questions and no answers

It's been awhile since I have updated this. Mostly because I have no idea what to say. It was recommended to me to have daughter tested for celiac/gluten intollerance. A blood test of some sort. I went to her doctor and had the test ordered. He recommended that she go back on gluten, since we had been off it for a month, before taking the test. We did that, and didn't see any adverse effects. Then I didn't know what to think. I did not have her take the blood test.

Then it was recommended that I go see an allergist. Not your normal kind, but the kind that does the muscle testing. She showed a slight allergy to wheat and dairy. She went off it for a couple of weeks and the doctor did some strange kinesiology type body talking thing that I don't understand, in order to 'heal' her of this allergy. She then tested negative to an allergy. I realize that allergy is different than intollerance.

So, I am at a loss at this point. What I know is this, she still has constipation struggles and some gas, but not as much as before. She still gets tummy aches/cramping after eating flour products, but not every time. So my best guess is that she has a slight intollerance/inability to digest gluten. What has worked at this point is having her chew papaya enzymes when she gets a tummy ache. It stops shortly afterward.

I wonder if building her stomach flora would help and getting her on enzymes regularly? Maybe doing a intestinal cleanse?

We are currently eating gluten. However the changes I have made are that I don't buy bread anymore. Well, not as often. We would go through a couple loaves a week. Now I buy one loaf about every three weeks. I have resorted to frozen waffles in the mornings for ease, but I'd like to change that too. My girl loves pasta and I don't want to eliminate it all together, so maybe having it a couple times a month for dinner would be good.

One thing I did notice is that we were eating healthier and felt healthier not eating gluten. It would probably be a good idea to keep to that kind of diet at least at home. I plan on updating our journey, where ever it takes us.

Susan

Testing

We went to the pediatrician yesterday to see about getting the Celiac panel test for daughter. He ordered it and recommended we go back on gluten for at least a week before getting the test. So last night we had pizza, today a donut and a cheese bagel. I know...not the healthiest options by far. But guess what....nothing so far. Not one tummyache. Now, I realize it may be a day or two for her to have a reaction.

After talking with a friend, who recommended her chiropractor who also does allergy testing, I have decided to give that a try before getting the blood test. We go in on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oatmeal cookies

I made oatmeal cookies today.

If you can't tell by now I am quite the experimenter when it comes to cooking. I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I improvise a lot, adding in our preferred ingredients and omitting the ones we dislike. Except for making cakes, which I do exactly as the recipe calls for.

All that to say, I experimented again. I used the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. I didn't have brown sugar so I used honey instead. I replaced the flour with GF flour blend. I added Xanthan Gum.

They taste great. Really, they do. However they did not flatten out like I hoped, staying in their little formed balls. They also have a very powdery texture. I don't think I will make them like this again. But I wrote down what I did so I can experiment in the future and maybe perfect them.

I'm such a rebel, not following the recipes in my GF cookbooks, thinking I can come up with something on my own. Silly I know, but sometimes the challenge of accomplishing something like this drives me.

Main cookbook I have by Carol Fenster looks like it has great recipes, but I haven't purchased enough of the flours to create the quantity of blend she calls for. Each of her recipes that uses flour has a portion of the blend and then some more ingredients to add to it. Right now, I just need to have a little on hand since we are still in the experiment stage.

If anybody is interested in how I made the cookies in detail, let me know and I will post it.

Turkey Loaf Muffins

Sounds gross I know. But they turned out so good and the kids loved them.

I used:
1 lb of ground turkey
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c tapioca
1 egg
seasoning: salt, pepper, thyme
I just shake some in, but probably about 1/2 tsp salt and thyme, and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Mix all together and squish a hand full into a sprayed muffin tin. One pound made about 7 muffins. I baked at 350 for about 40 minutes. Ten minutes before I topped each muffin with ketchup mixed with a little brown sugar and let it bake on. About a Tbs per muffin. Or just slather it on.

They were so very tasty and the perfect serving size. My only mistake was that I didn't make enough. I keep forgetting that we are a 2 lb family.

A possible reaction to gluten

On Saturday hubby took the kids to lunch. They went to a Hawaiian restaurant and had rice with terriyaki chicken. That evening GFdaughter had bad stomach cramps. I think it may have been the terriyaki sauce on the chicken. I'm sure it was filled with flour/wheat in the soy sauce. He had forgotten about that possibility. It so easy to think of gluten items as being mostly bread a pasta and if you avoid those you will be fine. It's easy to forget that gluten is in so many other things. We will keep going with the elimination and test her in a few weeks so we can have accurate results. But I really do think she is gluten intolerant. She is feeling much better. Her stomach aches have stopped. She is eating a wider variety of foods. If we have bread in the house she will default to bread and eat nothing else. She is also eating more. She seems to be hungry a lot more. She has typically been a really small eater. Did I mention she is also our smallest child. Her younger sister of 2 1/2 years is the same size as her and wears the same size shoes. Now small does run in the family, but I do wonder if she just hasn't gotten the nutrition that she has needed.

