Fourth of July Strawberry Pretzel Jello Destiny

Posted on July 4, 2011 | 1 comment

Now, I don’t believe in fate or destiny in the strictest sense of the word.  But there are sometimes when coincidences happen that seem too big to just be random.

For awhile now I’ve noticed that my post on my grandma’s rainbow jello salad is one of my most popular posts, and thought that I should post on something else jello-related.  People all over the web are apparently just dying to spend 24 hours making an artistic jello casserole.  So I was thinking about my other favorite jello dish, that my aunt used to make as a dessert for family gatherings – Strawberry Pretzel Jello “Salad”.

It’s this weird concoction of a pretzel crust (like a graham cracker crust but with a touch more salt), then a cream cheese and Cool Whip center, and a strawberry Jello topping.  It all comes together to be a surprisingly good layered dessert, and kind of a throwback to the jello-mold days of old.

Now here comes the coincidence.  Did anyone see the recipe from the winner of Rudi’s Gluten Free Bakery Contest?  It’s a layered dish with Rudi’s bread and ginger snaps as the base of the crust, a sweet goat cheese filling, and a sweet strawberry topping.  That looks exactly the same as the Strawberry Pretzel Jello “Salad”!

Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery Winning Dish

So I obviously am now destined to make this strangely addicting dish again, and luckily I have a get-together today that I can bring it to!  I modified this recipe slightly to make it healthier and gluten free, of course.  I also halved it, since I 1) don’t own a 9×13 pan, and 2) didn’t want to carry a giant pan on the mile walk to the party.

Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad – Gluten Free Version

1/2 cup crushed Glutino gluten free pretzels

1/2 cup crushed Trader Joe’s gluten free ginger snaps

1 tsp. sugar

4 oz. Neufchatel cheese (could also substitute cream cheese, I was trying something new)

1/4 cup sugar

4 oz. Cool Whip

1/2 package strawberry jello

1 cup boiling water

1/2 package frozen strawberries (I substituted some fresh strawberries)

Mix first three ingredients and press in bottom of a 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees (metal pan) or 325 degrees (glass pan) 8 minutes. Let cool completely.

Beat 1/4 cup sugar and cheese. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread over pretzels (at this point I transferred to a tupperware container for easy traveling).

Mix Jello and water until dissolved. Add strawberries. Stir into Jello, then set aside for 10 minutes.

Pour over cheese mixture (it will look too liquidy, but it will set up). Chill.

I’ll add a picture of it plated later, but for now it’s getting packed up and ready to party!

I also encourage you to test the Cool whip to ensure it’s thawed properly by dipping a few in as the crust bakes 🙂

I should have added blueberries to this to make it a true red/white/blue dessert.  But I think it looks pretty patriotic as it is 🙂 Happy Fourth of July!

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Breaking News: Most people on a gluten free diet kind of think it sucks

Posted on July 3, 2011 | 1 comment

I was reading this article on jacksonville.com by Mark Basch (The Gluten Free Glutton) about how “43 percent of people on a gluten-free diet rated their satisfaction as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor,’ with 35 percent rating it as ‘average.'” So that’s 78% of people on a gf diet that kind of think it sucks.

How sad is that?

Then I got to thinking about how I would rate my satisfaction with my diet.  And I think I’d say “above average”.  Or maybe “average”?  It’s such a weird question.

On the one hand, I still get to eat things like this massive Thanksgiving sandwich from Terri Vegetarian in NYC.  And I’m very satisfied.

But on the other, sometimes I have to buy the one gluten free veggie burger in the grocery store, which ends up tasting dry and looking like a dirt patty, and I have to slather it with hummus to make it edible.  Then? Not so satisfied.

How would you rate your satisfaction with your gluten free diet?

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Chocolate Fix: Firehook Bakery DC

Posted on June 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

After picking up a shirt from the dry cleaners that I sprayed with curry sauce when I got Thai food from Sticky Rice last weekend, I stopped into Firehook Bakery in Cleveland Park on a whim.

Usually I try to avoid bakeries because of their forbidden fruits and torturous smells.  But I thought I remembered something about them having gluten free options, so I figured I’d check it out.

The guy working there told me that they sometimes have brownies, but since they get all of their food delivered from the central Firehook bakery, they don’t have them all the time.

They did, however, have coconut macaroons.  Which are fine and dandy.  But the real star of their show are the chocolate-covered coconut macaroons.  Not ones with the chocolate mixed in, but covered in a layer of dark chocolate.

