I want to testify, I love bagels, cookies, cakes and all manner of baked goods. So, when I found out I was gluten intolerant a couple of year’s ago it was a nightmare!

I tried to avoid gluten at home, at restaurants, parties, having dinner with family and friends. But I always wound up feeling crappy and knew some gluten had sneaked in.

So, quite unplanned, I became my own consultant and teacher. There just wasn’t much good information out there. And, there was no one who could guide me through the gluten minefield.

My husband says I am now an expert on how to go gluten free. I’m not sure about that. But I do have a lot of information, experience, facts and figures that will help you make a faster and much more pleasant transition than I did.

So come back often. I will have more and more information to give you on how to go gluten free, for FREE!

PS I am putting together a coaching course to get people to be their own experts on going gluten free in just six weeks! I’ll keep you updated.

Until then, believe me, you CAN DO IT, and I can help you.

Technorati Tags: celiac, gluten free, gluten intolerance, gluten substitutes, living without wheat

Here is what I like to tell people to help a gluten free guest have a good meal:

• Keep it simple.  Adding lots of sauces and spices complicates matters for someone living gluten-free.  Every ingredient potentially has gluten in it so the more ingredients, the greater the possibility of contamination.
• Leave sauces and salad dressings on the side.
• Avoid casseroles.  Again you have the “keep it simple” going on here.  A gluten-free person will be better off if instead of doing that chicken and broccoli casserole if you serve all the ingredients separately.  That way they can skip the ingredients that have gluten in them and eat the ones that don’t.
• Keep ALL ingredients handy for the gluten free person to reference.  We become expert at reading packaging ingredients.
• Watch out for pre-prepared foods.  Marinades, spices, and food starch are just a few places that gluten likes to hide in and that means less food for the gluten free.
• Thicken with cornstarch instead of flour.
• Put croutons on the side of the salad.  I find that people are so particular about their salads that ALL guests tend to prefer the option of putting ALL of their own toppings on.  It takes a few more bowls on the table but everyone is happy.
• Try to call the gluten free guest and run down the menu with them.  Some people are less sensitive (those with celiac can’t have any exposure to gluten) so allow the guest to let you know what will and won’t work for them.
• Keep the buns and meat separate.  If the hotdogs or hamburgers aren’t already put on buns, the gluten free person will have a much easier time eating.
• Keep dessert simple.  Most ice cream, especially the higher quality brands, is gluten free.  Do a container of vanilla (some of the additions can have gluten) and a container of a soy cream option (there are some really tasty ones out there) so people who are dairy free can indulge too.  Include some cut up fresh fruit and maybe other fun toppings so everyone can create their own dessert.  There are also some really good gluten free packaged foods available like brownie or cake mixes.  I have found these to be about as easy as other traditional mixes and quite tasty for both the gluten free and regular folks.
• Make sure you avoid cross-contamination.  Wash all pans, knives, measuring utensils, containers, or cutting boards that had something with gluten on them (like bread, soy sauce, flour, etc.) before using for something else.
• Don’t feel bad that you are serving a few things that contain gluten.  Most gluten free folks understand that the world enjoys gluten-containing products.  As long as there is enough to fill out bellies, we are happy.  If the meal is actually balanced where we can enjoy an appetizer, veggie, carb, protein, and dessert…it is our lucky day!
• Know that the gluten free person may have other food issues too so it is helpful to consult with them (and really with all guests) so you don’t inadvertently avoid gluten but put in something else that can be equally harmful or that they plain don’t like or don’t eat for religious reasons.  Many people have allergies to particular tree nuts, dairy, preservatives, artificial colorings, or tropical fruits.

Here are a few things to make sure you avoid, keep completely separate, or ask the gluten free guest if they have a gluten free version they can bring along for the meal.

