Day 31 ~ G-free cookies for company

Tonight I needed a plate of some small cookie/snack to serve guests...but it needed to be g-free, and I didn't want it to be a topic of discussion, so I needed cookies that seemed "normal." I first baked a pecan shortbread made with almond flour. It was ok, but not great. So Carissa took pity on me and made some coconut macaroons, then she threw in a few of her chocolate truffles she had in the freezer (David and I didn't eat the truffles). I added some grapes to the plate, to have some fruit.

I was quite nervous about this little offering. I SO wanted to explain why the cookies were a bit odd. But I wouldn't allow myself to justify them. The guests ate one of each thing, so I guess that is good, but then, what could they do but spit it out if they didn't like it? Thankfully, no one said anything. I need to find some better cookie recipes though.

Day 30 ~ A month of g-free

I can't believe it has been a month with no gluten. It really has not been that hard. Tonight I was at a church dinner that had hamburgers--we ate them with a fork (no buns).. And the huge array of various cookies for dessert was not a temptation at all. It really feels kind of free not to crave food, well most food anyway. I think I still have chocolate cravings, but I can indulge most of them, so that keeps me sane.

Do I feel better? Well, that is hard to say for sure. I do like that I never overeat, never feel too full, and never have that stuffed feeling. It is kind of hard to overeat g-free.

Day 29 ~ Keeping track of the gluten

Today Lillian came over for dinner--grilled cheese sandwiches. I had a few slices of wheat bread I used for Lil's sandwich, and then made David's and mine on g-free brown rice bread. I tried to keep all the wheat crumbs away from my rice bread, using a different knife for butter for each kind of bread...I had 2 spatulas going and separate plates, but then got them mixed up and turned all the sandwiches with the same spatula...It all got very confusing trying to keep the breads separate so no gluten crumbs would get on my g-free meal.

Then we walked to get ice cream from CVS. Lillian wanted an ice cream sandwich (she had never had one). So I partially unwrap it for her, and in the process get lots of the sticky black cookie on my fingers. Well, normally I would just lick this off my fingers...but what was I to do since I knew my fingers were full of gluten! So I had to walk home with messy fingers. You know, it is much more challenging to try to do two kinds of diets in the same house. That makes me thankful David is still hanging with me in this!

Day 27-28 ~ Gluten and xanthan gum

I have learned that xanthan gum is what steps in for a "sorta like gluten" substitute when baking. Most recipes require it to make everything work and hold together. But I suspected that xanthan gum is what is giving the overly-springy texture that is bugging me in g-free baked goods. But I didn't want to just take it out--because experiments that ruin your ingredients are no fun. So I kept researching and finally found a g-free blog where someone said they found that skipping the xanthan gum, or reducing the amount (which is usually less than 1 teaspoon) will give a more gluten-like texture, instead of a weird texture to quick breads like muffins or biscuits.  I just needed to see that statement in print! So I remade my biscuits from the other day, and left out the gum. They were good--much better I thought. However, I think next time I might add just a bare 1/8 teaspoon of xanthan gum and see how that does. It does seem that yeast breads absolutely must have the xanthan gum in them in order to make them work though. .

One other odd thing about baking g-free, is that you need to mix and stir a lot more than you would with wheat muffins or biscuits. When there is no gluten to activate and make the bread tough, it needs some air whipped into it to make things lighter--like biscuits dough needs to be worked a lot, rather than as little as possible like you would with a gluten flour.

My biscuit did make a nice sausage sandwich.

Day 26 ~ Buttermilk biscuits--or was that a crumpet??

Well, here is the foundation of bread eating in the south--buttermilk biscuits. G-free biscuits look reasonable, were easy enough to make...but once again, (you know I am going to say this, don't you?) the texture is odd. I did finally decide what it reminds me of though--a crumpet. These would make very good little biscuit sandwiches with sausage, eggs, or anything in them. They are sturdy and won't crumble. I didn't try them with gravy though--they seem to want jelly on them more than gravy.

Day 25 ~ Swedish Pancakes have gone G-free!

