Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaves

The only thing that makes the dish cool and tropical is the banana leaves.  It is just your everyday, normally cooked fish, but because it is wrapped in banana leaves, it is like opening a present.  Banana leaves are cool; but the fish is just normal.  So, if you like normal fish, you will have no problem at all with the taste of this recipe!


1 lemongrass stalk (or about a tablespoon of the kind that comes in a tube)
2 green onions (chopped)
2 garlic cloves
1 Tb cilantro (fresh, or 1 tsp. dried)
1 Tb ginger (fresh, the wet kind in the jar)
1/2 tsp hot sesame oil
1 Tb lime juice
1 Tb salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
4 fish fillets
banana leaves

Marinade:
Put everything except the fish & leaves into a food processor and blend until fairly smooth.  If using lemongrass stalk, just use the bottom few inches & bulb, tearing away the outer leaves.

Put the fish in a tray (see picture above).  Score the fish, spread the marinade over it, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

How to wrap:
With two pieces of the banana leaf, make a cross, like this: + and then put the fish on top of the cross.  Each of the ends sticking out from under the fish should be about 1 foot long.  Then, fold up the vertical part first to make a little package out of the fillet.  Then wrap that part up in the horizontal sticky-outy parts.  You want to wind up with a package that is several layers thick, so that it's hard for the juices to escape.


Cooking:
Heat a grill to medium-high (whatever that means for your type of grill.)  Cook on one side for five minutes.  Flip over (this can be tricky; we've used both tongs and spatulas--neither one seems better than the other, but the main point is to do it quickly so that you don't spill too much juice.)  Cook for another five minutes.

Unwrapping can be a little messy to do on a dinner plate.  We usually unwrap it in a baking dish (but at the table so people can see how cool the leaves are) and then serve it up.

Daikon Apple Slaw

This was a very flavorful dish!  For those who don't know what a daikon radish is, here is a very simple definition: a special kind of radish that is larger than normal.  I liked this, especially the apple pieces.


1 large red apple
1 daikon radish
1 T toasted sesame seeds
3 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce or substitute
1 T sugar
1 T oil
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp hot oil or Tobasco
1 tsp salt
2 green onions

Sauce:
Grind the sesame seeds with mortar & pestle or electric grinder (my dad uses a coffee grinder for seeds like flax & sesame.)  In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except apple and daikon.

Peel and core the apple.  Slice it into sticks about 3" long and 1/4" wide.  Dump these into the sauce as you slice them so that they don't brown.  Peel the daikon and chop it into sticks roughly the same size (or make them different so they are easily identifiable by picky eaters!)  Add to the bowl, stir it all up.  Refrigerate for a while so that it's cold when served.

(adapted from Roots by Diane Morgan.)

Chicken Chichen Itza

This is a really good meal that is made from a lot of leftover ingredients!  It was a little mushy as a leftover, but still very good!


1 chicken, or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 tomatoes
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
1 T oregano
1 T cumin
1/4 cup butter or margarine, plus more to saute
Banana leaves (or aluminum foil)
Rice, brown or wild


Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag.  Stick the chicken in and shake to thoroughly coat.

Heat some butter or margarine in a skillet and brown the chicken on both sides.  Cover and continue cooking on low for 20 minutes, until done.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.  Heat a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil in a pan.  Chop up the tomatoes, onion and garlic, and throw them all in.  Saute for 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with the oregano and cumin, cover the pan and cook over moderate heat for about ten minutes.  Uncover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Finally, put it all into a food processor and blend.

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat 1/4 cup butter into the tomato sauce.

Place a piece of chicken either on a plus-sign shape of crossed banana leaves, or in the middle of a square of foil.  (Foil is certainly less messy, but leaves add a nice flavor and look very cool.)  Spoon at least 1/4 cup of tomato sauce over the chicken.  Wrap it up.  Repeat with the other pieces of chicken, place all of them in a baking pan (in case of leakage), and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Any leftovers are excellent as taco meat for tomorrow's dinner!

Rainbow Salad

This salad was really cool looking!  Also, it tasted good because it wasn't one of the lettuce and one piece of carrot and one olive salads.  Also, if you find something blue to put in the salad, please post a comment and tell us what it is!



RED: Tomatoes & red bell pepper
ORANGE: Orange bell pepper
YELLOW: Canned corn & yellow bell pepper
GREEN: Lettuce & spinach
BLUE: Good luck.
BURGUNDY: Red quinoa, boiled about 15 minutes in 2 parts water for 1 part quinoa.
VIOLET: Red onion
BROWN: beans (these can actually be a variety of colors!)
BLACK: Olives

Dressing: Mix vinegar, oil, Tobasco, sugar, herbs, and bullion powder as desired.

