce was a little weird as it wasn't that garish yellow we've all come to expect from macaroni and cheese. The pasta wasn't too shabby either - tiny tubes of potato and rice flour pasta. The taste? Kind of like carbonara sauce without the bacon or pepper. The Philosopher, who doesn't like macaroni cheese, liked it more than I did, though I still ate 3/4 of the pack. I like that fake cheese flavour of mac and cheese and cheese flavoured corn chips. *sigh*
But Simple Mac and Cheese is great. Especially if you have some bacon and pepper around for some quick carbonara.

6/10

August 6, 2007

Gluten free away from Melbourne

First off, gluten free baking results:
Cake = good. A little lemon essencey rather than lemon for me, but adding something like lemon rind or sultanas or coconut to the mix would cure that. "Normal" people ate it and seemed to munch very happily though without much praise. This is a very everyday cake, which is not a bad thing.

Basco all purpose gluten free mix: The pizza base reheated in the microwave okay, but lost a bit of structure. Oven would have been better, but it still tasted good! Reheated the rolls from frozen in the oven and they were good. A sort of scone/roll combination which isn't bad at all. I may shove some cheese and herbs in them next time.

Gluten free in Mornington. There is a cute little store called "Gluten Free Foods" (7/55 Barkly St Mornington 3931 (03) 5973 6466) just off the Main St in Mornington. This small shop is packed with gluten free goodies. I found several sauces that I'm sure my regular gluten free store has but due to the big range have remained hidden amongst other "must haves." Best finds - microwavable gluten free multicoloured prawn crackers, chilli pappadums. The lady there also gave me a list of gluten free places in the area so I took mother and The Philosopher to HARBA (www.harba.com.au).

Beautiful view over the park and a pretty good glimpse of the ocean give this restaurant a good "normal" crowd. It looks like it once was a grand old holiday home that has been ripped open at the front for more views for more people and they are currently getting council approval for a rooftop eating area. A bit drafty in winter, this would be fantastic in summer when the plastic wall/awnings could be rolled up to let in the cool sea breezes.
Their normal menu is quite extensive but their gluten free menu was just as extensive and had such delectable selections that The Philosopher nearly chose from that menu too. The only sad moment was when I was just about to taste my pear and rhubard compote with shortbread when the server quickly whisked it away. It turns out the shortbreads are made in the restaurant and the server was savvy enough to take matters into his own hands! The menu is being updated now to remove this which is sad because the compote is delicious.
The only bad thing about this place was that my soy mocha was watery and didn't really taste of anything really. Possibly milk and water and chocolate. And the others declared their coffee not the warmest they'd ever had.

August 2, 2007

Gluten free baking frenzy

Freedom Foods Lemon Cake Mix:
This gets a big thumbs up for being cheap. It's a supermarket (Woolworths) brand without gluten or yeast. It also doesn't need many additives to make it, just 2 eggs and some water. They do recommend you beat it with an electric beater though. The mix smells very lemony and the batter looks like a normal cake batter and tastes pretty good too. The cake is current cooling so a taste test will have to happen tomorrow.

Basco All Purpose gluten free flour:
this stuff has been sitting in my cupboard since i got the diagnosis. It's been the thickener in my bechamel sauce and the like, but I haven't branched out enough to try the options on the back of the packet yet - muffins and pizza bases. Since the Crust Pizza Bar debacle, I decided to give it a try.
Mixing it up was fine but then I had to knead it. It is gooey and sticky and does not like being kneaded. Luckily I had some more flour around to help but I think next time I'd try and do it without "kneading til smooth" and see how it went. I made 1 pizza base and am currently enjoying it thoroughly topped with tomato, garlic, cheese and fresh herbs. It's definately a rice pizza base but give a definate crunch and you can actually pick up a slice without it flopping everywhere. It doesn't brown too much on the top though, so I recommend lifting it up every so often to check the base.
Instead of making 2 pizza bases as the pack suggested, I threw the rest of my "pizza dough" into well greased muffin tins. I know how dinner rolls! I just tried one hot out of the oven with a smear of butter and Oh My God Good. I'm not sure how they'll stand up in the long run and I'm expecting them to go stale tasting quickly, but that's what freezers are for.

Is this the Australian answer to the Pamela's Baking Mix all the American bloggers go on about?