I have to give props to General Mills. They have an entire website for gluten free living. On this website they give a list of their products that are gluten free. I am amazed at some of their products! They have gluten free foods from brand names such as Betty Crocker (including cake and icing!!!!!), Hamburger Helper, Chex, Green Giant, Nature Valley, Larabar, Progresso, and Yoplait. That's pretty impressive. Oh, and Bisquick is coming out with GF foods soon!
Disclaimer: Ok, so I have to admit, I don't eat any of these products with the exception of Chex. I just don't eat processed foods or foods with perservatives. Well, most of the time, at least. It's not that I'm against it, I just find that making foods from scratch myself is cheaper.
But back to the good news. I think that this website is advertising genius. Not only that, but the website says that All General Mills products that meet GF requirements are clearly labeled as gluten free on that product.
If other food companies can do the gluten free labeling on their product labels, I think they would see a lot more money. It takes all the guess work out of grocery shopping and it really takes the stress off of the buyer. I personally have bought one specific brand over another only because the label of the brand I bought said it was gluten free.
This website also has resources, information, and recipes included. One of my problems with going gluten free is finding fun appetizers and snacks for parties that I can eat too. I found so many good ideas from their list.
I am in no way affiliated with General Mills, nor do I know anyone who works for them. But here's a shout out to their marketing department!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
bumGenius 4.0!
Well, it looks like Cotton Babies has heard us. Finally, their best selling pocket diaper now comes in snaps! If you like bumGenius 3.0 pocket diapers, but don't like the hook and loop, check out the 4.0's!
There are some other differences in bumGenius 4.0 as well, including:
There are some other differences in bumGenius 4.0 as well, including:
- "Generous sizing to accommodate larger babies." I hope this doesn't mean it won't fit thin babies anymore!
- Replaceable elastic. This will be nice, especially if you want to sell it afterwards and the elastic is shot.
- New colors!!! They have added 3 colors: Bubble, Sweet, and Noodle. Although it looks like they don't offer it in some of their other colors like Clementine and Ribbit. I'm excited about the purple!
As stated earlier, I am a snap girl only. I actually converted all of my 3.0s into snap closures.
It looks like they are offering preorders, so order yours today! This is a great entry diaper into the cloth diapering world. So, if you have never used cloth diapers, I recommend this as one of a few brands to try first.
Did anyone get to see bumGenius and other cloth diapering mamas on the Today Show this morning? I missed it. :-( This was a fantastic way to get America talking about cloth!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I DID IT!!
I FINALLY figured out how to change this account over!! And it only took me 20 minutes! Seriously, this just makes my day. Ahh, the little things in life. :-)
Possible Blog Change
Here's the deal. I am trying to get this blog moved to a different account, but it doesn't seem to be working. I may have to change blog names all together, which mean I may lose all of my followers! Any help anyone has out there would be appreciated! If not, well, I guess I will have to start from scratch. Wish me luck! I only have about an hour left of Short Stack's naptime, so I may not get it done today. We'll see!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Gluten Free Pizza Crust
My husband came home one day and asked me if I could make a BLT pizza for dinner sometime. He had one at a local pizza place and wanted to try it. Well, being gluten free, I was trying to decide whether or not to make my own pizza with pre-made GF personal pizza crusts that cost $7.99 at my grocery store, or try to make one pizza for the whole family. While still being expensive, I chose to try the adventure of making my own pizza dough. It is just easier to be able to make the same thing for all of us so I don't have to worry about cross-contamination.
I got a book from the library that had all sorts of recipes from different flour blends. It was a great book that explained the difference in all these flours and how to get nutrition you may lack being GF. The book is called, "Gluten-Free Hassle Free A Simple, Sane Dietitian-Approved Program for Eating Your Way Back to Health," by Marlisa Brown, MS RD CDE CD. I adapted her recipe for Italian Pizza:
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup warm skim milk
3/4 cup warm water
1 packet dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup rice flour
1. Mix first four flours together. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of flour blend with 3/4 cup warm milk and 1/4 cup warm water. Add yeast, sugar, 1/8 cup olive oil, and 1 tsp salt. Mix together, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 45 minutes.
2. Mix remaining flour with the remaining salt and xanthan gum. Mix together with yeasted mixture with 1/4-1/2 cup warm water and cider vinegar for about 3-4 minutes, until the dough is a nice soft consistency that holds together but is not too wet.
3. Knead and form the dough into a ball; cover and let rest for about 15 minutes. If too wet, add brown rice flour until a nice consistency.
4. Preheat oven to 450.
5. Drizzle a large flat pizza pan with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
6. Turn pizza dough out of bowl and shape and flatten, spreading out over pizza pan. Add brown rice flour if dough is too wet, and work it in as you fit the dough onto the pan, until the pan is completely covered with pizza dough (leave a thicker ridge around the edges). If the dough is too dry or crumbly, wet hands or a spatula and rub it across the top to smooth it out.
7. Sprinkle top of dough with some olive oil and oregano and let sit for about 20 minutes.
8. Place dough in the oven and precook for about 15 minutes.
9. I used Alfredo sauce as my sauce, then topped it with cheese, bacon, and tomato.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes, until crust is crispy. I left it in for that long, and mine was overdone, but not burnt, so I say 20 minutes.
