Well, today is eleven days without Gluten and I have to say, I feel FANTASTIC. I think my family is beginning to feel like I am harping on them about this, but I am just so blown away at how good I feel that I want EVERYONE to feel as fantastic as I do.
More about GF in a minute. In other news, Garren and I finally got letters in the mail telling us that Garren's immigration application has been processed and we will be hearing from the Vancouver Immigration office shortly to set up his final interview. It is very exciting, and a little nerve wracking... Nothing like coming up with another $490 out of nowhere, but I am sure we will be fine. (However, you could add that to your prayer list if you're running out of things to pray about!) We have been discussing what our plan of action will be once he can work... because after his interview, it will be 6-8 weeks before his PR Card comes in the mail, but after that he can work... so now the big question is whether or not I will continue to work once he is able. I think the conclusion we have come to is I will continue working for the time being, and my sister has agreed to watch my kids at least for some of the time, so whether I keep working fulltime or if I go down to parttime has yet to be determined. We will have to see. It will not be a permanent thing, us both working, but it isn't set in stone how long we will do this either. I would like to get out of debt and start putting some money away. We need a new car, preferably one that doesn't guzzle gas, and I would like to start putting money away for a house, so this could take a while. However, Isaiah starts preschool this September and Lydia starts next September, so that will definitely factor in as well, both kids start Kindergarten within a year of one another and now that Kindergarten is fulltime and full days, if I could work and keep it within their school schedule we could start building towards a better future. At the moment nothing has changed; I still work fulltime and Garren still stays home fulltime, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that has given me a brighter outlook on the situation. I like being able to set my goals with dates and timelines and the timeline I had set was a minimum of another two years of me working fulltime, I don't think that's changed and I'm mentally and emotionally prepared for that, so we will see. I know we are working towards a future for the family, so it helps to make my time away from home feel well-spent.
Now, back to the GF news. I made another bread recipe this week. I really like the flavor, it is very much the same as wheat bread, however, it dries out quite quickly. It makes for nice toast though. However, I am trying to figure out what I can do to make it retain more moisture. What I am thinking of doing is replacing some of the liquid with applesauce. I know that in the past when I have done that in my baking it has made it very moist, so that will be my experiment for this week. Last night, however, Garren and I were having a craving for Pizza... and we were both tired from spending the day spring cleaning. Pizza sounded so nice, because neither of us particularly felt like cooking... but spending $40+ on pizza didn't sound that appealing ... and the only place I know for sure that serves GF Pizza is definitely on the pricey side. So we decided to suck it up and make our own. It was FANTASTIC. The only downside was, I have a dairy intollerance as well, and I always have, but now that I'm eating GF I notice it a lot more because I don't feel crappy all the time from the gluten... so my dairy reactions are definitely more pronounced in the grand scheme of things, but for the sake of a very tasty dinner I decided to suck it up for the evening. So, here is the recipe for the GF pizza crust I made.
Before I start, let me just say, I liked it better than a wheat crust. It had more flavour, reminded me of a whole wheat crust, it held the toppings without going limp and it wasn't cardboard-like. I don't know what it would be like cold because Garren and I polished the whole thing off last night, but warm, it is fantastic! I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, I meant to take some last night, but we were so hungry all I could think of was getting the pizza in the oven and getting it in our mouths! I will take pictures next time, because I definitely think we will be making this one again.
GF Pizza Crust
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2/3 Cup of Sorghum Flour (Or whatever flour you prefer, just make sure its the same weight of flour, brown rice, soy, bean, etc.)
1/2 Cup Potato Starch (Or Tapioca Starch or Corn Starch)
2 tsp. Xanthan Gum (Or Guar Gum)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Unflavored Gelatin powder (I used Knox)
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning (Or a mixture of basil, oregano, thyme, etc)
2/3 Cup warm water
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar (regular white would work too)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a mixing bowl, using the paddle (or if you're using a hand mixer, just make sure you're not using dough hooks) combine the yeast, flour(s), starch(s), xanthan gum, salt, gelatin, and Italian seasoning on low. Add warm water, sugar, oil and vinegar. Combine carefully and then mix on high for 2 - 2.5 minutes. If you find that your dough looks more like a batter, add a little more flour, or if you find it too stiff, add more water a teaspoon at a time. You want it to be a bit more like a soft dough.
Grease a pizza pan and sprinkle with GF cornmeal (you can skip the cornmeal if you want, but I found it made the crust more authentic). Place the dough in the middle of the pan and then oil your hands well (it gets messy). Press the dough flat into the pan, I used a medium pan and it was the perfect size for this recipe. You could use a larger pan, but you'd have to make more than one batch of dough. Once the dough is pressed into the pan take a paper towel and dab off the excess oil then place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
After you remove the pizza crust you could take it off the pan, let it cool, wrap it up in saran wrap and put it in the freezer for use later (something I plan on doing this week). However, if you're using it right away, now is the time to top it with your favorite sauce and toppings. I actually buttered the crust lightly while it was warm just to keep it from drying out and made sure it wasn't sticking to the pan by taking it off and putting it back on. I didn't want to have to fight with it once it was loaded with toppings. Also I didn't leave an edge crust, I layered my toppings right to the very edge.
Finally, once you've loaded your crust with your favorite sauce and toppings, pop it back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes or until your toppings are just starting to brown.
Cut using a pizza wheel, then let sit for a few minute, it is VERY hot!
ENJOY!
This was a spectacular pizza, it had a lot of flavor in the crust, the texture was nicer than any "Take n' Bake" we've had, it reminded me of a "cracker crust" that one of the pizza places used to do when I was a kid. There was a definite "bite" to the texture, but Garren and I really enjoyed it.
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