wedding etiquette

A friend of mine is getting married on the weekend, and I have an etiquette question for everyone. Is it ok to bring along some snacks in a bag in case I can’t eat what they’re serving?

Normally, I would assume I should bring whatever I can eat, but I spoke with the bride (I’m friends with the groom) about my food issues and she assured me that there would be options for me. It’s buffet-style, and I’m worried all I’ll be able to have is salad! Even if there is chicken /potatoes/rice/veggies there is usually a spice mixture on those.. which often seem to have gluten hiding in the ingredients, I’ve found. And if they can’t confirm it’s gluten free, I’m not going to eat it.

I was planning on just bringing some snacks and eating them at the table while dinner was happening, but when I mentioned that to my friends last night, it was met with mixed reactions. The groomsmen all said bring whatever you want to eat, but some of their girlfriends thought that was rude and I should just pick around what I can’t eat.

That made me a little worried. Is it ok to bring my own snacks? The wedding starts at 2:30 and then we’re going straight to dinner/reception, and we’ll probably be there until well past midnight. I could hide my snacks, but I really don’t feel like I should have to.

So is it ok to bring along something to eat, and eat it while others are having dinner? I'm not talking about a big elaborate meal - maybe some hummas (for the veggtables I know the wedding will serve), a gf bar, and possibly a bun/roll/muffin.

Chocolate Truffles

I tried my hand at baking today, using a recipe from Canadian Living that I adapted somewhat. Now that it’s Christmas everyone seems to be baking, and I didn’t want to be left out! Although I’ve done some gf baking, I decided to start off with an easy recipe that didn’t call for anything other than dark chocolate, whipping cream, butter and walnuts, and make..

Dark chocolate truffles!

I got this magazine from a girl at work, because she noticed that there was a section of gluten free deserts in it. I took a quick glance at the recipes, and everything looks good, but most called for gf flour mixes. I’m going to try to adapt those recipes with my own flour variations I think, mostly because it will be cheaper. Plus, this way I’ll really learn to cook gf!

Back to the truffles! The recipe called for 16 squares of premium dark chocolate (make sure its gf), but I didn’t have that. I did, however, have 8 of dark and a white chocolate bar from laura secord (a chocolate store, for lack of a better description. They assured me the white chocolate bar I bought was gf). So I decided to do dark chocolate truffles in a white chocolate shell.

I chopped the dark chocolate into small pieces, and put them in a double boiler. I added cream and butter, and mixed until it was well melted and mixed together (the original recipe suggested microwaving on medium for a minute and a half, then taking out and stirring, microwaving for 10 seconds, stirring, etc. until it was done. However, my microwave seems to have 2 settings, just making a loud noise, and burning. So I decided to do it the old fashioned way).

Once the chocolate is melted and mixed, cover and put in the fridge for about an hour, or until firm. I waited a little longer, probably an hour and fifteen minutes, and it worked fine.

Roll the chocolate into 24 balls, and place on a wax-paper covered tray. I used a tablespoon to get portions of chocolate, and it worked really well. Chop and melt the white chocolate using a double-boiler (or the microwave), and then use a fork (or tongs) to dip each chocolate ball into the white chocolate.

Put the completed chocolate onto the tray, and put back in the fridge. Or else, roll it into something like crushed candy canes, nuts, or drizzle chocolate along the top.

It should only take about half an hour to firm up in the fridge. Then you can enjoy!

Christmas traditions

Since this was my first GF Christmas, I was expecting my traditions to work a little differently. My family usually goes to my aunt’s house for brunch before we open presents over there.

Brunch is always an egg casserole type dish (with bread and veggies in it), fruits and yogurt (with granola) and ponnukokur, because we’re Icelandic. Ponnukokur is Icelandic, a delicious brunch/desert item, think a really thin crepe with brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon all rolled up inside, served cold. It’s delicious, but I thought it was gone from my tradition for good.

My aunt, though, made me a special small egg dish (without bread or breadcrumbs), bought gf granola for the yogurt, and made gf ponnukokur for me. She just mixed potato starch and rice flour and used it in place of the regular stuff. It turned out pretty well, it just didn’t hold it’s shape. So I’m going to be experimenting with recipes until I get that one right.

I was amazed at the effort that everyone put in to make sure that I could eat well! I was also really excited to get a gf cookbook from my boyfriend, and one from my aunt. I’ll be trying recipes and posting results on here. Plus I’ll be taking pictures of what I make!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to everyone!