There are a few things I have been sad about giving up, but have hopes to find a g-free substitute for--Swedish pancakes, or crepes, is one of them. I have several GF cookbooks checked out from the library right now, and the other day I found a recipe for crepes in one, but it was disappointing, just reading it--I knew it wouldn't work. The instructions said to make them no more than silver dollar size, or they will fall apart. Well, what Johnson would ever make a Swedish pancake that small? You couldn't even put 1 strawberry half in that! I don't remember what flours were in the recipe, but I didn't like them either...

But then in another cookbook I found the prize. This recipe for crepes called for Sorghum flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum. That sounded like it would work to me, and it did! I made them this morning and they were almost as good as the real thing. In fact, they had one quality that even made them superior--they are strong! Even though they are tender, they have that odd stick-togetherness that other baked goods have had, with no crumb or tendency to fall apart easily. So, while these Swedish pancakes tasted very good, and were full skillet size, they also could easily be made up to use for some kind of wrap or tortilla I believe! I think they have a lot of possibilities.

Day 24 ~ Banana Nut Bread...almost normal

I made g-free banana bread today. It has the same odd springy texture that the muffins have. But the flavor is just right. I can't figure out what causes that notable gluten-free texture in baked goods. But I did find one good point about the texture...it leaves no crumb at all. I gave a slice to little Lila today and it was such a neat, clean snack...I didn't have to clean up crumbs off the floor or table or her clothes. That is pretty big with me--I like neat food for kids!

I made Chicken Cacciatore from my cookbook, What We Cook. I used a gluten-free flour to coat the chicken before browning, and I served it over quiona fettuccine. It is nice that I can easily adapt a favorite recipe.

Day 23 ~ Rainy day baking with my new flours

A cool-ish rainy morning inspired me to pull out my collected flours and recipes to try muffins once again. I wanted to use a flour that offered some nutrition and fiber. Teff flour does that well. (Isn't that an odd name--Teff? Who came up with that, I wonder?) It is actually a very nice flour. It is kind of brownish, much like whole wheat or bran in looks. But it baked up light and mild tasting. My recipe called for tapioca flour to go with it to make it all work. These muffins also had raisins and walnuts in them. So how did they rate? David liked them. I thought the flavor was nice, however, the texture still didn't seem right for a muffin--too light and fluffy but with no crumb at all. It is almost like everything sticks together too well. You probably have to experience it to understand it. So if anyone lives near me and wants to stop in to try one of these Teff muffins, I have 10 of them in my freezer!

I wanted to show you what I made for lunch and supper--this is brown rice couscous. It is similar to wheat couscous, and is delicious and has more fiber than the wheat variety. I think I purchased this at Central Market a couple weeks ago.

I took the leftovers from lunch and stir fried them with some vegetables and link sausage for dinner--very quick, easy, and tasty. This is a good dish even if you don't normally eat GF.

Day 21 & 22 ~ Back to g-free eating

Well, we finished our almost two day break from food, and all is well. We spent last night at Paulette's house in Tyler and she was so sweet to fix us a gluten-free spaghetti meal and g-free pancakes for breakfast today. And when we dropped by Karen's house on our way out of town, she had mango smoothies for us and sent us off with a box of g-free rice crackers to celebrate our clean bill of health.

We stopped in at Drug Emporium before leaving Tyler, where there is the largest selection of g-free foods I have found anywhere, even in Houston. We bought a boatload of supplies. I am so stocked up on every kind of flour, I could start a g-free bakery! Now, I just need to cook something...

On our way home we stopped for BBQ--which we have eaten more of the last 3 weeks than is normal for us. Turns out that there are always good g-free food choices at a BBQ joint, so it is one of our easy fast food places now.

Day 20 ~ Absolutely, positively, without a doubt, g-free day.

No slip up's today for sure. David and I are in the midst of a colon cleanse to prep for dual colonoscopys tomorrow. (Isn't that sweet.) We have been on a clear liquid-only diet today, so we are absolutely g-free!

Day 19 ~ Gluten-free does not mean free...What??

Ok, this is my funniest experience to date: I went to an outdoor grill at a swimming pool area today and asked what on their menu is gluten-free. The guy laughed and told me that none of it is free! I told him I said GLUTEN free, not just free. He then said, no they don't have gluten on the menu. So I responded that I meant WHEAT--what do they have that doesn't have wheat in it? Then the guy said that if I don't want wheat, I can have white bread instead! Finally, I realize that this guy has no idea what gluten-free means and has never even heard the word before. So I smile and order a salad.

