GF Bagel With Cream Cheese and Lox

I love bagels, smoked salmon, and cream cheese, and together on one plate, it is the best combination.  Udi makes bagels too and they pass in terms of bagel-ness.  They don't have that same robust texture and gooey-ness as non-gluten-free (non-GF) bagels, but I think I am having non-GF pasta for dinner tonight, so I need to be really good about eating gluten-free (GF) for the rest of the day. 

Sorry for the crappy camera pic.

I mean, the bagel looks yummy.  Trust me, tastes better than it looks, even though the texture is a little off.  It is definitely more enjoyable to have a vessel with which to transport the lox to your mouth, instead of what I usually do at school and smear some lox and roll it up.  So, this is a good alternate breakfast. Like my dad said, I can't be eating eggs every morning (even though those taste delicious).

Udi's White Sandwich Bread

When I discovered bread and bagels and related foods were giving me discomfort, I thought breakfast was kind of ruined forever.  But then I went exploring around Whole Foods and came upon this gem.

Bread for those that can't eat wheat

I picked it up because toast has been a staple of my breakfasts since I started college.  It's a pretty hearty staple, but what I love about this brand's white bread is that it makes fantastic toast.  Of all the ones I've tried, it has the same consistency and taste as regular toast.  I definitely suggest everyone give it a try.  Here are some meal ideals:

• Peanut butter & grape jelly
• Almond butter & strawberry jelly (I am a bit of a nut butter and jelly snob)
• Scrambled eggs
• ...and more!

See?  These meals are just like their non-gluten-free counterparts, and with this bread, the taste is basically the same.

Happy holidays everyone!  Merry Christmas to those who celebrate.

Modified Babycakes NYC Brownies

I have been in love with Babycakes since I bought the bake-book in summer 2011.  One of my favorite recipes is the brownie recipe, featured in Shape magazine.  The brownies come out moist but not gooey and fudgy, the way, in my opinion, brownies should be.  While ingredient shopping, however, I couldn't find garbanzo-fava bean flour, arrowroot, or potato starch.  So, replacing them with oat flour and tapioca starch was an interesting change.

Picture of all the ingredients for the brownies
Not featured: vanilla extract and canola oil

Well I decided to make the dry and wet mixes in two different bowls because I was not aware of the fact that we had larger bowls in my house.  Also, many of them were high-jacked for my mom's massive Christmas preparation.

Wet ingredients to the left, dry to the right.

But then, voila!  I found a bigger bowl and combined the two.  I added a bit more flour than recommended because it was super watery.  In my house, my mom makes either loaves or round cakes so finding something appropriate for a brownie tin was a miracle.  (Seriously, the woman won't even buy a cupcake pan because "I'll never use it." Please, I make brownies at least once every time I'm home!)

Batter still fresh before baking

Oh, I also made another modification: adding in some crushed almonds.  I think nuts go with most things and since I am in the mood for almonds, they are going in everything!  The next important step is to taste the batter clean the bowl so that you have space in your kitchen for lunch.  The trap to fall into with gluten-free, vegan baking is that the batter, for the most part, won't give you salmonella.  I remember baking a cake with Andrea once and she was eating it with a spoon.

Mmm...cake batter.

So after about half an hour (because old oven is old), my brownies were ready!  They tasted great but they were flat.  My mother thinks it's because I didn't use enough baking powder, but I honestly think it was because of the lack of either potato starch or arrowroot.  Actually, I think it's mostly potato starch.  Angel food cake made from it rises quite nicely so I don't know what went wrong.  I've made the brownies from the recipe before and well, they are bigger and fluffier.  Better luck next time!

Slightly failed brownies =[

Well, even though they failed a bit, I still have something yummy to eat for Christmas desert.  And then after the holidays, I am on a hunt to Whole Foods to see if they have all the ingredients I will ever need for future baking.

Happy holidays everyone :D