Long time no post

Its been a long time since I've posted and a lot has changed. My back has been killing me. The man and I decided that we ought to remake ourselves. We sprang for a new king sized bed in May. We bought an eco friendly mattress which left us in the position of needing to find a new bed frame. I searched high and how and finally stumbled upon homeandlving.com. What a fantastic resource for those of us who like to let our fingers do the research!

Not only did I find a great selection here but they also ship for free and don't charge tax! No big box can claim that. We haven't bought furniture in years but I totally fell in love with the ! Zen Collection, White Bonded Leather Tufted Bed by Diamond Sofa which can be found here:

bed frames

I totally fell in love with the wonderful button tufting on this bed! My back is now happy in the morning!

New Update on Dr Green's Celiac Bible

I've been anxiously awaiting the updated version of Dr. Peter Green's Celiac - A Hidden Epidemic. I FINALLY got it yesterday and all I can say is WOW. There was SO much good info in the first edition but this one blew me away.

Dr. Green addresses all sorts of new tests, saliva, stool samples etc. He also has a section on future treatments and the implications.

I must say, I'm really excited to see where the future of celiac disease goes. In ten years, its gone from being a grossly misunderstood and under diagnosed problem to being out there in the mainstream.

WOW!

Chocolate Banana Bread

DSC_6510
Originally uploaded by moomoos_mom

2 Cups of my GF flour mix (http://panaluu.blogspot.com/2009/09/it-was-boys-birthday.html
2 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I use enjoy life)

Mix butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in mixer on slow. Add sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and soda. When mixed through, add bananas and mix on high until throughly mixed. Slowly add flour and mix on high for two minutes. Add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. This loaf freezes really well and I usually double the recipe and throw one in the freezer to have on hand.

I've been dying for grilled cheese

I've been dying for a grilled cheese. I'm being lazy and just don't feel like baking bread. I was in the supermarket yesterday and noticed that Glutino bread was on sale. I've NEVER bought a loaf of prebaked bread before. I bought it because of the sale. I bought the Original Cheese bread!

I whipped some out of the freezer today and viola. A REALLY good grilled cheese.

YUMMY!

It was the boys birthday...

It was the boys birthday last week. I was SUPER busy. I didn't have huge amounts of time to make a cake so I wanted something easy that I could throw together. I used two flan pans, thew the icing in the middle and made a giant cookie.

I've updated my flour recipe and I'm really liking it. DH swears that he can taste the corn flour in the other mix so I swapped out sorghum for the corn flour.

1 cup of corn starch

1/2 cup of brown rice flour
1/2 cup of white rice flour

1 cup of potato starch

1/2 cup of sorghum flour

1/2 cup of tapioca starch

4 tsp xantham gum

and I used my standard cake recipe I've been using for years:

1 1/2 cups of the above flour

1/2 cup of GF oat flour (you can grind your own)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of butter

1 3/4 cups of sugar

2 tsp of vanilla

1 1/3 cups of milk

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda salt, set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Add flour and milk. Mix until smooth. For flan pan bake for 20 min or until tooth pick comes out clean.

For the butter cream icing:

1 1/2 cups of salted butter, softened

2/3 cup Crisco shortening

5-7 tbs heavy cream 2 tsp clear vanilla

2 lbs powdered sugar (about 8 cups)

1-3 tbs corn syrup

Mix the butter, crisco cream, corn syrup on low speed until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar until mixed through.

P is for Pasta

I was at my favorite supermarket today looking for silken tofu and found gluten free Pasta Slim Fettuccine. It is a shirataki konjac flour noodle that is pretty much instant. The biggest bonus is, that this noodle only has 50 calories per package (2 servings in the 200g package)

I'm so excited to find a GF pasta that isn't packed with empty calories. From a nutrition point of view, that is the hardest part of not eating gluten. Normal wheat flour is fortified giving it extra nutrition. Gluten free products, especially in Canada are not. They also usually have more calories. Finding a gluten free low calorie substitute really excites me.

not so green smoothie

I love green smoothies. There is nothing like drinking your veggies. They are usually my first food of the day. I found them fairly early on in this voyage and found it hard to believe that a bunch of raw fruits and veggies pureed would calm a tender tummy but they do unlike anything else. We won't even talk about the massive amounts of fruits and veggies you get in one single smoothie. By my accounts, you get a full days 8 servings of plant matter in a single smoothie.

I always start with a base of avocado and spinach. I usually use half an avocado and a couple of handfulls of spinach. The rest I just play around with.



I had some frozen blueberries in my freezer. I have been reading about the wonderful antioxidant powers of blueberries. Keeping them frozen, makes the smoothie deliciously cold.

I am very fortunate to live in a place in canada were the climate is warm enough for peaches to grow. They are in season and pretty irresistible right now. Today I threw in a whole pitted peach along with a splash of orange juice to make things flow. I wiz it through the blender and, viola, a not so green smoothie. Thank you blueberries!