This salsa is so brightly colored and flavorful, it will wake up any meal. I love to serve it with Grilled London Broil, and maybe a zesty potato salad for a simple but delicious summertime lunch. Served on a plain white plate, it looks beautiful. The salsa is also super delicious served on top of a juicy grilled summertime hamburger, on a homemade bun made with Tom’s Light Bread. Just like regular, gluten-eatin’ folk (but better — what do they know?).

Mango Salsa
Ingredients
2 mangoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped sweet bell pepper (any color)
1 small red onion, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 to 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, to taste

1. In a medium bowl, combine the mangoes, pepper, onion, (optional) cilantro, lemon juice, and lime juice. Mix until well combined.

2. Cover and allow the salsa to marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.

Serve at room temperature.

Warmly,
Nicole

Get your grill on...

First things first: London Broil is a cooking method, not a cut of beef. It’s usually made with top round roast, but any large piece of meat will do, really. Buy whatever is on sale; even a less expensive cut will come out tender and juicy when you do it right. Speaking of doing it right… The secret to an amazing London Broil is to marinate the hell out of it. Let it sit in a really good marinade for at least a day, ideally a few days, and you won’t be sorry. Oh, and trim it of its most offensive parts (big pieces of fat, connective tissue, etc.) before you even begin to marinate. After it has finished marinating, take it for a quick spin on the grill, let it rest for about 10 minutes, slice it against the grain, and watch even your vegetarian friends sneaking a piece off the end when they think no one is looking. As my son will tell you, it’s a shame to eat cows, but yum.

Lovely Lady London Broil
Ingredients
6 cloves garlic, minced fine
1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce (I like La Choy Lite)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil (or canola oil)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (white or dark)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned)
4 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 two-pound piece of top round roast (or other large piece of beef), trimmed of large pieces of fat and ugly bits

1. In a large Ziploc (resealable) bag, combine the garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oil, oregano (crushed between your fingers and the palm of your other hand, to release its essential oils), pepper, vinegars, and sugar. Seal the bag and massage the ingredients in the marinade together until they are well combined (and the sugar is completely dissolved).

2. Unseal the Ziploc bag, and carefully add the trimmed beef to the bag. Seal the bag, forcing out as much air as possible. Place the bag of marinade and meat into your refrigerator. Allow it to marinate for at least 24 hours, ideally for 3 days (yes, 3 days!), rotating the bag at least 2 times to ensure that both sides of the meat marinate for at least 12 hours.

3. GRILLING DIRECTIONS.
Before you turn on the grill, brush the grates with olive oil or GF cooking spray. This will help prevent the meat from sticking to the hot grates. Then pre-heat the grill to about 400 degrees F.

Remove the meat from the Ziploc bag and place it in the center of your grill (where there’s the hottest and most even heat). Pour about 1/2 of the marinade that’s left in the bag on top of the meat. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes (or until the underside is seared). If you want fancy grill marks, turn the meat 45 degrees halfway through. Flip the meat over, and pour the remaining marinade on top. Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. You want the meat to be seared on the outside but medium-rare on the inside.

Turn off the grill and and flip the meat one more time to heat the marinade for about 1 minute. Remove the steak from the grill and let it rest, covered loosely in foil, for about 10 minutes to allow all of the juices to distribute evenly. Then slice against the grain into thin strips. Yum!

Warmly,
Nicole

I do love the individual, personal strawberry shortcake. Then you don’t have to pretend that you want “just a small piece.” You take your own, it’s a nice size — not too big, not too small — and there’s no false moderation. And it’s filled with strawberries, so it’s practically health food. And you can freeze the cakes either in raw rounds (and then bake them right from frozen when you need them) or after they’ve been baked (and just defrost on the counter). Now look at you. You’re a Gluten-Free Minute(wo)man. You’re a superhero!

Strawberry Shortcakes
Cake Ingredients
3 cups all purpose gluten-free flour
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, diced and kept cold
1 to 1 1/4 cups cream
1 extra-large egg, beaten

Filling Ingredients
1 pound (16 ounces) fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1. To make the shortcakes, in a large bowl, add the flour, xanthan gum, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt, and mix until combined. Add the cold, diced butter to the dry ingredient mixture, and cut the butter in with a handheld pastry blender (or with two sharp knives) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs of butter covered in the dry ingredients. Be mindful not to touch the butter with your hands. You want it to stay cold, and your hot little hands will melt it.

