Happy Back to School & New Year!

Wow summer sure flew by didn’t it?! I have been super busy and super excited to share with you a few things:

1. I hope you all had a great summer. I must first apologize for not posting more often, but I have been passionately working on a NEW 12 WEEK HOLISTIC HEALING JOURNEY that will launch in October/November…so, stay tuned! I will be offering YOU, MY AWESOME FOLLOWERS, A HUGE DISCOUNT! Thanks to tech we can now work together!

2. I went to a life-changing retreat in Florida and met a super-talented new friend who is Hosting a Virtual Summit & Retreat with 7 Talented Healers of all kinds(mind, body, spirit)!! I have been invited to Present about healing through food and diet on a Virtual Healing Summit/Retreat! I really hope you will join us for the free calls and sign up for the Summit and please share this on your FB/Social Media. oxox This will blow your mind and touch your heart. For more info http://practiceselflove.com/virtual-retreats/

3. Finally, my new favorite Bagel! Yes I said Bagel! OMG, IT IS THE BEST I’VE HAD IN 18 YEARS OF BEING GLUTEN-FREE & DAIRY-FREE! See my Recipe page for a homemade Dairy-free Cream Cheese recipe-after you read this article/interview!

I have longed for a chewy New York Style Bagel that is gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free  for 18 years, and FINALLY  found one after trying every single one I could find on the store shelves which were all light, airy and so unsatisfying! I cannot tell you how many bagels I have thrown away and finally gave up until this summer when I found an Everything Bagel while shopping at Bi-Rite Market in San Fransisco.

I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve b/c I could not wait until the next morning to have my new Bagel! Then, I realized I needed to make some cashew cream cheese first…and the wait was prolonged! I could hardly wait for it to come out of the toaster as smells of home-baked bread with onion and garlic wafted across my kitchen. And, When I finally got my Bagel and Cashew Cream Cheese,  without all the allergens, I was in food Heaven…a Sally met Harry foodgasm moment happened! So, I had to call the company that made it and…

I interviewed Andre of the ODD BAGEL COMPANY, in Oakland, and here is what he had to share.

Our story started in 2013 when my business partner, Brent Woodard, discovered he was gluten intolerant. Having lived nearly a decade in New York (as did I, coincidentally), his perfect morning routine was a cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese – which he now sorely missed. He tried a lot of the options out there, but everything he found was severely lacking; they were primarily just “bread in a loop”, and not even very good bread, at that.

Luckily, Brent’s a very process-minded guy, so he went in the kitchen and started experimenting until he found a recipe that actually started to resemble a “real” bagel. He started small, baking every night and making drops every single morning to couple coffee shops and places like Berkeley Bowl and Saul’s in Berkeley.

Fast forward a few years, and after finding space in a number of shared kitchens over the years, we finally moved into our own dedicated bakery space last year. Most importantly, this means we are now finally working out of a true, dedicated gluten free facility (and as mentioned, will hopefully be certified gluten free as soon as tomorrow!). But it has also allowed us to really accelerate the improvement of the recipe. It also let us get our Kosher designation.

From day one, once we were gluten free, we didn’t really want to stop there – we wanted to make this a bagel that was accessible to everyone. Step one was to make it a vegan bagel, as well. Most true bagels ARE already vegan, but a lot of the gluten free options use egg as a binding agent. Besides the vegan aspect, we also noticed that a lot of people try to avoid dairy and eggs for a wide variety of dietary reasons, including allergies. So, Odd Bagels became a gluten free AND vegan bagel! 

But we didn’t stop there – we’ve also managed to avoid using peanuts, tree nuts, corn, soy, and potato – a large portion of the top allergens out there. (Also no shellfish… 😉  ) Then, in the past year, we’ve also been able to eliminate the sugar and oil from our recipe. We’ve ended up with a highly refined recipe that is really just “simple”, and gets back to the elements of what makes a bagel a good, baked item!

Our final step is that we also hope to transition to organic by the end of this year, which has finally become realistic now that we’re a bit bigger – it’s hard to find organic, gluten-free flours, unless you have it milled specifically.

I think that’s really what sets us apart from a lot of the other gluten-free options: the fact that we are really accessible to just about anyone. That’s pretty hard to find in the Bay Area, even without talking about gluten-free! And most importantly, we’re a real New York style bagel that is boiled and baked! 

