Stonewall Kitchen Gluten Free

While shopping in Crate and Barrel one day I happened to be looking at their cook books and mixes, and noticed one of the Stonewall Kitchen mixes had a gluten free label on it! Yay - A new mix to try!! It was on sale so that was extra incentive to get a box to try, otherwise the mix is normally $10, and makes 12 cupcakes, with frosting.

Trying to figure out which mix to use to make cupcakes for a party this past summerI grabbed this mix from the cupboard and started to flip through my cupcake books to come up with the recipe I wanted to use. Plain chocolate cupcakes just seemed so boring, since I had just made an amazing strawberry, banana, cherry cake! I decided to do a Black Forest style cupcake and a Turtle style cupcake. I was worried just doing one or the other, I'd exclude someone from having one due to an allergy, or straight up dislike of a flavor (I was right! We had an Anti-cherry friend in the house.)

I made the mix according to the directions, this one called for milk, most the mixes I've tried for gluten free don't contain milk. I filled the cupcake papers a about 1/4th of the way with batter, then half of them I added a layer of pecans, the other half I added some tart cherries, then layered the rest of the batter on top. Keep in mind the recipes I found had a lot more steps for each flavor, but since I was using 1 mix for both, I simplified to adding flavors in the middle.

After they cooled for the Turtle ones I added some caramel sundae topping to the top of the cakes. (I found 1 brand in my grocery store that did not contain barley!!) and then frosted with Coolwhip frosting, and sprinkles from Wilton Cakes.

For the Black Forest I put down a layer of the Coolwhip frosting, then added a layer of melted chocolate Wilton Candy Melts, once they cooled, I added another layer of frosting and a maraschino cherry.

I have the frosting from the box to try on my next baking adventure, but the cupcakes were delicious. Everyone was going for seconds the first chance they had. I was impressed with the mix and the over all taste of the cupcakes. I was initially put out by the cost, but for a great quality mix, it would be worth it to purchase again. Having added in the other ingredients in the middle I was able to stretch it to 18 cupcakes from the 12 the box says it will make.

The Happ Inn

The Happ Inn is a cute pub style restaurant on Happ Road in Northfield. I've been here a few times over the last couple years, they have a decent gluten free menu, with some good options. I love when places have a decent selection of appetizers, some times you don't want a full meal, and a cup of soup and a flatbread, or some hummus would really be enough.

Their menu does have a large selection of salad options, as well as burgers that are served on either a gluten free bun, or wrapped in lettuce. Their French fries are fried in a dedicated fryer, so they don't get cross contaminated from breaded items being fried. I had the waitress confirm when placing my order.

For an appetizer we got the gluten free flat bread pizza, there were several flavors to choose from. I was impressed, it didn't have a funky after taste, and the crust was light. The outside crust with no toppings was a bit crunchier than I would like, considering I grew up in the burbs of Chicago, I'm not a pizza crust lover. I always liked the middle pieces of pizza better!

For dinner I got the Mexican Turkey Burger, with fries. The burger had a lot of potential, but the turkey burger was over cooked and dry, and the gluten free bun was also, dry. They gave a side of guacamole and salsa to top the burger, as well at lettuce. For me the salsa was more like a mole sauce, and not salsa like. A good chopped up fresh salsa with tomato chunks would have been better for me, and helped bring this back to life. But if nothing else the fries rocked!

Next time I think I'll order the flat bread as my entrée and skip the burger. Their menu also had a chicken tortilla soup, that I heard was very tasty, as well as a turkey chili! so they do have a good variety of options, and small plate options, which always makes me happy.

Over all I give them 3 dragonflies. They have a good selection on their menu, and they understand gluten free to keep the fries from cross contamination. But my dinner selection was a bit lacking and I'd want to try more items before I say their food is great.

Glutino Quick and Easy Pancakes

Earlier this year Glutino's came out with some new products, including pancakes that you make right in the bottle, and they only need 1 ingredient water! 

