Monday, August 22, 2011

30 pounds and lots of inches down!

Last week, I was out for a walk and decided to leave my purse in the car and just take my phone and keys with me. I put them in my pocket and my pants fell down. I'm so glad nobody saw me....how embarrassing! So now I have to get new clothes. So I went shopping. I discovered that I can wear a size 20 top (I was in a 2-3X, depending on the cut and style). My pants have gone down too. Still not where I want them to be but I'm working on it.

I'm so excited! When I weighed myself I couldn't believe my eyes. I've been on one kind of diet or another for forever. Add 1 wheat allergy, a gluten free diet, a little walking and Viola! Somebody said to me the other day about what I was going to do after I didn't need the gluten free diet anymore. What!? I'm staying on it. My skin is clear, I have energy, my mouth isn't burning, I no longer have GERD or IBS. No surgery. No meds for those either. I'm hoping that I can also get off insulin for my diabetes. It would be totally awesome if I could be a diet/exercise diabetic.

That hasn't happened yet but hopefully it will. For now, though, I will eat broccoli soup, beef stew made with tapioca flour, and lots of other tasty GF foods.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Wedding Blues

Last night we went to a beautiful wedding. The venue was very nice and everything was gorgeous. The bride was stunning, the groom handsome. Just as it should be. We found our seats at the tables and waited for the wedding party to take photos. TONS of photos. They had a open bar and we got a soda and sat with other guests at our table and waited for food to arrive. A basket of bread, it smelled nice. I always have to smell before I pass it along. Then salad, all covered in Italian dressing. Sometimes dressing isn't safe but I was starving. The servers cleared the table and brought an assortment of dishes for us to pass, family style. There was pasta with red sauce, sliced turkey with gravy, stuffing, rice with peas and carrots, sausage with peppers, roasted potatoes and a veggie mix. I think it's called California Blend; carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. So I skipped the gravy, the stuffing, the pasta and the rolls. The potatoes were seasoned and I bet they had more wheat than the pasta. They also probably had red dye #40. It's the only thing that I can figure had it. They were red. I thought it was paprika. I may have been wrong. So, a few bites into dinner, I had to excuse myself. Then, when I returned, I had them clear my plate. A few minutes after that, we ended up leaving. I really would have enjoyed talking some more and maybe having a dance or 2 but it didn't work out. So for the next few days, I will have to go back to basics. Lots of water but no tea, sodas, etc. Steamed veggies, poached fish or chicken, and kefir. Basically no oil, spices or anything fun that I've added to my wheat free diet. I really hate watching what I eat and still having to do this because people put all these additives into our food.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Gluten Free Restaurants

I guess I'll continue to be amazed what some people think of the gluten free world out there. I never knew there were so many people who needed to watch the gluten in their foods. Also high on the list of food allergies are: corn, soy, dairy, and sugar.

So anyway...back to restaurants. I've been both pleasantly surprised and have gotten rude awakenings when it comes to what restaurants are willing to do for their customers. For instance, I have yet to meet a McDonald's employee who could care even the tiniest bit about my allergy to wheat. They simply must have enough other customers that it simply doesn't matter. My daughter loves them...so I keep asking. I should just give up. On the other hand, Burger King has been wonderful. I ordered a kids meal and they served my burger in a salad bowl and put my mayo, tomato and lettuce on the side. They also upgraded my fries to apple fries. Those are simply apples cut into the shape of fries and are served in a box that looks like a fry box. Most family style restaurants local and chain have something I can have. They offer salads, breakfasts, steaks, etc and that's always a go-to for me. What I love are the places that go above and beyond. The Italian place with gluten free bread sticks, pizza, or pasta. The Mexican place that has a dedicated fryer for frying corn chips only and separate appliance for heating flour tortillas vs corn ones. The chain restaurant that has a multiple allergen menu and there's actually quite a lot you can have. So places I have discovered that are large chains that have a gluten free menu are: Taco Bell- they use chicken instead of beef and serve you chips and corn tortillas. Olive Garden- yes, I was excited too since my family LOVES Italian food- They have gluten free pasta, steaks, chicken, and salads. It's awesome. Applebee's has a pretty decent cross section. They have something for every taste and hunger level. Salads, an appetizer, a couple entrees, and a good old hot fudge sundae...or dish of ice cream if you want. Culver's cooks their buns on the grill next to the burgers but they cleaned the grill for me and switched my fries to mashed potatoes (they use real potatoes) with butter instead of gravy. One place that really surprised me was Red Lobster. They only have 3 wheat free things on the menu. Those are: lobster, lobster tail, and crab legs. Even the fresh veggies are served with some sort of seasoning with wheat in it. They also didn't seem to care about my plight. Several chain buffet restaurants have offered to cook my food separately and serve it directly to me. I hope that one day, the people who don't care will realize what they're doing is bad for business but until then....we can have Olive Garden!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day Meal