Day 18 ~ Thanks, Julia!

A couple weeks before I went g-free, back when I was still just talking about it, Julia brought me over a quinoa, broccoli, cheese casserole. She said it was a g-free meal for my freezer to have on hand whenever I decided to start my gluten-free project. Today, I took it out and popped it in the oven for an hour, needing an easy meal tonight. It was wonderful! Thanks so much for thinking ahead of what I would enjoy, Julia! I will have to start making this myself, and always keep one in the freezer for an easy meal.

Quinoa is high in protein, and it is a complete protein, so with some veggies it can be a meal in a dish...

Day 17 ~ Encouragement helps!

A friend of mine, (Adam's Aunt Laura) sent me an encouraging email last night. Laura has rheumatoid arthritis, and has gone on a gluten-free diet to reduce inflammation in her body, and to hopefully get off some of her meds.  Since my main purpose is to reduce inflammation too (for osteoarthritis) I have been very interested in what Laura says about g-free life. I told her I had hoped for more improvement than I have gotten so far. Laura said it can take up to 3 months for things to get better. Here are her encouraging words, just when I needed them: "Stay with it, pray for God to bring the right info to you, and be encouraged. It just takes a while and IT IS WORTH IT to get our health back. We will find just the right "recipe" for our individual bodies."

Day 16 ~ G-free birdseed

I have been researching and buying all sorts of new grains and flours, particularly ones that have a high nutritional value--trying to make up for what we lost when we lost wheat. I haven't necessarily been using these yet, I just collect them at this stage...(it is too hot to bake, but I want to be ready if the urge hits me~~) I had to laugh when I read the description of Millet...
Millet is said by some to be more ancient than any grain that grows.  Where it was first cultivated is disputed, but native legends tell of a wild strain known as Job’s Tears that grows in the Philippines and sprouted “at the dawn of time.”

Millet is still well respected in Africa, India, and China, where it is considered a staple.  Here in the United States, it is raised almost exclusively for hay, fodder, and birdseed.  One might consider that to be a waste, especially when considering its high vitamin and mineral content.  Rich in phosphorus, iron, calcium, riboflavin, and niacin, a cup of cooked millet has nearly as much protein as wheat.  It is also high in lysine—higher than rice, corn, or oats. 


I guess I will give it a try (if birds like it, then I am sure I will too...maybe) along with the Tefff flour I have already purchased and the Amaranth flour I am still looking for.  This has become my challenge.

Day 15 ~ Pizza Problems

I bought a gluten free pizza mix--determined to start my search for a g-free pizza crust. So I mixed it up. It had a strange texture, and I just spooned the batter out onto the baking sheet and kind of flattened it a bit with my fingers, then I prebaked the crust.

You can see the crust is way too thick and puffy for a true pizza crust. But when the pizza was finished it was reasonable, and tasted ok.

The crust stayed very soft--almost cake like, however, and not pizza like. So I must continue the search for a g-free pizza crust. A mix (which contains white rice flour and potato flour) is not the answer. I have a couple recipe ideas to try next with different gluten free flours.  I was a little discouraged about this hassle.  But David didn't really have a problem with the pizza, except to say that the crust needed to be thinner. 

Day 14 ~ Our G-free treat

Desserts and sweets have been greatly reduced since going gluten free, now two weeks ago. To my surprise, I haven't missed them all that much. I know there are some new ways of cooking that I can eventually make some things, but I have just been eating what is easy so far--like a piece of dark chocolate, or chocolate covered almonds, or my latest...ice cream. There is a Baskin Robbins within walking distance of our house, so that has been our evening entertainment several times--walk to the ice cream shop for a dish, not a cone, of ice cream. I have never been a very big ice cream eater, but I can see how I might become a fan now--it is such an easy g-free dessert.

Day 13 ~ Fast food success

I went on a road trip with a friend today and knew I would need to stop for lunch at a fast food place. So before I left the house I looked up the gluten free menu at Wendy's. They have a more extensive g-free menu than most fast food places. It was nice to make my choices on line, so that I knew what to order when we went through the drive thru. So I had Wendy's chili, a baked potato, and a Cesar salad--minus the croutons. It worked out just fine. I didn't miss the hamburger at all.

