Pasta

I love pasta. Really love pasta. Before my diagnosis it was one of my go-to basics for cooking. When the doctor told me I had Celiac Disease and what it meant the first thing I said to him was "You mean no more pasta? No! Can't I give up meat instead?"

Yes. I would rather have gone without bacon than pasta.

Unfortunately life doesn't let you chose your challenges. Fortunately there are some pretty decent gluten free pastas out there. Now I'm not saying that there is a magic gluten free pasta that cooks up to taste and feel just like the gluten full stuff you're used to. Not even a little bit. What there is are a few kinds that resemble the stuff you're used to.

Rice has mostly replaced pasta as my staple carbohydrate for dinners, but we do still enjoy the occasional spaghetti dinner.

Here's what we've discovered.

1) Corn pasta gives us the closest match to gluten full pasta. Even my husband can eat the corn pasta but he can't stand the rice stuff.

2) De Boles brand makes pretty darn good corn pasta
but their rice stuff is gross. Mrs. Leeper's and Tinkyada both make decent rice pasta, but we really prefer the corn pasta at our house. Mrs. Leeper's also makes corn pasta, but I haven't found it locally yet.

3) The thicker the pasta the easier it is to tell that it's gluten free. With spaghetti you can almost fool yourself into thinking that you're eating the 'real' thing. With rotini or shells the difference is more noticeable. I did find a package of Tinkyada lasagna noodles but my son used it for a school project before I could try them and see how they turn out.

The other really big difference with gluten free pasta is how you cook it. You cannot just dump the pasta into boiling water and wait for it to turn al dente. You will end up with a pot full of sticky, gritty nastiness.

This is very important so pay attention!

First of all you cannot look at the package for cooking times. They are almost universally too long. Gluten free pasta cooks fast. Very fast. The thinner the pasta the faster it cooks. If you over cook wheat pasta it gets mushy. If you over cook gluten free pasta it gets gritty. There is a very fine line between undercooked hard and overcooked gritty. The only way to find that is to pull a noodle out of the water (Let it cool slightly!!) and eat it. If it feels right (not too hard, a little al dente) then you know it's done. When it's done you have to get it off the stove FAST. Have a colander in the sink before you put the pasta in the hot water. As soon as your pasta is done dump it in the colander and run cold water on it to keep it from cooking any more. Then put sauce, oil, or butter on it as soon as possible to keep it from clumping together.

Second, you cannot just dump it into the pot of boiling water. Especially the long thin spaghetti noodles. You have to constantly stir the pot while you are slowly adding the pasta. Add a little pasta at a time. If you dump it all in it will stick together. Giant thick 1/2 pieces of spaghetti are not very appetizing. They also defeat the purpose of getting thin pasta to taste better. Clumping is not good. When we were first figuring this out it was actually a two person job. One person to stir and another to add the pasta slowly. Now we can do it by ourselves but we still have to be very careful.

We had spaghetti for dinner last night. The way we make it is two packages of spaghetti, two jars of Prego spaghetti sauce (Be sure to check the label. Some are marked gluten free, the others have ingredients that are really iffy.), and some kind of meat. If we're in a hurry we'll just use our good old stand by Polish sausage, if we're more leisurely we'll brown some hamburger with garlic. Either way is good.

De Boles Pasta Corn Spaghetti, 8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)
Mrs. Leeper's Pasta Organic, Corn Spaghetti, 12 Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)
Tinkyada Brown Rice Spaghetti with Rice Bran, 16-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12)
Tinkyada Brown Rice Lasagne with Rice Bran, 10-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)


In the spirit of honesty and full disclosure I want to let my readers know that I set up an Amazon Affiliates account. That's where I can link to products on Amazon and if you buy that product from my link I get a little kick back. I'll put those links at the bottom of every post. (I have no idea why there is a little white box after every link and I have no idea how to make it go away. I guess I'm not too computer savvy!)

Does anyone have any requests?

I'm not sure if anyone is actually out there reading this blog (except for those two guys who don't like my taste in food and who like to yell at me...) but I wanted to open things up for requests.

If you have any questions to ask me, recipes or products you'd like me to try, or ideas for things you'd like to see here then I welcome you to leave me a comment. I moderate everything, so if you'd rather I didn't post it in public just let me know and I'll keep it to myself.

I'm writing this blog to try to help other people, especially those who have been newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease. If there is something that you're curious about or want to know please drop me a note and I'll do my best to cover it here. I also just like feedback! It motivates me to keep writing if I know there are actually people out there reading!

I also want to make a note here that this is just a personal blog. I'm not trying to give medical advice, contact your doctor for that. Starting a gluten free diet without a diagnosis is not a good idea. I'm also only giving my opinions on these food items and restaurants I review. Feel free to disagree with me. There are billions of people on the planet and they all have different tastes, likes, and dislikes. If you don't like something I recommend that's fine with me and I don't mind hearing about it. I'll even publish comments that disagree with me. Please just remember that I don't get paid for this, these are not my companies, and I'm just giving my honest opinion. Be respectful to me and I'll be respectful to you.