It's Father's Day and I like to make one of my husband's favorite meals. My husband is a meat and potatoes man so you vegetarians will have to skip this one. This is the first year I'm doing it gluten free. This year I'm serving meatloaf, green beans with red potatoes and chocolate mousse. This is the same mousse I made for Valentine's day. The recipe can be found in a blog post around that time. I'm using fresh green beans and child labor to snap them. I prefer to use the smaller B size red potatoes. I wash them and cut them into quarters. Then I cook them together with salt, pepper and chicken broth. Sometimes I add a little seasoning ham but I don't have any today. The recipe I'm sharing today is for the meatloaf. I just mixed it up and it's chilling. I will post a picture later when dinner is ready.

This recipe only needed to have a few adjustments but it's amazing. My family really loves it and I'm hard pressed not to have family show up if they discover it's what we're having for dinner. So I always make more than we need. Leftovers are awesome if we don't get extra dinner guests. I use a good quality hamburger. I prefer 85/15 for the best flavor. Too much higher fat content and there's not enough meatloaf to go around. Plus you really don't want all the extra fat floating at the bottom of the pan. Before I went gluten free, I used to put a couple slices of bread in the bottom of the pan to absorb the fat. I tried that once with gluten free bread. I didn't work. So I won't be doing that again. The other way is true also. You don't want too low of a fat content because fat gives meat it's flavor and who wants flavorless meatloaf?

Mom's Famous Gluten Free Meatloaf
1 1/2 lbs hamburger 85/15
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion (I prefer yellow or Spanish), finely chopped
1/4 cup milk- anything but skim
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup gluten free rolled oats
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.The night before or early in the day. Add milk and some pepper to the meat and mix well. Chill overnight or for at least 2 hours.



2.In a sautee or frying pan add the olive oil and butter. To this add the chopped celery and onion. Cook over medium heat until the onion is soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3. Remove the meat from the fridge and mix it again. I prefer to use my hands. You will need to wash them several times during the process so keep a towel or napkin close by.
4.Add the egg and mix again. The mixture should be squishy and wet. Add half of the oats and mix again.
5. If the celery and onions are cool to the touch, add them and mix well.
6. Add the rest of the oats and salt and pepper. Mix well again.
7. Form into loaf and put into loaf pan or square cake pan.
Chill for a hour so that the flavors mix well.
8. Bake at 350 for approx 1 hour. Meat should be browned. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes before cutting. This will assure that the meatloaf should hold its shape and not fall apart too much.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Monday's Experiment

Every so often I get a taste for something fancy. Today I cooked all the veggies in the freezer. I had a bit of this and bit of that. Then I attempted to make Hollandaise Sauce. It's one of the few things I have trouble with. I can make homemade bread, a souffle for an entrée or dessert but the Hollandaise eludes me. I have made a mock sauce that tastes similar without the problems that tend to happen with the regular version. So tomorrow you can clean your freezer, eat and then go shopping for more veggies.



Remember to use the whole fat varieties as the low fat ones have gluten in them. Also make sure sour cream is 100% sour cream. I like Breakstone's or Daisy. I made a small batch but this can be doubled, tripled, etc to fit your needs

Mock Hollandaise Gluten Free
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1 teaspoon lemon juice- fresh squeezed is best
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan, combine sour cream, mayo, and mustard. Turn heat on stove to medium low and heat mixture until warm. DO NOT BOIL . When warm, add lemon juice and stir until well blended. Add salt and pepper. Serve over veggies or poached eggs.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

And Down it goes again.....

What is that? My weight. It's the middle of May and I've done nothing to my diet and exercise plan except remove wheat and gluten products. Oh and I no longer drink anything with saccharin or sucralose (Splenda)in it. I always liked Splenda but your body doesn't know what to do with it so it stores it. Your mouth gets the sweet taste which causes insulin to be released but there's nothing for the insulin to work on so it turns to fat.

So now I'm eating real ice cream, real sour cream and real butter. The lowfat/ reduced fat versions have wheat in them. They use a thickener to keep the mouth feel. Think of it as dairy gravy base. I'm also using stevia to sweeten things. I'm a diabetic so I don't eat sugar but if you're not a diabetic (or have hypoglycemia) then you should stick with plain old cane sugar. My Grandma calls that 'table sugar'.


