Living a Gluten Free Life

Gluten Free Gravy

2011-04-21T17:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things during the holidays is turkey and gravy. My mother taught me how to make my gravy, from scratch, using flour. Thanksgiving just happened to fall within the 30 day gluten free period. My son was so concerned that he wouldn't get to eat all of the goodies, including the gravy, over the holidays.

I decided I would take up the task of cooking the turkey for my family's Thanksgiving Day party. It was easier than I thought it would be. Instead of using flour, I used a corn based gluten free flour from Safeway. The consistency was about the same but I did have to add more Mrs Dash to cover the after taste of the corn flour. You know the taste gravy has when you have put too much flour and not enough stock/broth/water in it? That's the taste it had with a lot less corn flour.

For those of you who would like to try it from scratch, I have included the general recipe. Just to warn you, there are no measurements....this is season to taste :)

Once you have your broth from your chicken or turkey, pour it into a pan and add gluten-free flour into it until it bubbles. Your stove should be on medium to allow the mixture to bubble. Once it starts to thicken, turn the stove down and add a little water at a time.

Be sure to season to taste. Many times it's salty from the seasonings you have put on the meat it came from.

Here is a recipe from Gen's Guiltless Gourmet. Her recipe is a little more elaborate :) but it's great. Be sure to substitute the flour with a gluten-free flour. I use All purpose baking flour from the Gluten Free Pantry

Ingredients:
2 TBS Canola oil (or other light flavored oil)
2 TBS Shallots
4 Cups Chopped Mushrooms
1 Cup Onion Chopped
2 TBS Worcestershire
¼ Cup White Wine (optional)
2 Cups Warm Soy Milk
1 Cup Vegetable Broth
2 TBS Flour
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

I hope you enjoy these with your turkey or tofurkey!

Thank you!

Sweet Recipes for Gluten Free Living

2011-04-21T16:33:00.001-04:00

When I told my friends I was taking my family on a 30 day, gluten free journey, they all turned their noses up in disgust. One of the biggest questions I received was “what about sweets?” I am not a big cake and candy eater and, although I don't discourage candy in my house, it's not widely found. There is a criteria for sweets – even before the gluten free change. We don't allow dyes, high fructose corn syrup, excessive sugar or anything that can stain the sofa.

When I was doing research on gluten free eating, I found a few recipes for desserts that I was dying to try. For the most part, I bake everything from scratch – even though I'm not a baker. I stick to basic recipes, nothing too crazy.

I started by looking for recipes that were flexible enough for me to make changes without reinventing the wheel. A recipe I use all of the time is one for chocolate chip cookies from Southern Living. Before the gluten free change, I modified this recipe because the cookies came out so dry and “cake” like. I have to warn you, there are no measurements to my changes. You will need to try these by taste until it's good for you.

Here is what I came up with for a gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookie

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 (12-oz.) packages semisweet chocolate morsels (Find a good Fair Trade chocolate)

Above is the original recipe. I substituted butter for melted vegan margarine, granulated sugar for maple syrup and for flour I use All Purpose Baking Flour from Gluten Free Pantry

I am not a cupcake eater but my children love them. I was watching Guiltless Gen one morning and she was making vegan cupcakes so I thought I would try her recipe and just replace the things I needed to.

VEGAN COCONUT CAKE
INGREDIENTS
3 cups Organic Flour
1 TBS Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1 1/3 cups Organic Cane Sugar
1/2 cup Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Margarine
1 TBS Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Coconut Extract
1 cup Soy Milk
1 cup low-fat Coconut Milk
1/2 cup fresh shredded Coconut

My kids, nor I like coconut but I used this recipe for the base of mine because it's dairy free as well. So feel free to take creative license on this recipe.

I substituted the flour with All Purpose Baking Flour from Gluten Free Pantry

I hope you enjoy these 2 recipes for yourself or for your kids. For more, sign up for our newsletter and receive 10 gluten free recipes.

You can also find more recipes in Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Thank you!

