Breakfast Crunchies..Gluten Free Cereal Review

This post is long overdue. (As are many other product reviews I have waiting in the wings...sorry!) This one is for Enjoy Life's Crunchy Flax and Crunchy Rice cereals. Earlier this year, the friendly folks at Enjoy Life sent me these cereals to review. If any of you think they sound familiar, you're right. They were (and actually still are) Perky's "Nutty" Cereals, but they have now joined the Enjoy Life family of products.


The first cereal I tried was the Crunchy Rice. It's sweetened with fruit juice and honey and is low in fat and sodium. It's tasty, but it definitely needs to be paired with something, either in cereal with fruit or mixed in yogurt or trail mix, or it is kinda dry. If you're not one for sweet cereals, you'll really like Crunchy Rice.



The Crunchy Flax cereal was delicious. It has a wonderfully nutty flavor and it's full of fiber (6 grams per serving!) and protein (7 grams per serving). It's also filled with 50 grams of whole grain and 425 mg of Omega-3's. I've been mixing it in my yogurt (holla, Stonyfield Fat Free French Vanilla!) and it's amazing. One morning I was running late for work (big surprise) and I threw it all in a container to take to work. When I got there about an hour later, the cereal had become mushy in the yogurt. Surprisingly, and also ironically, it was even better than in its crunchy form. I purposely let it get mushy several times more. Yum!

If these samples couldn't get any better, I got samples within the samples. Little packets of their new granola were included in the boxes of cereal. I really love granola and these were quite tasty. It was actually a little funny because a few days after I tried the granola, one of my co-workers popped into my cubicle to show me a gluten free product she found, Enjoy Life Granola. I totally love when people tell me about gluten free things they find or see. Even if I already heard of them, it's so sweet that people think of me. :) She found Enjoy Life Granola at her local food co-op and she loved it! She noticed it was gluten free and had to tell me her new, delicious find. She mentioned that it was about the same price at non-gluten free granola and tasted better. You can always spot a great gluten free product if non-gluten free peeps love it. Good work, Enjoy Life!

Mmmm....Cinnamon Crunch Granola in French Vanilla Yogurt.

Gluten Free Girl Scout Cookies - Tagalongs

The Girl Scout's Tagalongs are my second favorite cookie. Peanut butter, chocolate, AND a vanilla cookie? What could be better (well Samoas...but we always did those).

The gluten free version of the Tagalongs were sooo good! I brought some to work and was told (by a gluten eatin' person) that they were simply marvelous! She even asked for the recipe, so you know they were good. I highly recommend these babies!

Gluten Free Tagalongs
adapted from Baking Bites
The cookie base is the same exact one as the Samoas.

For the cookies you'll need...
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 cups all purpose gluten free flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 tbsp of milk
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

- Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt at a low speed.

- Add vanilla extract and milk, adding milk as needed to make the dough come together in a nice thick texture, not too sticky.
Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. (I left mine in overnight)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Either scoop tablespoons of dough, roll into a ball, and flatten, or roll the dough out between floured (gluten free, of course!) wax paper to about ¼ inch thickness.

- Use round cookie cutters to make small circles and use a knife of wide straw to cut a smaller center hole. (Or if you're like me, you can skip this part and just make them whole.)

- Place on a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. (Keep checking on them, mine actually needed to cook for about 20-25 minutes. It's best to start with 15 and keep adding time as needed)

-As soon as they are out of the oven, use the back of a teaspoon and smash in the center of each cookie (you'll get more peanut butter filling this way!)
- Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cookies are cooling, whip up the scrumptious peanut butter filling.

For the filling, you'll need...
1½ cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt½ tsp vanilla extract1 bag of milk chocolate chips

- In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla.

- When the mixture comes together, heat in the microwave (short intervals, stirring frequently) until it is VERY soft.

- Transfer the filling to a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the tip cut off (or if you're like me, just use a spoon), and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie's hollowed out center.

- Chill cookies in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.- Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl, in 45 second intervals, stirring frequently.

- Once chocolate is completely melted and smooth, dip each cookie in, using a spoon or fork. Coat completely and place on a sheet of wax or parchment paper to set.

- Cookies can be placed in the refrigerator to speed up the setting process.

Makes about 3 dozen delectable cookies.