I've been experimenting with recipes again and have discovered that making fried chicken with your favorite recipe and substituting corn starch or tapioca flour for the AP or whole wheat flour makes a very nice fried chicken. Just check the label of your spices for hidden wheat. Use plain spices instead of mixes or blends. You can mix paprika, salt, pepper and garlic powder without adding wheat but apparently the food industry cannot.

So back to the numbers. Numbers don't mean anything. It's what is happening to my body. My face is slimmer and my pants are falling down. I have more energy and my skin looks good. Soon I will have to go shopping. I'm looking forward to it.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Great Gluten Free Bread Debate

I've been talking to some people I've met along the way in this journey of mine. They want to know which bread I prefer. The truth is, I prefer the homemade bread recipe my friend Amy gave me. It's awesome and I've been able to make some adjustments to it. I would love to share it with you but, since it's not mine to give, I cannot. So back to the bread you can buy. The top two favorites are Rudi's and Udi's. To keep the consistency and fairness, I bought 1 loaf of each. I bought the same variety (whole/multi-grain), at the same time, with the same approx exp date, and kept under the same conditions.

Then came the testing. As far as flavor goes, they're both pretty good. They both toast really well and when toasted hold up pretty well for butter and jam.

I tried a wide variety of combos and this what I've learned:

Grilled Cheese- Rudi's: crispy on the outside, mush on the inside. Udi's: crispy on the outside, creamy cheese on the inside.

Vegan Sprout sandwich: Hummus spread, Alfafa sprouts, seed cheese. Udi's: Held up to the hummus spread. Didn't crumble too much while I was eating. Rudi's: Hummus made the bread soften and get mushy. Sandwich kept crumbling while I was eating it.

Peanut Butter and Jelly (PBJ): Udi's: Held up well tasted good. Sandwich stayed intact bite after bite. Rudi's Held up ok. The taste was there but the sandwich started to fall apart after I had taken a couple of bites.

Bologna: Rudi's: Was okay until I decided I need mustard. This bread is just not good for adding anything wet to it. It crumbled almost as soon as I started eating it. Udi's: Tasted good. Held up to mustard and also to mayo.

Homemade croutons: I buttered and baked both breads and they both worked well in this instance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will try more combos but, for now, I can say that I like Udi's hands down every time. It holds up to condiments and also works great as toast or as a dipping bread for eggs or soup. I can use it either toasted or plain which allows it to be my wheat bread substitute.

Rudi's only holds up when toasted.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Update Blog

Ok, I'm back to walking and can stand for 15 minutes at a time. So I will be back to cooking and creating recipes. Today I made the Quinoa Pilaf again. Ate some for lunch with leftover baked chicken from last night's supper. I'm making all the recipes from before so I can remember what flavors worked best together. While I've been off my feet, I tried several pre-made things and found them.....rather disgusting. I can't wait to get back to fresh flavors and no more boxed flavors. I'm going to try a cake this weekend. I made cupcakes with almond meal and they were wonderful. Hopefully the cake will be great too.


See you all soon

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Missing food

Almost 3 months into my journey of gluten free and I really miss some of the things I used to eat. Every so often I try to convince myself that one bite won't hurt. Well, I'm wrong. It does hurt. My mouth tingles, my skins gets flaky and itchy, and my stomach doesn't react very well at all. All that from a small morsel of something containing wheat. Last week, I ate 1 bite of chocolate cake. Oh so good in the mouth. Oh so bad for the rest of me. Even the mouth didn't like it 2 hours later. Hopefully I'll get it one day and stop torturing myself. In the meantime some friends have passed along some great recipes for gluten free bread. I'm hoping to tweak something into hot dog buns. What I wouldn't give right now to hold (and eat without fear) a Vienna beef Chicago style dog with the works. When I say the works I mean poppy seed bun, cukes, tomatoes, glowing green relish and mustard. Not yellow mustard but a thick, hearty, German-style brown with lots of character. The other day I made a polish and served it on a green lettuce leaf. I got the flavor of the dog and the toppings but it was missing the poppy seed bread. As soon as I am out of this cast, I will embark on the task of making bread. No pictures today, just the ones in my head.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sugar Free Chocolate Mousse


Valentine's Day has come and gone but I made this dessert for my honey. It's really easy and didn't require a lot of time on my feet. Just a few more weeks and I can have my ankle back. I can't wait. Okay, back to the task on hand.... Chocolate. I've made mousse before but this is the first time that I didn't make it with eggs and butter. Oh yes, there is a recipe out there with all of that as well. This one just has cream, chocolate, vanilla, and stevia. It requires a bit of patience but not a lot of work. You might ask why the recipe serves 3. It's because there are 3 people in my family. You can spread it to 4 by giving each bowl a little less. If there's only 2 in your household, then save the third helping to share for the next day or save it to eat by yourself with lunch

Chocolate Mousse

Serves 3-4

2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used 36% fat)
5 oz unsweetened chocolate squares- divided
Stevia equal to 1/2 cup sugar or 10 packets
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In heavy saucepan, heat cream on medium heat. When it's just warm but not bubbling, add 4 ounces of the chocolate. Stir constantly. You want the chocolate to melt into the whipping cream. You don't want the mixture to boil. It may get a few bubbles along the edge of the pan but not a full boil.

