Udi's is Awesome

Udi's is a company that makes gluten free products. I have been eating their raisin bread, which is really good and today I bought their whole grain sandwich bread and had a normal sandwich today for lunch. It was great! It is a little more pricey than regular bread, but it will be just for me and I won't eat a sandwich everyday (I keep it in the freezer to last longer). I also bought pizza crust. I hope that turns out great as well. I think in the long run, it will be worth it just to buy sandwich bread and then make my own baked goods.Try Udi's, I think you will like it as much as I do.

Another product I found that I enjoy is Blue Diamond Natural Almond Nut-thins. I like the cheddar cheese kind. I was looking for a good cracker to replace the Goldfish and Cheez-its that I used to snack on. Ben even likes these - he says they are awesome.

I found a website today with fun gluten free recipes glutenfreeblondie.com check it out.

I Love Ice Cream & Cheese

If I could eat ice cream everyday without getting sick, I would. I know that some people who are gluten free are also dairy free. I am lactose intolerant, but I still eat dairy products. I would probably feel even better if I was dairy free too, but I don't know...one thing at a time...I love cheese too much.

So my Oat Bread is sitting on the counter looking sad. I had 2 pieces with honey, which is good, but not great. I said that I have another bread recipe to try, but I might just have to try more store bought kinds. The brand of raisin bread that I have is Udi's. It is really good. I don't know why I haven't tried their regular sandwich bread yet. I got a coupon off Udi's website. I will use that to buy "sandwich" bread. I do miss sandwiches...

Cinnamon, Honey and Oat Bread

Today I made Cinnamon,  Honey and Oat Bread. I got the recipe from The Gluten, Wheat & Dairy Free Cookbook. I have been wanting to make this recipe for some time. I wanted to half the recipe and only make one loaf. Dumb me, I halved all ingredients except for the amount of water...ahhh! Ben told me just to double everything else. So smart that Ben, that is why I married him. So I took his advice and doubled the rest of the ingredients, but I didn't have enough of the oats. I still baked the bread. It tastes good but very dense. It tastes good with butter and  honey. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested in making it correctly. I hope to try it again...

Cinnamon, Honey and Oat Bread

1/2 package of yeast (half a tbsp)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cups porridge oats, processed finely to a flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place yeast, salt, and honey in large bowl with warm water and oil. Then mix in the oats and cinnamon. Knead with flour (which ever gluten free flour you have on hand). Divide dough into 2 greased pans. Let rise for 30 minutes. Bake 1 hour.

My next recipe to try is another sandwich bread recipe. I hope to find a recipe that best represents "normal" bread.

Easier to Resist

It is hard to believe that foods I once loved and couldn't get enough of, I can now resist. The other morning, I slept in and Ben made cinnamon rolls.  When I got up, there were three left. I didn't even think about having one. I knew it was better for me not to. I knew I wasn't missing out. Today at Ben's cousin's Annie's house, I brought a velvet chocolate layered cake that I bought from Tortas and Truffles from downtown Anoka. When the cake was served, Ben asked if I was at least going to have a bite and I said no. Again, I am sure it would have been very good, but I didn't need it. 

Don't get me wrong...I love sweets!  It just has become easier for me not to want them all of the time. I do want to find great gluten free dessert recipes for when I do want sweets. But now when I am at a gathering of some sort, I won't feel like I am missing out if I don't eat a dessert if it is not gluten free. It is a great feeling to have. Both my stomach and waistline are thanking me.

My sister-in-law Michele made me gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough. I made the cookies tonight and boy were they good! Thanks Michele! She is going to give me the recipe and then I will post it on my blog.

The Gut (TMD)

Back to The Maker's Diet book. Chapter 3

"Did you know that we have over 100 million nerve cells in our gut? The gut is more responsible than we ever imagined for mental well-being and  how we feel. It is said to be our 2nd brain. The brain and gut are much alike. Both have natural ninety-minute cycles. The slow wave sleep of the brain is interrupted by periods of "rapid eye movement," or REM sleep, in which dreams occur. Patients with bowel problems also tend to have abnormal REM sleep, and poor sleep has been reported by many if not most patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and nonulcer dyspepsia ("sour stomach"). 

After I read this, I was like "yes" makes total sense to me. Most nights if I have eaten something during the day that is unhealthy (which has been probably most everything) I don't sleep well. I toss and turn and my stomach is tight and  uncomfortable. It's like my body (my stomach) is working overdrive to process what I have eaten. Which also becomes the reason that I was so over exhausted all of the time. After eating gluten free and not having that bloated feeling and eating healthier, I have noticed that I am sleeping better. I do have more energy...still get tired though (I do have 3 kids that wear me down sometimes...) but I don't feel tired from the foods I have eaten.

Today, I made home made tomato sauce and it turned out really good. I used the tomatoes from our garden. I am going to use it for chili, spaghetti sauce, or pizza sauce. Homemade Tomato Sauce I also added brown sugar and red pepper flakes.

I am trying to make my own "foods". That way, I know what is in them.

2 Weeks

It's been about 2 weeks now that I became gluten free. It seems like a lot longer though. I think I have already learned a lot and I am excited to learn more. I need to get back to working out! Since becoming gluten free, I have maintained a loss of 2 lbs - probably due to not eating so much extra carbs and eating a little healthier. My goal is to lose another 2-3 lbs. I still have a couple of pairs of jeans that I want to fit into before fall/winter.

For dinner tonight, I made spaghetti and meatballs for "the boys" and for myself I used pasta made out of rice and just regular ground hamburger. The rice pasta didn't taste that different than regular pasta. We also had a caprese salad (tomatoes - from our garden, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil - from our garden drizzled with balsamic vinegar).

I forgot to mention that the other day, I opened up a can of black beans and rinsed them in the sink. I found a live worm in with the beans. I freaked out, yuk! My friend Rachel only buys dry beans and cooks them herself. Now I can see why...plus they are supposed to be better for you. 

Tomorrow, I will share more about what I am learning from The Maker's Diet book.

Chocolate Krinkles - Take 2

Yes, I am determined to make a great chocolate krinkle cookie recipe...and yes, I know krinkle should be spelled crinkle, but I like how the "k" looks instead of the "c". Weird, I know!

So I tried a different recipe and it turned out a lot tastier than the first recipe, but not chewy like the first recipe.

I think I will go back to the first recipe and use a different flour than what I used before. The flour I used in "take 1" was potato flour and in "take 2" I used rice and tapioca flour. For "take 3" I want to try sorghum flour. It is supposed to be similar to wheat flour, so I hope it works and tastes good.  Ben told me to just make the original recipe, but I don't want to. I want to make the cookies gluten free.

For lunch today,  I had a turkey and cheese sandwich with the gluten free bread I made. It was pretty good for a sandwich - better than the rice bread I bought.

I still feel great. Not being bloated all of the time, is a wonderful feeling. I really wish that I had made this change years ago!