Best GF brownie

One of the students in my class has family who are GF and I was asked to put this recipe up. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did




1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2(1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate melted
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons flour (pamela's flour mix or any gf flour mix you like)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl mix 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk and chocolate. Add egg, add flour, vanilla and baking powder; mix well. Spread into greased 8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle choclate chips over batter. Bake 20 min. Cool.

GF fried chicken

I did not intend to make fried chicken tonight. I just salted and peppered, put some lemon pepper, Italian seasoning, and splashed it in some basil olive oil, then I started to feel a little adventurous. I just beat some egg, put in some milk, and lightly dusted in GF flour. And what is GF fried chicken without gravy? I am very surprised how well my gravy turned out. I poured out the drippings into a glass measuring cup and added 3 tbs of the drippings with the brown crunches to the pan and added 2 tbs of flour. Now, you are supposed to add two cups of milk, but I like to add mine slow as to make scold the milk or make too runny. I like my gravy medium thick. Runny gravy is just not my thing and I hate it real thick. After I decided to make the gravy, my Texas roots came out and my next thought- cheesy grits.  I have NEVER eat cheesy grits. I only made them for Jared. I like mine  sweet and milky. When I first became GF, I ate grits a lot. This was before I discovered all the amazing things I could do with GF. I would use butter, milk and Splenda. They saved me on nights I wanted something sweet or nights I needed something filling. Surprisingly fantastic dinner. I will definitely make it again.

on to the next holiday

Wow! What a month! I was so busy with my birthday and then Thanksgiving that I have had no time to write. I hope all of you GFers out there had a fantastic GF holiday. I know I did. It was my first GF Thanksgiving and my boyfriends amazing mother made that possible. She is such a fantastic cook. We started with these super yummy crackers called Skinny Crisps. They are a low carb, gluten free cracker and believe it or not, they were delicious. We also had shrimp salad stuffed celery. I actually liked the shrimp salad on the crackers :) For dinner, we TURDUCKEN!!! She ordered it from a place in Louisiana. She also made gf cornbread stuffing with sausage, fennel, wild mushrooms and spinach. She dried out gf cornbread for the stuffing and it was super great! My favorite holiday treat is green bean casserole. I was so sad because I thought I wouldn't get any this year :( But once again, Franny came to the rescue and made gf bg casserole. She made a gf mushroom soup and instead of fried onions, she crumbled gf pretzels and sauteed onions. It was very clever and very delicious. We also made my favorite recipe of Yukon gold potatoes and yams Au gratin with Gruyère. All the food was amazing. I wish I could eat all the left overs myself! Last but not least, she made lemon curd pudding. This is something she is required to make ANY time I am in California because she makes it the best. I helped this time and we experimented with gf flour. We used Gluten Free Pantry flour and it was a little thicker this time and didn't brown at the top. Also, it did not have that runny pudding texture I love so much. The recipe called for 6 Tb spoons of flour. I think next time I will either try a different brand of flour or use 1/2 the flour. The meal was so wonderful. I was surrounded with people I adore and doing the thing I love the most- eating. Next- CHRISTMAS!!!!

accidental wheat

Every now and then, I go out to eat with friends and find myself exposed to what I call "accidental wheat." This can easily happen in social situation because if you are like me, you are more concerned about not being that snotty "I can't eat that" person. In addition, you cannot always know what is in something you are eating. Although you can make an educated guess if you cook a lot, you cannot always know if cornstarch or flour will be a thickener. I do not know about you, but I hate being that person who asks the server to go check with the chef. Some can just pretend to ask and come back and tell you whatever they feel like. You cannot always trust it. Sometimes the cooks or chefs could not know themselves because everything is pre-made. It all depends on where you are going to eat. I have a special concoction I have come up with when this happens. This method is tried and true for my body and I would like to share this with you. Let me know if it ever helps. 

Kombucha:

Kombucha is amazing. Wheat pain hits me fast. It starts with itching; it goes to mind fuzzy feeling and straight to carsick feeling. Then it goes to joint pain and then into stomach burning. Normally, I do not get past the carsick feeling because of Kombucha. If I suspect I have "accidental wheat," I go straight to Whole Foods and buy a Kombucha. I prefer the Multi-Green because it contains Spirulina, which Improves gastrointestinal and digestive health. If I still feel bad, I go home and use my "accidental wheat" kit.

Activated Charcoal

First, I always keep activated charcoal in my house. I also keep Magnesium Serene in my house. This is my "accidental wheat" exposure kit. I take about 4-6 charcoal and about 1 1/2 later I take the Magnesium. The charcoal will absorb anything in your system. It absorbs unwanted gas and material in your system. Sometimes I take before I go out to eat with friends just in case I do ingest some wheat. I take them far apart because I found that it works better when spaced out. I think some of the charcoal my absorb some of the magnesium. I do not know how accurate that is, but I just do not risk it. 

The magnesium serene:

Magnesium is one of the most important minerals for obtaining deep relaxation and maintaining overall wellness. Magnesium serene is not only relaxing, but is supports your cardiovascular system, bone, muscle, and brain health. I find that so important considering that is the first thing I notice when I eat wheat. I cannot think straight and my body hurts. Not only that, but it helps flush out your GI tract. I know the directions say if you experience loose stool to reduce your dosage, but when I eat wheat, I want it out and I want it out fast. This keeps me from having to do an enema (which I do often- I am still working out the icky lining on my intestinal tract). 

