I think I have seriously gone over the edge with this one!

A friend of mine casually mentioned to me a few weeks ago that her daughter likes to eat “Pancakes on a Stick” for breakfast. I had no idea what they were, but of course I found myself with a new gluten-free challenge!

First, I needed to figure out what they were (I had an idea, but wanted to make sure). This is what I found:

So, how to make a gluten-free version of these?? A Google search brought me to this little contraption:

The Original Carnival Treat Factory! It is like a sandwich maker but for corn dogs. While I am a kitchen gadget fanatic, I usually do not like one use contraptions like this because they take up too much space, especially when it is not used very often. However, for a feat such as this, I could see no way around it (at least for the time being). I found the corn dog maker on Amazon for $17.81 plus shipping, a low enough price for me to take the bait and buy it, it was for gluten-free pancakes on a stick after all!

When it arrived on Thursday, I was beside myself with excitement. I could not wait to wake up and get to work. My gluten-free kids were going to have stars in their eyes!

So I made up some of Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake Batter (and added some maple extract to it…all the flavor, no added sugar!), skewered some sausage links with a lollipop stick (the corn dog maker comes with wooden skewers, but they were a little too sharp for my 2 year old… Luke would DEFINITELY poke his eye out!).

Pour in some batter (I was just winging it, directions were not included)

Lay the sausages that have been “skewered” on top of the first layer of pancake batter.

This is the sausage I used, I found it at Super Walmart.

Apply second layer of pancake batter, as you can see, this is a messy process!

Close the griddle and wait… about 15 minutes or so (I would open and check frequently).

I probably made a few too many, but I froze them to pull out as needed for a quick breakfast on the go.

Know what Sam said as I handed him his first pancake on a stick?

“Can I have my sausage and pancake separate please?”

This is rather exciting for me, because even I, as much as I love to cook, NEED a break every now and again!

First, a little info on Mixes from the Heartland:

Allergen Facts

• No eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, oats, barley, rye, or wheat in the factory.
• No bean flours are used in any products.
• Factory is allergen controlled.

Eliza Testing

• Every raw product that enters the factory must be certified by the producer that it can pass an Eliza Test.
• This means products in our plant test 5 parts per million or less for wheat.
• The University of Nebraska does our Eliza Testing.  All reports are sent to the Celiac Sprue Association (CSA)
• Mixes From The Heartland Inc. is CSA certified and we are very proud to say that all our products carry the CSA seal.

Product Summary

• All natural, no preservatives, most products are low sodium, cholesterol-free, and low calorie.
• Beans and fruit are all freeze dried and contain no preservatives. Makes cooking soups and meals easier.

What makes Mixes From The Heartland, Inc. different?

• MFTH Inc. has many products not currently in institutional and bulk sizing.
• MFTH Inc. offers the largest amount of bulk mixes available in ten pound bags with zip seal.
• MFTH Inc. has announced the new Sugar Free/Gluten Free mixes is the leader in the area.
• MFTH Inc. produces over 45 soup mixes and 25 meals.  Our competitor only has four instant soups.
• MFTH Inc. is the one stop shop for retailers across the USA.
• MFTH Inc. will dominate the market because we test less than 5 parts per million.
• MFTH Inc. testing makes the consumer’s life easier with great taste as well.
• MFTH Inc. has the ability to private label both in bulk and consumer lines.

A while back I received come complimentary gluten-free mixes from “Mixes from the Heartland,” to review on my blog. We tried the Southwest Chicken Stew, the Mexican Chicken and Rice Meal, the Apple Cinnamon Rice Pudding Mix and the Chocolate Delight Pudding Mix.

I actually only managed to photograph one meal, because I made them on the days I needed them most… when I was in a scramble to get dinner on the table!

Southwest Chicken Stew topped with shredded Cheddar Cheese, yummy!

They are all pretty straight forward; open the mix, add the ingredients called for on the package, cook and eat! We liked them all even though the chocolate pudding never set-up, but I used rice milk instead of cow’s milk so that was probably the culprit (that has happened with other brands of pudding mixes too). The taste was great though! The other thing I REALLY like about the mixes, is that they are all CSA Certified, click this link to read more about the: CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) Recognition Seal Program.

Would you like to try a sampling of Mixes from the Heartland gluten-free mixes?

For the chance to win a free 6-pack of gluten-free mixes from Mixes from the Heartland:

Leave a comment to this post about which one mix you would MOST like to receive from Mixes from the Heartland (the winner will receive the one mix of their choice PLUS 5 additional mixes).

