Gluten Free... starting out

I took a year off from writing on this blog for personal reasons. I'm back. and I'm here to give helps and hints on how to shop, cook and eat GF.

Starting out GF is a hard choice. Many people will not understand why you are doing this. I am here to say... ONLY do this if it is medically necessary. My journey started with my doctor. After having various issues that seemed unrelated he suggested I try to remove gluten from my diet. I fought him on it for six months. But, I continued to feel horrid, to be unable to function, to experience a debilitating fatigue and to have problems with digestion. So, I gave in. Yes, I'm stubborn. I should have tried sooner. I see that God truly had to let me feel totally out of control and unable to function before I'd stop and listen.

So, I started eating GF and nothing happend. Or so it seemed. You see, for those who have full blown Celiacs or even just gluten intolerance, gluten actually kicks in an autoimmune response and ends with damge to the body...one of the most common areas of damage is the gastro-intestinal tract. The lining becomes damaged and is then unable to process other foods properly. So, if you truly have this issue then a day or two of eating GF (G-free or gluten free) will not suddenly leave you feeling like a super hero. In fact, it may take weeks, months, or even longer till you even begin to feel well.

For me I had inklings things might be turning around, but it wasn't till month four of this new life style that I started to see bits and pieces of improvement. By month six we saw big changes, but occasional crashes as well. Enter cross-contamination and/or unknowingly ingesting gluten. In the meantime, as I mentioned, others may not understand what you are doing or why. But, if you can persevere and truly do find improvement hang in there. I did this with much prayer and the love and support of my family. It was not an easy journey by any means, for more reasons than I care to discuss, but it was doable. Now, here I am almost 2 years later now and feeling so much healthier. For a while I was even biking five miles a day! A huge feat for someone who barely had enough energy to get up and eat breakfast a few years ago. Some set backs have occurred... as I mentioned, sometimes you unknowingly ingest gluten and it can take a while to return to health. You may have days you're just tired... like others are tired... and you're afraid it's starting over. There are other days you get too busy to balance the rest, diet and supplements, but it is doable.

Here are the tricks:

• if you are feeling sick seek medical assistance to rule out other possibilities
• if gluten appears to be the issue, find friends and family who WILL support you as you change your life style to remove gluten
• do research... my first vitamin supplements I took to help with what I was missing from whole grains had gluten in them. OY!
• keep reading. 
• shop with your phone in hand and don't be afraid to call and ask if something is GF. 
• If you're not sure... DO NOT eat it. Not worth it. Really. 
• Start asking around for ideas and tips... I can give you shops, restaurants and more to help, I found some online, some in person, some through books and some through asking others. 
• It's worth it to buy a separate toaster, separate strainer, and more. 
• Paper towels become your friend. Along with foil. 
• We have left over containers that ONLY hold GF free... from apple sauce to GF pasta... if it's in that container I can eat it. If not I leave it alone. 
• Try new recipes. 
• Give yourself time. First 6 months were hard. Next six months I ate a lot of prepared GF meals, meaning I felt left out at times, but also grateful I had food. Then I began to experiment with cooking, and now I'm working with the GF flours on baking from scratch. 
• Don't feel ashamed. You didn't ask for this, it's how you were made and God provides a way for you to still eat, and enjoy your food. 
• Keep learning. 
• Keep living. 
• Find other things that give you joy. 
• PRAY. 

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask, I'm happy to help. I'll be posting recipes and more here. I won't always have pictures... I'm not the best blogger, but I'll try to be a support! 

Blessings, Kim

Beef Hash

And no, I am NOT talking about corned beef hash. Oh my. No!

So, what happens when you cook a roast and veggies in the crock pot? Well, in our family the veggies all get eaten, but we always have roast left over. And, somehow reheating beef roast just doesn't seem right. So, I turn to an old family recipe, first taught to me by my mother. And, I love it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Just be sure to have ketchup on hand!

And, again, sorry... no photos. Some day I'll actually take photos step by step so this makes sense. In the meantime, should you have questions just email me.