Chicken Satay

This is an unlikely place to find a really amazing recipe, but we got this from the Family Fun magazine!  It is my mom's big achievement because it is a recipe that she made that was a big hit!  I think it is the best meal that I've had since September.  My sister, who now will comment on all recipe posts says: "It is very yummy, but it is chewy."  

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless chicken breast

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 Tb light brown sugar

2 Tb fish sauce

1 Tb ground coriander seed

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. turmeric

Wooden skewers, soaked in water for 1 hour (this actually really helps the meat come of the stick easier.)

Directions:

1.  For easier slicing, place the meat in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.

2.  Combine coconut milk, brown sugar, fish sauce, coriander, cumin, and turmeric in a large bowl and stir well to dissolve the sugar.

3.  Slice the meat into thin strips about 3/4 inch thick and 3 inches long.  Add the meat to the coconut milk marinade and refrigerate covered for at least 2 hours.

4.  Preheat the broiler or the grill.  Thread 1 or 2 pieces of meat onto each skewer.  Grill or broil the meat for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until it's cooked through.  Makes about 10 skewers.

Shrimp Cocktail in a Pineapple (Pineapple Monte Carlo)

 Another weird recipe from Vincent Price's cookbook.  I don't know why, but my dad always goes for the weird, tropical recipes.  Pineapple, banana leaves you name it!  I really liked the apples in this one.  The shrimp was a little tough, but that might have just been our old in-the-freezer-forever shrimp.  My sister says: "It looks awesome but it doesn't taste good."  Don't listen to her, she doesn't like shrimp or fruit!

 Ingredients:

1 pineapple (refrigerated)

2 pound salad shrimp

2 apples

1 T tarragon

1 T fresh parsley

3 T mayonnaise

6 T ketchup

1/4 ounce Cointreau (brandy, rum, or white wine)

1/4 ounce port

Directions:

1. Cut the top off the pineapple and save it.  Scoop out the meat, toss the core, chop up the rest, saving the hollowed-out pineapple in the fridge.  (This is harder than it sounds, be patient.)  Peel the apples and chop them up. Put the pineapple, apple, shrimp, tarragon, and parsely in a big bowl and toss to coat with the pineapple juice.  Put the bowl in the fridge.

2. Prepare the sauce.  Mix the mayo, catsup, Cointreau (or whatever), and port.  Pour this over the fruit mixture, and put back in the fridge.

3. When you're ready to serve it, put the mixture into the hollowed-out pineapple.  Put the lid back on top.  The Rivoli in Mexico City (from where this recipe originates, via Vincent Price) twines fresh flowers amongst the leaves.  You can do that, or just serve it up as-is.  You will probably have extra which you can use to refill the pineapple after the first course.

The shrimp becomes totally nasty as a leftover, so eat everything!  Delicious, but only when fresh!

Pumpkin Corn Bread

This was our version of Thanksgiving corn bread.  It was a good blend of pumpkin and normal bread flavor.  I didn't like it as much as some of our other breads, but it was still yummy!

 Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups cornmeal

1 cup brown rice flour

1 T baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup milk or substitute (hemp, coconut, etc.)

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup honey

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350.  Oil a baking dish (9" x 9" or 7" by 11" or whatever you have.)

2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.  In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together.  Mix the wet and dry together, but do not overmix.  Pour into the baking dish, smooth the top with a spoon so it looks pretty.

3. Bake for 35 minutes or until done; test with a toothpick.

Skewered Chicken in Sesame Soy Sauce

This is a really great dinner that my dad made, straight from Vincent Price's A Treasury of Great Recipes.  It was super flavorful and filling.  Even my sister liked it.  She says: "The sauce is delicious, especially good with mashed potato."  The mashed potato part has nothing to do with the recipe, but she likes mashed potato with anything! :)

Ingredients:

2 cubes         {  -about 1 1/2 cups boned cooked chicken

of each on     {  -pineapple

each skewer  {  -apple(s)

                            

for marinating  -1/2 soy sauce or substitute

 for sauce          -1 clove garlic, crushed

                          -1/2 Tb sugar

                          -1/4 cup wine vinegar

                          -1/4 cup sherry

                          -1/2 large apple, finely grated

                          -3 drops sesame oil

Directions:


Skewers

1.  Cut chicken into cubes.
2.  Put on each skewer: 1 chunk pineapple, 1 cube chicken, 1 cube apple dipped in lemon juice, and repeat again.  
3.  Marinate skewers in sesame soy sauce (which you will make) for fifteen minutes, and then remove and drain.


