Vindication

Before we moved, I tried to keep LMS on a gluten free diet, but I didn’t push it too hard. Daddy Daughter dates were at Pizza Hut, crackers and cookies were always available at Grandma and Papa’s, and so on.


After we moved, I tried a little harder, but I didn’t stress too much if she ate something with gluten. When Mr M headed out on a business trip, I decided to do it right and have her go completely gluten free.

Along the way, I wondered whether I should pursue the issue.

Was I being super-paranoid? Was I projecting my issues onto her?

Then I’d remind myself why I thought it was worth focusing on: she’s been a lot crankier and a lot more prone to meltdowns the last two years, and in the last 6 months or so she’s had intestinal “issues”: nasty, stinky, sticky poop that she can’t control, despite the fact that she’s been potty trained since she was 2.

She was completely gluten free for two weeks, and what a difference. She was happier, calmer (significantly fewer meltdowns) and had normal bowel movements in the toilet.

After two weeks of being gluten free, she ate some crackers in Primary on Sunday.

Monday the uncontrolled nasty, stinky, sticky poop in the underpants returned.

I feel vindicated.

I didn’t feel well for a number of years, and I know I tended to be cranky. I think that’s why LMS has been cranky- she hasn’t been feeling well, but didn’t know how to verbalize it.

Now we’re working on asking if proffered food has gluten in it. ‘Does this have gluten in it?’ If the answer is yes, then ‘No, thank you’. And I’m trying to make sure I have gluten free snacks available at home and wherever we go, so she doesn’t feel deprived.

Gluten free Nilla wafers

So, I'm on a baking kick lately (working on that goal of becoming more comfortable with gluten free baking), and I have more results to share.

I think I may end up trying every single recipe in Easy Gluten-Free Baking- something I've never come even close to before. These recipes are sooo good.

Yesterday I tried the tastes-like-Nilla Wafers recipe. Yum!

they don't look like much, but these taste like Nilla Wafers!

The recipe did neglect to mention that you should only put nickel to quarter size dabs of dough on the cookie sheet, so my first two trays were quite a bit larger than regular Nilla Wafers. They tasted good, but the middles didn't get as crunchy as they should have- they were softer than a Nilla Wafer. The tray I made using smaller dabs turned out much better- much more 'authentic'.

These were very yummy, easy to make, and I'll be making them again!

Gluten free Morning glory muffins

Morning glory muffins are basically a spice muffin with lots of stuff added. In this case, there's crushed pinapple, coconut, raisins, apple, carrot, and pecans.

So Yummy!

And so moist!

I think these are the first truly moist baked good I've had since going gluten free (besides brownies, and they don't count).

They're sweet enough that you could even call them a cupcake- sort of a souped-up carrot cake cupcake. We frosted a couple with cream cheese frosting and took them to a birthday party today. I'm sure the sand castle cake tasted good (very cute idea), but our cupcakes were better :)

The recipe makes two dozen cupcakes/muffins, so I froze all but a couple. They defrost quickly and without any problems.

Like all my recent baking experiments, this recipe was also found in Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone. I can't say enough how much I love this cookbook!

Gluten free cheese crackers

I got the recipe for these from my favorite gluten free baking book: Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone.

These crackers are so good! They really do taste like Cheez-Its/Better Cheddars. The texture was a bit different- they flaked vertically instead of horizontally, but they definitely tasted very close to a store-bought cheese cracker.

You form the dough into a log, refrigerate, then slice off very thin slices.

I made a second batch and rolled out a portion of the dough. I rolled it to the size of a cookie sheet, but it was a pain trying to get an even thinness. However, after I baked them, they flaked horizontally instead of vertically. Just like a gluten-loaded, store-bought cracker! Yum!

They turned out a little brown, but I like them that way :)

These do taste best the day they're baked- they're not quite as crisp the next day.

It's so nice to have a nice crunchy cracker that actually tastes good! I have not been impressed by the gluten free crackers I've bought. Why waste money on something that doesn't taste good when I can make yummy snacks myself?

Gluten free Cheddar corn muffins

One of my goals is to do some gluten free baking and get more comfortable with it.

I've talked about Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone here and here, and this is the cookbook I'm using for my experiments.

Last week I made some chedder corn muffins. They were supposed to have some jalepeno, but I didn't have any, and LMS wouldn't eat them if I'd included them.

The taste and texture were good. A tiny bit dry, but probably because I tend to err on the side of too much baking time rather than too little. I can't stand undercooked baked goods. Next time I'll take them out a few minutes sooner.

I froze the ones we didn't eat the first day, and we've been having them with an egg or two for breakfast- yummy!

Gluten free Rice pudding

I mentioned 'Healthy Snacks to Go' here, and last night I used the rice pudding recipe in it to make some rice pudding using leftover rice. Yum!

I tweaked it a bit, since I was using leftover rice, and just added the ingredients without measuring them. I'm working on going with the flow when cooking, though I suspect it will be quite awhile before I do that when I'm baking. I also used agave nectar instead of sugar or honey.

Not a lot of ingredients, fairly quick (I let it simmer while I got LMS ready for bed), and yummy. Can't go wrong there!