To do or not to do?

Don’t – Give up ever being able to eat your favorite meals again (spaghetti, hamburgers, etc) 
Do – Find gluten free options of your favorite meals to make or purchase. Home made is better for you anyway – then you know everything that is going into your meal! Use rice or corn pasta etc for spaghetti, make your own buns and patties for hamburgers or buy them glutenfree in store! Simple as that.

Don’t – Give in to your relatives or friends, when they say “A little bit won’t hurt you…” They are wrong, and don’t really understand the way your body works. They aren’t trying to be disrespectful on purpose (hopefully), but most likely they really just don’t understand, and think you are being “picky”, or a “health freak” which is not the case!

Do – Take time to educate people about why you cannot eat it. Unfortunately even some doctors don’t know anything about gluten intolerance or celiac, and there is probably a lot of frustrated people out there getting a false diagnosis. There really isn’t a lot of awareness about anything gluten related.

Don’t – Become negative and feel as if you are cursed, and a victim  
Do – Be happy that you found out how to have your body feel healthy, and if you are celiac, you have prevented any further damage to your intestines.

Don’t – Take someone’s word for it if they try to tell you what you are allowed to eat (for example someone mentioning you can eat Spelt, Kamut or Semolina, Barley, Etc) you CANNOT have these, wheat is not the only thing that is restricted, all of these are as well.

Do – Your own research and see for yourself what is OK to eat. We are all responsible for ourselves and cannot blame someone else if we eat the wrong things.

Don’t – Eat a meal of someone’s just to be nice and not hurt their feelings. Vegetarians don’t eat a meal with meat just because it’s given to them, same with people with Diabetes if they get a meal to skyrocket their blood sugar. Unfortunately, sometimes people don’t take this as serious as they should, it really isn’t even an option as some people may think.

Do – Encourage people, be nice and kind, don’t hurt their feelings. Be honest with them and have them know they are loved and appreciated, but that you don’t want to get sick. If they really care, they will be happier to make you not feel ill then selfish enough to think they wasted time and effort on a meal.

 To conclude:

Love people and help them try to understand how being gluten free is for you, if they are not gluten intolerant or celiac, they honestly won’t know how you feel. The truth is, I can encourage my husband all I can, and try to take care of him to the best of my ability, but at the end of the day I will never truly understand how he feels. I can eat anything, and not get sick, he now feels the same way (except only because he doesn’t eat gluten anymore). Him feeling “normal” is new to him! He thought for years bread was unhealthy because he felt sick afterwards. It blows his mind now to have to reset his thought process and realize it’s not unhealthy or bad, it’s just bad for him because of the gluten in it .

My husband Colin has had a complete change with his diet, and he has been gluten free for a while now (of course he tried to cheat once or twice but severely regretted it, don’t think he will be doing that ever again!). I am so proud of my husband, he has kept such a great attitude even though we have had to make alterations for what he can eat, and also that now we are more limited for where we can eat out. I’m so glad that God has helped me and encouraged me to try to help my husband in any way I can with this. I trust that knowing that will be a blessing to you as well.

Introduction of a Gluten Free Husband

Seeing as Jamie's interest in gluten free cooking/living/blogging all stems from my recently discovered food restrictions, we thought that I should make some contributions to her blog. The idea is to present different perspectives for the readers. The first perspective from Jamie, who although could consume gluten to her heart's content, chooses to not only cook gluten-free for me, but also spends hours upon hours a day researching, learning, and sharing her knowledge and opinions with others. The second perspective of course would be me, who foolishly lived sick for years because I was too dumb to realize that there could have been a connection between the foods that made me feel sick.

I might as well start with an introduction, which will commence in

3...

2...

1...

I am Colin, the newlywed husband to the Gluten Free Wife. Most of our story of how I discovered my health issue was already covered by Jamie in one of her earlier posts, so I'll briefly recap a lot of what she covered, but elaborate on what she hasn't covered.

For most of my life, there were certain foods I always seemed to have issues with. Some of those foods I loved, but would always have weird stomach issues with after eating, such as pasta, or many desserts like donuts and pie. Other foods I absolutely hated, and often didn't know why, like bread or processed meats. Growing up I never knew what the weird feeling I had was. As an adult, I actually avoided a lot of these foods without realizing it. I would usually buy one loaf of bread a year, and never end up finishing it. Before our wedding I even got to the point where I refused to buy artificial sauces because they felt too heavy for me. I started to get concerned last year when I realized....... ***warning---possible gross out details ahead*** ........... I hadn't been able to digest properly in a long, long time. I got a lot of advice, and changed almost everything about my diet, and nothing changed.