Sauce

1.  Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Reintroducing Foods

Our dietitian has recommended that we start reintroducing eggs.  This was low-ish on my forbidden list and we introduced it 2 days ago.  In the morning I had a muffin with egg ingredients and at lunch I had a stir-fry with scrambled eggs.  We watched for two days and I had no bad symptoms except for a sore back which we suspect was from doing marching in band.  So eggs are back on the chart, but not every day, every meal.  Yay!

Halloween- Dissapointing...

I knew that I would not be able to eat a lot of candy, but I did not realize I would only get about seven pieces.  That's it.  I got two sour patch kids (only one gummy in a package) and five dum-dums.  No candy corn; no Hershey's; nothing.  Definitely disappointing,  but the good news is my dad is paying me for the candy I got so I can use that money to buy a bag of dark chocolate chips, which I can have! 

Ham Soup

This is my lunch basically every day!  Not much to say about it, because it is what it's called, but it is really good and nutritious.  This is my dad's recipe.  It changes every time.

Ham Soup

Notes:

1. All quantities are minimums; add more if you want
2. Adjust seasonings to taste
3. Roughly chop all veggies

Ingredients:

- 2 handfuls dried beans

- 1 cup ham (or at least two cups of ham with bone...the more bone, the more you should put in)

- 2 stalks celery

- 1 medium carrot

- 3 small red or white potatoes

- 1/2 cup wild rice

- 1/4 cup whole quinoa or millet

- 1 cup "soft" vegetables like kale, spinach, cabbage, mushrooms, corn, water chestnuts

- 3 tsp bullion

- 3 tsp spices: salt, pepper, mace, cloves, parsley, coriander, mustard powder, garlic powder

1. Wash beans very well to remove dust.  Check them for small pebbles and remove those, too!
2. Fill soup kettle halfway with water.  Put the beans in, bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.
3. Add ham, bring back to simmer.  Add celery, carrots, and spices except salt, and bring back to simmer.  Add wild rice, bring back to simmer.  After about 30 minutes, add the potatoes and quinoa or millet.  You want the total stewing time to be about one hour, and you want to wind up with beans & rice just cooked and with potatoes that aren't overcooked (beans take about an hour, wild rice about 40 minutes, potatoes & whole grains about 10 minutes)
4. Once the beans & rice are pretty soft, add the bullion and salt.  (Don't add the bullion or salt until the beans are soft, because they slow down the softening process.  It's okay to do this if the potatoes are not yet fully cooked.)
5. Add your soft veggies.
6. Stew it all for five or ten minutes.  Then put about two or three ladles' worth into a food processor and blend on pulse.  Return the processed stuff into the soup, stir well, and serve!

This also saves really well in the fridge!

I CAN Believe It's Not Butter!

 We have found the perfect butter!  Smart Balance Buttery Spread Light with Flaxseed Oil!  This is gluten free, lactose free, non-dairy, and vegan.  It does contain soy(beans), the second ingredient.   Here are the ingredients:

water, oil blend (palm fruit, soybean, flaxseed, canola, and olive oils), Contains less than 2% of: salt, natural and artificial flavor, and then a whole bunch of long weird stuff.  It is very very good!

This is what it looks like!

Growing Chia Seeds

When my dad forgot to put chia seeds in the bread, I decided to use them instead of throwing them away.  2 weeks later: they have grown a lot and are still alive!  They have been living in the bathroom.  It was really easy!  I just put the soaked seeds in a pot and put dirt in it.  Now I want to grow all the seeds in the kitchen!  

Millet Sandwich Bread

Finally, we have a bread that everyone will eat by choice!  This bread does not have the centimeter-thick crust, but instead has a soft, mushy one.  The inside is mushy too!  As you can see in the picture, honey goes with it very well as well as jam and our new favorite fake butter!  It is very good!  I am posting this as my dad makes the second loaf.  Enjoy!

Millet Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

- 2 Tb chia seeds

- 1 cup millet flour

- 1/2 cup potato starch

- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour

- 1/2 cup quinoa flour

- 1/2 cup brown rice flour

- 1/2 cup tapioca flour

- 1/3 cup flax seed meal

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp xanthan gum

- 2-1/4 tsp yeast

- 2 cups water

- 3 Tb olive oil

- 2 Tb syrup (maple or agave)

- sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

1. Soak the chia seeds in 1/2 cup of the water.  These will turn into tiny squishy eyeballs after fifteen minutes.  That's good.

2. Put the yeast in a large bowl, then add 1-1/2 cups water (should be room temperature or slightly warm).  Add the oil and syrup.  After 5-10 minutes it will look like foamy goo.  That's good.

