A Word of Advice from a Grocery Store Manger

Finding gluten and even lactose free foods these days is becoming fairly easy to find with very little hassle, or at least once you find the right store or combination of stores. I normally try to go the the health store every other week to get all of my produce, meat, dairy free products and gluten free flours. Then I go to Super Target or Kroger store to get paper goods, shampoo, pet supplies, and cheep gluten free cereal. I have also learned that not all stores are the same, even those apart of a chain. The best Super Target for me is a bit further away then the one that is down the street. Also the best Kroger for gluten free products is closer to church then our home. The health store is right down the street so that is really convenient. However, there is a grocery store right across the street. When it's nice out I'll walk over there to get milk for my daughter or eggs when we run out mid week, but they hardly have any selection of gluten free or dairy free items. For those who must know it's an Albertsons. However this could apply to any store in your area, since they are all different.

My husband made a quick trip over there the other day and asked where he could find hemp milk. The manager replied saying they only had soy or rice milk. My husband continued on to ask why there wasn't a big selection of dairy free or gluten free products in the store. To his surprise the manager got passionate about the subject - in a good way - and his eyes started to well up with tears. Apparently he has have been trying to get the whole chain of Albertsons' stores to expand their product line to include gluten and dairy free products, or change vendors, but having little to no success. He says that they email and beg their chain leaders to include these products, but they won't budge. You know why? Because they don't have consumer support.

The manager went on to explain that it is only when the consumer takes the steps necessary to request items that they get bought by the chain.  However, the consumer must take the right steps. Now most of us have gone up to the service counter and asked for gluten free items or for a particular brand, but there is more to it then just asking. Here are all the required steps:

1. Ask for the products that you want to see at the customer service desk or talk to a manager
2. Fill out a formal request form
3. Fill out the survey that is printed on the bottom of your receipt

I'm sure some of us have done all 3 steps, but I'm sure most of us haven't, especially the third. It's that internet or paper trail that comes with steps two or three that makes it's way up the desks of district and regional supervisors, maybe even higher. So next time you go to the store, don't toss that receipt aside, find time to sit down and do the survey. I know it can be hard to fill out the formal request at the store when you have your kids with you, but you can at least do the online survey at your won convenience.

Celiac's are a group of people that let their voices heard, we have accomplished much as far as more availability in grocery stores and restaurant menus, but if you are like me and are finding yourself driving all over town just to get a weeks worth of shopping done, wouldn't it be nice if the store down the street had everything you need and at the right price too? There is still work for us to do to get the word out. We might be reaching the ears of our local store managers, but not their bosses and there bosses. But take heart; your local store manager might be on your side, more so then you thought before. We are valued customers.

Tofu Pumpkin "Cheese" Cake with Ginger Snap Cust

From Stock.xchng

 I love making things that have a surprise ingredient in them that make them super healthy. One of the ingredients that I like to use the most of this is tofu. It is very healthy and it takes on what ever flavors you put it with. So it makes for a great secret ingredient. I think tofu makes for a great alternative to cream cheese and I am always trying to make it into some sort of cheese cakes. This recipe is one that I have perfected and everyone loves. I made this three times last Thanksgiving season. I brought it to scrap-booking night and all of the ladies said they were trying to watch their waistline when they saw my pie. I told them this is practically health food and to go ahead and enjoy. After a few of them gave in and took a few bites they were amazed how great it tasted and wanted to know what made it so healthy. I told them it was made with tofu. Before I know it they all had a slice and some of them had two. The host asked for the recipe and made it for her own Thanksgiving dinner. She said it was the best pumpkin pie she has ever had. My daughter loves it when I make this pie, she loves to lick the beaters.

One important note, I have a deep dish pie pan. If you don't have a deep dish pie pan just double the crust recipe and make two pies.


Tofu Pumpkin "Cheese" cake with Ginger Snap Cust 

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Crust
1 1/2 -2 cups ground gluten free ginger snaps ( I used MI-DEL but you could make your own)
1 Tbs butter or shorting slightly melted

Ground ginger snaps in a food processor or in a freezer bag and beat with a rolling pin. Mix with butter and pat into a 9 inch pie dish that has been greased. Use a measuring cup to pat the crumbs into place. Bake for 7 mins. Let cool before adding filling.

Tofu Pumpkin Filling
14oz silken tofu
1 small can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp pumpkin seasoning
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Drain tofu if it comes in water. With whisk whip tofu until almost smooth (as smooth as you can get). Add sugar and whisk some more till well combined. Add pumpkin and seasoning, except xanthan gum, and mix will. Add xanthan gum and mix for about 30 sec. Pour onto your crust and smooth the top. Bake for 60-70 mins. Center will still jiggle after it comes out, but will set as it cools. The edges should be golden and start to bubble. Let it set for at least an hour before serving.

Cranberry Sauce

From Stock.xchng

As I stated in my blog yesterday, I wasn't a very big fan of cranberry sauce until recently. I use to love the kind that came in a can and you couldn't get me to touch the real thing with a 10 foot pole. Then one year my husband's company had a Thanksgiving potluck at work. He signed up to bring cranberry sauce. I asked him if he wanted canned or homemade. He settled for homemade. I had never made cranberry sauce from scratch before but I had just seen a show on TV that made it look easy, so I gave it a try, but made up my own recipe of what I thought would be good. I just threw some things in a pot with the cranberries and cooked it until it looked done. I didn't try it and I sent it with my husband to his work party. He came home and said he was a hit. There was none left and everyone said it was the best cranberry sauce they've ever made. So I wrote down what I did. Next year at Thanksgiving I made if for my family, and again it was a big hit. It gets requested every year and I now eat cranberry sauce. We use it instead of gravy and it is awesome on turkey. 


