Frustration

[Guest guest]

When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was able

to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from Ener-

g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the crust

fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of bread

before, until today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new

loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got one

of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.

Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's

birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in the

oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I

initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the gummmiest

cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a mix,

of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything so

gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar

cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed to

a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm not

going to be able to keep this family GF. DD will, because she's the

one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are asymptomatic

would rather enjoy life more than this!

Tell me this gets better!

Margie R

In South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

[Guest guest]

Hi - Try the Ener-g White Rice Loaf ( not the one that is Yeast Free) - my daughter is 9 - in 4th grade and she takes a sandwich everyday to school and loves the bread - we use it for toast and french toast. Try cutting off crust . We would agree But the Ener-g White Rice Loaf that is also Yeast Free is much different tasting. So hopefully that will help. Take care - good luck - Deb Lee - Omaha NEMargie RN wrote: When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was able to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from Ener- g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the crust fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of bread before, until

today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got one of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in the oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the gummmiest cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a mix, of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything so gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed to a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm not going to be able to keep this

family GF. DD will, because she's the one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are asymptomatic would rather enjoy life more than this!Tell me this gets better!Margie RIn South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.

[Guest guest]

Hi - Try the Ener-g White Rice Loaf ( not the one that is Yeast Free) - my daughter is 9 - in 4th grade and she takes a sandwich everyday to school and loves the bread - we use it for toast and french toast. Try cutting off crust . We would agree But the Ener-g White Rice Loaf that is also Yeast Free is much different tasting. So hopefully that will help. Take care - good luck - Deb Lee - Omaha NEMargie RN wrote: When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was able to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from Ener- g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the crust fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of bread before, until

today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got one of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in the oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the gummmiest cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a mix, of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything so gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed to a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm not going to be able to keep this

family GF. DD will, because she's the one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are asymptomatic would rather enjoy life more than this!Tell me this gets better!Margie RIn South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.

[Guest guest]

Many gluten free breads are best toasted. We never pack it for lunches where we can't heat it.

As for the grittiness, try using a finer grind rice flour. We buy ours at the Asian market, although Ener-G's white rice flour had a finer grind also. Another trick I found that worked is to let the batter sit for awhile before baking. That seemed to make a difference.

Jupiter, FL

Frustration

When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was able to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from Ener- g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the crust fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of bread before, until today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got one of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in the oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the gummmiest cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a mix, of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything so gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed to a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm not going to be able to keep this family GF. DD will, because she's the one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are asymptomatic would rather enjoy life more than this!Tell me this gets better!Margie RIn South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

[Guest guest]

I think that most of us understand where you are coming from. For

me it was a lot of trial and error when I first started with all of

this too. I did find things that I like a lot and others that I

thought were gross. I, personally, don't care for the Ener-G breads

at all...not even the buns. The only pre-packaged bread I can

tolerate is the Food for Life Brown Rice bread. And I always eat it

toasted. It's much better that way. But again, that's just

preference. I have tried many times to make my own bread and am

still working on perfecting that. I have also tried making a mix

for a cake and one was really good and the other was not, even

though they were made by the same company. I have had more luck

using recipes that I used to use and just substituting instead. I

have an old brownie recipe that everyone loves no matter who eats

it, which is good for me since I don't really care for chocolate. I

made it again using all the same stuff but a different flour mix and

no one was the wiser. My husband even had to ask if it was GF. So,

don't get down about it. It might just take some getting used to

everything for awhile. If you have questions, just ask. Someone on

here usually seems to have an answer to be helpful. Good luck!

Rhiannon

>

> When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was

able

> to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from

Ener-

> g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the

crust

> fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of

bread

> before, until today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new

> loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got

one

> of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.

> Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's

> birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in

the

> oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I

> initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the

gummmiest

> cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a

mix,

> of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything

so

> gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar

> cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed

to

> a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm

not

> going to be able to keep this family GF. DD will, because she's

the

> one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are

asymptomatic

> would rather enjoy life more than this!

>

> Tell me this gets better!