You will also need to do one of the following:

• Sign up to follow @MFTH_GlutenFree on Twitter

OR

• Sign up for the Mixes from the Heartland Newsletter on their website.

Using a Random Number Generator, I will pick the winner on Friday, March, 5, 2010.

Good Luck!

I’ve succumbed to the almighty Lunchables.  I STRONGLY dislike those things, and not necessarily because they are one of the most unhealthy “foods” marketed to children, but because my son feels like an “oddball” because he cannot have one!

I love GoPicnic’s Gluten-Free Ready-Eat-Meals (and so does Sam), but he recently confided in me that “they don’t look the same” as Lunchables.  I realize that I could stand my ground and stick to my principles, but then I will have finally crossed over into becoming “my parents.”

Which only makes me think of this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW3PFC86UNI&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

OYE!

I decided to compromise with Sam (all the while wondering how I was going to pull this off, being gluten-phobic and all), and let him have this occasional “special treat.”  I was going to make him his very own “GF Lunchables,” label and all.  This is not to replace the preferred GoPicnic “Lunchables-style” gluten-free kids meals, but it is a nice “pick-me-up” when Sam is feeling blue about not being “the same” as his peers.  Sam’s end of the bargain though, is that he has to promise to always talk to me when things like this come up at school.  I want Sam to know that he is not defined by the different foods he has to eat, but I also don’t want to make it a big deal.  From my own experiences growing up, the harder my father fought me on things, the more I was determined to get what I wanted anyway, permission or not!  My hope is that Sam will grow out of this “Lunchables” phase sooner, rather than later, if I just bend a little right now.

So… I “went in.”  I hadn’t been to the grocery store in quite sometime (since Mike does the shopping to save me from myself. I CANNOT get out of the store in under 3 hours, all the different products are a trap for my ADD!), and I was dismayed to see how the yellow boxed Lunchables were sealed up.  I knew there was no way I could unwrap the package, discard contents, “fumigate the gluten,” then refill and reassemble with the slightest hope that the end product would resemble the “real thing.”

Then my eyes landed on the new green boxed Lunchables, which are supposedly more “wholesome.” This only made me chuckle as I read the nutrition label on the back of the Ham and American Cracker Combo. Check out this article from the Washington Post about the new Lunchables. Ya know, this is one benefit to being gluten-free. If celiac disease had not entered our lives, I would probably be like a lot of other parents out there who don’t think to read nutrition labels and get sucked up into the marketing as much as kids do!

Anyhoo, I swallowed my pride and bought a few, this was a self-esteem booster for my son after all.

The green packaged “gluten-y” Lunchables. The label on the green package is easy to slide off without disturbing the “unbroken” label!

If you click on the above picture, a larger view should pop up so hopefully you can read the ingredients better.

A gluten-free mom’s transformation:

Empty Lunchables Top Tray that has gone through the dishwasher a few times (no heat cycle)!

Bottom tray of the Lunchables: the meal comes with a bottled water, a Koolaid packet and a sugar-free Jello cup, with a spoon.

The first day Sam took the Jello in, he didn’t eat it (yea!) so I have been adding healthier alternatives without artificial colorings or artificial sweeteners, like the Mott’s No Sugar Added Natural Applesauce.  Whole Foods sells natural flavored applesauce cups too (other stores do too).

The problem with the bottom container is the limited space.  I tried putting other beverages in the container, but it can get crowded very fast!  The Fruit Roll-Up is a version called “Simply Fruit,” all fruit, no artificial colorings and a familiar Fruit Roll-Up package. I found a big box of these at Costco.

Sam also likes the Stretch Island Fruit Co. Fruit Leathers.

The Peter Rabbit Organics “squeezable” Fruit Sauce has been a big hit with Luke.  I found these at Starbucks a few weeks ago, when I bought one of each of their new gluten-free offerings!  I also found them on Amazon, and if you are an Amazon Prime member, you get free shipping! The juice you see is Apple & Eve’s “Fruitables.” The squeezable fruit had to go in the GF “Lunchable” because the Fruitables juice box was a bit too big to also add an applesauce “cup.”

Sam and Luke both love the Fruitables Juice boxes, and quite frankly, so do Mike and I! Check this out:

A 24-pack of Fruitables at Sam’s Club: $8.38, that is only 35¢ per juice box!!

Look at all the fruit AND vegetable juices in each juice box! I just wish they made an Organic version…

Fruitables Nutrition Labels.

