Product Review: Bow Beas Cinnamon Rolls

Since moving to Denver, I've had the chance to explore our local grocery store for gluten free goodies. I tend to look for new and exciting sweets (surprise, surprise!). Recently while at our local King Soopers, I came across some delicious looking cinnamon rolls. I am a little wary of gluten free cinnamon rolls because often times they can be chewy and dry. But, my sweet tooth overcame me and I decided to go ahead and try them.

So the next morning I was more than excited to try them out for breakfast. On the packaging it says to keep frozen, I don't really follow those directions. I do keep them in the refrigerator though, so after warming them up for 30 seconds in the microwave, the moment of truth came. Will they be chewy or not?

Well, much to my delight, they were NOT chewy. In fact, they were quite soft and gooey. Just the way you'd want a cinnamon roll to be! It had lots of the sticky cinnamon filling throughout the roll.

I was very impressed with the quality of the cinnamon roll. Really just needed that cream cheese melted icing over the top to make it perfect! Overall though, I would highly recommend, if you're ever in the Denver area, to look up Beas Bows brand of cinnamon rolls. It will be worth the trip to the grocery store!

Sugar and Spice: An Update

Things have been busy here at Sugar and Spice, a lot has changed since our last post.

Lara moved back to Kansas City and added a little spice to her family! He already has the passion to cook like his mom and dad. We joke he's going to be the next Alton Brown!

I added a little sugar to my family as well! Recently though, we had to move away from family in Kansas City for the health of our daughter. We are now residing in the Denver area.

With all the changes that have happened the last few years our blog has been out of mind for a bit.  Now with both of us raising gluten free children, traveling to different parts of the country and being able to explore the local Denver gluten free scene, it has renewed our blogging spirit. You can look forward to new blogs on products, restaurants, having children gluten free and maybe even some new videos will come your way! We look forward to sharing with you all that we have discovered when it comes to living an adventurous life gluten free!

Gluten Free Sister's Cooking Show: GF Eclairs

In this episode we decided to do something a little different and do a theme, so we decided on a French theme (it's explained why in the video). We tried to think about good French desserts that we would like to have that we can't have anymore, so we finally decided on eclairs. We were a little nervous to make them just because we didn't know how they would turn out - as many of you know gluten free baking doesn't always taste quite the same as normal gluteny baking. But in the end we were extremely pleased with how they came out. There are a number of different steps it took to make them but overall it wasn't difficult and they were quite tasty  I was even told by my gluten eating husband that I must make him eclairs once a month now. :) I think I'll stick to making them for me though. :)

Hope you enjoy our latest episode of Gluten Free Sisters Cooking Show - this time brought to you from Springfield, MO.

Here is the recipe: Original recipe is from www.glutenista.com

FOR THE PASTRY:

• 1 Cup & 2 Tablespoons Gluten-Free Flour - VERY important! See note at bottom
• 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1 Stick Butter (Unsalted)
• 1 Cup Water
• 4 Eggs, Room Temperature

FOR THE FILLING:

• 5 oz box Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 2 1/2 Cups Milk
• 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Gluten-Free Vanilla Extract

FOR THE CHOCOLATE TOPPING:

• 2-4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
• 2-4 Tablespoons Butter

Time for some baking!!

PASTRY:

1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
2. In saucepan over medium-high heat, boil Butter, Sugar, Water & Salt
3. Remove from heat, add flour & stir like heck for TWO minutes
4. Place dough in bowl of Stand Mixer & beat at medium speed for ~1 minute 
5. While mixing -  add eggs one at a time, giving them time to absorb
6. Keep mixing until dough is smooth & sticky (if it looks like mac & cheese, keep mixing!).  Refrigerate dough for a few minutes to make it easier to work with.

Using a Pastry Bag with 1" tip, pipe out dough into logs on baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  ~2 inches for mini-eclairs and ~5 inches for large gluten-free eclairs

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes

Reduce heat to 325 and bake eclairs for 20-30 minutes longer, until brown.

Remove from oven, place on rack to cool & pierce a few small holes in eclair to let steam out. 

FILLING:

• Make Vanilla Pudding: Combine Pudding Mix & Milk, let firm up in fridge for at least 5 minutes
• Place Cream in a mixer & whip (med-high speed) until soft peaks form
• Mix in Powdered Sugar & Vanilla
• Fold in Vanilla Pudding

Time to Fill Pastry!!

