0 Gluten Free Product Review: Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil

This past week I received a free sample of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to try. I read on Twitter and food blogs about how to cook with coconut oil and how to substitute it in recipes. 

How to use it in recipes? 

At first glance virgin coconut oil is very peculiar. I was confused when I opened the delivery box and discovered that the oil was solid, similar in appearance to shortening. This is because virgin coconut oil solidifies at a relatively low temperature, 75F. Therefore, coconut oil can be used as both a substitute for shortening and for oil. Also, from what I've read virgin coconut oil is high in antioxidants and is a good alternative to butter and other oils (more details on coconut oil can be found here). 

I like the flavor that coconut oil provides as a substitute because it has a fragrant coconut smell. To substitute for shortening or butter, simply use it at room temperature (assuming you don't live in a hot climate). If you want to use it in pie or cookie doughs, I recommend using half coconut oil and half butter/shortening in the recipe (thanks @JulesGlutenFree for the tip!). Example: If a cookie asks for 1/2 cup butter, substitute with 1/4 cup solid coconut oil and 1/4 cup butter. 

Coconut oil is also a great substitute for oil when frying or grilling, but only if you want a slight coconut taste to it. Don't use more than a tablespoon of coconut oil as a greasing agent, as it infuses a surprising amount of coconut flavor into your food.

Final Thoughts.

Virgin coconut oil is a great oil to add to your pantry as another oil to use in your everyday cooking and baking. It is high in antioxidants and is rather flexible to use as either a shortening or an oil. However, I'd only use it in recipes that are either tropical in nature or recipes that would benefit from the sweet accent of coconut. Otherwise you'll get an overwhelming sense of coconut where you wouldn't expect it. 

If you want to try virgin coconut oil, use this link while purchasing it to receive a complimentary copy of a Virgin Coconut Oil book. When purchasing, choose "Referred by a friend" and enter the code 7574415 and the book will be added to your order for free. 

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

0 Other Food Blogs: Chicken Breast with Garlic Sauce

Last week I found a delicious post at The Gluten-Free Homemaker for Chicken Breast with Garlic Sauce. I decided to make it for dinner earlier this week, and wanted to share it with all of you. I only altered the recipe by replacing the bread crumbs with almond meal. I get the same crunchy golden crust, with a slight almond taste.

To see the recipe go here.

0 Gluten Free Review: Bisquick Gluten Free Mix

This past week some of my coworkers brought some Hardee's Biscuits and Fried Chicken in for lunch. Now, I haven't visited a Hardee's in years, partly due to gluten-free diet, but also due to my personal pledge to avoid fast food. But when I had a smell of those amazing biscuits I remembered when I was a kid and my mom would make us Bisquick biscuits and chicken for dinner.

Therefore, this weekend when I was at the store buying groceries, I decided to pick up and try the Gluten Free Bisquick mix, and share my opinion with all of you. Before delving in, I've tried a variety of other gluten free flour mixes. All I've tried before have had generally good success (aside from Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour, I'm not a fan of the taste), so I expected the Bisquick brand to be comparable.

For this test, I followed the recipe on the back of the box to make their gluten free biscuits, and substituted the call for regular milk with buttermilk. It only took about 20 minutes total to make, and surprisingly kept their shape really well.  However, I was really disappointed in the texture and dryness of the biscuits. The mix is primarily rice flour with the only other flour blend added being potato starch. I like rice flour and use it in many of my other recipes, but I believe it has to be blended with a variety of other flours. I read a few other reviews, and it seems rather unanimous that Bisquick's GF Mix is a disappointment.

Summary: Available in many mainstream stores, and relatively cheap. However, you pay for these with a grainy texture and dry baked goods. Grade: C-

Alternative Recommendation: For a relatively comparable cost and set of ingredients, but without the same grainy texture, try all purpose flour from the Gluten Free Pantry, or Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. For alternative buttermilk biscuit recipes, go here.

0 Choose March's Recipe of the Month

Somehow it's already the end of March, so its that time to pick your favorite recipe again! For me it's a tough choice, but I'd love to hear your opinions! I appreciate the feedback that you guys give me through these polls, it helps me figure out what types of food you guys enjoy reading about. Also, please feel free to continue sharing your opinions or ideas through either comments in posts or via our Contact Us page.

