lpellegr

Yes! The Time Traveler's Wife was great!

The Omnivore's Dilemma (nonfiction)

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (and any of his travel books - very funny)

Hawaii by James Michener

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (or any of her books)

The series featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (I started with The Body Farm, although that's not the first in the series - it will get you started)

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I had this on my iPod and I would startle people by laughing out loud .

I second anything by Orson Scott Card. I just wish he would write the last Alvin Maker book! Start with Seventh Son.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (nonfiction)

When I was first diagnosed I went out and got 3 Bette Hagman books (The Gluten-Free Gourmet (GFG), More from the GFG, and the GFG Cooks Fast and Healthy) and have since added her baking book. I tried a lot of her bread recipes, and found a few that work consistently well, but overall there will be a lot of failures when you bake gluten-free bread, even with the same recipe. I find that cutting the yeast in half helps me avoid the over-rising and catastrophic falling, but that may not work for everyone. Here are some Bette Hagman recipes I like and what they are good for:

From the GFG:

Four Flour Bread is only good to slice and eat on the first day, but it crumbles really well if you use a lot of bread crumbs, like I do. I often make this just to break it down to crumbs. It also makes good croutons - cut it into cubes, dry it out at 250, and saute in oil with seasonings and store in a bag or canister.

Almost Pumpernickel is great, and actually lasts well for a few days at room temperature. A decent replacement for rye bread. Not as sturdy though - the first half of my Reuben was great, but the second half started falling apart.

From More from the GFG:

Caraway Soda Bread is good, moist with a fine crumb, and has a texture like biscuit on the day it's baked, but is good for slicing after that for a few days. You can even use it for sandwiches.

Rapid-rise French Bread is very good - make it in long baguette pans, then tear it apart while warm. It has a crisp crust and soft inside when hot out of the oven. When cool, cut it the long way and make french bread pizza, which freezes well (reheat at 425 for 15-20 minutes).

From the GFG Cooks Fast and Healthy:

Easy Pizza Crust is good if you like thick doughy pizza crust.

Salem Crumpets make great hamburger buns or English muffin replacements - they are light and fluffy inside and freeze well.

From the GFG Bakes Bread:

Oregon Bread is good if you want a loaf full of seeds and nuts.

Hope this helps. Each of these recipes works most of the time, but not 100%, but you can always make crumbs or croutons.

Don't double the yeast when you make a double recipe. It's counter-intuitive, but whenever I have seen instructions for doubling a bread recipe that's what it says. I have found by accident that cutting the yeast in half for any gluten-free bread recipe gives me a nice loaf that doesn't fall and doesn't have as many huge pockets inside. I think with more yeast the gas bubbles form more quickly and get larger, and with no gluten to keep tension on those bubbles they can just stretch like crazy.

Neither company seems to want to comment on their gluten status, but I have made lasagna with Sorrento and several store brands with no ill effects. I think the vinegar they use is the only questionable ingredient, at least for the regular ones. The non-fat or low fat ones probably have some sort of starch added which you will also have to check. Most likely okay if the label doesn't list wheat.

This one from Bette Hagman is really good. It makes two crusts, but you can use half the dough and freeze the other half in a lump and it still works well when thawed.

1 cup white rice flour

3/4 cup tapioca flour

3/4 cup cornstarch

1 rounded t xanthan gum

3/4 t salt

1 T sugar

3/4 c shortening (Crisco works fine)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 T vinegar

2 - 3 T ice water (or as much as it takes)

Blend together all the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or your favorite method. Mix the egg and vinegar together and add to the dry ingredients and mix. 1 T at a time, add the cold water, until the dough holds together in a ball and you can make all the dry pieces stick to it.

Cut the ball of dough in half. You can wrap one half in plastic wrap at this point and freeze. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll it out in whatever way works for you: between two rice-flour dusted sheets of plastic wrap, or my way is to sprinkle some water drops on the counter and spread a piece of wax paper over it (the water helps it not slide around), flour the wax paper, roll the dough out on that with enough rice flour to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Put it in the pan by peeling off the top sheet of plastic if you used it, lay the empty pan upside down on the crust, slip your hand under the bottom sheet and flip the whole thing over, then peel off the plastic or wax paper.

For a pre-baked crust, bake 10-12 minutes at 450. Otherwise put your filling in and bake as usual.

Rebecca Reilly's gluten-free flour:

2 cups brown rice flour or chickpea flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch.

OR

1 cup chickpea or Garfava flour

1 cup brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Or Bette Hagman's mix, or whatever works for you.

This is from Rebecca Reilly's "Gluten-free Baking". She adapted it from the Moosewood Cookbook. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks good. She makes it as 2 9 x 5" loaves, so it ought to make lots of muffins. She says she sometimes has extra batter and makes muffins.

