Category: Gluten-Free

Happy New Year! Plans for 2011

On By WendyIn Diet, Gluten-Free, Life, Meniere's DiseaseLeave a comment

There are many things I want to accomplish during this coming year.

Of course, I want to get the Meniere’s under control.

I want to figure out what is going on with my gut and get that fixed, including taking off this weight I’ve gained.

I want to exercise more.  I love to work out in a pool.  I just ordered some of the equipment that we used when I had physical therapy in a pool so I could do the exercises on my own.  (a flotation belt so I can exercise in the deep end without sinking, webbed gloves for resistance, and weights for my ankles to help with aqua walking and toning.)

I also ordered a heart rate monitor so I can keep up with that when I’m working out other ways.  (my heart tends to beat a little too fast too soon, so I have to keep an eye on that.)

Stuart and I have decided that we want to start living more in line with our beliefs.  Stop buying so much stuff we don’t need.  Start buying things that are used instead of new.  Stop creating so much trash.  Start buying closer to home.

We are going to try very hard to not buy anything new in 2011.  I’m looking at it as a smaller goal, I plan to say – Nothing new in January, then if I can do that, then Nothing new for the next 2 months, and build up.  I’m afraid if I say, Nothing new for a whole year, I’m just dooming myself to failure.  (of course, this doesn’t include food, necessities like soap and stuff, and we’ve agreed if we need underwear it will be bought new.)  It also doesn’t include services we may need, or the raw materials I need for my art.  I am trying to create recycled art, but there are still some things you just have to buy.  (I’m hoping to find some of this on Craig’s list, or Free Cycle.)

I hate to admit that we did go on a spending spree at the end of the year in anticipation of this upcoming year.  I’ve been wanting a new vacuum cleaner for so long, and I wasn’t going to wait another year for it!

Buying nothing new is going to be hard.  But I think we can make a good go of it.

I also want to eat healthier.  I need to get my cholesterol down (well my triglycerides, the rest is fine).

As most of you know I’ve taken on the challenge to make at least one meal a week from S.O.L.E. (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) ingredients.  This has been a challenge during the winter months, there just isn’t that much local produce at this time of year.  But I’m enjoying the challenge.

Next, I’m taking on a challenge of going Vegan or at least Vegetarian for 21 days starting January 3rd.  I’ll take it one day at a time, but cutting out a substantial amount of saturated fat from my diet should lower my triglycerides.

I want to spend more time with my friends, and I want to make more friends who have the same interests I do.  It’s hard for me sometimes to go to parties and see how much is being wasted, and so many people don’t bother to recycle.  We are the only people in our group of friends who have a composter.  I also think it’s important to use cleaning products that are safe to the environment.  I feel like many of our friends do some things, but when it’s not convenient they don’t try.  I feel like we’ve fallen into that trap sometimes too.  For example, getting take-out.  What could be more wasteful?  At least when we eat at a restaurant they reuse the dishes and utensils.

We would rather spend our money on visiting friends and family.  Or giving to the charities we believe in.  We are tired of being wasteful.

In a nutshell what we have planned for the New Year is:

  • Get Healthier.
  • Stop being so wasteful.
  • Don’t buy anything new.
  • Make more time for our friends and family.

Are you making any resolutions or plans for the New Year?  I’d love to hear about them.

Happy New Year to one and all!

Chicken Noodle Soup

On By WendyIn Gluten-Free, Recipe2 Comments

Nothing is better when you are sick than Chicken Noodle Soup.  My husband loves it, and it makes me feel good when I can pamper him a little when he is sick.  Unfortunately, I also got sick, but at least I home made Chicken Noodle Soup to make me feel a little better.

First I made Homemade Chicken Stock, but you can use purchased stock.  I like stock much more than broth because it much more flavorful.  Broth is usually watered down too much.  If I use a purchased stock I prefer Kitchen Basics Unsalted Stock.  Most purchased soups, broths, and stocks have way too much sodium, Kitchen Basics makes an unsalted version that is very flavorful.

