For almost a decade of my life, my energy levels were completely erratic. I found it impossibly hard to fall asleep at night and impossibly hard to stay awake during the day.

There were many nights when I was up until 7:00 a.m. without even a hint of a sleepy feeling. I would still force myself out of bed at 9:00 a.m., afraid that sleeping in would cause another sleepless night. I would then stay awake all day, completely exhausted, only to be wide awake again the next night, completely unable to fall asleep.

Needless to say, it’s very difficult to function normally with sleep/energy issues like these.

How I Stumbled Across the Solution

Early in 2011, I started getting frustrated with my workouts at the gym. I was getting weaker for no reason. I finally decided to have myself tested for low testosterone. While I was at it, I tested my levels for estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol – all of which can interfere with the intake of testosterone into cells.

When the test came back, my testosterone was within normal range. However, my cortisol was not. It was four times higher than normal. I was honestly relieved. High cortisol explained a lot of things that were going on in my life, including my strength and energy level issues. I was hopeful that I could fix them.

There are a lot of things that can cause elevated cortisol so it took me a while to figure out what was going on. Caffeine contributes so I went cold turkey (I wasn’t drinking much at that point anyway). I learned that taking naps helps a lot, so I started taking them. Exercise helps, but I was already exercising regularly and had been for years.

I tried thing after thing until I read a book called Adrenal Fatigue by Dr. James L. Wilson. One of the chapters talked about how food allergies can cause issues with the adrenals (the adrenals produce cortisol). I had read about gluten sensitivities and leaky gut and had a sneaky suspicion that gluten might be causing my issues. I decided to ditch it as an experiment.

Amazingly, within a few days I was falling asleep at night and have been ever since. My strength at the gym was also restored. It honestly seemed like a miracle – a very quick miracle.

Learning to be Gluten Free

I was really excited to have ‘cured’ my cortisol issues but honestly, I didn’t understand fully what it would mean to live life without gluten. For a while it started to seem that gluten was in almost everything I ate.

I can now see that it isn’t necessarily harder to learn to eat foods without gluten, it’s just a different skill and like any skill, it has to be learned. I am completely satisfied with my new diet and wish I had found it a decade earlier. It’s easy now that I’ve adjusted to the switch.

For me, breakfast was the hardest and it seems like that would be the case for most people. I now eat a few eggs with some protein like chicken, turkey, or lean ground beef for breakfast. If I want something sweet, I add some strawberries or half a grapefruit. After a few days of switching to this for breakfast, I became completely satisfied with it. In fact, now I crave it for breakfast and don’t want anything else.

Most of my other meals consist mainly of lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats like olives and avocados. I have just recently started to learn how to actually cook gluten-free meals like gluten-free pancakes, etc. I was stoked when I learned about the Gluten Free Cooking School. I’ve need a resource like this for the last year.

Healthy Side Effects

Ditching gluten has had a few unintended side effects. For one, my body started losing a lot more fat with a lot less exercise. Since I’m in the business of helping people to lose fat and get in better shape (at The Skinny School), this was a huge plus. Gluten was really inflammatory for me and on top of that, the cortisol added to my belly fat levels. It does this to most people.

Related Posts:

• Impossibly Easy Sweet Potato Pie
• The Gluten Free Casein Free Diet – Butter Substitutions
• Gluten Free Bread Experiments: Free Form

Sahra White is the winner of the Bake Gluten Free Challenge and she’ll receive all 15 of my gluten free cooking classes. Join in the fun and start a cooking class today!

Click here to subscribe to the Cooking School for just $27 per month.

Or if you prefer:

Click here to get full access to every cooking course for $249.

The Winner:

WOW!!! I don’t even like Chocolate cake and this was delicious. I did have one problem with the baking time. I had planned the 30 minutes and it was not done so I had it in for another 30 minutes and it was still not done but I had to go to work so I shut off the oven and left it in there. It seems done now that I’m home but the top is all broken from trying to get it out so I just flipped it over so no one will know. I cooked it in a 10 round so maybe that had something to do with it. I had enough to make a small one in a little ramekin and that one is the one I tasted…delicious. I am serving it to friends tonight with caramel sauce. I’m not going to tell them it’s gluten free. Thanks for a wonderful recipe. I am hoping to try the biscuits tomorrow.