Add the stevia. Keep stirring until all of the chocolate is melted into the cream. It should look like rich hot cocoa. Once all the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat. Pour most and put into a glass bowl. Put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill. You should have about 1/2 cup of chocolate cream left in the pan. Add the remaining oz of chocolate, turn the heat back on and melt into the cream. This will look much darker than the first part. You can add another packet of stevia if you want a sweeter sauce. Once it's melted, set aside. Do not chill.

The bowl in the fridge should be cold to the touch all the way around and the mixture should also be cold. When it is, then whip the cream until it's light and fluffy. Do not over whip or you will have chocolate flavored butter. Add to serving dishes. Get the darker sauce from earlier. This is called a ganache (Pronounced gah- nahsh). Spoon some over the top in each dish. Store in fridge until dessert. Yes, you can wait that long. Besides you have a bowl, a pan, and the beater to try it all out with.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Cream of Mushroom for One

I'm the only one in my house that even likes Cream of Mushroom soup. I used to make a pot of it to share with a friend but she has moved away. So now I just make it for me. It was really easy to convert this recipe to gluten free. I think it actually tastes better. Sometimes when I used wheat flour, it had a grainy mouth feel to it. The new and improved recipe is made with tapioca flour and is smooth as silk. I might just have to double the batch next time. I make mine with white button mushrooms, garlic, onion, chicken stock and heavy cream. I like to see larger pieces of garlic in this soup but also like loads of flavor so I crush it a bit by laying the flat of the knife blade against the slices and hitting it really quick with the heel of my hand. You can also use the handle of the knife if you're not sure you want to hit the blade with your hand. The recipe adjusts as needed for your diet. I like the flavor from the butter but it's good with straight olive oil too. Once upon a time I used to use all butter. I prefer almond or coconut milk over soy when it comes to making it lactose free or dairy free. Vegans can add whatever milk or stock that they choose. Adding a cashew cream will make it a little thicker. I prefer mine to be a little thin but I'm including amounts for a thicker soup as well. Spoons at the ready.........

Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup for One
Serves one

1-2 garlic cloves; thinly sliced and slightly crushed
1/2 small onion, minced
4-5 white button mushrooms, sliced very thin
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon tapioca flour (for thin soup) 2 Tablespoons (for thicker soup)
1/2 cup organic stock (I used chicken)
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lunch is Served....


I'm so excited. I was able to go out to lunch with my family yesterday to a restaurant that offered things everybody wanted and wasn't a Chinese restaurant. We went to Third Coast Spice Cafe' in Chesterton, Indiana. The chef was very accommodating to my dietary needs. They have several bread options, including a gluten free bread. The taste? It was wonderful. I was so happy to have a sandwich that wasn't served on tasteless rice flour bread. My friend has given me a recipe that I can't wait to try. I'm hoping to make it later this week once I get the big cast off. Right now it's a little harder to get around the kitchen. So back to my lunch. Third Coast Spice Cafe offers cage free eggs. They utilize organics and local ingredients whenever possible. The food is fresh, looks great and tastes wonderful. I even caught my husband scraping his plate clean. I tried the Farmer's Market sandwich which had hummus and avocado as a spread instead of mayo. It had grilled fresh portabella mushrooms, fresh spinach and tomato. There were roasted red bell peppers and provolone cheese. I was in heaven. Side options were your choice of chips, French fries, or carrot sticks. I opted for the carrot sticks. They came along with a side of freshly prepared ranch dressing. I was also able to try out their Bloody Mary cream which is a tomato based mayo. It tasted faintly of blue cheese as well. I will definitely have to get that again. If anyone local wants to go try it out, I will be happy to meet you for lunch as soon as I can drive again. I've included a link to their menu. Trying a new place is nicer if you know what they serve ahead of time.All links are on the bottom of my blog. Just scroll down to view.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Seven Weeks Later....

I've had a lot of people ask me about my diet. They have lots of questions. So I will just save time and answer them all here.

  • Do you enjoy the new diet?

    Yes, I'm really liking the new diet. I know where all my foods started from. That's really a bonus as I cannot eat most processed foods. So now I get to see what they were before I eat them.

  • Does this mean you can't eat Oreos, Chips Ahoy, McDonald's, etc. anymore? What about dining out?