Now for the top tray:

This was the final version I landed on. I have never purchased Lunchables before, so I made a few “mistakes” that Sam gently corrected me on, LOL!

Sam: “There are no pickles in Lunchables, mom.  And the cheese is not in a circle.”

Ohhhhkaaaay!

Sam: “Lunchables do not have Snowman wrap, Mom.”

Apparently, I have taught him my perfectionist tendencies all too well. I think it is time for me to work on that!

We like the Boar’s Head Low-Sodium Turkey and Low-Sodium Ham Deli Meats. Check out this recipe idea for a “100 calorie” snack! Cookie/Biscuit Cutters are very handy for making special shapes.

This is White American Cheese, I also make some SQUARE Orange Cheddar Cheese slices!

LOVE these, they fit perfectly in the Lunchables tray compartment!! Thank you Glutino.

I used the plain GLAD Press and Seal to seal up the top tray, then slid the label wrap back on!

This picture just reduces me to hysterics. I think I even snorted, I laughed so hard! The look on Sam’s face pretty much mimics the look I had on my face as I reluctantly agreed to make the GF Lunchable!

Okay, so it’s not really “Boxed” Mac and Cheese but “Bagged” Mac and Cheese just sounds weird!

I have been making my own “Kraft-like” GF Mac and Cheese for a long time now, mostly because I do not care for the texture of the pasta in the GF store-bought Mac and Cheese.  The other two reasons I make my own are because I can change up the pasta shapes AND I save a lot of money!

I have been buying my cheese powder in bulk on Amazon.com (Frontier Co-op Orange and White Cheddar Powders). You can see Frontier’s Allergen Statement here.  This is one of those moments when you have to use your judgment.  There is no wheat in the cheese powder and nothing on the label indicates an ingredient derived from barley, rye or commercial oats.  However, the cheese powder is not tested/certified gluten-free (at least it wasn’t a year ago).  I have an email into them for an update.  I will let you know what I hear back.

The good news though…  I have heard on VERY GOOD authority that a cheddar cheese powder (that is sold in individual packets, no less!!), will soon be coming to market.  The cheese powders will also be TESTED to ensure they contain less than 20ppm of gluten (but so far they have actually registered “undetectable” for gluten in preliminary testing!), WOO-HOO!  That is all I can say for now, but I will update you as soon as I can.

For each package of Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese:

7 1/4-ounces of Gluten-Free Pasta (Tinkyada is our favorite)

1 1/4-ounces of GF Cheddar Cheese Powder (White or Orange)

• I put the cheddar cheese powder in its own separate “snack-size” Ziploc Bag and insert it into the larger “quart-size” Ziploc Bag that is holding the pasta.

• I bought some large mailing labels and I just print the directions on the mailing label and affix to the front of the bag!

What I put on the label (this is just how we like to make it):

I rarely use real butter in anything I cook, I usually use Smart Balance (Original in the tub) or Earth Balance, which is Smart Balance’s Dairy-Free cousin. The 16 minute cook time you see on the label is specific to the Tinkyada Pasta I use. Make sure to follow the cooking directions on your specific brand… you know how temperamental GF pasta can be (well, except for Tinkyada, I am very biased, I know)!

I make a bunch of these at a time and store in an airtight plastic container in my pantry. These are great for Mike to grab for a quick and easy meal for the boys (if I am gone during meal time) or I will send a package to Sam and Luke’s “Nana and Papa’s” when they go for a visit (Nana has her own separate Gluten-Free Pans to help prevent cross-contamination), love her!

This is the “Classic” kid version of Mac and Cheese with Orange Cheddar Cheese Powder. The orange color is annatto extract.

White Cheddar Mac and Cheese.

Tinkyada’s Brown Rice Vegetable Spirals with White Cheddar Powder.

Tinkyada’s Brown Rice Little Dreams Pasta with White Cheddar Powder.

This is not necessary, I do it for my ADD! I am unbelievably “OCD organized” in my pantry, it keeps my brain clear. 

I’ve had this for years, I use it as a guide to come up with quick meal ideas, just be sure your add-in’s are gluten-free!! Use two packages of GF Mac and Cheese to equal one Family Size Box of the Gluten-filled Kraft Mac and Cheese, (as indicated on the recipe card). If you don’t have kiddos that are “no-touchers” (separate foods cannot touch…. period), then this is a great way to sneak in some added vegetables!