We cut into the cake that was left in the oven (while it was off) tonight and it was amazing. So a 10 inch round in the oven on convection 325 for 60 minutes then off and left to sit for a couple of hours…magnificent. Everyone was amazed at how delicious it was. Thanks again for the recipe.

– Sahra White

The rest of the entries. Thanks to everyone who wrote in!

Hi Mary,

First of all thank you for the easy recipe. I had a craving for pizza tonight-you had great timing.

I made two pies – one cheese and GF pepperoni. The other with fresh mozzarella, GF sausage, yellow sweet peppers and onions. (My husband’s favorite.) I used Bob’s flour, but only had 6 oz left in the pantry, so I had to also use King Arthur GF -which I like for cakes… and used xanthan gum instead of guar. I topped the crust with an organic tomato basil sauce before adding my extra toppings.

I am gluten free for the last 5 months. Both my husband and daughter are gluten eaters. I have to admit I really miss pizza and bagels. I grew up on Long Island NY, so these were staples in our household. My husband has been very good and has not pushed to have these things in the house. He is my guinea pig, my taste tester and while he is
not usually very adventurous in his foods he has over the last 5 months been a willing participant. He took it with such grace to try my pizzas.

The pepperoni crust I cooked until lightly brown and thought I overcooked it, but when tasted it had a thin crispy, crunchy crust that seemed to go well with the toppings. The sausage pizza on the other had a softer chewier crust. I took the crust out before browning (as I was fearful of overcooking both). While both were good, my hubbie enjoyed the crispy crust. I was just grateful for the feast before me and stuffed myself by eating a 1/4 of each pizza. Thank goodness they were small slices.

Again, I thank you for your recipe and look forward to making it again. I think I would like to try making it a deep dish next time.

Sincerely,

– Kristine Ostensen

***

Here’s my first attempt at GF pizza from scratch. I usually do bisquik. I had some problems rolling it out because I tried to put wax paper to make it easier….it wasn’t.

The most like my moms homemade biscuits that I’ve had in years! Thanks for the recipe.

– Heather Larsen

***

Made your pizza crust tonight. We had one with pesto, tomatoes, & mozzarella and the other with peppers, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella and a bit of turkey bacon. I really enjoy a thin, crispy, cracker-like crust, with crunchy edges, and rolling the dough thin for the pizza stone made a lovely crust! Really loved the pesto pizza. Hint for the pesto topping, during the summer when basil is plentiful, make up your favourite pesto, then freeze in a silicon muffin pan. Put the separate “muffins” in a freezer bag and take out just what you need later on.

– Elisabeth Green-Streeter

***

Hi Mary,

Well, I tried the pizza recipe and it was fabulous. I would have taken a photo of the whole pizza, but by the time I got to it this was all that was left. The night before we had this, we had a BBQ and I had cooked too much steak and grilled veggies which had been topped with goat cheese. Well, when I saw the left overs I knew right away that I’d be trying your pizza recipe for dinner the next night. I sliced the leftover steak into thin strips, added the veggies, a bit more goat cheese, and some mozzarella and popped it into the oven. It’s the first time I’ve put green beans on a pizza, but they were part of the mixed grilled veggies so I used them. It was the best pizza we have ever had!!!
Thanks for the gf recipe for the crust. I hope I win the Bake Gluten Free Challenge drawing. Thanks for the opportunity. )

– Linda Kittmer

***

Hi. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I had been making one with yeast so this was a LOT quicker. Also it rolled out pretty well as opposed to the sticky yeast recipe. I admit that I did not have a pizza stone, so used a round pizza pan in a 450 degree oven. I probably should have cooked the crust a little bit longer. It was not quite crispy enough. I don’t have much counterspace and had a hard time rolling it out so will have to work on that. I have since purchased a pizza stone and will try the crust again next Friday. Except for the shape, I thought it didn’t look bad and I am not going to sweat the small stuff!

I’ve got a lot going on in my life between cooking/baking without gluten, working and the big one – cancer. Anything that make my food preparation easier is great!

Thanks again for sharing.

– Kathie Farris

***

These biscuits were awesome – so tender and light. I’m trying to attach the photo. There were 16 before they were sampled right out of the oven! I did not roll them, but just patted the dough into shape on the cloth, and used the biscuit cutter.

Thanks for the great recipe.

– Bonnie Svetlik

***

I made your chocolate cake and it was wonderful! My non Celiac husband loved it as well. I made mini bundt cakes, drizzled icing and ground hazelnuts on top. I would love to win the cooking lessons. Your recipes and explanations are great!

