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.

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.

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!

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'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.

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.

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
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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.