Life moves on so rapidly: I just passed 9 years of eating totally gluten free. It is much easier than that first year. That was sure a lot to learn; terrifying making my first all gf meal for others. Fairly easy now. I quite enjoy the challenge of baking gf. I just made the most delicious gf blueberry scones this weekend. Tender and not that difficult to put together. It has been an interesting journey in my cooking/eating/lifestyle. I am glad to be able to eat safely food that I feel is as tasty as what I made before my celiac diagnosis.

I found a great pizza recipe with puffy chewy crust that is just delish. I think this latest bake is a favorite for me; loaf pan sourdough bread with seeds. Makes awesome toast. I made avocado toast last week and practically swooned with the incredible flavor of it. My angel food cake is just as delicate in its gf form. I made gravy that no one complains about and muffins that are easy and tasty. Recently I joined a gf sourdough baking group on fb. I didn’t expect there to be such an interest nor such beautiful breads. Yes, it is a good way to live, and no one should feel that being gf is impossible.

I have fully embraced the 1 for 1 baking flour blends; they are so great when you want to make an old favorite recipe into a gf version. Those scones I made were done with Bob’s Redmill 1-1 blend. As were all the fig ricotta cakes I make in the fall; based on a celebrity chef’s recipe that she says is her favorite cake. It is certainly a favorite of mine. So many pies and tarts come out of my oven, all gf and all a delight to share with my guy who doesn’t have to eat gf but never complains at what I put on the table for dinner.

Don’t get me wrong; eating out is generally a major challenge in the area of Pennsylvania where I live, very few places have more than a few items (if you are lucky!) on their menu that are gluten free. And don’t get me started on “gluten friendly” statements on menus. Uggh! The pandemic kinda reduced me to only home meals. I was unwilling to eat out other than an outside table. As things loosen up, I hope to soon eat out again and safely enjoy someone else’s cooking. Can’t wait.

Eating at family is possible although has been majorly crimped by covid worries. I hope to resume family visits later this spring. My sisters are very good at cooking gf for me. As are a number of friends. I feel so blessed to have caring people in my life that make it possible to share a meal or treat.

I still enjoy writing my blog on living gf. It is uniquely satisfying. I also love the process of remaking old recipes into gf versions. The new challenge of gf sourdough baking has me so intrigued. I just borrowed a cast iron oval Dutch oven and plan on testing it soon with some sourdough recipes. Fun to create and you get to eat your results!

So, if you are newly trying out the gf lifestyle due to celiac don’t freak; just try new things and work at eating safely. Honestly there are so many things that are naturally gf to eat, rice dishes, potato recipes, grains like quinoa. Lots of possibilities. Just read the ingredients on any packaged goods as hidden items and cross contamination is a real issue you will have to deal with. You may want to look back to my earliest blog posts; they were on the process of going gf and what it felt like; might be helpful for your journey to a gf lifestyle.

I am truly blest by my life and by what I create in my kitchen. A nine year journey that has gone pretty well on the whole. I hope your gf life is just as excellent!

So, if you are just going gluten free let me give you some advice. Things to do, things you should get and things not to bother with. I wish I had read a column like that when I was first plunged into gluten free eating.

If you plan to make baked goods, I suggest a stand mixer in the KitchenAid family; nothing big; just a standard/classic model. So many gf breads need a long beating before you put them in a pan. The stand mixer is a workhorse in my gluten free kitchen, used for breads, cookies, muffins and other baked goods requiring a long beating. I also have attachments for shredding large amounts of cabbage, for grinding cranberries for relish and I just got some for rolling out sheets of pasta. There are attachments for making sausage, for grinding grain and for straining out seeds from veggies and fruits. It’s a big investment but mine is 25 years old and still working despite my frequent usage.

I have a 8.5 x 4.5 heavy duty aluminum bread pan for gf quick and yeast breads.  The taller sides and slightly narrowed width is particularly helpful for yeast bread rising. Definitely helpful to me as a baker. My pizza pan is heavy duty too. I have various baking sheets and pie pans sized to what I bake frequently. Sturdy muffin pans and English muffin rings are useful.

A well-functioning oven is critical to gf baking; you need those even temperatures for sure. I used to have a second oven with bottom heat; great for pizza and gf pie crusts. My current range is more traditional. I put my rack just above the oven bottom and my pie crusts come out perfectly browned. Just as good as the pizza oven I sadly gave up when it died.

You should get an instant read thermometer, use my constantly and it is great for temping proteins to know when they are ready. A set or two of solid measuring cups are vital as are 2 sets of measuring spoons and a liquids measuring cup; I have a one cup and a two cup size of those. A large, medium and small whisk set is needed as are spatulas for scraping bowls.  I have a OXO pie crust rolling bag; very sturdy and well made; is a huge help in pie crust rolling; much better than  the cheaper ones; the translucent silicon sides are excellent for the crust rolling process. My cheap one lasted a year; this OXO one is about 3 years old and in perfect condition.