3. Preheat oven to 425.  Put a "bath" (pan filled with water) on the bottom rack.

4. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients well.  Add the chia goo to the yeast goo and mix well.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.  It will quickly make a soft dough.

5. Grease and dust a bread dish (9 x 3 x 4 or thereabouts.)

6. Pour the dough into the dish.  Smooth the top, and score lengthwise, not quite in the middle.  Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

7. Put the bread in the oven.  Immediately reduce temperature to 350, then cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.  Reduce heat again, to 300.  Bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until done.

(All-Purpose) Flour Mix #6 and 6.5

The way this works is that you make a giant batch (this recipe makes about 5 cups) and then use it as recipe calls for.  For example, my pancake recipe calls for 1 cup of this mix, so you would just take one cup out of your giant batch.

All Purpose Flour Mix #6

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup black bean flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal

All-Purpose Flour Mix #6.5

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup white bean flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch

Chocolate Chip & Nut Cookies

At last, a chocolate chip cookie that tastes like a real one!  I kind of think of this diet as, instead of B.C. and A.D. (like in history), Before Diet and With Diet.  If that is true, then I can't tell if this cookie is BD or WD!  The best part about the cookie is the real cookie taste!  The texture is not perfect, but still very good!  My mom says: "I like them better than Mrs. Field's cookies!"  My sister says: "They taste like pancakes."  Not sure where that came from, but she definitely still liked them!  I think that they were really good!  My only negative comment was that they were kind of crumbly.  Other than that, delicious!

Chocolate Chip & Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

-2 cups flour 6.5

-1 Tb. chia seeds (soaked in water for 15 minutes)

-1 egg or egg replacer

-3/4 tsp. salt

-3/4 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1 stick fat free butter, melted until soft

-1/2 cup packed brown sugar

-1/2 white sugar

-Chocolate chips (we did about three handfuls)

-Slivered Almonds (we did about 1 handful)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2.  In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients well.  In another bowl, mix all wet ingredients well.  

Combine bowls and stir until just mixed.  Add chocolate chips and nuts. 

3.  Put parchment paper on a baking sheet.  If you don't have paper, just lightly oil and flour a baking sheet.  Put tablespoon sized blobs on the sheet.  (Tablespoons make very large cookies!)  Bake for 12-15 minutes.

No Celiac For My Mom

We just got my mom's celiac results back and she does not have it!  Her scores are actually very low- mine were in the hundreds and she had 4's and 5's.  This came as a surprise because when she ate gluten, she complained of stomach pains.  My dad had low gluten scores on the other test (the first one I took that tested for lots of different foods) and my mom does not have celiac, so we suspect that one of them had the gene but it was never triggered.  Or, both of them had it which could expain why my scores are so high.  Because there are two different genes that cause celiac, we don't know if i have dq8 or dq2.  Maye I have both! 

School Lunches

School has started!  At the beginning of being gluten-free, my mom's main worry was packing a school lunch.  Now, we have figured out a lunch that is mostly the same but has some variations. 

We always have a "main course".  This is normally an udi bread, almond butter, margarine, and jam sandwich.  You can use different fillings, too. We also sometimes pack soup.  We found a canned soup that is gluten-free called Amy's Organic Soups.  My favorite flavor is something like english vegetable.  My mom has a special trick for keeping the thermos that we put it in warm: heat a pan filled with water on the stove and put the thermos in.  It works really great!  We have not tried a meal-in-a-thermos yet, but we plan to do one soon. 

Along with this, we always pack these items:

-Lunch meat in a container

-A granola bar

-A fruit cup

-Gluten Free Chips, pretzels

This way, we get protein, energy/sugar, fruit, and a yummy snack.  We have found that this is the best combo because it fills me and I like it!  When I get home, I have hummus as a snack and that usually lasts me a long time.  Now, lunch is one of my favorite meals!

Pumpkin Muffins

What do you do when you buy too much pumpkin for pumpkin bread?  You make Pumpkin Muffins!  It is not the same recipe.  This one is the pumpkin equivalent of banana bread.  It is also a good source of protein because of the nuts in it.  You can add more or less if you want, but the amount that we list is pretty good.  This was rated best ever! from my mom, very good from my dad, yummy from me, and yuck from my sister.  She does not like nuts, so she instantly did not like this.  I thought it was good.  It made really good breakfasts, too!

