Gluten Free Donuts: a first attempt

Life hasn't been very conducive to blogging lately. Between job hunting (which is consuming most of my time), going away to visit my family, and all those little things that crop up that must be done, I haven't had a chance to post. I'm still baking and cooking up a gluten free storm, though - that part of life doesn't change. Usually I'm in too much of a hurry to take pictures of what I make, so I'll just have to wait to make them again before posting the recipes.

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Hm, just discovered a post I started several weeks ago and never got a chance to finish. Here goes:

Yesterday was a gorgeous, glorious, sunny, warm spring day. I went for a 5 mile walk to the grocery store and back and got a whole bunch of strawberries. I was in the mood for some strawberry shortcake, so using a basic cake recipe* and the strawberries I had gotten along with some whipped cream to go with them, we had this for dessert. Who says eating gluten free is boring?

*I used this cake recipe, minus the raspberries.

Feeling Alive!

Something wonderful has happened in the past few days. For a whole month after I finished the gluten challenge I was exhausted all the time. I felt lots better than I had felt while on it, and the brain fog was absent, as was the whole body aching, but I just couldn't shake being tired. I was very worried about this: I thought it might never change, I wasn't sure it had been induced by the gluten. What if gluten was just part of the problem, and there was something deeper? Probably worrying about it made me even more tired. I was taking naps during the day whenever I could. I was sleeping at least 8 hours a night (though I'm not convinced my sleep was very good quality.

This week on Monday and Tuesday I got sick, in addition to being tired. Blagh. How was I ever going to have the energy to apply for jobs, and get all the other thousand-and-one things done that I wanted to do? Should I chalk this exhaustion up to depression? To being by myself all day every day? I just didn't know what to think.

I started taking vitamin supplements again (especially vitamin D), but with all the studies recently about the uncertainty of whether supplements do any good, I figured it was an empty gesture.

But then, on Tuesday afternoon after my nap (I was out like a rock for an hour), I started to feel like a new person! Maybe it was the nap? Maybe it was going out to see a friend right after that? I figured I would probably crash again, but I'd enjoy it while it lasted, and when Hubs came home from work, he was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a much more cheerful wife than he'd seen in a while (especially at the end of the day).

In spite of very poor sleep on Tuesday night, my energy continued into Wednesday, and then yesterday as well. My cold came back suddenly, with a vengeance, but even that didn't drag me down! I feel GREAT! It's already 10:45am and I don't need a nap! And don't feel likely to need one in the near future, either. HURRAY!!!!

I guess it just took me a whole month to get over the effects of the gluten. Which isn't really a surprise, but I wasn't giving myself a chance to get better.

Huzzah for energy! It is amazing to feel alive again. And that gluten stuff is poison.

Best-Ever No-Boil Gluten-Free Lasagna

 (see this lasagna? It's gluten free. And I made it myself.)

When I was growing up, my Mom made the most *wonderful* lasagna. Moist and saucy and full of melted cheese. None of this dry stuff with a little sauce and a trace of cheese scraped between the gooey noodles. The other thing that I loved about my mom's recipe: no boiling the lasagna pasta before making the lasagna! There's plenty of of moisture in the sauce, and it just seeps into the noodles and cooks them as the whole thing bakes. No more painstaking pulling apart of boiled lasagna, hoping it doesn't tear (or cling together 3 pieces thick). It's crazy-easy!

Fact or Fiction #1: Eating Gluten Free makes you skinny!

I can't even count anymore the number of times people have said to me or about me, "oh, she's so skinny because there's nothing she can eat, with this gluten free diet..." 

NOT TRUE! Quite the opposite, in fact. Back when I was very sick from eating gluten, I was losing weight like crazy no matter what I ate. My roommates and I joked about the pizza diet where you could eat pizza three times a day and still lose weight. That's exactly what was happening to me (well, 2 times a day). I had a raging appetite, ate anything I wanted and ate it in large amounts. Actually, I needed to eat this much because if I didn't, my blood sugar would start dropping. People thought I had a roaring metabolism. It seemed like any girl's (or an guy's for that matter) dream come true. But I felt utterly miserable all the time, and I wasn't absorbing most of what I was eating. This was serious malnutrition.