– Marianne Kay

***

Mary Frances,

All I have to say is “delicious”! I could eat the whole cake in one sitting. It takes a little while but the end result is worth it. I did use a combination of cocoa and Dutch cocoa ’cause I wasn’t paying attention to what I was buying. Thanks for the nummy yummy.
Marie Posey

Hi, my family loved these with carrot soup for dinner tonight. I used GF oat flour instead of sorghum because I do not like the after taste. The dough was wet…I did not use all of the milk but used one of our duck’s eggs….they are large. They took a lot longer to bake almost 30 mins so I turned up the heat! Thank you for your emails.

– Teresa

***

Mary Frances,

Thanks for sending out the recipes – and the challenge to actually get me to try them right away instead of just saving the recipe for later I made the biscuit recipe to have with a chicken dinner tonight – we live in the land of Bojangles (chicken and biscuits) and my son has really been missing having biscuits. I was fairly happy with recipe, but can tell I will need to make it a few more times to get the right feel. I am curious about the vinegar mentioned in step 4 since there isn’t any stand alone vinegar called for in the ingredients. Anyway, attached is a picture of my biscuits – I would really like to win your cooking classes!

– Jeanne

***

Hi Mary,

I made the Gluten Free Biscuits this morning and they were a hit! My husband who is allergic to gluten even said he couldn’t tell they were gluten-free and he’s never said that about anything I’ve baked since he found out he had the allergy. A success! Thank you so much!

Take care,

– Erin Jurnove

***

Mary Frances,

Yesterday, I baked your GF Biscuits! All I can say is AWESOME! They were great. There was only one step that was confusing and that was where it said to add the vinegar to the mix. The only place I saw vinegar was if you were going to clabber your milk or dairy substitute instead of using buttermilk. I opted to consider the vinegar for adding to the milk and omitted that step. Also, I’m sure you can tell by my pictures, but I chose to not roll out the biscuits but to choke them off like my grandmother taught me so many years ago. I think I should have left them in the oven to brown a tad more, but the bottoms were perfect, and they tasted divine. Thank you for providing recipes like these so that we all can eat a bit more “normal” or a bit more like we used to.

I would love to win this contest and have the opportunity to complete all your cooking school classes! Have a wonderful week!!

– Kim Whaley

***

Hi, Mary Frances -
I’d like to enter the GF Baking Challenge drawing. I made the chocolate cake and it came out really well (picture attached). I am enjoying reading your emails and learning about the science of baking and ratios, etc.

Looking forward to your next emails. Thanks for doing what you do!

– Judith Reilly

***

Hi Mary Frances -

Well, you were right. I made your gluten free chocolate cake, and it was the best gluten free chocolate cake recipe ever! I found I had a problem with gluten and started gluten free in January. I had made a chocolate cake from a mix for my husband’s birthday in January and for mine in February. The Bob’s Red Mill chocolate mix wasn’t too bad, but it did have a funny aftertaste. Needless to say, yours doesn’t! Yay! It tastes almost like the chocolate cake I was used to, before my gluten free days. I found your website several months ago, and today was the first time I have ever tried baking gluten free from scratch. It took me a long time to make the chocolate cake, but it was well worth it. I made my favorite caramel icing to put on top and am very pleased with the end result. My husband even had to admit that it was good. Last week I printed out all the recipes from your website that I like, organized them and have put them in a 3 ring binder. Of course, I call it Mary Frances’ Gluten Free Cookbook. I really appreciate all the time you have put into perfecting your recipes. If you say it is good, then I believe you and now am anxious to try your other recipes. I plan to make your biscuits this coming week. Anyway, attached is the picture of my cake. After I took the picture, my husband wanted to eat it. I told him he could, but not the whole piece. That big of a piece was just for the picture so you could see it. Ha! Thanks again for the fabulous website, all the work you have put into it and the tasty recipes.

– Ruth Jeffords

P.S. Thanks also for doing this baking challenge. It made me try baking from scratch for the first time. Now I see it isn’t so difficult, and I will not be afraid to keep baking gluten free. A lot of those store-bought mixes are just not that good.

***

One of the things I miss the most is a really good tasting cake! I have tried several GF cake recipes and a couple of prepackaged mixes and I have been very disappointed in the texture when you take that first bite. Your mouth has been watering all day, and it is so disappointing to have the urge to spit it out!