Gluten Free Girl Scout Cookies - Samoas

Ohhh...I'm so happy to hear the comments about the Thin Mints, for those of you that plan on making them, please let me know how they turn out! As I said, I made mine just a tad too thick, so they weren't just like a girl scout cookie, but pretty darn close!

Side note: A couple of the gluten free blogs I read are Delish and The Cinnamon Quill. Becks at Delish not only has the cutest little boy in the world, but she also made a these cookies too using a blend of rice flours. If you don't use an all purpose gluten free flour, try Becks version of gluten free Thin Mints! If you're going the vegan route, Jenn has you covered! Please visit The Cinnamon Quill's take on Thin Mints. They also double as gluten free Oreos!

OK...moving on to Samoas. My FAVORITE of the girl scout cookies. Once again, I followed Nicole's recipe, but tweaked it to be gluten free. They turned out FABULOUS!!! Everyone who tried them, both gluten free and not, loved them! I did not make the holes in the middle, so they were giant balls of gooey caramel, coconut, chocolate goodness! Without further ado....

Gluten Free Samoas (aka...Caramel de-Lites)
recipe adapted from Baking Bites

For the cookies you'll need....
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 cups all purpose gluten free flour (Again, I used Jules)
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk (I used only 1 tbsp)

- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

- Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt at a low speed.

- Add vanilla extract and milk, adding milk as needed to make the dough come together in a nice thick texture, not too sticky.

Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. (I left mine in overnight)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Either scoop tablespoons of dough, roll into a ball, and flatten, or roll the dough out between floured (gluten free, of course!) wax paper to about ¼ inch thickness.

- Use round cookie cutters to make small circles and use a knife of wide straw to cut a smaller center hole. (Or if you're like me, you can skip this part and just make them whole.)

- Place on a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. (Keep checking on them, mine actually needed to cook for about 20-25 minutes. It's best to start with 15 and keep adding time as needed)

- Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely as you make your oh-so-delicious topping!

For the topping, you'll need...
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz chewy caramels (I used the bag of Kraft caramels)
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (I used the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)

This part is time consuming, so hang in there...trust me, it's worth it.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

- Spread coconut evenly on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet and toast for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until coconut is golden. Cool on a baking sheet, stirring occasionally.

- While that's doing its thing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching.

-Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on wax paper.

Set extra chocolate aside.

- Unwrap caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt.

- When caramel is smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

- Using the spatula or small spoon, spread the topping on cooled cookies, using 2-3 tsp per cookie. (Reheat caramel mixture for a few second in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.)

- Once all of the cookies have caramel topping, take the chocolate (reheat if needed) and with a spoon, drizzle chocolate over cookies making thin lines (or whatever design you see fit).

Let the chocolate set completely before devouring. If there are any leftovers, store in an airtight container or zip-lock bag.

Makes about 3½ to 4 dozen DELICIOUS cookies!

Check back in tomorrow for gluten free Tagalongs! (or Peanut Butter patties, I think they are now called?)

Gluten Free Girl Scout Cookies - Thin Mints

Yes, this blog has turned into a cookie blog as of late, BUT it's National Girl Scout Week so I thought I'd pay tribute to the GSA. (Can I get a what-what?) Not only that, it's totally girl scout cookie season and everyone has been parading around the office with their boxes of cookies that just arrived.

Now I only got as far as a Brownie, so I don't have any fond girl scout memories to share, but I sure did love those cookies! Samoas were my favorite. I believe they are now known as "Caramel Delights". Delightful indeed. Also, every time I think of girl scout cookies, I think of the hilarious film, Troop Beverly Hills, starring Shelley Long...one of my favorites!

One of my boss's daughters was the office's girl scout cookie provider. I usually pop in her office to chit chat, but last week when everyone kept stopping by to pick up their cookies or drop off money, I couldn't help but wish I could have a) supported the troop or b) been able to eat those cookies!! I told my boss I was going to make my own cookies, just you wait.

Well, this weekend I set to it!

I did a little research and found that Nicole over at Baking Bites had already created the home-made girl scout cookies, I just needed to tweak them a little to make them gluten free. First cookie to be transformed? The old favorite, the Thin Mint.

Gluten Free "Thin Mints"

recipe adapted from Baking Bites

2 ¼ cups gluten free all purpose flour (I used Jules)

¼ cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup white sugar

½ cup butter, room temp

⅓ cup milk (any kind)

½ tsp vanilla extract

¾ tsp peppermint extract

- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.

- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

- With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and extracts.

- Gradually add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.

- Shape dough into 2 logs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter and wrap in plastic or wax paper and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough in very firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

- Slice dough into round not more that ¼ inch thick - if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp (mine were kinda on the thicker side, so pay close attention to this part!)

- Place on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread much, so you can put them closer together.

- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are film at the edges.

- Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Coating

10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)

½ c butter, room temp (I actually left this out and they turned out fine)

- In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter.

- Melt on high in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth.

- Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.

- Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of wax paper to set for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.

- Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes a freakin' ton of cookies (about 3 ½ - 4 dozen)

Check back tomorrow for my favorite, Samoas!

Put On Your Thinking Caps, It's Time to Get Creative!

The National Foundation of Celiac Awareness and Dr. Lucy's Cookies have teamed up to sponsor a contest called "Creative with Cookies". They want to know how YOU celebrate the gluten free lifestyle by enjoying Lucy's cookies.

What I love about this contest is that it's all about creativity! You can sing, dance, write a poem, draw a picture, WHATEVER you want as long as it incorporates Lucy's cookies. Already the wheels are turning for what I plan to enter.

There will be one Grand Prize Winner in each media category (photo, video). Grand Prize Winners will receive a Lucy’s Cookies prize basket filled with eight boxes and 16 grab & go packs of Lucy’s scrumptious gluten-free cookies. Cookie flavors include chocolate chip, cinnamon thin, sugar and oatmeal.

In addition, there will be three Honorable Mention Winners who will be awarded in each media category (photo, video). Honorable Mention Winners will receive four boxes of Lucy’s gluten free cookies—one of each flavor.

All the rules and small print to this contest can be found here. Hurry, contest closes March 21st! What are you waiting for? Go get creative!!

I'm Being Featured on Gluten Free Frenzy!

Chandice at Gluten Free Frenzy highlights fellow gluten free bloggers in a new series she's dubbed "Tell All Tuesday". Today I am featured! Go check out my mini interview with her here!

4 Yummy Ways to Eat Pretzels

Towards the end of last year, Glutino had a pretzel recipe contest. The winning recipe would win a year supply of Glutino's pretzels. Sounds amazing, right? I love their pretzels and at $6-8 a bag, a free year's supply would have been a godsend (maybe I could have even moved out of my parents' house...haha...).

Anyways, I entered four recipes and none of them were chosen. The winning recipe was a Squash Casserole. When I was creating my recipes I was trying to think of the best flavors that complement pretzels. Most people eat them with cheese, mustard, or chocolate, so I based my recipes around those things. I think what turned out were incredibly tasty and wanted to share them with. Without further ado, here they are...

First up was good ol' fashioned Mac 'n Cheese. When I eat mac 'n cheese, I usually just make something from a box (I know, I know...), so I never had any fancy schmancy baked macaroni and cheese with bread crumb topping. I thought a crunchy pretzel topping would be perfect for the top of my first ever attempt at homemade Mac & Cheese...and it was!

Macaroni and Cheese with a Pretzel Crust

Ingredients
2 cups gluten free pasta (shells, elbows, spirals, whichever shape you prefer)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp gluten free all purpose flour (Jules, Bob's Red Mill, etc)
1 ½ cup milk
2 ¼ cup freshly grated cheese (cheddar or my favorite, a mix of cheddar, gouda, and bleu)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ cup finely crushed Glutino Pretzels

Directions
Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, in a sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until cooked (should turn golden, about 2 minutes). Add milk slowly while continuing to whisk. Whisk constantly until mixture has thickened, about 2 minutes. Add cheese to mixture and stir until melted.

Drain pasta (do not rinse). Return pasta to pot and pour in cheese mixture. Stir until pasta is well coated. Add onion and garlic powder and mix.

Pour mac and cheese into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle pretzel crumbs on top. Broil about 1 to 2 minutes until pretzels are crisp, careful that they do not burn. Serve immediately.

Next, I worked that mustard flavor and created a crusted chicken.

Chicken with a Honey Mustard Pretzel Crust

Ingredients
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp pure honey
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
¼ cup milk
1 ½ cups of crushed Glutino pretzels
1 tsp ground mustard

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Wash, trim, and pound chicken breasts.

