Slimy, Yet Satisfying

Sorry about the lack of posting.  Holidays and all.

Because I haven't really been out shopping to explore new stores, and just been buying staples and hoping for the best, I don't have any reviews of places for you.  I do, however, have a recipe for what is quite possibly one of my greatest creations ever.  I'm not a product endorser, so I'm not getting paid for mentioning these products, by the way.  They're just what I used because they work and are GF

Quick and Easy Mac & Cheese Casserole

You need:

2 boxes Annie's Deluxe Gluten-Free Macaroni & Cheese 

Half box of Boars Head Fully-Cooked Microwave Bacon (approx 7 strips, or to taste)

1 cup GF Panko crumbs (I used Jeff Nathan Creations, but I'd found it during Passover last year, so it might be hard to find)

1 pinch each of dried rosemary, basil, and oregano, or any other herbs of your choosing (omit if you were lucky enough to score GF Italian-style Panko bread crumbs)

olive oil

pre-shredded cheese (to taste) (my favorites are the Organic Valley Mexican Blend and the Sargento 4-State Cheddar blend, but you can use whatever pre-shredded cheese your heart desires.  Or, if you don't mind the extra step, shred your own, I won't be insulted if you're less lazy than I am)

Cook the macaroni and cheese and the bacon according to the instructions on the package.

Crumble the bacon into the pot or bowl that you used to combine the macaroni and cheese into.

Spread the macaroni and cheese and bacon mixture into a casserole dish.

Toss the bread crumbs and dried herbs in just enough olive oil to coat.  I eyeball this step, but I assume it's about 1-2 tablespoons.  Please don't take my word for that, though, especially since oil absorbency probably varies between brands.

Sprinkle pre-shredded cheese over the macaroni/cheese/bacon mixture.  I love cheese, so I basically cover the whole thing like it's a pizza.  If you're not quite so addicted to the stuff, I'm sure it would be just as good using a sane amount of cheese.

Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top of that.  I guess at this point I should have warned you that the people I cook this casserole for tend to like crispy, crunchy bread crumbs, so it REALLY covers the dish.  You could probably get away with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of bread crumbs if you don't care quite as much.

Slap that baby in the broiler for about 5 minutes or so, or until the bread crumbs become golden brown.

If you go by the servings listed on the boxes of mac & cheese, this recipe makes six servings.

If you go by what a normal American human eats, this recipe makes four servings.

If you make any variations or try any other brands of ingredients, feel free to comment and share your experiences.

P.S. I'm also pretty sure this would work with the non-gluten-free versions of everything too.  :P

Livoti's Old World Market

I love grocery shopping.  Some women buy shoes, some buy clothes, and dudes usually go for electronics.  I buy food.  Every grocery store is an adventure.

My most recent adventure was at Livoti's Old World Market in Aberdeen, NJ.  Last weekend, I wanted to explore, even though I knew I probably would only be able to take home spaghetti sauce and that's it.  After all, we're talking about an ITALIAN market, here.

Man, was I surprised when I found a large (compared to the size of the store) gluten-free section.

Now, my boyfriend's a bit picky.  He likes buying Rienzi's gluten-free pasta and won't try any of the other store brands of gluten-free noodles (unless I'm making pad Thai).  His reasoning is, they're an Italian company and Italians are known for pasta, so why buy from a company that doesn't know anything about pasta?

I guess that makes sense, but I actually like the quinoa one.  But I digress.

The store does carry the standard brands (Glutino, Schar, and Fruity Pebbles), but they had a wide-ish (again, compared to the size of the store) variety of imported food, most of which had very little English  and a whole lot of Italian on the package.

Most of the time, we get a choice of penne and spaghetti, and occasionally rotini are thrown into the mix.  Not only did they have those standards, but there were also fettucini, elbows, alphabets, big ol' square sheets for lasagna, and tubettini.  We bought the fettucini last week (haven't had time to try it, with all the Thanksgiving leftovers, though) and picked up the tubettini for soup.  Unless it's Passover, you're going to be hard-pressed to find as many pasta shapes in one store.