I also believe that I cause my pain. My state of mind can make or break the burning and sore joints. The itching, however, I cannot control. That is another thing I love about the relaxation I receive from the magnesium serene. I tell myself with strong conviction that I am okay. I learned this technique when I was struggle from extreme anxiety, which is what caused by wheat. 


Here are some links if you are not familiar with some of the ingredients in my "accidental wheat" kit.

Kombucha
Magnesium Serene
spirulina
activated charcoal

GF bread

It can be intimidating and somewhat expensive to start experimenting with all the flour required to bake something gf. Half a cup of this half a cup of that... it is definitely not as easy as wheat, but in my opinion ten times better. I think my biggest problem with GF baking has been finding bread I love. Even before the GF life, I really didn't eat a lot of bread, but sometimes I want a pb&j or a piece of toast. You GFers out there know that store bought gf bread is a pain. The slices are tiny and most likely frozen. I thought the alternative was a bread maker. I have hated every single gf bread mix so far. Many of them have too much vinegar and have a terrible taste. On the bright side, I have found the answer to my bread dilemma. Here is the recipe that made me love bread again.

Gluten-Free Crusty Boule

Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves

2 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour

3 cups tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

2 tablespoons yeast (can be reduced but you will have to increase the rise time)

1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)

2 tablespoons Xanthan gum

2 2/3 cups lukewarm water

4 large eggs

1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil or olive oil

2 tablespoons honey or sugar

1. Whisk together the flours; yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a 5-quart lidded round food storage container. Combine the oil, honey and water, set aside.

2. Add one egg at a time to your mixer then stir while you pour in about 1/3 of the oil and water. Unlike our wheat doughs we do not add all of the liquid at once and stir. If you do that it will result in a lumpy dough.

3. Continue to mix while you pour in another 1/3 of the liquid. The dough will start to come together in a thick dough. Add the final 1/3 of liquid and stir until the dough is nice and smooth. Remove from mixer and Cover with the a damp towel.  Allow it to rest on the counter for about 2 hours. 

4. The dough will be quite fluffy still and you want to try not to handle the dough too much. Just like our other dough, the trick is to keep as much of the air bubbles intact as possible. Use wet hands to remove 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough from the bucket. The dough will be quite scraggly when you take it out, just place it on a piece of parchment paper. Use wet hands to smooth out the surface of the dough. This may take dipping your hands in the water a few times…

5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and resting on the counter for about 90 minutes. If your kitchen is very warm, you may only need about 75 minutes.

6. 30-minutes before baking time preheat the oven with a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven  in it to 500 degrees. Be sure it is fitted with a metal replacement knob; the original plastic knobs can heat to about 400 degrees. The dough will not have grown much while resting, but it will seem a little bit puffier. Use a serrated knife to cut slashes in the dough.

7. Lift the bread on the parchment and VERY CAREFULLY lower the parchment and bread into the pot, replace the lid onto the pot. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes remove the lid, turn the heat down to 450 and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

8. Once the bread bakes, remove it from the pot using a spatula.

9. Allow the bread to cool completely before eating or the center may seem gummy.

Brown Rice Flour: 1 cup = 5 1/2 oz = 160 grams

Tapioca Flour (Starch): 1 cup = 4 1/4 oz = 120 grams

Sorghum Flour: 1 cup = 4 3/4 oz = 135 grams

Corn Starch: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz = 130 grams

Gluten Free Nation

I never knew a food allergy could be so detrimental to my body and mind. I never knew I had a food allergy. I  honestly thought life was just terrible. I walked around in pain, discomfort, anxiety and confusion. I lived a life of weight gain, breathing problems and severe depression. I was irritable, angry and had no concept of how to form relationships with people because of a protein found in grain that was deteriorating my brain and tearing up my stomach lining. Food was always my enemy. I was my enemy. I would eat and my legs would feel heavy and hurt. I would eat and my stomach would burn. I would eat and I could not think straight, I would get very upset, and have severe memory lapses. Can you imagine living like that? Seven years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac disease(an autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten and other protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats),  but I ignored my doctor. A few years later after moving to Utah, another doctor told me I am allergic to wheat. I still did not listen. It was not until I was so tired of all the social anxiety, pain and depression that I finally stopped. I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and decided it was time for me to take control of my life. Luckily, at the time I made this huge life change, GF food started popping up everywhere. I already had tons of books my dad bought for me on the subject years prior and I did some serious research. I cut out all sugar, yeast, and gluten from my diet starting February 27 2010. I was 185lbs. By March 15, I was already down to 165lbs. I was amazed. I went from a size 16 to a size 6 in five months! I felt so great! I got rid of all the toxic people in my life and all the toxic food in my system. Everything was clear! I did better in school, I had more energy, and I finally felt good enough about me that I wanted to share it with someone. Jared is that special someone. He is the greatest support system someone could ask for. He encourages my GF life and lives it with me. Everything we eat is GF in our home. I am very lucky to have met him and I am proud of myself for finally taking control of my life and my health. Now that I am healthy and happy, I want to share that with everyone. I want to share my food, my thoughts, and my recipes for all of you to try and for you to share.