Dear Readers,

A big “Thank You” for reading my blog this year. I hope you have found my posts helpful in your efforts to create delicious gluten-free meals. I think we are all changing the notion that gluten-free foods have to be bland, boring, and just plain awful. And I sincerely appreciate all the email, comments, and facebook interactions from you all.

As we wrap up 2011, I thought it would be fun to take a look at my blog’s 10 most popular posts this year.

I wish everyone a very healthy and happy New Year!

#10 Pastry Flour Blend

#9 Potato Flour Substitute

#8 No Boil Lasagna Noodles

#7 Apple Muffins with Crumb Topping

#6 Coconut Water Smoothie

#5 How to heat corn tortillas so they'll roll

# 4 Pumpkin Cake Balls

#3 butter pie crust

#2 Homemade Rice Milk

#1 Refrigerator Pickles

Kitchen Extras Best Gluten Free recipes of 2011

I realize this post isn’t actually about making food (at least not for people), but it is something we made in our kitchen.

Friday was the first day of Winter Break at my house and I am already trying to find activities for my preschooler. If you haven’t had a four-year-old around for a while, let me tell you, they are busy, busy little creatures. And from my experience, it’s far better to find something productive for them to do, before they find something to entertain themselves.

So, today after breakfast we made bird feeders for our backyard. I thought today would be a great day for this craft project, as my kitchen floor was filthy and a bit of birdseed and popcorn wasn’t going to hurt anything.

This task is a bit messy, so if it’s warm enough, it might be best to tackle making bird feeders in the great outdoors, where the actual birds live. This would allow the birds to clean up any mess that was left behind and save you the much dreaded job of mopping your kitchen floor.

The Pine Cone Feeder is a pretty standard homemade bird feeder; in fact I am fairly certain I made some of these when I was in elementary school. We used pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seed. I found bird seed in the bulk bin, so 1 cup cost me under 25 cents; even if you have to buy packaged bird seed, this is a a very inexpensive craft. I should mention, if you have peanut allergies at your house, you can use shortening, lard, or even margarine in place of the peanut butter.

We hung our pine cone feeder among our arborvitaes and the birds have been going crazy over it. In fact, we feel a little bad we didn’t make more, because they are fighting over it.

Pine Cone Feeder:

The finished product is not so pretty, but the birds LOVE it.

Pine Cone Feeder

• pine cone
• a few tablespoons peanut butter (or shortening, lard, margarine, etc)
• bird seed

1. Tie a string or ribbon around one end of the pine cone. Using a knife or spoon, spread the peanut butter all of the pine cone. Roll the pine cone in the bird seed, or for a messier method, sprinkle the bird seed all over the pine cone (as my daughter did).

 

Popcorn Feeder:

The Cranberry Popcorn Feeder was my daughter’s idea after reading about a similar activity in first grade anthology that included the book Popcorn by Alex Moran. And of course after the story, there was a “For the Birds” project. Of the two, this was my favorite, as it is pretty hanging in the bare tree, and far less messy to create.

I simply used some craft wire I had for making necklaces, but you’ll want to make sure the ends aren’t too sharp if the kids are threading the popcorn and dried fruit themselves.

Dried Fruit & Popcorn Feeder

1. craft wire (we used leftover necklace wire, a circle of wire about 6 inches in diameter)
2. 1/4 cup or so popped popcorn
3. 1-2 tablespoons dried fruit

1. Being careful of any sharp ends, thread the popcorn and dried fruit alternately on the wire. Twist the ends together, or insert in fruit so that it forms a completed circle. Tie a string or ribbon if desired before hanging outside.

So, if the kids in your life get a little bored this winter, you might consider spending an afternoon making bird feeders. The project is simple, fun, and affordable. Hey, I am a very not-crafty person, if I can do it, I am pretty sure anyone can.

Cooking With Kids, Kitchen Extras dried fruit and popcorn feeders, pine cone bird feeders

The great Oat Debate. Should Celiacs eat oats or not?

Unfortunately, the more research I do about oats, the more questions I have. I am not an expert or health professional, just a stay at home mom cooking 3 gluten-free meals a day; and then there are snacks and desserts. Let’s just say over the last two years I have created a LOT of gluten-free dishes.  I am really trying my best to make delicious and safe food for my family.