Banana Muffins

I decided to try to make banana muffins today. I finally made up my flour mix using the recipe from GF Quick and Easy (Carol Fenster)

1 1/2 C Sorghum flour
1 1/2 C potato starch or cornstarch
1 C tapioca flour

I doubled this so I would have enough to bake a few things before replenishing the supply. I wanted to avoid any flour blend that used bean flour. I just don't like the smell or flavor of it.

I then used the Better Homes and Garden cookbook for the banana bread recipe. I used my GF blend and added 1 t of Xanthan gum. I still don't know what this does. I just see it in a lot of bread type recipes so I added it. Maybe someone can tell me??

Well, I was impressed with the way they turned out. They were light and soft. A little dry, but that is ok. The texture was really good. The girls were very satisfied with them.

A twist

Since we have been on this GF diet, I have not eaten much gluten. With a family of 5 I'm not about to make two separate meals. So we all eat what GF daughter eats. Last night we went to small group and for dessert I had some apple cobbler and a piece of a brownie. I immediately got a stomach ache and by the time I got home I had to make a visit to the bathroom. Is it coincidence? Or am I also gluten intolerant and did not realize it? I did not have symptoms like my daughter did. But I wouldn't be surprised, as I was pretty addicted to bread and bread products. The funny thing is that I really don't miss all the bread I ate. I guess when you make an effort to feed yourself other nutritious foods, the cravings go away. I'm just guessing here. One thing I have noticed is that I really think that we are eating healthier than we ever have. I think I will do this little experiment for myself and see what happens.

Granola

I made granola this week for the first time ever and I wondered why I haven't done this before. It is so easy to make, and so good and so inexpensive to make.

I used this recipe

I made a few changes to fit our taste. I omitted the raisins and put dried cranberries instead. I omitted the peanut butter and doubled the honey. I doubled the recipe which I recommend if you have more than two people eating it, because it will go fast.

Every one loved it. Including GFdaughter. I will be making this a regular.

Hopefully up next will be a weekly lunch menu. I struggle with lunches the most, since I grew up on sandwiches and tended to feed the girls that. I will be hunting the GF sites for some ideas. I'm looking for all the ways I can simplify.

corn bread

I tried the Blueberry dish that I posted and I really liked it. The girls liked it too, but hubby did not. It had nothing, whatsoever to do with the recipe, or me as a cook, but with the type of dish it was. He just doesn't eat egg casserole/dutch baby type dishes. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

We had my inlaws over for dinner tonight to celebrate my daughters 10th birthday. I made a beef soup and decided that I needed something else to go with it. I decided to try Corn Bread with what I had on hand. It was a bit of a riot and the fact that it turned out edible is astonishing.

Here is what I did:

I started out with looking in my GF cookbook and found an easy recipe. I did not have corn meal but Polenta so I used that instead. It also called for the quickbread flour mix that the author has a recipe for. I didn't have that either because I have not invested in the flour varieties. So I used what I had, which is rice flour. I saw that the flour mix has sugar and baking powder, but not until I had the batter in the pan, so I dumped it back into a bowl, added those two things in an estimated amount, then added more milk, because it looked a bit thick and dry. I dumped it back into the pan and cooked it. It was dense, and tasted more like polenta than a crumbly corn bread, but hey, it was edible and no one complained and it went great with the beef and vegetable soup.

I'm a bit of a risk taker when it comes to cooking. I guess you can say it's the extent of thrill seeking that I engage in. My husband laughes at me because I often will bring first time recipes to potlucks, and just hope and pray it turns out.

Breakfast Blueberry Pudding

Here is a recipe we will try this week. A friend who is embarking on this experiment for herself requested it. (from Wheat Free, Gluten Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults)

1T butter, melted
4 eggs
1/3 c sifted GF flour mix
2t vanilla
1 c milk
1/4 c honey
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
2/3 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.Put melted butter, eggs, flour blend, vanilla, milk, honey, salt, cinnamon into blender--blend until smooth.
3. Spray 9in square pan with gf nonstick spray. Pour mixture into pan.
4. Gently stir in blueberries.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden.
6. Cute into squares, drizzle with syrup.
Makes 9- 3 in. square servings.

Headache

Last night we went to small group where we have a shared meal. One the way there, hubby decided that he would make due on his promise and take the girls to DQ first for an ice cream. Crazy, I know. I didn't say anything this time about the food choice but daughter got herself a kids cone. I am assuming that the cone is not gluten free. That evening at small group she complained of a headache. Coincidence? I don't know, but keeping track is likely the only thing that is going to help us figure out if she does have gluten intolerance.