• You can either cut the eclair in half and spread on some filling OR we filled a pastry bag with the filling and then filled the inside of the eclair with the filling. You will most likely need to fill each end of the eclair to get even dispersement of the cream. 

CHOCOLATE ICING:

• Melt Chocolate in Microwave starting with 30 seconds, mixing, then moving to 10-15 second increments
• Add in Butter & stir until melted
• Dip top of eclair in chocolate (pour chocolate onto plate if needed)
• Enjoy immediately!  Those that you don't eat keep best if frozen. 

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE FLOUR

• You must use a Gluten-Free Flour or a Flour Blend that behaves like gluten-y flour! What does this mean? usually Xanthan Gum. We used our Domata flour and it worked great! The original recipe called for Jules GF flour mix - just make sure your flour mix contains xanthan gum!

Success!! How I've been able to be gluten-free

I am proud to say that I've been gluten-free for a little over month!  As anyone who has tried to go gluten-free or make any kind of lifestyle change knows - it's tough!  Every day it gets a little easier and every little change is cause for a celebration.

During that time I've confronted several challenging situations.  Dinner at Red Lobster where I didn't eat the cheddar biscuits, a work training where I sat in front of a table full of pastries, a potluck with cookies, cakes, and pies, plus tons of other small encounters where I had a choice between staying gluten-free or eating gluten.

I thought I would write a blog sharing the coping skills I've used for myself to reach this accomplishment.  No skill works every time, in every setting, or for every person.  That's why having a series of skills to chose from helps lead to success.

Most of my coping skills are skills I've gathered from my work as a therapist.  I recommend my client's to use these every day in their lives - it only made sense to use them on myself!

1 - Focus on CAN rather than CAN'T - This was a major hurdle for me and the shift that really got my momentum going. When I first began thinking about going gluten-free I felt like I was swimming in a sea of "can't".  Can't eat this, can't eat that, this has gluten, that has gluten, etc. etc. etc.  I started to feel like I was just going to starve.  When I focused on all the things I couldn't have I got pretty depressed and obsessed.  That led to many 'screw it' moments - which is when I just couldn't deal any more, said 'screw it' and ate some gluten.

By turning my mind (a DBT skill for my counseling coworkers!) I instead tried to focus on all of the foods I COULD eat.  I found gluten-free foods that I was excited about.  It was a completely different feeling. Rather than disappointment and frustration.  I instead felt excited and proud.  I was in control.  There are plenty of naturally gluten-free foods and more and more gluten-free products on the shelves.  I got excited about Crunchmaster 7 grain sea salt crackers, Trader Joe's Gluten-free Snickerdoodles, and many other products.  Now I look forward to the hunt - hunting for new and delicious gluten-free foods. I'm excited and a little proud about my meals.

2 - Out of sight out of mind - This seems simple - but it is so true.  If I don't see something I forget about it eventually.  Our trip to Red Lobster was probably the hardest.  I love cheddar biscuits - I think I could just eat those for dinner and be happy.  The minute the waitress brought that little basket to our table we moved it off to the side behind my husband's drink.  It wasn't taunting me or tempting me into eating it.

3 - Change in Scenery - In my town, Springfield, MO there are a lot of great sushi places - at least 4 or 5. I can't explain why - but we do.  One of my favorites is Haruno's and my 2 favorite rolls are the Miami and Sex and the City  The Miami is a battered and deep fried roll, and the Sex and the City roll has tempura shavings on it.  Obviously - neither one of these rolls is going to be gluten free.  I  used to eat here at least weekly with a good friend - I'm pretty emotionally attached to both the restaurant and these rolls.  About a week a ago I had a craving for some sushi.  I knew if we went to Haruno's I would either order something gluten-free and be disappointed because it wasn't my Miami or Sex and the City Roll. Or I'd just say "screw it" and eat them anyway.  I did not want either of these outcomes.  So, rather than torturing myself I decided to go to a new sushi place I'd been wanting to try.  I wasn't attached to anything on this menu - it was all new!  I was able to feel excited about the new foods I could try that were gluten-free.  Does this mean I'll never eat at Haruno's again?  No - of course  not.  I'll go again when I am more secure in my gluten-freeness.