2. Add 1 cup of cream, followed by the beaten egg, to the butter/flour mixture, and stir to combine. Squeeze together the dough. Add the remaining 1/4 cup cream by the tablespoon until the dough holds together well without being very sticky. You may or may not need the balance of the 1/4 cup cream.

3. Turn the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, squeeze the dough (covered in plastic wrap) together into a disk about 1/2″ thick. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour or until firm.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

5. Next, let’s make the strawberry filling, which couldn’t be easier. In a medium bowl, place the strawberries, sugar, and salt, and mix until well-combined. Allow the strawberry mixture to sit at room temperature as you complete the shortcakes.

6. Once the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and place it on your counter with the plastic wrap seam facing up. Open the plastic wrap to reveal the top and sides of the dough. Using a well-floured 4″ biscuit cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Re-form the disk with the scraps and cut more rounds with the biscuit cutter as best you can. Place the rounds, spaced evenly and about 1″ apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator until chilled and firm, about 15 minutes.

7. Once the raw shortcake rounds have chilled, place the baking sheets in the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until puffed and pale golden, rotating the baking sheets at least once during baking. Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature, or close to it, right on the baking sheets. Once the cakes are cooled, with a large serrated knife, slice the cakes in the center, cross-section-wise. Remove the top of each cake, fill with the strawberry mixture, and replace the top.

Get ready for the oooooohs and ahhhhhhhs, you magician, you.

Warmly,
Nicole

A dozen tomato plants

There’s no doubt that a gluten-free diet can be good for your health — but bad for  your wallet. Gluten-free frozen meals, baked goods and bread can be double or even triple the cost of their gluten-containing counterparts. But so many people feel that having to live gluten-free leaves them with no other choice. You simply have to buy the specialty foods and pay the high cost. With Gluten Free on a Shoestring, I’ve tried to show how that’s simply not the case. You can take back control by learning to cook and bake gluten free with more taste, and less cost.

While cooking and baking yourself can minimize certain costs of being gluten free, other expenses are harder to avoid. For example, even though you can make your own gluten-free pasta from scratch (see recipe: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/fresh-gluten-free-pasta/), sometimes we just need to rely upon packaged gluten-free pasta. And even at a good price, that can cost double what regular, wheat-based pasta costs. So you have to get more creative and look for other ways to save and make up the difference.

One way is to try growing your own vegetables. Let’s face it. Fresh produce just isn’t cheap. I use tons of frozen vegetables, which are picked at the peak of freshness and generally very cost-effective. But some things just can’t be frozen with good results (frozen tomatoes, anyone? blech). So if you can grow your own, it leaves you with some extra money to buy those $2-$3 bags of gluten-free pasta and that occasional $7 loaf of gluten-free bread when you’re really in a pinch (heaven help us!). Don’t already think you have a green thumb? No worries. The time to start is now, and here are some tips to get started:

1. Plant what’s expensive to buy, and easy to grow.

While the idea of pulling a fresh carrot from the ground may be alluring, it’s not the best use of your gardening time. Carrots are inexpensive to buy fresh, all year long. Instead, plant more costly things like cucumbers (almost $1 each in my area, even in season) and tomatoes (usually around $2.00+/pound). Also, consider what’s easy to grow. Time is money, so you want your efforts to bear fruit … or vegetables. We have had great success in our back yard with zucchini. So it’s a staple every year. Herbs are easy to grow as well. And there’s nothing like adding fresh-picked basil leaves to your pasta sauce, salad or tomatoes and mozzarella.

2. Start small and early.

If you want to get the most from your effort, it helps to start early. But be careful. Plant too early and cold Spring weather will kill your plants. So here’s what you can do instead: Save your empty cardboard egg containers. Fill them with a small amount of potting soil and  drop in and cover the seeds of your choice. Then water periodically, just enough to keep the soil moist. You can leave your plants outside during the day. But you should move them inside (or to the garage or shed) until the weather is consistently at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit overnight. Depending on your area and climate, this could be mid-May to early June.

