Sometimes I am looking for that impressive recipe to blog about when I should look at what I just ate for lunch.  Cobbled out of leftovers and yet very satisfying and yummy.  I needed a quick Sunday lunch.  Reaching into the fridge I pulled out some leftover tuna salad made with sweet pickles and a small amount of rice pilaf made with an incredible variety of rices from brown short grain to wild to red and all shades and sizes in between.  It looks beautiful, I love the flavor of it, and the texture is just chewy enough for my liking.

Then I found a baggie of steamed broccoli florets.  Bingo. I laid down a bed of cold pilaf and spread a mound of tuna salad on top.  To the side was a few of those chilled broccoli florets.  I had some raspberry vinaigrette which I poured around the rice and on the broccoli. And there it was.  Simple, satisfying and different from previous combinations of tuna/rice/broccoli.  I have made tuna casseroles or stir fries but I never put tuna salad on cold rice before.  Genius if I do say so.  I have no picture to share as I sat at the kitchen table munching it down while I read my book.  Tasty and it was all gone before I realized that this simple meal was worth sharing with you on my blog.  

 I am sure you could modify it to your taste in rice pilafs. I used a fancy Yarlsburg rice pilaf made with a touch of vegetable bullion in the water.  Whatever you prefer or have around.  And it was just simple homemade tuna salad.  My usual is made with light tuna, well drained of the water; which the cats and my dog fight over. I like light as it is softer and mixes up into something that sticks to the bread better than say albacore tuna would. I put light mayo, some Dijon mustard, a bit of finely chopped onion and some chopped sweet gherkins in it.  Make it how you like it.   If raspberry vinaigrette is not your thing, use whatever vinaigrette floats your boat.  Don’t pour it on too thick or it will swamp the rest of the dish.  Just enough to moisten the rice and the broccoli.   Now dig in and enjoy this simple healthy gluten free meal full of protein, green vegetables and brown rice. Surprisingly filling and with a piece of fruit you have a decent lunch made in moments! 

Before I get started I should say that my writing can be kind of unscientific and I amsure others have different ideas as to stages we go though in life…. And I have to add that some of these stages which I describe overlap quite a bit in my opinion. If you read all my blog postings you are fairly familiar with most of these stages.

First I was in the stage of “total disbelief.” The “No Way this disease can be happening to me” phase! That was for about three days.

Next I was my “denial” stage. I decided that I WILL eat some wheat no matter what. I might cut back a tad; less pasta, a few less slices of toast! I had to give this stage or concept up once I knew much of anything about celiac disease. Still, I was denying to myself that I had to totally give wheat up and fast. I ate more of it regardless of what I now knew as the dire consequences. I was also pretty angry over having to let go of my bestie friend, wheat.

Then it was the acceptance of what must be. I called this my “Farewell Wheat Tour”, knowing I was going to definitely give up all wheat, rye, barley and like products. This choice led to much gorging on wheat items. Pasta was for dinner every single night for a whole week. Lots of wheaty bread….more muffins…more, more, more! This continued until I was positively sick as a dog/horse/idiot!

The “reality” phase of reading up on celiac went on during the Tour phase. But I was still in denial that I shouldn’t be gorging like I was. So no matter what I read I kept stuffing down the pasta, perogies, bagels, etc!

Along came the “toss” stage. This was where I gave away flour, tossed crackers, cleared all wheat cereals out of the house. This went on and on and on. It was amazing how many kinds of pasta I possessed. Ditto for myriad types of flours I could no longer ingest.

During this I was also in the “experiment” phase, early trials. I tried GF oatmeal cookies and was ridiculously pleased that they were tasty. I tried some bread, not so yummy. I was still eating some wheat but I had moved into hardly any more wheat baking and the new GF baking experiments.

The last week of wheat was chock full of lasts. Last bagel, last perogies, last tiny pearl pasta, last Italian bread, last beer, last wheat tortilla. It was a sad painful time in more ways than one!

I started writing my blog and entered a phase of “GF sharing.” Sharing how it felt to give up wheat. Lamenting, being sad and low over this loss. Then, the beginning of the rest of my life as a wheat free person. Exciting, scary, difficult and challenging which overlapped the sad and low feelings.

I should say that the dietitian and many books state that you should not give up bread and pasta but replace them with GF breads and pasta if you want to be successful in the transition to a GF lifestyle. So you have to work at this process of transformation to GF foods.

I would like to think I am now in the “be positive” phase. I do try hard to be positive and dwell on the fun of trying new recipes. It is indeed an adventure to be GF. There is a lot to read in books and on line…on celiac, wheat intolerance and about this idea of modern wheat as a poison in your body. Lots of GF recipes for me to attempt. Many cooking GF firsts in the past two months: first English muffins, first quick bread, first French bread, first tart, first gravy and so on. Since I always loved baking a wide array of treats and cook meals from scratch I had many firsts to do and have not gotten to a lot. It can be frustrating as GF dough is squishy and mushy and cannot be formed the same way as wheat dough. Some things are very similar; quick breads, muffins and gravy. Some like French bread are very different to construct. No more kneading or shaping. It is more of a glopping experience!