So the wedding came and went, Jamie moved in, and now we shared the cooking duties. After a few weeks Jamie became upset when she realized that whenever she cooked I seemed to feel really sick afterwards. About a month after we came back from our honeymoon, I started developing a bad skin condition. Ever since I was a kid, I always had overly sensitive skin, but this was something different. I had rashes and sores popping up constantly. I tried several things to get rid of it, including a 2-3 week juice fast, followed by a 7 day body cleanse. It was during this time that Jamie talked to someone who described their issue with gluten, and specifically the feeling that came with eating breads and pastas, and it exactly matched what I had always complained about. We discussed trying to go gluten free for a while to see if any of my symptoms improved. When Jamie started telling me what foods to avoid, they were all foods I had been off during my partial juice fast and body cleanse. I had been gluten free for almost a month and didn't even know it. Over the next few days we tried to introduce gluten slowly back in to see how I would respond, and it was not pleasant. The first meal I had was in Valentine's Day, and I don't think I've ever been in that much pain in my life. That's no exaggeration when I say that. In the weeks that followed I stuck mostly to a gluten free diet, with attempts once or twice a week to break it and see how my body responded. Each time I broke from the diet the effects felt horrible.

And that is why stubborn men should get married. God made me a wife that cared more about my discomfort than I did. I probably would have spent decades feeling sick, and never bothered to figure out why, if left on my own. I'm still trying to learn about all of this on my own, but for the most part, Jamie is my teacher. I couldn't be any luckier than to have someone that takes a greater interest in the health restrictions of another person than they take in themselves.

More posts to come.

Belated Birthday post with Survivor Review

Yesterday was my birthday, had an AWESOME day with my hubbie. We went out to the doctors -  It is so hard to find a doctor taking new patients in Winnipeg! Luckily we were able to find one that was kind of in our area. Made some amazing tacos with glutenfree tortillas (homemade, mmm) and we had some glutenfree chapman's ice cream (cookies & cream) says glutenfree right on the box!

The perfect idea for a birthday party for me? Playing 2 player games on my SNES. Soooo incredibly fun. Of course the best game for the SNES in my opinion is Super Mario World, although I’m sure if some people heard my thought on that, there would be opinions that differ.

Of course I played Zelda too, I started a new game on Twilight Princess. I think since Ocarina of Time this game has the best story of any Zelda, then Twilight Princess, then Majoras Mask. Who doesn’t love Midna??? (Skyward sword is very visually appealing, but I feel it lacks a lot for good story)

This week’s episode of survivor was also nuts! I have never seen such a great tribal council. I did like Phillip in his original season of Survivor – this time I found him annoying and cocky. I also hated how he constantly kept repeating that he was playing the game like Boston Rob, be your own man for goodness sakes! I must say I am glad to see him voted off, and hope that the game turns around for the “underdogs”.

I was thinking long and hard about who I would want to win survivor. Malcolm is definitely up there for me, as well as Brenda and Reynold. I think out of all the fans that are left (not too many) Reynold is the most deserving. While he has times that he could make better choices and strategies, he rips challenges apart! Brenda – well as Colin says, she honestly is superwoman. Malcolm is very strong strategically and physically as well though. It is such a hard choice to decide.

I must also say Cochrane is a favorite of mine, he has really picked it up in challenges lately, but also… he is the nice guy that gets along with everyone, never gets on anyone’s nerves. He also seems to slither by un-targeted week after week. People underestimate this guy I think! As far as jury votes are concerned they should be worried, everyone loves Cochrane!

Amazing Summer Vegetable Tian

 

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).

STEP 2: While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.

STEP 3: Spray the inside of an 8x8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

STEP 4: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Step By Step Photos

This is what I started out with: tomato, potato, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic.


Dice the onion and get it cooking with the garlic and olive oil in a skillet.


Meanwhile, slice the veggies very thin. (I didn't dare try to use my mandolin again!)