There are a couple of reasons to use the cardboard egg cartons. 1) They give you individual sections for your seeds. 2) They biodegrade, so you can break off the individual compartments, peel off as much paper as you can (without damaging the plant) and actually plant the whole thing right in the ground. If you keep them wet enough, you’ll even notice that your plants will sprout roots right through the bottom of the carton.

3. Skip the soil and get some FREE compost.

Here’s an extra Shoestring tip: Instead of buying potting soil, find out if your town has a compost pile. Our local sanitation department has a huge mound of compost available for FREE (and no, it doesn’t stink). People are constantly driving up to fill their buckets, trash cans, pots, etc. You can’t beat the price, and compost is great for those little seedlings. FREE compost is a lot less expensive than paying $4 for a small bag a potting soil. It’s also a whole lot greener.

So break out your garden gloves and trowels this season and give gardening a try. It’s the Shoestring thing to do. Plus, it can be lots of fun, especially when you get to harvest things like this:

Warmly,

Nicole

Photographer Lisa Weatherbee and Yours Truly.

Back in December I promised to keep you in the loop as the cookbook comes along. I mean after all, without your interest in Gluten Free on a Shoestring there would be no book, and I’d probably be asking myself, “if you write an online recipe site and nobody reads it, is it still a blog?”

So here’s where things are at this point. I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen and on the laptop for about 5 months now. My goal is to put together a collection of recipes that I think you’ll really enjoy and can use on a regular basis.

Because when you go gluten-free, the toughest part is duplicating the everyday things like breads, baked goods and comfort foods without spending a fortune.

Asst. Photographer “Friday” made sure the floor stayed clean of unwanted crumbs.

As is the case with most things, there’s a pretty long lead time. The manuscript is due this spring (yikes!) and the book is scheduled to hit the shelves in early 2011.

Based on that schedule, we needed to start taking photos of some of the recipes. We just completed the first part of the photo shoot last weekend

READY, SET…

SHOOT!

We want the recipes to look great, but also feel accessible. There’s no point in making a gluten-free cookbook with complicated recipes that you’ll never make. We’ll leave that to the fancy-schmancy chefs.

I hope you enjoy these behind-the-scenes photos of day one of the photo shoot.

Tapestries = nice backgrounds.

And just what might this be?

Make dough. Form. Bake. Photograph. Upload.

Part two of the photo shoot is scheduled to take place in a couple of weeks. Until then, you’ll find me in front of the computer and as always, with my head in the oven.

Warmly,
Nicole

As many of you know, I was laid off from my job back in March. That lead to the start of Gluten Free on a Shoestring. Since then, the blog has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s been mentioned in the New York Times. It’s attracted nearly 1,000 loyal “fans” on Facebook. And now Gluten Free on a Shoestring is set to become a cookbook as well.

Much of this success is due to you. Your comments and stories have inspired me and made sharing these recipes so rewarding. So thank you for all of your support and encouragement. And please keep those messages coming.

As we move into 2010, I plan to share more recipes and give you a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the cookbook. After all, Gluten Free on a Shoestring is as much yours as it is mine.

Let me wish you and your families Happy Holidays and success in the New Year. To cap things off, I’ve shared some “Shoestring Specials” to help you finish 2009 on a shoestring – because isn’t that why we’re all here?

See you next year!

Warmly,
Nicole

Final Shoestring Specials for 2009

Amazon.com Offers (all offers good thru 12/31/09)

25% off Oskri Organics GF bars
Use code OSKRI554
Order at http://bit.ly/5xK0dX

10% off over 10 different Bob’s Red Mill products (including gf flour, mixes for pancakes, pizza crust, cookies & more)
Use code BOBSGLFR
Order at http://bit.ly/5dlkVA

$10 off Nestle Toll House Chips ($29 min. purchase)
Discount automatically applied at checkout.
Order at http://bit.ly/6oA4Gj

35% off LesserEvil Snacks (gf popcorns and potato sticks)
Use code TSTEEVIL
Order at http://bit.ly/8sCEVV

40% off Sam Mills GF Corn Pasta
No code needed. Discount automatically deducted at checkout.
Order at http://bit.ly/4EP2yW