• ALL wheat flour and products containing wheat flour (enriched, whole wheat, cracked wheat, white flour, all of it)
• soy sauce (this one surprises most people)
• multi-grain chips or packaged, pre-seasoned rice dishes
• pastas
• spelt, barley, rye, graham, kamut, semolina, durum, triticale grains or flours
• licorice (another surprise)
• oats (some gluten free folks can tolerate them)
• beer (there are gluten-free options, some taste horrible; I like “Red Bridge”)
• breadings/coatings
• cereals
• vegetarian meat substitutes
• self-basting poultry

Know that “wheat free” does not mean gluten free.  Here is a simple menu you can see as an example of what to serve:

Appetizer: Veggies and dip (keep the container handy), hummus with corn chips (keep the container handy), guacamole with corn chips

Beverages: Wine, sparkling water, and fruit juice

Main meal: Baked chicken with fresh herbs, salt, and olive oil; mashed potatoes and gravy (thickened with cornstarch); steamed broccoli with butter, salt and pepper; spinach salad with toppings and dressings on the side.

Main meal #2: Mexican feast with plain refried beans, non-seasoned chicken strips, and seasoned ground beef (keep the seasoning ingredients handy), corn tortillas, taco shells, and all your favorite toppings on the side so folks can build their own.

Dessert: Poached pears or baked apples.

Dessert #2: Fresh fruit with real whipped cream.

You likely already serve gluten-free meals and don’t even know it!  If you like to experiment, ask your guest for recipes or try converting some of your own.  Have fun and go easy on yourself.  Having guests for dinner is about enjoying time with you or guests, not stressing over the meal!

Technorati Tags: cooking gluten-free, gluten free guest

When I was initially diagnosed as gluten-free I was told by my doctor to see how much gluten I could tolerate.  Initially I could tolerate small quantities of bread or soy sauce, but the longer I went without wheat in my diet, the more it affected me when I did have it.  So now I am almost 100% gluten-free.  The times I get gluten are purely accidental and I can tell by my body’s reaction within 24 hours.

Let me clarify that for those with Celiac they need to be 100% gluten-free (not “almost” as I said I am).  The places I am the most likely to get exposed to gluten are from cross-contamination (the restaurant uses the same prep space for a sandwich as for my lettuce wrap; a fellow guest puts the humus directly on their pita pieces and some bread crumbs end up back in the humus) or from small quantities of gluten in a dish that you wouldn’t think would have wheat in it (enchilada sauce frequently contains wheat; a little granola mixed in a yogurt parfait; nutritional yeast in vitamins or food).  For people with Celiac, they must be extremely careful l to not allow even the smallest amount of gluten into their diets so they need to be extra careful when eating at someone’s home.

When you have a dinner invitation to someone’s home, I suggest the following:

• Tell them right up front, “I have a serious food allergy, would you mind if we connected on the menu to make sure I know ahead of time what I will and won’t be able to eat?”  I have never had a host turn me down on this request, they always ask for more information.
• Try not to overwhelm them.  You are giving the “Cliff’s Notes” for ONE meal, not so they can cook gluten-free for the rest of their lives.  I never ask a person to have an entirely gluten-free meal (some friends choose to out of love, interest, and empathy, but I never ask).  I just try to make sure that there will be enough food there that I can eat without drawing attention to myself.
• Give simple suggestions and focus on the menu the host is planning on: Have all the ingredients for the salad separate so each person can put what they want on their serving and the croutons won’t contaminate the rest of the salad; Prepare my non-marinated chicken in the pan first (or on a separate dish) so it doesn’t get cross contaminated; Let me give you a bottle of some gluten-free soy sauce that you can use; Do you mind saving the packaging from prepared foods that I can look at before the dinner to check ingredients?; Could you put the cheese and crackers on separate plates?  On a side note, just because someone says, “I know all about gluten-free cooking because…”, still clarify your own gluten-free needs.  A friend once glutened me with spelt noodles because she thought gluten-free people can tolerate spelt.
• Offer to bring a dish, especially one that usually has gluten.  If you have a bread recipe you enjoy, offer to bring bread.  I often bring dessert too because so much dessert has gluten in it.
• Eat before the dinner party.  Even the most considerate hosts make mistakes and I find it better to arrive to a dinner party with a semi-full belly and eat less there than to be starving and get there to find croutons ON the salad and that all the meat got marinated in regular soy sauce.

It is important to be proactive and gracious.  We don’t want the host to go through a bunch of extra trouble for us but hosts want all of their guests to have a great time.  So speak up and help out the next time you are invited to someone’s home for dinner.

