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.