I'm so excited to be starting off another year, and making new resolutions. This year, I'm resolving to learn as much as I can about the gf diet, and to stay as healthy as possible. Eat less processed foods (of the stuff I can eat) and make more things at home. I'm also trying to save money, so that goal ties in well to my new resolution.

I'm also going to start taking some pictures for this blog, and write more often!

mmm... soup

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, I know that I did! Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile, I got really busy with family stuff, plus I got sick with a nasty flu and then strep throat.

This was my first strep throat being gf, and it left a lot to be desired! Thank goodness for my family, because otherwise, I would have been miserable! My previous go-to comfort foods for strep all include some kind of soup, which is now off-limits.

I’ve been meaning to make soup for ages, but I really haven’t had time (ok, I have had time, but I haven’t felt like it). I had made a whole chicken earlier in the fall, and boiled the bones and extra meat bits in a pot on the stove with lots of water, some onions, carrots, and salt and pepper. After boiling all that on the stove for about 5 hours, I strained it, then poured it into ziplock bags (2 cups per bag) and tossed them into the freezer. Since then, I’ve been using the broth in stir-fry, casserole-type dishes, and whenever I need chicken broth. But I hadn’t made it into soup.

So my wonderful brother, after hearing me complain bitterly about my sore throat and the fact that I couldn’t eat, made me some soup. He took 4 cups of broth, added in another 2 cups of water, and started boiling it. Then he cut carrots up into small pieces, and tossed those in (about a cup probably). Onions and celery, and a cup of rice went in as well. I think he added in a dash of tobacco sauce (which he claimed would make me feel better), plus some sautéed garlic (it actually should make you feel better!), some thyme and just boiled it altogether until everything got soft and delicious.

It was really good! If you aren’t sick, you wouldn’t need to add the extra water (like I did) to boil it down. It also looked really easy (from my position on the couch). It lasted me a few meals, and it did help soothe my throat. You could toss in rice noodles instead of rice if you wanted, and add chicken (or turkey).

I will write down exact measurements next time, and take a picture.

Snack Bar reviews

I realized that I’ve only posted one review on here, so I thought I’d better add a few more! I’m new in the corporate world, having just recently graduated from university, and adapting to an 830-430 lifestyle has been a challenge.

I find that I need to have a few snacks to keep me going throughout the day, usually one at 1030, and one around 230. Now that it’s Christmas, I’ve been having a mandarin orange as one snack, and usually, a handful of almonds or apple slices with peanut butter for the other.

But, sometimes I’m in a meeting (or I’m lazy and forget to bring something), so I have a drawer in my desk filled with pre-packaged snack bars. In my pre-gf days, I used to love having granola bars around (in my purse, backpack, car, you name it). I loved the portability and the ease of these snacks (plus, you could roll out of bed, grab one, and be off to class really quickly!).

Now that I’m not eating gluten, I’m not finding the snack bar quite as delicious, but I am finding it more of a necessity. I still keep them in my car, purse, gym bag, etc. but now I rely on them more as foods I can eat when everyone else is eating fast food, or having wings after work, or whatever. I also find that my new snack bars don’t work as well for breakfast (maybe just the kinds I’ve been buying). But, it takes me a lot longer to get ready in the mornings, so it’s not a big deal to eat some fruit and yogurt, or have a piece of gf toast while my hair is drying (I know, I was surprised, too, when I wasn’t allowed to show up to work with my hair in a pony tail and my sweats on, as I did all throughout my university days. At work, you have to look presentable and professional, which can take a little work in the morning!).

I’ve found that, as usual, the gf version of something is way more expensive than the “regular” version. That makes it a little difficult to try a bunch of bars, because I hate spending $6 on 5 bars that taste like a crumbly version of fig newtons. But, I’ve tried a few, and I’ve found some that I actually like!

First up, the lara bar. A larabar has very few ingredients, the first one being dates. I hated dates growing up. Hated them. I didn’t like the taste, the texture, the consistency, or even the colour. But I loved raisons. However, at some point, I began to like dates. Not love, but I can appreciate them. So if you don’t like dates, you probably won’t like this bar.
The next ingredient depends on which bar you’ve got. I’ve tried the apple pie/cherry pie/ pecan pie flavours (because they come in a variety pack at costco, 18.99 regular for 12 I believe, but I got them on special for 14.99), I’ve also tried the banana bread, cinnamon roll, and cashew cookie.

