Baking - Hamburger Buns- gluten free/dairy free

Every gluten free guy or gal usually starts out the summer with the bun less hamburger. A good ole meat patty perhaps wrapped in some lettuce, cut with a knife, eaten with a fork.

No more my friends!
We must stand up and fight this!
We deserve a hamburger bun!

So, as with everything else in our world; we take to the kitchen.

Meet your new friend, Kinni-Kwik:


All you do is mix this stuff with milk (or soy, rice, almond, hemp milk for the no moo-juices folks like me) and then bake in whatever format you need.

I needed hamburger buns so I looked around to see what I could use:

Ramekins! What are these things for anyways? We all have them, and I don't know one person who makes Crème Brule anyways.

So you bake according to the instructions on the back and this is what you get!

They taste somewhere between a bun and a biscuit.

Now what on earth can I use to bake hot dog buns??

Container Gardening

This year was my first year "gardening." Because our yard is beautifully shaded by huge trees, its not so good for growing things. I decided since my front porch is the only place that gets any sun, I would try out container gardening. We arbitrarily picked out seeds that sounded tasty, next year I'll put a lot more thought into it.

We did lettuce:

It's in a big "pedestal" planter, covered in netting to keep my crazy squirrels and bunnies.

Seriously, they are nuts.

Next was bell peppers:

Yes it is growing in an upside down Mt. Dew bottle. I like the idea of those upside down tomato planters, but I'm too cheap so I made my own!

Lastly is the dying peas:

I forgot to take a picture before they started dying back. Very tasty but you have to grow a million plants to get enough to make a dish. Not on the plan for next year.

Watering your garden can be a pain since my hose is in the back yard, so I needed a watering can. Again, we are frugal and we like to recycle so here is what used to be an orange juice bottle we pulled from the recycling bin:

Hubby just drilled some holes in the top and it works perfect! It's the perfect size too, water is heavy and I'm not supposed to lift heavy stuff.

All in all I'm happy with my first foray into gardening. I'm amazed every day that I can eat something that started as a little packet of seeds! It's been very frugal for us, seeds don't cost much, and we either used pots we had lying around or re purposed things from the recycling bin!

Next project on hubby's list is to make a rain barrel, Can't wait!

Product review - Trader Joe's Gluten Free Brownie Mix

mmmm, brownies

In the old days of evil wheat flour, I loved to make scratch brownies. My gluten free scratch baking attempts are still in the learning phase. So whats an allergic scientist to do?

Mixes.

Ahh yes, the insanely expensive gluten free mixes. So when I spied this baby at Trader Joe's I had to get it, gotta love their prices!

I added chocolate chips to the batter, and used all applesauce instead of oil.

seriously delish!

Hubby ate several, and he hates gluten free food

Gluten Free Boy loved them as well; I brownie bribed him to get him to help me out with some gardening

I ate a lot...

...worth every calorie!

I got married, and then I broke myself

I'm married!
We got married May 16 in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was beautiful and everything I could have ever hoped for.But Kel, what did you eat?
Let's start with the night before the wedding. Uno Chicago Grill @ Birch Run.
What's an allergic scientist to eat at a pizza joint?
Freaking Pizza!!!!
It's a gluten free dairy free pizza that I did not have to make myself
I almost cried.
It was fan-freaking-tastic
I ate the leftovers in our hot tub in the honeymoon suite, seriously.

The next day was the big day!
The Bavarian Inn at Frankenmuth is awesome, their head baker has Celiac, so they cater to us allergic folks! So, I got to eat an actual meal at my weddingIt was fish, it was really really good.
Especially with a glass of German Riesling
...drool

So when I got diagnosed, I realized I would not be able to eat wedding cake, cut the cake, take silly pictures etc.
Oh no my friends, remember the aforementioned Celiac baker at the Bavarian Inn??
That right there is heaven, aka Gluten Free Black Forest cake. The whole thing
I almost cried for this one too, it was so amazing.
The few remaining slices were split between gluten free boy (A friends teenage son who has Celiac disease and is my gluten free taste tester) and myself
I may have eaten leftovers in the hot tub
...perhaps

So did I mention I broke myself?
I managed to herniate a disk in my back
It's very painful, physical therapy is hard
But all that matters is that there is some progress
Gotta get back in the kitchen and make some good food!