When I discover ideas, products, or places that I think will be useful, I'll pass them on. The newest items will be on top.
October 2017
March 2017
October 2016
March 2015
November 2013
October 2017
- Some of my recipes use 1/2 cup of coconut milk. I buy coconut milk in cans, so I have coconut milk left over. I found some little containers that hold 1/2 cup of liquid so I can freeze the leftover milk. The next time I need 1/2 cup of coconut milk, I can just defrost one of the containers.
March 2017
- I have been experimenting with using coconut oil in recipes. Because coconut oil is solid at room temperature, I melt it before adding it to batter or dough. However, melted coconut oil solidifies very quickly when it cools. I stir the warm melted oil into some of the dry ingredients in the recipe (sugar or flour) and make sure it's well mixed in before I add any liquids. That way the coconut oil doesn't turn into little lumps in the batter or dough.
October 2016
- When cooking with whole grain flours such as teff, quinoa, and sorghum, the baked items sometimes have a bit more grain flavor (my daughter calls it a "healthy taste") than we'd like. Adding extra vanilla extract helps smooth out the flavor in cakes, cookies, and muffins. Use pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla flavor. When I can get it, I use the vanilla extract from Mexico. It adds a whole new dimension of flavor.
- When you are shopping for teff flour, read the label. Teff grains are very small. If you buy teff grains instead of teff flour, your recipes will not turn out the same.
March 2015
- A friend told me that when making gluten-free baked goods, it helps the flavor and texture to let the batter or dough set for 30 minutes or more to let the flour soak a bit. We tried it with some cookie dough and the cookies came out great! (I need to make them one more time and then I'll share them on the website.) I will post more on this as I experiment with my recipes.
- I recently read an article in Consumer Reports that stated that most types of rice contain high levels of arsenic. This is not a reason to avoid rice, since rice has been a staple for many civilizations for many centuries. However, including the alternative flours as part of your diet allows you to get a greater variety of nutrients and reduce your dependence on any one food.
- Apple cider vinegar is your friend when developing or adapting recipes to be gluten free. Several times lately when I am having trouble with a recipe, I have added or increased the amount of apple cider vinegar. It always makes a very noticeable positive difference. I am working on a recipe for teff chocolate chip cookies. (see the Chunk Cookie recipe) I was making changes to the dough as I went. I added apple cider vinegar and the cookies went from flat and crisp to puffy and chewy. I have heard that apple cider vinegar is a "dough conditioner".
November 2013
- Many restaurant chains now have gluten-free menus. It's always worth asking.
- Soy sauce has a lot of wheat in it but you can get wheat-free tamari that we think tastes better. Most Asian sauces have soy sauce in them, but there are many GF versions available now.
- Bread seems to be the biggest challenge. We like the teff-quinoa recipe I developed. The changes I made a few years ago, shown in red in the recipe, are an improvement. It’s a fair amount of work but we like it. It freezes well so I usually make 2 or 3 loaves at a time.