1. take out leftover roast, put it, bit by bit, in the Osterizer blender OR a food processor and chop. The meat should look shredded. 
2. Next, take out some potatoes... how many? Depends on how much meat is left. One pound or less and I usually use 4 potatoes. Dice them into a smallish dice. All even. 
3. Now, take onion.. same idea. 
4. bring several tablespoons of olive oil to high heat (Pam doesn't work well for this). Add in the potato and onion. Stir for a few minutes, then lower heat, and cover. Cook for 5 minutes. 
5. Remove lid, stir and remove any stuck veggies from the bottom of the pan. Turn up the heat just a tad, and for the next 3-7 minutes, stir and start to brown the veggies. 
6. Add in the meat. The purpose here is NOT to cook the meat, it is ALREADY cooked, but rather we want to brown the bits a bit. Add a bit of a caramelized taste. 

When it's all heated, veggies nicely browned and meat is good take off the heat. Serve with ketchup. And, you're correct, I've added no seasonings because the roast was already seasoned. You can add salt and pepper to taste at the table. But, 

Don't forget to pass the ketchup. 

And the beauty of this? Gluten free and it uses leftovers!

Happy Eating, 

Kim

Gluten Free Goodness!

So, this is NOT my recipe. A friend made this and brought it to a bridal shower this morning. Because of my gluten intolerance, wheat allergy, and multiple fruit allergies I usually eat BEFORE going to a brunch type get together. Today I was running late and just slurped down some Greek yogurt. I knew I'd be hungry, but was counting on juice.

While I was talking I saw people entering with the food. That's when it's usually so hard... seeing all the gluteny-goodness that I can no longer have. But... I was about to learn a big surprise... TWO dishes were gluten free (three if you count the sliced oranges, and YES I had some!).

This first recipe was pinned on Pinterest and my friend Stephanie found it and made it, knowing one of her roommates must eat gluten free. Here it is in all it's glory and all the credit goes to Betty Crocker recipes.

 

1

box Betty Crocker® Gluten Free brownie mix  ****see MY note below...

Butter and eggs called for on brownie mix box

1

package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/3

cup sugar

1/2

teaspoon vanilla

2

cups sliced fresh strawberries

1

cup fresh blueberries

1

cup fresh raspberries

1/2

cup apple jelly

• 1Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray or shortening.
• 2In large bowl, stir brownie mix, butter and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan.
• 3Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean or almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• 4In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base. Arrange berries over cream cheese mixture. Stir jelly until smooth; brush over berries. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Cut into wedges. Store covered in refrigerator.

***Now, while I LOVE the Betty Crocker Gluten Free cake mixes, I have found that my favorite Gluten Free brownie mix is from Hodgson Mill.

So, if you're craving something chocolaty, with some fresh fruit... you know, something that might make Valentine's Day a bit special this year... I would HIGHLY suggest giving this recipe a try. 

Happy Eating!
Kim

cookin' in the crazy times

I'm not sure who all else might deal with this, but sports seasons? YIKES! MMH is on the basketball team of a small school nearby. You say, "Really? What's the problem?" Well, it seems that her practices change, weekly. And in that week the days are not the same. One day practice might be 3:30-5, and another day it might be 530-7. If you take into account church activities, co-ops, music lessons and choir, plus the 20 minute drive to/from practice you may start to realize my issues.

When do I cook? When do we eat? And if I'm conserving gas and money and don't go home in-between how do I handle this? On Mondays we might be gone for 6 hours from home. So I come home to a bare kitchen. On Wednesdays it's a bit easier, but Thursdays... YIKES!

And you say, "Crockpot?" But, three nights a week? And me eating Gluten Free? It does present some issues. One night we try to pack sandwiches or leftovers and eat in the church kitchen between practice and midweek programs. But Thursdays are the issue. Practice ends right before choir, or sometimes even after choir has started. That's the "fun" night... drop WeeOne at choir, pick up MMH at school, bring her to choir, I sit at church and grade papers, read a book, prep a lesson plan or visit with another mother, then WeeOne is out at 7:30, and MMH is done singing at 8, but they have a snack time, so really we don't leave till 8:20.

