More Discounts and Coupons!

• Udi's Gluten Free Foods. Join their newsletter and receive a coupon for $1.00. udisglutenfree.com
• French Meadow Bakery.  Offers $1.00 off their gluten-free bakery products. www.frenchmeadow.com/coupons

Gluten Free Discounts and Coupons!

1. Dad’s Gluten-Free Pizza Crusts.  Receive 15% off your total order by using the code FEB2011GR, there is no limit to the crusts you can order. Order 10 or more crusts, and shipping is automatically FREE! Offer expires February 28, 2011. www.glutenfreepizza.com
2. Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bread.  Receive $1.00 off at www.rudisglutenfree.com
3. Cookbook: Favorite Desserts Made Gluten Free by Amelia E. Pohl.   www.gluten-free-book.com 

The Real Splurge... Real Mozzarella

I love pizza!  Whether it's full of veggies (no pineapple please) or supreme, the quality of cheese can either make or break a pizza.  If you think about it...the cheese is the glue of the pizza. It holds the tomato sauce down and the toppings up. It lends a rich creamy texture, warmth and taste and acts as the pizzeria melting-pot.

One thing about gluten-free pizza crusts is they can tend to be heavy or without much taste.  Taking the time to use high quality ingredients including a good cheese will help to ensure your gluten-free pizza can put it's best food forward.  There is a time for low-fat cooking and then there's a time for pizza. 

On your next pizza adventure, spend a couple extra dollars and purchase real mozzarella cheese.  But buyer beware...real mozzarella will be packaged in water or oil.  Some manufactures will say "Real Mozzarella" and have their cheese packaged in airtight containers much like brick cheeses.  Though this may be a higher quality than your standard brink cheeses, keep looking.  Your effort will be greatly rewarded at the dinner table.

Bon Appetit!

Let Them Eat Ravioli!

Think back and find in you memories the last time you had a really delicious ravioli.  Maybe your mind takes you back to childhood when ravioli came from the kitchen of Chef Boyardee. Or, perhaps thoughts of your grade school lunchroom comes flooding back.  For me, the last time I had ravioli was as a teenager with my mom.  Growing up, cooking with my mom in the kitchen meant getting to grease the pan.  (Sorry, mom.  You know you're smiling). However, when I was about sixteen, mom had purchased this neat little ravioli press and I was able to graduate from official pan greaser to apprentice ravioli maker.  Since then, mom's ravioli press turned into mom's peach fried pie press and homemade ravioli took a back seat.

So the thought hit me the other day..."Ravioli, can it be made gluten-free?"  Believing that sometimes great food needs to take longer than 30 minutes to make, I set out to make magic happen.  Taking a gluten-free recipe for egg noodles I've had for some time, I thought if it can make delicious noodles for soups, why can't it make delicious shells for ravioli?

For the filling, I browned ground sirloin with onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.  Next, I rolled out my egg noodles and cut 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares.  Putting a scant amount of the sirloin mixture and a slice of real mozzarella cheese n the center of my squares, I carefully folded the squares on the diagonal and crimped the edges with a fork.  When I had a 2-3 prepared raviolis, I carefully placed them in boiling water and let them boil for 3 minutes.  Once they floated, I removed them from the water and allowed them to drain in a strainer.  After all the raviolis took their bubble bath, I placed them in a saucepan with my favorite homemade canned spaghetti sauce and topped with the remaining real mozzarella cheese.

When everything was heated through and the cheese was melted, there it was successfully created gluten-free ravioli! My challenge to you is to take a leap of faith and recreate a childhood memory gluten-free.  And thanks mom for allowing me to graduate up from official pan greaser.