California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Offers GF Menu Items Part 2

On June 29th I posted some potentially good news: California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Offers GF Menu Items.  There was a bit of mixed reviews regarding this post, which is completely understandable.  You never truly know if your meal will be 100% gluten-free (and free of any cross-contamination) when you are eating out in a non-designated gluten-free restaurant.  Many restaurants take extra precautions when preparing gluten-free menu items and will train their staff regarding the gluten-free diet and cross-contamination.

I will admit at first I was a bit skeptical about trying the new pizza but I asked a few other bloggers and readers who had tried the new pizza and they all said it was delicious and didn’t have any glutened symptoms.  When we went to Boston a few weeks ago with our dear friends Warren and Joyce we found a CPK and decided to give it a go (when you sign up to receive their e-mails you get a $5.00 coupon!).

Out of the four of us I am the only one with celiac disease so I ordered off of their Gluten-Free Menu! (which is actually just the real menu with “gf” notations next to the items that are gluten-free”). I also asked to speak with a manager about the process of the chefs making the pizza and serving it.  She did assure me that they use a “foil boat” to cook the pizza on, use a separate paddle, separate knife, and serve it right away to avoid any confusion.

I decided to go with what they are known best for – The Original BBQ Chicken Pizza (Invented here in 1985. BBQ sauce, smoked Gouda, Mozzarella, BBQ chicken, red onions and cilantro).  This was always one of my favorite pizzas before I went gluten-free and it was as delicious as ever.  The flavor combination may seem a bit odd when you are just reading about it but the sweetness of the BBQ sauce goes so well with the smoked Gouda and red onions.  Best part of all? I didn’t get sick from eating it!! It was so nice to eat pizza out at a restaurant. Sadly though the closest CPK to us is Boston so we won’t be going there very often.

Again, this is obviously a personal judgement call but I can say that I ate there with absolutely no problems and it was delicious, the staff was very friendly, helpful, and well-informed.  A nice change from my last visit to a CPK.  Again, please come back and let me know if you have tried CPK’s new gluten-free options and what you thought about it.

LUNA Protein Bars {Review}

Last month I was contacted by LUNA Bars and asked if I would be interested in reviewing their new Protein Bars which are all gluten-free.  I am always on the lookout for delicious, gluten-free snacks that I can throw in either my purse, backpack, and/or camera bag so I said yes.

These little bars are delicious.  The come in five different flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Chocolate Cookie Dough, Chocolate Cherry Almond, and Mint Chocolate Chip.  Hands down the chocolate peanut butter is my favorite!  Bryan loved the mint chocolate chip (I didn’t get a bite of that one). I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter anyway but LUNA did it so well. I don’t know about you but some times when I eat protein bars they tend to leave a chalky feeling/taste in my mouth but these didn’t.The bars are soft and chewy.

Here is a little bit of information from their website regarding the new LUNA Protein Bars:

LUNA Protein is the first high protein bar for women that provides satiation with natural and organic ingredients. In under 200 calories, LUNA Protein offers 12 grams of soy and whey protein and 3 grams of fiber to satisfy hunger. It contains no artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup or trans fats, and no ingredients sourced from genetically modified organisms.

Each 1.6 oz (45g) LUNA Protein bar has around 180-190 calories with 12g protein and 3g fiber, along with essential nutrients women need. It is high in calcium and folic acid, and is a good source of vitamin D, iron, fiber and antioxidants (vitamins A, C and E). Each bar has 6-9g fat and 13-15g sugar depending on the flavor.

LUNA Protein is not a meal replacement bar or a diet bar. LUNA Protein is a delicious, nutritious and convenient snack that satisfies and curbs hunger between meals, helping to prevent high calorie/high fat snack cravings such as potato chips or candy bars.

LUNA Protein is entirely natural. It contains no artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup or trans-fats, and no ingredients sourced from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). LUNA Protein also contains 35% organic ingredients.

LUNA Protein bars are considered a “low glycemic” food due to the balance of carbohydrate, fat, protein, fiber, and portion size. Glycemic Index (GI) can be a great tool for fine-tuning the carbohydrate choices in your meal plan, but it shouldn’t be your exclusive consideration for whether or not to include certain foods in your daily meal plans.

At the beginning of 2011 we started to transition all LUNA Protein flavors to be gluten free. To do this, Clif Bar & Company has looked at all aspects of making our bars. Our ingredient suppliers have confirmed that all ingredients are gluten free, so they contain no gluten from wheat, rye or barley. The location where we make our food is capable of making a gluten free food and we test our finished products to confirm that they are gluten free.

Our newest flavors, Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate, are all labeled gluten free.

As of March 2011, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cookie Dough, and Chocolate Cherry Almond transitioned to be gluten free, as well. You can tell if your LUNA Protein bar is gluten free by looking at the packaging.

You can find LUNA Protein bars at many Whole Foods, Kroger, Target, REI, Albertsons, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Frys, Raleys, Smiths, Ralphs, A&P, Pathmark, Walmart, Wegmens, Publix, Safeway, drugstore.com, amazon.com and your local Natural/Specialty food store.

I would definitely buy these again, especially to keep in my backpack during next semester!

Activia Releases Two new Yogurts

This month Activia has released two new styles of yogurt – Greek and French!  To help spread the word, they partnered up with Foodie Blogroll and are offering everyone a FREE* coupon (value $3) to give them a try.

The new Greek flavors include: Vanilla, Blueberry, Pomegranate Berry, and Strawberry – I love Greek yogurt so I am very excited to give these a try. I especially love Vanilla Greek Yogurt.

The new French flavors include: Cherry, Mango, Blackberry, and Pineapple – I don’t think I have ever had French yogurt so I think I might give this a try with my coupon.

Which one are you most interested in trying?  Here is what you need to do get your FREE* coupon (value $3):

To get your coupon do as follows:

• 1) Go to: http://tinyurl.com/3ubt9q9 – this will take you to a FB page.
• 2) “Like” the page
• 3) You may have to also click on the “Activia Select” link on the left sidebar
• 4) Enter your information in the form, select the yogurt you’d like to try and click on “Get Coupon”
• 5) You will receive an email with a link to the printable coupon.
• 6) Print the coupon (you may need to allow the Java print plug-in on your browser)
• 7) Bring it to a store to redeem your free Dannon Activia sample

The coupon EXPIRES on 8/15/11 so hurry up, get your coupon, and head to the store to get your free sample (value $3)!

*This sponsorship is brought to you by Activia Selects who we have partnered with for this promotion. FREE coupon offer good 8/3 /11 – 8/15/11, up to 1 million coupons, on any Activia Selects Single Serve, up to $3.00. One coupon per household. Offer valid in the U.S only. VOID IN LA, NJ, CA. Coupon valid until 8/15/11.Residents of LA, NJ, CA will be given a ‘$1 off 3 Activia Selects’ coupon.

Five Star Marinade (Review & Giveaway)

We love to grill – chicken, steak, burgers, and especially vegetables.  Depending on what we are grilling we use different seasonings, sauces, and marinades – it usually is something spicy.  About a month ago Burt – the creator of Five Star Meat Marinade asked if I would like to try his gluten-free and diabetic friendly marinade, of course I said yes!

Bryan’s dad has diabetes so lately I have been trying to find things that are suitable for him.  When Burt shared the information about the marinade with me saying that it was “All natural, NO MSG, NO Sugar, NO Preservatives, NO Oils or Fats”, I thought this would be a great marinade for him to try.  Sadly we don’t get to see him much but I figured his birthday is coming up so I’m going to put together a little goodie bag for him.  I’m also going to start experimenting with some refined sugar-free baking for him also and hopefully send Bryan down with some diabetic friendly baked goods.

Back to the marinade

Here is a little bit of history from Five Star Marinade’s website:

While growing up,  holidays were special for many reasons. Getting together with family, good food and lots of laughter. Most meals were potluck,  making it easier on those hosting the event. We always had the traditional turkey or ham as a main course, but my Grandmother would provide another meat with her marinade. Everyone loved the flavor so much that often the family dinners would break tradition serving only her meat dish.  Little did Grandma know that her marinade was a healthy substitute for sugar or molasses based barbeque sauce.

Grandma is gone now but I have taken the recipe and bottled this great taste for everyone wishing great flavor without the worry of calories, preservatives or fat. The marinade is easy to use and is excellent for barbeque, broiling or baking making it enjoyable all year no matter the weather.

My marinade is just the thing for those on restricted diets such as those on low sodium, sugar free, gluten free or Diabetics.

Last week I decided to marinade some chicken breast over night (per Burt’s instructions) and grill them up and served them with some spicy broccoli and a  side salad.  Oh man is this marinade delicious!! It has a bit of a peppery kick to it, which I loved and a great flavor.  I made an extra piece of chicken so I could slice it up and have it atop a salad the next day for lunch. I think next weekend I’ll be marinading (only 30 minutes) and grilling up some portabella mushrooms.