I thought I had the whole oat thing figured out, after all, most new cookbooks say cross-contamination is the issue, not oats themselves. And then there is the “gluten-free oats.” I mean if they can say “gluten-free” they must be okay, right? Well, it seems as if America is one of the few places (perhaps even the only country) that actually allows oats to ever be labeled gluten-free.

My husband doesn’t eat oats, he says he doesn’t care what they are labeled, they make him feel like he ate gluten. So I started thinking and reading about oats and a gluten-free diet and I would love your thoughts on the subject.

So Readers, do you eat oats? And if so do you limit the amount you eat?

Here are a few articles I came across recently that got me questioning the oat issue:

Should Celiacs Eat Oats? Depends on the Oat  by Diana Gitig Ph.D.

The Scoop on Oats by the Celiac Sprue Association

Should celiac sufferers be allowed their oats?
Heather Julia Ellis and Paul J. Ciclitira

Canada’s food labeling laws (gluten-free is section 9.9.4)

Kitchen Extras should celiacs eat oats?

There are many reasons gluten-free baked goods can turn out poorly. And by poorly, I mean crumble, sink, explode, and appear to be useful only as a doorstop.

Sure, there are lots of factors, however, you can simply ruin any baked good by using old baking powder. Yep. If your baking powder isn’t fresh enough, it won’t work properly, making the end result have the wrong texture and rise.

So, if your like me and have no idea how long your baking powder has been sitting on your pantry shelf, do yourself a favor before you tackle your next baking experiment and test your baking powder to make sure it is still fresh enough to do it’s job.

Testing Baking Powder for Freshness

1. Place about 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder in 1/4 cup of hot water. If the baking powder is still fresh, the water will bubble. If no bubbles, throw the baking powder out and buy a new container.

Kitchen Essentials, Kitchen Extras, Kitchen Tips testing baking powder for freshness

As more and more people eat gluten-free, more and more products labeled gluten-free are hitting the shelves. But what does it mean when something is labeled gluten-free?

I suppose a lot of people are misinformed and believe grains that are naturally gluten-free, say corn for example, would be gluten-free. However, how was it transported, handled, stored, milled, packaged, etc? These issues are real and all too often overlooked by companies trying to get a piece of the very lucrative gluten-free pie.

Recently I became aware of a mill (Butte Creek Mill) in my state that grinds flour, including “gluten-free” flours. However, I could not find any information on their website about how they prevented cross-contamination with their gluten-containing products. I love local, small companies, so I was eager to use their products; I emailed them via their website “contact us” form asking how they ensure the gluten-free products are gluten-free. Here is their response:

The only true gluten free items we sell in the store, are things that we have brought in from other companies (packaged items).  We only have one milling room and one packing room, so there could be a dusting of wheat on our products.  If you are celiac, we do not recommend using our products.  We do have many gluten free flours that we mill here, (rice, quinoa, corn, etc.), but once again, they could have a dusting of gluten.
Hope that helps,
Thank you.

Seriously. I was pretty annoyed with this lame response. Personally, I do not believe that companies should be able to market or label items gluten-free when they are in no way ensuring the products are in fact gluten-free. This issue is extremely important for all those with Celiac or wheat allergies and I am hoping that the FDA makes law the proposed “gluten-free” labeling rule which requires that all products labeled gluten-free have less than 20ppm. This is the standard that most countries have in effect.

The FDA is taking public comment (here is the link to the info) on this issue for a next several weeks and I am hoping you’ll join me and take the time to comment the importance of regulating the label “gluten-free.” For all the time, money, and effort we put into preparing safe meals for ourselves or our loved ones, I think we deserve safe products. If they are marked gluten-free, they should truly be gluten-free.

And I should mention there are companies like Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Flour that have precautions and testing in place to ensure the safety of consumers. These companies are going above and beyond any current regulations and I think their efforts should really be praised. Yes, their products cost a bit more than other brands on the store shelves, but when I grab one of their products I know it was batch tested and I feel they are the safest options available to me.

Kitchen Extras gluten-free labeling law