No, this isn't a whine. Rather, this is a request for meal ideas. Time saver ideas and perhaps recipes that are friendly to the Gluten-free eater in the family as well.

Now, on to this coming week's menu plan. Should all go well:

• stir fry of some sort, we have loads of fresh veggies to use
• roast... any good recipes?
• potato rosemary soup (it got bumped from last week's schedule)
• tortellini soup (that was tonight for the rest of the family)
• pancakes/sausage
• creamed tuna... yeah, I know. It was on the rotation two weeks ago. But, with my back out, cold weather and all it's just a comfort food.
• creamed chicken on potatoes... I know, seems redundant. oh well. 

Creamed Chicken:

Serves 4

• 4 lg. baking potatoes (bake in the manner you choose, I prefer foil wrapped in the oven, but will use the microwave if time dictates)
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped/cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 pepper, diced
• 1/2 sweet onion, diced
• olive oil... to saute veggies
• 3-4 TBS. flour (I used GF flour for this recipe)
• milk... 2+ cups

Make sure potatoes are baked. Chop the chicken, cook in olive oil in fry pan. (sometimes I use left over chicken from another meal, or ready cooked convenience chicken.) Add in veggies toward the end. Cook till softened. Stir in the flour, add milk. Cook till bubbly. Serve over potatoes which have been sliced open. Serve with a salad and some fruit. 

Tortellini Soup:

Serves 6-10 depending on appetites

2 large cans of Tomato Soup

Large container (or 2 small) of fresh/refrigerated cheese tortellini

Basil... several leaves

Spinach... if fresh several handfuls, if frozen thaw and drain and use several ounces

Cook and drain tortellini. Meanwhile mix up soup according to directions. Add in spinach, cook till it shrinks. Add in chopped basil  to taste, and tortellini. 

We serve with a baguette and fresh fruit. Today it was strawberries and blackberries. 

Happy Eating!

Kim

Philly Slices and GF Baguettes

So, while waiting at the Marsh deli line for GLUTEN FREE DELI... can I hear an "OH YEAH BABY!" (They even sliced it on the cheese slicer to keep it free from cross contamination... Marsh on Kinser Pike)... I saw this little display with recipe cards. Took two.


One was Italian Sausage and Spinach Rotini... family loved it! The other was Philly Slices... basically you take puff pastry, roll it out.. fill it with sauteed onion, pepper and garlic, sliced/shredded beef and shredded provolone. The vote was 2 for it and 1 "okay". We'll see... with my inability to handle wheat products I donned gloves to make this... that was interesting. And filling hit the floor, I'll be honest. And really... rolling puff pastry in rubber gloves? It's very interesting. The second roll I asked WeeOne and Mealsie (friend of MMH) to help roll it. Well.... that one sort of popped or leaked... anyway, the girls ate the cheese off the counter. So, not sure how frequently that will make it to the rotation.


In other tried attempts I made my first gluten free baguettes. Now, mind you, I had to make it sans corn, so I'm not sure how it was meant to taste, but my vote is "not bad." I piled on some chicken salad and enjoyed it for dinner this evening. The recipe I used came from Nicole and is found on this web site. For the flours I used a high protein mix of garbanzo bean, potato flour and white rice flour. Because I'm trying recipes for our church's communion I needed to make this very cost effective. Once I added up the costs, figured out cups of flour per pound (4.5 in case you ever need to know), tablespoons per 8 oz. (21-25 roughly), and then added up costs I came to a whopping $2.50 per loaf... without adding in electricity, power, salt, yeast, and vinegar... At the store a similar loaf would cost $4.00, so it's a savings. We'll see what the consensus is. The crumb is great, the taste is fairly good... I now recognize that extra tang in GF breads/rolls... frequently vinegar is used as an acid which is needed to help things rise since there is really no gluten present.

photo found on Living Without

A fairly successful day. I did, however, forget to take a photo... another vote for an IPhone.. ease of use and uploads...so, you'll have to trust me that this was an interesting looking bread. (Their professional photo of their final product is much prettier than my loaf!) But, taste my friends... probably between a 7 and an 8.
Happy Cooking!
Kim

I thought this was pizza night!

