The short and sweet of it is… that Thai fried rice is fabulous! No matter how many times we make it (which ends up being quite often), I never seem to get tired of it. But there are two things I want to preface before we dive in:

1. This is not an exact measurement kind of recipe. A lot of it depends on your personal taste preferences, so use this more as a guide to find the best flavor mix for you!
2. This is a quick moving recipe. Once you actually start frying everything in the pan, things will need to happen quickly. From the moment you first saute your veggies to the time you add your last garnish will only take about 5 minutes. So make sure you get all your chopping prep work done first and have everything lined up and ready to go.

Ingredients

• rice (basmati works well)
• shrimp (or other meat of your choice)
• egg
• onion
• jalapeño
• tomato
• cucumber
• lime
• fish sauce
• gluten free soy sauce
• oil
• pepper

Cook 2 cups of rice (this will make a decent sized serving for a first attempt). While you’re waiting for it to finish, chop the onion, jalapeño and tomato. We usually use 1/2 an onion and a whole jalapeño and tomato. Then, once the rice is done, scramble 2 eggs and cook whatever meat you chose.

Make sure you get your pan really hot before you start frying everything. Add some oil to the pan and saute the onion and jalapeño for just a couple minutes to tame down their bite. Then dump in the rice. Immediately add equal parts of fish and soy sauce and stir it together. You want enough for the sauce to mix thoroughly in the rice, but you don’t want it swimming in soy! Let the rice sit for a few seconds and fry. Add in your meat and egg and stir together. Toss in the tomato and give it one last mix through, then dump it all out into a dish. Don’t leave it sitting in the hot pan or it will stick to the bottom. Dust on some pepper and garnish with cucumber slices and a spritz of lime!

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #14

We both have good ole’ 9-5 office jobs and sometimes need quick, no-prep lunch options. We’ve scoured our local grocery stores and these are some of the best meals we’ve found.

• Hormel Chili (with or without beans) – hearty and filling, good with fritos!, a bit high on sodium, they do have an online list of all their gf items
• Dinty Moore Beef Stew/Southwestern Style Chicken Stew – meat and veggies in a creamy broth, filling, again a bit high on sodium
• Thai Kitchen Noodle Bowls – lots of great asian flavors, no meat so it’s a little lighter
• A Taste of Thai Noodle Meals – similar to thai kitchen in variety, new gf formulations (according to their chart it looks like every product except for 2 are gluten free!)
• Amy’s Kitchen – lots of frozen entrees, our favorites are the cheese enchiladas, rice mac & cheese, and shepard’s pie
• Glutino Frozen Entrees – we’ve only tried the chicken penne alfredo, not our favorite but still good
• Gluten Free Cafe – great frozen fettuccine alfredo, just showed up in our store a couple months ago
• Annie Chun’s Sushi Wraps – something fun and different, great rice, DON’T use the soy sauce that comes with it

And as promised…our super fantastic sushi sauce! We never use exact measurements when we make it, a lot of it depends on taste preference. Start with about a cup of mayo. Add equal amounts of spicy chili sauce and honey a spoonful at a time. It should be the color and consistency of thousand island dressing. You can add more chili sauce or honey if you want it spicy or sweet!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #13

For some reason I’ve always been slightly intimidated by the idea of making my own soups. It seems that some of my favorite soups have SO much work that has to go in to making them that I usually just say, Oh forget it! But not this soup! Egg drop soup is quick, easy and really tasty.

Egg Drop Soup

• 4 cups gluten free chicken broth, divided
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbs chopped green onion
• 1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
• 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk

Measure out 3 1/4 cup chicken broth into a pan and bring to a rolling boil. Add ground ginger, salt and green onion to boiling broth.

Tip!: We use Progresso Chicken Broth because it’s clearly labeled gluten free!

Place the other 3/4 cup chicken broth in a small bowl and add the cornstarch. Stir until it is completely mixed in. (The cornstarch will tend to clump at the bottom.) Then add the cornstarch/broth mixture to the pan. This will help thicken the soup a bit.

Wisk together the eggs, then using a fork, slowly drop the egg in small dribbles. It will cook immediately into smooth ribbons. You want to keep the drops small so you don’t end up with huge chunks of egg in your finished soup.

This is a really easy recipe to manipulate to your liking. You can add more of any of the ingredients to get the taste you want. It’s also great to double or triple the recipe and make a huge pot of soup at once. It keeps well in the refrigerator and can be saved for lunches or snacks throughout the week!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #12

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have time to make all our gluten free food from scratch, especially when it comes to baked goods. That’s where store bought mixes come into the picture. They take the guess work out of putting together the perfect flour blend for your baked goods. But which mixes are the best?

