Namaste Day

If you're allergic to multiple foods, the Namaste company may become one of your best friends. Their mixes are wonderful and they're corn free!  which is very rare. One of the big problems with being gluten and corn allergic is that the replacement for gluten is xanthan gum, and xanthan gum is usually grown on corn. Without xanthan gum, things bake up like bricks. Many gluten free sources will tell you that guar gum can substitute for it, but guar gum never seemed like a great substitute to me. Basically if I bake something with guar gum, I don't like it. Some people who are corn sensitive can tolerate xanthan gum, but if you're super sensitive like me, it's a problem. Here's the beautiful thing about Namaste...  the xanthan gum they use is not grown on corn. You can buy their mixes on Amazon and get a box of mixes postage free. It's a great deal. Please enjoy some great Namaste recipes below. I'll start with several miscellaneous things and then end with a whole array of yummy cakes!

A couple things to note first.  Salt is iodized using corn. Regular non-iodized salt has undesired chemicals, so go for good quality sea salt with essential minerals in it. We use celtic sea salt from Selinas Naturally. Buy a grinder because it comes in these little rock pieces that are fine for throwing in a recipe, but not so good for salting at the table. Olive Oil is way better for you and dairy free. If you start using it for everything, you'll come to really enjoy it and be much healthier for it. Invest in one of those cool glass bottles with the skinny neck and little spouted stopper. I keep mine filled up and sitting by the stove so that I can drizzle it freely as needed (be sure to buy a funnel to fill the bottle up with too!)

Perfect Flour Blend
This is a great basic flour mix. It has the xanthan gum already mixed in so it substitutes cup for cup with regular flour. I dump it into a giant glass jar ($10 at Walmart, or maybe $20, can't remember for sure) and then it's super easy to measure it out when baking. I actually do this with all the mixes referred to below. I use clear packing tape to put the the mix's packaging label on the jar, then I tape the mix instructions and basic recipes on the lid. Then all I have to do when baking is grab the lid to know what to do.

Sandwich Bread  (if you're not allergic to eggs)
I got this from Carol Fenster's book: 1000 Gluten Free Recipes and tweaked it a bit to make it more "other allergen" friendly.

1 packet or 2 1/2 t. yeast, disolved in 1 c. warm water & 2 T. sugar. Set aside to foam for 5 minutes.
Grease and flour dust a loaf pan.
3 large egg whites, beaten until thick and foamy
Add:  3 c. of the Perfect Flour Blend
         1 t. salt
         1/2 c. oil (canola, light olive, virgin coconut)
         2 t. cider vinegar  (Braggs raw cider vinegar is my favorite-  very good for you)
         the yeast mixture
Beat on low till mixed and then at a higher speed for a bit longer. Put dough in the loaf pan and spray/brush the top with oil. Cover and let rise till the dough is level with the pan. Bake at 375 about 1 hour. Gluten free baked goods do much better with a convection, so be sure to use it if you have it. Gluten free bread is best sliced thinly since it tends to be heavier. It also gets stale very quickly so eat up.

Great Butter-less Toast
This recipe credit goes to my husband. I'd given up eating toast since it's just no good without butter in my opinion, and then Mike came up with this. It's great!  We use a stainless steel frying pan and let it heat up. Then drizzle a little pile of Extra Virgin Olive Oil under each slice of bread you toast. It will brown up very quickly if the pan is hot and you use adequate olive oil (I've learned not to skimp on this). When the bread is browned on the bottom (check often, it doesn't take long), flip it over (drizzling new olive oil under each one) and then salt the toast top side (celtic sea salt has great flavor- use the grinder). You have to salt it for the same reason that butter is salted-  the flavor. When Mike and I were first married years ago (many years ago) we decided to try unsalted butter. Mike tried it first and said to me, "Guess what the flavor in butter is?"  It tasted terrible without salt. Same thing with olive oil toast-  salt it! This toast is amazingly good. It's a great way to use up bread that went stale. If you put it in the frig, it really doesn't matter how stale it is when you toast it. It comes out great.

Biscuit Crackers
This is a great way to have a quick cracker-type addition with your soups and stews. Buy the Biscuit, Pie Crust and More mix, and get one of those baking sheets that has no sides to it-  just a metal sheet with a silicone handle on it. Mix up a biscuit recipe then gather it into a ball and place it on the greased baking sheet. Roll it out right on the sheet, score it into cracker squares, then bake until crisp. I think adding a little extra salt and some herbs is not a bad idea.

Waffles
I bought the Waffle & Pancake mix but never made it to the pancakes. The waffles were so great we could never move on. They're easy, taste like waffles and have a great consistency. Definitely worth investing in a waffle iron. Be sure to use real, 100% pure maple syrup.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Namaste chocolate chip cookie mix is really good. We use Enjoy Life chocolate chips which are dairy, soy and corn free, and substitute unrefined palm shortening for the oil to make a better consistency (can be ordered from Tropical Traditions, along with virgin coconut oil which is a good butter sub for baking.)

Chocolate Carmel Cake
Mix a Namaste chocolate cake mix and put a cup of nuts in it if you can tolerate them-  I like walnuts.
Bake the cake and then when it comes out of the oven pour a caramel glaze mix over it (recipe in Ice cream & other Basics post).  Very yummy!


Apple Caramel Cake
Mix  a Namaste spice cake mix.  Add 1 c. of nuts, if tolerated, and 3 c. diced granny smith apples. Bake and pour a caramel glaze mix over it when first out of the oven. This is also good if you cook the caramel a little longer until thick and spread like a frosting.  Also very yummy!!


Chocolate-Chocolate Cake (with a strawberry option)
Bake a Namaste chocolate cake mix and when it comes out of the oven spread a half bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips over it. They will melt and spread like frosting.  If you're not allergic to strawberries, this cake is great with chopped and sweetened fresh strawberries over it.

Chocolate Chip Cake
Mix up a yellow Namaste cake mix and add a half bag of chocolate chips to the batter. Spread the other half of the bag on the warm baked cake and spread like frosting.

Banana Cake
Mix a yellow cake mix. Add 1 c. of chopped walnuts and 1 c. of mashed, ripe bananas. I like this plain without a frosting, but any frosting could be added.