The Gig is Up: GF Food Review

I used to say that all I needed in the life was the three B's. That would be BEER, BREAD and BEANS (as in coffee!). Throw in a Swiss Army knife, a bandanna and some duct tape and I could be happy and self sufficient. Boy have those days changed. My need for comfort items has changed wildly and my B's have been seriously disrupted. Thankfully no one has messed with my coffee but those of us on a gluten free diet know that good gluten free beer and bread can be very hard to come by. This has not necessarily been a bad thing for me as I do credit my lack of beer and bread with a considerable (and much needed weight loss). It has been pretty easy to fore go the gluten free options. But what's happening now? Is my weight loss scheme in danger? A few weeks ago I went into a nice local coffee house and am usually able to just saunter right on by the case of baked goods - nothing for me there, no interest to me, not even tempted. But I stopped dead in my tracks as I came face to face with a giant muffin, oddly named - the fitness muffin, that was labeled gluten free! I had to force myself to look away and keep walking. Several weeks later I am still thinking about that muffin. What will become of me if I am once again faced with choices?!

Before giving my review of a couple of products that I have recently sampled I should add the note that I am picky about my baked goods and my beer. I have spent countless hours baking all types of wonderful (gluteny) breads. I loved baking bread and not only lost out on one of my favorite foods but one of my favorite hobbies. I also loved brewing beer. I never made anything quite as great as could be purchased but it was a lot of fun! So, these acceptable alternatives are just that - acceptable alternatives. I am not sure anything but a cure to Celiac Disease will come close to satisfying the real critic. But I offer these to hold us over in the meantime.

Beer:

I was very happy when gluten free beer started coming to the market a couple of years ago but after trying a few, including Redbridge and Dragon's Gold I actually found that I'd rather save the calories and my money. But now the gig is up - I recently tried Green's Beer. This is an import from Belgium. Clearly they know how to brew beer!! It is offered in a medium amber, a triple blonde and a dark stout. The dark stout being my favorite, I'm a Guinness fan and this was by far no Guinness, but it was an acceptable and palatable alternative. Very rich, a little on the sweet side. The amber was also very good. A little less sweet and more suitable with a meal. I did not care for the blonde, but that would not be my first choice in any beer so I may not be the best critic on that. I found it far too sweet and not "crisp" enough. But other reviews for the blonde are raving and I would give them more credit as again, it is just not my preference in beer. I purchased all three at Whole Foods. They were a bit pricey (as are all things gluten free) but come in 16 oz. bottles - great to share a bottle and not have to commit to a full six pack of crummy beer. Also, nice not to pay $12 (going price in some places for Dragon's Gold) for a six pack of less than mediocre beer. I believe the Green's was about $5.25 for a bottle. Again, expensive but oh soooooo good!

BREAD:

I have spent a lot of time trying to master a gluten free bread recipe. I think I came up with something reasonably respectable. It included every imaginable flour - brown rice, white rice, potato, tapioca, corn starch, almond meal and flax meal. A lot of work - okay return. I tried packaging it into smaller "mixes" so that it would be less time consuming. But ultimately my whole family decided that this bread was not really worth the trouble. After having given up on bread entirely for about a year - I gave in and tried Pamela's Amazing Bread Mix after reading several encouraging reviews. It is excellent! Most excellent is the fact that all you need to do is add oil, eggs and water, stir and bake. Could not be any easier. I also add 1/4 flax meal. Again, I find this product to also be a little on the sweet side. It may be the fact that I do not eat a lot of sugar and so I am a bit more sensitive to the sweet side of things. But this bread has sort of a molasses type sweetness to it. Not at all offensive - although fairly high on the carb count for diabetics. This bread is very moist in contrast to most dry, crumbly GF bread products. It also holds up pretty well unlike the many that go stale within hours of baking. Freezes well too. I use it to make sandwich/burger rolls that are so convincingly "normal" that my kid's friends at school were nervous that I had given them the wrong lunch. The kids came home squealing with delight that their sandwiches looked like everyone else's - that's important when you are 9!

And ONE MORE:

I take baking seriously! I am still prone to watching the Ace of Cakes while I am on the treadmill. I never, ever understood the purpose of "Brownie Mix". I mean, you melt the chocolate and butter, throw in a few eggs, scoop in the flour and sugar and you've got brownies. The same can hold true for GF brownies - and it is very VERY possible to make a delicious gluten free brownie from scratch. But again it involves many different types of "alternative" flours that need to be mixed in the right proportions. If you do not stock all these flours or are not into food science and measurement, this may be a task you just don't take on regularly. So to that end the other night, while making dinner I threw a batch of Betty Crocker's (NEW!) Gluten Free Brownie Mix together and into the oven to bake. Very, very decent brownies, piping hot from the oven and done with by the time I was clearing the dinner plates off the table. I have nothing negative to say about this mix - and huge kudos to General Mills for taking this huge leap in the right direction! I am not sure I can bring myself to try the GF chocolate chip cookie mix but again am so glad that General Mills is getting some skin in the game on this! The new Betty Crocker Mixes (chocolate cake, vanilla cake, brownie and chocolate chip cookie) can be a bit elusive to find. I was unable to find them in my area. But can be ordered somewhat reasonably on Amazon.

Now I better get my training into high gear as I can see this gluten free diet is not longer going to be an easy recipe for weight loss - think I'll grab a beer tonight!

Cheers!