    Yes, but those things weren't good for me anyway. I have found a few fast food options that I can go to in a pinch if I'm out without food. I've also discovered that most Chinese food places are mostly gluten free. They have steamed rice and rice noodles with veggies. Sauces are thickened with corn starch. I just have to steer clear of the soy sauce because it's made with wheat. No sweet and sour combos or won tons either. I have plenty of food to eat. I just have to figure out what's on the menus. Some places are starting to offer allergen menus. Sadly most aren't up to par yet.

  • How do you feel?
    I feel great. For the first time in years actually. I no longer have heartburn daily. I don't have a lot of headaches or muscle aches. The one thing that I do not miss are the constant yeast infections. It was so bad that I had a prescription on file. I could call it in myself. I used to always feel bloated after eating. Oftentimes I couldn't swallow. I had lots of gastronomic complaints. I don't have any of those anymore. Heck, even my skin isn't as dry and itchy as it was. It's winter and my skin is less dry than it was in the summer. I'm not even having panic attacks anymore. OK, I have those whenever I try to convince myself that just one bite of cookie or one taste of something else won't hurt. It always comes back to haunt me.

    I can go on and on but it just upsets me and that's not where I want to be. I'm just happy to be feeling good. I haven't felt this good in years. I can't see myself going back to my 'old diet'. It just goes to show that doctors don't always know what they're talking about. If I had followed the original plan, I would have had stomach surgery, still have been taking tons of pills, and despite every effort on my part.....gaining weight or at least not losing any.

  • How about weight? Have you lost any?
    I sure have. All those years of yo-yo dieting. All that money spent on diet foods, pills, potions, plans, etc. They didn't work. I had to change me and my basic diet. I've lost 5 pounds in the past week and I've eaten ice cream every day. Yes, real ice cream. Yes, every day. I've even tried the vegan variety, the recipe is in this blog somewhere in the last 7 weeks. I made it with coconut milk and carob. It was awesome.

  • What's available in the stores?
    Lots of stuff. There's gluten free stuff out there but the best bet is to 'Shop the walls'. Do this by sticking to the outer walls of the store. That's where the fresh stuff is. The produce, meat, and dairy are on the walls. The less processing that happens to a food, the less likely that wheat was added to it.

  • What results does your doctor/s see?
    Well, I got some test results back the other day. I've been taking vitamin supplements for years and they're finally working. I'm not fighting their efforts with my diet. I just wasn't absorbing some of those minerals so the supplements were only staving off the end result. My vitamin D and B12 levels are higher now than they've been in a very long time. This means my bone density will improve. Which just might mean that I can walk longer without pain. My muscles will not feel weak and exercise will finally help me. Also that I will stop, hopefully, breaking my bones all the time. This is really getting old.

  • Will this work for me?
    Only you can decide that. I have to eat this way or go back to feeling the way I was. I might miss the old food but I really don't miss the results. You can still have the old foods so it'll be harder to stick with the plan.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Smoothies


Well I'm off my feet for a few weeks, at least in the kitchen. So I'm trying some foods that are in the freezer section of the local grocery store. Today I tried the new Yoplait Smoothies. In their recipe, you use the whole bag of smoothie blend. I tried the blueberry pomegranate pack. It has whole blueberries and nuggets of pomegranate juice blended with yogurt. You add your own skim milk and blend. Since it's just me eating this way, I used half the bag. I also added the other smoothie ingredients I keep on hand. I have flax meal which is ground up flax seeds. You can buy it ground or grind them in your coffee grinder. I also have chia seeds. Yes, these are the same seeds you used to spread onto a pottery animal that you soaked overnight in water. As it turns out, these are really good at adding fiber to your diet. They have no flavor but they bulk up nice in water and helps keep you full longer. I added a full cup of milk to mine. It makes them a little thinner but the cold doesn't bother my teeth so much and the extra vitamin D is really good for you. Here's my version of the Yoplait Smoothie.



Altered Yoplait Smoothie
Makes 1 serving

1/2 bag Yoplait Smoothie Blend
1 cup milk. Their recipe calls for skim, I used 1%
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1-2 ice cubes (optional)

Throw all ingredients into your blender and blend until you are happy with the results. The ice will make it a little thicker if you like.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

New Favorite Appliance

For a long time I've used a coffee grinder to grind my own spices. It allows them to stay fresher and also allows me to pick how course or fine I want them to be. The grinder was always in the garage but now I keep it close at hand. I am grinding my own flours. I've been grinding my own brown rice. It's so much cheaper than buying it. I have also ground almond meal and cashews. I just put in a small amount and push to grind.