When the onions are soft and translucent, place them in the bottom of a baking dish (8x8 or round pie size). I sprayed the inside of my dish to make sure nothing would stick... I have a hunch that rubbing it with butter would add amazing flavor but I didn't think of that till just now.


Alternate the vegetables in the dish. They don't have to be pretty. I started out with it looking nice and in a distinct pattern but then I realized that I had a bunch left over and just started jamming them in there... I didn't want to waste any precious veggies. It all worked out in the end. Oh yeah, sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme. GENEROUSLY.


Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and golden brown. ENJOY!


Source:  http://budgetbytes.blogspot.ca/2011/08/summer-vegetable-tian-660-recipe-110.html

Brrr still a cold one! Warm up with some tasty stirfry

Soooo today it's still a bit chilly here in Winnipeg, seriously odd… as this time of the year normally everything is green already. I whipped up my recipe for tortillas recently and actually used them as pizza crusts, turned out very well actually. I used the bottom of an ice cream pail to make perfectly round tortillas. Baked them @ 375 for 10-15 minutes

Today for lunch I made a gluten-free stirfry using the following ingredients:

-    Rice
-    Pork
-    Bokchoy, Carrots, Onions, Garlic & Ginger.
-    Sesame seeds
-    Corn Oil (for frying)
-    Salt & Pepper to season

For my sauce I did  a mixture of Fish & Oyster Sauce with Gluten-Free soya sauce.

I don't know about you - but my favorite way to cook meat is to sear it with some oil in the pan before I use it in a recipe (stir frys, soups, salads)… SO much flavor there. I really like using some balsamic vinegar in the pan as well especially with beef and pork.

Looking forward to going to church tonight for some good preaching!  

Weekend Fun with Restaurant Review

Hey y’all! So had some fun this past weekend, went to Winnipeg’s pop culture event at the convention center. This was the first time I have ever been to this event (to my knowledge I think they just started this event last year). For those who don't know what it is, it can be classified as a less crazy and crowded Comic Con. Adam West was here along with classic Robin and Batgirl! Super cool, but of course the best part is to look at all the cool stuff people are selling. Nostalgia phenomenon going on here – ataris, game gears, NES, anime stuff *drool*, LOVE IT.

For the very first time I saw a lady selling Epicure at this type of event, what a neat idea!  Love this stuff, seriously if you have never bought it before you MUST try it. It also helps that pretty much all of their stuff is gluten free.

So here is the restaurant up for review – Sukhothai in Osborne Village (191 Osborne):

I give this restaurant 9/10, and recommend any gluten sensitive person try it!

I know people that rave about this place, I had never been here before. My husband had been many times in the past, and was looking forward to showing me this place. Years ago I thought all Thai food would taste like disgusting peanut butter noodles or something. Of course I was wrong, and found this out when I tried some Pad Thai a coworker had. Since I tried some of her food my interest in Thai flavors started to grow.

The lady who served us was bubbly and pleasant, she was very knowledgeable as well. When I mentioned to her that Colin had to have his meal gluten free she knew exactly what I was talking about and responded back that it would not be an issue, they had gluten free soya sauce, etc.

This might not seem like a big thing to praise her for but it really is, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to walk into a restaurant and try to educate someone on what gluten free really means. Earlier that day I had phoned another possible Thai place for us to check out – but I chose Sukhothai instead as the person over the phone didn’t have a clue of what I meant by gluten-free.

The meal was fabulous, great flavor, and very fresh. This is what we had:

Starter: We shared some “Kanoum Cheen Nam-Ya”

(Rice Vermicelli noodles smothered in ground chicken, red curry, and coconut milk, with a light hint of lemon grass. Served with cabbage, bean sprouts and sweet basil)

-          This was awesome, the soup was big enough for us to share. The flavors mingled very well together, nothing was overpowering. Definitly would order this starter again.

I ordered some Chicken Pad Thai (of course I did, I had to compare it you know!):

(Rice Noodles served with bean sprouts, lime edge, then garnished with green onions, cilantro, julienne carrots and ground peanuts).

My only complaint would be that I wish I had more! I could eat this stuff forever! But for real, the portion was a good size. This was the best pad thai I have ever had, you can tell it’s home made and not a “fast food” version that you can buy at a place like Thai Express (which is also very good but not the same).