Technorati Tags: avoiding gluten, gluten free dinner invitation

I decided to use honey which changed the moisture content of the recipe so I adjusted the amount of flour.  Then, when I was mid-recipe, I realized my pantry was bare of coconut flour (oops!) so I substituted shredded coconut (after asking my food processor to do the impossible…make coconut flour out of shredded coconut).  So what you have here is a rather different version of Laura’s original “Lemon-Scented and White Chocolate Cookies” although still tasty and popular with the gluten-free and gluten-eating alike.

Combine together and set aside:

• 1 and 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Mix together:

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup honey (heated)

Add in to butter mixture and blend well:

• ½ tsp baking soda

Add to butter mixture:

• 2 eggs (warmed to room temperature)

Then combine butter mixture with:

• Zest of one lemon (zest the lemon first then juice it second, it’s easier and less messy)
• Juice of one lemon

Combine butter mixture with dry mixture (some folks prefer to do this in two or three parts, I am more of a “dumper” mixing it all in at once).

Then add:

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 6-15 oz white chocolate chips or chunks

Use a tablespoon and knife to portion out the cookies.  Staggering rows of three my large stoneware cookie sheet held 15 cookies (5 rows).

Bake in a 350F oven for 18-20 minutes.  I remove them when the edges are beginning to brown then let them sit in the pan for another few minutes to finish cooking through before removing to the cooling rack.

The recipe made about a little over 4 dozen cookies.  The lemon and white chocolate cookies were so popular at the tea party I made them again for a recent holiday gathering and I took home an empty dish!

Technorati Tags: gluten-free cookies, quinoa flour cookies

If someone is gluten-free or has Celiac and they are exposed to gluten, they will likely experience some discomfort, sometimes pretty severe discomfort.  That isn’t what I am talking about in this post.  Certainly if a person has gone gluten-free and they have discomfort, the first thing they should look for is if gluten slipped into their diet somehow.  After a thorough investigation, there remain several possibilities.  I will focus on three today:

Sugar.  Most people who have been diagnosed with a gluten-intolerance and all people who have Celiac have damage in their intestines.  Sugar seems to really cause problems with an already-sensitive digestive system.  I have noticed for myself that I can no longer tolerate eating sweets by themselves.  If they are part of a meal or have some more substantial food incorporated into them I am usually okay.

This varies from person to person with some people finding they are fine with honey and agave but not with regular sugar or corn syrup in any form.  Other people find that honey affects them as well.  I am not going to get into the science behind how sugar is produced and how it interacts in our bodies.  Just consider that if you are still having digestive discomfort that it may be related to sugar consumption.  Experiment, keep a food journal, and see if you see a link.

Besides, our bodies do not need the level of sugar consumption that is encouraged in these modern days.  You will likely be healthier overall if you reduce your sugar consumption, whether you are having digestive problems or not.

Artificial Sweeteners.  Even before I went gluten-free I noticed that if I had a diet pop (soda for you outside the midwest) I would get stomach cramping within an hour or two.  I didn’t drink diet pop very often and after I noticed the link I stopped drinking it completely. 

I am not comfortable with all the processing and chemical modification that takes place to create artificial sweeteners, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea for our bodies.  That being said, each person needs to make their own choice and I certainly have enough of my own quirks that I am not going to judge you for drinking aspartame or splenda.  Just consider that if you are having digestive problems and you are consuming artificial sweeteners they may be a cause.

Another Food Intolerance.  Some folks have challenges with lactose, corn, soy, or eggs, to name a few.  There is always the possibility that your body is reacting to another ingredient.  See your medical professional to determine if this might be the case.

There are many other causes of digestive discomfort including food poisoning, gallbladder issues, and viruses.  Always listen to your body, look for patterns, and seek medical attention, especially if the symptoms are severe or last for an extended period of time.  When you aren’t feeling well it is difficult to be at your best.  Take care of yourself so you can participate in life the way you would like to!

Technorati Tags: digestive discomfort, other causes of stomach pain

I do not have Celiac, for which I am profoundly grateful. People with Celiac have a much higher incidence of digestive cancers and need to be EXTREMELY careful about not allowing ANY gluten to get into their diets. If I had Celiac, I would rarely eat out or eat foods that I was “pretty sure” are okay.