The marinade is simple – yet extremely delicious!  Five Star Marinade Ingredients: Vinegar*, Salt, Spices, Paprika, Garlic *Red Wine Vinegar (not distilled white) so this marinade is also corn-free (for those of you who have corn allergies, this is perfect for you)!

Thank you Burt for making such a delicious, gluten-free and diabetic friendly marinade! And thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to sample your delicious creation (your grandmother would be so proud of you!)

Who would like to try a bottle of this delicious, gluten-free, sugar-free all-purpose marinade?  One lucky winner with have a chance to win a bottle – please leave a comment for EACH entry!

1) Like Five Star Marinade on Facebook

2) Follow Five Star Marinade on Twitter (@GFMarinade)

3) Like Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook

4) Follow Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Twitter (@Creatively_GF)

5) Leave a comment below saying what you would like to try this on.

One winner will be chosen using random.org on Tuesday June 26th, 2011.  The lucky winner will have 48 hours to respond after they receive my e-mail.  If a winner does not respond in the allotted time, a new winner will be chosen.  This contest is open to US residents only – the prize will be shipped directly from Five Star Marinade.  Good luck to all who enter!

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Offers GF Menu Items

Hello All,

I wanted to share with you a press release that I received today about California Pizza Kitchen:

Hi!

The wait is over! Today California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) has launched gluten free pizza crust, making 29 of their original pizzas available gluten free.

CPK has taken notice of the increased demand with more than 3 million Americans affected by Celiac Disease and created a specialty menu with various gluten free items. Among the 29 different gluten free pizzas available is America’s favorite, The Original BBQ Chicken pizza, the Pear & Gorgonzola pizza and the Wild Mushroom pizza. CPK also offers other gluten free appetizers, soups, salads, specialties, kids items and desserts to choose from on their current menu.

CPK is thrilled to offer those that require gluten free items a menu with the same delicious offering that they’ve always had, now gluten free.

I also saw this on their website:

“*Not available gluten-free: Thai Chicken and Roasted Artichoke and Spinach”

Here is a PDF version of their new Gluten-Free Menu!!

This is really exciting news because this means that Gluten Free awareness has gone mainstream, however please keep on reading.

UPDATE 6/30/11: A reader just pointed this disclaimer out to me at the bottom of their menu – so to sum this up, it is very exciting that they are offering gluten-free options, however it seems like an “eat at your own risk” type situation as with many restaurants be very careful!!

“Gluten-Free” designations are based on information provided by our ingredient suppliers. Warning: Ingredients or production methods used by our suppliers may change, or there may be product differences among regional suppliers. Additionally, normal kitchen operations involve shared cooking and preparation areas, or we may need to substitute ingredients in menu items. We are therefore unable to guarantee that any menu item is free from gluten or any other allergen, and we assume no responsibility for guests with food allergies or sensitivities.

I was happy to receive the press release at first and sent back an e-mail asking about cross contamination and preparation of the menu items that were gluten-free but have not received a response as of yet. As soon as I hear back from them, I will update this post for all of you.

Coming from one who has Celiac Disease and not gluten intolerance I don’t know if I would eat there, especially if they are using the same pizza ovens.  When I was first diagnosed with CD I tried to eat there and just order a salad.  When I asked the waitress to check on the dressing ingredients for me she said that she would and when she returned said she didn’t read anything about it in the ingredients.  I was very very new at this so I ate my salad as she gave it to me and was extremely sick – I couldn’t even return to work that day.  I called the manager of my local CPK and he said he would retrain his staff on the importance of checking ingredients and preparing salads for those with allergies.  I had gone back a few times for salads and they were good but I was always nervous.

My nervous are from getting severely sick while eating there.  I know that there are plenty of chain and “regular” restaurants that offer gluten-free options and aren’t specifically gluten-free so there is always that risk of cross contamination, so this is again, a personal preference call. We don’t eat out very often, but when we do I always talk with the wait staff, hand them my awesome Triumph Dinning Card and most times even speak with the manager or chef (they come out, I don’t just go ask for them (-:) For the most part I have been fine eating out at “regular” restaurants, with a few exceptions.

I am thankful that there disclaimer is there and honest – I give them credit for that, some places aren’t so straight forward about it.

I know some of my comments are a little back and forth but I have to stress that it is a personal preference call to eat there or any non-gluten-free restaurant. P.F. Chang’s is one of my favorite places to eat because they take extra precautions to avoid cross contamination and I have never been sick there…they even serve gluten-free foods on separate dishes (the ones that say P.F. Chang’s on it…and “regular” meals are served on plain white dishes).  I don’t have one around me to try it out.  Most times when you talk to the servers, manager, chef, etc. they will take extra caution to avoid any cross-contamination and I suggest speaking with them about it.

If you are willing to try it – please come and leave a comment back here letting me know if there was any special precaution that they took in preparing your meal, how did it taste – was the crust decent, and did you get sick from it.  I don’t have one around me and at this point I am still a bit hesitant to try it.

My hope is that they aren’t just jumping on the bandwagon with a gluten-free option but they take this seriously and put together an action plan on how to prevent and eliminate cross contamination.  Fingers crossed this will happen – would be nice to eat pizza out at a restaurant again.

Please share your thoughts, concerns, etc. in the comments section – I would love to hear what you all have to say.

UPDATE 7/1/11 -

Hi Jenny – Thanks for your interest! Yes CPK is taking special precautions to make sure it’s safe. They use a separate ‘foil boat’ in the oven to cook the pizza then immediately transfer it to its own platter, cut with a separate clean pizza cutter then immediately put on a clean plate and then taken straight to the guests table.

Well with that said – I think double checking with the waitstaff that this process takes place and you should probably be okay.  Again, if anyone has tried this please come and leave a message, I know there are many mixed emotions about this news.  I wish there was one close to me so I could at least give it a shot but sadly there isn’t one.

(More photos curiosity of CPK will be posted soon)

TrueBar – Love Letter and Review

Here is my love letter to Bakery On Main

Dear Bakery On Main,

I would like to start by saying thank you so much for sending me a sample of your new TrueBars.  I am always looking for little snack items to keep in my backpack for school, my camera bag for photo assignments and my purse for when I am at work or traveling.  Having an item that is not only gluten-free, good for me AND delicious can be a bit tricky to find, but you my dear friends have mastered all three.  I am in love with these bars.  The first thing I noticed is the packaging – I really love that you can see the bars through the packaging and that they say exactly what they are: “I’m a coconut cashew bar with nothing to hide”.  (Both Bryan and I cracked up at this), Secondly they smell so good – and I know that sounds funny but I always smell my food first because if something doesn’t smell like it should then it probably wont taste like it should.  Third the taste of these bars are amazing! My favorite is the coconut cashew bar but I really enjoyed them all even the hazelnut chocolate cherry and I don’t ever like dried cherries!

Thank you BOM for making such delicious and nutritious gluten-free bars!  They are simply wonderful and I’m not just saying that because I received samples – I can’t wait for them to be released so I can get more of them. You rock.

Love, Jenny

I would love to have my pantry stocked with boxes upon boxes of these bars-they are that good. They are the perfect size to throw in one of my many bags and perfect for travel.  The bars definitely have nothing to hide – They are loaded with omega 3 from chia, a good source of fiber (all bars have 3 grams!!), made with many low-GI ingredients (such as brown rice syrup, agave nectar, chia seed and a variety of nuts), and they GFCO certified gluten-free!  These bars are also: dairy and casein free, GMO free, low in sodium, kosher, all natural, wheat free, they are free of transfats and cholesterol and are low in saturated fats.  What could be better?

TrueBars come in six delicious flavors (and like I said, I don’t liked dried cherries but loved all of the bars):

• hazelnut chocolate cherry bar
• walnut cappuccino bar
• fruit and nut bar
• raspberry chocolate almond bar
• coconut cashew bar
• apricot almond chai bar

I’ve never had anything with chia seeds in it before however, they were delicious and I think I might have to pick some up and start experimenting with them.

If I could give the wonderful people at BOM a high-five for these bars, I would! When you see them in stores around you, pick up a box and give them a try!

Panera Bread – Gluten Free Options

I love Panera Bread and that we have one not too far from us! Even if we forget that it is there half the time, it is nice when we remember it.  Bryan loves their bread and their creamy tomato soup and I truly miss their bread but love their salads and their creamy tomato soup also.  We went to lunch there last week, and like I always do before going somewhere to eat (even if we’ve been there a million times) I went online and checked to see what their gluten-free options were.  However, when I was searching the only updates that I found were from 2008 and 2010 so I decided that I would order something I knew for sure what gluten-free and also e-mailed Panera Bread and asked for an updated list.  Below is the list and e-mail that was sent to me.  The customer service people over at Panera Bread are just awesome – quick in responding, friendly and very informative.

