Importance of Dedicated Gluten Free Facilities & Equipment

This video sums up the how totally gluten free premises are the only way to guarantee gluten free food. Beware of restaurants and bakeries that offer gluten products alongside gluten free, many should not be claiming they offer gluten free options as in reality the food is contaminated with gluten.

Organic Gluten Free Blackberry & Apple Pie

This is a wonderful, delicious pie. A very summery pie and is perfect served chilled.

It was inspired by leftover pulp from a recent batch of homemade organic jam. The pulp contained pectin and was full of pips but also tasty blackberry pulp. It seemed such a waste to throw it away. So to transform it into an edible pie filling I added pomegranate juice, generous amounts of organic cooking apples, brown sugar and butter. For the pastry I tried my new recipe made with rice flour and corn flour which turned out very light and flaky, perfect with the filling.

Mountain Top Gluten and Wheat Free Bakery, Vancouver

Hidden away in North Vancouver, is a bustling gluten free bakery. It had an amazing selection including; savory pies, cookies, cakes, bread, scones and more. Spoilt for choice I went for the focaccia, cheese scones and some chocolate chip cookies.

Verdict:
My favorites were the cookies, they were the first crunchy cookies I have eaten since cutting out gluten and tasted not unlike regular wheat ones. The focaccia was a little on the dry side on it's own, but went very well with a cheese and onion omlette. The cheese scones were a little on the dry side too but quite tasty when warmed in the oven. I'm looking forward to trying some more on my next visit.

http://www.emountaintop.com/

Gluten Free Cream Tea*

Coming from the south coast of England, the summer is just not the same without a few Cream Teas* on those hot days. So when you know you can't eat gluten anymore all you can do is wistfully remember what is was like. So this recipe was a great discovery..

Scones**
1/2 cup potato starch
3/4 cup white rice flour
1 3/4 tsp xanthum gum
1 tblsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tblsp sugar
1/3 cup cold butter cut into 1/2 cm cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk

Toppings
Devon clotted cream
Organic homemade strawberry jam

Heat oven to 375 F and grease a baking sheet. Mix dry ingredients and then add butter and process until it has the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Add buttermilk and mix until it forms one clump and then carefully and quickly make into 8 scone** shapes and place on the baking sheet, ( it is very sticky and should be handled as little as possible). Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Verdict
Soft, fluffy and delicious. They are very light and although they do taste different to regular wheat scones**, they are still really good, and even wheat eaters will enjoy them.

Dairy Free version
Dairy free cream: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/soy-free-vegan-whipped-cream.html#

To replace the butter use a vegan butter that has been frozen before hand.

To replace the buttermilk add 1 1/2 tblsp lemon juice into 3/4 cup of soya milk and and let it sit for 5 minutes. Or use 1/2 cup of vegan sour cream per cup of butter milk mixed with 1/2 cup per cup of butter milk of water.


* If you've never tried a Cream Tea, here is some info on the history and tradition which goes back 1000 years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_tea

** The North American version of a scone is called a biscuit.

Regaining Health on a Gluten Free Diet

When you find out you have celiac diease, it often opens a can of worms health-wise. You don't always know the effects that eating gluten has had.

My doctor told me the results of blood tests soon after being diagnosed with celiac disease and the results were not good. They showed I was anemic, extremely low on minerals and vitamins, most worryingly iron, B12 and D.

So after spending a small fortune on vitamin and mineral supplements did I feel any different? The answer is 'no' as I had been pretty asymtomatic eating gluten and didn't feel the tiredness that my mineral and vitamin levels indicated. Whether I felt tired or not, the fact was that my body needed nutrients.

Intestines damaged after years of eating gluten, take time to heal, and they won't suddenly be okay. In fact they are very sensitive and inflamed and not just as a result of eating gluten. That's when other intolerances and bad eating habits rear their ugly head. Many people with celiac disease also have diabetes, nightshade intolerance, lactose intolerance and so on. Some intolerances may go when the intestines heal, others are ongoing. As if avoiding gluten isn't enough!

Your stomach just may not like all this new gluten free food, mine didn't. The doctors advice? - just to avoid gluten and take vitamin and mineral supplements. There must be something else to help the healing process. What's the point of taking supplements that can't be absorbed?

That's when I stumbled on this article: http://www.celiac.com/articles/21803/1/-Life-in-the-TrenchesRecovering-from-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html

My order of Glutagenics is on it's way and it's not cheap but then when it comes to health it needs to take the priority.

After being malnourished for years and new to a gluten free diet you CRAVE calories, stodge, sweet foods, fat! It just might not be the best thing to eat! You might have detox reactions too, in my case I got teenage skin again and headaches. I also lost weight, not that I was over weight, but there is another myth. People with celiac disease are not always underweight. It makes sense that your metabolism would be slow due to being malnourished. Also the body being starved of nutrients effects the thyroid function. So there is now new connection emerging between celiac disease and obesity - http://www.celiac.com/articles/1033/1/Celiac-Disease-and-ObesityThere-is-a-Connection-by-Melissa-Croda-q/Page1.html

The best mineral supplements to take are high quality liquid forms, as they are most easily absorbed. Good brands will state on the label if they are gluten free.

Whether these supplements will be absorbed will be revealed in the next blood test, in 6 months time. So it will be interesting to see the results, as this will indicate that the healing has begun.

Gluten Free Coconut bread

So for this I found a recipe online, which was basically 6 eggs and coconut flour, coconut oil and salt.

The result - this wins as the worst bread I've made so far, almost had to throw it away. In the end froze it and ate it toasted with lots of butter and jam and it was just about edible.

What I learnt is that coconut flour is VERY dry as it has ALL the oil and moisture taken out of it.. The kind of dryness that saps every drop of moisture from your mouth. So is definitely best used in moderation with other flour.

The taste was egg mostly and very dry coconut and it was really hard to swallow.

I'll try some other recipes and post the results..

Pros - high protein, filling.
Cons - tastes like egg, too dry.

Gluten Free White Bread

It was my first try of Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix. It's easy and makes a good size loaf.

This is great sandwich bread and the consistency is impressive. Very much like a white wheat loaf. It would probably make wonderful garlic bread as well, as it has that doughy texture.

It tastes sweet and you can taste the tapioca flour, but it goes well with savoury or sweet spreads and toppings, and is quite versatile.

It's best frozen after a few days in individual slices to be taken out when needed.

Pros: Easy to make. Great sandwich bread for picnics and packed lunches. Good alternative to wheat white bread.

Cons: It's not organic. It contains sugar. It's low in fibre and protein. It has a tree nut allergy warning.