This cake is really good! It looks good, smells good and tastes good! I chose to put a coconut pecan frosting on it, which made it terribly rich…but we loved it. If I were to make this cake again, I would probably try it with the extra egg. I would prefer it a little lighter, if that doesn’t make it too crumbly.

I used a thermometer to judge when it was finished cooking. I think my cakes may have been slightly over-baked. I should check my oven, but I also wonder if the type of pan makes a difference. When they were done, they DID pull away from the sides of the pan. I have baked some GF items that end up unbaked in the middle, so I’m a little uneasy about not baking them enough.

Thank you for the recipes! We had pizza last night and I will be making biscuits for dinner tonight!

– Jean Edeal

***

Hi there,

Your baking challenge couldn’t have come at a better time. I was looking for some cake recipes for two birthday cakes that I had to make, one for a family party and one for a kid party.
I chose to try the chocolate cake recipe to make for my family’s party celebrating my husband and my daughter’s birthdays, which are one day apart.

I wanted a gluten free cake so I could eat it, and something the family wouldn’t know was gluten free until I told them.

The picture of the decorated cake was how I presented it to the family. The second picture was what was left after I came back from the kitchen but before sitting down to eat some. It was at that point they all realized that it was a gluten free cake but no one knew from simply tasting it. That made me very happy.

Thank you for such a great recipe!

The cake has had an encore request as a mother’s day cake this weekend, so I’ll be making it again some time this week.

– Renee Banzhaf

***

I made the Gluten free Chocolate Cake for my Daughter’s 16th birthday party.
It looked beautiful and was so moist. Because she also has sensitivity to corn I used the tapioca starch though I think it has a slightly different taste and wonder if I might use potato starch instead. I replaced the millet or sorghum flour with almond flour because I didn’t have those two. It was a little grainy but since I am new at making gluten free It was much better than anything else we have tried. Strawberry fruit spread went between the layers and again it was so beautiful. She was thrilled!!!

Thank you

– Sheila Robbe

***

I finally purchased a scale so I could try this cake tonight.The experience went quite well and the cake is wonderful in taste and texture. I used the 9×13 pan. I put some frosting on while it was still warm so not picture perfect!Thanks for all your help and emails. I look forward to learning more.

– Linda King

Random Posts:

Okay, now for the fun stuff. Diana G. just emailed me to let me know that she’d made gluten free chocolate cake in a mug in her microwave using my gluten free flour mix. She was also kind enough to send the recipe and pictures, so I wanted to post it to the blog before it got lost in my email.

Hi Mary,
I made a 5-minute chocolate cake in a mug (using a microwave) the other day that turned out beautifully. I used the original recipe, substituting the wheat flour with your AP flour and 1/2 tsp. xantham gum. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be exactly like it did when I used wheat flour, with the only difference being it was GF. It’s dangerous, though, because chocolate cake is only 5 minutes away at any time of day or night. Diana

This is the recipe I used that turned out and tasted perfectly.

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons Mary Frances’ AP GF flour mix
1/2 tsp xantham gum
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Coffee Mug

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa:
Spoon in 1 egg
Pour in milk and oil, and mix well
Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt)
Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug (It won’t overflow, eventhough it looks like it might)
Tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!

It says it makes enough for two, but it was enough for just me! LOL

Random Posts:

Yes, you’re reading that right. Hot, yeast-risen doughnuts can be yours on a gluten free diet =)

Keep reading… and make you sure you clear your schedule for Friday night and Saturday morning, because you’re going to be making gluten free doughnuts this weekend!

How did these doughnuts come about? Well, after a couple of months of living in our RV and not making any new recipes, I was ready for a challenge. We happened to pass a doughnut display in a grocery store one Friday night and John and I both looked at each other and without a word being spoken I knew what I would be making for breakfast the next morning.

The recipe that I’m giving you here is actually the 2nd attempt at this. The first flour mix that I tried was too heavy, so I tried a different one a few weeks later and it worked perfectly. It’s just another good example that the flours you use do make a difference.

There are several steps to this recipe and I was serious when I said to clear your Friday night. You dough has to be started on Friday night and if you don’t get a relatively early start, then you’ll be up to 1:00 AM like I was =)

Also, set an alarm for Saturday morning if you’ll need to wake up before your kitchen assistants. The doughnuts need to sit for an hour before they go into the fryer, so I try to get up and do that early, before little people with little hands wake up and start trying to flatten my gluten free doughnuts.

