Day 119 ~ Banana nut bread that I will repeat!

I have made so many recipes that I know I will never make again. In fact, most of the baking recipes are that way! But I finally came upon a banana nut bread that is not only delicious and has a"normal" texture, but it tastes good the next day too! All my other bread and muffins were so dry the next day. I put some of the bread in the freezer--so we will see how that is when I defrost it. Freezing has not worked well for any baked goods so far.

This new recipe calls for Teff flour, (a nutritious g-free flour) and for cream cheese. Maybe it is the cream cheese that makes the difference.

Day 112 ~ Freezing g-free baked and processed foods

Last week I made a couple g-free things for the freezer, to have on hand for company. I was a little disappointed in the results after freezing, particularly with muffins, and a noodle casserole. The muffins were wonderful straight out of the oven--very delicious. As soon as they cooled, I packaged them up and put them in the freezer. But when I later thawed the muffins out and reheated them, they were very dry. The noodles developed a problem too.  The casserole tasted wonderful when first made, but once frozen and later thawed, the noodles became soft and mushy when reheated.

Gluten-free food is always a challenge.

Day 103 ~ The 3 1/2 month evaluation

For months now, people have been asking me if I feel any difference since going g-free. My answer has been, "Not really--not yet anyway." But last Tuesday, I realized I did feel better. But I thought it was a fluke--a good day--so I gave it another day, and another....till I have decided that I really do feel better. My arthritis in general is better, less joint pain, and I have a more energetic interest in my day, instead of just pushing myself through the day and the things I want to do.

The odd thing though, is that last Monday I actually felt very bad--achy and draggy--worse than normal. So when Tuesday came and I felt great, it was a surprise. I don't know what that would be all about, but maybe it was the last of the system getting cleaned out or something--who knows!

From all I have read, it seems that inflammation caused by gluten can take about 3 months to begin to calm down. So it seems that might be true in my case too. I am curios to see what 6 months without gluten will do.

Day 99 ~ A perfect cookie

I sometimes need to serve a little dessert or sweet to company that I don't particularly want to explain my g-free diet to. So I try to find a gluten-free food that will not make people question. Now that is easy with a meal--there are lots of naturally g-free meals: such as steak, baked potato, salad--all g-free, and no one would think a thing about it. But desserts and breakfast are just a little bit harder to hide what's going on.

So this week I needed a g-free cookie to serve a guest on Friday--and I wanted no suspicion about it's ingredients. I wanted a crispy oatmeal, pecan cookie--one like the one I like to make in "What We Cook". So I searched the internet till I found a g-free oatmeal cookie that had a similar ingredient list, except with all the g-free flours and gar gum--which you have to have to take the place of gluten. Well, my cookie worked! It was 95% the same as it's wheat counter part. The only concern was that the cookie breaks apart into crumbs very easily, so it is rather delicate. But the taste and crispness is perfect--so I am happy!

Day 96 ~ G-free motivator

One thing I like about my g-free project, is that it has become my motivator to say no to most sweets--since most sweets have flour in them.. Like last night--there was a plate of brownies sitting before me at a dinner party--normally I would have eagerly taken one, then eventually, ate a second one also. But I didn't eat any. Then today at Sunday School--we always have a table of Shipley donuts (really awesome looking, fragrant donuts) of every flavor, but I resist week after week.

I don't know why I found it hard to just say no to sweets before, but it was quite a struggle. Now, I just feel a bit sad, but it is not hard to do without. Of course, I have found ways to address my sweet tooth--chocolate candy, and ice cream are two things I didn't eat much before, but have on hand now as my quick go to for something sweet. So maybe I have not improved anything, just changed out my bad habits to new bad habits!