Homemade Chicken Stock

  • You can use a whole Chicken, but I save up all the bones that have little bits of meat left on them from when I buy chicken on the bone and then need boneless chicken for a recipe.  (I hardly ever buy boneless, skinless chicken breast.  I buy split chicken breast and de-bone and skin it.  It usually cost much less that way.)
  • 3-4 medium carrots with tops cleaned and cut into big chunks.
  • 3-4 stalks of celery with tops (if they have them on there, a lot of celery I buy lately doesn’t have the leaves) chopped in big pieces
  • 1 medium onion, chopped in big pieces.
  • Enough water to cover everything

Place the chicken, veggies, and water in a stock pot that is big enough to hold everything without boiling over.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, and cook for at least 45 mins, until the chicken is tender and the veggies are pretty much falling apart.    You can remove the Chicken and Veggies by straining them through a colander and let the liquid run into another pot.  Return the liquid to the stove and cook until the stock is as strong as you would like.

I used part of the stock immediately in my soup, but to save the rest I dipped it in muffin tins and froze it (don’t fill it all the way to the top).  When the stock is frozen remove it from the pan and put the cubes in a zip loc bag for future use.  (each muffin tin holds about 1/2 cup, this is a good way to know how much stock you have, you can even measure out 1/2 cup muffin tin to be certain.)

Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Chicken Stock from above.  (about 4 cups)
  • The chicken that you pulled off the bones from making the chicken stock.  (if you used left over bones and pieces like I did you may need to add a little more chicken.  I added a breast cut into very small pieces.)
  • 3-4 medium carrots cut in small rounds
  • 2-3 stalks of celery sliced in small pieces
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 2-3 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2-3 teaspoons Italian seasoning.
  • Gluten Free Noodles (I had Tinkyada Elbows on hand so that’s what I used.)

Add all ingredients to soup pot. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook until veggies are tender.  Remove Rosemary, (if some leaves fall off it’s ok, I just like to take most of it out because the soup starts to taste more like Rosemary than anything else.)  Return soup to a boil and add pasta, reduce heat to simmer and let cook for about 15 mins (depending on the pasta you use.)  When pasta is ready the soup is ready to eat!


Gluten Free Frenzy is having a HUGE Giveaway!

On By WendyIn Gluten-FreeLeave a comment

25 Days of Christmas Giveaways, Gluten Free of Course! Event…FREE, EASY way to snag some gluten free swag!!! 🙂

25 Days of Christmas Giveaways, Gluten Free of Course! Event
When: Dec. 1-31 2010

Where: www.glutenfreefrenzy.com

What: During this AMAZING event we will be doing gluten free (and much more!) giveaways EVERY day!!! We know that gluten free living isn’t always cheap and especially at this time of year we thought all of our amazing readers deserved a little gluten free TLC!

A new giveaway will be introduced EVERY day but all giveaways will be open through the end of December. Entries for these giveaways will be one or two EASY steps. Winners will be drawn the 1st wk. of January.

Quinoa Pilaf

On By WendyIn Gluten-Free, Recipe, whole nutrition1 Comment
Quinoa Pilaf - photo by W. Holcombe

Today I decided to experiment with Quinoa. (keen- wa)

I’ve made quinoa before, but just plain and I really didn’t care for it that way.   I often use quinoa flour in my baked goods, but I haven’t tried my hand at making quinoa in a long time.  It turned out very good.  My husband said to make this one as a “Keeper”.

Quinoa Pilaf

  • 2 Tablespoons – Grape seed or Olive Oil (I have a spout on my bottle so I just do a couple of swipes in the pan)
  • 1/2 cup or 3 medium carrots, diced small
  • 1/2 cup or 2 large stalks celery, diced small (remove the big tough ends at the bottom of the stalk, and the greens from the top)
  • 10 – Green Onions, sliced thinly, use about half the green part too. – (I had a big bunch and used about half)
  • 1/2 cup Baby Portabella Mushrooms (this only took about 4 mushrooms)
  • 2 Tablespoons Coconut Secrets Amino Acids (This is GF and Soy Free but if you aren’t avoiding soy you could use GF soy or Tamari sauce)
  • 2 teaspoons of dried Basil
  • 1 Cup Quinoa
  • 2 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock (I used unsalted Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock, but you could use Vegetable Stock or Broth to make this vegetarian.)