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

-1 cup flour # 6

-1/4 cup flax meal

-1/4 cup tapioca flour

-2 eggs or egg replacer

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1/4 cup honey

-3/4 cup pumpkin puree

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 tsp. ground ginger

-1 tsp. cinnamon 

-1 tsp. cloves &/or allspice

-3/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/4 or 1/2 cup chopped almonds or walnuts

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a 12- cup muffin tin with paper liners.  

2.  Mix pumpkin, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and oil in a small bowl.

3.  In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients well.  Combine the pumpkin mixture and the dry mixture and stir until just mixed.  

5.  Pour into tin.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Pumpkin Rosemary Bread with Biga

What is Biga?  That was my first question about this bread.  According to the Gluten-Free & Vegan Bread cookbook, biga is a small amount of dough that ferments prior to being added to the other ingredients.  Basically, you let a glob of gross-looking stuff sit on the counter for 6 hours.  You need to make the biga in the morning.  You don't actually cook the bread until the late afternoon.  This bread is kind of time consuming, as it takes all day.  The good thing is that you don't do anything in between the biga and the bread.  We loved this bread because we could eat it!  This is also known as First Successful Bread.  Here it is!

Pumpkin Rosemary Bread with Biga  adapted from Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread

Ingredients for Biga:

-1/4 tsp. instant active dry yeast

-1 cup teff flour

-1 cup water

Ingredients for Dough:

-1 cup oat flour

-1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

-1/2 cup tapioca flour

-1/2 cup potato starch

-1/2 cup pumpkin puree

-2 Tb olive oil

-1 Tb chopped fresh rosemary

-1 Tb maple syrup

-1 tsp. xanthum gum

-1 tsp. sea salt

-1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Prepare the biga!  Combine biga ingredients in a medium bowl.  Let rest, uncovered of covered with a linen cloth, for 6 to 8 hours.  When the biga shows bubbly, yeast-y activity, it is ready to be mixed with the other ingredients.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and place a water bath (pan or tray with water in it) on the bottom rack.  Lightly grease a sheet pan.

3. For the dough: in a large mixing bowl, combine the biga with the dough ingredients.  Mix well until a soft dough has formed. 

4. Turn out the dough onto a work surface dusted with flour and gently form into a dome-ish round shape.

Transfer bread on to sheet pan and score a semicircle on the top of the bread with a knife.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Decrease temp. to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 1 hour, until crusty and firm.

Wondermill contest

We bought a Wondermill when we first found out that I was gluten-free.  Wondermills are electric mills that you can use to grind your own flour.  I visited their website and entered a blogging contest with my chocolate cookies recipe.  Guess what?  I WON!!  I am not sure where I placed, but I won some money!  Very excited!

504 Plan for Celiac

Today we went to school to meet with the vice principal and get a 504 plan.  504 plans accommodate a person's specific needs.  The 504 plan for me is for the following things:

1.  Allow me access to the staff microwave to heat my lunch, because cold rice is nasty.

2.  Excuse me from activities that involve wheat, like home economic classes or science experiments.  

3.  Allow bathroom privileges in case I need it in the future.

4.  Notification if there is a class treat so my parents can send a substitute gluten-free treat for me.

5.  Permission for missing a lot of school due to doctor visits.

We also talked about having a snack in my locker, because I get hungrier faster.  Number 3 does not apply to me yet, but in case I get these symptoms later it is already covered.  This should help some and let teachers know about my condition.  Hopefully this will help!

Check Hand Sanitizer!

On a whim, today we checked Bath and Body Works hand sanitizers, and they contain wheat ammino acids!  If you buy hand sanitizer, check it first!

(All-Purpose) Flour Mix #5

My dad said that this did not work, but here it is anyway!

All-Purpose Flour Mix #5

-3 cups oat flour

-2 cups rice flour

-1 cup garbanzo flour

-1/2 cups tapioca flour

Gluten Free on the Go

We just got back from Crater Lake, and now we know how difficult it is to be gluten-free on the go.  McDonalds and Burger King can no longer save you on long road trips.  We had the most trouble while driving.  When we got to the hotel, it was also difficult to get good meals that would keep us going.

For on-the-road and fast food, the best (and only) place that we found was Subway Sandwich.  They have gluten free bread (don't be surprised, it looks like hamburger buns) and are very careful to not contaminate it.  They open it in a wrapper, so no gluten gets on it while it sits in the back.  They wear fresh gloves and put the bread on a new piece of paper, also to prevent contamination.  Our helpers even asked us how severe our allergies to gluten were.  We were very impressed!  The bread does have a different texture, but is way better if you toast it!  Subway was a definite yes for gluten free.