These doughnuts are delicious with the glaze recipe at the end of this post, but we also enjoyed them spread with Nutella.

Gluten Free Doughnut Recipe
yield: approximately 1.5 dozen

1 c. warm water
2 envelopes active dry yeast (1.5 Tbsp)
1 c. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter, softened*
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt

3.5 c. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 gallon of oil (for frying)

*dairy free butter substitutes like Vegan Buttery Sticks or coconut oil would work

Step 1: Add the yeast to the warm water and proof for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of flour, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Whisk the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt together and add it to the yeast/flour mixture. Then add in the remaining 3.5 c. of flour and the xanthan gum. Mix the dough together for several minutes. The dough should be somewhat thick but still soft, not thick enough that you think “this is going to be easy to roll out”, but more like “this dough may be a bit too soft to work with”

Step 3: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 2 hours. Then put it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, (but up to 16 hours) and get some sleep.

Step 4: Rise and shine! Roll out the dough to 3/8″ thick. Use a 3″ round cookie/biscuit cutter to cut out the doughnut, and then cut a 1″ hole (or thereabouts) in the middle of each with a floured knife. Re-roll the scraps and continue as above until you’ve used all of the dough. Let the doughnuts rise in a warm place for an hour. Do not cover them – the exterior needs to dry out slightly.

Step 5: Pour the oil into a large deep skillet (or stock pot) and heat it to 375 degrees F. I start the oil after the doughnuts have risen for 45 minutes so that everything is ready at the same time. Carefully drop a few doughnuts into the hot oil, being careful not to crowd. When one side has browned nicely (this doesn’t take long) flip the doughnut over and cook until the other side has browned as well. Cut one of the first doughnuts in two to make sure they are completely cooked and adjust your oil temperature as needed.

Step 6: When the doughnuts come out of the oil, lay them on a cooling rack or paper towels to drain. Once they’ve cooled just a little bit, roll them in the vanilla glaze and set them on a cooling rack.

Step 7: Sit down and eat while these are still hot. Keep eating until you can’t move or the doughnuts are all gone =)

Vanilla Almond Glaze

1 c. confectioner’s sugar
2 – 3 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Just stir briskly until all of the ingredients are combined. Make more as needed =)

Random Posts:

So as a first look at eating a naturally gluten free diet, let’s talk about the naturally gluten foods that are available to us, starting with meats and beans.

Regardless of whether you are a meat-eater or not, protein-rich foods are an essential part of a healthy diet. Thankfully, all meats and beans are naturally gluten free. That doesn’t mean that man hasn’t added gluten to some meat and some beans as the food traveled from field to plate. But, in their natural form, meat and beans (legumes) are naturally gluten free.

I know (oh, how I do know!) that it’s easy to get in the rut of eating chicken or ground beef or tofu for nearly every meal. To counteract this tendency, I’m going to give you a list of a lot of gluten free meats and gluten free beans to get your creative juices flowing. If you haven’t cooked with some of these foods in a while (or ever), think about branching out and trying something new.

First, the meat list:

lamb & mutton
pork & ham
beef & veal
wild game, like rabbit and venison
chicken
turkey
duck
guinea hen
quail
pheasant
wild birds
fish (Joy of Cooking lists 57 types of commonly cooked fish)
crabs
lobsters
shrimp
crawfish
oysters
clams
scallops
mussels
squid
octopus
organ meats (sweetbreads, brains, kidney, and liver)
muscle meats (heart, tongue, and tripe)
bony meats (oxtails and knucklebones)
extremities (ears, feet and heads)

Okay, so perhaps I went overboard with that list. I just wanted to show you that there’s a huge variety of naturally gluten free meats that you can pick from. Regardless of your budget or your other food allergies, there are surely a variety of choices that will work for your diet.

I’ll admit though – there are lot of meats on that list that I have not tried and am not ready to try! Maybe one day….

What’s Not On the List

I do want you to note the meats that are not on the list – mainly sausages and processed sandwich meats. While these meats started out gluten free, wheat and other gluten-containing ingredients are often added during processing. If you find sausages and sandwich meats with a gluten free label, feel free to eat them. Otherwise stay away, or contact the manufacturer for more information about how the food was made.

Also, be sure to avoid breaded meats. Breading, such as breadcrumbs, crackers, and Panko, are all made from wheat flour. The only exception to this would be if the product is labeled gluten-free because the manufacturer has used gluten-free breading and tested the product to make sure that it still qualifies as gluten free (Thanks to reader Karen for reminding me to add this!)