Dear Jenny,

Thank you for contacting Panera Bread. I have included below a list of our menu items that do not contain gluten-containing ingredients. However, because we bake fresh bread daily in our bakery-cafes and bread is core to our menu, we simply cannot ensure that there has been no contact between these items, or any other menu items, and gluten.

Not all of the items listed are currently on our menu and some new menu items have not yet been evaluated for the purposes of inclusion on this list. However, you can find complete ingredients listings for current menu items on our website. (When you choose a menu item in our online Nutrition Calculator, click on the “ingredients” link for ingredients information for that item.)

Please note that nutritional information on our website is updated periodically. New products may be available in our bakery-cafes before a periodic update of this site. In addition, some menu items may be available only on a regional, test or seasonal basis. Nutritional information about these menu items is available at the participating bakery-cafes. Tests of new recipes of existing products may be conducted from time to time in certain markets. These new recipes may contain different/additional ingredients, including allergens, as compared to the original version. For the most update-to-date information, please call or visit your nearest bakery-cafe to speak with a manager.

Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business and value your comments.

Sincerely,
Jamie
Customer Comment Coordinator

List of menu items that do not contain any gluten containing ingredients

**Although we try to meet your special requirements, we cannot ensure that these items have not come into contact with gluten in our bakery-café.

** Gorgonzola and bleu cheeses are commonly made with mold incubated on wheat.  Some may choose to avoid these cheeses for this reason and you may substitute another cheese if you prefer. Items containing these ingredients are indicated below with (G) or (BC).

Salads:    (including the salad dressing)
(source of modified food starch is corn)
Greek Salad Caesar Salad (without croutons)
Grilled Chicken
Caesar Salad (without croutons)
Asian Sesame Chicken Salad (without Won Ton noodles)
Classic Cafe Salad
Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (G)
Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad (G)
Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad
Tomato and Mozzarella Salad (without croutons)
BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad
Fruit Cup – Watermelon
Seasonal Mixed Fruit Cup

Salad Dressings:
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Caesar
Greek
Poppyseed Dressing
Asian Sesame Vinaigrette
White Balsamic Vinaigrette
BBQ Ranch
Light buttermilk ranch

Soups:
Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean
Creamy Tomato (without croutons)

Beverages:
Coffee
Juice, both apple and orange
Lemonade
Milk
Soda, fountain and bottled
Tea, regular and Chai Tea

All lattes & Frozen beverages
Low-fat Strawberry Smoothie
Low-Fat Black Cherry Smoothie
Low-Fat Mango Smoothie
Low-fat Wild Berry Smoothie
Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
Frozen Lemonade
Hot Chocolate

Panera Bread Potato Chips

If you have a Panera Bread around you – it is a great place to eat if you are gluten-free.  The staff is always very careful about cross contamination and they also an allergen list at the registers for you to double-check anything – especially new items on the menu.

Hope this updated list helps everyone out as much as it has helped me.

Also don’t forget that my 3 Year Blogiversary Giveaway is going on until June 30th so head on over and enter today for your chance to win a box filled with a bunch of gluten-free and kitchen goodies.

Three Year Blogiversary

(I know the picture above doesn’t have to do with food but daisies are my favorite flowers of all time) 

This month I’ll be celebrating my three-year blogiversary – June 27th to be exact. I have been trying to think about a great way to celebrate it and I think I’ve finally figured it out.  I’m going to do a giveaway!  This is not a giveaway sponsored by anyone or company in particular.  What I am planning to do is get a good-sized box and fill it with all different kinds of goodies: gluten-free treats, coupons, kitchen items etc.  Below you will see a list of what has been included in the box so far.  I’ll continue to add to the box as I find things I think you all might like.  There are going to be plenty of opportunities for all of you to enter so be sure to read them all and post a separate comment for each entry.

I started Creative Cooking Gluten Free as a way to release my frustrations in this new lifestyle.  I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be a very easy transition for me.  I am Italian and French and lets just say we love our bread and pasta in my family.  I couldn’t imagine life with out the two but was determined to find amazing substitutions that were suitable for this new adventure in my life.  Over these past three years I have tried many different gluten-free items, many of which have been sent to me from the companies directly (which I am beyond thankful for and feel very fortunate to work with these companies).  However, in the beginning of this new lifestyle I tried so many different foods that made me want to cry – and not in a good way.  I couldn’t believe that people actually ate some of this food and thought it was good.  The bread was absolutely disgusting – looked and tasted like a brick (I won’t mention brand names).  So instead of giving up and eating what I wanted to eat I did research, read books, but most of all I found some pretty amazing gluten-free bloggers who gave me hope.  With out these lovely ladies I don’t know if the transition would have been as easy as it was.  It was such an amazing feeling and relief to see that there were others out there with Celiac Disease and their food looked amazingly delicious.  Almost too good to be true, but thankfully the look of their food and the taste were spot on.

I have been sick for most of my life.  I was diagnosed when I was younger with IBS and Lactose Intolerance, however I don’t know if I have either – I know for sure I am not Lactose Intolerant because I could eat all the dairy I want and be fine, it was everything I was eating with it that made me sick.  Since going gluten-free I have never felt better.  My Fibromyalgia also has improved greatly.  There used to be days where I couldn’t even get out of bed but I haven’t had one of those days in years – Wooo Hooo! (If you are someone who also has Fibromyalgia, you know how exciting that is). It was so nice to finally have an answer to all of my symptoms, even if it took them almost twenty years to figure it out.  I’m much happier and healthier now.  I don’t really miss gluten much.  Every once in a while I will crave a nice piece of Italian or French Bread but when Bryan buys a sandwich or something containing lots of gluten, I ask to smell it no, really I do and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Thankfully he is used to it now and will even offer me a sniff.

The majority of the recipes you will find on this blog are recipes that I enjoyed before going gluten-free and adapted them to be gluten-free.  Some of my favorite recipes to adapt are my grandmother’s and the recipes found in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine.  These recipes are simple, easy to find ingredients, and delicious.  I’m also a huge fan of Asian food so you will see plenty Asian inspired recipes on here with a handful of recipes that I adapted from P.F. Chang’s.

I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect and neither is this blog.  I have no problem talking about my mistakes and failures on here.  As I mentioned, this was first started to release my frustrations and track my progress and in three years it has turned into what it is.  Creative Cooking Gluten Free is a forever changing blog and it will continue to evolve over the coming years especially when I begin my culinary labs.

If you weren’t aware already, in March I enrolled in my dream college to pursue my dream of being a chef.  My goal is to complete my degree in Culinary Nutrition and become a Registered Dietitian – and to do this whole program as gluten-free as I possibly can.  Thankfully the Chefs that Johnson & Wales University are very accommodating.  So please stay tuned to more of my adventures.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes/posts over the last three years:

• Sweet and Spicy Chicken
• Balsamic Steak
• Garlic Basil Shrimp
• Beef a La Sichuan 
• Garlic Green Beans
• Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Apple Crisp
• Bacon Cheddar Scones
• Granola 

I would like to thank my inspirations and all of my readers and followers.  Without all of you this blog truly wouldn’t be what it is today.  I can’t thank you enough for all of your support, kind words, encouragement, and wisdom.

To thank YOU I am doing a giveaway! As I said, there are plenty of ways to enter and this list will continue to grow as I find different items to add, but for now here is a list of the items to be included in the box (even if you don’t like/or can’t use everything enclosed in the box you can share with a friend!):

• 1 Package (22oz) of Bob’s Red Mill All Purposed Baking Flour
• 1 Package (21oz) Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix
• 1 Bag of Mini Pops (3oz)
• 1 Cute little cupcake holder
• 1 Set of 2010 Chef Series Recipes from POM Wonderful
• 2 POM Wonderful Rubber Bracelets
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Celery Condensed Soup
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
• 1 Small Bamboo Cutting Board
• Coupons: Thai Kitchen (1-free item), Coffee House Breve Creme (1-$.55), Breakstone’s Sour Cream Dip (3 – $1.000), Breakstone’s Sourcream Zesty Blends (3 – $1.00), World Harbors (1 -$1.00), Tribe Hummus (1- $1.00)
• 1 POM Wonderful Apron
• 2 Small Flex Cutting Boards
• 1 Reusable Tote/Grocery Bag from FoodieBlogroll.com
• 1 Box (6.3 oz) of Enjoy Life Food’s Crunchy Sugar Crisp Cookies
• 1 Bottle *16.9 Fl oz) of “Pre-Brus Whitening Mouth Rince” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Tube (5 oz) of “Healthy Teeth and Gums, Anticavity Toothpaste” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Tube (5 oz) of “Healthy Teeth and Gums, Whitening Toothpaste” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Box (10oz) Lundberg Plain Roasted Brown Rice Couscous
• 1 box (10oz) Lundberg Mediterranean Curry Roasted Brown Rice Couscous
• 1 Package of “No Pan Required” Cupcake Liners (Brown and Teal)
• 1 Box (12oz) Kellogg’s Gluten-Free Rice Krispy Cereal
  

Ways to enter:

**Please be sure to leave a comment for EACH entry – and if you already do one of these please leave a comment below saying so – Thank you!!