Colin ordered some Mat Saman:

 (Rich and creamy curry with coconut milk, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and onions topped with cashew)

Again very good, I have never tried this dish before, but I tried a bite of Colin’s. I think I may have a new favorite Thai food. He ordered his spice level at a 9, which is nothing for him, it was definitely on the spicy side for me though, haha. I have to say that sometime in the near future I am going to try to make this dish at home myself.

Overall experience was great, would definitely come here again!

Live and learn

So yesterday wasn't such a great night cooking, I attempted to make my Quinoa Burgers that I have made before. I altered the recipe slightly because I didn't have cottage cheese or green onions, so I subbed regular onions and extra regular cheese. The result - my "burgers" stuck to my pan and would not hold together. I ended up making almost a scrambled eggs type of recipe instead in the end, just letting it cook and then scraping the bottom of the pan with my spatula as I went along. It tasted good in the end but I was beyond frustrated.

Earlier in the day I had asked my husband what he wanted to eat and was determined to make whatever he wanted when I came home from work.  When everything started to go wrong with what I was making I just completely broke down into tears. I know that everything wouldn't be easy but I just felt like my emotions exploded. Thankfully I have such a wonderful husband that made me feel better. I know I had to remember that this is a learning process, I  have never cooked with these ingredients before only just recently, there is going to be points where I fall short of what I expect.

It's O.K. - my husband reminded me about the first time I tried to cook things in the past, it didn't always work the first time, and I know I made mistakes even after the first time. I was thinking about all of this today and was reminded also of something very smart that my pastor in church said. "Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly." No one starts anything perfectly, I know ladies that are AMAZING at baking, or AMAZING at this or that, but I have to remember they didn't start that way - they worked at it!

In the end everything worked out, the food was still delicious and we were full. :)

Champion Sandwich Bread

Great recipe for bread!

MAKES 2 LOAVES Light in texture, this is the perfect everyday bread for breakfast and sandwiches. This recipe takes only a few minutes to put together in a stand mixer. For maximum yeast rise, have all ingredients at room temperature.

    4  cups Brown Rice Flour Blend   
    1  tablespoon xanthan gum
    1  tablespoon gluten-free egg replacer
    2  teaspoons salt
    ½  cup powdered milk or nondairy milk powder substitute (I used rice milk)
    1  package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
    3  large eggs
    ¼  cup butter, margarine or Spectrum organic shortening
    2  teaspoons cider vinegar
    ⅓  cup honey or agave nectar
    2  cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1. Grease and flour two 8-inch bread pans.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium-size bowl. Set aside.
3. Place eggs, butter, vinegar and honey in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together for about 30 seconds. The butter (or magarine or shortening) will be chunky.
4. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix just until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix for approximately 30 seconds, until blended.
5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add warm water until well absorbed. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 4 minutes. Bread dough should resemble cake batter.
6. Spoon the dough into prepared pans. Set aside in a warm place to rise, about 50 to 60 minutes. While dough rises, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
7. Place pans in preheated oven on middle rack and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until bread's internal temperature reaches 200 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
8. Let bread cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then remove loaves from pans and place on a rack to cool.

Each serving contains 119 calories, 3g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 29mg cholesterol, 185mg sodium, 21g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 0g protein.

TIP Gluten-free egg replacer is available from Ener-G Foods (ener-g.com). *I also just made 1 tbsp of egg replacer myself by soaking 1 tsbp of chia seeds in 2.5 tbsp water *

Variations
For Sesame Bread, add 1 tablespoon sesame seeds to the batter after dough has mixed for 4 minutes. Then blend an additional 30 seconds. Spoon dough into prepared pans. Whisk an egg white in a small bowl with a fork. With a pastry brush, brush the top of each loaf with egg white and sprinkle with additional sesame seeds. Spoon batter into loaf pans and bake as directed.
For Granola Bread, add 1½ cups seeds, dried fruit and/or nuts to the batter after the dough has been mixed for 4 minutes. Blend an additional minute to combine. Spoon batter into loaf pans and bake as directed.

Brown Rice Flour Blend

MAKES 4 CUPS
    1⅓  cups brown rice flour, preferably super-fine grind
    1⅓  cups tapioca flour/starch
    1⅓  cups cornstarch
    1  tablespoon potato flour (not potato starch)
Blend ingredients together. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Allow flour blend to warm to room temperature before using.


credit to : http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/3_6/Gluten-Free-Bread-1335-1.html