I realize this is probably a no-brainer, but it actually just dawned on me not too long ago when Sam needed some Chex Mix for his “Friday Fun Snack,” that I could make my own gluten-free version!  So just in case it has not occurred to someone else, I thought I would post the recipe here and make some replacement suggestions too!

Original recipe is in black, my gluten-free tweaks/thoughts are in red.

Original Chex Mix

3 cups Corn Chex Cereal (I used 4 1/2 cups Corn Chex to make up the difference from removing the Wheat Chex)

3 cups Rice Chex Cereal (I used 4 1/2 cups Rice Chex to make up the difference from removing the Wheat Chex)

3 cups Wheat Chex Cereal (If you are gluten-free, OMIT this entirely!)

1 cup Mixed Nuts (Substitution ideas: Sunflower Seeds, or here is a recipe for making roasted peas, (I would omit their seasoning all together and use the Chex Mix Seasoning instead so you don’t clash flavors!)  You could also omit this entirely and bump up the quantity of the pretzels or something else, by making your own, you can customize!)

1 cup Bite-Size Pretzels (I used Glutino’s Gluten-Free Pretzel Twists)

1 cup Garlic-Flavor Bite-Size Bagel Chips or Regular-Size Bagel Chips, broken into 1-inch pieces (I am going to try and make my own, now that I can make a gluten-free bagel!! Another cool idea might be to make some gluten-free Goldfish Crackers to add-in)

6 Tbs. Butter or Margarine (I used Original Smart Balance in the tub, Earth Balance Buttery Spread is Dairy-Free and works just as well)

2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins is gluten-free. Just found a recipe on how to make your own Worcestershire Sauce, I will have to try that!)

1 1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt (here is a recipe to make your own “copycat” Lawry’s Seasoned Salt)

3/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

• In a large bowl mix cereal, nuts, pretzels, etc., and set aside.

• In a separate microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, margarine or dairy-free substitute, on high until melted. Stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.

• I baked mine in the oven, but you can click here for the microwave method.

• Heat oven to 250° F.

• Spread the uncooked Chex Mix evenly on a large ungreased baking sheet.

• Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

• Spread out on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes more.

• Store in an airtight container.

Combine everything except the seasonings in a large bowl.

Add the melted butter and Worcestershire sauce to the dry seasonings, then mix well before adding to cereal mixture.

Spread mix out on a large, ungreased baking sheet then pop in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Tastes JUST like the pre-packaged version to me.  Well, except for the nuts… are nuts even in the store-bought Chex Mix??

Nice occasional treat to set out during homework time or have for Family Game Night!

Naturally Gluten-Free! I also made a few other tweaks to accommodate dairy and egg allergies, which also happened to bump up the nutritional content!

I have no idea where this recipe came from, my aunt sent it to me several years ago and I just stumbled across it tucked away in a file. There is no name or publication on the recipe, so if this is your recipe, please let me know and I will give you full credit!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar

1 cup Peanut Butter (or substitute with another nut butter and I have also heard there is a pea butter called No Nuts Pea Butter.)

1 large Egg (I used Flax Seed Gel: heat 1 Tbs. Ground Flax Seed with 3 Tbs. Water over medium-low heat until you get an egg white consistency)

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 cup Chocolate Chips (I used 365 Brand Vegan Chocolate Chips from Whole Foods)

• Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, using a wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate morsels.

• Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

• Bake at 350° F. for 12 minutes or until puffed and golden brown (cookies will be soft in the center).

• Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes, remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Flax Seed Gel: the consistency really does mimic an egg white!

All the ingredients before adding chocolate chips

It was very cool to find dairy-free chocolate chips at Whole Foods!

These are DELICIOUS!

We absolutely could not tell I replaced the egg with flax seed gel! Added bonus: we cut back on some cholesterol and bumped up the fiber content!

Click here to see the nutritional facts for Flax (I’m a poet and I didn’t know it! )

Gluten Free bagels that are naturally dairy-free and can easily be made egg-free!

This is one of those things that most people probably don’t think they will ever have to make in their lives, and why would you?  Bagels are are very easy to obtain.  Well, unless you are gluten-free or suffer from food allergies.

Joan’s Great Bakes makes a really good gluten-free bagel, but they are expensive because of shipping costs (if you live in the mountain time zone like I do, shipping is about $45).  A local Albuquerque store used to carry them but they were $14.99 for a 5-pack of bagels.  That can be a hard price to swallow, regardless of your financial situation.  We would buy them as a special treat but they were never a staple simply because of the price.