I remember getting bottles like this growing up, and on Saturday mornings dad would make pancakes and scrambled eggs. I've made Pamela's pancake mix, Bob's Red Mill and Hodson Mill, before, and the first two were good... wasn't a fan of Hodson Mill's which was a disappointment since I love their cookie mix. Their pancakes came out grainy and tough. What I love about the Glutnio's mix, is all you add is water! My boyfriend is the typical bachelor, and his place mirrors that mentality, open the fridge there is a pitcher of water and a 6 pack of beer, and a garbage can of take out containers. So the idea of making breakfast has to be simple or a shopping trip is needed. Which for anyone who lives in downtown Chicago, you know that can be a half day adventure just to buy milk eggs and butter!

Add water, pour in the pan, and voila! Pancakes are ready. I was especially proud because I had to take a phone call in the middle of this, and they still turned out well! We had a few left over too, which became his breakfast for the next morning. Surprisingly since they were made with water, not milk they were still fluffy and not dry, they had good flavor to them. If he happened to have some butter I might have added that for a touch more flavor, but butter and syrup taste so good together, you can't pass it up! Over all two thumbs up from me! Maybe next time I'll add some bananas or walnuts too...

Gluten Free at Applebee's

I've had a love hate relationship with Applebee's for quite some time now. I actually haven't been to an Applebee's in years, because I've had so many crazy experiences of bad service or poor food that I just stopped going. We were back in Joliet for the NASCAR race, and after our horrible experience at Aurelio's, we had to find a new place to go for dinner. There is an Applebee's near the mall, so we decided to give it a try.

They don't have gluten free menu per-say but they do have a book listing out the allergens so you can pick what items from the menu can be made gluten free. They have the same allergen listing for several other allergies including, shellfish, peanuts, soy, egg and dairy.

I found the item listing a bit confusing because it could have been a lot clearer. But I talked to the waitress, and since she was semi confused we error-ed on the safe side of what the allergen listing was trying to say.

I thought the Margarita Queso Chicken & Shrimp sounded different and interesting. What got me was that it said the dishes were gluten free, when not served with the sides... Now Both the black bean corn salsa and mexi rice are listed as safe.... Our sever was just as confused, and decided to change the dish up to make sure it was safe. She was really nice and trying to make sure everything went well. We went with plain rice, and opted to skip both sides. their chips are fried on site so if you have your own chips you can get salsa or queso to go with the chips as a side dish.

I can only give them 3 dragonflies because they don't actually have a safe menu listing. plus the allergen listing is rather confusing.

New GF Meal Options!

I can't lie, I love quick and easy meals. They get me thru the day at work. If I had my own kitchen I'm sure I'd cook more, or at least I tell myself that. So I get super stoked when I find new gluten free meal offerings in the frozen section. While getting lunch items recently at my local grocery store I found some new product offerings. The first being Michael Angelo's Risotto dishes. OK the microwave at work is horrible at heating. Every meal takes way longer to make so the 3 minutes the box says turns in to 8 or 9 minutes... The meal was done, but the rice was still tough. Plus I'm not a lemon sauce fan. But it was OK. they had 3 other options, I'll have to give them a try, but it was filling. 

The second being a new brand by Lucerne foods The angle of the aisle I couldn't get the whole shelf in view, but there was pasta and macaroni and cheese meals at the bottom of the shot. The prices were about right on for gluten free, maybe a little cheaper if you have your Fresh Values card with you when shopping. I would say their shortbread cookies don't actually taste like shortbread cookies. They were good, crumbly and thin, but not like a shortbread.

Mac and cheese, yes please - I was excited to see the Mac and Cheese option, so I got a box to try out. On a scale of rating mac and cheese, it's not as good as Annie's mac and cheese. But it's not bad the cheese was tasty and the noodles were soft. It could have passed for not being gluten free. I went back 4 days later to buy another box, and sadly they were out. Next time! It's not bad to keep in the cupboard for last minute side dish or a quick whip up meal. 