Yesterday I baked a chicken and cooked a few veggies with it. The rest I boiled in a saucepan with some chicken stock. Then I added brown rice flour and some of the cooked chicken to the veggies. It made a nice stew. This gluten free diet isn't bad. I'm feeling a lot better and I've even lost some weight too. Plus I still get to eat ice cream on occasions without feeling too guilty.

I definitely broke my ankle so it's going to be a little while before I get back to full cooking and recipes every day. I will try my best to keep the tips up and share great recipes and ideas here as well.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Biscuits and Gravy


I have to admit. I was missing bread. I missed having something to spread jam on, spoon gravy over, or just have with a little butter. I tried some of the store bought GF breads and wasn't impressed. The tapioca flour bread was tasteless. The rice bread shot my sugar up to over 200. Not good. So I went back to the gluten free Bisquick. They offered a biscuit recipe but it was basically bland. I want to follow this diet and feel good but I don't want to give up taste. At the same time, I don't want high sugar levels either. So I went to Google and looked up some baking mix recipes. I tried a couple but there were the same problems. White rice flour is no good for my blood glucose levels. So since I've been playing with some other G/F flours, I thought I'd take one of the recipes I found and change things around a bit. What I came up with is a very nice drop biscuit recipe. It has some body but isn't a brick. It's a bit fluffy but not too crumbly. I used brown rice flour and almond meal. It has some baking soda and a bit of xanthan gum. The taste? I ate every crumb from my plate. I even ate it with some sausage gravy. I made that by browning the sausage and adding some tapioca flour and made a roux (fat and flour to make a paste). Then i added seasonings, water and some milk. I'll share that recipe another day. I know you're dying for bread too. The serving size is 1 biscuit but they were so good, I ate 2. I'll eat 1 at a time from now on though. I won't be able to lose any weight if I keep eating the way I was but with no gluten.



Gluten Free Biscuits
Makes 6 biscuits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 cup almond meal (or almond flour- same thing)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk

1. Mix together all dry ingredients.
2. Add shortening and blend with pastry blender, fork, or fingers until mixture is crumbly.
3. Mix in egg. Then add the milk and mix until mix forms a soft dough. It shouldn't be too sticky.
4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Bake at 375 for 12-15 or until tops are lightly browned. Check to make sure center is cooked and not doughy.
6. Try not to burn your hands when you eat them.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Caveman Diet

I've been trying some different things with this diet to see what I can do to make things interesting. I recently tried some recipes I have found on boxes of GF flour or from other gluten free websites and such. I have to say that Bisquick GF mix is so so and I prefer mixing my own blend. They offer a few recipes for those who are not interested or unsure about blending their own flours. The pancakes were fluffy and not too bad. Mostly I've been eating meat, potatoes and veggies. I twisted my ankle but I should be back up soon, making new recipes to share

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Cream of .....


Broccoli soup. In the past I've made some different variations of cream soup. I've tried everything from chicken to onion and in between too. The basic-ness of the recipe lends itself to lots of variety. It's really simple to make and the taste is wonderful. It's great on a cold day and on a warm day you can change up the ingredients. Years ago, I bought one of those hand held blenders that turns everything in its path to mush. The original idea was to make my own baby food. It did the job nicely. Well my baby is not a baby anymore. She eats everything right along with the rest of us. So the hand mixer has changed careers. It has gone on to make smoothies, milk shakes, bread crumbs (they are really nice), and a whole bunch of other things. It's also really wonderful to put into a pan of hot soup and turn it into a nice pulverized blend of good flavors. I really like that because I don't have to pour a hot soup into the blender and risk burning myself or spilling any and wasting that lovely soup. Today's recipe is broccoli but you could use cauliflower, asparagus, carrot or whatever you'd like. I used chicken stock but you can use any stock you prefer. Also, get fresh or good quality frozen vegetables. Use the flowers and not the stems. Stems are fibrous and don't mush well.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Serves 4
1/2 cup servings

2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup water

3 cups chicken stock, check the label to be sure it contains no wheat.

1 tsp each of the following: onion powder, granulated garlic, sea salt and ground black pepper

1/2 tsp tapioca flour


1. Add liquids and spices to saucepan. Then add florets.
2. Cook over medium heat until fork tender and liquid is reduced (about 1/3 less).
3. Add tapioca flour and stir, cooking 1 minute more.
4.Using your hand blender, pulverize the broccoli until smooth.
5. If you want more creaminess, you can add a touch of cream, almond milk, cashew cream, or sour cream at the end and just stir it in.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

If it's Vegan........