See! It's Gluten Free! 1.2

 

My breakfast this morning: waffle with butter & apricot jam, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs sprinkled with parmesan.

Waffles courtesy of Trader Joe's. Their Wheat Free/Gluten Free waffles are delicious.  I don't remember what Eggos taste like exactly, but I'm pretty sure these aren't far off. And no, all gluten free meals do not have to involve eggs. I've just been enjoying eggs a lot recently.

Perfect Gluten Free Granola Bars

So I made granola bars last night because I've been craving something easy to make for breakfast, and cereal doesn't agree with me too much these days (well, the milk really doesn't agree with me). I was vaguely hoping for something healthy... but convenience won out once I found this recipe, and they *are* semi-healthy (I put flax seeds in them ;). I thought, "this is good, the recipe makes a whole pan and I can eat a couple a day and they'll last me a while."

I didn't reckon with Hubs and his munchies whenever I make something (although I'm flattered that he likes my cooking so much). I also didn't plan on how much *I* would like them. This morning I've already eaten 5! They are sooo delicious, though a bit on the sweet side. I might cut the sugar next time.

King Arthur Returns! (To my diet, 1 March 2010)

Just a few weeks ago Hubs asked me if King Arthur flour had any gluten free baking mixes and I said no, but I wouldn't be suprised if they were working on it. Imagine my delight when I discovered that, lo and behold, as of March 1, they are launching a whole line of gluten free flours and mixes! Thanks, King Arthur!

In case you can't read that super-fine print, the forthcoming lineup includes mixes for:

• Multi-Purpose Flour (and there is NO BEAN FLOUR in it. YES!)
• Pizza Crust
• Brownies
• Cookies
• Bread
• Pancakes
• Muffins
• Chocolate Cake

Also, they'll be offering potato starch, tapioca flour, and rice flour in individual bags. That's quite an impressive array of products to begin with. Hopefully they will succeed and keep offering these products!

I'm very excited about this announcement, though the prices look a bit steeper than I like (~$7/mix). Still I intend to try the mixes and see how they compare to both gluten-filled varieties and the gluten free ones I've made (from scratch and mixes). I'm especially excited about the Multi-Purpose mix.

New Flour

I found a new kind of flour through some internet browsing that I want to try: Tom Sawyer's Gluten-free blend. It looks similar to another mix I like, Jules Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour.  Have any of you tried the Tom Sawyer's? Would you recommend it?

I haven't been around as much lately, and it's been harder to blog since I'm looking for a job. It's more fun to blog than hunt a job, of course. The job-hunt is turning into a very slow, very overwhelming project. I hope there will be a light at the end of the tunnel soon.

In the mean time of course, even though I'm not blogging as consistently, I'm still living as gluten-free as ever and working on new and delicious food every day.

I'll have some pictures and recipes coming soon.

Celiac Testing: the results are in

Yesterday I got the results back from my biopsies and blood tests that were done at the beginning of February.  All of them are negative for Celiac Disease. And I am not sure how I feel about this.

It is good if I don't have celiac disease. It means that my accidental ingestion of gluten may have less severe long-term impacts for my body. It means that if I slip up now and then, it's not necessarily a big deal. It also means that others in my family are less likely to have it, and my future children as well. All this is good. But I am confused.

Wheat that Celiacs can eat? Yes, please!

An article in the WSJ Market Watch today caught my attention: Apparently there is a company in California, Arcadia Biosciences, that is working on developing wheat with less gluten in it, with the goal that it can be tolerated by people who have celiac disease and gluten intolerance. That sounds amazing! I'm a little bit skeptical since from what I understand, Celiacs can't tolerate even the tiniest amounts of gluten without sustaining damage. However, they are moving the project to Phase II, and have just received large amounts of grant money, so there must be some promise of success. I found this paragraph of the article very interesting:

"Arcadia and WSU received a Phase I grant in 2005 through which the organizations applied TILLING(R), a high-throughput genetic screening technology, to identify wheat plants with low levels of proteins that are most toxic to individuals with celiac disease. Significant progress in the Phase I program drove the Phase II application and grant funding. Phase II activities will take a broader approach and seek to remove a far greater number of toxic proteins while maintaining levels of proteins that are critical for bread-making qualities. The company also believes that removal of targeted toxic proteins could cause an increase in beneficial proteins and potentially lead to more nutritious bread."

