While perusing magazines in the orthodontist's waiting room yesterday (emergency appointment; Youngest has been miserable with the latest adjustment last week, scarcely able to eat -- doing much better today, am thankful to say!), I picked up the March issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray.
I subscribe to very few magazines, but I'll occasionally pick up an issue of Rachel Ray's cooking magazine at the store, especially if I'm hungry, going through the checkout line, and the recipes look good. (Musical scrap of an old advertisement floats through my distractible brain: Don't shop when you're hungry! No! No! No!)
Back to my train of thought. The March issue looked good, certainly, and I may well seek it out next time I'm grocery shopping, and snap it up. I adapt some of the gluten-containing recipes, and others are naturally gluten-free.
Imagine how pleased I was to see an article for a buffet meal for friends that was gluten free and allergy friendly!
In the old, carefree days, before we discovered severe gluten sensitivities in some of our family members, I might have cooked up this menu and invited gluten free friends to dine, blithely assuring them that the magazine said it was safe for them to eat, as the recipes were gluten free. (Thankfully, our celiac friends are very careful and don't just take people's word for it...)
You might think Chicken Cordon Bleu rolled in a cornflake crust would be gluten free, wouldn't you? After all, a lot of GF people can eat corn products, like corn tortillas or cornstarch. Cornflakes ought to be a no-brainer, right?
Unfortunately, no. When I cleared out all the gluten-containing foods from the pantry (to keep our GF family members safer, from cross-contamination and accidental self-poisoning) and removed these foods from my shopping list, my beloved cornflakes had to go. (There's nothing better in berry season, than cornflakes with fresh-picked blueberries and some lovely raw honey drizzled over it all...)
On rare occasions, I will still buy cornflakes in boxes that are marked "gluten free," but they cost more than my old standby brand, so it's a rare treat. Usually in blueberry season.
The problem with a lot of cereals seems to be the malt flavoring, which comes from barley, which contains gluten. This has, sadly, reduced the list of cereals we can use. Former favorites like Rice Krispies and Kellogg's Corn Flakes are off our list. (Rice and Corn Chex cereals are a decent substitute, though they don't make very good "Rice Krispie Treats" as far as we're concerned.)
If you decide to make a gluten free meal, and you're new to GF cooking, be very careful. Read the ingredients list. Look at the labels on the ingredients for the words "gluten free." Ask an experienced GF friend for help in maneuvering through the maze of ingredients that are out there. Don't just assume something is safe to eat because a recipe claims it's safe.
For more information on finding gluten free cornflakes, check out this article at about.com.
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