Snowpocalypse 2011

I had an appointment with my doctor today to get some blood work done to check for more sensitivities/ allergies. Lo and behold, the weather decides to dump a ton of snow on the South. I had it all planned out that I would go out to get some (terrible for you) fast food breakfast with plenty of gluteny-goodness so it would hopefully show up better in the results since I have been eating so little recently. Long story short, after nearly killing myself on the snowy and icy roads, I finally made it back to my house to eat the lukewarm sausage biscuit that had seemed so important before I left. I promptly fell asleep in a gluten coma only to be awakened by my doctor's office calling to say that they needed to reschedule.

Now, I am having to deal with all the lovely symptoms that I have been happily avoiding like stomach cramps, frequent bathroom visits, itching all over, my mouth filling with saliva like I'm going to throw up but nothing coming out (I hate to puke!!!), and so on.  This only reinforces for me that if I don't want to feel horrid, don't eat gluten! I can be just as lazy as any other 20 something when it comes to eating out. When you are hungry and want food right then it is just so easy to hit a drive-thru. I almost think that I need a really REALLY bad reaction to cement in my mind that I don't want to have that happen again. An event that I can always reference to keep myself in line is the time I had a lot of heavy duty pain medication after having my thyroid removed. I was so sick from the drug withdrawals from two days of taking it, that I was literally the sickest I can ever remember being in my life. That was the day that I knew I would never again take extreme medication unless it was absolutely imperative (again: I hate to barf!!!). 

So back to the point, today was not fun, tomorrow and possibly the next day won't be either. I will just have to break out my new rice cooker and figure out how I could possibly have messed up boiling rice two days ago (seriously, it is not like it takes a rocket scientist to read some directions!). On the bright side, I love love love <3 Silk Almond Original milk. I had never tried almond milk before so I thought I would pick up a carton when next at the store. It is fantastic on my Rice Chex with banana. Yummy! I highly recommend both the milk and cereal to anyone, not just us folks with wheat or gluten intolerances.

:D

Product Review: Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Homemade Wonderful GF Bread Mix

After that conversation with my dad about what I could eat (see previous post), mom and I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few supplies. We went down most of the aisles pouring over ingredients and trying to come up with a few general meal ideas. When we got back to their house, "Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Homemade Wonderful GF Bread Mix" was the first thing we made (Bob's website). Mom had made bread years before so she had a general idea of what to do. I, on the other hand, had not.

The directions were fairly straight forward, so I went ahead and took charge. I was a bit worried that the bread would not turn out well since I had issues making the included yeast fizzle. Once it had spent the recommended 25-30 minutes rising in a warm place, it did seem like the dough had puffed up a bit. I slid it into the preheated oven and set the timer for 60 minutes. I came back a little early since I could smell the bread baking. It was a good thing I did since it was a smidge away from being burnt. Oh, and I shouldn't have worried about it rising. It came out of the oven as "Franken-loaf": a huge, hulking, oddly shaped loaf of indeterminate bread (I must have not smoothed out the top layer enough before baking).

After cooling on a rack, I decided to cut a piece to see what my lovely brown bread would taste like. I already knew from other gluten-free blogs that gf bread does not taste like the real thing. I went into it expecting "different" and wasn't disappointed. The biggest obstacle to me was just how darn dry it was. I don't know if it was me, the oven, or what because it made my mouth drier than the Sahara in June. I slathered all natural peanut butter and apple butter on it to see if it would make a difference. It helped some, but I was a bit sad that I had a whole loaf still left to eat.

"Bob's Mix" redeemed itself the next day after sitting wrapped in foil overnight. I think the trapped moisture helped soften it up some. I decided to make it into toast since toast is dry anyway. It was pretty good with the apple butter and an orange. So that is the way I have enjoyed the whole loaf since I returned home from holiday. I would purchase the mix again now that I know to trap some moisture before eating. I have used the white rice flour previously and will definitely continue to purchase other products in the future, but I think I will try some other brands before returning to this bread mix.

Speaking of, I made a loaf of bread in my new bread machine last night. Details to come once I actually have taste tested.

So, I guess this cooking adventure is really going to turn out like I thought it would: burnt, strange looking, but eventually edible just like all those early experiments when I was learning how to cook. I guess it is time for another one of my tasting parties!

:D




*I do not get paid or otherwise rewarded for any of the products I review (at this time). The review is just my personal experience with the product. If a product sounds like something you would enjoy or you have tried it yourself, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

Hello! Let me introduce myself...

My name is "A." and I will your tour guide today! "So, What Can You Eat Now?" was inspired by a slightly frustrated question asked by my dad during Christmas break after I had to politely refuse yet another offer of baked goods or a sandwich. My parents and I were new to what I could or could not eat. Luckily for them, I went home and they could go back to their usual fare. That left me figuratively scratching my head thinking hard about "so, what could I eat now?"

I am new to the gluten-free scene as of late December 2010. Over a few months of vegetarian dabbling this fall, I started noticing that I was feeling worse in general (and some spots specifically: "intestinal area" as we shall call it and with an increased all over itching that I had been managing with daily allergy medication since 2004). I removed all chemical triggers from my cleaning and beauty products which helped for a while. Then around Thanksgiving, my body must have decided that the "feel good vacation" was over. Boy, was that fun.

The gluten "ah ha!" light bulb came on for me during a massage the week before Christmas. My masseuse happened to also be gluten intolerant and asked me a series of questions about my diet and health history: if there is a bug going around, I am going to catch it; I had my thyroid removed in 2004 due to benign cysts; my doctor suspected Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome due to lack of regular menstruation; in elementary school I had stomach problems that went away with puberty; and I have super-pasty white skin; and so on ad nauseum. When I went home I did some research into gluten intolerance and celiac sprue. To my glee (and then horror) most of the symptoms fit me.

I am going to be tested next week for other additional food intolerances since I showed signs of other triggers. Egg whites are the only other thing that I know of for sure as of now, so there may be some "egg free" recipes popping up along the way.

Most of my cooking has always been experimental since I went away to college knowing how to "cook" cereal and order pizza. Many a taste testing dinner party has been held where the only rule is to be brutally honest. If you like it... great, I'll make it again. If not... on to something else. There were quite a few burned meals my poor guinea pigs had to suffer through, but I will say that I have become quite the cook in recent years. It just took a good 10 years-ish of eating what might be good together to figure out what worked.

Hopefully all that experimentation will not be in vain since cooking gluten-free takes more meal planning imagination if I hope to eat more than meat, fruits and veggies. I know I will have cravings for my morning bowl of cereal or pizza or a peanut butter sandwich or... ok, now I am just making myself hungry!

So, here I am writing about my experiences, recipes I find or try, product reviews, and the random nonsense I decide to share with you all. I hope you decide to continue on this journey with me and share your own thoughts and experiences with us. We can learn so much from each other!

Thanks! :D