1 cup milk

3/4 cup poppy seeds

2-3/4 cups basic gluten-free mix (hers from the book, but many would probably work)

1/2 cup almond flour

1 T baking powder

3/4 t xanthan gum

1/8 t salt

2 sticks butter

1-1/3 cups packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1/2 t vanilla

grated zest of 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 9x5 loaf pans and line with parchment paper.

Heat the milk and add the poppy seeds. Let cool until just warm

Mix together the gluten-free mix, almond flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.

Cream the butter until white. Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the dry ingredients in 2 parts, alternating with the poppy seed and milk mixture. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest.

Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until done; the top should spring back when pressed gently. The muffins will take 15 to 18 minutes to bake.

Darn. Now I want to make some. Time to go buy lemons.

Do you think this would work with "sour" milk (1t vinegar in a cup of milk, let curdle) or buttermilk powder in place of fresh buttermilk? Not something this Jersey girl has around the house.

You might be able to put your bread pan on a heating pad set to low, or put the pan over a bowl of hot water. Try setting it on top of the dryer while you run it. And definitely check your yeast - if it's too old or dead it just won't grow.

This is tough if you have to eat with one hand while you drive - kind of eliminates anything that takes utensils or is wet. I think rolled up lunchmeat or strips of precooked chicken or ham are going to be your best bet for filling, nutrient dense finger food, accompanied by fruits and veggies that are precut so all you have to do is open a container and leave it on the seat next to you and reach in.

Apples, plain or sliced and spread with peanut butter. Bananas, pre-peeled. Sweet pepper rings, baby carrots, cucumbers, grapes, grape tomatoes, quartered hard boiled eggs, raw broccoli or cauliflower bites, celery chunks. I don't recommend dipping in dressing while you drive, though.

Takes a little thinking the night before or in the morning, but some of these things can be cut up and bagged on the weekend, just grab and go.

Carry Larabars or other energy bars for when you forget. Toss in little individually packaged cups of fruit or tuna or Bush's beans (not bad cold) with plastic utensils to take to your next class if you need more and can eat there. Stow some bags of peanuts and raisins for snacks.

It's all healthy stuff, no dairy, no soy, no grains, no gluten. Oh, okay, a Snickers bar once in a while. Find some fruits, veggies, and meats that you like and spend an hour Sunday cutting and bagging and you'll be set for the week.

The vitamins themselves are gluten-free, but you will have to decide how comfortable you are about them being processed in the same facility as wheat. That said, I take them with no problem.

You can get along without expensive gluten-free specialty foods if you stop trying to substitute gluten-free products for similar "normal" ones. Instead of replacing your normal sandwich bread, just eat the sandwich filling without any bread. Roll up the ham and cheese with a piece of lettuce. Scoop the tuna salad up with carrot sticks or celery. Spread the peanut butter on apples. Instead of pasta, put your tomato sauce on spaghetti squash or zucchini, or rice or polenta. Instead of breakfast cereal or toast or bagel have eggs or a bowl of plain yogurt with nuts and fruit or even leftovers from last night's dinner. I have made mini pizzas from hash-brown patties topped with sauce and cheese and my kids begged to share it. You can find fruit, veggies, meat, cheese, and eggs at any store. It takes a while to make the change, but some day you'll look back and not even have any interest in things you used to eat, and it will cost less. Yes, make the $6 brownies, but eat a few and put the rest in the freezer for later. Keep a box of Nut Thins crackers on hand, but don't eat them every day. In the long run you will eat healthier and safer and cheaper. Sorry to sound preachy, but man, that stuff is expensive and low in nutrition anyway.

I believe I read some time back that Tom's of Maine toothpastes are gluten-free except the children's strawberry - they said the vinegar that was part of the flavoring might not be. This is my memory though - check with them to see for sure.

Just in case any of you home bakers are thinking of trying this, I'm getting repeatedly good results from using 1t of yeast whenever 1 packet or 2-1/4 t are called for. I let it rise just to the top of the pan, which takes a little longer than if you used more, and it doesn't over rise in the oven. I may even get sandwiches out of today's loaves!

Mrs. Leepers alphabet noodles have changed, and not for the better. The old ones looked just like regular alphabet noodles, but I bought a case of them from Amazon because I couldn't find them in stores any more, and the noodles are much bigger and break up into tiny pieces once you stir the soup. At that price I'll keep using them, but I'll think bad thoughts about Mrs. Leeper when I do.

With high hopes I bought a box of Cream Hill gluten-free oats and made oatmeal scones. They were delicious, but I reacted like I had been glutened. Very disappointing. But I went ahead and ate the rest of the scones anyway, since I figured I was already screwed! So some of us can't eat them, even if they are gluten free. Must be Mother Nature having her little laugh at me after 30 years of eating three bowls of Cheerios every morning.

Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries is in the shopping center at the intersection of Parkway and Scotch Road in Ewing. A little further down Parkway is a small shopping center (with Marrazzo's grocery store) with Simply Natural, a health food store with some gluten-free stuff. On Quakerbridge Road is a place called DeLiteful Foods, which carries all kinds of diet and special foods. They have lots of gluten-free stuff, although you have to watch for expiration dates. They have freezers full of gluten-free breads and lots of stuff I haven't seen anywhere else except the web.

Nasty as they might sound to some, pork rinds are also crunchy and salty and entirely carb-free!

Yes, be careful. I found barley in lentils from Whole Foods, and they admitted that they were processed on the same equipment. I have also heard that Goya should be avoided, but I don't know if this applies to the dry beans.

pm me and I will send you the crumpet recipe. You can use 4" round cookie cutters as molds, or fold foil into 1" strips and make circles out of them. If you have a hamburger bun pan you can use that. You don't have to go out and buy english muffin rings. You could probably even use tuna cans with both ends cut out and washed but they will be a little smaller. I understand all about being a tightwad! That's why I persist in baking my own or doing without rather than paying exorbitant prices for gluten-free bread!

If you have a fridge and/or microwave in your room I'd recommend going to a grocery store. Look for packets of tuna, individual servings of baked beans, fruit cups, peanut butter, cheese slices or sticks. Dinty Moore beef stew and some of the shelf-stable dinners are gluten-free. Yoplait yogurt. Box of Nut Thins crackers for the peanut butter, bag of apples, cans of peanuts, juice boxes, gluten-free cereal (Koala Crisp or Gorilla Munch are in most stores), big bag of Pirate Booty for bedtime snack. Lara Bars or Clif Nectar bars if you can find them - many are gluten-free.

In most restaurants you can get a steak or a burger without bun - explain to them what you must avoid. For breakfast, fried or hardboiled eggs (so you know they're not mixed with anything bad - avoid scrambled and omelets) and fresh fruit. If there is an Outback Steakhouse, PF Chang's, or Charlie Brown's they should have a gluten-free menu. It never hurts to ask. Most of the time you can get a salad with no croutons and oil and vinegar dressing. Chicken or fish without any marinade or coating, cooked in a clean pan with clean utensils should also work. Baked potato that hasn't been cut (you don't know where the knife has been). In a Chinese restaurant you can get steamed veggies with meat or shrimp in white sauce - avoid all the soy sauce.

Hope this helps - I know how aggravating travel can be. I pack a giant fanny pack (my kids call it the Fanny Pack 3000) with gluten-free crackers, tuna cups, cheese sticks, Larabars, and whatever else doesn't need a fridge or heat, and some plastic utensils and napkins, so wherever we go, I'll have something if everything on the menu looks unsafe (like in a diner where everything is breaded or fried with the breaded stuff).

Well, if there is gluten-free pizza in the Trenton area, I haven't heard about it in the 3+ years I've needed it. Jules in Newtown is probably the best you'll get unless you make your own or buy frozen. I haven't been there yet. There is very little consistently gluten-free restaurant food in the area except for the chains - there is PF Chang's at Marketfair (which is where I ask to go if someone wants to eat out), and in Ewing there is Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, where the bunless burger is safe and the fries are just potatoes and peanut oil, and fantastic, especially if you haven't had fast food fries in a while. Charlie Brown's on route 1 near Princeton has a limited gluten-free menu. Whole Foods on Rt one has a frozen section of their own gluten-free baked goods, and the pizza crusts are not bad - a little dense, but they hold the toppings.

Forget cereal. Eat leftovers, lunch and dinner foods, eggs, etc - you'll stay fuller longer. You can scramble together a box of thawed chopped spinach, a handful of grated cheese, 6 eggs, and some cooked sausage chopped into bites until it's all cooked on Sunday, put it in the fridge, and scoop it out and warm up a bowl of it for the next 4 days. Van's gluten-free waffles with cream cheese or peanut butter. Bowl of plain yogurt (try Greek strained yogurt but not the non-fat kind) with nuts and fruit of your choice. gluten-free corn tortilla microwaved with a slice of cheese and a slice of ham, then rolled up. These don't take much longer than cereal and will keep you full and probably cost you less. I keep cereal (Rice Crunchem's and Mesa Sunrise) around for those few times I don't have anything else to eat. And I used to eat 3 bowls of Cheerios every morning and then be starving by 10:30. Now I eat this stuff and I'm not hungry before noon.

And how much were they? Every time I've seen them I've just about swallowed my tongue when I saw the price. At the price of these suckers, I learned to live without crackers.