We also made our own sandwiches with Udi's bread.  Udi bread is the best bread we have found, for taste.  The texture, similar to Subway bread, is a little different.  We put in lunch meat and lettuce and ate it with an apple.  This worked better when we assembled the sandwich at our destination because it kept the bread from getting soggy. 

We were very lucky and came across a Thai food place that served gluten free food.  Chicken satay, egg rolls, noodles... it was delicious!  We also brought potatoes, turkey and carrots to make a filling dinner meal.  On our last day, we ate at the Olive Garden in Eugene.  They actually had a separate health menu that included gluten-free items.  We had to ask for it, though.  The pasta we had was so good, I was afraid to eat it because I thought they were gluten noodles!  They gave us the brand of the noodle:  Zerega.  We want to look for it and buy it for our own use.

My sister's test results came back and she does not have celiac disease.  Now my mom and dad are going to be tested because it is highly hereditary.  

My Sister Joins the Gluten-free Club

My sister's test results came back, and to everyone's surprise she is also gluten-free!  No one suspected my sister because she weighs as much as I do and seems taller (though she is only a tiny bit taller than I was at her age.)   She is also allergic to dairy and eggs, but she is not allergic to soy or corn.  She does not like the gluten free diet because she has had more headaches in the past three weeks than she has had in the past 3 years.  I suspect it is because her body is getting rid of all the glutens, so she is feeling bad.  Now we are going to test her for celiac disease.  I hope she doesn't have it!

Also, my dad just finished reading a book called The Immune System Recovery Plan  by Susan Blum.  He said it was really helpful and explanative about the immune system and gluten-free stuff.  It is not a recipe book, it is an information book.  I recommend it!

(All-purpose) Flour mix #4

This flour recipe has a slight bean-y flavor to it, similar to flour #2.  If you don't mind that, it was great!  We used this flour for the blackberry pie that we made (soon to be published!).

(All-purpose) Flour mix #4

-1/12 cup brown rice flour

-1 cup oat flour

-1/2 cup white rice flour

-1 cup mayocoba bean flour 

-1/2 cup potato starch

-3 Tb flax seed, ground in a coffee grinder

-1/2 cup quinoa flour

This recipe does not include xanthum gum, so be sure to add about 2 tablespoons to the recipe you use it in. 

Dietitian

Doctor, allergist, pediatrician, and now a dietitian!  We met with a dietitian for advice on how to keep up calories and prepare meals.  The dietitian had information that was very useful.

First, the dietitian said that we should have fat at every meal.  Whole milk used to be a major part of my diet, and it had a lot of fat.  Now that that has been eliminated, we need to keep the fat intake the same.  The dietitian gave us a list of fatty and caloric foods that we should use, and how much per meal (about.  You don't need to use everything on the list.). 

Food                    Amount

Almond Butter     1 tablespoon

Coconut Oil         1 tablespoon

Olive oil               1/2 tablespoon

Sunflower Seed  1 tablespoon

Pistachios           12-16 nuts

Pecans                8-10 nuts

 The dietitian also gave us an idea of what our plate should look like.  We should eat 2-3 fruits per day.  Half of our plate should be vegetables.   A fourth should be starch, but watch out for high portions of rice products because they are fast sugar (which means that it doesn't give you energy for very long.  It also makes your blood sugar go up, and then down very quickly.)   The last fourth of your plate is, of course, protein.  Beans, nut butter, hummus, are all things she mentioned.  You should have 1-2 oz. of meat twice a day to be healthy.  You should also have milk or yogurt, but we have to cut that out of our diet for a year.  

I recommend seeing a dietitian, because ours was very helpful.  We will meet with the dietitian again in a few weeks so she can see how I am doing.   The dietitian also liked the food log I have been keeping.  Unfortunately, she said I had the highest celiac test levels she has ever seen.  Also,  my dad and sister's test results still have not come back.  They should be here soon!

Tacos

Now that I can eat corn again, tacos are an option!  

To make a healthy taco, make sure that you have different colors, in a rainbow!

Red                 Orange       Yellow/White    Green     Blue     Purple    Black

Tomato       Bell Pepper      Chicken         Lettuce    Good luck          Olives

                                                                                      finding this!

This turned out to be really filling!  My mom liked it because it was fast and easy.  She is running out of lunch ideas that are fast and easy, because macaroni can no longer be used as a quick fix.  Hopefully, we'll find more lunches soon!

Another thing we found:  Laughing Planet is a really good restaurant!  You can request to have anything made gluten-free.  Here is the website:  http://www.laughingplanetcafe.com

Celiac Disease

One of the tests the pediatrician ran was a celiac disease test, and the results came back positive.   So my gluten-free diet is a definite yes because I actually have this disease.  I don't know if anyone has celiac in my family, but if they did I would only have a 10% chance of getting it.  I must have bad luck.