And even more most importantly… Odd Bagels are delicious! Although I might be just a little biased when I say that. 🙂 That covers a lot of our story!, said Andre.

Okay, even your friends and family that don’t think they have a problem with gluten, dairy, egg or any other food will looooovvvvveeee these Bagels! I recommend you make your own cream cheese(my recipe) or buy dairy-free Kite Hill Almond Chive Cream Cheese. Great with Smoked Salmon or Lox-see recipe later.

 I order 12 bags at a time, the Everything is the #1 seller and its delish, the plain is great for when you want to spread something sweet on top like jam or nut butter. They have many more flavors.

These bagels DO NOT NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED, so you can send them to school or take them on outings and traveling. The shelf life is 10 days without refrigeration and a month in the refrigerator and a few months in the freezer! I recommend buying a lot if you have the space in your freezer b/c you are going to want more. Do remember that they are high in carbs so, if you want to release some weight keep them in the freezer and save them for a weekend treat! If you need to gain weight, these will help and I say go for it as long as you are eating a lot of healthy food too! I will post recipes on my Recipe Page. Hey, lets help this small artisan company grow…ask your local grocery store to carry them! Get them now and you’ll have them by next week and for Yom Kippur. Happy Holidays and Back to School! Oh, do toast them for sure!

Just for YOU my readers: Order Online a discount code. Enter “LAUREN” at checkout, you’ll get 15% off your first order with ODD BAGEL which expires at the end of September! Order now! http://www.oddbagel.com

Gluten-free Flours including Oat Flour! Yep it’s true!

Oat flour has a sweet taste without any bitter aftertaste like many other wheat free flours. It is great in baking and cooking since it holds together. It is the predominant flour used in my cookbook, No Wheat No Dairy No Problem. Oats are high in protein, iron, thiamine, and fiber and low in fat. It is also cholesterol lowering and heart healthy! If you cannot eat oats, you can use other gluten-free flours such as Amaranth, Millet, Buckwheat, Sorghum,  Teff and Coconut either alone or combining them. Coconut is a bit challenging in that you need to add a lot more liquid when baking with it.  Disregard the amounts the packages say you can use as a substitute, they will work one to one/equal measure of AP/white/wheat flour. Play with these flours and see which ones you like and notice how you feel after you eat them. Each flour has a different flavor and texture so play around with them.

Oat Flour can be made by grinding rolled oats in a food processor, blender or vita mixer (best) or food mill until it is the consistency of flour. It can also be purchased in  health food stores. I highly recommend that you buy Bob’s Red Mill because they are a co-op that has dedicated gluten-free fields and facilities and they measure the ppm which is usually 5ppm or below. It is the sweetest and least bitter brand I have found too.

It is important to remember that oat flour is often processed in facilities which handle gluten-containing grains, like wheat, rye and barley. As a result, it can be contaminated with gluten, and people who are extremely sensitive to gluten may experience discomfort if they consume products made with the contaminated oat flour.

You can use it for your traditional recipes that call for all purpose flour(white/wheat flour). Start by using the same amount as your original recipe and if the texture is too wet, then add more 1/4 cup at a time until you have the right consistency. You can also use half oat flour and half of another gluten-free flours such as, Amaranth, Millet, Teff, Sorghum or Buckwheat. I like to make my own gluten-free combination of flours so I get to choose what flavor profile and what my body responds to best. You do not need to add tapioca or potato starches or xanthan gum to these especially if you use 1/2 oat flour.

I do not use much rice flour for two reasons, first it is very high in carbohydrates and turns into sugar in the body which can result in weight gain and contribute to diabetes. It does not have much nutrition either. Finally, rice and corn mimic gluten in the body! So think twice before you use or eat rice or corn. Sadly many gluten-free packages products are using rice flour and that is why I created a gluten & dairy-free Biscotti using GF Oat Flour. One final note on gluten-free Oat flour, is that about 10% of people who have Celiac Disease are sensitive to Oat flour and cannot tolerate it. That is when using the other flours listed above would be ideal.

When using flour to thicken sauces the gluten-free Oat works very well, and you can also use various thickeners like arrowroot and tapioca.

Give these flours a try and I know you will fall in love with them as much as I have and will expand your repitore to broaden the range of your customers and loved ones who can enjoy your delicious cooking after you make it gluten-free!