.....can you really call it ice cream? I know, I'm just supposed to be going gluten free and sugar free and less eggs. So I really don't have to be giving up everything but it's always nice to try something else. Besides I told my family that it was vegan and I didn't have to share. My husband tried 1 bite. He said it wasn't bad tasting which might even be a compliment. I thought it was wonderful. It was even better when I went back on the 4th day and found that there was still some left. It didn't make it to a 5th day. I will make more very soon. This one started out as vanilla and then I decided to go decadent. So I added chocolate, well carob, and then I added carob chips. I have got to work on making caramels with agave syrup. Then I can really have decadence. Perhaps on a snow day when I can't drive anywhere. I know how pioneers did all that cooking. They drove to church once a week and most of the rest of life revolved around home. You can leave the stove on if you're only out in the yard or in the other room doing chores. So back to this century. I've been playing with all these great foods and today I'm sharing the carob frozen concoction but to keep it simple and easily searchable I will just call it....

Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

1/2 cup servings
Serves 4-5 depending on how much you 'taste test' before it's done


13-`14 oz can Coconut Milk (Use full fat for this)
1/2 cup carob chips
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (pick one that's smooth without grassy flavors)
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
dash of salt

1/4 cup carob chips


1. In large saucepan over medium heat mix together the coconut milk, olive oil and agave syrup. Bring to a simmer. Look for bubbles on the edge but not boiling. Add carob chips and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and salt. Stir. Pour into container and chill in fridge. Add to ice cream maker. When about halfway frozen, add carob chips.

Don't have an ice cream maker? Don't panic. You can use a glass or stainless steel container and make do. Pour the mixture into your container and put it in the freezer. Every 2 hours, remove and scrape down the sides of the container and stir together. It will freeze and start to look grainy. Once it's mostly frozen, you can use a hand mixer to break up the bigger chunks and make it smoother. It's not going to look like commercial ice cream. Even when you use an ice cream maker, it's not going to be that smooth. Once you like the consistency, you can freeze overnight or for at least 4 hours. This will improve the flavor. I really thought it tasted best on the 3rd or 4th day but I couldn't wait that long. Maybe you can but probably only if you don't taste test it along the way.

Monday, January 10, 2011

My New Favorite Thickener

I love Tapioca Flour. It's a big mess because it's thinner than cornstarch. Yes, that is possible. It flies everywhere when scooped but I still love it. It adds no taste, cooks up nicely, and looks good when done. I like cornstarch too but tapioca flour is nicer for gravy, fruit filling and sauces. I used tapioca flour yesterday on my Rosemary Chicken. It thickened the sauce nicely and without the clumps you sometimes get with cornstarch. Unlike cornstarch, you can add tapioca flour to a liquid that is already warmed. In the recipe I used it as a light dusting so my chicken would brown. It did and very nicely too.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Yes, You can have nicely browned chicken


I was thinking that I'd never be able to enjoy some of my favorite recipes anymore. I tried one today with a little twist and the result? Awesome! Who needs wheat anyway? Speaking of my wheat allergy, I'm not surprised. I've been reading labels on everything for a month. I'm surprised I'm not allergic to a bunch of other stuff too. Wheat is in tons of stuff, not just breads and breading and things you'd think of. They put it in chicken broth, it's in some ice creams, Starbucks has it in some of the coffee drinks. It's everywhere. Sometimes they come right out and say wheat. Other times they try to hide it by calling it 'modified food starch' or 'hydrolyzed wheat protein'. If you don't know semolina flour is also known as durum wheat flour. That's the main ingredient in pasta. Another thing I have seen on tons of food labels is high fructose corn syrup aka super sugar made from corn. Somewhere somebody decided that 3 things make food taste good. Those are sugar, salt, and fat. If you take out one, they put in more of another. So reduced sugar and sugar- free foods are higher in fat and sodium. Low fat and fat-free foods are higher in sugar, etc. I've been eating whole foods for just a short time and, already, my taste buds are coming back to life. So I was able to reduce the salt in today's recipe. I'm really starting to enjoy food. I'm sorry I missed out on a lot of really good food over the years while I ate that stuff that most of this country continues to eat.


Gluten Free Rosemary Chicken

4- 6 oz boneless chicken breasts
1 Teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil (the original recipe called for all butter but olive oil is better for your heart)
2 Tablespoons Tapioca Flour
1 large Spanish onion; halved and sliced (about the thickness of a drinking straw)
1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp sea salt; divided
1/2 cup water plus 1/4 cup additional water
1/4 cup good stock (I like Kitchen Basics if I can't make my own)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp rosemary leaves, crumbled
1 tsp sage


1. Melt butter over medium heat in large deep frying pan. Add olive oil and stir.
2. Season chicken with a pinch of the salt on each side. You should have a little left to season the sauce. Coat in the tapioca flour. Brown in the butter/oil mixture. Cook on each side 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Add onions and red bell pepper to pan. Stirring occasionally, cook the onions until translucent and just starting to brown.
4. Add the spices to the onion mix. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the water and the stock. Let it cook down slightly. Then return the chicken to the pan. Stir to coat the chicken with the onion mix. Add the additional water and stir. Cook for 4-5 minutes while sauce thickens. If you'd like thinner sauce, add more stock or water.
5. Remove bay leaf and throw away before serving. You might notice that I took a picture of mine with the bay leaf intact. Bay leaves are not edible.