>

>

> Margie R

> In South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

>

[Guest guest]

I think that most of us understand where you are coming from. For

me it was a lot of trial and error when I first started with all of

this too. I did find things that I like a lot and others that I

thought were gross. I, personally, don't care for the Ener-G breads

at all...not even the buns. The only pre-packaged bread I can

tolerate is the Food for Life Brown Rice bread. And I always eat it

toasted. It's much better that way. But again, that's just

preference. I have tried many times to make my own bread and am

still working on perfecting that. I have also tried making a mix

for a cake and one was really good and the other was not, even

though they were made by the same company. I have had more luck

using recipes that I used to use and just substituting instead. I

have an old brownie recipe that everyone loves no matter who eats

it, which is good for me since I don't really care for chocolate. I

made it again using all the same stuff but a different flour mix and

no one was the wiser. My husband even had to ask if it was GF. So,

don't get down about it. It might just take some getting used to

everything for awhile. If you have questions, just ask. Someone on

here usually seems to have an answer to be helpful. Good luck!

Rhiannon

>

> When making DS's lunch for school, I opened the new bread I was

able

> to find this weekend. It's the brown rice yeast free bread from

Ener-

> g. When I was getting it out of the bag, a small piece of the

crust

> fell off, so I tasted it. I have never gagged on a piece of

bread

> before, until today! That stuff is HORRIBLE!!!!! That brand new

> loaf of bread went immediately into the trash can!! I also got

one

> of their Tapioca loaves, so that may end up in there too.

> Last night, we had the chocolate cake that I had made for DH's

> birthday. What an interesting cake that was! It got so HUGE in

the

> oven, and eventually fell to what I believe was lower than when I

> initially put the batter in the baking dish. That was the

gummmiest

> cake ever! I'm glad I had also made a pan of brownies - from a

mix,

> of course! Which brings up the next question: Why is everything

so

> gritty?? I had made choc chip cookie (actually made it into bar

> cookies) from a mix, and they were gritty too. Are we now doomed

to

> a life of gritty and gummy??? If we are, I'll be honest. I'm

not

> going to be able to keep this family GF. DD will, because she's

the

> one with the stomach pains, but the rest of us that are

asymptomatic

> would rather enjoy life more than this!

>

> Tell me this gets better!

>

>

> Margie R

> In South Central PA...on the Mason Dixon Line

>

[Guest guest]

Margie,

If you get totally frustrated and give up your career as a GF chef,

you could become a comedian. Your e-mail brightened my day! I'm in

total agreement on the bread. My sister sent us a loaf of the Ener-G

white rice bread. It looks like a rubber byproduct, and we still

haven't opened it...since mid December.

Others' suggestions to use a finer grind of rice flour are good. It

doesn't help much when you are using a mix, though. I long ago gave

up on rice flour in my baking from scratch. I routinely use a

combination of 1/3 cornstarch, 1/3 tapioca, and 1/3 garbanzo bean

flour with 1 tsp of xanthan gum/cup of flour mix. I substitute it

just like regular flour, and it makes the best darn cookies,

brownies, corn bread, pancakes, and waffles. Some people don't like

the taste of the garbanzo flour, but I always use it in recipes with

cinnamon, ginger, spices, vanilla, etc. to mask any aftertaste. No

more grit! As for cakes, I either make my own mix or use GF Pantry's

cake mixes. Instead of following their directions, I add:

1/2 C sugar

1 package instant pudding or jello (chocolate pudding for chocolate

cake)

1/2 C oil

3/4 C orange juice

4 eggs

Recently, I put in a package of cherry jello, and made what my kids

called Patri-cakes (cupcakes the color of on SpongeBob.) The

gelatin (in the Jello) counteracts the grittiness of the rice flour

in the mix and seems to keep the cake from falling. They are great,

tasty PINK cupcakes, good for Valentines Day at any rate.

I sympathesize with you as the GF chef in your household. It is my

husband and one of my teenage sons that are celiacs. I made a

decision in the beginning to make the whole house GF to avoid

contamination and to make it more likely that my teenage son could

follow the diet without building up resentment. The result has been

an 18-month quest to produce food that is gluten free and

uncompromised in quality. After all, I'm eating this stuff, too. Let

me tell you, it has been an adventure, but a most rewarding one at

that. This message board and the delphiforum group, have some

creative, determined cooks that are a continual source of

inspiration. Being me, I always tweak every recipe I get my hands

on, but that's part of the adventure.