Our staple food

I'm thinking that our staple food is going to be nachos. Tortilla chips, refried beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes---it just doesn't get better than that. Besides, my gf girl loves it! I'm going to try to make a spanish rice today from scratch. I have tried several times before and it just doesn't come out right. I'll let you know how it goes.
Susan

This weeks menu

Dinner:
Pot Roast with roasted vegetables
Beef Vegetable Soup in Crock Pot
Spaghetti with GF pasta
Nachos
Yum Bowls

Breakfast:
Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Home made GF granola (from GFMommy website)
Breakfast Blueberry Pudding
Selection of GF cereals

Lunch: (ideas)
Hard boiled eggs
Hardboiled egg salad with rice crackers and fruit
lunch meat
cheddar cheese
fruit
yogurt

And I have no idea what else. Lunch stumps me because I live on sandwiches.

The fact that I have gotten this far on the weekly menu is a miracle. While I love to cook, I don't enjoy figuring it all out. I think what makes this easier right now is that I love looking through cookbooks and that is what I am spending a lot of time doing. But to actually have to make a decision and plan it all out, that is another story entirely. Partly because it is the decision making and partly because I know it takes me forever. And that is because I eat based on what I feel like eating for that week. If I don't feel like it then I won't plan for it. So I pass by a lot of recipes before I come to one that sounds good. Also, because I don't really have a standard list of meals we eat, I plan entirely based out of cookbooks. One thing I did to simplify is plan that week out of one cookbook instead of three. That way I only have one on the counter at a time, and when I write the page number next to the meal, I don't have to write the cookbook title down. Well, that was a bit wordy.

Susan

Yeah Pancakes

The birthday breakfast menu consisted of smoothies with banana's frozen strawberries, plain yogurt and apple juice. Boy were those tasty. Bacon and pancakes were also served. I used the Cottage Cheese Pancake recipe in my new cookbook "Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults." Instead of using the flour mix like they said I just used rice flour. I haven't bought all my flour ingredients to make up a mix. They tasted great, the kids loved them and they were scarfed down. The birthday party was a smashing success, I survived and now the house is totaled.

Susan

Pizza Dough

Tonight we picked up some Little Caesars Pizza for the mob of girls that came to the birthday party.

My challenge was what to do for pizza for the birthday girl. If you buy a premade mix of gluten free pizza flour it is very expensive. I probably should have done that though.

I ended up buying a freezer gluten free pizza crust (Natures Hilights). It was made with brown rice. Logic would tell me that this wasn't a good idea, but I did it anyway. I mean, who mixes brown rice with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Not a good combination.

Since I am so new to this gluten free experiment I am bound to flop quite a bit. I also decided to have a back up plan. It failed miserably. I had in the pantry Bob's Remill Gluten Free flour mix. I used that to follow a pizza crust recipe from a standard cookbook. I added the required amount of Zanthan Gum and yeast.

After I smeared pizza sauce all over it I decided to have a little nibble of the raw crust. Blech! It tasted stongly of raw beans. I gave it another chance though. I pulled another little piece off and stuck it in the toaster oven to cook. Still not good. I decided not to waste all the cheese and throw this crust in the trash.

The rice crust pizza really wasn't too bad. It was a bit chewy. Phi gave it a good go though, the brave girl. We ended up giving her a regular piece of pizza. After all, it is her birthday.

Susan

Super Sweet Pink Yummy Gluten Free Goodness

Today is the 10th birthday party of our middle child. She will be indulged with pottery painting, pizza for dinner, movie and popcorn, and five giggly girl friends staying the night. What fun!

I bought Pamela's gluten free white cake mix, added ground up dehydrated strawberries, because she insisted on a strawberry cake, and came up with this. They taste fantastic. I actually like them better than standard cake mix. They have a little more substance and seem more like a muffin than an airy cupcake.

So far we have tried Bob's Redmill chocolate cake mix and it turned out great too. Moist and chocolatey and you couldn't tell the difference. Warning: Don't eat the batter raw though---YUCK! It tasted like grass or something earthy. I think it was the fava bean flour. Yuck.

Namaste pancake mix is pretty good too. A bit thin, so next time I will add less water to the mix.

Well, gotta run to the store to get more food for this party. I have to find a gluten free pizza dough for tonight.

Post more pictures when the party is over. If I have enough energy!
Susan

Going Gluten Free

I have suspected for a while that one child in our home is gluten sensitive, intolerant, allergic or whatever you want to call it. I've known that I needed to do something about it. At least do an elimination test to see for sure. But, I've been a lazy mom. I know it is going to be a lot of work. I'm such an all or nothing kind of gal that I feel like I need to do all my research, planning and learning before I even start. I don't want to fail.

Reality tells me that there will be plenty of trial and error and that the learning will be ongoing. So, I'm jumping in with both feet. My prayer is that it won't be too difficult to make the switch for this child, and that we will find some answers and improve her health.

Thankfully I have a friend who is a step ahead of me on this journey and I can have local support.

I received a gift card for Christmas and got two cookbooks to help me out.



I already have a couple of favorite blogs about eating Gluten Free
Gluten Free Mommy
Gluten Free Gobsmacked
Gluten Free Girl

I'm sure it won't be long before I add to that list. I just love that I can find blogs on living gluten free. It makes learning so much more enjoyable to me.