In a plastic bag (or food processor) crush pretzels into crumbs. Pour pretzel crumbs into a bowl. Sprinkle in ground mustard and stir to evenly distribute among pretzels.

In a separate shallow bowl, combine honey, mustard, and milk. Combine well.

Dip chicken breast in honey mustard mixture and coat thoroughly. Remove and dip chicken into pretzel crumbs, coating well. Place into greased baking pan. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Bake chicken 45-55 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy as is, or serve with honey mustard dipping sauce or BBQ sauce.

Next up were a couple of desserts. When I was a kid, we made "truffles" allll the time. A giant bar of Hershey's Chocolate and Cool Whip and we were set. We rolled them in graham cracker crumbs, but hey, why not pretzel crumbs?

Pretzel Truffles

Ingredients
1 "Giant" Milk Chocolate Hershey Bar (7oz)
1 tub Cool Whip
1 ½ cups finely crushed Glutino Pretzels crumbs
mini baking cups

Directions
Melt chocolate bar over medium heat. In a large bowl, mix cool whip and melted chocolate until well combined. Refrigerate half an hour until mixture stiffens.

Place crushed pretzels in a bowl. With a tablespoon, scoop and drop chocolate into the pretzel crumbs and roll around until well coated. Place truffle into mini baking cup. Enjoy!

Last, but not least was mine and Babs' favorite! The ultimate of all things delicious. (Well, that's not really true, but it's up there!) Salted caramel is all the rage now, so I whipped up what I dubbed a "Salted Caramel Crunchie"


Salted Caramel Crunchies

Ingredients
1-14oz bag of wrapped plain caramels
1 TBSP water
1 cup broken Glutino pretzel pieces
sea salt
greased wax paper

Directions
Unwrap caramels and place in sauce pan with water. Melt caramels over medium heat.

Once completely melted, remove from heat and stir in pretzel pieces.

Drop caramel/pretzel mixture onto greased wax paper with tablespoon. Sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Variation
For chocolate lovers, these caramels can become chocolate covered salted caramel crunchies! Freeze for about 2 hours prior to dipping. Melt chocolate of choice and dip caramel crunchie in chocolate. Place on wax paper covered plate and allow to cool completely in refrigerator.

"A Balanced Diet is a (gluten free) Cookie in Each Hand"

Now if only we had three hands, because last week the folks at Liz Lovely announced three new flavors to their gluten free cookie lineup: Oatmeal Raisin, Triple Chocolate Mint, and Coconut Lemon. I was super excited because I loooove mint and lemon...oh, and I happen to love cookies too! (Maybe a little bit too much...)

Not only that, but they are also having a SALE! They're offering 15% off through this Sunday, Feb. 28th, at midnight. Enter the code: SNOWSHOES at the checkout and save up.

Crazy for Cupcakes!

Last week was filled with cupcakes. Starting on Tuesday at the Safe & Sound dinner at the Landmark Grille, Swirlz Cupcakes provided the dessert, Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes. They were perfect ending to an amazing dinner! There were a few extras, so guess what my breakfast was Wednesday morning...

They say, "life is uncertain, eat dessert first!", right?

For Valentine's Day, I decided I was going to make Marlow's Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes. I was so excited to make these, because they looked so yummy in her pics! I had gotten a Bob's Red Mill vanilla cake mix in my Safe & Sound goodie bag, and I already had some strawberry Jell-O on hand. I never had Bob's Red Mill cake mixes before, and OMG....they are the BEST!!!! I followed the directions exactly and they turned out marvelous! Incredibly light and fluffy and super moist. Thanks, Marlow, for this awesome recipe! I definitely can't wait to make these again.

I used the Betty Crocker "Fluffy White" frosting

As if those weren't enough, I just had to have a heart (and a cupcake) for the nurses at Children's Memorial Hospital. Alexandra and I headed over to Swirlz on Sunday to pick up some vegan, gluten free Red Velvet cupcakes. Jealous? You should be...they were fantastic! My favorite part was definitely the frosting...yum!

Vegan Red Velvet!

Needless to say, as delicious as all of these were, I'm laying off the cupcakes for a little bit. Pass the health food, please! :)

Groove is in the heart (shaped cookies)

Last weekend I found some really cute cookie cutters in hearts and X's and O's. I decided I had to have them, so I bought them and made cookies. This time I tried a new gluten free all purpose flour, Meister's.

