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!
    

Yummy Gluten Free Waffles!!!!! Happy Dance!

 I am so excited! So happy! I have found a gluten free flour that works!!!!! LOVE, LOVE LOVE America's Test Kitchen.....SO much.
They have a new cookbook coming out March 25 called How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook.
A blogger here tested their recipe.
Here's the recipe for the Waffles
Ingredients
12 ounces (2⅔ cups) ATK gluten-free flour blend
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¾ cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Instructions
Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Whisk the flour blend, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter until combined. Whisk the buttermilk mixture into flour mixture thoroughly until batter has thickened and no lumps remain, about 1 minute (batter will be thick).
Bake waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions (use about ⅓ cup batter for 7-inch round iron and generous ¾ cup for Belgian waffle iron). Repeat with remaining batter.
Notes:
If you do not have buttermilk on hand you can use ATK’s buttermilk substitute

Mix ½ cup milk with 1¼ cups yogurt (both whole-milk and non-fat yogurt will work) and substitute this mixture for the 1¾ cups buttermilk.

Substituting the buttermilk with a mixture of lemon juice and milk is not advised in this recipe because the liquid will be too thin.

G-F Testing Lab
For King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour: 12 ounces = 1⅔ cups plus ½ cup
For Bob’s Red Mill GF All-Purpose Baking Flour: 12 ounces = 2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons

Note that waffles made with Bob’s Red Mill will be somewhat darker and have a slight bean flavor.
   
 Here's the Bob's Gluten Free Flour. This 1.24Kg cost $8.79.It's about 10 cups of flour.
That makes it about .88/cup   The America's Test Kitchen Flour is a blend of :
4 1/2 cups plus 1/3cup white rice flour
1 2/3 cup brown rice flour
 1 1/3 cup potato starch
 3/4 cup tapicoa starch
3 Tbsp non fat milk powder
 Mix together really well. Put in airtight container and store in the fridge. The cost: I bought all the ingredients except for the tapicoa starch at Bulk Barn. White Rice Flour was on sale for $2.97/kg Brown Rice Flour was on sale for $2.97/kg Potato Starch was $4.29/kg Skim Milk Powder was $15.85/kg Tapicoa Starch $2.50/Kg.(I used the $3 off when you spend $10 coupon, so my mix costs 33% less)
Total Cost of this mix was $3.29 for almost 9 cups of flour. This makes it about .37/cup

Gluten Free Corn Tortillas

I decided to try my hand at a corn tortillas. The post title is gluten free corn tortillas but it's not a modified recipe, it's just a naturally gluten free corn mix. I used Maseca instant corn masa mix and I used the recipe off the bag. I was surprised how easy it was and how nice the dough is to work with.
Corn Masa Mix
2 cups Maseca
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
Mix thoroughly for about 2 minutes to form a sot dough. If dough feels dry add more water 1 Tbsp at a time.
Divide dough into small balls. Cover dough you aren't using with a damp cloth. Then using wax paper, or a ziploc bag cut open, press the dough. I used my cast iron frying pan as it is nice and heavy. I then put another piece of wax paper on a plate and carefully transferred the pressed tortilla but flipping it onto the wax paper, without touching it. Repeat until you have used all your dough. The recipe says it will make 16. I think I got about 12. Heat your cast iron pan up on med high. No oil is necessary. Carefully flip your tortilla into the frying pan. The directions say 50 seconds per side. I found it took a bit longer to get them browned. As they are done place on a plate and cover with a warm towel to keep them warm and soft. Serve with refried beans, cheese and tomatoes......YUM!

Costco Savings on Gluten Free and Pork Tenderloin

I had to share this week's Costco deals! A little savings on those gluten free items! These are items we have found to be good quality. As you can see I stocked up. My track record with Costco is they get something we love and then they pull it from the shelves! The spaghetti ends up being $2 a box. The bonus is that they are actual 475g boxes. One thing I have noticed with gluten free items, especially pasta, the size has shrunk......most are 340g. These 3 packs usually sell for $7.99, but they are on for $5.99. The cereal is 750g size and the regular price is $7.69, it's on sale for $5.69. The boneless pork tenderloin only goes on sale twice a year. It is $5 off per package. The best deal is to buy the smallest package. I cut it up into roasts, chops, cubed pork and I grind up some of the ends. Does your Costco have these same deals??

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.

Gluten Free(or not)Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork

I have been really enjoying using Pinterest as my idea center for menu planning! This past week when I got the Dole pineapples for $1 by Canada wide price matching at Walmart, I was happy to find a yummy stir fry recipe with which to use my pineapple! It's called Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork,the original recipe is here. All I did was make a few changes....If you've read my blog for awhile, you may remember my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease last summer. This means no gluten..flour..etc. So, I adapted this recipe to make it gluten free. If you don't need to just use the regular flour.
This is now a family favorite! I don't usually have pineapple juice on hand. It just so happens I had bought some at Christmas time! I separated the left over juice(I had one litre to start and froze it  in 1 1/3 cup portions so that we will have it on hand so I can make this again soon!)

