photo: http://tinyurl.com/2ct895v

You may have read these before, but the current conversations about American diets (read here) I wanted to re-post it.

Facts about Coke (from here):

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the “real thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil
dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of
Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, Remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

For Your Info:

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its Ph is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

Photo couresy of: http://www.iupui.edu/~psyclubs/pizza_sales.htm

Gluten-free Goddess has a recipe for gluten-free pizza flatbread that is delicious, but very time and labor intensive. Usually I make my pizza crust using a mix from Bob’s Red Mill. Another at-home gluten free pizza idea is pizza fondue, from Stephanie O’Dea’s website. I’ve made it a couple of times—they’re addicting.

Options for restaurants that offer gluten-free pizzas are constantly growing. Picazzos is a local chain with 11 Arizona locations. Not only do they serve any of their pizzas on gluten-free crust, you can buy balls of the dough to take home and freeze for a later date. This restaurant really caters to the gluten-free crowd; their website has a lot of great resources for celiac information.

Pie Zanos Gormet Pizza Kitchen, located in Phoenix, Arizona and Glendale, Arizona, also offers gluten-free pizza crust. The restaurant is a little funky and has character, not as formal as Picazzos. Each time I’ve been here, the staff has been great. I highly suggest this restaurant—it’s character and charm is different from typical pizza joints.

Barros Pizza, another Arizona chain with 28 restaurants, recently started offering gluten-free crust. Their pizza is my favorite pizza, I can’t get enough of it! They do deliver, which is hard to find for gluten-free joints.

Stephanie O’Dea, blog author of A Year of Crockpotting, turned her best recipes from her blog into a book published by Harper Collins. The book is a great resource for gluten-free families because of its narrow focus on affordable, family-friendly, gluten-free crockpot recipes.

The recipes are easy to follow and appropriate for beginning cooks as well as those that are re-learning to cook without gluten. The conversational tone of the book is similar to how her blog is written and creates a relaxed dialogue between the reader and her.

Make it Fast, Cook it Slow is more than dinner recipes. There are chapters devoted to breakfast, beverages and “fun stuff” (read: play dough in the crockpot) recipes.

My favorite recipes from the cookbook are autumn sausage casserole and shepherd’s pie. The casserole was based off an oven recipe from Taste of Home magazine. Stephanie modified it for the crockpot and made it gluten-free. It’s perfect for a fall dinner with its comforting and hearty flavors. I also liked how Stephanie modified traditional meals like shepherd’s pie for the crockpot. The recipe took a lot less time to make for the crockpot than traditional shepherd’s pie recipes do.

I highly recommend investing in Make it Fast, Cook it Slow for any family that is gluten-free. It’s been a go-to cookbook in my kitchen since it was published last year. The sweet potato chili I made a while ago was from her cookbook.

Sweet Potato Chili

In January 2010 the company re-introduced gluten free options (here’s the original press release). All gluten-free products are individually wrapped to prevent cross contamination with gluten. Many of the gluten-free options do contain nuts; customers have been requesting more options for those with multiple allergies. (Give them your ideas at mystarbucksidea.com.)

KIND Bars are available in multiple flavors such as walnut date or almond coconut. The are $1.95 per bar. Other nut options include the Starbucks brand cashews, almonds or nuts and fruit medley ($2.50).

Glazed nuts from Sahale Snacks are also available for $2.50; flavors include barbeque almond and cashews with vanilla and pomegranate. The later is my favorite gluten-free snack available; the cashews are sweet and taste more like a dessert item than plain nuts.

Gluten-free granola is available from Colorado company Two Moms in the Raw. I didn’t like these by themselves, but they would be good in a yogurt

parfait. I also thought they were too expensive for a single serving ($3.95). Two flavors are available: blueberry granola or gojiberry.

Lucy’s Cookies are the only “dessert-type” gluten-free option available. Three flavors are offered: cinnamon thins, sugar cookies or chocolate chip. One serving packages are $1.50. The cookies are delicious, but are a bit on the dry side.

I’ve found that the baristas at Starbucks are quite knowledgeable about their gluten-free products and are eager to help customers find the best option to fit allergy needs.

Vanilla & Pomegrante Cashews. photo: sahalesnacks.com

A barista from an Arizona store that helped show me gluten-free products.