The Beehive Tea Room

I don't eat out a ton, but I did get the chance to try out a new restaurant recently. I'm a member of the Utah Civil War Association and we had a Ladies Auxiliary Meeting and Tea Party earlier this month.

Here we are in all our finery!


Our tea party was held at an adorable little place, The Beehive Tea Room, in downtown Salt Lake City. After I received my invitation to the party I immediately checked out their website and saw that "Vegan and gluten-free selections may be substituted for an extra charge..." So I gave them a call and found that for an extra $5 they would be more than happy to accommodate my diet.

I should have taken pictures of the food, unfortunately it was a meeting so I was alternating between talking my head off, trying to take notes, and stuffing my face!

Our first course started with drinks, we had a choice of lots of different beverages. Several kinds of tea, French press coffee, hot chocolate, and Italian soda. I opted for the almond Italian soda and was not disappointed, it was huge and it was incredibly tasty! I'd never had Italian soda before, so when I asked the waitress what to do she told me I was supposed to stir the syrup (at the bottom) and the whipped cream (on top, of course) into the Perrier and drink it all together. What she failed to mention is that I was supposed to stir it slowly. I tried to whip the whole thing together like I would sugar in tea or whipped cream in cocoa. The result was something from a bad science project! It foamed everywhere and made quite a little mess! I'm such a klutz! Lucky for me it didn't get on anyone's dress.

Our waitress was an absolute doll! Hi there Tori! Other than being totally helpful with the soda mess, she was very aware and ready to help with my diet needs. She didn't make me feel at all like it was a bother or that helping me was too much for her. I've had lots of waitresses who either roll their eyes at me or act like I have some incurable disease. Tori treated my diet as important, but not irritating. It was very nice. To top it all off, after we were done eating she went outside and took pictures for us! Total sweetheart.

After we all had our drinks they brought out the scones. Just not for me. I got a salad. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. Everybody else had two beautiful scones (I remember one had white chocolate in it!) and jam, and there I was with a little salad. To the shop's credit it was a very nice salad with pine nuts and a tasty vinaigrette, there were even tomatoes which are generally unheard of around here in February. It was just a little sad to be the only one not eating a pastry.

The sandwich course mostly made up for missing out on the scones though! I had lovely finger sandwiches with all the same fillings as everyone else, the crusts had all been cut off in decorative ways. Mine was just on (slightly dry) gluten free bread instead of the more colorful rye and white that the others had. The fillings were really excellent! We had cucumber, and two others. I wasn't paying attention when the waitress told us what kind they were (I'm sorry, I was busy socializing!) but they were very tasty. My favorite one was a circular sandwich which had been rolled in pine nuts. It was really, really good.

Dessert was also fabulous. They had gluten free cookies for me, along with fresh fruit with cream and sugar for dipping. Not just cheesy, cheap fruits either. There were real raspberries! In February!

I had a really good time at the Beehive Tea Room, and it was really nice to eat out with friends. The shop is adorable, the waitress was awesome, and the staff was really great about accommodating my diet. (They must have been really careful, I didn't have any kind of reaction later.) The price was a little high for my frugal budget, but as a special occasion treat I think they're worth the trip.

Udi's Blueberry Muffins

I seem to be posting a lot of breakfast things lately and there are a few more coming, so bear with me!

I also seem to be on an Udi's kick, but I just found the stuff so it's all new and exciting.

My latest product test has been the Udi's Blueberry Muffins. I'm a big fan of blueberry muffins, and Udi's doesn't disappoint.


In my opinion there is a distinct difference between cupcakes and muffins. To me muffins are not just unfrosted cupcakes, and cupcakes are not frosted muffins. The two are not interchangeable. I am sometimes a fan of sweet things for breakfast, but normally I want something that is at least somewhat healthy. Especially if I'm feeding it to my kids.

These muffins walk that line very nicely. They are tasty but not too cake-like. They do have the sugar sprinkles on top, but they aren't to sweet. They have the right balance of chewy muffin-ness and bittersweet blueberry-ness.


In the name of scientific discovery I decided to try warming half a muffin in the microwave for 30 seconds to see what it would be like to have it slathered in melted butter. The result looked promising...



...but turned out to be a bad idea. I think maybe 30 seconds was too long because the muffin came out waaaaay too hot and turned into a shriveled chewy mess as soon as I tried to take a bite. It still tasted pretty good, but the texture was really off. I don't think I'll be trying that again.

I haven't just been eating these for breakfast. They've also been a great after school snack for my daughter. They're sweet enough that she feels like she's getting a treat, but healthy enough that I don't feel like a bad mom for giving them to her. Given the choice, she actually chose half a muffin over some of her Halloween candy!