I will say I think I am sleeping much better these days. And that says a lot, as I am a notoriously poor sleeper.

Day 12 ~ Oops, I messed up!

I have had no trouble at all staying away from gluten for the last 12 days. It is always uppermost in my mind before I eat anything and I have not had any trouble forgetting...until today, when I did my first slip up. I felt like lightening was going to strike me or something, but I lived. I had been riding my bicycle in 95 degree heat, and when I stopped at my destination I was offered a cold beer. Now I don't usually even drink beer, so it is not something I have thought about other than seeing that it is on the list of foods/drinks to avoid because they have gluten in them. But as I said, I was hot and thirsty so I said yes, and reached out and grabbed the bottle and took a sip (I wont say "swig" cause that sounds like I am a lush!). Well, the cold brew had barely passed my tongue till I remembered "the list" that I had just violated!

So then what happend? I am not really sure. I sort of felt that in about an hour I got very tired and draggy like I often do, though it had been much less so the past week. So was it the taste of gluten reacting, or did I imagine it made me draggy and foggy?...I am uncertain.

Day 11 ~ Staying full

I read today that when eating gluten free you can wind up not getting enough fat in you diet for good digestion. I guess I knew we all need a certain amount of fat--good fat that is. But I never thought I would be in danger of not getting enough of it! However, David and I have observed that we don't necessarily stay full very long after a g-free meal. And when I think about it, we really are having less fat than we used to have, just by not having breads or desserts. So I think I might be a little more liberal on the butter tomorrow and see if we stay full longer--how fun is that!

Day 10 ~ G-free Gravy

I needed some gravy for my pot roast today, so after researching several recipes, I made some gluten free mushroom gravy. Gluten sure does make everything easier to do--I can't figure out why a little gluten in your flour just makes it all work better, but it does. It took 2 different flour to make gluten-free gravy: white rice flour, and sorghum flour. The procedure is a bit different than how you would make normal gravy. It turned out good though, but when it cooled down the leftovers were like congealed paint. Weird.

Before I went gluten free, I only knew 1 person that lived like that. But now all of a sudden, it seems people are daily telling me about themselves or someone in their family that is g-free. There are a lot of gluten free people lurking around!

Day 9 ~ Are we better yet?

David and I keep asking each other, "Do you think you feel better yet?". David says he does not think so. I say not necessarily. I will say we both feel different, not as draggy as before going gluten free. But part of that feels like it might be from eating smaller meals. Somehow, gluten-free food does not make you want to pig out on it! So it is almost hard to overeat, and that in itself makes you feel better. I also don't think we feel the urge to snack as much as we  used to either. However, that said, I have been eating popcorn every single night...

At lunch today, Ben's single guy friend, Shane, dropped by. He is a big guy that I imagine can eat a lot of food--but we were having our usual light, gluten free lunch, so I asked if he would like to stay and eat with us. Shane never turns food down, so he stayed. In the "old days", I would have made the lunch hearty comfort food for a guy like Shane. But I served him what we had planned: Curried pork tenderloin cubes in coconut milk sauce served over Asian celaphane noodles--with no bread, and no dessert. So that was our first g-free meal we served a guest--and we held our heads high.

Day 8 ~ Books, that's what I need

I can only look at a computer screen so long when I am researching something, till I just want a book to hold in my hands to read about it! So I checked out my neighborhood library. It is a small, cute little library, and had a decent amount of books about gluten-free living. I came home with 3 of them.

One is a cookbook, and the other two give you the organized info for why going gluten-free is a good thing. This is something that is hard to distill into a short answer when people ask me "why?"

I used a recipe from the cookbook to make graham crackers, so that I could make crumbs of them to use for a graham cracker crust for a summer pie I want to make this week. The crackers themselves turned out so-so. Hopefully, they will make better crumbs than they did crackers!