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment below saying what you would like to see more of on Creative Cooking Gluten Free

Optional Entries:

Subscribe to Creative Cooking Gluten Free

“Like” Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook

“Follow” Creatively_GF on Twitter

Leave a daily entry saying “Daily Entry” and then the date

Tweet about this giveaway and be sure to include @Creatively_GF and #3Blogiversary

Mention either on your blog or on Facebook (and be sure to link back to this post)

The giveaway will run until Thursday June 30th at 11:59 pm (EST).  The giveaway is open to US Residents (continental) only.  One winner will be chosen and will have 48 hours after they receive an e-mail notification from me to respond with their shipping details.  If the original winner does not respond within the allotted time another winner will be chosen.  I use Random.Org to pick winners of any and all giveaways on this blog.  

Thank you all for an awesome three years- you are all awesome!  It has been a huge learning curve but I wouldn’t really change much about it.  I’m looking forward to many more years to come and plenty more recipes, reviews, restaurants, and more to share with you.

Good Luck!

Yabba Dabba Doo Cookies (Review + Giveaway)

Last year (almost to the day) I posted a recipe for  Fruity Pebble Treats after I had gotten “glutened” by eating a rice krispy treat – silly me for missing the MALT flavor ingredient (see my post about the new gluten-free Rice Krispies here).  So instead of making the same mistake twice, I followed the advice of one of my readers, Kristi, and made the crispy treats using Fruity Pebbles (I’ve also made them with the cocoa pebbles and both are awesome!).  Before making these I called Post to double-check that these two cereals were in fact gluten-free and was assured that they were gluten-free.  You can check out the original post here.

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Post with the following information:

Thought you might be interested in hearing that longtime favorite Post cereals, Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, are gluten-free and can be enjoyed on their own or in gluten-free treats!

They also generously sent me a box of each the Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles to review and offer a giveaway to one of my lucky readers (see below).  I decided that I would make something with the Fruity Pebbles because as I found out last year Bryan really really likes the Cocoa Pebbles and pretty much that means those were off-limits and were his to enjoy. (I’m such a nice girlfriend huh?)

And the following is from the press release that was attached:

Beginning in January, Post Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereals will lower sugar content and establish a new upper limit of 9 grams per serving for Fruity Pebbles; 10 grams per serving for Cocoa Pebbles. In addition to lowered sugar levels, all Pebbles varieties are also deemed by FDA regulations to be Cholesterol Free, an Excellent Source of Vitamin D, Low Fat and Providing 10 Essential Vitamins and Minerals.

Pebbles, a rice-based cereal, will also be receiving Gluten Free certification, a relatively unique distinction in the cereal category.  In response to increased concerns over celiac disease and products containing wheat gluten, the brand went through a rigorous FDA approval process to achieve Gluten Free status on all Pebbles boxes.

“Post Foods is dedicated to providing both nutritious and delicious cereals for people of all ages, and we’re pleased to announce improvements to the Pebbles brand that will assist in our ongoing efforts to improve kids’ nutrition,” said Bart Adlam, President of Post Foods.  “By lowering our sugar content and receiving Gluten Free certification, we hope moms feel confident serving a cereal that combines the fun and heritage of Bedrock with great taste that kids love. “

Additionally, Post Foods is working in tandem with the Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a program launched by the Council of Better Business Bureaus to help tackle the issue of childhood obesity.  A progress report released Dec. 15^th by the CFBAI shows Post Foods is demonstrating excellent compliance with the established pledge to advertise healthier foods to kids and continues to achieve steady progress in promoting products that are better for them.

Now you will see “Gluten-Free” listed right on the boxes so now there is no second guessing if these are gluten-free or not.  You can now make those delicious crispy treats or better yet you can try one of their many other recipes such as these Yabba Dabba Doo Cookies (Pebble Cookie Crispies). The recipe listed on their website is not gluten-free however, it is super easy to convert this recipe to be gluten-free.  Below is my adaptation of Post’s original recipe which is a great recipe for both kids and adults:

Yabba Dabba Doo Cookies

1 pkg. Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix- such as Betty Crocker* (If using this cake mix, add two teaspoons of vanilla)

1/2 cup Oil

1/4 cup Water

1 large Egg

2 1/2 cups Fruity or Cocoa* Pebbles Cereal (*if using Cocoa Pebbles use a gluten-free chocolate cake mix)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix the egg, oil, and water until well combined.  Add in the cake mix and mix until combined with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  Once everything is combined add in the Pebbles and mix well.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I always line my pans with either a Silpat or with parchment paper) about two inches apart.  Bake for 11 minutes or until cookies are beginning to brown.

Cool cookies on a wire rack – makes about 4 dozen.

I had a box of the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix on hand however you could use another gluten-free yellow cake mix or better yet try this awesome recipe from the lovely Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl who created her own gluten-free vanilla cake mix.

Now for the giveaway!  Who wants to win a box of each the officially Gluten-Free Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles?!? It’s pretty simple to enter just follow the instructions below by Monday June 13th at 11:59 pm:

You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry.  Each person may enter up to four times total.  The boxes of cereal will be sent directly from Post.  There will be one winner. The winner will be notified by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize.  If the winner does not respond in that time frame a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is open to anyone in the continental U.S.

Ways to enter:

• Follow Creatively_GF on Twitter
• “Like” Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook
• Subscribe to this blog and receive e-mails with new posts (top right of this blog)
• Mention this giveaway on Twitter (include @Creatively_GF) or on Facebook (mention @Creative Cooking Gluten Free)

Thank you to the lovely people over at Post for providing these samples and offering a giveaway to one of my readers.

NFCA – Blogger Of The Day

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is an amazing organization dedicated to the awareness and education of Celiac Disease. Seeing as May is National Celiac Awareness Month the awesome people over at NFCA decided to do a month-long event called “Blogger A Day – The Gluten Free Way” where each day they feature a different gluten-free blogger (check out all the great bloggers on their blog).  I’m very excited because today I am their featured blogger!

When the e-mail was sent out a few months ago I was very excited for this opportunity.  NFCA is my go to resource for Celiac Disease – especially when I was first diagnosed almost three years ago.  It was this website (not my doctor) that informed me of what Celiac Disease was, that it was hereditary, and most of all that I was not alone in this new lifestyle.  They cover all of the bases when it comes to Celiac Disease – resources (including printable guides!!), “what is Celiac Disease“, recipes, gluten-free “hot products”, a list of some gluten-free bloggers, and more recently they created a program called GREAT – which as a future gluten-free chef/dietitian I am very excited about this.  Below is a little excerpt from their website:

1. Gluten-Free Resource Education and Awareness Training (GREAT) is a gluten-free initiative of the NFCA that aims to raise awareness about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet.
2. GREAT programs provide comprehensive information for foodservice and healthcare professionals, including a PowerPoint presentation and printable materials for ongoing reference. Many of the programs offer continuing education (CE) credits through professional accrediting organizations.

If you are reading this I’m assuming you are already familiar with Celiac Disease but if you are reading my blog for the first time below is a little bit of information from NFCA’s website:

Celiac and Gluten-Free Fast Facts:

• Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.
• One in 133 Americans have celiac disease.
• An estimated 3 million Americans across all races, ages and genders suffer from celiac.
• 95% of celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions. (Source: Fasano A, et al. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:286-292.)
• 6-10 years is the average time a person waits to be correctly diagnosed. (Source: Daniel Leffler, MD, MS, The Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center)
• 5-22% of celiac patients have an immediate family member (1st degree relative) who also has celiac.
• Celiac disease can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune disease.
• $5,000-$12,000 is the average cost of misdiagnosis per person/per year of celiac, not including lost work time.
• There are NO pharmaceutical cures for celiac disease.
• A 100% gluten-free diet is the only existing treatment for celiac today.
• A positive attitude, 100% of the time, helps celiacs create a gluten-free lifestyle for themselves and their affected family members.
• The celiac disease diagnosis rate may reach 50-60% by 2019, thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of celiac disease. (Source: Datamonitor Group, 2009)
• The gluten-free sales are expected to reach $2.8 billion by the end of 2010 thanks to new vendors manufacturing better tasting and more affordable products. (Source: SPINSscan, 2010)

If you haven’t yet checked out NFCA and all of the great information that they have available to you, please visit their website and take a look around.  This is not only a great resource if you yourself have Celiac Disease but if a family member, friend, or co-worker has it.  If you or someone close to you has recently been diagnosed I suggest printing out their pocket guides and taking them with you – I did this and they saved me.