Now we are making an appointment to see a gastrologist in Salem.  They will probably recommend a scope for me.  A scope is one of those cameras on a tube that they send inside you to see how bad your reaction.  If my  reaction is horrible then any gluten is really bad for me.  The doctor thinks that having celiac disease is affecting my low weight.  

As for my height, he thinks that I am just going to grow later than anyone else.  My hormone levels are normal, so I won't need growth hormones or anything like that.  I am just naturally short!

2 More Opinions

A couple of days ago we saw 2 more doctors, and both had different opinions than doctor 1!  One doctor was an allergist and one was a pediatrician.   Now I'm not sure what to think!

The allergist's main diagnosis was:  You can eat everything you want except for beef.  When we got the test, all the bars that showed how much I was allergic to something were gray except beef (something about IgE or IgG)  which was black.  The allergist said that beef, being IgE, was my only true allergy.  The others were just the foods I eat most.  So, no gluten-free or anything for me!  That night I noticed that when I had a biscuit I felt bloated, so I don't know if that means it was bad.  

The next day we saw a pediatrician.  His diagnosis was:  Don't go everything-free, just try one thing at a time.  Right now we are still gluten-free and we eat everything else only moderately.  I think this is a good idea because I had more reaction to gluten than any other allergy.  The pediatrician also tested me for IgA, which is the intestines reacting to the allergens.  This tests specifically for gluten.  When the results come back, we will know for sure whether or not I am allergic to gluten. 

My dad and my sister's tests still have not come back.  Our diet could get really hard if they are allergic to different things!

Vanilla Sugar cake

Vanilla Sugar Cake

Rating: 4/5

Ingredients:

-1 3/4 cup flour # 1

-1 cup sugar

-1 tsp. flax seed, ground in a coffee grinder

-2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 cup butter or margarine

-2 eggs or egg replacer

-1/2 cup milk or substitute

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Sift flour (or stir with fork) to break up clumps.

2. Mix dry ingredients.

3. Add butter, eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed. 

4. Spread in a 9x9 pan (greased).  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

This cake was yummy, though the way we made it was interesting.  My dad put it into a 9x13 pan and had to spread it around to completely cover the bottom of the pan.  It rose quite a bit in the oven, but it was still pretty flat.  It tastes really good.  The taste is actually exactly like sugar cookies!  My dad also tried to make his own powdered sugar, which half worked.  Then he added orange juice and made orange frosting, which I do not recommend.  We actually got the recipe from my great grandma's cookbook, the Joy of Cooking, but we altered the flour to make it gluten-free.  For the first cake, it was pretty good!

Quinoa - Potato - Peanut Stew

Quinoa - Potato - Peanut Stew

Rating: 4/5

Ingredients:

-3 tablespoons peanut oil

-1 large onion, peeled and chopped

-2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

-1 tsp. ground cumin

-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

-2 tablespoons salted natural creamy peanut butter

-1 large potato or sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes

-One 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained

-Two 14-oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed

-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

-Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

-2 cups cooked quinoa (see my post on how to cook it)

-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

-Lime juice

Directions:

1. Set a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the oil.  When the oil moves around the pot easily, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the cumin and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute.  Add the peanut butter and stir it into the onions well.

2. Add the potato and stir well.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the potato starts to soften, about 5 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and beans.  Pour in the stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer the stew for about 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir the stew and let it simmer 5 more minutes.  When serving, put 1/2 cup of quinoa at the bottom of the bowl.  Top with cilantro and lime juice.

I liked this soup a lot, even after I learned that peanut butter was in it (I do not like peanut butter!).  It gets thicker when it is a leftover, but my sister said it was still good.  This would be really good in the winter.

Chocolate cookies

Chocolate Cookies     

Rating: 5/5, very good!

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter (or margarine, or ghee), softened

-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

-1/4 cup granulated sugar

-1/2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract

-1 egg or egg substitute

-1 cup flour mix # 1 (see below)

-1 1/2 tsp. xanthum gum

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 cup cocoa powder

-1/4 tsp. salt
-Powdered sugar, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a mixer.  Add the egg and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, xanthum gum, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.  Combine bowls and mix until well blended.

4. Using spoons, put dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.  

5. Bake for 5-10 minutes.  Let cookies rest 5 minutes.  Transfer onto a cooling rack.  If desired, roll cookies in powdered sugar.