4 - Share - This is probably the second biggest help in my success.  I'm not ashamed or afraid to tell people about my desire to be gluten-free.  I try to be open and honest.  Do I think people should bend over backwards to accommodate me?  Absolutely not!  But, keeping it hidden makes me feel like an outcast.  Only it's me casting myself out.  Last week we had a little Valentine's Day party at a work meeting.  My staff was telling me all about the Valentine's themed snacks they were going to get for everyone - yummy cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc.  I very politely asked if maybe she could pick up a little thing of chocolates as well.  It both fit the theme and would be OK for me to eat.  Just like would be done for a diabetic, vegetarian, etc. Nothing fancy or complicated.

5 - Support - This fits in with sharing.  Any kind of lifestyle change is hard to do alone.  Having people around to support (and sometimes positively peer pressure you) you makes all of the difference.  There have been moments when I wanted to just 'screw it' and I was held in check by my sister - Courtney.  She helped remind me why I'm making this choice.  Or my loving husband, Matthew.  I was able to not eat those delicious pastries at my work training because several coworkers sitting next to me were trying to eat healthy.  The group of us together supported each other into not giving in - despite sitting through the whole training smelling cinnamon rolls.

These skills aren't magic.  I have my moments when I'm struggling - as everyone does.  Maintaining a positive outlook, not tempting myself, sharing my success and struggles, and finding support has helped me reach and maintain my goal of being gluten-free.

Product Review: Bisquick

This week I decided to try using my Bisquick gluten free mix in several different ways.

 I originally I was going to make one of my favorite breakfast items, blueberry pancakes, but forgot to buy some blueberries at the grocery store. I realized my mistake as I was making the pancakes!  I had some frozen strawberries in the freezer and I hadn't had a homemade Belgian waffle in a very long time, so it was a good replacement.

I was very impressed with the Bisquick and the final product. The waffles turned out a golden yellow, soft and very delicious. The only thing I was disappointed in was the actual cooking process. I used my George Foreman grill and it took way to long to cook the waffles but they still turned out great. I'll probably look into buying a different waffle griddle for next time though.

They were nice big waffles and of course after adding the strawberries, I had to add plenty of whipped cream to make it a real Belgian waffle in my eyes. :) I would highly recommended making some waffles with the Bisquick mix. Easy, convenient and delicious!

Later on in the week I decided to try the Bisquick in a different way. While cooking the waffles, I looked at the box and it had several different recipes listed on the box. It had pancakes, biscuits, oven baked chicken and then one I tried, Chicken Strips. I don't think I have ever had homemade chicken strips so this was going to be an adventure for me, but I was excited to try them.

The coating for the chicken was really simple: Bisquick, Parmesan Cheese, Paprika and Garlic Salt. Add a bowl of egg for dipping the chicken in and some chicken strips and WALLAH! Yummy chicken strips. I used three chicken breasts cut into strips, which ended up making two cookie sheets of chicken strips. Plenty for dinner and even leftovers later in the week.

I was happy to see how easy it was to put everything together. The nice thing about this recipe is it's easy to modify to add variety and different flavors to the chicken. I'm thinking about making a coconut coated chicken next time. The hardest part for me was actually cutting the chicken into strips. I really hate raw meat but I was a big girl and cut it myself but did have some random "This is really gross" noises as I was cutting. I think next time I might look into buying frozen chicken tenders so I don't have to do any cutting. :)

After the chicken had been in the oven for only about 5 minutes I could already smell the Parmesan and paprika it was amazing! Once done, I added some honey mustard for a little extra flavor. It really didn't need the extra flavor but it was delicious still with the honey mustard. I ended up using Koops brand of honey mustard (bought at Hy-Vee) and it even says "Gluten Free" on the bottle!

Overall I'm very satisfied with my different "experiments" with my Bisquick mix. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other recipes listed on the box while tweaking the ones I have tried to create new and exciting breakfasts and dinners.

Restaurant Review: Jazz

Recently Lara and I went to the restaurant called Jazz in Kansas City. Since we went together we thought it might be fun to write a review about our gluten free experience together!

Us (Lara and Courtney) with our Gluten-free menu at Jazz.

Courtney:

Courtney with her delicious blackened chicken meal.

I was given the task of finding out if Jazz had gluten free options. When I went to their website and looked at their menu there was no indication that they had gluten free options. There were things that looks like they could be gluten free but you just never know. So finally after putting it off (because yes that insecure girl inside didn't want to call), I called the restaurant asking if they had gluten free options to find out they had a whole gluten free menu!! Now that was a great surprise!