Please don’t forget to check out all of the wonderful gluten-free bloggers that have been featured during the month of May.  You can view them all on NFCA’s Blog – Celiac Central: Bits and Bites.

Thank you for stopping by my page and checking it out.  To learn about me and my journey please visit my about page.  You can also check out my recipes, cheese and wine list, restaurants (various locations around the U.S. not just Rhode Island or New England), giveaways, product reviews and a list of some of my favorite gluten-free bloggers.

Follow NFCA on Facebook and Twitter!

Lobster and Risotto

We both love lobster but never really eat it because let’s be honest, it can be rather expensive.  We are two college students and just can’t afford that kind of stuff on a regular basis.  Since moving here almost a year ago now we’ve had lobster once and that is because my dad bought it for us when we went to visit him one weekend.  We always say “if it goes on sale for a good price we’ll pick one or two up”.  The only problem with that idea is we NEVER remember to actually do it.  So when I got this weeks grocery ad’s in the mail I noticed that Shaw’s had the chicken lobsters (up to 1.5 lbs) on sale for $5.99 a pound.  We decided to break down and get two of them.

Lobster is one of those food items that can be enjoyed in many different ways: steamed or boiled then served with butter, baked, grilled, mac-n-cheese, lobster ravioli’s etc.  I tend to be a purist when it comes to lobster – I like mine steamed and served with a little butter on the side (usually garlic butter).  I prefer the steaming method for two reasons, one it’s a little harder to over cook them that way and two because it leaves more of their natural ocean fresh taste. Today however, I broke from away from that purist side of me and steamed my lobsters then removed all the meat, cut it in to large chunks, sautéed quickly with olive oil, butter and a clove of minced fresh garlic then served it atop a nice plate of Parmesan Risotto=delicousness.

In my post “Light and Delicious” I posted a quick recipe costing breakdown at the end showing how inexpensive meals made at home can be.  The recipe was for Pesto Pasta with Zucchini and Shrimp – the recipe yield was for two portions.  The total recipe cost was $5.34 (yes including the shrimp and store-bought pesto!) which made each serving just $2.67.  A good number of my recipes on here are for two portions because, we are just two people.  However, if you look at my soup recipes that is for a larger quantity because we love soup leftovers. I also posted a survey yesterday asking my you, the lovely readers of my blog if this kind of information is useful to you because I received a few comments and e-mails asking for more of this.  With all the positive responses to the survey, the e-mails and comments I decided to keep doing this…so below the recipe you will see the recipe cost breakdown with a little explanation.

Please note that I am a HUGE sales/coupon person.  I really don’t like to pay full price for just about anything so I only buy certain items such as shrimp and lobster when there is a good sale going on.  If you’ve noticed this is the first lobster recipe I’ve posted on here.

Lobster and Risotto

2 Chicken Lobsters (about 1-1.5 pounds each)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Garlic Clove – Minced

2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (I used Pacific Natural Food’s)

2 Tablespoons of Butter

3/4 Cup of Arborio Rice

1/4 Cup Dry White Wine (I used Gewurztraminer because it is what we had)

1/4 Cup of Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/8 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the Lobsters – start these first so they have time to cool down

In a large stock pot place either a steaming basket or upside down colendar at the bottom and fill with water until it just barely comes over the top of the basket or colendar.  Bring to a boil and add lobsters.  Make sure your pan has a very tight-fitting lid to keep the steam inside.  Lobsters that are about 1.5 pounds should be steamed between 7-8 minutes (do not over cook!).  You will know they are done when they turn a very vibrant red color.

Remove from the pan and cool by placing them under cold running water.  You just want to cool them enough to be able to get the meat out.  Remove meat, cut into chunks and set aside.

When the risotto is almost finished heat medium/large sautée pan over medium heat and add olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of butter and garlic.  Cook for 1 minute, add lobster and toss until lobster is coated and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until lobster is heated throughout, again be careful to over cook.

For the Risotto

In a small saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer.  Cover the broth and keep hot over low heat.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.  Add the rice and stir to coat, add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Add 1 ladle (or 1/2 cup) of the simmering broth and stir until completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.  Continue cooking the rice, adding 1/2 cup of broth at a time.  Stir constantly and allow each addition of broth to be absorbed before adding the next.  Continue this until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and mixture is creamy, about 10-15 minutes total.

Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

To plate the dish spoon half of the risotto on each plate, top with sautéed lobster, serve with a lemon slice/wedge and chives as a garnish. Enjoy with a glass of Gewurztraminer.

Below is the costing breakdown including all of the ingredients used (remember that the prices might be different depending on where you shop, your local specials etc.).  For each of us to have risotto and a chicken lobster for $10.87 I would say that isn’t too shabby of a price, especially since you would probably pay between $19.00-$24.00 and not have the same amount of lobster if you were to order this at a restaurant.  Cooking delicious (and gluten-free) meals at home isn’t just a way to control what you are eating but choosing the ingredients yourself it is also a great way to save money.  Many of the ingredients of these recipes you already have in your pantry so it is just buying a few of the key ingredients.  For example, the only ingredient we had to buy today was the lobsters themselves.

Voice Your Opinion

At the end of my last post I did a quick recipe cost breakdown, if you haven’t seen it yet you can check it out here.  I’ve received a bit of feedback about it but, I wanted to ask all of you what you think – is this information useful/helpful?  Please take a second to answer the poll below, you can also share the link and have your friends vote also.  Thank You!

Light and Delicious

Last month I planted out little container garden (thankfully we choose a place with a deck!).  With all the heavy rains we’ve been having around here I wasn’t sure if some of the seeds would ever produce anything.  Thankfully everything is on its way to becoming some delicious goodies.  We planted Thai chili peppers, habaneros, pepperoncini, carrots, cucumbers, snap peas, super sweet tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, radish, zucchini, basil and lettuce.  I took this picture this morning:

My last few recipe posts have been pretty “heavy” foods, so today while I was making dinner I thought I should probably post this one.  It is quick, easy, light and delicious and believe it or not budget friendly (see below the recipe for more information).  A perfect meal for this kind of weather.  I love when spring and summer comes around because this means more fresh ingredients available and I don’t know if it is just me but I don’t crave those heavy meals much.  I love salads and more veggie based meals during this time of year and I plan to be posting more recipes like this soon. To kick off my lighter recipes (this may not be a daily thing but I will get better about posting more recipes like this), I decided to make some gluten-free pasta (We mostly eat Sam Mill’s or Goldbaum’s gluten-free pastas, we find that to use these are the two that have a very similar taste and texture to “regular” pasta) with pesto, diced zucchini and for a little treat some sautéed shrimp. My basil hasn’t grown enough for me to make homemade pesto so for now we have been using the Classico Pesto – which is gluten-free! and delicious.  While at the grocery store today I found some pretty decent sized zucchini and summer squash and thankfully shrimp was on sale so we picked up a few to toss in and add a bit of protein to our meal.  Of course Bryan made us a salad with mixed greens and cucumbers with some homemade balsamic dressing.

This meal is delicious with our with out the shrimp, however we never splurge on shrimp but we are pretty sick of chicken and red meat right now and wanted to mix it up a little bit.  You could always add some grilled chicken on top also or if you wish to add more veggies mix in some halved grape tomatoes, diced summer squash or blanched/grilled asparagus.

Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Zucchini (serves 2)

1/2 Pound gluten-free pasta of your choice, I prefer penne,  fusilli,  or gemelli because I think it holds the pesto better)

1 Large zucchini diced into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces

1/4 Pound of Shrimp (cleaned, deveined and tails still on)

1/4 Cup pesto – more if you prefer

2 Tablespoons of olive oil, divided

Sea Salt and Pepper

In a medium saucepan bring water with salt and a tablespoon of olive oil to boil for pasta and cook according to the package instructions.

Season the shrimp on both sides with sea salt and pepper.

Heat one tablespoon in a non-stick sautée pan over medium heat. When there is about 5 minutes left on the pasta add the shrimp to the sautée pan. Cook for about two minutes on each side (until shrimp is opaque in the center)

When there are four minutes left on the pasta cooking time add the diced zucchini.

Strain the pasta and zucchini but do not rinse the pasta in cold water.  Return the pasta to the pan, add the prepared pesto and shrimp.  Toss until well mixed (if you are adding in the halved tomatoes add them in now and toss again).  Add more pesto if you wish, serve with a side salad.

This meal is very versatile – add shrimp, chicken, veggies – whatever your heart desires.

Recipe cost break down:

Seeing as I just finished up my Menu Planning and Cost Control course I thought I would break down how inexpensive this meal was to make: the total recipe cost was $5.34 which means only $2.67 per portion!! Now can you imagine if you were to order this while eating out you would be paying around $12 – $14 for this dish that really only costs $2.67 per portion including shrimp.

