Arsenic found in rice?!

I saw a news clip on arsenic in rice recently and then received an email from a gluten free blogger about it.  She linked to consumer reports, who has apparently done a lot of recent researching and data collecting on this...I don't use rice flour in much of my baking anymore, but do use brown rice pasta, and eat rice often since we eat a lot of Spanish and Asian ethnic dishes...

Reading the portions on infants and pregnant women freaked me out a bit, let me tell ya.  Especially since I have had leftover spaghetti with brown rice pasta for breakfast and lunch today...(what can I say; I'm pregnant!)  Also, some of the highest levels of arsenic were found in infant rice cereal!  What?!

Also, I found it interesting that the especially high levels of arsenic were found in soils that used to be farmed in cotton, since I live in a cotton growing community.  Apparently, arsenic used to be sprayed on cooton crops to kill the dreaded boll weevil beetles.  Hmm...I once heard that our area has arsenic in the ground and drinking water; could it be from arsenic sprays? 

Here is Kelly Courson's take on it from Celiac Chicks.  She'll be at a special conference about this tomorrow, so I look forward to hearing her report. 

I am posting this here as rice is used in many gluten free processed foods...if nothing else, please scroll down to the two tables at the end, although the entire article is well worth the ten minutes it would take to read. 

Hello, World!

Being pregnant, I tend to really internalize and while I realize I have never been a regular poster, I get even more sporadic while pregnant.  My brain is busy elsewhere....
A lot of the recipes I post are snack/dessert oriented because I feel like I've got a handle on dinners; desserts are usually the recipes I don't have memorized.  I am going to try to get some more entrees on here, as well as some weekly menus that we have actually used...I've even got a camping menu. 
I really need to get them up here anyway, as this is so much better than a recipe box for storing my recipes--um, aside from monsoon season, when the electricity has a tendency to be out...lol.

Recipes from the cooking class...

I am giving a gluten free cooking class for the ladies in my church this evening.  (Hello, ladies!)  I meant to make handouts with recipes, tips, and such, but what with being pregnant and trying to make two Easter dresses and two ties to match by Sunday, the handouts sort of flew out the window...
So, since most of the recipes are here on my blog, I am just going to link to them and a few other fun, simple recipes that I've got floating around here.

Pizza Crust:  This recipe is extremely versatile!  I have even converted it to cinnamon rolls.  (I need to get that recipe up.)  If you haven't visited Karina's site, Gluten Free Goddess, you should!  She has loads of excellent tips for all things gluten free.

Her pizza crust is the first I found that actually worked for us.
Here is my post on her crust.

Gluten Free Bread:  When we began this journey six years ago, I just gave up on any type of yeast breads/rolls, ect.  I could manage the quick breads but had alot of previous baking knowledge that was actually making it harder to bake gf--it's a whole different chemistry, folks!  We focused on all the good things we could eat and let it go at that.  Ironically, going gluten free expanded our diet.  We eat a much more varied diet than we ever would have had we not had this experience.  I am really grateful for that.
Even 6 years has made a big impact on the availability of quality gluten free products and RECIPES.  It is a lot easier now than it was when we began. 
This is my go-to bread recipe.  I have yet to mess it up, in spite of substitutions, which are typically a cause of failed baking attempts in GF baking.
Here is my review post on it.

Black on Black Cake:  This recipe comes from another of my favorite gluten free bloggers, Elana.  Elana has MS and she and one of her sons are also Celiac.  She is mostly Paleo in diet and uses mainly almond flour in her baking.  I have yet to meet a recipe of hers I have not liked.  Her chocolate chip cookies are fabulous.  But this cake....Elana's version is actually Black and White, which is very pretty.  We don't eat white chocolate, however, so the Black on Black Cake was born.  Dark chocolate chips for the white chocolate chips are my only substitution.  Elana's recipes are typically simple with few ingredients.  Love that.


A couple of easy recipes:

GF Rice Chex Treats

Skillet Corn Bread

A few other tips:

GF on a Budget

Maternity Musings...

Have I mentioned that I'm expecting? Well, I'm expecting. Number 4, due end of August. Yes, August. Only the hottest bit of the year around here. People ask why I planned it this way and I'm like, "you think I planned this?" "You think I want to be huge and hot?" Well, I did plan to have a baby, yes. And you take what you can get, my friends--so end of August and going through 110 + degree weather is all part of the excitement! If only I can survive...
When I knew we were pregnant, I got to worrying how we'd survive gf/cf/egg free, which translated to: How do I cook three meals a day everyday with no Mexican takeout to get me through the rough spots? (You know, morning sickness, food aversions, food aversions, morning sickness...with a few gluten and dairy cravings thrown in.) Only now can I say, at 31 weeks and 2 days (who's counting?) that it can be done. This has been my easiest pregnancy by far and I count it as a HUGE blessing--as huge as I feel these days!
So while gf/cf, ect isn't easy when you're pregnant, it can be done, even if you live rurally like we do with no immediate access to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and restaurants that actually have a GF menu. (Think Lady and the Tramp: "oh, and some chop suey, too!")
Now if I could just think of something to make for dinner...