Four Months Gluten Free!

I find it absolutely unbelievable that I've seen such benefit from becoming gluten free. The biggest plus, of course, is that my pain goes from non-existent to manageable. I have not had a huge flare up for over four weeks, even with gardening! That is just huge.

What it makes me wonder is how much of our diets affect who we are, how we feel, how we behave, and how we view the world around us. I have found that the world looks a bit brighter, even on bad days, than it did four months ago when I was in the throes of unmanageable pain. The medication that I take for managing my pain has decreased, and my hope is that the longer I'm on this diet, I will be able to cut it out of my life once and for all.

I look at the future with rose-colored glasses when I feel this good, which worries my hubby, since I crash when I have a flare-up. But I do believe with a positive attitude, my need for medication will be a thing of the past. (Jeff, if you're reading this: Don't worry, I'll take my medication so that I'm nice to be around!)

The only thing I miss on occasion is being able to go to a restaurant and order anything off the regular menu without a thought of what I'm putting in my body. I guess the up-side of this is that I am practicing being more mindful which of course brings me back to the present.

Note to everyone who is reading this: Please know I don't live this positively all the time , but it is my intention to catch myself when my mind goes in a bad neighborhood without backup, so I can calmly bring myself back to center and focus what is around me. I hope you all are taking the time to enjoy October and the beautiful leaves and their brilliance of colors. Namaste.

Three Months Gluten-Free!

I can't believe it...I just can't believe it. Here I am, 3 months gluten-free, and I have never felt better in my life! My joints hurt NO MORE! I mean it! It's amazing. My muscles don't cry nearly as much, though I do continue to take my medicine, but the pain is more of a reminder where I have been, not knocking loudly on my door.

For any of you out there who have hesitated, thinking this kind of diet change will be impossible, let me tell you this: You WILL no doubt have challenging days, but if you can make it through the first month, I know you will feel better. I am HAPPY! Not just content, happy! That for me is huge.

I have been baking bread to my heart's content and developing new recipes all the time. I have found that I really am the gourmet! So much fun to experiment, that even my kids and hubby have to admit that what they taste is pretty darn tasty indeed!

My Delicious Chicken Salad Recipe

A week ago a cast member of the play I'm in, "The Dining Room" (by A.R. Gurney), brought in some wonderful home-grown vegetables along with some oregano and Thai Basil. Wanting to use the basil right away, but having nothing to use it for, I found a small glass jar (4 oz.) and filled it with extra virgin Olive oil. I then cleaned the basil, muddled it a bit, and stirred it into the olive oil. I then put it in the refrigerator. (You can keep this infusion for a week.) The olive oil will solidify, this is fine. When you want to use it, simply scoop out a tablespoon or two and set on the counter for 15 minutes (if you're in a hurry, you can stir it until it melts.)

OK, that part out of the way, here's the delicious recipe I created--thought there may be a few of you who have these ingredients on hand and may want to try!

Ingredients

1-2 teaspoons of fresh dill seed (or weed) --I got this directly from my garden
1 Fage yogurt (Greek yogurt with honey--you will add the honey since it acts as an emulsifier)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 scant teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed if you have it)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon of the olive oil infusion (described in first paragraph--I pulled out some of the Thai basil leaves and added them to the salad)

2 cups poached chicken cut in bite-sized cubes
1 large cucumber thinly sliced
1 small onion sliced in 1/2 rings
handful of red grapes, halved
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I toasted mine for 2 minutes in the toaster oven and they were perfect)


Mix the first 7 ingredients well. Add the remaining ingredients except the pecans.
Refrigerate for several hours. Toast pecans just before serving and sprinkle over top of salad.
Enjoy!

Homemade Gluten-Free Bread!

For four weeks, I struggled trying to make gluten-free bread. Instead of having dense, but holey loaves, these could have easily broken windows. Last week and this week, I finally got it right! I am posting a recipe that is a combination of recipes. Some recipes claimed to do one thing, but I found another. So this is a hodge-podge of recipes that I guess I'll call my own!  If you have any questions, please post. I'll do the best I can to answer them, as I'm new to this as well. Enjoy!