Culinary School Re-cap

Back in November I posted about my campus visit to Johnson & Wales University (JWU).  In the post I discussed how JWU has been my dream school since high school – so we are talking 11 years I have waited to even apply there.  I had planned to originally apply while in high school and my Grandma Lu said she would help me financially sadly though while working one day I tore my rotator cuff and had to put my dream of culinary school off.  Life caught up with me and off to work I went.  Went to college for a semester and again, life caught up with me so back to work I went, as you can see this tends to be the cycle of my life.  Well I decided to put an end to that cycle.  When we moved to Rhode Island last summer I couldn’t find a job anywhere. After months and months of applying to places and getting no calls for interviews Bryan and I talked about it and decided that maybe I should finally apply to JWU and see if I get in.  They offer a bachelor’s degree in Culinary Nutrition which is right along the path for my future plans. My final goal is to become a Registered Dietitian and work with people who have food allergies and be a personal chef on the side.  To teach them how to take the recipes they love and create them to be allergy friendly.I applied, went for a campus visit and a week after the visit I was accepted!  I couldn’t believe it.

Eleven years later I finally started at my dream school.  My first term of school (it is a trimester based system but when I said “almost finished with my first trimester” people got a bit confused, I am not now nor will I ever have that kind of trimester, so I refer to them as terms instead, makes life much easier) started in March and ended two weeks ago and consisted of all academic courses.  I took Public Speaking, Leadership, Biology and Menu Planning and Cost Control.  During the first week I kept think “what did I get myself into??” I hate public speaking, I’m sooo not a leader, eh – biology is fine and menu planning/cost control I was just lost, a complete underdog in that course.  I gave myself a goal at the beginning that I would be happy with B’s in most of these courses and if I ended up with at least a 3.5 GPA that would be awesome.  I was pretty much the only freshmen in all my courses.  I was placed into sophomore courses because I was able to transfer in a decent amount of courses/credits from my previous school (thankfully!), this also means my program will end up being a bit shorter than expected (yay!!).

My classes were Monday – Thursday from 7:10 am – 11:15 am.  Not too bad of a schedule.  I would get up a little after 4 am, take the bus to Providence and be home between 12:30 and 1:30 every day.  Which left me the rest of the day to do homework, stuff around the house and make dinner for Bryan and myself.

The classes weren’t too hard.  As I said I hate public speaking but managed to hold my own in that class.   I went in to my menu planning and cost control class feeling like the biggest underdog but came out on top which made me feel really good.  On the first day of that class she asked us to introduce someone in the class but saying their name, goal for the class and summer plans.  My goal for the class was to pass it, and I accomplished it. The funny thing is I am in school with people who are at about 10-12 years younger than myself and the best part is seeing their faces when they realize that I’m almost 30.  I know I don’t look it at all and I’m happy about that but it’s still really funny when they find out.

I was a bit annoyed with some aspects of this first term namely the orientation and the “pick your work-study job” event, completely unorganized and took FOREVER.  I try to be good about these things but man does it get under my skin after working in higher education for nine years there are just easier ways of doing certain things.  With that aside, the rest was fine.

I made it through and have to say I’m pretty darn proud of myself.  I haven’t been in high school 12 years now and haven’t been in a college class for at least 6 years and managed to get a 4.0 in my first term of school – yep I got all A’s!!

Right before finals was a bit of a hard time for myself and my family and wasn’t sure how I was going to finish the last few courses.  My grandfather, one of the most amazing man in the world suddenly passed away from a hiatal hernia. I can’t put into words my love for my grandfather and the sadness that surrounds his death.  The fact that he will not be physically present when I get married still brings me to tears, I know he will be there on that day but it just isn’t the same.  He is not there for me to tell him about my grades, he is not there to share in my excitement when Bryan and I do get engaged, he is not there for me to call and laugh at the way he answers the phone and most recently I realized as tears flooded my eyes he is not here for me to send a father’s day card to. I miss him dearly.  During all of this my dad and I were going through a bunch of photos of my gramp so we could put together a collage to show at the funeral home, not the easiest thing to do.  After seeing the number of photos and realizing that these photos could be lost Bryan bought me a scanner, so now I have the ability to scan all these photos, edit them in photoshop (remove dust etc.) and make sure that we never lose these wonderful memories of an amazing man.  If you wish to check out a few of the photos you can see them on my Flickr page.

Next term I will taking: Intro to Baking and Pastry, New Word Cuisine, Soups Stocks and Sauces, Traditional European Cuisine, Essentials of Dining Room and Food Safety and Sanitation.  My schedule will be a bit different – still Monday-Thursday (except if there is a Monday holiday then we will have labs on that Friday) and they will run from 7am-1pm.  Each course runs for 9 days and then on to the next one (except the Food Safety and Sanitation course – that is a hybrid course that only meets in class a few times the rest is online).

Now that I have a bit of time on my hands, the blogging, recipes, reviews and giveaways will continue.  Thank you for reading, your continued support, encouragement, kind words and patience during these last few months.

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Goes Gluten-Free

Yes, you’ve read that correctly.  I’m sure you have heard the rumors that Kellogg’s was releasing their famous Rice Krispie cereal in a gluten-free form which means not malt flavoring!! Last year I posted about being glutened after eating a Rice Krispie Treat (which I absolutely love by the way) and the response that I received from Kellogg after calling them about the issue.  If you read the post I just linked to you’ll notice that the package said “Contains: Milk and Soy” ingredients – nothing about containing wheat/gluten.  (This is the perfect example about why the FDA really needs to define what gluten is and put this labeling regulation into effect asap.) So instead I made my own Krispie treats with an alternative cereal and they tasted great, but still not the same.

When I heard that Kellogg was planning to release a gluten-free version I almost couldn’t believe it.  I was wondering what they would do/change/add to make them gluten-free.  I knew that they had to remove the barley malt in order to do so but that was about it.  Here is a little excerpt from the e-mail that Kellogg’s sent me in regards to the release: “The latest addition to the Rice Kripsies® portfolio is scheduled to hit select grocery store shelves in early June 2011. The new cereal eliminates barley malt and is made with whole-grain brown rice to differentiate it from the original and for flavor. The suggested retail price is the same as for original Rice Krispies® cereal.” There are a few awesome things to point out from that statement: 1) they are made using whole-grain brown rice and 2) the suggested retail price is the SAME as the original!!

The wonderful people over at Kellogg’s also sent me two complimentary boxes to try, of course the first thing I did was open the box and try them just as they are.  I wanted to see how different they would taste with out the barley malt and with them being made of brown rice instead.  They are mighty tasting and yes, Snap, Crackle, and Pop are all there! I also tried them with a little bit of almond milk and again they were delicious.  The only thing I had left to do was make what else but Rice Krispie Treats!

The recipe below is the one that was sent to me from Kellogg when I received the complimentary boxes (there is no recipe listed on the box which I thought was a bit odd).  It also says “best if served the same day” – oh boy do I agree and then it continues to say “Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container.  To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight containers.  Freeze for up to six weeks.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving”.  I agree these are best serve the same day…they taste delicious and have the same texture as regular rice krispie treats.  I stored ours in an air tight container and the next day they were a bit hard and the third day I was afraid I might crack a tooth…I’m not trying to be funny or exaggerate.  I think the next time I make them I will either make them on a day when I know we are having people over or I will store them in a large zip lock bag instead of my airtight glass container. As I said they were great on the first day and we were very happy with them.

Gluten-Free Rice Krispie Treats

Prep Time: 10 minutes     Total Time: 30 minutes     Servings: 12

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine (diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended)

1 Package (10 oz, about 40) regular marshmallows (fresh is best) -OR- 4 cups miniature marshmallows (again fresh is better)

6 Cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Gluten Free Cereal

Directions:

In a large saucepan melt butter over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Remove from heat.

Add Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Gluten Free Cereal.  Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray.  Cool.  Cut into 2-inch squares.  Best if served the same day.

Again these will be released in early June!!  When you pick up a box and try them please let me know what you think.

Sriracha Burgers and Cheese Fries

If you are on a diet this recipe probably isn’t for you   We try to eat pretty healthy in our house by eating lots of veggies and fresh products.  We usually have a salad with every dinner but every once in a while we crave those fast food type meals – those that I usually can’t eat because of cross contamination issues.  To fulfill those cravings I try to recreate the items that we used to like to eat out and make them at home.  I’ve made a version of Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich, P.F. Chang’s Beef a La Sichuan, P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef, and P.F. Chang’s Shanghai Cucumbers (we really like P.F. Chang’s and I am slightly obsessed with Chinese food in general).