Here is the bean list:

lentils
split peas
black beans
cranberry beans
red beans
kidney beans
black-eyed peas
soybeans
pinto beans
chickpeas (garbanzos)
flageolets
Great Northern Beans
navy beans
cannellini beans
and adzuki beans

I know beans have a bad rap, but they are a great food and inexpensive. And contrary to what some of you may believe, beans can taste good. You just have to know how to cook them! That being said, you don’t have to eat beans as a dish unto itself. I often incorporate them into recipes that also contain grains (gluten-free), veggies, and sometimes meat.

If you want to use canned beans for convenience, just be sure to read the label carefully and contact the food manufacturer if you need more information about whether a food is gluten free.

Shopping – What To Watch For

Okay, so now that you’ve got some ideas of the proteins that you can work with, the next step is to find these foods and buy them.

I cannot warn you enough times – even though all of the foods listed above are naturally gluten free, that doesn’t mean that they are still gluten free by the time that you buy them in the store. Always read the labels to see if gluten containing ingredients have been added.

The butcher departments in some grocery stores will have signs posted saying that ingredients containing gluten are used in that area of the grocery store. This is generally because they’re prepping dishes like crab cakes, and bread-crumb crusted chicken cutlets for sale. If your grocery store does then, then you need to make time to talk with the head of the butcher department (and perhaps the store manager as well) and determine if they have procedures in place to make sure that wheat (and other allergenic foods) do not come in contact with all of the meat packaged in that department.

Always rinse dried beans thoroughly before soaking and cooking. They’re often dusty and you’ve no idea what sort of dust it is. It could be wheat dust. It could be chicken manure dust. It could be just plain old dirt dust. Since you don’t know, it’s just best to rinse thoroughly.

Reader Tip: You forgot to mention rinsing canned beans as well – till all the gas bubbles are gone then YOU won’t have gas! I promise it really is true, I’ve been doing it for years and no one ever has gas! ~Tina

Your Assignment:

Grab a cookbook – one of the comprehensive ones that has lot’s of basic and traditional recipes for all the major food categories (something like the Joy of Cooking, or How To Cook Everything, or the Fannie Farmer Cookbook) and page through the meat and beans sections and mark all of the recipes that do not use flour or ingredients that usually contain wheat*. Pick three that you’d like to make and post the recipe name and cookbook name in the comments.

I think that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how many of the recipes are
naturally gluten free. If you don’t have one of these cookbooks, check with friends or your library (even inter-library loan).

Why should you do this? The point of this exercise is to open your mind to the possibilities that exist. You may never cook tripe (and I may never cook tripe) but there’s no harm in knowing what foods and recipes are gluten free. If you’re in a funk about being gluten free, or just in a cooking rut, then getting new food ideas into your head can be extremely therapeutic.

I’m sitting at the dinette table now and flipping through my copy of Joy of Cooking and I’m getting excited about cooking. There are so many foods and recipes and techniques that I’ve never tried. There’s always so much to learn (and that makes me happy). There are still food adventures left for you to have, even (and maybe especially) on a gluten free diet.

*I’m thinking of foods like soy sauce. Gluten-free soy sauce (or tamari) can be hard to find. And while I always keep a bottle or two on hand, I try not to forget that many of you may not.

Random Posts:

Eclairs are made from pate a choux. Making gluten free pate a choux is really no different than making it with wheat flour, if you use the right gluten free flour mix. Luckily, my gluten free flour mix worked just fine and didn’t need any xanthan gum.

If you’ve never made pate a choux or eclairs – go ahead and try this. It’s an easy dessert recipe and it’s fun to make. And….there’s always the added benefit of getting to eat all of the wonderfully delicious gluten free eclairs when you’re done =)

Gluten Free Chocolate Eclairs

Gluten Free Chocolate Eclair Recipe

8 oz. water
1 stick butter (or dairy-free baking stick)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 c. (4 oz.) Mary’s gluten free flour mix
4 large eggs

1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. sugar
cocoa powder to taste (Yes, I forgot to measure. It was 4 a.m for goodness sake!)