Heat oil in sauce pan.  Add Carrots, Celery, and Onions in pan, sautee for about 5 minutes or until the carrots start to get a little tender.  (they will continue to cook with the quinoa so don’t worry too much about it)  Add the Amino Acids (or GF soy sauce), and basil, then add the Mushrooms and the Quinoa and sautee for 3 more minutes.  Add the Stock or Broth, bring to a boil, then cover pot and lower to a simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.  (at least that the time it said on the box, mine took much longer for the liquid to be absorbed.  I ended up taking the top off the pot so the liquid would evaporate some.)  You can tell the quinoa is done when it turns translucent in the middle but it has a little ring around it.

Here’s some interesting information about quinoa.

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family.  It is a species of goosefoot like beats, spinach, and tumbleweed.

Quinoa is higher in protein than any other grain.  Quinoa’s protein is of an unusually high quality.  It is a complete protein, with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal.

You can find out more about Quinoa at Wikipedia, and Ancient Harvest’s Quinoa Corporations.

So if you are like me and have only tried quinoa plain, give it another try, you might be surprised.

Recipe Testing – Citrus Black Bean Soup

On By WendyIn Diet, Gluten-Free, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been a tastetester for recipes for Kathy Hester’s upcoming Healthy Slow Cooking Vegan Cookbook.  (No, this isn’t the name, I don’t know what the name will be yet.)

I made the most delicious meal from one of her recipes yesterday, and it was so easy.  I just put everything in the slow cooker and let it go, then we had Citrus Black Bean Soup that evening.  The recipe makes this a pureed soup, but we liked it chunky with all the beans, it kind of had the consistency of a chili.  Oh but it didn’t taste like chili.  The seasonings worked so well together.  I was just thrilled.

I decided to have mine on top of brown rice, and then I mixed in some steamed collard greens to make this a complete nutrition meal.

I know you are just dying for the recipe, but you will have to wait until Kathy’s cookbook comes out.  However, you can check out many of her other recipes on her blog: Healthy Slow Cooking. I started following her blog right after she first started it and became a fan immediately.  I love food that is easy, good, and nutritious.  How great is that?  So check out her blog, and keep a look out for her cookbook.  I’ll keep you posted.

Doctors, Stir fry, and Hearing

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gluten-Free, RecipeLeave a comment

The Digestive Health doctor called to let me know my results from the “procedure” (colonoscopy) I had done on Tuesday.  However, I was unable to answer the when they called.  She called at 1:09pm and left a message that she wanted to discuss the findings with me.  She said not to worry “it’s not bad”, but she still wanted to talk with me and for me to call her back.  Today is Friday, their office closes at 1:00pm on Fridays, how was I supposed to call her back?  Now I have to wait until Monday to find out what the findings were.

I did make an appointment with a Naturopathic and Holistic physician for next Wednesday.  The first appointment if for one hour and thirty minutes.  Hopefully, she can give me some guidance.  I guess it will depend on what the results from my procedure turn out to be.  I do feel like this is a move it the right direction.

Last night I made a really good stir fry.  I love how you can just throw some stuff in the wok with a little sauce and in just a few minutes it turns into a wonderful meal.  I already had rice made so all I had to do was warm that up.  I didn’t have a lot of on hand so I scrounged the kitchen and found a bag of frozen Thai style vegetables, a can of black beans, garlic, San-J Gluten Free Tamari Sauce and heated up a little olive oil and then threw everything in the wok.  I was very pleased with the outcome.

I did another stir fry recently with black beans, fresh veggies, tamari, garlic, onions, and a splash of Mirin.   I served this stir fry over Mung Bean Fettuccine Noodles.  I like these noodles, but I actually like them better in a cold salad.  They are great left over, and make a wonderful pasta salad.  However, when we’ve eaten them in hot dishes they just seem a little off.  The texture doesn’t seem quite right.  Don’t get me wrong, the dish was still good, but I think I would have liked it better with either rice, or a different type noodle.