Celiac can be tested with a blood test as long as you are still consuming gluten (there is also an endoscopy test and a genetic test, all of which have their advantages and drawbacks – consult with your doctor). My Celiac test was negative. The way we discovered my gluten-intolerance was through an elimination diet which was monitored by my doctor, Dr. Ed Linkner, in Ann Arbor.

If you are going to do an elimination diet I strongly suggest that you be monitored by a professional.  You are eliminating many necessary nutritients from your diet and it is important that you not be putting your body through unnecessary harm from the process, it is supposed to be healing, not hurting your body.

Let me back up to look at how we even started looking at gluten. Keith and I went on a vacation/conference to California and I experienced some discomfort in my stomach area. I would move toward bland foods hoping they would help the tightness to go away (you know, things like potatoes or crackers or bread). The feeling persisted and one night the pain became so bad we went to the ER where they kept me for observation. They thought my gallbladder was acting up (I have a strong family history of gallbladder disease). My pain subsided and after an ultrasound they said I should see my doctor as soon as I get back into town.

I saw Dr. Linkner and described my symptoms to him and he also looked over the records from California. He said he suspected it was my stomach, not my gallbladder that was giving me trouble and set out to determine if there was something going on there.

We went through several tests looking at everything from stomach acid, blood work, and how my food was digesting (by looking at the remains…not overly pleasant!). The results came back that I had an infestation of candida (a yeast) and inflammation in my digestive tract. The inflammation was a concern because that means my nutrients are not being absorbed properly plus over time that inflammation can turn into chronic disease (and discomfort).

Dr. Linkner put me on an “elimination” diet that removed all common allergens from my diet for six weeks. We also wanted to finish off the candida so I removed all fruits and any other form of sugar (because that is what they live on) and I took an herbal supplement to assist in restoring balance. Because my diet was so restrictive, I also took a rice-based shake supplement two or three times per day. NOT tasty. Here is what I removed: caffeine, sugar, eggs, milk, wheat, soy, alcohol, fruit, and more that I can’t remember. Oh yeah…corn too.

My wonderful husband went on the diet with me. What a guy! It was a tough six weeks. We ate a lot of rice, chicken (not a vegetarian at that time), beans, veggies, and potatoes. It was VERY hard with the sugar cravings to get rid of those candida. As they are in their death throes they get very demanding for their sugar. It took a lot of will power and I was grateful I had cleaned out my cupboards ahead of time to get tempting foods out of the house.

After the six weeks I was able to start adding back in foods, one at a time, three days apart. I was to add in a large quantity of the food and look for any reaction (headache, joint aches, runny nose or congestion, stomach upset, cramping, anything out of the ordinary). We were very strategic in adding back foods. I went with the foods first that are commonly found in other foods. I half-feared a milk reaction and was very pleased when I didn’t have one. Corn was early too and it sailed right through.

Wheat though gave me a runny nose almost immediately and a headache shortly after. I tried a couple times in the same day with the same results and had some achy joints the following day.

I let it clear from my system then added back another food then tried wheat again. Same results. Then I knew…life would not be the same in my kitchen.

It has been an interesting trip, learning which foods I can consume and how to find substitutes for my favs. Let me know if this post has been helpful to you. If you would like more information or recipes, just ask and I’ll be happy to include more.

The biggest challenge I find in my sister-in-law’s home cooked meals is she loves casseroles (and I do too!).  Many casseroles call for creamed or other canned soups.  In fact, I recently heard that when Campbells first came out with their creamed soups they weren’t designed to be soups at all but sauces.  That has certainly become the case in many casserole recipes.   Casseroles often add breadcrumbs or may have a main ingredient of noodles and some people may not realize that “egg noodles” are actually wheat.

