Gluten Free SOFT Bread!!!!

So I finally made a gluten free bread that is so soft and fluffy it will practically melt in your mouth (well almost).  I used a combination of recipes to create my own little GF recipe that the minis loved!

The outside of the bread is crunchy, the center is soft and chewy… the secret is Orgran Gluten Free Self Rising Flour.

Gluten Free Soft Bread

Gluten Free Soft Bread Recipe:

1 C water – room temperature
1 ts salt
3 TB butter, softened
2 TB honey
3 C Orgran Gluten Free Self Rising Flour
1/4 C milk (unfortunately, rice milk did not give the right consistency)
2 TB sugar
1 TS yeast (I use less than a full teaspoon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a loaf pan.
Add yeast, salt and sugar to water and let proof.
In a mixer with dough hook, add water/yeast mix, butter, honey, flour and milk.
Mix until smooth and thick – the mix will not look like bread dough but more like a thick pudding.
Scoop the mix into your loaf pan and let rise for 2-3 hours.
Bake on 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and knife comes out clean.
I butter my loaf while it’s hot to keep it moist and soft.

I’ll see how it holds up being stored… considering I baked the bread at 6pm and it’s now 9pm and half the loaf is gone, I’m probably going to make a few of loaves at a time and freeze the extras.

The Hiatus is Over

Well since October my husband has come home from the Middle East, but he’s only here until January 09 so we’re enjoying our time together.  A-man is still seeing his speech therapist and behavioral specialist… while he did test genetically-negative for celiac disease, the allergist believes he’s definitely got a wheat sensitivity so we’re putting him back on a gluten free diet.  We’ve also seen a neurologist who has told us he’s an Asperger’s kid but we’re doing yet another evaluation to get a proper feel for exactly where A-man is.

What a ride it’s been but I’m ready to take the bull by the horns… I’m beginning A-man’s gluten free diet again tomorrow, I’ve decided to let him eat my homemade pizza twice a month but everything else will be gluten free.  His behavior is unbearable when we let him eat wheat on a daily basis, and it’s obviously negatively affecting his brain so… bye bye wheat and gluten!

My new recipe to try tomorrow – Gluten Free Yellow Cupcakes courtesy of A Gluten-Free Guide.  I’ll have to modify the recipe to make it organic… the recipe calls for Jello brand products which is a no-go in our house.

Gluten Free Vacation

OR NOT!  I swear the next time I go on vacation I’m bringing all of our food.  We visited my biological father and his wife out in Wisconsin 3 weeks ago, we had a blast of course but trying to get the little guy and my niece to eat gluten free foods while out on excursions was quite difficult.  We freqented Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s but it just wasn’t enough when we were out and about and ate at restaurants.  A-man will pretty much only eat chicken fingers when we eat out, he will sometimes eat french fries but the main thing is chicken fingers.  We can’t do pizza, we only order from 2 pizza shops in Delaware b/c they make special pizzas just for my little guy.   We all know chicken fingers are battered in wheat flour, so my niece was having trouble with BMs and rashes, and Austin was going through the motions with his emotions.

Overall we had a great time, besides the problem finding GF foods for two of the kids.  I did just find out that A-man does not have Celiac Disease, but the GI doc does believe he has a hypersensitivity to gluten and wheat so he recommends I drastically limit his gluten intake (which I’ve been doing).  Our next vacation will be planned better in the aspect of food for the little guy!

No Celiac Disease!!!!

The doctor called me on Friday to tell me that our little guy does not have Celiac Disease, thank goodness.  They performed a blood test and a genetic marker test so they are 100% positive that he will never have Celiac.  So the conclusion… he has a gluten hypersensitivity that adversely affects his behaviour.  What a relief, at least I know and I don’t have to worry anymore.  I am still going to keep him on an gluten free diet but I’m going to loosen up a bit on his favorite snacks.

Whoo hoo!!!!!!  A-man can have a bowl of Trader O’s once a week!

Finally – Gluten Free Cereal He Likes

Well it took a vacation to Wisconsin to find a cereal that A-man will eat.  I’ve been on this frustrating journey to find a gluten free cereal that looked like Trader Joe O’s (cheerios) and that tasted good enough for the little guy to eat.  Would you believe it’s Glutino Apple Cinnamon Gluten Free O’s.  Who’d-a-thunk-it?

Glutino Gluten Free Apple & Cinnamon Cereal

So all I had to do was try a different flavor, but I was positive he wouldn’t like the flavored Glutino cereals because he only likes plain flavors.  Guess mommy was wrong!  So anyway, here we are months later and the boy can eat cereal again, which will make my mornings a bit easier.  AliKat likes them too, so we’re all happy now and I can go back to buying one box of cereal for everyone.

A-man Eating Gluten Free Cereal

AliKat Eating Gluten Free Cereal

Gluten Free Pound Cake Recipe

Boy I tell you this cake is soooo good that A-man is eating it for breakfast, of course, we’re calling it ‘bread’ but whatever.  Same difference!  So anyway, the recipe is from Land’O'Lakes but I modified it just a bit as usual.  I’m thinking of substituting 1 C of rice flour with 1 C of sorghum on our next go’round.

Gluten Free Pound Cake Recipe

Pound Cake Recipe:

2 C Sugar
1 C Vegan Buttery Spread (melted) OR 1 C Canola Oil
4 Eggs
4 t Vanilla
GF Flour Blend – 2 C Rice Flour, 2/3 C Potato Starch, 1/3 C Tapioca Starch, 1 t Xantham Gum
2 t Aluminum Free Baking Powder
1 C Rice Milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar and melted butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla; beat until well mixed.

Stir together flour blend and baking powder in small bowl. Gradually add flour mixture alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating at low speed until well mixed.

Pour batter into greased and floured 12-cup Bundt® or 10-inch angel food cake (tube) pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.

Gluten Free Pound Cake – YUM!

Gluten Free Pound Cake

I was in a pinch tonight, it was almost 6pm and A-man was asking for bread…. now he can only have GF bread and of course, I didn’t have any made.  What’s a mom to do???? So I come up with the bright idea to make gluten free pound cake instead, well it’s kind of like bread and it would only take a little less than an hour to get it on a plate for him.  So I threw together a GF pound cake using a Gluten Free recipe from, would you believe it, Land’O'Lakes! Uh yea, I guess you can tell from the photo above that I was in such a hurry that I forgot to flour the pan…. oops!

Let’s just say this recipe is a HUGE hit with the little dude… I’ll definitely be making more gluten free pound cakes around here!  **NOTE: This recipe is also a hit with the adults, GF or not this cake is delish…

A-man LOVING his Gluten Free Pound Cake!