 Everybody loved these cookies! They stayed moist overnight and they are chocolate-y, yummy, and (the best part) they taste like normal cookies! This was a huge accomplishment after our first try, in which the cookie dough was black.  These cookies also save well if you store them in a container. 

All-Purpose Flour Mix # 1

We got to use our WonderMill to make these flours!  It is cool because we can make our own flour.  We made our own rice and oat flour in this recipe.  My dad loves the WonderMill, and now he is making flour out of everything!

Ingredients:

-1 1/4 cup rice flour

-3/4 cup oat flour

-2/3 cup corn (or potato) starch

-1/3 cup potato starch

-1 large tablespoon Tapioca flour

-1 tsp. xanthum gum

All of the flours were ground in the WonderMill!

The Food Log

Today I started a Food Log.  I am going to keep track of everything I eat.  It will help us stay on a rotational diet.  If I get a headache, we can see if it is related to something that I am eating.  It takes a while to write everything down.  Here is an example of what it looks like:
 8/5/13-Mix Mash day
Cheerios, Rice milk, Yams, Bok Choy, Chicken, Strawberries, Blueberries, Grapes, Spinach, Basil, Chocolate cookies, Vanilla chamomile tea.

As you can see, it takes some time and effort, but i think it is a good idea.  That is only breakfast and lunch, too! 

Food Surprises

Here is a list of some things and what are in them.  It is mostly stuff I am allergic to: corn, soybean, dairy, wheat.

-Pesto.....Soybean oil

-Powdered sugar.....Corn Starch
-Fake syrup.......Corn Syrup

-Marshmallows.....Corn Syrup
-Oreos......Flour

-Margarine......Whey 
-Some hand sanitizers...... Wheat ammino acids
-Imitation crab.....Wheat Starch
-Salad dressings.....Various

I will keep adding to this list when I find unexpected no-no food surprises.  (I hope this list does not grow. :) )

Milk Substitutes

Because my favorite drink/food is milk, the no-milk rule has been hard.  My dad tried coconut milk and liked it, but I tried it and it was disgusting!  Coconut milk is too sweet.  If you like vanilla milk, you might like it, but I thought it was sickly sweet.  

Almond milk is better, but you can taste an obvious nutty flavor.  I also did not like that one because nuts are not one of my favorite foods.  

I recently got vanilla enriched Rice Dream milk, and I thought it was much better!  The vanilla flavor is not super strong and it masks any rice-y flavor.  Original rice milk is also good, but you can taste a kind of strange aftertaste.  I like original in cereal but vanilla to drink.  Normally I have water.  It is better for you and less expensive.  I am also trying caffeine-free herbal tea.  I tried cinnamon apple tea, but it was gross.  Vanilla chamomile is pretty good!

Flour # 2- Riceless

My dad made another flour today, but riceless!  It is good if you are doing a rotational diet.  

Flour # 2- Riceless

-1 cup oat flour

-1/2 cup tapioca flour

-1/4 cup potato starch

-1/8 cup garbanzo flour

-1/16 cup flax seed (ground in coffee grinder)

-1/16 cup quinoa seed (ground as above)

 The way my dad did this one is by filling 1 cup in layers, so 1 cup was just oat flour and another cup was everything else.  It is kind of approximate, so if it is tweaked it will not make much difference.

By the way, quinoa is pronounced KEEN-wa, not kwi-NO-a.  Weird!

The First Pancake!

The First Pancake!

Ingredients:

-1 cup all-purpose flour mix # 1 (see the post on how to make this.)

-1 Tb white sugar

1 Tb brown sugar

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 beaten egg or mixed egg replacer

-2 Tb oil

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. vanilla extract 

-1 cup substitute milk of your choice (we used coconut)

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl mix dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients.  Mix well, but do not overmix.

2.  Pour batter onto a lightly greased griddle on medium heat.  NOTE: Ours did not bubble like normal pancakes so we had a hard time knowing when it was time to flip them.  Turns out that they cook really slowly, so leave them on for a long time.  Flip them when you think it is time.  

These were pretty good (though it is hard to judge when they are undercooked).  I thought they were so-so, but the rest of my family loved them.  Best with fruit, or berry syrup.

The doctor said that I would be noticing some changes, but I haven't.  I do not feel better, or worse, or different.  I am just hungrier.  Since I have only been on the diet a few days, I guess that makes sense.  Another thing I learned was that eating out is hard.  We went to a sushi place, but everything had something!  The main problem was imitation crab, because we realized it has Wheat starch, corn starch, soy, and egg whites, all of which I am allergic to.  Eventually I had teiryaki with rice.  Later, I had a stomachache, but I don't know if it was food-related or not.  Anyway, we will always eat at home now.