As I work at becoming adept at GF cooking and baking I take joy in the learning experience and some thrill at my successes. This will be my “can do” phase and I am planning for it to last a long, long time. I do think anyone can cook GF. The breads are rather easier to construct as there is little or no kneading or forming. If you can measure carefully, follow recipes closely and spoon in soupy dough you can do it! I have started a new recipe book for GF items and have a pile of Xeroxed recipes that need a ring binder home. I debate even keeping my binder of breads and desserts but can’t bare to part with it…not yet anyway.

My dad was a chemical engineer and I find myself channeling him when I do these transformations. I am on my third try to make my favorite breakfast cookies. I think it is almost as good as they were when they had wheat flour.

So, if you are starting GF or know someone who is celiac, some of these stages might strike an accord. I suggest you family members should be helpful, speak positively and eat some of whatever they make! Well, a few bites anyway, even if it is yucky. Be tactful if they are new to baking which is often the case for new celiac patients and their families. Go easy on them in this transitional time as
everyone in the family adjusts to eating GF. Help them be positive and reach the “can do” stage of their new life. You will be glad you did when they bake you some banging good brownies that no one will ever guess are GF! 

 Originally posted in April 2013.  I have made those brownies many times in the past year.  They are my easy go to GF dessert….

My three fav GF cookbooks:

1. Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts
2. The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread by Bette Hagman
3. More from the Gluten Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman

The first one is my fav.  A must have!  Most of my baking is out of there; everything was very good so far- too many to list here…  For basic white bread I bake a white bread recipes from the second book; not made much else from there but like this bread a lot. Have made 3 variations so far.  I slice ½ the loaf and keep it in the freezer for when I want some.  I freeze part of each thing I make for later; doesn’t keep all that well.   Bread thaws by slice quickly.  Just wrap well, label it with a date and what it is and use within a few weeks.

For cookies I make oatmeal ones, biscotti and brownies.  I eat cookies right out of freezer; crunchy good. The brownies are phenomenal; see later post.

I  found an amazing GF French Bread recipe on food.com –excellent.  Makes two loaves, freeze one.  It does stay fresh for about 3 days if you wrap it up well.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck has 2 books out on GF; I made her coconut raspberry muffins; really good too, almost like a cupcake!  I also love “The Gloriously GF Cookbook” by Vanessa Maltin- full of ethnic stuff particularly Italian, Asian and Mexican recipes.

The national celiac site; celiac.com is good; has recipes too.  There are scores of celiac support websites and blogs; do a websearch and investigate.

I buy flours from Wegmans and two health food stores; Freys in Hellertown and Queens Nut Shop – back behind Airport Road is good too.  I like to go to Echo Hill Country Store out in Fleetwood; great place for bulk flour, GF pasta and rice mixtures; incredible selection there and good prices for those things.

There are some support groups; one that meets the second Tuesday of each month in Phillipsburg at the hospital.  And one in Allentown at Sacred heart H; 4th Tuesday; 4/23 [The first one is now moved to Shoprite in Phillipsburg, Starting April 3, 2014.]

Let me know if you ever want to go to either with me; easier to go with a friend! I am going to the one in Philipsburg next week to check it out.

Bob’s brown rice flour is highly recommended as it is finer ground than others.  Bob makes many good flours as well as GF oatmeal.  Still, I got some white bean flour at Echo Hill which I use for bean flour in recipes; works perfectly. These days I use a lot of brown rice flour in my baking- the Baking Classics cookbook has several flours that are based in brown rice flour.

You can use white rice flour to flour cake pans, thicken gravy, and to to make white sauce.  You can’t bake with it alone but there are lots of flour mixes you can pre-make with a wide variety of freaky flours.  I have used the brown rice bread mix in Ms Robert’s book to bake bread although so far I like the breads in Ms. Hagman’s bread book better.   I made a big bag of the mix which I can measure out flour mix, add yeast and the wet ingredients and get bread rising in less then ten minutes. I take leftover GF bread and dry in a low oven and grind into bread crumbs in my blender; commercial ones are like out of cornmeal; not tasty!  A good place to keep your homemade GF crumbs in freezer.

I suggest you keep some pastas around for feeding those in your family who are not GF when you make spaghetti.  Heat two separate pots of water and boil up both kinds as GF pastas are very expensive.   Frankly, white rice pasta is not that great tasting; go for brown rice pasta over white rice every time.  Some one gave me a package of corn spaghetti I want to try. 

Best of luck going GF; just do it!  You will feel better!

This post was originally published April 1, 2013.  I have updated some of these things since then as to what I recommend….