 That sounds incredible. Maintaining the bread-making properties while removing the toxic gluten properties. Success of such a product would mean that people with gluten intolerance could eat wheat again, though I'm sure that the general food-making industry wouldn't switch over to this low-gluten wheat. Celiacs would still have to purchase specially marked "gluten-free" foods and flours, but if wheat were among them, that could make some things a whole lot easier.

View the entire article: Arcadia Biosciences Receives $855,500 Grant to Fund Next-Stage Development of Wheat with Reduced Celiac Disease Potential

Thoughts on Baking Gluten Free bread

Tonight I'm baking a loaf of gluten free bread. It's been a while since I've had a fresh loaf, and it always tastes better fresh than pre-packaged from the store. I haven't had much time lately (with so many other things I've needed to make), so I'm making it from a mix. The best mix I've found for gluten free bread is from the company Schar. They advertise themselves as the #1 gluten free brand in Europe, and all their stuff is reliably delicious. Their pasta tastes like regular, their pre-packaged bread is the best I've had, and their "sandwich bread" mix is also delicious.


It's also very easy. Just add a little oil and water to the mix and yeast (also included in the mix package), pour into pan, and let rise till doubled. Then bake and you're done.

While baking a lot of gluten free goodies like cakes and cookies there isn't a lot different, beyond finding a good flour substitute for the wheat, when baking bread you have to completely rethink the chemistry. The reason our regular bread works the way it does, with the rising and the kneading is because all the gluten in the bread is what works in conjunction with the yeast to make all those little bubbles that trap the air. The gluten is what makes the bread elastic-y when you knead it, and the more you knead it the better it works.

A disaster, and then gluten free Chocolate Stout Cake

We are snowed in again, which has resulted in more hanging out with our neighbors downstairs. It's wonderful when you have friends as your neighbors (and in this case, tenants). We've had so many snowbound days this winter that it's become a tradition for us to get together on them. Early in the day, T&B (downstairs neighbors) knocked on the door and invited us to dinner, along with R, our neighbor on the other side of the building.

Basic Principles... there are some

I've learned a lot since beginning the gluten free diet, and what I've learned has made me enjoy it more and more. I started it with some of the same misconceptions that many others have:

• "everything" has gluten in it
• you'll never be able to eat bread and all those other things you love again
• it's hard cooking gluten free
• gluten free food tastes gross

But cutting gluten out of my diet made me feel SO much better, that I was encouraged to keep at it. The more I learned, thought about it, and lived it, the more I realized some basic principles. Here are 8:

• You can still eat BUTTER and tons of other foods/ingredients that are naturally gluten free: meat, eggs, vegetable, fruit, nuts, spices, beans, rice, corn, maple syrup, honey, sugar, butter, cheese, milk, chocolate, coffee, tea and much more that I can't even think of right now. These "always-have-been gluten free" foods didn't used to put that on the label, but as folks are becoming more aware of gluten intolerance, they are doing so, and it's incredibly helpful. Heinz Ketchup, for example, says "gluten free" on it now.
  
  

See! It's Gluten Free! 1.1

It's snowing again, and work is cancelled, so Hubs and I got up late and had breakfast even later. I made us scrambled eggs, melting butter in the frying pan, and whisking the eggs with a little milk, garlic salt, oregano and pepper before cooking them in the nicely browning butter. Then I melted a slice of provolone cheese over the top before serving, along with a (very juicy) clementine.

Why do some people think that gluten free food tastes bad? Or that "nothing" is gluten free and you have to go through contortions to make it so? This tasted every bit as good as it looks. And really, many foods are naturally gluten free, especially if made from scratch. 

Gluten-Free Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

This weekend it snowed in Philly. A lot. It was a good excuse for a little baking. I'd planned to make this scrumptious-looking poppy seed lemon cake from smitten kitchen. But the ONE thing I'd forgotten to stock up on before the snow storm (well actually, I only stocked up on one thing: ice cream, naturally) was lemons. But I always have a lemon or two withering away in my refrigerator fruit drawer, so I expected to find one there as usual.