Day 7 ~ Muffin Baking--not like the old days

I have been baking muffins since I was a teenager, and I consider myself kind of an expert on muffins. But baking gluten-free muffins is a whole new experience. I don't feel like an expert any longer--I feel like I am shooting in the dark. The problem is that it takes several different kinds of odd flours (some I never heard of) to duplicate the effects of wheat flour with gluten. The next problem, is that there is not a perfect standard. Every recipe I find is very different.  Basically, you choose different amounts of two or three whole grain flours, then a smaller amount of a couple starch flours. And what you choose just depends on what you are baking--some flours are better choices for cookies, some for muffins  some better for a loaf of bread. But really, you are encouraged by the recipe to "choose the flours that have worked best for you" Well, David said I just need to start baking some muffins so I know what works best for me. But I don't like going into a baking venture knowing that there is a good chance of failure--that's no fun! (and a waste of money and time I am thinking...).

After much studying of recipes, I decided on a muffin recipe (or more like a formula) that said to choose certain amounts from any variety of two different lists of flours, then there was a list of wet ingredients, and then a list of extras, like fruit or nuts. So I guess I was kind of just making up my recipe. I used quiona flakes, sorghum flour, potato starch, oat flour and xanthon gum. I threw in some blackberries I had picked last month, and just hoped I was not wasting them...

My muffins were not horrible, and they certainly are edible. If  I were to rate them, I would say they taste like a beginner baked them with gluten flour and stirred the batter too much, so that the muffin texture got slightly tough. But I did eat two of them, one right after another, so they are acceptable...or else I was just ready for something that felt like bread! I will try a different mix of flours next time.

Day 6 ~ G-free Communion

There are daily obstacles with a gluten free diet--but I actually had not thought about communion at church. Today felt like an example of how God knows your need before you are even aware of it yourself! We went to church with Ben and Julia this morning (Houston Vineyard) and it was communion Sunday. Before I even connected my thoughts to realize that a problem was coming, the pastor said that there would be a separate plate for those that are gluten free. Sure enough, there were gluten free rice crackers broken up, with even a sign on them and a picture from the front of the cracker package to reassure any uncertain soul. In all my years of taking communion at church, I have never heard of providing gluten free communion for those that needed it. So I have no complaints today!

Day 5 ~ Saturday gluten free blues

It is really hard to get a handle on meals. I worry about them all the time--I just can't decide what to fix. What I am in the mood to cook seems to either be too complicated, or I don't have all the ingredients for it. You can't just pull any old thing out and whip it up fast for gluten free. Right now while I am still learning I have to read the labels of everything, and there seems to always be a surprise with something. I grabbed a nut bar I had around, and just as I was starting to open it, I hunted my glasses down and looked at the ingredient list--yep, it has wheat in it. So it went in a drawer of food to give to grandkids when they are hungry! ha!

I did pull out stuff to make up some new peanut butter balls that I like--I gave my old ones to Carissa. I substituted flax seed meal for the wheat germ and bran that I used to use. It worked out good--so that was one thing I was happy about  today.

I think what will help is if I make a menu a few days ahead, and then make sure I have what I need for each recipe. I might do that tomorrow. I wish I had a gluten free cookbook. I keep having to go back to the computer to look things up, and I don't like that, as I keep loosing the websites where I see something I want to make!

We stopped at Jack in the Box while we were out running around today and got a milkshake and hashbrowns--that is all we could eat there! That is where the blues set in.

Day 4 ~ Gluten-Free Party Girl

We went to a party the evening of day 4--it was a Sunday School dessert party. It was the first time I had to say out loud to a semi-stranger, "I am sorry I can't eat the dessert--I am gluten-free." Yes, it did feel awkward! The host apologized right away, and pulled out some strawberries for me! There was a carton of ice cream on the buffet--sitting by a hot cobbler--and we could have eaten the ice cream I suppose. David never got questioned about why he was not eating a dessert. There were some lovely desserts on display. To my surprise, I really had no desire for any of them. I thought it would be hard to resist, but it wasn't.

I made spaghetti for lunch with some brown rice spaghetti. It was good enough--not my favorite kind of pasta texture, but I was ok with it. So spaghetti can remain on the menu. I am still going though what there is a substitute for, and what we just have to give up. It does feel a little lonely in this new place...