Cranberry Sauce
1 bag of cranberries that have been washed
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp salt
1/3-1 cup sugar*

Put the cranberries into a 2 quart pot and add juice, water, salt, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Once boiling bring down to a simmer. Stir occasionally. Once berries have popped and let out their juice taste test and add sugar and stir. Keep cooking the cranberries till they have reduced by half, this should take about 20-30 mins. The sauce should be a deep red and syrup like in texture. Fish out the cinnamon stick and serve.

* The amount of sugar depends on the tartness of the berries. I've had to add 1 1/2 cups for 1 bag of cranberries, but than only needed 1/3 cup for 2 bags. I used organic this time around so that might have made the difference. Just add a little bit of sugar at a time till it is the sweetness you like.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I think I know someone who is ready for some turkey.

Thanksgiving is a week a way. As a person with Celiac I've never been very found of this holiday. Growing up I didn't like cranberry sauce unless it was the jelly kind in a can, I didn't like sweet potatoes, and I can't understand how someone can serve jello as a said dish and call it a salad. I just wasn't a big fan of Thanksgiving foods, until I went gluten free. Now I like all the foods that are served on this important holiday. I've learned to like cranberries and sweet potatoes, and parts of me miss the stuffing, but there are so many good things that are served on our holiday table that I really get excited about. I love Thanksgiving now because I get to spend it with my sister's family and her kids. We all have the same food allergies so we make a complete allergy free meal that everyone likes. My daughter gets to play with her cousins, which is so fun for me to see because I hardly had any holidays with my cousins. I think another reason why this holiday is such a success is that we've completely redone the menu. 

I stumbled upon this poem in an old children's book that made me rethink the food aspect of Thanksgiving. It's called The First Thanksgiving by Margaret Junkin Preston, you can read it by clicking on the tittle. I'm not sure how historically accurate this poem is and I doubt that it is, but Preston did her homework. She names all the traditional food that the Pilgrims might have uses to celebrates special occasions back in their home country and then list all the foods that William Bradford (the first Governor or Plymouth Rock) states they will use instead that can be found in their new home. I think it is brilliant, and makes complete since, how that Pilgrims used what they could find to give God thanks for their first year of survival. They went against the traditions they were use to because they could no longer eat certain foods, not because they couldn't eat them physically, but because they couldn't find them physically. It makes me wonder if we are doing the original preparers of the first Thanksgiving a dishonor by sticking to the foods we think they ate. Considering they most likely had fish and pheasants instead of turkey, and I really doubt they had sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. 


So we do things a little differently for our menu then what is traditional by modern standards. We still have our turkey, but it is range free and organic (probably more authentic compared to the turkeys in the stores). We also have cranberries, but not in a can, and something made with sweet potatoes. No stuffing, but we'll have miso squash rolls. No jello as a salad, but we'll have a very healthy salad with fruits or safe nuts made with a light homemade dressing. Maybe a veggie tray for the kids since they like them raw. We'll still have pumpkin pie, but it might be crust-less with tofu whip. My sister might add some salmon because that is what her kids like. It's not too far from the traditional, but it amazes me how some people get so attached to having the same foods every years. I've tried to have Thanksgiving with other family members and they get so upset if they can't have something that can't be made allergy free. When this happened and it happened last year, it made me stop and think about how so many of us put so much stress on the food and about making the food that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is lost. I think if we could go back in time we might see just how nontraditional the first Thanksgiving is compared to our modern standards.

So lets take a lesson form the Pilgrims and form Paul the apostle and give thanks and celebrate all the many ways God has blessed us in the past year and for the hope that we have. "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phil 4:11b. So no matter if you've had a difficult year or a great year, give thanks with what you have and be thankful, be content. Don't stress if their won't be any stuffing on the table this year or if you can't have whipped cream on your piece of pie, be thankful for all the things that you have and give thanks to God "...but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." 1 Tim 6:17b. And always "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil 4:4

New Twist on the Birthday Cupcake

For my daughter's birthday I wanted to jazz things up a bit but make things easy for me as well. So I made my traditional Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes but I did them in a new way. A friend of mine made these for her daughter's birthday and I thought it was a great idea. Ice cream cone cupcakes. What's not to love? They don't need a wrapper and it's a novel idea. I had the kids decorate their own and they had a blast. I put down a base layer of frosting and then they did the rest.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Follow recipe from Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Gluten free ice cream cones

Here's how to do the rest. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place the cones in a muffin tin and secure with tin foil to keep them upright. Use a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to spoon into the ice cream cones. With the small scoop it was two scoops per cone. Bakes for 30-45 minutes. They take a long time. The normal recipe takes more time then normal none pumpkin cupcakes, but with the cone they take even more time. So check them every 10 minutes after the standard baking time with a toothpick. It is done with the top is solid and the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Take out of the oven and let them cool out of the muffin tin. Makes 14.