Saturday, August 4, 2012

Hooray for GF Off-The-Shelf!

Cooking special treats that don't poison my dear husband are a challenge I'm happy to take on, ordinarily. But when life hands you a succession of lemons, it's time to back off from some of the voluntary challenges. Blogging went by the wayside.

I've not been posting -- or cooking as creatively -- for over a year. In that time we've had a succession of medical situations among our circle of family and friends. Not unexpected when said friends and family range from late 50s to early 90s. But still much sorrow and loss to work through, and new challenges of dealing with health for those who are still with us. 

We have to keep eating, and I want us to eat healthily, so I am profoundly grateful for some new GF products that are out there. 

I'm a big fan of Udi's baked goods, which we find locally at Trader Joe's. Their GF breads and buns actually taste like bread, and spoil like real bread (a good sign, in my opinion). They survive being made into French toast or grilled cheese sandwiches. And the buns have been a great excuse for the occasional hamburger (organic grass-fed beef) or chicken hot dog. Unlike many other GF breads out there, they do not use pineapple, one of my husband's allergens, as a sugar substitute. 

Another fine product we love is The Pure Pantry's Organic Buckwheat Flax Pancake and Baking Mix. Not cheap but good. It's $9.29 at our nearest locally-owned health food resource, Earthbeam Natural Foods in Burlingame.  Draeger's and Whole Foods carry other items in this line, but not this one. When I'm too emotionally wrung out to face all those measuring cups and spoons, this is my go-to breakfast mix. 

Our former favorite mix, a wild rice pancake and waffle mix that worked like a charm, has apparently been dropped by Arrowhead Mills. They now make one GF Mix that approximates the white flour experience. Apparently this is what most people are looking for, and the stores like Whole Foods are simply going with what sells, and cutting back on the variety of options on their shelves, according to their information desk. Another reason for paying a little more at a local business that cares about customers, and will naturally skew toward the preferences of the hippy-dippy granola set like me, rather than what some number-cruncher in the midwest home office decrees. 

Wishing you happy local shopping, and safe and tasty dining.