But no. Not a one. I guess they had withered to the point of no return and I'd thrown them away some time ago. Well, no lemons = no lemon zest. And no lemon zest = no poppy seed lemon cake. 

Since life clearly wasn't giving me lemons, I had to find another cake to make. I was in the mood for raspberries so I looked for a recipe with those, and happened upon this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, also from Smitten Kitchen.

And I made it. Twice. It is that good. 

Both cakes are now completely gone (and no, I didn't eat them all myself). 

* both photos are of the first cake. the 2nd one looked even better*

It was really easy to make this cake "gluten-free." I just substituted the original flour with one of my favorite all-purpose gluten free flour mixes. And also made sure all the other ingredients were gluten free, which most of them naturally are anyway (eggs, milk, butter, etc). 

In which the Damozel undergoes an endoscopy

So yesterday was my big celiac testing day! Hubs was a darling and took the day off of work to drive me back and forth from the procedure. There was anesthesia involved, so I wasn't allowed to drive myself home. Besides, it was just comforting to me to have him there.

We got there plenty early (9:30am for the 10:15 procedure) to fill out any remaining paperwork. Then I was taken back into one of the exam rooms, given a gown to change into, a bag to put my belongings in, and then I just sat and waited, perusing the sparse assortment of magazines to help keep my mind off my very hungry stomach (I'd had to fast - no food and no water - since the night before) and suppress my slight fear.

Testing Day

Well, today's the day - blood test and endoscopy at 10:15.

I really want a cup of coffee right now. But I can't. Fasting for the test - not allowed to eat or drink since midnight. 

I hope this was all worth it!

Genetic Testing for Celiac Disease - Consults Blog - NYTimes.com

Genetic Testing for Celiac Disease - Consults Blog - NYTimes.com

I thought this was interesting, since I've been thinking about gene testing lately.

Gluten Free fraud?

What?! Wow - who would have thought! I can understand this happening as an accident out of ignorance, but not intentionally. I guess someone figured out there's money in lying about whether a product is gluten free. 

Bread seller charged after gluten-free claims

It doesn't sound that serious, but really it is VERY serious for people who have celiac disease. For them, ingesting even the smallest amounts of gluten can lead to life-threatening illnesses and cancers. Not to mention the pain, exhaustion, headaches, digestive upsets, etc, that eating gluten causes in the near-term.

Gorging myself on Pillsbury (& the like)

                                                (pssst.... this is what I've been eating lately)

So normally Hubs and I eat home cooked foods, and very very little pre-packaged processed foods. Well, that has majorly gone down the tubes since I started on the gluten challenge.  I've lost my will to bake from scratch, for at least two reasons: 1) I am so tired I don't feel like doing anything except the bare minimum & 2) all the recipes and ideas I want to try involve gluten free ingredients. I just don't derive the same joy anymore from cooking the old way, in part because I now have a mild phobia of wheat flour.

Plus, why not milk this for all it's worth? I've had 6 weeks to eat all the foods that had been off limits before.  At the beginning I was surprised at how hard it was for me to make myself bite, chew, and swallow these gluten-filled foods. I know, surprising! You'd think I'd be scarfing them down in ecstasies of delight. But I know how sick they make me feel, and that turns me off. Still, once I got going I started to enjoy re-tasting all the junk/fast food that ordinarily I can't eat. It's been a bit of a race to fit it all in.

Below, a smattering of what I've lived on for the past 5.5 weeks:

So What and Why this Blog?

So why another blog about living gluten-free? There are already plenty of them out there. Many very fine ones, each with their own niche and points of interest. Often they focus on recipes, or where to find gluten free foods, or how to live gluten free on a budget.

This blog is the story of my continued journey into learning and loving the gluten free life, and the discoveries I make along the way. While it's a life I never anticipated, since it was thrust upon me a year and a half ago I've come to enjoy it and the challenges it presents. I've learned so much, had fun beginning to experiment with the completely different chemistry that's necessary to cook and bake with these new ingredients, and found that life on a gluten free diet is as much full of joys, delights, and "normalcy," as any other could be. Far from the miserable nightmare that I heard about when I started, it has surprised me how easy it is in many ways!