In addition to casseroles, and of course any bread, rolls, or pasta, there are other places where gluten may show up in a home cooked meal that otherwise looks safe:

• Marinades are a trouble spot because of the frequent addition of soy sauce or other wheat or malt flavorings.  This includes some pre-cooked chicken and some lunchmeats.
• Breading is something to be avoided since 99% of the time it is wheat (this includes panko which is the Asian-style breading and “beer battered” which has beer in the batter but is wheat-based).
• Any sauce should be investigated for ingredients, especially if it is thick (such as alfredo).  This includes creamed vegetables.  Vegetables can still be creamed using milk and cornstarch or substitute arrowroot or tapioca but if the person cooking is familiar or comfortable with these applications they have likely used flour.  Sauces that are not thick have the possibility of having soy sauce in them, another common source of gluten.
• Soups, especially creamed or thick soups, will often have wheat in them.  Or they may have noodles or orzo (which looks like rice but is wheat).
• Desserts are especially problematic, including some ice cream.  Many special flavors of ice cream (like cookies and cream) have wheat in them.  Always read the label to be sure.
• Prepared salad dressings are another source of gluten although if you make your own, the likelihood of gluten being in there is very small (unless you include soy sauce).

There are many modifications that can be made when you are cooking for yourself or if you have family or friends who are open and interested in learning new cooking techniques.  Home cooked meals can be gluten-free and tasty, it just takes a little more education and effort.

Before I get into the details, I want to make an important distinction between those with Celiac (an autoimmune disease) and those who are “gluten-intolerant”:

• People with Celiac need to be 100% gluten-free.  Their bodies cannot tolerate even the smallest amount of gluten.  Some of them become physically ill after a very small contamination, others may not have the same physical experience but research has shown that gluten remains in our systems for two weeks and for people with Celiac that is generating issues that put them at a higher risk for certain digestive cancers and perhaps other illnesses as well. 
• People who are gluten-intolerant fall along a scale of how much gluten their bodies can handle.  I tend to live my life closer to the level of a person with Celiac because I can tell the difference however I know that I do not have some of the same cross-contamination issues that people with Celiac have.  For instance, I can eat a gluten-free pasta option in a restaurant that serves regular pizzas and not have it affect me; this wouldn’t work for someone with Celiac.

In the world of candy, there are a lot of gluten-free options.  And of course, outside the world of candy, there are tons of possibilities:

• my mom used to pass out balloons (have a safer option for small children)
• little toys
• miniature figures (like tiny ninjas)
• pennies and nickels
• miniature gliders to assemble

There is a group called ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids) who put together a very extensive list for 2009 of gluten-free candies.  If you read through the list you may be surprised at some of what is NOT gluten free (Milky Ways) and what is (Milky Way Midnight).  Thanks to www.HarrisWholeHealth.com for helping to get the list out to more people.  You can find the list at:

http://www.harriswholehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Gluten-Free-Candy-List-October-2009.doc

In addition, there are some creative ways parents can help their gluten-free kids to still have a fun Halloween experience.  Many of the kids Trick-or-Treat and then their parents help them sort through the candy after and separate out what is safe and what is not.  (Of course, parents should do this anyway to make sure there are no hidden dangers.)  After the candy is sorted these are some clever solutions I heard about:

• The parents “buy back” the gluten-containing candy and the child gets cold hard cash
• The parents swap out the gluten-containing candy for non-gluten-containing favorites of the child.
• The container of gluten-containing candy is left on the kitchen table overnight and in the morning it has been replaced by the gluten-fairy with a very nice toy in trade (this is my favorite option because it is fun, a surprise AND it reduces the amount of sugar the kids are consuming.

Together we can help all kids (young and old) to have a safe Halloween.

Technorati Tags: gluten-free candy, gluten-free Halloween

You can still enjoy delicious pineapple upside down cake that is gluten free!

I am thrilled to be able to share a tasty pineapple upside down cake with you today!  I last attempted a pineapple upside down cake a couple years ago and the results were so disappointing I haven’t had the heart to try again…until yesterday!  Rather than use a special recipe from a gluten-free cookbook (which is what I did the first time), I found a vanilla cake recipe that looked promising and combined that with my “old faithful” Betty Crocker red cover cookbook recipe. 

The vanilla cake recipe comes from the magazine “Living Without” April/May 2009 edition on page 29.  It makes about twice as much cake as you need for a 9 x 13 pineapple upside down cake.  So I suggest either halving the recipe, make TWO pineapple upside down cakes (they freeze well) or do one pineapple upside down cake and turn the rest of the batter into cupcakes or a plain cake (very nice for strawberry shortcake).

