Wild Thyme Cafe & Bakery

I had heard about a place in Wichita called Wild Thyme Cafe & Bakery so I decided to stop by and try some baked goods this weekend.  I got a frosted sugar cookie, brownie, and a dinner roll.  There wasn't much selection when I got there because it was like 3:50 on Saturday afternoon and they close at 4 for the weekend.

This is half the cookie I got.  It was a butterfly.  I decided that I should take a picture of it before I ate it all.  It is AMAZING!  I highly recommend their sugar cookies.  The cookie was a basic sugar cookie taste.  But the frosting is wonderful.  It has a really good flavor with a hint of lemon maybe.  YUMMY!  I also have to say that I enjoy the cookie being decorated so beautifully.  Some things that are gluten free are not appetizing to look at let alone eat.  So it feels good to have a place to get beautiful and delicious treats.  If you are ever near Wild Thyme you have to stop.  I have not had a chance to try my brownie or roll.  Both smell good if that counts.
I got a copy of the menu and they have salads that come with gluten free bread.  They can also make several types of sandwiches with gluten free bread.  It also says that they have cupcakes, cookies, bars, brownies, pies, and cakes they can make gluten free.  I'm assuming that since gluten free is just an option and not the norm that most of this stuff is exposed to cross-contamination with regular wheat flour.  So be aware of that.

I'm definitely looking forward to going back and trying other things.

I also stopped at Whole Foods in Wichita.  Not the real Whole Foods but a locally owned chain in Wichita.  They have a HUGE selection of gluten free products if you haven't stopped there.

I also read about an interesting product in a magazine this week.  They are called No Oodles.  They are noodles made from yam flour and are gluten free and apparently have no calories.  I'd like to try these too but they are only available at select stores right now.  I believe the closest one is the real Whole Foods in Kansas City (not the chain of Whole Foods in Wichita).  I'm hoping to get there in a couple weeks.  I'm also interested to see what that chain of Whole Foods has available for gluten free products.  I've read they have a good selection also.

An Interesting Dilemma

Tonight I had an interesting problem.  I think it's one of those things only people who eat gluten free food might understand.  I don't even know if they would understand.

I decided to make macaroni and cheese for supper.  When I started eating gluten free I had some boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese that I couldn't eat anymore but I kept them to use the cheese flavoring with my gluten free pasta.  I decided I'd use one of those tonight.  I got to the step where you put the cheese packet on and when I dumped it out, three worms fell out into my pasta.  Totally disgusting, right?  Normally I'd just throw the whole pot of pasta away but now I have an interesting dilemma.  First, I spent almost 15 minutes boiling these noodles because gluten free pasta takes longer than regular pasta.  Second, I'm starving because it's almost 6:30.  Third, gluten free noodles are expensive.  I used almost half a bag which is probably $3.  They're not 50 cents a box like glutenous pasta.  And fourth, I can't just go to Subway and get a sandwich instead so I'm kind of stuck.

So I decided I'd just pick the worms out and make my pasta anyway.  I got two out okay but lost the third in the pot somewhere.  Now I have an even bigger problem.  I was really looking forward to this macaroni and cheese.  I finished making the mac & cheese and decided to eat it anyway.  I'm assuming that the worm got cooked in the pot, right?  I picked around at it tonight and didn't find the worm in tonight's serving so I guess at lunch tomorrow I'll have to look extra close again.  I guess if I don't ever find it, I ate it.  People in other countries eat insects all the time.  It was a tiny worm so it can't be that bad.  You're probably alll gagging right now.

After I started thinking about what had happened I realized I probably seem totally crazy for doing that.  But that was some goooood mac & cheese.  I haven't had mac & cheese in quite awhile so it's worth it.  The only semi-good way I can come up with to rationalize this is that the last few weeks have been totally crazy and my brain is fried.  How ridiculous has my life become when I decide it's okay to eat macaroni & cheese with worms in it?

Convention

Yesterday I found the dorkiest thing ever!  It's a whole convention about gluten free stuff!  And I kind of want to go!  Here's a link to the website if you are interested.  Gluten Free Expo  It's in Dallas in October and I keep trying to convince my husband to go with me but I don't think I'm getting anywhere.  It looks interesting.  One of the speakers scheduled in Chicago is the Cake Doctor whom I love.  And I think the vendor fair would be great.  It'd be nice to taste stuff and make notes on what's good instead of having to buy stuff and find out if it's good after baking it.  So we'll see.  I really think I might go.  We'll see if I get my husband talked into going with me.

I found something else I really like.  I've been looking for a good pizza crust.  I found some Udi's pizza crusts a couple weeks ago at Green Acres and they are really good.  They are the best we've had so far.  Like most gluten free things they are fairly small and fairly expensive for two crusts but they taste really good.  So if you can find them near you, try them out.

We made another batch of confetti cupcakes tonight.  They were the first baked good I've eaten in two months.  We just don't bake stuff very often because then we have to eat it by ourselves.  And people have brought stuff to work or church but I can't eat any of it.  Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed that cupcake.  It's amazing how much I miss stuff like that.  I eat a lot of chocolate instead but nothing beats a good cupcake.

