Best Gluten-Free Flour Mix

There are very few gluten-free baking mixes out there that actually taste good. Many of them are dry and extremely bland. In my opinion, the only one worth using is Pamela's Gluten Free Baking & Pancake Mix. However, Pamela's is pricey and runs out really fast if you bake a lot. I found a much cheaper alternative: (recipe via healthyfishies recipe blog) creating your own gluten-free baking mix! 

Best Gluten-Free Flour Mix Recipe:

1 1/4 cups Brown Rice Flour
1 3/4 cups White Rice Flour ( I have also used Superfine White Rice Flour)
2/3 cup Cultured Buttermilk (in a pinch, Powdered/Dry Milk works too)
1 cup Almond Meal or Almond flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Starch
3/4 cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
3 Tablespoons baking powder
2 Tablespoon Baking Soda
1 tablespoon Sea Salt
3 tsp Xanthan Gum

sift together and store in a container or zip lock bag.

I guarantee your cake or bread or whatever you are baking will turn out wonderfully if you use this mixture. You can store it for a few months in a sealed bowl or freezer bag. It saves money to make it yourself, and it's tasty too!

*A few tips on where to find the ingredients: 

 I had to do a little shopping around to find all these flours. If you're lucky enough to live near a Whole Foods, you can get most of the flours there. Health food stores carry some of these flours. Trader Joe's has a good almond flour mixture. If you go to the ethnic section of a regular grocery store, you can usually find some different flours as well. Asian grocery stores almost always carry rice flours. If you don't feel like going out at all, and you enjoy planning ahead, you can buy the flours on Amazon, which has a surprising selection of gluten-free items for great deals.

Cherry Blossom Sugar Cookies

I finally found a homemade gluten-free flour mix that works, but sometimes, I don't have time (or the energy) to go and sift together 7 flours to create the perfect taste and texture. I'll share this flour mixture in a later post, for those of you that have the time.... but today I want to share my favorite sugar cookie mix with you:

It's the cherry brook kitchen sugar cookie mix: http://astore.amazon.com/wwwsharonglas-20/detail/B000FPDYRQ



This mix never seems to fail me, and believe me, I am picky about my sugar cookies. I don't know about you, but I have to have frosting on my sugar cookies (as if they are not sugary enough. Below is my cherry blossom frosting recipe. Try going to a Japanese or Asian store to find the cherry blossom flavors. You can also just use the juice from cherries, if you aren't close to an Asian Market.

Cherry Blossom Butter Cream Frosting:

1 tsp Cherry Blossom Extract,
1 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
1/4 cup goat milk (if you don't mind the taste), or use almond milk.
1 stick butter
Natural pink food coloring

Soften butter, then add in the sugar, and slowly add in the milk. Mix in cherry blossom extract and GF vanilla next. Add in natural pink food coloring if you want the frosting to be pink. You can also leave it white if you like. Then in a big bowl, mix for 3-4 minutes for fluffier frosting.

A few decorating ideas:

September workshop:: The art of gluten-free baking

We finally added a date for the September workshop: 10am-12:30 on Saturday, September 18th at the Hartwood location. The class will be on the art of gluten-free baking. It's probably our best class yet! Sharon will share the secrets to combining flours to make gluten-free recipes tastier and healthier than gluten filled recipes. Sign up today!

Celiac or not, your body needs protein.

Check out this article on Vegetarianism and Nutrient Deficiencies:

http://www.westonaprice.org/abcs-of-nutrition/1640-vegetarianism-and-nutrient-deficiencies.html

ADHD Linked to Pesticides on Food

Buy organic food to fight ADHD and ADD and watch this video:




ADHD Linked to Pesticides on Food
By Lorie Johnson
CBN News Medical Reporter
Thursday, May 20, 2010


In a new report, scientists say Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - or ADHD - may be partly caused by pesticides sprayed on food.

Millions of Americans have ADHD, a condition that causes behavior and learning problems.

Beware the Produce Isle

Most fruits and vegetables at your local grocery store have been sprayed with chemicals to keep insects from eating them - especially peaches, strawberries and raspberries, which have the highest levels of the pesticides.

A new study published in the Journal of Pediatrics links those pesticides with ADHD.

Trish White knows all about the disorder since both her children have it.

"It's physically and emotionally exhausting," she said.

This news may cause her to buy organic food since it isn't sprayed with pesticides.

"A combination of things always affect a child's behavior, so you definitely want to look into everything," White says.

The study tested more than 1,000 children ages 8 - 15. Those whose urine contained pesticides were twice as likely to have symptoms of ADHD.

Skeptics Question the Study

Still, some health experts say the study doesn't go far enough.

"We need to do a study that measures pesticide exposure very early in life then follow the children over 5, 6, 7 years and see if the early exposure actually causes the disease," said Dr. Philip Landrigan with Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Meanwhile, pesticides used on all produce in the U.S. have been reported as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency."

taken from: ADHD Linked to Pesticides on Food - Health & Science - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

Mrs. Gluten-Free Refer a Friend Program

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Much Love, Mrs. Gluten Free

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