Also this month, if you either include your email address in the poll (I promise not to share it), or share this link through Facebook or Twitter (please mention @trcrumbley, makes it easier to track), I'll randomly select one or two, and you'll have the chance to try The Gluten Free Bistro's gluten free pizza crust. I absolutely love their crust, and am sadly on my last crust in the freezer. You have until Friday, so please, participate and always let me know if there's anything I can do to make the site better! Thanks!

0 Gluten Free Product Review: Bye Bye, Gluti Products

This past week I had the opportunity to try out some products from Bye Bye, Gluti, and I wanted to review them for all of you!

Bye Bye, Gluti creates gluten free varieties of breads, pastas, and desserts with high quality ingredients. Many of the products I ate were made with some combination of corn, almond, and potato starches and flours. The awesome thing about Bye Bye, Gluti's products is that all of their products have 5ppm (parts per million) of gluten, while the guideline for food to be labeled as gluten free is 20ppm. I really liked that it is a company that takes pride in trying to make their food as gluten free as possible.

The first item I tried was their gnocchi. The gnocchi is really quick and easy to make, as it does not have to be thawed before cooking, and only takes a few minutes in boiling water to cook. The gnocchi came out light and plump, which is something that surprised me about frozen pasta. I sauteed them in some butter and tossed them in tomato sauce and Parmesan and they were really tasted. I definitely recommend them. Rating: A-

I also tried the Margarita Pizza earlier this week, and this was one of the better frozen gluten free pizzas that I have tried. The dough is mainly made out of corn, but has a nice fluffy texture in the middle and a firm, crunchy crust. Out of the box the pizza has some sauce and pizza on it, so I recommend topping with additional pasta sauce, cheese, basil, and any other pizza toppings you may have. I left one slice of it to microwave the next day for leftovers, and was surprised by how well the crust held up in the microwave when reheated. Definitely recommend. Rating: A

So I may or may not have fallen in love with their focaccia. The most difficult time I've had with gluten free diet is finding a good bread. I have tried one or two brands, but have pretty much totally removed bread from my diet. the GlutenOut focaccia is everything bread should be; light and fluffy on the inside and crisp golden on the outside. I'm not sure how they make this with gluten free ingredients, but its  amazing bread. Best way to prepare this is to thaw it out and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes at 350F. Serve as part of a sandwich, or with some butter and mozzarella cheese. If you get anything from this post, I totally recommend this. It could fool anyone into thinking it was made with wheat. Rating: A+

The last thing I tried was the chocolate cake. All you have to do is thaw it out on the kitchen counter, no baking necessary. Mostly I ate this as is, without adding any frosting to it. The cake is good on its own, but also tastes wonderful with fresh strawberries or raspberries. This has a nice chocolate taste without tasting too dry. I've also had it out at room temperature for 2 days now and haven't noticed any of it turning stale. Rating: A

Overall, I fully recommend anyone on a gluten free diet to try out some of these products. Bye Bye, Gluti prides themselves on the ingredients they use and the strict adherence to the phrase "gluten free." Also, I said it earlier but their focaccia is to die for. You can purchase GlutenOut products at http://www.byebyegluti.com/home.php

0 Other Food Blogs: Gluten Free/Allergy Free Girl Scout Cookies

(Image to my left owned by Jules Gluten Free) One of my favorite parts of this food blogging experience is exploring the blogs of my peers. I love the ingenuity of my peers, and Jules Gluten Free is such an awesome example of this. For any who crave Girl Scout Cookies like me, but can't eat them due to gluten, here's an awesome adaptation of these cookies. I highly recommend anyone to check them out.

http://blog.julesglutenfree.com/?p=588

0 Gluten Free Product Review: Pasta Noodles

One of my friends suggested I start reviewing gluten free products on my blog, so I decided to take their advice. The first food I want to review and give recommendations on is noodles. For someone who is new to a gluten free diet, giving up pasta can be one of the hardest challenges out there.

So, here are a variety of pasta brands that I have tried, along with my recommendations and tips:

DeBoles Rice Pasta

Ease of Cooking: Simple and quick. After boiling water, you cook the pasta between 5 and 10 minutes, depending upon the type of pasta. The other awesome part is that this pasta can be cooked on the higher end of the suggested cooking time without running a risk of turning mushy. Rating: A

Taste: Overall good, but different from wheat pasta. Does not add any odd taste when combined with sauces. Rating: B


Texture: To me, this is the disappointing part of this noodle brand. The noodles do a very good job at not turning mushy, but has a grainy texture that comes with some rice flours. This makes this type of noodle distinct from traditional wheat noodles, but not in the best way. Rating: C


Tinkyada Pasta

Ease of Cooking: Fairly easy, with two different options of cooking.