Schar's Chibata roll and mac and cheese dinner!

Part of me felt these products don't really exist, expect for the fact that I actually purchased some. There is no website for them. They are not listed on the Eating right website... They just exist with no extra information.

Mity Nice Grill Gluten Free menu

Mity Nice Grill is a great sit down place to go to when you at Water Tower Place in the city. There is a play house on the 1st floor of Water Tower and they will do their best to get you in and out so you don't miss your show. It's tucked away in the back of the Food Life which is a nice open area food court which also offers gluten free options. Just ask the hostess when you arrive they give you a great print out of what is available!

Their menu does change seasonally both the regular and the gluten free. They make their own gluten free buns so all burgers and sandwiches come on a gluten free bun.the best part are the pop-overs they bring out to the table before the meal. Their "bread basket" is gluten free! They are the most amazing cheesy bread you'll ever have. My brothers girlfriend loves them, which is a great compliment since she can't live without bread.

Their bread is tasty it's not dry, it actually feels like they steam it prior to serving it. I got a turkey sandwich and a side of broccoli. I had a hard time finishing my meal, probably because I filled up on the pop-overs! We had gotten an order of their guacamole and veggies as an appetizer. My main issue was that the veggies were chopped up real tiny. So it made it hard to eat. I think bigger slices would have been much better.

The food here is amazing, both gluten free and regular. The service is horrible. Unless you have show tickets your meal is very long and drawn out. I do recommend reservations for getting a table around dinner time. Also pushing to the front of the entrance and blocking the door way in order to be seated is required. I'm not rude but this is the only way to get seated without being passed over for anyone else who pushes in.

If you politely stand at the hostess stand, you will be passed over for people pushing into the entrance. I find this odd, since Mity Nice is a part of Lettuce Entertain you Restaurant group and their restaurants are pretty stand up. the excuse they gave to the couple who got passed up in front of us, was "they have show tickets". Which isn't fair to the people who walked up and were waiting, especially since the next table was about to open up... Show tickets or not, they were there first, and skipped. We were there, but not pushing in the doorway. People without reservations pushed in front of us despite standing there for 10 minutes, they got seated first, because they were 2 feet in the doorway, impatient and pushing. We did not have show tickets and our meal was 2 hours long!!! By the time our server rediscovered our table to ask if we wanted dessert, we had our coats on and were ready to leave. I give them 4 dragonflies for the food. If I did different breakouts they would get 2 dragonflies for their service.

Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Four ingredient peanut butter cookies in my house are called peanut butter crack cookies. Great name, huh? They got that name when I made them and right away they were All Gone! So I will warn you, just double this recipe it will be for the best!

Tuesday I was running errands with my brother and mentioned I got a new cookie mix I want to try so I'm going to bake cookies Wednesday. His response was "Are you going to make peanut butter crack?" I'm thinking, No... I said I was going to... OK, whatever, these are Super easy. I'll do these, it's been a while since I baked, so next week we'll try for the new mix I bought. 

The nice part is you don't have to find a replacement flour, these are also called flour-less peanut butter cookies. I've thought about swapping out the vanilla extract for almond extract, but I figure why ruin a good thing, we know these rock just as they are.

Ingredients :

1 cup Peanut Butter (or almond butter)
1 cup Sugar
1 Large egg
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

I like using chunky peanut butter so you get some extra crunch to the cookies. I also use a little over a cup to make the cookies less crumbly, and a little less than 1 cup of sugar, so it cuts the sweetness just a tad.

Mix the 4 ingredients together in a large bowl. and voila you have a sweet tasty PB mix. 

Make the dough into teaspoon size balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Slightly flatten them with a fork in a criss-cross patten on the top, but don't flatten them completely.

Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes and let them cool for about 5 minutes before you remove them from the tray. This is the outcome - Fabulousness~