Gluten-Free is the new black?

Watching the G-Free world explode into the media, blogmania, and into the retail world is very exciting! Not only have old companies emerged into the lime light but new products by new companies are popping up everywhere. There are also specialty shops opening like the G-Free cake shop in B.C. The amount of grocery stores and Health Food Stores that carry G-free products is amazing. The G-Free life style has changed for the better in quality and quanitity of food products. Now the only thing that needs to shift is the price for rice!

Restaurants have gone completely mad! They can actually answer my questions about G-free cuisine. I can sit with my family and enjoy my food knowing that I will not feel crappy in 15 minutes and for a day or two after. That’s right no more blank expressions, or that look that makes me feel one inch tall and not even the are you from outer space look when I say "I am Gluten-Free what do you have that I can eat?"

I have tried many G-Free pre-packaged foods from mixes, already made and frozen with surprise and delight in the taste and fulfilling aspects. Yet I find it hard to keep up with the expense. I have tried cooking and baking G-Free without success, unfortunately not for lack of skills because I have been cooking and baking a mean Gluten meal for many, many years, I know this from the compliments I get from my family! My problem is the lack of skills in G-Free rules.

Gluten-Free is a whole new world when it comes to rules. Throw out or forget all the rules that your mom taught you about Gluten cooking and especially baking. Get ready to use ingredients like xanthan gum, amaranth, arrowroot, sorghum flour, buckwheat, fava, flaxseed, kasha (toasted buckwheat), millet, quinoa, rice, sago and tapioca, potato flour, potato starch to name a few.

My goal now is to educate myself on the ins and outs of cooking and baking delicious G-Free foods in my home so that I can save money and hopefully time. Thanks to the many blogs and websites full of G-Free tips, techniques, recipes and fresh ideas I feel confident that I can try, try again to succeed in G-Free cuisine.

Until next time ~ Northern Girl