Also when I am done with the challenge

A delicious looking bread recipe to try, courtesy of Living Without. I love oat bread and maple syrup, and this looks wonderful in the picture (but doesn't food usually ;).

Oatmeal Maple Gluten-Free Bread

MAKES 2 LOAVES

Ingredients
    2  cups brown rice flour, preferably super-fine grind
    1  cup gluten-free oat flour
    1½  cups sorghum flour or millet flour
    1  cup tapioca starch/flour
    ½  cup potato starch
    ½  cup sweet rice flour
    2  packages (2¼ teaspoons each) active dry yeast
    1  tablespoon + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
    1  tablespoon salt
    5  eggs, room temperature
    4  tablespoons maple syrup or amber agave nectar
    ½  cup shortening or non-dairy margarine, melted
        2½  cups milk of choice (rice, soy, hemp, nut milk), warmed to 110 to 120 degrees
    1  egg white, lightly beaten with a fork (to brush tops of loaves)
    ½  cup gluten-free oats

An Unexpected Crisis: maybe I'm not Gluten Intolerant after all?

This gluten challenge hasn't been entirely what I expected.

Anticipating it, I assumed I would be exhausted, miserable and sick in my stomach right from day 1. And that over time that would get worse until I was pretty much bedridden. This assumption was based on my memory of how I felt before I went gluten free. Turns out, it didn't happen quite like that.

What about genetic testing?

In my post about how it's necessary for me to do a gluten challenge to get a celiac diagnosis, I didn't mention anything about another form of celiac disease testing I had originally considered: gene testing.

Genetic testing for celiac disease determines if you are genetically predisposed to contract it. It will never tell you if you actually have it - just that you could some day get it. It even helps determine how likely you are to get it, based on whether you have one or both genes (DQ2 and DQ8). However, gene testing is most useful for ruling out whether it is possible for you to get celiac disease or not. If you have neither of the genes, it is extremely unlike you'll get it. Some believe it is also possible to tell your potential for having a gluten intolerance as well.

Points in favor of gene testing: it's quite easy - it can be as simple as a swab of saliva from your mouth or some bloodwork. And, best of all - there is no change in diet required. If you haven't started a g-free diet fine, and if you are already on it, fine too. Since it's in your DNA, you can't ruin the results.
 

Let them eat (Poppy Seed Lemon) CAKE!

Let no one tell you that when you are Gluten Free you can no longer eat cake. Au Contraire! As long as you make it without Wheat, Barley, Rye (yeck! in a cake?), and in some cases Oat flour, you can have all the cake you want and your waistline will allow.

Once I am back (sweet relief) eating a Gluten Free diet, I intend to make a gf version of this poppy seed lemon cake from smitten kitchen.

       

The Gluten Challenge: Now or Never

Perhaps it seems strange to begin a blog about living gluten free during a time when I'm doing a Gluten Challege, and thus not following the diet. However, in less than 2 weeks I will finally be back full time, hard core on the gluten free diet. And I find that I can't wait. Even Hubs can't wait. He doesn't have any gluten issues himself, but he is so used to my gluten free cooking that he told me it feels weird eating "all this other stuff" and "I can't wait to go back to eating normally." Normal for us, is gluten free. 

So why am I off the diet? Well, after self-diagnosing myself 1.5 years ago and eating gluten free ever since, I've decided to try to get an official diagnosis. It's a long story for another post how I finally learned I was gluten intolerant and embarked on the huge life change that is going gluten free. But suffice it to say for now that due to the medical care I had at the time I self diagnosed, it just didn't happen. No one told me I should get tested, and I was feeling so much better that I didn't look into it.

Since then, as I have read more about celiac disease and gluten intolerance, I've realized that I should have been tested right away when I suspected what the problem was. The wonderful healing that comes from a gluten free diet is also knell of doom for accurate diagnosis (and diagnosis is hard enough to get accurately anyway). And the longer you are away from gluten, the more you heal and the harder it is to tell.