Combine the water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat. Turn the heat back to medium and stir in the flour; be sure to stir rapidly. The liquids and flour will turn into a dough rather quickly; keep stirring over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and run cold water over the base of the pan to cool the pan off (don’t get the dough wet). Add one egg at a time, stirring each one into the dough quickly. As you add each egg you’ll probably notice that the dough doesn’t want to accept the egg easily; keep stirring and the egg will work its way into the dough – then add the next egg.

Scoop the paste into a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off. Pipe out 4 – 5 inch logs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 425 F oven for 10 minutes, then turn the heat back to 350 and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Take the puffs out and let them cool. While they cool, you can whip up the filling. Pour the whipping cream into a chilled bowl. With a whisk or mixer, whip the cream until the cream begins to thicken and lose some of it’s shininess. Then gradually add in the sugar while you continue to beat the cream. Stop beating when you can pull the whisk or beaters straight up out of the cream and the cream forms a small mountain with a bent tip.

Pinch off the tip of the eclairs and pipe in the whipped cream using the same pastry bag technique as before. Depending on who evenly you piped out the dough, the hollows in your eclairs may not go all the way through. This problem can easily be solved by wiggling your finger into the hollow through one or both ends. Eat the eclairs right away, or chill in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve them.

**While this recipe is for chocolate eclairs, feel free to use this as a base recipe for other flavors of gluten free eclairs

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I finally got around to de-glutening this recipe a few weeks ago and made them for my family for the first time. The gluten free sausage balls were a hit with everyone. If you’ve never had sausage balls (I’m not sure how widespread this recipe is outside of the Deep South), you must try them. Heaven in your mouth!

Gluten Free Sausage Ball Recipe

9 oz. (2 c.) Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

16 oz. ground sausage

10 oz. Cracker Barrel Sharp or Extra Sharp Cheddar

Instructions:

1. Let the cheese come to room temperature and then grate it using a Mouli grater, or the small holes on a handheld grater.

2. Mix the grated cheese and the sausage together with your hands until it is very well combined.

3. Mix the flour and baking powder together, and then gradually work all of the flour into the sausage and cheese mixture. Use your hands again.

4. Form the dough into small balls – approximately golf ball size. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees (pre-heated oven) for 25 minutes.

Notes:

• If you don’t have a grater with small holes, you can use a larger holed grater. It will just take you longer to work the sausage and cheese into a homogenous mixture.
• If you opt for a less expensive cheese, do go for the Extra Sharp. My grandmother always insisted on Cracker Barrel cheddar for Sausage Balls and Cheese Straws so I’ve kept up the tradition here.
• I weigh my flours on a digital scale instead of using measuring cups. If you do the same, use 9 oz. of the specified flour. If you prefer measuring cups, then you’ll use 2 c. of the flour.
• If you’ve never made sausage balls before, you’ll probably think that you’ll never get all of the flour worked in. Keep working at it. It takes a lot of hand power. I have a feeling my Grandmother only made these when the kids were around so that she could spare her arthritic hands.
• The sausage balls are the best when you cook them long enough to so that the tops start to brown. (The ones in the picture above were from my first batch and they could have used another 5 minutes in the oven). You want there to be a slight crunch to the outside to that there are two distinct textures when you bite it. A crunch on the outside and then soft on the inside.
• Always cut a few in half to make sure that they are completely cooked through.
• I tested this recipe in our RV’s oven. I have no idea how closely it’s heating to the correct temperature. There was an unfortunate accident with my oven thermometer involving a certain curious 2 yr old. Thankfully, only the oven thermometer suffered harm. So, following the baking instructions, but do keep an eye on things and use the tips in the cooking notes to verify that the baking process is complete.

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• An Amazing Brined Gluten Free Turkey Recipe for Thanksgiving
• Gluten Free, Casein Free Bread Stuffing for Thanksgiving
• Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free & Casein Free)
• Mixed Green Salad with Apples & Pecans, Buttermilk Honey Dressing
• Gluten Free, Casein Free Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

By the way, be sure to get a gluten free turkey. And, remember to put it into the refrigerator to thaw in plenty of time.  When we made this recipe we used an 18 lb turkey (HUGE!) and if we had been making it for Thanskgiving we would have had to put it into the refrigerator to thaw on the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Yes, that’s right.  Thanksgiving is only eight days away, so stop now and figure out when that turkey needs to go into the oven!