The McDonald's Adventure

Dinner on Day 3
Carissa asked us if we wanted to go to McDonald's with her family tonight to celebrate Lillian's graduation from kindergarten--yeah! But as soon as I said yes, the fear set in...How would I know what was gluten-free there? But no fear, Carissa downloaded an App on her phone that tells what menu items at each fast food joint are gluten free! Isn't that nice! My plan was to order a salad with grilled chicken--but guess what? That is not g-free!  But the Caesar salad alone is g-free, and the double cheeseburger without the bun is g-free--so that is what David and I ordered. We cut the double burger in half, then each cut it up in pieces to scatter on the two salads. It worked great although we later agreed we would have liked the full double burger on each of our salads. So next time we wont share the burger. The cost of the salad and the cost of the bun-less burger was still less that the cost of the salad with grilled chicken.

None of us could figure out what McDonald's does to the grilled chicken to render it NOT gluten-free as you would expect. I have heard that their French fries is coated in flour to make them crispier--so they are not g-free either.

Overall, I was happy with my meal, and did not feel deprived. I am not sure David felt that way--he is still grieving the loss of burgers in his life...poor guy.

My First 3 Days of Gluten Free

It's breakfast time on Day 1 of the g-free project. So we started out with scrambled eggs cooked with corn tortillas and salsa, and a mixture of fruit and yogurt for breakfast. Then we had quiona and sausage stir fried  for lunch--made up with what was in the fridge, basically. (I hadn't had time to plan anything better.) But then we had a decent dinner of honey peppered salmon, quiona salad made like tabouli, and roasted asparagus. I can see now that quiona, which we ate occasionally before, will be a regular on our table from now on. This gluten-free grain offers a lot of fiber and nutrition, which I feel we are loosing out on when we give up wheat.

Even though this was a lovely meal, all of the first day of g-free, I felt like I was in mourning for all the lovely things I had always made out of wheat: muffins, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, yeast rolls and breads, holiday baking, and not to mention pies, cakes, cookies and things like that! David mourned his breakfast cereals he loves, and hamburgers most of all...So the first day, though partly exciting, like a new adventure, felt very sad for the things we were saying good-by to.

Day 2 of g-free
I woke up feeling great! However, David woke up not as great, and had a couple grumpy spells of depression during the day. I read that this is normal for some people when wheat is taken out of their diet--the body is readjusting. I personally wondered if it was from the lack of carbs--since carbs give you a sense of well being. This is not a carb free diet at all, but there are definitely less carbs. We had eggs again for breakfast. I spent most of the day doing lots of research on how to cook and eat out when you are gluten-free.

My plan had been to just eat fruits and veggies and simple meats all summer--then figure out how to add some  gluten-free baking to our diet. Baking seems to be rather tricky with gluten-free flours. However, David looked up Houston Gluten Free Bakery, and wanted to go there, so we did. The bread there was $7.00 a loaf--a small loaf. We passed it up and went to Whole Foods. There we found some baking supplies. Then we tried out Walmart and found a good selection there too. I bought a gluten-free pancake mix and cornbread mix, plus some special flours to make muffins out of. We got David some Corn Chex, so he could have a breakfast cereal. Here again though, it bothered me that we were buying a cereal pretty low on the nutrition/fiber chart.

For lunch I cooked salmon patties with the leftover salmon, using arepa pre-cooked cornmeal for the coating on them (instead of bread crumbs). We had the quiona tabouli one last time, and sauteed zucchini and asparagus.

For dinner, we went to El Rey (a fast food Mexican/Cuban restaurant). It was pretty easy to order gluten free food. That felt like a reward. David said the problem he saw with the diet, is that he feels hungry between meals. I am not sure why this is, but I have kind of felt that too. We did remember we can eat ice cream, so we did that tonight!

Day 3
I woke up with a headache, feeling achy, and low energy. That was really discouraging. I sometimes wake up like this...but was not expecting it today. I wondered if maybe I had unknowingly eaten gluten at El Rey...but couldn't think what it would be...So I decided it was my "detox" period, kind of like David had yesterday. He seemed to feel better today himself.

I made rice flour pancakes for breakfast, and it almost felt like old times! They were good. We have been eating lots of fruit--more than our usual amount. We eat it more for snacks now, since there are a lot of snacks we can't eat. Yesterday I began pulling out all the gluten laden foods from the pantry, freezer and fridge to give away to Julia and Carissa. There was a LOT!! Today I arranged all the new foods in the pantry.