It does get better.

Try these cookies, they will cheer you up:

in VT

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

2-1/4 C GF Flour Mix*

¼ C cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ C butter (softened)

¼ C olive oil

¾ C sugar

¾ C brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips

1 C walnuts (optional)

*I use:

¾ C garbanzo flour

¾ C tapioca flour

¾ C cornstarch

2 tsp xanthan gum

1. Cream sugar, butter, and oil

2. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time

3. Mix all dry ingredients and combine with wet ingredients

4. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment-lined baking tray

5. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes

Note: this GF flour mix contains flours that absorb water from the

air. If your mixture doesn't seem stiff enough or the cookies spread

too much, add another 1/4 C of GF flour mix.

[Guest guest]

Margie!!!! ALWAYS--I REPEAT ALWAYS do what says!! Her recipes are the BEST!! I hoard them and I print them up forty times so I don't loose one!She saved the holidays for us in our house! Listen to the girl! : ) You can't go wrong with this one!! I'm thinking the guys are going to get another batch of CC cookies real soon!!!!!!!!! kathicain_dvre wrote: Margie,If you get totally frustrated and give up your career as a GF chef, you could become a comedian. Your e-mail brightened my day! I'm in total agreement on the bread. My sister sent us a loaf of the Ener-G white rice bread. It looks like a rubber byproduct, and we still haven't opened it...since mid

December.Others' suggestions to use a finer grind of rice flour are good. It doesn't help much when you are using a mix, though. I long ago gave up on rice flour in my baking from scratch. I routinely use a combination of 1/3 cornstarch, 1/3 tapioca, and 1/3 garbanzo bean flour with 1 tsp of xanthan gum/cup of flour mix. I substitute it just like regular flour, and it makes the best darn cookies, brownies, corn bread, pancakes, and waffles. Some people don't like the taste of the garbanzo flour, but I always use it in recipes with cinnamon, ginger, spices, vanilla, etc. to mask any aftertaste. No more grit! As for cakes, I either make my own mix or use GF Pantry's cake mixes. Instead of following their directions, I add:1/2 C sugar1 package instant pudding or jello (chocolate pudding for chocolate cake)1/2 C oil3/4 C orange juice4 eggsRecently, I put in a

package of cherry jello, and made what my kids called Patri-cakes (cupcakes the color of on SpongeBob.) The gelatin (in the Jello) counteracts the grittiness of the rice flour in the mix and seems to keep the cake from falling. They are great, tasty PINK cupcakes, good for Valentines Day at any rate.I sympathesize with you as the GF chef in your household. It is my husband and one of my teenage sons that are celiacs. I made a decision in the beginning to make the whole house GF to avoid contamination and to make it more likely that my teenage son could follow the diet without building up resentment. The result has been an 18-month quest to produce food that is gluten free and uncompromised in quality. After all, I'm eating this stuff, too. Let me tell you, it has been an adventure, but a most rewarding one at that. This message board and the delphiforum group, have some creative,

determined cooks that are a continual source of inspiration. Being me, I always tweak every recipe I get my hands on, but that's part of the adventure.It does get better.Try these cookies, they will cheer you up: in VTGF Chocolate Chip Cookies2-1/4 C GF Flour Mix*¼ C cornstarch1 tsp baking powder½ tsp salt½ C butter (softened)¼ C olive oil¾ C sugar¾ C brown sugar2 tsp vanilla2 eggs2 tsp cinnamon1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips1 C walnuts (optional)*I use:¾ C garbanzo flour¾ C tapioca flour¾ C cornstarch2 tsp xanthan gum1. Cream sugar, butter, and oil2. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time3. Mix all dry ingredients and combine with wet ingredients4. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment-lined baking tray5. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutesNote: this GF flour mix contains flours that absorb water from

the air. If your mixture doesn't seem stiff enough or the cookies spread too much, add another 1/4 C of GF flour mix.