Roasted Brined Turkey

1 turkey (10 – 25 lbs)
2 c. table salt or 4 c. kosher salt
2 gallons water
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, cut into 1 in. pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 1 in. pieces
1 orange, halved
6 – 8 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
large Ziplock roasting bag

Line your largest stock pot with a Ziplock roasting bag. Make the brine by combining the salt and water in a pitcher(s) and stirring until the salt has dissolved. Place the turkey (fresh or thawed, not frozen) into the lined stock pot and pour the brine in until the bag is full. Tie off the bag and refrigerate the turkey for 12 – 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and move the bottom oven rack to the lowest setting. Remove the turkey from the brine; wash and dry the inside and outside of the bird. Place the onion, celery, carrots, and orange in the cavity and brush the outside with 4 – 6 Tbsp of olive oil.
Place the turkey breast-side down on a roasting pan and pour ¾ c. water into the pan. Roast according to the following schedule and baste the back and legs with oil at least twice during the first roasting period.

If turkey weighs x: roast for y -
21 lbs: 3 hours

Take the turkey out of the oven, and using something to protect your hands, flip the turkey onto it’s back (watch out for hot juices!) Return the turkey to the oven and roast until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F. The 2nd roasting period will take 30 – 90 minutes depending on the size of the turkey. Baste the turkey with pan drippings once or twice during this final roasting. If the turkey is getting close to being done, but is not nicely browned turn the oven up to 400 for the last 5 – 10 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven, place it on the serving platter and let is rest for 20 – 40 minutes before carving.

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• 10 Ways to Accidentally Gluten Yourself at Thanksgiving
• Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free & Casein Free)
• Gluten Free Sausage Balls
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• Mixed Green Salad with Apples & Pecans, Buttermilk Honey Dressing

The key  to good stuffing/dressing is to cut  the bread cubes to the right size and toast them well. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a soggy mess. If you’ve not done much cooking and would like to see how it’s done, a video demonstration is included in my Gluten Free Thanksgiving Made Easy Kit.

Gluten Free Bread Stuffing

10 c. gluten free bread, cut into ½” cubes
8 Tbsp. butter (use Earth Balance for casein free)
2 c. chopped onions
1 c. chopped celery
¼ – ½ c. minced parsley
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. thyme
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1/3 to 1 c. chicken stock
2 large eggs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring every 2 – 3 minutes. Pour the bread into a large bowl. Melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley and spices. Add this to the toasted bread and toss until well combined.

Stir in the stock until the stuffing is lightly moist but not packed together. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. For a firm stuffing, stir in 2 beaten eggs and the more stock if needed to get to the desired consistency. Bake until the stuffing reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.

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Even if you’re not new to the gluten free diet, a refresher of the potential pitfalls is valuable. How do you think I came up with this list anyway?

10. Eat a turkey that’s been shot up with gluten filled flavorings. Make sure that your turkey is gluten free.

9. Eat cornbread dressing that was made with non-GF cornmeal. Go the extra step and buy certified GF cornmeal to make sure that you’re not getting cornmeal that was processed in a facility that also processes wheat.

8. Attempt to scrape the pie filling out of the pie without catching any crumbs. I’ve tried it – many times. I dare say that it’s not possible.

7. Eating vegetable dishes without asking about the ingredients. Creamed corn is a great example – sometimes it’s made with cornstarch, but it’s often thickened with wheat flour.

6. Let someone use the same spoon to serve the GF and non-GF stuffings. Big no-no. Even little bits of gluten cause damage.

5. Eat a creamy casserole that you didn’t make yourself. Chances are overwhelming that a can of Campbell’s soup was included.

4. Not having a back-up plan for overwhelming temptation, e.g., a can of chocolate icing in your purse.

3. Pouring gravy over your stuffing without checking ingredients. You know gravy is often thickened with wheat flour, right? And that not all cornstarch is GF?

2. Nosh on the veggie dip appetizers that your aunt set out for the early arrivers. Salad dressings and spinach dips seem so innocuous, but read the label before dipping.

1. Getting overwhelmed before you even get to Turkey Day and deciding that you’ll just cheat so that you can enjoy the day. I know some of you are thinking that, so STOP IT! Get busy and figure out what you can cook so that your Thanksgiving meal will be enjoyable.

Related Posts:

• An Amazing Brined Gluten Free Turkey Recipe for Thanksgiving
• Gluten Free, Casein Free Bread Stuffing for Thanksgiving
• Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free & Casein Free)
• Am I Gluten Intolerant? How To Find Out
• 10 Reasons You’re Not Staying on a GF Diet