No, I Can’t Eat Even One of Your Cookies!

This post is for those of you who wonder about us celiacs deliberately consuming gluten at will just because we miss wheaty foods.  I have no “big” answer but maybe this will help you understand how I roll. I’m gonna get kinda serious but I think that is necessary once in a while.  Next post I will get back to a yummy gf food recipe!

I belong to several on line celiac groups.  I see a lot of interesting comments and discussions on foods and eating styles.  Some people are very critical of how others live their lives and others are incredibly supportive.  Recently I read a somewhat whiny post by a lady who cheats on her gluten free status in what seems to be a regular pattern.  “It is  very hard to stick to a gluten free diet when your family and friends eat gluten right in front of” you.  Well, I had to respond to that because, I am constantly exposed to gluten based foods in my jobs and I have been able to resist the temptation…so far.  This is what I wrote to her.

Of course it is hard but I would rather live than die from cancer due to cheating or constantly suffering the pains from being glutened. The more you cheat I bet the more you rationalize it. If you set your mind to never ever cheat no matter how tempting it is it gets easier over time. It is a mind set…..I miss many many things that contain gluten. And it is very difficult at times. But I never intentionally eat gluten, I see it as a dam, I don’t want any cracks in my dam from cheating that will lead to my early demise….

That lady is correct, it is very hard to stick to eating gluten free every single day.  But she is wrong to rationalize it and to cheat, deadly wrong.

take-care-of-your-body

I write today for all of you who think it is easy to live gluten free or that we who do must cheat a lot.  I frankly do not see a lot of people on line who admit to voluntarily eating gluten on occasion.  When someone does make that admission a number of others generally jump in to chastise the person, to explain how detrimental to their health it is and generally attempt to persuade them to return to the straight and narrow, no gluten ever, life style.  No one says, hey, that’s okay.  But usually someone says, “It happens, we all make mistakes.”

The thing besides my fear of cancer that keeps me on the straight and narrow is how ill I feel when I get accidentally glutened by a very small amount of something, generally cross contamination.  I feel such burning pain and nausea as well as total exhaustion for hours and residual gut pain lasting for days that I am loath to bring this suffering (or worse as a big slice of pizza gotta be worse on my gut than that speck of cross contamination that made me so ill the other week) on me; all in the need to eat a slice of pizza or bagel.  Sure I get tempted but I never seriously entertain taking that bite of pizza.  The negatives are just too great to contemplate doing that voluntarily.

crunchmaster crackers

Yes, people who have celiac cheat.  Some have less will power, some have no active symptoms and just knowing it is bad for your gut isn’t enough for them I guess and some are in situations that make it easy to make poor choices. We with this auto-immune disease have to plan ahead for any meal away from home. We can’t just trust to finding something decent to eat.  That may well lead to a snack not a real meal.  I would rather bring a picnic than trust to what I will discover as I travel. I would rather suffer the torment of watching you eat pizza than getting ill from it for the next few days.

shortbread cookie 001

lemon shortbread cookie, gf of course!

I hope that my commentary has enlightened this issue for you folks who don’t have celiac. It isn’t easy to be constantly strong but it is vital to staying healthy and living a longer life. It is not a joke or a yes one day and no the next.  It is a lifesaving lifestyle that we cannot take on or off like a t-shirt.  Please take it seriously when a celiac is coming on a visit and asks you to serve only gluten free foods or brings their own meal so they can eat safely.

You or someone you know may choose to eat gluten free to lose weight.  That’s okay, but please recognize that it is not a “dieting” choice for me. I chose to do it to stay healthy and feel good, eating gluten would make me terribly ill and if done more than rarely could quite possibly lead to cancer and hasten my demise.

And for goodness sake, don’t wave your bagel in my face as a tease or beg me to taste a yummy cookie.  You are making it just a little bit more stressful as to my daily efforts to eat safely.  I will not eat that cookie/bagel but it would be far nicer not to tempt directly.

Be kind to the celiac you know, it sure would make their day if you serve something they can safely enjoy and if you are polite and understanding about their need to eat gluten free every single meal.

If you have celiac you might want to share this post with anyone who just doesn’t get it, like that person who urges you to have a slice of warm bread or a fresh roll, just this once!  You know exactly what I am talking about, don’t you?  Eat safe and live well.