Today Bryan had a craving for cheese fries – and I have to admit I’ve never really had cheese fries.  I do however love french fries so I told him we could have those and burgers on the grill tonight seeing as I have a package of the Udi’s new gluten-free hamburger buns in the freezer. If you haven’t tried these yet, you really should they are simply awesome.  If you local store doesn’t carry them you can request that they do.  I also have a package of their hot dog buns that I still need to try.  I didn’t want to buy any pre-made cheese sauce because let’s be honest they aren’t very good.  I wanted something with simple ingredients that I knew what they were so I found a few recipes online and the one from Serious Eats is the one I decided to go with.  I did make a slight moderation that you will see below, but we were very happy with the results.  It was four ingredients and didn’t turn out oily, clumpy or grainy! While on their site I also noticed a recipe for Ultimate Siraracha Burgers and almost started to drool.  We love spicy things and even more we love Sriracha.  (Have you visited Serious Eats yet?  If not please be sure to do so…it is an awesome site with plenty of delicious recipes and gluten-free ones too) I did change this up a bit too with not only the measurements (we are only two people so no need to make eight patties) and omitted some of the ingredients, and changed the sauce- but please check out the original recipe and try that one also.  Below is my version of Serious Eat’s Cheese Sauce and Sriracha Burgers, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did – which we LOVED these by the way.  When you first take a bite it takes a second for the flavor to hit you but if you love Sriracha Sauce you won’t be disappointed in these. 

Cheese Sauce (naturally gluten-free!)

• 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese grated on large holes of a box grater
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha Sauce

Add cheese and cornstarch to large bowl. Toss to combine. Transfer to medium saucepan. Add can of  evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries (tortilla chips, burgers, or hot dogs).

We served some store-bought gluten-free french fries with dinner tonight.

Sriracha Burgers

• 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free soy sauce (I use San-J)
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Gluten-free buns such as Udi’s (or Canyon Bakehouse or Katz)
• 2 thick slices Swiss cheese
• Romaine lettuce
• Dynamite Sauce (recipe below)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, soy sauce,  Sriracha, and the pepper. Do not overmix. Form the mixture into 2 patties, and set aside.

2. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat. 

3. Grill the burgers, turning once, 4 to 41/2 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer registers 130° to 135°F for medium-rare. Place a piece of cheese of cheese on each burger and cook until melted.

4. To assemble, spread the Dynamite Sauce on both halves of each hamburger bun. Stack a burger patty,  and a few pieces of  romaine between each hamburger bun.

Dynamite Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons Mayo
• 1 Tablespoons Sriracha (I like mine spicy so adjust according to your spice level)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined – taste for spice level and adjust accordingly. Spread on burger buns.

And for a little fun…if you love Sriracha Sauce as much as we do, you have to check out The Oatmeal‘s post called “Dear Sriracha, a.k.a Rooser Sauce”

(Image from http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sriracha)

Hope you enjoy – if you get around to trying these please let me know what you think

Pacific Natural Foods – Review & Giveaway

UPDATE: The five lucky winners have been picked and e-mailed.  They have until Tuesday May 24th to respond.  If a winner does not respond in that time frame another winner will be chosen.  I went through all of the comments and we had 57 total!  (Some comments were all together on one so I wanted to make sure that everyone received the correct number of entries).  The winners were picked using Random.org (I love this site!) and our five winners are: Venessa, Sofia, Kristina, Rebecca and Kristen – Congratulations to you all.  I know you are going to love these products and can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you’ve tried them. 

Venessa said: I would love to try all the flavors. Everything sounds delicious! Thank you for this opportunity.

Sofia said: I would love to try the hazelnut chocolate milk! Looks delish!

Kristina said: oooh I would LOVE to win this – I could really use it right now! I want to try the cream of celery and the cashew carrot ginger looks great too.

thank you to you and Pacific for the opportunity!

Rebecca said: I would love some of that chocolate-hazelnut goodness! I’m sure it’s as great as the other Pacific Natural Foods products I’ve had (mostly soups, milk)

Kristen said: Ooooo, I would love to try the soups! The spicy black bean soup sounds particularly yummy to me.

UPDATE: The contest is now closed (5/20/2011)

May is National Celiac Awareness Month! In honor of this there are tons of great things going on to celebrate.  The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness is featuring a Gluten Free Blogger A Day (I will be featured on May 29th), Tons of great cookbook and product reviews and giveaways are also happening on a bunch of blogs – so please be sure to check out all the great posts this month.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely people at Pacific Natural Foods asking if they could stock my pantry with some of their products.  I have used their broths in the past and absolutely loved them, especially the low sodium broths because I like to control how much salt I put into my dishes. Their products are all natural and delicious. The broths were the only products that I had tried because that is what I could find around me.  I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at their website to see the huge selection of gluten-free products they had (listed under special diets).  They have condensed soups (these are the only condensed gluten-free soups on the market!), creamy soups (I’m in love with the Cashew Carrot Ginger soup – sooo good, and I plan to use this by serving it over some rice with chicken, mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots), and some very delicious “milks” made from soy, almonds and even hazelnuts.  So when I received the e-mail asking if they could stock my pantry I of course said yes and little did I know that they would actually stock my pantry.  I feel truly blessed by receiving all of the wonderful products pictured above.

We’ve tried the Creamy Tomato Soup and the Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup (as I mentioned above) and both were extremely flavorful.  Bryan loves tomato soup and he really enjoyed this.  He even ate it with his favorite little oyster crackers (he still has some gluten food items in the house and he can’t eat tomato soup with out them). The Cashew Carrot Ginger soup is amazing.  Thick, creamy, filing and the right balance of flavors.  I did try a few bites of the tomato soup (before the crackers were added) and it was such a nice treat to be able to have tomato soup again.  I have missed it so much and this tomato soup was delicious.  Homemade gluten-free croutons would go great with both of these soups.

I can’t wait to try more of the amazing products from Pacific Natural Foods.  They also have some very delicious sounding recipes online that I am looking forward to trying out along with creating a bunch of my own.  This one here for Grilled Chicken Primavera of course served over some delicious gluten-free pasta instead.  

Have you tried Pacific Natural Food’s products yet?  Would you like to? If so the very generous people at Pacific Natural Foods have kindly offered to give FIVE of my readers a chance to win a similar gluten-free pantry staples kit to the one that I received.  In order to be entered in the giveaway simply follow the instructions below:

1) Leave a comment below telling me which product you would like to try

2) “Like” Pacific Natural Foods on Facebook and leave a comment below saying you did so.  If you already do please leave a comment below saying so.

3) “Follow” Pacific Natural Foods on Twitter and leave a comment below saying you did so. If you already do please leave a comment below saying so.

4) “Like” Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook and leave a comment below saying you did so. If you already do please leave a comment below saying so.

5) “Follow” Creatively_GF on Twitter and leave a comment below saying you did so. If you already do please leave a comment below saying so.

6) Tweet about this giveaway (be sure to mention @Creatively_GF so I can track the tweet) and leave a comment below saying you did so

Open to US Residents Only! This giveaway will end on Friday May 20th at 11:59 p.m. Each person may enter up to six times.  There will be five winners chosen by using random.org.  Winners will be notified by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond.  If a winner doesn’t respond within that time frame another winner will be chosen. Again, I was sent the products shown above by Pacific Natural Foods and the comments and reviews are completely my own.

Gluten Free Cupcakes by Elana Amsterdam (Review)

Elana Amsterdam of Elana’s Pantry is one amazing woman and in my mind a genius when it comes to coconut and almond flour! Her website is the first one I came across when I was diagnosed almost three years ago and it is one that I continually go back to for inspirations.  Her recipes are straightforward, simple yet unbelievably delicious and you don’t ever miss the gluten or the refined sugars.

While searching her website one day I found a recipe for cupcakes made with coconut flour so I went online ordered some coconut flour and have been making those cupcake ever since.  I’m a huge lover of cupcakes and extremely picking when it comes to them.  There was nothing to pick apart with these cupcakes so when I first heard that she was releasing a new cookbook all about cupcakes I put it on my wish list right away.  Her cookbook has 50 (yes 50!) recipes all made from coconut or almond flour.  When I received my review copy I went through the cookbook about ten times before deciding which to make first.  This cookbook doesn’t only have delicious sounding recipes the photos make your mouth water. I finally decided on making the Garlic Cheddar Muffins and for a sweet treat the Marble Cupcakes. Another great thing about this cookbook is that each recipe has a sweetness scale next to it!

I started with the Garlic Cheddar Muffins because I wanted something more on the savory side and planned to eat them more as a biscuit with dinner.  I ended up taking these to school the next day for breakfast.  Again her recipes are simple and not many ingredients, yet these had so much flavor to them packed in to them and they are nice and fluffy.  So as you can see you can eat these as a snack, along with dinner and even for breakfast   I’ll be making these again soon.