A few weeks ago, Sam’s Friday Fun Snack at school was making “Bear Bagels.”  The kiddos were using 2 bagels of different sizes, a large bagel and a mini bagel, to assemble a bear face.  I got the recipe with only a 3 day notice, so I did not have time to order any more bagels from Joan’s Great Bakes without paying an overnight shipping charge, and even I have to draw the line somewhere!   So, I had 2 whole days to figure out how to make homemade GF bagels and GF “Nilla” wafers!

Here is the recipe for Bear Bagels (in case you are interested):

I lucked out and happened to have one Joan’s Great Bakes bagel left in my freezer (from who knows when), but I was desperate, so I used it anyway!  I don’t know if you have ever had one, but they are not all that big. They fall somewhere between a gluten-containing “mini” bagel and a gluten-containing “regular” bagel (but no where near the size of a gluten-containing “large” bagel). Which is totally fine by me, because I am very big on “true” portion sizes in our house. It only poses a problem when making said “Bear Bagels!” I thought about using a cookie cutter to cut out a smaller sized bagel from one of the halves, but that was clearly not going to work.  I tried making a batch of bagels from a recipe I found online, but they tasted horrible and looked even worse, so they promptly went into the trash.  I did learn one thing from that experiment though, how to shape a bagel the easy way (I’ll show you that in a minute)!

After my first batch of homemade bagels were a bust, I realized I had to admit defeat and figure something else out to replace the mini bagel, I just didn’t have enough time.  You have no idea how difficult giving up was for me (even if it was only temporary).  Right or wrong, I still feel very guilty for having passed on the celiac gene to my son.  Because of this, I am admittedly OCD about making Sam’s “public” GF foods look the same as his friends, although I have never actually hit the mark for one reason or another!

Anyway, I had made some Better Batter biscuits for dinner that evening and had a few left over, so I went with a mini biscuit “bagel” instead for Sam to use as the bear nose.  Needing to make the biscuit smaller than the Joan’s Great Bakes Bagel, meant I also had to cut down the GF “Nilla” Wafers I had made.  Here is the bear we ultimately ended up with:

It worked, but had much room for improvement!

I have since been researching different homemade bagel recipes to try and I made a second attempt yesterday using this recipe from the Baking Bites website (with gluten-free substitutions of course). Baking Bites is a great website, and once one feels comfortable making gluten-free substitutions, an entire world of possibilities opens up!  Check out Nicole’s recipe for homemade Girl Scout Samoas (always and forever Caramel Delites in my book ).  I cannot wait to experiment with that recipe!

Homemade Gluten-Free Bagels

(Nicole Weston’s original recipe is in black, my additions/changes are in red).

1 Tbs. Active Dried Yeast (I used Red Star Yeast which is gluten-free)

1 Tbs. Sugar

1 3/4 cup Warm Water (110° – 115° F. is the optimal temperature to activate the yeast, according to the Red Star website.  Although, I have also read that 100° – 110° F. is the optimal range, so I guess anywhere from 100° – 115° F. is the area to shoot for.   If the water is too hot, you will kill the yeast.  I like to use a thermometer to make sure the water is “in the proper zone”).

4 cups Bread Flour (for this recipe I just used Better Batter Gluten Free Flour.  I am trying to figure out a good gluten-free substitute for bread flour to see if that changes the outcome of the final product, I will keep you posted).

1 Tbs. Salt

1 Egg for Egg Wash (not sure if this is necessary, but I have always added 1 Tbs. of water to each egg in my egg wash. If you cannot have egg, this step can just be omitted.)

• First, you want to “proof” your yeast.  I ALWAYS proof my yeast (to make sure the yeast is “active”) in my gluten-free baked goods, because not only do I want to save time and frustration from a potential flop, but gluten-free ingredients are too expensive to risk throwing it all away because of something as inexpensive as yeast!  So:

• In a bowl, add the yeast, sugar and warm water (100° – 115° F).  Stir to incorporate the ingredients, then set the yeast aside to do it’s work, about 10 minutes. (Click here for more information on the different types of yeast and the best way to use them for optimal results.  If you are interested, see below for a video I found on YouTube on “How to proof yeast”).

• Meanwhile, in a large bowl (I used the bowl of my stand mixer) add the flour and salt.

• Once the yeast has “proofed,” add it to the flour/salt mixture.