Musikfest 2015 Food Notes For First Weekend

It is Musikfest time again here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  I volunteer every year.  This year I am a cider server and an alcohol site supervisor.  I know…put the cat in charge of the mice!! Hahaha. Seriously, just kidding!

musikfest 2015

Anyway, I am there for like six hours each shift so of course I get hungry and food has to be in the equation.  My first shift I cheated; I brought a Wendy’s style chicken sandwich I made myself and a piece of fruit.  I ate it on my break, un-warmed but it was terrific. Probably the healthiest food to eat there… Today I ate festival food.  It was a bit of a gamble but I survived, unglutened! I had a plate of rice, red beans and chicken from the Hogar Crea stand. I had some last year or the year before and didn’t get ill so I took the chance and it was pretty good, 8 tickets equals $8.  Lot of money for rice, beans, and about a half a chicken thigh but it is a worthy cause and the rice/beans part was particularly good. I think I need to make some myself!

aw shucks corn

Then I went to the Aww Shucks corn stand.  I gambled a bit again, getting butter and Parmesan cheese.  The cheese was something I hadn’t tried before since my diagnosis.  It added a lot of flavor and I sure enjoyed that ear of corn, $4 for it; actually one of the cheaper things to be had and relatively good for you. Warning, do NOT get the spice topping, it is not gluten free. I did not get ill from either offering. Not really the best way to find out but I was kinda desperate due to low blood sugar.  You can do better by planning ahead as there are a few other gluten free things around the fest; you might want to check my posts from last summer. All of these vendors are here again; the tacos can be had on the north side too.

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/tasty-taco-salad-southside-musikfest/

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/sensenigs-meats-comes-through-with-safe-yummy-bbq-pork-for-gf-festing/

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/musikfest-gluten-free-not-easy-but-possible/

Enjoy some cider; it is to be had at the Cider stand next to the Beer at FestPlatz, 4 varieties, all very tasty and all gluten free.

If you go to the fest and find some great gluten free food message me so I can check it out. Fest away!

Spicy Chicken Tenders, GF and Totally Tasty

There are a lot of commercial food items that I don’t get to eat anymore, specifically most fast food being a major no no.  I miss crispy chicken like I used to enjoy at Wendy’s.  When I saw this recipe referenced on facebook I immediately went to the site, read the recipe and decided I had to try it.  I had some chicken breast tenders and all the ingredients except the gf Bisquick.  I looked on Glutenfreeonashoestring and lucky me; she has a recipe for making your own gf Bisquick; it is attached to a recipe for mini breakfast pancake bite muffins. I had the flours needed; white rice, potato starch and tapioca flour plus the add ins of baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.  Easy peasy to put a double batch together; I will keep it in my freezer in a Ziplock freezer bag; sure have been wanting some of that Bisquick! bisquick

wendy chicken sandwich wendy's chicken tenders

Here are pictures of Wendy’s spicy chicken; in sandwich or tenders. Not for me!

I lowered the hot sauce to half, ditto for the cayenne powder as I was pretty sure I didn’t want it so spicy; do as your taste buds wish. It was simple to do; mix the spices with the Bisquick, mix the hot sauce with the water, dip the chicken in the spices, then the hot water and back in the spiced flour and fry. It was almost like deep frying but not quite.  Not something I would eat every week but it sure was yummy!

I didn’t eat it as a sandwich the first time; had two juicy tenders with a baked potato and some summer squash.  It was very tasty and not too spicy for me.  I had it in a gf bun for a meal, complete with lettuce, tomato and mayo, and it was wonderful. I think this is well worth trying even if you just buy some gf Bisquick.

spicy chicken, noodle stir fry 004

Gluten-Free Spicy Chicken (like Wendy’s)

2-3 Tbsp. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1/2 c Water

1/2 c Gluten-Free Bisquick

1 Tsp. Sea Salt

1-2 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1/8 Tsp. Fine Ground Pepper

1/4 Tsp. Paprika

1/4 Tsp. Garlic Powder

1 lb. Chicken Breast tenders – pound them a bit if they are very fat; you want it ½ inch or thinner. I didn’t pound mine and they were fine.

1 cup frying oil; canola, peanut oil are two that I can suggest

Directions:

Mix together the Gluten-Free Bisquick, Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Pepper, Paprika and Garlic Powder in a low bowl.  I used a soup bowl.

In a separate cereal bowl mix together Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and water. In a  high-sided sauté pan heat 1 cup of canola oil – it should come up about 1/2 inch the side of the pan depending on the size of your pan. I started it on medium heat and put in a candy thermometer to regulate the temperature; I got it pretty hot; 350 degrees before putting in the chicken.

Take one chicken breast tender at a time and dredge it in the GF Bisquick mixture, then roll it in the hot sauce/water mixture and then put it back in the Bisquick mixture and roll it to coat. I slid one into the hot oil and then a second one. Cook chicken for about 5 minutes, until they are golden brown and no longer pink in the center (I used a meat thermometer just to make sure).

Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels to blot any excess oil. If you have the oil hot enough they shouldn’t be greasy. If you want a sandwich, serve on a gf bun and top with mayonnaise, tomato and an additional piece of lettuce.

chicken sandwich 001

Go ahead, indulge in this delicious chicken and I promise you it will be a hit with your family!

Adapted from creativecookinggf.wordpress.com, February 2011.

Cool as a Cucumber Summer Soup!

Summer, time of ice cream, Popsicle, tomato sandwiches, salads and cucumber soup!  Really, cucumber soup on a hot summer day is cool on your palate and fairly healthy. And we have had a lot of hot days of late so you are due for a refreshing cool soup. It is also a perfect use for three cukes straight from your overburdened cucumber vines.  Or three cucumbers from a produce stand.  The fresh the cuke the better your soup will be.