15% off Celestial Seasonings Teas
Use code TEACEL45
Order at http://bit.ly/790W8X

Gluten-Free Mall

10% off your order thru Jan 1, 2010
Use code 7f3a62
Order at http://www.glutenfreemall.com

Celiac Disease Book Offer

Save $10 on “Recognizing Celiac Disease” by Cleo Libonati (thru 12/31/09)

Recognizing Celiac Disease is a ready reference that identifies symptoms related to celiac disease and their underlying causes. Order at http://www.recognizingceliacdisease.com

$2.00 Coupon for Attune GF Probiotic Bars

Attune wellness bars combine all-natural, great-tasting ingredients with powerful probiotics that are clinically proven to support digestive health and promote a strong immune system.
Print the coupon at http://attunefoods.com/coupon/?MjAwb2ZmNw

Disclosure: Gluten Free on a Shoestring receives a small affiliate commission on Amazon.com orders placed via product links and Amazon banner ads on our site. So support Gluten Free on a Shoestring and order through the blog. And thanks…

A gluten free Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night … and then a really good After-Thanksgiving Sandwich.

At Thanksgiving dinner, all 3 of my kids ate themselves silly, and then, at the very end of the night, asked that I save the scraps they simply could not eat.  The very next day, they were all clamoring for leftovers (and interrogating me about whether or not I did in fact save their individual scraps).  I did not cook at all that day.  It was glorious.  In an effort to eek out one more meal from my Thanksgiving efforts, I have assembled a lovely After-Thanksgiving Sandwich.  And I invite you to do the same….

What I did looks dramatic, but is simple.  The depth of the cranberry color makes all the difference in the presentation, with no more than a modicum of effort.  I took a couple of thick slices of Tom’s Sandwich Bread, buttered each side of the bread and then topped the butter with a generous layer of cranberry sauce, then layered in some sliced Thanksgiving turkey, and topped it with Apple & Leek Cornbread Stuffing.  Assemble the sandwich, slice it in half with a large serrated knife, & enjoy.  

In case you don’t know the pleasures of homemade cranberry sauce, here’s a quick recipe.  I usually buy a bunch of bags of fresh cranberries this time of year, when they’re readily available, and throw a few in the freezer.  Homemade cranberry sauce is so nice, I even make it other random times during the year.  Cranberries also work beautifully in Any Berry Scones.  You just use them frozen — no need to defrost before baking them with the scones.

Whole Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 12 oz. bag fresh whole cranberries
1 cup water
scant 2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon (optional)

 1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Stir to combine.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the berries are soft and sauce is as thick as you desire.  

3. Allow the sauce to cool.  This may be stored in the refrigerator for days, so it’s great to make ahead of time.

Enjoy your After-Thanksgiving wonders!

Warmly,
Nicole

$7.00 for a basic loaf of ready-made gluten-free bread? For realz? Who’s buying bread for that kind of cash money? The only way you do that is if money is no object for you (and may I be the first to say, I’m jealous of people like that — but I’m not proud of it), or if you don’t know that there is another option within reach. That kind of $7.00 bread habit is just not sustainable on a Shoestring budget. And even the good gluten-free breads don’t hold a candle to the fresh-baked, homemade stuff.

Let’s face it. It’s time for an intervention. Step away from the overpriced bread.

I’ve previously listed a recipe for tasty Tom’s Sandwich Bread. You know that. But what you don’t know is that it’s magic dough. The other day, someone on the GFOAS Facebook Page asked for a good hamburger/hot dog bun recipe. She wanted some nice buns. As I was trying to dream up a recipe for some nice buns (because, really, who doesn’t like nice buns?), I remembered that I’ve used that same Tom’s bread recipe to make great rolls, too. (How many more times can I make the nice buns joke?)

Here’s what I’ve done to convert the Tom’s Bread dough into rolls. It’s super simple: Just mix up a batch, and scoop mounds of bread dough with a 1 1/2” diameter ice cream scooper (or larger if you prefer), an inch or so apart, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place in a draft-free, warm space to rise for about 45 minutes (perhaps less), and bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. It really doesn’t take much more time than that.