And indeed, it was. But, it wasn't the homemade pizza I had planned. Dear had an excellent day at work, and called to say we could celebrate at Buccetto's. Which is great because they have YUMMY GF pizza. They are very careful of how they prepare it and it's so tasty that frequently the family asks to share it with me. Not the most common thing said of GF food. 


My favorite is the "Lean Machine." Their menu reads: " about 1/3 the fat of our regular pizza, a thick crushed tomato sauce full of herbs & spices, sprinkled with fresh Parmesan & Romano cheese..." I also ask for them to add spinach which makes it even more amazing! It's super yummy, low cal and GF. What's not to like? 


So, the baguette/pizza dough experiment has been pushed ahead to tomorrow. The family will be having Philly Beef Slices and I'll be having, I hope, some GF garlic bread from my made-from-scratch recipe, along with a leftover GF chicken/apple/maple sausage. YUMMO!


Happy Eating Everyone... recipe will follow for the baguette. And hey, this blog might be just the reason to buy that new IPhone... that was how we spent the earlier part of the evening.. shopping at the phone store. Didn't buy, but had fun looking!

Shalom, 
Kim

One Bread. One Body.

1 Corinthians 10:15-17

American Standard Version (ASV)

 ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

 ¹⁶ The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?

 ¹⁷ seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we are all partake of the one bread.

When I first found that I was truly gluten intolerant the whole extent of what was to happen in life had not yet hit me. I was, truly, focused on the "poor me, I can't eat cookies, brownies and baguettes." It was a selfish focus, understandable, but selfish. As time wore on I began to find GF substitutes for some of my favorite things, although brownies were hard to come by. However, the true thing I would miss didn't become evident till this fall. 

You see, as the first time for communion rolled around after going GF I realized there would be a problem. My husband and I talked it over and it was determined that I would take a VERY VERY VERY small piece of bread to dip in the cup. And, before all you GF eaters tell me that even one crumb can cause damage, let me assure you I was aware of this. But, we were moving forward and trying to find what God would have us to do. 

Fast forward to this past fall after my fall into poison ivy. At that point my gluten free life style took a HUGE step in a new direction. It turned out that I was not only needing to eat GF, but that I did, in fact, also have a true wheat allergy. As in... wheat touches me and I break out in hives, extremities swell, etc. How did this come to light? Well, the poison ivy was bad enough, but coupled with taking communion and getting my hair colored (who know hair coloring had wheat products? Seriously!) and my body went into allergic overdrive. 13 days of prednisone, prescription strength anti-histamines (benadryl didn't even begin to touch it!), and cold wraps and sitting very very still with NOTHING touching my arms helped me to deal with the 30+ day reaction. The dermatologist deemed it a "life altering" allergy. And, her next statement... "No more communion bread for you"... really left me reeling. But, at least we knew what God wanted. 

So, I'm now going to start working on a recipe for some sort of Italian or French bread that the church can use. As I spoke with one of the elders yesterday he thought for a few hours and then suggested that his wife and I work on this. Now, knowing how expensive the flours are I suggested they not add this to their expenses when I already had so many flours (Thanks McCardle family!!!) either through gifts or purchase. 

Now I need to find a good base recipe and then work on it a bit to see how cost effective and also how suited for the purpose I can make it. I'd love to have your input. (We also have some with dairy and corn allergies in the church body, so I need to make it dairy free as well. I'm hoping the use of canola oil will work...) I think I'll start with Bette Hagman's GF flour mixes since they worked so well for the GF donuts on New Year's Day. Not sure which recipe base I'll start with though. 

So, one body... the body of Christ, the church... one bread... and that's the aim . I'd appreciate your prayers as I work through this. I'd like to have something ready to show in a couple weeks at most. I may be eating a lot of GF loaves in the next few weeks. Glad I've got some homemade jams to eat with them. 

Shalom, 

Kim