I served mine with a nice jasmine rice and steamed green beans tossed with a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My new favorite grain, Quinoa


Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)is a grain. It's brown and it cooks up just like rice. you use one cup of grain to 2 cups of liquid. So far I've eaten it plain (that was okay), as a pilaf (that was really good), and as an ingredient in a soup (that was also really good). It looks really cool after it's cooked. The germ (the outer layer of the grain) gets little lighter in color. So it looks like a tan dot with a lighter tan circle around it. The flavor is a little nutty but not strong. It's nice enough for adults and yet my picky 10 year old will eat it. It will go well in a lot of recipes. The grain is about half the size of long grain rice. Today's recipe is the pilaf I have now made twice. The first time I didn't have slivered almonds so I used whole. The second time I just chopped the whole almonds. That was much nicer so I suggest that. This photo also has baked salmon and steamed snow peas.

Quinoa Pilaf
Serving size 1/2 cup
Serves 4

2 cups cooked quinoa; I used stock to cook it
1 medium carrot, diced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips. Then cut the strips in half so they are shorter.
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, I prefer Extra Virgin. Buy something nice from a Greek or Italian store
1/4 cup raw almonds, chopped
2 Tablespoons stock, veggie or chicken
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a saute or frying pan over medium heat until warm.
2. Add the veggies and cook until the onions are almost see-through.
3. Add the almonds. Cook 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the cooked quinoa and the stock.
5. Cook for 2-3 minutes and season to taste.

Leave me a comment on what you ate with it.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Berry Nice Fruit Salad


Wednesday January 5, 2011. I went to a lovely restaurant in Chicago called Cousins. They are a Vegan raw food restaurant. They had loads of options for lots of diets, including gluten free. They offer sampler plates of their appetizer selections. I went with the 3 choices option. You can get up to 6 choices. I chose Fakin' Bacon Poppers, Spinach Frittata, and a Tropical Fruit Salad. The fake bacon was made with eggplant and was stuffed with a salad made of kale. It was pretty good but not my favorite of the 3. The top picture is of one of the poppers. The Spinach Frittata looked so amazing that I ate it first and took a picture later. I ordered a fresh squeezed lemonade and they made it with agave syrup instead of sugar. I just love when restaurants are willing to take the next step to accommodate people. The Tropical Fruit salad was also amazing. I knew what fruits were in it so I went yesterday and bought the ingredients that I didn't have on hand. I played with the flavors and came up with a wonderful rendition of a tropical fruit salad with berries. That's the recipe I will share today.

Berry Nice Fruit Salad
Approx 4
1/2 cup servings

2 medium apples, chopped into bite sized pieces. I used 2 varieties; Gala and Fuji but you can use whatever you like.
1 tangerine; peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (flakes or shredded)
1/4 cup pineapple. I used fresh and cut it up into small pieces.
2 oz assorted berries. I used a blend of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon agave (optional if you want extra sweetness)


Mix all ingredients together. Chill for 1 hour to let the flavors meld. Enjoy!

The bottom picture is of my fruit salad :)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Cheesecake Bites

I wanted to make a quick and easy cheesecake so I went looking for recipes. Lots of gluten free ones, lots of sugar free ones but nothing that was both. So I went into the kitchen and created my own. These are awseome. I made chocolate cheesecake bites with agave syrup and carob chips. I used reduced fat cream cheese too. It was pretty quick and easy. Total time to make: Approx 30 minutes. I used a mini muffin pan too. Here's the recipe:

Gluten Free Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

2 8 oz packages Neufchatel Cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup Dutch Process Cocoa

1/4 cup Agave syrup

1/3 cup carob chips



1. Set oven to 350. Make sure cheese and eggs are room temp.

2. Beat cheese until soft and smooth.

3. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat until smooth

4. Stir cocoa into agave syrup until blended.

5. Mix into cheese mixture.

6. Spoon into mini muffin cups. You can line the pan with mini cupcake papers or not.

7. Tap pan until mixture settles. Put a small portion of chips on top of each mini.

8. Bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes. They should look a little poufy and not wet.

9. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.

10. Try not to eat them all at once