Wow.

This stuff is great!! Remember my mom's Christmas cookie book I talked about before? Well I used her recipe for butter cookies and after the first bite it was like I was 10 years old again. They tasted identical to the original cookie I grew up on. I was blown away. Normally I can make recipes come close to what I remember them tasting in my pre-gluten free days, but these were a perfect match.

Here's how the magic happened:

Barb's Butter Cookies (à la Betsy)

¾ c sugar
½ c. butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1½ c. Meister's Gluten Free Flour
2½ tsp baking powder (this is where I messed up, it should have only been 1½ but apparently I can't do math...as I said, the cookies turned out phenomenal so maybe this was the secret?)

• Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.
• Add flour and baking powder. Beat until well blended.
• Chill dough for 1-2 hours. (I chilled it for 3 days, the longer the better I say...if you can wait that long.)
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Roll dough out on a gluten free floured surface and cut with cookie cutters dipped in GF flour.
• Bake on foil or parchment lined cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes.

Let cool and then frost those babies up! I used Devin Alexander's recipe for cream cheese frosting. It's found in her book, The Most Decadent Diet Ever! or online here.

I shared them with the fam and my sister agreed that they tasted just like the gluten cookies. They were so light and fluffy, she couldn't tell the difference. Needless to say, they were a huge hit at my house...the entire batch was gone the next day.

Swirlz Cupcakes + you = happy Children’s Memorial Hospital nurses!

One of my favorite places to get gluten free goodies is Swirlz Cupcakes. They make gluten free cupcakes that are to DIE for! I just had a special vegan German Chocolate cupcake at the Landmark Grille and Lounge Safe & Sound Dinner. It was too good to be true!

With Valentine's day quickly approaching, Swirlz is whipping up some fancy flavors, Red Velvet and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. Yum! They best part is, they are having a heart and showing the love for the Children's Memorial Hospital nurses. Here are the details:

what?
♥ red velvet valentine ♥
♥ Here’s a great way to show your love and appreciation for Children’s Memorial Hospital nurses on Valentine’s Day.
♥ Purchase a Valentine card at Swirlz Cupcakes®, for a Children’s Memorial Hospital nurse and 100% of your donation will go to Children’s Memorial Hospital, Department of Nursing.
♥ On Sunday, February 14, Swirlz Cupcakes® will personally deliver your Valentines, your donations and mini Red Velvet cupcakes, to the entire nursing staff at Children's Memorial Hospital.
♥ In addition you will receive a card from Swirlz Cupcakes® good for $1.00 off your next Red Velvet purchase; valid February 15, 2010-December 31, 2010

when?
♥ Swirlz Cupcakes® red velvet valentine promotion runs during Valentine’s week, from Monday, February 8th through Sunday, February 14th.
♥ Be a Swirlz Cupcakes® partner and make a nurse happy.

how?
♥ Purchase a red velvet valentine card at Swirlz in denominations of $1., $5. or $10.
♥ Sign with your name, your company’s name or be a secret Valentine with the word happy
as your signature.
♥ The Valentine cards will be taped to the store wall at Swirlz Cupcakes® and displayed the entire week.
♥ Stop by Swirlz anytime from February 8th-14th. If you like, we’ll video you answering the question, “Why do you love Red Velvet cupcakes?”
♥ We’ll be posting some of your Red Velvet video moments on our Facebook and Twitter pages all week. (PG rated please!!)
♥ Join us in this red velvet valentine celebration of Children’s Memorial Hospital Nurses!

us?
♥ Every customer who buys a red velvet valentine card at Swirlz for a nurse receives a
Valentine card in return from Swirlz Cupcakes®.
♥ That card is good for $1.00 off your next Red Velvet cupcake purchase; valid February 15, 2010-December 31, 2010

time?

♥ Swirlz will be open Monday through Saturday 10-7 PM and Sunday, February 14th from
12-5:00 PM.

Oh when the Saints go marching in...

...I'll most likely be shoveling Buffalo Chicken Dip into my face. As I previously mentioned, I don't know much about football, I just like Superbowl parties for the friends and food. In addition to the Reuben Dip, I whipped up some Buffalo Chicken Dip last night.