After waiting all of five minutes when I got home, I broke into it.  Um…amazing.  The chocolate is dark, but creamy, and the macaroon in the center is really moist.  Plus it’s the size of a tennis ball, which doesn’t hurt either.

If you wanted to make them yourself, I’m sure you could use this recipe tutorial which features a really awkward old people on Facebook interlude around the 2:00 mark… but why do that when the ones at Firehook are this good?

All Firehook Bakery Locations

3411 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20008
(202) 362-2253

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Redemption for Sticky Fingers Bakery – Cookie Win

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

After a less than impressive trip to Sticky Fingers Bakery for a cupcake, I decided to give them another shot this weekend.  This time I had a laser focus on getting a chocolate chip cookie.

When I got there, however, there were none to be found in the case.  Only those darned dry cupcakes.   But then I asked the nice girl there if they had any, and she quickly retrieved one from the back room (not sure why they weren’t out…)

So I forked over my $2.25 and headed out to peruse the farmers market. Nothing like looking at rows and rows of vegetables while eating something made of 80% sugar and butter 😉

This cookie provided redemption for any wrong that Sticky Fingers could have done in the past.  It was more crispy than I usually like my cookies (which is just a bit more baked than straight-up dough), but the flavor was great.  Chock-full of brown sugar and so buttery it immediately greased up the brown paper bag (yum?).  Plus it reminded me of those giant bakery cookies that are sold at Panera or Starbucks that I usually drool over.

I ate a big chunk off, and saved the rest for when I had coffee in hand later, for the dunkability factor.

Now I will give Sticky Fingers my stamp of approval.  Steer away from the cupcakes, but crash head on into the cookies.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

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Zengo

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last Friday I went to Zengo with a friend with the main objective of taking advantage of their $5 mojito happy hour.  Zengo describes itself as a “eclectic, energetic, and hip Latin-Asian restaurant,” and when I went I sampled a bit of each.

Off of their happy hour menu I got some edamame, which they must have smoked (?) or broiled because they came with a nice char on the outside.  There wasn’t much more on the happy hour menu that I was interested in (besides the mojitos, of course) so I asked for their gluten free menu.

Out came the “Arepas de Shitake” (with no hoisin sauce).  Mini cornmeal cakes with shitake mushrooms, guacamole and crema fresca, topped with a slice of some kind of pepper.

Next time I go back I’ll have to get the dulce de leche pudding because it sounds and looks amazing (chocolate caviar / gosling rum~plantain sauce, coconut macaroon)

Zengo

781 Seventh Street NW, Chinatown
Washington, DC 20001
Tel. 202.393.2929

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Cake Batter Blondies – Gluten Free

Posted on June 26, 2011 | 1 comment

The other day I was perusing Girl Meets Life, since I have a total girl crush on Gracie, when I came upon this amazing recipe for cake batter blondies.  I also happen to have an almost-full container of rainbow sprinkles that I’ve been looking for a use for from back when I found out that Carvel’s sprinkles weren’t gluten free. (They now are, according to their website – so good for you, Carvel!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 box gluten free yellow cake mix (I tried Betty Crocker’s)
  • 1/4 cup oil (I used extra light tasting olive oil)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
  • 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions: Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add the milk slowly – you want the batter to remain as dense as possible.

Then mix in the rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The fun part

Pull them out just when the edges are starting to turn brown, and cool for about 20 minutes.

These weren’t as gooey as Gracie’s were, or at least how they looked, which might have to do with the gf batter mix.  But they were still outrageously good.  I’m going to have to try to resist eating all of them before I bring them in for my coworkers tomorrow.

Maybe I should make some tweaks to these and submit them to Betty Crocker’s Baker’s Challenge gluten free recipe contest… hmm

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Cocomama Quinoa Cereal

Posted on June 24, 2011 | 1 comment

Before I moved to DC, I splurged on a bunch of non-perishables from G-Free NYC, including a packet of Cocomama Quinoa Cereal.  In the days when I was moving in, convenience was paramount for meals.  So this was a great option, as you basically just tear open the packet, nuke it, and squish it into a bowl.  I got the Banana Cinnamon (with a hint of Maple) variety.  But they also have Orange Cranberry, Honey Almond, and Wild Blueberry to choose from.

Now, whoever was the photographer for the pictures on their website must be a regular Ansel Adams, because mine did not end up looking anything like theirs.

Their pic:

My pic:

Mine looks about five shades darker, and I also just squirted it out right from the package, so it doesn’t have that nice fluffy-looking texture.