The pros – these bars are all-natural, no added sugar, gluten, dairy, soy free, vegan, and kosher. You feel like they are a healthy choice. And at around 200 calories for a bar, they do taste like a substantial snack (maybe more so for me because I feel like I’m had enough after a few bites, because I don’t want anymore dates). They’re also easily portable, and aren’t really trying to be a “regular” bar substitute. These are a solid fruit and nut bar. They pack a decent amount of iron, usually 8-10% of your daily value (important if like me, your iron levels are always on the low side), plus other good nutritional stats depending on your flavour. It doesn’t melt when it sits in your car for days, and it doesn’t matter if it freezes and then thaws (say when you leave it in your car in the winter). Although those might not be selling points for everyone, it certainly was to me!

The cons – you feel like you could easily replicate the taste yourself by mixing up a bag of dates and crushed almonds (or walnuts, or whatever else you’ve got in your version of the bar). They’re expensive, you can usually find them for about $2 a bar (or less if they’re on sale at costco ), but that’s more then I want to spend on my morning snack (it’s ok if I’m going to have it to replace a meal – or to sustain me when I’m starving). It doesn’t really compare to the granola bars I used to eat (I know, it’s a very different bar concept, but still.).

Overall, a good bar that I will continue to buy when it’s onsale. And probably for when I’m travelling. It’s not trying to be something it isn’t – like a gluten bar. My favorite so far is the pecan pie flavour. I didn’t love the cinnamon roll one (and I thought I would) but maybe that’s because I tried it first, before the bars had a chance to grow on me. I also haven’t tried the chocolate that larabar has (called jocolat, I think) but I’d really like too!

I’ve also tried nature’s path’s envirokidz organic crispy rice bar in peanut butter. I adore peanut butter, but sadly, I didn’t really love these bars.

The pros: It’s a decent sized bar, made with rice, so I was anticipating a peanut-butter rice-crispie treat (which could have been the problem, I was expecting too much from the bar!). The rice is light, the peanut butter flavour is light, and it tastes like a nice, light snack (only 28 grams, compared to the denser 48 grams of a larabar). There are no additives to the bar, and they donate 1 % of the sales to wildlife. Also, there’s a cute picture of a panda on the package! These bars are low in fat, and produced right here in Canada!

The Cons: There really isn’t much to these bars. They’re very light, and won’t keep you full for long. They also don’t pack much in terms of nutrients. Obviously, if you’re allergic to nuts, or can’t have soy or dairy(may contain traces), you’re out of luck with these.

Overall, these are an ok bar. They’re a little closer to what I used to have, and they are a light snack. Granted, I may not be the target market (envirokidz), but I would buy these bars again. They weren’t great, but they weren’t bad.

I'll post more reviews later, because I have tried more bars than this. If anyone has tried anything good, let me know!

Be Careful Using Flour!

I thought up a really great way of using up all the flour I had leftover from my pre-gf days. I decided to make batches of brownies in a jar as gifts for my friends. You know the type, the ones you put in a one litre jar, each ingredient layered so that it looks pretty, with a note attached saying something like add 1 cup milk, one egg, teaspoon of vanilla, and bake for 35 min at 375?

I thought it would be a fabulous way to use up my flour, and make some creative presents. Plus, I only recently graduated from university, and I’m still paying off some debt, so this would be a cheap way to make some gifts.

It started off well enough. I used a plastic funnel to layer the ingredients, put the tops on, and tied a pretty bow around the top. I’d made about four or five when I started to feel a bit sick. Not bad, but a little iffy. That’s when it occurred to me – flour dust! I was inhaling the dust! Which basically meant, I was gluten-ing myself (I know it’s not technically a word, but hey, it works!).

I called my boyfriend in to do the rest of the siphoning of ingredients, and then we scrubbed down the kitchen. I’m not sure that I really could have inhaled enough to actually cause a problem (or if I just got paranoid pains, etc.) – but it occurred to me that if I still worked in a bakery (which I did as a part time job while I was a student), I could have had a real problem! Even if the little bit I inhaled didn’t cause a terrible physical reaction, I’m assuming it was still enough to cause damage.

The gifts turned out great, but I just wanted to warn everyone – if you’re gluten-free, be careful when you’re working with flour! It gets everywhere, and you might accidentally gluten-ate yourself!