Monday, August 30, 2010

Farmer's Market & More Gluten Free Cooking Classes

I finally made it to the Saturday Farmer's Market this year and it has grown! It was fun running into so many people I know and we had a great time. Plus I got to scope out and try the gluten free baked goods.



The first booth was located outside and we tried the scones and carrot cake. It was also dairy free and egg free and Hubby loved the carrot cake. I'm not a big carrot cake fan but I thought it was really good too. The scones were a little dense but tasted really good. Her kitchen is not 100% GF but she takes measures to prevent cross contamination.


The second booth was located inside and I would have missed it if my SIL hadn't pointed it out to me. Laughing Lily is a gluten-free patisserie with dairy-free optoins. We bought a couple cookies, all of which were soft and delicious, plus some tasty blueberry muffins. Fantastic food. You can contact them at LaughingLily.BakedGoods@gmail.com.



Olivelle is offering another gluten free cooking class September 24th called Gluten Free Gourmet. Check out the link for details.

Vera Fare - Gluten Free Cafe

You know how it is when you read something and your stomach does a little flip of excitement? That's what happened when I read the description for Vera Fare. "Bozeman's first gluten-free cafe." Sweet music to my ears. I haven't been able to try them yet but it's at the top of my to-do list. If you beat me to it please let me know what you think.

Vera Fare is located at 2251 W Kagy in Bozeman. They are open everyday from 8-3 an dyou can contact them at 922-0888 or contact@verafare.com.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Gluten Free/Dairy Free No-Bake Cookies w/ Quinoa

No-Bake cookies are the cookie of my childhood. I've always loved them and always will. They are a great option when you want something quick and don't want to turn the oven on. I used to help my mom make these cookies all the time but the last few trials have been duds for me. The taste was there but the chocolate would puddle at the bottom of the GF oatmeal mounds and they weren't the prettiest things. That didnt' stop us from eating them but it did get me on a mission to figure out this problem. I'm not sure if it's an elevation issue or if I wasn't boiling the chocolate mixture long enough but whatever the case these were perfection and I added some extra health to it with the quinoa.






No-Bake Cookies
Adapted from a recipe I submitted as a child to our Church's Cook Book


2 C granulated sugar
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 C milk - I used rice
1/2 C margarine - Dairy free if needed
1 t vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 C peanut butter - crunchy or not, it's your preference
3 C gluten free oats
1 C quinoa flakes


In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine. Bring to a rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil at rolling for 2 minutes then remove from heat and add the vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. Stir thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the oatmeal and quinoa flakes then drop onto greased cookie sheets. Allow to cool and enjoy.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bridger Kitchens Gluten Free Cooking Classes

I was oblivious to Bridger Kitchens offering gluten free cooking classes until Karen Ore commented on my blog. Karen follows a GF/DF/egg & shrimp free diet so she is very knowledgable about safe cooking for dietary restrictions. I'm so happy to see more options for people to find comfort in their own GF kitchen.


Click on the link to view their class information and schedule. I'm not sure if any spots are open but a GF cooking and baking class is available August 26th from 6:30-8:30. Dairy and egg free options will also be available.


The classes are held at their second location at the Four Corner's area. They are located at 7540 Pioneer Way.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Gluten Free Dairy Free Camping

Hubby and I used to backpack and camp a lot, then we had children. I am of the belief you can still do the things you love it just has to be adjusted a bit when kids enter the picture. Unfortunately this portion of our lives took a little while but I was happy with the results. The kids loved camping and spending hours throwing rocks into the stream. If the flat tire and rain hadn't happened it would have been ideal but this is life after all.

Our menu was simple. Dinner consisted of hotdogs, corn, and cherries. Dessert was of course S'mores. I used the Kinnikinnick graham crackers and found these delicious dairy free chocolate bars, Sweet Chocolate Dream. This is the closest taste to milk chocolate we've encountered and I highly recommend them. The Rice Crunch version is dark chocolate and a nice substitute to the gluten filled Crunch bar. We found everything below at Rosauer's Huckleberry Market and I had to bring the Udi's bagels just in case. By the way they are soft and delicious, best bagels I've ever had, GF or not.

Breakfast I knew we needed GF/DF pancakes to go with our DF hot chocolate but these items took some searching. I wanted a pancake mix that I could just add water to and The Cravings Place Pancake Mix was perfect. You add enough water to get it to the consistency you want (no measuring cups required) and there you go. They were yum! The DF hot chocolate by Ah!laska was really good, not as creamy as dairy filled (of course) but the whole family was happy with it. Hubby said I didn't need to search for a DF option but he sure did enjoy a warm drink Sunday morning. The whole family needs to be happy afterall.


Here's my troopers eating breakfast in the rain, it of course started coming down as soon as breakfast was ready. They had already drank their morning hot chocolate and moved onto juice. My girl stated her hot chocolate was her coffee. I think that's a sign I may drink too much coffee. See me in the background making breakfast and drinking coffee? I think that was my second cup.


Speaking of my coffee addiction the Starbucks Via instant coffee pouches are fantastic. They take up very little space and allow for a "just add water" coffee fix. This was much more compact than bringing along grounds and my French Press. I picked these up at REI and of course you can get them at Starbucks.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Misc Updates

Sorry I haven't posted anything new for awhile. Work has been crazy and my free time has been filled but hopefully things will slow down next week and I can start posting again. In the mean time I do want to post a few new things I've seen around the area.


Town & Country now has Bard's GF beer. I love this store but never make it there. I need to do a more thorough walk through to see what GF options they have because I know they are scattered throughout.


On The Rise Bakery is working on offering gluten free bread and muffins. I'll keep you posted as I hear more on this.


The Farmer's Market in Bozeman on Saturday's has GF goodies. I can't for the life of me remember the name but a woman makes GF oatmeal cookies (certified GF oats), peanut butter, and chocolate chip cookies. The kids loved them but Hubby can't have them because they are not dairy free.



Starky's offers GF options and here the information I received when I e-mailed them. They have a house made GF bread that is available for any sandwich options. It is brown rice and garbanzo flour based. They always carry it and it is available by the loaf with a day's notice. They also carry chocolate macaroons and lemon bars along with a GF dessert every night. For brunch on Sunday's (10-3) they feature a special brunch menu whose French Toast can easily be converted to GF if requested.

They do a lot of standard baking and said there is a risk of cross-contamination however their bakers are well versed in the avoidance of CC and the dangers of gluten allergies. Items are not labelled GF because they want to avoid the unfortunate backlash that sometimes occurs when an individual reads anything healthy as bad tasting, but their staff is fairly well educated on the subject and good enough to ask a manager or baker when they are unsure of an items GF status. They also do not have a separate grill for GF preparation however if you request when ordering they will prepare a meal separate from the other gluten products.

That's it for now, let me know if you try Starky's and how it goes.