As far as how this stuff tastes – it is VERY rich.  It must be the coconut milk and maple syrup, but it sticks in your mouth and gut like peanut butter.  You’ve got to have a big tall glass of cold milk on hand to have with this.

I do like that they have found a way to make quinoa into a sweet dish, since I haven’t seen that done successfully.  They use simple ingredients, and have also kept the consumer in mind by making it extremely easy to prepare.  For those mornings when you don’t feel like dirtying dishes or doing prep work, these are a great solution.

Buy Cocomama products ($20 for a six pack of pouches)

Visit their awesome website

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Whole Foods BBQ Tofu

Posted on June 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Whole Foods hot and cold self serve bars are one of my favorite places on earth.  You can mix and try new things without fully committing to a whole dish, plus they clearly list all ingredients so you can be sure that everything you’re putting in your bowl/container is safe.

This week a new item made its debut in the cold bar – BBQ tofu.

I keep tabs on pretty much every new item that comes on the line, but a lot of them have soy sauce or another grain in it, or just taste weird (ie. their green chile tofu).  This, however, is ammmmmazing.

It’s basically hunks of a really firm tofu covered in a thick barbeque-ish sauce.  containing onions, tomatoes, agave syrup, apple cider vinegar, tamari, bbq flavor (?), sesame oil and spices.

I think it’s got that umami thing going on.

It might not look very pretty…

But it sure does taste great.

If you see this at your local Whole Foods, don’t be afraid to load up on it.  It might up the weight of your meal, but so worth it.

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Mike’s Lite Hard Lemonade – do I dare?

Posted on June 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

I just read this updated post on Gluten Free Gobsmacked about Mike’s Hard Lemonade Lite.  Surprisingly enough, I had never heard that this version of Mike’s was gluten free.  I always assumed that it was in the “malt beverage” category, and therefore off limits.  However, they claim that the lite version is gluten free on their website (and in a long Facebook message with Kate), meaning that they had it tested a bunch of times and it came back as being less than 5ppm gluten, which is far below the 20ppm limit you have to be under to be considered gluten free.  Read more about it on their site.

This used to be one of my favorite summer drinks, as it’s low in calories, refreshing, cheap, and kind of corny. Plus you can almost do that “bros icing bros” thing with it.

However, Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked had a reaction when she drank it…which makes me hesitant to sprint out the door right now to buy some, as I had originally planned on doing.

Do I dare?
I never could really resist a dare, or anything alcoholic mixed with lemonade, so I’ll probably give it a try.  I don’t have severe reactions like many others do, and I can’t imagine that a big company like theirs could be claiming the product to be gluten free still if many people are getting glutened from it.

If it IS gluten free, then this calls for a celebration!  If it turns out to NOT be gluten free… Mike himself can expect a strongly worded letter from yours truly.

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Sticky Fingers Bakery – DC

Posted on June 22, 2011 | 5 comments

Yesterday after work I needed to pick up some things in Cleveland Park, which conveniently has a gluten free bakery, Sticky Fingers.  Sticky Fingers is a vegan bakery, but they also have a full menu of savory dishes.

I was very excited to see on their menu that they serve gluten free bread and wraps, as well as gf pancakes on the weekends (before 2:30pm).

I think I’ll have to go back for lunch and try the black bean quesadilla, hummus wrap, or Mac n’ Teese (gluten free pasta and daiya cheese).  Their menu isn’t incredibly easy to navigate, since things aren’t marked clearly as gluten free, but they do provide a list of all the ingredients in their sweets online which is helpful.

Since it was dessert time, I was looking for something with sugar in it.  Unfortunately they sold out of their gluten free cookies for the day, so the only option was cupcakes.  They had three gf varieties, all with chocolate cake, and your choice of mint, vanilla, or chocolate frosting.

I nabbed a chocolate one with vanilla frosting, mostly because I’m a sucker for rainbow sprinkles.  They’re like edible confetti.

Now don’t get me wrong; it’s impressive that anyone can make a vegan cupcake taste good at all.  Sticky Fingers uses tofu in their chocolate batter, and soybeans, and a whole lot of other stuff that sounds complicated.  So I appreciate the work that they did that I didn’t have to.

However… this cupcake was no match for Red Velvet Cupcakery’s chocolate one.  The frosting was really good, but the cake itself was just so-so.  I only ended up eating half of it and throwing the rest out 😦

I’m looking forward to going back to Sticky Fingers to try their savory dishes and get my hands on one of those cookies.  The people there were super nice and helpful, and I’m excited that there is even an option within walking distance of my apartment.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

1370 Park Rd NW
Washington DC 20010
(202) 299-9700

Order online

 

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