October Meeting Announcement

It's that time again! Gluten-Free Wikaduke's next meeting will be on Saturday, October 6th from 10AM until 12Noon at Edward Plainfield Outpatient Center located at 24600 127th Street in Plainfield.

A Timber Creek Farms representative, Rita, will be at the meeting to share information on how TCF provides home delivery of organic products. We'll also learn how we can purchasing various gluten-free products at reduced prices from another home delivery company. Rita will come to the meeting armed with samples and a box of organic produce to raffle off.

Among other things we'll also be discussing our plans for Gluten-Free Wikaduke's first anniversary 'party' which will take place at the November meeting. As always we'll have a home baked gluten free treat for every one to enjoy!

Hope to see you next week!

Do-It-Yourself Dinner Reminder

If you haven't already, please remember to call in your order to Do-It-Yourslef Dinners today. The number is 708-444-8450.

DIY opens at 12Noon so if the evening hours don't work for you it's still possible to get meals. I believe some people from Gluten-Free Wikaduke will gather there at 6PM. Others, like myself, will have to go earlier in the day.

Do-It-Yourself Dinners is located at 7142 W. 183rd Street and Harlem in Tinley Park.

Happy Cooking!

Alternative Appetites Podcasts

Taken directly from the NFCA website, "Alternative Appetites is a new series that focuses on helping you cook meals for special dietary needs. We will show you how to make gluten-free meals for people with celiac disease, dairy-free meals for people who are lactose intolerant, etc. More episodes to come. Enjoy!"

Thus far two podcasts have been posted, to view Alternative Appetites click here.

Hungry for a Sandwich?

Wild Oats in Hinsdale will be hosting a gluten-free sandwich sale on Saturday, October 27 from 12 Noon until 2:00PM. Special Eats will make the GFCF bread. Each sandwich will be made with all-natural deli meats and served with fruit, rice crisps and a drink. The cost for adults $7 and $5 for children.

The proceeds from the event go to The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center.

Living with Wheat Eaters?

Possible Cross Contamination Issues for Those Living with “Wheat Eaters”

By Mary Boris

September 20, 2007

1. Toothpaste, don’t share your tube.

2. Electric toothbrush or water pick? Watch out for gluten residue on the handle?

3. Aveeno Oatmeal bath and lotion? Have the user scrub the bathroom after use of these products.

4. Hair spray!

5. When you have house guests, don’t let them have free range of your kitchen or refrigerator.

6. Don’t ever leave your drink unattended, if someone accidentally (or on purpose), drinks out of your glass (bottle, or can) after eating gluten containing food, they could leave residue.

7. Replace your mixer, flour lodges in the venting of the motor, it will fly out when motor is turned on.

8. Toasters, have dedicated gluten-free and Wheat Eater toasters. Watch where you store the Wheat Eater toaster, crumbs fall out all over the place.

9. Load you dishwasher properly, separate the silverware so it can wash properly…no spooning.

10. Scrub the wheat eater dishes with an S O S pad before you put them in the dishwasher, oatmeal and pasta leaves a residue.

11. Colanders, have a dedicated gluten free colander, scrub the wheat eaters colander with
S O S pad.

12. Kitchen sponges, have dedicated gluten-free sponge, replace often, use paper towels to clean up Wheat Eater messes. I use a LOT of paper towels!

13. Watch out for leaking cereal boxes, oatmeal, cake mixes…etc.

14. Have a dedicated gluten-free shelf.

15. When your children, ya sure blame the kids, pour milk into wheat containing cereal, watch that the mild carton does not touch the cereal.

16. Make sure Wheat Eaters wash there hands before and after eating non gluten-free foods.

17. Make your Wheat Eaters brush their teeth before you kiss them on the lips.

Do-It-Yourself (GF) Dinner Night

If your mouth isn't watering after reading the menu of GF entrees available on September 28th something must be wrong!

Just a reminder:
1. Each dinner cost $25 and serves 4 to 6 people. It does not include side dishes.
2. Everyone MUST sign up and pre-order their dishes BY September 26.
3. Do-It-Yourself Dinners will provide single serving tin pans for those who want to divide the entrees into smaller portions. Feel free to bring plastic containers if you want to be able to re-heat the entrees in the microwave.
4. Adult libations are more than welcome.
5. You might want to bring a cooler to transport your food home.

If you are planning on attending, please leave post a note in the comments.

GFCO Certified Products

The Gluten-Free Certification Organization has listed on its site various retailers certified gluten-free products. The list is still small at this point, but includes such retailer as Trader Joe's, 1-2-3 Gluten-Free, Miguel's Products, etc.

Success with the Scale!

Has anyone else tried using the scale for gluten-free baking? If so, let us know in the comments section!

A note from Trina:
I don't want you to think your demonstration (on digital scales) fell on deaf ears. I, at first, did not understand the nuts and bolts of how to use a scale for measuring baking ingredients. And I could not wrap my brain around the possibility of it actually taking less time because I'm pretty quick at measuring now that I've had some practice. However, I decided to give it a go. I have a fabulous scale that I got from my sister-in-law who works for Technical Weighing Systems in Griffith, IN. They do precision scales like truck scales and scales for scientific measurement, etc. Mine is sweet and definitely has the zero out feature (is that called tare?)

Anyway - I knock out six GF muffins every two days for Bob. It's a short, sweet, simple recipe. I preheat the oven and I have everything mixed by the time the oven gets to the desired temperature. Then all I have to do is spoon it into muffin cups, and pop it in the oven. That was before today.

I timed it today. I preheated the oven. Fixed myself a cup of coffee. Just leisurely pulled out the scale and mixed my ingredients. I had the whole thing mixed, spooned into muffin cups, and ready to pop in the oven in about 8 minutes. I'd say at least half the time. The oven wasn't even preheated yet! So I had an extra 7 minutes to hop onto email and share the good news with you!

