I know it's been a few months since I have written, but when you are working graveyard full time and taking care of three young children, life is more than busy.  Now my husband will be starting a new job and our family will be moving back home to Twin Falls.  Hopefully this move will be complete by the end of next week and I will be able to blog to my hearts content.  I just thought since I had another week or two before I will be able to sit down to my computer with my recipes, I though it might be fun to ask you the reader what you might want to know.  Is there a recipe you are looking for?  Is there something you would like to know about having a family that lives a gluten free diet?  Or is there anything you would like to know about raising children with Celiac's?  Well now is your time, ask me any questions you would like.  If I don't know the answer I'll find out. 

See you all in a week or two with some answers and some new yummy GF recipes!!

Stefanie Plane

Gluten Free Bread!!

I have tried many different bread recipes and I'm glad to say I think I have finally come very close to perfecting it.  I have made about 8 loaves using this recipe and I have been very happy with the results.  Ok, I've been completely impressed with myself. But enough about that, here is my gluten free bread recipe.

Gluten Free Bread

Foaming Yeast Mixture:

1 pkg unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (110 degrees)

Mix all ingredients to create a foaming yeast mixture. Let foam about 8 mins.

3 3/4 cups featherlight flour mix
2 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup dry milk powder
3/4 salt

Mix all dry ingredients and set aside

3 eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup warm water

In a mixer whisk eggs on high for about 3 mins, then add 1 cup warm water and mix for another 3 mins. Mix mixture until frothy, add melted butter, vinegar, and yeast mixture on medium for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a dough hook, add dry mixture 1/2 cup at a time mixing on low. (You may have to add another 1/2 cup to a full cup of flour to make sure the dough is the right texture to kneed.)
Grease bread pan, knead dough, place in pan, and let raise somewhere warm for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 45 - 50 mins.
Bake less time for dark pans.

This is a great recipe, I hope you like it!!

Stefanie Plane

Signs and Symptoms

The symptoms of Celiac disease can be different from person to person. So you really have to watch and even keep a journal or log to see if you really have the symptoms. Some of them include:

• Abdominal pain, bloating, gas, or indigestion
• Constipation
• Decreased appetite (may also be increased or unchanged)
• Diarrheaa, either constant or off and on
• Lactose intolerancee (common when the person is diagnosed, usually goes away after treatment)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stools that float, are foul smelling, bloody, or “fatty”
• Unexplained weight loss (although people can be overweight or of normal weight)

Because the intestines do not absorb many important vitamins, minerals, and other parts of food, the following symptoms may start over a longer period of time:

• Bruising easily
• Depression or anxiety
• Fatigue
• Growth delay in children
• Hair loss
• Itchy skin (dermatitis herpetiformis)
• Missed menstrual periods
• Mouth ulcers
• Muscle cramps and joint pain
• Nosebleeds
• Seizures
• Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
• Unexplained short height

Children with celiac disease may have symptoms like:

• Defects in the tooth enamel and changes in tooth color
• Delayed puberty
• Diarrhea, constipation, fatty or foul-smelling stools, nausea, or vomiting
• Irritable and fussy behavior
• Poor weight gain
• "Stunted Growth"

Diagnoses:

Now blood tests can detect several special antibodies, called antitissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). The health care provider will order these antibody tests if celiac disease is suspected.
If the tests are positive, an upper endoscopy is usually performed to sample a piece of tissue, in other words a biopsy is taken from the first part of the small intestine (duodenum). The biopsy may show a flattening of the villi in the parts of the intestine below the duodenum.
Genetic testing of the blood is also available to help determine who may be at risk for celiac disease.
A follow-up biopsy or blood test may be ordered several months after the diagnosis and treatment. These tests evaluate your response to treatment. Normal results mean that you have responded to treatment, which confirms the diagnosis. However, this does not mean that the disease has been cured. 

Treatment:

Things are being done to try and find a way to cure or treat the diseases very similar to the pills one will take for being lactose intolerance, but these tests are all very new and have a lot of trials before they will hopefully exist.  Celiac disease cannot be cured. However, your symptoms will go away and the villi in the lining of the intestines will heal if you follow a lifelong gluten-free diet. Do not eat foods, beverages, and medications that contain wheat, barley, rye, and/or possibly oats.
You must read food and medication labels carefully to look for hidden sources of these grains and ingredients related to them. Because wheat and barley grains are common in the American diet, sticking with this diet is challenging. With education and planning, you will heal.
You should NOT begin the gluten-free diet before you are diagnosed. Starting the diet will affect testing for the disease.
The health care provider may prescribe vitamin and mineral supplements to correct nutritional deficiencies. Occasionally, corticosteroids (such as prednisone) may also be prescribed for short-term use or if you have sprue that does not respond to treatment. Following a well-balanced, gluten-free diet is generally the only treatment you need to stay well.

Stefanie Plane

First things First

First things first,  what do you use to cook and bake with if someone can't have wheat, rye, barley, or oats?  Thankfully there are a lot of things available now.  Cooking with out wheat flour is difficult and very intimidating to think about.  The best help I have found for Gluten Free cooking are in "The Gluten-Free Cooks Fast and Healthy, Wheat-Free Recipes with Less Fuss and Less Fat" by Bette Hagman.