Put four eggs in a bowl of warm to hot water to bring to room temperature and soften the butter.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  While heating, put 9 x 13 cake pan in oven with 2/3 stick of butter.  In the meanwhile, drain two cans of pineapple and, optional, open maraschino cherries.  When butter has melted, remove pan from oven, sprinkle with one cup of packed brown sugar, and place pineapple rings across bottom of the pan.  Place 1/2 maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple ring, if desired.  Chopped nuts may also be added if desired.

Cream together:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter or non-dairy alternative
• 2 cups granulated sugar (I used the more coarse turbinado sugar)
• Then add (one at a time) 4 eggs (at room temperature)
• And add 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a separate bowl combine or sift together (I did not sift as suggested but if you are extra-particular, go ahead and sift):

• 3 and 1/2 cups flour blend (1/2 rice flour, 1/4 tapioca starch/flour, and 1/4 cornstarch or potato starch)
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon salt

Heat 1 and 1/2 cups milk (type of your choice) to hot, not boiling.

Add 1/2 dry mixture to the creamed mixture and combine well. 

Add 1/2 hot milk into batter and mix.

Add remaining dry mixture and hot milk and beat until smooth.

Pour about half the batter over the prepared pan with the pineapple rings and bake in the oven until knife come out clean (30-45 minutes).  Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes then turn upside down on a cookie sheet or other large tray.  Serve plain or with whipped cream.  Delicious!

Use other batter as you had planned to and enjoy your results!

This gluten free pineapple upside down cake freezes well.  I like to prepare it into individually wrapped servings and place those servings in a freezer bag to stay fresh longer.

Technorati Tags: gluten free pineapple upside down cake

Watch out for Aisan dishes as they often contain a lot of ingredients and the soy sauce may be hidden in the middle of the list.  I have found that in general Thai and Indian food are less likely than Chinese to have wheat in them.  You still want to read the labels or check with the kitchen every time.

The longer the list of ingredients, the more processing that probably happened to produce that “food” product and the less healthy it probably is for you.  That is a good general rule around label-reading. 

For people with gluten-intolerance they can be a little more lax on label reading, if they choose to and are willing to accept the consequences.  For those with Celiac, they really need to be clear about the safety of a food before they purchase it.  For example:

¨     Vitamin E is sometimes processed with wheat germ oil.  This is a concern not only for Vitamin E supplements but also shortenings which may contain Vitamin E.

¨     Shortening: See the Vitamin E explanation above.

¨     Spices: Straight spices are pretty much always gluten-free because it is just the spice as the only ingredient.  For spice blends you may run into gluten as an additive. 

¨     Pudding: May contain barley malt for flavoring and/or wheat starch.

¨     Cereal: May contain any number of wheat grains and/or non-gluten-free oats; may contain malt flavoring.

¨     Rice Syrup: May contain barley enzymes.

¨     Brewer’s Yeast: often processed with wort, a fermented barley.

¨     MSG: May contain wheat, especially if produced outside the United States.

¨     HVP/TVP Hydrogenated Vegetable Protein or Textured Vegetable Protein*

¨     Natural Flavor*

¨     Stabilizers*

¨     Fillers*

¨     Vegetable Gums*

¨     Monoglycerides*

¨     Diglycerides*

¨     Modified Food Starch*

* By “ingredient” alone you cannot tell what the raw materials are so you cannot determine if gluten is or is not an ingredient.  Contact the company, especially if you are highly sensitive or have Celiac.

Cross contamination is also a concern since the same equipment may be used to process both gluten and non-gluten products.  If you contact the company they will be able to tell you if a product is produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility or what kind of cleaning the equipment goes through.

It is important to stay on top of labels and any concerns you may have.  Food manufacturers can change their ingredients with every batch if they choose to so you always need to read labels.  Manufacturers are recognizing the purchasing power of those with gluten-intolerance and Celiac Disease and they are getting much better about voluntary labeling.

Technorati Tags: food labels, gluten, gluten free