I store some flours in my freezer; whole grain ones especially. Others are just in large storage jars in my kitchen and pantry. I have tried many mixes and brands and find a few are my favorites; King Arthur basic gf flour is my workhorse blend. I also really like Better Batter for a host of recipes especially quick breads. Kim’s GF Flour blend is wonderful for making pizza and focaccia. I made an old school muffin mix to use for cobblers Bette Hagman’s book, More from the Gluten-Free Gourmet – You can find the mix recipe in my post:  https://myworldwithoutwheat.com/2020/05/20/rhubarb-cobbler-spring-treat/

When starting out start slowly. Look at recipe comments and try new things. I do want to give a shout out to King Arthur’s website and their large amount of wonderful gf recipes. They are well tested; work every time and have great flavor and texture. Their chocolate chip cookies are the bomb! I also love their cake mixes they sell; makes a bigger double layer cake than other brands of available store gf mixes.

Things I don’t care for: quinoa flour and almost all bean flours. Chickpea flour has some specific recipes it works well in. I avoid using all white flours except in a few cases as it is pretty devoid of nutrients and of flavor. I make a great French bread and I subbed in brown rice for white rice flour; much better flavor. Look at my most recent pizza dough recommendation; this one is a game changer; must try it; easy to do and it makes enough for two crusts.

There are many cookbooks available. My hands down favorite is Annalise Roberts, Basic Gluten Free Baking. Her pie crust is perfection. I love her muffins, the waffles are the best and the chocolate cake is excellent. She has another one full of heritage recipes which has proved to be a super source of party desserts. Maybe you should read some of my blog posts for ideas of what to make/bake. I had some excellent blueberry muffins my neighbor made with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 blend; so tender and delicious. I had shied away from that blend for a long while but those muffins totally changed my mind.

Don’t let anyone tell you that gf baked goods always taste bad; not the least true. My mom swore for years that my gf angel food cake had to be made with all purpose(gluten) flour. I had to swear that I never ever bake anything with gluten-based flour to convince her.

So get out there and bake some good stuff. I never post a recipe unless I make it for myself and most of them, I made over and over again. They are all delicious things you can feel confident in making.  Enjoy baked good again. Really.

Update on being gluten free: I went GF seven years ago this past February. My diagnosis was on the last day of January but it took two weeks for me to gradually transition off gluten. I remember the first day I was supposed to be fully gluten free and in the faculty room I absentmindedly popped a chocolate cookie into my mouth and chewed. I was aghast and just felt I couldn’t spit it out in front of everyone. So, the next day was my first fully gf day. It is seven years later and most days I am fine. But once in a while I really morn the loss of the normalness of being able to buy a donut or bagel at a convenience store for a treat. I mourn the inability to be flexible and easy when my family or friends want to eat out. I watch my loved ones eat things I cannot eat anymore. I often can’t eat at church events; nothing safe for me. I feel sad over that. I won’t lie or sugar coat the situation: it still can be difficult and my food choices do leave me feeling left out at times. It is not easy long term, especially when I am eating outside my house and kitchen. There is temptation, there are no options for me most of the time and it just wrenches me to be forbidden many foods I used to enjoy.

On the flip side, I feel much better; the pain in my gut left not that long after going gf. I actually had the start of ulcers in my stomach due to the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. I underwent a two week treatment of two heavy duty antibiotics to get that crap out of my stomach! They found it during my endoscopy to confirm my diagnosis of celiac disease. But once I was gf two weeks and the antibiotics were done I was hugely better. It was a great feeling. I highly recommend being fully gluten free if you have the diagnosis of celiac disease. Just don’t eat gf until you have completed your testing; being gf can reduce your symptoms and give a false negative result to testing.

So, how do you do this gf thing every day? One day at a time. With the support of your loved ones. With the knowledge that if you continue to eat gluten you will get sicker and sicker. I knew gluten was at the root of my gut pain and discovered a host of issues that I had been suffering from that are directly linked to my auto immune disorder. I hate how I feel if I do eat gluten and that knowledge is a major factor holding me back from cheating. I am not willing to deal with the pain and the side effects from cheating.

I used to know someone who said she had no symptoms of her disease. I imagine that would be much harder to stay gf without the drum beat of painful hours post gluten feasting! I hope she is sticking to gf. For her health and for her family.

I see folks in social media talking/bragging about their recent cheating and wonder how they do it? How they make that bad choice. I am guessing it is for the taste of regular food, for the freedom to eat something at 711 or Dunkin or a family gathering and a beloved holiday food that is hard to resist. I see their posts, half bragging and half whining about how sick they got. I know we all have moments of weakness. Seeing what they say and have done I feel sure I am on the right path; the choice of eating safely, totally gluten free.

It is just not worth it to me to cheat. To risk damage to my small intestine for that treat, that glass of beer or that plate of regular pasta. I am also afraid that once I start cheating it will become normalized and I will slide downward into daily consumption of a substance I know to be deadly to me. I hold on tight to the knowledge that I am doing what is best for my family and the uprising subsides in my brain. Life goes on.

I eat well. I enjoy many tasty homemade meals and treats. I made focaccia this week for first time in years. Great with soup. I have a lot of awesome go to recipes for things like Italian bread, muffins, cookies, pie, angel food cake and cobbler. People clamor to eat those foods and none of them have to be gluten free. It is totally possible to eat well with a bit of planning, basic willpower and a little effort. So, life is good; even gluten free. Hang tough; you can do it! Thousands of us do it. Have an awesome gluten free day!