To start things off, we thought we’d share our two favorite brownie mixes. The first one is Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Brownie Baking Mix. Our local Trader Joe’s just opened in Nashville a few months ago, and this brownie mix was one of the first things we tried. It makes an 8×8 pan of moist, rich, chocolatey brownies. My only word of warning: while they are moist, they don’t hold together all that well as you’re trying to get them out of your baking dish. The only downside to this mix is that Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell their products online, and their stores are only in a few select locations.

Which brings us to our second mix: Namaste Foods Brownie Mix. Namaste Foods products can be found in lots of different natural food stores across the country (we get ours at Whole Foods), and can be purchased online! The ingredient lists for these two mixes are identical, but they use different proportions and call for slightly differing measurements of egg, oil and water when preparing the mix. The Namaste mix will give you a rich, moist brownie as well, and I think that they stay fresher longer than the Trader Joe’s mix.

Either way, these mixes are great to have handy when you just don’t have the time to whip up a fresh batch of homemade brownies. And like I said, these two mixes are just the beginning! If you’ve found other great gluten free mixes let us know…we’d love to try them out!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #11

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake: A quick and easy, dangerously delicious treat that you probably already have all the ingredients for tucked away in your pantry. It’s the perfect dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth, or if you have some cute trendy mugs…it’d be a great addition to your next dinner party!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 tbs gluten free flour
• 4 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs cocoa power
• 1 egg
• 3 tbs milk
• 3 tbs oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• chocolate chips (optional)

Combine the flour, sugar and cocoa power in a large mug. Add the egg and mix together. Add milk, oil, vanilla and chocolate chips, if you so desire, and mix again. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Presto! Chocolate cake in a mug.

We tested this recipe with three different flours: gluten free all-purpose flour, Gluten Free Pantry’s French Bread/Pizza Mix flour, and Bob’s Red Mill Pancake Mix. Our favoirte was the pancake mix. It had a fluffly texture like normal cake and a great flavor. However, it expanded way more than the other flours in the microwave. We ended up with half the batter spilled across our microwave tray! So, if you use the pancake mix (which I definitely recommend!) split the batter evenly between two large mugs, and you’ll avoid all the mess.

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #10

What would Valentine’s Day be without something for your sweet-tooth? And since boxed chocolates are a little too risky for comfort, (you never know what’s in those things) I can’t think of anything better than a fluffy angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries…yumm.

Angel food cake can be intimidating to approach when making it gluten free, but it’s actually not that difficult! And we found a couple of tips that might help.

Angel Food Cake

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup egg whites (I ended up using the whites from 9 large eggs)
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 1/3 cup sugar

Tip: You want superfine sugar for this recipe; it will help make the cake lighter and fluffier. We used regular table sugar and ran it through a food processor for about 2 minutes to get it extra fine.

Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, potato starch, xantham gum, 3/4 cup sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg whites, water, cream of tartar and vanilla. Using a mixer, beat until frothy. While beating the egg mixture, slowly add the other 1/3 cup of sugar. You’ll continue beating the mixture until stiff peaks form. It should look glossy, and the peaks should stand up on their own. Then fold in the flour mixture and make sure you get out all the lumps.

Tip: Be very gentle when you fold in the flour! You want the egg white mixture to keep as much of its airiness as possible. Using a large rubber spatula, cut through the middle of the bowl, drag along the bottom and up the side, then fold the mixture back over itself. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat. Keep folding and turning the bowl until all the lumps are gone.

Pour the batter into your angel food cake pan and press down slightly to remove any air pockets. Then just bake for 35 to 40 minutes. It should be a lovely golden brown color. This cake cools best upside down, so invert the pan on a glass bottle. Run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake and remove from the pan. Enjoy! )

We used a recipe for Angel Food Cake from The Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg.