1. Traditional method: Boil water and then add the noodles, boiling for 10-15 minutes. 
2. Recommended method: Boil water, add the noodles for 1-2 minutes, and then cover and remove from heat for 20 minutes. 

Regardless of the method, I recommend stirring once or twice to minimize sticking. Rating: B

Taste: These are the best tasting wheat noodle substitute that I've had. They taste similar enough to wheat noodles to trick wheat-eaters, yet have subtle enough of a difference. Rating: B+

Texture: Best texture of rice noodles that I've ever had. With a minor rinse, they don't have a slimy texture, but don't feel like they're made of rice flour at all. Rating: A

Overall

DeBoles Pasta: Extremely easy to make, hard to overcook, great taste, but the texture is too grainy to trick you into thinking you're eating wheat pasta. Overall Rating: B

Tinkyada Pasta: Has two options for how to cook, both are relatively easy. Has an awesome taste and texture that gives traditional pasta a run for its money. Overall Rating: A

Overall, if you can find Tinkyada in your grocery store, I completely recommend it. If not, DeBoles Pasta comes in a close second. I hope this article comes helpful!

0 Other Food Blogs: Gluten Free/Sugar Free Lemon Raspberry Trifle

In the past few months I've started following ICCK, a really well balanced food blog that has a lot of healthy/special diet recipes. I encourage yall to check it out. Today I'm posting a link to her Gluten Free and Sugar Free Lemon Raspberry Trifle. I thought it looked pretty awesome so I wanted to share it. Enjoy!

Image Property of ICCK

0 My Own Culinary Challenge: Eating GF on Travel

UPDATE (I moved all the details of my week under the jump break)


Here I am at Saturday, traveling home after a week of working in Florida. I gave myself a Culinary Challenge at the beginning of the week to continue eating gluten free, and to use the tricks in my books to work around the difficulties of eating gluten free in the South without a kitchen. Cliffnotes: 

I had a successful week of eating gluten free out of a hotel, and for those who don't want to read the in depth details of my food endeavors for the past week, here's my advice on achieving what is seemingly impossible:

• Breakfast tips: Keep it simple and try to eat things you know can't include gluten; fruit, yogurt, bacon, eggs. Avoid oatmeal. Be weary of omelets, they can be made with pancake batter or other ingredients that include gluten. Which leads to the next tip...
• Don't be afraid. If you're at a restaurant and are unsure whether something is gluten free, ask you waiter. If they give you a weird look when you use the word gluten, ask them if the food includes wheat or flour. 
• Avoid all battered foods.
• For lunch, go for items such as salads or grilled fish or chicken. Not only does it avoid gluten, but it won't weigh you down for the rest of the day. 
• Dinner. Enjoy it, but aim for menus that have vegetables, rice, or proteins that aren't fried. 
• Blue Bell ice cream. BEST ice cream in the south. Except for flavors like Cookie dough. 

I hope this helps anyone else who has to eat gluten free, but travels for work or vacation. Happy weekend!


For deeper details into the foods I ate this past week, follow the JUMP.

1 Top 5 Recipes of 2010

In the past week I've seen other bloggers post Top 5 lists on their own blogs, and since I posted almost 50 recipes this past year, I felt it was only fitting for me to share my 5 favorite recipes of 2010.

5. Gluten-Free Chocolate Cream Pie - I created this recipe as a modernization of one of my childhood favorite desserts. Also, I personally have a bad habit of eating too much dessert, especially if I enjoy it. Therefore, my single serving chocolate pie cups were born. Link to recipe: here.

4. Gluten-Free Chocolate Ganache Cake - Chocolate is a wonderful thing. It may be why it ties with citrus as one of my favorite flavors in a dessert (any browse of this blog would prove that). Since going gluten-free, cupcakes and cakes have become virtually extinct from my diet, for better or worse. With September as a month of birthdays in my circle of friends, I decided that I had to create a gluten-free cake I could share with friends. This cake was a huge hit with friends. Link to recipe: here.