This is the famous dip that was so good, it was smeared on everything from veggies to pizza. That story really quick...I held a St. Patrick's Day party one year. The south side of Chicago is predominately of Irish decent and widely known for their Irish Parade held a week before St. Patrick's Day. I lived not to far from the parade route and would gather everyone at my place for the "after party". I made this dip and other little snacks, and my friends decided to order a pizza. After we waited forever for it to arrive, a friend of a friend and her boyfriend showed up. Now her boyfriend is a beast of a man. I want to say he is 6'9" or something. He sat down and proceeded to eat their entire pizza. Talking nonstop, dipping the slices in the Buffalo Chicken dip, and stuffing them into his mouth, we all sat there silent, staring at him in disbelief while piece after piece disappeared. After he ate all of our food, they left. We all turned to each other, eyes wide, and said, "WHAT was that?!"

Good times.

I got this recipe from another co-worker. (Can you tell we liked to eat?) The Chicago Bears were in the Superbowl ('06, although that would be awesome if this was back in '85) and we had a Superbowl party in the office the Friday before the big game. One of my office besties brought in this bowl of awesomeness and it was gone within a matter of minutes. You better believe I asked for the recipe. (And it was only a short month later when the pizza incident occurred.)

Without much further ado, here is Erin's Famous Buffalo Chicken Dip! (Not sure where she got the recipe, but to me, it will forever be known as hers)

2 Bricks of Cream Cheese
1 Cooked Breast of Chicken (finely chopped) - or a can of chicken, but I like fresh better :)
1 Cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
5-8oz Hot Sauce (She recommends Frank's...I use whatever I have on hand)
*Bleu Cheese optional

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Microwave for one to one and half minutes or until the cheeses are melted and dip is creamy. Stir to combine everything and serve with Fritos, celery, or if you're feeling adventurous, pizza. Enjoy! And Go Saints! (I'm rooting for the underdogs...)

Are ya ready for some FOOTBALL?! Gluten Free Superbowl Snacks

So the "Big Game" is in a few days, and if you're like me and know nothing about football, Superbowl parties are about the food. Well...and the commercials. Seriously, I just saw a preview clip this morning of the Betty White Snicker's ad...hilarious!

Superbowl buffet tables are usually filled with chili, hot wings, chips, pizza, etc. I'm always sure to show up with something I can eat, and the host usually has naturally gluten free stuff set out, so I'm well fed either way. What am I bringing this year? Dip.

I love dips because you can pretty much do anything with them. Put it on a cracker, chip, veggie, bread, and in one strange case I've seen, pizza. (That's for a different post, friends, promise!)

Getting slightly off topic here, I recently bought a package of Genuine Bavarian bread at Lil's. It's similar to those little snack breads you see at the deli. Perfect for a hearty dip, like spinach. I also thought they'd be perfect for baby reubens. I love reubens and always order them if a restaurant has them on the menu. Sans bread, of course! I figured these little breads would be just the right thing for bite-sized sandwiches.

The bread comes in a large piece, so I cut it into four, poured a little Smith & Wollensky Thousand Island salad dressing on the bottom, and layered with chopped corned beef, sauerkraut, and freshly grated swiss cheese. I then baked them in the oven for about 12 minutes, and voila!

They were delicious!

Back to the dips though! While I was getting everything ready to make reubens, I noticed a recipe for Reuben Dip on the back of the Frank's Kraut can. Reubens in dip form? Heck yeah, I'm making that! With the leftover kraut, I whipped up a batch of the savory dip. I used some of the slices of bavarian bread to spread it on, but it would be amazing with any gluten free bread or cracker.

It's a toss up between this dip or another for what I'll bring to the party on Sunday. Maybe I'll bring both! What's your favorite game day snack?

Mama Mia! Gluten free Italian Restaurant in suburban Chicago

It's always exciting when I discover a restaurant with a gluten free menu. I'll read about places online and immediately email Alexandra the link with the subject line "We're going..." She always responds with "For sure!" Dining out when you follow a gluten free diet can be a challenge, especially at an Italian restaurant.

Recently the fellas at Palermo's in Orland found the sister blog to this site, and let us know that they recently developed a gluten free menu. Naturally I was filled with questions. Do they use a pre-made crust? How do they handle cross-contamination? Basically I wanted to know if they were really aware of the purpose of gluten free foods and not just jumping on the gluten free food craze to make a buck.