11. When I took the pizza out of the oven, I added lettuce. My family doesn't like mayo, but if we did, that would probably be drizzled on top.
It was tasty! I will say I won't do it again until winter probably. It's sooo hot here!
I got a book from the library that had all sorts of recipes from different flour blends. It was a great book that explained the difference in all these flours and how to get nutrition you may lack being GF. The book is called, "Gluten-Free Hassle Free A Simple, Sane Dietitian-Approved Program for Eating Your Way Back to Health," by Marlisa Brown, MS RD CDE CD. I adapted her recipe for Italian Pizza:
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup warm skim milk
3/4 cup warm water
1 packet dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup rice flour
1. Mix first four flours together. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of flour blend with 3/4 cup warm milk and 1/4 cup warm water. Add yeast, sugar, 1/8 cup olive oil, and 1 tsp salt. Mix together, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 45 minutes.
2. Mix remaining flour with the remaining salt and xanthan gum. Mix together with yeasted mixture with 1/4-1/2 cup warm water and cider vinegar for about 3-4 minutes, until the dough is a nice soft consistency that holds together but is not too wet.
3. Knead and form the dough into a ball; cover and let rest for about 15 minutes. If too wet, add brown rice flour until a nice consistency.
4. Preheat oven to 450.
5. Drizzle a large flat pizza pan with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
6. Turn pizza dough out of bowl and shape and flatten, spreading out over pizza pan. Add brown rice flour if dough is too wet, and work it in as you fit the dough onto the pan, until the pan is completely covered with pizza dough (leave a thicker ridge around the edges). If the dough is too dry or crumbly, wet hands or a spatula and rub it across the top to smooth it out.
7. Sprinkle top of dough with some olive oil and oregano and let sit for about 20 minutes.
8. Place dough in the oven and precook for about 15 minutes.
9. I used Alfredo sauce as my sauce, then topped it with cheese, bacon, and tomato.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes, until crust is crispy. I left it in for that long, and mine was overdone, but not burnt, so I say 20 minutes.
11. When I took the pizza out of the oven, I added lettuce. My family doesn't like mayo, but if we did, that would probably be drizzled on top.
It was tasty! I will say I won't do it again until winter probably. It's sooo hot here!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Swim Diaper Update
I posted earlier in the summer about my Short Stack's swim diaper woes. Long story short, we bought a swimsuit with a built-in swim diaper that she hates with a passion. I'm too cheap to buy another swim diaper and bathing suit for the rest of the season because Short Stack hardly gets in the water in the first place. And I'm not buying disposables. I just can't bring myself to do it. :-)
So, as an alternative, I decided to use an old diaper cover that I don't like and doesn't work very well. I found a cheap swim top at Meijer. So cheap that the first time I took it off of her, the strap broke! I am not the best seamstress, but at least I know how to tack on a strap, so I didn't have to go back and get a refund. Yes, I'm not only cheap, but I'm lazy too. :-)
Well, the top is a go. It's loose enough she doesn't scream when I have to peel it off of her. The diaper cover as a swim dipe, however, not a go. I put it on her, and she immediately said, "No, No!" It was very uncomfortable to her. I was kind of bummed, because it was this bright orange that perfectly matched the top. Boo! But, I do understand why she didn't like it. Without a diaper insert, the cover was big and kind of bulky, and it didn't form to her well.
So, I'm back to using a pocket diaper cover. It has a soft lining inside, so she has no complaints. I am going to use the same one so that I don't ruin any others. It is my only Haute Pocket diaper I have, but it doesn't fit her well anymore now that she is tall and skinny. It has leaked the last 2 times I've used it as a diaper because her legs are too thin. It has probably the softest lining of all my dipes, too.
Next year, I am just going to buy a cheap reusable swim diaper, and build the swim suit around that!
So, as an alternative, I decided to use an old diaper cover that I don't like and doesn't work very well. I found a cheap swim top at Meijer. So cheap that the first time I took it off of her, the strap broke! I am not the best seamstress, but at least I know how to tack on a strap, so I didn't have to go back and get a refund. Yes, I'm not only cheap, but I'm lazy too. :-)
Well, the top is a go. It's loose enough she doesn't scream when I have to peel it off of her. The diaper cover as a swim dipe, however, not a go. I put it on her, and she immediately said, "No, No!" It was very uncomfortable to her. I was kind of bummed, because it was this bright orange that perfectly matched the top. Boo! But, I do understand why she didn't like it. Without a diaper insert, the cover was big and kind of bulky, and it didn't form to her well.
So, I'm back to using a pocket diaper cover. It has a soft lining inside, so she has no complaints. I am going to use the same one so that I don't ruin any others. It is my only Haute Pocket diaper I have, but it doesn't fit her well anymore now that she is tall and skinny. It has leaked the last 2 times I've used it as a diaper because her legs are too thin. It has probably the softest lining of all my dipes, too.
Next year, I am just going to buy a cheap reusable swim diaper, and build the swim suit around that!
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