We went to our therapist today for the first time in 3 months.  (We started going to see her when I was having such a hard time being disabled from the Meniere’s disease.)  Now that I’ve so much going on again I decided it would be a good idea to start going back to see her.  It’s much better to voice my anger there than to take it out on my husband all the time.  Stuart is wonderful and very understanding about when I get so grumpy and everything starts to get on my nerves.  He understands I’m not really mad at him, I’m just so mad at life.  I still don’t think it’s right for me to be mean to him, but it is nice that we can talk about it and that he understands that my anger is displaced.

Unfortunately, I’m having increased Meniere’s symptoms.  It started this afternoon, I noticed I couldn’t hear everything that was said.  Then tonight I couldn’t hear Stuart unless he was looking at me and there was no other noise in the room.  The tinnitus is so loud it’s very hard to hear over it.  The fullness in my ears is worse.  Now, all I have left is the vertigo.  I really hope it doesn’t start, but I won’t be surprised if it does.

Exercise for the day:

We took our dog, Sandy, for another walk around the block, this time we went clockwise instead of counter-clockwise and there is much more of an incline that way.  My hip was not fond of that at all, but I kept going, and kept my heart rate up for most of the walk.  I also worked in the little gardening area in the front of the house.  I dug up old plants, and worked with the dirt some.  It needs much more work, but I didn’t have what I needed to finish the rest.

Getting things done

On By WendyIn Diet, Gluten-Free, RecipeLeave a comment

Today I’m no longer running a fever, but I’m still have GI distress.  Oh well, don’t know why I’d expect that to change.

I started taking probiotics before every meal, hopefully this will help get my gut back to normal.  I also restarted taking my multivitamin, and extra B-12 + B complex supplement.  I tested low on B-12 but B-12 should be taken with a B complex and if you are a little older (over 40), like I am, you should take your B-12 sublingually (under your tongue).  B-12 isn’t absorbed as well in the stomach as you get older.

I also completely cleaned my kitchen. (more on cleaning green in my next post)  I wanted to make sure I’m not accidentally getting any cross-contamination from my husband’s gluten food.  He doesn’t bring much gluten in the house, a loaf of bread, and cereal of his own.  However, today I realized just how many crumbs from his bread and toaster get everywhere.  He has his own toaster, but have you ever noticed how many crumbs there are around a toaster and on the counter near a toaster, even if you clean them up every day.  I’m afraid I may have been getting gluten.  So we’ve decided there will be no more regular bread with gluten in our house.  I’ll just make bread more often, and Stuart can use the toaster oven like I do.

My favorite Gluten-Free Bread recipe is:

Flax, Quinoa, and Almond Meal Bread

(this recipe originally came from Kira at The Medicine Women’s Roots blog, but I changed it a lot)

Preheat oven to 375F.

  • 1 Cup Milled Flax Seed
  • 2/3 Cup Blanched Almond Meal (could probably used unblanched)
  • 2/3 Cup Quinoa Flour
  • 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ¼ Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
  • ¼ Cup Olive Oil, Butter, (do not use butter to make this dairy free), Grapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil (only use unrefined with a sweeter bread)
  • 4 eggs
  • water to texture desired, just enough so that the batter pours in the pan thickly.  It took a little over 1/2 Cup of water for this recipe. The more water you use the longer it will take to cook.

Mix dry ingredients together.  Gently beat eggs together before adding to dry mixture.  Add oil.  (I had my coconut oil in a mixing cup and added the eggs to mix together but the coldness of the eggs turned the oil solid, it was difficult to mix the solid oil in the batter.

Add water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency to pour thickly into your loaf pan.

I used a Pyrex bread pan with parchment paper, cooked at 375F for 40 mins.

I hope Stuart likes it. 

This afternoon we went for a walk around the block.  It’s nice to get outside this time of year.  The weather was beautiful today.  As we walked we saw a few neighbors out doing the same, we stopped and chatted for a while.  That may not be great for exercise, but it was great for the soul.

Flax, Quinoa, and Almond Meal Bread