Thanks for saving me some time!

Celiac In the News'week'

Check out this interesting and informative article about celiac disease in Newsweek. It seems many of us might relate to it!

Making Mixes and Baking Easily Using a Digital Scale

This is a copy of one of the handouts that was distributed at the August meeting and it has been reposted because some participants weren't at that meeting. If someone can tell us how to copy and paste a chart, we'll gladly post the flour, baking mix and common mix recipes in grams. If you've taken the plunge and converted to weighing flour, etc. please post a comment.

Benefits to Using a Scale:
1. More accurate
2. Fewer dishes to wash
3. Don’t have to mess around with measuring cups
4. Weighing takes less time than measuring!

When Shopping for a Scale:
1. Purchase a digital scale
2. Make sure it calculates weight in metric and U.S. Units
3. The scale should have tare or zero out capabilities
4. The scale should weigh at least 5 pounds (2 kg) and as low (or lower) as 1/8 ounce (1 g)
5. The plate should be able to be removed for easy cleaning

To Determine the Weight of a Particular Ingredient:
1. Each product lists a serving size in volume and weight in the nutrition facts of a product label.
For example: Serving Size 1/4 cup (28 g)

2. To get the number of grams per cup for an item multiply it by the appropriate number. [Multiply by 4 if the serving size is 1/4 cup, by 3 if 1/3 cup, by 2 if 1/2 cup, by 16 if 1 tablespoon, etc.]
For example: 28g (1/4 cup) x 4 =112 g per cup

To Weigh More than One Ingredient in a Bowl:
1. Turn on the scale and push the button to measure in kg
2. Place the bowl on the scale and push tare (zero out)
3. Add the first ingredient and then push tare (zero out)
4. Add subsequent ingredients pushing tare (zero out) after each addition

Upcoming Events

Saturday, Septeber 15, 2007, 1:30PM - 3:30PM
CSA Speakers Meeting - "If I am doing so well, why do I feel so bad?"
Dr. Maria Brown, Rush Medical Center
West Suburban Medical Center, Lecture Hall
3 East Erie Court, Oak Park

Tuesday, September 18, 7PM
A Second Opinion Health Foods
Gluten Free Tasting Classes
4551 Route 71, Oswego
For more information call 630.551.0222.

September 28 - 30, 2007
CSA National Celiac Conference
Tuscon, Arizona

October 6, 2007
Free Celiac Blood Screening
University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center
To pre-register call 773.702.7593

October 7, 2007, 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
CSA Gluten Free Gang Carousel Party
Elk Grove Village
Reservations required call 847.255.4156.

Do-It-Yourself and Dreamy Dinners

Do-It-Yourself Dinners in Tinley Park is having a gluten free day on Friday, September 28th from 11AM until 6PM. Each meal serves 4-6 and costs $25. If you're planning on attending all orders must be called in in advance. For more information contact them at dbdtinleyparkil@comcast.net or 708-444-8450.

Dream Dinners located at 75th & Lemont Road in Downers Grove is willing to host a Gluten Free Wikaduke night at their store. According to their website the average cost per 6 serving meal comes to $19.98. While their website lists the September menu it doesn't state which items are gluten free. Lana will coordinate the Gluten Free Wikaduke night (right Lana?) if you're interested in participating please email us and we'll forward it on to Lana.

> The place is called Do-It-Yourself Dinners, the phone is 708-444-8450 and
> the website is www.doityourselfdinners.net

Springy Deliciousness!

This recipe was mentioned at the meeting on Saturday to several of you. It uses the same flour mix as the Yogurt and Honey Quickbread and is incredibly easy to make. It's by far as good as gluten corn bread...maybe even better. I have used thick edges of this recipe to make a corn bun for a lower fat corn dog.

Springy Corn Bread
The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, Bette Hagman

The recipe listed below make enough for a 9x13 inch pan. To make batter for an 8-inch square pan, divide each ingredient by two except for the baking soda which should be 1 teaspoon. the 8-inch square pan should bake for 20-25 minutes.

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups (248 grams) Four Flour Bean Mix*
2 cups (280 grams) yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons egg replacer
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Wet Ingredients:
2 cups plain yogurt
4 eggs, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons margarine, melted
1/2 cup orange juice or water

*Four Flour Bean Mix
2 cups (240 grams) garfava bean flour or garbanzo and fava bean flour
1 cup (136 grams) sorghum flour
3 cups (384 grams) cornstarch
3 cups (360 grams) tapioca starch

Tracy's Changes: I make this bread quite frequently opting to bake it in a preheated cast iron skillet which gives the crust a slightly crunchy texture. As far as changing the recipe, I normally use half of the called for sugar, use butter instead of margarine and always use water as the liquid. I've found that the bread needs to bake at least the full 35 minutes. I normally bake it for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease your chosen pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, blend the yogurt, beaten eggs, melted margarine and orange juice. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Spoon the dough onto the prepared pan and bake the 9x13 inch pan for 25-35 minutes or until the bread springs back when gently pressed. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

Timber Creek Farms

Timber Creek Farms Organics and Natural Farms were both mentioned at Saturday's meeting as having drastically reduced prices on organic and gluten-free products that are delivered directly to one's home. In order to purchase from Natural Farms one has to become a member of Timber Creek Farms Organics first. Membership is free.

Peanut Butter Cookies!

This rcipe was originally posted on June 2. Because some of you have had problems finding it it's been reposted. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Roll teasponful balls out and place on a baking sheet. Mash the balls down using the back of a fork making crisscross patterns. Bake for about 7-10 minutes at 350*F or until done.