Living Gluten and Dairy Free

• 1 salmon fillet(enough to feed 4 adults)
• 1/2 cup butter or substitute
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Olive oil to coat salmon

Heat grill to med-hot. Coat salmon in olive oil. Cook salmon on grill until flakes. Time will depend on thickness of fish and temp of grill. But, ours took about 15 minutes. Combine honey and butter and bring to a boil in a safe pan on the grill next to the fish. Once boiling, stir in pecans. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm with fish.

Originally, the sauce was to be done on the stove. But, a power outage made that impossible. So, we did it on the grill. It was wonderful.  

1/4 cup coconut oil or olive oil
3T honey
3 eggs
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup almond milk (or broth)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup millet flour (or other gf flour, I suppose)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch  or potato starch
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp guar gum
1 tsp salt
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup flax seed meal

Another school year has started here. This is a letter I did to the school for the girls to help the new teachers get familiar with gluten and dairy intolerance.

Samantha is intolerant to gluten and dairy products. Dairy products are generally quite easy to avoid — milk, cheese, ice cream, caseinate, etc. Sometimes dairy is hidden in ingredients like natural flavorings. Unfortunately, gluten is much harder to avoid. It is very often hidden in ingredients like natural flavorings, soy sauce, starch, and more. It is also in common ingredients, easy to find: flour, pastry flour, wheat, spelt, oats, rye, barley, whole grain flour, etc. Samantha may not participate in Eucharist as the bread does contain gluten.

            Ingestion of gluten causes a multitude of symptoms including indigestion, headaches, diarrhea, hyperactivity, irritability, joint pain, fatigue, weakness, skin rashes, etc. Without treatment, it can lead to associated diseases such as diabetes, fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus, lymphoma, colon cancer, neuropathy and more. The only treatment for gluten intolerance is a strict gluten-free diet. Even rare cheating on the diet can lead to increase rates of the associated diseases. But, even without the associated diseases, it just makes Samantha feel bad. Samantha’s symptoms to gluten are classic – rash (especially around her nose), diarrhea, tummy ache, vomiting, lack of appetite and weakness/fatigue.

            There are a lot of foods Samantha cannot have. We try not to focus on those. We focus on what she can have. Luckily, in a school situation, a lot of what she can have is fun. So, Samantha finds it easier to deal with missing cookies and cupcakes when the alternative is often “better”. Here is a list to help you. I have kept is small because with ingredient changes manufacturers make to “improve” their products, it is too difficult to keep track of a larger list. Basically, I’d like to try to stick with giving her only what is in her lunch box. But, I know times come up with unexpected treats and parties. I will try to keep you supplied with snacks I know are safe and nutritious. If you run out of these snacks, just send an email (preferred), give me a call or send a note home. We have been doing this a long time now (it seems). We are used to making adjustments to keep life as normal as possible.

Safe List

Nerds candy (and most other Wonka candy like Bottle Caps)
Tootsie Rolls (plain)
Jelly Belly beans
Great Value jelly beans (Walmart)
Lay’s plain potato chips
Ruffles plain chips
Potato sticks (any brand)
Mi-Del Arrowroot cookies (Publix, check for gluten-free on label, light blue bag)
Envirokids cereals (Panda Puffs and Koala Crisps)(Publix and Winn Dixie)
Kid’s Kitchen Beans and Weenies

Again, this is not a huge list. It is stuff off the top of my head I know is safe and has consistently stayed safe with “improvements” by manufacturers. It is also a variety to hopefully cover all the bases from parties to forgotten lunches. A motto that has helped avoid contamination from dairy and gluten has been:

When in doubt, do without!

I know this seems complicated and it can be. But, we just need to work together to make sure Samantha eats only from her lunchbox. And, on the rare occasions that is not possible, that we, together, have great food available for her.

This is so simple only a kid could come up with it. Beth devised these last night when I was moaning about trying to make pizza crust at 7 p.m.

 1 corn tortilla or more per person (I could have done with two myself)
jarred spaghetti sauce
toppings of choice

Lay out tortillas on baking pan. Cover with spaghetti sauce. Top with favorite toppings. Put in 375 degree F oven until hot.

 I think next time I will do a two tortilla crust with something non-liquidy between. They torillas stayed soft and thus it could not just be picked up. But, I am not sure fake cheese would work. I wonder if you could use tostada shells (hard flat taco shells) and the spaghetti sauce would soften them enough not to be so crisp. I would not like that in a pizza. I wonder too about rolling them up into wraps after heating.

Anyway, this was a hit at supper last night. I will be experimenting with it. I really miss spinach pizza.

I am working on some modifications on my bread recipe. It tends to get really crumbly if it lasts for more than a couple of days. I also heard from someone that they successfully baked it with indirect heat on a grill outside since it is too hot to cook inside. I purchased a countertop convection oven so that I could bake it outside. I set the oven on the table on the deck. The oven directions specifically say not for use outside. But, I am only baking out there a couple of hours a week and keeping it/using it inside otherwise. I am not leaving it outside. Once cool enough, I bring it back in.

 Also, if you have successfully made my bread recipe without eggs, I’d love to hear from you. I need to try it but don’t think about it until too late. But, I have had so many people ask if it can be done. I am not experienced at baking without eggs. I am afraid my attempt would fail just because of that.

If I modify the recipe for bread significantly, I will post and let you know the changes and results.

I got the original recipe for these from Allrecipes.com. They were not gluten and dairy free. So, I modified them. I used Wendy Wark’s Flour Mix from Cooking Gluten-Free! by Karen Robertson. Here is a link to it: http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=798

4 slices bacon (for convenience, I have used jarred real bacon bits)

2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Flax seed meal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup almond milk (I think this might be great with chicken stock) 

1 cup canned cream-style corn

1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine, melted

1/4 cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS: