At Bob's Red Mill we use this symbol to indicate a product's gluten free status.

Part three of our Demystifying Label Terms Series will cover Gluten Free. Part four will cover Kosher.

Gluten Free: Another term not regulated by a governing agency and one that is appearing on more and more labels. When a product states “gluten free” it can mean any number of things specific to that product: it may be tested to ensure the absence of gluten (such as all Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free products); it may simply not contain any gluten-containing grains (wheat, rye or barley); it may be inherently free of gluten, but not tested (such as milk). It does not mean that the product is safely gluten free, however.

At Bob’s Red Mill, it strictly means that the product has been produced in a gluten-free facility, procured in a manner that minimizes the chance of cross-contact with gluten and tested to be under 20 [gluten] parts per million in our gluten free laboratory. Until the government releases a regulation (due any time now) regarding the use of “gluten free”, it behooves the consumer to investigate the company and what they mean when they use the term “gluten free”.

At Bob’s Red Mill, we use the above symbol to indicate whether the product is gluten free. Even if this symbol does not appear front and center, it may appear in the bottom left corner of the package. If a product does not have this symbol, it is likely not gluten free. If you’re unsure, please contact our customer service team at 800-349-2173 for help or consult our handy gluten free product listing here. For more information about Bob’s Red Mill gluten free products, find gluten free resources and to watch a tour of our gluten free facility, click here.

Since January is National Oatmeal Month, I decided we should make a treat of it!  We all have our favorite ways of making oatmeal in the morning (fruit, nuts, sweetening) and favorite variety of oats we eat (rolled, steel cut, Scottish), but everyone loves a great oatmeal cookie.  Here are some delightful oatmeal cookie recipes you are sure to enjoy! 

Coconut Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Coconut Almond Oatmeal Cookies  

1/2 cup Margarine, non-hydrogenated  

3/4 cup Evaporated Cane Juice  

3 Tb Milk (Cow, Soy, Rice)  

1 tsp Vanilla  

1/2 cup Sorghum Flour  

1/4 cup Tapioca Flour  

1/4 cup Potato Starch  

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum  

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Quick Rolled Oats  

1/2 tsp Baking Powder  

1/2 tsp Baking Soda  

1/4 tsp Sea Salt  

1/2 cup Shredded Coconut  

1/2 cup Sliced Almonds  

Cream together the sugar and margarine until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla and blend. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, salt baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Add the coconut and almonds and blend until incorporated throughout the dough.

Place by the rounded tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Oatmeal Cookies with Whole Wheat

 Oatmeal Cookies with Whole Wheat

1 cup Vegetable Shortening 

1 cup Brown Sugar, packed 

2 large Eggs 

2 cups sifted Whole Wheat Flour 

1 tsp Baking Soda 

1/2 tsp Sea Salt 

1/2 tsp ground Allspice

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 tsp ground Nutmeg 

10 Tb Milk 

2 cups Oats, Rolled, Quick Cooking 

1 cup Raisins (Unsulfured) 

1 cup chopped Walnut Halves 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat shortening and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs until well blended. In another bowl sift together flour, salt, soda, and spices three times. Add flour and milk alternately to shortening mixture; fold in the quick oats, raisins and chopped nuts.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet, spacing about 2″ apart. Bake until cookies are golden, but center are still soft (10-12 minutes). If using 1 oven, switch position of pans halfway through cooking. Transfer cookies to racks to cool. Serve, or store airtight up to 3 days. Makes 48 cookies.

Not all of our products bear the stamp, but we're working to add it to all of those that qualify.

In part two of our “Demystifying Label Terms” series, we’ll cover the term Whole Grain. Parts 3 and 4 will cover Gluten Free and Kosher.

Whole Grain: The Food and Drug Administration has defined whole grains as “cereal grains that consist of the intact, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components — the starchy endosperm, germ and bran — are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain.” To use the term “whole grain” on a label, it must meet the above definition. While the term is not as strictly enforced as the term “organic”, it is regulated and is trustworthy when found on a label. However, terms such as “wheat bread”, “multigrain”, “100% wheat”, are often used in place of “whole grain” to confuse and mislead consumers into buying products that are not made with whole grains. Always check the ingredient statement to be sure the one of the first ingredients is indeed whole grain.

A useful tool developed by The Whole Grains Council is the Whole Grain Stamp (see above right). This stamp is appearing on more and more products. The whole grain stamp comes in two different forms- either “100% Whole Grain” or simply “Whole Grain”. Contrary to what you might think when seeing the “100% Whole Grain” stamp, this stamp simply means that all of the grain-derived ingredients in the product are whole grains. What this means is that your whole grain bread bearing the “100%” stamp will not contain things like wheat germ or oat bran- it will only contain whole grain ingredients like whole grain rye flour. It might still contain ingredients like sugar and yeast, but these are not grain-derived products. The “Whole Grain” stamp simply means that the product is a good source of whole grains, containing at least 8 grams of whole grains per serving. Products bearing this stamp may contain ingredients like oat bran and wheat germ.

At Bob’s Red Mill, we strive to bring you delicious whole grain products. As you know, we also make things that are good for you, but are not whole grains like dried beans and seeds. Heck, Flaxseed Meal is not considered to be a whole grain product and it’s one of the best foods you can add to your diet. We are working to add the stamp to all of our qualifying products, but if you find a great product that doesn’t bear the stamp, it doesn’t mean that it’s not whole grain or that it’s not good for you. Always read the ingredient list and, when in doubt, give our customer service team a call. They’re always happy to hear from you and love helping find answers to your questions.

January is national oatmeal month. Did you know that more people eat oats in January than any other month? (At least, according to some sources.) I have trouble buying it based on how often we talk to our customers about eating oatmeal. I’ve always known our customers are special- they eat oats all year round, many almost every day!

Whether you’re a once-in-a-while oatmeal eater or the everyday sort, January is a great time to celebrate oatmeal! Most of us are already thinking about eating better and after spending almost 6 weeks indulging in holiday foods of every variety, oatmeal is good way to clean house.

Oats are not just delicious and soothing, but they also have some special qualities that provide incredible health benefits.  Oats have been proved to reduce cholesterol and they’re a great source of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Oats contain soluble fiber, which soaks up cholesterol in the intestines and prevents it from being absorbed, eventually carrying it out of the body. The body recognizes this decrease of cholesterol in the intestines and responds by pulling cholesterol out of the bloodstream to replace the cholesterol that was removed from the intestines (aren’t our bodies amazing sometimes?). As a result, the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream goes down and so does the risk of heart disease!

If that’s not a good reason to enjoy oats, how about some of these?

• Bob’s Favorite Scottish Oatcakes
• Hearty Oatmeal Bread
• Oregon Orchard Oats Brülé
• An Argentinian Love a Pear

Giveaway:

In honor of National Oatmeal Month, I’m giving away an oat-themed gift pack to three lucky winners! Each gift pack will contain four of our favorite oat products! You have until midnight on January 21st, 2011 to enter.  Winners will be selected at random using Random.org and announced on January 24th.

01/22/11: THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED

Here is how to enter:

Mandatory: Leave a comment here, on the blog, telling us why you love oatmeal. It doesn’t have to be a love ballad, it can be simple.

For extra entries (you can do each of these only once, for a maximum of 5 entries including the mandatory entry): These can be posted here on the blog or on our facebook profile page (sorry, no tweets this time)

1 entry: Post a link to a recipe using oats that you think sounds delicious.
1 entry: Post an interesting fact about oats. It can be something about their nutritional benefits, how to use them, how they are grown, anything really.
2 entries: Write a haiku about oatmeal.

Go to it and celebrate oatmeal!

If you receive our newsletter, this information may be redundant, but we got very positive feedback about our newsletter for January 2011 and I thought I would go ahead and share the same information here. If you are not familiar with our e-newsletter and would like to receive articles and announcements of which product are on special each month, please visit here and sign up.

With the start of a new year, we often find ourselves reevaluating our lives and trying to make improvements. For most of us, that usually involves some commitment to eating better/healthier/cleaner. To help you navigate all of your options, I’ve put together some definitions for the common terms you’ll encounter on food labels. To get us started, let’s start with the most common and often most confusing terms- Natural and Organic.  In subsequent posts, I will define Whole Grain, Gluten Free and Kosher.

This logo for the National Organic Program is an easy way to spot organic products.

Natural: Probably the most common and most misunderstood term on labels today. What does it really mean? Absolutely nothing; there are no regulations regarding the use of the term “natural” and can be applied to any product. At Bob’s Red Mill, we use the term natural to describe our use of quality ingredients in their most natural state with minimal processing. Be careful when the product seems too good to be true, it very easily could be. If you are skeptical that the brand of dish soap you are using is really “natural,” it is worth the extra time to investigate. Most companies who are using the term “natural” truthfully will have a good explanation about their processes and ingredients on their website.

Organic: Unlike the term “natural”, “organic” is highly regulated and strictly enforced by a governing agency. The National Organic Program follows the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to ensure “site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.” If you see the term “Organic” you can be sure that the products have been inspected to meet the requirements of the act. This term has no relation to whether the product is nutritionally sound or not.

My personal favorite, Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls. Photo courtesy of Crave Bake Shop.

Last August we received a call from our good friend Kyra over at Crave Bake Shop here in Portland, Oregon. She desperately needed help getting a shipment of her preferred gluten free flours down to LA for an appearance on The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. We were so excited for Kyra, but had to keep her participation on the show top secret until she was given clearance from The Food Network.

Kyra uses many of our flours in her decadent treats at Crave Bake Shop and we’ve been lucky enough to sample some of them from time to time. Not only is this the first baker we’ve personally known who has appeared on Cupcake Wars, but she was also their first gluten free contestant. We rushed to make sure she had each and every ingredient she needed on the set before filming began and then had to sit tight for FOUR MONTHS to find out how she did.

Beautiful gluten free cupcakes that are hard to resist. Photo courtesy of Crave Bake Shop.

Kyra’s bakery was featured in the season premier, Tree Lighting, of Cupcake Wars in early December. She didn’t win, but she did make it into the final round.  Win or lose, she performed admirably and left the judges craving more, which is no small feat for a gluten free cupcake. Having tasted her amazing creations, I wasn’t surprised to hear the praise- but I was surprised to hear how well they held up against their gluten containing rivals. Just goes to show you that gluten free can still taste pretty darn amazing.

You can find a few clips from the show on the Crave Bake Shop website. I couldn’t find a good source of the entire show online, so you’ll have to wait for it to air on the Food Network again. You can watch a clip of her making champagne cupcakes on a local news program here.

If you want to try her cupcakes yourself, visit her shop at www.cravebakeshop.com to place an online order. Trust us, it’s worth it!

We are so proud to be a part of Crave Bake Shop and the many other wonderful bakeries and restaurants around the country that use our products to create outstanding fare for their customers.

The second part of this two part series on integrating whole grains into your kitchen deals with baking.  There are so many ways to add whole grains to your baking with wonderful and delectable results.  Here are some tips to get you started.  If you find yourself with more questions, please let us know!

Tips for Using Whole Grains:

• Replace up to 50% of your baking with whole wheat flours.  When a recipe calls for white flour, you can use half white flour and half of a whole wheat flour for an easy way to increase whole grain goodness.  For breads, use Whole Wheat Flour or Hard White Whole Wheat Flour and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for baked goods leavened with baking powder or baking soda.

• Use Whole Wheat Flour for breads and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for pastries such as muffins, cookies and cakes.  Whole Wheat Flour is made from hard red wheat berries and pastry flour is made from soft white wheat berries.  The hard berries contain more protein, which makes it ideal for bread which rely on the gluten found in protein for rising.  The soft wheat berries allow baked goods to be less dense.

• For whole grain nutrition with less whole wheat taste, use Hard White Whole Wheat Flour in your baking.  Use as you would Whole Wheat Flour.  This flour is made from hard white wheat berries.  It performs the same as traditional whole wheat flour, but is lighter in color and taste.  This is because it contains less tannin than hard red wheat berries which gives it the distinctive taste and darker color.

• Replace up to 25% of your recipes with whole grain flours such as Quinoa, Barley, Millet and Spelt Flours.  If this simply means adding just ¼ cup of a whole grain flour to the recipe, that would be equivalent to one serving of whole grains.  There are a large variety of whole grain flours which can be added to baked goods that not only add nutrition, but flavor as well.

• Integrate whole grain dry cereals into your baked goods.  You can replace up to 20% of a recipe with oats, multi grain cereals, farinas, cracked or rolled grains.  The cereals add nutrition as well as texture to baked goods, may it be breads, muffins, cookies or other baked goods.

• When using all whole wheat flour, use 7/8 cup per 1 cup of white flour for best results.  This is for when you want to convert a recipe to use 100% whole wheat flour.  Since the flours are denser, a little less flour is required.  For breads, you may also want to add Vital Wheat Gluten Flour for best results.

Whole Grain Recipes:

• WOW Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Whole Grain Power Bars

• Bran Flax Buns

• Blueberry-Yogurt Pancakes

• Whole Grain Corn Muffins

• Oatmeal Cake

• Breakfast Muesli Bars

• Honey Oatmeal Bread

• Oatmeal Pancakes

• Whole Grain Waffles

For New Year’s, we often try our hand at ways to improve our health and happiness.  Integrating more whole grains into our lives is a delicious, easy way to start.  Intact foods are packed with essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, which are just a few of the benefits of whole grains that your body will surely thank you for.  During the month of November, I avoided all processed foods and sugars and noticed that I had more energy and felt better overall.  I partook in my share of holiday treats during December and I could tell that my body wasn’t happy about it.  I look forward to starting the New Year once again with a focus on whole grains.  If this sounds like a good New Year’s resolution to you, here are some ideas for introducing more whole grains in your diet. 

Whole grains can be added to both your cooking and baking for delightfully delicious foods.  This two part series of helpful hints starts with cooking with whole grains. We’ll tackle baking next.

Whole grains Millet, Spelt, Amaranth and Quinoa

Tips for Using Whole Grains:

• Eat barley, quinoa, brown rice, kasha or another whole grain as a side dish instead of white rice or potatoes.  All you have to do is cook them according to the directions for a more wholesome side kick to your meal.

• Use grains such as quinoa or barley in entrees like risotto, pilaf and stuffed peppers.  Bob’s Red Mill has many such recipes available on the Recipes portion of our website.

• Add whole grains to soups, stews and salads.  You can follow a recipe or simply add ½ cup of cooked whole grains to your favorite dishes.  Depending on the recipe, more could be added.

• Soak whole grains in the morning to cut down on cooking time for dinner preparation.  Simply place the grains in a pot, cover with water called for in the instructions and let soak 4-8 hours.   When ready to cook, prepare as usual, except the cooking time will be less and vary depending on the grain.  

Whole Grain Recipes: 

• Bean and Barley Burgers

• Szechwan Peanut Salad

• Whole Grain Polenta

• Creamy Mushrooms & Grain Soup

• French Beans & Berries Salad

• Wheat Berry Minestrone Soup

• Kasha Scramble

• Quinoa Salad