Flour Mix

1 cup brown rice or sorghum flour

½ cup teff flour

½ cup garbanzo bean flour

2/3 cup tapioca starch

1/3 cup potato starch or corn starch

2 tsp xanthum gum

Scant T sugar

¾ tsp baking soda

Other Ingredients

2 oz. sour dough starter (substitute flour with gluten free flour)

2 XL eggs or 3 small

10.5 oz lukewarm tap water

1.9 oz. vegetable oil

¾ scant tsp. apple cider vinegar

Scant 1/8 tsp dry instant yeast

1 ½ tsp salt (last ingredient to be added)

Putting it all together

•  Using a standing mixer with whisk attachment, at a medium/low setting beat the starter with water, eggs, oil, vinegar, and yeast.
• Add flour mixture and beat for 2 min. Add salt beat 1 more min.
• Remove whisk, and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Move to warm place for 1 ½ hours.
• After it has risen, beat it again for 3 minutes.
• Transfer to 9x5 prepared loaf pan (greased) and place pan in plastic container that is large enough to   hold pan and cover it.
• Allow to rise for another 1 ½ hours.
• Set oven to 375º and place bottom of broiler pan in lowest rack in oven. Heat for 30 minutes.
• Dust dough with rice flour and, using a greased bread knife, cut three diagonal slits across the top of loaf.
•  Just before baking, add a handful of ice cubes or a cup of cold water to the tray and place the loaf immediately into the steaming oven. After 30 minutes, rotate 180º and bake for another 20-30 minutes. If you notice the loaf getting browner than you like, cover the loaf with aluminum foil for the duration of the baking.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Carefully, using a butter knife, loosen the bread from the pan. It’s best if you turn the pan on the side and let the steam escape for a few minutes before taking out of the pan. Careful! Steam is REALLY hot.
•  Place bread on cooling wrack.
• Once cooled, use a bread knife to cut loaf. Store in freezer. Your bread will last longer this way, and it really tastes best warm or toasted.

If you use a bread machine, stop by this link for helpful tips!

One Month Gluten Free!

Today is one month gluten free for me! Wow! I am really getting the hang of this. My biggest "wow" is how awake I am. I thought because of my chronic pain I would always be tired--trying to escape, I guess. I stay awake so late now that it's really messing with my days! Once I start teaching again in the fall, I will really have to remedy this situation.

I have also found how to bake bread with gluten-free flour as opposed to using wheat flour. Here's what I've found:

• You do NOT kneed the dough...if you do, which I found out, you get bricks instead of bread. Yuck.
• You use a whisk attachment (I use my standing mixer for this) to mix the dough. It does not have the consistency of regular bread dough, but rather the consistency of banana bread batter.
• After it rises 1 1/2 hours in a warm place, you beat it again and put it in a loaf pan to rise for another 1 1/2 hours. 
• But here's the most interesting piece of information I've found: Put a broiler pan in the oven while preheating 1/2 hour before baking bread. Immediately before putting your bread in the oven, take a cup of cold water and pour in the hot broiler pan. It immediately steams, and you place your bread in the oven and bake. What a glorious loaf I had when I finished! Dense, but holey. YUM!

Although my pain is better, I still use my Tips for Managing Chronic Pain when I need them. But I feel more alert and receptive. I am glad that I trudged through the gluten withdrawal. I do hope that my pain lessens with time.

Enjoy your day, all! Namaste. 

Witnessing Change as it Happens

It has been two months since I attended my first Zumba class, and I have to say that I noticed today that I did not need to drink as much water during the class as I normally do--I had water left over! I also noticed that my steps to the dance moves became a bit more refined, my muscles a little stronger, and my confidence growing. Each class has been an exercise in pushing my limits. The first few classes I left huffing and puffing thinking, How is this body of 40+ years going to ever get this right? But amazingly (or maybe not so amazingly), I feel myself growing stronger, shining brighter than before.

A friend of mine who comes with me every week made a comment this morning. "How's your pain since you've been gluten free?" And you know what?! I hadn't thought about it all morning! That is a huge change that I missed because you see, my pain wasn't wrecking havoc on my nerves, joints, and muscles! So I didn't draw my attention to it.

