Works for Me Wednesday – TopSecretRecipes.com

If you have any kind of food intolerances, you should really look at this site www.topsecretrecipes.com .  

 There are so many great free recipes there, as well as pay-for recipes (only 79 cents each).  I get recipes there because my kids and I can’t eat gluten.   But everytime I go there, it makes me think of people with other food intolerances who may be able to replicate food that they normally can’t have. 

If you’ve got soy or corn intolerances you should definitely browse through the free recipes on that site.   Those can be so hard to deal with because of all the soy and corn used in just about everything.  

 I had to avoid soy for about a month once and I was shocked at how much I couldn’t eat.  That was way more inconvenient and frustrating than avoiding gluten has ever been.   Soy is apparently the go-to oil in food manufacturing.  It’s everywhere. 

Then there’s corn.  Specifically high fructose corn syrup.  It’s what they use to sweeten just about everything.  Every time I see a Top Secret Recipe that lists corn syrup as an ingredient, especially in drinks, it makes me think of how easy it would probably be to substitute simple syrup and use that instead.  

Simple syrup is made by boiling water, disolving in sugar and boiling it to the soft-ball stage.   I’ve seen varied recipes from 1 part sugar to two parts water, to equal parts of sugar and water.   Once it cools, you can refrigerate it. 

 Here are some more ideas. 

 – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – If you’ve got a peanut allergy, you could make these with another type of nut butter or soynut butter, or anything else really. 

– Nabisco Cheese Nips – Totally on my list as one of the next things to try.  I’ve got two preschoolers who are both gluten intolerant.  Before we found that out, they were eating just as many goldfish crackers as every other kid.   The lack of GF cheese crackers was an adjustment.   Especially at first when they were somewhere like church or preschool where other kids are eating them as the class snack. 

– Girl Scout Cookies – The Thin Mints recipe is free (!!), the shortbread you have to pay for.   It might take some experimenting with some of the ingredients, but I’d bet you’d be able to create your own GF girl scout cookie clones. 

– Twinkie Filling (new and improved) – The cake recipe isn’t on there, but the filling is. 

– Jack in the Box Oreo Cookie Shake – K-Too’s by www.kinnikinnick.com are pre-made GF oreo-type cookies.   I’m not as familiar with dairy intolerance, but you could probably make a great shake out of Rice Dream ice cream. 

– Miracle Whip – Just in case you ever wondered what exactly Miracle Whip is.  

– Oreo Cookies – Worth the look just for the cream filling alone.   There’s a little bit of granulated sugar to give the very slightly gritty finish to the cream filling. 

– Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli – All you’d need to do is sub some GF pasta, such as Tinkyada, and you’re there. 

 For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas – Go to Rocks in My Dryer – http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/06/works-for-me-ba.html 

(Note to self – figure out how to do links better.)  😉

Nancy