Gluten Free Shake and Bake....Yum!

I know it's been a long time since I have posted! I am spending my time posting on Instagram. It's what I was looking for,a way to share deals instantly! I have found lots of like minded savers and really enjoy it. If you want to check it out you can go to Instagram online or on your phone by getting the free app. My link is at the top right hand page of my blog. I found this chicken at Save On the other day. It seems Thursday morning might be the best day to score awesome clearance meat deals! We used to love home made shake and bake but since hubby's Celiac diagnosis we haven't had it. I decided to try making it by substituting gluten free crackers and flour. I was skeptical but I think the reason it turned out so yummy is because of America's Test Kitchen's gluten free flour mix. You can find that here.

Homemade Shake and Bake - (from the Tightwad Gazette)

4 cups ATK flour
4 cups ground gluten free crackers or cracker meal
4 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp paprika
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Mix together. Put in Ziploc or well sealed container, store in fridge. Use 1 cup in a Ziploc bag, wet chicken and then place in bag, shake to coat. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 40-45 mins.

Gluten Free Crepes

This week I was thinking of recipes to use lots of milk and eggs. I thought of crepes. Chicken Caesar crepes! My oldest daughter first introduced me to them and they are sooooo yummy. We haven't had them since hubby's diagnosis so I decided to try making them gluten free. I looked at all sorts of gluten free cookbooks and then went on-line and googled recipes. It's always about the flour.Since I had good success with the ATK version I thought I would try substituting it in for the flour used in this recipe. It seems with gluten free cooking it is a good idea to let the mix sit. This recipe called for it to be refrigerated overnight. These were really good eaten fresh. Like rice tortillas they tend to be less flexible than the real flour versions. I suggest you make enough for your family to eat fresh. We did try and use the leftovers the next day for scrambled egg and cheese wrap, but found them fairly uncooperative!

Gluten Free Crepes
1 3/4 cup flour(ATK Gluten Free Flour Mix)
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
Combine wet and dry in separate bowls then add altogether and whisk until smooth.Refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. (I just refrigerated it for a few hours and had good results)When ready to use take out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Heat electric frying pan to 350. Oil the pan. Using a ladle full of mix pour onto pan, quickly tilting the pan side to side to make an even covering. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. Serve right away.
The chicken was really easy as I just took the frozen, boneless, skinless breasts and put them on the George Foreman grill for about 10 minutes!
    

Adventures in Gluten Free Eating Part One....Flour and Pasta

Ah, the adventures of gluten freeness!!! It was last July that hubby was diagnosed Celiac and I have learned much since then! I have wasted countless dollars throwing out failed gluten free cooking and so I thought I would share what works and what didn't! To start if you are just beginning your journey be kind to yourself! If you were a scratch baker give yourself time! So, to begin ....flour. Not only will you need this if you intend to bake things, you will also need it as a thickener and coater in recipes.
Flours:
 I can't say how much I dislike the Cloud 9 nasty baking mix! Not only does it not act like flour, it's grey! That means not only are my creations the consistency of rocks they have the lovely color of rocks too! Maybe you have had success with it, but I have not! It cost $8.99 for 1.25 Kg or $7.19/kg!
Our favorite is Bob's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour(thanks Rachel and Jackie!) You can buy it at Target, as well as most groceries stores. Today I was searching for it on-line and found you can buy it at amazon.ca as well as walmart.ca. 623 g is the standard store size. The lowest price I have paid for it is $3.99 at Target. To give you an idea of how that compares to regular flour....Costco has the 10 kg of flour for $5.99. The gluten free flour costs $6.40/kg whereas the regular flour we used to buy is .59/kg!!! Sorry, didn't mean to depress but you know how I like to figure out how much things cost! (In Canada you can claim the extra cost of gluten free foods if you are diagnosed Celiac....let's not get me started on how much work that is as I just finished our taxes).
The gluten free pasta has been mostly good(yes there have been some major fails, but I am trying to look on the positive side!) The ones pictured are awesome! The Catelli and Barilla are our favorites! They run about $2-$2.50 a 340 g box and I have bought them at Walmart, Safeway and most major grocery stores. The Giovanni Spaghetti is sold as a three pack and I buy it at Costco. It normally costs $7.99. (That makes it $1.91 for a 340 g box.) Most gluten free pastas need to be stirred quite a bit more than regular pasta does. This was a major fail for me in the beginning. I treated it like regular pasta, stir every so often. The result was one huge inedible clump of spaghetti noodles that had to go right into the garbage! :(
The lasagne noodles pictured are the only ones we have tried(I haven't seen any other brands). They are $2.99 for the 340 g box. They are a great substitute for regular oven ready lasagne noodles. They don't require any extra work at all. Finally, we sometimes substitute the rice sticks for pasta. As you can see they come in 400 g packages and typically cost .99!!! By far the best deal.
So, to sum up.
1) I recommend Bob's All Purpose Flour.
2) The pastas pictured all work well....just remember to keep stirring!
 (There are some brands I have tried that take 16 minutes to cook! That seems like to much stirring and babysitting pasta...in my opinion....). How about you? Have you had any successes or failures you'd like to share? If you have recommendations for flours....please comment or email me.