Some of the gluten-free flours I like to use are, White Rice, Brown Rice, Sweet Rice Flour, Tapioca, Potato Flour, Potato Starch Flour, Corn Starch, Soy Flour and Xanthum Gum.  Of course, there are many more out there, but these are the flours I use most regularly.   Since gluten-free flours all lack the protein, or gluten, that adds the "stretch" or "rise" factor in baking, we must replace it with a substitute.  All these flours above, and many wonderful new bean and nut flours all help with this substitution, the clue is to find the right mixture, combination for your baking and cooking. 

Here are a couple of my favorite substitutes curtsy of Bette Hagman.

Time saving mixes: 

         Along with each individual flour I also always have these mixes on hand.

With these mixes you can make most any recipe Gluten Free. 

Gluten Free Flour Mix:

         the formula:                                                  the example:

2 parts white rice flour                                  12 cups white rice flour

2/3 part potato starch flour                            4 cups potato start flour

1/3 part tapioca flour                                     2 cups tapioca flour

I like to mix this up in a large storage bin to be on hand always, or you can also order this mix from many different distributors including:

Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods   http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free/

The Gluten-Free Pantry, Inc  http://www.glutenfree.com/

or look on Amazon (this is a great tool to get gluten free products in bulk)

Featherlight Rice Flour Mix:

          the formula:                                                 the example:

1 part (brown or white) rice flour                   4 cups (white or brown) rice flour

1 part tapioca flour                                          4 cups tapioca flour

1 part cornstarch                                              4 cups cornstarch

1 tsp per cup potato flour                                4 Tbsp potato flour

Make sure you use potato flour not potato starch flour. 

This is the best flour mix I have found for baking.  I use it in my bread recipe, my cakes,cookies,  and all other baked goods.

Creamed Soup Base:

1 cup non-instant dry milk

1 cup white rice flour

2 Tbsp dried minced onions

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp GF powdered chicken soup base or vegetable soup base

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in an airtight container on your pantry shelf with your other spices. This mix ix the equivalent of 8 or 9 cans of soup.

This base is a time-saver when a recipe calls for 1 can of creamed soup.  I keep some on hand at all times so that I can substitute it in all my old family recipes that I love.  Here's how to make the cream soup you will need.

Cream of Chicken Soup:   Blend 3 or 4 Tbsp of Creamed Soup Base with1/4 cup cold water.  Then add 1 cup hot or cold water (or chicken broth) and cook, stirring, until the soup thickens.

Cream of Mushroom Soup:  Follow the instructions for Cream of Chicken Soup, using the liquid from one 4 ounce can of mushroom bits and pieces as part of the water (reserve the mushrooms for later).  After the soup thickens add the mushrooms. 

Cream of Tomatoe Soup:  Flollow the istructions for Cream of Chicken Soup, using one 5.5 ounce can of V-8 juice as part of the liquid. 

All these can be found in cook books by Bette Hagman.

Onion Soup Mix:

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp onion salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup minced dehydrated onions

1 Tbsp potato starch flour

This mix works just like the onion soup packets you buy in the grocery. Just use 2 Tbsp of this mix when a recipe asks for one packet of dried onion soup mix.

Using these mixes you can usually use any recipe you have always used, just substitute the gluten free version and you have a great gluten free meal that tastes very similar to the old recipe you've always loved.  Hopefully these will help you get started.

Stefanie Plane

A Gluten Free Life Style

I've had a lot of questions from friends and family about Celiac Sprue, and living Gluten Free in the last couple of months.  Because of this I have decided to start a blog to help anyone who may need or want help, appreciate the knowledge of someone who lives gluten free daily, or who are just curious about a gluten free lifestyle in general.

I have been cooking gluten free for about seven years now.  I started cooking gluten free for my roommate who had a wheat intolerance, then I met my husband.  Mike was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue Disease when he was 18 years old.  In 2001 when Mike was diagnosed, Celiacs was not a very common diagnosis, in fact, it took over eight months for doctors to decide what was going on with him.  Now, thankfully, it only takes a blood test and a biopsy to diagnose.  As we started talking about adding children to our family, it was brought to our attention that there was a definent increased chances that our children would also have Celiac's.  Now we have three beautiful children, two of which do have Celiac's.  Our youngest is only 5 months old, so we will have to wait another year or so to see if he shows any signs and symptoms of having it as well.  Even though my entire family is faced with the challenges of this disease, I am determined to make sure they eat like everyone else. 

Some of you may wonder what Celiac Sprue is, well in short, Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to the incapability of correctly breaking down gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats.  So what does on with this disease eat, you may wonder. 

In this blog I'm hoping to talk about everything I know, have learned and will learn about this disease, from what the signs and symptoms are, what to watch for in children who may have this disease, how to live with this disease in your life and in your home, what to eat, what to avoid, and of course, some of my favorite recipes.  I hope what I write on this blog will help you, your family, your friends, anyone who you may meet that has Celiacs.  It is only an illness, not the end of the world, and living with this in your life should not be confusing, frustrating, or even complicated.  I hope I can help you live Gluten Free as easily as possible. 

I find it very satisfying to cook gluten free.  I love baking and cooking, and enjoy thoroughly experimenting with recipes.  If only I had more time, I would be more than happy to make it a lifestyle to be in my kitchen always.  Here's to the adventure, the learning, and the experience...Let's do this together!!

Stefanie Plane