Taking on the Impossible!

Alright guys. Mission Impossible has officially started! And I get the feeling that its going to be a VERY long ride! But hopefully you will all be here to laugh, and cry with me!

This week at our Gluten Intolerance Group meeting, as I sat around and talked to the other members I realized how much I love to cook. And while I am only LEARNING how to cook gluten free, I actually want to do much more than just that. I want to make my own Gluten Free cookbook!

It hit me lying in bed that night. And I couldn't sleep a wink. I kept thinking about some of the conversations we had that night. The one that stuck out in my mind the most was how EVERYONE missed pizza! It was UNANIMOUS! We talked about all the frozen pizza's out there, recipe's, and pizza crust mixes, and no matter how you sliced it, it still wasn't the same. I really felt myself identifying with them.

My absolute favorite food on the planet, besides cheesecake, is pizza! I could eat pizza every day of my life and never tire of it! Seriously. Everyone in the group said that was what they missed the most. I, like everyone else, have tried every kind of gluten free frozen pizza on the market. Some, well...they're just not edible. Some can be tolerated, and some are simply ok. But I've never found a pizza, or crust, that I genuinely liked. That seemed to be something we ALL had in common!

As we discussed how much we missed how good a real pizza tastes, I kept thinking how amazing it would be if someone would make a pizza crust recipe that was easy, simple, quick, and most of all delicious! And as I lay there in bed thinking, it hit me, why not me???

So today I started Mission Impossible. Working on creating a gluten free pizza crust recipe, from scratch! This is my first crack at creating a recipe for the cookbook I am hoping to make. And it is also quite possibly the last. I think I may have undertaken the impossible here. But talking to everyone that night, created a drive in me to come up with the perfect recipe! So here I am trying!

I immediately knew what kind of crust I wanted to make. And by the time I got ready for work the next morning I already knew all of the ingredients I wanted to use. So today I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I had high hopes in my baking abilities. But, gluten free cooking is very foreign to me, and quite like a science experiment. Have I ever mentioned that I was terrible at science?

Anyhow, things didn't go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. But I did manage to make something that sort of resembles a pizza. It's baking in the oven as I type this, and it smells heavenly! Now what it tastes like is a whole other matter! I am saying little silent prayers that it isn't completely disgusting! I'm really nervous about how its going to turn out. But I am as stubborn as they come, and no matter how awful it may turn out, I am determined to keep trying until I get it right!

Wish me luck!

Putting My Cake to the Test

Well last night was our Gluten Intolerance Group meeting. So I decided to bring my experiment, *cough*, chocolate cake with me. As it turns out this meetings was dedicated to BAKING! With the owner of a Gluten Free bakery as our guest speaker. And I felt like a loaded gun, walking in there with my amateur cake! I mean these people are pro's! They ACTUALLY get PAID! To BAKE!!!!

I seriously felt like fleeing! Especially when I saw all the baked goods they brought for us to sample, all laid out on a table waiting for us. But it was too late, and there was no turning back. This was going to be a true test!

I didn't stick around long enough to get feedback and ask for opinions. I didn't want to steal the limelight away from our guest speaker who was wanting feedback herself on her products. But the few people I was sitting by, LOVED it! Of course, they could have just been saying that to me to be nice. But when it came time to pack up and go home, the only thing left that resembled a cake, were crumbs!

So I'm going to say that it was a hit! =)

Pure Genius!

I thought I would start this blog, that will follow me through my gluten free journey! About 6 months ago I started a gluten free diet. I don't have celiacs disease, but have a lot of stomach problems,and have for many years. My dr.'s think it's Crohn's disease, but tell me it can take 2 years to diagnose! 2 years...of being sick feels like FOREVER! My Mom was very instrumental in my healing process. She did lots of research and read books, and found that for many people who have IBS. Crohn's and other stomach conditions, a gluten free diet seemed to really help their flare ups and condition tremendously.

So here I am....I wasn't expecting much, but to my surprise, the gluten free diet has helped a lot. There's just one problem...sticking to it! I am a girl who LOVES to cook! Especially bake, it's my speciality! It's always been my dream to go to culinary school and own my own little bake shop one day.

Then finding foods to eat...now that's another HUGE problem! My favorite foods are pizza, pasta, anything Italian, bread, and pastries. And let me tell you, that was NOT easy to give up! I can't tell you how many times I went out to eat with family and friends, and gazed longingly at their plate of food. lol Can you imagine that? I would be at a restaurant, and even start salivating over a complete strangers plate of food....all the way across the room! How embarrassing!!!

The thing I miss the most, are my pastries! I miss baking, and creating delicious desserts so much! I really didn't know how to cook gluten free food. All I knew was, I couldn't make these amazing fettucini alfredo's anymore, or my homemade pizza's, or my killer desserts. I began to check out Gluten Free Cookbooks, and to be quite honest, they scared me! I'd flip through and find a dessert or bread that I wanted to make, and it called for things like , sorghum flour, rice flour, potatoe flour, xanthum gum, millet , and the list goes on and on. I had no clue what this stuff was, or even how to find it! To be honest, it seemed like a really scary science experiment. And I began to feel like I was going to need a degree in chemistry in order to be able to make a simple cake!

Then there's the problem of ingredients. I live in a little country town. So small that when a McDonald's was finally built, it was all they could talk about for an entire year! And you can forget finding xanthum gum, or any gluten free foods at our tiny grocery store. It' s a 30 mile drive to get to some of these ingredients, and even further for others! Between the gas and the astronomical prices on some of this stuff, it was out of the question! I couldn't figure out why recipes needed 3 or 4 different types of flour. I was so overwhelmed, that I gave up all together. And I began to really miss what gives me such great joy. Baking!

Today on my trek to Kroger, I found a miracle in a box. Literally! Gluten Free All Purpose Flour! This was BRILLIANT! Why hadn't anyone mentioned this to me before??? This was pure genius! I almost started screaming when I saw it beaming down at me from a shelf! And the price, $3.99 for a box??? Are you serious??? Did I just read that wrong??? That's incredible! Most Gluten Free products are triple the price of normal products.

According to the box, nothing special was needed. No xanthum gum, millet, rice flour, potatoe flour, nothing! Just use in place of regular flour to make your favorite recipe! Could it really be this simple?

I took it home, and began my very first gluten free baking project! Now let me start off by saying, when it comes to cooking, I am a prude! Nothing from a box will do for me! So needless to say, all of the gluten free cake mixes, did not satisfy this culinary queen!

I went home clutching my box of Gluten Free All Purpose Flour to my chest, determined to make something edible. I did as the box instructed, and made one of my favorite recipes, and just substituted GF flour for the regular. I made my famous Hershey's Chocolate Cake mix. I baked 12 chocolate cupcakes, and 1 chocolate cake. And the result, was not only edible, but completely DELICIOUS! I couldn't believe how great it tasted!!!

It gave me a whole new confidence to try some of these recipes. Although, I still don't think I'll be using all of the flours, they still scare me! It gives me flash blacks to science projects gone terribly wrong! But this particular experiment, was a complete success!