• Mix dough thoroughly until it comes together in a large ball, pulling away from the sides of the bowl.  Add an additional tablespoon of flour or water, if needed.  If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.  If using a stand mixer, knead dough with the dough hook until elastic, about 8 minutes on a low speed (this is what I did).  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.  (Make sure you put the dough in a warm place. click here for some rising tips from baking911.com, I reference this website all the time, because I have zero formal training in baking! I highly recommend bookmarking it for future use).

• Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil (I used a roasting pan over two burners), and preheat the oven to 400° F.

• When dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces (first quarters, then thirds).  Shape each piece into a tight ball as illustrated below (click here to see Nicole’s illustrations), pinching the corners together at the bottom of the piece of dough (I didn’t really do this step as written, I just rolled out a ball).  When all the balls are shaped, let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel.

• Once dough balls have rested, the bagel shape can be formed.  Using your fingers, poke a hole through the center of each dough ball (I cheated and used my apple corer to make the hole).  Stretch out the dough into a ring with your fingers and be sure to make the hole a little larger than you want the finished bagel to have, as it will shrink slightly while the bagel is expanding during the baking process.  Let bagels rest for about 10 minutes.

• Working four at a time (I put all of mine in at the same time since I was using a pan with a large surface area), drop the bagels carefully into the boiling water.  Boil for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and boil for an additional minute (I used chop sticks for this).  Using a slotted spoon or strainer, transfer bagels to a clean towel to drain for a moment, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Repeat process with remaining bagels.

• Brush boiled bagels with lightly beaten egg (I added 1 tbs. of water to my beaten egg) (a pastry or bbq brush is a good tool for this) and bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown.

• Cool completely on a wire rack.

YouTube video on “proofing” yeast:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9eP1VLTL3A&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

The temperature of my water was 113° F. :

My “proofed” yeast:

I mixed all the ingredients using my dough hook attachment, on low for 8 minutes.

This is what the dough looked like after rising for 1 hour.  It does not look exactly like a risen gluten-dough.

Instead of using the method in the Baking Bites recipe, I just rolled the dough pieces around on the counter (to make it smooth).

Final bagel dough ball.

Using my apple corer to make the hole in the bagel.

My apple corer has a plunger on it which made extracting the dough uber simple.

I then stretched the hole out a little bit.

Tip: Keep your bagels covered with a damp cloth while you are shaping your bagels, so the dough is less likely to dry out and crack.

Pre-boiled bagels of various sizes (this is what is so cool about making your own bagels).

Some of my bagels were lumpy and bumpy, so using warm water, I tried to smooth them out before adding them to the boiling water.

Boiling water in a roasting pan over 2 stove top burners.

Boiling the bagels.

I used chop sticks to flip the bagels.

Even after smoothing them out, some of the bagels looked like this.  I wonder what causes this?

One bagel that stayed relatively smooth.

Remove the bagels and let drain on a towel for a minute.

Brush with egg wash.

Fresh from the oven, GF bagels: Crunchy on the outside with a chewy inside, just like “real” bagels!  Without cream cheese, there is a slight “sourdough” taste to these.

This is one of the bagels the day after I made them.

I stored them unsliced, in an airtight container. They did need to be softened up a bit, so before slicing, I nuked them in the microwave for 20 seconds and it was as if they were fresh!

We even made some Gluten-Free “Bagel Bites,” yummy!

Mike and I tried to cost these out, using the Better Batter Gluten-Free Flour. After shipping, a 25-lb. bag of Better Batter is $86.00. There is roughly 3 cups in 1-lb. of Better Better, so a 25-lb bag is roughly 75 cups of flour. That comes to roughly $1.15/cup. This recipe uses 4 cups of flour, so that’s about $4.60. The other ingredients are too inexpensive to worry about, but for argument’s sake, let’s round it up to $5.00.

$5.00 for 10 homemade GF bagels versus roughly $30.00 for 10 store-bought GF bagels.

Now that my friends, is some food for thought!

Just for Fun

This is a really interesting video.  Mark Hyman, M.D. wrote a book about a year ago called The UltraMind Solution that was endorsed by Dr. Oz (on the cover of my edition).  If you follow the “even if only 50% of this is true” rule, this is a very illuminating video (and book) and worthy of attention.  We should all give this some consideration and perhaps forward to our non-Celiac friends/family who are resistant to these ideas.  Like the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”  We need more credible sources like Dr. Hyman to help us advance our cause!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLJSmJ0bMlk&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Mark Hyman, M.D. on Martha Stewart:

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