Cheese, Chicken Cordon Swiss and Flour

This week at Costco there were a few deals worth mentioning!

The boxes of 8 cordon swiss were are on for $7.59. I have seen them cycle Jan, Apr, May and Sept. This is the lowest I have seen them go! Last September they were $8.09! We love this as a nice easy, tasty dinner!
Armstrong Cheese is on for $7.59 got the 900g package. This makes it $8.43/kg! It tends to cycle at Costco in Jan, Sept and Dec. This is the lowest price I have seen it go at Costco! It doesn't expire until May of 2013, so you can stock up!



I am almost out of flour. I usually buy my flour at Costco, but I usually buy the 10kg. My sister in law was with me and pointed out that not only was this a bit cheaper, but also unbleached. 20 kg of flour $12.79. Thanks Lynn!



Breakfast Ideas: Waffles

These waffles are one of our favorite breakfasts. You can make a double recipe on a weekend, freeze the remainders and have your own ready made waffles in your freezer! (You can put the dry ingredients together the night before so that there is one less step.)This waffle iron was purchased second hand. You can usually find them at thrift stores or garage sales.

This is my grandpa's recipe!
1 1/2 cups flour
2Tbsp sugar
1Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Stir together, make a well.
2 egg whites, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup melted marg
1 1/2 cup ,milk
Beat egg whites until stiff. Using the same beaters, beat egg yolks in separate bowl. Add marg and milk. Mix. Pour into dry ingredients well. Mix. Fold in egg whites. Pour batter into preheated waffle maker. Let bake for 4 minutes.
I decided to go to the Kellogg's site and get the ingredients for homestyle waffles so we could compare.
Kellogg's® Eggo® Homestyle waffle
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), WATER, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL), EGGS, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF SUGAR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WHEY, SOY LECITHIN, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, REDUCED IRON, NIACINAMIDE, VITAMIN B12, YELLOW #5, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), YELLOW #6.
One of the advantages of making food from scratch is skipping some of the perservatives and additives. Anything with a #6 and a color....hmmm..I'll pass. :)



You can alter this recipe in many ways. Add some whole wheat flour, flax, chocolate chips, or berries.
I decided to figure out what this recipe costs, approximately. I figured it out with the purchase prices of late.(For example the last time I bought sugar and flour.)
The grand total came to $1.40 for a single recipe. Which makes about 12 rectangles.

We had some yummy frozen blueberries which I heated up to pour over our waffles.

When I make a double batch I usually have a dozen to freeze. I lay them out on cookie sheets and freeze them. Then I pop them into freezer bags. They are all ready to go into the toaster! Hope this makes your morning happier! :)

Flour Prices and Free Skate Sharpening!

I was recently told that there was a tv news story about flour prices being on the rise. I am not much into the doom and gloom or panic thinking that is often "newsy". I have, however noticed that when they say prices of food are going to rise, whether that be coffee, flour or sugar, they usually mean it! So, I would suggest you walk not run to Costco(I was there yesterday and their white flour is still just under $6 for the 10kg) or wherever you have found your brand at the best price and stock up a little!

Free Skate Sharpening at Sport Chek

I know why do we rush into the next season before this one is done? Frustrating...who knew you needed to buy swimsuits by the end of July otherwise they are put away?? Well, here's a freebie that you have to jump on before August 30. Do you even know where your skates are? 3 pairs per person free sharpening! That's a great deal! Enjoy!