RECIPES

Breads
Breakfasts
Candies
Canning & Sausages
Desserts
Main Dishes
Misc & Seasonings
Salads
Sauces, Dressings & Syrups
I like to make my own sauces and dressings because I think we get a lot of unhealthy, unknown ingredients in the store-bought ones.  I know what's in mine.
Side Dishes & Appetizers
Soups
Gluten Free

These are my recipes that either are gluten free or can easily be made gluten free.

Grain/Dairy/Sugar Free
Since mid 2021 my diet has changed to closer to a Paleo diet.  These are the recipes I've created or adjusted since then.

Tips for Understanding My Recipes:
A lot of my recipes require a scale that will weigh grams and ounces.  I would be lost without my scale.  I'm always trying to make my recipes more healthy by using healthy ingredients as much as I can find and afford them.  The following is a list of items that you will find in my recipes that you may not know yet:

• Oil:  For most recipes I use regular olive oil.  I buy some really good (buy at a specialty store) extra-virgin olive oil for "finishing."  That's when a recipe calls for a drizzle before you serve it.  And when one of my recipes calls for a mild oil I use expeller pressed safflower or expeller pressed canola oil.
• Soft Whole Wheat:  I use White Wheat instead of Red Wheat because I like how whatever I'm making with it comes out lighter in color and in texture.  There really is a difference in Soft Wheat and Hard Wheat.  Hard Whole Wheat Flour is the whole grain version of Bread Flour.  Soft Whole Wheat Flour is the whole grain version of Cake Flour or Pastry Flour. 
• AP Flour:  This is just plain old All Purpose flour which is generally 75% Hard Wheat flour and 25% Soft Wheat flour.
• Durham Wheat:  Durham Wheat Flour is the whole grain version of Semolina Flour.  I use it in making pasta and in some breads.
• I purchase all my grains at Rainy Day Foods (Walton) and grind my own into the flours I need.  AP Flour and Bread Flour I either order from Rainy Day Foods or purchase anywhere.  I've found the quality of the grains makes a huge difference in the final product and I've been pleased with the high quality of the grains coupled with the reasonable prices at Rainy Day Foods.
• Gluten-Free (GF) AP Flour Blend:  I use America's Test Kitchen (ATK) GF flour blend but I grind my own white and brown rice flour to get it super fine.  24 ounces super fine white rice flour, 7.5 ounces super fine brown rice flour, 7 ounces potato starch, 3 ounces tapioca starch and ¾ ounce nonfat milk powder thoroughly mixed all together and kept in the fridge or freezer, but always bring to room temperature before measuring for your recipes.
• Wheat Germ:  The wheat germ I use is not the toasted kind in a jar you find in a regular grocery on the shelf.  This is raw wheat germ.  I buy it at a health food store in the refrigerator section.  It should be refrigerated because it loses it's vitamin content very quickly.  I keep mine in the freezer.  The germ is at the bottom inside of the wheat berry (kernel).  It contains most of the nutrients and is the embryo of the berry.
• Sucanut:  Sucanut is the whole grain version of regular white sugar.  Sometimes it's called Evaporated Cane Juice in ingredient lists.  This is what you have before you separate the granulated sugar from the molasses in sugar cane.
• Instant Yeast:  If you haven't done a lot of baking you can get confused about the differences in the yeast.  There's regular yeast, although it's getting hard to find, which has bigger granules and you have to dissolve it in warm liquid for it to activate.  There's Rapid Rise yeast which makes your dough rise faster.  I don't ever want my dough to rise faster because the longer it takes to rise, the more flavor it has.  Instant yeast has very tiny granules and doesn't need to be dissolved in liquid.  You can just add it to your flour.  The only brand I use is called SAF and I order it from Rainy Day Foods but there are other places you can purchase it. 
• Whey:  This is the liquid leftovers from making my own yogurt (or cheese).  It acts as a preservative, and if I add this to my sauces and dressings I don't have to worry about an expiration date.
• Agar-Agar powder:  This is a gelatinous substance obtained from algae.  It can be used as a thickener in several different foods but the only thing I use it for is my ice-cream recipes.  It makes the ice crystals in ice-cream feel very small in the mouth so the ice-cream is smooth.  The only place I've found to purchase this is at an oriental market.
• Guar Gum powder:  This is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans.  It can be used as a thickener in many foods since it has eight times the water thickening potency of cornstarch.  I use it in my ice-cream recipes and in salad dressing recipes.  You can purchase this at a health food store or many grocery stores are starting to carry it.
• Xanthan Gum powder:  This is a substance produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose and lactose.  It can be used as a thickener and stabilizer in many foods.  I use it in some salad dressings.
• Tamarind Sauce or Paste:  Tamarind is a tree that grows a sour fruit in pods.  It is found mostly in Asia and the sauce or paste is used in Asian cooking.  I buy the dried Tamarind fruit from an Asian Market, called "Wet Tamarind".  You have to soak pieces of this fruit in warm water and massage it until the seeds separate from the fruit and the water you added thickens.  You then strain it and use the sauce for a recipe that calls for it.