Another way to make more bread with less dough is to be smart about how you shop for ingredients. Gluten-free flours are definitely more expensive than conventional flour, but you can find most varieties (rice, garbanzo bean, soy, etc.) for a pretty good price on Amazon.com. Another great way to save is on the other ingredients that go into bread. If you can lower the cost of your eggs and your milk, you can start bringing down your price per loaf right quick. One ingredient that is pretty expensive is yeast. I usually have to spend around $8 for a tiny, 4 ounce jar of Fleischmann’s yeast at my local supermarket. At least it cost less than those individual packets (which I don’t care for anyway, since sometimes I need more or less yeast than the standard 2 ¼ teaspoons), but that’s not enough.

So I called in my husband, Brian. He’s got the gift of google. Here’s what he found: Bob’s Red Mill saves the day. We were able to buy a shelf-stable box of eight, 8-ounce packages (64 ounces total) of Bob’s Red Mill Active Dry Yeast for $25.37 which works out to about 40 cents per ounce. And not only does the yeast get rave reviews on Amazon, but I have used it and I love it, too.

Let them eat … bread.

Saving 15-30% on these products is no trick

Hello everyone. Nicole’s husband, Brian, here. Nicole is tied up with a bunch of things — one of which she’ll be telling you about soon (and it’s pretty exciting). So I’ll be your guest blogger today. Just think of me like a substitute teacher. Hey you in the back, I see you passing notes. Alright, maybe don’t think of me as a substitute. Think of me as Nicole, but not quite as funny.

With Halloween just around the corner, I figured you might like some treats in the form of gluten-free savings. I mean, isn’t that what this blog is all about? I’d post a recipe for you, but you’d probably never come back. I’ll leave the recipes to Nicole. So here you go. Your gluten-free savings tip for the week:

Save 15% – 30% on GF Products from Arrowhead Mills, DeBoles Pasta, Imagine Foods

Here’s the deal:

1. Click the link above for Amazon.com

2. Order any of their gluten free products from Hain by October 31, 2009. The savings apply to flours and mixes from Arrowhead Mills, rice and corn pasta from DeBoles, soups and broth from Imagine Foods and much more.

3. Enter the promo code HAINGF25 at checkout and you’ll SAVE 15%

4. To SAVE AN ADDITIONAL 15%, choose the Subscribe & Save option (for automatic reordering every 1 – 6 months).

That’s it. No tricks. No hassles. And no shipping charges when your order is at least $25. Now isn’t that better than a candy apple? Does anyone really like those things anyway? So do me a favor. Or actually two favors. Go ahead and order gluten free from Amazon.com. And tell Nicole that I was a good sub, or quote unquote guest blogger. Positive reviews keep me in good standing.

Amazon.com on a Shoestring ??

When you’re on a shoestring budget, living gluten-free can sometimes be challenging. Your choices are limited. Health food stores are expensive. And ordering online is no good when shipping charges start to add up. But there are ways to be smart about it.  One of those ways is with Amazon.com. 

I’ve written about Amazon.com before as a great place buy things like all-purpose GF flour and get free shipping (and often a better price). But free shipping is only the half of it. There’s more to the story…

Save 15% on selected GF products
You can save an extra 15% off Amazon’s already competitive prices, and still get free shipping, on many Gluten-free cereals, Gluten-free flours and Gluten-free baking mixes through Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program.

Here’s how Subscribe & Save works: You place an order of eligible items and choose to receive repeat shipments of that order every 1, 2,3 or 6 months (it’s up to you). Don’t want another 4 bags of gf flour that soon? No problem. You can change, cancel or deactivate the subscription right after your initial purchase – and you still get the 15% discount, and there is no penalty at all. That’s shopping smart. And that’s living Gluten Free on a Shoestring. 

So go shop and save. You know what basics you need to have in stock.  Just take a pantry inventory, and stock up.  You can thank me later.*

Warmly,
Nicole

* P.S., In case you’re wondering, Amazon did not put me up to this.  Yes, if you click through a link to amazon on this site, you will help support us a teeny tiny bit (we get a tiny little monetary reward through their amazon affiliate program), and we’d appreciate that.  But you can always avoid that, if it makes you feel not-so-fresh at all.  Just put amazon.com in your browser and go it alone.  No problem, no hurt feelings.  Just savings, shoestring-style.