Chebe Sticks

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now but I've been kind of busy at work so that hasn't happened.  A couple weeks ago we had some soup for supper and since I can't put crackers in my soup I like to have something else I can use to soak up the soup.  Kent made these Chebe sticks for me and they were really good.  We had garlic and onion with cheddar cheese.  I tore them into pieces and put them in my soup like crackers and they were really good that way.  They are also good plain.  Here's a link to the Chebe website.  They have several other gluten free products.  I'm looking forward to having more breadsticks.  Kent said they were also easy to make.  Just mix them up, shape into sticks and bake.

Kent was gone a few days this last week and I was working late.  Normally on days like those I stop by Subway or Pizza Hut on my way home to get myself supper.  I was driving home and was so hungry and I remembered how easy it used to be to grab a cheese pizza.  That made me sad.  I really miss pizza and subs.  So I came home and made myself a gluten free grilled cheese.  It's one of the first times I've really missed being able to eat those types of things.

Easy Recipe

I was sitting here thinking of things I could make for supper and I thought of this recipe and though I should share it.  It's a Hamburger Helper-style recipe that uses gluten free noodles.  It would also be good with regular noodles but those of us that occasionally rely on the simpleness of Hamburger Helper and have had to quit, it's a good substitute.  I got it from a recipe book called "Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults".

Skillet Supper
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups water
1 15 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. oregano
2 cups gluten free elbow macaroni
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
3/4 cup grated Parmesan

1.  Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat.  When meat is browned, stir in the water, spaghetti sauce, and oregano.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

2.  Stir in macaroni.  Cover the pan and simmer for 6 minutes until macaroni is just cooked, stirring frequently.  Stir in cheeses.  Cover pan and let stand for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.

In my first experience with this recipe we discovered that the noodles really need more than 6-7 minutes to become tender.  Great for leftovers!

Birthday Treats!

My birthday was last week and it's tradition for me to take treats to work.  Normally it's funfetti cupcakes with rainbow chip frosting.  Obviously I can't have that anymore.  So as mentioned before, my husband made me confetti cupcakes with rainbow chip frosting from Anne Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten Free and they were awesome!  You couldn't even tell they were gluten free.  If I remember correctly he just added some sour cream, orange juice, and pudding.  The confetti is decorator sprinkles that melt when you bake them.  And you might notice they were in princess cupcake wrappers.  A not so subtle insult from Kent.

Along with the cupcakes, I tried making gluten free bread this week.  Actually Kent baked it.  It's so good.  It took longer to rise than the recipe said it would but it came out in the end.  It's white bread.  We've toasted it to eat with soup since saltines are out.  We also made garlic bread out of it and Kent used it for a grilled cheese.  I highly recommend this particular brand.  As you will notice it's over halfway gone.  I got it at Green Acres in Wichita but I'm sure it's available elsewhere.

My First Gluten Free Christmas

I've been in the process of working on this post now for a week and a half.  I've decided it's time to get it done.  I am an accountant and January 1 starts our busy season so in the last week I've worked 13 more hours than I generally have been.  So I've been a little tired and I go home at night and sit on the couch not doing anything and go to bed at 9.  But anyways, back to my post.

I feel like I should get one of those Christmas ornaments like you get for "Baby's First Christmas".  We got one as a gift for our first Christmas we were married.  The figurine who is me has blond curly hair but she's super skinny so I guess that's OK.  And she looks tall.

I thought I'd post a few things about Christmas.  My mother-in-law made a gluten free lasagna that was delicious!  My usual lasagna usually has a lot of tomato sauce and not so much cheese.  Hers had a lot of cheese and less tomato sauce and I think I like that better.  She used some fresh mozzarella and ricotta.  I love ricotta!  She also made a loaf of Pamela's gluten free bread for supper and it was also really good.  The next day I toasted it for a chicken salad sandwich.  That made a good sandwich.  You couldn't even taste that it wasn't real bread.

When we were at my mom's she made gluten free chicken noodle soup.  Instead of egg noodles she put in gluten free shells.  It was so good.  I never make homemade chicken noodle soup.

We went to my mom's again yesterday for a family dinner.  For dessert we had gluten free yellow cupcakes from a recipe out of Ann Byrn's book The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten Free.  I've used her books for regular cakes and always loved them.  These cupcakes were great!  They were a boxed yellow gluten free cupcake with some stuff added.  It made them taste homemade.  I had two!  My birthday's coming up and my husband is making the same recipe for me except adding confetti to it.  He always makes me a batch of funfetti cupcakes with rainbow chip frosting for my birthday treats for work so he's going to see if this recipe can be the new substitute.  I'm looking forward to them.  I hope the people at the Sterling co-op are, too, because that's what you're getting this year.

When I started this blog we were only a couple days into the new year and I felt like I should comment on that.  So here it is.  I guess I'm looking forward to 2011.  I don't know why I wouldn't.  My grandma asked me the other day if I wondered what would happen this year.  I guess I hadn't thought of that.  It was a Deep Thought by Grandma Arlene.  I'm know I'm looking forward to April 16th and that's as far as I've gotten.  That's the day my job gives me my life back.  We're also thinking about going to Philadelphia and the surrounding areas.  I'm pretty excited about that!  I found an all gluten free bakery in Philadelphia I might just check out and I think we might go to the QVC studios for a tour.  I love QVC!  We're also considering another trip to Disney World.  I hope everyone has a happy new year and good things come to you this year.  I guess we'll see what happens!