The response was very reassuring, proving they were serious about gluten free food. The General Manager, Adam Cisek, told me:

We make gluten free crust using rice and tapioca flours. We do not buy anything premade, just as the rest of Palermo's products, it is made in house from scratch.

Cross contamination is something that comes second nature to well run food service operations since it is part of sanitation protocol. There is a challenge for us in the case of gluten free products. Flour is in the air during our peak hours hours of operation in the pizzeria kitchen. So for example, we prepare our gluten free pizza dough first thing in the morning and store it in a sealed container away from the pizza line.

Our gluten free products never get prepared in the pizza kitchen but rather
in the sauté kitchen where our chef, Anthony, myself or Ryan (Assistant General Manager) oversee the preparation. It is a much more controlled environment in terms of gluten. We prepare the menu item, in this case pizza, away from other prep functions. We place the pizza in one of the pans designated only for gluten free baking and use a designated pizza oven for gluten free orders. All of our gluten free menu items are treated with equal care. They will be prepared from scratch and cooked in a controlled environment.

We have a highly qualified staff. Our kitchen staff all have culinary
education. We cook from scratch, so we know what is in our food. We want to do
this for people. This is reason we get up every morning. We love to see people
enjoy food. It brings joy to someone's day on so many levels. And really, what
better opportunity for fulfillment than this.

He sounded like he knows his stuff...and I was dying to try it.

Last Thursday I invited Babs (my gluten free mama) to join me out in Orland Park to meet Adam and dig into some gluten free Italian food. When we first arrived, we admired the decor of the cozy little restaurant. The entire interior was draped with white twinkle lights, creating a warm glow, perfect for enjoying a relaxing meal of pasta and wine. We were seated in a corner booth and presented with the gluten free menu I so looked forward to. Both of us were overwhelmed with the large selection of appetizers, entrees, and pasta dishes.

We started off with one of the appetizers. After going back and forth on a few options, we settled on the Goat Cheese Polenta with Spicy Marinara.

I loves me some polenta, especially when it's homemade and not in a chunk vacuum sealed in plastic. (Although that works in a pinch). My mom was even more excited about this dish, because her grandma used to make polenta often when she was growing up. My mom could never quite duplicate her grandmother's recipe and hasn't attempted to in years, but when she tasted these polenta cakes, it took her right back to her childhood.

A cheese pizza was brought out next. Oozing with the sweet tomato sauce I loved so much before I went gluten free, I was thoroughly impressed. The crust was exactly how I remember crust to be - the outer edges crunchy, the rest thicker and able to hold its toppings. No crumbly, mushy crust here. I ate the leftovers the next day and after warming in the microwave, the edges of the crust were still crunchy! (I think the pizza was even better the next day, to be honest.)

Pasta, pasta, and more pasta followed! Penne with Asparagus, Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato; Penne with Basil Pesto and Grilled Portobello Mushroom Caps; Spaghetti with Marinara. All amazing. You would have never guessed the pasta was gluten free. Adam told us he did extensive research and talked with restaurant owners in some of the top New York restaurants for their recommendations on gluten free pasta.

As if all that food wasn't enough, we had two chicken dishes, Chicken Limone and Chicken Marsala. Again, these dishes were outstanding. The chicken was so tender and juicy in both. The Marsala was my favorite, the rich wine and mushroom sauce made every bite just melt in my mouth.

We could not believe how incredible our dinner was. Each bite tasted better than the last. At one point Babs even exclaimed, "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" (She was talking about that Penne Pesto.) It's true. Everything was truly enjoyable. The staff at Palermo's was wonderful, so accommodating and friendly; the atmosphere was inviting, a perfect spot for date night - with a hottie or as in my case, your mom; and the food...well it was so refreshing to have options! Not only that, I didn't have to worry about the possibility of getting sick. The chef, Anthony, even came out to speak with us. He was so professional and very interested in our gluten free diets. Obviously he's taking the proper precautions to ensure we're safe. He asked for our feedback and opinions on how the textures and consistency of the dishes compared to similar meals. His concern and interest in gluten free cuisine shows how passionate the folks at Palermo's are about delivering an authentic Italian gluten free menu.

I hiiiiiiighly recommend Palermo's in Orland. I've also been coming across a lot of other restaurants featuring gluten free pizza, and their pies have inspired me to create a series of gluten free pizza posts. Keep your eyes peeled for those. In the meantime, head out to Orland and indulge!