Pineapple Pork
1 small pork tenderloin, cut into large cubes (about 3/4 pound to 1 pound)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Bob's all purpose gluten free flour
Olive oil, for shallow frying pork

Put the egg, pineapple, salt and flour into a bowl. Whisk combine and set aside.
Pour some olive oil in the bottom of the wok. Heat to 350. Toss pork in the coating, cook in wok in small batches until browned on both sides and cooked, about 3 minutes. Place pork on paper towel.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar(or honey)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. molasses
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Whisk to combine and set aside.

Assembly
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion cut up in slices
1 small pepper of whatever color you have, thinly slice
1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks 
Steamed rice
Add 1 Tbsp oil to wok over med heat. Once oil is hot add peppers, garlic, onion and pineapple chunks. Stir fry 2-3 minutes. Add sweet and sour sauce. Bring to a boil and cook until it starts to thicken, about 1-2 minutes. Add pork and heat through.
Serve over steamed rice.

Gluten Free Pizza Dough in the Breadmaker

I have been learning new things! Lots of new things!

This July my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease. He was quite sick for the last year. After the good news that he did not have cancer he found out no more gluten for him! So, I have been learning about gluten free cooking and baking! I thought of renaming my blog Spending Your Hard Earned Money, when I saw the price of gluten free things. If you are just starting this journey after being diagnosed, maybe I can save you some trouble?????

This Gluten Free Pantry bread maker pizza mix I bought at Extra Foods on Family Appreciation Day. My sister in law spotted it in the clearance! It is regularly $5.99(I have since seen it in Safeway in their gluten free section, so it's still available.)After 50% off and 15% off I ended up paying $1.82. Here's what I learned.
This mix calls for lots of additions: 2 eggs, milk, butter, vinegar.....
So far my experience with gluten free dough is that it's nasty  sticky stuff! The bread maker has a hard time mixing it all properly so it's a good idea to give it a good stir with a spatula from time to time.
 The first time I tried another pizza dough mix I just proceeded like I would with normal dough....WRONG! It's very hard to manage! My incredibly smart husband was around as I took a fit  tried to figure out how to press it into a pan, and he suggested using wax paper to press it in!!! Works fabulously!

Don't use your hands use wax or parchment paper to press your dough into the pans.

They aren't perfect,as I don't believe in that.....

Prebaking them to brown them before adding the toppings is important. I did 425 for about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they brown quickly. I used Natural Selections gluten free pepperoni only because I had a coupon to get it for free. The bacon bits are from Costco and they are also gluten free. It was so yummy!

Sweet and Sour Cracker Jack Shrimp

I am having a Pinterest menu planning week. It's such fun for me to have a Menu Planning file with pictures! Did you get the shrimp rings when they were on sale for $2.50, a few weeks back?  Yesterday I made this Sweet and Sour Cracker Jack Shrimp.The only thing I would change would be to double everything. I didn't get any pictures of the finished product because we ate it too fast! Next time I make it I will add photos! This is a keeper!(I moved it into the Recipes We Love file!)
The original recipe is here. 
Special Note: Need to be organized to marinate for 30 minutes ahead of time.
Cracker Jack Shrimp
(copied from justataste.com)
For the shrimp marinade:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small egg white, beaten(I forgot this and it was still great)
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 Tablespoon Shaoshing wine or Sherry(I used apple juice)

For the shrimp:
1 pound shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup peanut oil

For the sauce:
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chicken broth(not pictured above)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup store-bought sweet chili sauce(I used Thai Kitchen brand as it is gluten free)
3 cloves garlic, grated(forgot this, it was still great)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger(used powdered)


DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the shrimp marinade. Set aside.

Rinse the cleaned shrimp under cold water then lay out on paper towels and pat until completely dry.

Add shrimp to marinade and cover the bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While shrimp are marinating, prepare the sauce by whisking together all of the sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Set the prepared sauce aside.

Place the 1 cup of cornstarch in a large bowl. Add the marinated shrimp to the cornstarch, tossing to evenly coat. Transfer the coated shrimp to a colander and shake off any excess cornstarch.

Place a large, deep sauté pan over medium-high heat. Let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes until it is very hot.

Add the peanut oil it should slide very easily across the pan but not smoke).

Add half of prepared shrimp to the pan, spread out so they aren't touching each other. Allow them to cook 2 minutes, then flip them once and cook on the second side for 1 additional minute, or just until they turn pink and are fully cooked throughout.

Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat the cooking process with the second half of the shrimp, adding more oil to the pan if necessary.

Drain the excess oil from the pan and then allow the pan to cool before returning it to the stove (this is very important).

Return the pan to the stove, placing it over medium heat. Add the prepared sauce and bring it to a boil.

Add the cooked shrimp to the sauce and toss to evenly coat.

Spoon Crackerjack Shrimp into dishes and serve.

Recipe adapted from the Los Angeles Times.