What has your experience been with gluten free living?

2011-04-21T14:30:00.001-04:00

What has your experience been living without gluten? Did you decide to eliminate gluten because of an allergy/sensitivity or for health reasons?

I'm really interested in connecting with other families who have similar stories as my family.

Thank you!

I have a gluten sensitive friend/family member. What is it and what can I cook?

2011-04-21T14:18:00.001-04:00

Before I heard Elisabeth Hasselbeck talk about her discovery of her celiac disease I had never heard of it. For a beginner or someone who is just finding out they have a sensitivity to gluten, it can be hard to figure out where to start. It's also a little daunting for family members who think they have to make a lot of changes to their plans when they are having you over for dinner or for the holidays.

I get asked all of the time “what is celiac disease?”

Celiac disease is when then lining of your intestine becomes damaged and cannot absorb the nutrients from some foods that keep you healthy. The cause is not known but the villi in a person who has celiac disease is damaged when a person eats something with gluten in it.

Not everyone who has a sensitivity to gluten has celiac disease. For non celiac disease people who are experiencing symptoms of bloating, a change of diet is usually the only thing that needs to be done after ruling out other more serious problems like cancer.

What can I feed my family member who is gluten sensitive?

You can feed your gluten sensitive family member almost everything you are eating for Holiday dinner. Most gluten sensitive people already know what to stay away from. Having a gluten sensitive friend or family member will not change your cooking habits much.

Desserts will be a place where you should consider your gluten sensitive guests. Many desserts have gluten in them because they are made from flour. Most flours, unless specified, have gluten in them. Consider having at least one gluten-free item for dessert. It doesn't have to be anything complicated. A soy based ice cream ( because some gluten sensitive people are also lactose intolerant) and some fresh fruit or a sorbet would be great.

What has gluten in it?

Anything that has wheat, barley or rye in it can trigger someone who is sensitive to gluten or has celiac disease. That counts out most desserts, breads, pastas and gravies. Just think about everything that has flour in it and that is what your friend cannot eat.

How is this going to change my holiday dinner?

It won't change your holiday dinner. As I mentioned above, there are many things on the traditional holiday menu a gluten sensitive person can eat like: turkey, non battered chicken, breadless stuffing (there are people who make their stuffing without bread), any vegetables, any fruits any non battered meats. There are a wide range of recipes you can find for baking. I recommend this book here Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Hopefully this gives a little insight as to what gluten sensitivity is and what gluten sensitive people can eat.

For other information on gluten free living, I recommend the following:

Websites

http://www.celiac.org/

http://www.celiac.com/

Books

The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now

Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Thank you!

Intro to Living a Gluten Free Life

2011-04-21T10:46:00.001-04:00

I thought my life was going to be over when I found out I had a sensitivity to gluten but I quickly found out I was wrong. My name is Susan and I live in the suburbs of DC. I was watching the view one day when Elisabeth Hasselbeck (you can check out here book-The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide) was discussing her infertility issues. She piqued my interest because I had always had reactions to foods but I never took them seriously enough to do anything about them.

I decided I would put my whole family – my husband, my 3 kids and myself on a gluten free diet for 30 days. Two out of three of my children have food allergies so I thought there could be a possibility they might be sensitive to gluten.

I already shop at Whole Foods so it wasn't hard to make a few changes in our diets. I got rid of the bread. My kids and husband were addicted to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The bread was whole grain but it still had gluten in it. I love pasta but I got rid of that too – only to be replaced by a gluten free pasta later. I focused more on the gluten free things the kids liked to take their mind off the fact that there were no more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them to snack on.

At the end of the 30 days, everyone agreed they had more energy. I don't know if my children are gluten sensitive but they certainly didn't complain during the 30 days. They had more than enough items to choose from and they loved helping to pick out new things to try.

The point of this blog is to help you understand that gluten free living, due to celiacs disease or gluten sensitivities, is not a life sentence to tasteless and dry food. Please feel free to share your stories and suggestions.

Thank you!