For a sweet treat yesterday, because it was just one of those days that called for baking.  I went for the marble cupcakes made with coconut flour.  We’ve been trying to get away from refined sugars in our house and this cookbook is perfect for that.  I love baking with agave, it adds just the right amount of sweetness and it has a low glycemic index.  I’ve made Elana’s coconut cupcakes for Bryan in the past but he forgot about them so he was a little hesitant to try these yesterday but he really really enjoyed them (in fact he just had another one).  Next week I’ll be making Mocha Chip Cupcakes for a classmate of mine to celebrate her month-long Paleo Diet Challenge.  I can’t wait to make her Strawberry Cupcakes soon, just waiting for my farmers market to open up next month.

I don’t have Elana’s first cookbook – The Almond Flour Cookbook (yet) but if you have that one and loved it, I’m sure you will love this one also.  Who doesn’t love cupcakes?  And who doesn’t love them when they use such fantastic ingredients such as coconut flour, Almond Flour eggs, and agave.

Elana is absolutely amazing, I can’t say enough good things about her and her recipes.  Her website has helped me so much over the years.  She was always very friendly and informative when I had questions for her.  Check out her website and you can purchase her book on Amazon.  Trust me you are going to love this cookbook. Thank you Elana for making this beautiful cookbook and sharing all of your wonderful creations with all of us.
Check out these other great reviews (and some might even have a giveaway) of this fantastic cookbook:

Shirley of GFE-Gluten Free Easily

Kim of Cook It Allergy Free

Sea of Book of Yum

Heidi of Adventures of A Gluten Free Mom

Stonewall Kitchen – Gluten Free and Delicious (Review)

In the last few months Stonewall Kitchen has rolled out some gluten-free products and they are absolutely delicious.  I have always been a fan of Stonewall Kitchens products, especially before being diagnosed with celiac disease.  They have always had the best jams, sauces, dips and mixes so when I heard that they were coming out with gluten-free mixes I got very excited.  I wasn’t sure how they would taste compared to their regular mixes but they exceeded my expectations.

I was sent some complimentary gluten-free mixes form Stonewall Kitchen to try.  They sent me their Chocolate Brownie Mix, Chocolate Cupcakes and Pancake/Waffle Mix.  Of course I started with the cupcake mix which comes with a chocolate frosting mix in the box.  The cupcakes mix has a hint of coffee too it, which balanced very well with the chocolate flavor, not too over powering.  The cupcakes were very flavorful and moist and the frosting was just perfect, not too sweet and the perfect amount to cover all of the cupcakes.  These cupcakes were so good you couldn’t tell that they were gluten-free – no one could!

(this photo is from stonewall kitchen’s website – sadly I lost my photos when my phone died.  Don’t these look amazing?)

Next up were the brownies (not in the same day!) and I have said many times before I’m not a huge brownie fan but slowly I am becoming one.  I decided to make some peanut butter brownies with this mix.  I made the brownies according to the package and poured the mix into a prepared pan.  I then I took about 1/4 – 1/2 cup peanut butter and softened it a bit in the microwave, then dropped tablespoons of peanut butter onto the prepared brownie mix and using a sharp knife made figure eights to incorporate the peanut butter into the brownie mix and baked according to the package instructions.  Absolutely delicious.  I love chocolate and peanut butter together and these brownies came out perfect. I had to give most of them away so I wouldn’t eat them all

(this photo is from stonewall kitchen’s website – sadly I lost my photos when my phone died.  Imagine them with peanut butter, little squares of heaven)

When we had our great friends Warren and Joyce up one weekend I thought instead of going out to eat for breakfast we would have them over, I would make a big meal and then we would be off on our little adventure.  Perfect time to try the pancake mix…most people wouldn’t want to try a new product when you are having guests over especially if they aren’t gluten-free.  But, seeing as we both enjoyed the cupcakes and brownies so much I had confidence in the pancakes as well.  Talk about delicious and fluffy pancakes, wow are these good.  Bryan who absolutely loves the pancakes I make with the gluten-free Bisquick loved these even more.  They have a slight hint of sweetness also.  I can’t wait to make some waffles next with this mix. Everyone loved these and we didn’t have any left overs.

(this photo is from stonewall kitchen’s website – sadly I lost my photos when my phone died. Perfect pancakes, delicious, fluffy and a little bit of sweetness so less syrup)

If you haven’t tried Stonewall Kitchen’s new gluten-free mixes you really should.  You can order them online and also check your local stores for them.  I honestly don’t think you will be disappointed.  In addition to the three mixes I reviewed above they also have a chocolate chip cookie mix and a vanilla cupcake/frosting mix. Stonewall kitchen got it right with these mixes.  I’ll be sure to let you know if they come out with anything else that is gluten-free.  Well done Stonewall Kitchen – fantastic job on making these mixes and keeping the prices reasonable to your normal mixes.

Spinach-Stuffed Flank Steak

Martha Stewart’s Spinach Stuffed Flank Steak

My Spinach-Stuffed Flank Steak (minus the red pepper sauce)

I have been wanting to make this recipe for a while, but wasn’t sure how Bryan would feel about it because it has a cheese that he isn’t very familiar with and it also has capers.  I offered to leave out the capers but he said he would try them.  I should have  listened to my instincts and left them out.  He tried one but he just wasn’t a fan, they were too salty for him.  I’m not one for very salty foods but I love these green little gems, probably because I love chicken piccata so much. As it turns out, Bryan really liked this recipe and said this is one we should make again.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine and it is also in her Everyday Food Cookbook “Fresh Flavor Fast” Another great recipe from here that is also naturally gluten-free!  You would be amazed how many of these recipes are naturally gluten-free or can very easily be adapted to gluten-free.

Seeing as this is a stuffed steak, it needed to be butterflied first, then stuffed with the spinach mixture and rolled up.  I always hear about people going to the grocery store and having the butcher cut their meat a certain way such as butterflied so I thought, why not give it a shot and have them do it.  I was so wrong, no pun intended here but he butchered my flank steak.  I was so upset when I got home and opened it up.  I should have taken a picture to show you all how bad it was.  It was completely uneven with some pieces being extremely thing and others looking like they hadn’t been cut.  I made the best of it for this because I didn’t want to waste the meat but not to self, next time do it myself!  However if you have a good butcher I’m sure he would do fine but this guy was complaining the whole time he was cutting this piece.  I am very much looking forward to my meat cutting class at school!

Here is how to butterfly the flank steak according to the recipe:

Butterflying the Steak: Lay the meat on a cutting board, with the grain of the steak running horizontally. Using a long sharp knife, cut the meat almost in half horizontally, opening it like a book but stopping before going all the way through.

With the steak being cut so uneven I had to adjust the cooking time a bit and despite having to put it in a few times because the middle just wasn’t cooked to our liking (it was pretty much raw – but again I blame that on the butcher and not the actual recipe its self.) it was a very tasty, easy and fairly quick dinner.  We served ours with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Too add a little something extra to it I made a Red Pepper Sauce to go on the side to either drizzle on top of the steak or just to dip it in.   I used a container of Wild Veggie Red Pepper Soup as the base, added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon fine ground pepper.  To thicken it up just a bit I added a small amount of cornstarch/water mixture.

Have you heard about Wild Veggie yet?  If not you should check out their website and products.  Here is a little blurb about them from their website:

What is Wild Veggie? Is it a soup? Is it a drink? Is it an ingredient? If you think it’s all of the above, then you’re right! Wild Veggie is good in everything… and is good for everybody. Compared to similar products on the market, Wild Veggie is low in sodium and calories, and typically has more vitamins and nutrients, not only meeting but exceeding daily recommendations in many cases.

We start with the absolute freshest vegetables we can find, always picked at their peak of ripeness and flavor. We then wash, micro-cut, and fast cook at a low temperature, and then quickly freeze to preserve as much of the natural vegetable flavor as possible. There are no preservatives. No fake chemicals. Just the wonderful taste of pure, fresh vegetables.

Our unique process preserves the natural integrity, flavor or nutrients of the vegetables — we do not compromise on flavor or freshness, meaning that Wild Veggie is good for every body.

Spinach Stuffed Flank Steak (Martha Stewart – Everyday Food Magazine)

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen leaf spinach, thawed

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 small flank steak (1 pound)

1 teaspoon olive oil

1. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside. Place spinach in a clean kitchen towel, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. In a medium bowl, combine spinach, parsley, cheese, capers, vinegar, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Cut and open steak.
3. Cut several 12-inch pieces of kitchen twine; space evenly underneath steak. Spread spinach mixture down center of meat (see opposite). Roll steak over mixture, pressing firmly to compact the filling as much as possible; tie twine to secure roll. Cut roll in half crosswise. Place halves, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet; rub with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Broil until browned, 8 to 10 minutes for medium-rare; let rest, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes. Remove string, and slice steak into 1/2-inch rounds.