3. Sirloin Steak with Bacon Balsamic Sauce - Top sirloin and tenderloin may be my favorite protein to consume. Therefore, when given the combination of a perfectly cooked sirloin steak, crispy, salty bacon, and sweet, tangy balsamic, there's no way this recipe could miss my top 5. Link to recipe: here.

2. Gluten-Free Pancakes - I have many fond memories associating pancakes with my grandparents while growing up. Every Sunday my family would visit them, and my grandfather would cook a pancake breakfast; and not just any old pancakes, but amazingly light and fluffy ones. So needless to say, I was so excited when I finally discovered how to create a gluten-free pancake mix that would give me pancakes so close to the beloved pancakes in my memories. Link to recipe: here.

1. Gluten-Free Lime Pie - So I may be a little biased choosing this as my number 1, but I made one of these earlier this week and it was just plain awesome. The crispy graham cracker crust, the creamy, citrus-y custard, and a dollop of whipped cream make this any citrus lover's dream come true. Recipe linked here.

Alas, there is my Top 5 Recipes of 2010. Do you agree/disagree with my list? What are some of your favorite recipes that I've posted in the past year? I'd love to know, so please share your thoughts and comment on this post. Happy Humpday to all!

12 Culinary Challenge

As an engineer, I love solving problems and coming up with creative solutions for problems in front of me. That's why I love whenever people give me food challenges. For instance, the Dark Chocolate Lemon Truffles are a recipe that came out of a challenge posed from one of my roommates. One day he challenged me to come up with a lemon pie covered in chocolate; therefore, I gave him a crunchy chocolate dessert infused with citrus flavors.

The reason I tell this story is that another of my friends who currently lives in France (hi Rachel!) has given me a challenge to come up with a cheap stove-top or microwave recipe that uses ingredients readily available to her. From this I came up with an idea.

Dear Readers,
Give me conditions such as:

• dietary restrictions, 
• tool restrictions, 
• inexperience with cooking, 
• flavors you love,
• food budget,

and I will accept your culinary challenge. I will create a recipe you'll love that meet the restrictions you give me. Now, I'm sure you're asking "What happens if he fails?". My response to you is that if I do, by some crazy circumstance, fail then I will present you with a surprise that will be sure to satisfy and make up for my defeat.

So please, challenge me (in the form of a comment in this post), and I will gladly accept it.

0 The Messie Kitchen: The Best Toffee You Will Ever Have

I always get a little overwhelmed with all the amazing food out there during Christmas time, and here's another Christmas-y recipe that I wanted to share with you all from "The Messie Kitchen" (which has slowly grown to be one of my favorite blogs for finding sweet dessert recipes, I highly recommend). Enjoy!

The Messie Kitchen: The Best Toffee You Will Ever Have

0 Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe @ Everyday Southwest

Image Owned By Everyday Southwest

As I was browsing through Foodbuzz today for recipes and advice on cooking emu (one of my roommates bought emu, so I'm trying to help him find ways on how to cook it.) I came across this utterly delicious sounding recipe for sweet potatoes. I read through and it and decided I had to share it with yall for any Christmas dinners that you may have to prepare for. Photo above and recipe owned by Everyday Southwest.

http://www.everydaysouthwest.com/uncategorized/mashed-sweet-potatoes-with-bourbon-molasses-and-pecans-recipe/

0 Work, Christmas, and Blogs

Hi all! Sorry for being AWOL for the majority of the week, but I had a very busy time with tasking at work. On the bright side, I'm now on vacation for over two weeks, and am currently waiting in the DC metro to celebrate the season with friends.

Plan on seeing many more gluten free posts leading up to Christmas , as I'll have time and energy to experiment. Until then, here's a fun post from another blog (complete with Christmas story and recipe). http://a-bicycle-built-for-two.blogspot.com/2010/12/chocolate-peppermint-blossoms.html

Happy holidays!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1 THE CRISPY COOK: The Semi-Annual List of 100+ Gluten-Free Blogs

While reading Twitter today, I came across this blog post, which is a list containing over 100 Gluten-Free blogs. For those who cook gluten-free and want new ideas, I recommend going here!