This recipe came out of a magazine a decade ago, one of my sisters made it once for me and I got the recipe then.  I have made raw cucumber soups and they are nice but this is my favorite cucumber soup.  If you don’t like dill leave it out. I have done that; it is more delicate and you can then really taste the hint of lemon in the soup.  Once I made it with vegetable broth for a vegetarian and it was excellent that way too.

cucumber soup

Cucumber Soup

Take 3 medium cukes, peel them, cut in half at the middle point and then in half again from the stem to end so they are like short cucumber canoes. Then scoop out most or all of the seeds.  Shred the cuke canoes into a big bowl using the biggest hole size on your shredder.  Drain in a strainer but save the juice to add to the soup along the way.

Cut up one small onion; 1/3 cup or so.

Cut up 3 scallions

Melt 2 tbsp of butter and a tbsp olive oil in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Add the onion, cook 1-2 minutes and then add the shredded cuke.  Cook 5 min, add the scallions, stir, then add chicken broth to cover; 2.5 to 3 cups.

Add ½ cup dry white wine, the reserved cuke juice and the zest of ½ a lemon (1 tsp).  Sometimes if I don’t have an open bottle of white wine I use vermouth; it works well in a pinch.

Heat until nearly boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 20-25 minutes.  Let cool at least 30 minutes and puree.  You can use an immersion blender, a regular blender or a food processor.  The boat motor blender (immersion) is much more fun and easier.  I like to leave a bit of it unblended so it isn’t really smooth like a true cream soup.  Add 1 cup sour cream and 1 tsp sea salt, whisk well.  I use light sour cream; Daisy is my favorite brand.   Add 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh dill.  Stir well.  Chill 4 to 6 hours.

I often chill the bowls if it is a hot day and so ice cold soup goes into equally cold bowls.  You can garnish with a dill frond or not. Or a small dollop of sour cream can be pleasant.

The photo above is from a past family dinner party.  It makes a big jar; enough to serve 6-8 people.

Chilled cucumber soup; it’s a great starter to a meal on a hot summer evening or for a light lunch pair it with a salad or some grilled fish.  Yumm!

Originally published July 2014.

Legal Sea Foods….Another Lovely Meal (and GF)

My favorite restaurant to eat out at is Legal Sea Foods.  I try to always make it there when I am in Boston visiting family.  This July’s vacation was no different.  I was looking forward to the great service and even greater seafood and their menu has a number of gluten free items.

legal sea foods

We were seated promptly and ordered a bottle of delightful white wine.  The server was knowledgeable and selections were made.  For starters we three shared a dozen oysters on a bed of ice; made up from three different varieties.  They came with two sauces: a champagne vinaigrette and the traditional horseradish cocktail sauce.  I had several, they were small and succulent and I tried both sauces.  Loved them; should say I am only in the last couple of years learning to like raw oysters. I like the really small fat ones; easier for me to swallow.

oysters

Then we shared an order of deep fried calamari.  Gluten free of course! It came with a large dish of tarter sauce and was very tasty; the three of us ate most of it, my sister and her hubby are not celiac although my sister often eats gluten free.  I had a pair of gf tasty muffins which disappeared quickly.  Elaine ate half of a muffin and declared it quite good.

calimari

Then our entrees showed up; all at once and in the arms of our young server.  My sister, being quick on the uptake, queried her; normally gluten free items are delivered by a separate server, usually a manager. The server’s pretty face fell and she admitted she had forgotten to put my entrée in as gluten free.  So I had to wait while they remade my meal. Our server was very apologetic. All their staff is very friendly and helpful as to eating gluten free.

My meal was pretty tasty when it showed up ten minutes later; a surf and turf consisting of a 6 ounce fillet mignon, four sautéed scallops and four shrimps.  The beef was utter perfection, had a sauce on it that really added to the flavor and my scallops were delish!  The shrimps were kinda dried out.  I did eat some of them but not with much delight.   This was the first time they messed up my order in like 4 or 5 visits there and the first time any seafood was even a bit less than perfect.  Every place is allowed a few glitches; don’t let that stop you from heading to Legals.

My sister’s chowder and salad was tasty; chowder gone in a flash!  My brother-in-law enjoyed his fish and chips; it smelled wonderful. Made with haddock and a very healthy serving. We shared a chocolate parfait which was delightfully light and disappeared in moments.  We were all content and quite full when we left Legals.

All in all a very nice dining experience and I thanked my sister for catching their error before I could taste my food and get ill.  Moral of story; double check to make sure your gf food comes via a separate server when you eat at Legal Sea Foods.  Legal has locations all over the mid-Atlantic; two in NJ, two near or in Philadelphia and a couple in New York State as well as two in the Boston area and others in a few more states.  Well worth a drive for the legendary seafood and safe gf food.