I give these muffins high marks. It's about $6 for a four pack, which I didn't think was too bad. They keep pretty well in the fridge, and I will be getting these again.


Again, if you go to Udi'sGlutenFree.com you can get a $1 off coupon.

Easy Stir Fry

People with Celiac Disease need to get used to eating a lot of rice. It's a great little grain with lots of nutrition (especially the brown stuff) that goes with just about anything. If you've been recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease you should go out and buy a rice cooker. It will make your life easier. Then you can buy rice in massive bulk and save lots of money.

The problem is that it's easy to get sick of rice.

This recipe is my version of stir fry. I got part of it from a dish my mom used to make when I was a kid, part from my best friend who taught me a little about Chinese cooking, and a little of my own improvisation.

It's really easy to make and very fast.



Easy American Stir Fry

2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil (any kind)

Two bags of frozen vegetables of your choice. (We usually get a bag of the California Mix and a bag of Sugar Snap Peas)

Two Packages of Polish Sausage (That's the horseshoe shaped sausage in the case by the hotdogs. Also known as Polish Kielbasa or Summer Sausage.)

6 cups of cooked rice (That's 3 cups uncooked, don't get it confused. I speak from experience!)

Start the rice cooking in the rice cooker (or the microwave.) Pour the oil and dump the vegetables in a large pot over medium heat. Slice the sausage into 1/4 inch disks, stirring the vegetables every few minutes. Dump the sliced sausage in with the veggies. Stir everything every couple of minutes until it's all warmed through, but don't let it overcook or the veggies will get too soft. You want them to be a little firm, not mushy. Mix in the cooked rice and serve it up.


This feeds our family of five with enough left over for at least two grown-up sized lunches for the next day.

Udi's Plain Bagels

My daughter actually found these bagels at our local supermarket. They're called Udi's Plain Bagels and they were hiding in the bakery department! They were in the display fridge with the decorated cakes. My husband was in the bakery getting a treat for himself and my daughter happened to see them.

Not only are they gluten free, but they're also dairy, soy, and nut free. That's great for us since we've also taken my daughter off of milk products. They cost a little over $5 for four bagles, but if you go to their website you can print out a $1 off coupon.


The bagels were kind of dark on the outside, they looked more like whole wheat bagels than plain.


One of the great things about Udi's bagels is that they are already split. Once I got the bagel opened up I could see the lovely doughy white inside.


And since a bagel is always better with a little schmear, of course I had to slather on some whipped cream cheese!


These bagels are awesome. The texture is great. Gluten free foods tend to have a crumbly texture, but somehow those amazing people over at Udi's managed to make these bagels chewy and delicious. I am a huge fan of bagels and they are one of the things I miss most from my old gluten diet. These bagels are just as good as any of the "regular" bagels on the store shelf, and much better than some!

Oh, and I also tried these toasted. The results were just as great. Even when they were cooked they still kept that great bagel chewiness. I think these bagels would be great substituted for "regular" bagels in any situation. I'm going to try using one for a nice big turkey sandwich.

Udi's Plain Bagels get high marks for great texture and taste, bonus points go for being already sliced. I really recommend these and I'm excited to try their other products! Head over to UdisGlutenFree.com and get yourself a coupon.

Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Cookie Mix

I found Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Cookie Mix in the baking aisle of my local supermarket. It's a regular drop cookie mix kind of like a sugar cookie. Under the instructions there were alternate recipes to turn the cookies into chocolate chip, peanut butter, chocolate, pecan, or almond cookies. The mix was also less than $3, so I was pretty happy to find a gluten free alternative that didn't break the bank.



I was especially excited because I love almond cookies. When I was little my mom would make sugar cookies and instead of using vanilla extract she'd add almond extract, so almond is one of those things that takes me to a happy place.

This past weekend my husband made me the cookies as a treat for my birthday. The recipe was easy to follow and I was so excited that I had to sneak a taste of the dough. (I know, I know, don't eat dough with raw egg. I couldn't wait, I was too excited!) It was awful. The dough tasted like it had dust in it. I actually checked the box to see if the mix was past it's expiration date. No, it doesn't expire until November 2011. I thought it was one of those doughs that taste funny until you bake it. With that in mind my husband continued making the cookies.

They came out of the oven looking amazing. As you can see from the picture, they rose beautifully and came out golden brown. Too bad they tasted like chalk. I'm not kidding, they were terrible. If they had been wafers instead of cookies I'd swear we found the recipe for unflavored TUMS.

They were so bad that my two year old boy wouldn't even eat them, and he's eaten bugs.

I really can't recommend this mix. It gets high points for being inexpensive and easy to use, but the resulting cookies are just too gross to eat. Please, don't buy this mix.