Homemade Pumpkin Pie (with gluten free crust)

Taking inspiration from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef, I made homemade pumpkin pie with gluten free crust this past weekend. And when I say homemade, I mean homemade. As in roasting my own sugar pumpkin, pureeing the pumpkin, mixing up my own gluten free flour mixture and making homemade crust. It turned out great!

I won't repeat the recipe and steps here - you can visit Gluten Free Girl for that by clicking here http://glutenfreegirl.com/fresh-pumpkin-pie-gluten-free/. But I will copy my conclusions about the pie below. Everyone should try it once, just for the experience and to know that you can do it!

My conclusions?

1. I will be using canned pumpkin to make my Thanksgiving pie. Cheaper and much, much easier. While I always enjoy fresh over processed, I don’t think the extra time and effort involved in roasting your own sugar pumpkin is worth it. The canned pumpkin is just canned pumpkin and therefore minimally processed. The pie with the fresh pumpkin didn’t taste any better (according to my hubby) and there was a lot more work and time involved.

2. The gluten free pie crust recipe is yummy. A little crumbly and hard to work with but that is partially my fault as I made several mini-pies instead of one big one. However, it tastes good.

3. My favorite part of making pie is taking the bits and pieced left from the crust and sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on them and baking them. They were so good with the gluten free crust! I hadn’t had the them in a long time. I am now threatening to make a batch of pie crust just to make the sugar and cinnamon bits, but no pie!

Thanks Shauna at Gluten Free Girl for inspiring me to make a pumpkin pie from scratch and with gluten free crust. In the past, I have made pumpkin pie with no crust to avoid the gluten. Now I can enjoy crust again!

Now go forth and bake pie!

Gluten Free at PF Changs

It is the second time in a month that I have eaten gluten free at PF Changs so I thought I should share this great option for dining out!

The first time I ate in the restaurant with a group of friends before we went to see "Hair" at the theater. The restaurant has a gluten free menu printed within their regular menu so I didn't have to make a big deal about asking for gluten free options.

Being a pescetarian too, I always worry about gluten free options because I have found that they are usually meat-based. Makes sense because meat is naturally gluten free. But PF Changs offers a Singapore Noodle dish that is gluten free. It comes with chicken and shrimp, but I ordered it with just shrimp. I am positive you could also order it vegetarian and get broccoli instead of the meat as they seem very accommodating.

Last night for Halloween, we were going to a friends' house for dinner and we offered to pick up PF Changs take-out for our dinners. I again ordered the Singapore noodles using PF Changs online ordering system. The gluten free menu is totally available to order online.

I was worried about ordering online for take-out as it seems you can never be sure what you are getting. But, when I arrived, my take-out container had a bright gluten free sticker on it. They also offered me gluten free soy sauce packets. When the server asked if we needed fortune cookies, I said yes. He was kind in pointing out that the cookies were not gluten free. Of course I knew that, but I like to read my fortune and then let my hubby eat the cookie.

I have been trying harder to eat gluten free all the time (I tend to cheat once in a while since I am not celiac and usually don't feel the effects of a one-time cheat) but PF Changs makes it so easy for me to "be good." If you are looking for a great dining option where you can eat gluten free and not feel like a "freak" because you have to ask 500 questions before you order, I would recommend PF Changs.