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.