Once at the restaurant I was pleased to see all the different options that I could eat. I finally decided on the blackened chicken that came with new potatoes and steamed vegetables. Make sure you mention when ordering that you are ordering gluten free. When my plate was brought out to me there was rice instead of potatoes and apparently the rice is not gluten free. The waitress immediately caught it, apologized and told me her manager was going to re-make my plate. It wasn't too long before my plate came out again. I was very pleased to see how the waitress had remembered and made sure to take care that my food was gluten free.

The chicken was delicious too! It had just enough spice on it for it to be blackened and taste Cajun but not so much that it was overpowering and just burned my mouth. Overall, I was very pleased with my experience at Jazz. I'm excited to be go back and try other menu options with the peace of mind knowing they care and understand about how their dishes need to be gluten free.

Courtney getting ready to taste the blackened chicken... here it goes.....

Lara:

I was very impressed with the gluten-free choices.  The menu wasn't as large as the regular menu - but I didn't feel deprived.  Especially considering that it is a "New Orleans" style restaurant, I was worried everything would be deep fried.

I decided to go out on a limb and try something completely different:  Oysters on the Half Shell for my my main course - Shrimp and Scallop Pontchartrain.  Pontchartrain means shrimp sauted in a tequila lime cream sauce.  It was so different - I just had to try it!

The Pontchartrain typically comes with rice - which isn't gluten-free at Jazz.  So, my meal came with garlic mashed potatoes instead.

Down it goes!

Oysters on the half shell take a little getting used to.  They were served on ice with lemons and a cocktail sauce.  I have a bit of an issue with texture when it comes to food so I'm surprised I enjoyed these.  It was the cocktail sauce that made this for me.  Added just enough flavor.

The Shrimp and Scallop Pontchartrain was OK.  Without the rice it had a more soupy consistency than I would have preferred   I felt like I had to leave a lot of the flavor and meal on the plate than I would have liked.  The garlic mashed potatoes were delicious!  But, they didn't really fit with the flavor of the Pontchartrain.  I enjoyed my meal - but were I to go back I would order something different - probably the Cajun Sirloin.

Me (Lara) with my meal!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (left) - Shrimp and Scallop Pontchartrain (Right)

Grandma:

We've mentioned our Grandma - Mildred a few times in our blog - since she was the first in the family to be diagnosed with Celiac disease.  She had never gone to a restaurant with a dedicated gluten-free menu so it was a "special treat" for her to visit Jazz with us.  She ordered the Grilled Chicken meal - with vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.  She stated "It's good!".  She seemed to really enjoy the meal!

Grandma Mildred with her tasty food!

Our experience at Jazz was very positive.  A large gluten-free menu, knowledgable and friendly staff, also reasonably priced.  Can't beat it!

So, if you ever visit KC - take a trip out to Jazz!

Check out their other locations in Omaha, Columbia, & Lubbock, TX (where they first began)

When the girls are away, the editor will bake.

This is not Lara.

This is her cameraman, editor, and husband ... Matt.

As an early Christmas present I thought I would shoot myself.  With a camera.  Geez, gotta watch the phrasing.

Anyway, as I post this now, she is still completely unaware that this video exists.  She will watch it for the first time along with many of you.

Full recipe to follow:

Gluten-free White Chocolate Egg Nog Cookies

Wet Ingredients:

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1/4 cup brown sugar

* 3/4 cup butter

* 1/2 cup egg nog

* 2 egg yolks (save whites)

Dry ingredients:

* 2 1/4 cup of GF Flour mix

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Flavorings:

* 1 tsp rum extract (using vanilla would be fine too)

* 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Eggwash:

* 2 saved egg whites

* 1 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:

Cream the sugars and the butter.  Then mix in egg nog and egg yolks.  Sift the dry ingredients, then add slowly into the wet ingredients.  Once the dough is well mixed, put in extract and chocolate chips and mix briefly to integrate.

Chill dough for about an hour.  Once chilled, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and scoop onto your parchment paper covered cookie sheets.  Using a brush do a light coat of the egg wash/nutmeg blend.  Bake around 11 minutes, rotate for even baking, then bake for another 11 minutes.  Allow to cool, if you have the willpower.  Eventually you eat them.  Or at this point, do whatever.  I'm not going to tell you how to live.

-Matt