Preparing for making the GF Gingerbread house

This book, Gingerbread for All Seasons by Teresa Layman, which is not Gluten-Free specific, still has lots of great ideas.  I'm using it to plan my Gluten-Free gingerbread house which I will start on this weekend!  You can get it on Amazon or click here.  

Thank goodness for popcorn

I was bemoaning my lack of satifying, low-calorie, gluten-free snack options when my mother said, "Just be happy you can have popcorn."  Which is true.  Nearly every day around 4 PM I have an Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop mini bag.  They're 100 calories and seem to be gluten free. Here's some more information on them on the Orville Redenbacher website.

Gluten-Free Food Scare

Here's a little more information on the food that was marked gluten free, but wasn't. Scary stuff.  This is from Gluten-Free Living. 

The recent Chicago Tribune stories about gluten in products labeled "gluten free" probably left you wondering how safe the food in your pantry really is.

It was unnerving to read in one story that Wellshire Farms chicken bites, and chicken and beef corn dogs that were labeled "gluten free" were independently tested and found to contain anywhere from 200 to 2,200 parts per million of gluten.

Click here to read the whole article.

Tazo Tea not always gluten free

A reader commented recently that not all of Tazo's teas are gluten free.  Which would mean that you need to watch out, even at Starbucks.  Previously, I'd written that most of the Starbucks beverages are safe. I found this note on a website called Club Celiac.

All of our teas are gluten-free except for the following:
Green Ginger filterbags
Tazo Honeybush filterbags
Lemon Ginger juiced tea
Tea Lemonade juiced tea

Gluten contamination alert

This has been making the rounds, but I wanted to make sure everyone sees it!

WHEAT ALLERGY ALERT
December 1, 2008
John Soules Foods, Inc., is recalling “Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips With Rib Meat, Italian Style, Gluten Free” and “Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips With Rib Meat, Rotisserie Style, Gluten Free” due to undeclared wheat.

The product was distributed through retail establishments in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The products are in 24-oz. bags with “use by” dates of Dec 27, 08 or Jan 2, 09 and the establishment number P-2128 inside the USDA mark of inspection. The Italian Style product has UPC 034695 123973. The Rotisserie Style product has UPC 034695 123980.

Consumers with questions may call (903) 245-3208.

Gluten-Free Gingerbread house

I'm not sure what compels me to try these things, but this year I want to attempt a gluten-free gingerbread house. I came across some simple sounding directions complete with recipe at About.com in their GF food section. I'd love to hear about it if any of you guys have ever tried this.  Are there any GF pitfalls to watch out for?

Chébé - Slightly unusual. Unusually good.

My mom generously hosted Thanksgiving this year, but the rest of my family eat gluten.  So, if I wanted special dishes, it was best to make them myself to take some of the baking load off my mom.  I packed a packet of Chébé's Basic Bread mix and whipped up some dinner rolls with it when I arrived for the holiday.

I've used their pizza crust and roll mix several times and I happen to like it. Some people claim that it doesn't taste like traditional wheat bread and that it's chewy, both of which are true. However, don't let that discourage you.  The company's slogan is "Slightly unusual. Unusually good." and it's true.  Plus, it was quick, easy and tasty. Those are three qualities not generally found together when describing Gluten-Free bread.