Yeast free what?

Oh boy, it's been a while, huh? And around this time of year, I guess it's to be expected. I mean, when I'm dealing with the holiday craziness a la Mexican-style (and with all the bilingual craziness that comes with it) I'm happy to come out on the other side of Christmas still standing.

At least I was thinking sort of about The Celiac Kid while I was away on my little crazy-land vacation from blogging. And maybe because of the constant running around lately and my hurried grilled cheese sandwiches or gluten-free mac and cheese lunches for Buttercup as of late, I decided to be a good Celiac Mommy and actually make he a real dinner last week.

I know. I should be up for a Mother of the Year award.

So, I cracked open my Cooking Light: 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook and got to work on a gluten-free version of this deep-dish casserole pizza.

The ingredients called for:

*1 pound of ground round
* 1 (15-ounce) can chunky Italian-style tomato sauce
* Cooking spray
* 1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
* 6 (1-ounce) slices part skim mozzarella cheese (divided)

According to the directions:

*Cook the meat in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain, if necessary, and return to skillet. Add tomato sauce and cook until hot.
*While meat cooks, coat a 13X9X2-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza dough and pres into bottom and halfway up sides of baking dish. Line bottom of pizza dough crust with 3 slices mozzarella cheese. top with meat mixture.
*Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 12 minutes. Top with remaining 3 cheese slices, and bake 5 additional minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melts. Cool 5 minutes before serving.


Now, I've made this recipe before and I LOVED it. (And it helps that the carb count is below 30 grams per serving.) But that was in our pre-Celiac days, and I haven't had the chance to make it since The Celiac Dad was diagnosed. I ran to Kroger with my shopping list in hand and came home with French Bread & Pizza Mix from The Gluten Free Pantry and got to work on the dough while the organic ground sirloin I substituted for the ground round was cooking on the stove.

If you decide to try this one for yourself, don't forget to check the ingredients on your cooking spray, as many contain gluten. To save myself the hassle of reading yet another label, I just substitute olive oil in a Misto sprayer.

Sure, making the dough itself basically took all 15 of the minutes this recipe was supposed to take me to complete before popping it into the oven, but what's a little extra effort every now and then?

The dough was downright paste-like, but I eventually got it all together and out of the oven.

And while I was letting this slice cool so I could cut off a little chunk for Buttercup's dinner...

...I noticed the packet of yeast I left behind my mixing bowl while I prepared the dough.

Yeah, I rolled my eyes, too. Buttercup, however, has no complaints. She loves it and is happy whenever I take an individually frozen piece out to thaw for her meal, which makes me happy my time, effort, and money wasn't wasted.

And that brings me to the money. Usually, it's much cheaper to cook at home than to get take-out. For the $25 you spend on pizza, pop, bread sticks, and salad, you most likely could have fed your family a few meals you prepared yourself.

Not so with Celiac Disease. The pizza mix from The Gluten Free Pantry was about $6 alone, and then I added to the cost by going organic with my meat choice. So that rang up at $5 for 1 pound of ground sirloin. By the time I was done with the cheese and the tomato sauce, I was looking at about $20 for one family dinner cooked at home.

Yeah, I know. Welcome to Glutenfreeville.

And I get to do it all over again when we run our of our freezer stash. And hopefully remembering to add the yeast will make it a meal we both enjoy.

A Thanksgiving "gluten-free-for-all"

Our Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch with plenty of gluten-free dishes for everyone to enjoy. Not only did my in-laws prepare a separate turkey with gluten-free stuffing, we also had mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, a few appetizers, and the bread pudding and cheesecake I prepared.

In an effort to be a good Celiac Mommy, I left the few gluten-containing items off of my plate so I could share with Buttercup.

I did mention in a previous post that I would update on how the desserts turned out and the bread pudding was a success. It's sweet enough to put someone in a sugar coma, but a few bites are heaven! The Japanese Cheesecake, though, was a bit dry and not at all moist and creamy like one would expect cheesecake to taste. It wasn't bad, per say, just not as good as I had hoped.

My plan is to tweak the recipe and see if maybe a bit of extra cream cheese and/or buttermilk will help, but Celiac Dad and I were thinking that maybe this recipe is just meant to come out like this. If so, and my tweaking attempts fail, I probably won't use this one again and instead just doctor a traditional cheesecake recipe with a gluten-free crust.

We still have one more Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate on Thursday, and for that I'll be making gluten-free stuffing for the whole family to enjoy. Aside from the turkey, it will likely be the only "safe" food for Buttercup, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for any relatives who have "forgotten" about my daughter's diet.

Thanksgiving: Celiac style

I love baking for fun. And if this makes me a bad mom and wife, then so be it...but I hate baking because I have to.

It's one of the reasons the holidays become a little more stressful for me (and for you, I am sure!) No matter whose house the festivities are being held at, we have to make sure that dishes are gluten-free for my husband and daughter. Usually, we make stuffing, gravy, and desserts that can be enjoyed by all. There might be a dish or two that are off-limits, but we are thankfully made aware of what to stay away from.

This year, my husband has to leave on Thanksgiving morning on a business trip, so we are celebrating on Sunday with the in-laws. And thanks to some great timing, we are also celebrating my mother's 50th birthday early on Saturday. That leaves me with basically no time at all to prepare a gluten free cheesecake and an altered gluten-free whiskey bread pudding.

Remember, I am not a chef so most recipes I post will be attributed to the proper source.

For the cheesecake, I will be using a Japanese Cheesecake recipe from Recipezaar. It's our first time trying it, so I will let you all know how it turns out.

The Whisky Bread Pudding recipe presents a bigger challenge, since in order to make it safe, I first need to prepare a gluten-free french bread recipe before I can make the actual dish.(And no, Buttercup isn't going to be eating any of this tasty little dish.)

Since time is crunched this year, I am taking the easy way out and preparing an all-purpise baking mix in the breadmaker and then making the pudding. It's cheating, I know, but I deserve a break here and there.

I'll post later on how the cheesecake turns out.