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #9

The Crab Ravioli we made in Episode 7 was the first homemade pasta we’ve ever made. It turned out great, but there were definitely some tips that we picked up for the next time we have a hankering for ravioli. The next time you venture into the wonderful world of ravioli making, keep these things in mind:

1. Make sure the dough is thin enough. We only ran ours through the pasta roller on setting 2. We should have gone to 3 or 4.
2. Watch out for holes. We missed a couple of holes that popped up when we used the fork to seal the edges. All the filling seeped out while the ravioli boiled and we ended up with a bite of pasta filled with warm water rather than crab and cheese… yuck!
3. Now, in regards to #3. After watching the playback of the episode we realized how many times I said “raviolis” instead of “ravioli”…which is obviously not a word. (I’m really not good at ad libbing on camera…I need to sit down and think about what I want to say!).
4. We used extra large eggs, and our dough ended up too sticky to knead correctly, so we added a little bit of the flour mix. We actually made another batch of dough later on in the week with regular eggs, and it came out nicely.

If you come across any other tips while making your own gluten free pasta, please let us know!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #8

Valentine’s day is almost here! And what better day for you and your honey-bunn to cozy up and eat a delicious homemade gluten free meal?! But you can’t have the same old stuff for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day, so we decided to try something new…Gluten free crab ravioli!!!

We picked out this recipe for a couple reasons. 1. We wanted to try our hand at making homemade pasta 2. Crab is a natural aphroditiac…wink wink. 3. Ravioli is kind of fun to make together…like a cooking date! This was our first attempt at making ravioli from scratch and it was certainly an adventure! I’ll admit it was a little overwhelming at times, but in the end it was tasty…and I think once you kinda get the hang of it, it will be super easy to experiment with all sorts of fun fillings! I really hope you guys try it out.

Crab Ravioli

Dough:
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
5 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

Place gf flour in a bowl. We used the flour mix that comes in the Gluten Free Pantry French Bread/Pizza Mix which uses white rice flour, potato starch, corn starch, guar gum and granulated honey. Add salt, olive oil and eggs. Beat until it resembles a dough-like consistency. Remove from bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead the dough for a few minutes. It should begin to look like bread dough. Then, place in a bowl, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

Filling:
1 6oz can lump crab (or fresh crab leg meat shredded up if you feel like being fancy)
1/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1 tsp italian seasonings

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Be sure to mix thoroughly to make sure each spoonfull will have a good mix of crab and cheese.

Preparing the dough:

We used a pasta roller to flatten our dough out into usable sheets. If you don’t have a pasta roller, you can flatten the dough by hand (carefully…it will pull apart easily). It will probably be easier to roll out if you place the dough between sheets of wax paper…that’s how I do my pie crusts, and it works well.

You’ll need two managable sized sheets of dough. Spread a little egg wash on one piece of dough to help it stick together. Then place small dollops of filling about 2 inches apart. Put your second sheet of dough on top and press together around the filling; be sure to get as much of the air out as you can. Then simply cut them apart. We didn’t have a ravioli cutter, so we just used a cheapo pizza cutter, and then pressed the edges with a fork to seal it better and give it a little decoration (like you would a pie). We kept re-rolling the scraps of dough to make more ravioli.

After all the ravioli are done, you’ll need to boil them. Keep it on a slow boil; you don’t want too vivacious of bubbles to rip them apart. Once they all float test them to see if they’re tender enough for your liking.

Viola! Gluten free ravioli. We topped ours with Cucina Antica – La Vodka Sauce, which has a nice creamy tomato flavor.

Resources we used for this recipe include:
Glutenfreeda ravioli recipe
Shauna Jame’s post on Glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com
How-to video on making ravioli…I’m not actually quite sure how we stumbled across this one, but if these little kids could do it, so could we!

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #7

There is a lot of confusion about what is safe for celiacs to consume. And with gluten hiding in so many things, its easy to be overwhelmed. We thought it was time to start clearing up some of the common gluten free myths out there.

First on our list is the confusion over the adhesive glue on envelopes. I’ve read lots of forum posts asking if particular brands of envelopes are safe for celiacs. But the idea that any envelope glue contains gluten is a myth. The people at Gluten Free Living Magazine got info straight from the source…evelope manufacturers. No Gluten!

So not that it’s the most enjoyable experience out there…feel free to lick all the envelopes you want.

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #6

I was catching up on my celiac news and came across a link to this article on glutenfreeda.com. I’ve heard of pills like this that help lactose intolerant people eat diary (some of my friends have used them and they can now eat whatever dairy they want)…but I didn’t know that something similar for celiac disease could be coming about so soon.

The whole thing really intrigues me. I’m curious how the gluten free population will embrace it. Some people I’ve talked to are obviously ecstatic about the freedom these pills would give back to them, whereas others have their gluten free routine down to an art and are happy with it. They’ve said that even if they could, they probably wouldn’t go back to eating the way they used to. But…I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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Gfcentral Episode #5