Gojiberry Granola. photo courtesy of: 2momsintheraw.com

Lucy's Cookies. photo courtesy of: drlucys.com

Tip 1: Eat naturally gluten-free foods. Processed foods that are labeled “gluten-free” are expensive because a chef, dietician or scientist had to figure out how to substitute gluten in a recipe. However, foods that naturally do not contain gluten will be cheaper because there wasn’t a middle man involved. For example, chicken, veggies, fruit, rice, quinoa, beans and fish are all gluten-free. Look at regular recipes and find ones that are already gluten-free; don’t start by searching for “gluten-free recipes” and “gluten-free food.”

Tip 2: Buy pantry items on sale and in bulk. This is common knowledge, but not many actually follow through. Grocery stores have semi-annual case-sales that heavily discount canned items. Amazon.com offers many gluten-free products in bulk at a discounted price such as Tinkyada White Rice Pasta and Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Sprouts Farmer’s Markets has gluten-free sales occasionally as well. At these sales, all gluten-free products in the store are usually 25 percent off the usual price.

Tip 3: Make friends with your crockpot. Cooking with a crockpot makes cheap food taste better. This is not an overstatement. Cheap cuts of meat turn out great in the crockpot. The energy used to cook in the crockpot is the same as a light bulb, so you’ll save in food and energy costs. Stephanie O’Dea’s blog, A Year of Crockpotting, is solely dedicated to gluten-free crockpot recipes.

Tip 4: Eat less animal protein. Lentils, beans and grains serve as main sources of protein. Try eating meatless meals twice a week; it will save money and some say it’s good not to eat meat every day. Some good vegetarian recipes are: lentil burritos from $5 Dinners (instead of using tortillas I used corn taco shells, making lentil tacos), bean stew, or chick pea and tomato curry.

First, choosing a restaurant that supports gluten-free eating will create a more enjoyable experience for your whole dining party. There, the wait staff should be familiar with gluten-free food—this means you won’t have to interrogate them about menu items. There are four main websites that serve as a directory for gluten-free dining. Although not updated frequently, I’ve found that the information is correct, but new restaurants may not be included. The sites are: 2008 Guide to Gluten Free Restaurant Menus, Gluten Free Travel Site.com, Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program,  and the Gluten Free Registry. The first two sites are comprehensive lists that include the gluten-free menu from each restaurant. Since these sites are nationally based, most of the restaurants listed are national or regional chains such as Carrabbas, P.F. Changs and The Old Spaghetti Factory. The Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program website provides a restaurant search based on the zip code you input and the Gluten Free Registry has restaurants organized by cities. These sites list independent, family-owned restaurants as well as national chain restaurants.

The book series “Let’s Eat Out!” specializes in gluten-free dining. Their books teach readers how to safely eat out by understanding what ingredients have hidden gluten and include questions gluten-free diners should ask at restaurants. The company also has two iPhone applications, iEatOut and iCanEat OnTheGo. The first application is organized by cuisine and helps you figure out what meals are typically the safest. It also suggests what questions to ask each resturant. The second application focuses on fast-food restaurants such as Chik-fil-a, TacoBell and Sonic. This simply lists gluten-free foods each chain offers.

Utilizing these resources will help make going out to eat enjoyable again for you and your family. I’ve also found that small, independent restaurants are typically very helpful in accommodating special dietary needs. Several local Italian restaurants in my area let me bring in gluten-free pasta for them to cook when I eat at their establishment.

Sof'ella gluten-free chocolate cake mix

The cake mix called for water, eggs and butter. I liked that the mix did not require a lot of extra ingredients; some other gluten-free mixes do.  After adding the ingredients together and mixing the batter was very runny—like chocolate water. The measurements seemed wrong to me. I’ve never seen cake batter as runny as this was.

I checked the cake after it had cooked for the suggested 25 minutes. It was still runny chocolate water. Since my oven typically cooks fast I was surprised the cake was not ready.  For the cake to pass the “toothpick test,” it cooked for almost double the suggested time.

When the cake was finished, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. It was fluffy—not dense as many gluten-free cakes are. The texture of the cake was shockingly similar to cakes that contain gluten.

My dad, who tries to stay away from gluten-free pastries because of their grainy texture said, “I wouldn’t guess this was gluten-free. It’s moist, firm and has a great taste.” He had a second piece.

My mum, who is gluten-intolerant, loved the cake. She said, “I’m glad to find a cake that is gluten-free for me, but not taste-free to those that don’t worry about gluten.” She plans to make this cake for a potluck she’s going to next week.

According to the Sof’ella website, the mix I used will be available at Fresh & Easy grocery stores in early March. To celebrate their expansion the company they are selling it at a discounted price through their online store during February.

Links to gluten-free cake mixes from other companies:

• Betty Crocker
• Bob’s Red Mill

Betty Crocker gluten-free devil's food cake