THE CRISPY COOK: The Semi-Annual List of 100+ Gluten-Free Blogs

1 Trans-Siberian Turkey Weekend

Happy Turkey Week! To celebrate, I'll be posting a roasted turkey and turkey leftover recipes (all gluten free), so look forward to that! I hope that those who have this week off of work, school, etc. have been enjoying themselves thus far, and that everyone has safe travels and good food!

This past weekend I had two significant events to kick off my week off: a trip to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and an Alternative Thanksgiving.

Thursday I attended the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Verizon Center with a group of my friends. We had seats in the nosebleed section of the theater, but lucked out and received floor seats from one of the employees at the Verizon Center. The result? The perfect seating for one of the best light show/Rock-Christmas concerts you could possible attend. (Some of the better images I captured included below.)

On Saturday, my roommates and I invited a group of friends over for an Alternative Thanksgiving that we could all have with one another. We had decided weeks ahead to purchase a free range turkey from a local Virginia farm. In early November after visiting some local farmer's markets and calling around, we came in contact with a farm west of Farfax called Smith Family Farms.

I've gone to many farmer's markets, but I had never traveled to a farm for produce or protein. It was such a fun process driving to the farm And seeing how a small farm operates. We were able to meet and discuss with the people at the farm, and with the person that prepared our turkey. After roasting, our friends came over in the evening, and we had a huge Thanksgiving feast!

Later today or tomorrow I will post the directions as to how to roast a turkey in the oven (whether its 10 or 36 pounds) along with recipes for transforming leftover turkey into something new and awesome.

0 The Messie Kitchen: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake

Image owned by The Messie Kitchen

So I just recently stumbled upon a food blog called "The Messie Kitchen," and it has such awesome looking recipes. Here's a cake recipe that any chocolate-peanut butter fan would love.


The Messie Kitchen: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake Recipe

0 Quick Guide of Perfectly Cooked Hard Boiled Eggs

In my Guide to Beef Cuts, I asked readers to ask for more topics about food they would like to know. Well, one of my friends Mary asked me about how to know when a hard-boiled egg is done. Through personal experience and googling the Internet, I've come up with some quick and easy pointers to perfectly cook hard boiled eggs. Tips below:

• Fill the pot with cold water, about an inch above the tops of the eggs.
• Boil the eggs for about a minute, and then cover and remove from heat.
• Let the eggs cook for 8-12 minutes. 8 minutes for soft, cooked yolks, and 12 minutes for more well done yolks.
• When cooking multiple eggs in one pan (6 or more) expect to add about 2-3 minutes to cooking time

Let me know if there are any other cooking tips you would like to hear!

1 Simple, Quick Guide to Beef

Being known as an avid fan of beef, many of my friends have asked me the differences on all the types of beef at the grocery store, and what it has to be used for. So for this post I plan on covering chuck, flank, short loin, and sirloin.

Chuck is likely the most common cut of beef most people have without knowing it. Chuck has a really rich flavor, and a fairly balanced amount of fat.  While chuck is cut as steak sometimes, its most commonly consumed as ground beef or as a pot roast (image to the left). For this reason, best way of cooking non-ground chuck is by roasting in a pot, slow cooking, or braising it. If you want to eat beef on an affordable budget, look no further.

Flank is another cut that is best suited for braising and cooking slowly. Due to its high fat content, slow cooking this cut is key in order to get a quality cooked steak. If you've ever had fajitas, you've most likely had flank steak.

Short loin is the cut of choice if you want beautiful grilled steak, and probably my favorite. This cut is one of the most tender cuts with a rich beef flavor. Famous steaks from the short loin are porterhouse, Kansas or the heavenly New York Strip, tenderloin and fillet mignon. 

Sirloin is similar to the short loin cut, normally with a higher fat content. This is the cut that I most commonly buy, because of its rather high quality for a much cheaper price than short loin. When looking for sirloin in the store, aim for top sirloin, as its the highly quality sirloin cut. Pretty much any preparation can be used on sirloin, aside from slow cooking methods.

I hope this is helpful, and comment if you want any other food guides!

0 Other Food Blogs: Pesto Gnocchi with Asparagus, Chicken & Shrimp

This week I plan on trying gnocchi for the first time, and this recipe caught my eye as a really tasty and appealing. Hope you enjoy!

Image From Runs with Spatulas

Runs With Spatulas: Pesto Gnocchi with Asparagus, Chicken & Shrimp