Now as I sit here scanning my body, I notice where the pain normally hits, and the areas seem to be tamped down at the moment. Is it the gluten, is it the barometric pressure, is it that my husband, Jeff Whelan, got  wonderful reviews on Amazon for his book Space Orville? Honestly, I really don't care, but I'm glad that I have a good day that will turn into good days or weeks.

And today we will be celebrating our 16th anniversary with my parents. My beautiful boys are excited because Grammy and Papa are treating them to carnival rides all afternoon--as well as treating all of us to pizza afterwards. I am so glad...today is a GOOD day! Namaste.

2 Weeks Gluten Free

Today has been 14 days without gluten. I finally am over (knock on wood) the anger and frustration, and I'm actually feeling pretty good. I've lost 4 pounds just by eating gluten-free foods.

I still am not craving sweets, breads, or sugary treats which is a big deal for me. With that being said, I have to share a link with you all. This is the best chocolate cake I've ever made! It's so easy and wonderfully delicious! http://glutenfreemommy.com/no-frills-chocolate-cake/ This gal has an excellent blog. Give her blog a look-see! Have a great Monday!

9 Days Gluten-Free

OK, so I think I'm getting the hang of this. My anger has subsided dramatically and I think I'm starting to feel like I really WANT to eat gluten free foods. Here's the positives I'm noticing right now:

• I'm not craving sweets or carbs
• Normal bowel movements (OK, more info than you probably wanted, but hey! 46 years has done a number on my colon!)
• I'm starting to understand how to cook gluten free, and I'm excited about learning more.

OK, so here are the negatives:

• I've wasted a lot of money trying to get homemade breads just right--haven't mastered it yet!
• I have to make different meals from my family at times, but it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would (we still eat together!)
• It seems all I can think about is GF diet!

OK, so slowly, I feel I'm getting into a stride. Tomorrow I'm going to make homemade sourdough bread from the dough starter I started about 4 days ago. I hope it turns out OK! Have a beautiful Wednesday! Namaste.

Gluten-Free for 7 days

OK, I lied, I accidentally had gluten in a rye cracker--didn't know rye contained gluten. However, my mom read my blog and wondered how I was feeling. I told her I was still angry and wondered if I were having gluten withdrawal. Well, my mom, doctor-wannabe, searched the internet and found these sites that showed many people with the same symptoms I'm having (some even as I type this): nervousness, anger, depression, and at times, ravenously hungry. It seems that gluten can act as a drug that can be addictive like heroin! ????? What? That sounds insane...but if this is the case, I have got a few more weeks of detox before I can put this all behind me. OK, so here are the links to the sites she sent to me. Hope it helps any of you out there who is trying to go gluten free.

http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_8/giving_up_gluten-2024-1.html

http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/68222-withdrawal-symptoms/

http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/88678-anger/

Gluten-Free Diet Challenge

Over a year ago, my gynecologist suggested I try a gluten-free diet to manage my chronic pain. I told her there was no way I'd do that! Too many staples that I'd have to give up. But this past year has been a struggle, and I figured, why not. Unfortunately for me, all change has to go thru my grieving filter. Sheesh, it's just a diet for heaven's sake! But, alas, this is me.

So Jeff and I today went to Hyvee. They were having a gluten-free presentation in their club house. We got a lot of ideas, then left the grocery store with $65 worth of gluten-free food (three bags' worth). Jeff can shop weekly and have between 15-20 bags for only $200...we honestly can't keep up that kind of spending.

So if there are any of you out there who have tried or are on a gluten-free diet, please share your tricks/recipes/ideas on how to eat gluten-free on a budget. It seem so exorbitant to just remove a seemingly simple ingredient from foods. AND did you know that soy sauce has gluten, and so do the cream soups that I use in cooking. I'm about ready to scream!

I know there is a way to do this, and now that I have the summer off, I'd like to devote some time to trying out different recipes, making recipes in bulk and freezing, just to cut down on the price a bit.

So there you have it? Any takers on how to do this more efficiently or cost effectively? I'm open to any and all suggestions! Enjoy the beautiful day. Namaste.