The best finds, though, were the Galbusera ZeroGrano crackers and wafers (which are labeled "Senza Glutine" right on the package).

One of the things that both of us have missed since cutting out wheat has been crackers.  The mainstream GF brands are okay, but you know as well as I know they're not Ritz.  These aren't Ritz either, but they're seriously good.  They're made with corn, potato, and rice, and, from what I've found with regards to GF matzohs, potato makes stuff tasty.  They are flavored with rosemary and sea salt and have a pretty decent overall texture.  They're not Ritz, but they're the best crackers for cheese I've had in gluten-free land.  Also, they're really good crumbled on top of soup.

The wafer cookies were much the same.  Mostly corn and rice flour (well, technically, mostly chocolate cream filling, according to the ingredient percentages, but you know what I mean).  I would put these up against any regular European wafer cookies and dare you to tell me which one has wheat and which one doesn't.  The filling is a little on the powdery side, but considering the wafers are spot-on, I really don't care about the filling.

For those of you not in the immediate Northern Monmouth County area, Piccolo's Gastronomia has both the wafers and the crackers, as well as cookies that I have not tried.

Those who frequent The City (NYC for those of you who don't know any better, I'm looking at you, South Jersey) might have come across Tate's Bakery's cookies.  Tate has a gluten free chocolate chip cookie, and Livoti's carries it.

Finally, on the list of things we haven't bought but might if we were in need of such a thing, Livoti's actually has store-made gluten-free heat-and-eat meals.  Both of us were all, like, "Holy crap!" when we saw the shelf.  They had, in neat little packages, gluten-free chicken francese, chicken marsala, chicken parm, spaghetti with vodka sauce, and rotini with pesto sauce.  All made without gluten ingredients.

And, being a grocer, Livoti's does have a nice selection of food that is naturally gluten-free, including meat (decent prices, too), fruits and vegetables (at the time of writing, artichokes are 2/$1.00), cheese, and tomato sauce.

So, if you're in the area and have time to kill, head down the soda aisle, and the last two sections on your left (if you're walking toward the back) will be full of gluten-free Italian goodness.

Le First Post

[Insert standard welcome message here]

Now that we've gotten THAT business out of the way, let me tell you a little about myself.

I'm a soon-to-be-30-year-old in central Jersey (the New kind, not the one in jolly old England).  I went to an iridologist a little over a year ago, and found out some interesting things.  One of the interesting things is that, yes, it is possible to tell just by looking at my eyes that I really kind of had to pee.

One of the other things that I learned, which was a problem for my boyfriend as well (but not his mom), is that I have a sensitivity to gluten.

I haven't been diagnosed as a celiac, and I'm also not a professional in any way, shape, manner, or form, at least as far as the medical industry is concerned.

However, I have found that I have done much better when I avoid gluten.  I lost ten pounds while still eating like a pig, only eating tons of rice instead of tons of wheat.  I'm a lot more alert and a lot less sleepy when I avoid gluten.  I'm also a lot less cranky.

In the spirit of science (and in the spirit of not having power for ten days, making our electric stove useless, thanks Hurricane Sandy), I tried recently eating at whatever restaurant was open, and was not selective AT ALL in avoiding gluten.  Really, I just wanted a hot meal instead of beef jerky and canned fruit.

I gained weight, took more naps, and my boyfriend's stomach got all hard.

Proof enough for me that I have some sort of sensitivity.  Frankly, I'm glad that it's gluten intolerance instead of the lactose intolerance I thought I had.  Substitute bread is WAAAAAAY better than substitute cheese.

So, I'm back on track again.

I always get excited when I find something new, and really want to share it with people.  Most of the time, nobody cares and I end up talking to the wall.  So, I started this lovely blog so that, if anyone wants to know about my new discoveries, all they have to do is read.

I'll be posting reviews of restaurants, stores, products, whatever, as well as recipes that I've either found or made up.  If you have any requests or want to share, feel free to comment.

Thanks for reading!