Savor-ing Grace

Hallelujah! Get ready, people. I feel a sermon coming on. I have found the most liberating, delicious, satisfying kitchen product ever...Ever! If you have celiac's disease or are following a gluten-free diet, sit yourself down and then get ready to get back up and jump for joy, because what we have here will make you feel like a human again.

About three months ago, JoLayna told me about a new flour coming out that was sold at Harmon's Grocery store. It's called Grandpa's Kitchen gluten free flour and she said she couldn't even taste the difference between it and "real" cookies. This speaks volumes considering JoLayna is not gluten intolerant. That's the kind of girl she is. JoLayna will taste test gluten free food for you because she's that good of a friend.

I thought, hmm. I'll have to try it. I'll admit, I set the bar pretty low. You have to have an open mind with most gluten-free products. You either get crumbly and mealy or bland and flavorless. And then the flour finally showed up in my neighborhood Harmon's. I tried some. And can I just tell you how many things I have baked that are edible since that fateful day? Old favorites like:

Zucchini bread
Banana bread
Giada's Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Brownies
Fried Chicken

I am baking things I have not had in years. Do you know what it does to a person to withhold zucchini bread for too long? Terrible things...Next I'm trying the pizza crust. And the bread mix looks promising. If they are this close to real flour, I am finally excited about baking again. Try it! You'll love it! If I was Billy Mays I would guarantee it!

How to Make Awesome Oatmeal

My friend Morry has a fabulous foodie blog called Fare to Remember. You can click on the right side and go right to it. This is not like Morry's blog. She is technically adept, a great photographer, and she knows her ingredients. I am more of a, well, homey cook. I guess you could say I'm great at comfort food. Not Paula Deen, mind you, but if you want home cookin', I'm your gal.

So when I was growing up my dad would always get up at 6:45 and make me breakfast before I went to school. EVERY DAY. Why did my mom not do it, you ask? Because she was busy getting ready for work and she drove my lazy butt to school on her way to work every day. And my mom was smart enough to know that I was way old enough to get myself my own breakfast. (I think my five-year-old does that now, come to think of it.) But my dad was a softie and he would ask me what I wanted and make it right there, like a short order cook. My favorite thing he would make for me was oatmeal. When I got older, I tried and failed many times to make it "just like dad did." So I finally asked him how he did it and he grudgingly gave up his special secret. This is super top secret, folks. So consider yourselves lucky that I am sharing this with you.

First tip: Always use old-fashioned oats. In my opinion, quick oats are only good for putting in the blender and adding to your oatmeal cookie recipe. Boil your water and add the oats, just like the normal people do. Reduce heat to medium. Then, at the last minute of cooking, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dry oats into your cooked oats. Cook them for that last minute and serve up hot. The dry oats give a little more texture and oomph to your oatmeal. I also add a little bit of salt with my sugar and milk. It gives it a fuller taste. Recently I've taken to adding a scoop of peanut butter to my oatmeal and stirring it in. It's scrumptious and you get extra protein. Now go cook yourselves up a healthy breakfast and don't forget the adage: If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you cook him breakfast all through high school, he gets better grades.